Ole's transfer strategy

devilish

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The United way during Ole's time

Many see SAF’s united way as a one constant strategy that never changed through time. I disagree. SAF of the early and mid-years was a different beast to the cautious SAF of the latter years who built his strategy around 3-4 ageing stars with the rest providing the leg work.

Now Ole stayed with us from 1996 till 2007. What’s sort of United’s way was he introduced to?
Between 1996 and 2007 we signed 52 players. Out of those 52 only 14 were British or Irish ( Coton, Sheringham , Greening, Carroll, Richardson, Ferdinand, Steele, Martin, Alan Smith, Miller, Rooney, Foster, Carrick, Hargreaves). Out of those 14 just 4 players were an outstanding success (Rooney, Carrick, Rio and Teddy) which means a global success rate of 7.65%. Some might want to add Hargreaves to the list. However, I don’t think that someone whom we paid good money for and who gave us just 1 season can be added here.

On the other hand we had 38 foreign players who weren’t British. Out of those 38 we had 13 who were an outstanding success ( Van Del Gouw, Johnsen, Ole, Stam, Yorke, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Saha, Vidic, Evra, VDS, Park and Tevez). That’s a staggering 25%. Some might add Blomqvist and Heinze to that list as well. I felt it wouldn’t be fair since the former got injured after a season and the latter, well, he was Heinze.

What’s truly amazing the absence of big name signings in that list. An optimistic approach would say 8 (Stam, Barthez, RVN, Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Hargreaves and Tevez). However I understand (since I share that same opinion) those who contest that by saying that the likes of Stam, RVN, Ferdinand and Rooney were bought mainly because because of their potential and were not big name signings at PSV, Leeds and Everton respectively

Having analysed the list you notice a strong trend towards young players (<26) and players coming from smaller leagues (Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Norway or the English lower leagues). We were incredibly successful in buying Dutch based leagues (RVN, Stam, Park, Rai Van Del Gouw)

Ole’s signings at Cardiff


Ole signed a staggering 17 signings (Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli, Wilfried Zaha, Juan Cala, Kenwyne Jones, Fabio, Jo Inge Berget, Guido Burgstaller, Adam Le Fondre, Kagisho Dikgacoi , Javi Guerra, Federico Macheda, Tom Adeyemi, Sean Morrison, Anthony Pilkington, Bruno Manga, Danny Gabbidon). I tried to find data about his time at Molde but I failed on that regard. Having said that, a poster in here said that he was quite active on the transfer market at Molde as well.

Anyway basing ourselves on his time at Cardiff we can see similarities between SAF (Ole's period) and Ole. Similarly to SAF during Ole’s period most of Ole’s signings at Cardiff were not British and they were also <26 years signings

So what to expect?

If we base our opinion on this data then we can expect a lot of transfer activity. Ole will be targeting young players with potential, who provide value and therefore we won’t break the bank. That means we’ll probably be targeting leagues such as France, Holland and Germany + the lower English leagues. I think there's a bigger chance of us signing the likes of Lozano and Bergwijn then breaking the bank for Rice, Dybala and Jadon (unless of course he can get them on a realistic fee)

Meanwhile we can expect Ole to base himself heavily on our youth academy whom he rate highly (Eikrem, Daehli, Fabio and Macheda were all our youths)
 

mitchmouse

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The United way during Ole's time

Many see SAF’s united way as a one constant strategy that never changed through time. I disagree. SAF of the early and mid-years was a different beast to the cautious SAF of the latter years who built his strategy around 3-4 ageing stars with the rest providing the leg work.

Now Ole stayed with us from 1996 till 2007. What’s sort of United’s way was he introduced to?
Between 1996 and 2007 we signed 52 players. Out of those 52 only 14 were British or Irish ( Coton, Sheringham , Greening, Carroll, Richardson, Ferdinand, Steele, Martin, Alan Smith, Miller, Rooney, Foster, Carrick, Hargreaves). Out of those 14 just 4 players were an outstanding success (Rooney, Carrick, Rio and Teddy) which means a global success rate of 7.65%. Some might want to add Hargreaves to the list. However, I don’t think that someone whom we paid good money for and who gave us just 1 season can be added here.

On the other hand we had 38 foreign players who weren’t British. Out of those 38 we had 13 who were an outstanding success ( Van Del Gouw, Johnsen, Ole, Stam, Yorke, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Saha, Vidic, Evra, VDS, Park and Tevez). That’s a staggering 25%. Some might add Blomqvist and Heinze to that list as well. I felt it wouldn’t be fair since the former got injured after a season and the latter, well, he was Heinze.

What’s truly amazing the absence of big name signings in that list. An optimistic approach would say 8 (Stam, Barthez, RVN, Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Hargreaves and Tevez). However I understand (since I share that same opinion) those who contest that by saying that the likes of Stam, RVN, Ferdinand and Rooney were bought mainly because because of their potential and were not big name signings at PSV, Leeds and Everton respectively

Having analysed the list you notice a strong trend towards young players (<26) and players coming from smaller leagues (Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Norway or the English lower leagues). We were incredibly successful in buying Dutch based leagues (RVN, Stam, Park, Rai Van Del Gouw)

Ole’s signings at Cardiff


Ole signed a staggering 17 signings (Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli, Wilfried Zaha, Juan Cala, Kenwyne Jones, Fabio, Jo Inge Berget, Guido Burgstaller, Adam Le Fondre, Kagisho Dikgacoi , Javi Guerra, Federico Macheda, Tom Adeyemi, Sean Morrison, Anthony Pilkington, Bruno Manga, Danny Gabbidon). I tried to find data about his time at Molde but I failed on that regard. Having said that, a poster in here said that he was quite active on the transfer market at Molde as well.

Anyway basing ourselves on his time at Cardiff we can see similarities between SAF (Ole's period) and Ole. Similarly to SAF during Ole’s period most of Ole’s signings at Cardiff were not British and they were also <26 years signings

So what to expect?

If we base our opinion on this data then we can expect a lot of transfer activity. Ole will be targeting young players with potential, who provide value and therefore we won’t break the bank. That means we’ll probably be targeting leagues such as France, Holland and Germany + the lower English leagues. I think there's a bigger chance of us signing the likes of Lozano and Bergwijn then breaking the bank for Rice, Dybala and Jadon (unless of course he can get them on a realistic fee)

Meanwhile we can expect Ole to base himself heavily on our youth academy whom he rate highly (Eikrem, Daehli, Fabio and Macheda were all our youths)
Really hope you are right about transfer activity: we need to get in some world-class players and ship out some very ordinary ones. I'd say (before replacing those who leave) we need a full back, a centre half, two midfielders (possibly one and an out-and-out winger) and a proven goal scorer. That's the minimum. I can think of at least four players who will/should leave: Mata, Herrera, Valencia, Young (Fred could be a fifth). I honestly believe DDG will go this time (most likely destination being PSG, unless Zidane really does want him). I'd add Pogba to that list if it was my chose and maybe some of the fringe layers
 

Sarni

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I don’t think what he did at Cardiff and Molde can in any way become indicative of what he’s going to do at Man Utd. It’s a completely different world altogether.
 

united for life

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The problem is that the squad he’s got is not good enough. Jose’s signings were not good. We have a lot of players who are not good enough. Fred, rojo, darmian, etc..players like sanchez, matic are also not performing as needed. Matic is good, but slow and poor at build ups i feel.

Unfortunately, with today’s market, Ole needs to spend big. A player like sancho for example (1 good season) used to cost 15-20 million, now rumors are that dortmund want something in the range of 100 million for him! We have to keep up with this.

Herrera’s possible departure also puts more pressure on Ole. He now needs at least 2 new midfielders (I hope neves is one of them).

A right back is a MUST. Young is not an RB, dalot is not that good when defending. We also desperately need a CB (Varane wants out, so hope we can get him).

So 2 defenders, 2 in midfielders and a right winger. Possibly a squad player also to replace mata as well. So maybe 6 players in total.. that’s too much i know, but we need it. We need to spend wisely to continue to be relevant. What we currently have is average...
 

Wallez

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I actually think the transfer strategy of Molde is similar to Manchester United, but of course in a totally different scale. Molde is one of the absolute top teams in Norway, and have a very solid economy. They have had a focus on signing young players (especially Norwegian players) that they develop into solid first-team players before they are sold for profit. This is combined with the signing of some big talents from abroad, and signing some big starts when they have the opportunity. Solskjær has mainly had a long-term focus in Molde, and through this they have developed a good team and seen a lot of players making it into the Norwegian national team.
 

devilish

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I don’t think what he did at Cardiff and Molde can in any way become indicative of what he’s going to do at Man Utd. It’s a completely different world altogether.
I think it is actually. Even at smaller clubs, a manager can opt to either spend big (according to the budget given to him) on 1-2 players or spread the transfer budget on multiple targets. Ole seem to prefer the SAF's way of his era ie go for players in their 20s who provided value.
 

Eric's Seagull

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Got a feeling that Woody is not going to give Ole a large transfer budget and is going to expect him to rely on the youth players. I hope that works but I wouldn't just want to rely on mainly youth coming through.

Think we desperately need a quality centre-back, I wanted Koulibaly but I've heard of figures quoted up to £140m+ and don't think we are going pay anywhere near that. Would be willing to pay £100m for Varane but Zidane seems adamant he is staying. If the £100m was there for him last season I think it should still be available and added to whatever Ole's budget will be this season.

I think it is good that Ole has been talking about potential transfers with Woody for a while but still think we need Director of Football to help Ole as soon as possible. Think we need right back, Meunier might be available if Alves signs new contract. Also think we need 2 centre midfielders, think we might get Rabiot. Need cover for Luke Shaw, would like to see us get Kieran Tierney but I don't think he will be leaving for a while. A right winger like Sancho would be ideal but don't think he will be available this season. Need to get rid of Rojo, Valencia, Young and hope someone takes Sanchez off our hands and would be willing to slightly subsidise his wages to do so.
 
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Devils11

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I just hope he don't buy overpriced 120m players like Sancho, Felix, Coutinho etc . For 120m, he could buy both Fekir and Douglas Costa or Nicholas Pepe for example.
 

stepic

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I just hope he don't buy overpriced 120m players like Sancho, Felix, Coutinho etc . For 120m, he could buy both Fekir and Douglas Costa or Nicholas Pepe for example.
that's the same kind of attitude that meant we signed Bailly and Lindelof instead of just signing Van Djik.
 

Ekeke

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The United way during Ole's time

Many see SAF’s united way as a one constant strategy that never changed through time. I disagree. SAF of the early and mid-years was a different beast to the cautious SAF of the latter years who built his strategy around 3-4 ageing stars with the rest providing the leg work.

Now Ole stayed with us from 1996 till 2007. What’s sort of United’s way was he introduced to?
Between 1996 and 2007 we signed 52 players. Out of those 52 only 14 were British or Irish ( Coton, Sheringham , Greening, Carroll, Richardson, Ferdinand, Steele, Martin, Alan Smith, Miller, Rooney, Foster, Carrick, Hargreaves). Out of those 14 just 4 players were an outstanding success (Rooney, Carrick, Rio and Teddy) which means a global success rate of 7.65%. Some might want to add Hargreaves to the list. However, I don’t think that someone whom we paid good money for and who gave us just 1 season can be added here.

On the other hand we had 38 foreign players who weren’t British. Out of those 38 we had 13 who were an outstanding success ( Van Del Gouw, Johnsen, Ole, Stam, Yorke, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Saha, Vidic, Evra, VDS, Park and Tevez). That’s a staggering 25%. Some might add Blomqvist and Heinze to that list as well. I felt it wouldn’t be fair since the former got injured after a season and the latter, well, he was Heinze.

What’s truly amazing the absence of big name signings in that list. An optimistic approach would say 8 (Stam, Barthez, RVN, Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Hargreaves and Tevez). However I understand (since I share that same opinion) those who contest that by saying that the likes of Stam, RVN, Ferdinand and Rooney were bought mainly because because of their potential and were not big name signings at PSV, Leeds and Everton respectively

Having analysed the list you notice a strong trend towards young players (<26) and players coming from smaller leagues (Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Norway or the English lower leagues). We were incredibly successful in buying Dutch based leagues (RVN, Stam, Park, Rai Van Del Gouw)

Ole’s signings at Cardiff


Ole signed a staggering 17 signings (Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli, Wilfried Zaha, Juan Cala, Kenwyne Jones, Fabio, Jo Inge Berget, Guido Burgstaller, Adam Le Fondre, Kagisho Dikgacoi , Javi Guerra, Federico Macheda, Tom Adeyemi, Sean Morrison, Anthony Pilkington, Bruno Manga, Danny Gabbidon). I tried to find data about his time at Molde but I failed on that regard. Having said that, a poster in here said that he was quite active on the transfer market at Molde as well.

Anyway basing ourselves on his time at Cardiff we can see similarities between SAF (Ole's period) and Ole. Similarly to SAF during Ole’s period most of Ole’s signings at Cardiff were not British and they were also <26 years signings

So what to expect?

If we base our opinion on this data then we can expect a lot of transfer activity. Ole will be targeting young players with potential, who provide value and therefore we won’t break the bank. That means we’ll probably be targeting leagues such as France, Holland and Germany + the lower English leagues. I think there's a bigger chance of us signing the likes of Lozano and Bergwijn then breaking the bank for Rice, Dybala and Jadon (unless of course he can get them on a realistic fee)

Meanwhile we can expect Ole to base himself heavily on our youth academy whom he rate highly (Eikrem, Daehli, Fabio and Macheda were all our youths)
Cardiff obviously couldnt afford to go for more established players. They were towards the bottom of the league when he took over and they were trying to quickly avoid relegation. Ole's time made them even worse.

So if anything I'd say his transfers at Cardiff are an indication of what Ole wouldnt want to repeat
 

marktan

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I just hope he don't buy overpriced 120m players like Sancho, Felix, Coutinho etc . For 120m, he could buy both Fekir and Douglas Costa or Nicholas Pepe for example.
Depends on the player, for that price you'd take O. Dembele, Mbappe or Neymar. I'd put Sancho into that class too. Felix and Coutinho no.
 

devilish

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Cardiff obviously couldnt afford to go for more established players. They were towards the bottom of the league when he took over and they were trying to quickly avoid relegation. Ole's time made them even worse.

So if anything I'd say his transfers at Cardiff are an indication of what Ole wouldnt want to repeat
I think that Ole wasn't cut for a team like Cardiff. He was more about attacking pass to feet football while they needed defensive, gritty football which would allow them to grind points from the bigger sides. Its different at United
 

Ekeke

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I think that Ole wasn't cut for a team like Cardiff. He was more about attacking pass to feet football while they needed defensive, gritty football which would allow them to grind points from the bigger sides. Its different at United
And so will the transfer intentions be.
 

Devils11

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that's the same kind of attitude that meant we signed Bailly and Lindelof instead of just signing Van Djik.
Thanks for proving my point. Van Dijk is a proven defender aleady at Celtic and Southampton...Spend big on proven players not some overpriced 'had a good season' youngsters.
 

Grande

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It’s a really interesting question, which will probably get quite a few answers more suited for the ‘who should we buy’, thread, but which deserves more.

I think Cardiff and Molde is relevant, but I think we should also acknowledge the possibility of Ole learning from his experiences. So whereas at Cardiff, with a relatively handsome budget (for a team fighting to avoid relegation) he seemed to buy many, young, relatively cheap players, many of whom he knew well, and of a certain style (technical, quick, possession-suited), it’s easy to see that he changed too much, too fast, and with too little pragmatism. At Molde in his first stint, he got the best out of good and matute players already at the club, simply adding a few extra good from a nother country. In his second stint, he judged the same players to be over the top by then, and went for more buys, but not as many as with Cardiff. He went with young players, but mixing in some more experienced. He went with potential, but rather a few big talents than many unknown prospects.

So what will he say at United? We have many good players, few brilliant. Many who can do a job in one style, but few who are really suited for the same style. Many prospects, but I’d argue, few undoubted world beaters to come.

I’m guessing he is wondering if either of Matic, Herrera and Fred will be good enough or fit’s the bill for the defensive duties in midfield next season. I’d think he’d want someone in midfield more tailored to his needs and ready to perform at a high level immediately, but not necessarily a star.

I’m guessing in attack he’ll want someone who offers more direct threat on the right wing, but not an old player. I don’t think he’ll want another player like Lingard, he already has that. So I guess he’ll be ready to spend in that position.

Similarly at the back, the depth is okay, but the extra quality and playstyle fit lacks. It makes more sense paying a bit extra for an obvious starter with the wanted qualities, than to throw in 1-2 more with potential and weaknesses you have to match up with the others from game to game.

All in all, I don’t think we’ll see anything resembling Cardiff, but more reminiscent of Ferguson around 2004/5, looking for something extra or the last pieces of the puzzle.
 

mitchmouse

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I think it is actually. Even at smaller clubs, a manager can opt to either spend big (according to the budget given to him) on 1-2 players or spread the transfer budget on multiple targets. Ole seem to prefer the SAF's way of his era ie go for players in their 20s who provided value.
but SAF also when for proven players: RvN, RvP, Teddy, Dwight Yorke, even Alan Smith
 

devilish

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but SAF also when for proven players: RvN, RvP, Teddy, Dwight Yorke, even Alan Smith
I am referring to the era Ole was here so RVP is out. RVN and Dwight Yorke weren't exactly proven signings. The former was playing in Holland at the time which was still a better league then it is now but not exactly at par to the EPL. Meanwhile there was plenty of question marks about the latter with Edwards & Kidd pushing for Hartson instead. Teddy was indeed proven but these sort of signings were usually the exception with SAF rather then the rule

During his early/mid time at United, SAF's transfer strategy was mainly about getting <26 years old players and then take them to the next level. We would sign young talent like Rio, RVN, Stam, Vidic, Rooney and Ronaldo then make them world class.
 

joedirt87

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Have a plan in place and don’t pull a Moyes. If he ends up with only 1 deadline day signing for his first window it’s already over. Well be linked with a hundred different players like every window, won’t really know what he’s going for until signings arrive.
 

Bwuk

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I’m worried as I think we need a lot of players but not convinced we’ll do the business. Especially when quite a few of the squad want to seem out.
 

Johan07

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The United way during Ole's time

Many see SAF’s united way as a one constant strategy that never changed through time. I disagree. SAF of the early and mid-years was a different beast to the cautious SAF of the latter years who built his strategy around 3-4 ageing stars with the rest providing the leg work.

Now Ole stayed with us from 1996 till 2007. What’s sort of United’s way was he introduced to?
Between 1996 and 2007 we signed 52 players. Out of those 52 only 14 were British or Irish ( Coton, Sheringham , Greening, Carroll, Richardson, Ferdinand, Steele, Martin, Alan Smith, Miller, Rooney, Foster, Carrick, Hargreaves). Out of those 14 just 4 players were an outstanding success (Rooney, Carrick, Rio and Teddy) which means a global success rate of 7.65%. Some might want to add Hargreaves to the list. However, I don’t think that someone whom we paid good money for and who gave us just 1 season can be added here.

On the other hand we had 38 foreign players who weren’t British. Out of those 38 we had 13 who were an outstanding success ( Van Del Gouw, Johnsen, Ole, Stam, Yorke, Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Saha, Vidic, Evra, VDS, Park and Tevez). That’s a staggering 25%. Some might add Blomqvist and Heinze to that list as well. I felt it wouldn’t be fair since the former got injured after a season and the latter, well, he was Heinze.

What’s truly amazing the absence of big name signings in that list. An optimistic approach would say 8 (Stam, Barthez, RVN, Veron, Ferdinand, Rooney, Hargreaves and Tevez). However I understand (since I share that same opinion) those who contest that by saying that the likes of Stam, RVN, Ferdinand and Rooney were bought mainly because because of their potential and were not big name signings at PSV, Leeds and Everton respectively

Having analysed the list you notice a strong trend towards young players (<26) and players coming from smaller leagues (Holland, Portugal, Belgium, Russia, Norway or the English lower leagues). We were incredibly successful in buying Dutch based leagues (RVN, Stam, Park, Rai Van Del Gouw)

Ole’s signings at Cardiff


Ole signed a staggering 17 signings (Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Mats Moller Daehli, Wilfried Zaha, Juan Cala, Kenwyne Jones, Fabio, Jo Inge Berget, Guido Burgstaller, Adam Le Fondre, Kagisho Dikgacoi , Javi Guerra, Federico Macheda, Tom Adeyemi, Sean Morrison, Anthony Pilkington, Bruno Manga, Danny Gabbidon). I tried to find data about his time at Molde but I failed on that regard. Having said that, a poster in here said that he was quite active on the transfer market at Molde as well.

Anyway basing ourselves on his time at Cardiff we can see similarities between SAF (Ole's period) and Ole. Similarly to SAF during Ole’s period most of Ole’s signings at Cardiff were not British and they were also <26 years signings

So what to expect?

If we base our opinion on this data then we can expect a lot of transfer activity. Ole will be targeting young players with potential, who provide value and therefore we won’t break the bank. That means we’ll probably be targeting leagues such as France, Holland and Germany + the lower English leagues. I think there's a bigger chance of us signing the likes of Lozano and Bergwijn then breaking the bank for Rice, Dybala and Jadon (unless of course he can get them on a realistic fee)

Meanwhile we can expect Ole to base himself heavily on our youth academy whom he rate highly (Eikrem, Daehli, Fabio and Macheda were all our youths)
There is and have been a lot of questions raised about OGS´relation to Jim Solbakken, who represents/represented a lot of those players that OGS signed for Cardiff. I am really surprised that this story has not been picked up by the UK tabloids. Yet.
 

DSG

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We need youth. With a lot of deadwood to clear out, we should be focusing on 23 and under players with the exception of a top class CB who could be a bit older.

I’d rather buy younger to go with our core of Rashford, Martial, Shaw, Lindelof, Pogba (if he stays) and challenge for the league and CL for several years than buy Kroos, Bale, Lewandowski and challenge for one to two years.
 

Stookie

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I love Ole and I hope he smashes it but he’s got his work cut out. It’s not just tweaking here and there it’s almost a complete overhaul. In just 3 years. And the almost part is if Pogba and DDG stay.
 

Irwin99

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Think he'll go with younger signings and British/PL players. We have to make sure that if we do pick from the lower teams that we get it right and not end up with Schneiderlin and Fellani type duds again. This can be tricky as you never know if a player is going to go up another level.
 
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We're talking alot about Ole's future transfer strategy ,which is fair enough as the summer transfer window is on the horizon,but currently I'm slightly more interested in what our new managers playing strategy is.
What does he have planned for us (style wise) ?
 

Aloysius's Back 3

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The key is how he uses our under 23/ reserve players.

What players like mctomminay prove is that these players even if they don't have a long future at United; they are able to fill the squad very well.

Then buy the main players.
 

Ali Dia

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It’s Very Interesting times and I don’t trust the club to get it right I’m afraid.

We still need ruthless game changers in the final third and some creativity and guile from the attacking centre when pogba goes missing for half the season, a clever mobile player who can set the tempo in midfield, a dominant cb and cover for the full backs. We also need some kind of leadership on the pitch? All of this with Pogba DDG and Ander (squad leaders in their prime...) all heavily linked with moves away and that’s before any of the real deadwood is cleared away. We could be in for a few rough seasons and Ole might not keep his job for long enough to fix things. We don’t have the budget to fix everything in one summer either way. I really hope he’ll go: neves, tierney, felix, Bruno Fernandes, De Ligt (wont get him) and sancho (or a certain stopgap this summer) It'll take 2 years, I hope he can keep his job that long!

In short if we are genuine about changing things and investing It’ll be in potential world class younger players and a few surprises from within the league.
 

ForestRGoinUp

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We need youth. With a lot of deadwood to clear out, we should be focusing on 23 and under players with the exception of a top class CB who could be a bit older.

I’d rather buy younger to go with our core of Rashford, Martial, Shaw, Lindelof, Pogba (if he stays) and challenge for the league and CL for several years than buy Kroos, Bale, Lewandowski and challenge for one to two years.
The biggest problem we have is that core. We know Pogba and De Gea will be off. So Rashford Martial Lindelof Shaw in reality is the core we’ve got. That’s almost laughable.
 

Christie

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The problem is that the squad he’s got is not good enough. Jose’s signings were not good. We have a lot of players who are not good enough. Fred, rojo, darmian, etc..players like sanchez, matic are also not performing as needed. Matic is good, but slow and poor at build ups i feel.

Unfortunately, with today’s market, Ole needs to spend big. A player like sancho for example (1 good season) used to cost 15-20 million, now rumors are that dortmund want something in the range of 100 million for him! We have to keep up with this.

Herrera’s possible departure also puts more pressure on Ole. He now needs at least 2 new midfielders (I hope neves is one of them).

A right back is a MUST. Young is not an RB, dalot is not that good when defending. We also desperately need a CB (Varane wants out, so hope we can get him).

So 2 defenders, 2 in midfielders and a right winger. Possibly a squad player also to replace mata as well. So maybe 6 players in total.. that’s too much i know, but we need it. We need to spend wisely to continue to be relevant. What we currently have is average...
Nonsense! We have spent shetloads on our squad, and we have a squad that finished second in the league.

Ole needs to learn to work with what he has, and come up with tactics to make the most out of our players and we will win the league.
 

DSG

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The biggest problem we have is that core. We know Pogba and De Gea will be off. So Rashford Martial Lindelof Shaw in reality is the core we’ve got. That’s almost laughable.
It’s a 2-3 transfer window rebuild. If we can get 4 young, top drawer signings this summer, we won’t challenge for the title next season, but if we can do the same in the following windows, we will challenge in 2021.

I disagree that we should target British/Prem players. We should be focused first and foremost on players that fit the Man Utd philosophy and tactics. Secondly, great, technically gifted players that can or have the potential to compete at the CL level because that’s our ambition. If those qualities are in a British/PL player, fine. If the player is in a second tier league (Holland, Portugal, etc.) they need to show that they truly dominate that league.
 

ThierryHenry14

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Sorry can't stop laughing when i read RVN and Stam were not world class players when they signed for Utd.

-In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million."
-RVN scored 31 goals/34 games(98/99) 29 goals/23 games(99/00) before joining MU. His transfer was a new British record, edging the £18 million Leeds United paid for West Ham United defender Rio Ferdinand in November.
 

devilish

Juventus fan who used to support United
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Sorry can't stop laughing when i read RVN and Stam were not world class players when they signed for Utd.

-In 1998, Stam became the then most expensive Dutch football player in history and the most expensive defender in history when Manchester United bought him for £10.6 million."
-RVN scored 31 goals/34 games(98/99) 29 goals/23 games(99/00) before joining MU. His transfer was a new British record, edging the £18 million Leeds United paid for West Ham United defender Rio Ferdinand in November.
As said in the previous posts that's a matter of debate which honestly have nothing to do with the topic at hand. However, just because you spend big on a player that doesn't mean he's WC. Lukaku is a clear example to that.

I think we bought Stam and RVN because of their potential in becoming WC. We spent big on them because we believed in them + we couldn't compete on salaries with the top dogs hence we had to outbid our opponents. At United they turned into absolute stars a bit like Vidic did.
 

ThierryHenry14

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Just buy Mbappe and make him world class then. He is from the lesser league too.
 

devilish

Juventus fan who used to support United
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Just buy Mbappe and make him world class then. He is from the lesser league too.
If Mbappe was ever available then there would be 7-8 top clubs swarming around him like flies. There wasn't anywhere near to that competition for RVN and Stam.

I can't understand the criticism of that tbh. We spotted two players who were doing very well and we snatched them before they attracted attention. Then we developed them from top players to WC players. That's something to be praised rather then criticised.
 

The Nani

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at the bottom of Ole’s wheel
DISCLAIMER: WAS JOKE

Out: £250m

DDG - £50m PSG
Valencia - free(already done)
Darmian - makeweight for Skriniar
Bailly - £15m Fenerbache
Jones - £15m West Ham
Rojo - £5m Estudiantes
Young - £5m Villa
Matic - £10m Milan
Herrera - free(already done) PSG
Pogba - £150m Madrid
Mata - free(all but done) Barca
Lingard - makeweight for Eriksen
Sanchez - free(hell, subsidize his wages) China
Lukaku - makeweight for Oblak

In: £350m

Oblak - £30m + Lukaku
Meunier(final contract year) - £20m
Skriniar - £70m + Darmian
Neves - £50m
Eriksen(final contract year) - £50m + Lingard
Sancho - £80m
Felix - £50m

First XI

Rashford—Martial—-Sancho
———Eriksen—McTom
—————-Neves
Shaw-Lindelof-Skriniar-Meun
—————-Oblak

Subs: Romero Dalot Mike Fred Pereira Felix Greenwood

Properly promoted: Henderson Laird Tuanzebe O’Connor Garner Gomes Chong

It’s so simple.
 
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wolvored

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He needs to bring in at least 4 players RB RW CM CD maximum age 27 that will be automatic starters for us next season. He can promote Greenwood Garner and Tuanzebe permanantly to the bench and give them game time. Someone who I know who watches the youth reckons Greenwood is better than Rashford was at his age. He needs to keep faith in McTominay being picked instead of Matic. He has improved since Mourinho. Stop with sentimentality. Move on Mata Darmian Rojo Sanchez if he will go. Valencia is already off. let Herrera Pogba Lukaku go if they want to. Show we wont be held to ransom for ridiculous wages. Pogba reportedly wants £500,000 a week. The 4 transfers in might need to be 5/6 if this happens with another CM and backup striker. Lingard should only play if we have injuries. We wont win the league next year, but if we can make top 4 our own all or most of the season, the summer after he can see where we need strengthening to make a push for the top.
 
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Devils11

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Pogba asking for 500k , De Gea 350k , Sanchez 350k , Lukaku want first team football , Mata , Herrara , Matic most likely are finished.
This United team need a RESET button right now ! But are the Board going to trust Ole, afford him time to build a new TEAM, like they gave Fergie in the early years ? Can the fans withstand 5 years without a trophy? Until then, United will forever be the milking cash cow for those so called " world class " players.
 

wolvored

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Out: £250m

DDG - £50m PSG
Valencia - free(already done)
Darmian - makeweight for Skriniar
Bailly - £15m Fenerbache
Jones - £15m West Ham
Rojo - £5m Estudiantes
Young - £5m Villa
Matic - £10m Milan
Herrera - free(already done) PSG
Pogba - £150m Madrid
Mata - free(all but done) Barca
Lingard - makeweight for Eriksen
Sanchez - free(hell, subsidize his wages) China
Lukaku - makeweight for Oblak

In: £350m

Oblak - £30m + Lukaku
Meunier(final contract year) - £20m
Skriniar - £70m + Darmian
Neves - £50m
Eriksen(final contract year) - £50m + Lingard
Sancho - £80m
Felix - £50m

First XI

Rashford—Martial—-Sancho
———Eriksen—McTom
—————-Neves
Shaw-Lindelof-Skriniar-Meun
—————-Oblak

Subs: Romero Dalot Mike Fred Pereira Felix Greenwood

Properly promoted: Henderson Laird Tuanzebe O’Connor Garner Gomes Chong

It’s so simple.
Its simple if for example Villa want Young and willing to pay £5 million for him, or Spurs want Lingard who is a run all day but hardly anything else, or Atletico would want a blunderbuss of a striker like Lukaku. Dortmond have said they aint selling Sancho and he wouldnt be got for £80 million anyway and Wanderers wouldnt sell Neves and certainly not for £50 million etc
 

WR10

Correctly predicted France to win World Cup 2018
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Why would anyone expect him to have any real influence on transfers? If mourinho couldn’t influence transfers significantly...
 

captain666

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Nonsense! We have spent shetloads on our squad, and we have a squad that finished second in the league.

Ole needs to learn to work with what he has, and come up with tactics to make the most out of our players and we will win the league.
In theory we could be left with a squad of just Romero,Grant,Dalot,Young,Smalling,Jones,Lindelhof,Shaw,Matic,Martial,Rashford,Greenwood,Chong,Gomes plus returning loans,good luck with winning the Premiership without some serious additions!
 

C'est Moi Cantona

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I would have no issue with him weeding out the ones that don't want to be here, the greedy contract hunters, and the ones who are stealing a living from us, all in one go, the fact that'd leave us with only about 8 players is obviously going to be an issue.

But the squad is tiresome, and it'd be nice to see some real change, even if we'll likely suffer in the short term.