Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 25/08

ericzeking

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Show him a picture of William Gallas in his number 10 shirt and Abou Diaby with number 2. His head will explode.

One for the conspiracy theorists.... in Holland, number 5 is normally the left back.... 'Van Gaal in benching of Englands great left back hope, Shaw, shocker'

homerjay2005

Red Issue @RedIssue · 12h
Breaking news: Ed Woodward has launched a £5m bid for Barcelona's transfer ban.

MagicMarker

ha. ha. ha.

ericzeking

ToiletFusion wrote: »

Can we stop using Jesus wept, it's annoying.

Kind Regards,
Me

I agree with this, lad :pac::pac::pac:

Coat22

Mr Alan wrote: »

Really?

So that like what, puts Liverpool on a pedestal with Porto in terms of success over the past 10 years?

Oh hang on a minute, Porto have actually won 7 domestic titles and the UEFA cup since they won it. Oh Well.

Mitch Connor

So, cards on the table.

What business do you see united doing in the next 10 days, and where do you think we will finish?

I reckon it will be one average midfielder, Gaurin or Song or someone like that, and we will finish 5th.

RasTa

It's looking like Ballotelli is off to Liverpool, annoying and embarrassing to see them improving their squad after the departure of one of their key players.

They have signed 3 defenders, one CM, two wingers and 2 strikers.

ElChe32

Coat22 wrote: »

So that like what, puts Liverpool on a pedestal with Porto in terms of success over the past 10 years?

Oh hang on a minute, Porto have actually won 7 domestic titles and the UEFA cup since they won it. Oh Well.

Quick Mr.Alan
(01) 410 3000 for the Burns Unit at St.James' Hospital

kryogen

I think we will bring in a midfielder, who most of us will probably be underwhelmed with. To very different degrees. Who will hopefully provide the base for the more creative lads to work their magic

v3ttel

homerjay2005 wrote: »

What is growing though is match going fans are being asked to protest and boycott our next home game. It started on twitter, its making it way now to various papers and forums and with what scholes has said, thats going to escalate now.if there are no big signings, our next home game is going to be even more depressing than swansea.

Protest? Boycott? Sorry, this garbage has to be called.

We've had all our season tickets sell out completely, quicker than ever before: ( http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/box-office-louis-van-gaal-boosts-7415498 )

These are the same fans who were unbelievably supportive of David Moyes, who watched him suffer defeat after defeat at Old Trafford. They were supportive of him even though he had completely lost the plot by the end. The one time dissent was shown towards the manager last season with the plane above Old Trafford, they were widely condemned. When the plane flew over Old Trafford, there were chants of "You stick your f*cking banner up your arse"

So after one defeat, under a genuinely world class manager, there will be a boycott at Old Trafford? No, just no. This is nonsense of the highest order.

ElChe32

I for one do not want to see us going anywhere near Alex Song.

Maximus Alexander

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So, cards on the table.

What business do you see united doing in the next 10 days, and where do you think we will finish?

I reckon it will be one average midfielder, Gaurin or Song or someone like that, and we will finish 5th.

Not too dissimilar. I think either no more signings or one non-marquee. To finish 4th / 5th in the league.

RayCun

RasTa wrote: »

It's looking like Ballotelli is off to Liverpool, annoying and embarrassing to see them improving their squad after the departure of one of their key players.

They have signed 3 defenders, one CM, two wingers and 2 strikers.

And most of them mediocre. Balotelli is a good replacement for Suarez though, on the comedy headline front at least

Quandary

RasTa wrote: »

It's looking like Ballotelli is off to Liverpool, annoying and embarrassing to see them improving their squad after the departure of one of their key players.

They have signed 3 defenders, one CM, two wingers and 2 strikers.

Ballotelli could be more trouble than he's worth. When on song he is brilliant but the guy is unstable - and not the kind of unstable that still nets you 30 goals a season like suarez. I'm not sure if he has ever even scored more than 20 goals ina single season?

Kess73

Mod Post:

Right folks, my co mod left a warning post in this thread yesterday about the squabbling/sniping/backbiting and what not that is going on in this thread.

A few in here seem to think that warning does not apply to them and are trying their best to annoy others and make the thread a chore to use for others.

And the one or two who are trying to get rises in this thread and who are then going out of their way to try and report other posters who react have also come to my notice.

So the expectation is that some cop on to be applied from now.


I don't care if you are a long time user of this forum or a somewhat new poster. You continue with the inthread rubbish that has been ongoing for the past few days and you will be carded.

The thread is here for all to enjoy, and is not the playground of a small number who seem to revel in winding others up and then crying about it when the same is done back to them.

A robust back and forth between posters debating points is fine. Disagreeing strongly and attacking the content of the post in a constructive manner is fine.

Attempts at underhand snide comments are not, and whether folks realise it or not it does show up in your posting histories when you target the one poster over and over with snide digs.

It is nice and early in the season so if some people want to start building a card collection that will eventually lead to a ban, then just continue as you are, the forum will not miss you when you are gone.

So grow up. Learn to debate like an adult, and if you cannot do that, then figure out how to use the ignore function. But the rest of the users of this thread are not going to have to put up with the same small number of posters continuing their little spats for another season.

Tom.D.BJJ

RayCun wrote: »

And most of them mediocre. Balotelli is a good replacement for Suarez though, on the comedy headline front at least

Jesus wept!

30 goals in 54 games for Milan. He'll score a good few for L'pool as well.

They're having a much more effective transfer window than us anyway.

homerjay2005

Ben Jefferson, perhaps the only journalist to report that Rojo was a target all summer and well in advance of everybody else in last 2 weeks, has said this morning we are going for Alonso.

what do people think of that, if it came off?

Robson99

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So, cards on the table.

What business do you see united doing in the next 10 days, and where do you think we will finish?

I reckon it will be one average midfielder, Gaurin or Song or someone like that, and we will finish 5th.

Ya id pretty much be of the same opinion Mitch. Possibly bid for Alonso as probably wont get much game time at Real. 5th or 6th for me with the quality we have.

Mitch Connor

v3ttel wrote: »

We've had all our season tickets sell out completely, quicker than ever before: ( http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/box-office-louis-van-gaal-boosts-7415498 )

we started selling the tickets earlier, and had an earlier cut off date for sales, so the fact we sold them quicker (read earlier into the summer) than before is correct, but actually meaningless.

RasTa

Quandary wrote: »

Ballotelli could be more trouble than he's worth. When on song he is brilliant but the guy is unstable - and not the kind of unstable that still nets you 30 goals a season like suarez. I'm not sure if he has ever even scored more than 20 goals ina single season?

I'm more annoyed the fact they have improved their squad like most other teams in the PL and we did not before the season started. I'm still baffled that we have signed 1 CM.

adox

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So, cards on the table.

What business do you see united doing in the next 10 days, and where do you think we will finish?

I reckon it will be one average midfielder, Gaurin or Song or someone like that, and we will finish 5th.

If we sign another defender then I think we can possibly finish fourth, even with the midfield, although the absence of Carrick and Fellaini may see us dropping some more "easy" points in the early games.

I still think for the season we are short at the back and that could cost us a CL spot over the course of it.

Midfield no doubt is a major issue and has been. The defence took priority IMO with the departures in the summer and with LVG favouring three at the back. But the injuries to Carrick and Fellaini have made the MF as big a priority now probably.

Your Airbag

v3ttel wrote: »

Protest? Boycott? Sorry, this garbage has to be called.

We've had all our season tickets sell out completely, quicker than ever before: ( http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/box-office-louis-van-gaal-boosts-7415498 )

These are the same fans who were unbelievably supportive of David Moyes, who watched him suffer defeat after defeat at Old Trafford. They were supportive of him even though he had completely lost the plot by the end. The one time dissent was shown towards the manager last season with the plane above Old Trafford, they were widely condemned. When the plane flew over Old Trafford, there were chants of "You stick your f*cking banner up your arse"

So after one defeat, under a genuinely world class manager, there will be a boycott at Old Trafford? No, just no. This is nonsense of the highest order.

Well said

That plane stunt was seriously cringe worthy. One game in and talks of protests and boycotts? This people are seriously embarrasing. I mean organising a plane to fly over your own stadium with a message against your manager, I still can't beleive they thought it was a good idea. Its always the minoritys that shout the loudest to try and push their views accross.

Mitch Connor

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Ben Jefferson, perhaps the only journalist to report that Rojo was a target all summer and well in advance of everybody else in last 2 weeks, has said this morning we are going for Alonso.

what do people think of that, if it came off?

not a good enough signing, imo. will be great for retention of the ball, and use of it - but not help significantly in getting it back, which is really a big problem. our midfield get bypassed and cut through too easily, and he wouldn't change that much.

Robson99

v3ttel wrote: »

Protest? Boycott? Sorry, this garbage has to be called.

We've had all our season tickets sell out completely, quicker than ever before: ( http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/box-office-louis-van-gaal-boosts-7415498 )

These are the same fans who were unbelievably supportive of David Moyes, who watched him suffer defeat after defeat at Old Trafford. They were supportive of him even though he had completely lost the plot by the end. The one time dissent was shown towards the manager last season with the plane above Old Trafford, they were widely condemned. When the plane flew over Old Trafford, there were chants of "You stick your f*cking banner up your arse"

So after one defeat, under a genuinely world class manager, there will be a boycott at Old Trafford? No, just no. This is nonsense of the highest order.

These are the same fans who were promised money would be spent, top players brought in club wouldn't slip etc etc. This is not nonsense. Its reality. In eds famous words ‘watch this space‘

FortuneChip

Mitch Connor wrote: »

not a good enough signing, imo. will be great for retention of the ball, and use of it - but not help significantly in getting it back, which is really a big problem. our midfield get bypassed and cut through too easily, and he wouldn't change that much.

Would he free up Herrera to do the chasing?
Herrera seems to love a good challenge, but I think he had to cover for Fletcher too much against Swansea.

homerjay2005

v3ttel wrote: »

Protest? Boycott? Sorry, this garbage has to be called.

We've had all our season tickets sell out completely, quicker than ever before: ( http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/box-office-louis-van-gaal-boosts-7415498 )

These are the same fans who were unbelievably supportive of David Moyes, who watched him suffer defeat after defeat at Old Trafford. They were supportive of him even though he had completely lost the plot by the end. The one time dissent was shown towards the manager last season with the plane above Old Trafford, they were widely condemned. When the plane flew over Old Trafford, there were chants of "You stick your f*cking banner up your arse"

So after one defeat, under a genuinely world class manager, there will be a boycott at Old Trafford? No, just no. This is nonsense of the highest order.

errm, i get the impression you are attacking me here though several times in the past few days, ive already said the boycott and protests will do no good for the club and i dont agree with it..

can you clarify who exacly that garbage and nonsense jibes are aimed at?

and its nothing to do with Van Gaal or one game, its 5 or 6 years of ineptness under the current board thats the problem - this is all about the transfer policy within out club so calm down there a little and ease off on the dramatics.

dahat

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Ben Jefferson, perhaps the only journalist to report that Rojo was a target all summer and well in advance of everybody else in last 2 weeks, has said this morning we are going for Alonso.

what do people think of that, if it came off?

Is he just a fancier version of Carrick? Still no one to make a bloody tackle on midfield.

adox

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Ben Jefferson, perhaps the only journalist to report that Rojo was a target all summer and well in advance of everybody else in last 2 weeks, has said this morning we are going for Alonso.

what do people think of that, if it came off?

Ideally it's probably a couple of years too late but I'd still take him in a heartbeat. Would be a huge improvement on most if not all that we have at the moment.

He would only be a short term solution but if that meant the difference between getting and not getting a CL position then it would be a no brainer.

bullvine

Alonso make sense, adds a bit of experience to the team until maybe Strootman is available.

TheTownie

Benatia not training it seems.

Omid Zamani ‏@Juventus__fan 49s
AS Roma are now training in Trigoria, #Benatia isn't on the field 'again', #gds reports #Benatia has decided, he wants to leave #Roma

twam2008

If we can get a defensive midfielder I think we could make a push for fourth, but that's on the basis that it gives Mata and Herrera the freedom they need, we'll also need RVP to available for the majority of games, would like to think we could see an improvement in Welbeck too this season.

magnumbud

at alonsos age its not a move i would get excited about. we already have carrick for his age and role would rather move for someone much younger

Quandary

RasTa wrote: »

I'm still baffled that we have signed 1 CM.

I hear that!

Hopefully we'll see a centre mid come in over the next week. The club can't afford not to sign one given our circumstances.

TheTownie

As expected, Doyen going after Sporting.

Sport Witness ‏@Sport_Witness 1m
Doyen now want €18.75m from Sporting for Rojo deal and will go to CAS to get it.

RayCun

Tom.D.BJJ wrote: »

30 goals in 54 games for Milan. He'll score a good few for L'pool as well.

First season - 12 goals in 13 league games, great
second season 14 in 30, not so great
and he is the penalty taker for the team which boosts those figures

Your Airbag

Robson99 wrote: »

These are the same fans who were promised money would be spent, top players brought in club wouldn't slip etc etc. This is not nonsense. Its reality. In eds famous words ‘watch this space‘

Money has been spent and top players have been brought in. You think Ed doesn't want to spend? Do you actually think he doesn't want to bring in top players and be a fans hero?

The manager has to indicate the player he wants first. The player has to want to join us and not go to Spain. The Selling club has to want to sell and the agent has to not try to screw us on the deal. I'm sure if LVG wanted Bale, CR7 and they wanted to come Ed would have no problem handing over the money. Its not coming out of his wages after all.

Mitch Connor

FortuneChip wrote: »

Would he free up Herrera to do the chasing?
Herrera seems to love a good challenge, but I think he had to cover for Fletcher too much against Swansea.

I don't want Herrera to do the chasing though. the kid has a quality tough, vision and range of passing - we need to free him up to do that, not chase after Yaya Toure or whoever all the time.

I love the herrera does get stuck in, and we will need him too - but imo it should be a bonus to his creative stuff. we need, imo, him to be in position to link with Mata and the forward players quickly.

I would like to see Herrera play like scholes did when Keane was still near the top of his game - getting stuck and and doing defensive work, but not being THE player to do it.

Vidal or Strootman would be my top targets - though neither a anchor man midfielder, which I don't actually want. Both would be the more defensive player in the midfield pairing with Herrrea. Carvalho or De Jong would do me either. though de jong would be underwhelming really, he would fill a specific need, imo, well.

homerjay2005

Mitch Connor wrote: »

So, cards on the table.

What business do you see united doing in the next 10 days, and where do you think we will finish?

I reckon it will be one average midfielder, Gaurin or Song or someone like that, and we will finish 5th.

there is one big signing coming, there has to be - Woodward will be demoted out of the CE role if he doesnt, he is under too much pressure and he will have to deliver it. Di Maria is likely.

after that, i think there will be a second but no idea who or what type - Daley Blind perhaps.

if i am wrong on the above, i think another season of scrambling for Europa league is coming, though perhaps it would then be rectified in january.

if van Gaal gets us 4th place with one of the worst squads in years , the man deserves a knighthood.

if i am right, i think Di maria and Blind would rise us up a level and we would be decent for top 4 anyway and hopefully then get Strootman in January, before a big spending spree when addidas deal kicks in.

TheDoc

Unfortunately the Rojo signing hasnt lifted fan spirits as one would expect.

Really is crunch time for Woodward, and I think the limelight is FIRMLY on him at this point now. And rightly so.

Lessons clearly havn't been learned from last year. More quality signings have past us by.

There is plenty of talk about Rojo is one of two signings the club expected to close in a 7 day period, the second one soon to follow. Can't for the life of me see past it being Blind.

I notice the narrative in the UK media is firmly circling on Woodward, and there is some commentary on while Moyes took the bullet last season, there is a good arguement that Woodward was largely to blame.

A friend of mine working in the UK press indicated his paper already have a piece on standby, should United fail to flatter in the closing days in the window. He didn't give me much detail, bar what I already knew. Moyes indicated to Woodward early on signings were needed, and this caught the club totally on the hop, as they had bought into Ferguson and Gills "This team can challenge for years".

Also mentioned there is a seperate piece where if the close of the window does go well, he will still get a lashing, for leaving what should have been done over a month ago, down to the last two weeks. Where most likely United are going to have to overpay, similar to the Fellaini line.

Can't imagine anything spectatular happening, Blind, that's about it my gut tells me. And then probably a pursuit of Strootman in January.


A string of victories could go a long way of masking what has been, and I can't deny it, another floundering, disappointing window. Even if something mindblowing happens, ramming our business this late is pretty poor stuff, especially after the spirits and momentum built with LVg, then Herrera, then Shaw. That was the time to KEEP going with signings, with the pre-season buzz.

magnumbud

bullvine wrote: »

Alonso make sense, adds a bit of experience to the team until maybe Strootman is available.

didnt think of it that way. as long as he wasnt given a long deal and we moved heaven and earth for strootman in january

ericzeking

dahat wrote: »

Is he just a fancier version of Carrick? Still no one to make a bloody tackle on midfield.

Tackling is not our priority in my opinion, we have plenty of the ball, we had plenty of the ball last season, it's how we've been using it has been the problem. Alonso can take it from the centre halves at his leisure and use it properly. Anyway Alonso isn't shy in a tackle either and neither does Herrera appear to be.

I always thought he was class, Liverpool or no Liverpool, he is a player I would have loved to see at United.
Though I must confess I've always liked Carrick too, so you might be onto something!

Mitch Connor

RayCun wrote: »

First season - 12 goals in 13 league games, great
second season 14 in 30, not so great
and he is the penalty taker for the team which boosts those figures

Milan are crap though - in a team which is far better offensively, and will create more for him, he will do very well. would suit the liverpool style very well, imo.

RayCun

magnumbud wrote: »

at alonsos age its not a move i would get excited about. we already have carrick for his age and role would rather move for someone much younger

+1 He's basically a Spanish Carrick. Good positioning, good passing, but no pace and no tackling

Hococop

TheTownie wrote: »

Benatia not training it seems.

haha we have no simple transfer do we (of course this could be false)

as for Alonso not a hope in hell we he sign for us, talking to one of my friends who supports liverpool told me how he still loves the club, still buys the kits for his kids, i cant see him joining us and destroy his reputation with them but i have to admit it would be funny to see it happen

Robson99

Alonso would be an upgrade on Fletcher Carrick cleverly and Ando but we still need a Vidal or similar

TheDoc

TheTownie wrote: »

Benatia not training it seems.

Not sure if it was posted here, but there is a common theme this morning in Italian journalists reporting on Twitter, that he has rejected a a new deal from Roma, and has indicated he wishes to leave the club.

The only club they seemed confident to claim he would go to, was United. I don't believe this personally, but it would be a nice surprise I guess.

dahat

ericzeking wrote: »

Tackling is not our priority in my opinion, we have plenty of the ball, we had plenty of the ball last season, it's how we've been using it has been the problem. Alonso can take it from the centre halves at his leisure and use it properly. Anyway Alonso isn't shy in a tackle either and neither does Herrera appear to be.

I always thought he was class, Liverpool or no Liverpool, he is a player I would have loved to see at United.
Though I must confess I've always liked Carrick too, so you might be onto something!

imagine Alonso and Carrick in the middle, no thanks. We should look further afield than Alonso, Nov would be an ideal temp fit

Mitch Connor

TheDoc wrote: »

Not sure if it was posted here, but there is a common theme this morning in Italian journalists reporting on Twitter, that he has rejected a a new deal from Roma, and has indicated he wishes to leave the club.

The only club they seemed confident to claim he would go to, was United. I don't believe this personally, but it would be a nice surprise I guess.

I thought Bayern, and especially Chelsea were being considered far more likely.

i'd be over the moon if we got him (in terms of getting that CB role sorted)

Adamocovic

Wow bit of a depressing read catching up to what I've missed this morning, would rather have watched Schindler's List.

Would it be safe to say there won't be any transfers made soon enough to play on Sunday, and by the looks of things we will probably only make one more signing before the window is closed.

TheDoc

Also re: Alonso, I'd happily take him onboard with open arms. A nice replacement for Carrick in the short term, but bags of experience, a cool head, and he is just a gorgous distributor of the ball.

With Modric landing a new deal, Kroos arrival, pressure on Ancelloti to utlise Illerminardi (please someone spell that for me), Khedira and Alonso look very much in the lurch.

Would snap both of them up if I'm honest. Khedira has impressed me ever since he came onto the WC scene with Germany, and he is a typically undervalued player at Madrid, who's fanbase seem to be completely oblivious to the necessity of having a good DM.

A final burst landing Rojo, Alonso and Khedira would be VERY impressive. To me anyway. That's bringing in massive experience and quality. Still, feel it will be Blind