Januzai?
Players that would have had good careers but didn't because of their manager mismanaging them
- Thread starter Ajr
- Start date
No, it's February.
Rashford was ruined by Ole
What?
It’s hard to think of examples from other clubs, but a couple of ‘what if’ names spring to mind with United.
First one is Anderson. He was an attacking midfielder when we signed him and we turned him into a box to box/DM hybrid, which always felt like a potential waste. I thought he was going to be one of the best attacking midfielders of his generation when we signed him. That said, there’s an argument to be made about Anderson, that had it not been for the tutelage of Ferguson and United’s coaching staff, he wouldn’t have had even half the career he did. So that one can go either way. It’s pretty difficult with hypotheticals to get a definitive answer.
Second one is Martial. He was absolutely flying under LVG and looked a potential world beater. Mourinho clearly didn’t value him in the same way, yet right when Martial was playing the best football of his career, and getting comparisons to early Henry - cutting in from that left wing - we signed Sanchez. We all thought Sanchez was there to play on the right and fill that void, but he immediately took Martial’s spot. And it seemed to derail everything that had been accomplished up to that point.
It was also the case when we took his shirt number away from him to give it to Zlatan. Mourinho did him dirty, more than once.
I have no real love lost for current Martial; but back then, I thought we handled a really promising player, very poorly. Twice shunting him aside for ageing short term signings.
First one is Anderson. He was an attacking midfielder when we signed him and we turned him into a box to box/DM hybrid, which always felt like a potential waste. I thought he was going to be one of the best attacking midfielders of his generation when we signed him. That said, there’s an argument to be made about Anderson, that had it not been for the tutelage of Ferguson and United’s coaching staff, he wouldn’t have had even half the career he did. So that one can go either way. It’s pretty difficult with hypotheticals to get a definitive answer.
Second one is Martial. He was absolutely flying under LVG and looked a potential world beater. Mourinho clearly didn’t value him in the same way, yet right when Martial was playing the best football of his career, and getting comparisons to early Henry - cutting in from that left wing - we signed Sanchez. We all thought Sanchez was there to play on the right and fill that void, but he immediately took Martial’s spot. And it seemed to derail everything that had been accomplished up to that point.
It was also the case when we took his shirt number away from him to give it to Zlatan. Mourinho did him dirty, more than once.
I have no real love lost for current Martial; but back then, I thought we handled a really promising player, very poorly. Twice shunting him aside for ageing short term signings.
Carrick for England
Scholes for England
Full careers?
Or manutd careers?
zaha was a shambles from Moyes. He clearly had potential, hit the ground running in pre season…and then got almost zero game time. It was baffling. Shame for Zaha SAF left when he did
Or manutd careers?
zaha was a shambles from Moyes. He clearly had potential, hit the ground running in pre season…and then got almost zero game time. It was baffling. Shame for Zaha SAF left when he did
Amad 
Martial was ruined by Ole
Zaha, Scholes for England, Martial was truly handled badly yes but I don't have that much sympathy, he hasn't helped himself. I wonder with him and Rashford whether they have long-term injury niggles (obvs Martial does, but something more fundamental) that just aren't made public for reasons of potential resale, or opponents targeting them.
Anderson is interesting, I also think he was played in the wrong position. We see with Fred and McTominay (not asking for further comparison than this specific) that putting players in the wrong position makes them look worse than they are. United have done it several times.
Anderson is interesting, I also think he was played in the wrong position. We see with Fred and McTominay (not asking for further comparison than this specific) that putting players in the wrong position makes them look worse than they are. United have done it several times.
Will sound strange, but perhaps John Mikel Obi - no one knows for sure but it feels like he could have been much more exciting further up the pitch
I actually think we would have got a lot better change from Sanchez by playing him up front. We only saw it in one game (in the CL) and he did very well
I actually think we would have got a lot better change from Sanchez by playing him up front. We only saw it in one game (in the CL) and he did very well
RVP under Moyes! Although probably not down to the manager and came in the later years so not career influencing.
Last edited:
Mata - we bought an excellent 10, when we already had Rooney and Kagawa and shunted him to the right wing.
Martial would be ruined anyway with his injuries.
Anderson had neither the passing or shooting ability to be an attacking player.
Rashford was ruined by the club structure and Glazer's having no interest in modernising. Ole was part of that but he was not the sole cause.
My first thought would be players who get turned into very specific system players, maybe Grealish would be an example, in terms of his individual career he's basically become a part-time cog in a successful machine but looking at his individual contributions he's basically a £100m Park Ji type for them - I had to double take when I saw his best ever goal tally for City is 5 PL goals in a season. Especially bearing in mind how many goals they create and the players they have. People will say, yes but he's winning more than he would at Villa, but is that what a player wants to look back on? Being a squad player for a successful team or being the star of a good one?
Less manager but more agent, I always wonder if Ibra had not been with Raiola if we might argue that he is the greatest 9 of this generation. Imagine he'd not jumped around as much and not taken the PSG move and had a more legacy building mindset. He could have probably gone to almost any club but he made some terrible choices like the Barca move, PSG I don't think was a good one, coming to PL he should have done earlier.
He played as a #10 for his NT didn't he?
Yep he did
The traditional ten role that Mata was best suited to was dying out by the time Mata joined Man Utd.
Anderson is honestly one of the most hilarious shouts I’ve seen. The guy clearly didn’t give a shit about being an athlete. It was nothing to do with the manager 
If the players did not fulfill their potential due to their lack of drives and professionalism, I would not blame their under-achieving careers to managers. They would have been under-achieving anyway. Anderson , Januzaj , Martial fit in this category.
On the other hand, Owen maybe a better example of mis-managed as he played too many games in early age , and cumulate injuries which led to his under-achieving his career .
On the other hand, Owen maybe a better example of mis-managed as he played too many games in early age , and cumulate injuries which led to his under-achieving his career .
Ferguson should have slapped the cheeseburgers out of his hands.Anderson is honestly one of the most hilarious shouts I’ve seen. The guy clearly didn’t give a shit about being an athlete. It was nothing to do with the manager
Januzaj's attitude was appalling by all counts, got no one to blame for himself, he couldn't excel under a manager whose defining attribute is willingness to play and develop youth.
You lot are mental if you think Ole ruined either of Rashford or Martial's career. Martial had his best season under him and Rashford had some great seasons under him, followed by his career best under a different manager. I think it's actually borderline moronic to say Rashford hasn't had a good career, he has 128 career goals, has won 5 trophies and appeared in a Euros final.
Palace ruined Zaha's career by not letting him leave for a better club, if anything. He had a great career there and had more than enough ability to step up but was constantly priced out of a move.
You lot are mental if you think Ole ruined either of Rashford or Martial's career. Martial had his best season under him and Rashford had some great seasons under him, followed by his career best under a different manager. I think it's actually borderline moronic to say Rashford hasn't had a good career, he has 128 career goals, has won 5 trophies and appeared in a Euros final.
Palace ruined Zaha's career by not letting him leave for a better club, if anything. He had a great career there and had more than enough ability to step up but was constantly priced out of a move.
And was kinda meh in that role.
Didn't he sign a long term contract which meant Palace didn't have to sell if they didn't want to?
A bit like how Kane signed a long contract so Spurs didn't have to sell him to City a few years ago.
I wasnt totally serious but it could be true. Ole asked Martial to play while injured and Martial did. Since that, Martial has been injured more often than he has been fit. Maybe it is bad luck and Martial would have broken down anyway but maybe the injuries are the result of playing with injuries.
Who knows, a sad end for a player who could have been one of the best.
You're kinda meh in your role!
Yeah, that's true. Players need to start demanding release clauses if they actually want to leave stepping stone clubs (and not sign stupid long contracts).
Riquelme
Damien Duff.
One of the most exciting wingers in the league at Blackburn and early on at Chelsea with Robben on the opposite wing, but then fell victim to what a lot of wingers face. Dribbling fullbacks coached out of him playing it safe a lot of the time, career kind of just fizzled out.
One of the most exciting wingers in the league at Blackburn and early on at Chelsea with Robben on the opposite wing, but then fell victim to what a lot of wingers face. Dribbling fullbacks coached out of him playing it safe a lot of the time, career kind of just fizzled out.
We persisted with it for a long time though. Its only LVG's 433 which was a deviation. The rest mostly played 4231, although i suppose for a short while Mourinho tried 433 too.
But his best season was arguably last season! And he's only missed 12 games due to injury since Ole got sacked. 3 of them from illness, so they don't really count.
His development was stunted under Ole.
Apart from being physically stronger, he’s basically the same player he is today as he was when he first broke through with the same glaring weaknesses in his game. Hell you can say the same about most of our players that played under Ole.
I feel Injuries and Martial are what ruined Martial
I still maintain my opinion that Adnan was nothing special and he was massively overhyped because of how depressing our season was turning out to be and people wanted something to give themselves hope.
Di Maria for Van Gaal is the first one who comes to mind, if we talk about his Utd career obviously.
Januzaj could have had an academy of managers behind him, he would still be mediocre.
Januzaj could have had an academy of managers behind him, he would still be mediocre.
You cannot seriously blame Ole for this. He got sacked almost 2.5 years ago when Rashford had just turned 24. If he hasn't improved his game then that's mostly on himself. He's been given lots of playtime under 2 different coaches with different styles, been lucky with injuries and don't run/press all that much.
I thought he was class but it's nearly 10 years ago so I may be mis-remembering how good he actually was, from my memory he was mostly fantastic.
That’s my point though? He was spoilt by Ole and by the time we moved Ole on, Rashford’s attitude was beyond saving when the jokers running our club thinks he’s worth the millions we’re paying him to do whatever he wants.