No-one has improved really because that's not been Man Utd's strategy. In the post Fergie years, it was all about the big names, buying superstars etc. - a real thirst for old glory. Post Ferguson they almost took upon that Galatico stylee buying, which resulted in some of the worst transfers of all time. Then of course to attract these players they were offering way above market wages, so a lot of these players were all sold or were massive losses on the books. Then when Ten Haag came in, I genuinely have no idea what the strategy was there apart from buying players he worked with.

 

The fact so many managers have failed there or never really been able to hit the heights probably means the current environment does not lead to success. The fans and the media alike have always expected Man Utd should be challeging for the league and be the best club in the world - sometimes you have to accept that that's not always possible. It probably doesn't help that so many of the players who were instrumental under Fergie have so much influence in the media, which imo just fuels the fans and expectations.

 

 

I’d like to see Man Utd use this unique position of being so hopeless it’s almost pointless buying anyone to try and create an English version of La Masia. Just go all in on producing players and creating superstars. Barca financially have been in dire straights and struggling to register players, having to sell TV rights hundreds of years in the future to raise money but they’re still doing fine because they’re producing world class talent every year. That’s the new model Man Utd need. Not just buying youngsters but creating them on a yearly basis. It doesn’t matter how much Real Madrid spend they will not be able to compete with the next generation of Barca talent and I hope Man Utd realise there’s no quick fix here and properly try a new model that ultimately will save billions in the future

I’d like to see Man Utd use this unique position of being so hopeless it’s almost pointless buying anyone to try and create an English version of La Masia. Just go all in on producing players and creating superstars. Barca financially have been in dire straights and struggling to register players, having to sell TV rights hundreds of years in the future to raise money but they’re still doing fine because they’re producing world class talent every year. That’s the new model Man Utd need. Not just buying youngsters but creating them on a yearly basis. It doesn’t matter how much Real Madrid spend they will not be able to compete with the next generation of Barca talent and I hope Man Utd realise there’s no quick fix here and properly try a new model that ultimately will save billions in the future

 

Would take at least 10 years to create though and City have way better facilities already. The option probably is to try and hoover up the best talent around 15-17 and takes risks on that, but there's no guarantee it pays off. A big issue with playing younger players these days vs La Liga too, is the Premier League is increasing becoming more physical & technical. There's a certain type of profile which managers seem to be buying at the moment. Barcelona are also a bit of a basket case as well as they are financially fecked for the next 10 years. They're going to have to sell Yamal (of course it won't be him), Gavi, Balde, Lopez or Pedri within the next 18 months.

From a Sporting CP fan: Regarding Rúben Amorim

Cheers Man Utd fans!

 

I've been meaning to make a post here (I'm unsure of whether someone has done one before, I rarely use Reddit) about what Man Utd should actually expect when it comes to Rúben Amorim.

 

I'm a Sporting CP fan, and I've watched pretty much every single game of Amorim's time at my club, and seeing as he hasn't been able to immediately turn around Man Utd's form (which, as you'll see further in this post, I wasn't expecting to happen anyways) I felt it was appropriate to post what I feel you should expect from him.

 

1 - Don't expect a miracle: This is the absolutely most important point of all, hence why I open with it. When Amorim took charge of Sporting he also started midway through the season (although much later on), and at the end of that season Sporting finished fourth, worse than the usual third at that time. Amorim needs months to implement his style of play (which I'll touch upon later on), and, just like Sporting at the time, Man Utd's team is not very compatible with it. With that said:

 

2 - Expect "big players" to leave: Amorim will most likely sell players that might have been huge assets to the team previously, but simply don't match his style and may even detract from it (more on that in a bit). If you look at the team Amorim inherited when he took charge of Sporting and the team with which he started his next season, you'll see what I mean

 

3 - Locker room management: Amorim has always made it a stipulation that the players he manages are positive influences on the locker room dynamics, getting rid of players that might be huge assets but otherwise damage the team in some way. As examples you have Marcus Acuña, which was one of the best players Sporting had at the time, but as he was extremely hot headed, and so was immediately sold on the first transfer market window under Amorim, and Islam Slimani, which returned to Sporting as a fan favorite and immediately started scoring goals, which our main striker wasn't doing. Slimani, however, started getting cocky, and was immediately pushed to the sidelines and left after only half a season.

 

4 - Tactics/formation: Expect a 3-4-3 every time, all the time. Amorim barely deviates from this formation, instead changing the players in the starting eleven depending on the characteristics he wants the team to display.

 

5 - Transfer policy: As previously stated, Amorim most likely won't even consider someone who could destabilize the team's backroom dynamics, and that means a lot of big, established players are unlikely to join as tensions could arise from that, and if Slimani's case shows anything is that Amorim would rather have a strong team union than individual stars. Due to this, expect Man Utd to sign more young and/or lesser known players, also likely for cheaper, that have large amounts of potential (this was the exact model that brought players like Gyökeres to Sporting).

 

6 - Youth academy: If Amorim can get any players from the youth academy, he definitely will. Strangely enough, Amorim is one of the few well known Portuguese managers that has this sort of youth academy policy, which is funny because almost every Portuguese manager follows it, they're just not well known.

 

7 - More than 11 players: If Amorim is given enough time at Man Utd, expect him to assemble a team where the players sitting on the bench are just as capable as the ones on the pitch, differing only in what aspects are stronger in their game.

 

I wish you luck in your season!

 

Interesting analysis

 

I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would judge him after 3 months anyway, it’ll be this time next year when that judgement has more legitimacy. It’s like judging Fergie in March 87!

Well another great half so far Everton 2-0 Man Utd. Hopefully Ipswich don’t win this weekend or they’ll be closing in

And then it'll be a huge relegation 6-pointer on Wednesday!

And then it'll be a huge relegation 6-pointer on Wednesday!

 

Got a 2-2 draw in the end. A lot of improvement needed but a point could be vital in staying up. Great result

Yeah definitely take that, that was classic nowadays United though about 15m playing decently and lucky not to throw it all away at the end, massive dive by Young though so glad they actually saw sense there.

Anthony def not coming back to United then after that celebration today for Betis 🤣

Only 1 goal scored in the first half in the last 17 games and that was an penalty.

Yeah definitely take that, that was classic nowadays United though about 15m playing decently and lucky not to throw it all away at the end, massive dive by Young though so glad they actually saw sense there.

 

‘Def take that’ means that yous got away with a point from the highlights ��. Was a dive by Young but every right to fall when he’s getting his shirt pulled not once but twice.

Edited February 22Feb 22 by Steve201

Even prior to the game I'd have said a point away at a resurgent Everton is a good result but of course even more so given how the first half went. Still a match is 90 minutes and they completely switched off for the last 15. If Zirkzee wasn't the worst forward player in the history of the premier league we could have stolen all 3 points!

Nice to see a lot of heavy criticism finally coming Onana’s way. This guy makes more mistakes than any goalkeeper I’ve ever seen

He's been on par with Chelsea's Robert Sanchez this season who is also shockingly mistake-prone for a 'top' team. At least they've had the foresight to kick him out of the team (even though the backup guy admittedly made a terrible mistake against Villa). There's no reason Bayindir shouldn't be given the rest of the season in between the nets at least in the cup games.

@SotaLiam do you happen to know what players will be out of contract by the summer? There cannot be a scenario where contracts or extensions are handed out freely any longer. Cuts being made off the pitch have to be applied on the pitch even more.

To my knowledge nobody major. They’ll let Eriksson leave on a free and Lindelof won’t be extended but apart from that don’t think any.

Casemiro is basically refusing to leave unless a new club matches his wages. Shaw has a few years left. Mount has 3+ years left. They’ll almost have to pay those guys to leave.

I saw this the other day. In hindsight possibly the worst transfer window in Man Utd history. The club badly needs that money right now too.

Eriksen & Casemiro both starting in midfield 😭

Well they’ve done okay it’s been the usual aimless performance but a decent free kick from Bruno and relatively hard to break down so a rare first half lead

5 hours ago, Dobbo said:

Eriksen & Casemiro both starting in midfield 😭

He’s trolling the board now