The Manchester United Thread

No one thinks that whatsoever! He’s just going through a bad time and needs time away from the game. A decision that should be taken out of his hands.

the fact that Lingard even still is a United player just about sums up the plight of this football club.

But regarding today, that's on Ole... he starts a player who is supposedly not in the right mindset. If he needs a month off... then why does he even play today??
 
the fact that Lingard even still is a United player just about sums up the plight of this football club.

But regarding today, that's on Ole... he starts a player who is supposedly not in the right mindset. If he needs a month off... then why does he even play today??
He’s a good enough player to be a Utd SQUAD player but not a starter. It’s the reason why he tends to do well against the teams in the top 6. In these games he should be nowhere near starting Mata should. But that’s the state of our squad atm not exactly spoilt for choice.
 
This league has so many better managers than Ole, how are we ever going to compete even if he has the best plan in the world? Which I think even his plan isn't that great.

A half decent board bins Ole and gives Poch a chance to salvage top 4 this season. It's still achievable.

But we know Woodward will milk this as long as possible and try to save face.
Like Mourinho, Klopp, Poch, Rodgers.
 
The way I see it is Ole is trying to be another SAF, but he will never be another SAF if Fergie was in charge yesterday after that dire performance then he would have read the riot act behind closed doors and not smile at the media after the match.

Ole seems to slap the players on the back of their hands and say "Naughty, naughty, guys, don't play like that again..." then kiss them on the cheeks and smile at the media saying that was a very bad game, blaa, blaa, blaa...until the next game.

Lingard should be gone, end of the story, Greenwood should have played from the start, start getting rid of the deadwood Ole and start bringing the young lads in and gel them into the team, the likes of Jones, Young, Lingard should be given the order of the Fergie boot and get them out of the door end of, give Pogba one more chance to shine on a regular basis and not dance around with Lingard doing selfies on their mobiles.

Rant over, back into family mode now with Christmas coming up, Merry Christmas all.

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The way I see it is Ole is trying to be another SAF, but he will never be another SAF if Fergie was in charge yesterday after that dire performance then he would have read the riot act behind closed doors and not smile at the media after the match.

Ole seems to slap the players on the back of their hands and say "Naughty, naughty, guys, don't play like that again..." then kiss them on the cheeks and smile at the media saying that was a very bad game, blaa, blaa, blaa...until the next game.

Lingard should be gone, end of the story, Greenwood should have played from the start, start getting rid of the deadwood Ole and start bringing the young lads in and gel them into the team, the likes of Jones, Young, Lingard should be given the order of the Fergie boot and get them out of the door end of, give Pogba one more chance to shine on a regular basis and not dance around with Lingard doing selfies on their mobiles.

Rant over, back into family mode now with Christmas coming up, Merry Christmas all.

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Bit of a weird posting saying Fergie this and Fergie that he’s signed most of these players that are still hanging around and been stinking up the place since his later years.

Then you talk about getting rid of the deadwood when he got rid of as much as he could and has pushed other players to the outskirts of the squad while promoting the youth. If he would of got rid of everyone he didn’t want in the summer we would of been in a worse place than we are now. Especially after only signing 3 and our terrible injury record.
 
This league has so many better managers than Ole, how are we ever going to compete even if he has the best plan in the world? Which I think even his plan isn't that great.

A half decent board bins Ole and gives Poch a chance to salvage top 4 this season. It's still achievable.

But we know Woodward will milk this as long as possible and try to save face.

One game out from half a season in, and 24 points, which could well be 27 with L'pool's game in hand, off the top of the table. Possibly even 27 having played a game more at half-way.

8/9/TEN games behind. Half the games played to date. That's cringe-worthy bad for any big club the PL era. We've had some utterly ***** seasons the PL with seasons done before Chrimbo. But we were never THIS far off the top at this stage.

I keep (stop laughing at the back) reading in here that Utd are only a few key signings away from challenging ..... when in reality the gap is widening with every passing season. 3 years ago it was 19 points out of first. Last season it had grown toa whopping 33. Currently, it's on pace to obliterate that and be HISTORICALLY bad. that's not a few signings turnaround. That's a 3/4 season minimum and more turnaround. With little signs it's even started yet.

Looking from the outside in, I was of the opinion that after you'd madly gone all in, through sentiment (learning absolutely NOTHING from the recent flashing warning signs of Kenny's second go-around), that you had no option but to be totally behind him and give him time to build. But he's that far out of his depth at this level he's just taking you further and further away from even being a top 6 club. Never mind top 4 or even challenging for major honours.

What exactly is Utd's identity under Solksjaer? Because 1 year in, I couldn't tell you with the way he changes that often.

The Glaziers need to take serious stock of the whole club and just what they want Utd to be. From there own joke of a structure (term used VERY loosely) within the football club, with Woodward and his reactionary, scattergun, questionable recruitment policy the biggest problem of anything. Through the man leading the club on the pitch who'll, in all likelihood, end up back in the Norweigian league after he finally leaves Utd. And all points in between.

Because this is fixing to be as big a title drought as the last one. This will be what, 7 seasons since Ferguson won the last one? Which will be 10, then 15 before you know it the more and more you make the same, self-inflicted, repeated stupid mistakes internally L'pool have for the majority of the past three decades. And then you're sat there at this point another decade down the line wondering just where it all fell off a cliff so spectacularly and how you'll EVER get back to the top?

Do they want to make the big changes needed to begin the long climb back up the mountain? Or are they happy to be the mid-table show Utd currently are not arsed whilst the sponsorship money rolls in and their pockets get bigger?

As much as it's highly amusing to see Utd in this mess, I can emphasise with your pain and frustration mate. As we've lived it first hand. As highly amusing as that was for you lads to laugh at. What's utterly mad though right here, right now is Liverpool were the blueprint of how NOT to do it for the majority of the last 3 decades. And you're now following that blueprint with the same. boneheaded mistakes within the football club and fans deluding themselves into thinking the name will carry you, it's uncanny.

If the ultimate goal is League Titles and European Cups, then going down the current path you're on, it'll get a LOT worse before it gets better.
 
At the moment, we're a sh!te version of 2017 Liverpool. Issues vs. low blocks (albeit more than they ever had) & terrifying vs. bigger sides. I do think it's a long-term project and he needs time to prove it, but I also wouldn't be against getting in Poch, who I've wanted for around 3-4 years now.

The key differences being both Klopp having a clear plan on the pitch you could see from the get-go. And the club having the best recruitment guy/ team in the game off it. (The example of Miramino a glaring recent example there of Edwards building the relationship with RBS to put the work in to find out about his release clause with Woodward completely incapable/ ignorant of that. ).

Neither of which can be said at Old Trafford right now.
 
The key differences being both Klopp having a clear plan on the pitch you could see from the get-go. And the club having the best recruitment guy/ team in the game off it. (The example of Miramino a glaring recent example there of Edwards building the relationship with RBS to put the work in to find out about his release clause with Woodward completely incapable/ ignorant of that. ).

Neither of which can be said at Old Trafford right now.

I do think Ole has a plan in his head mate. Only difference between him & Klopp is Klopp built front-to-back and Ole's building back-to-front. He signed his VvD (Maguire) & Robertson (Wan-Bissaka) before he signed his Salah (Sancho? I'm on my knees, praying). But we badly need to find our Fabinho "ahead of schedule" (if using Liverpool's rebuild timeline as the sample). Someone who can improve things in the middle of the park & help Pogba vs. low blocks.

Fred & McTominay are honest workhorses who suit our gung-ho, lets-go-to-war approach in big games, but when it comes down to quality in front of a bank of 8-9 men, when it's brains over brawn, they leave a lot to be desired. Would love say Thomas Partey for Atletico, someone of that ilk. Someone who can sit, position himself smartly, move it around & fizz balls forward. Haven't had it properly since Carrick. Pogba coming on and hitting a few attackers felt like pure bliss yesterday.

All of that, and as you say, the bridge between the football & business side + the recruitment. Edwards is certainly a big thing behind it. Woodward needs to follow through and back Ole with his plan. Did I want Ole in the first place as perm manager? Nope. Poch was f*****ng crying out for us. But we did, so let's f*****ng back him, ey' Woody?! What's also quite comforting, imo, is that even if Ole does go in the next 6-18 months, I get the impression that his targets, & the targets of say Pochettino or someone of that ilk, would overlap/be quite similar. It wouldn't be like signing LvG players and then doing a 180 and hiring Jose & then going and doing a different turn of direction & going for Ole/MUFC type identity again. So I see 0 issue with backing him in his targets. All been positive signings so far.
 
I do think Ole has a plan in his head mate. Only difference between him & Klopp is Klopp built front-to-back and Ole's building back-to-front. He signed his VvD (Maguire) & Robertson (Wan-Bissaka) before he signed his Salah (Sancho? I'm on my knees, praying). But we badly need to find our Fabinho "ahead of schedule" (if using Liverpool's rebuild timeline as the sample). Someone who can improve things in the middle of the park & help Pogba vs. low blocks.
.....

Well we were never that bad defensively bar the goalkeeping (improved significantly every year defensively under Klopp) if truth be told, but regardless, what plan exactly mate? Because **** if most anyone outside of Utd can see it.

The start of this season you could see a pattern of play at Utd which was all about getting the fastest lads on the pitch and hitting on the break ..... that lasted for all of a game. Now, it changes week-to-week dependent on the opposition and how desperate he is for a result to save his job. It's laboured, slow-paced passing going nowhere. (Which often gets flipped in here into how you dominated a game but were just profligate. Possession with no end product isn't 'dominance.').

He's overplaying the youth for the sake of it to buy him more time by playing to the 'We're Utd. This is how we do it' mantra. Then flipping back to the abject mediocrity that still fills the squad. (The most bereft Utd squad in terms of quality talent in living memory.). But regardless of the lack of talent, you work and improve with what you have. Struggling to think of any outfield player, either signed or what he inherited, who Klopp hasn't massively improved through coaching/ teaching. The same can't be said from Mourino to now in all but a few instances.

As a side note, if van Dijk, who has had a drop off from last season (he's now just the best mortal out there as opposed to being superhuman), had gone through the mediocre season of poor performance Maguire had, he'd be getting destroyed all over the place. As noted in the summer, if you're hanging your hat on him being the answer to Virgil at the back then .....

Aside from having to MASSIVELY overpay to attract players now (like those you mentioned) like you did with Maguire (and players coming fro the money is not the type of players you want in the first place), what difference would it honestly make when you've a manager SO out of his depth and tactically inept as Solksjaer?

Everton, who shouldn't be in the same conversation as Utd, have just totally shown you up with Ancelotti for Pete's sake.
 
There's little movement up top for United. Rash, Martial and Lingard should do better in that regard. Even when they are starting to move off the ball, there's no creativity behind them because its either Rashford scoring a wodergoal, Martial solo effort of Daniel James getting a pen, United has no ways of scoring. Maguire should do more from set pieces, but United have no one to make most of them. Best is Pereira who's not that good at them.

Goals from midfield are another issue. Yesterday I was watching the game and it was so painful to see when fullbacks have the ball, there's no one 25-30 yards away from the goalkeeper. They all either sit deep or going sideline to help a winger/fullback. Lingard was nowhere to be seen.

I'm still not convinced by Shaw/Lindelof, heck even Maguire even though its still early to judge him. Also De Gea having a worst season of his career does not help.

United is lacking a true leader on the pitch. Pogba need to grow up and take that responsibility since he's the closes thing United have. McTom is getting there, but he still needs more seasons under his belt. And thats the major issue as well. How many defenders/midfielders have been in United for 3 or more seasons? It's simply not settled enough. And the players who have been there have underperformed.

Also Solskjaer needs to fix his team selection.

All in all, its a freaking mess.
 
Exactly. Most are getting good mins in the cups or are covering for injuries or simply because our squads so thin we need to play them.
I mean, who's going to play right winger if not Daniel James? Lingard? Mata? I have a feeling United have 18 players and 10 of them are defenders. Squad is way too thin for anything else. Thats why we are asking for a winger, striker, midfielder or two and even a LB. Thats 6 players. And it was even worse this Summer. If anything, Solskjaer has shown great nose when it comes to transfers so far, and thats why I'm willing to give him another Summer under condition that this Winter he gets even more progress.
 
Jury's still out on Maguire tbh. While Maguire hasn't been bad, he hasn't been great either. Def not gotten our money's worth nor has he had the VVD-esque influence but sometimes, I feel he isn't the final piece in the jigsaw to make everything gel.

Now I'm not sold on OGS and I think it was boneheaded AF to have handed him a permanent contract but I feel he warrants another transfer window. My fear however is if the whole OGS experiment fails, Poch may have been snatched up which means we are royally ******.
 
And Scouse, I disagree with you when you state United lack an identity. We do but the issue with it is only certain teams allow us to effectively express that identity.

OGS sets up with a front 3 that can be devastating on the break. In essence, we are a counter attacking team. The issue with this is outside the top 6, very few teams will give us those half spaces between the midfield and defense to exploit. As a result, we have to carve out our own chances with possession. There is very little creativity in the squad to do so. This is why we have such a good record vs the top 6 and have only like 1 win vs the bottom 10.


A great team should be able to play both with possession and on the break. We only know how to play one way atm. I feel this issue could be addressed by signing more creative mids and an actual target man/pure no. 9
 
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