The Manchester United Thread

fuelledbypassion said:
How is it disrespectful? Do you not agree that shirt sales will increase with his signature or that of Park Ji Sung? The asian football supporters are fanatical about there own players and when one signs for the biggest club in the world, it is bound to attract more support.
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But its a bonus, its not an actual reason to sign him. RVP and Kagawa, both will bring in shirt sales, only one gets it described as a reason for signing him. Park was a brilliant attacking band player when we signed him. All everyone talks about its shirt sales...

It's not even all that true. Rooney sold more shirts in the Far East than park did.
 
Well we did discuss similar thing with Lewandowski , so not its not only Asians. Admitedly this is mostly because a lot of Poles have invaded UK and its only logical to assume they follow local teams to an extent, but still.
 
As an Asian I find it annoying that people would actually claim that the Asian players are only at Man Utd for shirt sales. That's pretty racist if you ask me. Kagawa is a fantastic player, Asian or not if he is available on the market the big clubs will be looking to sign him, and that is what Man Utd did. Park Ji Sung was a wonderful asset for the club as well. He had done so much on the field for so many years and yet people are still thinking that he is there for the shirt sales.

When a big club signs a player from any country in the world (other than the few big countries that probably have way too many quality players), the people from his country are bound to support their countrymen. This does not simply apply to Asian countries. Hernandez have tonnes of Mexicans following him too, but why don't I hear anyone claiming that he is bought for the shirt sales?
 
Jeez, I didn't say he was signed primarily for shirt sales, just that it would have been a consideration when signing him (And I'm not even slightly racist, my views on this are very strong). It's great that Rooney sells shirts over there, but I'm sure Kagawa has sold more shirts in Asia than he has elsewhere. Hernandez and Lewandowski are two other great examples, they will boost shirt sales in their respective countries and gain United more followers than the likes of RVP, because they are progressing footballing nations with fewer star players that play in the most popular leagues in the world.

The Asian, African and US markets are the biggest populations yet to be polarised by football, so it's logical that marketing there will garner extra income, and signing national players will surely boost support? I don't see it as a negative at all, I don't understand how it reduces a player's credibility or playing ability.

I believe Kagawa to be a cracking player, I've followed Dortmund for years and am well aware of his abilities. He's clearly one of the stars of his country and has phenominal potential. I'll be interested to see how he fits into the team, I just hope he isn't wasted playing a deeper role.
 
Mike. said:
Yes, but its hardly going to be that big a difference that it becomes an actual reason to sign a player. Rooney sells more shirts worldwide tbh. I just think its a cliche thrown out needlessly at Asian players.
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Oh it certainly wasn't "the" reason, but it's certainly a bonus.

//Edit - just came back from a (long) walk and didn't notice the discussion was over a long time ago, just ignore this.
 
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fuelledbypassion said:
Jeez, I didn't say he was signed primarily for shirt sales, just that it would have been a consideration when signing him (And I'm not even slightly racist, my views on this are very strong). It's great that Rooney sells shirts over there, but I'm sure Kagawa has sold more shirts in Asia than he has elsewhere. Hernandez and Lewandowski are two other great examples, they will boost shirt sales in their respective countries and gain United more followers than the likes of RVP, because they are progressing footballing nations with fewer star players that play in the most popular leagues in the world.

The Asian, African and US markets are the biggest populations yet to be polarised by football, so it's logical that marketing there will garner extra income, and signing national players will surely boost support? I don't see it as a negative at all, I don't understand how it reduces a player's credibility or playing ability.

I believe Kagawa to be a cracking player, I've followed Dortmund for years and am well aware of his abilities. He's clearly one of the stars of his country and has phenominal potential. I'll be interested to see how he fits into the team, I just hope he isn't wasted playing a deeper role.
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I'm sorry if I overreacted. The amount of times I've seen people claiming that Kagawa/Park etc are signed just for the shirt sales instead of their footballing ability on the other forums have been so frequent that I guess I jumped into conclusion too quickly.

On a side note, I would have to say that the Japanese national team had risen rapidly in recent times. They have so many players playing in the top leagues right now, especially Bundesliga. Uchida (Schalke), Sakai, Okazaki (both Stuttgart), Hosogai (Leverkusen), Inui (Frankfurt) etc are all regular starters for their team.
 
Yeah, hey, i don't think anyone ever even said it's just for shirt sales. We're just saying it's one of many things that are taken into consideration when singing players. And then again, it only really applies to MU, because its a worldwide marketing giant. For everybody else it hardly matters.
 
What's all this about shirt sales? Someones been playing too much football manager!
 
Interestingly, and contrary to my suggestions, Robin Van Persie is the most sold football shirt in the US, with Wayne Rooney second and Fernando Torres third. The fact that Clint Dempsey is sixth on the list though, suggests that signing an international player will boost shirt sales significantly in that nation.
 
De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Young, Rooney, van Persie.

Vidic on the bench. Where's Rafa?
 
Joel` said:
De Gea; Jones, Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra; Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Young, Rooney, van Persie.

Vidic on the bench. Where's Rafa?
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Is he on the bench? If he is, then it's probably due Sunderlands advantage in height. If not, then maybe he's asking for 130kpw?
 
SAF really tried his best to throw the game away, but a 3 goal lead is just too much for Sunderland I guess.
 
Was very poor when schols n giggs came on imo, great first half tho clevers was quality and the play and finish for his goal was sensational, was glad rafa got a rest and jones filled in nicely had very good game. Also great to see vida back:)
 
Apart from Valencia, everyone played well. Disappointed that De Gea didn't get a deserved cleansheet, Giggs coming off the bench for no reason and not giving them the thrashing they deserved. Fergie said Rafa has a hamstring injury but should be fine next week, not that we missed him today, Jones has his confidence back and was superb.
 
Some well worked goals from Utd today and take away the opponents who i think are very poor its the way they scored their goals which impressed me today. Slowly looking like the favourites for me.
 
Well going to be a quiet January for United as Fergie has ruled out any business apparently. Not that I expected any different, just hope Cleverley/Anderson/Carrick can keep our midfield strong enough to help us win silverware this season because we certainly do not want to be playing Scholes and Giggs in important games.
 
United hitting their stride on the runup to Christmas? There's a surprise.
 
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