[Raw]

Jose paid 50m for Fred and 40m for Matic..
Jeebuz

We'd have been better off with Herrera and Fellaini to be honest.

 

[mitchmouse]

Manchester United put in a "good performance" and were denied a "nailed-on penalty" in their Europa League draw with AZ Alkmaar, says boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Does he think we are blind and stupid or is he just as deluded as Moyes was when he thought we were signing Bale, Ronaldo, Messi and Pele in one window? If Ole truly thinks this, his time may be up before the summer (as I predicted). We were piss awful and given we had no shots on target, the penalty would probably have ended up in Alkmaar...

 

[Ban]

Enough of positivity Ole.

 

[Dargonk]

Only watched the highlights, and that appeared like we were horrible. Seemed like it was all one way traffic against us. Not even getting a shot on target as well

Can't even blame the team all being kids

 

[GM K]

One big problem we'll be having soon is that top level players will start seeing United as a declining force with poor management. That can turn really bad quickly. It's the sure route to becoming and staying (for a long time)as a mid table team. To rub salt on injury, Liverpool is looking like they have turned their ship. These are tough days.

 

[Ban]

One big problem we'll be having soon is that top level players will start seeing United as a declining force with poor management. That can turn really bad quickly. It's the sure route to becoming and staying (for a long time)as a mid table team. To rub salt on injury, Liverpool is looking like they have turned their ship. These are tough days.

It's like we're going totally reverse, Liverpool is becoming a force while we slip into obscurity.

 

[Denis79]

I'm not excusing him, he hasn't done particularly well with a weak team. I just dont want woodward to be the one looking for a replacement.

Oh I agree, I'm still behind Ole. I think he's been blinsided by the board this transfer window but some things are on him. What he says in press conferences, what formation he plays, who and where he plays them. I don't expect magic with this squad but atm he does the same things over and over as if it will change the results and when it doesn't change he blames the grass and the referee. I support Ole but I won't support him blindly.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Manchester United put in a "good performance" and were denied a "nailed-on penalty" in their Europa League draw with AZ Alkmaar, says boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Does he think we are blind and stupid or is he just as deluded as Moyes was when he thought we were signing Bale, Ronaldo, Messi and Pele in one window? If Ole truly thinks this, his time may be up before the summer (as I predicted). We were piss awful and given we had no shots on target, the penalty would probably have ended up in Alkmaar...

Hold up! Slow down!

You do know we’re not actually allowed to judge OgS on what comes out of his mouth. You’ve not read between the lines & found a way to blame everyone else for his lack of ability.

 

[tonnas]

that Post press from Ole just highlighted how deluded he is, its time for him to step down. We have no idea how to play, out of his depth.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Oh I agree, I'm still behind Ole. I think he's been blinsided by the board this transfer window but some things are on him. What he says in press conferences, what formation he plays, who and where he plays them. I don't expect magic with this squad but atm he does the same things over and over as if it will change the results and when it doesn't change he blames the grass and the referee. I support Ole but I won't support him blindly.

Where does this line of thinking come from? We don’t know if he was or was not.

We can say with some certainty that this board have a history of ineptitude but giving OgS a pass for assumptions isn’t fair.

He claimed he knew what we needed & he was working with the board on this when the horrendous form kicked off last season; we then went on to have an underwhelming summer & he comes out to say he was happy with the squad. This last week he has said he wanted to sign an attacker but the ones he wanted weren’t available; so. . . we might sign one in January, a historically more difficult time to make these signings.

He’s complicit with the board in this s*** show, not a victim. Before taking over there was enough evidence that this club is ran terribly, he took the job & has mostly towed the party line.

 

[Denis79]

Where does this line of thinking come from? We don’t know if he was or was not.

We can say with some certainty that this board have a history of ineptitude but giving OgS a pass for assumptions isn’t fair.

He claimed he knew what we needed & he was working with the board on this when the horrendous form kicked off last season; we then went on to have an underwhelming summer & he comes out to say he was happy with the squad. This last week he has said he wanted to sign an attacker but the ones he wanted weren’t available; so. . . we might sign one in January, a historically more difficult time to make these signings.

He’s complicit with the board in this s*** show, not a victim. Before taking over there was enough evidence that this club is ran terribly, he took the job & has mostly towed the party line.

He knows he was given the job because Mourinho imploded, he won't start complaining in the media. Why I believe that he isn't happy with the squad is because during pre season he was adamant that any players that were sold would be replaced, they weren't. I'm not saying you're wrong but Woodward has done some dodgy shit in the past. When this window closed the majority of fans, me included felt that the squad was paper thin with gaping holes in midfield, if a football moron like me saw it, I can't believe Ole didn't. Then again I've stopped getting shocked by certain decisions that are made within the club.

 

[redshaw]

One big problem we'll be having soon is that top level players will start seeing United as a declining force with poor management. That can turn really bad quickly. It's the sure route to becoming and staying (for a long time)as a mid table team. To rub salt on injury, Liverpool is looking like they have turned their ship. These are tough days.

Yes we could find ourselves in a negative spiral.

Top players won't come and we'll be priced out for any up coming player like a Rice or Longstaff. Not saying I want those players but clubs will see our situation and want silly fees. Deals will drag on and we'll be short of players.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

We'd have been better off with Herrera and Fellaini to be honest.

getting rid of both I think was a massive mistake, Fellaini , took some stick on here, but I like him and right now , he is just what we need.

 

[GM K]

It's like we're going totally reverse, Liverpool is becoming a force while we slip into obscurity.

And we can throw in City as well.

 

[Sandikan]

getting rid of both I think was a massive mistake, Fellaini , took some stick on here, but I like him and right now , he is just what we need.

Noone was too sorry to see him go, but ask if he'd be of more use than Matic, Fred, Pereria and it'd be fairly likely to be a yes.

 

[mitchmouse]

Any masochists among you out there? BT are re-running the match in full this afternoon

 

[mitchmouse]

Noone was too sorry to see him go, but ask if he'd be of more use than Matic, Fred, Pereria and it'd be fairly likely to be a yes.

I actually was sorry to see Fellaini go and said so at the time. He does a job (not always a very complex one) and at least showed some passion. Almost no one has done either of those so far this season

 

[mitchmouse]

It's like we're going totally reverse, Liverpool is becoming a force while we slip into obscurity.

Said it before, SAF was brought down from Scotland to replicate what Liverpool were doing. Sadly, no one has pressed the "you can stop now" button

 

[Judas]

Remember when people were trying to make themselves believe Fred would save us? Hilarious. Maybe he'd improve under a better manager/regime, but at the moment I just simply don't see the point of him.

 

[mitchmouse]

Where does this line of thinking come from? We don’t know if he was or was not.

We can say with some certainty that this board have a history of ineptitude but giving OgS a pass for assumptions isn’t fair.

He claimed he knew what we needed & he was working with the board on this when the horrendous form kicked off last season; we then went on to have an underwhelming summer & he comes out to say he was happy with the squad. This last week he has said he wanted to sign an attacker but the ones he wanted weren’t available; so. . . we might sign one in January, a historically more difficult time to make these signings.

He’s complicit with the board in this s*** show, not a victim. Before taking over there was enough evidence that this club is ran terribly, he took the job & has mostly towed the party line.

Ole also seems to have decided what he didn't need and that seems to be backfiring. whatever people think about Lukaku, he scored goals - some of them important. No good manager gets rid of players without having replacements lined up... and don't give me the youth policy crap. He based that on what he called a good pre-season which as most people now counts for nothing. I remember the 70s and 80s pre-season days when we thumped the likes of mighty Reading and Lingfield only to flop horribly come season time. The only thing pre-season games do is help with fitness and not sure it even did that this time. Frankly, better off staying home and just training (yes, I know money, advertisers blah blah)

 

[mitchmouse]

Yes we could find ourselves in a negative spiral.

Top players won't come and we'll be priced out for any up coming player like a Rice or Longstaff. Not saying I want those players but clubs will see our situation and want silly fees. Deals will drag on and we'll be short of players.

said this weeks ago.. called it "the club dying" and got some abuse abuse. No one's yelling now... I actually wouldn't be surprised to see us drop into bottom five or six at some stage

 

[Sandikan]

Remember when people were trying to make themselves believe Fred would save us? Hilarious. Maybe he'd improve under a better manager/regime, but at the moment I just simply don't see the point of him.

Currently we're in a bit of "whoever isn't in the team, is the answer" phase.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure any single one player will lift the malaise.
Probably the Martial-Pogba combo, as they are arguably the two who lift the team from midtable to top 6 level, but they still have to be on form, and can't do it all on their own.

 

[Sandikan]

Ole also seems to have decided what he didn't need and that seems to be backfiring. whatever people think about Lukaku, he scored goals - some of them important. No good manager gets rid of players without having replacements lined up... and don't give me the youth policy crap. He based that on what he called a good pre-season which as most people now counts for nothing. I remember the 70s and 80s pre-season days when we thumped the likes of mighty Reading and Lingfield only to flop horribly come season time. The only thing pre-season games do is help with fitness and not sure it even did that this time. Frankly, better off staying home and just training (yes, I know money, advertisers blah blah)

We don't know the real truth on the restraints he's under, but he looks to have made the very real mistake Moyes made, in presuming that he has years to get the team right.

If he gets sacked in the next couple of months, he will massively regret not doing enough in midfield and attack. Massively.

 

[GM K]

Yes we could find ourselves in a negative spiral.

Top players won't come and we'll be priced out for any up coming player like a Rice or Longstaff. Not saying I want those players but clubs will see our situation and want silly fees. Deals will drag on and we'll be short of players.

It looks like the inevitable.
What we must not fail to do is to learn from history to ensure our downtime is neither too long or permanent. The Juventus model preferably. Th Calciopoli scandal hit Juve hard and during their downtime, Inter ruled. But they did not allow it to linger too long. They built during their downtime, bounced back and they have been ruling Serie A ever since.

 

[Multatuli]

He's a talented kid for sure. Him, Doan and Stengs are all bright prospects at AZ. Not on the level of the Ajax kids and it's a bit early to say how good they'll be, but certainly talented.

The funny thing is that Ajax fans are spamming the forums in Holland that Ajax should sign Koopmeiners, Stengs and Boadu. So how come they are not as talented as the Ajax kids? Also a lot of old players analyzing matches, want Koopmeiners, Stengs, Boadu and Wijndal in the selection of the Dutch National team.

 

[robinamicrowave]

Chelsea are not close to being in the same position as us. They have a much better first team squad than us right now and yes they are playing their youngsters but theirs have all got a season or two of playing regularly in the Championship on loan whereas we are relying on kids stepping straight up from the youth team after a handful of U23 appearances.

I definitely see where you're coming from, but two months ago you were being tipped to finish above Chelsea by the majority of pundits and by your own fans, especially after that 4-0 win on the first day. Just seven weeks have gone by since that game and we're already at the point where United fans are arguing they didn't stand a chance against Chelsea after all because they have a much better first team squad and more experienced youngsters? That doesn't fly, sorry. You spent £160m this summer while Chelsea lost their talisman and signed one player who has rarely featured. I said at the time that spending half your summer budget on Harry Maguire was too risky when you had serious deficiencies in other areas of the squad, and look where we are before the second international break.

This is exactly what happened during the 17-18 season but now you're much further down the table. United fans spent that entire summer arguing that they could challenge City for the title, only to find themselves 11 points behind at Christmas and arguing that they could never match up to City because of Pep's spending. So I'll say now what I said then: in May 2016 United and City both finished on 66 points. City kicked on, United didn't. That's not our fault. And during pre-season this year United and Chelsea were expected to battle each other for 4th spot. Now we're looking at United sat in tenth and struggling in the Europa League while Chelsea look defensively naive but still capable of getting European football for next season, and all while balancing Champions League fixtures. They've kicked on, you haven't. That's not their fault.

Sooner or later the board are going to have to take a look at themselves and realise they're better off out of football. Being an elite side in the 21st century takes serious long-term planning and a focus on keeping things fresh. There is no long-term planning at United right now, and as far keeping things fresh go, six members of your squad of 25 are still hanging around like a bad smell from the days of Moyes. We won the league that season but only three players from that squad (Aguero, Fernandinho, D. Silva) are still attached as I type this, and one of them has confirmed he's leaving at the end of the season. In the post-Fergie era you've constantly placated the small crowd of mediocre players you have, and now they rule the roost.

 

[KirkDuyt]

The funny thing is that Ajax fans are spamming the forums in Holland that Ajax should sign Koopmeiners, Stengs and Boadu. So how come they are not as talented as the Ajax kids? Also a lot of old players analyzing matches, want Koopmeiners, Stengs, Boadu and Wijndal in the selection of the Dutch National team.

There's also quite a few people doubting them since the last few AZ talents didn't really step up when they moved to a bigger club. Either way, surely you can agree that Koopmeiners isn't as talented as Frenkie de Jong? Though I suppose you can't exactly call De Jong and Ajax kid since he actually learned the trade at Willem 2

I agree that Stengs should be in Holland's squad ahead of Bergwijn. I love Bergwijn, but I doubt he has a role to play in a team with Memphis as head striker.

 

[Sara125]

Yes. And if you did as well you would know why I am a Manchester United fan.
Bristol Rovers have been and always will be crap. But I will tell you one thing.
The players work their socks off week after week.
They are not good but you cannot fault their efforts.
Worst ground in the whole football league, by a long way.

So you support both? So if Bristol rovers and united were to ever face each other in, say, a league cup match who would you support?

 

[Paxi]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Well no shit Sherlock. The result in an of it self wasn’t bad, it’s the fact that we’ve been served up this bollocks for the past 20 games.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Well no shit Sherlock. The result in an of it self wasn’t bad, it’s the fact that we’ve been served up this bollocks for the past 20 games.

The not a bad result thing would also work better if United's goalkeeper didn't have a higher salary than AZ's entire squad combined.

 

[Ban]

Said it before, SAF was brought down from Scotland to replicate what Liverpool were doing. Sadly, no one has pressed the "you can stop now" button

I would want to go that far. He wanted to take them of their perch and other than winning trophies he completely rebranded the club and took it into modern age. But post SAF United us quickly becoming 90s Liverpool.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Well no shit Sherlock. The result in an of it self wasn’t bad, it’s the fact that we’ve been served up this bollocks for the past 20 games.

Think that is what he's getting at in the last line. Yes under other circumstances the result wasn't bad, but the fact we had 0 shots on target and are not scoring. The fact that Ole was moaning about that penalty decision shows that he knows it as well to me.

 

[lemmiwink]

We actually did OK for a few minutes in the second half. Even created half a chance that should have counted as a shot on target.

de Gea did alright. I think Lindelof an Rojo did ok too. Our junior left back, however, was MotM for me. That worries me.....

 

[settembrini]

Very dull game.

Defensive players and GK were fine. The senior group in the middle of Matic, Fred and Mata who I guess were supposed to dominate and control the game all sucked and the young attackers were set-up horribly. A #10 on the left wing, a left winger as the striker and a striker on the right wing.

 

[Irrational.]

All that summer training and the pressing drills that Ole was banging on about really came to the fore. It's all about 1-0 vs the giants of Astana and Rochdale (at home), and avoiding defeats against high quality Dutch opposition away from home.

 

[future2future]

Europa league group is muck , Newcastle away with 50000 Geordies roaring after been hammered 5-0 last weekend takes priority.

Europa League is probably the only way we'll ever come close to CL

One big problem we'll be having soon is that top level players will start seeing United as a declining force with poor management. That can turn really bad quickly. It's the sure route to becoming and staying (for a long time)as a mid table team. To rub salt on injury, Liverpool is looking like they have turned their ship. These are tough days.

I don't think they'll start seeing. I think no big name player in his right mind will come here right now. Too much of a risk ruining your career. Only when a proven coach comes in who they want to play for and they get are guaranteed that there will be 5,6 new players will they even consider.

 

[Multatuli]

There's also quite a few people doubting them since the last few AZ talents didn't really step up when they moved to a bigger club. Either way, surely you can agree that Koopmeiners isn't as talented as Frenkie de Jong? Though I suppose you can't exactly call De Jong and Ajax kid since he actually learned the trade at Willem 2

I agree that Stengs should be in Holland's squad ahead of Bergwijn. I love Bergwijn, but I doubt he has a role to play in a team with Memphis as head striker.

This is a new generation of AZ talents, so if they make the right choices they have a good chance to get a good carreer. Frenkie De Jong and De Ligt aren't Ajax players anymore, so I didnt take them into account. When you look at the talents who play at Ajax and AZ only Vd Beek is ahead of them, but then don't forget the long injuries of Stengs (more then 1 year) and Boadu (allmost 2 years). Vd Beek played 149 matches for the first team, Stengs played 48 matches for the first team, Boadu played 27 matches for the first team. And also their age: Vd Beek 21 years old, Stengs 20 years old and Boadu 18 years old.

Manchester United played really bad yesterday. Offcourse it wasnt the first squad, the pitch was bad and United underestimated AZ. I am really looking forward to see the 2 teams playing again at Old Trafford. I guess United will play with a better team there and secure the win. For the AZ players this is a great experience. They will improve every game.

I wish you guys good luck in the league. Hope you improve fast. It hurts to see United like this.

 

[Buster15]

So you support both? So if Bristol rovers and united were to ever face each other in, say, a league cup match who would you support?

Definitely Manchester United. They have played eachother some years age at Old Trafford and United won which wad great. Bristol Rovers are my home team but Manchester United are the team that I love and have done so ever since the Munich disaster.

 

[KirkDuyt]

This is a new generation of AZ talents, so if they make the right choices they have a good chance to get a good carreer. Frenkie De Jong and De Ligt aren't Ajax players anymore, so I didnt take them into account. When you look at the talents who play at Ajax and AZ only Vd Beek is ahead of them, but then don't forget the long injuries of Stengs (more then 1 year) and Boadu (allmost 2 years). Vd Beek played 149 matches for the first team, Stengs played 48 matches for the first team, Boadu played 27 matches for the first team. And also their age: Vd Beek 21 years old, Stengs 20 years old and Boadu 18 years old.

Manchester United played really bad yesterday. Offcourse it wasnt the first squad, the pitch was bad and United underestimated AZ. I am really looking forward to see the 2 teams playing again at Old Trafford. I guess United will play with a better team there and secure the win. For the AZ players this is a great experience. They will improve every game.

I wish you guys good luck in the league. Hope you improve fast. It hurts to see United like this.

Ahh, yes, I didn't necesarrily mean the current Ajax kids. They currently don't have anyone that special from their academy in the first time apart from Vd Beek.

Also, I'm not a United fan, but as a Feyenoord fan your wishes to improve soon apply just as well

 

[arthurka]

Yep his signings but pretty sure Jose didn't dictate the prices. Plus, Matic had a solid first season with us IMO and weren't City pursuing Fred at one point too?

Who knows, but you could see straight away that Matic was slow as a tanker andd has gotten even slower and Fred didn't fit anything even if City wanted him. He didn't hit a pass yesterday and lost the ball all the time. Shit how bad this midfield is.