Why we must embrace a long-term approach

[Mr Smith]

Can’t embrace a lot my term approach when there isn’t one, all we’ve done this summer is buy British. There’s still no plan short or long term and still no DOF or equivalent to put one in place etc.

We’re still handing out contracts or extending them for deadwood which shows there isn’t an intention to give more opportunities to youngsters. Have to call this club what it is lacking in ambition and incompetent. Said last season rock bottom is still to come and don’t feel any different now.

I was more saying the club needs to embrace a long-term approach; I'm not defending what they've already done this summer, just saying there's an opportunity to use the difficult situation we find ourselves in to our advantage.

 

[Kag]

Theres nothing long term about our midfield planning.

Pogba wants to leave and will probably get his way next summer. That leaves us with Matic, Fred, Pereira and McTominay. One of them (Matic) looks ready for a wheelchair. So next summer, given we look like making no additions to the first team, we might be in a position in which we need two or three first team midfielders.

That is abhorrent planning, to be frank.

 

[JPRouve]

To be fair, getting decorated managers is not a bad plan. We just got the wrong ones. Looking up the table, we see what getting the right ones did for our rivals.

I could be wrong but it is actually a bad plan because it's not that common for managers to be successful in the second part of their careers with different clubs.

 

[Striker10]

The club has so many sponsors. They are greedy and it's the football side that's suffering and the fans. We need new ownership who love football before their own self interest. People might jump on that and say it's glory hunting but the reality is they can't compete or simply don't want to. So regardless, it will be the owners and Ed who will get the brunt from the fans when the inevitable happens and people won't listen to 'oh, we've been unlucky with injuries'. They decimated our squad and they've refused to spend money on position whereby we're clearly lacking. What are our scouts doing?...

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

We have no long term approach, or any plan whatsoever. We are a business not a football club.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm hopeful of this, but still very skeptical of the owners and Ed Woodward. I hope they've learned their lessons from the last few years and are looking long-term, but we won't know for certain until the next big managerial decision comes along.

I admire your optimism and enjoyed the OP. I especially like the concept of Ole as an evolutionary, transitional manager. The fatal flaw, though, is you’re assuming there’s an underlying long-term strategy from someone who understands how to build a successful club. Tragically, there doesn’t seem to be anyone at the club capable of developing such a strategy, despite the obvious need for one.

 

[Castia]

There is no game plan, that's obvious. Just look at the squad, If Pogba gets injured we are absolutely fecked.

There's no strikers in the squad. Martial and Rashford expected to suddenly bang in 20+ goals each? yeah right.

We wont get top 4 next season any the likes of Pogba will be gone for sure, we're in a loop of losing 2-3 players while buying 2-3 other players who aren't good enough, it's one big circle.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Nobody is convincing me we have a long-term plan until a DoF gets instated and there's serious talk about redeveloping Old Trafford.

Our long-term planning is done by an accountant who knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

There's not moaning, and then there's just being realistic.

 

[red4ever 79]

Let's embrace a long term approach. Let's settle for 5th or 6th mediocrity for a few years whilst at the same time losing players like Pogba, De Gea because they will want to be competing and winning things which is the basic of what Manchester United should be about.

 

[Roboc7]

I was more saying the club needs to embrace a long-term approach; I'm not defending what they've already done this summer, just saying there's an opportunity to use the difficult situation we find ourselves in to our advantage.

There’s been an opportunity for six years and it’s ignored every time, a year from now it will be the same.

I have no idea why the club aren’t learning their lessons but in any business you learn from mistakes and find ways to improve, for whatever reason we just continue down the same path.

Long term or short term there is no plan in terms of a football club. The only thing that will be embraced is making us much money as possible before selling for the biggest profit. That’s the Manchester United plan now.

 

[Mr Smith]

Let's embrace a long term approach. Let's settle for 5th or 6th mediocrity for a few years whilst at the same time losing players like Pogba, De Gea because they will want to be competing and winning things which is the basic of what Manchester United should be about.

Open your eyes. We don't have a choice. Top players don't want to join us. It doesn't matter how many players we want to bring in, we're not an attractive destination anymore. We have to think and operate differently so we look like a team with a project that's worth getting on board with, rather than a scattergun, shambles of a club desperate to stave off decline. Which is what we've looked like chewing through 4 managers and seeking short-term solutions for the past 6 years.

 

[Lucas Hood!!]

A long term approach would be a good idea. But would you trust the Glazers & Ed to do it properly? I certainly wouldn't.

 

[passing-wind]

These posts are just hypothesis imaginative nonsense without abstaining facts.

In order for Solskjaer to given time he needs to produce minimal results facts. The club's ideas of "results" is a top four finish facts (highlighted in the press conference as seasonal objectives). We have a worse squad than last season and the highest capabilities was a 6th place finish facts. Solskjaer has thus far not shown any commodities in his management to indicate that time is his strengths, if you actually look at the premise of last season the longer he stayed the worst the team performed facts. This trajectory was also prevalent with Cardiff being so poor in the championship facts.

Fans need to kill the blind optimism, could you imagine the Chelsea fans after RDM won them the champions league ? How much ridiculous threads / posts would they have made in contingency with his short term accomplishment. Reality is he was replaced within a few months of a full season. It doesn't matter about Ole being a club legend, he needs the coaching pedigree to comprise results against some of the best coaches in world football in the premier league.

If we give Solskjaer time, we are giving time for failure.

 

[wolvored]

The way I see it a lot of .money has been spent on restructuring the scouting at youth level and bringing the right players in. The staffing is all geared up to bringing in ex players or the same ilk, with the understanding of how the club was run under fergie. The club look to be looking at buying in the right players for the right positions, not the biggest names and regardless of age fitting them in "galactico' style. Saying that I cant see why we cant grab a top 4 spot this season. The defence is a lot stronger first 11 so we should be able to play more on the front foot. Ole wont get the sack as we will be around top 4-5 all season I think. We might finally be moving in the right direction

 

[MuFc_1992]

Totally agree with the OP here. There's no way we can do anything significant this season anyway so, it's better not to sign anyone if we can't find the right players who fit our approach. It's better than signing a player who doesn't fit, just to sell him on cheap when he eventually fails and no other club who want him can afford his United wages. Yes, this approach wouldn't make sense if we had anything to fight for but all we've got to lose is a chance of a top 4 spot.

 

[Mr Smith]

These posts are just hypothesis imaginative nonsense without abstaining facts.

In order for Solskjaer to given time he needs to produce minimal results facts. The club's ideas of "results" is a top four finish facts (highlighted in the press conference as seasonal objectives). We have a worse squad than last season and the highest capabilities was a 6th place finish facts. Solskjaer has thus far not shown any commodities in his management to indicate that time is his strengths, if you actually look at the premise of last season the longer he stayed the worst the team performed facts. This trajectory was also prevalent with Cardiff being so poor in the championship facts.

Fans need to kill the blind optimism, could you imagine the Chelsea fans after RDM won them the champions league ? How much ridiculous threads / posts would they have made in contingency with his short term accomplishment. Reality is he was replaced within a few months of a full season. It doesn't matter about Ole being a club legend, he needs the coaching pedigree to comprise results against some of the best coaches in world football in the premier league.

If we give Solskjaer time, we are giving time for failure.

Who would you replace Ole with if results don't go his way? What if there are no suitable candidates available? Will you bring in a safe experienced manager who will prioritise the short-term and ignore the young players coming through in order to secure top 4?

At some point, we have to stop dropping managers at the first sign of adversity, or we'll never know if they can make it through it. But even that is missing the larger point. If all we're looking for is a manager who can make up the difference between 6th and 4th, we'll just turn into Arsenal. The fact is, we are no longer an attractive club for top players. And that's not just because we don't have CL football. It's because the total tonnage of the last 6 years has made us look like a shambles. Unless we show the world we have a long-term project, we will continue to be overlooked as an attractive destination.

 

[Bestietom]

Who would you replace Ole with if results don't go his way? What if there are no suitable candidates available? Will you bring in a safe experienced manager who will prioritise the short-term and ignore the young players coming through in order to secure top 4?

At some point, we have to stop dropping managers at the first sign of adversity, or we'll never know if they can make it through it. But even that is missing the larger point. If all we're looking for is a manager who can make up the difference between 6th and 4th, we'll just turn into Arsenal. The fact is, we are no longer an attractive club for top players. And that's not just because we don't have CL football. It's because the total tonnage of the last 6 years has made us look like a shambles. Unless we show the world we have a long-term project, we will continue to be overlooked as an attractive destination.

We could bring in Pep and it wouldn't make any difference here now. It's not the managers fault we won't spend. Pennypinchers. We should have been in for Ndombele and Lo Celso.

 

[Mr Smith]

We could bring in Pep and it wouldn't make any difference here now. It's not the managers fault we won't spend. Pennypinchers. We should have been in for Ndombele and Lo Celso.

Look I don't think we've done enough business this window to address key deficits in the squad either, but you think 130mil spent to repair our defence is pennypinching? That's mad.

Also Lo Celso is not better than the players in his position that we have actually tried to sign (ie Fernandes, Eriksen, and Dybala). Two didn't want to sign for us and the other we weren't that keen on.

 

[Judge Red]

A long term plan shouldn’t involve weakening parts of the team in the short term.

 

[Nikelesh Reddy]

A few threads going up in reaction to recent transfer news, so I apologise for another one. But I've been thinking a lot about what someone posted about cycles, and the fact that, even if we did sign a couple of truly world class players this summer, we probably still wouldn't be able to win major honours. For one thing, the teams at the top of the league are at the absolute peak of their powers, with no obvious weaknesses. And for another, we don't know if we have a manager who can turn quality into true success.

This is not intended to be a dig at Ole. It's just a reflection of the fact that we don't really know how good he is. But that shouldn't matter. Because I actually think he's the perfect manager for us in the current circumstances. We won't win the PL this season, and wouldn't have no matter who we realistically could sign. We probably couldn't win it next season either. But what we can do is change a culture. We can establish a clear playing style. We can bring young players through and instil in them key values we want in a United player; never giving up, making it about the team rather than the individual, playing with positivity, and always expecting a high standard. These are values Ole understands our players need, and clearly wants to instil based on his playing style and what we have seen of his approach to management.

If Ole goes on to be a great manager, and can win the PL in his time with us, I'll be delighted. But I think it's more likely he will be a transition manager. We talked so much about "transition" during the Van Gaal and Mourinho eras, but the fact is they were not transition managers. They were revolution managers, who's approaches both required a massive overhaul of the squad in order to win things, and were the antithesis of their predecessors. Both were hired because they were the most successful available managers at the time, rather than because they fit our style.

This time, we can behave differently; we can take our time. The money isn't going anywhere. We're too big a brand for that to dry up. If it's clear Ole isn't good enough to make us successful again, I don't want him sacked for the sake of it. We could finish 6th again and I wouldn't want Ole sacked unless the right manager is available to take his place. I want us to wait for the manager who is the best natural fit to build on what Ole is trying to do.

We have an opportunity here. We are likely to have more academy graduates in our starting line-up this year than we have for a over a decade. Lets not throw money at the problem for once. Lets let our graduates develop, and bring them through with a vision of what we want United to be.

Or maybe I'm just butt-hurt because Dybala rejected us.

Sick and tired of the word “transition”.LVG was supposed to be a “transition” manager,somebody who could build the blocks before we moved on to better and bigger things....the same was said about Jose,and now Oles supposed to be the transition guy,before we find the messiah....

 

[VeevaVee]

Long term approach is all well and good, but the players we buy to improve/fill gaping holes now may be getting on by then or wanting to leave in the meantime, so it just ends up a never ending circle of not being good enough if you don't do things quick enough.

 

[VeevaVee]

Theres nothing long term about our midfield planning.

Pogba wants to leave and will probably get his way next summer. That leaves us with Matic, Fred, Pereira and McTominay. One of them (Matic) looks ready for a wheelchair. So next summer, given we look like making no additions to the first team, we might be in a position in which we need two or three first team midfielders.

That is abhorrent planning, to be frank.

+ the rw, + potentially a striker, + potentially still not having a good left wing. Never gonna be sorted if we don't make big changes quickly.
For all we know Madrid or Barca come sniffing for WanB as well.

 

[Sterling Archer]

This summer window is not a long term approach. It's a failed one

 

[Terminator]

Terribly botched window. Another failure and one more poor season coming up.

 

[Bestietom]

Look I don't think we've done enough business this window to address key deficits in the squad either, but you think 130mil spent to repair our defence is pennypinching? That's mad.

Also Lo Celso is not better than the players in his position that we have actually tried to sign (ie Fernandes, Eriksen, and Dybala). Two didn't want to sign for us and the other we weren't that keen on.

We weaken the forward line to strengthen the backline and you think this is OK for a rebuild. That's pennypinching to me. We have been going backwards since 2013, mate.

 

[Mr Smith]

We weaken the forward line to strengthen the backline and you think this is OK for a rebuild. That's pennypinching to me. We have been going backwards since 2013, mate.

Again, I'm not saying I'm happy with our business; I'm very worried about our lack of firepower. But you're ignoring half the problem, which is that top players from top clubs have not wanted to sign for us this window. You can't blame that on pennypinching, unless you want an entire squad on Sanchez wages.

 

[Ban]

Again, I'm not saying I'm happy with our business; I'm very worried about our lack of firepower. But you're ignoring half the problem, which is that top players from top clubs have not wanted to sign for us this window. You can't blame that on pennypinching, unless you want an entire squad on Sanchez wages.

It's a vicious circle, we have no CL, top players don't want to come thus resulting in us possibly not getting CL again. If anything Adidas will close the pipe if that happens go maybe that will get Ed thinking.

 

[Mr Smith]

It's a vicious circle, we have no CL, top players don't want to come thus resulting in us possibly not getting CL again. If anything Adidas will close the pipe if that happens go maybe that will get Ed thinking.

That's definitely true, but it is worth considering we didn't have trouble signing top players in previous windows when we didn't have CL; in fact 2014 and 2016 might have been our two biggest spending summers post-SAF, and saw us bring in the biggest names. There's been a shift; our name simply doesn't carry as much weight as it used to, especially outside of England. Hence why I'd like to see us invest in youth and develop a clear style and identity on the pitch, to give top players another reason to get on board with us.

 

[Ban]

That's definitely true, but it is worth considering we didn't have trouble signing top players in previous windows when we didn't have CL; in fact 2014 and 2016 might have been our two biggest spending summers post-SAF, and saw us bring in the biggest names. There's been a shift; our name simply doesn't carry as much weight as it used to, especially outside of England. Hence why I'd like to see us invest in youth and develop a clear style and identity on the pitch, to give top players another reason to get on board with us.

That would ideally happen but season can go down the drain just as easily if not more. This was the window in which we should have made a statement and while I'm happy with the signings not getting a CM, RW and not replacing Lukaku is a recipe for disaster. In preseason it seemed we're working on a system and hopefully that will show going into the season but we have serious problems in depth and quality.

 

[EwanI Ted]

There's two questions.

One, is it the right strategy? In my view, yes. We've been stuck in a loop with a bunch of reliable pros who are better than mid-table but not good enough to win the league. We've worried about letting them go on the basis that we could potentially go backwards, but in doing so we've been stuck as nothing more than top 4 contenders.

Lukaku is pretty much the epitome of this. Gets us results at the expense of overall style, but even then results aren't that great.

We could continue to do that forever, with new managers and the odd transfer splurge getting us the occasional cup or two, but it'll never do more than that. We need to break up the existing group of players and start to assemble again. This time we need to bring in players who fit a clearer template, and whose attitude and style clearly fits the plan we've made. We seem to be prioritising young, british signings with a focus on speed and energy, still accomodating a handful of high profile international players with the odd older hand to plug gaps. I think that's exactly what we should do.

Two, do we have the Board and Management to make this strategy work? My worry is that we don't. Ole is promising, but unproven. Woodward is a joke. Phelan and Butt have their merits, but their roles don't make up for the lack of a dedicated DoF.

But... I think that is true whatever strategy we follow. Even if we'd gone all out on high profile galacticos, or continued Mourinho's style of wanting gnarled warriors, without the right management team we're bound to fail. So in a weird sort of way, even though I dont have too much faith in the people running the team & worry it isnt going to work, I still think that we should be approaching it in the way that we are.

 

[Code-CX]

What long-term approach? Do you honestly think any of the frauds we have at the top have any semblance of making plans that would benefit us in the future? No matter who the manager is, we won't go anywhere as long as Woodward and the Glazers stay in charge. Even a DOF won't fix things, he'll just be another Glazer pawn/mouthpiece.

 

[SCJY]

What long-term approach? Do you honestly think any of the frauds we have at the top have any semblance of making plans that would benefit us in the future? No matter who the manager is, we won't go anywhere as long as Woodward and the Glazers stay in charge. Even a DOF won't fix things, he'll just be another Glazer pawn/mouthpiece.

The long-term vision has to come from Ole to a large degree. The low net spend has to be taken into consideration if Ole fails to make top 4 this year. "long-term" today is 2 seasons/2-3 transfer windows. He needs to get us playing a particular way this season. If we avoid major injuries, he can do well until Christmas and bring in one or two during the next window. Stay positive.

 

[Paxi]

I admire your optimism and enjoyed the OP. I especially like the concept of Ole as an evolutionary, transitional manager. The fatal flaw, though, is you’re assuming there’s an underlying long-term strategy from someone who understands how to build a successful club. Tragically, there doesn’t seem to be anyone at the club capable of developing such a strategy, despite the obvious need for one.

Exactly, if Ole’s sacked, we’re back to square one. We’ll probably get Allegri who will have his own ideas and players that he’ll want to sign. And off we go again.

 

[StrettyEnder07]

Not sure we have any sort of long term or short term plan, Ed has been planning to hire a DOF for about 10 months, a Technical Director as well, again zero movement.

Ole I think has a long term plan which is to change the style, incorporate young hungry players to press, play high paced attacking football with a fluid attacking system and to get our identity back, which is great.

But, as per previous managers, he is being let down by those higher up than him, he is very lucky that he has some very good kids who he can work with, hopefully develop and make into the spine of our side for years to come (Tuanzebe, Garner, McTominay, Gomes, Rashford & Greenwood).

I think what Ole wants to do is what most United fans have been crying out for. But when he has asked for a little bit of help from those above, again they have been found wanting so feel sorry for him, hopefully he can pull a rabbit out of the hat this year and make top 4, then potentially go and strengthen next summer with the club being a little more attractive to top players.

Fingers crossed anyway.

 

[mitchmouse]

a long-term approach to abject failure is not a good idea

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Let's see if Ole actually uses the kids before we decide he has a long term policy. If he doesn't he has been telling porkies. Don't think we have a long term plan, it just seems like that because it will be years through bad management of the club before we get a sniff of a league title.

 

[Blind pew]

I'd love to know why United haven't appointed a DoF.
Maybe the right man isn't out there or isn't available. I'll rest as long as it hasn't been a case of nobody wanting to know because its considered a poison chalice.

I understand though, that such a vital appointment is not one they can afford to get wrong.

 

[OLLY ORANGE]

How can we have a long term approach.
With statements from management last season after a dismal collapse stating : some players would have played their last game for this club???
Players sold will have to be replaced???
The whole club is being run with a smoke and mirrors campaign by the board for a long term approach.