Man Utd Thread:

[laoislad]

Whatever about penalties but dismissing someones goal scoring record because they scored a lot of free kicks is ludicrous.
Taking a free kick and being able to score from one is an art in itself IMO.

[Walter Cronc]

To compare Rooney and Shearer is madness. Its as absurd as comparing Ronaldo and Rooney!

[Bord na Mona man]

Look at the esteem that Shearer is held in and a good majority of his goals came from free kicks and penalties, could lace Rooneys boots in terms of ability.

Really?

147 from Open Play
55 from Dead Balls
58 from Penalties

I never knew Shearer scored so many free kicks.
I remember him wellying in a few from dead balls, rather than bending them in, but 55 is impressive.

[AZOffaly]

In fairness I think they only died after he kicked them.

[Joe Blob]

That was dreadful last night no matter what team was put out.  It was a huge opportunity for United to settle their early season jitters and give the fans something to cheer so why Rooney, RVP, Mata et al weren't even in the match day squad is a bit baffling considering they have no European competition to worry about this year. The mood at training must be grim today to say the least!

4 days to do business and it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Liverpool showed on Monday that it takes time for new players to come in and gel so no matter who is brought in there will be more teething problems over the next few weeks. At least they can be thankful they have a run of fixtures now that might make this process a bit more straight forward.

[pearseog]

Look at the esteem that Shearer is held in and a good majority of his goals came from free kicks and penalties, could lace Rooneys boots in terms of ability.

Really?

147 from Open Play
55 from Dead Balls
58 from Penalties

I never knew Shearer scored so many free kicks.
I remember him wellying in a few from dead balls, rather than bending them in, but 55 is impressive.

Might be wrong, but would assume dead balls would include goals scored from set pieces crossed into the box and Shearer finishing them?

[Boycey]

United will never again be what they were unless they rid themselves of the Glaziers, the current crop of players are the most brittle I have seen since the Doherty days.

Somebody needs to step up, blood the youngsters and rid the club of the Anderson's,  the young's and the cleverly's in the squad and get back to playing wide, expansive football with quality crosses raining down on the opposition' s goal.

The Glazers who've spent £200m strengthening the team in the past year? Or some other Glazers?

That stat is useless when not put in context...

What is the context? They also gave Fergie hundreds of million to spend too, which he spent on both expensive and unproven youngsters (Smalling, Jones, De Gea, Anderson, Zaha all over £10m), and proven talent (Berbatov, RVP, Hargreaves, Valencia, Young all over £15m). Until the upsurge in transfer fees across the world when City and PSG came along, these were all huge transfer fees.

They've paved the way for £300k a week wages ffs.

The only significant debit throughout that time has been Ronaldo.

They took the greatest manager in the history of football's advice on who replace him, and have since rectified that blunder by appointing one of the most distinguished managers in the world. And given him a fuckload of money.

People can harp on about the Glazers all they like, but they've not held United back. It's just one of of those fantasy stories that supporters dream up when they can't understand why their glorious club doesn't win every game they play.

Heres the context...
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bybs0NMFjUBddEdjV0VpY2M3em8/edit?pli=1

That doc gives details of income versus transfers and wages for the biggest 9 clubs in England over the last 4 years for which figures are available (2009/13). Like all "stats" thrown up here its flawed in that it doesn't cover money from transfer sales but the point remains basically the same.
During the period United had £1.3bil in revenue but spent a paltry 13% in transfers and when wages are added United still have the lowest percentage figure. Compare with other clubs and tell me the Glazers aren't holding United back?
I don't think its all about winning its about being the best you can and I think Uniteds owners are currently not giving them the opportunity to do that

[johnneycool]

Jesus David Moyes must be laughing his leg off 

I don't understand why he would be laughing?

I don't think he'd be laughing either, just a wry smile that he wasn't the only issue and that one of the worlds greatest managers is also struggling with the same team would suggest that Moyes lowly stock is maybe beginning to rise now that the enormity of the task at Utd is slowly unfolding.

How to f**k Ferguson won the PL in his last year is still one of the greatest mysteries although his two biggest rivals were struggling with internal strife assisted him greatly.

[Joe Blob]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

[ballinaman]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

Money that you've earned instead of being propped up by a sugar daddy are 2 completely different situations...sure if those clems of Glazers weren't there the funds available would be scary.

[NAG1]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

Utter nonsense, United had a team which they invested heavily in but which remained largely unchanged for the past 5/6 seasons. Therefore when this team came to its natural end, there was more of a pressing need to rebuild the team in a shorter time frame. This is why there is such a focus on who they are buying at the moment. Simply because they have too, DM was given the money and invested it poorly it has to be said, so therefore any new manager with a new philosophy is going to want different players. So a costly mistake in letting the team grow old without renewal and then by allowing DM to buy substandard player/s.

[johnneycool]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

Utter nonsense, United had a team which they invested heavily in but which remained largely unchanged for the past 5/6 seasons. Therefore when this team came to its natural end, there was more of a pressing need to rebuild the team in a shorter time frame. This is why there is such a focus on who they are buying at the moment. Simply because they have too, DM was given the money and invested it poorly it has to be said, so therefore any new manager with a new philosophy is going to want different players. So a costly mistake in letting the team grow old without renewal and then by allowing DM to buy substandard player/s.

Let me get this right, Ferguson invested heavily 5/6 seasons ago, team remain unchanged, has come to its natural end and now needs investment on a monumental scale?
I'd have presumed Ferguson 'invested' something in the intervening years, albeit on shite players, no?

[seafoid]

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/aug/27/manchester-united-crisis-louis-van-gaal

[NAG1]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

Utter nonsense, United had a team which they invested heavily in but which remained largely unchanged for the past 5/6 seasons. Therefore when this team came to its natural end, there was more of a pressing need to rebuild the team in a shorter time frame. This is why there is such a focus on who they are buying at the moment. Simply because they have too, DM was given the money and invested it poorly it has to be said, so therefore any new manager with a new philosophy is going to want different players. So a costly mistake in letting the team grow old without renewal and then by allowing DM to buy substandard player/s.

Let me get this right, Ferguson invested heavily 5/6 seasons ago, team remain unchanged, has come to its natural end and now needs investment on a monumental scale?
I'd have presumed Ferguson 'invested' something in the intervening years, albeit on shite players, no?

Not saying he didn't invest what I am saying is, not many clubs lose a central midfielder and 3 out of their back 4 in one go.

[blewuporstuffed]

Are United fans now advocating to replicate the approach adopted by Chelsea and City in recent years?  Talk of 'buying the league' and destroying the foundations of the transfer market is acceptable if done by the club you support perhaps. £200m has been dished out in the last 12 months which shouldn't be sniffed at.

The issue is how it is being spent and the Glazers have no say over that I'm guessing.  Like Jackie Stallone's face, throwing money at the problem won't make it any prettier.

Utter nonsense, United had a team which they invested heavily in but which remained largely unchanged for the past 5/6 seasons. Therefore when this team came to its natural end, there was more of a pressing need to rebuild the team in a shorter time frame. This is why there is such a focus on who they are buying at the moment. Simply because they have too, DM was given the money and invested it poorly it has to be said, so therefore any new manager with a new philosophy is going to want different players. So a costly mistake in letting the team grow old without renewal and then by allowing DM to buy substandard player/s.

Let me get this right, Ferguson invested heavily 5/6 seasons ago, team remain unchanged, has come to its natural end and now needs investment on a monumental scale?
I'd have presumed Ferguson 'invested' something in the intervening years, albeit on shite players, no?

Not saying he didn't invest what I am saying is, not many clubs lose a central midfielder and 3 out of their back 4 in one go.

where they not aware of the age of ferdinand & evra?