We are going the way of AC Milan

[Red_toad]

We've turned into Liverpool.

When do we get positive fans who think next year is going to be our year then? I’m over these moaning barstools who just constantly moan!

 

[adexkola]

It's good for football that big clubs can fail and become irrelevant. But please let it happen to Bayern, Barcelona, Juventus, Madrid, Liverpool, anyone but us.

I agree!

 

[diarm]

We're not quite there yet. When we start buying washed up superstars like Beckham and Ronaldinho, our journey will be complete.

Someone like Schweinsteiger, Falcao or Zlatan you mean?

 

[diarm]

It's good for football that big clubs can fail and become irrelevant. But please let it happen to Bayern, Barcelona, Juventus, Madrid, Liverpool, anyone but us.

Doesn't happen to them because their fans don't allow it. The arrogance of being a fan of a successful club is part of what perpetuates success. They demand nothing less than the very best, even when it makes them seem like dicks, and that way, a small dip still leaves them at a high level.

United fans have accepted mediocrity and in return, that's what we've received. We're the biggest club in England and one of the biggest on the planet but we've allowed a shower of American nobodies to run our club into the ground in case god forbid, somebody might think we were arrogant enough to demand better.

 

[MoskvaRed]

We’ll get a sense of our current status when we appoint our next manager. If I were a manager who had worked hard to build up a good reputation over 10 years or so (like Pochettino now, or Klopp pre-Liverpool), I would avoid United like the plague while they are run by Woodward and under Glazer ownership.

 

[Seanus]

Before SAF didn't we go 26/27 years without winning the league? And only won it a couple of times in the 60s so perhaps we are where we should be-just sayin........

 

[Ibrahimorich]

Doesn't happen to them because their fans don't allow it. The arrogance of being a fan of a successful club is part of what perpetuates success. They demand nothing less than the very best, even when it makes them seem like dicks, and that way, a small dip still leaves them at a high level.

United fans have accepted mediocrity and in return, that's what we've received. We're the biggest club in England and one of the biggest on the planet but we've allowed a shower of American nobodies to run our club into the ground in case god forbid, somebody might think we were arrogant enough to demand better.

It doesn't happen to them because Bayern are in a 1 team league. It's literally impossible for them to not qualify for the CL.

It doesn't happen to Madrid/Barca because they're in a 2 team league.

We're in a 6 team league, so 2 will always miss out.

Nothing to do with how arrogant their fans are.

 

[Steven-UK]

Before SAF didn't we go 26/27 years without winning the league? And only won it a couple of times in the 60s so perhaps we are where we should be-just sayin........

The financial muscle of the club is a totally different animal compared to those days....for now, at least, until the fans start to realise they are being shafted and stop renewing season tickets at the same pre-rancid-club prices.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

We have become Liverpool. Media full of 'old boys' claiming that we need to continue looking to the past and trusting a former player because he 'knows the club'. Management team full of old boys that are stuck in the past in terms of tactics and ideology, and not very good at their jobs.

 

[Maticmaker]

The difficulty for most fans is to realise Manchester United is no longer a football club, it is a £B business and is run like one.

The remnants of the Football side ran on empty for the last few years of SAF's tenure as far as the football was concerned, only Fergie's reputation and know how kept us with the appearance of still being top class. Once he and Gill went the 'fix' was in and the club was then run by Ed Woodward and financially it did very well indeed however; all important decisions including those affecting the actual football were made by an excellent business manager, but someone who had no idea how to run the football side of things.

The selection of club managers, the insistence on overseeing transfers and of supposedly trying to correct the image of United as an easy touch on transfers, the seemingly overwhelming obsession with merchandizing, etc. were all overseen if not directly controlled by Woodward, presumably this was all with the owners permission, if not exactly their blessing.

As long as the money keeps rolling in and fans keep buying tickets (even when they don't turn up and/or leave early), whilst merchandising and sponsorship deals keep a healthy profit going, very little will change. The promise of the appointment of someone who might actually know how to run a football club(DoF) offered some hope, but then no appointment was made!

The football club side's 'product shelf-life' has not only levelled-out it is now dropping off badly, it is time for a new model, a top to toe remake or for the owners 'realise the asset' and sell on.

Chanting for people to die, wont do anything only embarrass the club even more than the level of performance on the field. Stop putting money into the club and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Ole90+3]

If he was playing for Liverpool perhaps, but the shit show running this club stand no chance of getting anything close to 25m for a run of the mill player like lingard.

Yes.

 

[Roboc7]

We’re there already, fact we plan to get out of this mess with worst manager we have had in a long time and all the same people responsible for the mess behind the scenes pretty much confines us to good few more years of this.

 

[::sonny::]

We haven't turned into anything, the football world has moved on and we haven't. You could say the same happened to AC Milan.

this

 

[Escobar]

Before SAF didn't we go 26/27 years without winning the league? And only won it a couple of times in the 60s so perhaps we are where we should be-just sayin........

You do know that things change and we don't always need to look back so many years. Or do you expect us to not win anything in 26 years and be fine with that?

 

[GifLord]

We haven't turned into anything, the football world has moved on and we haven't. You could say the same happened to AC Milan.

Milan are in a huge debt. They had to sell Kaka because of it in 09 and later Ibra and Silva to PSG.

 

[Sandikan]

Once we start trying to loan all our signings - THAT is when we go full AC Milan.

 

[TheReligion]

Aren't we?

Come on you can post better than this surely..

 

[Red-Man-Walking]

Unfair comparison

Milan at least had the decency to win 7 CLs before going to shit

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Someone like Schweinsteiger, Falcao or Zlatan you mean?

Zlatan wasn't washed up when we got him.

 

[Peter Freedom]

I don’t think we are going there.
We already arrived at the destination.

 

[diarm]

Zlatan wasn't washed up when we got him.

I'd agree, but then I think both Beckham and Ronaldinho did a job for Milan.

 

[Son]

At least they managed to win 7 European Cups before they tanked. Their league form was never great though post 1991.

They should have won more league titles with their squad I thought.

 

[Le Red]

The only difference between us and AC Milan is that they had a squad with an average age close to 30 whereas we have a squad with an average age of puberty.

As bad as things are, there's still a kernel of hugely talented players in this squad which, given the right coaching and given the right additions is ready to take off and can achieve something special. We have managed to cut back a lot of the chaff over the last year and it's a very lean squad which should leave plenty of funds to add the quality we require.


De Gea, Henderson
Wan Bissaka, Williams
Maguire, Lindelof, Taunzebe
Pogba, McTominay, Fred
Rashford, Martial, Greenwood, James

That's a core squad of 14 talented players, average age of 23.

I think we should then have the following as our plan for squad management in the short term:

Players Out	Transfer Fee	Wages (per week)	Players In	Transfer Fee	Wages (per week)	Temporary Squad Players	Promoted Youngsters
Smalling​	£15m	£70k	Experienced fullback to cover both sides.	£30m	£100k	Romero​	Garner​
Jones​	£5m	£75k	Defensive Midfielder	£45m	£120k	Pereira​	Laird​
Rojo​	£10m	£80k	Attacking Midfielder	£65m	£180k	Mata​	​
Bailly​	£15m	£80k	Right Winger	£90m	£200k	Dalot​	​
Lingard​	£25m	£100k	Experienced Striker (Target man of some sort)	£20m	£100k	Shaw​	​
Matic​	£10m	£120k				​	​
Sanchez​	£10m	£390k				Net Spend​	Net Wages​
Total	£90m	£915k		£250m	£700k	£160m	£215k (11m / year)

£160m outlay and in my opinion we'd have a squad capable of challenging for the league in the next couple of years.

I bet this table you have is way more than EW has ever done.
Team wise, he probably only makes some notes on those doodle desk papers.
The fancy Excel is for the money deals.

 

[Beans]

We're not quite there yet. When we start buying washed up superstars like Beckham and Ronaldinho, our journey will be complete.

Good point, that cheered me up!