Isotope
Ten Years a Cafite
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2012
- Messages
- 24,559
Aye, as well as the defensive structure. Genuinely reforming Manchester United (on and off the field) is a humungous undertaking, not for the faint of heart — and Ratcliffe and co. definitely have their work cut out for them. The entire collective, from front to back, is in need of extensive surgery and reconfiguration, which can only be done over the course of multiple seasons, even if all of the processes (from identification to recruitment to coaching and development) are consistently spot on (which isn't a given, obviously). We should set realistic targets with a 2-3 year timeframe where we progressively turn things around; a hasty and half-hearted window dressing job is unlikely to cut it and will merely perpetuate the boom-bust cycle — and we're certainly not going to optimize the midfield (or the attack or the defense) in just one summer mercato. A bit like Arsenal, who are enjoying the results of wide-spread and meaningful restructuring — if I recall correctly, almost all of the players who made the 2020 FA Cup Final (which was actually not that long ago), including subtitutes, are gone!
P.S. Yep, this is the squad from that final. And doesn't even include the likes of Özil, Mkhitaryan, Gouendouzi, Chambers or Mustafi.
Yeha. It will take incredible planning, consistency, and believe. In another 2-3 years considering current squad age, it seems we'll need to overhaul our entire defence and midfield anyway.
Just my hunch, it seems like we get them wrong this time. Our attackers are young, mostly expensive, overpaid, thus most likely they'll stay around for another 2-3 years. Sadly, even giving them another 2-3 years to mature, I don't think they'll become top players (except probably Garnacho, with Amad as unknown). Hojlund, Sancho, Antony, Pellistri meh.. the less say about Rashford.
I just don't think for us prioritizing CM will get us back to the top. For me, attack then defence are the most important, and midfield in the last.
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