Manchester United Banter Archive April 16 2019

16 Apr 2019 22:18:22
Time and time again certain players put in a good shift and you think they could be ok going forwards. Then a night like tonight happens.

Young hopeless, Pogba found out against quality, Jones as hopeless as ever, Fred headless chicken, Lingard lacks quality, Martial does very little.

Rashford is one of the only players who deserves to wear the shirt on a regular basis.

£200m won't scratch the sides.

16 Apr 2019 22:30:55
Smalling as well, it is pretty damning than an england manager has stated he is not good enough on the ball to suit his style of play but he is our first choice centre back it seems.

16 Apr 2019 22:31:48
Should rash have put away that goal in the first few minutes, top strikers do.

16 Apr 2019 22:44:05
The recruitment at this club has been atrocious for years and years now. We’ve let players go like Blind, Chicharito, even Jonny Evans, prob others and are squad is worse than before, worse than that we sell players continually for peanuts, now have players on high wage and are left with some utter dross let’s be honest.
Ole needs time and more importantly we need to get recruitment right, a DoF is a must that works with Ole to get the right targets.
I want us looking to sign up top British talent I. e, wan Bissaka, Rice, Sancho and then yes add experience like a Coutinho and a top class centre back.
This is a Frankenstein squad atm with 3/ 4 managers players and ideas mixed up, massive wages with some aging players too, its a mess that needs patience from us as fans and Ed needs to step back as we now know we are a long way behind where we aspire to be.

16 Apr 2019 22:56:17
Good to see Blind in a champions league semi with a team playing the best football in the competition. Sigh.

16 Apr 2019 22:57:29
I’m sure someone somewhere has counted how many times Ashley Young gave the ball away in the 180 minutes.

Again though, not his fault we have to play a winger at full back. The recruitment has put some players in untenable positions and you’ve got to feel a little bit sorry for them. It’s not a lack of effort in some cases, they just aren’t good enough and we haven’t moved them on when we should, something SAF was very good at.

16 Apr 2019 23:01:22
Not a surprise tonight, these guys are not good enough for premier league contention so to go to the nou camp and expect anything other than what happened is foolhardy. i'd let the usual suspects like young etc do one and identify prospects. Ole may lack managerial experience but even he can see the obvious. It really comes down to what we've all been saying for so long on these pages- is the company/ business/ corporation/ Glazers behind the football end of things. If so we have a few years of rebuild in order to contend, if they see us as a cash cow we are in trouble. Simple as.

16 Apr 2019 23:22:51
Quite frankly if you have a first team that consists Jones, Smalling and Young in defence won't give any top forwards a scare and we won't win titles with that defence.

Pogba isn't United material either and that is simply because he doesn't want to play for us so why are we so desperate to keep him and beg him to perform.

Rashford and Martial are not ready to lead the line as they are young and inconsistent. Sanchez is out of form and Lukaku shouldn't be playing for us if we want to win major trophies or we n3ed to play to his strength.

Anyone who thinks qe had a chance against this team with Messi then i guess you are just a fan living on past glories.

I knew we would get whacked and its kind of good that we did so Ole can be ruthleds and grt rid of the players we don't need moving forward and until that happens i am sorry but we are not going to be winning playing attacking football everyone one of you crave and that is the reason why the pr3vious manager didn't play expressive football because he knew that the team isn't capable of winning and will end up losing like we did today! .

16 Apr 2019 23:44:48
Ole ruthless young gets a game no matter what. Cost us in the Fa cup with his red card, keeps his place. Lost the ball 30 times in the first leg and had 11 cosses none of which found a Utd shirt, keeps his place. Ole ruthless 😂😂😂😂.

17 Apr 2019 02:01:39
Its not all doom and gloom. 3 years ago, our defence was arguably as bad as yours and we had a worse gk. In fact, you do have the makings of a decent defence but you need to buy smart and shift on those who aren't good enough for the level you want to be at. An older CB such as Alderweireld (or perhaps Godin if you want to play a deep line) would prob work wonders with your younger backs. But I think bohzman nailed it - what happens next for you guys depends on how the Glazers see the club.

17 Apr 2019 04:55:21
It would be best for both parties if Ashley young came out and left the club himself to play in USA.
He's never been good enough, and the fact that he's overplayed at fullback at older age doesn't help his cause.

17 Apr 2019 09:03:07
Wazza it is Ashley Young’s fault he turned straight into messi or that he continually gives the ball away or as a former winger he can’t cross a ball, it’s no good defending the indefensible, he’s a professional footballer and has been playing full back for years now, he should know how to cross a ball at least tho he wasn’t that good a winger let’s be honest. It’s time to move away from average players buying high fee or high wage types with no loyalty, often past their peak and recruit younger, better players that will work together for years to come that actually get that ethos and at least work hard for each other.

17 Apr 2019 08:55:18
@wazza it may not be Young's fault he was converted to full back, but as a winger he should be able to cross no?

dreadful performance again, Lindelof and McTominay did well and I felt sorry for Pogba who made several good runs just for someone to give the ball away, not much he can do with players who can barely pass five yards around him. Martial always seems out of position, he seems better when he gets a ball in the center of the park, or when he's allowed to drift inside when Shaw overlaps him, something Rojo and Young didn't do. Rashford I feel is overhyped, fast, but doesn't have a great touch, is prone to give the ball away cheapily and isn't clinical enough. Lingard is and always has been a squad player at best.

17 Apr 2019 16:10:45
WRD yes that’s obviously his fault.

But the manager is forced to play him deep where mistakes are costly.

I’m not defending his ability, he’s not good enough, nor can he be blamed for being picked ahead of gutless alternatives.

16 Apr 2019 18:58:20
Jones at RB, he will get turned inside out.

16 Apr 2019 19:11:15
You are not alone with that view.

16 Apr 2019 19:45:35
RB or 3 CBS?

16 Apr 2019 19:55:29
Saw that myself and thought ' what the hell? ' he will get tortured. What is wrong with dalot?

16 Apr 2019 20:00:46
Got to feel sorry for him. All the money we’ve invested in defence and we have to play Phil Jones at right back in a champions league quarter final fixture.

Oh well. Let’s do this!

16 Apr 2019 21:58:39
Result inevitable. OGS and team trying to get too clever and not play to our mediocre strengths.

16 Apr 2019 22:03:13
Shocking, beyond shocking. Any club with integrity would sack the manager after the last six games. Out of his depth. Horrible. Dead cat bounce truly gone.

16 Apr 2019 22:06:55
And Chris smalling showing couthino his right side, an experienced defender.

16 Apr 2019 09:08:14
{Ed's Note - Utd Road has posted a new article entitled, My pitch for sorting out Manchester United - Football Manager editor mode style

16 Apr 2019 09:32:13
That is an interesting approach :)

16 Apr 2019 15:29:03
Boom - thanks post and tidying it up Ed, have a good one.

{Ed033's Note - thanks for posting

16 Apr 2019 19:18:23
Nice post by United Road and agree with so much of it.

Also really interesting points about development around OT and club sponsorship and branding.

Just wish we had owners who genuinely liked Football and so would want to invest properly for the future.

16 Apr 2019 20:07:28
In a lot of ways we are well run but I really think we lack strategic vision of what we want to be in 3, 5, 10 years.

Sir Alex came with his statement of knocking Liverpool of their perch, Abu Dhabi / Dubai bought clubs to sports wash their global image and have largely succeed, Liverpool's owner want to bring back success and will invest for it, Abramovich wanted to legitimatise his image and make some mullah!

What on earth is going on at our place I don't know. But we need a strategic plan that is for sure, and I'm not sure Solkskjaer's platitudes to the past can solely be it.

16 Apr 2019 04:42:39
Ridiculous that all the reports about RM and Barco trying to buy Rash for £100m. I'm not sure if Rash is really keen but if he is not he should come out to say.
I think the Spanish clubs are very afraid of us turning the 1 goal deficit into a win just like we did PSG. Using mind games to play with our players. Similar to trying to disrupt Pogba. This is the time to see what our players are made of.
I feel for Ole having to grapple with these but I would think that EW should come out to officially support the manager. It would help the players if EW do speak to the players and help in some of these motivational issues. Everything can't be solved with money although sadly money plays a part in the contract negotiations.
I hope we really show up and beat Barcelona and it would be a great achievement for the players and the club. Hope I have the energy to stay up to watch the game. GGMU.

16 Apr 2019 06:16:48
Story came from the english press so i don't see how it is the spanish media/ clubs trying to disrupt us.

16 Apr 2019 08:45:24
Sure noted DSG. I’m sure some over that side trying to since RM ZZ came out on his admiration about Pogba as well. So there seems to be all sorts of interest in our players. I am very happy for the players tbh since big clubs are interested. However what I have a problem is the very appropriate time these came out 🤔.
It’s good that clubs are keen on our players which means we have good and potential players. Just the timing I have issue with. We’ve been through this given CR7 before. Anyway that’s just my view.

16 Apr 2019 09:30:51
It is very different to the CR7 issue. Pogba is an excellent player, but he is easily replaceable. Any half competent club should be able to replace him.

cR7 was one of the two best players of his generation, he was never going to be replaced and should probably never have been sold.

But the point is any competent club can replace players like de gea and pogba and even rashford if they were to leave. The fact that we have been so incompetent in recruiting players is why the likes of de gea and rashford have us over a barrel when it comes to contract negotiations.

Also due to the fact we decided to make a past it has been chilean our highest paid player for no apparent reason.

16 Apr 2019 12:12:44
i play football with one rashfords best mate.

believe me he isn't going anywhere.

just more nonsense from the papers.

16 Apr 2019 12:46:31
Any of our players can be easily replaced. What a joke of a comment. Building a culture and a squad you need players who will run through walls for you. Not hired guns.

Rashford is worth 10 of a Sanchez type hired gun. He is not agitating for a move, he just wants a senior pro contract - look at his game time and influence. He deserves it! Who would we bring in to replace him?

{Ed007's Note - Danny Welbeck?}

16 Apr 2019 13:24:03
He already has a senior pro contract, he wants more money which is understandable, he deserves it. But if he were to want to leave a competent club should be able to replace him.

How do you think clubs like dortmund work? Obviously they would want all their players to be like marco reus and stay for a long time but the reality is most are like ousmane dembele or pulisic who see the club as a vehicle to get moves to other clubs.

There is no reason why people wouldn't use united in the same way to get moves to other clubs.

16 Apr 2019 14:57:12
Problem with that is United are considered as one of the biggest clubs in football. The only move upwards would be Madrid, Barca, Bayern, maybe Juventus. Or if their going to PSG or China they're just chasing money. Dortmund aren't considered as a great club. Their a selling club. Even when they've had success such as in 1997 or ten years ago those sides have quickly broken up as they sell their best players because a lot of clubs are seen as a step up from Dortmund.

16 Apr 2019 17:03:29
All said and done that the media are trying to turn the players' minds, but are they serious. i mean 100m for Rashford. what's next then? 75m for Young or 50m for Valencia. 😋😋😋🤣🤣🤣.

16 Apr 2019 18:23:15
It's a serious concern that the club have allowed his contract to run down so far. He is far from the finished article, but he has the potential to be a superstar. He's the only player we have that gets the crowd up off their seat when he gets the ball. He's arguably the biggest talent our academy has produced since the class of 92, we should be looking to build our future team around him and encourage him to spend the best years of his career with us. For that reason I would class him as irreplaceable.

{Ed002's Note - This whole concept of "building a team around" a player is a little naive, it does not work like that, and certainly not with forwards. The club have not let his contract run down (and they can take up an option he has already agreed to) but rather have not reached an agreement with him just yet. There is no doubt that there is interest from Barcelona but you need to remember he is English, and typically English players are far from portable to other countries, and he is far from being the sharpest piece of mango in the fridge.}

16 Apr 2019 18:58:46
Haha I'm happy if that means he's likely to stay. I meant build around in a broader context but I get your point. Thanks for the response.

16 Apr 2019 19:11:17
Ed002 i'm not sure how you dice your mangos but the edges should never be sharp😂
I have no doubt that rashford will sign a new contract.
He has a lot of improvement to come but he has it in him and for today's standards he keeps a very low profile off the pitch and appears to have a very good attitude.
He will get better and once he has more creativity around him he will do better.

16 Apr 2019 19:31:53
Lol Spanish club afraid of Manchester United 😂😂😂. You have a very good chance of finishing outside top 4 and the kid might want to move just like most of the others!