The Manchester United Thread

Regardless whether you somehow come back and beat the worst Everton team in my lifetime, Rangnick, and whomever he choses (if they patently won’t play for him, they won’t for his choice of manager), will have their reputations shot to absolute **** by the toxicity at Utd.

Rangnicks fast trending that way as it is.
 
If that's the case then the troublemakers are not doing themselves any favours either. I have a feeling however, that it is telling that the club aren't trying to tie down the likes of Pogba, Matic, Mata and Lingard etc with new contracts. I just can't understand why the youngsters and the likes of Jones (who to be fair has done nothing wrong except get injured) aren't getting a chance. The big names need a swift kick by getting dropped. It makes you wonder if some of these players have something in their contracts ensuring they get a certain number of games if fit as the same players seem to be undropable no matter who the manager is or how poorly they are playing.

The rout problem, as you’re pretty much describing, remains in Florida.

And it will remain until they are gone. But they’ll throw in a big money signing, or fix the holes in the roof, and everyone forgets about them.

And so it continues.
 
That's true but, even they will eventually realise that to keep money coming in they need to listen to what the football experts are saying. A few more seasons like the current one and they will either disappear (the preferred choice of many) or they will learn to keep their noses out if they want to keep milking the club for their own means. The Edwards family learnt to do that when they were the owners this current bunch of clowns need to do the same.

Some optimism that. But more pressing, I don’t know what you do with the Rangnick problem? (The fact that he’s a problem is spectacular in itself and is very telling on just how F up everything is.).

If anything, it’s got worse and even more toxic than it was under the PE teacher. You can’t bin the whole squad in the summer. And I don't see how he or his chosen successor gets any respect from them going forward. Which is a vicious circle when they get binned and the next poor sap gets eaten up in this mess.
 
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If anything, it’s got worse and even more toxic than it was under the PE teacher. You can’t bun the whole squad in the summer. And I don't see how he or his chosen successor gets any respect from them going foreard. Which is a vicious circle when they get binned and the next poor sap gets eaten up in this mess.

I do have a theory for this: Solskjaer never really lost the dressing room. The players still played for him till the very end. The issue I saw (besides “vibes” tactics) was the lack of discipline that developed over the years that somehow allowed standards to slip. Also having the persist with underperforming players allowed players to think they could play terribly and still get into the side. He also covered players a bit too much for my liking. Not insinuating he should’ve pulled a Jose and called out players publicly however, he’d praise the players and smile even after producing very mediocre performances.

Usually with the new manager bounce, it’s often a case of the incumbent manager being on the end of dressing room frictions thus “losing the dressing room) and having a replacement come in and offer that gentler touch to raise spirits; hiring Rangnick after Solskjær happened to be the reverse. We went from a manager that’d offer that gentle touch to one that isn’t afraid to hold players accountable (still plays Maguire for some reason). The players (or certain players) have been conditioned for year to believe being average is good enough. Solskjær was the perfect temporary solution after Jose but a terrible permanent one.
 
Question of the day. Was it a bit premature to offer Bruno a new contract without the new manager getting a look in? Considering he has gone from flying high to not being able to pass 5 yards and whining all game.
 
Question of the day. Was it a bit premature to offer Bruno a new contract without the new manager getting a look in? Considering he has gone from flying high to not being able to pass 5 yards and whining all game.
He isn’t the worst player to award a new contract but I did question what the need was considering his previous contract ran till 2025. He had a good 3 years left and a pretty decent salary (120k a week). It’s not like there were clubs vying for his signature. It wouldn’t even surprise me if he preferred VdB over him so then what?
 
He isn’t the worst player to award a new contract but I did question what the need was considering his previous contract ran till 2025. He had a good 3 years left and a pretty decent salary (120k a week). It’s not like there were clubs vying for his signature. It wouldn’t even surprise me if he preferred VdB over him so then what?
Ive said it before but the wage structure at united is one of the big issues. I get it it's united so obviously, they will pay well but the players are humans. Right out of the gate you sign a player e.g Sancho and he is on 200k plus and now knows he has gained a contract reserved for players usually in their prime or the best in their position. What's he got to work for? he knows the next extension he can go above and beyond and his current contract means he is priced out of the market if it becomes a sunk cost fallacy problem ala Maguire. I haven't even got into substandard squad players earning wages that price them out of the market too. I wont even get into De gea, Pogba etc as it's beating a dead horse but these issues just cascade but the whole situation is the very definition of amateur hour.
 
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The biggest problem I think is the players on huge wages, the rot wasn't so bad before the board started throwing round silly money when you consider the likes of Henderson, Rashford and Matic etc are all on 100k + a week just to sit on the bench it's hardly surprising none of the players care. The players are having things their own way currently even going as far as to try to demand a manager of their choosing and downing tools effectively when they haven't got their own way. Rannick has been a mistake true enough but they made a similar mistake in Ole. The situation is going to take more than one season to sort out, the big money contracts for bit part players needs to stop, let the current contracts run down. It will hurt for a few seasons but the fact that the majority of players sold by the club over the last few seasons have gone effectively at a loss speaks volumes as well.
Lmao just said the same thing but didn't read your piece but yeah the wages they earn relative to their status means they will not care as there's nothing to work for. Basic human nature.
 
Lmao just said the same thing but didn't read your piece but yeah the wages they earn relative to their status means they will not care as there's nothing to work for. Basic human nature.

A complete catch-22 for Utd mate as we know all too well. The further they get away from competing for anything, the less weight their name carries. And as they won't do, or rather, can't do, what's needed, a complete reset, as they have to be seen to be at least attempting to buy top players to compete every year by the very nature of who they are (they are no Arsenal for example who could afford to take a few years out under Arteta with a youth movement), the only way they can do that is by offering stupid money to entice good players to sign like Sancho as you referenced.

It's a vicious circle. Overpaying for **** and getting further and further away from City and Liverpool. They'll miss the top 4 this year. Bar a miracle, they'll defo miss it again next year. And it just gets harder and harder the longer you are away from Europe's top table. Been there. Worn the t-shirt.

Clubs more in the mud than Thatcher and I don't see any way out for them any time soon. It all stems from the very top.
 
Ive said it before but the wage structure at united is one of the big issues. I get it it's united so obviously, they will pay well but the players are humans. Right out of the gate you sign a player e.g Sancho and he is on 200k plus and now knows he has gained a contract reserved for players usually in their prime or the best in their position. What's he got to work for? he knows the next extension he can go above and beyond and his current contract means he is priced out of the market if it becomes a sunk cost fallacy problem ala Maguire. I haven't even got into substandard squad players earning wages that price them out of the market too. I wont even get into De gea, Pogba etc as it's beating a dead horse but these issues just cascade but the whole situation is the very definition of amateur hour.

Mate, banging on our ridiculous wage structure is indeed beating on a dead horse. It all began with Alexis Sanchez which we still feel the ripple effects from. It’s after we gave Sanchez that 500k a week salary that DDG asked for 375k a week and it just cascaded from there.

That was a real teaching moment for me personally as I never truly understood the meaning of wage structure till then.

it also didn’t help that Dortmund were already paying Sancho 190k a week as well so we could only go higher than that.
 
I’ll admit, I was often disappointed at missing out on players under SAF due to salary demands and always wondered why we don’t offer them what they wanted (Hazard, Lucas Moura, Ronaldinho etc) but looking back, Fergie knew what he was doing
 
It's not all doom and gloom today Arsenal lost to Brighton....

🤣🤣

They're another club in the mud that has been completely flattering to deceive. I might be wrong but I don't think they've beaten any side above them or any of the other main 5 aside from winning the first NLD this season.

But you'd have them with a better chance of being in the mix for 4th next year than Utd purely down to being a year or two ahead in their rebuild. I actually like what Arteta's done with a proper youth movement and weeding out the malcontents. But they are light years away from challenging for any top honours.
 
🤣🤣

They're another club in the mud that has been completely flattering to deceive. I might be wrong but I don't think they've beaten any side above them or any of the other main 5 aside from winning the first NLD this season.

But you'd have them with a better chance of being in the mix for 4th next year than Utd purely down to being a year or two ahead in their rebuild. I actually like what Arteta's done with a proper youth movement and weeding out the malcontents. But they are light years away from challenging for any top honours.
They need top 4 this year and have bottled it. One game a week and with games in hand albeit against the top sides but still. You don't lose to Brighton at home who are on a horrific run themselves.
 
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