Man Utd Thread:

[GiveItToTheShooters]

United are in dire straits and they're going nowhere fast (they're already nowhere), and it is excellent to watch. How the turn tables.

[rodney trotter]

Woodward would have to take the blame too. They target players and then it goes into a long saga. Harry Maguire last summer. They thought they could get him cheaper  and ended up paying the full amount.
They are obsessing over Sancho when they should be looking at alternatives.. As Its been going on since June.

[GiveItToTheShooters]

Clubs (and their own players) take advantage of united because they know they're stupid enough to keep throwing big money at them. United should forget about Sancho and worry about their back 4. A CB is a must.

[From the Bunker]

Utd are a big club with loads of money. But the biggest problem is Solskjaer. He is not going to attract a good quality of player. He appears like a Manager who got the job from a Lucky Bag!

[sid waddell]

Manchester United's recruitment under Solskjaer has been quite good but as a manager he's totally out of his depth

They are currently in a similar enough situation to the one Liverpool were in towards the end of Roy Evans's tenure

It's obvious they need a new manager but for purely sentimental reasons they're desperately trying to fool themselves into believing that Solskjaer is the answer, he isn't, and they know it, he knows it, everybody knows it

Pochettino hasn't taken a job since leaving Tottenham, he's clearly holding on for the Manchester United job, but he won't wait forever

Manchester United would very quickly become a very serious force with him in charge

You rate Poch a little too highly is you really believe that. Regardless of manager the Glazers, Woodward and the board will remain the main issue with United.

Yeah, it's questionable that any manager out there is capable of taking the club back to the top under the current ownership.

Money is spent, but with no real vision or consistent direction. Everything is haphazard, panicked, delayed, or done for the wrong reasons.

Investment is routinely deferred until long after it's necessary, resulting in gross overpayments when the need becomes blindingly obvious. Even then, transfer sagas can run for months, or even across windows, because of penny-pinching over the last few percent.

That wiff of desperation to plug gaps in the squad will grow stronger over the next couple of weeks, and any player the club attempt to sign will have a few extra million thrown onto their price tag. The same happens every transfer window. Silly games of brinkmanship that always result in United eventually overpaying and Woodward coming away looking like a tit.

But there's no urgency to do things better, because as long as the CL cash is coming in none of this really matters.

Arsenal's board is the worst of all yet they stumbled upon the right appointment in Arteta and now things are looking up for them

Manchester United have nobody there who really knows what they're doing, so they stumble along

Pochettino does know what he's doing - the organisation of a football club is about leadership and persuasion, which he has in spades - once you have a manager who knows what he's doing on the football side of things, won't tolerate shit and has a clear direction, everything flows from there

He took over Tim Sherwood's shambolic Tottenham team and turned them into title contenders in less than two years, and reached a Champions League final

All on a shoestring compared to what Manchester United have to spend

It's mental they haven't gone for him yet - but I expect he'll be there before the end of this season - few other top jobs are likely to become available in that time, bar maybe Tottenham, who he would be unlikely to return to, Barcelona, who won't appoint him and who he wouldn't join, or perhaps Chelsea, who have their own Solskjaer minus the likeable personality

[Cunny Funt]

Utd are a big club with loads of money. But the biggest problem is Solskjaer. He is not going to attract a good quality of player. He appears like a Manager who got the job from a Lucky Bag!

Attracting is one thing delivering on transfer targets is another thing altogether.  LVG main targets weren't brought in and he didn't complain about it until he left. Jose for some of his transfers was given 3rd choice options and he complained like hell when manager. Both were a lot more high profile managers than the current one which highlights the problem is more deep rooted than the manager.

He took over Tim Sherwood's shambolic Tottenham team and turned them into title contenders in less than two years, and reached a Champions League final

69 league points under Sherwood was hardly shambolic. The 2015/16 season Spurs finished 3rd in a 2 horse race with 70 points with Leicester out of the blue winning the league.

Leading Spurs to the Champions league final was his highlight at the club though many seem to ignore his European record outside of that which included early exits in both the Champions league and Europa League.

[Carmen Stateside]

Haven't enjoyed reading a thread in so long 
Poor poor side and a clueless manager.  Poch would be mad to take that circus

[BennyCake]

Tottenham after Lingard for £30m.

Surely United will bite the hand off them?

[Dar31]

Cant be real no one would pay 30m for lingard and levy part with 30m no chance 

[Maroon Manc]

As Boycey alluded to last week United are massively under cooked in comparison to most other clubs, how much of that is down to the manager I just don't know; The result wasn't a surprise to me and a good few others I know who were worried going into this weekend.

The long term issue at centre half will continue and probably won't be rectified until next season which I can deal with if somebody of Sancho's class comes in. Lindelof isn't up to it as Maguire's partner, he's a good defender when United sit back and counter but he's poor in the air and lack of pace means United are never going to challenge for a title with that centre half pairing.

Whether Ole is going to be a success I don't know so can only judge him on last season where he did a good job.

[rodney trotter]

Why would you settle for bringing in Sancho if nothing was done with the defence. You build a team from defence and work from there.  Look at Shaw compared to Robertson or Tierney. Then the 2 stumbling centre backs. Maguire was signed for more then VVD, but has never really shown he's a top player.

Fernandes form dipped at end of last season and was sluggish again. They need him to raise it again. Donny looked good when he came on.

[bigarsedkeeper]

Utd are a big club with loads of money. But the biggest problem is Solskjaer. He is not going to attract a good quality of player. He appears like a Manager who got the job from a Lucky Bag!

I'm not saying that Solskjaer is the man to bring the success back to Utd but as far as transfers in goes, attracting players doesn't seem to be the issue. The word is that Sancho wanted to come last season and still wants to come but between Dortmund wanting too much or Woodward/Glazers not wanting to pay the fee it has dragged on. I think most of the targets they have moved for, especially post the Sanchez mess, have wanted to move to the club. I think not agreeing to the buy back clause was the right thing on the Spurs signing and I don't think Bale would have been the best move for everyone involved. But that should have been accepted and someone else signed before the league started last week. It's this constant bullshit stand off for every signing that is causing problems. I can see their point at times with fees being inflated but when you tell the world your the biggest that's what happens. Just pay the fee and get the players in the manager wants or forget about ever challenging again.

[NAG1]

Disappointing start to the season.

The team look under cooked completely, fitness was way off and match sharpness not there at all. It is what we were all concerned about with the extended season and seems to have come to fruition.

If it doesn't show the need for a couple of additions to the squad before the window closes then nothing will.

[brokencrossbar1]

I would be very surprised to see Sancho joint at this stage. If they let him go the are leaving themselves a very short time to get a replacement. I read this morning that there is no desire for United to get a new CB. That is verging on negligent in my opinion. None of the CBs are at the required level and there is limited confidence flowing through the whole team. They will raise their game against the likes of LFC and City, that's where they are now.

[magpie seanie]

As Boycey alluded to last week United are massively under cooked in comparison to most other clubs, how much of that is down to the manager I just don't know; The result wasn't a surprise to me and a good few others I know who were worried going into this weekend.

The long term issue at centre half will continue and probably won't be rectified until next season which I can deal with if somebody of Sancho's class comes in. Lindelof isn't up to it as Maguire's partner, he's a good defender when United sit back and counter but he's poor in the air and lack of pace means United are never going to challenge for a title with that centre half pairing.

Whether Ole is going to be a success I don't know so can only judge him on last season where he did a good job.

The voice of reason as usual on this thread.