08 Jul 2020 13:58:31
Football - it's a funny old game. It's curious how transfer priorities can quickly change from one area of the team to another.

With Mason Greenwood improving by the week and Paul Pogba appearing more settled maybe our summer transfer plans need re-evaluating.

In the post C.V. uncertainty it seems inconceivable that Utd or any Club would cough up over £100m on a single player. Whilst Sancho is undoubtedly a supremely talented individual perhaps we already have our very own generational talent and the money could be better invested elsewhere.

With Mata's star quickly fading and the ineffectual Lingard and Pereria now seemingly surplus to requirements the links to Jack Grealish become more obvious. He's a versatile player capable of performing in a variety of positions and a number of different roles. His acquisition would undoubtedly add quality and creativity to the squad.

Recent Utd performances have demonstrated the value of having two creative and inventive midfielders especially when trying to break down stubborn and organised defences whilst retaining possession of the football. Grealish would make a competent deputy for either Pogba or Fernandes. On occasions he could even line up alongside them both in a midfield diamond and he has played both wide left and right for Villa this season. His acquisition would provide Ole with a plethora of options allowing him to deploy several different systems. His maverick qualities would provide the team with an element of unpredictably. Grealish is a player capable of conjuring genuine moments of magic no matter how many questions linger over his attitude and consistency.

There has been evidence recently of Utd adopting a higher defensive line with the emphasis on a more attacking and progressive style of football. Whilst our defensive record is generally good, some teams have been able to create chances and enter our defensive third with alarming regularity. We have looked susceptible to the counter attack and a lack of pace in the centre back positions is worrying especially if we want to reach the levels of consistency demonstrated by City and Liverpool over last couple of seasons.

With Maguire's acquisition commanding significant investment and now been appointed Club captain it is almost inconceivable that he will not form part of the team. To take us to the next level there is an argument that he possibly needs a partner who better complements his skill set and a new CB with lightening quick acceleration, pace and the ability to read the game and cover would be a worthwhile addition. Lindelof is a decent defender but he also lacks pace and the physicality of the league can often be too much. Bailly and Tuanzebe have been perpetually injured and the others have no future at the Club.

Matic has been rewarded with a new contract and his recent form has been superb. As the only recognised defensive midfielder in the squad he has been used brilliantly to allow Pogba and Fernandes to perform further up the park. His value and importance to the team has been emphasised in recent games but at 32 he is coming to the end of his career and can't be relied upon every week. Fred and Mctominay have both enjoyed excellent seasons but neither can be considered typical defensive midfielders and is an area of the team which may need investment.

There is an argument that recent games have demonstrated the need for a new CB and DCM to help balance the creative instincts of both Pogba and Fernandes whilst providing the team with a solid foundation allowing them to ply their craft. In a summer window where money is bound to be tight maybe strengthening multiple areas of the team could be more beneficial than just one.

1.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 14:38:42
The team is at a crossroads at the minute. Are we the Man Utd that was getting bullied by relegation candidates at the start of the season, or are we the free flowing attacking outfit that are on show at the minute?

The fact is we will constantly need improving but over the years we have been poor at moving players on when we needed to. There's a few there that should have been moved on already. Ole and the club have done well with this transition but there's still a few more that could and should be shown the door.

If Grealish is replacing Lingard and Pereira in the squad then that's clearly an upgrade. Even though Greenwood has been wonderful this year we should be trying to secure a proper RW.

Then the hard part comes. To move to the next level you need a coach that can improve the players to get were we want to be or you need to be ruthless in replacing them.

In a perfect world Fred and McTominay would only be squad players. Our CBs look vulnerable since we have played Pogba and Bruno. Maybe LB need a attention but not right now, let's see Williams and Shaw fight it out.

Th thread further down the page about Martial was good. I do like the player but if you're leading the line for Man Utd, you need better number than 15 in the league (hopefully he finishes with 20+) . Decisons need to be made. We have a tendency to get attaches to players that simply aren't good enough.

Baby steps though. Grealish, a RW and a midfielder if Pogba goes would be a decent summer that should see us consolidate and become a fixture in the top 4. But some difficult decisions need to made about some players if we're to up a gear.

2.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 15:09:58
We have been improving over the season i think that its clear to most, so its fair to say that our current form is the team we are now.
As opposed to to judging us 10 month ago .
Ole has been a major factor in that but people have either drawn a line in the sand or have posted that much negative stuff they can't acknowledge it .
I watched an awful game the other day spurs v Everton . Not a single shot on target, the goal was an own goal. Poor football through out from 2 teams managed by managers with big CVs jose and ancelotti.

Shaw continues to get questioned by the same people regardless of form. Again line in the sand to much negative comments posted .
Shaw is playing well at the moment has stayed clear of injury and is the only player to start every game of our current impressive run .
Its the same story with martial 15 league goals from open play . that's more than aguero or salah .
Infact mane with 1 more, vardy, ings with 3 more and aubameyang have scored more . All have played more games than martial .

3.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 16:08:37
It was Christmas time Jred when we had 3 wins in 15 games, not exactly a lifetime ago. Ole has the tendency to go on long runs of consistent results, whether they are wins or loses.

That's my point though. We need to improve but you seem to be happy with every one, everyone is wonderful. Ole is the man, Martial is better than Aguero, Shaw is great. But we are 5th at the minute.
34 points off the leaders.

Ole and the lads have done really well lately but it will all be for nothing if we can't finish in the top 4.

There's still question marks over a lot of players. That's all I'm saying. You may be happy with finishing the season with an unbeaten run of 20 games and finishing 5th. But for me there is loads of room for improvement everywhere at the club and anything but Champions League football next year is a failure considering it is in our hands.

4.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 15:44:05
I agree on Shaw.
He has played well the last few months.
If people can't acknowledge that they are picking holes.
Over the last 10 games or so i'm not sure even Liverpool have mite points than us.
If people can't acknowledge that its plain silly.
Best team for me since the restart.
Better to watch. Scoring plenty. Improving weekly imo.

5.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 17:24:23
I agree with most if that mumbles too.
We have seen ole go on a run like this before only for it to run into a dead end and then it was worse than watching jose and moyes teams.
As long as we improve and qualify for cl and compete for the top honours next season ill be happy whoever plays or whomever coaches.

6.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 17:47:53
Mumbles I'm happy with an improving team and a team moving forward .
I didn't say martial was better than aguero?
If we don't finish 4th it will all be for nothing?
Why is that, what's the big deal about finishing 4th this one year, for me it is far more important that we are building a team and moving forward. Which we have done over the past season . We need to go into next season a better team than what we started this season and continue that improvement. that's how you build .
It not about being happy with everyone, it about recognising improvement and potential and also bring realistic.
But each to there own, however I do think people have drawn lines in the sand etc.

7.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 17:55:49
Bang on Ken. Question marks over the manager will be answered in my eyes if he can navigate a few tricky fixtures and get us Champions League next year.

If we finish the season 5th/ 6th with the same points as last year after spending a shed load of cash then that doesn't warrant him continuing.

I do think we'll finish 3rd to be honest. We're playing really well and although these were the fixtures we were slipping up on, I think Ole has found the right starting 11 to pick the lock against these teams.

8.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 17:56:39
Always enjoy reading your posts DLIB. Keep em coming!

9.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 18:33:23
Disagree about Shaw playing so well. Going forwards he has improved but defensively he still gets caught out of position way too much. A defenders first job should be to. defend.

With regards to the rest of the team and performances obviously there has been an improvement but on the whole we have not faced top teams so I reserve judgement until we do so.

As others have pointed out Matic who had been playing very well recently is not getting younger and he definitely is not going to get any quicker. Fred and Scott should be coached to take over his position and learn from him. We also need a really fast centre half. I had hopes for Tuanzebe but he had had a difficult year and can we really afford to take a chance relying on him and Bailly next year to complement Maguire/ Lindelof? Lindelof is a bit of an enigma to me. He seems to play very well for his country but is not the same when playing for us. Maybe he is one of those players more suited to a slightly slower tempo like in the Italian or Spanish Leagues.

10.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 15:44:05
I agree on Shaw.
He has played well the last few months.
If people can't acknowledge that they are picking holes.
Over the last 10 games or so i'm not sure even Liverpool have mite points than us.
If people can't acknowledge that its plain silly.
Best team for me since the restart.
Better to watch. Scoring plenty. Improving weekly imo.

11.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 19:32:48
I certainly havnt drawn a line in the sand in regards to Ole. I would be absolutely delighted if we could finish in the top 3 and have him kick on.

Most of the posters that question Ole have genuine concerns. He could have been sacked at the end of last season after taking us from 4th to 6th. He could have lost his job at Christmas when he won 3 games in 15 resulting in the worst win percentage of any manager post WW2.

The football at times was horrendous, getting out thought and out fought by teams in the relegation zone. Bruno in the team could be like the emperors new clothes. But we could be two injuries away from the slow turgid football Ole has served up in the past.

But all those concerns go away if we can get top 4. Top 4 is important for many reasons. Sancho who you have no problem with the club spending obscene abouts of money on will not even look at us without Champions league football. Financially and our reputation get a boost.

I can recognise improvement but a decent run at the end of the season that results in us having the same points total and entering the second tier European competition again isn't improving is It? After spending how much?

Are you Ole Jr jred?

12.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 20:09:58
I stand corrected in last 12 epl games Liverpool and Burnley have won more points than us.
Very unnoticed run by Burnley 25 points from 12 games only 1 defeat.

13.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 20:54:35
Mumbles improvement is judged in different ways.
If it goes to the last game of the season we play leciester . If we win top 4 and we have improved? Draw after dominating the match and there keeper has a worldie and we haven't imoroved?

I think you improve over the course of time and there are loads of factors to be considered.
Its the same with judging players, this game by game thing is daft imo . But each to there own .
I have no issue with us spending an obscene amount of money on sancho . don't know where you got that from?
I also think you have to look at what obscene actually is in regards to a business like manchester united .
But the truth is fans on the site only care about what a player cost or gets paid when they are trying to prove a point and put a negative slant on a player.
No one cares what a player gets paid if they are playing well never gets mentioned, or what he cost.

14.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 20:58:49
ken I saw something the other day it had points gained since united digned bruno . United where top Burnley 3 .
I Lumped on Burnley and Shef utd tonight, stael at 15s.

15.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 21:59:34
After me and Shappy made some good points in regards to spending a lot of money on Sancho when it could be spread out you said "the club knows what it can afford more than you".
To which I replied a long list of financial mishaps Mr Woodward has over seen.

You don't seem to take anyone's points on board. Making up these scenarios to make your point. Two weeks ago it was "We could win every game and still finish 5th, why would you sack him".

Then it was "it's not in our hands, why would you sack a manager that could go 20 unbeaten? "

Now it's "we could draw a game where a keeper has a worldie".

Moving the goalposts to try and save face if indeed Ole fails. Van Gaal got sacked after missing out on 4th by one point. I don't remember anyone being too unhappy about that. Your constant little jibes at Jose as if that will somehow make Ole a better manager.

You're actually the stubborn one here making minor achievements seem like Ole has done the impossible. Are we were we are because of Ole or in spite of him? Because we certainly are not over achieve. We're nearly par for th course and par will not win you anything.

16.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 22:45:14
DLIB, I think the priorities should remain the same, good form in one thing but the underlying problems remain the same.

I said a couple of months ago that the areas we need to strengthen are RW, CAM, CDM and CB in that order. I stand by that.

Greenwood is having a great time on the RW, but in truth CF is probably his long term position and at 18 years old we can't expect him to maintain this form across an entire season. Whether we need someone who is guaranteed first choice and will automatically play 90% of the games or someone who can compete with Greenwood is a question that might be more pertinent right now. I'm a little on the fence, I think a genuine first choice RW would give us a stronger first 11 in the immediate future, while bringing in a top quality player who can rotate with Greenwood might be a better medium to long term option by maximising Greenwood's potential.

CAM is in my opinion the next most important area, whether Pogba stay's or goes I don't think this changes, although if he leaves this area becomes vitally important. Currently Pogba and Bruno offer creativity in midfield, but behind them the options are very poor, Lingard, Mata and Andreas Pereira represent a huge drop off in quality from Pogba and Bruno. An injury to either or both of them and we are back to being unable to break low blocks down.

CDM is a vitally important position in a team and while Matic has been excellent since January, however he is the wrong side of 30 and has shown in previous seasons at the club that he doesn't have the legs to play every week for a whole season. A long term successor to him needs to be sought. However, I feel this area is of less immediate importance as RW and CAM as we do have good cover at CDM in Fred and McTominay. Although they aren't as good as a fully fit and in form Matic they can certainly do a job in rotation or covering for him. While the young James Garner might in a season or so emerge as a genuine long term replacement. With Matic signing a new deal until 2023 this area is no longer of immediate concern and could be looked at next summer.

CB for me is 4th on the list for the sole reason of just how many CB's we have at the club. As Ole stated earlier today we have 7 first team CB's. So we need to move on at least 2 or 3 before we can even look at strengthening the CB position. So for that reason it's the least important area of strengthening even though arguably RW and a CB partner for Maguire are the two main areas in the first 11 that need upgrading. Also Mengi is highly rated and coming through so he could get a game or two next season.

Centre back could leap frog CDM if the club can offload Smalling, Jones and Rojo, and with Roma, West Ham and Estudiantes respectively interested its not beyond possibility that we could shift all three.

If looking at a partner for Maquire we need someone with excellent reading of the game, pace and communicative. While being stwrong in the air and good at 1v1's would obviously be useful as well. Ideally what we are looking for is a player who can read the game well and talk Maguire and the rest of the defence through the game, while having enough pace to dig the team out when caught high up the pitch.

17.) 08 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 22:46:46
Good post DLIB but I think Fred can play a deep midfield role as could Scotty, no obvious need for investment for a dm imo.

Grealish would be a very good buy, as PP and BF cannot play every game and I worry an injury to one of those at the moment may derail our momentum.

Before spending big again on a cb I'd try to get Baily up to match fitness but if he breaks down again then we may have to invest.

18.) 09 Jul 2020
08 Jul 2020 23:27:54
Mumbles
Its not moving the goal post all the examples are making exactly the SAME point .

It isn't about me saving face if ole fails in not getting top 4, as I have said repeatedly that's not how I judge a manager.
I think that's a strange thing to say but probably speaks of your own mindset
I think we have taken a step in the right direction i can see the improvement what the club are trying to achieve and the potential. And is regardless of what happens in the next six games .
We could win our next 5 games and draw 1 and finish 5th . I would be more than happy with that when I look at the season as a whole .

Taking into account, injuries change of style, the change of personal msny other things

As apposed to judging a manger solely on the position a team finishes
I personally think judging a mznagers performance on what happens in the next few games is ridiculous.
Infact it could actually go down to one last game . I personally think its stupid but each to there own .

Lvg imo was sacked because he had taken the club as far as he could, the team wasn't really moving forward . Plus the style of play was poor, dressing room issue . Many different reasons .
The same goes for jose .

The club clearly knows what it can afford more than you . Not every signing works out but the club fully understands the cost . I can't believe your trying to argue the point .
But let's leave it at that because it clear we see things very differently.

19.) 09 Jul 2020
09 Jul 2020 03:01:41
If we were to win the FA Cup, the Europa league and finish in the top 4 I still think people would be calling for Oles head! There is a good chance that the above will happen and I am going to stick 20 quid on it tomorrow!

20.) 09 Jul 2020
09 Jul 2020 08:09:44
Great points there mumble. Good posts.

21.) 09 Jul 2020
09 Jul 2020 09:46:29
I don't think it was rocket science to work out utd were poor down the right and the central attacking midfielder wasnt yielding much .
Bruno arriving and hitting the ground running, coupled with pogbas return from injury and greenwood offering a goals output from the right has seen us look a different team albeit against sides recently that we would be disappointed not to beat, but the manner of the wins has been impressive .
I'd definitely look to a rw and a cam in the summer so we don't have a huge drop off when players are unavailable.
City Hoover up a lot of cups as their front 3 is pretty relentless as they have 6 or 7 really good options so they are always full of goals even when changes are made .
With matic signing a new deal cdm is covered for now as if we don't class mctom and fred as rivals for matic spot then it's hard to see how they will get a game elsewhere.
We can't keep adding cbs until we can offload a few and maybe next year this position may need upgrading .
The addition of 2 quality players and the trimming down of the squad of a few squad players is my hope in the window.