Manchester United

Deco 20

Scandinavian 101
Just throwing in some names for possible midfield signings (the players I'd look at):
From la liga:
Beñat, Banega (doing very well recently), Rakitic, Toulalan (too old?), Kondogbia
From Seria A:
Hernanes (expensive), Borja Valero (too old?), Vidal (very expensive, would be difficult), Marchisio (would he want to leave Juve? probably not)
From Bundesliga: Sahin (I know, in RM) or Gündogan (both difficult)
From Eredivisie: Eriksen (too attack-minded?)
 

BBDD

New member
We're looking at Matic apparently who is reportedly doing well for Benfica, and is the sort of player we need as a partner/backup/replacement for Carrick.

Don't need any more #10s, Kagawa is enough who I didn't mention but has shown glimpses and most expect will be very good next season having settled.
 

Ode to Django

You're not even a real journalism
Although a United fan, I'm one of the biggest complainers about our performance levels and squad but I certainly don't see our current situation as a crisis...

Goalkeeper we're set for years. I think we have a very good selection of defenders. We have the Vidic/Rio replacements already at the club and the former's performance levels are still very high anyway. I am however increasingly annoyed about the amount of players we have who have fitness issues and having to constantly rotate and rest certain players because of medical reasons is a big strain on the team, and this does apply to our centre backs. Rafael is considered one of our top 3 performers this season and is ever improving, brother Fabio returns in the summer from loan spell (what a waste of time that was). Evra was on the decline for 2 years but picked it up a bit this year, but it wouldn't sadden me to see him be replaced, he's complacent.

We have an excellent set of strikers, no idea why we'd mess with things by getting rid of Rooney/bringing in Falcao/Lewandowski, it's just Fergie's solution to everything seems to be to sign a new striker.

Wingers went from being one of our strongest areas to our weakest in the space of a year. They have been terrible season, we've ruined what was a very good player in Nani who won player's player of the season in 2011, he seems destined to leave now for peanuts probably. Zaha has been bought, we'll need a top talent to replace Nani when he leaves and hope Valencia finds the form that wont him poty last season and Young stops being quite so useless.

The midfield issue is a joke. We've needed to sign one for about 4 years but haven't even come close. Carrick is our only defensively capable player in the squad, if he got injured we'd be absolutely screwed, it's such poor squad building. He's having a top season though and I don't think listing him in the 'old and a liability' pile is very fair at all. Our inability to let go off Giggs and Scholes is another cause of frustration, they're a huge part of the reason Pogba left and why we put off buying a midfielder year after year, they have to be constantly rested and rotated, they really aren't top players any more on an even slightly consistent basis. Ferguson also has an obsession with Jones in midfield when he's clearly a defender. Cleverley's a pretty decent player, and Anderson's a decent squad option too but he barely gets given a game because Ferguson would rather give 40 year olds and 20 year old centre backs game time in midfield instead - he will most likely be sold as well. Ideally we'd sign 2 good central midfielders, one more defensive and one more attacking, cut our reliance on the oldies and have a strong quartet of Carrick, Cleverley and 2 new faces to play around with, but it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't address the problem for the 9th transfer window in a row.

I think Ferguson gets more praise outside of United than from our own fans nowadays to be honest. I often read on here and other places how "you have to admire Ferguson, getting such an average squad to consistently win trophies", or "Ferguson's team mentality to win games when playing so poorly has to be admired"... Well, surely he has to take responsibility for building a squad with significant weaknesses despite splashing a lot of cash over the past 2 summers and also some responsiblity for his team so rarely putting in a good 90 minute performance. I could count on one hand the amount of top team performances we've put in this season, and we've played way over 50 games. We should be going into the season thinking we're one of the strong favourites for Europe's top prize, and with such a weak midfield how can that ever be the case? I'm not even sure he sees any issues there, some of his comments are beyond deluded like how he thought we'd have got to the final last season if we'd gave got past the CL group stages, and his standards for what he considers a good performance from us is embarrassingly low, the West Ham game a few days ago, our display was described as "magnificent" and the loss to City was an "excellent performance".


It depends on the timing, on who is available when he decides to call it a day. I imagine we'd look straight to Mourinho/Guardiola but I doubt whether we'd buy them out of their contracts at Chelsea/Bayern, or if the timing is right for them to take their chances at Old Trafford. Outside that I'd prefer to see the club take a look at Klopp, Van Gaal, Hiddink, Heynckes, Pelligrini etc. before we resort to the likes of David Moyes. I don't think there's a shortage of candidates at all to be honest.

:worthy:
 

Kerrybai

New member
Klopp will stay at Dortmund until 2016. The Fergie transition will be fascinating, but I'll repeat what has been said already, United have the revenue to stay at the top. They recently sold their training ground rights for a ridiculous amount of money and some ( albeit likely exaggerated ) reports have suggested their next shirt manufacturing deal could be worth in excess if 1 billion. They also have great match day revenue despite not having the luxury of 'London prices.'
 
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DavidVillano1

New member
Although a United fan, I'm one of the biggest complainers about our performance levels and squad but I certainly don't see our current situation as a crisis...
Wouldn't say it was a crisis, but there is many things that could easily be improved.

Goalkeeper we're set for years. I think we have a very good selection of defenders. We have the Vidic/Rio replacements already at the club and the former's performance levels are still very high anyway. I am however increasingly annoyed about the amount of players we have who have fitness issues and having to constantly rotate and rest certain players because of medical reasons is a big strain on the team, and this does apply to our centre backs. Rafael is considered one of our top 3 performers this season and is ever improving, brother Fabio returns in the summer from loan spell (what a waste of time that was). Evra was on the decline for 2 years but picked it up a bit this year, but it wouldn't sadden me to see him be replaced, he's complacent.
This is were I differ, I don't think you do have a good set of defenders or replacements for those two. Rio has been your best defender the last two seasons and should be finished in a year or two.

Vidic has been up and down since injury and again won't have too long left at the top level due to the type of defender he is.

Evans and Jones are not good enough to be leaders or first choice with Man United, Jones has looked terrible at CB in every game I've watched him play there. Smalling is injury prone and inconsistent, he's your best bet to play CB in the future if he improves.

Fabio is not good enough.
We have an excellent set of strikers, no idea why we'd mess with things by getting rid of Rooney/bringing in Falcao/Lewandowski, it's just Fergie's solution to everything seems to be to sign a new striker.

Wingers went from being one of our strongest areas to our weakest in the space of a year. They have been terrible season, we've ruined what was a very good player in Nani who won player's player of the season in 2011, he seems destined to leave now for peanuts probably. Zaha has been bought, we'll need a top talent to replace Nani when he leaves and hope Valencia finds the form that wont him poty last season and Young stops being quite so useless.
The pace of your wingers on the counter attack made them look more accomplished, not a fan of any of those three. Nani is too flashy and goes missing far too often, Valencia is too one dimensional and finally been found out. Young has never been good enough. Zaha has potential, but will he make the grade?

Up front you might have issues due to Rooney's indifferent form becoming more evident, how long will Hernandez be happy to sit on the bench? Welbeck is not good enough and doesn't get near enough goals.

The midfield issue is a joke. We've needed to sign one for about 4 years but haven't even come close. Carrick is our only defensively capable player in the squad, if he got injured we'd be absolutely screwed, it's such poor squad building. He's having a top season though and I don't think listing him in the 'old and a liability' pile is very fair at all. Our inability to let go off Giggs and Scholes is another cause of frustration, they're a huge part of the reason Pogba left and why we put off buying a midfielder year after year, they have to be constantly rested and rotated, they really aren't top players any more on an even slightly consistent basis. Ferguson also has an obsession with Jones in midfield when he's clearly a defender. Cleverley's a pretty decent player, and Anderson's a decent squad option too but he barely gets given a game because Ferguson would rather give 40 year olds and 20 year old centre backs game time in midfield instead - he will most likely be sold as well. Ideally we'd sign 2 good central midfielders, one more defensive and one more attacking, cut our reliance on the oldies and have a strong quartet of Carrick, Cleverley and 2 new faces to play around with, but it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't address the problem for the 9th transfer window in a row.
Agree with all of this bar the Anderson part, don't rate him at all. A midfielder being needed has been evident for everyone to see, although due to his style of thinking of 4-4-2 with fast wingers and counter attacking football I can actually see why Ferguson has not signed a more possession based midfielder. He clearly doesn't think that is what is needed at United, whilst everyone else believes it is. Probably the main criticism you could have of him at the moment.

I think Ferguson gets more praise outside of United than from our own fans nowadays to be honest. I often read on here and other places how "you have to admire Ferguson, getting such an average squad to consistently win trophies", or "Ferguson's team mentality to win games when playing so poorly has to be admired"... Well, surely he has to take responsibility for building a squad with significant weaknesses despite splashing a lot of cash over the past 2 summers and also some responsiblity for his team so rarely putting in a good 90 minute performance. I could count on one hand the amount of top team performances we've put in this season, and we've played way over 50 games. We should be going into the season thinking we're one of the strong favourites for Europe's top prize, and with such a weak midfield how can that ever be the case? I'm not even sure he sees any issues there, some of his comments are beyond deluded like how he thought we'd have got to the final last season if we'd gave got past the CL group stages, and his standards for what he considers a good performance from us is embarrassingly low, the West Ham game a few days ago, our display was described as "magnificent" and the loss to City was an "excellent performance".
Can't disagree with much of that, however I would say Ferguson's signings over the last two years suggests he trying to leave a young squad for the next Man United manager.
 

DavidVillano1

New member
Just throwing in some names for possible midfield signings (the players I'd look at):
From la liga:
Beñat, Banega (doing very well recently), Rakitic, Toulalan (too old?), Kondogbia
From Seria A:
Hernanes (expensive), Borja Valero (too old?), Vidal (very expensive, would be difficult), Marchisio (would he want to leave Juve? probably not)
From Bundesliga: Sahin (I know, in RM) or Gündogan (both difficult)
From Eredivisie: Eriksen (too attack-minded?)
My opinion for what it's worth(not much :p)

Benat, Rakitic, Valero are not good enough for a top club. Toulalan is too old, whilst Kondogbia is all about potential.

Banega, Hernanes, Vidal or Gundogan would be ideal signings for United whilst Marchisio and Eriksen are too attacking and the latter is not ready for a top club yet IMO.
 
D

Don_Andrés

Guest
Slightly of topic, but Gundogan & Sahin. If I was a Dortmund fan I'd be pretty pissed off that the bulk of my team seems to be linked with other clubs. Hummels, Gundogan, Bender, Reus, Gotze & Lewandowski all linked with big money moves to other clubs. The only one I can really see leaving is Lewandowski, due to his contract situation. I think it would take big, big money and an acceptance on the part of the player to leave at the end of this season. I can see those players staying for another 1-2 years, then it might be time to move on.

Aren't Man Utd linked with McCarthy of Wigan. He might not be the star name wanted by some, but he's a promising player and kinda fits Ferguson's requirements for a player.
 

loozy

New member
iPbSAGy6DUntY.gif


Stay classy, Patrice.

Not sure if I should :lol: or :facepalm:

edit: after Boston and the amputees that resulted in the bombing, I am :facepalm: ing.
 
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Kerrybai

New member
United deserved it this year, by far the best team in the league. With a different ref vs Madrid they would most likely be taking on Dortmund on Wednesday too.
 

AnfieldEd

I am Leg End
Man U deserve to win the league.

Albeit I'll say that with better managers you could have got more from the Man City and Chelsea squads than we have seen this season.
 

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