The old Man Utd Thread

[Mr Do 71]

Bailly out for at least 4 months.

[Loik V credern]

Well fuck I'm tired of being negative, i agree with everything everyone says however i'm gonna ignore it and fantasize about Dybala being a star of the league and making an immediate impact like Coutinho did. He'll enjoy the extra space he's allowed compared to Serie A (Evra has had some good stuff to say about this), the physicality won't bother him and he'll thrive with increased speed. Di Maria, who was underappreciated at Madrid looked so classy in that first game against Burnley, like a true galactico, sharper and more fluid than everyone else. Then the overall shitness of the club brought him down, but i'm going to predict that'll take longer this time and will occur mid March. Up to November pundits will be discussing whether 'United are in with a chance', they'll be sat third 5 points off Liverpool in second. Yes, you read all of that right. I think the team are as bored as everyone else of being rubbish. I think they'll surprise but won't be able to sustain it. Over the last few seasons they have started strong, Pogba scoring regularly.

 

I don't think Pogba will be sold. I think all the rumours are exaggerated. Then again a swap with Bale seems like the kind of thing that ought to happen and would have been reported as possible 4 years ago but doesn't have traction this time for whatever reason. If one of the issues of Dybala arriving is the question; where will Lingard play? then..i don't care. I have no idea what formation the team will play and how everyone fits. I think Fred is technically decent, and McTominay and Pereria provide tenacity. 4-2-3-1 with Martial up front, Rashford on the left, James on the right, Dybala in the hole, people will say that is thin in the middle if McTominay and Pogba are the 2. McTominay is really impressive though and improving all the time. Really need Mina Rzouki on speed dial for her to give info on Pogba playing alongside Dybala.

 

And Maguire! He's not that good and will cost something stupid but he'll arrive and be like a rock all season.

 

continuing this vein of positivity...i think the team look hungry. In past pre seasons they've looked a bit confused, after a few years of Van Gaal and Mourinho's obsessive ways they've reached an age in their mid 20s where this is it, either they perform now and excel or possibly never will. Wan Bassaka and James might form a really effective partnership down that right. /obvious. but i mean it will matter, it's a massive advantage this season even if opposition avoids attacking the right, just in terms of united going forward and overlaps, James and Bassaka are rapid enough to do it. James still young allowing Greenwood game time, Rashford replacing Martial, Lingard taking Rashford's position.

[feltmonkey]

2 hours ago, JPL said:

It comes across as yet another signing that’s more about the marquee name than fixing an issue with the squad. Your standard Woodward signing then, and we all know how that’s been working out over the last few years.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think he’s a great player and could work out, but only if we have all our issues sorted first. Which we absolutely haven’t. You just know that Ed will spend these last few days of the transfer window concentrating on this deal and nothing else will happen.

 

It's definitely a standard Woodward move.  I think there's a real possibility as you say of Woodward fannying about putting all his attention into this move and ignoring the areas of the team where we need to recruit. 

 

Woodward's arrogance is astounding. Simply astounding. Old's request at the end of last season was that the business was done early, in time to get the new signings integrated into the team in pre-season. Instead, the club have inexplicably dragged their feet. We still haven't even made an offer for Bruno Fernandes, despite identifying him as a target very early on. We've been concentrating on one deal at a time, getting so far with a transfer before putting it in a holding pattern and solely concentrating on another one. This is why the weeks keep dragging on without signings. This is why if we continue to pursue Dybala and it doesn't go through very quickly we will not sign anyone else.

 

I say "inexplicably" dragged our feet, but it's far from inexplicable. Ed is doing what Ed does. He knows better than the managers. He knows late signings generate more excitement and generate more income, so he disregards the manager's wishes in favour of that.  Managers tell him we need to strengthen the defence and the base of the midfield, but Ed knows that flighty, inconsistent attacking players from abroad generate more excitement and income so he targets those kind of players. He puts financial concerns ahead of footballing ones consistently and this damages the results on the pitch. This is amazingly even more of a problem than his general incompetence when negotiating transfers.

 

Woodward, and the Glaziers he represents, are still a cancer at the heart of the club. They're the problem. We all hate Mourinho now, but fucking hell he was right when he stropped about the way the club is run. Woodward fucked him over at the start of last season, denying him signings and damaging pre-season preparation by sending the team out on pointless money-grabbing tours. Mourinho then intentionally or otherwise sabotaged the season by getting into a war with the players. The problem hasn't been the managers or the players, it's been him, and the focus on money at the expense of football. As long as the club keeps generating money they don't care what the team are doing on the pitch. Why do you think fourth place has been the focus? Why missing that has been the catalyst for the sack? Because missing that effects the income. In the eyes of the people who run the club finishing top of the league is literally no better than finishing fourth.

 

Woodward out.

[JPL]

@feltmonkey Totally agree and I was actually in the middle of typing something similar as you posted that. All the talk towards the end of last season of a technical director being appointed, a new focus on rebuilding the squad around success on the pitch, getting any transfers done early, removing the dead wood, etc, etc. It’s all been bullshit and we’re back to Woodward trying to bring in a marquee player that doesn’t solve any of our problems. It’s fucking depressing.

[Seanfl9]

Yeah, a little excited about Dybala but that excitement will dissipate very early on if we haven't strengthened in the areas discussed by others above. Now that Bailly is injured for 4-5 months we are in serious trouble if our transfer business stops at Dybala. 

 

Saying that, I will be glad to see Lukaku leave. A striker who will no doubt bang goals in at a different club but at United - he just doesn't look right. 

[feltmonkey]

Leaving the negativity aside, I do like Dan James.

[Rev]

1 hour ago, feltmonkey said:

Leaving the negativity aside, I do like Dan James.

 

He’s feasibly the fastest player I’ve seen. No idea if it’s just because there are some slower players in the championship, but he certainly seems faster than Walcott ever seemed. 

[Loik V credern]

Who is the fastest player ever?

 

all i can find

 

Quote

Clubs measure speed in kilometres per hour – rather than seconds over a distance – and James’ best is seriously impressive. “36 (kph),” he says. “I’m sure there are players a lot quicker than me. When people compare me to Kylian Mbappe, I am not quicker than him. There are players like Adama Traore in the Premier League (at Wolverhampton Wanderers) who could have been a sprinter. He’s 10.5 (over 100m), I think?”

 

Well, to put James’ best into context the official Fifa World Cup record, on the pitch, was set by Arjen Robben in 2014 at 37kph (22.99m). Traore has also been clocked at that speed; Gareth Bale is just under at 36.9kph; Mbappe at 36kph, Theo Walcott at 35.7kph and Leroy Sane at 35.48kph.

 

Never thought of Sane as that quick really. The Robben fastest speed was apparently clocked in the 5-1 win against Spain where he raced towards the ball from the half way line.

 

 

Gonna enjoy watching him and Bassaka this season. He looks brilliant. The touches into space to drive into runs are so skillful. Like the one at 53 seconds, then the dink over the sliding defender? That's something only Messi does. Walcott very rarely used his pace like he should have, in terms of flicking the ball into space like James is repeatedly doing here early in his career. He knows how to utilize his biggest strength. All defenders at whatever level hate raw pace coming at them, oh no not him again, who can be bothered? You're 30, have hundreds of games behind you then some 21 year old is spending 90 minutes running at you. Managers hate it too, Guardiola reckoned Walcott was one of the most dangerous opponents, as did Messi. Out of nowhere, one through ball and he's in on goal and scored. I think Walcott was a better finisher than people say, and his overall game was alright in terms of link up, but he just never embraced getting in behind and providing crosses like James will.

[Loik V credern]

but ive had a think and have decided leicester will ask £120m for maguire and united wont pay and dybala will ask sarri what his plans for him are, and sarri will say 'uh you'll play a bit', and dybala will say 'how much?' and sarri will say 'dunno', and dybala will say 'that's enough for me'.

[Gabzy]

“Talks are still ongoing for Maguire”

 

“Talks are still ongoing for Maguire”

 

“Talks are still ongoing for Maguire”

 

10 years have passed...

 

“Talks are still ongoing for Maguire”

 

 

 

[JPL]

It’s a complete joke.

 

There’s an article on the BBC about the ins and outs of each prem team so far and even though we all knew what was needed and we were told they’d sort it, we’ve actually done less transfer business than anyone else in the league*. Fucking clowns.

 

*might not be 100% accurate as I only skimmed the article. Not far off though.

[Rev]

11 hours ago, Loik V credern said:

Who is the fastest player ever?

 

all i can find

 

 

Never thought of Sane as that quick really. The Robben fastest speed was apparently clocked in the 5-1 win against Spain where he raced towards the ball from the half way line.

 

 

Gonna enjoy watching him and Bassaka this season. He looks brilliant. The touches into space to drive into runs are so skillful. Like the one at 53 seconds, then the dink over the sliding defender? That's something only Messi does. Walcott very rarely used his pace like he should have, in terms of flicking the ball into space like James is repeatedly doing here early in his career. He knows how to utilize his biggest strength. All defenders at whatever level hate raw pace coming at them, oh no not him again, who can be bothered? You're 30, have hundreds of games behind you then some 21 year old is spending 90 minutes running at you. Managers hate it too, Guardiola reckoned Walcott was one of the most dangerous opponents, as did Messi. Out of nowhere, one through ball and he's in on goal and scored. I think Walcott was a better finisher than people say, and his overall game was alright in terms of link up, but he just never embraced getting in behind and providing crosses like James will.

 

Walcott was actually an amazing finisher for his last couple of seasons at Arsenal, it was a very high percentage.

 

The problem was that about 98% of his attacks ended with him sat on the floor having lost the ball and not even gained a freekick or corner for it. Which was quite annoying. He’s definitely the second most irritating Arsenal player to watch. (I’ll not say who the most irritating was because you’re paying him about five hundred grand a week currently.) 

[Loik V credern]

5 minutes ago, Rev said:

Walcott was actually an amazing finisher for his last couple of seasons at Arsenal, it was a very high percentage.

 

The problem was that about 98% of his attacks ended with him sat on the floor having lost the ball and not even gained a freekick or corner for it. Which was quite annoying. He’s definitely the second most irritating Arsenal player to watch. (I’ll not say who the most irritating was because you’re paying him about five hundred grand a week currently.) 

 

There was a period where Walcott was scoring nearly every week when Arsenal were chasing for top 4, a long time ago, maybe just before Van Persie left for United or the season after. What bothers me about Walcott is his complacency, i think if you're a forward and obviously make a run that's offside because you're not switched on it's not good enough, and should express annoyance with yourself for not doing something simple you should have perfected by now. There was one in something like a quarter or semi final and it was early on and he was two yards offside and just looked back at the passer and clapped. As players do. I just thought; that was an opportunity, you won't get many if any more. Or crossing, i remember commentary on the radio talking about this, in a game his crossing was repeatedly awful and the commenters said; you get the impression with Walcott he's fine with that, he's not going to practise and practise in training.

 

But i am a fan of him despite all that, there was one finish in Europe where he ran from the half way line and came in on goal and shot very early and far away from a tight angle, the Henry passing finish Walcott also adopted. It was such a tidy finish, and i think this might have been a preliminary round goal and was important. He was a finisher, he surprised again and again, scoring goals against all the top sides, in the box he could hit the ball hard and true, you watch Arsenal and agree dunno why i'm saying this. But he should have been deadly in a Michael Owen Fernando Torres way with Ozil finding his runs and it never happened. One game early after Ozil's arrival against Fulham i think showed how deadly the link up could have been. I don't watch Everton live but i expect to see something on motd maybe a few times a month. He's had a far better career than many other young talents though you'd have to say, better than Aaron Lennon, better than Wilshere, better than Bojan, Carroll, Ravel Morrison, and others who have disappeared, Dan Crowley (who i think is genuinely brilliant), Zalalem, Ross Barkley, Oxlade Chamberlain, Josh McEachran, James Wilson, and on and on. Some of those are still young though and might come good.

[Rev]

I think a big part of his problem was that he spent a vast amount of his career building experience to be a striker, saying so and everyone else saying so, rather than a winger, and when he got trusted with it he was rubbish and immediately decided he would go back to running to the right hand side of the area, falling over and holding his arms in the air instead.

 

He is a very good footballer, but he’s one of those that makes it very easy to forget he’s a good.

[JPL]

I just wanted to say sorry guys. I’ve been exceptionally negative lately, even for me! I just honestly thought things would be different this time, but unless miracles happen in the next week, I’ve fallen for their lies again. I’m gutted more than anything, but I don’t need to keep banging on about it, so I’ll keep it down unless I’ve got something positive to add.

[spork]

17 minutes ago, JPL said:

I just wanted to say sorry guys. I’ve been exceptionally negative lately, even for me! I just honestly thought things would be different this time, but unless miracles happen in the next week, I’ve fallen for their lies again. I’m gutted more than anything, but I don’t need to keep banging on about it, so I’ll keep it down unless I’ve got something positive to add.

 

This week or next week is the week!

[Rev]

11 minutes ago, JPL said:

I just wanted to say sorry guys. I’ve been exceptionally negative lately, even for me! I just honestly thought things would be different this time, but unless miracles happen in the next week, I’ve fallen for their lies again. I’m gutted more than anything, but I don’t need to keep banging on about it, so I’ll keep it down unless I’ve got something positive to add.

 

Obviously I'm posting from the outside, but it was clearly a very difficult window. Ed being unhappy to spend £70m on Maguire is...Quite reasonable, really. Pogba is both difficult to sell and to keep, which is a very modern problem, and very much decides what needs to be bought too.  

 

I'm not saying they've covered themselves in glory, but I do think the difficulty of the situation needs to be considered as well as the fact you've got awful owners and inept negotiators. 

[feltmonkey]

1 hour ago, JPL said:

I just wanted to say sorry guys. I’ve been exceptionally negative lately, even for me! I just honestly thought things would be different this time, but unless miracles happen in the next week, I’ve fallen for their lies again. I’m gutted more than anything, but I don’t need to keep banging on about it, so I’ll keep it down unless I’ve got something positive to add.

 

I think you were just ahead of the curve.

 

My brother supports Newcastle, and my brother-in-law Arsenal, and we've just had a conversation about which of the three clubs is the biggest shambles.

[Seanfl9]

Well, after speaking to colleagues at work who are from Turin and are very passionate regarding their club, Juventus... I thought I'd get a cheeky dig in about them being lumbered with Rom and losing Dybala. They actually began laughing and are totally happy to lose him as he regularly "disappears". This really makes me think he's just going to struggle physically with the demands of the Prem and inevitably, lose interest in actually becoming a better footballer and wait for his next move in an easier league. I hope I'm proven wrong but I kinda wouldn't be bothered if he rejects the swap.

[Loik V credern]

I feel silly even entertaining the idea Dybala would want to leave consecutive league winning sometimes Champions league finalists for the 5th/6th best team in England and Europa league regulars. 

 

Sarri wants him to stay more than the owners. I now admit it won't happen and that it wouldn't be best for united anyway, a midfielder is more necessary. When does the league season start? Think I'm going to find a cave. 

 

 

[feltmonkey]

I genuinely fear that we're not getting anyone else in. The reports at the moment are that Dybala isn't keen unless we pay him £350k a week, we've given Leicester a final offer for Macguire that is still well short of their valuation, that Spurs have hijacked the Fernandes move by taking the radical step of actually making an offer for him, and that we were never interested in Milinkovic-Savic in the first place.

 

It's the hope that kills you. So obviously I'm fine as I'm a negative sod. It's Spork I'm worried about.

[spork]

4 minutes ago, feltmonkey said:

It's Spork I'm worried about.

 

Maguire left out of Leicesters squad for their friendly tomorrow. Nothing to worry about 

[Gabzy]

We’re signing no one else, lads. Strap yourselves in for the biggest let-down in years  fuck. I bought the new home shirt as well, so sexy and filled with hope.

[spork]

1 hour ago, Gabzy said:

We’re signing no one else, lads. Strap yourselves in for the biggest let-down in years  fuck. I bought the new home shirt as well, so sexy and filled with hope.

 

What did you get on the back? Maguire 5, Dybala 11 or Fernandes 8?

[spork]

I just can't begin to believe that James and AWB will be our only signings this summer. Considering what we need and the resources we have that would be a complete disaster.

 

This is the week until the transfer window closes!

[Nicky]

i cant believe how fucking distracted teh club have been with this swap deal

[Bleeders]

We’re not signing anyone else. It’s simply a case of keeping up appearances. 

 

6 days to get potentially 2 deals over the line? I don’t think so, this lot are a fucking shambles and have zero interest in the betterment of this club, unless of course, it stops making them money.

 

Unless Ed pulls it out of the bag, it’s shaping up to be another season where we move further away from the top four. Wan-Bissaka and James aren’t going to make up the 30 point difference.
 

It took us 6 weeks to get the AWB deal over the line and suddenly we’re hearing comments like ‘the early deadline isn’t helping us’. Fuck off, the board have had plenty of time.
 

Best case scenario is that we get Dybala and Maguire. I very much doubt it’ll be Fernandes, Dybala and Maguire. Either way, it’s another shambles of a transfer window.

 

I’m refusing point blank to put any money in the Glazers coffers whilst they are not investing in the squad.

 

 

 

[spork]

 

 

[Gabzy]

Wooo!! Dybala and Fernandes now please.

[Chooch]

48 minutes ago, Bleeders said:

We’re not signing anyone else. It’s simply a case of keeping up appearances. 

 

6 days to get potentially 2 deals over the line? I don’t think so, this lot are a fucking shambles and have zero interest in the betterment of this club, unless of course, it stops making them money.

 

Unless Ed pulls it out of the bag, it’s shaping up to be another season where we move further away from the top four. Wan-Bissaka and James aren’t going to make up the 30 point difference.
 

It took us 6 weeks to get the AWB deal over the line and suddenly we’re hearing comments like ‘the early deadline isn’t helping us’. Fuck off, the board have had plenty of time.
 

Best case scenario is that we get Dybala and Maguire. I very much doubt it’ll be Fernandes, Dybala and Maguire. Either way, it’s another shambles of a transfer window.

 

I’m refusing point blank to put any money in the Glazers coffers whilst they are not investing in the squad.

 

 

 

Quick - moan about it again, we might get another over the line!