Transfers 2019/2020. Final verdict

[Andycoleno9]

I know that season is not over yet but i think that by now we all have pretty clear picture about this topic. I tried to rate them based on several parameters like transfer fee (yes, player is not guilty for his fee but fee does matter), performances, general quality, future potential and influence on team).
1. Awful transfer (huge miss)
2. Not good transfer (Not a disaster. Some positives but overall wrong call )
3. Solid transfer (we could have done it better but overall not a miss).
4. Good transfer
5. Excellent transfer
6. Top deal. (Bruno )

Departures:
Lukaku, 80 mil with add ons
Despite his good season in Inter, Martial is much better as no9. And we got our money back.
Verdict: Excellent transfer. 5/5

Sanchez, loan
His season in Inter was bellow average. But who knows what would happen if he stayed. In first part of season we needed someone who can change the game. On other hand who knows what would happen with Greenwood and is Alexis really not loved among players. Not good thing also is that we still payed half(?) of his wage.
Verdict: Solid transfer. 3/5

Smalling, loan 3mil
Good season in Italy. He would not play much here because Victor and Harry were injury free and are clearly Ole's first pick. Based on good loan spell we will sell him for decent fee. Maybe we could have got more money but who knows.
Verdict: Good transfer. 4/5

Young, 1,5mil€
Nothing to talk about.
Verdict: good transfer. 4/5

Rojo, loan
I really don't know what to say about this. We should have sold him or loaned him to someone who will buy him after the season. We didn't do anything of that. But we saved some money.
Verdict: Solid transfer. 3/5.

Darmian: 3mil
Good decision to sell him but fee was too low.
Verdict: Good transfer. 4/5

Arrivals:

Daniel James, 17mil.
He really is championship player. He got minutes from Chong or Gomes. Out of depth in highest level of football. General phrase whole season about him was that he is fast and is "hard working" player. Lacks skill, tactical knowledge, technique and finishing with only average cross (for a winger). 3 goals and 6 assists in PL where he played and started most of games. Not good enough for us but he is young(ish) and has that pace and work rate which some minor clubs want from wingers so he didn't lose on his value. We can always get our money back for him. And who knows, maybe one season on loan make him good enough for cover player.
Verdict: not a good transfer but we will not lose money on him for sure and there is still hope that he can improve (i doubt but who knows). 2/5

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 55mil €.
Among best defensive full backs in the world. And 21y old. Was pretty much great in defence whole season. But his attacking game is not good which raises a few questions. Is 55 mil too much for only defensive full back? Should Man Utd have full back who is only good in defence?
I think that his attacking game is huge huge flaw but he is 21 so he can upgrade it. In defence he is a monster.
Verdict: Good transfer (which can be even excellent transfer in future). Now it is 4/5

Bruno Fernandes, 55mil €.
No words. Completely changed everything. Can score, can pass, works hard, good character, fee is ok for that kind of player.
Verdict: Bruno

Harry Maguire, 87mil €.
Ah..Harry. Where to start? People say that player is not guilty for his fee. He isn't. But when you judge club's transfers then fee is a major thing.
For 80 mil pounds you buy a player who is game changer. With whom every players become better. In our case we needed someone who will organise our defence. You don't go and buy a player who is only slight upgrade for player who is not good enough for you (Smalling).
Maguire is slow, immobile and he doesn't make other players around him better. He is not a leader defender. He is good on the ball and pretty good in air. Overall not bad defender for PL and that is it. He is not United first 11 quality and he is not first 11 defender for club who wants to win titles.
On top of that he is 27, can only survive in PL and is hugely overpaid so we can't sell him (we can but not even for half of his price).
Verdict: He is a huge miss. I cant give him 1 because he did some things good and our defence is better with him than last year without him and as i said, he is not bad defender. But overall: not good transfer. Barely 2/5.

Ighalo:
Nothing to add about him. Excellent loan deal.
Verdict: Excellent. 5/5.

Overall verdict: Solid. 3/5
We did very good in outgoing transfers. We made one top deal with Bruno, one very good transfer with AWB and excellent loan deal with Ighalo.
We wasted over 100 mil on James and Maguire. That 100 mil could and should have been much much better invested.


Edit: wow, this is a looong post. Sorry about that

 

[Red Star One]

That's a bit harsh on Maguire I think - there's not many CBs in the league I would take over him, and in my eyes he brought some leadership qualities to the team that definitely lacked them. Sure we overpayed, but he is our best CB at this point and we desperately needed someone in this position. Teams won the league with worse players in his position.

 

[noodlehair]

Out:

Lukaku - The man who according to himself didn't want to leave, but also only wanted to leave becaue the club didn't back him, but also decided he wanted to leave after his second game for us. The sort of person I imagine causes fatigue in other players where they get literally tired of hearing his ridiculous bullshit. Got rid but it was painfully obvious we had to. Somehow managed to get our fee back for a player who's stropped his way out of two clubs in a row. 6

Sanchez - Thought it was a silly mistake at the time. Our lack of attaking options for the entire first alf of the season hasn't done much to convince me otherwise. Although I'm not sure exactly how much he would have helped and everyone also seems to hate him. 3

Smalling - We've had to use Phil Jones at centreback because we loaned him. Meanwhile England continue to pick whichever useless centreback is half fit just to make a meaningless point of avoiding using him. they played Tyrone fecking Mings in an international game but wont pick Chris Smallling. Can you imagine what would happen if Tyrone Mings tried to play for Roma? 2

Young - He was past it but now we can't give Bissaka a rest and also might have no fit left back. We needed another fullback when Young was still here. 2

Rojo - He probably wont come back because he'll forget to turn up for his own flight again oor something. It was useful to have someone who FA rules state can never be sent off under any circumstance though. 5

Darmian - Did we sell him? Or did he just get lost wandering aimlessly around his garden and no one has noticed he is missing yet? 5


In:

James - The caf has turned on him, but he's a 20 year old who was brought in for his potential and probably with the intention of being an opton/squad player, and he's done pretty welll considering. He's actually collected us a fair few points this season with his performances...but yah if you're an idiot you can calll him a champpionship player or whatever to make yourself look cool. 5

Maguire - I still can't decide if I really like him or if I think he's a liability. He's a definite improvement on whatever we were doing before. Also though we delayed signing him for a year just so we could pay more for him and not have him for an extra year because Wooodward is apparently so good at making the club money or something. I'll be clear I'm marking him down purely for the stupidity of how we signed him as I think he could welll turn out to be ann mportant player for us. 2

Bissaka - Excellent fullback who'll be forever burdened by the "needs to improve his attacking game" morons who literally wont apply this logic to any other fullback in the world except for him. Has also assisted mulltiple goals with good attacking play, though does seem to be banned by the laws of the universe from ever scoring a goal. 5

Fernandes - We haven't lost since we signed him so there's no much more to say really. Again Ive marked it down to a 4 because there appears to have been absolutely no reason why we couldn't have just signed him in the summer and be pushing City for second place at this point. 4

Ighalo - This seemed a bit desperate at the time but it's worked pretty well. If he does nothing between now and when he leaves he'll still have been a worthwhile signing. 5


Overall. Incoming players extremely pleased with. Every single one has done something to either bring the team up a level or give it something it was missing...annd every single one barring Ighalo is a long term solution rather than quick fix. Outgoings not so good. We seem to hve a habit of letting players go before thinking about whether we might still need them. No isssue with Young leaving for example if we weren't short of any cover at all in both fullback positions. If he's good enoough to play for Inter he's good enough to fill in for 20 minutes at left back against Southampton, and if he isn't get someone who is before letting him saunder off elsewhere.

 

[FrankDrebin]

James 2/5
AWB 4/5
Maguire 3/5
Bruno 5/5
Ighalo 4/5

 

[Siorac]

Bissaka - Excellent fullback who'll be forever burdened by the "needs to improve his attacking game" morons who literally wont apply this logic to any other fullback in the world except for him. Has also assisted mulltiple goals with good attacking play, though does seem to be banned by the laws of the universe from ever scoring a goal. 5

? Every full-back in the world, including our own Luke Shaw, is scrutinised for their attacking outputs as well as their defensive ability. It's expected of a full-back.

I don't think he's bad at it though: he gets forward a lot, puts decent crosses in, and so on. My main problem with him is how clumsy he looks on the ball, how often he has heavy touches. It can be an issue, especially when we are pressed.

 

[FootyGirl88]

James 3/5
AWB 4/5
Maguire 3/5
Bruno 5/5
Igahlo 4/5

 

[Chairman Steve]

It appears to have been relatively good business.

My main gripe and I suspect probably everyone else’s main gripe with the transfer business is... Why the feck wasn’t Bruno bought in the summer?

 

[paulscholes18]

James - 2/5, bright start 3 in 4 but not scored a league goal since, can’t beat a man or make room for a cross

AWB 5/5 our player of the season, fantastic

Maguire 4/5 has been great on the whole, but needs a CB with pace to cover him, not a one man defence like Stam was (probably being harsh on Johnsen)

Bruno 5/5 has taken us from looking poor and clueless in the final 3rd to taking us to the most form team in Europe.

Ighalo 4/5, scored on every start, offers us something different off the bench as well no complaints.

 

[DWelbz19]

James - 2/5
Maguire 2.5/5
Wan Bissaka - 3.5/5
Bruno - 5/5
Ighalo - 3.5/5

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Harsh with James and especially Maguire, but I can see the reasoning behind it.

The transfer outs are all great.

The transfers ins are overall good.
Won't say great, but hey 5/5 players are all good and improved the team, not worsening it which matters the most.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

1. Awful transfer (huge miss)
2. Not good transfer (Not a disaster. Some positives but overall wrong call )
3. Solid transfer (we could have done it better but overall not a miss).
4. Good transfer
5. Excellent transfer
6. Top deal. (Bruno )

Think there should be an "okay" transfer between 2 and 3 there. Harsh to say it's the wrong call.

James 2.5/5
AWB 4/5
Maguire 3/5
Bruno 6/5
Ighalo 3/5

 

[LawCharltonBest]

I knew this thread would be silly.

Harry Maguire has been a 2/5 since the restart, sure, I'll give you that.

But he's added a lot of assurity to the defense and our defensive record is good. We've only conceded one more goal than Man City have. Harry Maguire has been excellent for the most part of the season. And has added leadership.

 

[Toad]

James - 2/5
Maguire 3/5
Wan Bissaka - 4/5
Bruno - 5/5
Ighalo - 5/5

 

[dove]

James 2/5. Not good enough but most of us knew that even before we signed him. Pretty much useless since his purple patch at the beginning of the season and needs to work on absolutely everything.
AWB 4/5 .Got pretty much what expected. Very solid defensively but usually unable to do anything useful in final 3rd although I think he has improved a bit.
Maguire 3/5. We overpaid massively and even though he is probably the best CB at the club, it doesn't say much. The amount of times he gets nutmegged and turned is way too much. He cost us quite a few goals as well.
Bruno 5/5. So far he looks to be our best signing we made in years.
Ighalo 4/5. He has done OK and is a definitely good loan deal for us.

 

[romufc]

I knew this thread would be silly.

Harry Maguire has been a 2/5 since the restart, sure, I'll give you that.

But he's added a lot of assurity to the defense and our defensive record is good. We've only conceded one more goal than Man City have. Harry Maguire has been excellent for the most part of the season. And has added leadership.

Its knee jerk reactions. Remember when Rashford wasnt good enough for the PL?

Remember when all hell broke down when we didnt get Haaland? Martial isnt good enough.

Maguire is having a tough time so we go at him.

Do you know the one game we played without Maguire ? City at home and we got cut open at will.

No other game this season has our defence looked that bad.

 

[fps]

I’ll do a final verdict for this season at the point when the season finally ends, before is stupid. A lot riding on these next few games and it’s where we’d hope those signings really prove themselves.

 

[Siorac]

I knew this thread would be silly.

Harry Maguire has been a 2/5 since the restart, sure, I'll give you that.

But he's added a lot of assurity to the defense and our defensive record is good. We've only conceded one more goal than Man City have. Harry Maguire has been excellent for the most part of the season. And has added leadership.

Last season, under Ole, we conceded 25 goals in 21 league games. This season it's 35 in 35. It's an improvement, sure, but not a 120m improvement (remember, Maguire wasn't the only defender we signed). And we had better or similar defensive record every season going back to the Moyes season (when we conceded 43 in 38).

Or, to put it in simpler terms, our defending has been around the same level for the past six years, minus a short period when Mourinho was pretty much intentionally sabotaging the team.

 

[abkmufc92]

James 1/5 - A signing that wasn't needed, added nothing to the team. So many undeserved starts giving to him whilst producing nothing. The only attributes this guy has is that he can run in a straight line and cross aimlessly.
AWB 3/5 - Good defensively bar a few games, poor going forward though he may improve in that area.
Maguire 2/5 - For 80 mill he's been a complete waste of money, he's marginally better than what we already had. For that price we should be getting a defender around the same level as van Dijk.
Bruno 5/5 - Been a great signing so far.
Igahlo 4/5 - Played better than I expected of him.

 

[el3mel]

James 2/5. We will sell him 2-3 years from now on.

Maguire 2.5/5. Average all around. Not great but not disastrous. Just average.

AWB 4.5/5. Great defensively and improved offensively a lot as the season went on.

Bruno 5/5 needless to say, single handedly revived our team.

Ighalo 4/5 did well as a backup whenever he came on.

 

[El-Manos]

I know that season is not over yet but i think that by now we all have pretty clear picture about this topic. I tried to rate them based on several parameters like transfer fee (yes, player is not guilty for his fee but fee does matter), performances, general quality, future potential and influence on team).
1. Awful transfer (huge miss)
2. Not good transfer (Not a disaster. Some positives but overall wrong call )
3. Solid transfer (we could have done it better but overall not a miss).
4. Good transfer
5. Excellent transfer
6. Top deal. (Bruno )

Departures:
Lukaku, 80 mil with add ons
Despite his good season in Inter, Martial is much better as no9. And we got our money back.
Verdict: Excellent transfer. 5/5

Sanchez, loan
His season in Inter was bellow average. But who knows what would happen if he stayed. In first part of season we needed someone who can change the game. On other hand who knows what would happen with Greenwood and is Alexis really not loved among players. Not good thing also is that we still payed half(?) of his wage.
Verdict: Solid transfer. 3/5

Smalling, loan 3mil
Good season in Italy. He would not play much here because Victor and Harry were injury free and are clearly Ole's first pick. Based on good loan spell we will sell him for decent fee. Maybe we could have got more money but who knows.
Verdict: Good transfer. 4/5

Young, 1,5mil€
Nothing to talk about.
Verdict: good transfer. 4/5

Rojo, loan
I really don't know what to say about this. We should have sold him or loaned him to someone who will buy him after the season. We didn't do anything of that. But we saved some money.
Verdict: Solid transfer. 3/5.

Darmian: 3mil
Good decision to sell him but fee was too low.
Verdict: Good transfer. 4/5

Arrivals:

Daniel James, 17mil.
He really is championship player. He got minutes from Chong or Gomes. Out of depth in highest level of football. General phrase whole season about him was that he is fast and is "hard working" player. Lacks skill, tactical knowledge, technique and finishing with only average cross (for a winger). 3 goals and 6 assists in PL where he played and started most of games. Not good enough for us but he is young(ish) and has that pace and work rate which some minor clubs want from wingers so he didn't lose on his value. We can always get our money back for him. And who knows, maybe one season on loan make him good enough for cover player.
Verdict: not a good transfer but we will not lose money on him for sure and there is still hope that he can improve (i doubt but who knows). 2/5

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 55mil €.
Among best defensive full backs in the world. And 21y old. Was pretty much great in defence whole season. But his attacking game is not good which raises a few questions. Is 55 mil too much for only defensive full back? Should Man Utd have full back who is only good in defence?
I think that his attacking game is huge huge flaw but he is 21 so he can upgrade it. In defence he is a monster.
Verdict: Good transfer (which can be even excellent transfer in future). Now it is 4/5

Bruno Fernandes, 55mil €.
No words. Completely changed everything. Can score, can pass, works hard, good character, fee is ok for that kind of player.
Verdict: Bruno

Harry Maguire, 87mil €.
Ah..Harry. Where to start? People say that player is not guilty for his fee. He isn't. But when you judge club's transfers then fee is a major thing.
For 80 mil pounds you buy a player who is game changer. With whom every players become better. In our case we needed someone who will organise our defence. You don't go and buy a player who is only slight upgrade for player who is not good enough for you (Smalling).
Maguire is slow, immobile and he doesn't make other players around him better. He is not a leader defender. He is good on the ball and pretty good in air. Overall not bad defender for PL and that is it. He is not United first 11 quality and he is not first 11 defender for club who wants to win titles.
On top of that he is 27, can only survive in PL and is hugely overpaid so we can't sell him (we can but not even for half of his price).
Verdict: He is a huge miss. I cant give him 1 because he did some things good and our defence is better with him than last year without him and as i said, he is not bad defender. But overall: not good transfer. Barely 2/5.

Ighalo:
Nothing to add about him. Excellent loan deal.
Verdict: Excellent. 5/5.

Overall verdict: Solid. 3/5
We did very good in outgoing transfers. We made one top deal with Bruno, one very good transfer with AWB and excellent loan deal with Ighalo.
We wasted over 100 mil on James and Maguire. That 100 mil could and should have been much much better invested.


Edit: wow, this is a looong post. Sorry about that

Harsh on James & Maguire. James has done pretty good all things considered. He was never meant to be a starter. We got him for a low fee too. I’d have him at 3/5.

Maguire has been poor lately but he is still our best cb. You expect more for 80m pounds but the price tag isn’t his fault. I’d have him at 3/5 but he has been a liability recently.

 

[Plant0x84]

Another pointless FM wannabe thread excuse to lay into our players. I wonder sometimes how many so called Utd fans actually support the club.


The way this season has been messed up by a global pandemic and the strange circumstances the season is ending in and how it is affecting the players counts for nothing obviously. Neither does the fact that all our terrible players and rubbish manager are going to get a top 4 spot and could win two trophies

Dan James was apparently bought as youth team prospect/back up rotation and has done well playing out of position most of the season due to not having a dedicated RW in the squad. For some to judge him so harshly and basically write him off at this point is ludicrous.

AWB is a defender. He defends very well. Nuff said.

Harry Maguire will be our Captain for years to come. He is a vast improvement on what we have had in recent years at CB.

Maybe we could all stop looking for problems, get excited about our potential and cheer the boys over the line!

 

[noodlehair]

? Every full-back in the world, including our own Luke Shaw, is scrutinised for their attacking outputs as well as their defensive ability. It's expected of a full-back.

I don't think he's bad at it though: he gets forward a lot, puts decent crosses in, and so on. My main problem with him is how clumsy he looks on the ball, how often he has heavy touches. It can be an issue, especially when we are pressed.

Scrutinised yes but not to nearly the level Bissaka is. It's just another bandwagon thing. One person says he's poor going forwards so everyone else has to blindly jump on board. No chance of them ever acknowledging that he's actually quite useful going forwards because they never bothered forming a reasonable basis to judge that on in the first place. He's doomed to be criticised for it forever unless he becomes a more effective attacking player than our actual attacking players.

 

[flappyjay]

Or, to put it in simpler terms, our defending has been around the same level for the past six years, minus a short period when Mourinho was pretty much intentionally sabotaging the team.

It was all de Gea by himself, now it's all Maguire by himself

 

[mu4c_20le]

James - The Welsh Sane. 10/10
AWB - Young, British, hungry. 10/10
Bruno - Fantasy points machine. 10/10
Harry - Perfect, never puts a foot wrong, like Bruce and Pally combined. 10/10
Ighalo - Taught Martial everything he knows. 10/10

 

[el3mel]

Another pointless FM wannabe thread excuse to lay into our players. I wonder sometimes how many so called Utd fans actually support the club.


The way this season has been messed up by a global pandemic and the strange circumstances the season is ending in and how it is affecting the players counts for nothing obviously. Neither does the fact that all our terrible players and rubbish manager are going to get a top 4 spot and could win two trophies

Dan James was apparently bought as youth team prospect/back up rotation and has done well playing out of position most of the season due to not having a dedicated RW in the squad. For some to judge him so harshly and basically write him off at this point is ludicrous.

AWB is a defender. He defends very well. Nuff said.

Harry Maguire will be our Captain for years to come. He is a vast improvement on what we have had in recent years at CB.

Maybe we could all stop looking for problems, get excited about our potential and cheer the boys over the line!

I don't get these awful posts from some who only think they have the right to classify the team's supporters and tell them the right way to support the club. Just because we differ in opinion about a player or a manager it doesn't mean I don't support the club. Just creates an awful atmosphere around.

If you want to only hear your opinion then internet is clearly not for you.

 

[Revan]

Bruno - a bit too early to tell considering that he has been here for a short amount of time. However, during that time he has been the best player in the league. He seems to enjoying it here which is always good. 5/5 for now with potential to be our most important signing in a very long time.

AWB - he is one of the best tacklers I have ever seen. He is also weak, not good at positioning and gets consistently beaten on the air. He has a decent final pass but is not good at passing under pressure. All parts of the game that he can improve (and has already showed signs about it). Quite a bit overpriced though. 3/5 for now with potential to become 4/5.

Maguire - a good defender who should be third choice (or at best, junior partner of a world class CB) on a squad winning titles. Unfortunately, he was signed to be the first main in the sheet and under bizarre circumstances got the captaincy (despite having not captained anything before that and never mentioned as a leader before). Likes to make a mistake every other game, otherwise plays good. One of the most overpriced signings of all time, easily double his value. 3/5 for now, and I don’t see it getting better.

James - a pace merchant who is quite meh at everything. One of those pointless signings that every club occasionally does , who has a purple patch, gets relegated to bench, spends the next 2 years more out than playing and gets sold to some club who is fighting relegation. The only reason why he gets 2/5 is because he did not cost that much.

Ighalo- he is alright I guess, signed here to play not important matches and to rest Martial when we are winning. 3/5

Departures - all of them except Herrera needed to go, and Herrera was outside of our hands. All great decisions. 5/5 (would be 6/5 when Jones, Bailly, Lingard and Perreira leave).

 

[TheNewEra]

1. Awful transfer (huge miss)
2. Not good transfer (Not a disaster. Some positives but overall wrong call )
3. Solid transfer (we could have done it better but overall not a miss).
4. Good transfer
5. Excellent transfer
6. Top deal. (Bruno )

Departures:
Lukaku 5/5 paves the way to younger talent who have a higher ceiling, makes United more of a threat.

Sanchez 3/5 He could have arguably made a difference if it was just form, but either way he's 31 now and we need a younger winger

Smalling 2/5 I'd argue he could have a role to play, for example he's a good defender aerially I think Smalling could be a good squad player (however he will move on now)

Young 5/5 good servant to the club, time for him to move on, just hope he is happy where he is.

Rojo 5/5 but he needs to be off the wage books

Darmian 5/5 time for him to leave no issues.

Arrivals:

Daniel James, 17mil.
2/5 too early to say, I think in a few years he will be moved onto another club and he'll be upgraded if he doesn't develop. he can't retain the ball well and he isn't really a great passer of the ball currently.

Yesterday James should have been running with the ball to the corner flag, or driving at Southampton but it felt like he wasn't on the pitch.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 55mil €.
5/5 improve his crossing and he'll be one of the best fullbacks in the world, he's a bit clumbsy now in terms of crossing, he's always drilling passes there's no real variation.

Bruno Fernandes, 55mil €.
5/5 so far anyway, we'll see him after a full season but currently he's one of the best midfielders in the league

Harry Maguire, 87mil €.
4/5 I'm not harsh on Harrys rating at all, when you talk about centre-backs you're talking about partnerships, and I think he doesn't have the best partner right now.

His current partners are not as great on the ball, and not so good in the air. Rio had Vidic, Maldini had Nesta, Baresi.

You can't judge a defender by themselves, judge him when he has a top CB next to him, he's piece one of two in that CB role right now.

Ighalo:
3/5 good early on but we'll see his input next season, I think he should have come on late on yesterday to hold up the ball.

 

[CG1010]

Daniel James - 1/5 - Not helping us grow as a football team (he has time to prove me wrong though)

Aaron Wan-Bissaka - 4/5 - Consistency at playing itself is a big deal + potential for growth in future

Bruno Fernandes - 5/5

Harry Maguire - 4/5 - Again consistency at CB is a great deal in itself. We would be completely lost without him

Ighalo - 2/5 - hasn't contributed much in our main competition, i.e., PL. Perhaps the manager is at fault as he has looked good most of the times on the pitch.


I very much disagree with the OP that transfer fee matters in judging the transfers. At our club any player who can consistency perform in first XI is pretty much likely to be more valuable than the transfer fee we have paid. For me, the issue is simply whether the said player belongs to an elite Manchester United team or helps us reach that level.

 

[SpyLuke10]

James: 2.5/5
AWB: 5/5
Maguire: 3.5/5
Bruno: 6/5
Ighalo (loan): 4/5

Bruno and AWB are resounding successes as signings. Maguire is a good signing but so bloody expensive - we paid 80M for a 50-60M pound centre back. Would be a 4/5 if we got him for a more reasonable price - Leicester definitely were a bit unreasonable to say the least. The recent Bergwijn goal I attribute the most blame to Maguire, it certainly raises a few questions.

Ighalo has been a good loan signing. Hasn't done enough yet to merit being considered any better than that, but has potential.

Dan James has honestly been poor since around mid-December, but he was pretty cheap all things considered, and still has good potential, even just as a squad player/super sub for us. 2 is too harsh cos I don't wanna write him off, but a signing who currently isn't making any impact when he plays can't be considered solid.

as for outgoings, don't really care, all i'll say is that i agree with the players that we decided to sell.

 

[Plant0x84]

I don't get these awful posts from some who only think they have the right to classify the team's supporters and tell them the right way to support the club. Just because we differ in opinion about a player or a manager it doesn't mean I don't support the club. Just creates an awful atmosphere around.

If you want to only hear your opinion then internet is clearly not for you.

If the opinion is balanced then I have no problem. I’m all for a sensible discourse, a robust debate even- but when it’s all knee jerk hyperbole and negative rhetoric it gets a bit wearing. The season hasn’t even finished yet.

If Dan James scores the winner in the EL final will he suddenly be a world class top player who we all knew would come good?

What I’m saying is there is a plethora of reasons why performances vary across the season and this must be taken into account. ‘Dan James has been right off the boil recently. I think this season has been a bit too much, he’s got some work to do to prove his worth’ is a valid argument, as opposed to ‘Dan James is poop, the club are a joke I’m done with football’ which is not.

I think Dans biggest problem is over achieving at the start of the season. He has time to grow and develop and to suggest he needs selling is a nonsense.

Far from telling anybody how to support the club, I just don’t see why people would sign up here just to neigh say everything the club does.

 

[TheNewEra]

James: 2.5/5
AWB: 5/5
Maguire: 3.5/5
Bruno: 6/5
Ighalo (loan): 4/5

Bruno and AWB are resounding successes as signings. Maguire is a good signing but so bloody expensive - we paid 80M for a 50-60M pound centre back. Would be a 4/5 if we got him for a more reasonable price - Leicester definitely were a bit unreasonable to say the least. The recent Bergwijn goal I attribute the most blame to Maguire, it certainly raises a few questions.

Every player makes a mistake or two, it's football. De Gea also didn't do well in the spurs goal. De Gea can and will be one of the best GKs in the world and his form is starting to turn around now too.

It's often a case of a mistake after a mistake that leads to goals, it's not generally attributed to one singular 'error'.

For example yesterday Ole took off players that he said 'weren't tired' in the interview, and that was error 1, the second error was Williams being injured and then having 10 men.

Obafemi being such a short player was also not really a threat so wasn't picked up, the third error.

Maguire doesn't have a strong partner ahead of him, I don't think he can be blamed so much.

CBs of Maguires level are now £80M, Van Dijk would be £120M now I bet, I mean look at Rio he was £30m 'the most expensive defender' in 2002, the market changes.

Once a defender is bought that 100% complements Maguire I doubt people will criticise him as much as they do now.

 

[tomaldinho1]

That's a bit harsh on Maguire I think - there's not many CBs in the league I would take over him, and in my eyes he brought some leadership qualities to the team that definitely lacked them. Sure we overpayed, but he is our best CB at this point and we desperately needed someone in this position. Teams won the league with worse players in his position.

I think the issue with Maguire is that because of his fee, he's undroppabale and we're already trying to make up for his shortcomings i.e needing a CB with pace to account for his lack of it. When you add in the emotional connection which often clouds people's judgements (he's clearly a great personality and stand up guy) you definitely do have people overrating him/not being objective when assessing his performances. He's been 'ok' but the hope is that it is only a first season and so fingers crossed his form will be more consistent next year.

James - 4/5. He was cheap and I think brought in as a squad player who then surprised with a great start. That's how the transfer should be assessed, not as if we thought we were getting Mbappe. Very solid transfer.
AWB - 5/5. What a difference a good RB makes. Lots of time to improve attacking side to his game.
Bruno - 5/5. Although he was awful yesterday. Great transfer.
Maguire - 3/5. The fee isn't his fault but has made a lot of individual errors this season & I don't think you'll find him on many pundit's XI of the season because of the yo-yo form.
Ighalo - 5/5. Does what it says on the tin. Loan striker needed for rotation and has performed admirably. Add in he's a huge fan and a real feel good transfer.

 

[wythyred]

James 3/5
AWB 4/5
Maguire 4/5
Bruno 5/5
Ighalo 4/5

 

[Gator Nate]

Seems a bit harsh on Dan James. He wasn't brought in to be what we've had to ask him to be, but he started out great, then we had a rash of injuries, and he put in the shifts. This was his first year at the club and first year in the PL. I'd rate him at least a 3, just based on his low cost and what we've gotten out of him over the last 12 months.

 

[el3mel]

If the opinion is balanced then I have no problem. I’m all for a sensible discourse, a robust debate even- but when it’s all knee jerk hyperbole and negative rhetoric it gets a bit wearing. The season hasn’t even finished yet.

If Dan James scores the winner in the EL final will he suddenly be a world class top player who we all knew would come good?

What I’m saying is there is a plethora of reasons why performances vary across the season and this must be taken into account. ‘Dan James has been right off the boil recently. I think this season has been a bit too much, he’s got some work to do to prove his worth’ is a valid argument, as opposed to ‘Dan James is poop, the club are a joke I’m done with football’ which is not.

I think Dans biggest problem is over achieving at the start of the season. He has time to grow and develop and to suggest he needs selling is a nonsense.

Far from telling anybody how to support the club, I just don’t see why people would sign up here just to neigh say everything the club does.

Daniel James has been poor for the majority of the season. He started the season very well but it has been going down hill since then. Not sure how saying this suddenly makes someone "not supporting the club". It's not just due to his recent form.

Can he improve ? Yes, but can't see him improving to be a very good player. Players don't acquire skills that aren't even there from the start. He'll improve to be a decent backup in a big club at best with his set of skills.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Our defense has transformed into one of the best in the league under Maguire. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. It's like people expect our opponents to have zero chances every game in order to be considered great defenders. Got news for you, Harry Maguire is one of the best defenders in the world and we are lucky to have him...

 

[shaky]

Our defense has transformed into one of the best in the league under Maguire. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. It's like people expect our opponents to have zero chances every game in order to be considered great defenders. Got news for you, Harry Maguire is one of the best defenders in the world and we are lucky to have him...

He's a great leader on the pitch and doesn't brick himself when it comes to playing out from the back, unlike some. I reckon if we had Smalling there all season instead, we'd be at least a few points worse off, which looks like being the difference between playing CL and Europa next season. Can't put a price on that.

 

[Reapersoul20]

Shit thread. Especially the agenda against Maguire.

 

[Revan]

He's a great leader on the pitch and doesn't brick himself when it comes to playing out from the back, unlike some. I reckon if we had Smalling there all season instead, we'd be at least a few points worse off, which looks like being the difference between playing CL and Europa next season. Can't put a price on that.

We finished with 66 points last season (with Mourinho sabotaging us for 3 months). If we win all matches, we will finish with 68. If we win 2 and draw one we will finish with 66, same as last season.

This is while adding AWB and Bruno in addition to Maguire (and removing what is considered by most as deadwood). I don't get where does the 'replace Maguire with Smalling and we are a few points off'.

Sure, we should not compare this season to seasons 10 years ago cause football has changed a lot, but we can definitely compare it with the last season. And well, we are actually averaging less points than last season. So no, I don't think there is much to say that if we had Smalling instead of Maguire we would have been a few points off. That is not to say that we should have kept Smalling (we shouldn't), but Maguire was hardly the answer. He was a very expensive sideways move.

 

[King Andow]

Our defense has transformed into one of the best in the league under Maguire. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. It's like people expect our opponents to have zero chances every game in order to be considered great defenders. Got news for you, Harry Maguire is one of the best defenders in the world and we are lucky to have him...

He didn't transformed anything by himself, though. We were absolutely terrible under Mourinho, Phil Jones played 18 league games and Smalling was a starter. Then AWB replaced Young, Fred and McTominay improved a lot and Matic found his best form. Maguire, who's making mistake after mistake leading to goals doesn't take credit alone, he's not even better than Lindelöf. "One of the best defenders in the w"..