Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2015 Mod Note Post #2331

Mitch Connor · 05-02-2016 11:34am

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Yes, I Ageuro in Manchester is not surprising at all. City through silly money at him. He wasn't playing for the best side in the world with the best player in the world. A much easier draw. Why on earth would he swap what he has for a rain-soaked city for a club in rapid decline? It defies logic and is only looks possible to a deluded sports fan.

So aguero couldn't have got himself a move to Barcelona or Madrid in the last couple of years if he had wanted a change?

City threw silly money at him - like the silly money they (and United) might be willing to throw Neymars way?

Also, I said City were more likely to get him. Still, would be manchester.

Pro. F · 05-02-2016 11:35am

M!Ck^ wrote: »

No I will deny because my opinion differs from yours. Your obssesed with the thought that the number of chances created are the escence of a high standard of attack.

Number and quality of chances created is a better measure of how an attack is performing than anything you have suggested.

Conversion rates as a measure of striker form (which you keep bringing up) has been shown by the stat heads to be hugely variable and so meaningless when looked at in samples of less than a few hundred shots (which would take a few seasons to accrue).

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Also you have reworded your opinions slightly as you initially pointed out in the majority of matches quantity of chances amounted to good or poor form for the front men and in particular Rooney, which i dont agree with.
To note: Quantity and quality are not in line as I have always stated.

This is a lie. I've always said that quantity and quality is important. In fact, I was talking about United's expected goals (which is a qualitative measure of chances created) back in October.

M!Ck^ wrote: »

And to add to that, If quality chances fall to out of form players the goals will be not be scored either.
Rooneys form was always the main cause of concern for me last year. When LVG calls for his main striker and captain to lead the line I trust what he says. Not his fault Rooney goes through these piss poor patchs of dire touch and **** all link / hold up play. Chances fell to him and he fluffed them.

You keep stuffing your fingers in your ears and repeating yourself, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Good lad.

bangkok · 05-02-2016 11:36am

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Yes, I Ageuro in Manchester is not surprising at all. City through silly money at him. He wasn't playing for the best side in the world with the best player in the world. A much easier draw. Why on earth would he swap what he has for a rain-soaked city for a club in rapid decline? It defies logic and is only looks possible to a deluded sports fan.

because they could sell it to him that he will be the new face of Manchester United that brings us back to the top of the game. The new "project"

Lord TSC · 05-02-2016 11:47am

bangkok wrote: »

because they could sell it to him that he will be the new face of Manchester United that brings us back to the top of the game. The new "project"

IIRC, this was one of the main things we've been pitching to players; that when players like Schweinsteiger and DiMaria signed, jerseys with their names sold in much, much greater volume. Pitching to someone like Neymar that he could be THE star at the club for the next few years, the player we revolve our branding round, could be tempting.

v3ttel · 05-02-2016 11:57am

IamtheWalrus wrote: »

Why on earth would he swap what he has for a rain-soaked city for a club in rapid decline?.

Cookie_Dough · 05-02-2016 12:01pm

bangkok wrote: »

you couldn't live with Neymar over Mata :eek:

seriously Neymar is one of the best players in the world right now and in another 2-3 years will be the best player in the world. He is a genius.

He is only 24 and is already the 5th highest Brazilian International scorer of all time.

also if you think he is too lightweight for the premier league you should watch a few El Clasico's or watch when Barca play Athletico. They kick lumps out of him and he gets up and goes again, even stronger and better.

would be incredible if he signed for us

Yeah I edited my post as I initially didn't register the bit about Neymar

I don't know, there's just something about Neymar that I don't like. I'm sure he would be a great player for us but I find it difficult to believe he would stick around long term. Other than money obviously, Why leave Barca who (lets face it) have a far better chance of winning trophies both in Europe and domestically than we do. Why would he move from Champions League football (potentially winning it this year) to playing in Europa League with us. 4th spot will be tight for us IMO.

05-02-2016 12:04pm

v3ttel wrote: »

Yep, we are now the Anzhi Makhachkala of north-west England!

Nalz · 05-02-2016 12:27pm

Pro. F wrote: »

Good lad.

He's a great lad actually :cool:

yeeeeeeooooohhhhh

bangkok · 05-02-2016 12:48pm

Cookie_Dough wrote: »

Yeah I edited my post as I initially didn't register the bit about Neymar

I don't know, there's just something about Neymar that I don't like. I'm sure he would be a great player for us but I find it difficult to believe he would stick around long term. Other than money obviously, Why leave Barca who (lets face it) have a far better chance of winning trophies both in Europe and domestically than we do. Why would he move from Champions League football (potentially winning it this year) to playing in Europa League with us. 4th spot will be tight for us IMO.

Cookie_Dough · 05-02-2016 1:10pm

bangkok wrote: »

I said other than money in my OP :P:D

Let's see how it pans out with LvG. Hopefully we will win a trophy and he will "step down" having fulfilled his aim of silverware. We really should be making the most of the handy FA Cup draw!

RobertKK · 05-02-2016 1:12pm

The Neymar family own all the branding rights to Neymar so a move to United would really drive revenue for the Neymar family, far more so than Barcelona due to United's larger fan base.

The Neymars would know he would be the number 1 player in England, and he would likely be number 1 in the world for shirt sales.
Number 1 in the world for most expensive player in any sport in world history. more exposure for the Neymar brand.

One could argue Neymar Sr is using United to tell the Spanish if he gets a bad outcome with their tax issues, he is leaving, which is what he did yesterday when he went off track when he was being questioned in court and mentioned they had an offer for Neymar.
On the otherhand the Neymar's would need an alternative if things go bad as Neymar sr said last November:
"We shouldn't be having to put up with this uncertainty regarding our taxes and whether we are going about things in the right way,"

"It's not easy for us because we're getting it from all sides, from both the Brazilian and the Spanish tax systems.

"We're speaking with all of these parties to try to work out how we should deal with this issue, because what we don't want is to still be in Spain two, three, four, five or 10 years down the line and to then receive a nasty surprise which would be unjust.

"We own the Neymar brand, which has been running as a business since 2006 from Brazil, and we need the peace of mind that comes from knowing that everything is in order.

"We need to do things properly, and ascertain whether in Spain we'll be allowed to carry out our work."

btw Messi's father could be facing jail over his son's tax affairs, I am sure that is something Neymar Sr wants to avoid at all costs.
In the Messi case, the prosecutors rejected a plea to drop the case against Messi Sr last October, and he could be getting up to 22 months in jail.

They also said Messi himself should be investigated as his signature was on some of the papers in the tax fraud case.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34478784

This is why the Neymar's might look to leave Spain this summer. It is all getting a bit too hot there.

bucketybuck · 05-02-2016 1:13pm

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Thing is, if Neymar is on the move in the summer - I see him at City far more readily than I see him at United. sure, they don't have the brand advantage, but I can see the City people being far more willing and able to throw the cash that will be required at it. He has spoken about wanting to play for Pep too - so it is far more likely he goes to City, imo.

I agree. Yes there is the brand based on history and prestige, but there is also the brand based on current exposure and profile. United have history and prestige but City are going to be very high profile in the near future, signing the likes of Guardiola splashes their name on a lot of headlines and winning leagues and cups gets their name on a lot of headlines. If Pep gets them going in Europe their name will be everywhere, it might not be long term but for the next few years their brand could be just as loud as any of the old guard.

As Neymar enters his prime does he want his brand to be linked with the sleeping giant or with the flash new kid on the block? For that 3/4 year period I suspect the smart move would be to go with City, his brand benefits more from winning Champions leagues with Pep and City than from helping Van Gaal and United to 4th place.

bangkok · 05-02-2016 1:22pm

bucketybuck wrote: »

I agree. Yes there is the brand based on history and prestige, but there is also the brand based on current exposure and profile. United have history and prestige but City are going to be very high profile in the near future, signing the likes of Guardiola splashes their name on a lot of headlines and winning leagues and cups gets their name on a lot of headlines. If Pep gets them going in Europe their name will be everywhere, it might not be long term but for the next few years their brand could be just as loud as any of the old guard.

As Neymar enters his prime does he want his brand to be linked with the sleeping giant or with the flash new kid on the block? For that 3/4 year period I suspect the smart move would be to go with City, his brand benefits more from winning Champions leagues with Pep and City than from helping Van Gaal and United to 4th place.

they can get all the exposure they want, they still cant fill their stadium every Saturday.....Suckers :pac:

Lord TSC · 05-02-2016 1:40pm

When is the press conference for the Chelsea game? I can imagine there'll be fireworks with the rumours of Jose....

jayo26 · 05-02-2016 1:46pm

bucketybuck wrote: »

As Neymar enters his prime does he want his brand to be linked with the sleeping giant or with the flash new kid on the block? For that 3/4 year period I suspect the smart move would be to go with City, his brand benefits more from winning Champions leagues with Pep and City than from helping Van Gaal and United to 4th place.

In fairness if united signed neymar we would not be a sleeping giant yeh one player dont make a team but there is noway we would just sign neymar this summer and not address other positions in the squad.

And I think he would be helping us to more then 4th spot we have a better team then just scrambling for 4th we just need to get a fuken manager in to get the most out of them and with a few additions we would be up there with city no problem.

Cities squad has alot of problems too i know they have loads of money to throw at it but that dont work always.

Aguero is injury prone to an extent he misses alot of games.

There defence is all over the place kompany is always injured lately and none the rest of em are worth depending on.

They have de bruyne who in undoubtedly talented but does go missing in alot of games as does sterling.

They have alot of work to do to get to world domination that everyone is predicting.

I would still say that neymar does not want to leave barca so we won't have to worry about him at city in the near future.

Vic Vinegar · 05-02-2016 1:46pm

Lord TSC wrote: »

When is the press conference for the Chelsea game? I can imagine there'll be fireworks with the rumours of Jose....

I think it's around 3pm or 4pm, not 100% though.

Trigger · 05-02-2016 1:50pm

Lord TSC wrote: »

When is the press conference for the Chelsea game? I can imagine there'll be fireworks with the rumours of Jose....

Ballague has been talking:

https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague/status/695553637997768704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Lord TSC · 05-02-2016 1:52pm

astradave wrote: »

Ballague has been talking:

https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague/status/695553637997768704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Admire that tweet. Literally can be pointed to as a "I told you so" no matter what the outcome is.

jose signs? "I told you they were talking!"
Jose doesn't sign? "I told you they were only talking"

RobbieTheRobber · 05-02-2016 1:57pm

RobertKK wrote: »

They also said Messi himself should be investigated as his signature was on some of the papers in the tax fraud case.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34478784

This is why the Neymar's might look to leave Spain this summer. It is all getting a bit too hot there.

Well if they stay within the EU they can still be extradited back to Spain, so moving to England wouldn't just make the jail threat disappear.

brinty · 05-02-2016 2:17pm

astradave wrote: »

Ballague has been talking:

https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague/status/695553637997768704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Why do we keep quoting this absolute twat who's about as reliable as a stopped clock..
for every hundred tweets he sends out he gets 99 and a half wrong..

DARK-KNIGHT · 05-02-2016 2:21pm

Any money talked about for neymar should be invested elsewhere we need speed and players to put fear into teams then it's bale or Ronnie for me all day long.

I also think Jose will draw big names and get business done quickly if he signs for us.. Well here's hoping

Hope pep is shown up at city. Two massive clubs two amazing teams and now getting the toy with endless funds that is the city...

killwill · 05-02-2016 2:24pm

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

Any money talked about for neymar should be invested elsewhere we need speed and players to put fear into teams then it's bale or Ronnie for me all day long.

I also think Jose will draw big names and get business done quickly if he signs for us.. Well here's hoping

Hope pep is shown up at city. Two massive clubs two amazing teams and now getting the toy with endless funds that is the city...

I love Ronaldo as much as any United fan but he is 31 now.
While he will always be a quick player, he is certain to lose some of his pace, IMO he has already lost a bit.
Plus as quick players get older the tend to get injured too.
I think buying Ronaldo, especially for the money needed to do so would be a poor investment.

KH25 · 05-02-2016 2:24pm

brinty wrote: »

Why do we keep quoting this absolute twat who's about as reliable as a stopped clock..
for every hundred tweets he sends out he gets 99 and a half wrong..

Did we ever get that deposit on Falcao back??

TheDoc · 05-02-2016 2:26pm

RobertKK wrote: »

The Neymar family own all the branding rights to Neymar so a move to United would really drive revenue for the Neymar family, far more so than Barcelona due to United's larger fan base.

The Neymars would know he would be the number 1 player in England, and he would likely be number 1 in the world for shirt sales.
Number 1 in the world for most expensive player in any sport in world history. more exposure for the Neymar brand.

One could argue Neymar Sr is using United to tell the Spanish if he gets a bad outcome with their tax issues, he is leaving, which is what he did yesterday when he went off track when he was being questioned in court and mentioned they had an offer for Neymar.
On the otherhand the Neymar's would need an alternative if things go bad as Neymar sr said last November:
"We shouldn't be having to put up with this uncertainty regarding our taxes and whether we are going about things in the right way,"

"It's not easy for us because we're getting it from all sides, from both the Brazilian and the Spanish tax systems.

"We're speaking with all of these parties to try to work out how we should deal with this issue, because what we don't want is to still be in Spain two, three, four, five or 10 years down the line and to then receive a nasty surprise which would be unjust.

"We own the Neymar brand, which has been running as a business since 2006 from Brazil, and we need the peace of mind that comes from knowing that everything is in order.

"We need to do things properly, and ascertain whether in Spain we'll be allowed to carry out our work."

btw Messi's father could be facing jail over his son's tax affairs, I am sure that is something Neymar Sr wants to avoid at all costs.
In the Messi case, the prosecutors rejected a plea to drop the case against Messi Sr last October, and he could be getting up to 22 months in jail.

They also said Messi himself should be investigated as his signature was on some of the papers in the tax fraud case.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34478784

This is why the Neymar's might look to leave Spain this summer. It is all getting a bit too hot there.

Really good analysis. Also worth noting there is a massively growing murmur in Spain rumbling on from the recession, at Footballers and sports start getting away with tax fraud.

These cases are really only even being pushed through due to that pressure from their recession and bailout, whereby it was highlighted there is a blind eye turned to outstanding tax's from top sports starts that is of a sizable portion.

One thing is for sure,there is a group of accountants at Barcalona whose careers are in tatters and could well be getting a civil lawsuit.

Mascherano, Messi, Neymar, rumours of others in the squad. Pretty shocking that a "big" club can't get their players finances in order. Although probably fits nicely in the shady Barcalona reteric

TheDoc · 05-02-2016 2:31pm

brinty wrote: »

Why do we keep quoting this absolute twat who's about as reliable as a stopped clock..
for every hundred tweets he sends out he gets 99 and a half wrong..

Cause he has one of the biggest networks of sources in Spain. He has made a career, and a pretty succesfull one, based of being the guy "ITK" on La Liga, for English audiences.

Of course he get's some things wrong, but he is actually right and spot on about a lot of stuff. For most though, they only circle in on when he is speaking about big name managers or players, or something to do with United.

Appreciate why he gets flak, but he frequently puts his reputation on the line when writing numerous articles and speaking frankly with Sky, and I appreciate that, and give him the benefit of the doubt when he is wrong, that something just changed quickly.

His disconnect with the UK press is also good imo, as at times when they are running big rumors, he happily squashes them. And anyone that makes a fool of Neil Custis and Steve Bates frequently, has my support.

Liam McPoyle · 05-02-2016 2:33pm

Lads with all this preempting Jose joining us, ye are setting yourselves up for a massive disappointment when Giggsy gets the job.

Don't do it to yourselves!

Trigger · 05-02-2016 3:03pm

Business Cat wrote: »

Lads with all this preempting Jose joining us, ye are setting yourselves up for a massive disappointment when Giggsy gets the job.

Don't do it to yourselves!

Sometimes a gif says a thousand words

brinty · 05-02-2016 3:20pm

Business Cat wrote: »

Lads with all this preempting Jose joining us, ye are setting yourselves up for a massive disappointment when Giggsy gets the job.

Don't do it to yourselves!

Exactly this BC...
I'm not getting excited about any managerial changes at all and expect to be disappointed when LVG steps down and Giggs gets the job with no track record

grames_bond · 05-02-2016 3:45pm

Capri sun marketing team on the ball - after that "article" in the paper of memphis doing his shopping they sent him some free boxes!

https://twitter.com/Memphis/status/695618543350632448

Rayne Wooney · 05-02-2016 3:51pm

I get the feeling Van Gaal wouldn't stick around if the club were hiring Mourinho behind his back

Difficult to make sense of the rumours

Chagan · 05-02-2016 3:52pm

Business Cat wrote: »

Lads with all this preempting Jose joining us, ye are setting yourselves up for a massive disappointment when Giggsy gets the job.

Don't do it to yourselves!

You can be sure that the board will spend all summer soul-searching about whether he's the right man just to watch him take an international job after the Euros.

At which point we'll appoint Giggs and Ed will give the "we were never interested" briefing.

ShaneU · 05-02-2016 4:04pm

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/695622930827493377

laughed so hard at this

Mars Bar · 05-02-2016 4:18pm

They must have gotten someone new to run the Twitter account coz they reply to loads of tweets from fans now.

jayo26 · 05-02-2016 4:25pm

Mars Bar wrote: »

They must have gotten someone new to run the Twitter account coz they reply to loads of tweets from fans now.

Its probably an autobot.

StringerBell · 05-02-2016 4:26pm

Nice to see Valdes says he has no ill feeling or grudge against Van Gaal after their latest falling out, praising him for giving him the chance to recover from injury, play again after the injury and indeed finding him at the age of 20 and telling him he wanted him for his first team even at that age.

Hope he continues to rebuild his career and everybody can move on finally

StringerBell · 05-02-2016 4:26pm

Nice to see Valdes says he has no ill feeling or grudge against Van Gaal after their latest falling out, praising him for giving him the chance to recover from injury, play again after the injury and indeed finding him at the age of 20 and telling him he wanted him for his first team even at that age.

Hope he continues to rebuild his career and everybody can move on finally

RobertKK · 05-02-2016 4:26pm

Well, Rooney has been in ninja form recently.

Maximus Alexander · 05-02-2016 4:27pm

jayo26 wrote: »

Its probably an autobot.

Huh? You mean like...

latest?cb=20140717153656&path-prefix=protagonist

05-02-2016 4:28pm

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

I get the feeling Van Gaal wouldn't stick around if the club were hiring Mourinho behind his back

Difficult to make sense of the rumours

According to numerous reports, L.V.G. offered his resignation after the bad run of results over Christmas. If there is a shred of truth in that, the fact that he is still in charge suggests that his offer to step down wasn't accepted. Maybe a compromise was reached in which L.V.G. agreed to see out the current season, still giving him his wish to get out early but giving time for the club to seek and secure his replacement.

All rumours though, many of which can be found online. Lots of people, fans and journos alike, will be putting 2+2 together and getting 5 over the next few weeks.

Let's assume for a moment that none of the above holds any truth - L.V.G. did not offer his resignation and is still happy to see out his 3 years at the club. The man has repeatedly stated that this is his last job and will retire once his 3 years are up. Forgetting about current results and the 'L.V.G. Out' sentiment, the club needs to be thinking long term and the fact is that this time next year we would need to be looking for his replacement anyway. By then though, Jose Mourinho will be at another club and who knows what our choices would be. Guardiola, Klopp and Ancelloti would not be available. Surely Van Gaal would understand the business and stakes at play and not be surprised to see the United board move on a manager (Jose) this Summer for the future of the club. L.V.G. might not like it, but I'm sure he would understand it and would be financially compensated also.

I think at this stage he will 'stick around' pretty much no matter what until the end of the current season. Once he wasn't let go in December, I reckon plans are currently underway to see a smooth managerial transition in the Summer, with all parties in agreement much like the City/Guardiola/Pellegrini situation. This is me giving the United higher-ups credit that I wouldn't have given them a few days ago. But there are too many reports about contact between the club and Mourinho for me to dismiss as pure fabrications, and hopefully they are in fact doing something about the current stagnation at the club.

jayo26 · 05-02-2016 4:31pm

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Huh? You mean like...

Hell yes

Korat · 05-02-2016 4:34pm

jayo26 wrote: »

Its probably an autobot.

A robot in disguise?

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2peppehON-3PoHN_TwMAXNGS339GA7kPbXilLZLNoidIcSlonRA

Trigger · 05-02-2016 4:46pm

Good interview with Chico here:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/sport/football/premierleague/article4683011.ece

its behind a paywall so i have quoted it below

Javier Hernández tells Rory Smith, in Leverkusen, how being typecast at Manchester United held back his career.

Even as life on Manchester United’s bench started to pall, even as the frustration started to bubble up inside him and his patience began to wear thin, Javier Hernández never so much as contemplated taking what he always saw as the easy, lazy path. “It is easy to say you don’t want to train, to tweet or put a picture on Instagram because you are not playing, to fight with a manager,” he says.

“The easy path is for people who don’t care. Some people fight in a bad way, but that is not how I see the world. It is harder to be professional, to be patient, but that is what I like. You have to swallow it. You have to keep working even without something coming. You have to be quiet when you feel like shouting.”

Over the past six months, Hernández has found his voice in quite some style. His form since Bayer Leverkusen paid £7.3 million to extract him from Old Trafford last August has been less of a shout and more of a scream, a pent-up howl of release. In 24 appearances this season, he has scored 21 goals. At one point, he had 15 in the space of 12 games. He has been voted the Bundesliga’s player of the month three times in a row.

The echoes have carried all the way back to Old Trafford. With every goal Hernández has scored, Louis van Gaal’s decision to let the Mexico striker slip away looks an increasingly damning error of judgment and his apparent desire to go through the season with only two senior forwards — Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial — seems more and more baffling.

There is no shortage of United fans who regard the friendly, intelligent 27-year-old sitting in the canteen at the BayArena as the solution to the chronic toothlessness that has so plagued them this season, plenty who have come to believe that Hernández’s presence might even have prevented the rumblings of a mutiny rooted in boredom infecting Old Trafford.

Hernández, of course, is far too humble to say that. He has been following his old team’s waning fortunes closely. He watched the 3-0 victory against Stoke City — “a good game, the first goals in the first half for quite a long time” — and he stays in touch with many of his former team-mates: he has still not broken the habit, for example, of referring to Wayne Rooney exclusively as “Wazza”. He is touched, too, by his absence having made so many United hearts grow fonder. “I appreciate that the fans wanted me to stay,” he says.

He knows, though, that it was not quite that simple. He knows that, by last summer, the time had come to make a choice. “I was happy there,” he says. “If the coach had told me I would be his No 1 striker, I would never have left.

“But I wanted to play. I looked for the team for three years. I focused on being there, on working, on being a good team-mate, on being ready. [It was the time] to look for myself, to look at my own goals. The fans wanted me to stay, but they wanted me to stay as a back-up. I did not want to wait any more.”

He had grown used to waiting at United. Early in his career in England, Sir Alex Ferguson compared the Mexican to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He meant it in terms of his predatory instinct, his movement in the box, but it came to stand for something else. Hernández became typecast as a super-sub, a lethal weapon to be kept in reserve, just like the Norwegian. The parallel flatters him, even now, but he accepts it cast a shadow, too.

“It was amazing that he compared me with a player who is such a legend at that club,” Hernández says. He picks his words carefully, but when he has chosen them they come out in a great rush. “But it definitely held me back, that reputation, definitely. I can’t speak for Ole but I think he was happy with that role. People thought I was, too, but I wasn’t. I was not happy being on the bench. “One of the reasons Sir Alex was the best coach in history was because he knew how to manage a big squad. He knew how to make you feel important even if you were not No 1. That is why Ole was happy. I was doing good things off the bench, and that was good for me at the time and good for the team, but it would have been a mistake for the long term.

“Of course, when I was [a substitute], I was doing good things off the bench. I was not going to go on to the pitch for 15 minutes and not do my best. That was the only 15 minutes I had in one week: that was my time. But it was not because I was better coming from the bench than starting.

“In football, you need to know there are some roles, but nobody wants to be on the bench, in any job. A lawyer wants cases, he does not want to wait and wait to present a case. You want to write articles. Imagine if they told you to wait two, three, four weeks before writing your next one. It is the same in any profession. I wanted to play.”

Rather than bearing a grudge towards Van Gaal for not offering him that opportunity, Hernández is grateful to the Dutchman. “He was honest,” he explains. “In the first few weeks, he spoke to me and said he saw a good future, that I would have more chances than normal. It made me feel I could play. But then, after the start of the season, he told me he was thinking Wazza would be his No 1. “He said I would be No 2, but that the reality was that if Wazza got injured or was out for any reason, when he came back he would play [no matter how well I had done]. It was 99 per cent likely I would not be first choice. He was clear. That was his idea, and we have to be respectful of that. We decided that if a good offer came, I would take it.”

That is where Leverkusen came in. The German side had first inquired about Hernández at the end of his loan spell at Real Madrid last season; they were first in the queue of suitors when he became available again. It has proved the perfect setting, Hernández’s energy fitting neatly into the high-intensity, pressing style espoused by the club’s coach, Roger Schmidt.

Hernández, though, shies away from a comparison between that approach and Van Gaal’s more methodical philosophy. “I don’t want to compare styles, to say which I feel better in,” he says. “The system fits me better because I am in it and not on the bench. “That is what I was looking for: to play, only to play. I wanted to prove to myself that the only thing I needed was an opportunity to play. It makes me happy to think that when I left United and Real it was not because I was not good enough, not professional enough, it was because they did not give me opportunities, or because they preferred another player. It means I do not have any regrets. “It is that rhythm of playing that gives you confidence. People always think it is scoring goals that puts you in a good place, but it is not: it is playing, not just having one opportunity and then even if you do well the manager putting another player in next week. “This amazing club has given me the chance to feel important, and like in any job, that makes it easier to do well. I love to play, more than I love to score goals. To be on that rectangle is to feel free. I maybe feel it more because I have been struggling, struggling, struggling to get here. I know how hard it has been to be here, in the place I am in.”

Hernández did not take the easy path. It was worth the reward. Hernández this season

Minutes per goal in Bundesliga

Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich 78.6min Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Borussia Dortmund 82.7min Javier Hernandez 93.6min

Minutes per goal in top 5 European leagues Karim Benzema, Real Madrid 69.72 Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paris Saint-Germain 77.65 Robert Lewandowski 78.58 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 82.65 Gonzalo Higuaín, Napoli 83.83 Gareth Bale, Real Madrid 89.38 Luis Suárez, Barcelona 94.74 Javier Hernández, 95.38 Bastón Borja, Eibar 95.4 Sergio Agüero, Manchester City 95.85

Hernández v former Man Utd colleagues, domestic league this season, mins per goal Hernández 95 (13 goals) Rooney 185 (14 goals) Martial 267 (9 goals) Depay 325 (5 goals)

RobertKK · 05-02-2016 5:04pm

Michael Carrick has said United have the squad to win the league, Louis agrees.
Louis has a feeling United can win the league.

jayo26 · 05-02-2016 5:06pm

Loved his answer to Luke Shaw been in the europa league squad..... Yeh he can play in the final. Ha

RobertKK · 05-02-2016 5:10pm

Louis says he doesn't want to hide behind injuries, but when you get so many injuries for the same position it causes a puzzle that is hard to solve, and that is what happened in December, roughly what Louis said.

No fullbacks is a big problem in his system, as they are a very important part of his system and Young is played as a fullback due to him being an attacker.

Said the run of two good results can be seen in the players in training.