Manchester United Banter Archive February 21 2012

 

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21 Feb 2012 23:10:01
As an Englishman, I like to see English teams doing well in European competitions. I also like to think we have the best league in the world and look at the CL as a way of proving this. This year has been dreadful though. What do you all think? Is this just a one off and our top sides will improve? Or are we becoming the new Italians and seeing our league slowly crumble? (I know both Arsenal and Chelsea lost to Italaian opposition, but their league has plummeted over the last 20 years or so.)

#ags 19

Believable4 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 22:46:42
There is always a discussion on here about the Glazers not taking the dividends from the club, almost giving them faint praise for not doing it.

I would like to put a slightly different point forward. We have now paid £92.8M of our cash to the bonds. This has reduced debt and at the same time effectively gives the Glazers £92.8M of increased value in the club.

It may be my logic but they dont need to take dividends in cash all they need to do is keep reducing the debt which improves the value of the club which in turns keeps putting money in their pockets. It is just the timing of when they receive the benefit that changes.

I can hear some saying that is good because it reduces our debt. Yes, it does but we still have over £400M to go, how many years of austerity in the transfer market will it take to repay that, only for the beneficiaries to be the Glazers to sell the club and make even more money.

In the next six months our revenue will fall after failure to get through to the next round of the CL. How will the Glazers respond? If they want to keep reducing the debt and increasing the clubs value it will be a difficult balancing act. Reducing the debt reduces the amount available for players. Not buying the players means more difficulty in achieving success.

Should it come as any surprise that we have managed to put £92.8M into reducing bonds over a period when if you say that our usual spend of £25M over the last 3 years plus the Ronaldo money should have given us £150M plus to spend. Yet we have spent approx £90M net less than that. What, £90M, the amount of money that has gone into the bonds.

So instead of investing £90M in the team £90M has gone into the bonds to reduce debts and give the Glazers more value to their asset all in the name of reducing our debt. Our debt, really, the debt enforced on us by the Glazers to buy the club so they could make a fortune. The first sign of austerity in the transfer market is already there and now the share deal is postponed only we have a few years like this to go.

Red Man

Believable4 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 21:47:07
what we really need in the european cup is lpool in it , as all these english sides just cant hack european football anymore...............lfc

Believable3 Unbelievable6

21 Feb 2012 21:28:22
Toniggt is a good example of why no one "snapped up" Cahill last summer!
Mike

Believable8 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 21:26:32
Cavani looks like a top player. David Luiz looks s**t.

G.A.G.U.S

Believable9 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 21:20:18
How good as Lavezzi looked tonight against Chelsea

Pardoe

Believable4 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 21:13:28
Very impressed with Lavezzi tonight. Anyone think he is worth a punt in the summer? Tink he would make a great addition to the devils.

Believable6 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 20:45:46
just watchin the chelski napoli game, and what lavezzis doin is what right footed players on the left r suposed to do skin players and threaten the opposing defence, while ashley young cn't skin ny player i honestly cn't see how he is giggs long term replacement the boy just isnt united quality

Believable6 Unbelievable2

21 Feb 2012 19:59:43
I also enjoyed the irony of you writing a post about Liverpool and our obsession with United...........

JRG
-----------------------
And I enjoy the fact that you bite yet again. I never have the urge to go on the Liverpool page, unless I feel like winding you lot up. You all come on here spreading your propaganda about Liverpool, trying to convince not only us, but yourselves that Liverpool will be back at the top soon. Liverpool won't be back at the top until they drop the obsession with United. Blair, lfc, Danny, JRG, cozinoz, Tel 1949, Big Bill, Jatt, Sir Bob The Red and Martin are just some of the Liverpool fans on here all the time.

G.A.G.U.S

Believable3 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 19:53:19
So we only have £50.9 million on cash reserves in the bank,cant see anything big happening in the summer now as also announced the flotation has been put on indefinate hold.
Ste73

Believable4 Unbelievable2

21 Feb 2012 19:53:05
I saw that AVB left the team sheet in his hotel room and Italian press got hold of it, as it happens totally wrong team selection

Pardoe

Believable0 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 19:49:48
What would your opinion of Hassan Yebda be as an option for us? He is young, played very well in the Premier League when he was here for a short time and is a very talented player. Could be a good addition to the squad?

UnitedForever

Believable0 Unbelievable2

21 Feb 2012 19:29:13
Last night, I had a dream that I was playing football for a random team (orange kit) & Nani was on my team, In the dream he was his usual arrogant self, and miss hit so many shots/passes/crosses. In my dream i slapped him a few times and made him cry, he seemed to come to the real world. I then woke up with the biggest smile on my face.

Basically, I wish he'd realise that he is not CR7 and never will be, he has no right to be so arrogant.
If Valencia and Young were both fit, i'd leave Nani out for a while to wake him up, stick him in a reserve game if he moans about game time. I understand he CAN be amazing, but a lot of the time I am left screaming at him.

Free Spirit

Believable3 Unbelievable3

21 Feb 2012 18:11:38
Manchester United's revenue increased to £175million in the last six months of 2011, the Barclays Premier League club announced today. United, who are second in the table behind neighbours and bitter rivals Manchester City, released their financial report for the third quarter of 2011 today. The figures showed that the club's total revenue at the end of 2011 stood at £175million, an increase of £18.5million on the figure of £156.5million, which United declared at the end of 2010. The club have experienced increases in matchday revenue - up from £52.4million to £54.5million, media revenue - up from £53.7million to £60.9million, and commercial revenue, which has risen to £58.6million from £50.4million. The club, who are taken over by the Glazer family in 2005, have a debt of £439million as of the end of last year, down from £508 million the previous year. The reason behind the decrease in the club's debt is because United have bought back some of the bonds that were sold as part of a £500million refinancing exercise at the start of 2010. United also reported today that total operating costs rose sharply from £96.9million to £110.8million. Net player capital expenditure jumped from £11.7million £47.9million due to the summer signings of David de Gea, Ashley Young and Phil Jones and general capital expenditure rose by £10.4million, thanks partly due to the cost of refurbishment of the club's hospitality boxes at Old Trafford. The figures show the Red Devils currently have a bank balance of £50.9million. The club are expected to experience a decline in income over the next six months after dropping down to the Europa League from the Champions League.

Believable3 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 17:07:48
A backdrop to the discussion about new players: MUST quoted in The Guardian's article today about United's financial health."Since the sale of Ronaldo [in June 2009] net transfers [not including Ronaldo] have totalled just £90m while they have taken out of the club £225m to cover their debt payments and interest. What could the club have done with that extra £225m? Cheaper tickets for loyal fans, investing massively in the squad and stadium, developing and retaining the best youth players, competing on an equal basis with the very best teams in Europe. This is the true cost to Manchester United of the Glazers' ownership." {Ed002's Note - I have to say it is a pretty short-sighted and lame view of matters. Ask the question what has happened to the vaue of the club over the last 30 months?}

Believable1 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 16:59:40
Bit late notice but as much as the United game was an audition for eriksen, tonights game against Madrid will be a good game to judge Dzagoev and see if he looks Man United quality against the better teams.

Hopefully he does as personally, I want him or Jovetic to give us that creative spark.

Gpot7

Believable1 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 14:14:20
Now there has been quite abit asked about the youth players coming through so i thought it might be a good idea if i give my opinion on those players who are most likely to make it in my opinion. I'd also like to hear what others have to say on our next great generation.

The players i think mostly likely to make the grade are:
Fryers, Vermijl, Pogba, Tunnicliffe, Brady, Lingard and Will Keane

then you have players like: Amos, Johnstone, M.Keane, Thorpe, Cole and Petrucci who also stand a good chance of making it but for reasons i'll explain i think are slightly less likely then the first group.

Fryers, he needs little introduction, he can play as both a LB and CB but LB is his best position. He's solid defensively and is decent going forward and is working on getting better.

Vermijl, Can play anywhere down the right hand side but is best suited to a wing back role as he is great going forward but maybe needs to work alittle on his defensive positioning.

Pogba, again a well known name on these pages. He is more a box to box midfielder with real presence in midfield and isn't afraid to get stuck in. Watch out for his long range shooting too.

Tunnicliffe, this lad will be at the heart of our midfield for years to come, people liken him to Keane due to his full bloodied tackles but it think he is closer to Robson.

Brady, is the a flying winger come forward player who has a good passing range and very good vision. He could be the next great winger to pass into the first team.

Lingard, is one of my favourite players in our reserves atm. He is a forward player who can play on either wing but does his best stuff though the middle in the second striker role. He has great vision a fantastic passing as well as a decent shot. I don't think he's clinical enough to play as an out and out striker and it would be wasting his best attributes. I can see him dropping back into midfield during his career like Scholes who started as a SS then developed into a midfielder.

Will Keane, is a great talent he is clinical infront of goal but also has the vision and ability to set up team mates, all he is missing is blistering pace, he is like Sheringham in that he uses his brain to beat players rather than his legs.

All these player for me are nailed on to have a good career with us, it's just a matter of when they are ready.

Amos, is a good keeper and would be a very good number two, but i think with our current keepers i think he'll have to move on else where to reach his potential.

Johnstone, could be one of the best keepers in the country in 5-8 years time once he has the experiance. He is a great shot stopper with good distrubtion and has great command of his area. I think the only problem he has is our current keepers are quite young.

M.Keane, has good all round ability as a defender but maybe lacks that something to make it in the first team. He'd be a great squad player but there are possibly better options than him at RB which is his best position.

Thorpe, Another very good defender but with Smalling and Jones as long term CB options i think he'd be limited to a solid squad player.

Cole, he has possibly the best chance of players on this list of making it. A great tricky winger who can come inside or stay out wide, he has very good passing and vision. What lets his down is his size, in our league he'd struggle but time is on his side, i think a loan out to Antwerp for a year to give him experiance at a higher level without the physicallity of english football followed but a season on loan in the championship and we'd be better placed to see how he's developed physically and whether he's read for the Premier league.

Petrucci, i like this lad and he too has a good chance of making it into the first team. He has great vision and passing and has the frame to deal with the rough and tumble of the premier league. The only issue is his previous injury record, he does seem over it now. I think a loan to a premier league team would do him the world of good.

I haven't mentioned players still in our academy as they are probably too young to give a fair opinion on but players like Barmby, Blackett, McCullough, Rothwell, Rudge, Van Velzen, Januzaj, Daehli and Lawrence are players to keep an eye on in my opinion.

Hope this has been helpful and to those of you who unacquainted with our youth players.

Shappy

Believable10 Unbelievable3

21 Feb 2012 13:59:43
Young Irish {Ed001's Note - if you are just going to abuse the editors, you will just get blocked, of course it won't get published. You could have easily made your point without resorting to abuse, try it in future.}

Believable1 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 13:52:26
Anyone know the res's lineup for today??

Believable0 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 13:07:54
Ive already tackeld the midfield issue today and given a few thoughts, now for the defence and up front. (I will try to keep it brief).

Many call for Evra to go, but his overall impact in staying on for a year i think will prove to be invaluable - especially to Fabio. Fabio and Rafael i think will be our full backs for years to come and i don't think that the Alba's or the Izaguirre's are much better than him or indeed than Evra. We will never really find another Irwin, full backs these days bomb forward and forget the consequences, Evra epitomises this - and he is very good at it. The amount of times he is on the overlap, giving us options is better than most full back in the world. Where would we find a better replacement? The best replacement is Fabio who i think is coming out of his injury spell and will be ready to take over the mantle next season with Fryers underneath him.

At center back, i think there are few clubs in the world that are as healthy as ours. We have experience in Ferdinand and Vidic who are a great partnership. We also have Smalling and Jones who i believe will be the next great Old Trafford partnership. Both of these guys need games, with Evans in the squad as well then i think an out and out center back would be surplus to requirements (at least for a year). But one that could cover the right back slot as well would be good - thats why i have said for a long time Benatia would be a great squad option for us.

Now to up top, we have many average forwards to be brutally honest. The only true class that fits in with how we paly is Rooney, Welbeck and Hernandez. (Keane has alot to promise, we shall see how that goes). Berbatov is great but isn't suited here, Owen is never fit, Kiko promised much but i think will come to nothing, King the same. So another forward has to be on the list of priorities. But again, it has to be a young one (unless a Benzema or a Cavani are available for a good fee). Alvaro Morata is one of the best young strikers out there, he would fit like a glove - good on the ball, strong in the air, can hold it up and has good link up play. He'd cost only a few pennies also and has been rated highly at Madrid but has no hope in playing over Ronaldo, Benzema, Higuain et al.

So on the cards for me has to be a versatile center back/right back and a young striker who we can develop, mould and give game time too. We can only have one more in the squad though, it would not be fair on the guys who provide week in and out for us to bring in a massive name to take their place. They would all be playing for one slot, so a core of 4/5 strikers is sufficient.

RedDevil19

Believable2 Unbelievable3

21 Feb 2012 13:07:46
massive thank you to the spuds fan who thinks modric is worth sixty million. Really made me chuckle.

Believable5 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 12:57:53
I've been thinking about something Sydney has said many times and that is 'Modric and Cleverly would be a fine midfield'. Well to be honest, they wouldn't. They make work hard, but hard work does not mean that there is a presence in there - even Barca recognise this (Busquets, Keita). If Modric was to come in then it would probably be to play in a midfield three - not ideal as we would lose our best part of the team -'WIDTH'.

If Modric came in then Cleverly would become a squad player. Look at the great United teams of the past - most notably 99 and 08, in the middle we had Scholes with Keane and Scholes with Hargreaves. Whilst i'm not saying Cleverly won't be world class, i think that him and Modric would not work. Modric would have to pair up alongside Carrick/Jones/Pogba/Fletcher so that we have a bit of a physical presence in there.

The argument that the Modric/Parker partnership works well i think is actually false as look at there two results against Man City. Yaya Toure dominated the midfield (when he played) as did De Jong (when he played). They are effective against everyone apart from the top two, which are the main players in the league. They even struggled against Alex Song's presence for Arsenal.

Whilst Modric would immediatly be an improvement, i think that if we want him then Cleverly either has to drop to the bench. Or he is played in a midfield three with Modric in the big games.

This is the main reason why i don't think Modric will come in for us, if we played out and out possesion football then fair does - but by our very nature playing with direct wide men, we cannot effectively do this all of the time. A better option if we want Cleverly to stay in the team is to get that midfield destroyer in there, some say it could be Tunnicilffe but i think he has to start as a squad player. That is why earlier in the month i advocated the signing of Fellaini or Martinez - both of whom give us that presence and height in an area that we need it.

Overall i don't think a 'world class' central midfielder will come in during the summer. We may look to add more out wide, replace Nani with someone like Bale for example. However, i think further younger talents will continue to pour through the door. Ideally Martinez but perhaps someone we know not so much about is more likely.

Thoughts?

RedDevil19

Believable4 Unbelievable4

21 Feb 2012 11:55:20
My spider senses are tingling - anyone call for a web slinger?

Believable1 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 10:55:14
If that is the case Supasub and SAF is having a statue erected in the summer is his tenure coming to an end sooner than we think? Perhaps at the end of next season? Does anyone know how long this new kit will be used for? I imagine that when this new kit is replaced, the manager will be too. Could Red Man be spot on?

Sydney! {Ed002's Note - I thought it was only Chelsea that changed their manager everytime they change their kit?}

Hi Syd, after what happened last time people are starting to work out that SAF will leave before he says he will. He's just come out again and said 2-3 yrs, (and would be nice to be on a winning note) I presume CL or PL. I just think the following summer he will become an ambassador. Guardiola could be the person to come in as the fact he insist's on 1 yr rolling contracts is odd, and there is not many places he can go.
But I just think Mourinho will be coming in. Don't be surprised that as made out recently Mourinho was leaving Madrid this summer he in the next week or few days announces he will be at Madrid next season. I think if he came in he would stay for a while as he has said regarding his next club, he's also said that when SAF goes it will be the "biggest job in football", give him a season and I think we would come to love him (In a football way). Mourinho I think will bring on Nani, Anderson the twins etc as they are going to be key players for us (if they stay) for the next few years.
By the way Syd, I've heard today that it would appear Modric is coming in the summer. I will try and find out more soon.
Supasub

Believable0 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 09:36:37
Paying my tributes to the greatest player that ever was on his death anniversary...
R.I.P "Duncan Edwards"....
You live in my heart and will forever do so...

PRATEEK

Believable22 Unbelievable1

21 Feb 2012 07:53:04
any rumours..guyyzz?
ed/syd?

Believable0 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 06:31:46
Syd/ed
yesterday some sites where giving young Jesse Lingard alot of praise, even likening him to the great Xavi, ive never seen the boy play, just wonering if you could let me know how good he could potentialy be.

L.A.7

Believable0 Unbelievable0

21 Feb 2012 02:57:35
Have you guys seen the leaked United Kit for next season? Looks like Spiderman outfit. Now you just need to put than on Howard Webb..it will be class.

Tekneek

Believable2 Unbelievable4

21 Feb 2012 00:51:24
There was a discussion earlier about renaming stands to honour legends of the club. This club may not even exist today if it wasn't for Jimmy Murphy, so I think he should be honoured in some way.

G.A.G.U.S

Believable5 Unbelievable3

21 Feb 2012 00:43:22
Liverpool fans are constantly on here gloating about the Carling Cup final and getting to the FA Cup quarter finals, yet I haven't ever heard one Cardiff fan talking about the Carling Cup final. I haven't heard a single Stoke fan talking about reaching the FA Cup quarter final. They are taking the pi55 out of us for being in the Europa League, when they're not even in Europe at all? Blair says we have a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE team with a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE squad, yet we are 19 POINTS ahead of them already. We also comprehensively beat them last weekend. They are on this page CONSTANTLY! They cheer for City beating us 6-1 like there's no tomorrow. They jump on every bad result United ever have. We are not on their page anywhere near as much as they are on ours. Clowns like Danny have constantly been saying we are on the decline for 20 years now.

I think this proves they are obsessed with Manchester United. They hate United more than they love Liverpool. That really is sad for a club like theirs.

G.A.G.U.S

Believable8 Unbelievable2

20 Feb 2012 23:24:38
The best option that we missed out on was Danielle De Rossi. Boss of a player he is.

Believable2 Unbelievable3