Summer Clear Out 2016

[facund]

Carrick, Rooney and Fellaini. Valdes is a given.

Sure they all have something to offer in one way or another but if we continue to squeeze them in to the team they are only going to hold back any sort of progression/improvement or new era at the club. That is particularly true for Carrick and Rooney who have failed miserably to provide consistency, leadership or carry through any of the winning mentality and culture/standards that previously existed at the club. Fellaini is like a blunt pair of scissors, they'll do a job of sorts but the result will never look particularly pleasing.

There are a fair few other players that I would get rid of if they weren't happy being squad/back-up players. I'm very dubious about Rojo and Darmian considering they are established international players and Jones is only fit every second full moon (even though I don't think he is as bad as some make out when he is fit).

Really surprised about the amount wanting Young out. He is no world beater but he is one of the few that have stepped up during the LVG era and provides a solid if somewhat unspectacular squad option in a variety of positions. Valencia is much the same but less versatile and a more than satisfactory back-up RB.

 

[gza the genius]

Easier to list who go get rid of, I'd say:

Rooney
Fellaini
Jones
Carrick
Young

 

[Fer]

I think most of the players are going to stay and we are going to sign 3 or 4 players. Also, I cannot see Rooney leaving. But if you want to offload a lot of players and sign quality ones, this is what I would do:

First, we need a new manager. Then, I would like to see this squad where I mix young talents with experienced players.

We could be able to play 433/4231/442. Also it's big enough for the 4 competitions. Let's not forget that some players are versatile enough to play in more than one position.

GK: De Gea, Romero
RB: Darmian, Varela
CB: Smalling, Laporte, Rojo, Fosu-Mensah
LB: Shaw, Bo-Jack
CDM: Schneiderlin, Blind
CM: Gundogan, Schweinsteiger
CAM: Herrera, Pereira
RW: Mahrez, Januzaj
LW: Martial, Memphis
SS: Griezmann, Rooney
ST: Ibrahimovic, Rashford

Other options for position (Plan B):
CB. Laporte/Stones/Marquinhos
CM. Gundogan/Kroos/Pjanic
RW. Mahrez/Sane/Moura
10. Griezmann/James/Barkley
ST. Ibrahimovic/Kane/Lukaku

IN: Laporte, Gundogan, Mahrez, Griezmann and Ibrahimovic (free).
OUT: Valdes, Jones, Blackett, Valencia, Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, Young, Lingard and Powell.

In 1 year when Schweinsteiger, Rooney and Ibrahimovic don't continue. I would go for a young CM like Neves, Tielemans, Bazoer or Sanches. And I would sign a striker like Kane, Dybala or Lukaku.

 

[Parry Gallister]

Going by who I'd like shipping out. Though doubt much of it is possible/actually the right thing to do.

Carrick

Jones (who I also like a lot) may end up being an Evans case, not getting enough use out of him due to injury and though in fairness he hasn't had a run to build up form, hasn't looked great when he's played. Need a new CB as it is, if he do sell him it'll have to be two

Fellaini's had his moments but I want a new midfielder, defensive midfielder and striker (2 strikers and losing Rooney would be better). We really shouldn't have to rely on him to be a utility man. in reality we probably will have to though.

Rooney, but we won't be able to sell. Still has great streaks but they're too far apart.

Not sure if McNair, Blackett and Love have what it takes but they're young enough to have another season, haven't seen enough of Will Keane and he's 23 so no longer a young kid, bad run of injuries too, would be sad for him not to get a shot but you'd imagine he may be heading to a crossroads in his time here.


Can't see us being able to replace all of those players and fill the existing gaps in the squad mind. The impact on the team and gelling in new players in yet another period of transition is an issue and I have real doubts in our ability to buy quality anyway. Asking for 2 x CB, 1 CDM, 1 CM, 1 Winger and 2 strikers in one window is impossible

As much as I've supported Van Gaal this looks to have been his biggest failing, unless the kids really step up and take over if he was actually brought in to rebuild, it hasn't happened at all fast enough.

 

[kundalini]

Out: Rooney, Mata, Fellaini, Valencia, Carrick

In: perhaps 2 or 3. Prefer to give younger talent (Januzaj, Wilson, Pereira) a genuine chance.

 

[NoLogo]

We have too many senior players in the squad who seem to lack the hunger to achieve anything anymore. I simply have no other explanation why senior members of the squad are the ones letting us down the most while our young and hungry players are still willing to put up a fight at least.

Seems like two seasons wasn't enough to ship out the dead wood.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Aftee today's gutless performance it's got me thinking about just how much deadwood we have in our squad. Some were already here before LVG so this isn't another LVG thread bashing. Some have been good servants to the club but over recent months have contributed to our poor form.

People have to stop using the term "deadwood". At some point the fans need to accept that we have chopped most of the tree down and are calling most of the perfectly capable branches "deadwood". You don't cut the rotted wood out of your back deck and then go "oh well I got rid of the dead wood" when the whole thing collapses.

I also find it really odd that after your OP is stating a " gutless" performance, the first thing most posters are doing is saying "get rid of Fellaini and Young" two of the only two players in the squad that have consistently shown they look like they give a flying rats about playing for the shirt despite the fans thinking they are the shittest players in the world.

The squad as you put it, is completely threadbare as it is. Getting rid of more players now when there is still room to register 5 senior players would just be so daft it is unheard of. We need to wait and see whether LVG gets the boot and whoever comes in actually fills the squad back up. If LVG stays and continues on his "small squad" rubbish then we are well and truly bollocksed.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Not sure why so many are hell bent on selling Young, IIRC he negotiated a pay cut to stay at the club, loves the fans and he was probably our best player before he was overextended and injured.

 

[buckooo1978]

Not sure why so many are hell bent on selling Young, IIRC he negotiated a pay cut to stay at the club, loves the fans and he was probably our best player before he was overextended and injured.

Not to mention his versatility as he can play either side in defence or attack

He will stay

 

[Billy Blaggs]

Not to mention his versatility as he can play either side in defence or attack

He will stay

I vote stay.

 

[Lurpak99]

GK: De Gea, Romero
RB: Darmian, Varela
CB: Smalling, Laporte, Rojo, Fosu-Mensah
LB: Shaw, Bo-Jack
CDM: Schneiderlin, Blind
CM: Gundogan, Schweinsteiger
CAM: Herrera, Pereira
RW: Mahrez, Januzaj
LW: Martial, Memphis
SS: Griezmann, Rooney
ST: Ibrahimovic, Rashford

Are you sure there isn't too many English players in that squad?

 

[foolsgold]

The obvious ones that almost no one disputes are

Jones , nearly always injured, on the rare occasion he plays he's a total bombscare

Fellaini, the lad has tried his heart out, don't blame him at all, but he's just not a Manchester United player.

Rooney, 300k a week and adds nothing to the team at all, will only be worse next year.

Carrick, 10 years of greatness, I adore him, but the physical aspect just isn't there any more.

Young, time has just caught up on him.

Valencia, as with young

In addition I've never taken to Rojo personally, I don't even understand his best position, doesn't fill me with confidence in the middle or out left. Darmian has a lot to prove, I think we give him another year, there was enough there at the start of the season. Surprised to see people wanting Lingard sold, i think he's earned another year.

What we need is a striker, a right back, a central defender and a versatile winger

 

[DomesticTadpole]

@Mister_Stubbs you're probably half right about some players, but I can't imagine that the Glazers will give the green light to another major clear out this year. And I don't think they would be willing to give LvG the money needed to bring in replacements again. We can't go and add another 6 new players again this year. We'll probably see much the same squad next year as we are seeing now, maybe 1 or 2 moved on, but I don't think they will be the players people will be expecting...

Rooney and Carrick could be used in much the same way as Giggs and Scholes were used towards the end of their career. They don't have it in the tank to play every week and would benefit from that I think.

Fellaini needs to be shipped, not good enough. Jones needs to be moved on because we need a defender we can rely on. The rest will probably get a free ticket to next season based on injuries this year unfortunately.

Not sure Rooney will do that. He wants to be the main man, for that to happen he will have to lose the captaincy.

 

[Gopher Brown]

This sort of thread always comes up after a loss, but the key reason our season has turned to shite is the lack of depth. Yes, it's partly that the players are underperforming, but it's mainly a lack of options. Getting rid of half the squad will not improve that.

We need to add 3-4 quality players.

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

We only have a few players who we should be getting rid of really its players in we desperately need.

Out -
Fellaini
Rooney although he is going yo be hard to shift
Possibly Carrick

In -
A fullback
One centre back who is a proven starter
Another Young central defender who can rotate.
Winger who can play on the right of of quality
Striker of top class (Lukaku, Auba etc)

 

[dogwithabone]

I think a bigger issue is who comes in. A lot of players mentioned as those to be discarded are basically very good footballers who could flourish in a team sprinkled with more stardust. The likes of Schniederlin, Herrera, Depay etc are buckling under the weight of expectancy. They'd be great foils in a team that had more leaders in terms of talent and character but don't think they will ever be the sort of players to lead from the front.

 

[Eugenius]

A lot of embarrassing posts here to be honest. It's not football manager, yeah why not get rid of Rooney and Carrick our two most experienced players and gut the team of the English core. I can half understand Rooney given he's on big wages and would expect to start every game but Carrick? What good is it to sell him on a free, good luck getting a better back up midfielder that won't cost a bomb. Let's get rid of Darmian too, because you must be crap if you can't adjust from coming from a low tempo league automatically.

I'm not convinced we actually need to be doing that much radical overhauling tbf. We need probably a CB, RW and an attacker (no 10 or no 9). Our squad isn't that big anymore. In terms of players getting significant game time that don't really fit into our team and would actually raise money if sold then Fellaini and Mata are there. If we sign a CB then I'd want us to get rid of Rojo probably too and have CBJ and Shaw for LB. Maybe getting rid of one of Valencia and Young given they play the same role. I'd probably lean more towards Valencia going.

 

[2 man midfield]

It will go nothing like we think provided we do see a change of manager. He'll want a look at them himself, which is fair enough since I don't think there's very much wrong with the players, but how they're being asked to play. The squad is very thin anyway, I'd be inclined to hang on to most and just make some signings. Valdes and Fellaini are the only ones I'd lose.

 

[Danish Wizard]

I would sell/release:
Phil Jones, Michael Carrick, Victor Valdes, Sergio Romero, Marouane Fellaini, Antonio Valencia, Donald Love, Will Keane, Ashley Young.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

The sad thing is I actually wouldn't be fussed if anyone was moved on from this squad, Barring De Gea and Martial.

If it was up to me, I'd definitely move on:

- Jones
- Lingard
- Carrick
- Rooney (Possibly)
- Valencia
- Fellaini

 

[anant]

Just Fellaini and Valencia.
Would tell Rooney and Carick that they'd be getting lesser playing time so its up to them whether they want to stay or go.
Tell Jones that he is having 1 final season to prove himself and his fitness

 

[Lurpak99]

If I could get it my way, and still keep it somewhat realistic, our squad next season would look like this:

1. De Gea
2. Varela
3. Borthwick-Jackson
4. Schneiderlin
5. Rojo
6. Laporte
7. Memphis
8. Mata
9. Kane
10. Rooney
11. Martial
12. Smalling
13. J. Pereira
14. McNair
15. Fosu-Mensah
16. Alli
17. Blind
18. Young
19. Wilson
20. Romero
21. Herrera
22. Riley
23. Shaw
24. Tuanzebe
25. Valencia
26. Mahrez
27. Lingard
28. A. Pereira
29. Rashford
30. Goss
31. Schweinsteiger
32. Rothwell
33. Poole
34. Henderson
35. Weir
36. Darmian

OUT: Jones, Januzaj, Carrick, Powell, Fellaini, Love, Blackett, Keane, Johnstone, Valdes

 

[JPRouve]

This sort of thread always comes up after a loss, but the key reason our season has turned to shite is the lack of depth. Yes, it's partly that the players are underperforming, but it's mainly a lack of options. Getting rid of half the squad will not improve that.

We need to add 3-4 quality players.

The depth is a good excuse, at full strength we play like shit too. The main problem is that the manager never built a team, we are not cohesive and the roster is inferior to the sum of its parts.

 

[B20]

whoever comes in will most likely back himself to revitalise rooney, so there's a new project coming up there.

even moreso with Mourinho who wanted him at chelsea and thought he could get falcao back on track.

nevermind the fact that there are literally no buyers who him.

 

[RedPed]

whoever comes in will most likely back himself to revitalise rooney, so there's a new project coming up there.

even moreso with Mourinho who wanted him at chelsea and thought he could get falcao back on track.

nevermind the fact that there are literally no buyers who him.

I'm sure there would be an overpaid home for him somewhere in China?

This is the problem. So many people are now prepared to accept medicrority in the squad rather than go out for absolute quality which is what a club like Manchester United should be doing if they want to complete with the likes of Barca, Bayern, Real, PSG etc.

That being said though...I would wait to see what a new manager could do first. Leicester have proved that you don't necessarily need big names to put together a winning team. But the likes of Carrick, Rooney an Fellaini have to go....please!

 

[BennyBlanco]

whoever comes in will most likely back himself to revitalise rooney, so there's a new project coming up there.

even moreso with Mourinho who wanted him at chelsea and thought he could get falcao back on track.

nevermind the fact that there are literally no buyers who him.

Back when he wanted to buy Rooney, it didn't appear 100% certain he was on a downward decline for the past several seasons prior, where its quite clear now, for anyone who watches us reguarly over the past 3 years.
Anyway, Ive no idea, you may be right but you'd assume we'd bring in another no.9 for backup at worst.

On a seperate note, no idea why everyone wants to get rid of young, hes been one of our most consistent performers over the past 2 years and versatile in several positions, Would rather we get rid of the serial underperformers and perma crocks stealing a living first eh?.
Not that I'd sell that many anyway, we've barely any depth as it is, bringing in 4-5 decent players on top of what we have and then decide to who to bin the following summer would be a smarter choice.

 

[dcullivanio]

Fellaini for sure. Wouldn't be disappointed to see Rooney leave either. Young and Valencia have had their time (despite Young's upturn under LVG). Wouldn't mind if Young had another season, but if he goes I won't shed any tears!

I'd happily see the back of Rojo. I don't think he's good enough to be our CB and we have a better LB in Shaw with CBJ as a young, capable, local understudy.

I'd keep Jones for at least one more year for one last shot. IF he can overcome his injury problems he could be a good player for us. But it's a big IF. Smalling turned it around so hopefully Jones can too.

 

[Smores]

Not sure why so many are hell bent on selling Young, IIRC he negotiated a pay cut to stay at the club, loves the fans and he was probably our best player before he was overextended and injured.

The muppets always want to trim our squad players. They probably join in with complaints about our lack of depth at the same time.

I'd get rid of Rooney to get his wages of our books but that's it. We need to get quality in before we ship anyone out, whether that's better players or youth replacing what the squad players offer.

 

[paulscholes18]

Outs
Rooney
Mata
Valencia
Young
Carrick
Fellaini

GK
DDG
Romero

RB
Darmian
Varela

CB
Smalling
Blind
Jones
Rojo

LB
Shaw
CBJ

CM
Morgan
Bastian
Herrera
Pereira

RW
Lingard
Januzaj

LW
Memphis


ST
Martial
Rashford

 

[Annihilate Now!]

I would like our squad to get bigger, not smaller.

If Carrick thinks he's done I would let go of him, otherwise I'd keep everyone and buy 3 or 4 new players.

 

[Amethyst]

The muppets always want to trim our squad players. They probably join in with complaints about our lack of depth at the same time.

I'd get rid of Rooney to get his wages of our books but that's it. We need to get quality in before we ship anyone out, whether that's better players or youth replacing what the squad players offer.

This is a very important point. Of the players I listed on the previous page the only ones I get rid of straight away are Fellaini, Powell, Blackett and Valdes. The others listed are all on the basis we can bring in a quality replacements in the CB, RB, DM/CM, RW and CF positions, if we can't then that's a failure on the club's part but we shouldn't just chuck them for the sake of it.

 

[waza7111]

Rooney - Past it
Mata - Because I want us to play 4-3-3
Valencia - Due to his age
Young - Same
Fellaini - Not a United type player
Jones - Constantly injured

keep everyone else apart from a few youth players who probably aren't good enough. Sign a centre back, central midfielder, right winger and striker. I think Carrick would be useful in a 4-3-3 behind two box to box midfielders. I can understand people saying keep Young and Valencia but both will be 31 at the start of next season which is quite old for the positions they play in. I would rather give opportunities to younger players like Varela, Pereira, Rashford, TFM, Riley, Januzaj, CBJ, Memphis.

​

 

[thegregster]

We have the option of another year with Valdes. So the new manager might prefer him to Romero as the backup.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'd only get rid of the following:

LVG
Rooney
Valencia
Young

And bolster our attack as it is short on both numbers and quality.

It would make sense to keep Young if our first choice attackers are as average as they presently are but I'd like that scenario to change, and the likes of Periera and Januzaj to get more games.

I'd also consider letting Mata go but only IF we can get a really top class AM/second striker such as James, Isco or Griezmann. I don't think Mata is ideal and we'd be better off having someone with more strength and running power in that role, but he isn't a huge problem that needs fixing so if we don't have an upgrade available, it isn't an issue.

For me, most of our problems lie in how we attack:

1. Our front 4 genuinely doesn't have the sort of quality it should. Memphis and Martial are 'yong and learnin' and Januzaj might make it but will again take time if does do so. Lingard is just about competent for this level and little more. Rooney is well past it.

2. Our fullbacks are too often very poor in attack. Shaw, CBJ and Varela help, but Darmian and Rojo must also contribute when they play. Two fullbacks who can't burst forward and provide width and a good cross at the same time completely ruins us.

3. One midfielder who can bomb forward would be great and could add a new dimension to our team, but at the same time, there's no reason why Herrera and co. should be so poor at it. Has to be worked on.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

It depends on who the next manager is going to be but if we're going to continue with LvG and generally stick with what seems to be our plan A (the creation of a possession team), we'll more or less need a whole new first xi. It's pure madness to believe that we'll create a top possession team with Schneiderlin-Herrera in the midfield and Rooney-Mata up front. And that's my main problem with LvG at the moment.

Another manager, one who will try to get the best out of these players and try to utilize them to their strengths instead of trying to implement his methods to players who aren't good enough to follow them, will need to sign less players. Not to immediately challenge for the title but to ensure that the club will be there fighting with the other big boys in the league and in Europe.

But we will still need to inject some of the things that we severely lack right now: experience, leadership, composure and intelligence. We need quality players who will carry the team on their shoulders when the going gets tough and help the team turn one point to three or save a point when a defeat seems certain. The only player who can offer that now, week in and week out, is DDG. No wonder he is considered the only world class player in our first team. Don't get me wrong, not world class prospect but one of the very best in his position in the world right now.

Until that happens or until we see what these players can do under different manager and different tactics, i don't think it's wise to write anyone off. We may not have many good all around players but we do have players who are good at one or two things and good potentially prove to be quite useful for the next manager. We don't have a functioning midfield but we have an inexhaustible steam engine in Morgan, a player who is good at pressing high on the pitch and making late runs in the box (Herrera), a very strong and physical player in Fellaini, excellent passing range (Carrick) and leadership skills (Bastian). Just because LvG doesn't know how to make good use of them, it doesn't mean that no one can. We'll still need to ship off some and sign a few new ones to make them click together as a unit but we can't and we shouldn't let go of everyone until we are sure we know what we want to achieve.

 

[anant]

GK: De Gea, Valdes/New GK, JP/DH

CB: Smalling, *Rojo/New CB, Williams, CBJ, Tuanzebe
FB: Darmian, *Rojo/New LB, Shaw, Mensah

CM: Morgan/New CM, Herrera, Bastian, Goss, Pereira
CAM: Mata, Januzaj

RW: New RW, Wilson
LW: New LW, Martial
ST: Rooney, Depay, Rashford

Romero, Johnstone, Jones, McNair, Blackett, Riley, Love, Varela, Carrick, Fellaini, Blind, Rothwell, Weir, Valencia, Young, Lingard, Powell, Keane, Fletcher can retire, be sold or drop back to the U21s.

Fletcher?

 

[itso 7]

Rooney,
Valencia,
Jones and
Rojo
mainly because I feel Rooney is not pulling his weight for a 300k/wk player, though I doubt whether the club has the balls to chuck him out. Valencia it's a quality issue and I feel that with Varela, Darmian (who would be on borrowed time should he fail next season) and TFM as cover in his position. Jones, how long can we wait fot him outgrow his fitness issues? Rojo - quality and fitness, he is not that good the few times that he is fit and with Shaw and CBJ around we are covered there whilst I fully expect us to sign two CBs.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Fletcher?

Think he mean Ashley that is on loan at Barnsley.

 

[Ødegaard]

1. LvG.

The rest should be kept, and we should bring in a good amount of players so we're not stripped to the bare bones.
Yes. Even Fellaini.

 

[Smores]

This is a very important point. Of the players I listed on the previous page the only ones I get rid of straight away are Fellaini, Powell, Blackett and Valdes. The others listed are all on the basis we can bring in a quality replacements in the CB, RB, DM/CM, RW and CF positions, if we can't then that's a failure on the club's part but we shouldn't just chuck them for the sake of it.

Even then I want us to have a ridiculous amount of cover going into next season. We can't afford for injuries to affect us next season, the longer our struggles go on the more damaging it is.

I've never really understood why people want rid of players just because they don't like/rate them. The club won't defer from signing quality because we already have Young and Valencia.

I want rid of Rooney as he won't be happy as a squad player but he's not good enough to start. The players listed by others here would be happy to be in the tea room as long as they get to stay.