Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 13/8

Hank Scorpio

Thought I read here from someone ITK Vidal was going to be confirmed Thursday morning

bantee

It's a bad job when we're talking about next summers targets already!

DARK-KNIGHT

I am a he'll of a lot more worried about the defence over midfield now

Reedsie

Just watching the uncut press conference there, Van Gaal had some interesting comments about Blackett. Reporter asked him would Blackett be able to step up if Evans is missing tomorrow. Van Gaal seemed to dismiss the notion that Blackett is a bit player by stating that Blackett has played in the team at the same time as Evans in the past. He stated "at that position we need a left sided central defender'. Then interestingly said that "maybe that is the big news of today".

He either meant that the club needs to buy a left sided defender or that Blackett is going to take a big step up this season and that will be his position. It appeared to me that he meant the latter. The guys in the MUTV studio discussed it after and seemed to think the same.

redbaron_99

He wants to see them play in a couple of competitive matches maybe. And has transfers lined, which is what he meant by signings can be made in 24 hours.
Fair enough.

But honestly, most fans could tell him he will need a CB and CM at the least.

Looking forward to the game tomorrow. Letting all the transfer anxiety go now.
Football time!

user2011

TheTownie wrote: »

Most sites will just laugh off that vine copyright crap but no doubt boards will take it uber serious.

First time I'd read about gif's being taken down was a few weeks back on reddit by UFC copyright.

Ridiculous stuff a couple of seconds worth of action that can be going on 15/25mins for UFC fights or 90/120mins for football. If that's all they're interested in then they ain't going to be real customers of the products so it's no loss to them.

MagicMarker

Match Thread

kryogen

nuxxx wrote: »

Thought I read here from someone ITK Vidal was going to be confirmed Thursday morning

Nope, it will be today I think he said, about 22 minutes or so to go

advertsfox

Buzzing for tomorrow, screw this negativity - we won our last 6 games on the trot including Real Madrid for jasus sake. Even Moyes managed 2 wins against Swansea

Backstreet Moyes

Maybe Blackett is just going to be one of those players who improves for stepping up to the big stage. Lot's of players tear up underage and never perform to what people expect them to be and end up in lower leagues. Maybe Blackett is going to be somebody who improves and thrives on the big stage.

What impressed me most was him demanding the ball and driving forward without a sign of nerves. It could be easy for a young player to shy away and be nervous but he certainly did not do that. Against Valencia once he got caught out but besides that looked comfortable. If you had said to me before pre season Blackett would start cb i would say i thought he is a reserve lb.

It's a huge step up tomorrow in his biggest game yet and i am excited to see how he does. Is it possible Van Gaal has been impressed with him and wants to see him in the first two or three games to see how big a role he can play this season.

Reedsie

Gary Neville's first column for the Telegraph

Wayne Rooney is a born leader and will restore Manchester United to Premier League top four

Few snippets:

Rooney is one of a dying breed of footballers who is willing to call his team-mates out. He can take criticism but also hand it out. His approach is the traditional one of not taking criticism personally – and expecting team-mates not to take it personally either.

When I think back to his early days at United I remember his personality and cheekiness. Rooney was the only player who would dare pull up a seat at the coaches’ table in the canteen and ask Sir Alex Ferguson: “Am I playing tomorrow, boss?” The manager would cuff him about the head and say: “That’s nothing to do with you.” Other times, Rooney would sit next to Sir Alex on the bus and ask: “Who am I playing up front with?” He would just assume he was in the team.

He (Rooney) is one of the few footballers I watch now who could have survived 20 years ago, in what was a more brutal environment, where every decision in training was challenged, where he would have wired into his goalkeeper if he made a mistake, where being vocal was a virtue rather than the mark of a troublemaker. Ten minutes after calling a team-mate out, he would join them on a sofa, returning to friendship mode. He pays no attention to age, seniority or reputation.

In my opinion Adnan Januzaj is going to be a world star. When I turn my thoughts to the forward areas Rooney and Van Persie are the names on everyone’s tongue. United need those two to perform at their natural level. With Januzaj, I am convinced United have a youngster who will become one of the best in the world over the next five years.

For Van Gaal this first season is about instilling principles. To a large degree he may be happy to start with the squad he already has, rather than deal with an influx while also getting to know the current team. A big shopping trip would make a difficult situation even harder. But I do believe Manchester United will deliver in the next two weeks and bring two players in, which will protect the club against the criticism that would follow a run of underwhelming results.

kryogen

One thing I would be happy about, I would be very excited about I guess is how I should put it, is if Louis decides, and I mean that, its his decision, not an inability to get players in for any reason. If he decides to push on with someone like Blackett and give the younger guys the chance to step up and grab the mantle, and instill in them the mentality to become greater then the sum of their parts I would love it.

I can think of nothing more exciting then watching players come through the youth system and nailing down places in the first team while having success, it may not be instant success but even showing they are working toward it would be great. It seemed to me from watching the uncut press conference that Blackett has certainly caught his eye and has got a real chance at claiming a place in the team on a permanent basis which of course I would be delighted about as most of ye know I have had hopes for him for a long time now.

Of course as a fan it is scary to think about going into a season with the thoughts of relying on untried youngsters but it is god damn exiting too and is something United traditionally have done. We have lost our way with that lately and it would be nice to get back to it somewhat. Producing your own players again is the way forward ultimately with the restrictions that are coming in to place, or perhaps having a very good core of young players coming through the club and only needing to add a bit of foreign quality here and there would give us a great advantage in the coming years.

The system is the most important thing, it is more important then the individual and I can tell you from an American Football point of view I know that getting players coached day in day out in a particular system can be hugely beneficial in terms of when players go down injured and who to target for additions to the team. Players to have specific roles and be well drilled in exactly what they need to do. It can lead to quite a bit of fan and media people going "What the ****?!" but if the coach is successful with what he is trying to do then who cares

Cant wait for tomorrow

duffman13

No signings yet, I get a week off so, bad bet to make!! In that week we will beat Swansea sign Vidal, Rojo and Blind. Although Vidal won't be completed till Friday because he has to sign on a Friday

DM_7

kryogen wrote: »

Cant wait for tomorrow

Agree with you on the whole post.

When Van Gaal was appointed I was aware of his record but not so much his methods. From reading up on him since the American Football example is a good one for how he works. Players are essentially numbers and have certain functions to carry out for the role of that number. How his training is specialised and gets players set up to perform the functions he needs them to play.

Things like tapping into the potential of Muller or taking Badstuber into the first team.

How he has changed his system throughout the years to suit the players he had available.

When I look at players like Jones I can't see any way that his all round game won't improve by playing for Van Gaal.

Al Capwned

Premier League is back today. Wohoo!!

I refuse to comment on transfers. As my oul uncle would say - "it's like a bad case of ring sting - a pain in the hole!!"

Vertigo100

I'm like a child on Christmas Eve. Can't wait to be sitting in my local in the morning with a cold pint watching the lads walk out.

Come on united!!!!

kryogen

You could do with updating that sig there Vertigo

Chagan

Christ, I am buzzing with excitement. The annual "Insert name here" transfer saga has become a dull cliché at this stage but there is no beating that feeling of knowing we have football back again for another 9 months.

This year will be Anderson's year to shine, I can feel it in my bones. Or perhaps that's just wind.

Hank Scorpio

I'd be buzzing if we signed a few more players, league is so strong at the moment, maybe the strongest since PL teams used to dominate in Europe

thelad95

nuxxx wrote: »

I'd be buzzing if we signed a few more players, league is so strong at the moment, maybe the strongest since PL teams used to dominate in Europe

It's at it's weakest in years.

Vic Vinegar

thelad95 wrote: »

It's at it's weakest in years.

It really isn't.

Pudsy33

thelad95 wrote: »

It's at it's weakest in years.

How? There are 6 teams who will have realistic claims for the top spot, and 2 more who think they can hijack the top 4

kryogen

Dunno about 6 teams realistically going for top spot, but I do think 6-7 teams could be hotly contesting the CL places, I can't see outside of Chelsea and City for the top two spots as things stand, but after that Arsenal could do the usual or they could really make a good run at the league, for real, like, at the business end, and United, Spurs, Liverpool and Everton (who have impressed me in the market) could have a great battle for the top four.

Personally I think it will revert to the status quo of United and Arsenal making it, but it is certainly not set in stone

Hank Scorpio

^ Not only that, or domestically, Mourinho has bought really well this summer and Arsenal look in their best shape for years. Add to that Aguero, Silva and Kompany all signing new long term contracts in a brilliant Man city side, and Liverpool signing so many players this summer. Van Gaal coming in for United and spurs having a big step up with Pochettinoand Martinez drilling Everton, the league is tough as sh1t and I expect English clubs to do really well in Europe this year

It just makes it more disappointing we haven't signed the players we had hoped too

Rayne Wooney

Chelsea and City for top spot

Having watched Liverpool during pre season I'm a tad worried they could do well again, the way they play is, sadly, great to watch and effective, if their defensive buys work out we could be in trouble. Fighting for 5th place with Arsenal and Pool going for 3rd


I think I'll try stay positive from now on unless given a reason not to, going to miss the first half of the game tomorrow so hopefully we will be a few up by then. Here's hoping for a great season.

Mikeyt086

DM-ICE wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSLWk9MSCrg

1:50 #Shinjitsu

Liam O

Mikeyt086 wrote: »

1:50 #Shinjitsu

The guy actually makes me grudge Mata a place in the team a bit my man love for him is so strong.

homerjay2005

Gonna be a long day, been a while since ive been up this early to head to a game!!

Mars Bar

I'm gonna miss the game.
Hope I wake up to three points in the bag for United.

chupacabra

Mars Bar wrote: »

I'm gonna miss the game.
Hope I wake up to three points in the bag for United.

Me too. Damn planes and their not having dedicated tv's for season openers. :mad:

Coat22

Momentary panic when Sky box refused to wake up this morning.

The old "plug it out. wait. plug it back in again. wait. hit it. wait. hit it again. press buttons" trick worked though.

Contingency pub plans put back in box for future bigger games.

Coat22

jaykay74 wrote: »

24 hours to sign a player :eek:

We've just about clinched the transfer deals that were on the cards for Summer 13/14. Slow down, give Ed a bit of space. See ye next Summer.

Had a good chuckle to myself when I saw that too - Welcome to United Louis - it took us how long to sign Fellani for 27M?

Lord TSC

Coat22 wrote: »

Had a good chuckle to myself when I saw that too - Welcome to United Louis - it took us how long to sign Fellani for 27M?

In fairness, the time from the bid going in seemed to be well under 24 hours. The problem there was we chased other targets for so long and then paniced, so had to quickly buy Fel, proving we can get players in quick provided we are willing to overpay....

redbaron_99

Coat22 wrote: »

Momentary panic when Sky box refused to wake up this morning.

The old "plug it out. wait. plug it back in again. wait. hit it. wait. hit it again. press buttons" trick worked though.

Contingency pub plans put back in box for future bigger games.

Had one of those moments just before the game against real a couple of weeks ago.
Had a beer cracked open, had paid for the official stream, and then the wifi in the house went down.
5 mins of acting like a spoilt 12 year old ensued. Thankfully I only missed a
Minute or two of the match

Coat22

Lord TSC wrote: »

In fairness, the time from the bid going in seemed to be well under 24 hours. The problem there was we chased other targets for so long and then paniced, so had to quickly buy Fel, proving we can get players in quick provided we are willing to overpay....

That was the final bid - we'd spent most if the summer pricking around with bids for him and Baines.

Unearthly

Today is the day lads.

We win again.

Larry Wildman

If you'd said to me after the Champions League final in 2011 that we'd steadily disimprove rather than improve, I wouldn't have believed you.

The mismanagement of our club since then has been criminal. We'd Fergie losing the plot, the Moyes debacle and now we're venturing into the unknown with Van Gaal.

I genuinely see no middle ground with Van Gaal. He'll either transform the club or go down in flames spectacularly a la Phil Scolari. The £64m question is which will it be, because that's probably the cost of not qualifying for the Champions League. With that team and that squad plus our rivals constantly progessing, it's going to be very difficult.

I am worried.

Lord TSC

Time to get our title back lads!

Adamocovic

Ha I had panic moment too, power went out yesterday and I thought it would be back before I went to bed, woke up at 9 and it was still out, then just as I was trying to figure out what to do it came back! It must be a sign!

redbaron_99

Larry Wildman wrote: »

If you'd said to me after the Champions League final in 2011 that we'd steadily disimprove rather than improve, I wouldn't have believed you.

The mismanagement of our club since then has been criminal. We'd Fergie losing the plot, the Moyes debacle and now we're venturing into the unknown with Van Gaal.

I genuinely see no middle ground with Van Gaal. He'll either transform the club or go down in flames spectacularly a la Phil Scolari. The £64m question is which will it be, because that's probably the cost of not qualifying for the Champions League. With that team and that squad plus our rivals constantly progessing, it's going to be very difficult.

I am worried.

That's because you only see in black and white. Total success or total failure.
You should add a little colour to your outlook, Larry.

For me, I'm a bit disappointed also. We haven't yet signed enough players. But make no mistake about it, this is a long term project with VG. He'll look to implement a playing and training style, formation and mentality in his first year. That's the most important part. Once the majority of the squad have taken his vision on board, he can then look to improve upon personnel. Because he still doesn't know which players will thrive under his system, and which will crumble.
When he knows who will crumble, he will replace them.

First day of the campaign. I'm feeling very optimistic.

GSPfan

Larry Wildman wrote: »

If you'd said to me after the Champions League final in 2011 that we'd steadily disimprove rather than improve, I wouldn't have believed you.

The mismanagement of our club since then has been criminal. We'd Fergie losing the plot, the Moyes debacle and now we're venturing into the unknown with Van Gaal.

One year of bad football and bad results under Moyes and people forget we have been winning leagues with a massive financial handicap while clubs have been bankrolled by billionaires.
We have done damn well with all things considered. Its like United were in recession for the last 5 years but we're coming out of it in good shape. We will be great again.

kryogen

Just in case anyone doesn't know, and apolgies if posted already, on the phone and haven't looked through the thread but Sky Sports is free for the day to promote the kick off of the new season.

ElChe32

Not going to worry over who are we signing who are we not signing blah blah yakety yak for the next few hours.
The beautiful game is back.
The Oranje Revolution is upon us Comrades!
Hon ta fúck Louis!

Black_Knight

kryogen wrote: »

Just in case anyone doesn't know, and apolgies if posted already, on the phone and haven't looked through the thread but Sky Sports is free for the day to promote the kick off of the new season.

Upc seem to only be showing sky sports 4 for free.
I'll be following the match on Soccer Saturday with today fm, on my drive to Kerry.

kryogen

Black_Knight wrote: »

Upc seem to only be showing sky sports 4 for free.
I'll be following the match on Soccer Saturday with today fm, on my drive to Kerry.

Yeah didn't check yet so not sure but I doubt BT Sport is doing the same thing, which is where the United game is of course

I'll be working/watching the game in the work anyway so all the same to me!

GSPfan

Had a few cans and stayed up late last night in the hope i'd sleep late and wake up near kick off. FAIL.

Note to self: should have drank more.

blueshed

kryogen wrote: »

Yeah didn't check yet so not sure but I doubt BT Sport is doing the same thing, which is where the United game is of course

I'll be working/watching the game in the work anyway so all the same to me!

the BT/Setanta package is €1 for August. they did same last year for August and December.

Black_Knight

I've got sky sports 1-5 now. No bt sport though.

No HD as yet, but some are saying they have a few HD channels

JaMarcusHustle

Decided to add Sky Sports and Setanta Sports to my subscription yesterday. €52 extra a month including HD, but screw it. I'm a man of comfort, and like having the channels right there in front of me. I just don't like streams.

bantee

blueshed wrote: »

the BT/Setanta package is €1 for August. they did same last year for August and December.

Not just August, for the next 30 days which brings you up until about 14th Sept, sweet deal as I think 3 United matches are shown. Signed up last night but don't know what the deadline is.