Pierre-Emile Højbjerg

[Jig1234]

Did Murtough sign Martial, Maguire and Bailly to those ridiculous contracts? He’s trying to clean up the Woodward mess, which so far he has done a decent job doing.

Decent job? our recruitment this summer has been awful.What happened before, happened. He is at the helm now, who is responsible for this window. Selling Fred, without a replacement. Signing a CM for 60m to play box to box. We are scrambling for players in the final week. Goalkeeping area aside, defence, midfield and attack all have issues that have not been addressed.

If you think Murtough is doing a good job or is is good... I have no words. This squad will struggle to challenge for top 4 in it's current state.

 

[Judas]

I’m going to make an assumption of the fanbase here, seeing as others do.

If you’d have said in May that the Glazers would still be in charge whilst our midfield signings would be Mount & Hojberg they’d have been calls for riots.

I don’t care how much spin people attempt to put on this, it’s shambolic. I fear that EtH’s personnel decisions will be the undoing of EtH the manager.

Totally agree. If it’s going to go south for ETH here, the reasons will be easy to spot. A lot of our supposed targets are shockingly uninspiring. You can point to us not being able to shift players as reasons why we’ve lacked funds, but Christ, even with money I’d be a bit nervous of who we’d have actually targeted anyway.

 

[Jig1234]

The frustration with a signing like this for me is that it doesn't improve us at all. We need a midfielder whos going straight into the first team. As you say Mount is basically just cover for Bruno, Hoijberg would just be cover for Casemiro. We have massive problems in midfield and all we're doing is further entrenching ourselves into these problem by buying lesser versions of the players we already have.

Bang on.

 

[zaafi]

The frustration with a signing like this for me is that it doesn't improve us at all. We need a midfielder whos going straight into the first team. As you say Mount is basically just cover for Bruno, Hoijberg would just be cover for Casemiro. We have massive problems in midfield and all we're doing is further entrenching ourselves into these problem by buying lesser versions of the players we already have.

I suppose you could play Hoijberg with Casemiro with the intention of making us more defensively solid, but he's so poor on the ball from what I've seen I don't know we'd be much better off overall.

But the truth is that you don't know whether he will improve us or not. He might fit perfectly with the way we're playing, or he might do worse than McTominay, but he is a good PL player. You can't just look at individual players and assume they will be the better fit. Look at Liverpool's midfield when they dominated hard. Who in the hell would have thought that midfield trio would be as good as they were?

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Totally agree. If it’s going to go south for ETH here, the reasons will be easy to spot. A lot of our supposed targets are shockingly uninspiring. You can point to us not being able to shift players as reasons why we’ve lacked funds, but Christ, even with money I’d be a bit nervous of who we’d have actually targeted anyway.

Exactly, we all kind of got behind the Amrabat signing but when every name we are linked with has played with him years ago at a lower level it’s kind of becoming a joke.

I don’t think he’s gotten the credit he deserves in terms of his coaching last year, Caf faves Arteta & Klopp did sod all in the league in their first campaigns but where I feel they have an edge is you could see the changes in the squad far clearer than our own. You don’t ditch Fred [rightly so imo] then sign Hojberg.

 

[Nicolarra90]

Doesn't matter if we buy another midfielder or not I don't care anymore. It will be someone who will be okay but nothing special and i am done with this type of signing from us.

We fecked up big time by buying Mount this summer, useless expensive player who will be mid at his best, running merchant who is neither good at 8 or 6 or 10. And when you see other teams in the top 4 how they upgraded their midfield and got quality there it is really big disappointment from us. Somehow we always manage to get the worst player on the market.

When you see the other teams purchases in the midfield this year, you're getting jealous and I don't know how we decided that Mount is the perfect player and the priority signing for us this summer, fack it.

If we compare every midfield addition from our rivals to Mount they are all better, which is disgrace when United knew that we needed top midfielder next to Case this year we fecked it up big time once again. But we've been here for 10 years now, so I don't get surprised anymore.

Put them on list:

Spurs got Maddison = better than Mount
City got Kovacic and soon Nunes = both better than Mount
Arsenal got Rice = better than Mount
Liverpool got Mac Allister and Szobo = both better than Mount
Chelsea got Caicedo and Lavia = both better than Mount
Newcastle got Tonali = better than Mount
Even West ham got Alvarez and JWP = and accept it as you wish but in my opinion they are both better than Mount. (PS: They had better summer window than us - Kudus , JWP , Alvarez and Mavropanos and still looking for 1 more we've got Injured striker, Mount and Onana who is the only positive signing this summer but he is still only a goalkeeper and we had and still have a lot more problems in our XI than a facking GK at least we upgraded on De Gea)

It is just hilarious.

I don't know how we manage to put up the same circus every year and we still somehow endure these clowns. We're just not serious and we're not going to get anywhere near the top in the coming years, even if Pep become our coach. .

I don't see a glimmer of hope for United and I'm not kidding.

Last year we somehow managed to get to the top 4 with a lot of luck and in the end we almost missed the top 4 (Luckily we won 1-0 vs Villa at home and got easiest version of Chelsea too).




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This could be an all time classic if Mount becomes a successful player for us

 

[Judas]

You would genuinely think Mount couldn’t get a game with a couple of 11 year olds playing down a small park in Dorset, the way some people talk about him on here.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Not that I think Højbjerg is the answer to our midfield problems, but I really don't think Thuram is either. He is barely able to progress the ball forward with his passing and he isn't one that does the passing in general. He is great at carrying the ball forward, but if that's what we needed, we could've just gone for Seko Fofana who is twice the player. I know it's easy to hype up players that people haven't seen a lot of, but he really isn't all that yet. He's so far from Camavinga and Tchouameni in terms of potential, so paying a massive sum to Nice for a player who doesn't really solve any more than Højbjerg would is just daft.

I mean I'm not saying he's Cama, but I have no idea how you can say that being great at carrying the ball forward "isn't what we need". I mentioned Thuram mainly because he's played as a 6 and an 8, is young, and quality carrying is *exactly* what we need. We are about to get rinsed by Arsenals press Saturday because we don't have a single midfielder that can dribble a fecking football with any sort of competence (Mount is the closest but as has been discussed at length he plays so high up that it has less of an impact, and he's hurt anyways.). Sure ideally we find a De Jong regen that can do both, but those don't grow on trees and with our limited budget I'd at least like to find another combative midfielder that offers something different.

But sure let's take Hojburg who can't get minutes for Spurs and who we'll be looking to replace in a year or two anyways alongside Casemiro. It's frustrating to say the least.

 

[Bwuk]

I like Hojberg but he’s another who doesn’t solve the issues in our midfield

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

You would genuinely think Mount couldn’t get a game with a couple of 11 year olds playing down a small park in Dorset, the way some people talk about him on here.

It's a byproduct of the people that didn't want to sign him in the first place being told they are idiots and that he fits perfectly and everyone wanted him etc. and then watching him for us and seeing him do exactly what he did for Chelsea (and not what we needed). It's only natural that frustration reaches a breaking point.

I also think the reaction to Mount would be much different if he was a supplemental signing and not our marquee priority target that we gave the 7 to.

 

[marktan]

It's a byproduct of the people that didn't want to sign him in the first place being told they are idiots and that he fits perfectly and everyone wanted him etc. and then watching him for us and seeing him do exactly what he did for Chelsea (and not what we needed). It's only natural that frustration reaches a breaking point.

I also think the reaction to Mount would be much different if he was a supplemental signing and not our marquee priority target that we gave the 7 to.

The caf 180 on Mount as soon as we were linked to him still boggles my mind. Out of nowhere a good chunk of the forum suddenly decided he was good despite being naff for club and country

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

The caf 180 on Mount as soon as we were linked to him still boggles my mind. Out of nowhere a good chunk of the forum suddenly decided he was good despite being naff for club and country

Not me, I was getting slammed in the Mount thread for being enraged when the links were credible

And then a ton of tacticos told me why I was an idiot and he was perfect for ETH's new system. Of course I'm still willing to see it out once he comes back (I actually thought he was decent against Spurs and pretty good that first half), but yeah it's frustrating to say the least.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

There was also Tielemans on a free this summer who went to Aston Villa and Ward-Prowse who has started well at West Ham who cost just under 30

Would definitely take Hojberg over Tielsman who is the sort of fairweather player we absolutely do not need. The former is a pretty good footballer. But still, I’d prefer we sign someone younger with more potential than someone who has you’d imagine already peaked at a goodish level and nothing more. Also we’re accumulating too many short term midfield signings in Eriksen, Casemiro and now Hojberg.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

The caf 180 on Mount as soon as we were linked to him still boggles my mind. Out of nowhere a good chunk of the forum suddenly decided he was good despite being naff for club and country

A good chunk of any significant group of people will always think a two time Chelsea player of the year and one time CL winner, is a good player. The only surprising thing is the people who are oddly surprised by that and who for some reason haven’t tried using their eyes and have a weird misplaced belief that’ll he’s some Lingard / cleverly level player.

 

[zaafi]

I mean I'm not saying he's Cama, but I have no idea how you can say that being great at carrying the ball forward "isn't what we need". I mentioned Thuram mainly because he's played as a 6 and an 8, is young, and quality carrying is *exactly* what we need. We are about to get rinsed by Arsenals press Saturday because we don't have a single midfielder that can dribble a fecking football with any sort of competence (Mount is the closest but as has been discussed at length he plays so high up that it has less of an impact, and he's hurt anyways.). Sure ideally we find a De Jong regen that can do both, but those don't grow on trees and with our limited budget I'd at least like to find another combative midfielder that offers something different.

But sure let's take Hojburg who can't get minutes for Spurs and who we'll be looking to replace in a year or two anyways alongside Casemiro. It's frustrating to say the least.

It isn't what we need most in our midfield. Even the most mediocre midfielders can be decent ball carriers. McTominay is actually a pretty good ball carrier, but do you think he is what we need?

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

He is in the starting line up tonight along side Skipp and Lo Celso in front of them. I’d say he will be the pivot with Skipp going box to box. Soloman gets his first game.

 

[iato89]

The transfer makes sense. Solid player better then both free and Mct. Remember we will also have Mainoo available soon

 

[Appletonred]

It's a 5/10 transfer window at best, and at this late stage Ten Hag appears to be just getting bodies in the club, not upgrades, I'd usually blame Glazernomics but the signing of Mount and links to the guy named in the thread doesn't absolve the manager tbh.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

It isn't what we need most in our midfield. Even the most mediocre midfielders can be decent ball carriers. McTominay is actually a pretty good ball carrier, but do you think he is what we need?

Of course not, but that more stems from his lackluster positioning off ball and awful passing ability. He can't cover for Casemiro with any sort of competency, and fits better into a team where he's allowed to just rampage around and arrive on the edge of the box to shoot. But honestly if McTominay was 22 and coming off a storming season for another team then yes I'd probably be more confident that we could work on his deficiencies. We've just seen him for 6 years now and he's mostly the same player he was when he came into the side, so at this point for better or worse you know what you're getting.

But yes if I could put McTominay's carrying ability into Eriksen or Casemiro I'd feel 20x better about our midfield matching up with anyone. Not being able to beat a press unless you string 4 consecutive perfect passes together is such a handicap. There's a reason Pep has gone for Nunes.

 

[Shakesy]

How was our boy last night?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He is in the starting line up tonight along side Skipp and Lo Celso in front of them. I’d say he will be the pivot with Skipp going box to box. Soloman gets his first game.

Was he any good?

 

[roonster09]

Was he any good?

Average as usual.

 

[Mainoldo]

How was our boy last night?

Did his job. Kept it simple broke up play and was solid. But obviously nothing special however if he was playing for Fulham doing the same thing he would look amazing and cost £70m.

 

[Shakesy]

Did his job. Kept it simple broke up play and was solid. But obviously nothing special however if he was playing for Fulham doing the same thing he would look amazing and cost £70m.

And I assume if he did that for us he'd be on insane wages, unsellable, and a flop of the highest order? It's all starting to make sense now...

 

[Mainoldo]

And I assume if he did that for us he'd be on insane wages, unsellable, and a flop of the highest order? It's all starting to make sense now...

I can’t name that player since Matic tbf.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Average as usual.

He was well below but to be fair he just lookeike A player who knew he was leaving and didn’t give a shit.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Was he any good?

looked like someone who didn’t wanna be there, both him and Skipp were shit, they simply can’t play when pressed. Hiding from taking the ball off the CBs, to be fair though the whole team was shit, bar VdV

 

[Red00012]

Looks like Spurs are loaning out Ndombele so this might end these rumours

 

[Garethw]

John Murtough sucks at his job. Scrambling for mediocre midfielders in the final week of the window. Injured or not Mount was a waste of £60m (Not a CM). Murtough is a disgrace, can't shift anyone to generate money and when it comes to signings, all he seems to do is get are players Ten Hag has worked with before. No requirement and scouting network at Utd. No structure. No policy on profile of players, or age restriction so you don't end up with 30 year old's on high wages that you can't shift in 1-2 years. Murtough needs to go with the glazers. Letting Ten Hag decide who we sign is ruining squad depth and quality and succession planning. 3 signings letter we not looking any better than last year.

Totally agree.

 

[Ronaldo's Love Child]

The frustration with a signing like this for me is that it doesn't improve us at all. We need a midfielder whos going straight into the first team. As you say Mount is basically just cover for Bruno, Hoijberg would just be cover for Casemiro. We have massive problems in midfield and all we're doing is further entrenching ourselves into these problem by buying lesser versions of the players we already have.

I suppose you could play Hoijberg with Casemiro with the intention of making us more defensively solid, but he's so poor on the ball from what I've seen I don't know we'd be much better off overall.

That's my thinking too.

Our squad isn't of the right quality yet where we can spunk a significant proportion of our transfer budget on squad players or "cover players". These type of signings don't improve the team-they only plug a hole when someone gets injured or fatigued and by the very nature of a typical squad player they are not going to be aas good as the player they are covering for.

It's been a strange transfer window.

I still can't get my head around whether we intended De Gea to be our No 1 GK this season albeit on reduced wages or were we planning all along to replace him.

Many of us believe that Mason Mount was a strange signing but one in which we have to have faith in ETH and believe he knows better than us.

We now seem to be staggering around the transfer market like a drunk man in a nightclub just before kicking out time.

 

[mitchmouse]

Just no

 

[amolbhatia50k]

looked like someone who didn’t wanna be there, both him and Skipp were shit, they simply can’t play when pressed. Hiding from taking the ball off the CBs, to be fair though the whole team was shit, bar VdV

Sounds like the last player to help us

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Things seem to have went quiet on this. Hopefully we just made initial contact and have decided not to pursue it any further.

 

[Gordon S]

The caf 180 on Mount as soon as we were linked to him still boggles my mind. Out of nowhere a good chunk of the forum suddenly decided he was good despite being naff for club and country

I think that a lot of people comfort themselves by thinking our current manager can do no wrong. He is a bit of a genius right! Right?

If Erik wants Mount than Mount is clearly a very good player that will fit our needs perfectly. He has Eriks approval and that is all we need to know. Right?

 

[Senior Fusion]

if we don't get him now and amrabat neither, we could try a shock move for Kone or Thuram.

 

[mintyred]

if we don't get him now and amrabat neither, we could try a shock move for Kone or Thuram.

You’ve just suggested young exciting talents, we don’t do those over here.

 

[The Mitcher]

I think that a lot of people comfort themselves by thinking our current manager can do no wrong. He is a bit of a genius right! Right?

If Erik wants Mount than Mount is clearly a very good player that will fit our needs perfectly. He has Eriks approval and that is all we need to know. Right?

Does that mean Wout Weghorst is a good player?

 

[Trex]

You’ve just suggested young exciting talents, we don’t do those over here.

We just bought Hojlund get a grip!

 

[Gordon S]

Does that mean Wout Weghorst is a good player?

Maybe i worded it weird? I was trying to point out that people shouldn´t take Eriks words and decisions as gospel

 

[The Mitcher]

Maybe i worded it weird? I was trying to point out that people shouldn´t take Eriks words and decisions as gospel

Fair dos, I missed the question mark . There's been a lot of mental gymnastics from ETH fans to turn this guy most mocked last season as shit into good.