It's not been bad, it's probably been the same as previous, so not amazing yet not a car crash, somewhere in-between.Not with Nice, it's not.
They just nearly relegated them, I watched them in a ligue 1 playoff to stay in the league . They've completely stagnated/gone backwards under INEOS from when they bought them . They've not had a manger last longer than 2 seasons (sound familiar?).It's not been bad, it's probably been the same as previous, so not amazing yet not a car crash, somewhere in-between.
But context is everything here, French domestic football is struggling outside the obvious clubs, hence the struggle to get a sale for Nice.
My feeling is that we need to have a good season - reach C.L and then things will really happen next season. People complain about our squad and in 2 positions we are paper thin - but I still believe we will sign another LB and another CM - if we get that, our squad in terms of depth is probably the best we have seen post Ferguson. Then of course we are 3-4 quality players away from challenging the best, but if we have a good season - we can only focus on the first-team next season because the squad is there
Keeper Lammens and Darlow - on paper it looks good enough but we have had other keepers who had a strong start and then faded away - so Lammens need to show the same consistency as last season.
LB: Shaw - we need another LB - Amass more or less eliminated himself from any hope of being our back-up when he was done so badly by Gnonto againts Leeds.
CD: On paper and injury-free the central defenders are more than good enough. But the 2 best are injury-prone, Maguire is 33 and Heaven/Yoro are still not good enough to play regularly. So if either Martinez or DeLigt can stay injury-free once they return - great - if not we need another defender next season
RB: Mazraoui and Dalot - solid more than spectacular. Good enough for top-4 - not good enough for fighting for the title.
MID: The position I am most uncertain about - Mainoo, Tielemans and Santos will not be played off the park by anyone (unless we play an in-form PSG in C.L) - but are they consistently good to match Arsenal and City ? Not unless Mainoo and Santos take huge steps. Mount is good as number 4 but too injury-prone - we need another quality midfielder
AM/ST: These positions I am not too worried about short-term - Dorgu, Sesko, Diallo, Bruno, Lacey, Cunha, Mbeumo and Rashford battling it out for 3 places - in a perfect world we get another quality striker, but the fact is - Mbeumo looks better as a striker than a winger - Rashford can play there as well.
If we get a LB and a CM before the window closes - we are in a position where we have a squad that is really good but where we lack top quality in most positions. But that means, if we get through this season in a good way (top 5) - we can offload 4-5 players next season and just go for top quality in 2-3 positions.
I know this will probably bite me in the ass at one stage - but I am actually quite optimistic for the first time in a long time
Up until last season Lens had been middling to poor, bar one season,They just nearly relegated them, I watched them in a ligue 1 playoff to stay in the league . They've completely stagnated/gone backwards under INEOS from when they bought them . They've not had a manger last longer than 2 seasons (sound familiar?).
You can talk about context if you like, but Lens is doing just fine, Lille as well. It's objectively crap from the noise they made coming into it and are now desperately trying to sell it.
Lens were in Ligue 2 when Ineos bought Nice. The fact that they've qualified for the Champions League proper since then (unlike Nice, who went out in qualifying in their only appearance), finished 2nd in the league twice and have won the Coupe de France (against Nice, yes) isn't quite the defence of Ineos' record you seem to think it is. Every season for Nice under Ineos has been lacklustre (at best).Up until last season Lens had been middling to poor, bar one season,
they also won a trophy beating whom in the final??
Strange to choose them as a backup to your point...they have very much had two outlier seasons amongst some rather lackluster ones.
Why would we sign a right back to play left back?How on earth can Spence, one of England's left backs at the world cup, and still only 26 years old and costing less than 30 million not be a target for United if we are really looking to fill that position? Was Tuchel really an idiot for not taking Shaw to the world cup instead of him? If it's because we have eyes on Hall, then this makes sense.
Look at where Lens were when Ineos took over Nice. Lens just got promoted and Nice had just qualified for the CL.Up until last season Lens had been middling to poor, bar one season,
they also won a trophy beating whom in the final??
Strange to choose them as a backup to your point...they have very much had two outlier seasons amongst some rather lackluster ones.
Crate of Casillero del Diablo under his arm. Any excuse:Just seen Tchouameni in Bargain Booze
Just saw him and Toney exchange headbutts outside WetherspoonsJust seen Tchouameni in Bargain Booze
Those are quotes from the official INEOS website. We can safely say that INEOS group had failed to reach the expectations set big time. They even admitted it themselves at one point (we made mistakes at Lausanne). The results also speak for themselves.There had been no trophies, Lausanne was relegated twice, OGC Nice got nearly relegated last year and we ended 15th the year before.INEOs took over a yo-yo club in Lausanne, fair to say actually having stayed up last season they might finally have cracked the code...
Nice it's fair to say they have reverted to the mean really, a club that have never challenged at the top and always have hovered around mid table with the occasional flirt towards upper or lower echelons.
I think it's obvious that INEOs regret buying a french club due to the state of French domestic league and football in general, hence the sale and also hence the lack of buyers despite the brilliant setup the club has.
But sure, you can paint it any which way you want to, simple fact is they seemed to be doing a good job at United, results have so far proved that along with the financial outlook of the club now.
United is all I'm really interested in, and INEOs have pumped in a huge amount of money already, with more seemingly on the way, again the fact that you have tried to belittle that fact by suggesting they were 'forced to' or agreed to as part of the minority takeover (INEOs/Trawlers/SJR themselves stipulated this as part of the deal, not the Glazers) shows your biased nature in this discourse.
Chelsea and City have spent more, but don't let reality cloud your agenda.You've pissed away more money than anyone in the world of football the last 10 years.
Sorry to piss on everyone’s chips, I was on Deansgate around the same time and didn’t see Baleba.Just seen Baleba on Deansgate, if that means anything.
Chelsea and City have spent more, but don't let reality cloud your agenda.
Yeah it's coming back to bite us hardConsequences of a decade of awful transfers coming back to bite us
The ten Hag era especially is still haunting us. Astonishing waste
Think we can forget the first one unless Madjo takes Watkins place in leading line. The other two signings are still a possibility however think they are both now gonna be after the season starts which isn't ideal.8 days to go till we play Hull in our season opener.
Where are the new signings? The backup striker? The third midfielder? The left back?
Midfielder: Page.8 days to go till we play Hull in our season opener.
Where are the new signings? The backup striker? The third midfielder? The left back?
Hopefully you are proved right in next two weeksPeople need to cool their chebs and have some patience. There are still many dominoes to fall in the market and there is a strong chance we’re waiting. I think we’ll still end up with 2/3 in and up to 2 out.
As others have said think Rodri could be the trigger for a flurry of activity.
Yes, it is cost, a 60m Fernandez with 150k wages, we would sign because they feel there is value for him at that price.
How do you know they didn't go to Newcastle ? Also, force Newcastle to sell? how when they sold Gordon and Tonali early in the window, it would have made no difference. This notion that if we went early enough, we would have got him cheaper or forced to sale makes no sense.
Anderson was bought early in the window was 120m. Tonali was early in the window was 100m. Fernandez was early was 85m.
No there is no correlation, because you can sell a player for 100m and have a low net spend, that doesn't mean there is no ambition. Its whether we feel at the end of the window, we have addressed what we needed to.
If we get a LB and CM and our net spend is 40m or 50m by the end, I couldn't care, or if it was 100m. As long as we fill the holes in our squad.
In what sense? When he was going to Madrid, it was somewhat plausible we were waiting on Tchouameni or Camavinga to fall our way. Now he's going to Barca, not really relevant to us anymore.As others have said think Rodri could be the trigger for a flurry of activity.
How does paying off debts and waiting for targets work if we have a poor season due having a weak squad? Then we end up with lower revenues and potentially no champions league football making it harder to attract the top tier players.For me we can't lament the fact that our previous poor transfers are hamstringing us this summer and simultaneously want the club to go out and flash the cash if the right options aren't there.
The way the summer has played out it seems pretty clear that there were primary targets, then back up targets. We failed at the main targets, moved onto backups and got it done with minimal fuss. I'm pretty happy with the Santos/Tielemans moves - feels far more sensible then the same spend on just the relatively unproven Fernandes.
I'm absolutely certain there are primary targets in a few other areas that the leadership would move on if they could, but they can't. Selling teams don't have to sell. Certainly not at this point in the window.
So rather than buy for the sake of buying, maybe we just have to wait and see what happens this year. We have a good first XI, a seemingly sensible manager able to get a tune out of the players and a happy camp. We're paying off the debts incurred by signings that aren't even here anymore.
The only criticism I really have is the continued inability to get players out the door. Especially relative to our peers. I cannot fathom a world where a coach in the Prem would choose Savinho over Rashford, but seemingly both are available and only one is moving.
No one seems to which is a breath of fresh air. My guess is that they're working on several deals behind the scenes and we won't hear about them until they're really advanced. I like how shrewd the moves we have made are, it suggests that we're thinking things through a lot more.I don't get what we are doing right now. No way do we have enough for the season ahead.
You realise that Lausanne were perennially a yo yo club, often in the second division, occasionally in the third before INEOs took over, they have now stayed in the top division for the first successful season in a very long time.Those are quotes from the official INEOS website. We can safely say that INEOS group had failed to reach the expectations set big time. They even admitted it themselves at one point (we made mistakes at Lausanne). The results also speak for themselves.There had been no trophies, Lausanne was relegated twice, OGC Nice got nearly relegated last year and we ended 15th the year before.
Now when one dig deeper into their administration you'll start wondering if you're in some sort of parody. For example at Lausanne they caused huge controversy when they changed the crest thus shitting over a 120 year of heritage. They also engaged in 40 deals in 18 months and despite all that they still got relegated that was mostly down to INEOS allowing Bob Ratcliffe managing the club to oblivion. Best in class indeed. Eventually the guy was kicked upstairs to head of football and would go on promising OGC Nice fans that their club will compete in the CL within three to five years after the acquisition which again led to criticism this time round by OGC Nice captain Dante who said ""I think at some point you have to be clear in what you're saying. To maintain a project, maybe you need to speak less about objectives and work in silence to create an environment of competitors. Because the expectation is even bigger, and then after, people are frustrated.".
Dante's 'frustration' comment is an understatement. At one point protests at OGC Nice got violent that players got hit and spat upon by their own fans. Thank god they learnt from that by not setting the EPL title target to let's say 2028 right?
I think INEOS management is perfectly described by Swiss journalist Andre Boschetti ""The limits of INEOS are in the knowledge of football. They probably love the sport but they don't know much about it and they haven't surrounded themselves with the right people, which explains the wreck that followed". Yet somehow these very incompetent lot who got Lausanne relegated twice, took OGC Nice to the brink of relegation last year and us to 15th place the year before, think that they can turn things around at United. That while United had been recorded losses since 2019, we are 1.3b in debt and need to invest in a stadium which would cost us around 2-3b. To make matters worse INEOS themselves are in a financial mess. They are in 18b in debt with S&P Global Ratings lowering Ineos Group Holdings to 'B+' and Ineos Quattro Holdings to 'B' with negative outlook. B+ means that the borrower currently has the capacity to meet financial commitments, but faces high vulnerability to adverse business, financial, or economic condition while B means a company or government can pay debts right now, but bad economic shifts could easily cause a default. These instruments are often called junk bonds. Guess what? We are in an adverse business, financial and economic condition (end of cheap loan, war in Iran, Trump etc)
I still can see a scenario were he can come out on top as a hero. He can record a profit at United, he can get all ducks in a row in terms of the stadium and then he can find and he can persuade the Glazers to sell the club to some rich owner willing to do the much needed investment at United. Fans will remember him fondly after that. However he can't do it on his own. He simply lack the money, the competence and the expertise to do it.
No one seems to which is a breath of fresh air. My guess is that they're working on several deals behind the scenes and we won't hear about them until they're really advanced. I like how shrewd the moves we have made are, it suggests that we're thinking things through a lot more.
Terribly short in CM. An injury to Santos would leave us very short.Hope you're right, I'll believe it when I see it after the past decade + of mismanagement.
I expect we have missed out on the majority of our main targets and are not entirely aligned internally on where to move next. We obviously have the money to spend given we were willing to go to high (but clearly not high enough) figures for the likes of Anderson, Fernandes and Tchouameni. Whilst I like the idea we are more frugal with our spending, there is a danger in looking at the window in a vacuum and not realizing we are simply not prepared for what is (hopefully) going to be a long and tiring season. We are seriously short on quality in midfield, attack and at wingback - all of which should be addressed in my view.
We are but Mainoo played the 6 a fair bit last season and looked good there, we’d be a bit slow in the middle with him and Tielemans but I’d hope their control of the ball would alleviate that a bit.Terribly short in CM. An injury to Santos would leave us very short.
