The board's change of strategy over signings

[vidic blood & sand]

I'm as disappointed as everyone else that we didn't land Bruno Fernandes, as I think he and Pogba would have been terrific, but apart from Fernandes I don't know who else we could have brought in that would have seriously strengthened us, and who would have wanted to come play for us. The club has thrown a lot of money at players in support of managers since SAF retired, but the quality of football has been poor, and players bought have been shipped out as failed signings. It seems as if Ed and the board have now altered their approach to where they are more disciplined with the transfer policy. The club could have given Dybala everything he wanted, and bought Bruno Fernandes in, Wilfried Zaha, Bale on loan etc etc etc etc
The board now seem to have concluded that throwing a lot of money at names is getting us nowhere.

Van Gaal signings

Daley Blind (Defence) £14M = Evra's replacement? Nope. Not good enough for United. Slow and continually caught out of position.
Marcos Rojo (Defence) £16M = Injury prone, reckless tackling, mistakes. Poor.
Luke Shaw (Defence) £30M = Brought in as an exciting prospect. Good transfer. Current regular.
Matteo Darmian (Defence) £16M = Premier league is not for him.
Ander Herrera (Midfield) £32M = Inconsistent. Man of the match in some games, ineffective in others. An ok signing overall.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Miidfield) £8M = Terrific pro, but was too old and struggled badly with fitness. Often played for only half a game when fit. Disaster.
Morgan Schneiderlin (Midfield) £25M = Great at Southampton, horse shit for us. Couldn't step up.
Memphis Depay (Midfield) £25M = Struggled to step up. Van Gaal lost patience with him. Disaster.
Angel Di Maria (Midfield) £60M = Huge signing for us, but didn't want to be here. Disaster.
Radamel Falcao / Loan (Attack) £4M = Potentially great signing, but wasn't the same player after his injury. Disaster.
Anthony Martial (Attack) £36M+ adns = Good first season, but inconsistent since. Still talking about potential.
Sergio Romero (Goal) £Free = Great signing.

Luke Shaw the pick of the bunch. Martial ok.

Jose Mourinho

Eric Bailly (Defence) £30M = Inconsistent and injury prone. When he's good he's good, when he's bad he's shite. Unlucky with injuries.
Victor Lindelof (Defence) £31M = Ropey start but is now a regular. Good signing.
Diogo Dalot (Defence) £20M = Potential.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Midfield) £38M = Very inconsistent, but mostly ineffective.
Paul Pogba (Midfield) £89 = World class tag, failed to live up to it. Doesn't want to be at United.
Nemanja Matic (Midfield) £40M = Ok first season, but has aged overnight like a banana. Disaster.
Fred (Midfield) £52M = Meh.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Atack) £Free = Oldie but a goldie. Let go too early.
Alexis Sanchez (Attack) £Swap = Disaster so far. 3 goals in 32 games.
Romelu Lukaku (Attack) £75M+ = Scored goals, but very immobile. Poor ball control. Average.

Mourinho's signing are better, but its not great. Lindelof and Zlatan the pick of the bunch.


Not sure if I've missed anyone, or got all the fees exactly right, but it shows that a lot of clubs have benefited from our generosity. Now Ed is having a rethink. Do we need a player? Does he really want to come? The club no longer wastes money. I get the feeling that the focus in the next window will be midfield and attack if needed, but the board has had enough of throwing money at clubs with a suck it and see approach.

Do you think the pay-and-pray approach is right for us, or do you think we need to be more responsible?

[edit Schweinsteiger cost £8M not 32M]

 

[Mark Pawelek]

We've been buying too many players who are not good enough at the top level. Players with low ceilings too. It looks like most were bought on the basis of experience.

"We need experienced players".​

We get experienced donkeys. Sometimes the wisdom of the age is enough to make you scream. The days when someone like Mourinho could put together a Champions League winning squad with £¼ billion are long gone. More like £1 billion in today's market. Fans need to wake up to this. If you can't buy your way you'll have to develop a way there like Chelsea, Ajax, Monaco. By identifying top talent and making sure they are nurtured and developed.

 

[SCJY]

It would cost a well-run club with a good manager with the right philosophy £1b. It would cost United about £1.5b

 

[Sylar]

We didn't pay that much for basty.

But we need long term fix. I don't mind we didn't rush for a Lukaku replacement and glad we didn't get mandzukic (rather mason get the minutes )
Just mad we knew Herrera and fellaini would not be with us and we didn't have somebody lined up in all that time

We need the approach of keeping Ole even if he gets 6th otherwise imagine bringing a new manager who doesn't fancy Maguire or wants a change in approach

 

[Thepinhead]

It is funny that Levy is praised on here for not throwing money at everyone. Yet when Ed finally says enough is enough he gets slaughtered.

Think it is good we take a stance now and don't let us get bullied by clubs and agents. Just hope the kids can lift the massive burden that is put in their shoulders now.

 

[kouroux]

It is funny that Levy is praised on here for not throwing money at everyone. Yet when Ed finally says enough is enough he gets slaughtered.

Think it is good we take a stance now and don't let us get bullied by clubs and agents. Just hope the kids can lift the massive burden that is put in their shoulders now.

Spurs are better than us therefore there is less need for them to invest like us.

 

[Pavl3n]

I'm sure we could've convinced Eriksen to sign for us and I'm sure we could've found a solution for Dybala. But then I am also sure that they were not totally convinced of the vision laid out in front of them. Not sure they bought into the plan. Both of them probably see themselves as the final jigsaw, rather than building pillars. I could imagine Eriksen wanting to go to a team that is ready to mount a title challenge given his age - 27, you don't have much time left. Therefore he'll probably leave on free.
Dybala on the other end, I can imagine he's not really convinced he wants to move to England. Money probably would've convinced him, but glad we didn't push for it.

All in all, rather than splashing over the odds, to pay players who don't really want to be here, we are making sure we pay what it takes to bring the ones who buy into the plan and want to take part of it.

I am happy with the transfer window. I am happy that we took a stand not to loan Rojo. I am happy that we stood our ground with Lukaku. Stood our ground until there was no more room for milking Inter.

I also think that executives have been busy with transfers and they can concentrate again on Technical Director search.
May be I'm a bit too naive, but I am optimistic. The coaching team is what gives me confidence. Non of them is a mercenary, rather they were/are all part of the club for long time. Dedicated to the success of the football club. I am looking forward.

 

[pascell]

£32m for Schweinsteiger, you sure about that OP?

 

[Jacob]

I'm as disappointed as everyone else that we didn't land Bruno Fernandes, as I think he and Pogba would have been terrific, but apart from Fernandes I don't know who else we could have brought in that would have seriously strengthened us, and who would have wanted to come play for us. The club has thrown a lot of money at players in support of managers since SAF retired, but the quality of football has been poor, and players bought have been shipped out as failed signings. It seems as if Ed and the board have now altered their approach to where they are more disciplined with the transfer policy. The club could have given Dybala everything he wanted, and bought Bruno Fernandes in, Wilfried Zaha, Bale on loan etc etc etc etc
The board now seem to have concluded that throwing a lot of money at names is getting us nowhere.

Van Gaal signings

Daley Blind (Defence) £14M = Evra's replacement? Nope. Not good enough for United. Slow and continually caught out of position.
Marcos Rojo (Defence) £16M = Injury prone, reckless tackling, mistakes. Poor.
Luke Shaw (Defence) £30M = Brought in as an exciting prospect. Good transfer. Current regular.
Matteo Darmian (Defence) £16M = Premier league is not for him.
Ander Herrera (Midfield) £32M = Inconsistent. Man of the match in some games, ineffective in others. An ok signing overall.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Miidfield) £32M = Terrific pro, but was too old and struggled badly with fitness. Often played for only half a game when fit. Disaster.
Morgan Schneiderlin (Midfield) £25M = Great at Southampton, horse shit for us. Couldn't step up.
Memphis Depay (Midfield) £25M = Struggled to step up. Van Gaal lost patience with him. Disaster.
Angel Di Maria (Midfield) £60M = Huge signing for us, but didn't want to be here. Disaster.
Radamel Falcao / Loan (Attack) £4M = Potentially great signing, but wasn't the same player after his injury. Disaster.
Anthony Martial (Attack) £36M+ adns = Good first season, but inconsistent since. Still talking about potential.
Sergio Romero (Goal) £Free = Great signing.

Luke Shaw the pick of the bunch. Martial ok.

Jose Mourinho

Eric Bailly (Defence) £30M = Inconsistent and injury prone. When he's good he's good, when he's bad he's shite. Unlucky with injuries.
Victor Lindelof (Defence) £31M = Ropey start but is now a regular. Good signing.
Diogo Dalot (Defence) £20M = Potential.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Midfield) £38M = Very inconsistent, but mostly ineffective.
Paul Pogba (Midfield) £89 = World class tag, failed to live up to it. Doesn't want to be at United.
Nemanja Matic (Midfield) £40M = Ok first season, but has aged overnight like a banana. Disaster.
Fred (Midfield) £52M = Meh.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Atack) £Free = Oldie but a goldie. Let go too early.
Alexis Sanchez (Attack) £Swap = Disaster so far. 3 goals in 32 games.
Romelu Lukaku (Attack) £75M+ = Scored goals, but very immobile. Poor ball control. Average.

Mourinho's signing are better, but its not great. Lindelof and Zlatan the pick of the bunch.


Not sure if I've missed anyone, or got all the fees exactly right, but it shows that a lot of clubs have benefited from our generosity. Now Ed is having a rethink. Do we need a player? Does he really want to come? The club no longer wastes money. I get the feeling that the focus in the next window will be midfield and attack if needed, but the board has had enough of throwing money at clubs with a suck it and see approach.

Do you think the pay-and-pray approach is right for us, or do you think we need to be more responsible?

Great to see the two Swedes singled out

 

[Tom Cato]

I think a LOT of posters on here think that Mason Greenwood is a spare part that's not yet ready for first team football and won't be played much.

Mason Greenwood is going to play a LOT during this season. He's ready for Premier League football. He was far better than anyone else on the pitch for the day against Cardiff, and he's been lights out nearly every appearance in pre-season.

I'm happy that the club did not replace Lukaku to make room for Greenwoods development. Kid is going to be an absolute star this season.

 

[Bestietom]

The best part of this strategy is giving the youth a chance. I am all for seeing Greenwood, Gomes, etc. getting more game time, but we cannot burden them too much with high expectations for their first season.
I do think however, that we needed a couple of experienced players brought in, especially a DM and a Striker.
We will have to see where we are by Christmas, but we MUST prepare for who and where we need to strengthen by then.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Basty was 8 mil

 

[cantonaldo]

I think they have taken the right step in focusing on youth instead of the first team, quick fix solutions. Remember, we have bought quite a number of promising, much sought after youth players. They could grow to become first team players in about 3 to 5 years time. Meantime, Ole has to deal with the squad that he has and slowly get rid of players that don't exhibit the talent or effort that he requires. We won't be competing for the title for the next one or two years I feel, but thereafter we'll be back. Pretty confident of it.

 

[vidic blood & sand]

Sorry I got the schweinsteiger fee wrong, it was £8M as been pointed out.

 

[Judge Red]

Greenwood, Chong, Gomes, Pereira, Garner and others (as well as Daniel James) will all be given the chance to claim a first team place this season. That’s what we all wanted at the end of last season but now some are worried and angry over the failure to bring in another mercenary like Dybala.

They might not be good enough but I’d rather it be them not good enough than Lukaku.

 

[Raw]

When you lay it all out it's pretty incredible how much money we've pissed away on utter shite.

I'm a fan of the new strategy. Bringing in players that actually want to be there, that know the size and history of the club and have plenty of PL experience. They are the kind of signings we'd make under Fergie.

I truly hope from this point on we focus on this strategy, even if it doesn't work for Ole I want us to be bringing in a manager with a similar philosophy. The biggest reason for our horrible transfer strategy is the wild change in philosophies, leaving lots of deadwood that just don't fit any longer.

 

[SambaBoy]

After this transfer window, I think it's imperative we try to integrate the youngsters and they get at least a chance to prove themselves. Ole speaks a good game about the youngsters but he didn't really play them last year apart from the last game or two. He put his faith in the likes of Mata, Lingard, Sanchez and Lukaku over the likes of Chong, Greenwood, Gomes when all 4 were underperforming.

Mata and Lingard have shown nothing since arriving that they deserve to be our no1. RW so Greenwood/James/Chong deserve a chance. Even Gomes if we are to play with a number 10. Tuanzebe deserves a chance this year so I hope the likes of Jones and Rojo are not favoured over him and Axel given time in the Cup only.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Funny that shaw Mata and herrera were moyes signings and all would still be first team regs if Herrera didn't go for free. At the time moyes was heavily criticised for taking his time and scouting transfers

The likes of maguire awb seem more in this trend vs mhiki and rojo and just random whoevers with no plan

 

[Lucas Hood!!]

Transfer policy hasn't been great even before Fergie left.

Signed Kagawa as no 10 to play Rooney as no 9, then signed RVP later on in summer making that whole Kagawa transfer pointless. I understand you cant not sign Rvp given how good he is but point remains.

Signed Memphis & Martial both in same summer when both play same position pretty much

 

[stevoc]

Funny that shaw Mata and herrera were moyes signings and all would still be first team regs if Herrera didn't go for free. At the time moyes was heavily criticised for taking his time and scouting transfers

The likes of maguire awb seem more in this trend vs mhiki and rojo and just random whoevers with no plan

Nope.

The club had been tracking both before Moyes arrived and signed both after he was sacked. We tried to buy Herrera in 2013 when Moyes wasn't sure about him.

To be honest it’s even debatable if Mata was a Moyes signing.

 

[fps]

Funny that shaw Mata and herrera were moyes signings and all would still be first team regs if Herrera didn't go for free. At the time moyes was heavily criticised for taking his time and scouting transfers

The likes of maguire awb seem more in this trend vs mhiki and rojo and just random whoevers with no plan

This is a lie at worst, wrong at best.

 

[Roboc7]

If their is an intention to change things a DOF would be brought in ASAP and they’d be working flat out on new signings for January and beyond with a clear idea of what the club is looking for.

 

[Velvet Revolver]

I'm as disappointed as everyone else that we didn't land Bruno Fernandes, as I think he and Pogba would have been terrific, but apart from Fernandes I don't know who else we could have brought in that would have seriously strengthened us, and who would have wanted to come play for us. The club has thrown a lot of money at players in support of managers since SAF retired, but the quality of football has been poor, and players bought have been shipped out as failed signings. It seems as if Ed and the board have now altered their approach to where they are more disciplined with the transfer policy. The club could have given Dybala everything he wanted, and bought Bruno Fernandes in, Wilfried Zaha, Bale on loan etc etc etc etc
The board now seem to have concluded that throwing a lot of money at names is getting us nowhere.

Van Gaal signings

Daley Blind (Defence) £14M = Evra's replacement? Nope. Not good enough for United. Slow and continually caught out of position.
Marcos Rojo (Defence) £16M = Injury prone, reckless tackling, mistakes. Poor.
Luke Shaw (Defence) £30M = Brought in as an exciting prospect. Good transfer. Current regular.
Matteo Darmian (Defence) £16M = Premier league is not for him.
Ander Herrera (Midfield) £32M = Inconsistent. Man of the match in some games, ineffective in others. An ok signing overall.
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Miidfield) £8M = Terrific pro, but was too old and struggled badly with fitness. Often played for only half a game when fit. Disaster.
Morgan Schneiderlin (Midfield) £25M = Great at Southampton, horse shit for us. Couldn't step up.
Memphis Depay (Midfield) £25M = Struggled to step up. Van Gaal lost patience with him. Disaster.
Angel Di Maria (Midfield) £60M = Huge signing for us, but didn't want to be here. Disaster.
Radamel Falcao / Loan (Attack) £4M = Potentially great signing, but wasn't the same player after his injury. Disaster.
Anthony Martial (Attack) £36M+ adns = Good first season, but inconsistent since. Still talking about potential.
Sergio Romero (Goal) £Free = Great signing.

Luke Shaw the pick of the bunch. Martial ok.

Jose Mourinho

Eric Bailly (Defence) £30M = Inconsistent and injury prone. When he's good he's good, when he's bad he's shite. Unlucky with injuries.
Victor Lindelof (Defence) £31M = Ropey start but is now a regular. Good signing.
Diogo Dalot (Defence) £20M = Potential.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Midfield) £38M = Very inconsistent, but mostly ineffective.
Paul Pogba (Midfield) £89 = World class tag, failed to live up to it. Doesn't want to be at United.
Nemanja Matic (Midfield) £40M = Ok first season, but has aged overnight like a banana. Disaster.
Fred (Midfield) £52M = Meh.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Atack) £Free = Oldie but a goldie. Let go too early.
Alexis Sanchez (Attack) £Swap = Disaster so far. 3 goals in 32 games.
Romelu Lukaku (Attack) £75M+ = Scored goals, but very immobile. Poor ball control. Average.

Mourinho's signing are better, but its not great. Lindelof and Zlatan the pick of the bunch.


Not sure if I've missed anyone, or got all the fees exactly right, but it shows that a lot of clubs have benefited from our generosity. Now Ed is having a rethink. Do we need a player? Does he really want to come? The club no longer wastes money. I get the feeling that the focus in the next window will be midfield and attack if needed, but the board has had enough of throwing money at clubs with a suck it and see approach.

Do you think the pay-and-pray approach is right for us, or do you think we need to be more responsible?

[edit Schweinsteiger cost £8M not 32M]

Except for Di Maria, Pogba, Ander and arguably Sanchez and Lukaku.. Everyone else should have been squad players instead of starting 11.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

This is a lie at worst, wrong at best.

what is the lie

 

[Lentwood]

I do agree with the sentiment of the OP

Without going into it player-by-player, I think you can breakdown our transfer efforts under various managers as such;

SAF 2005-2010: We didn't have a pot to piss in thanks to the takeover and the PIK loans. Say what you like, speculate as you like. Facts are, we made a profit on transfers for the entire period we were leveraged with the higher-interest loan payments

SAF 2010-2013: I believe SAF started to think about succession planning here and what he would be leaving behind. The likes of Jones, Smalling, Hernandez, Zaha, Kagawa, Bebe, Buttner and De Gea where obvious signs of trying to identify top talents early and blooding them into the first team. For various reasons, it didn't really work and the majority of these players fell short of the standard required

Moyes 2013/14: Moyes clearly wasn't up to the job but you have to feel for him a little. The club clearly had NO transfer strategy when he arrived, therefore I am giving Moyes a free pass on transfers, especially as the two signings he did make actually reflect reasonable value for money when you consider the number of appearances and overall contribution in context

LvG 2014/16: Again, I feel a little for van Gaal. As pointed out elsewhere, by the time van Gaal came on-board, United had lost Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand, Giggs and Scholes from the team SAF won the title with. I feel LvGs mistake was trying to address too many problem positions at once. Whilst none of his signings where totally abysmal, many smacked of either 'quick fix' (ADM, Falcao, Schweinsteiger) or attempting to fill a hole on a budget (Rojo, Blind, Schneiderlin, Depay, Darmian)

Jose 2016/18: I love Jose but he was clearly just a poor fit for this club. You know if you appoint Jose he will target instant success with ready-made, battle hardened players. Jose is a tactician more than a coach. He doesn't want five young lads to mould into potential greats. He want's players who can quickly and instantly adapt to his gritty, no-frills style football. There was always going to be a difference of opinion

Ole 2018+: Finally, for whatever reason, we seem to be seeing the big picture. We have stopped with the 'Galactico' nonsense, we have stopped begging players to join us and throwing daft wages around, we have stopped just shipping in players recommended by the managers mates....we actually now seem to be identifying 'best of breed' young players and going for them. I think this is a much more positive approach to take forward....if nothing else at least the players we sign actually WANT to be here....which will make a nice change!

 

[fps]

I do agree with the sentiment of the OP

Without going into it player-by-player, I think you can breakdown our transfer efforts under various managers as such;

SAF 2005-2010: We didn't have a pot to piss in thanks to the takeover and the PIK loans. Say what you like, speculate as you like. Facts are, we made a profit on transfers for the entire period we were leveraged with the higher-interest loan payments

SAF 2010-2013: I believe SAF started to think about succession planning here and what he would be leaving behind. The likes of Jones, Smalling, Hernandez, Zaha, Kagawa, Bebe, Buttner and De Gea where obvious signs of trying to identify top talents early and blooding them into the first team. For various reasons, it didn't really work and the majority of these players fell short of the standard required

Moyes 2013/14: Moyes clearly wasn't up to the job but you have to feel for him a little. The club clearly had NO transfer strategy when he arrived, therefore I am giving Moyes a free pass on transfers, especially as the two signings he did make actually reflect reasonable value for money when you consider the number of appearances and overall contribution in context

LvG 2014/16: Again, I feel a little for van Gaal. As pointed out elsewhere, by the time van Gaal came on-board, United had lost Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand, Giggs and Scholes from the team SAF won the title with. I feel LvGs mistake was trying to address too many problem positions at once. Whilst none of his signings where totally abysmal, many smacked of either 'quick fix' (ADM, Falcao, Schweinsteiger) or attempting to fill a hole on a budget (Rojo, Blind, Schneiderlin, Depay, Darmian)

Jose 2016/18: I love Jose but he was clearly just a poor fit for this club. You know if you appoint Jose he will target instant success with ready-made, battle hardened players. Jose is a tactician more than a coach. He doesn't want five young lads to mould into potential greats. He want's players who can quickly and instantly adapt to his gritty, no-frills style football. There was always going to be a difference of opinion

Ole 2018+: Finally, for whatever reason, we seem to be seeing the big picture. We have stopped with the 'Galactico' nonsense, we have stopped begging players to join us and throwing daft wages around, we have stopped just shipping in players recommended by the managers mates....we actually now seem to be identifying 'best of breed' young players and going for them. I think this is a much more positive approach to take forward....if nothing else at least the players we sign actually WANT to be here....which will make a nice change!

I agree with most of this, and think it's a measured analysis, completely agreeing with the conclusion that the transfer business this summer which HAS been conducted has been MUCH more in keeping with United.

I'll only taken issue with Van Gaal. I honestly think it was a perfect storm of United having no scouting/recruitment in place and Van Gaal having no interest in it any more with retirement imminent and being busy all summer.

2014/15 Sanchez (the real one) went to Arsenal, Diego Costa to Chelsea. A Rojo + a Blind would get you one of them, and you could hang a team off them. DiMaria is the kind of signing we would have said no to this summer, and we're better for it. Falcao was a particularly desperate move. The structure wasn't in place, but this felt like "one last job cos why not" for Van Gaal, I'm not sure he truly knew the players he was getting in, for the most part.

2015/16 summer window, a desperate window. The budget for Schneiderlin was £25m odd, and Depay the same. Each player cost a lot of money and was utterly unsuited, Schneiderlin for reasons of talent but also not being able to cover the Old Trafford pitch in terms of mobility, Depay in terms of talent and also attitude. During that summer, of COURSE hindsight is powerful, but Son, Kante, De Bruyne and Alderweireld were all on the move. Pedro would have crushed Depay as a wing option too, and still be useful on the right now.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Mkh was not £38m, he was £26m

May I ask how can you class Shaw as a good signing but Herrera as only an ok signing? Herrera was a far more reliable player for us than Shaw.

 

[Lentwood]

Mkh was not £38m, he was £26m

May I ask how can you class Shaw as a good signing but Herrera as only an ok signing? Herrera was a far more reliable player for us than Shaw.

Was Shaw not our Player of the Year last year?

I recall Herrera having the odd decent game for United, mainly when deployed as a 'spoiler'. More often than not, he was very average at best and I never really did work out what he was meant to be good at. Passion. Yes. Neat. Yes. Work Rate? Yes. Quality? Debatable

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Was Shaw not our Player of the Year last year?

I recall Herrera having the odd decent game for United, mainly when deployed as a 'spoiler'. More often than not, he was very average at best and I never really did work out what he was meant to be good at. Passion. Yes. Neat. Yes. Work Rate? Yes. Quality? Debatable

Yes, he was. He was POTY in the worst season since Moyes. Herrera was POTY the season we won 3 trophies.

I don't think many will argue that Herrera has so far had a better United career than Shaw.

 

[stevoc]

Yes, he was. He was POTY in the worst season since Moyes. Herrera was POTY the season we won 3 trophies.

I don't think many will argue that Herrera has so far had a better United career than Shaw.

Charity Shield?

 

[liamp]

Was Shaw not our Player of the Year last year?

I recall Herrera having the odd decent game for United, mainly when deployed as a 'spoiler'. More often than not, he was very average at best and I never really did work out what he was meant to be good at. Passion. Yes. Neat. Yes. Work Rate? Yes. Quality? Debatable

Herrera won the POTY in 2016-17

 

[Lentwood]

Ander Herrera won the POTY in 2016-17

Yeah.....and I think common consensus at the time was he had one of his few standout games (2-0 vs Chelsea) at just the right time. I'm not saying he was crap, I'm just a bit sick of all of this revisionism now that he has gone. He was passionate, decent enough guy, OK footballer...let's not get too upset that he's gone because better players than him have come and gone and we've moved on!

 

[liamp]

Yeah.....and I think common consensus at the time was he had one of his few standout games (2-0 vs Chelsea) at just the right time. I'm not saying he was crap, I'm just a bit sick of all of this revisionism now that he has gone. He was passionate, decent enough guy, OK footballer...let's not get too upset that he's gone because better players than him have come and gone and we've moved on!

I removed the smiley, was probably a bit much.

He was a standout player that season. To suggest he won a POTY award on the back of one game's recency bias is kind of absurd. He, like Shaw last year, provided consistently above average output in a year where that wasn't easy to come by. He was not and is not a world beater, but in big games he'd be one of the few people I'd be comfortable with in midfield next to Pogba.

 

[passing-wind]

Those problems put emphasis on the lack of a DOF. There's no long term vision so the club has to adopt short-handed values on the premise of whatever coach is in charge. Solskjaer might be something "new" but he's still running under an old infrastructure. If he's sacked in 6 months time what's the new narrative ?

Ole is just as much the problem as Woodward from a strategic standpoint, he has always been content with the club's model, Phelan was the only individual amongst the coaching staff who had reservations above him. Phelan has been the only individual in the last ten years to ponder any insight regarding how this club moved forward.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Charity Shield?

Is it a competitive match trophy? Yes it is. I count em.

 

[Lee565]

The problem with our transfer strategy is our manager replacement strategy, everything has been so reactive rather than pro-active since fergie left with short term panic decisions, Woodward keeps picking managers that are a 180 from how the previous manager's philosophy, it wouldn't surprise with that moron overseeing things that if Solskjear fails and gets the boot, instead of getting a manager that fits our current player personnel and way of playing, we then go and get a manager that wants to play completely different way and ignore the youngsters, this is why I think quite a few of a transfers have failed because they suited the previous manager's way of playing that recruited them, hence the need for a DOF

 

[vidic blood & sand]

The problem with our transfer strategy is our manager replacement strategy, everything has been so reactive rather than pro-active since fergie left with short term panic decisions, Woodward keeps picking managers that are a 180 from how the previous manager's philosophy, it wouldn't surprise with that moron overseeing things that if Solskjear fails and gets the boot, instead of getting a manager that fits our current player personnel and way of playing, we then go and get a manager that wants to play completely different way and ignore the youngsters, this is why I think quite a few of a transfers have failed because they suited the previous manager's way of playing that recruited them, hence the need for a DOF

I'm not sure.
I think the board opted for Mourinho because he seemed to guarantee success. They gave him loads of money, but the football was boring and not the United way. We were also a long way from challenging for the title. Now I think Ed is taking strong advice from Alex Ferguson. SAF always signed players who he regarded as value for money, and I think Ed is now looking to back a manager with an attacking philosophy, but looking to build a strong squad over 2 or three years. I also think the players required are much more carefully screened.

 

[ChaddyP]

Is it a competitive match trophy? Yes it is. I count em.

no one counts them. would you say Moyes won a trophy here in his first season? Certainly not.

 

[stevoc]

Is it a competitive match trophy? Yes it is. I count em.

Depends who you ask, it's a 'trophy' but it's not a Trophy. Nice to win but its meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

You wouldn't say United won a treble that season, because the Shield isn't a major trophy.

 

[Sky1981]

I think a LOT of posters on here think that Mason Greenwood is a spare part that's not yet ready for first team football and won't be played much.

Mason Greenwood is going to play a LOT during this season. He's ready for Premier League football. He was far better than anyone else on the pitch for the day against Cardiff, and he's been lights out nearly every appearance in pre-season.

I'm happy that the club did not replace Lukaku to make room for Greenwoods development. Kid is going to be an absolute star this season.

Replace greenwood with macheda, januzaj, wilson, chadwick, same stuff every 5 years.