Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016 - Mod Warning link in OP 20/3

jayo26

J. Marston wrote: »

Ignoring the fact the he played for and won a title with United, why would anyone even want Owen associated with their club? He's seems like an awful gobshíte.

https://vine.co/v/OvAAUQ5uut9

Ugh...

Thats what makes it so much sweeter haha.

Rayne Wooney

J. Marston wrote: »

Ignoring the fact the he played for and won a title with United, why would anyone even want Owen associated with their club? He's seems like an awful gobshíte.


Ugh...

Can't really blame Liverpool he's the only legend of the last 25 years with the experience of a league title win, they need that experience

Funny thing is if United had offered him the same role he would have taken it :pac:

Korat

Which former Utd player is most likely to be a Man Utd manager?

Right now it's probably Giggs but by the end of the summer it could be Roy Keane.

Liam O

I'm actually still pissed that Moyes didn't get the 2nd season. When you consider he finished his first season with Rio, Vidic and Evra still at the club he was never really given a chance. He would have sorted out the defense that summer and it would have been interesting who he got after Shaw and Herrera.

Kagawa was starting to come into his own under him and after a season in training and such he was in a far better position to judge the players than LVG who came in and gutted the squad. A fully fit Nani and Kagawa would have made a lit of difference the last 2 seasons and i believe they would have been kept around under Moyes.

Pointless waffle but sure...

Lord TSC

For whatever reason, the BBC has decided that the halftime entertainment for the game this weekend will be the announcement of the new Doctor Who companion. Will be announced during the halftime break, I guess to lure in all those football fans who might not know about it.

I mean, I love the show, so I am happy, but it's a weird, weird way of announcing it :P unless it's Rashford, I guess....

Rayne Wooney

I think Moyes would have turned us into what Van Gaal is struggling to, essentially Arsenal. A team that would comfortably get top 4 most of the time.

Was he the man to win league titles? Probably not. Van Gaal's struggles are the smaller teams away from home whereas Moyes' great struggle was against the bigger teams when he still had that underdog mindset. Whether he would have eventually grown out of that is anyone's guess, he can feel hard done by given Van Gaal has shown less ability with more time and backing. His first order of business that summer would surely have been to get rid of the bad eggs, ironically enough it is what Van Gaal ended up doing.

In hindsight it would have been interesting giving Moyes another season. I won't criticise the club and Woodward for appointing Van Gaal, at the time it seemed like a good move.

jayo26

Lord TSC wrote: »

For whatever reason, the BBC has decided that the halftime entertainment for the game this weekend will be the announcement of the new Doctor Who companion. Will be announced during the halftime break, I guess to lure in all those football fans who might not know about it.

I mean, I love the show, so I am happy, but it's a weird, weird way of announcing it :P unless it's Rashford, I guess....

Maybe it's lvg???

StringerBell

Tell you what, the worst thing about the LVG reign has definitely been the effect it has had on peoples memories of Moyes' time at the club.

Rayne Wooney

Moyes got 50 points from 60 against the bottom 10. 48 goals scored. We'd kill for that these days

This season Van Gaal a measly 35 points from 60 against the bottom 10. 26 goals scored

Strange how it has flipped around

Liam McPoyle

This day two years ago Moyes was sacked.

This day 3 years ago we secured the league.

This happened at the end of the game.

One of my favourite moments.

secman

Moyes drowned in the job...couldn't handle it.
LVG is the opposite..thinks he's Phelps.... but he's far from that.

brinty

secman wrote: »

Moyes drowned in the job...couldn't handle it.
LVG is the opposite..thinks he's Phelps the Titanic.... but he's far from that. and he's about to go down just as quickly

FYP there mate

Mantis Toboggan

Korat wrote: »

Which former Utd player is most likely to be a Man Utd manager?

Right now it's probably Giggs but by the end of the summer it could be Roy Keane.

We can only dream

Your Airbag

One of the few positives with LVG is he has turned us into one of the best defensive sides in Europe and he did this without really buying the CB's we were all crying out for and I think we have only let in something like 7 league at home this year.. Credit where its due thats some good work, its a shame the attack hasn't got going and we are mid table in that respect, 11th-13th in something like chances created.





So its a mixed bag of slight positives, defense, high possession stats and then we are a bit limp in attack. Both are related though, DDG and Smalling have been epic and we have always played with two holding MFs in front of the defense, so for that extra security in defense we lose a man in attack.

I think its time for LVG to bow out at the end of the season, I have fought his corner before as I'm not a fan of sacking a manager mid season but we have been too hot and cold all season. I've watched games where we only have one shot or even worse none on goal and thats not UTD, we usually go right for the throat.

Unless we win the FA cup and make fourth I don't think there is a case for an LVG 3rd season.

stesaurus

The defence is a bit of a misnomer though. We're actually really poor defensively. De Gea regularly saves the day and any decent side takes us apart and creates numerous chances. We only have that record because we're so dull and conservative.

Your Airbag

In other news Bayern have already started bidding for Hummels, 30m if the papers are to be believed.



Personally I think its disgusting that Bayern can do this, that may sound a bit strong but they keep buying the best players from the only direct rival that manages to mount a title fight against them. They essentially buy a stranglehold on the league and kill it as a competition. There should be a limit on how many players you can buy from a rival over there, like one every 3-4 years or something.

Your Airbag

secman wrote: »

Moyes drowned in the job...couldn't handle it.
LVG is the opposite..thinks he's Phelps.... but he's far from that.

LVG is arrogant I'll give you that, he's like the Trump of football , but he does recognise his and the teams shortcomings, he's not totally a head in the sand guy, he just doesn't give an inch to the press.

Moyes was never going to work but worth LVG I think something better could have been if ADM had the right attitude and Falcao wasn't a crock and he didn't misjudge the size of the squad the EPL requires and didn't ship out those good players. Weve had an injury nightmare too.

Its only ifs and buts though, we are where we are.

posturingpat

Your Airbag wrote: »

In other news Bayern have already started bidding for Hummels, 30m if the papers are to be believed.



Personally I think its disgusting that Bayern can do this, that may sound a bit strong but they keep buying the best players from the only direct rival that manages to mount a title fight against them. They essentially buy a stranglehold on the league and kill it as a competition. There should be a limit on how many players you can buy from a rival over there, like one every 3-4 years or something.

Ah now come on we're/they're all grown ups here.

jayo26

So it looks like rooney is a midfielder again.

StringerBell

Versatility,

Universatility is the term I believe.

dave_o_brien

I think LVG has been getting a hard time.

Shaw and Jones being long term injurees means Blind (an excellent midfielder) has been doing a job in CB while Rojo (a very solid CB) has been at LB.

Blind is an excellent reader of the game, but out of position has needed a bit more midfield protection, so our CM's have been a bit more defensive.

Meanwhile, up front, Rooney's been injured for lengthy periods, Di Maria didn't work out, Falcao didn't work out, Depay wasn't the immediate success hoped for.

To blame LVG for two world class players not working, one huge talent not immediately being a success and a host of injuries is pretty one eyed, I think.

That's not defending his style of play, media antics, or anything. Just think that the negativity is overcooked.

I also take umbrage with the idea that we should be disappointed with a top 4 year on year. The era of our dominance is done. We need to be top 4 consistently, and if we are, we will take a few titles every few years. The notion that we should dominate year on year like the Fergie era is insulting to the other teams in the league who have invested enormously to close the gap to Utd (and in some cases, pass us as the benchmark). If you want to support a team in a league who is rarely challenged, Bayern are there for you.

Rayne Wooney

Your Airbag wrote: »

One of the few positives with LVG is he has turned us into one of the best defensive sides in Europe and he did this without really buying the CB's we were all crying out for and I think we have only let in something like 7 league at home this year.. Credit where its due thats some good work, its a shame the attack hasn't got going and we are mid table in that respect, 11th-13th in something like chances created.





So its a mixed bag of slight positives, defense, high possession stats and then we are a bit limp in attack. Both are related though, DDG and Smalling have been epic and we have always played with two holding MFs in front of the defense, so for that extra security in defense we lose a man in attack.

I think its time for LVG to bow out at the end of the season, I have fought his corner before as I'm not a fan of sacking a manager mid season but we have been too hot and cold all season. I've watched games where we only have one shot or even worse none on goal and thats not UTD, we usually go right for the throat.

Unless we win the FA cup and make fourth I don't think there is a case for an LVG 3rd season.

It's not difficult to build a strong defence when you choose to be impotent attacking as a means to build a strong defence.

We are so good in defence because we are so poor when attacking. The balance isn't there, it's hard to give him credit for it when you know it's hampering our attack and leaving us in 5th place when we should be challenging for the league. Van Gaal doesn't know how to create the balance like Pochettino or Klopp have done

Mitch Connor

Shaw was injured a good bit last season. Should have had a proper backup. Jones has been consistently injured throughout his career. Couldn't be relied on, any idiot could have seen that. Preseason fixtures and LVG comments at the time showed he saw blind as a cb for us this season.

He should take some blame on di Maria, used him terribly.

Rooney has been generally available, and poor, this season. Going into the season with just him martial up front was lvgs choice, and a terrible one.

As for not dominating, would you ever get out of that. We are barely competing for 4th, and nowhere close to even thinking about winning the title.

Tl,dr: I disagree with basically all your post.

RobertKK

Your Airbag wrote: »

LVG is arrogant I'll give you that, he's like the Trump of football , but he does recognise his and the teams shortcomings, he's not totally a head in the sand guy, he just doesn't give an inch to the press.

Moyes was never going to work but worth LVG I think something better could have been if ADM had the right attitude and Falcao wasn't a crock and he didn't misjudge the size of the squad the EPL requires and didn't ship out those good players. Weve had an injury nightmare too.

Its only ifs and buts though, we are where we are.

Still waiting for LVG to make United great again, and he has no landslide victories. If illegal immigration is like letting in goals and losing to teams we should beat and keep out, he has failed there too.
So far his reign has been as poor as Hillary Clinton's stint as Secretary of State...
Hopefully Jose can make us great again, presuming he is the next manager.

Rayne Wooney

I can understand if people don't want Jose because of some of the things he does, that can be a fair reason. But anything else is wrong imo, he's the best manager in the game, wins league titles for fun and has a decent enough history with youth given the teams he's managed at don't really at all.

Is that enough of a reason not to give him the job? Fergie was no angel, and I'm sure some players of ours have looked unsavoury from the outside looking in, Keane, Cantona for example. I wonder what Bobbys stance is on those incidents.

'He's a b******, but he's our b******' is a term that comes to mind

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Big game tomorrow, really hope we get the win and avoid a replay/defeat.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

I can understand if people don't want Jose because of some of the things he does, that can be a fair reason. But anything else is wrong imo, he's the best manager in the game, wins league titles for fun and has a decent enough history with youth given the teams he's managed at don't really at all.

Is that enough of a reason not to give him the job? Fergie was no angel, and I'm sure some players of ours have looked unsavoury from the outside looking in, Keane, Cantona for example. I wonder what Bobbys stance is on those incidents.

'He's a b******, but he's our b******' is a term that comes to mind

Exactly and one thing I'm curious on is why Ferguson would be so against Mour. They had great relationship, often sharing a bottle of wine after the games. Obviously there is the case that he doesn't want Mour to be as successful as him but no chance of that ever happening.

jayo26

dave_o_brien wrote: »

I think LVG has been getting a hard time.

Shaw and Jones being long term injurees means Blind (an excellent midfielder) has been doing a job in CB while Rojo (a very solid CB) has been at LB.

Blind is an excellent reader of the game, but out of position has needed a bit more midfield protection, so our CM's have been a bit more defensive.

Meanwhile, up front, Rooney's been injured for lengthy periods, Di Maria didn't work out, Falcao didn't work out, Depay wasn't the immediate success hoped for.

To blame LVG for two world class players not working, one huge talent not immediately being a success and a host of injuries is pretty one eyed, I think.

That's not defending his style of play, media antics, or anything. Just think that the negativity is overcooked.

I also take umbrage with the idea that we should be disappointed with a top 4 year on year. The era of our dominance is done. We need to be top 4 consistently, and if we are, we will take a few titles every few years. The notion that we should dominate year on year like the Fergie era is insulting to the other teams in the league who have invested enormously to close the gap to Utd (and in some cases, pass us as the benchmark). If you want to support a team in a league who is rarely challenged, Bayern are there for you.

Couldn't disagree with you more i think the manager is not held accountable enough let's break it down..

Jones has been Constantly injured more often then not the past 3 years he shouldn't of ever been factored as a reliable choice in the team until he had proved his fitness this is lvgs fault if his injury has cost us which I don't think it has because we are defensively fairly good.

Shaw had an effect on the team yes but if he was that damaging why not go out and splash out on a replacement in January when we had a reasonable chance of a title push?? Again lvgs fault if he had a chance to replace him.

Blind playing at centerback has not damaged us to the point of us missing out on the league.. There is not one world class defender that does not cost his team points or results over course of the season people are championing people like hummels and stones have ypu seen their mistakes over the course of the season and also I think blind has saved us points as recently as our game against villa he made a great tackle against gestede.

And Rooney been out injured while that itself is not been lvgs fault but it is his fault that he let go 3 strikers the summer and brought in only martial who he has played mainly as a winger so you could nearly say he has not replaced the departures at all.

As for Falcao it was lvg who choose to sign him without having proved his fitness after a nine month injury lay off we payed out a large fee and it was a gamble but he choose to gamble instead of keeping chico or Welbeck who were not injury prone.

Di maria was handled wrong by lvg and it was clear before he came he wanted go to Paris it was lvgs choice to sign a player that didnt want to come here as first choice and didn't man manage him properly.

And as to his style and negativity been overcooked well it's his style thats the main problem over anything else you have talked about,

the facts are the team are defending well and the team are converting chances well we are doing Well shots to goal ratio but the problem is we are not taking enough shots and creating enough chances and that is down to style of play and tactics above all else.

And yes We should be aiming for comfortably making top four every year because we have spent so much money on the team that the likes of Leicester and spurs should not be above us.

So yep its lvgs fault that his tactics have all been wrong.

Vic Vinegar

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Big game tomorrow, really hope we get the win and avoid a replay/defeat.

There will be no replay anyway, straight to penos after ET.

They have no defence left, we should be winning really.

Mitch Connor

Vic Vinegar wrote: »

we should be winning really.

The lament of the season, unfortunately.

jaykay74

A Wembley semi final memory.

Remember it well but can't figure out why it was played at Wembley (before the era of all the semis at Wembley). Anyone got an idea why ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE_qodI3WOY

jayo26

jaykay74 wrote: »

A Wembley semi final memory.

Remember it well but can't figure out why it was played at Wembley (before the era of all the semis at Wembley). Anyone got an idea why ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE_qodI3WOY

Im not sure if there was any specific but in 93 both semis were at Wembley also as was the spurs and arsenal semi of 91.

I prefer the old way vila Park was an excellent venue for the semi the atmosphere was always electric plus Wembley should be only Kept for finals. I hate that chelsea and possibly spurs are going to be playing a season at Wembley soon it takes away from the cup final day.

Billy86

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

Moyes got 50 points from 60 against the bottom 10. 48 goals scored. We'd kill for that these days

This season Van Gaal a measly 35 points from 60 against the bottom 10. 26 goals scored

Strange how it has flipped around

- Moyes had 57 points in 34 games (1.67ppg), with 1.18 conceded per game and 1.64 scored per game. His GD in 34 games was +16
- This season, LVG has 59 points in 34 games (1.74ppg), with 0.83 conceded per game and 1.4 scored per game. His GD is +12.
- In total, LVG has 129 points in 72 games (1.79ppg), with 0.93 conceded per game and 1.44 scored per game. His total GD is +37, though in just over double the amount of games.

It is a weird change alright, but I don't see anything to hint toward Moyes being better than LVG - which is by no means an endorsement of van Gaal either. We went from a bad hire to a bad hire, basically. Neither are or were the right guy. While Moyes was better with the poorer teams, he just seemed so awestruck against bigger teams (or when holding a lead in the last 20 minutes) that is was incredible, I will never forget his comment about hoping to one day be as good as City.

As someone else pointed out, Moyes looked over his head (and frankly a little scared at times, if you ask me) while van Gaal seems to consider himself beyond reproach, answerable to nobody and seems to refuse to accept that his methods and tactics are not working in England, and appear dated. I didn't and haven't seen much of anything in either of them, that would suggest they would change their spots. Two different ways of getting it wrong, essentially.

Billy86

RobertKK wrote: »

Still waiting for LVG to make United great again, and he has no landslide victories. If illegal immigration is like letting in goals and losing to teams we should beat and keep out, he has failed there too.
So far his reign has been as poor as Hillary Clinton's stint as Secretary of State...
Hopefully Jose can make us great again, presuming he is the next manager.

What you're seeing at Man Utd this season is what happens when you put far too much emphasis on building a wall to keep things out, all else be damned.

brick tamland

jayo26 wrote: »

Im not sure if there was any specific but in 93 both semis were at Wembley also as was the spurs and arsenal semi of 91.

I prefer the old way vila Park was an excellent venue for the semi the atmosphere was always electric plus Wembley should be only Kept for finals. I hate that chelsea and possibly spurs are going to be playing a season at Wembley soon it takes away from the cup final day.

Off the top of my head it was decided as the other game was a London derby it was best played at Wembley as only stadium to accommodate the amount of fans in London(at that time). Decision was made then to play both there in case one finalist got an advantage from already playing there. Replay was at maine Rd though.

Could be wrong though

RobertKK

United shares surged 7.29% today, with twice the normal volume of shares traded.
United's fortunes are turning :pac:

jayo26

RobertKK wrote: »

United shares surged 7.29% today, with twice the normal volume of shares traded.
United's fortunes are turning :pac:

Must be going to announce a new soap supplier.

Rayne Wooney

Who do we have to pay off to get a CL place for winning the FA cup?

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Predictions?

KH25

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Predictions?

Heart: smash them 4-0.

Head: scrappy 1-0.

jayo26

Hopefully a win. It's the cup so score dont matter as long as we get a win.

Liam McPoyle

We will beat them comfortably.

0gac3yjefb5sv7

I'd be delighted to win the FA cup this season. Winning anything is always a good foundation.

KH25

Pheonix10 wrote: »

I'd be delighted to win the FA cup this season. Winning anything is always a good foundation.

It's been too long. I think Fergie viewed it as a lesser competition but I've always seen it as a cup worth winning. Would be delighted to see us win it.

Smegball

Great experience for Rashford to play in Wembley. Can see the lad TANKING SIR!

Cantona's Collars

The match thread is up people: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=99488638#post99488638


I expect lots of passes and then some more passes and maybe a shot or two.

jayo26

zerks wrote: »

The match thread is up people: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=99488638#post99488638


I expect lots of passes and then some more passes and maybe a shot or two.

Surely they won't be doing jager bombs at Wembley??

Trigger

I know its FA cup Semi-final day n all but its hard not to get excited by this

https://twitter.com/theunitedend/status/723807637331165184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Sports Witness did a take on it.

Jornal de Noticias is one of Portugal's biggest newspapers, and it's not restricted to sport. Therefore for them to have Jose Mourinho splashed across their front page on Saturday means they think they've got a big story.

With a headline reading 'Jose Mourinho has signed for Manchester (United)', Jornal de Noticias get straight to the point. The article isn't available online and it isn't in their e-paper edition, only in a supplement inside the newspaper.

A little digging and we've found out the claims are: Mourinho has signed, he's been watching Manchester United matches to get an idea of the current squad and deficiencies in it, and he'll have full power on transfers, with the newspaper also pointing out he may well recruit some players from the Portuguese league.

It's not anything that hasn't been claimed before, it would be impossible for anything new to be claimed at this stage... given everything which has been said. However, Manchester United fans who want Mourinho may take comfort in how big Jornal de Noticias have gone with this.

In January, Jornal de Noticias reported that Mourinho was holding meetings with his former Chelsea assistant Rui Faria, talking about their future plans and keeping up their knowledge of players.

http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/huge-news-in-portugal-mourinho-has-now-signed-with-man-united

GSPfan

I'm believing absolutely nothing until its confirmed by the club. All these newspaper articles are worthless.

Just seen citys team they going to lose 3-1 I'll meet ye here after for a little celebration