The “Ole In” Brigade

[Number32]

Signing AWB and Maguire still doesn't look like it's going to be much of a boon in the long term.

The idea of this transfer was replacing Young, Rojo, and Smalling who weren't good enough for us. Ole has to replace them with a better player with a physically and mentally strong in english football, but the option was really short in the market. It's not his fault when we bought them overpriced, because Woodward and his team did the negotiation.

He couldn't make a gamble to buy promising young defenders due to lack of leadership in our defense, and most of them are injury prone. Klopp actually did the same thing with VVD and had been very consistent for them before his injury. The problem is no one like VVD in the mid-table premiere league clubs at the time, so signing Maguire and AWB was still a good choice to build a team in the long term. Maybe Maguire and AWB are not world class, but they can fill the gap to steady our defense until we get the time to invest on world class defenders. Or they might improving when they have competitors on their position with the same/higher quality.

 

[Longshanks]

Signing AWB and Maguire still doesn't look like it's going to be much of a boon in the long term.

Maguire will be a starting CB for the next 4-5 seasons as long as he stays injury free, and I would imagine A.W.B will be in and around the first team for the next 5 seasons and depending on how he develops possibly longer. So I'm not sure where your going with that?

 

[Lentwood]

Didn’t Jose’s team finish second? Like 2 years ago? So you could say he’s brought in 4 players to a second placed team and now they are top? Half glass empty/half glass full.

Jose finished 2nd, you can't dispute that was a good achievement (something I steadfastly argued at the time)...but we all know we were never in a title race, we finished 19pts behind City. Plus, we all know what happened the following season. Weren't we something like 7th or 8th by December?

This time, regardless of whether we win it or not (we won't) it feels more sustainable. IF we can finish we 6/7pts of the top, I believe Pogba will sign another contract and we'll bring in 2/3 more quality players in the Summer. With the general age profile of the squad, these lads probably have 5/6 more years together and we also have the luxury of knowing that we have players like Greenwood, Menghi, Pellestri, Hannibal, Garner, Williams, Malanga and Diallo all still very young and developing.

I feel like we are 100% going in the right direction

 

[wolvored]

To be fair the pre-Bruno form last year was with Pogba injured and Rashford/Martial both having time out injured, and we had no replacements.

We were playing Periera/Lingard as number 10 who contributed nothing, if we'd had Pogba fit and given him that free attacking midfield role instead of Lingard/Periera we'd have been much better off. If we'd have had Cavani to come in when Rashford/Martial were injured that would have been a big difference too. We've also signed VDB so again a lot more covered in cases of injuries which we weren't last year.

Yes, but then you look at the stats, the goals, the assists Bruno has brought to the side. The rest are way behind and thats why I said if Bruno missed 5-6 games would the rest be able to pick up the slack? At the moment I am not sure.

 

[Raveneye]

We turned a corner with the Bruno transfer and since then we have done well, but not won anything yet. My fly in the ointment would be if Bruno missed a few games. Are we a one man team or would we cope? I still have doubts.

This is why I'd be very happy if Pogba ultimately chose to sign a new contract despite his shameless agent. Pogba is nowhere near as consistent as Fernandes, but with the flexibility and increasing capability of the players around him he can take on that matchwinning role when Fernandes isn't fit. The mentality obviously won't be the same as nobody in the team is as mentally strong as Bruno, but I don't think we become utterly reliant on Rashford for attack again if Fernandes gets injured.

 

[Counterfactual]

I wish I knew what Pogba was thinking right now.

I had assumed his up-tick in form was due to putting himself in the shop window for a transfer. But I'm not sure many clubs have the cash to buy him and pay his wages in the current market.

Is it possible that his competitive instincts have come out, now that Bruno is taking the plaudits, and Donny is sitting on the bench as an understudy?

Does he now want to play for a team which looks like it'll challenge for honours?

What happens to Pogba will either hinder or help Ole. Yes, Ole could mitigate for Pogba leaving, but Pogba staying and performing well would be a huge boon.

 

[Tom Cato]

I know of Liverpool fans over at RAWK who speaks of our manager in more flattering terms than some posters in this thread.

 

[Mainoldo]

Jose finished 2nd, you can't dispute that was a good achievement (something I steadfastly argued at the time)...but we all know we were never in a title race, we finished 19pts behind City. Plus, we all know what happened the following season. Weren't we something like 7th or 8th by December?

This time, regardless of whether we win it or not (we won't) it feels more sustainable. IF we can finish we 6/7pts of the top, I believe Pogba will sign another contract and we'll bring in 2/3 more quality players in the Summer. With the general age profile of the squad, these lads probably have 5/6 more years together and we also have the luxury of knowing that we have players like Greenwood, Menghi, Pellestri, Hannibal, Garner, Williams, Malanga and Diallo all still very young and developing.

I feel like we are 100% going in the right direction

I understand but I don’t agree with certain aspects. Yes the season was what it was.. but we was comfortably The best of the rest. Did we have momentum to win the league the season after? Probably not.. as Liverpool had real good momentum. Jose failed because he threw his toys out the pram and nothing else. If we had backed him he probably would have got closer to City... But they and Liverpool had another incredible season and I doubt Willian and Boateng would have given us those extra points.

I like what Ole had built. It is literally the same team but what he’s done is put faith in the right players.. that’s the difference. Do I see us having enough even with a good transfer window to win the league under him? No!! But I’m sure we can all hope and get behind him this season to try and maybe sneak a league. Our toxic fan base needs it.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

The best thing about this current position (hyperbole, obviously: it's not literally the best thing) is that it should at least shut up the clowns who've been hanging off of Jose's every word for the last couple of years about his second place finish in 2018 being some sort of managerial miracle.

He had what most bookies agreed was the second-best squad in the league that year (Liverpool began it without Van Dijk and didn't have Fabinho and Alisson either), and he got it to second place after positively limping to the finish line. Which he pulled off despite playing some utterly shite football, largely on the back of De Gea having one of the best seasons a goalkeeper's ever had.

Ole's taken that same squad plus two decent players and one top quality one (as top quality as they come to be fair) to the top of the league. Completely shown the toxic bastard up, while he's still up to his usual shit throwing his Spurs players under the bus every time they drop points.

 

[ShoePolish]

I wish I knew what Pogba was thinking right now.

I had assumed his up-tick in form was due to putting himself in the shop window for a transfer. But I'm not sure many clubs have the cash to buy him and pay his wages in the current market.

Is it possible that his competitive instincts have come out, now that Bruno is taking the plaudits, and Donny is sitting on the bench as an understudy?

Does he now want to play for a team which looks like it'll challenge for honours?

What happens to Pogba will either hinder or help Ole. Yes, Ole could mitigate for Pogba leaving, but Pogba staying and performing well would be a huge boon.

Thing is, it wasn't the first time his agent had done something like this, and yet again, he's had couple of good games (respect where it's due), and opinions start to split, but we just can't fall for this again. I'd love to think that clubs mind with him is already set in 1 direction, whether it's sticking with him or letting him go, but you just can't start unsettling the team, like his agent did, at a crucial time like that, or have his brother start mouthing off like last season.
If he gives us a massive push towards title challenge this season, great, but when summer comes - you wanted out - adios. If he wants to stay, change your agent or insert a penalty clause in his next contract, where he's docked 2 months wages any time, his family member, his agent, his cat or anyone remotely close to him speaks publicly in a negative or unsettling way about the club or anyone related.

 

[lRed]

It's not all about the results...there are other things managers should be measured.

I wanted Moyes sacked in his first season because of his squad building and backroom changes,

LVG was so dire I wanted him go immediately due to his boring football,

Mourinho fiasco in his 3rd season.

Solskjaer is different. What he did with the team you can see it's for the better and the long term.

Thank you.

 

[GMoore23]

Unbeaten away from home in the league for a year. We've just equalled our Premier League unbeaten away record held previously by our treble winning side.
We'll hammer Sheffield UTD and break the record in our next game.
OLE AT THE WHEEL!!!!!

 

[Sultan]

Unbeaten away from home in the league for a year. We've just equalled our Premier League unbeaten away record held previously by our treble winning side.
We'll hammer Sheffield UTD and break the record in our next game.
OLE AT THE WHEEL!!!!!

Is the game not at Old Trafford?

 

[charlenefan]

10 points better off now from the subsequent games from last season (substituting Watford away for Fulham away)

 

[croadyman]

I know Talksport gets stick on here but just wanted to say there were a couple of callers on it tonight who brought a real lump to my throat when they thanked Ole & the team for helping them through a difficult time. The first was a guy who remembered going mad when Ole scored the winner in 1999 and he went outside and bumped into these bullies who sent him on a downward spiral with his mental health. The second was an old lady who lost her sight in 1968 just a few months after we won the European Cup and has only been out three times since last March but the football has really helped to lift her spirits. I just wanted to share these two stories because I think it really puts things into perspective and certainly made me feel very lucky to support this great club.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Unbeaten away from home in the league for a year. We've just equalled our Premier League unbeaten away record held previously by our treble winning side.
We'll hammer Sheffield UTD and break the record in our next game.
OLE AT THE WHEEL!!!!!

It’s at Old Trafford. Fecking newbies and their pre ejac.

 

[Andrew Richmond]

Ole inherited a really tough gig. Did well enough to be given the managers job full time and even if things aren’t perfect he is a breath of fresh air in many respects. I love his honesty and integrity. I think he has done remarkably well all things considered. Top of the league, long way to go but in a really difficult time generally he somehow finds a way of getting results even if the performance of the team isn’t always as we would hope. In the second half of this season he somehow needs to find a way to get Martial, Rashford & Greenwood playing well and scoring again. If he can achieve this anything is possible, but he needs his attackers firing and playing much better than they are currentl.y.

 

[devilish]

The idea of this transfer was replacing Young, Rojo, and Smalling who weren't good enough for us. Ole has to replace them with a better player with a physically and mentally strong in english football, but the option was really short in the market. It's not his fault when we bought them overpriced, because Woodward and his team did the negotiation.

He couldn't make a gamble to buy promising young defenders due to lack of leadership in our defense, and most of them are injury prone. Klopp actually did the same thing with VVD and had been very consistent for them before his injury. The problem is no one like VVD in the mid-table premiere league clubs at the time, so signing Maguire and AWB was still a good choice to build a team in the long term. Maybe Maguire and AWB are not world class, but they can fill the gap to steady our defense until we get the time to invest on world class defenders. Or they might improving when they have competitors on their position with the same/higher quality.

we spent 130m on 2 defenders who are nowhere near to WC. To spend 80m in cash for a CB with little football brain, zero pace and no leadership is almost diabolical. Leicester must have laughed their way to the bank.

Top quality CBs do not need 'English proven' defenders around them to hold their hand. Stam came from the Dutch league. He slotted in a defence which was made up of an ancient Irwin, a still rash Gary Neville and Ronnie Johnsen (who was decent but far from world class). Despite all that he hit the ground running and we ended up winning the treble.

 

[devilish]

The best thing about this current position (hyperbole, obviously: it's not literally the best thing) is that it should at least shut up the clowns who've been hanging off of Jose's every word for the last couple of years about his second place finish in 2018 being some sort of managerial miracle.

He had what most bookies agreed was the second-best squad in the league that year (Liverpool began it without Van Dijk and didn't have Fabinho and Alisson either), and he got it to second place after positively limping to the finish line. Which he pulled off despite playing some utterly shite football, largely on the back of De Gea having one of the best seasons a goalkeeper's ever had.

Ole's taken that same squad plus two decent players and one top quality one (as top quality as they come to be fair) to the top of the league. Completely shown the toxic bastard up, while he's still up to his usual shit throwing his Spurs players under the bus every time they drop points.

Ole spent 145m in defence (Telles, Maguire and AWB). He brought Bruno, VDB and James in midfield and Cavani upfront. Mourinho can be criticised on many many things. He lost the dressing room, he engaged himself in a petty argument with god knows who which saw Fred barely getting any first team games and ultimately most of his signings were cack. However there's no denying that Ole is leading a far better side then Mou's

 

[GMoore23]

Is the game not at Old Trafford?

My bad. Arsenal it is then. We owe them for last time anyway.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Our pressing is absolutely brilliant at the moment, we were class at pressing last night, it’s one of the best ways to score against organised teams.

Maybe Ole knows what he’s doing? You can tell we are a very fit outfit now too.

 

[Dyslexic Untied]

we spent 130m on 2 defenders who are nowhere near to WC. To spend 80m in cash for a CB with little football brain, zero pace and no leadership is almost diabolical. Leicester must have laughed their way to the bank.

Top quality CBs do not need 'English proven' defenders around them to hold their hand. Stam came from the Dutch league. He slotted in a defence which was made up of an ancient Irwin, a still rash Gary Neville and Ronnie Johnsen (who was decent but far from world class). Despite all that he hit the ground running and we ended up winning the treble.

The last paragraph is pretty off. No doubt Stam was magnificent and a major part of our Treble success, but you make it sound like he was stepping into a pub team back four. Both Irwin and Neville made PFA Team of the year in 99 (Neville for the third consecutive year). Johnsen was far more than decent. He had his share of injuries but was more or less world class in that period when injury free. Behind them you had arguably the greatest goalie of all time. It was a strong unit even before Stam came in.

 

[devilish]

The last paragraph is pretty off. No doubt Stam was magnificent and a major part of our Treble success, but you make it sound like he was stepping into a pub team back four. Both Irwin and Neville made PFA Team of the year in 99 (Neville for the third consecutive year). Johnsen was far more than decent. He had his share of injuries but was more or less world class in that period when injury free. Behind them you had arguably the greatest goalie of all time. It was a strong unit even before Stam came in.

That defence had some of my favourite Manchester United players in it ever. Denis Irwin for example is the most intelligent and down to earth player I've ever met. In my opinion, he's also the best full back United had throughout Sir Alex reign. Johnsen was possibly one of the best bargains United had ever made while Gaz, well, Gaz probably loves my country more then I do.

Having said that, there's a very good reason behind Sir Alex's decision in breaking the world record for a CB. Irwin was a great player but at 33-34 he had already lost a yard of pace. Football was different back then. Training was basic compared to what it is today which meant players aged quicker, teams were far more attacking minded and defences had to cover more acres of space then today. Johnsen was a good CB (I prefer him to Maguire tbh) but he was not WC while Gaz was still rash. He would go on to become a top RB who was instrumental in Ronaldo's development but back then Sir Alex was still on the look out for a better player, with Javier Zanetti being pretty much in our radar.

To conclude I am not surprised that Neville made it PFA team of the year 3 times in a row. The EPL was among the very last top leagues to recognise how important the FB role was. In fact most FBs at the time were failed FBs. Meanwhile Philip Neville went on playing over 50 games with England. Carragher once said that no one wanted to be a Gary Neville. I find that unfair considering how many medals Gaz won but it kinds of highlight the attitude most EPL players of the time had towards FBs.

 

[Number32]

we spent 130m on 2 defenders who are nowhere near to WC. To spend 80m in cash for a CB with little football brain, zero pace and no leadership is almost diabolical. Leicester must have laughed their way to the bank.

Top quality CBs do not need 'English proven' defenders around them to hold their hand. Stam came from the Dutch league. He slotted in a defence which was made up of an ancient Irwin, a still rash Gary Neville and Ronnie Johnsen (who was decent but far from world class). Despite all that he hit the ground running and we ended up winning the treble.

Can you give a name who was top quality, world class with a sensible price at the time?
Even our rivals were fail to sign a decent one.

Briging Stam into this discussion is way out of context, name a real one that we could have signed that summer.

 

[Mr. MUJAC]

Yes, but then you look at the stats, the goals, the assists Bruno has brought to the side. The rest are way behind and thats why I said if Bruno missed 5-6 games would the rest be able to pick up the slack? At the moment I am not sure.

And that is the history of football...when a team loses an influential player there is a chance they might struggle.

With United it happened when we lost Denis Law, George Best, Bryan Robson, Ruud Van Nistelrooy. Unless you an equally effective replacement then form will be impacted.

It's the same with every team.

 

[devilish]

Can you give a name who was top quality, world class with a sensible price at the time?
Even our rivals were fail to sign a decent one.

Briging Stam into this discussion is way out of context, name a real one that we could have signed that summer.

I mentioned Stam to show that the argument that no top quality foreign CB can settle down unless nannied by EPL proven top players is somehow flawed. Stam entered a defence that was decent but who lacked WC players in it. Guess what? He settled nicely and immediately.

To answer your question, there wasn't any WC CB available which is not surprising considering that WC CBs are rarely available. Now since there was no WC CB available then we shouldn't have spent 80m on a meah CB just because we could. That's not how a properly run club works. It's like blowing 300k on a Skoda simply because the Bentley store is closed.

United should have done what they had always done for most of the time ie spot defenders on a budget who would improve us. No one believed back then that the likes of Johnsen and Vidic would turn out to be that good. WC CBs are rarely bought but they are usually made.

 

[Crackers]

I love Ole, but I was always skeptical he could translate his successes at Molde and his failings at Cardiff to the big stage. He's slowly but surely convinced me that he's the man to bring us back to the top.
Don't get me wrong, there's still bits I think he's a bit naive about, but he's grown more and more confident, and we're slowly becoming a very good team. Ole just needs to work on his subs a bit more, and become a bit braver in big games. I think that'll come with time (and when we've got a more proficient front line).

Things are looking up.

 

[romufc]

I love Ole, but I was always skeptical he could translate his successes at Molde and his failings at Cardiff to the big stage. He's slowly but surely convinced me that he's the man to bring us back to the top.
Don't get me wrong, there's still bits I think he's a bit naive about, but he's grown more and more confident, and we're slowly becoming a very good team. Ole just needs to work on his subs a bit more, and become a bit braver in big games. I think that'll come with time (and when we've got a more proficient front line).

Things are looking up.

I remember a football match 2/3 seasons ago when Liverpool came to Manutd, I think it was 18/19 and it was 0-0

Klopp was criticised for not going for it in that game, his subs were like for like and we had half injured Rashford at that time.

The media criticised him for not going for it, similarly with Ole. The big difference then was Manutd were not a top team then, Liverpool are.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Ole spent 145m in defence (Telles, Maguire and AWB). He brought Bruno, VDB and James in midfield and Cavani upfront. Mourinho can be criticised on many many things. He lost the dressing room, he engaged himself in a petty argument with god knows who which saw Fred barely getting any first team games and ultimately most of his signings were cack. However there's no denying that Ole is leading a far better side then Mou's

Casually leaving out the fact that José also signed 11 players himself (other than saying most of his signings were cack. Truth is, many of them weren't, José just couldn't stop being a proud, arrogant a**hat. See Fred and Lindelöf). Many of them only became a success after Ole came in (Fred, Lindelöf, and to some extent Pogba), again, because José was doing his thing. The fact that Ole is leading a far better side is hardly a stick to beat him with, considering both him and Mourinho have brought in a lot of players, with Ole showing way better signs with his acquisitions than his predecessor, even utilizing Mourinhos own signings infinitely better than Mou himself.

José brought in 11 players, Ole has brought in 9 so far (including two youngsters). I'd say Ole's record in the transfer market for us has been way, way better than José. So obviously the squad now should be considered a better squad than what José had to deal with. But again, that blame lies with José himself.

 

[Polar]

At the moment I can’t see no reason to be “Ole out”.

We have to look at the big picture!

Many “Ole outers” are discussing and assessing Ole on a micro level.
- making subs in the 79m instead of 65m
- Lindelof instead of Bailly
- 4 points instead of 6 points against top teams
- small adjustments regarding our formation.
- hasn’t coached a top-team before.

If we look at United today and what United was 2-3 years ago, we have become a totally different “animal” both on and off the pitch. United has returned to the club many of us felt in love with. I’m not sure Man Utd would have ended up as my favourite club if I started my “supporter career“ during the period between SAF and Ole,
probably not.

The atmosphere around the club has changed dramatically in a positive way, and I have now started to become proud of the club again. Results are only one part of the reason.

 

[dal]

Ole spent 145m in defence (Telles, Maguire and AWB). He brought Bruno, VDB and James in midfield and Cavani upfront. Mourinho can be criticised on many many things. He lost the dressing room, he engaged himself in a petty argument with god knows who which saw Fred barely getting any first team games and ultimately most of his signings were cack. However there's no denying that Ole is leading a far better side then Mou's

Jose had more time to build and shape his squad and basically wrecked the whole dressing room.

He brought Lukaku, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Pogba, mhikytarian. Our attack is now much better and 4 of them aren’t here now.

Ole has a long term view and by him taking that view and acting unselfishly May result
In the trophy we want in the short term.

Ole’s squad is now better than Mourinho but that’s is down to Oles superior squad management and development of his players.

 

[devilish]

Casually leaving out the fact that José also signed 11 players himself (other than saying most of his signings were cack. Truth is, many of them weren't, José just couldn't stop being a proud, arrogant a**hat. See Fred and Lindelöf). Many of them only became a success after Ole came in (Fred, Lindelöf, and to some extent Pogba), again, because José was doing his thing. The fact that Ole is leading a far better side is hardly a stick to beat him with, considering both him and Mourinho have brought in a lot of players, with Ole showing way better signs with his acquisitions than his predecessor, even utilizing Mourinhos own signings infinitely better than Mou himself.

José brought in 11 players, Ole has brought in 9 so far (including two youngsters). I'd say Ole's record in the transfer market for us has been way, way better than José. So obviously the squad now should be considered a better squad than what José had to deal with. But again, that blame lies with José himself.

Jose had more time to build and shape his squad and basically wrecked the whole dressing room.

He brought Lukaku, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Pogba, mhikytarian. Our attack is now much better and 4 of them aren’t here now.

Ole has a long term view and by him taking that view and acting unselfishly May result
In the trophy we want in the short term.

Ole’s squad is now better than Mourinho but that’s is down to Oles superior squad management and development of his players.

I am not arguing with any of that. However it's also unfair to say that this is Mou's squad. It is not.

Regarding our transfer strategy I think that this year United had finally stirred away from what the manager wants to what the club needs. I very much doubt that Ole wanted VDB or Cavani in the first place and I wonder if he knew that Diallo or Pellistri even existed. The club had been hinting of wanting to move towards that direction for quite years, it might have been the reason why Mou caused a havoc in his last year and I geniunely believe that this transition happened last summer.

For the record while I think that the system needs more tweaking I do believe that its a step to the right direction.

 

[dal]

I am not arguing with any of that. However it's also unfair to say that this is Mou's squad. It is not.

Regarding our transfer strategy I think that this year United had finally stirred away from what the manager wants to what the club needs. I very much doubt that Ole wanted VDB or Cavani in the first place and I wonder if he knew that Diallo or Pellistri even existed. The club had been hinting of wanting to move towards that direction for quite years, it might have been the reason why Mou caused a havoc in his last year and I geniunely believe that this transition happened last summer.

For the record while I think that the system needs more tweaking I do believe that its a step to the right direction.

Pretty much agree with that and I also agree that Ole doesn’t have the final say on transfers but has a very strong voice albeit not final.

VDB and Cavani were backup options, I think VDB is the wrong player which is fine as mistakes happen.

Mourinho definitely had input on the purchase of his players, probably more than Ole and he must of used his status to bully Woodward at times I feel. So if Mourinho did have a worse squad I believe it is largley attributed to Mou, just as Ole’s better squad is largely attributed to Ole.

 

[devilish]

Pretty much agree with that and I also agree that Ole doesn’t have the final say on transfers but has a very strong voice albeit not final.

VDB and Cavani were backup options, I think VDB is the wrong player which is fine as mistakes happen.

Mourinho definitely had input on the purchase of his players, probably more than Ole and he must of used his status to bully Woodward at times I feel. So if Mourinho did have a worse squad I believe it is largley attributed to Mou, just as Ole’s better squad is largely attributed to Ole.

I believe that up to this summer all managers had a definite say on all signings. That unless they asked something so silly that even Woodward would notice like for example spending 60m+ over 28 year old Perisic. I think that the system still need tweaking. I can't help thinking that the new system gave a teeny weeny too much power to scouts (hence why we spent so much money on Diallo and Pellistri), which are excellent talent potential wise but won't help the manager in the near future. Thus a balance need to be reached, something that a top DOF might help in. An experienced DOF would act as an intermediary between the manager and the scouts + he would make sure that the club doesn't get robbed.

I can make a list of Ole's weaknesses and strengths, which would probably be controversial and quite frankly irrelevant at this point. However if you ask me what Ole's major strength is then I'd say its his man management. Its evident that the squad is ready to do anything for him. That's something Moyes, LVG and Mou lacked big time. For the record, good man management is a vastly underrated skill. It Sir Alex's major strength as well and had basically carried Allegri throughout his managerial career. I dare to say that its the one skill top modern managers can't live without.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

I am not arguing with any of that. However it's also unfair to say that this is Mou's squad. It is not.

Regarding our transfer strategy I think that this year United had finally stirred away from what the manager wants to what the club needs. I very much doubt that Ole wanted VDB or Cavani in the first place and I wonder if he knew that Diallo or Pellistri even existed. The club had been hinting of wanting to move towards that direction for quite years, it might have been the reason why Mou caused a havoc in his last year and I geniunely believe that this transition happened last summer.

For the record while I think that the system needs more tweaking I do believe that its a step to the right direction.

Fair points, and I agree with most of it.

But again, I think Mou is the one to blame for his shite squad. Ed gave him the players he wanted, and stopped when he realized the massive failures of that strategy (hence the meltdown in the summer before his inevitable implosion). The fact that Ole has turned players estranged (and brought in) by Mourinho into integral parts of the squad speaks volumes. It isn't Mou's squad, Ole has tweaked it massively, but he has done good/great things with the players he chose to keep from Mou's reign. The rest he got rid of. As he should.

 

[Skåre Willoch]

I believe that up to this summer all managers had a definite say on all signings. That unless they asked something so silly that even Woodward would notice like for example spending 60m+ over 28 year old Perisic. I think that the system still need tweaking. I can't help thinking that the new system gave a teeny weeny too much power to scouts (hence why we spent so much money on Diallo and Pellistri), which are excellent talent potential wise but won't help the manager in the near future. Thus a balance need to be reached, something that a top DOF might help in. An experienced DOF would act as an intermediary between the manager and the scouts + he would make sure that the club doesn't get robbed.

I can make a list of Ole's weaknesses and strengths, which would probably be controversial and quite frankly irrelevant at this point. However if you ask me what Ole's major strength is then I'd say its his man management. Its evident that the squad is ready to do anything for him. That's something Moyes, LVG and Mou lacked big time. For the record, good man management is a vastly underrated skill. It Sir Alex's major strength as well and had basically carried Allegri throughout his managerial career. I dare to say that its the one skill top modern managers can't live without.

Good post, especially the last part. Man management is pointed out as Zizou' and Ancelotti's biggest strengths as well.

 

[devilish]

Fair points, and I agree with most of it.

But again, I think Mou is the one to blame for his shite squad. Ed gave him the players he wanted, and stopped when he realized the massive failures of that strategy (hence the meltdown in the summer before his inevitable implosion). The fact that Ole has turned players estranged (and brought in) by Mourinho into integral parts of the squad speaks volumes. It isn't Mou's squad, Ole has tweaked it massively, but he has done good/great things with the players he chose to keep from Mou's reign. The rest he got rid of. As he should.

I agree.

However I put the blame squarely on Woodward. We're not in the 70s anymore. DOFs are a thing and managers rely on them whether they are ready to admit it or not. The club had been scammed by 3 managers (Moyes, LVG and Mou) and all happened under Woodward's watch.

 

[romufc]

Whether you like Ole or not, one thing that cannot be questioned is his man management. The way he has handled players has been nothing short of brilliant.

Pogba is the biggest one.
The way he has handled drop in form of Greenwood, Martial and even questions over Bruno.

 

[Number32]

I mentioned Stam to show that the argument that no top quality foreign CB can settle down unless nannied by EPL proven top players is somehow flawed. Stam entered a defence that was decent but who lacked WC players in it. Guess what? He settled nicely and immediately.

To answer your question, there wasn't any WC CB available which is not surprising considering that WC CBs are rarely available. Now since there was no WC CB available then we shouldn't have spent 80m on a meah CB just because we could. That's not how a properly run club works. It's like blowing 300k on a Skoda simply because the Bentley store is closed.

United should have done what they had always done for most of the time ie spot defenders on a budget who would improve us. No one believed back then that the likes of Johnsen and Vidic would turn out to be that good. WC CBs are rarely bought but they are usually made.

If we didn't signed anyone that summer, Ole had to play Smalling, Lindelof, Baily, Rojo, Jones, and Young?
ffs only 2 of them were fit to play entire season and who the hell will be the "usually made" defenders?

Ferdinand was bought with a transfer record fee after fail experiment with Blanc. Woodward is the one who bought Skoda for 300K, you can't blame Ole for that.

 

[Matriac]

I agree.

However I put the blame squarely on Woodward. We're not in the 70s anymore. DOFs are a thing and managers rely on them whether they are ready to admit it or not. The club had been scammed by 3 managers (Moyes, LVG and Mou) and all happened under Woodward's watch.

For the wider part of the game/clubs I think DOF's are fine, great even. But I can see downsides to DOF's at the upper tier of clubs, where players have to perform at their maximum for the club to compete. For example, if a star player falls out with the manager, he could easily think that "it's ok, the DOF really likes me and I won't be sold. If the manager keeps benching me he'll prob be sacked and the next guy will be told by the DOF to play me" instead of actively working hard to get into the good graces of the manager again to have the most amount of players performing well to finish up top.
I'm not saying this is destined to happen always, but I can see why certain managers, especially those who considers themselves good at man management, are reluctant to have a DOF interfere with his own day to day operations and long term plans.