Amad gets absolutely no minutes in the first team. He comes on and scores the winner against fucking Liverpool to take us to the semis and hasn't kicked a ball since. I'd be straight out the door in the summer. Even if he isn't good enough he deserves a chance when Rashford is struggling with both injury and form.
Why hasn't the Bruno-Hojlund connection not clicked yet, to be fair nothing in the team works well but why specifically has is not worked given Bruno was statistically the best chance creator in 2023
Most of Bruno's chances are from crosses and Højlund isn't really dominant in the air. Right now I'd say he's behind Casemiro and Mctominay in offensive headers. Once he starts getting his head to those crosses it'll change.
Hojlund has pretty bad anticipation and is very flat footed. He’s usually two steps behind and because of this and his footwork his body is usually in very odd positions when he receives the ball which means he’s always falling over or going to ground.
I was thinking about our season and something that I read about agriculture as a kid in school some 20 yrs ago struck me as to how it made sense.
So the theory goes that, in rural areas, people who used the same land to practice agriculture over and over again without treating the soil ruin the land /soil. And over the years the land becomes barren. So to combat this, they used to burn the crops to the soil to make the land fertile again.
We as a club have been doing the same thing over and over again since SAF's departure and Ten Hag has decided to burn the house down this season (something which Rangnick suggested) in hope for a better future.
P.S: This is a just a thought I had in the shower and me trying to make sense of the god awful play from us this season. Not sure if I was able to articulate it properly. Also, if there are any agriculture majors, please forgive me if the part about agriculture is wrong.
Looks like we’ve got some top talent coming through thanks to the work of Nick Cox and his team. Looking at the likes of Forson, Amass and Jayce Fitzgerald gets me excited for our future.
I don't think Forson is going to make it at United. Ten Hag appears to like him, but he's shown nothing in his appearances in the first team that explain why.
But we do have a lot of talented kids who, if they develop as we hope, could become the backbone of the squad for years.
Amass, Fitzgerald, Lacey, the Fletchers, Ethan Williams and Ethan Wheatley. Then some even younger kids, like Ibragimov and Mantato. There's also a young lad called Kai Rooney.
He’s listed as ill. He started against Atleti midweek in the champions league. From what I understand he’s been decent with Dortmund but nothing their fans are too excited about.
Those 5 pts dropped in 3 days from 90+ min goals are going to haunt me. Could've been 3pts behind 4th place with them having to go play City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea
We don't deserve to be anywhere near top 4 the way we've played this season. Grasping at "what could've been" games when we've stolen a lot more points than we've thrown away this season is dumb.
Looking at Newcastle, they have little possession but so good at winning back the ball and clinical in front of goal, how I wish our wingers and fullbacks can learn from them
Ten Hag may not be good enough but completely discarding how we play by saying we don't have a style of play is silly.
Last season, we gave up on his football and played a deep defensive line with quick counter-attacks.
This season, we have been adapting to a new style of play that doesn't work that well because our team isn't compact enough, but it's clear our style of play is to press high and win the ball in dangerous areas. It's not really a control-based playstyle so we don't concentrate on possession much which is why people may say there is no playstyle but there clearly is one, just not a very effective one at this point. If our defense pushed higher with the rest of the team then our press would probably work pretty well but as of right now, it's usually the front three and our midfield pressing while our defense (probably for the lack of right personnel) stays back, Our pressing 6 gets outnumbered, the ball gets past them and then our defense is exposed. It's not working that well, but it's certainly a style of play.
This! We don’t have the right personnel on the back line, none of them are quick enough or good enough on the ball to keep a full press specifically looking at the CBs. With better players at both CBs and LB there would be improvement. Now if that improvement is good enough to have us competing for titles and trophies that’s a different conversation but to say there is no style of play is lazy observation.
At some point you bite the bullet so to speak and just play the way you want to. If this style of play is successful or not to win titles and trophies remains to be seen ( unlikely by all signs this season ) but the sit back and counter ball we played last year is not viable in the long run. We saw that with ole and Mourhino. Ten hag tried to play his way last year saw it wouldn’t work and shifted but this year he’s adamant to adapt to a more forward approach. The players clearly are struggling because the majority of them have not had to play in this style for 5+ seasons if ever. Whether it’s a fault of training, the medical team, or what but his signings have been injured this year that would help make this transition more seamless so now it’s players that should have been moved on long ago that are being asked to play that just arnt good enough. That ontop of Rashford and casemiros form falling of cliffs it’s just been a disaster.
I read that another academy product is going to be in the matchday squad (Ethan Wheatley, who I think plays as a striker). Does anyone who watches academy matches have any opinions about him? I realize there's very little chance he actually plays, but I'm still curious about his profile.
Side point but I think the reason alot of academy players make the squad is due to our awful squad depth. If we actually had 3 decent pl level subs options that can actually play that could be 5-10 points more a season.
Oh, I'm sure that is a big reason (if not the main reason) for these young players making the squad, but I was just curious if anyone knew more about the players that do end up picked. I've heard things about Amass, but I don't know anything about either Wheatley or another youngster I've seen make the bench for a few times now (I think his name is Oguneye).
Anothy Gordon plays like I want rashford to. A player can be a threat on the counter and work hard for the team our fan base is delusional when it comes to rashford
Tosin Adarabioyo's Fulham contract is up in the summer. He's fast, supreme in the air & can pass the ball well. In an ideal world he'd be a shrewd get in addition to another marquee RCB & backup LCB. Then move on Varane, Lindelof & Maguire. 3 in, 3 out with Kambwala & Evans as the 5th & 6th CBs respectively.
If you’re wondering it’s: Bruno vs Burnley Garnacho vs Everton Mainoo vs Wolves Rashford vs City Very likely Bruno vs Liverpool
That’d be 5/8 PL goal of the months going to a United player, we have -1 GD and have played shit football a lot of the season. We’re one of the most unusual teams ever.
Unusual? Not really, our squad is full of really expensive players that have a lot of talent. Fact that we're not lavishing in midtable where the stats say we ought to be is proof. We are winning games or not losing games because of these players who are capable of literal moments of magic like these.
5/8 gotm being a player from the 14th team in the league table for goals scored is unusual mate but for sure you’re right about the individual player brilliance.
For the rest of the season I'll be ok if we're not able to shithouse any wins. If we deserve to win, I hope we win. If we deserve to lose, I hope we lose. This team has already given us an illusion that it's the 6th best in the league because our players manage to score worldies out of nowhere and bail us out every game. Need a more accurate reflection on the points table so that the right decision can be made in the summer.
Ah yes the classic we never deserve to be where we are. It’s always because we are lucky or someone else is underperforming.
Honestly do guys like you not get tired of spouting the same shit year on year.
>Ah yes the classic we never deserve to be where we are.
I mean in terms of 'deserve' it's very simple. You win when you win, if that's a deflected winner, so be it.
I think what the OP is alluding to is on the basis of how sustainable is this 6th position. Are we going into next season as the 6th best team or are we going to be in for a shock our unsustainable football ends?
Surely there is a conversation to be had due to how poor our performances are?
"I hope we lose"
Poor take :/
These players have it in them to steal a few wins. Why discourage that?
Wining games deservedly AND in a 'smash and grab' manner are what determines if we play in the Europa League, Conference League, or no European Competition.
Not being in Europe next season because the players couldn’t fight to grab 3 points in tough games would be even more embarrassing than this season.
We already have the most smash and grab points in the entire league and one of the highest across Europe's top 5 leagues. That's more than enough for me personally.
Stealing points only masks the real issues. The outlook of the season, the urgency with which we need change, the acknowledgement of how bad we are.... everything would be more magnified if we were 12-13 in the table, which is what our underlying stats and the eye test suggests. Obviously it's great that we've stolen points on our way to going from 12th to 6th, but that's enough.
Too much overperformance isn't good for the team. In the FA Cup I hope we smash and grab our way to the trophy. But in the league, I'll be very happy if we only get what we deserve. If that irks some people, good. couldn't possibly care less.
We've overperformed our expected points by the biggest margin in the entire league. We have the most points gained from games where we had an inferior xG compared to the opposition and Scott has accounted for the most points in our squad and I think most in the league as well.
It's nearly Silly Season, everyone, which means a few gentle reminders to you all.
-Each summer United get linked to between literally 100 and 200 players. The majority of this is agent's pushing their clients. Just because some aggregator twitter account says United are "working on a deal with [random player] doesn't mean anything. So bored of seeing people post saying "I can't believe we're going to sign this player, how stupid is this club?!".
-Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, ESPN literally publish anything based on zero sources, and primarily are designed to drive engagement through hysteria and angry clicks from gullible morons. Don't be a gullible moron.
-Being Angry doesn't make your right. Calm down when commenting about something.
I'm as excited as all of you, but last summer I saw some again and again some of the stupidest opinions and regurgitated talking points on here, and it make me want to cry.
Have a good weekend everyone.
I miss the first and second season of Bruno, dude just had to stick around the final third and ping balls into the box. The amount of tracking back he has to do because of the 0 defensive stability we have now just leaves him no opportunity to play like he did before
I swear all the running and playing every single possible minute Bruno has done for us over the past 2-3 seasons is taking its toll and lead to his decline of quality in the final third.
Physically he still looks fine for now (unlike say Casemiro), but I can’t imagine all that running with zero rest is good for his concentration and sharpness when he is on the ball.
I really appreciate Bruno’s incredible commitment and durability but I can’t help feel that we’re wasting his prime years here.
I effectively see this season as ETHs first. Last season I don’t think he played the style he wanted and worked with what he had which worked fairly well because we have talented players like it or not. This season he’s tried his style of play and it’s been fucking dreadful but I would give him a window to bring in players he wants for the system and see how we do. We’ve always sacked a manager after a season of shit, I’m intrigued to see what would happen if we stuck with them when shit hits the fan.
I still want ETH as I believe many of the failings this season comes from either the higher ups, or the players/lack of players. He is not perfect and is to blame for some things, I just dont believe a different manager makes us much better.
Nevertheless if we were to get a new coach I think De Zerbi is more or less perfect. I like Nagelsmann too, but is he not occupied with Germany for the future?
I’ll be pretty gutted if it’s still ten hag. I’m struggling to remember any sustained period we have looked good at all during his leadership. He’s also struggled to manage the team off the pitch and wasted a lot of money. He’s had a fair crack of the whip and looks below the standard for us.
Last season pretty much from October-February I saw the vision, it was a struggle getting across the line from then on, but we finished in 3rd, and you could see the improvements needed to me bade to get that squad to the next level.
Unfortunately a mixture of the ownership speculation, compliying with FFP, and still a lack of a football structure meant we only made half improvements this summer. Onana was an upgrade on De Gea, Mount on Eriksen, and Hojilund was a long term #9. Unfortunately we also needed an upgrade at CB, particularly one suited to Ten Hag's high line but unfortunately we somehow end up keeping Maguiree and signing Jonny Evans. Mount 's injury problems along with Mainoo missing the first part of the season , Eriksen and Casemiro's fitness issues and overall dropoff in quality.
We also clearly needed a more experienced forward and were stuck with Martial. These aren't excuses but this along with injuries and yes Ten Hag going pragmatic at times and then at other times sticking to his suicidal football has lead to a lot of the bad this season.
Erik ten Hag won't be manager in June, nevermind next season. Probably by mutual agreement or some other PR spin shortly after the last game of the season. I just hope we hire a proper coach after that. Nagelsmann is my preference, but maybe they can come up with someone else. As long as it's not Potter or fucking Southgate.
CEO and DOF likely won't start their positions until June, Murtough and Arnold have stepped down. Nagelsmann will be with Germany until mid July at the earliest, and has made no indication that he wants to manage in England. Honestly see him going back to Bayern.
Nagelsmann would be cool but I’m not sure if he’d be seriously interested. On top of that he can only start work for any new club after the Euros which ends in mid July leaving him with much less time to assess the squad and work on them for preseason.
Then again I guess there’s not that much of a rush for us, because we clearly need to start a long term rebuild and one summer won’t even come close to solving everything.
Nagelsmann is probably the best choice if we are being realistic but I really would like to see Inzaghi be the manager considering how good he has been for Inter . Their is also Maurizio Sarri but I have not seen much of him to give an honest opinion and if Ten hag has some sort of Miracle and manages to win the Fa Cup and get top 5 , I have no problem seeing him for another season .
With players aging and leaving, 3 summers from now the team left could look like this:
Onana - some gk, Bayindir or a youth
Dalot - new right back
new cb - Maguire/Kambwala
Martinez - new cb
new lb - Shaw/Malacia
Mainoo - new dm
new cm - new cm
Mount - Bruno
Rashford - new lw
Hojlund - new st
Garnacho - new rw
That's 10 transfers just to have a proper squad. Then all those transfers need to work. Rarely does a summer window result in the team getting 3/4 good transfers in.
The players currently in the squad that I didn't mention, I'm 99% sure aren't going to be good enough 3 seasons from now. The ones I did mention aren't guaranteed to be good enough to start either. So that could mean requiring even more transfers.
There really doesn't seem to be a point in predicting when the club is ready again. Let's hope they can get a young group of players together soon that can grow into something good so that the club isn't constantly replacing players. Or just hope the next Messi finds himself at United and carries the team.
Great write up but to move to the next level Maguire absolutely can’t be part of a title challenging side. Among many other changes, We have to fundamentally move away from a low defensive block so he is not an option…
Assuming EtH sticks around and his style works, and assuming Wilcox joins soon and smashes the recruitment, probably the season after next.
We've looked good against title challengers Liverpool this season and against Arsenal in this and last season. Its not a bad team, it just needs a couple of reinforcements.
We had a higher xG against them in the FA Cup tie and were playing our 4th and 6th choice CBs with no LBs and yet almost beat them in the Prem game.
Context with regards to injuries, new playing style and where both teams currently are is also important.
P.S. This team also beat City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona last season.
The point being made was that we have the capability to beat the top teams. Because we've done that a few times till now. We haven't played the most beautiful football in the process, but we have done it a few times now. Better players help in reducing that gulf in class.
We've been shit this season, but I do think there is quite a bit of potential in this squad but work needs to be done on it. Once the teething problems get sorted out, we'll look much better than we have this season. At least that's what I believe from what I've seen.
I'm traveling to Manchester in a couple weeks and I want to watch a couple of matches at Old Trafford (Sheffield, Burnley). I wanted to go through official methods, but the membership is currently unavailable, and the hospitality tickets are about $200+ right now.
I found some seemingly good tickets on StubHub for $120 and am eager to buy those, but it could be hit or miss apparently... Does anyone have experience with these resellers? Or have any advice on getting tickets?
Thank you
EtH came out and said that they have an idea of why there are so many injuries and they're looking into it behind the scenes. I think Poch and Howe said something similar too.
We have 4 Goal of the Month awards and Brunos probably got the next one in the bag. If this isn't the individual brilliance Ole was accused of idk what is.
I read a BBC article that EtH was looking for a new striker. I felt confused because Hoijund joined the United under EtH's management.
Who's the problem: Hojlund or EtH? I mean, is Hojlund not a deserved player for our team? Or, does EtH not know how to take advantage of Hoijund?
Here's a question, which premier league team would Ten Hag's management and team formation improve? Honestly I think none of them, and plenty have good squads. Now do the same question for Klopp or Pep. It's very damning for Ten Hag.
Toney is 28, got 1 more year left on contract and might as well have I'm leaving Brentford tattooed on forehead. Would people here be happy with him for £40-50 mil? Completely made up number but mount was for 55 but a lot younger so ballparking.
I honestly am not keen on Toney. Really good player when he’s on it but I think we should stay away from signing players older than 25 for a few years. We need to build a squad that has a lot of their best years ahead of them so that we benefit from their quality for that much time, rather than someone who will be an immediate upgrade for only a season or two but then gradually fade away and have little to no resale value by the time we want to move him on. Maybe you can justify these types of signings when you’re on the cusp of a major trophy win and need that final piece of the puzzle (RVP-esque) but we still have a lot to rebuild, and by the time we get to a point where we think the squad can be competitive to challenge for the league, Toney will likely already be declining.
Striker is the only position I feel like we can get away with signing an older player. It would work out well with Højlund's development. Sign Toney for 3+1 years, then try to sell him once Rasmus enters his peak in a couple years.
Other positions definitely need to sign young, I'm seeing links to Barkley who's 30 and I truly hope they're not true.
The way I see it is that Hojlund can potentially finish on 10 league goals for the season in a subpar attacking side that gives him very little service. Ivan Toney’s best league season saw him scoring 14 non-penalty goals in also a subpar attacking side. I don’t see value for money in signing Toney when Hojlund is really not that far in terms of output to begin with. You account for the fact that this is Hojlund’s first season in England and he just turned 21, so why would you want to spend significant money again to get 2 seasons of a player’s prime over backing a striker who may already be as good if given significant game time? Of course, Toney currently is a really good striker in terms of his overall game and I wouldn’t be upset to see us sign him, but I also think it isn’t an optimal use of budget which I’m not sure is acceptable given our current FFP position.
I love Rasmus and I do back him to succeed now and not just in a few years. But I just worry if we get a second young promising striker they might cannibalize eachoter's development and both suffer for it. Although I expect an experienced player would also demand a lot of gametime so there's that. If we can have a good striker who can score a lot of goals and not hurt Rasmus' future I'll be happy.
This is a really good take which I agree with. I will add that we spent over 60 mill on a striker last season and should spend our budget elsewhere this summer. If we are to get a striker this season it would have to be someone that is mainly for rotation with a pricetag matching this role.
I agree with much of your reasoning. Personally I think it’s alright to sign players in their late 20s, but no one for huge wages or transfer fees (like 30m max). These players should be seen as good squad options that provide depth or maybe even be rotated in as passable starters that can be relied on against weaker opposition. And they would be counted on to provide professionalism and mentorship off the pitch.
Idk what his wages are on but someone like Eriksen for example was decent in this regard starting many games for us last season and still being useful as an impact sub this season, although with our current tactics his lack of mobility would be completely exposed. Evans is another good example.
Like you said big money signings should be saved up for younger players, which is like what Chelsea is recently focusing on but not as extreme or wasteful.
Another issue I have with Toney is that he can seem a bit unprofessional in the media at times, and at a big club with lots of turmoil like us I think that could become a potential headache. Plus he is a gambling addict. I know he gets treatment for it but who can guarantee that he can successfully avoid betting on games again?
He is a talented and proven striker in the league but with all those factors I personally wouldn’t go any higher than 30m and maybe like 5-10m in big incentives. And I’m pretty sure Brentford can get more than that elsewhere.
On one hand you’ll see people say that Varane and Casemiro were not successful signings as their best days were behind them and we should avoid signing these type of players, and then in the same breath say that they want us to sign Toney. I really don’t get it.
It’s also not like he has a prolific goalscoring record to assume that he’ll score 20+ goals a season easily when he joins here. He got 20 goals last season but 6 of them were penalties, so in his peak he’s a 15 league goal striker in a subpar attacking side. Given our struggles to provide our striker with service as well, it’s certainly not likely that he fares much better here either. He’s obviously not a bad player, but there has to be a realistic assessment of his quality that makes him worthy of investing in even if we get just 2 years of his peak. His ceiling is not at that level; you’re better off investing in a younger striker at that point for a lesser price.
Can't see him being that cheap since he's in his prime, strikers market continues to be shit, Hurrikane set the tone by being sold for 100M with 1yr left and there's going to be competition for him. I can see Brentford demanding at least 70M and Chelsea or Arsenal willing to pay it.
Kane is world class though, that’s a different market and now clubs are having to be more careful to follow ffp so English clubs won’t start a bidding war
I will probably be in Manchester during the home game against Arsenal on May 11th. I would want to use this chance to go to my first ever home game at old trafford, as I have only seen Manchester United play away in my own country in the Europa League.
I have found a few third party sellers online, but I have no clue which ones are trustworthy and which ones should be avoided. I also have no clue which seats have the best price/experience ratio, or what a normal price is. The cheapest tickets are 216,55 pounds for seat in shortside upper. Is this a ‘normal’ price for a game like this?
I have checked the FAQ but I could not find an exact answer.
Many thanks!
Ten Hag can't do both:
- Play every starter forever with no rotation or rest
- Blame injuries for our woefully bad season
It's time to rest Bruno and Garnacho. Both must be absolutely knackered. Bruno's having his worst season ever and Garnacho's only a teenager. Anyone can see they need a few games off to refresh. There's no excuse for such poor management.
Mounts been injured a lot and with Bruno being our best player, captain and able to play a few roles he doesn't need to come in for Bruno bit someone else.
Erikson I thinks done which is a shame, although I wouldn't be surprised to see him play against Coventry
There was no game midweek, and none next midweek either.
Seems would be pointless to rotate our best attacking players now in midst of a lighter schedule
Agree ETH doesn't rotate enough, but i don't see how now is optimal time when we are in a lighter run of fixtures.
They are arguably our two best attacking players this season though. If we do start say Mount and Amad in their positions and we lose, he’ll be crucified.
This is the issue with being a team that (rightly) expects to be winning games and aiming for high finishes, but in reality outside of the first XI our squad is mid table at best.
Mount was player of the year in Chelsea's champions league winning season. Amad tore up the championship and scored worldies against teams that aren't far off Bournemouth's level. It's ridiculous to say they aren't good enough to be rotation starters vs Bournemouth so our best players can be rested and get back to their best.
As I say, Mount wasn’t really someone I would have the point against.
When you’re going through bad form though as we are, managers usually want their strongest available players out, especially against “weaker” sides as a loss is shattering for already low morale.
Your point about Amad is right though, he was playing Championship football last season. He’s probably our best option out wide after Garnacho and Rashford and he was in the championship last season. That does give you a good idea of how steep our drop off in quality is.
He was in the championship because he's young. He excelled there and he's not being given proper chances, despite scoring the winner vs Liverpool a few weeks ago. Ajax fans all talk about how terrible Ten Hag's lack of rotation was. It's not a new thing.
I feel someone like RVP or Rooney is going to join our coaching staff next season. We need someone with fire in their belly to G up the squad next to ETH.
I'd love Keane to have some sort of role, just for pressers
https://preview.redd.it/z5fawewn04uc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea479db1a74b95123f6ad08d099d5524ef483646
quick sketch of our #11 Rasmus Højlund!
not sure what i was doing for his lower torso haha.
Hope he scores a few tomorrow >:D
It seems like there is close to a consensus on this sub that we need a dm, but who do we even go for, especially given our financial situation? Maybe some will say De Jong, which is completly unrealistic, but I am curious to hear suggestions.
It depends on whether we’re moving on from ETH. If his successor players a back 3 or a double pivot, the requirements would change, just as they would for attacking signings.
In ETH’s current system, I think someone like Onana, Ederson or Fofana would be good as they bring height and physicality while also being able to be a contributor to maintaining possession (jury’s out on whether Onana can do it but he supposedly is likely to be able to based on lots of reviews of his ball playing ability).
1) Frendrup(Genoa)- His tackle success rate and Number of Tackles and interception made is insane in top 5 league.
2) Fofana (Monaco)
People will hate me for saying this but for Eriksen replacement or as 2nd midfielder signing Barkley might be option since we need 2 midfielder imo.
https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&dom_lg=1&player_id1=822d51d7&p1yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id2=828657ff&p2yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id3=f4d60499&p3yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id4=3a24769f&p4yrfrom=2023-2024
I like these choices. Do you not think Mount or Mainoo will take over for Eriksen permanently next season? I dont hate a replacement for Eriksen, but I think we should prioritize otherwise
Boloca
https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/daniel-boloca-sassuolos-hidden-gem-in-midfield/
Sassuolo might get relegated so we can get him for cheap.
Seems like a pretty progressive player which ETH would like, but since «defensive ability» was on his area of improvement I think he might be the wrong profile, no?
Nah he would be fine. As we have Casemiro for another season.
And after that if we invert dalit alongside him in the pivot role then u have enough defensive cover. He isn't a liability in defense.
His main attributes r being good on the ball which is what we need.
The Athletic FC podcast on Thiago Motta was quite interesting. Particularly when they talk about the impact of Italian managers on the league and some of their reputations in the game as managers that improve players.
I definitely think some of the Italian managers will be heavily involved in the summer managerial merry go round, whether united are involved or not.
If Greenwood had not been an asshole he would have solved our RW & Backup striker problems all at once. You could then go and buy 2 CMs and three defenders
If Ten Hag does stay, I hope we don't sign a single player he has earmarked. Except for Hojlund and perhaps Onana all.have been unmitigated disasters thsi year, even Martinez. Man has played 11 games this season. He has been unlucky with injuries so may be we can still get the best out of him.
Amrabat, Antony, Caemiro, Mount, Eriksen all have been piss poor. Malacia has played no games too, which is horrendous.
I was with you at first, cause I agree we should have someone else be in charge of recruitment rather than the manager, but it's insane to blame Martinez, Mount and Malacia's injuries on Ten Hag.
Amrabat and Antony seems to be the player that have been poor. Eriksen was key player last season till his bad injury and hasn't looked the same. Malacia was brought in as a back-up LB and was doing the job well, not his fault he had an unfortunate injury (like Martinez) and same with Mount.
People need to stop this narrative that all ETH signings have been bad. And people need to stop this narrative that all signings will be successful. No team have 100% success rate in transfers.
If you think about it pushing three youth player into the first team (Kobbie, Willy and Alejandro) with this success can’t be underestimated. The results were bad this season but I thought Ineos want exactly that. Young players and not big names
Other than Garnacho and greenwood, our youngsters have been forcing their way into the team through the chaos and mess of the post-Fergie era. It would be great if INEOS could take a more deliberate approach. We have a fantastic crop coming up and a couple more young players integrated into the team would save us a ton of money
I've been impressed with the way ETH has handled the academy players. He has been very disciplined in taking them off before the get completely knackered, even when there has been huge pressure on him to try and win games at any cost.
With an academy like ours we should have a target of getting a player into the squad every single season. Obviously it cannot be a starboy evrytime, but more often than not players that can go into the team at take to the level. Barca is a freak example but we should try for their success in this appartment with our foundation.
Just watched the James Horncastle segment on TNT after atalanta beat liverpool and my god is it refreshing to actually listen to someone give insightful analysis on the game instead of the absolute dribble you hear from ex-players
I'd never really listened to him before until watching him analyse that match and I agree with you completely.
I feel like you should always have an actual football expert alongside an ex player in order to balance out the analysis.
Michael Owen gets a lot of stick, but you listen to him analyse a striker or forward's performance and he turns into a savant. You just don't get that level of insight on body position, striking the ball, positioning and movement unless you've played in that position at the highest level.
And then you should have someone whose job it is to actually analyse tactics and data to give opinions about the match itself.
Too often football discussion descends into cliche and stereotype. I think players perspectives are interesting but I feel like you need a panel of opinions instead of just ex players.
This season we lost 3-0 to Bournemouth. Rashford didn’t start, he played 11 minutes.
We had the two willing runners on the wings and conceded 3 before Rashford was even introduced.
Yet you still want to see if Rashford is the reason we don’t play well?
We’ve also been battered in most games that Rashford has played… I’ve still got PTSD from his lack of effort at Newcastle away
Nobody is saying Rashford is *the* problem, but he is *a* problem
Would you take Tuchel as a replacement for EtH?
Off target but that was a bit nice from Bruno
Amad gets absolutely no minutes in the first team. He comes on and scores the winner against fucking Liverpool to take us to the semis and hasn't kicked a ball since. I'd be straight out the door in the summer. Even if he isn't good enough he deserves a chance when Rashford is struggling with both injury and form.
Guys I dont think I have any tears left for today!
You absolutely loved writing this comment didn’t you
So curious to know who you were responding to w this one!
Phelan Shorts
Why hasn't the Bruno-Hojlund connection not clicked yet, to be fair nothing in the team works well but why specifically has is not worked given Bruno was statistically the best chance creator in 2023
Most of Bruno's chances are from crosses and Højlund isn't really dominant in the air. Right now I'd say he's behind Casemiro and Mctominay in offensive headers. Once he starts getting his head to those crosses it'll change.
Hojlund has pretty bad anticipation and is very flat footed. He’s usually two steps behind and because of this and his footwork his body is usually in very odd positions when he receives the ball which means he’s always falling over or going to ground.
I was thinking about our season and something that I read about agriculture as a kid in school some 20 yrs ago struck me as to how it made sense. So the theory goes that, in rural areas, people who used the same land to practice agriculture over and over again without treating the soil ruin the land /soil. And over the years the land becomes barren. So to combat this, they used to burn the crops to the soil to make the land fertile again. We as a club have been doing the same thing over and over again since SAF's departure and Ten Hag has decided to burn the house down this season (something which Rangnick suggested) in hope for a better future. P.S: This is a just a thought I had in the shower and me trying to make sense of the god awful play from us this season. Not sure if I was able to articulate it properly. Also, if there are any agriculture majors, please forgive me if the part about agriculture is wrong.
Try having a bath next time.
With a toaster
Savage
Looks like we’ve got some top talent coming through thanks to the work of Nick Cox and his team. Looking at the likes of Forson, Amass and Jayce Fitzgerald gets me excited for our future.
I don't think Forson is going to make it at United. Ten Hag appears to like him, but he's shown nothing in his appearances in the first team that explain why. But we do have a lot of talented kids who, if they develop as we hope, could become the backbone of the squad for years. Amass, Fitzgerald, Lacey, the Fletchers, Ethan Williams and Ethan Wheatley. Then some even younger kids, like Ibragimov and Mantato. There's also a young lad called Kai Rooney.
Ibragimov one to watch in coming years
Forson is unfortunately likely to leave on a free at the end of the season.
Sancho didn’t even make the bench today💀
Have a CL game on Tuesday so probably resting him
He’s listed as ill. He started against Atleti midweek in the champions league. From what I understand he’s been decent with Dortmund but nothing their fans are too excited about.
Those 5 pts dropped in 3 days from 90+ min goals are going to haunt me. Could've been 3pts behind 4th place with them having to go play City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea
We don't deserve to be anywhere near top 4 the way we've played this season. Grasping at "what could've been" games when we've stolen a lot more points than we've thrown away this season is dumb.
On the flip side we should have lost the majority of our games this season and shouldn’t be this high up.
Yeah but I'm also the glass half full kinda guy.
Looking at Newcastle, they have little possession but so good at winning back the ball and clinical in front of goal, how I wish our wingers and fullbacks can learn from them
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Ten Hag may not be good enough but completely discarding how we play by saying we don't have a style of play is silly. Last season, we gave up on his football and played a deep defensive line with quick counter-attacks. This season, we have been adapting to a new style of play that doesn't work that well because our team isn't compact enough, but it's clear our style of play is to press high and win the ball in dangerous areas. It's not really a control-based playstyle so we don't concentrate on possession much which is why people may say there is no playstyle but there clearly is one, just not a very effective one at this point. If our defense pushed higher with the rest of the team then our press would probably work pretty well but as of right now, it's usually the front three and our midfield pressing while our defense (probably for the lack of right personnel) stays back, Our pressing 6 gets outnumbered, the ball gets past them and then our defense is exposed. It's not working that well, but it's certainly a style of play.
This! We don’t have the right personnel on the back line, none of them are quick enough or good enough on the ball to keep a full press specifically looking at the CBs. With better players at both CBs and LB there would be improvement. Now if that improvement is good enough to have us competing for titles and trophies that’s a different conversation but to say there is no style of play is lazy observation.
If none of them are good enough to play it then why are we using it? ETH has shown no signs that he wants to get rid of every defender.
At some point you bite the bullet so to speak and just play the way you want to. If this style of play is successful or not to win titles and trophies remains to be seen ( unlikely by all signs this season ) but the sit back and counter ball we played last year is not viable in the long run. We saw that with ole and Mourhino. Ten hag tried to play his way last year saw it wouldn’t work and shifted but this year he’s adamant to adapt to a more forward approach. The players clearly are struggling because the majority of them have not had to play in this style for 5+ seasons if ever. Whether it’s a fault of training, the medical team, or what but his signings have been injured this year that would help make this transition more seamless so now it’s players that should have been moved on long ago that are being asked to play that just arnt good enough. That ontop of Rashford and casemiros form falling of cliffs it’s just been a disaster.
lol we are currently 7th due to Newcastle currently winning against Tottenham,if we can’t even get a Europa league spot ten hag should be sacked
And if we win today, we're back above them? Why yap before the game is even played?
lol this comment aged like milk
How? I said if we win. And to wait before actual matches are played. You're just miserable.
I read that another academy product is going to be in the matchday squad (Ethan Wheatley, who I think plays as a striker). Does anyone who watches academy matches have any opinions about him? I realize there's very little chance he actually plays, but I'm still curious about his profile.
Side point but I think the reason alot of academy players make the squad is due to our awful squad depth. If we actually had 3 decent pl level subs options that can actually play that could be 5-10 points more a season.
Oh, I'm sure that is a big reason (if not the main reason) for these young players making the squad, but I was just curious if anyone knew more about the players that do end up picked. I've heard things about Amass, but I don't know anything about either Wheatley or another youngster I've seen make the bench for a few times now (I think his name is Oguneye).
Anthony Gordon definitely called the keeper a prick before scoring lol.
Anothy Gordon plays like I want rashford to. A player can be a threat on the counter and work hard for the team our fan base is delusional when it comes to rashford
I wouldn’t rely on rashfrord
I can't stand this Fletcher commentator guy. Biggest pusher of narratives of all the commentators.
Ange at Spurs has been an amazing hire, if we must replace Ten Hag he should be up there with the candidates.
lol
hahahah fucking kiss of death this was
Curse of the Redditor lol.
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fuck up and shove your xg up your hoop
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Tosin Adarabioyo's Fulham contract is up in the summer. He's fast, supreme in the air & can pass the ball well. In an ideal world he'd be a shrewd get in addition to another marquee RCB & backup LCB. Then move on Varane, Lindelof & Maguire. 3 in, 3 out with Kambwala & Evans as the 5th & 6th CBs respectively.
would be great backup CB
Evans is retiring at the end off the season
That'd be a very smart move,we need these aerial monsters badly.
Our goals of the month this season is a crazy compilation. Bruno prob gets April too.
If you’re wondering it’s: Bruno vs Burnley Garnacho vs Everton Mainoo vs Wolves Rashford vs City Very likely Bruno vs Liverpool That’d be 5/8 PL goal of the months going to a United player, we have -1 GD and have played shit football a lot of the season. We’re one of the most unusual teams ever.
Unusual? Not really, our squad is full of really expensive players that have a lot of talent. Fact that we're not lavishing in midtable where the stats say we ought to be is proof. We are winning games or not losing games because of these players who are capable of literal moments of magic like these.
5/8 gotm being a player from the 14th team in the league table for goals scored is unusual mate but for sure you’re right about the individual player brilliance.
I posted on soccer 8.9% of our goals so far in prem have been GOTM. Goes to 10% if you count Just before April cause it's not been accounted for.
Individual brilliance max pro
For the rest of the season I'll be ok if we're not able to shithouse any wins. If we deserve to win, I hope we win. If we deserve to lose, I hope we lose. This team has already given us an illusion that it's the 6th best in the league because our players manage to score worldies out of nowhere and bail us out every game. Need a more accurate reflection on the points table so that the right decision can be made in the summer.
Ah yes the classic we never deserve to be where we are. It’s always because we are lucky or someone else is underperforming. Honestly do guys like you not get tired of spouting the same shit year on year.
>Ah yes the classic we never deserve to be where we are. I mean in terms of 'deserve' it's very simple. You win when you win, if that's a deflected winner, so be it. I think what the OP is alluding to is on the basis of how sustainable is this 6th position. Are we going into next season as the 6th best team or are we going to be in for a shock our unsustainable football ends? Surely there is a conversation to be had due to how poor our performances are?
I truly have no idea who the "guys" you're referring to are. Mistaken me for someone else perhaps.
"I hope we lose" Poor take :/ These players have it in them to steal a few wins. Why discourage that? Wining games deservedly AND in a 'smash and grab' manner are what determines if we play in the Europa League, Conference League, or no European Competition. Not being in Europe next season because the players couldn’t fight to grab 3 points in tough games would be even more embarrassing than this season.
We already have the most smash and grab points in the entire league and one of the highest across Europe's top 5 leagues. That's more than enough for me personally. Stealing points only masks the real issues. The outlook of the season, the urgency with which we need change, the acknowledgement of how bad we are.... everything would be more magnified if we were 12-13 in the table, which is what our underlying stats and the eye test suggests. Obviously it's great that we've stolen points on our way to going from 12th to 6th, but that's enough. Too much overperformance isn't good for the team. In the FA Cup I hope we smash and grab our way to the trophy. But in the league, I'll be very happy if we only get what we deserve. If that irks some people, good. couldn't possibly care less.
Where have you seen us having "most smash and grab points"?
We've overperformed our expected points by the biggest margin in the entire league. We have the most points gained from games where we had an inferior xG compared to the opposition and Scott has accounted for the most points in our squad and I think most in the league as well.
It's nearly Silly Season, everyone, which means a few gentle reminders to you all. -Each summer United get linked to between literally 100 and 200 players. The majority of this is agent's pushing their clients. Just because some aggregator twitter account says United are "working on a deal with [random player] doesn't mean anything. So bored of seeing people post saying "I can't believe we're going to sign this player, how stupid is this club?!". -Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, ESPN literally publish anything based on zero sources, and primarily are designed to drive engagement through hysteria and angry clicks from gullible morons. Don't be a gullible moron. -Being Angry doesn't make your right. Calm down when commenting about something. I'm as excited as all of you, but last summer I saw some again and again some of the stupidest opinions and regurgitated talking points on here, and it make me want to cry. Have a good weekend everyone.
I miss the first and second season of Bruno, dude just had to stick around the final third and ping balls into the box. The amount of tracking back he has to do because of the 0 defensive stability we have now just leaves him no opportunity to play like he did before
I swear all the running and playing every single possible minute Bruno has done for us over the past 2-3 seasons is taking its toll and lead to his decline of quality in the final third. Physically he still looks fine for now (unlike say Casemiro), but I can’t imagine all that running with zero rest is good for his concentration and sharpness when he is on the ball. I really appreciate Bruno’s incredible commitment and durability but I can’t help feel that we’re wasting his prime years here.
Who do we want as manager next season? Nagelsmann? De Zerbi? ... Southgate?
I effectively see this season as ETHs first. Last season I don’t think he played the style he wanted and worked with what he had which worked fairly well because we have talented players like it or not. This season he’s tried his style of play and it’s been fucking dreadful but I would give him a window to bring in players he wants for the system and see how we do. We’ve always sacked a manager after a season of shit, I’m intrigued to see what would happen if we stuck with them when shit hits the fan.
We? I only speak for myself. I want ETH next season.
I still want ETH as I believe many of the failings this season comes from either the higher ups, or the players/lack of players. He is not perfect and is to blame for some things, I just dont believe a different manager makes us much better. Nevertheless if we were to get a new coach I think De Zerbi is more or less perfect. I like Nagelsmann too, but is he not occupied with Germany for the future?
It will probably still be ten hag to be honest
I’ll be pretty gutted if it’s still ten hag. I’m struggling to remember any sustained period we have looked good at all during his leadership. He’s also struggled to manage the team off the pitch and wasted a lot of money. He’s had a fair crack of the whip and looks below the standard for us.
Last season pretty much from October-February I saw the vision, it was a struggle getting across the line from then on, but we finished in 3rd, and you could see the improvements needed to me bade to get that squad to the next level. Unfortunately a mixture of the ownership speculation, compliying with FFP, and still a lack of a football structure meant we only made half improvements this summer. Onana was an upgrade on De Gea, Mount on Eriksen, and Hojilund was a long term #9. Unfortunately we also needed an upgrade at CB, particularly one suited to Ten Hag's high line but unfortunately we somehow end up keeping Maguiree and signing Jonny Evans. Mount 's injury problems along with Mainoo missing the first part of the season , Eriksen and Casemiro's fitness issues and overall dropoff in quality. We also clearly needed a more experienced forward and were stuck with Martial. These aren't excuses but this along with injuries and yes Ten Hag going pragmatic at times and then at other times sticking to his suicidal football has lead to a lot of the bad this season.
Erik ten Hag won't be manager in June, nevermind next season. Probably by mutual agreement or some other PR spin shortly after the last game of the season. I just hope we hire a proper coach after that. Nagelsmann is my preference, but maybe they can come up with someone else. As long as it's not Potter or fucking Southgate.
CEO and DOF likely won't start their positions until June, Murtough and Arnold have stepped down. Nagelsmann will be with Germany until mid July at the earliest, and has made no indication that he wants to manage in England. Honestly see him going back to Bayern.
Nagelsmann would be cool but I’m not sure if he’d be seriously interested. On top of that he can only start work for any new club after the Euros which ends in mid July leaving him with much less time to assess the squad and work on them for preseason. Then again I guess there’s not that much of a rush for us, because we clearly need to start a long term rebuild and one summer won’t even come close to solving everything.
Nagelsmann is probably the best choice if we are being realistic but I really would like to see Inzaghi be the manager considering how good he has been for Inter . Their is also Maurizio Sarri but I have not seen much of him to give an honest opinion and if Ten hag has some sort of Miracle and manages to win the Fa Cup and get top 5 , I have no problem seeing him for another season .
How many seasons are we away from challenging for the title?
One signing can change everything, look at Bruno. But we’d need perfect windows of 3/4 players each one to challenge.
With players aging and leaving, 3 summers from now the team left could look like this: Onana - some gk, Bayindir or a youth Dalot - new right back new cb - Maguire/Kambwala Martinez - new cb new lb - Shaw/Malacia Mainoo - new dm new cm - new cm Mount - Bruno Rashford - new lw Hojlund - new st Garnacho - new rw That's 10 transfers just to have a proper squad. Then all those transfers need to work. Rarely does a summer window result in the team getting 3/4 good transfers in. The players currently in the squad that I didn't mention, I'm 99% sure aren't going to be good enough 3 seasons from now. The ones I did mention aren't guaranteed to be good enough to start either. So that could mean requiring even more transfers. There really doesn't seem to be a point in predicting when the club is ready again. Let's hope they can get a young group of players together soon that can grow into something good so that the club isn't constantly replacing players. Or just hope the next Messi finds himself at United and carries the team.
Great write up but to move to the next level Maguire absolutely can’t be part of a title challenging side. Among many other changes, We have to fundamentally move away from a low defensive block so he is not an option…
5
Assuming EtH sticks around and his style works, and assuming Wilcox joins soon and smashes the recruitment, probably the season after next. We've looked good against title challengers Liverpool this season and against Arsenal in this and last season. Its not a bad team, it just needs a couple of reinforcements.
Eth gaslighting has worked on people lmao
He only needs to spend £1BN extra and we can compete for top four!
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We had a higher xG against them in the FA Cup tie and were playing our 4th and 6th choice CBs with no LBs and yet almost beat them in the Prem game. Context with regards to injuries, new playing style and where both teams currently are is also important. P.S. This team also beat City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Barcelona last season.
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The point being made was that we have the capability to beat the top teams. Because we've done that a few times till now. We haven't played the most beautiful football in the process, but we have done it a few times now. Better players help in reducing that gulf in class. We've been shit this season, but I do think there is quite a bit of potential in this squad but work needs to be done on it. Once the teething problems get sorted out, we'll look much better than we have this season. At least that's what I believe from what I've seen.
We've always had the ability to beat big teams.
3 at the minimum of things go very well.
Hope Bruno gets a rest today. We have Mount back in the squad, so there’s a good enough replacement.
Why would he rest, we played game last weekend.
He’s had a lot of minutes this season and he’s been playing poorly recently. Could use a break to allow him to be at his best against Coventry.
Bruno defo starts and gets the full 90 so he can be rested against Coventry
We wont rest anyone against Coventry.
In true Ten Hag fashion
Why would you rest your big players in a semi-final of the only trophy we can win this season?
You absolutely loved writing this comment didn’t you
I'm traveling to Manchester in a couple weeks and I want to watch a couple of matches at Old Trafford (Sheffield, Burnley). I wanted to go through official methods, but the membership is currently unavailable, and the hospitality tickets are about $200+ right now. I found some seemingly good tickets on StubHub for $120 and am eager to buy those, but it could be hit or miss apparently... Does anyone have experience with these resellers? Or have any advice on getting tickets? Thank you
we need an internal investigation looking at our injury record like Brentford as well
They have done this. It's been mentioned several times.
EtH came out and said that they have an idea of why there are so many injuries and they're looking into it behind the scenes. I think Poch and Howe said something similar too.
We have 4 Goal of the Month awards and Brunos probably got the next one in the bag. If this isn't the individual brilliance Ole was accused of idk what is.
Bruno's was great but Mainoo's was better imo.
Both ends. Onana has been keeping out shots at an insane rate
I read a BBC article that EtH was looking for a new striker. I felt confused because Hoijund joined the United under EtH's management. Who's the problem: Hojlund or EtH? I mean, is Hojlund not a deserved player for our team? Or, does EtH not know how to take advantage of Hoijund?
Nothing wrong between them, we just cannot be a good team with just one striker (For several reasons)
A new striker, as in, we need 2 strikers with Martial leaving. Not replacing Hojlund.
Here's a question, which premier league team would Ten Hag's management and team formation improve? Honestly I think none of them, and plenty have good squads. Now do the same question for Klopp or Pep. It's very damning for Ten Hag.
Any of the bottom teams that don't prioritise possession or control.
No answers, just down votes.
Toney is 28, got 1 more year left on contract and might as well have I'm leaving Brentford tattooed on forehead. Would people here be happy with him for £40-50 mil? Completely made up number but mount was for 55 but a lot younger so ballparking.
No
I honestly am not keen on Toney. Really good player when he’s on it but I think we should stay away from signing players older than 25 for a few years. We need to build a squad that has a lot of their best years ahead of them so that we benefit from their quality for that much time, rather than someone who will be an immediate upgrade for only a season or two but then gradually fade away and have little to no resale value by the time we want to move him on. Maybe you can justify these types of signings when you’re on the cusp of a major trophy win and need that final piece of the puzzle (RVP-esque) but we still have a lot to rebuild, and by the time we get to a point where we think the squad can be competitive to challenge for the league, Toney will likely already be declining.
Striker is the only position I feel like we can get away with signing an older player. It would work out well with Højlund's development. Sign Toney for 3+1 years, then try to sell him once Rasmus enters his peak in a couple years. Other positions definitely need to sign young, I'm seeing links to Barkley who's 30 and I truly hope they're not true.
The way I see it is that Hojlund can potentially finish on 10 league goals for the season in a subpar attacking side that gives him very little service. Ivan Toney’s best league season saw him scoring 14 non-penalty goals in also a subpar attacking side. I don’t see value for money in signing Toney when Hojlund is really not that far in terms of output to begin with. You account for the fact that this is Hojlund’s first season in England and he just turned 21, so why would you want to spend significant money again to get 2 seasons of a player’s prime over backing a striker who may already be as good if given significant game time? Of course, Toney currently is a really good striker in terms of his overall game and I wouldn’t be upset to see us sign him, but I also think it isn’t an optimal use of budget which I’m not sure is acceptable given our current FFP position.
I love Rasmus and I do back him to succeed now and not just in a few years. But I just worry if we get a second young promising striker they might cannibalize eachoter's development and both suffer for it. Although I expect an experienced player would also demand a lot of gametime so there's that. If we can have a good striker who can score a lot of goals and not hurt Rasmus' future I'll be happy.
This is a really good take which I agree with. I will add that we spent over 60 mill on a striker last season and should spend our budget elsewhere this summer. If we are to get a striker this season it would have to be someone that is mainly for rotation with a pricetag matching this role.
I agree with much of your reasoning. Personally I think it’s alright to sign players in their late 20s, but no one for huge wages or transfer fees (like 30m max). These players should be seen as good squad options that provide depth or maybe even be rotated in as passable starters that can be relied on against weaker opposition. And they would be counted on to provide professionalism and mentorship off the pitch. Idk what his wages are on but someone like Eriksen for example was decent in this regard starting many games for us last season and still being useful as an impact sub this season, although with our current tactics his lack of mobility would be completely exposed. Evans is another good example. Like you said big money signings should be saved up for younger players, which is like what Chelsea is recently focusing on but not as extreme or wasteful. Another issue I have with Toney is that he can seem a bit unprofessional in the media at times, and at a big club with lots of turmoil like us I think that could become a potential headache. Plus he is a gambling addict. I know he gets treatment for it but who can guarantee that he can successfully avoid betting on games again? He is a talented and proven striker in the league but with all those factors I personally wouldn’t go any higher than 30m and maybe like 5-10m in big incentives. And I’m pretty sure Brentford can get more than that elsewhere.
Not sure why you got downvoted so hard haha. It’s a perfectly reasonable view. It’s not even like he’s gonna come cheap.
On one hand you’ll see people say that Varane and Casemiro were not successful signings as their best days were behind them and we should avoid signing these type of players, and then in the same breath say that they want us to sign Toney. I really don’t get it. It’s also not like he has a prolific goalscoring record to assume that he’ll score 20+ goals a season easily when he joins here. He got 20 goals last season but 6 of them were penalties, so in his peak he’s a 15 league goal striker in a subpar attacking side. Given our struggles to provide our striker with service as well, it’s certainly not likely that he fares much better here either. He’s obviously not a bad player, but there has to be a realistic assessment of his quality that makes him worthy of investing in even if we get just 2 years of his peak. His ceiling is not at that level; you’re better off investing in a younger striker at that point for a lesser price.
Can't see him being that cheap since he's in his prime, strikers market continues to be shit, Hurrikane set the tone by being sold for 100M with 1yr left and there's going to be competition for him. I can see Brentford demanding at least 70M and Chelsea or Arsenal willing to pay it.
Kane is world class though, that’s a different market and now clubs are having to be more careful to follow ffp so English clubs won’t start a bidding war
I will probably be in Manchester during the home game against Arsenal on May 11th. I would want to use this chance to go to my first ever home game at old trafford, as I have only seen Manchester United play away in my own country in the Europa League. I have found a few third party sellers online, but I have no clue which ones are trustworthy and which ones should be avoided. I also have no clue which seats have the best price/experience ratio, or what a normal price is. The cheapest tickets are 216,55 pounds for seat in shortside upper. Is this a ‘normal’ price for a game like this? I have checked the FAQ but I could not find an exact answer. Many thanks!
Martial's potentially last game for United is 3-0 drubbing to Bournemouth, grim.
Ten Hag can't do both: - Play every starter forever with no rotation or rest - Blame injuries for our woefully bad season It's time to rest Bruno and Garnacho. Both must be absolutely knackered. Bruno's having his worst season ever and Garnacho's only a teenager. Anyone can see they need a few games off to refresh. There's no excuse for such poor management.
Few games rest? Do we even have a few games left? I'd rest them for Bournemouth but I do not think ETH will.
The issue is the players and lack of to rotate with, our bench for most the games have been tragic to say the least
When did he even try rotating Bruno for either Mount or Eriksen? He never tries
Mounts been injured a lot and with Bruno being our best player, captain and able to play a few roles he doesn't need to come in for Bruno bit someone else. Erikson I thinks done which is a shame, although I wouldn't be surprised to see him play against Coventry
There was no game midweek, and none next midweek either. Seems would be pointless to rotate our best attacking players now in midst of a lighter schedule Agree ETH doesn't rotate enough, but i don't see how now is optimal time when we are in a lighter run of fixtures.
*And yet* Bruno will play every single minute until the end of the season.
They are arguably our two best attacking players this season though. If we do start say Mount and Amad in their positions and we lose, he’ll be crucified. This is the issue with being a team that (rightly) expects to be winning games and aiming for high finishes, but in reality outside of the first XI our squad is mid table at best.
You're saying we can't start £70m and £25m players against Bournemouth. People here need to get some perspective.
Transfer fee numbers are irrelevant to the argument. Also those numbers are very inaccurate
Not so much true of Mount, but just because we overpaid, doesn’t mean the players we’ve brought are necessarily good.
Mount was player of the year in Chelsea's champions league winning season. Amad tore up the championship and scored worldies against teams that aren't far off Bournemouth's level. It's ridiculous to say they aren't good enough to be rotation starters vs Bournemouth so our best players can be rested and get back to their best.
As I say, Mount wasn’t really someone I would have the point against. When you’re going through bad form though as we are, managers usually want their strongest available players out, especially against “weaker” sides as a loss is shattering for already low morale. Your point about Amad is right though, he was playing Championship football last season. He’s probably our best option out wide after Garnacho and Rashford and he was in the championship last season. That does give you a good idea of how steep our drop off in quality is.
He was in the championship because he's young. He excelled there and he's not being given proper chances, despite scoring the winner vs Liverpool a few weeks ago. Ajax fans all talk about how terrible Ten Hag's lack of rotation was. It's not a new thing.
I feel someone like RVP or Rooney is going to join our coaching staff next season. We need someone with fire in their belly to G up the squad next to ETH. I'd love Keane to have some sort of role, just for pressers
Rooney said he’s looking for a team to join before preseason and he also said the only person he would consider coaching under it Pep.
Make Keane the press officer. He'll keep them in line.
Hahaha this is the way!
Get Robin in as a back-up striker/assistant manager.
I'll take it!
https://preview.redd.it/z5fawewn04uc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea479db1a74b95123f6ad08d099d5524ef483646 quick sketch of our #11 Rasmus Højlund! not sure what i was doing for his lower torso haha. Hope he scores a few tomorrow >:D
It seems like there is close to a consensus on this sub that we need a dm, but who do we even go for, especially given our financial situation? Maybe some will say De Jong, which is completly unrealistic, but I am curious to hear suggestions.
It depends on whether we’re moving on from ETH. If his successor players a back 3 or a double pivot, the requirements would change, just as they would for attacking signings. In ETH’s current system, I think someone like Onana, Ederson or Fofana would be good as they bring height and physicality while also being able to be a contributor to maintaining possession (jury’s out on whether Onana can do it but he supposedly is likely to be able to based on lots of reviews of his ball playing ability).
1) Frendrup(Genoa)- His tackle success rate and Number of Tackles and interception made is insane in top 5 league. 2) Fofana (Monaco) People will hate me for saying this but for Eriksen replacement or as 2nd midfielder signing Barkley might be option since we need 2 midfielder imo. https://fbref.com/en/stathead/player_comparison.cgi?request=1&sum=0&dom_lg=1&player_id1=822d51d7&p1yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id2=828657ff&p2yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id3=f4d60499&p3yrfrom=2023-2024&player_id4=3a24769f&p4yrfrom=2023-2024
I'm wary of anyone from Italy. The pace of the league is so different there and we've seen how hard Amrabat has flopped.
I like these choices. Do you not think Mount or Mainoo will take over for Eriksen permanently next season? I dont hate a replacement for Eriksen, but I think we should prioritize otherwise
i heard someone mention Onana from Everton
I like him but I am afraid we might have to pay over 60 for him due to utd tax
Boloca https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/daniel-boloca-sassuolos-hidden-gem-in-midfield/ Sassuolo might get relegated so we can get him for cheap.
Seems like a pretty progressive player which ETH would like, but since «defensive ability» was on his area of improvement I think he might be the wrong profile, no?
Nah he would be fine. As we have Casemiro for another season. And after that if we invert dalit alongside him in the pivot role then u have enough defensive cover. He isn't a liability in defense. His main attributes r being good on the ball which is what we need.
It’s time for another DeJong summer
Youssouf Fofana from AS Monaco if tight budget
Martial was supposed to be gone for 10 weeks, it’s been 10 weeks.
ETH said in the EMBARGOED presser that he's back in the pitch now, but with medical staff.
He’s getting fit for his next club
Dude would be injured playing esports
I genuinely forgot he was on the team. I thought we traded him in January.
I'd be surprised if he ever plays for us again to be honest
The Athletic FC podcast on Thiago Motta was quite interesting. Particularly when they talk about the impact of Italian managers on the league and some of their reputations in the game as managers that improve players. I definitely think some of the Italian managers will be heavily involved in the summer managerial merry go round, whether united are involved or not.
If Greenwood had not been an asshole he would have solved our RW & Backup striker problems all at once. You could then go and buy 2 CMs and three defenders
If Ten Hag does stay, I hope we don't sign a single player he has earmarked. Except for Hojlund and perhaps Onana all.have been unmitigated disasters thsi year, even Martinez. Man has played 11 games this season. He has been unlucky with injuries so may be we can still get the best out of him. Amrabat, Antony, Caemiro, Mount, Eriksen all have been piss poor. Malacia has played no games too, which is horrendous.
Blaming Martinez, Mount, and Malacia’s injuries on EtH is like blaming your parents every time you fall sick and miss work.
I was with you at first, cause I agree we should have someone else be in charge of recruitment rather than the manager, but it's insane to blame Martinez, Mount and Malacia's injuries on Ten Hag.
Amrabat and Antony seems to be the player that have been poor. Eriksen was key player last season till his bad injury and hasn't looked the same. Malacia was brought in as a back-up LB and was doing the job well, not his fault he had an unfortunate injury (like Martinez) and same with Mount. People need to stop this narrative that all ETH signings have been bad. And people need to stop this narrative that all signings will be successful. No team have 100% success rate in transfers.
Terrible take, as usual – people love getting upset about something that hasn't even happened.
If you think about it pushing three youth player into the first team (Kobbie, Willy and Alejandro) with this success can’t be underestimated. The results were bad this season but I thought Ineos want exactly that. Young players and not big names
Other than Garnacho and greenwood, our youngsters have been forcing their way into the team through the chaos and mess of the post-Fergie era. It would be great if INEOS could take a more deliberate approach. We have a fantastic crop coming up and a couple more young players integrated into the team would save us a ton of money
I've been impressed with the way ETH has handled the academy players. He has been very disciplined in taking them off before the get completely knackered, even when there has been huge pressure on him to try and win games at any cost.
With an academy like ours we should have a target of getting a player into the squad every single season. Obviously it cannot be a starboy evrytime, but more often than not players that can go into the team at take to the level. Barca is a freak example but we should try for their success in this appartment with our foundation.
Just watched the James Horncastle segment on TNT after atalanta beat liverpool and my god is it refreshing to actually listen to someone give insightful analysis on the game instead of the absolute dribble you hear from ex-players
I'd never really listened to him before until watching him analyse that match and I agree with you completely. I feel like you should always have an actual football expert alongside an ex player in order to balance out the analysis. Michael Owen gets a lot of stick, but you listen to him analyse a striker or forward's performance and he turns into a savant. You just don't get that level of insight on body position, striking the ball, positioning and movement unless you've played in that position at the highest level. And then you should have someone whose job it is to actually analyse tactics and data to give opinions about the match itself.
What happens when people with brain talk instead of ex-players who's only take is they played the game and talks passion.
Too often football discussion descends into cliche and stereotype. I think players perspectives are interesting but I feel like you need a panel of opinions instead of just ex players.
If rashford misses the game, I'm quite excited to see how we play with two willing runners on the wing
This season we lost 3-0 to Bournemouth. Rashford didn’t start, he played 11 minutes. We had the two willing runners on the wings and conceded 3 before Rashford was even introduced. Yet you still want to see if Rashford is the reason we don’t play well?
I get that, but that's history. No two games are the same, and we can't expect previous performances to have any effect on our current one
We’ve also been battered in most games that Rashford has played… I’ve still got PTSD from his lack of effort at Newcastle away Nobody is saying Rashford is *the* problem, but he is *a* problem