Rangnick won't be gone in 6 months though
Rate our January window
- Thread starter Bastian
- Start date
Grading has to be relative, not absolute. Of course we would all like to have brought in Declan Rice, for example. But there was no way that was going to happen, even if we put $100m on the table.
Despite playing rather shit football for almost all of this season we're somehow in fourth place. We're not going to miss the players we loaned out, so the grading has to come down to who we failed to bring in. Who could we realistically have brought in that would have made a difference between us getting fourth and getting fifth?
No one, in truth. And we are all almost 100% sure of is that Ralf will not be manager after the end of this season. No name of any real consequence is going to sign for us not knowing who our new manager will be.
What I'll he looking for is who among our younger players will be called into first team duty. Hopefully a few such as Hannibal. That's a lot more enticing to me than bringing in a journeyman footballer right now.
0/10. Should have fought to keep Martial at the club. he left because he needed to play and wasn't going to fight a losing battle with Ronaldo. Simply guaranteeing more playing time would have done the job in a Worldcup year.
To those saying there was nobody worth bringing in, this just illustrates how short sighted the club is run (and has been for a decade).
Look at Liverpool and City. They had a quiet window, but both secured a player they had been closely following for years and see as an asset for the future. Just because there's no ready-made solution to our gaps, doesn't mean we should just sit back and wait for the summer.
We'll probably spend big on Rice, try and fail to get Haaland and then make some last-minute buys to appease fans. The season will start with a lot of optimism, but soon the old issues will rear their head and come New Year's Day everybody will be wondering why we're still miles of City.
I could be wrong, but I don't see this window as part of a shrewd plan to go big in the summer and offload our overpaid dead weight... Just more complacency.
Look at Liverpool and City. They had a quiet window, but both secured a player they had been closely following for years and see as an asset for the future. Just because there's no ready-made solution to our gaps, doesn't mean we should just sit back and wait for the summer.
We'll probably spend big on Rice, try and fail to get Haaland and then make some last-minute buys to appease fans. The season will start with a lot of optimism, but soon the old issues will rear their head and come New Year's Day everybody will be wondering why we're still miles of City.
I could be wrong, but I don't see this window as part of a shrewd plan to go big in the summer and offload our overpaid dead weight... Just more complacency.
If we do in face bring in Rice this summer, would that be a massively greater strengthening of the squad than bringing in someone right now who would have been at best cover for Fred and McTominay?
This is what we've been reduced to: celebrating the non-acquisition of shit players.
But wasn't the whole point of Rangnick that he was to be a part of our rebuild moving forward, both as an interim coach now and then part of the management tasked with putting together a coherent vision? And if so, then why not trust him to bring in players that can help now and be part of the future? If he's only an interim and nothing more, tasked only with focusing on short-term success, then surely there were better coaching options to bring in.
I don't buy that. A promising player plying his trade for a club in France or Germany (or any other league for that matter) is not going to turn his nose up at the chance to play for Manchester United, and all the attendant financial rewards that come with playing for such a club.
It is complete disaster. We have no fighting chance without a proper defensive midfielder. Everybody has known that for a while now, and yet our board threw the season away. I am quite shocked.
I’m not shocked, which is the saddest part, in my opinion.
Before the window opened, Ralf said (explicitly) that the squad is more than big enough, that he is not focused on transfers and that signing new players only makes sense if they are obvious, long-term upgrades.
It was also said by more credible sources than the Daily Mail et al (who now peddle the story that he's "frustrated" ) that the club were prepared to back Ralf if he decided that bringing someone in was necessary - but that United were mainly concerned with trimming the squad, i.e. with outgoing rather than incoming players.
In other words, based on what we know (and/or can be reasonably sure about), there is no reason to think that Ralf has been denied anything.
It was also said by more credible sources than the Daily Mail et al (who now peddle the story that he's "frustrated" ) that the club were prepared to back Ralf if he decided that bringing someone in was necessary - but that United were mainly concerned with trimming the squad, i.e. with outgoing rather than incoming players.
In other words, based on what we know (and/or can be reasonably sure about), there is no reason to think that Ralf has been denied anything.
7/10
Got rid of players underperforming to other clubs on loan so they can be recalled in case the new manager will be satisfied with the performance displayed.
All in all, other than the Greenwood disaster it was the best transfer window an interim manager like Ralf Ragnick could've hoped for. Too many people here are thinking with their emotions instead of using their heads.
Got rid of players underperforming to other clubs on loan so they can be recalled in case the new manager will be satisfied with the performance displayed.
All in all, other than the Greenwood disaster it was the best transfer window an interim manager like Ralf Ragnick could've hoped for. Too many people here are thinking with their emotions instead of using their heads.
Perhaps, but it’s widely known how United mistreated Donny Van De Beek, a brilliant young player who excelled in the CL for Ajax. How many promising young players would have rushed to the front of the queue for that kind of treatment?
Amad and Pellistri…promising young players, but where are they now?
And if we’re interested in promising young players, we should be thinking about our own promising young players. Hannibal and Garner are ready to be given a proper chance with the first team.
The first team doesn’t need promising young players to be brought in through transfers. We have promising young players. It needs proven players to walk into the starting XI.
2/10
At least we didn't overpay for a panic buy.
At least we didn't overpay for a panic buy.
Not surprised or unduly disappointed that we didn't bring in a Midfielder.
When we eventually do sign a Midfielder, it has to be a truly outstanding player, not just another half arse squad option, so I personally don't mind waiting until the Summer for the right recruit.
Having said that, it feels delusional if we think we are going to sign Rice or Bellingham, and if we can't sign our top targets, then we might just have well have recruited someone in January..?!?!
There is also the factor, that the new permanent manager is going to want to bring in his own players, and might not fancy whoever came in.
Imagine spending £40 million on a highly rated MF and then never playing him....
Nowhere near enough effort put into Outgoings as per usual.
All out on loans, meaning they will all come back at the end of the season, and the same issues come back with them, as we 'give them one more chance to prove themselves'...
When we eventually do sign a Midfielder, it has to be a truly outstanding player, not just another half arse squad option, so I personally don't mind waiting until the Summer for the right recruit.
Having said that, it feels delusional if we think we are going to sign Rice or Bellingham, and if we can't sign our top targets, then we might just have well have recruited someone in January..?!?!
There is also the factor, that the new permanent manager is going to want to bring in his own players, and might not fancy whoever came in.
Imagine spending £40 million on a highly rated MF and then never playing him....
Nowhere near enough effort put into Outgoings as per usual.
All out on loans, meaning they will all come back at the end of the season, and the same issues come back with them, as we 'give them one more chance to prove themselves'...
all good points, but I seriously doubt someone like Ruben Neves, who I’d place in the proven category, would reject the chance to join United.
Zakaria was available for 5m and Bruno Guimares for 30m. Not signing any of them is a bit of a gamble with a CL spot worth around 100m at stake. I prefer to play it safe. But if Ralf does not rate any of them then it is better to save the money. If the board stopped any of these signings then it is a screaming 0/10.
I would rather pay 30m for Bruno than 100m for Rice, but I agree that he was not available now and I doubt we can afford him in the summer.
I'm so glad that not only did we not strengthen the team, we weakened it.
Who needs trophies? CL qualification will be the next thing chalked off.
Who needs trophies? CL qualification will be the next thing chalked off.