Manchester United Banter Archive May 12 2018

12 May 2018 22:30:35
Not Been A Regular Poster, But I Just Felt Like Pointing A Few Things Out.
Firstly, While the style of play hasn't been impressive, i think the defence/ defenders to some extent have contributed to this. If we had quality centre backs, i think the manager would have seen the need to play just 1 DM against the some teams, thereby committing more men forwad. Also, the full backs barely contribute anything going forwad, thereby making our play more congested centrally.
secondly, more than style of play or any other thing, i think the most important thing we need now is to build a solid team, and i know jose is the man for that. He may not be able to offer exciting attacking football, but when you look back at his former teams, you find out that he was able to bring in and blend quality players in key areas, which helped them on the long run. Jose is stil trying to get rid of some of the average players who were here before him e.g darmian, blind, smalling etc and not forgetting the likes of depay, and morgan.

12 May 2018 22:46:13
Do you see any sort of plan style or system when we play, Marcelo?

13 May 2018 00:02:34
If the football is not exciting what's the point of it?

13 May 2018 18:58:34
exactly Stevie its dire to watch.

12 May 2018 16:39:25
Hi Ed002/ Ed001 or any ed that is around. Apologies if this is far too speculative as I feel it might be. Apparently there are murmurs that Rui Faria is leaving as Jose's no. 2 and that we will be hiring a new person. Carrick will join the back room staff but will not be no. 2. If this is the case I would be very happy to see a new man come in as it shakes up the set up abit and brings fresh ideas to Jose and our tactics. Thanks in advance.

{Ed002's Note - Where is he going?~

12 May 2018 18:38:51
Arsenal? Doubt it wonder who will replace him, hopefully someone with a more attacking style would be good to have mourinhos defensive character and someone with more flair allow the players more freedom the smaller teams (bighton, Huddersfield to name a couple) .

12 May 2018 18:44:57
Just announced that he’s leaving there, hopefully we promote from within!

12 May 2018 18:49:09
Its definately official now, he's off .

12 May 2018 19:32:20
Great news. A new coach and a few new players and we are good to go. Hoping for some pre world cup signings. A good squad shake up and some fresh faces and fresh ideas. Jose wants to win the title back desperately and i won't back against him. He knows what he is doing.

13 May 2018 09:21:09
New coach with new ideas . We can only hope .
Fred the red will want to leave next.

12 May 2018 16:36:47
Good post by DLIB further down you've summed up the current situation really well. And as usual I am finding myself agreeing with Ken in that I hope the style does improve with the necessary reinforcements in the full backs and midfield positions. However, I am not so sure we will ever see the swashbuckling football we desire under Jose. I think if I am being honest I am not sure why I ever thought we would see this style. We all knew what we were getting with jose and I suppose he has in some sense delivered. However, he has always had results and trophies to justify his style, and that is seriously lacking right now. And rightly so he is getting the criticism. I have no issue if we play like jose's first chelsea team who were so solid at the back, with a dynamic and strong midfield and exciting tricky wingers providing the magic. They were brilliant defensively and devastating on the counter. I am happy to watch this sort of football but big changes need to be made to make this possible.

Although statistically we have improved, the problem for me is that when we have had lows this season they have been so devastatingly disappointing. The common themes of these defeats are that the performances have been woeful, the passion has been non-existent and often the manager has come out with infuriating comments which have divided the fanbase. On the one hand I am frustrated with the players and feel that they don't have the mentality or the understanding to play for a club like United. But on the other, I feel Jose is a shadow of the great manager I often yearned to take over at United. A manager who I thought had the personality, the ego and the mentality to succeed at our great club. It has been a bit underwhelming to say the least.

However, I do think the media have caused many fans to jump on the bandwagon of Jose bashing. He inherited a severely under confident squad lacking in real quality. We have to be honest that we have been languishing and competing for top 4 since Sir Alex left. We have been living off our reputation as opposed to actually opening our eyes and seeing the current predicament that we are actually in. Perhaps we need to be purely objective here and assess the current situation without comparing it to Sir Alex's reign. We are not the force we once were, but that does not mean we are a spent force. But realistically, we have only played 2 champions league campaigns in the last 5-6 years, got top 4 once (twice now) and have not finished above 4. We have made two terrible appointments who have spent silly amounts of money on average players. The squad has no balance and we have paid way over the odds both on wages and transfer fees for the last 5 years. The club quite frankly has been mismanaged and is a mess. The point in Jose has had to come in and bring his own players in, whilst also having to make do with the deadwood that is already at the club. We cannot do a city and buy a brand new defence and keeper in one window. It takes time! Until we get the squad balanced and full of quality in key areas, we cannot expect to mount a serious challenge on the premier league and champions league.

In short, I feel Jose is not going to be the man that gets us playing the way we all crave. But he needs to improve the style because it is unacceptable at the moment. Although I do not think he will win us the league, it would be very disruptive to sack him this summer and have a new manager come in and start the process again. I understand some people's concerns that it is a waste to give him money to spend etc. But I feel it is more disruptive to sack him now. Realistically, the club back him and he is here for one more year so we all need to suck it up and get behind the team and the manager. He has done some good and should be praised. He has done some bad and should be criticised. But this incessant bitching and agenda against him is getting a bit tiresome. Considering he has got us to second with this poor squad speaks volumes that we have overachieved. However, next season ther is no excuses. It is the title of bust for mr mourinho.

12 May 2018 17:20:33
Finishing second is decent, given the competition among the top six. But the style really is poor, given the talent we have, and after all, this is a place where fans can get their frustration out. For all of the attacking talent we have, we play a boring style. There is a lack of combinations and a lack of freedom going forward.

12 May 2018 17:24:25
I agree zidaniel the style is woeful and that needs to change. I am one of those that is sick of it.

13 May 2018 10:54:36
I don't think it's title or bust. I'd say it's either title, awesome football including a good run in Europe and league as well as a cup, or bust.

12 May 2018 12:49:48
As the curtain closes on another Premier League season it's a frustratingly difficult one to assess.

The optimist's will point to progression, our highest league position since Sir Alex retired, win tomorrow and we'll break the 80 point barrier, 25 league wins, 18 clean sheets and finishing second above L'pool, Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal can be considered a decent campaign especially with an FA Cup final to look forward to and possibly more silverware to add to the cabinet, however many of us feel disappointed and disillusioned.

Some will argue that the football has been poor, disjointed, lacking rhythm, intensity and often overly cautions and boring. Supporting Utd this season has been a tough slog, joyless and unentertaining. Fall outs with players, harsh public criticism, self proclamation, a refusal to accept responsibility, constant team changes, no settled formation, sullen, fractious press conferences and flirtations with other Clubs have led some to question whether Jose is the correct man to take us forward.

I see merit in both arguments and have fell into both camps at various points throughout the season, Optimism often turning to despair and vice versa.

I think since Sir Alex retired we have lost our cavalier spirit and confidence. We often look consumed with doubt and paralysed by fear. Our football has lacked courage and belief and become almost robotic.

I am enthused by our results, I do see progress but I also see all the other stuff as well. I think at this time we need stability and despite the poor football I think the results should buy Jose more time.

Looking forward to next season I'd love to see a fresh approach. There is a time and a place for tactical, pragmatic stuff but football is a simple game. We have good players, sometimes all that's needed are simple words, encouragement and trust. Your better, go out and win the game. Be brave, be confident, trust in one another, express yourself, match their effort and your quality will win the game.

Come on Jose is doesn't always have to be a tactical slog. Cheer up you've got the best job in football. Meet us halfway and let us be entertained again.

12 May 2018 14:02:04
Good post dlib. Sure we have improved plenty. This season in the league we have overtaken Liverpool Chelsea arsenal and spurs. Despite the lack if depth in the squad and poor options in a few positions.
Some players are doing very well others are good for a game bad the next game. I hope the football improves when we get in some proper full backs and strengthen in midfield.
Good positional improvement no real consistent football improvement. If we win the cup we will have had a good season. Lose the final it will have been an average season.
We beat every team In the league this season so we are not too far away. But we are not close to being entertainers yet.

12 May 2018 14:39:01
Yeah kind of how I feel Ken!

I just have a niggling feeling that it won't really matter who we sign if there isn't a slight change in approach.

I've nothing against tactical, pragmatic football in the big games but the rest of the time we must be braver, play with more intensity, work harder and not let games just drift by.

I'm still not convinced we're ready to mount a serious challenge next season and in reality I don't expect Jose to change. Having said that I think there was an impressive stat that I read recently that we've won every league game when we've took the lead. I think it was something like 20 games so in theory if we can start quicker and get in front I suppose it's possible.

I think the main problem is we don't really know what we're going to get. A slow start, more public spats, fallings out and implosion is almost as likely as us stringing a consistent run of games together.

12 May 2018 14:42:01
Dlib nice post, a well balanced view.

Despite positive results and a high placed finish, there were too many major lows this season, making things all too joyless. That's based on performances on the pitch as well as from Jose.

A mobile, intelligent central midfielder and two attacking full backs this summer, coupled with a more positive, energetic approach and we'll be happier fans all round.

12 May 2018 23:33:29
Wonderful post DLIB.

12 May 2018 06:59:45
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 12th May 2018