31 Jul 2018 06:21:22
People have said the squad looks happy and relaxed but now the press are reporting players are struggling with Jose’s behaviour and finding it exhausting. This is reminiscent of previous episodes and does not auger well for the season. He is now asking the missing players to return early.

It’s fair to say this has not been the best preparation for a new season. Spurs also have a stack of players missing and no signings yet Poch is toeing the party line. Right now, Liverpool are looking strong, City obviously, interesting to see how the new Managers do at Chelsea and Arsenal.

I saw the stats on transfers this morning, others have spent more but recouped a lot more, that is where we have struggled. If we do get £25M for Rojo then I see a CB arriving. I also have no issue with Martial going to an EPL club if we get the right price for him, or have a target come in the other direction.

Finally, predictions comp will be out next week, slightly tweaked. I don’t think Jose will be first to go, or even be sacked, but I don’t think he will be here beyond Christmas. All the signs are there.

1.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 07:31:29
Tony, thanks in advance for your hard work doing the prediction comp.

Its not been good preperation and if United was work and Mourinho was the boss, then I'll be looking to change jobs than work in the bad environment he's created.

2.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 07:45:19
Funnily enough Schmid, my boss is hard work. Everything is a crisis and the focus is always on what hasn’t gone right, there is never a well done. When I get an emailor a call from him my first feeling is one of dread.

3.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 07:48:55
As mentioned previously then mood and environment round the camp looks brilliant.

4.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 07:55:28
Tony, guess the answer to that question is there in your first line. "press are reporting"

There has been a detailed discussion further down the page about press and Jose and about press and United.

5.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 08:43:17
The independent media are reporting that the mood around the camp is tense and the relationship between the players and the manager is strained.

MUTV, and United online media are putting out clips and pictures of the players smiling and laughing.

Both sides have an agenda, and both are probably true.

Some of the players probably are feeling tense and don't have a great relationship with Jose. While it is still entirely possible to find moments of happiness when the players are training with their friends.

It is not in the independent medias interest to write everything is great at United. While the club is certainly not going to publicise anything other than positive images and clips.

6.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 08:51:47
I'd say there is one thing Jose says to the media and another that is said to the players and staff and that's the only one that matters.

Everything is always magnified when it come to Jose anyway. I just pay know attention and worry about the results. The last 2 year's haven't been that bad at all considering the politics that are being played in the boardroom.

7.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 09:05:39
What side are you on Shappy? You believe the media that just wants negative and bad for United (ABU) and propagate their agenda?

8.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 10:05:50
United Addict, I make my own mind up based on all I can see.

I don't know what Mourinho says to the players, but we do know he slags them off to the press on a fairly regular basis. I'm pretty sure most players won't be over the moon about that.

We also know he wants to move on several players such as Pogba, Martial, Shaw, Rojo, Darmian ect. So I wouldn't imagine he has a great relationship with them.

So I would say there are definitely some tensions within the United camp. That being said there are tensions in every squad, it is the managers jobs to keep a lid on them and make sure they don't become destructive.

Considering many of them are caused by our manager I wouldn't say he is doing a great job of that at the moment.

9.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 10:25:52
When you take into account what usually happens around this time in Mourinho’s tenure at a club, surely the players are looking at him and wondering if he will still be there come the end of the year.

10.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 10:29:45
The BBC are running a page about his comments and behaviour, suggesting he may be trying to force his way out.

11.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 11:30:32
Fair enough Shappy. But answer me this. You say you make up your own mind on the basis of what you see, so what is it that you see? The tabloids? The media reports? Jose pressers? Unless you are involved directly with the squad or even the club, i don't think you and i have a right to put a stamp on what the truth is. Ed002 has said several times that Jose plays the press and you should take everything with a pinch of salt. Now, i trust Ed002 on the matters concerning to football and his knowledge on the clubs more than any tabloid and he has proven that in the past. So, i think we can safely say that Jose is not what he is with the media. The greatest of all time SAF wasnt particularly friendly with the media either but no one dared question him, did we?

On the players you listed, give me one of those who we didn't want out of the club last season. Pogba was questioned by almost everyone throughout the season and some stated that it was the worst 90m spent. Shaw has been debated more times than Donald Trump's presidency. Darmian? Rojo? I will give you Martial and the jury is stil out on him. But come on, almost everyone wanted these players moved on and now that Jose is moving them on, you are questioning that as well.

I understand that you are not a "fanboy" of Jose but you got to give credit to the man on what he has achieved and that deserves respect. He has achieved success with his methods so far and i am sure he can achieve further success with proper tools at his disposal. It is still the same game, played by 22 men with a round ball. You can question his style of play which is a bit on the pragmatic side and can be tedious to watch sometimes but hey we knew that when we got him. We can all point to Klopp and Poch for their new style but they haven't won anything with their style for 10 years that they have been managing. So what is the point. You need to set a foundation to build upon and we need to be patient with Jose or the next manager to do that. Rome wasnt built in a day. Before you point to what has been invested since Jose took over, he isn't god or even a genius and he makes mistakes like everyone. Afterall SAF did sign Kleberson, Djemba Djemba, Bellion and the list goes on and one. So, if the manager thinks that the players aren't suited to his system and he wants them moved on, so why do we have to question that. Atleast now our players aren't going for cheap. I mean 16m for Blind, is bonkers. You know how many cars are crash tested before the final model comes out in the market? So, its the same here as well. Jose is here and will only be here for a maximum of 2 years and then the club will recruit again. let's just hope that the club is in a much more stable position by then and the new manager would only need to consolidate. May be the next manager will be a much more gung ho types so that the "club spirit/ values" are regenerated.

As for Jose, who knows, he has won everywhere so may be he does hand us the title once before he goes. Atleast then we won't be 10 years without a title and a much tougher job for the new manager when he comes in.

12.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 11:40:39
United addict
What do you make of the fact 02 has said Jose isn't happy at United and hates life in Manchester.

13.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 12:32:00
United Addict, I see many things, many different forms of press, both from within the club and from outside, I see Jose on the sideline every game, I see his body language, I hear his press conferences, I read what Ed002 has to say about Jose being unhappy and that he wants out of our club. There are people close to the club who I know and whose opinion I trust, I hear what they have to say.

After all that I add a sense of what seems to make the most sense. So here is what I see at our club at the moment. I see a manager who is unhappy at the club, who is picking fights with everyone and airing the clubs dirty laundry in public, a man who in spite of his continued sackings and fallings out refuses to learn from them. A manager who keeps making the same mistakes. Yes he has had great success with his way of doing things, yet the level of that success is dropping off and the time between these successes are further and further apart. Jose’s success was measured in UCL and league titles, yet it has been 9 years since the start of his last successful UCL campaign and 4 years since the start of his last successful league campaign. Now instead of winning the league every other year and competing for europe's top prize its league cups and Europa league titles.

His style and way of managing is being left behind, and he is failing to adapt. There are shocking parallels between our current pre-season and the one he had at Chelsea before his sacking.

As for players he wants out, well I wouldn’t want Pogba or Martial to leave. These are two of our few potentially world class players. I would want the manager to find a way to get the most out of them. Shaw I feel could still become a very good player, however, I am less confident he will make it then I am over the French lads. Rojo I feel is a solid back-up defender. He can play a couple of different positions.
Darmian just hasn’t adapted to the pace and power of the EPL, however there are better ways of handling his departure which has dragged on for too long. He was all set to leave last summer until Jose blocked the move because we picked up a couple of injuries. So he kept a player he didn’t want rather than give a couple of kids a chance, and is now moaning because he can’t buy the players he wants as the club need to move players like Darmian off the books before we can sign players. If he just gave a kid a chance 12 months ago Darmian would be off the books already and maybe the club would have been able to bring in another player already.

I have huge respect for Jose and what he has achieved, I have huge respect for Diego Simeone as well. However, I don’t think he is the right man for the job either. Jose doesn’t fit the profile of a Manchester United manager in several key areas, that is why people like Bobby Charlton had valid reservations about him.

I feel Jose will have more success in the future, but it won’t be as often or as big as his past successes. He is moving into yesterday's man territory. Oh and Klopp has won the title within the past 10 years, 2012 was only 6 years ago.

I’ll say it now, Jose will not win anything else with us. His tenure is starting to unravel, he is picking fights with everyone. He named Valencia his captain then a week later said he turned up to pre-season in bad shape. He is even picking fights with his favourites now. I would be very surprised if Jose is our manager at Easter. Once in his career has he finished three seasons with a club and that was over 15 years ago. The signs are there, this is about to implode and all end in tears. Which is what both me and Bobby Charlton said it would before his appointment.

14.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 12:56:04
Ajh. Surely it beats being unemployed but you still have time to find a moan not surprisingly.
Ask yourself if your boss is so bad why are you not the boss?

15.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 13:08:21
Well then we will have to agree to disagree. Each to his own. I like to see things positively and i will wait for the day (before Easter) that he picks up that "fight" and he is given the sack rather than be the "know it all" before hand and predict things. Oh and just by the way, i was wrong in saying Klopp hadnt won anything in the last 10 and thanks for correcting me. But Jose won it just 4 years ago. You beat the man about not winning it for 4 years and then you like someone who hasn't done it for 6.

jred, i am not from Manchester so i don't really know. But from what i have heard regarding the weather, i would rather be someplace else myself. And to cope with that gloomy weather without his family, i can only imagine the pain.

16.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 13:31:38
Hey, not all of us will agree all the time.

So United Addict, what do you see when you look at our present position?

17.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 13:45:24
He see's Rome being built of course Shappy!

Only he doesn't realise it is Rome for the absolute dump it is now, not the one of 2150 years or so ago. Rome is still clinging onto the 'good old days' and milking tourists for what it used to be - bit like our club with it's fans.

18.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 14:15:45
Tony, sorry to hear about your boss. Sometimes, people/ players need to be told what to do and need direction. Other times, players need to be taken to one side and told in a different and more subtle way what to do. I think Mourinho is not a good man manager and that shows in the fact he keeps arguing with players and falling out with them. Fergie was the best.
Mourinho's handling of bailly, pogba, martial, hererra, blind, mkhitaryan, shaw has been pretty abismal. When all he can give is negativity, insults and critiscm, then he should not expect anything better in return.

19.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 14:38:10
Shappy, i see progress being made by the club as a whole from the bottom up. The scouting system has changed. Carrick has been embedded in the coaching role along with McKenna. That is keeping continuity. I see that we haven't been anywhere near the top since SAF retired, so i see progress in the league position. I see that since SAF retired, this is the first time we have been in the Champions League two seasons in a row. I see progress there. I see a manager who isn't happy with the board given that he hasn't got the players he wants but all of us expect him to challenge City for the title. I see that a foundation has been laid for the next man, whoever that is. I see that if a few pieces are fixed before 10th August, a team that will challenge at the top. I see fans getting sucked into all the negative aura that has been created around the club by the media. I see (pictures) of a happy group of players around Jose in USA. I also see more than half of the team missing there. This was the best time for new players to be bedded into the team but someone at the board level isn't really helping close the transfers quickly. I see a team that beat all of the top 6 from last season, first time since SAF retired.

20.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 14:48:08
Why would you even bring up another manager united addict. Jose is up the club to get himself a payday. The squad is full of ageing players that will soon need replaced and some are players that he has brought in at an older age for instant success which hasn't came. He usually wins a league within 2 years then causes an uproar to get sacked and get a payday. He signed a new contract and now he's trying his best to get out. Everyone always knew he's stain on a club after his behaviour at chelsea and now its becoming apparent that he was the problem then because he's at it now as well.

21.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 14:58:16
"Klopp has won the title within the past 10 years, 2012 was only 6 years ago. " And 4 years since Jose won it. Fair to say that both are struggling to win league titles. Klopp to me is more of a cup tournament manager. Apart from failing to win the finals of course.

22.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 15:20:06
Mort, I think Klopp has one very well considering he has never managed the top side in any league. He won the league in Germany against a team that had a squad worth more than three times the squad he had at Dortmund. And he did so out playing them. After that Bayern had to bring in arguably the best manager in the world in Pep while buying half of Dortmund's player to win the title back.

Dortmund were unable to replace the players they lost with players of a similar quality.

At Liverpool, he has improved them every year, what they have lacked is quality in depth. Once a first team player is out injured or suspended the drop off in quality in the player replacing them is vast. That has been his downfall so far at Liverpool. By the time they get to the business end of the season his team are knackered as they have played more minutes and covered more ground than anyone else in the league and that has cost them. This summer they have fixed that to a large extent. They have a new quality goalkeeper who could be a serious contender to DDG as best keeper in the league, Fabinho, Keita and Shaqiri will add quality to both the first team and in depth.

At this moment in time I have City as champions with Liverpool second. Spurs will likely end up in the top four again (they may not have made any signings yet, which is typical of Levy, but they haven't lost any key players either) which leaves one place for UCL qualification.

What happens with us, Chelsea and Arsenal will have a huge part in how the season pans out.

23.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 15:45:45
Imagine if Jose had to get by with what poch has at spurs .

24.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 16:40:52
Just thought it was funny shappy. Neither have won a league title for years. Deep down we all admit Liverpool are a threat. I think the pressure will get to them though.

25.) 31 Jul 2018
31 Jul 2018 17:59:21
Ken, thanks for that completely pointless contribution. We can’t alll be high flying entrepreneurs like you.

26.) 01 Aug 2018
01 Aug 2018 12:47:16
Ken you sound a bit grumpy, have you had poachers on your land again? or is the Ferrari playing up again? if so just use the Bentley Ken.