Let's All Laugh At... let's all laugh at United

[glacierSpurs]

I don't know how they can look at the gaping holes in their squad and think João Felix is the answer.

Perhaps the worse thing being in ETH opinion there are no gaping holes! ?

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

I’m not from the U.K so please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve read on United, they had never been considered the top club in the country until Ferguson got there.

They would certainly have been considered the top English club at times during Matt Busby’s tenure.

And they have been the best supported club in the country since the Charlton, Best, Law era in the mid / late 60’s - if not since the Busby Babes era and the Munich tragedy in the late 50’s.

 

[Timberwolf]

Feel like a couple of years ago you could look at their squad and say "the talent is there" but not even sure if that is true anymore. They used to have some genuine depth at least but they've now lost:

Lingard
Cavani
Matic
Mata
Greenwood
James
Greenwood
Pereira

And also loaned out Henderson.

Not the highest quality you might say, but on his day Pogba was world class, Cavani was a gamechanger and Greenwood was getting better and better. Plus Matic and Mata provided genuine experience, despite being old fuckers.

You look at the squad now and not only does is it a disjointed mess, but you scratch beneath the surface and there's barely any depth either.

 

[Timberwolf]

Feel like a couple of years ago you could look at their squad and say "the talent is there" but not even sure if that is true anymore. They used to have some genuine depth at least but they've now lost:

Lingard
Cavani
Matic
Mata
Greenwood
James
Greenwood
Pereira

And also loaned out Henderson.

Not the highest quality you might say, but on his day Pogba was world class, Cavani was a gamechanger and Greenwood was getting better and better. Plus Matic and Mata provided genuine experience, despite being old fuckers.

You look at the squad now and not only does is it a disjointed mess, but you scratch beneath the surface and there's barely any depth either.

Just to reinforce the point, look at their bench on the weekend:

Malacia - promising but young, unproven kid
Varane - top class
Heaton - keeper
Wan Bissaka - OK backup but not a top full back
Van Der Beek - talented but still done nothing since moving to the Prem
Elanga - some promise but v.raw
Garner - unproven kid
McTominay - OK rotation but not a game changer
Ferreyra - never heard of him

There's only 1 top class player on the entire bench and barely anyone who could change the game in an attacking sense. Martial will come back into the side which help, but that's about it.

Meanwhile we had Bissouma, Lucas, Richarlison and Perisic - all of which you feel could really change a game. Plus we didn't even include in the squad the Young African POTY, a Championship team of the season wing back, while both Skipp and Lenglet were injured. And this is a team that finished 4th last season...

In short: they look fucked.

 

[Marty]

Just to reinforce the point, look at their bench on the weekend:

Malacia - promising but young, unproven kid
Varane - top class
Heaton - keeper
Wan Bissaka - OK backup but not a top full back
Van Der Beek - talented but still done nothing since moving to the Prem
Elanga - some promise but v.raw
Garner - unproven kid
McTominay - OK rotation but not a game changer
Ferreyra - never heard of him

There's only 1 top class player on the entire bench and barely anyone who could change the game in an attacking sense

Meanwhile we had Bissouma, Lucas, Richarlison and Perisic - all of which you feel could really change a game.
And this is a team that finished 4th last season...

In short: they look fucked.

I'll make one correction to your list.

Varane - should be top class but don't understand what the hell's going on there.

Otherwise, totally agree.

 

[Timberwolf]

I'll make one correction to your list.

Varane - should be top class but don't understand what the hell's going on there.

Otherwise, totally agree.

You could say the same for half of their first 11 too.

 

[Norgie]

I know some want Utd to get something at Liverpool but I don't, even if Liverpool do draw or lose on Monday (unlikely anyway) they will still be right up there, there is no way they don't recover. So I'd love to see utd with no points after three games, then its between Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal , City and us to fight for top four (and the title), well that's barring a miracle recovery from Utd.

 

[Timberwolf]

I know some want Utd to get something at Liverpool but I don't, even if Liverpool do draw or lose on Monday (unlikely anyway) they will still be right up there, there is no way they don't recover. So I'd love to see utd with no points after three games, then its between Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal , City and us to fight for top four (and the title), well that's barring a miracle recovery from Utd.

Personally think it's practically guaranteed that Liverpool murder them. Ten Hag doesn't seem the type to park the bus, but that's the only way they will survive. And even if they try to park, I don't think they have the players or the discipline to do it. If they try to actually play, the Liverpool press will eat them alive and Klopp will be out for blood after 2 draws and the pre-season thrashing.

If Nunez wasn't sent off I think it could've been an absolute bloodbath, but even as things stand I expect Liverpool to win by about 3 goals.

 

[Marty]

You could say the same for half of their first 11 too.

But Varane's the only multi domestic and CL title winner and guaranteed starter for Real Madrid out of that lot.

To go from that to United’s bench - THIS United team's bench - in just one year is a spectacular fall.

 

[RuskyM]

It's easy to forget but a lot of these players have been great in recent memory: Fred & McTominay were great under Solskjaer, van de Beek & Sancho were two of the most exciting prospects around, Maguire was tremendous in the Euros, Rashford was great pre-pandemic, Varane has won every trophy possible. They can't *all* suddenly have become bad players. I suppose that's part of the issue managers have had over the past few years; to know there's quality in players like Fernandes and be utterly befuddled as to why it's not showing.

I'm no tactical mastermind, so I'm going to assume it's an evil wizard doing it.

 

[Timberwolf]

It's easy to forget but a lot of these players have been great in recent memory: Fred & McTominay were great under Solskjaer, van de Beek & Sancho were two of the most exciting prospects around, Maguire was tremendous in the Euros, Rashford was great pre-pandemic, Varane has won every trophy possible. They can't *all* suddenly have become bad players. I suppose that's part of the issue managers have had over the past few years; to know there's quality in players like Fernandes and be utterly befuddled as to why it's not showing.

I'm no tactical mastermind, so I'm going to assume it's an evil wizard doing it.

Not sure if even the most generous United fan would've called Fred and Mctominay "great".

They did a job and had spells where they looked decent but midfield has consistently been an area of weakness, hence United fans moaning about having to play "McFred" year after year.

I agree about some of the others, though. The right manager/system could get a lot out of Maguire, Sancho, Shaw and Fernandes, probably Martial and Lindelof too. I'm starting to wonder if VDB just isn't cut out for the prem, though, (like Lo Celso) and Rashford has been bad for a while now...wondering if he's going to go the way of Dele, although maybe he can turn it around.

 

[Japhet]

It's easy to forget but a lot of these players have been great in recent memory: Fred & McTominay were great under Solskjaer, van de Beek & Sancho were two of the most exciting prospects around, Maguire was tremendous in the Euros, Rashford was great pre-pandemic, Varane has won every trophy possible. They can't *all* suddenly have become bad players. I suppose that's part of the issue managers have had over the past few years; to know there's quality in players like Fernandes and be utterly befuddled as to why it's not showing.

I'm no tactical mastermind, so I'm going to assume it's an evil wizard doing it.

Seems to coincide with Ronaldo showing up and demanding the spotlight 100% of the time. Looks like the rest of them have issued a collective 'Fuck this!'.

 

[Spurslove]

We'd better enjoy the shit show which is United for as long as we can, because I saw on SSN, Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to buy a 'minority share' of the club, which may well eventually turn into all of it. He says he's always been a United fan. Oh crap.

 

[Marty]

Seems to coincide with Ronaldo showing up and demanding the spotlight 100% of the time. Looks like the rest of them have issued a collective 'Fuck this!'.

Bruno Fernandes would almost certainly agree with you, though he'd never say it publicly.

Their second place finish under Ole was maybe not solely down to him, but he was definitely the major player and focal point of that side. Not just Penandes, he was genuinely brilliant for 18 months until Ronaldo showed up and hogged the spolight, and the regression in his game was almost instant.

 

[Trix]

We'd better enjoy the shit show which is United for as long as we can, because I saw on SSN, Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to buy a 'minority share' of the club, which may well eventually turn into all of it. He says he's always been a United fan. Oh crap.

So much so he tried to buy Chelsea.

 

[Styopa]

This is 100 percent accurate. The fans and pundits were clamouring to sign the majority of those players and they all went on to flop.

It's really quite simple, they need to hire the best DOF they can. They need someone to spearhead the football side of the club and give consistency and direction. The main issue is the fans and pundits are too arrogant and feel they need ex United players involved at all levels.

Until they have the right person in that role, everything else is redundant. They will continue to scattergun their recruitment, make signings to appease the fans and constantly think they have a right to be at the top because they are United.

Bloody hilarious whilst it lasts.

I actually think some of those players would have done ok in a more settled team. Most players tend to look terrible when a squad is in disarray due to bad management. We looked truly awful for a couple of years but the vast majority of the players who looked clueless under Nuno and Mourinho have started the first two matches this season. It's only really Kulusevvksi and Bentancur who weren't here under either Nuno or Mourinho albeit we have much stronger squad options now.

 

[qqq1]

The fans always focus on the owners taking money out of the club but they still manage to spend enough money on players that they could be successful if they didn't waste it all.

The Glazers biggest fault is hiring people who have no idea about football to run the club. It seems like a club that lurches between short term ideas designed to make the twitter fans happy. It's so funny that they finally hired a DOF but made him interim manager and got rid of him before he'd even started as DOF.

 

[dontcallme]

The fans always focus on the owners taking money out of the club but they still manage to spend enough money on players that they could be successful if they didn't waste it all.

The Glazers biggest fault is hiring people who have no idea about football to run the club. It seems like a club that lurches between short term ideas designed to make the twitter fans happy. It's so funny that they finally hired a DOF but made him interim manager and got rid of him before he'd even started as DOF.

I agree. Your 2nd paragraph is the majority of their problem. Add to that they seem completely detached and don’t appear to care or have any real desire to put it right.

 

[qqq1]

I agree. Your 2nd paragraph is the majority of their problem. Add to that they seem completely detached and don’t appear to care or have any real desire to put it right.

Levy bringing in Paratici would be a good example for them. Instead they hire business people who do things like extending Phil Jones contract so he doesn't leave for free.

 

[Spurslove]

So much so he tried to buy Chelsea.

Yes he did but for whatever reason at the time, it never happened. I think we all know by now, that wherever a particular mega-billionaire's own football allegiances may lie, they bare no relation to who they fancy buying.

I think they said he owns Nice in Ligue 1 too.