The Players; Scapegoat the GOAT?

[Tincanalley]

There is a player performance section. It’s often not pretty, but there is a tendency in general, not just in the Caf, but by pundits, too, to scapegoat certain players. Especially in bad times. Like Maguire for instance. Guy played every game for I don’t know how long. Slabhead. Totally willing, to the point of playing while unfit/injured. I’m not saying he is above criticism, but… He deserves respect.

Shaw - also a great servant, self-sacrificing, not well treated by Mou. All this abuse, “stealing a living” etc, from (****s) who never stood in the stadium (and some who have). Bruno, likewise, he brought last season to life, ran himself into the ground last season. Poor Bailly yesterday. The o.g. was a freak thing, shit like that happens. Dave made a mistake too. The midfield pair are genuinely trying; it’s not a lack of passion- Keane is wrong- I know the silky skills ain’t there, but they get picked and get instructions and - from where I sit - go out and do their very best.

Basic flaw with the club is the owners. Glazers out. Give us our club back. Let’s move on. Marketing and sentiment has its place but let’s not base our future on beloved four-pint comfort myths. Ole is not the manager for the current era. Fergusson should not be deified either. Great manager of another era.

There are positives. One of the major ones is the squad - it has depth in most areas. That’s thanks in part to OGS. Others have been part of the rebuild; in front of and behind the scenes - LVG, Mou, etc, in different ways, experimenting with philosophy trying to adapt the grand old club to the current age.

A huge big step is required to get to the next level. It needs to be radical and clear eyed.

Ronaldo obviously loves the shirt. Any player who doesn’t should not be there; the vast majority can’t be accused of that. There is young talent here, and coming on. The fan base is another positive, both match-going and virtual. Stay classy, folks.

 

[Acquire Me]

I like this thread. I think we will be great again. Not this season obviously/probably, but we will.

 

[Red Star One]

Glazers are going nowhere and our match going fans would rather see the back of WC winner Pogba than serial loser Ole. We assembled a great squad, also thanks to OGS - although it really doesn’t take a genius to target likes of Varane and Bruno, many here would do the same on their Football Manager save - that will go nowhere if there’s no ambition on the top. And our management is content with a guy that lost two derbies in the most embarrassing manner and constantly downplays our chances for any silverware

 

[DWelbz19]

Personally I think we’ve been beyond micro-analysis of player performances ever since the Liverpool game. It’s clear everyone knows it’s a question of when rather than if and as a result there’s not really much point putting significant stock in player performances for right now.

 

[Tincanalley]

Still thinking of this topic. I am persisting, with a brand new sexy thread title (sorry!), and maybe not too many will be interested. Anyway. I am also remembering - wryly, I got caught up too - the muppet excitement of the last transfer window. Even though I have been an Ole doubter for a while, the last weeks have been shocking. What the feck is happening? Ole had few good results under his belt, decent points, decent enough season last year. Now this. Pep saying 'I'll be gentle'. That hurt. That was directed at Ole, not the players. The five at the back. The sense of desperation. Something in the dynamic has changed, like when the dynamic in a room at a party changes, or the vibe at a gig can change. It can go negative. I have seen it in matches myself at an extremely humble level. I know it is hellishly hard to turn it around if that sour atmosphere develops. Everything goes wrong then.

You have to take Covid into consideration too. Not an excuse, but it has been a weird few months. Football seemed more fake, less important. Fake crowd noise. Empty booming stadia, loud music. Designers trying to make the empty seats into theatre. There was the Euros, the big expectations, in the dressing room and in here ... and this. The other thing was the Super League. Turn it fully into a circus, they bayed. Maybe its harder to buy into the mythology. The Legends on the walls, the Legends in the stands. The legend with the 7, even.

To be a fly on the MUFC wall! I know the players are earning big bucks. A post on Twitter the other day claimed that United had a higher wage bill than City. I don't know if thats true. But big bucks isnt everything, especially for a driven, ambitious professional. Also the big bucks are distributed uneqally. There must some level of discontent in that dressing room these days. But that team haven't given up. Actually, they did a fairly good job of pressing City for periods of the game. The issue is strategic team structure, an area in which Ole is beyond redemption. The gulf in ability between himself and Moyes (and his team) was demonstrated brutally over the last couple of weekends.

 

[JB7]

Glazers are going nowhere and our match going fans would rather see the back of WC winner Pogba than serial loser Ole. We assembled a great squad, also thanks to OGS - although it really doesn’t take a genius to target likes of Varane and Bruno, many here would do the same on their Football Manager save - that will go nowhere if there’s no ambition on the top. And our management is content with a guy that lost two derbies in the most embarrassing manner and constantly downplays our chances for any silverware

Interesting take. Have you spent any time around Old Trafford of late to form this opinion?

 

[Sky1981]

There is a player performance section. It’s often not pretty, but there is a tendency in general, not just in the Caf, but by pundits, too, to scapegoat certain players. Especially in bad times. Like Maguire for instance. Guy played every game for I don’t know how long. Slabhead. Totally willing, to the point of playing while unfit/injured. I’m not saying he is above criticism, but… He deserves respect.

Shaw - also a great servant, self-sacrificing, not well treated by Mou. All this abuse, “stealing a living” etc, from (****s) who never stood in the stadium (and some who have). Bruno, likewise, he brought last season to life, ran himself into the ground last season. Poor Bailly yesterday. The o.g. was a freak thing, shit like that happens. Dave made a mistake too. The midfield pair are genuinely trying; it’s not a lack of passion- Keane is wrong- I know the silky skills ain’t there, but they get picked and get instructions and - from where I sit - go out and do their very best.

Basic flaw with the club is the owners. Glazers out. Give us our club back. Let’s move on. Marketing and sentiment has its place but let’s not base our future on beloved four-pint comfort myths. Ole is not the manager for the current era. Fergusson should not be deified either. Great manager of another era.

There are positives. One of the major ones is the squad - it has depth in most areas. That’s thanks in part to OGS. Others have been part of the rebuild; in front of and behind the scenes - LVG, Mou, etc, in different ways, experimenting with philosophy trying to adapt the grand old club to the current age.

A huge big step is required to get to the next level. It needs to be radical and clear eyed.

Ronaldo obviously loves the shirt. Any player who doesn’t should not be there; the vast majority can’t be accused of that. There is young talent here, and coming on. The fan base is another positive, both match-going and virtual. Stay classy, folks.

Stop scapegoating the owner for everything. The reason we're in this mess is because they got sentimentil and trust SAF with moyes and now Ole.