Wot, no transfers?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
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Who do you think Mourinho wants most … Alderweireld or Willian?
I'm just waiting for the inevitable 180 once our pending transfers dealios happen. We ll go from omg we re terrible, why do we suck so much to by how many points shall we take the title this year?
It is tough to argue an attacking manager who trusts youth like Sarri couldn't get a fun and successful season out of this team:
Martial----Lukaku---Sanchez (Rashford)
-------Pogba---Fred------- (Lingard, Pereira)
------------Matic------------ (Herrera)
Shaw------------------Young (Dalot, Valencia)
--------Lindelof-Bailly-------- (Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Tuanzebe)
------------De Gea----------- (Romero)
though you'd like to see either (or even both) a fullback or CB signed in the next couple of weeks.
I'm all for buying talents, but it should be top talents, like we did with Ronaldo, Nani, Anderson....
If we bring in top talent Mourinho should change his tactics and start playing decent attacking football, and stop running down players in public. He has to take some blame for the football we are playing, instead of blaming the players all the time.
We need new full backs, and everyone else can see this. The service from the wings is terrible.
We need new full backs, and everyone else can see this. The service from the wings is terrible.
Again, not a right winger.
I would imagine so.
I've written like dozens of post about our apparent transfer disarray after Fergie. Complete lack of any strategy.
There were players out there at the start of this window like Malcolm, Odriozola and Lenglet, all 3 snapped up by Madrid and Barcelona which tells me they aren't shite, for about a combined 100m, all young and already fairly talented and if they improve will either be world class players for a decade or demand huge fees to sign in furture, and then there's Sandro who reportedly costs 50m.
Not saying they would have joined us but I question our scouting and transfer strategy to not even appear to have sniffed at those 3, you'd have thought we have all sorts lined up towards the end of last season.
With Dalot and Fred as well those lot or something similar would have represented a successful window for us in terms of long term Recruitment and filling positions we lack in and whilst costing about 200m, we could have offset with the sale of blind and Darmian etc.
Watch us chuck 70m at a fading Willian on deadline day, who will continue to decline for us and then be worth a bag of peanuts and not good enough to play for us in two years time
Yeah we seem to get to the transfer window before we think about signing anyone. I remember the one summer where as soon as the window opened we signed Nani Anderson and hargraeves on the first day. Obviously used to plan ahead a bit more
The thing that worries me most about our transfer strategy is the talk of Mourinho providing lists to Woodward and him going away and sorting it out. The problem with this strategy is that the manager isn't going to know which positions are going to be filled, nor which players are going to fill them. It also gives Woodward leeway to not be so flexible on price if he knows that there are further potential targets who he can perhaps get cheaper or where negotiations may go better.
How much of this is true, and how much is made up by the media, I don't know. I would prefer it if Mourinho was able to simply state which player(s) he wants for which positions, and assuming they're achievable then we pay what it takes for them. Our procrastination over signing players simply makes me feel that the board is happy for us to perform at an adequate level as long as we're still performing commercially.
How much of this is true, and how much is made up by the media, I don't know. I would prefer it if Mourinho was able to simply state which player(s) he wants for which positions, and assuming they're achievable then we pay what it takes for them. Our procrastination over signing players simply makes me feel that the board is happy for us to perform at an adequate level as long as we're still performing commercially.
They all have had their best seasons as wide forward and not wingers. We are looking for a right winger who can keep the width and put crosses in. None of the players you mentioned above fall in that criteria. Salah failed miserably there when tried at Chelsea.
And you talk about James - another Mata situation . A player who is brilliant as AM and we will try to play him in a wrong position shoe horning him to the line up.
I really don’t get the interest in Maguire, is he any better than what we already have?
Let’s be honest he’s made his name playing in the WC and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thought he didn’t deserve a starting spot for England
Let’s be honest he’s made his name playing in the WC and I’m guessing I’m not the only one who thought he didn’t deserve a starting spot for England
No. We don't aim too high. How can Manchester United aim too high? We should be aiming to win the league and champions league each season. Can we do that with Ashley Young and Chris Smalling starting? No.Sometimes it feels like this is our transfer strategy:
1) Mourinho hands Woodward a list of 3 superstars in each position he wants to fill
2) Woodward Contacts the clubs and gets a firm NO on the majority or a sum that is too high on the player they might let go.
3) Mourinho moans in the press
4) Season starts
No a bit more seriously - I sometime feel like we are aiming too high - or rather, that we don't have enough backups in case we don't get our first priority.
Godin is available for 30m. Start with him for 2 years then work on Kimpembe or Koubally. Then we need a full back. Why aren't we after Meunier? 50m would do and wing backs are sorted for 5 years plus with Dalot. What are our scouts doing?
Godin would be a great option. Getting Kimpembe from PSG would be impossible. He's the successor for Thiago Silva. Meunier is not leaving PSG now, when they have no backup, as Dani Alves is injured for a while. I'm a big Meunier fan, but I think he isn't the best defender, another converted winger. Mourinho would go crazy.
I also think Koulibaly is quoted for about 100 million, which is way too much.
I don't think we really have one. Our main strategy, or rather the majority of our board's planning and focus, seems to revolve around targeting a big-name marquee player and sitting around waiting to see if that person becomes attainable.
Offer the 65 we're offering for Maguire and then see if Kimpembe is impossible.
Sky reporting we're willing to pay 65 million on Maguire.
Damn
Damn
I imagine it comes to down to how many years service he will give us and his age. That price for a England international centre back will only increase over the next few years he is at us. The price seems steep based on previous years transfer costs, but not anymore.
That Watford winger went for £40 million yesterday, and he doesn't have the English tax on his head, nor the experience of several years in the PL and international stage. Transfer prices are mental.
PSG will probably get offended and take Pogba and Lukaku
They can have them for the small sum of £350 millionPSG will probably get offended and take Pogba and Lukaku
What on earth do you think a right winger is?
Mata's issue is he doesn't have the phyical qualities to play wide properly - James does and is fantastic at it. Willian is exactly the same.
What makes you think Mourinho is suddenly changing years of 4-3-3 tactics and wanting a touchline hugger? How are known targets like Perisic and Bale touchline huggers?
Manchester United make up transfer strategy as they go along
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...-transfer-strategy-as-they-go-along-khcl3k0g9
In this rush to diagnose a grumpy, tetchy José Mourinho with another dose of third-season syndrome, one thing is overlooked too readily. His demeanour has barely changed throughout his first two years as Manchester United manager. His past experiences with Chelsea and Real Madrid, of whirlwind romances that crashed into the rocks in the third season, do not seem to apply here. This marriage of convenience is still waiting to catch a spark.
There are pictures of him smiling with Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, on the day he signed a new contract in January, when he said that they and the Glazer family were “creating the conditions for a brilliant and successful future” at Old Trafford, but the grimace was soon back again.
That he appears even glummer on his team’s pre-season tour of the United States — irked by the unavailability of his half his squad, frustrated by a lack of progress in the transfer market, almost withering in his praise of Paul Pogba’s World Cup performances — seems disconcerting when United’s opening Premier League fixture against Leicester City is barely a fortnight away. Like most managers, Mourinho approaches every summer with a clear view of what he wants. He expects it sooner, not later. He got it, more or less, in his first summer at Old Trafford: Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan signed by July 6 and Pogba arrived for a world-record £89 million transfer fee on August 9. He got it, again more or less, last summer with the acquisitions of Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku by the end of July, even if he remains disappointed that Woodward did not sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan. So far this summer United have added the Brazil midfielder Fred, in a £47 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk, the teenage full back Diogo Dalot from Porto for £19 million and Lee Grant from Stoke City as a back-up goalkeeper.
The United manager initially wanted another three signings — a central defender, a left back and someone to bring more speed and incisiveness to the forward line — but he has now downgraded his wish to two and is prepared to start the season with Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo competing for the left-back spot. He said on Tuesday that he hoped for two signings, glumly adding that: “One thing is what I would like. Another thing is what is going to happen.”
Mourinho wanted United to sign Toby Alderweireld from Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the summer but, after recruiting Matic and Alexis Sánchez at great expense over the past year, Woodward is concerned about adding another 29-year-old at a time when Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and others are consistently recruiting — and developing — younger players.
Woodward is understood to believe that Harry Maguire would be a better investment, but Leicester value the 25-year-old at more than £50 million after his impressive performances for England at the World Cup. Yet again with the modern United, the impression — relayed with intense frustration by some within the club’s Carrington training ground over the past few years — is of a club reacting to the market rather than operating proactively, as the best-run clubs do (and there was no club better run than United in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill).
A list of Woodward’s late-summer deals (Marouane Fellaini in 2013, Rojo, Ángel Di María, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao in the supermarket sweep of 2014, Anthony Martial in 2015, Pogba in 2016) does not dispel the suspicion of a club that is making it up as they go along.
Pogba’s struggle to produce his best form at United has been a source of concern behind the scenes. When asked this week about the midfielder’s World Cup-winning form for France, Mourinho suggested that it was about focus and motivation, which raises almost as many questions about management as it does about the player’s attitude. Then there is Martial. Mourinho is known to be willing to sell the France forward, while Woodward is understood to be reluctant, believing him to be integral to the club’s long-term future — in which case why sign Sánchez in January, given that Martial and Marcus Rashford were inevitably going to suffer the consequences?
The lack of a coherent long-term football vision is startling. At a time when even Arsenal have followed Manchester City and Liverpool in moving towards a more collegiate, more strategic approach, United’s need for a director of football — for someone who can help forge a vision not only for the Mourinho years but beyond — is overwhelming. The departure of Javier Ribalta, the chief scout, to Zenit St Petersburg only underlines the vacuum that exists at Old Trafford. With no director of football, the only answer is to try to find common ground between an executive vice-chairman whose loyalty is to the Glazer family and a manager whose loyalty is to himself.
It does not seem to make for a happy ship, if Mourinho’s demeanour is anything to go by. We used to wonder whether it was all a big act with Mourinho, his every public utterance and gesture made for strategic effect. Frequently it is — few managers choose their words more carefully and there is clearly a desire to force Woodward’s hand in the transfer market — but the misery-guts routine is too constant these days to be ascribed to that. Maybe, as he looks to the boardroom and to the dressing room, he really is as disillusioned by the state of play as he appears.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...-transfer-strategy-as-they-go-along-khcl3k0g9
In this rush to diagnose a grumpy, tetchy José Mourinho with another dose of third-season syndrome, one thing is overlooked too readily. His demeanour has barely changed throughout his first two years as Manchester United manager. His past experiences with Chelsea and Real Madrid, of whirlwind romances that crashed into the rocks in the third season, do not seem to apply here. This marriage of convenience is still waiting to catch a spark.
There are pictures of him smiling with Ed Woodward, United’s executive vice-chairman, on the day he signed a new contract in January, when he said that they and the Glazer family were “creating the conditions for a brilliant and successful future” at Old Trafford, but the grimace was soon back again.
That he appears even glummer on his team’s pre-season tour of the United States — irked by the unavailability of his half his squad, frustrated by a lack of progress in the transfer market, almost withering in his praise of Paul Pogba’s World Cup performances — seems disconcerting when United’s opening Premier League fixture against Leicester City is barely a fortnight away. Like most managers, Mourinho approaches every summer with a clear view of what he wants. He expects it sooner, not later. He got it, more or less, in his first summer at Old Trafford: Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan signed by July 6 and Pogba arrived for a world-record £89 million transfer fee on August 9. He got it, again more or less, last summer with the acquisitions of Victor Lindelof, Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku by the end of July, even if he remains disappointed that Woodward did not sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan. So far this summer United have added the Brazil midfielder Fred, in a £47 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk, the teenage full back Diogo Dalot from Porto for £19 million and Lee Grant from Stoke City as a back-up goalkeeper.
The United manager initially wanted another three signings — a central defender, a left back and someone to bring more speed and incisiveness to the forward line — but he has now downgraded his wish to two and is prepared to start the season with Ashley Young, Luke Shaw and Marcos Rojo competing for the left-back spot. He said on Tuesday that he hoped for two signings, glumly adding that: “One thing is what I would like. Another thing is what is going to happen.”
Mourinho wanted United to sign Toby Alderweireld from Tottenham Hotspur at the start of the summer but, after recruiting Matic and Alexis Sánchez at great expense over the past year, Woodward is concerned about adding another 29-year-old at a time when Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and others are consistently recruiting — and developing — younger players.
Woodward is understood to believe that Harry Maguire would be a better investment, but Leicester value the 25-year-old at more than £50 million after his impressive performances for England at the World Cup. Yet again with the modern United, the impression — relayed with intense frustration by some within the club’s Carrington training ground over the past few years — is of a club reacting to the market rather than operating proactively, as the best-run clubs do (and there was no club better run than United in the days of Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill).
A list of Woodward’s late-summer deals (Marouane Fellaini in 2013, Rojo, Ángel Di María, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao in the supermarket sweep of 2014, Anthony Martial in 2015, Pogba in 2016) does not dispel the suspicion of a club that is making it up as they go along.
Pogba’s struggle to produce his best form at United has been a source of concern behind the scenes. When asked this week about the midfielder’s World Cup-winning form for France, Mourinho suggested that it was about focus and motivation, which raises almost as many questions about management as it does about the player’s attitude. Then there is Martial. Mourinho is known to be willing to sell the France forward, while Woodward is understood to be reluctant, believing him to be integral to the club’s long-term future — in which case why sign Sánchez in January, given that Martial and Marcus Rashford were inevitably going to suffer the consequences?
The lack of a coherent long-term football vision is startling. At a time when even Arsenal have followed Manchester City and Liverpool in moving towards a more collegiate, more strategic approach, United’s need for a director of football — for someone who can help forge a vision not only for the Mourinho years but beyond — is overwhelming. The departure of Javier Ribalta, the chief scout, to Zenit St Petersburg only underlines the vacuum that exists at Old Trafford. With no director of football, the only answer is to try to find common ground between an executive vice-chairman whose loyalty is to the Glazer family and a manager whose loyalty is to himself.
It does not seem to make for a happy ship, if Mourinho’s demeanour is anything to go by. We used to wonder whether it was all a big act with Mourinho, his every public utterance and gesture made for strategic effect. Frequently it is — few managers choose their words more carefully and there is clearly a desire to force Woodward’s hand in the transfer market — but the misery-guts routine is too constant these days to be ascribed to that. Maybe, as he looks to the boardroom and to the dressing room, he really is as disillusioned by the state of play as he appears.
The pre-Glazer days were the best days
This is what worries me most about us these days:
It's why we keep getting fleeced and why we struggle to make much progress with our squad. You'd think we would have learned by now. We need long-term planning, not this short-termism that has plagued us for years.
Woodward is to blame. But he seems to be a Glazer favourite so nothing will change.
People are talking about short-termism and a lack of planning but Fred and Dalot were clearly planned and long scouted targets. I think many of our purchases have been.
It's only the marquee signings where we do look to be abit reactionary but then that's always going to be case as they're never easy deals.
It's only the marquee signings where we do look to be abit reactionary but then that's always going to be case as they're never easy deals.
Correct, the blame likes squarely with the Glazers and Ed.
They refuse to institute a DOF position and it is our squad is suffering because of it.
Ed isnt going anywhere so we just have to deal with it.
Its better to agree to disagree and stop there when we are poles apart.
James as a winger though
Now this is what happens when we don't wrap up tranfers earlier - we're now being asked for crazy money for Maguire, Perisic etc etc!!
Maguire at 70 million??!! OMG !
Disastrous transfer window till now!
Maguire at 70 million??!! OMG !
Disastrous transfer window till now!
OMG!
=)), you need to know that some people will take this post seriously. My god
The problem I have with some of the transfers is how short-sighted it all is.
Don't get me know I'm not an FM fanboy who says buy a squad of 18yr old wonderkids, but my concern is that whilst the likes of Matic and Willian (if we sign him) is that we'll just have to replace them with people who will cost even more.
Don't get me know I'm not an FM fanboy who says buy a squad of 18yr old wonderkids, but my concern is that whilst the likes of Matic and Willian (if we sign him) is that we'll just have to replace them with people who will cost even more.
Nani wasn't pre glazer?
I love an article that says we're going wrong and cites Liverpool and Arsenal as examples to follow.
As Jesse would say,"Hmmmmmn!"
As Jesse would say,"Hmmmmmn!"
I wish there was a target I could get excited about.
Just a little over 2 weeks to go and we still need 3 more players.
A LB, a CB, and a RW are still needed to make us real challengers.IMO
A LB, a CB, and a RW are still needed to make us real challengers.IMO
I think if we get a top class winger and a solid leader in CB we could push them with our current full backs.
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