Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2018/2019 [Mod note 31-Aug-18]

Media are having the craic now anyway. Plenty of ammo for the story lootbox for the coming few weeks

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1024858/Zinedine-Zidane-Man-Utd-Juventus-Jose-Mourinho

Drumpot

bangkok wrote: »

Backed or not backed, joses last 3 games for united, wolves, derby, west ham and couldnt beat any of them.

Tactics v west ham were laughable

Tactics don’t matter if the players aren’t arsed.

The season after winning leagues - Mancini, Pelegrín for city. Ranieri for Leicester. Jose and conte for Chelsea. Zidanes Madrid in the league. Tactics and coaching is a problem when players don’t apply themselves 100%. It’s not the coach is Incapable of training the team to play a cohesive system .

Adamocovic

Drumpot wrote: »

There seem to be some people feel Jose is the whole problem and that’s it. That this 3rd season syndrome has come to pass cause that’s the Jose way. Anybody who thinks that are incorrect. Jose has made mistakes and is in the thick of the issues but I think the club has played as much if not more then it’s fair share of the issue.

Never said the whole problem is José. Said as manager, and as goes with the role, he has to take responsibility for the failure of the signings he has brought in and the failings on the pitch.

My point was I don't agree with the trend of people who take the approach that there is nothing he could do since the board didn't give him more transfer spending last summer.

I don’t know why he’s attacking Sanchez or Pogba but i haven’t seen either
of them put in the levels of performances I would expect from them both. I
haven’t actually heard a credible person give definite explanation of why Pogba
or Sanchez aren’t performing. We have heard about how Maybe they don’t get on
with or like his tactics but there is little objective analysis that clarified
exactly why it’s ok to put all responsibility for their form on Jose.


Then there are people who expect Jose to do what they defend Sanchez and Pogba
for not doing. Jose gets the club 2nd and wants players to improve the team and
build on it, do their jobs!! The club fails on this front. People who don’t like
Jose say he has to work with what he has. So why shouldn’t that apply to
Players?

There is actually an extra layer/issue to the summers transfer
activity. If I am a player and I want to win trophies, how do I feel about the
clubs ambitions? I might not like Jose but I know we need strengthening in areas
to mount a decent challange. So how happy am I with the clubs ambitions? What do
I feel this says about the manager when he’s been so publically asking for new
players? This on its own is a massive snub from the club that undermined Jose
and any player who had ambitions to win things this season.

The club
undermines the manager and says to the rest of the squad “keep up the good work
and see if you can do better”. That’s inexcusable and the root cause of this
seasons problems. You can argue Jose has g responded well but the club has led
us down this path.

I don't necessarily disagree with everything you have said but that's at the level of title challenging, like I posted earlier. We can argue the board hasn't backed him enough to win the league but surely it's been more than enough to avoid our worse start since 1989, and a 10th place standing.

As comes with the job of a manager, if the team is underperforming that much he will shoulder the responsibility of the blame.

Adamocovic

Drumpot wrote: »

Tactics don’t matter if the players aren’t arsed.

The season after winning leagues - Mancini, Pelegrín for city. Ranieri for Leicester. Jose and conte for Chelsea. Zidanes Madrid in the league. Tactics and coaching is a problem when players don’t apply themselves 100%. It’s not the coach is Incapable of training the team to play a cohesive system .

Yes we can argue the players haven't performed. I agree.

But again, it's the managers responsibility to get the best out of his squad. Clearly hasn't been happening and needs to quickly change.

bangkok

Drumpot wrote: »

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11514051/luke-shaw-defends-jose-mourinho-after-awful-west-ham-defeat

One of the few players to actually show some character and take some responsibility throughout this. Shaw is slowly becoming one of the most admirable players in that squad .

If pogba came out with those quotes he would have been slated

DM_7

pjohnson wrote: »

Is it not one of Jose's job's as manager to identify who to sign? If the club feel he can't perform a key part of his job why keep him?

Yes he has that job but it is not 1995. Other clubs have structures that help them make good decisions with the currnent manager/coach and for a longer period. Sure people will point to City and while some player recruitment ended up very short term they had a longer plan to get Pep and were signing players they thought would benefit him before he arrived.

United go with a more traditional approach but if the manager changes then you can't be left with a new man saying I don't want x and y who you just bought a year ago. They certainly can't have a manager who says I don't want A or B who I bought a year or two ago.

It is not a bottomless pit of money and money spent already comes into decisions about what can be spent now or in the future.

None of this purchase or money talk actually addresses how Jose has still failed to get the players he does have playing the way he needs, why he keeps having to blame them or lament how bad his team is during the transition from attack to defence in his third season.

We do not even have the expectation that seeing an improvement in defence will do much since he had a good defence the last two seasons but attack is also below required standard.

bucketybuck

Adamocovic wrote: »

We can argue the board hasn't backed him enough to win the league but surely it's been more than enough to avoid our worse start since 1989, and a 10th place standing.

But it doesn't work like that. You can't just say "Maybe he wasn't backed, but they are still good enough for 2nd again at least".

Once it became clear that the manager was being undermined then a drop off in performance was not only possible, it was inevitable. Especially when you are talking about a group of players that aren't exactly strong characters at the best of times.

And thats not hindsight, many of us said this before a ball was kicked this season.

The current situation was created in the transfer window and it was obvious as **** how this was all going to go.

Drumpot

Adamocovic wrote: »

I don't necessarily disagree with everything you have said but that's at the level of title challenging, like I posted earlier. We can argue the board hasn't backed him enough to win the league but surely it's been more than enough to avoid our worse start since 1989, and a 10th place standing.

As comes with the job of a manager, if the team is underperforming that much he will shoulder the responsibility of the blame.

I agree, this squad should be doing way better then we are seeing this season but I think the clubs actions in the summer set us up for what we see now. The undermined the coach and any player with an ambition to improve on last season. Players couldn’t of been happy with the squad not really getting much additions and they definitely saw it as an opportunity to challange the manager. Pogba has been going at Jose since the opening day victory over Leicester.

I understand that the book stops with the manager but I fear the problems in the club deeeper then that and most prople actually agree the club should of strengthened in the summer. Jose has a massive ego but I trust in his desire to enhancd his record and win things at every club he goes to. Maybe the club not matching his ambitions in the summer are all the straw it took to send him over the edge. If so, I don’t support Jose’s response but I think the club ultimately caused the issue.

ericzeking

bucketybuck wrote: »

But it doesn't work like that. You can't just say "Maybe he wasn't backed, but they are still good enough for 2nd again at least".

Once it became clear that the manager was being undermined then a drop off in performance was not only possible, it was inevitable. Especially when you are talking about a group of players that aren't exactly strong characters at the best of times.

And thats not hindsight, many of us said this before a ball was kicked this season.

The current situation was created in the transfer window and it was obvious as **** how this was all going to go.

The current situation was caused by Joses reaction to not getting all of the players he wanted. Publically criticising his boss and his players made sh!t of his credibility.

If he had kept schtum and went about his business with the good squad he has, we would be ticking along, and he would get to add again in January....but no, he has to go nuclear.

This time it was meant to be different....ya right.

Mitch Connor

The longer the club continue to not act, the less chance we have of saving the season.

I just can't see Jose turning it around at this point.

Lord TSC

Adamocovic wrote: »

Not aiming this specifically at you Lord but I remember when it turned out Shaqiri was available and the majority of people here didn't want anything to do with him.

Gas now a couple of weeks gone by and he's considered a serious talent :pac:

Will I Am Not wrote: »

Who said they didn’t want him and now thinks he’s a serious talent?
From what I remember, most people accepted he was a decent squad option but we were in the market for a first 11 player.

Yeah.

Its fair enough to aim specifically at me, cause I did say over the summer I didn't want Shaqiri cause I felt there was better available. I'm also sure I kept adding that if we ended up the summer with no new RWer, then "missing" someone like Shaqiri would be looked back on negatively.

At the time, we were talking about looking at a Bale or a top tier RW option, and thats's where the "No thanks" on Shaqiri came from. Context and hindsight being key.

Lord TSC

Mitch Connor wrote: »

The longer the club continue to not act, the less chance we have of saving the season.

I just can't see Jose turning it around at this point.

Its so unlike Woody too, usually he's so decisive when it comes to making important decisions.

Mitch Connor

Also, it is not just about saving this season, it is about next season too. If we wait until we have no chance of making the CL next season to sack Jose (based on experience) than that is possibly late into the season. Which means it is possible the summer before we bring someone new in - which puts us on the back foot in the summer for recruitment.

If we make a change now, maybe the new man gets a bump in performance from the players are we can scrape into the CL, but it also means that he gets the best part of a season with the players we have - does he see or get improvements from Pogba, Martial, Sanchez, Rashford, Fred, Bailly, Dalot, Shaw, Lindelof etc - or is Pogba still a problem, is Martial still a problem, is Sanchez still a problem. If a new manager came in and got those three performing consistently for us (and there is NO certainty of that happening) it would be a huge boost to the side. If they don;'t perform then hopefully it is acknowledged and we plan for something different in the summer.

As to who I would like to see come in - Pochetino would be my number 1 choice of managers that I think would be interested. But getting him from Spurs could be impossible. As I said weeks ago, I think Blanc and Zindane would be the front runners for the job if Jose were sacked soon. Zidane being the clubs first choice and Blanc the second, imo.

Trigger

Adamocovic wrote: »

Plenty did, I remember having debates a lot, questions of his talent and character were brought up. Can dig through the dirt later today for quotes if you want.

And just the fact that a post thanked by a lot contained the sentence that he was a serious talent.

As I said just found it a bit gas, I was praying we would sign him during the summer, granted many thought we were brining in the likes of Perisic or someone so argued we didn't need Shaqiri.

So what if it was thanked by many, does it not occur to you that people might actually agree with all the good points that were made around that point.

Should people not thank posts of they disagree with a slight part of a post?

should posters refrain from thanking posts that have well thought out points of discussions even if they disagree with them?

Let's make the thanks button obsolete,

MTBO! (Doesnt have the same ring to it as MAGA)

LuckyLloyd

When a manager reaches this point it's not worth retaining them in the hope of it turning round. I can't think of a recent relevant example where a club were patient and the manager got dressing room and players back onside, freshened up the tactics and approach and got them playing again. Does anyone? Particularly when in Mourinho's specific case - the last two times he's reached a tough point he hasn't brought it back.

As such, those calling for immediate change are correct imo.

https://twitter.com/mufc_anna/status/1046510609934757888?s=19

Adamocovic

bucketybuck wrote: »

But it doesn't work like that. You can't just say "Maybe he wasn't backed, but they are still good enough for 2nd again at least".

Once it became clear that the manager was being undermined then a drop off in performance was not only possible, it was inevitable. Especially when you are talking about a group of players that aren't exactly strong characters at the best of times.

And thats not hindsight, many of us said this before a ball was kicked this season.

The current situation was created in the transfer window and it was obvious as **** how this was all going to go.

I was saying I can understand people arguing he wasn't backed enough to challenge for the title against City but that we still have a squad in place who should be performing much better.

Don't see how people can't agree with that. Do you not agree that José is to blame for some of this?

A lot seem to be defending him so much, even to say it was inevitable. I don't think many expected us to have our worse start since 1989. The general trend was we would struggle to compete with City but should be in top 4.

To claim that the drop in performance is because the squad feel the board is undermining José I don't agree with. This is a team with players that José has worked with and won trophies with over the last two years, players he's brought in too. It's his team and they are extremely underperforming. He is the manager, they are his responsibility.

Like I said, I want him to continue and turn it around but the defence of him here is ridiculous at times.

Bad performance = players fault
Bad results = lack of transfers
Players not motivated = boards fault
Worst start in 25+ years = what else did we expect?

Is any of the fault landing on him in some people's eyes?

Also regarding your first sentence, why doesn't it work like that? Why can't a team with quality capable of getting results be expected to get results, even if the board didn't break the bank during the window?

LuckyLloyd

Fred The Red wrote: »

https://twitter.com/mufc_anna/status/1046510609934757888?s=19

I can't imagine any Utd fan would choose Mourinho at this point, if such a binary choice was offered? Pogba is 25 and has flashed generational talent - his best days could definitely be ahead of him and be a difference to a dominant team. Mourinho looks like his best days are in the rear view mirror.

Fitz*

For all the talk of not being backed, some of the decision making of the manager this season is laughable. Constantly chopping and changing the formation, set up & players. Only leads to confusion and uncertainty. Players don't know where they stand in the team.

Just some of the examples include:

1) Perreria comes in for the start of the season to loads of hype, but is then banished from the squad since the 2nd game of the season after a poor 45 minutes of football.

2) Public falling out with Martial, who is then in and out of the team every second week but playing at LW. Then this Saturday he starts as a striker for the 1st time.

3) Herrera not seen all season and then out of nowhere, plays as a CB for the 1st time in a new formation, let alone new position. Not seen again apart from a league cup run out.

4) McTominay not seen all season apart from a few sub minutes, and then comes in to the team out of nowhere and plays as a CB for the 1st time in a new formation, let alone new position.

5) for both Herrera & McTominay playing CB for the first time, there was an actual CB left on the bench our left out of the squad completely (Lindelof x1 & Bailly x2)

6) Sanchez dropped for West Ham game (which was justified to be fair) but he travelled to the game etc and then not even make the match day squad.

7) Very public falling out with Pogba who is then subbed off when needing a goal.

8) Lingard just randomly dropped this week when away games are his better performances.

Mitch Connor

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I can't imagine any Utd fan would choose Mourinho at this point, if such a binary choice was offered? Pogba is 25 and has flashed generational talent - his best days could definitely be ahead of him and be a difference to a dominant team. Mourinho looks like his best days are in the rear view mirror.

Part of the reason i'd plump for Pogba is that it is not just pogba.

Jose is not getting the best out of, or improving, a bunch of players.

If we sold Pogba and kept Jose, what about Rashford, Martial, Lukaku, Sanchez, Fred etc....

Pogba is a problem, but he isn't the only one.

LuckyLloyd

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Part of the reason i'd plump for Pogba is that it is not just pogba.

Jose is not getting the best out of, or improving, a bunch of players.

If we sold Pogba and kept Jose, what about Rashford, Martial, Lukaku, Sanchez, Fred etc....

Pogba is a problem, but he isn't the only one.

Makes complete sense.

LiamoSail

Interesting to compare the reaction of Pochitino and Klopp to Mourinho having not being backed.

Pochitino wasn't backed at all this summer while 12 months ago Liverpool made a complete pigs ear of their attempts to sign VVD. Both Klopp and Pochitino were left in a similar situation to what Mourinho has been this year, yet managed to carry on without the belligerence and doom that seems to typify Mourinho's 3rd seasons.

Mourinho may not have been backed to the extent he would like, but he's still got a responsibility to manage what he has and in that regard, he seems content to instead drive it off a cliff

Your Airbag

Lord TSC wrote: »

Not diminishing Klopp here at all

But Pool are an example of a club where the manager clearly had the full backing of the board, shared a vision together and showed an ambition in the summer to strengthen to take a step forward.

Their defence was an issue? Broke the record fee for a defender. Keeper was an issue, despite the fact it was one Klopp bought? Broke the record for a keeper. Needed to deepen the squad with serious talent? Fabinho and Shaqiri in. Pool in the summer showed faith in their manager, and backed him massively.

And Pool show the benefits of that; genuinely have stepped up their league game this season, while playing brilliant football.

Meanwhile, Woody put the brakes on Jose and said "good enough, thanks". Jose identifies key areas that need addressing, and the board just shrugged and went "nah, do with what you've got". Lack of ambition, lack of faith, a lack of desire to try and catch up with City, while,letting Pool rocket ahead of us.

And there's some people have such a hatred of Jose, they accepted that lack of backing, lack of ambition, simply cause they are happy to see the club stall if it means they get to take their pound of flesh from Jose....

This is just not the case for many others so it works both ways, especially for the Glazer/Woodward haters and Jose defenders.

Saying that Jose hasn't been backed is just plain factually incorrect. 300m plus and it looks like he wanted a CB in the summer because the last two he bought he has resorted to benching in place of Youth team MF's in their place at CB.

If you wanted to say Jose was only backed 99% it might sound more reasonable. Even then you have to ignore the reports that say we enquired about Maguire (glad we didnt waste 70m on him) and got a straight no, were willing to buy Varane and got snubbed by Persic.

I'm sorry but this Myth Jose wasn't back need to be pushed against because that's exactly what it is, a myth. He has been given more then enough to do better than what we are now seeing.

Nothing we have seen from the start of the season to now is acceptably excused by not having another CB come. All of the teams we lost to should have been beaten with zero signings and many of our players should be playing better and in a better system.

Jose is the problem for where we are now. Not us not signing Maguire. This narrative being pushed is the last straw for Jose fans to hang onto. For everyone reasonable its quite clear his line ups and decisions and behavior have been a disaster.

Rossi IRL

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Part of the reason i'd plump for Pogba is that it is not just pogba.

Jose is not getting the best out of, or improving, a bunch of players.

If we sold Pogba and kept Jose, what about Rashford, Martial, Lukaku, Sanchez, Fred etc....

Pogba is a problem, but he isn't the only one.

Exactly, it's not only Pogba.

If Pogba is sold then who will be the next player to be bashed, then the next and the next and the next.

When does it become Mourihnos fault?

If it was only Pogba then fair enough but its pretty much the whole squad.

yourdeadwright

I just heard the starting 11 v Westham where the 11 tallest in the squad ( bar Jones )
Sounds like something Fat Sam would do

bangkok

LiamoSail wrote: »

Interesting to compare the reaction of Pochitino and Klopp to Mourinho having not being backed.

Pochitino wasn't backed at all this summer while 12 months ago Liverpool made a complete pigs ear of their attempts to sign VVD. Both Klopp and Pochitino were left in a similar situation to what Mourinho has been this year, yet managed to carry on without the belligerence and doom that seems to typify Mourinho's 3rd seasons.

Mourinho may not have been backed to the extent he would like, but he's still got a responsibility to manage what he has and in that regard, he seems content to instead drive it off a cliff

Our 2 main summer signings fred and dalot
Against west ham one is on the bench, the other is not in the squad

thegreengoblin

LiamoSail wrote: »

Interesting to compare the reaction of Pochitino and Klopp to Mourinho having not being backed.

Pochitino wasn't backed at all this summer while 12 months ago Liverpool made a complete pigs ear of their attempts to sign VVD. Both Klopp and Pochitino were left in a similar situation to what Mourinho has been this year, yet managed to carry on without the belligerence and doom that seems to typify Mourinho's 3rd seasons.

Mourinho may not have been backed to the extent he would like, but he's still got a responsibility to manage what he has and in that regard, he seems content to instead drive it off a cliff

This is what impresses me particularly about Pochettino. He had every reason to bitch and moan about Tottenham's lack of spending (I think he did once) but he just gets on with what he's being paid a lot of money to do. Mourinho will find every excuse under the sun to explain away his failings. The simple act of sacking him would go a long way to creating a different and more uplifting mood at the club IMO. It surely could not be any worse than it is right now.

Mitch Connor

LiamoSail wrote: »

Interesting to compare the reaction of Pochitino and Klopp to Mourinho having not being backed.

Pochitino wasn't backed at all this summer while 12 months ago Liverpool made a complete pigs ear of their attempts to sign VVD. Both Klopp and Pochitino were left in a similar situation to what Mourinho has been this year, yet managed to carry on without the belligerence and doom that seems to typify Mourinho's 3rd seasons.

Mourinho may not have been backed to the extent he would like, but he's still got a responsibility to manage what he has and in that regard, he seems content to instead drive it off a cliff

Should the context of the lack of backing also be taken into account?

Klopp - VVD - club tried to sign the player he wanted, basically had it done and PR crap F'd it.
Pochetino - money wasn't there for stadium reasons, we suppose. there is no question as to whether Spurs think he is the right man.

Mourinho - one of the (many) stories is that the club didn't trust his judgement of the players in the squad currently, his judgement of players to be signed and wouldn't sign off on his targets. He was not backed, arguably, because the club don't trust him. That is very different to the other too, and would merit a different outcome.

yourdeadwright

yourdeadwright wrote: »

I just heard the starting 11 v Westham where the 11 tallest in the squad ( bar Jones )
Sounds like something Fat Sam would do

Yep, 100%

LiamoSail

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Should the context of the lack of backing also be taken into account?

Klopp - VVD - club tried to sign the player he wanted, basically had it done and PR crap F'd it.
Pochetino - money wasn't there for stadium reasons, we suppose. there is no question as to whether Spurs think he is the right man.

Mourinho - one of the (many) stories is that the club didn't trust his judgement of the players in the squad currently, his judgement of players to be signed and wouldn't sign off on his targets. He was not backed, arguably, because the club don't trust him. That is very different to the other too, and would merit a different outcome.

Of course the circumstances differ to an extent, but the reaction of Mourinho relative to the others is remarkably unprofessional. It's the sort of reaction you'd expect from a teenager, or premier league footballer to not getting their way.

Mourinho, through his reaction, is letting his own frustration take precedence over the good of the club he's paid handsomely to manage. He's the manager whether he has cash to spend or not, and his attitude, for a professional, stinks. Everything's not going his way so he seems to have had enough

Zeek12

LiamoSail wrote: »

Interesting to compare the reaction of Pochitino and Klopp to Mourinho having not being backed.

Pochitino wasn't backed at all this summer while 12 months ago Liverpool made a complete pigs ear of their attempts to sign VVD. Both Klopp and Pochitino were left in a similar situation to what Mourinho has been this year, yet managed to carry on without the belligerence and doom that seems to typify Mourinho's 3rd seasons.

Mourinho may not have been backed to the extent he would like, but he's still got a responsibility to manage what he has and in that regard, he seems content to instead drive it off a cliff

Exactly.

Few United fans will deny we were a bit disappointed with the summer transfer activity.

But that certainly isn't reason to throw the towel in or publicly go to war with the board and certain players....before a ball was barely even kicked.

How about a little bit of professionalism and leadership from the manager?

Your Airbag

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Should the context of the lack of backing also be taken into account?

Klopp - VVD - club tried to sign the player he wanted, basically had it done and PR crap F'd it.
Pochetino - money wasn't there for stadium reasons, we suppose. there is no question as to whether Spurs think he is the right man.

Mourinho - one of the (many) stories is that the club didn't trust his judgement of the players in the squad currently, his judgement of players to be signed and wouldn't sign off on his targets. He was not backed, arguably, because the club don't trust him. That is very different to the other too, and would merit a different outcome.

Jose doesn't even trust his own judgement anymore on the players he signed. He has twice played with 3 CB's and made a MF player one of those 3. On Saturday he takes off Lindelöf instead of McTominay possibly destroying what little confidence Lindelöf has left even though McTominay was at fault for two goals, then he also leaves Bailly sit it out.

Also Lukaku was having a mare but Pogba gets hauled off instead, seemed like a powerplay for the papers to me

Rossi IRL

Why wait until we can't get Top 4?

Get rid now and bring in somebody and give them plenty of time to prepare for next season. This season is pretty much a write off at this stage.

No point hiring a new manager in July and then wondering why nothing has changed by August.

sReq | uTeK

mosstin wrote: »

Klopp has been at Liverpool a year longer but look where both clubs are at right now in terms of everything - style of play - do United actually have one? - team spirit, connection with fans, ambition etc etc.

Mourinho has his two trophies but at what cost? When you do inevitably get rid of him, how long to get rid of the stink?

But wasn't he employed exactly for that reason, you know what you're getting with Jose. Short term successful engagements. He's said so himself "judge me after three years".

The style of play has been a hell of a lot better than that under Moyes and LVG there are periods where we kick on and play great football and then we digress and revert again. It's not Jose telling his players to fail at 5 yard passes or be void of all creativity when we get into the final 3rd.

If you wan't the longer version, "building a squad for the future, team morale, fan engagement" then losses shouldn't bother you at all and there should be a period of 5 years for the man to do his job. So effectively, he's done what has been asked of him thus far and pushed us into 2nd from 7th and 6th previous years or he's got lots of time to develop the team long term and supporters should be happy.

If this was Pep/Klopp there would be no discussion here. I'll give you an example. Peps treatment of YaYa Toure was apparently borderline disgraceful, as highlighted by the player himself, but nothing to write home about, pep is just a good manager.

Jose does the same to Bastian and there is uproar the world over. The media circus is a by product of Jose's management, we all know this, as did united when they hired the man.

From a purely operational perspective the quickest change available is always the manager, there is the possibility of new hires and a potential uptake in morale with the new manager coming in. However, what does that say for the club that prides itself on no-one person is bigger than the team?
It says that players have more power and the next manager better get inline if he wants to survive.

Personally any player that steps out of line should be sent to the reserves until they're happy to play their part for the team and the manager.

I come into work everyday, irregardless of who the manager is I do the job i'm asked, I don't phone it in or I'd be gone. Players have way to much power these days.

telecaster

I'm taking my son to see the Valencia game tomorrow evening. He'd like to see the players arriving at OT. Is this possible? Where do they arrive?

Thanks

Rossi IRL

Rossi IRL wrote: »

Why wait until we can't get Top 4?

Get rid now and bring in somebody and give them plenty of time to prepare for next season. This season is pretty much a write off at this stage.

No point hiring a new manager in July and then wondering why nothing has changed by August.

Who though? I keep reading this.
What's the long term goal?

telecaster

telecaster wrote: »

I'm taking my son to see the Valencia game tomorrow evening. He'd like to see the players arriving at OT. Is this possible? Where do they arrive?

Thanks

Can't remember exactly where the player entrance is as I normally come in through opposite side but think it's the stretford end

You would want to be there about 3-4 hours before kick-off however.

Relikk

telecaster wrote: »

I'm taking my son to see the Valencia game tomorrow evening. He'd like to see the players arriving at OT. Is this possible? Where do they arrive?

Thanks

Most recent thing I could find.

https://www.reddit.com/r/reddevils/comments/3gpog6/players_arrival_at_ot_for_game/

Mitch Connor

Rossi IRL wrote: »

Why wait until we can't get Top 4?

Get rid now and bring in somebody and give them plenty of time to prepare for next season. This season is pretty much a write off at this stage.

No point hiring a new manager in July and then wondering why nothing has changed by August.

I agree with you.

The reason for the club waiting is possibly that it will possibly be cheaper to sack him if we don't make the CL - LVG and Moyes sackings imply there are contractual clauses at play if we don't make 4th.

But as I say, I agree with you. Getting in a new manager possibly saves this season and at worst, should put us on a better planning footing for next season.

bangkok

telecaster wrote: »

I'm taking my son to see the Valencia game tomorrow evening. He'd like to see the players arriving at OT. Is this possible? Where do they arrive?

Thanks

yes but you wont see them really before the game, bus arrives and goes right up to the door. get to the stadium early and walk around it, you might be lucky enough to bump into a few famous faces and as its a home game the players might have the cars parked there so you can have a look at them and let your son guess some of the players cars by looking at the number plates

more chance of seeing them after the game..

enjoy

Mitch Connor

Fred The Red wrote: »

Who though? I keep reading this.
What's the long term goal?

Pochetino.
Simone.
Blanc.
Zidane.

They are the obvious headline candidates.

Rossi IRL

Fred The Red wrote: »

Who though? I keep reading this.
What's the long term goal?

I dont know what's in Edds head. Who knows, I doubt even he knows.

Blanc, Zidane or Potch will probably be the names thrown around.

bangkok

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Pochetino.
Simone.
Blanc.
Zidane.

They are the obvious headline candidates.

id add conte to that list as well, a free agent, couple of very good coaches in germany as well if they wanted to go that route

SlickRic

Yes, I'm a fan of a rival club, but the Utd dilemma is a bloody fascinating one (albeit painful for a lot of you).

In my opinion, Mourinho's position is now untenable. How it got to this position, whose fault it is, when it went wrong etc is all up for debate, and will continue to be, but it simply can't go on as it currently stands for too much longer.

I'm no Mourinho-defender, but he actually has a point with the investment issue. now, his falling out with players, and his general demeanour in press conferences in indefensible IMO, and doesn't help anyone, least of all himself in getting what he wants. but he does have a point.

put yourself in his shoes. you know what you are. you are man who has made his name going into a club, being trusted with a budget to turn a team into a title winner. that's his remit. that's his thing. he's done it everywhere he's gone. yes, he talked about 'legacy', and wanting to stay at the club for a long time, but he is what he is. and he was given all the backing in the world for the first while. Pogba. Lukaku. Matic. Bailly. Lindelof. Sanchez. Ibra. basically replacing a spine that had been neglected since arguably before Moyes. yes, a couple of those were free transfers, but the club still had to agree to the deals, including wages. it gets them a couple of trophies and 2nd place. however, City don't let Utd by them. Pep, stung by a failure of a first season, gets backed to the hilt (adding to a team that already had KDB, Sterling, Kompany, Aguero, Silva, Fernandinho), and basically stay ahead of him.

again, you have to come back to what Mourinho is. he's not a legacy man. he doesn't build a culture. he provides a structure. you give him the best players you can. and he usually wins. City were still ahead, well ahead, after last season. Mourinho will expect to be backed. now, you can argue he'd already had over €300m. but Mourinho is a certain type of manager, and you went into this with your eyes open. back him, or you have to cut your losses. the new contract for him looks like the stupidest move imaginable if you're not going to give him the money he was always going to demand.

In isolation, sacking Mourinho will not solve the problem. the club needs to decide what it is. it's been rightly pointed out that the likes of City and Liverpool have a unity of vision between the upper echelons and the manager. they all know what they want, and they're all on the same page. it's imperative for Utd that if Mourinho is sacked, that there is unity of vision with the next manager.

TLDR: Mourinho's position is now untenable. it's not all his fault. the club needs to find a vision that whatever manager they have is on the same page as. otherwise, very little will improve in the long run.

Mitch Connor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Pochetino.
Simone.
Blanc.
Zidane.

They are the obvious headline candidates.

One would argue that Simone & Zidane are extremely similar in style to Jose.
Not sure what fans expect here.

As for the other two, one could argue we don't have a proper structure in place to take on such a huge risk in Pochetino.
Same could be said for Blanc, again won with ease in the French league with PSG.
And had a ok stint with the France national side.

micks_address

telecaster wrote: »

I'm taking my son to see the Valencia game tomorrow evening. He'd like to see the players arriving at OT. Is this possible? Where do they arrive?

Thanks

Last time we went to a game waited for ages only for the team to arrive on a bus and back into the entrance. Darkened windows so seen noone.. After game spotted a few players walking to their cars.. Lot of waiting for little payback

tayto lover

Managers can't be allowed to go on forever "buying the title".
That has to stop. Money is dictating everything.
Mourinho is sulking because he wasn't given the money to do so, that's his gripe.
I hope it returns to the old ways when clubs have to bring young players through like Ferguson did.

SlickRic

tayto lover wrote: »

Managers can't be allowed to go on forever "buying the title".
That has to stop. Money is dictating everything.
Mourinho is sulking because he wasn't given the money to do so, that's his gripe.
I hope it returns to the old ways when clubs have to bring young players through like Ferguson did.

not going to happen.

money rules.

unless you bring in a cap structure like with US Sports, it will forever be the way it is.

we can be romantic all we like, and wish it was all about local lads and bleeding for the badge, but that is not the game anymore. you invest, or you get left behind.

Klopp gets slagged because of what he said a couple of years ago about big money signings. he realised he was talking nonsense when he saw what City and Utd had been spending. if you're serious about titles, there is no choice.

Pep, lauded as the greatest in the world, still needed most of his defence to cost €50m a piece.

GavRedKing

I remember Jose Mk II pre-season when Chelsea won 2 games on penalties and drew/lost the rest but because we won the title the season before hand it felt like everything would be grand but their was clear discontent brewing under the surface between Mourinho and the players. However, he still signed a new 4 year contract.

Throw in a sh*te transfer window, when he never got the players he wanted and was vocal about it to the media.

If you swapped around Chelsea with Utd in the above brief you could be talking about the exact same situation, bar the title win.

Before he was sacked, he won 3 PL games, all at home, lost 9 and drew 3.

Every time we felt it couldnt get worse some horror show would happen and he fell out with a lot of senior players along the way. Its much easier for a club to replace the manager than a group of players and at the time I was furious we sacked Mourinho but in hindsight, it was a blessing.

DARK-KNIGHT

This is just embarrassing for the club

Change has to happen