Manchester United Banter Archive December 06 2013

06 Dec 2013 18:07:00
Well with Rooney suspended, RvP and Carrick out injuried and now it looks like Kagawa out too our options this weekend are looking slim.

I think the best option is to go 433 and pack tbe midfield to try and gain a measure of control, DDG in goal, a back four of Rafael, Smalling, Vidic and Evra, i'd then have Jones and Fellaini holding with Cleverley or Giggs playing just in front of them. Then have Welbeck up top with Nani and Januzaj either side of him. I'd like to see Zaha instead of Nani but that isn't going to happen. Then we can bring Hernandez on for Welbeck later in the game as he always seems to work better from the bench.

Unfortunately I expect Moyes to go 442/4411 with Welbeck and Hernandez upfront, Fellaini and Giggs in midfield with Nani and Valencia on the wings. But we can hope.

I think that we may well see Fellaini playing behind the striker. The pressure is on and Moyes will revert back what he knows best, the long ball tactics that worked for him at Everton. I think we will see a very conservative team designed to scrape a win.

Hey shaps,

Do u think Moyes persisting with the same tatics is down to his out dated way of playing or more to do with the strengths and weaknesses of our team forcing him to?

I agree with Danny on this, I think Fellaini could play behind the striker tommorow.

Danny, I think not.

Moyes knows that when you're at a club with a massive support worldwide, you need to keep the fans happy.

He has to find a way to win without going Wimbledon on Newcastle's behind. He has the players to do so, all he needs is to find the right balance.

We don't have as much quality as man City and Chelsea, but what we do have is a squad of winners. Even without Rooney and Van Persie, we can still expect to win against Newcastle, who arguably have only 1 player that would get in our side even in our current condition.

Coloccini and Williamson would not get ahead of vidic and Smalling, Santon is not half as good as Evra, Rafael is every bit as good as Debuchy, Ameobi and Remy wouldn't get in the side even without Rooney and Van Persie, while I would take Januzaj before Gouffran.

fellaini is a significantly better player than Tiote and Valencia is better than Sissoko.

Cabaye is their only player who could walk into our team.

CTR this is the same squad as last session and SAF wasn't forced to play 442. Got to be purely down to Moyes outdated tactics

Moyes isn't concerned with keeping fans happy, he never has been. At the moment he must be seriously worried about his long term future at the club and when managers start feeling the pressure that start reverting to what has worked in the past. Without Rooney, RVP and Kagawa I can see him sticking Fellaini behind the striker. I can't see him putting his faith in Hernandez and Welbeck, and I can't see him changing things up in any radical way.

Newcastle are not a particularly good side, but Moyes is trying to save his own skin and will do whatever it takes to scrape a win.

But Acker, please remember that as a result of Ferguson playing with one striker - RVP - it meant Rooney was made to play out of his preferred position. He did not take kindly to RVP getting all the glory. It's a compromise, but could you imagine just how bad we would have been without Rooney.

Of course, if both are out, then Moyes has a better opportunity to change tactics.

Cant believe that I've just read that remy wouldn't get in our side even without rooney and rvp? and that fellaini is a lot better than tiote.remy is scoring plenty of goals and a better player than danny and an allround better player than hernandez.tiote isn't the best def mid in th e prem by a long shot but I would take him before mop head anyday especially after what I travelled 200 miles back to watch on weds night

Good shout peashooter and would be the first to admit that Rooney is having one of his best seasons but still does not excuse poor outdated tactics. Top managers make tough decisions and I believe that under SAF we would not be top of the league but at least 5 points better off.
I think we would all be happier if we were in the currnt position but playing exciting progressive football not the boring and safe game we are playing.
Something of note more than once this season mcclaren at derby as replaced a midfielder/ defender with a striker when drawing a game towards the end of a match and gone on to win. Not suggesting macclaren as manager just that this is the united way and something he learn from SAF.

Id like to see the same back five but have, Giggs Cleverley and Jones in midfield with Januzaj Hernandez and Valencia up top.

John Denton, when you play for QPR and move to Newcastle, you cannot be that good, especially since it's quite clear remy is after the big buck.

When Grant Holt was on a good run of form a couple of seasons back would he have gotten into our side?

I'm afraid Remy needs more premier league games to prove himself more than a one season hit

And Tiote is nowhere near as good as Fellaini and I stick by my comment, which is why no big team was even remotely interested in Tiote.

Fellaini is having a torrid time this season but it does not make him a bad player. He has proven himself with Everton as a consistent very capable midfielder.

When Kagawa was having a bad time last year few people went as far as saying Sessegnon is a better player did they?

Mick1

Remy is a good player and I would swap Welbeck for him in a second. He is scoring goals in the same league that Welbeck has proven useless and can't score. Remy can do so many things better than Welbeck and does not more games in the PL to prove that. ( watch welbeck score a hat rick today LOL)

We seem to hang on to this notion that some of our guys will eventually come good and fail to see them for they are, but then again I am extremely biased towards Welbeck and rate him as being good enough for teams placed somewhere in the 14th to 20th league position.

Guys like him have been coasting under the radar far too long with nothing performances and if we had a solid left back he would never get into the team.

In a funny way, he must be relieved with every passing window that comes and we do not address the LB position.

Well god created united good news under Moyes Welbeck will soon be good enough for united as we head towards 14th position in the league!

Whats all this play the wig here there and everywere talk he's CRAP end of

Shahram, I was by no means referring to Welbeck because I honestly believe he is the worst English international I have laid eyes upon in recent years, including Young.

I was referring to Chicharito who seems to be of interest to plenty of big clubs, as opposed to Remy who finds himself on loan from QPR at Newcastle.

I do believe we need to invest in youth, but we need to know which players are worth the effort and which aren't.

We let Rossi go, we let Eikrem go, we let daehli go and we kept Welbeck who is nowhere near as talented as any of them.

and now our academy seems well stocked in terms of attacking players waiting to make the step up. Jesse lingard has been fantastic at Birmingham, Powell is proving to be a very talented youngster capable of having a bigger role, Will Keane just earned a loan shortly after coming coming back from a career threatening injury, Cole and barmby are fairly talented individuals while James Wilson has a big future ahead of him.

all in all, i'd have no second thoughts about letting Welbeck go and replace him with a younger more talented local lad. Young and Anderson should be off too

Mick I agree 100%. I reckon if we can get 4 players in over the next 2 windows and ship 6 out and promote a couple from within the system either loanees or the under 21s who are good enough. I think Rio and giggs need to retire. Replace evra, anderson, young, welbeck and fletcher.

I think players like Nani, Valencia, Cleverly although limited will be needed as squad players and too much change if we try to change that many players in a short span.

I for the life of me don't understand what Roy Hodgson sees in Welbeck and Cleverly and don't believe they are worth half the hype.

Mick remy scored 26 goals for nice and 25 goals for marseille he is now a full french international and has scored 4 goals so far and he's scored 8 goals in 13 games for newcastle I would hardly call him average

06 Dec 2013 16:00:03
Interesting views guys, sorry for copy and paste!
By Paul Hayward:David Moyes's side are showing a collective loss of spirit, and the club should focus less on commercial deals and more on attracting top talent
The risk with Manchester United’s ‘business model’ was that they would become a deal-making factory with a football team attached. With such a ferocious commercial operation, there was always a chance that the 11 men in red would start to look like a glorified works team.
Official laundry partners and tie-ups with Aeroflot were not responsible for United’s 1-0 home defeat to Everton on Wednesday night: the result from hell for David Moyes, who was cast in the role of Dr Frankenstein, attacked by the monster he created. Nor are they directly to blame for United’s league position: ninth, 12 points behind Arsenal, who, after 2005, the residents of Old Trafford had pretty much worn on a key ring.
Like Peter Mandelson saying New Labour were “intensely relaxed” about people getting “filthy rich”, the Glazers are far from squeamish about the burgeoning commercial wing at United, which posted a 63 per cent first-quarter increase in sponsorship revenue.
The rationale is that chasing the business buck feeds the first XI. The Glazers’ executives see the two as indivisible and insist that the huge takeover debt dropped onto the club has never hindered them in the transfer market.
With the Everton defeat, though, a line was plainly crossed. The consensus was that the club where United went shopping for Wayne Rooney and Marouane Fellaini (sending Phil Neville and Darron Gibson, among others, in the opposite direction) came to Old Trafford with more ambition, more verve than the hosts. It is anathema to United fans to see their team in a subservient role at Old Trafford, except in a big Champions League tie against a fellow giant, when reaching the next round is all that counts.
Mitigation was plentiful for Moyes when he took over from Sir Alex Ferguson. He had never managed at this level. The United midfield was weak (by their standards). Ferguson was a Colossus who had marched out on top.
The summer transfer trading had not engendered a sense of starting again.
Football’s golden rule about adding talent to a title-winning side had been broken by the failed attempts to sign Gareth Bale (late on), Cesc Fabregas, Ander Herrera and Leighton Baines.
Fellaini, whom United did manage to sign, has become a lightning rod for all these gripes. He is inextricably linked in supporters’ thinking to a dimming of ambition in the transfer market and to the relative conservatism of Moyes. Relative to Ferguson, that is. United are slightly slower now, more direct and less imaginative. The orchestral heights of Ferguson’s best years have been replaced by a steady banging of a big base drum: not forever, necessarily, but in this present phase when Moyes is making the team his own.
But older, more established players are hiding behind Fellaini and they are hiding behind Moyes. The new manager and the culture-shocked new midfielder are taking all the stick for a collective loss of spirit that Ferguson would have stamped on right away. As Nicky Butt told me last week, “You’d be sold and gone.” Lacking this power, Moyes can only hope the Carrington hard core he inherited would display the same level of obedience voluntarily.
Few have. Rooney is certainly one: a neat reversal of the uncertainty surrounding him this summer. Application aside, though, the whole club face a reckoning. This week, Moyes is entitled to reach for a sheet of A4 and divide it between players who are good enough to play for United and those who merely looked as if they were when Ferguson was inspiring them to be more than the sum of their parts.
In other words, with the exception of Rooney, David de Gea, Robin van Persie, Adnan Januzaj and a handful of others, the squad should be put on notice that all the Aeroflot and beer-partner money will be used next summer to buy a new team unless they return to the standards of the last 20 years.
The word is that Moyes realised straight away he would need time to evaluate his squad. For an assortment of reasons, Anderson, Ashley Young, Tom Cleverley (for the lack of an end product), Chris Smalling, Nani, Fellaini, Wilfried Zaha and Shinji Kagawa will not be scoring highly in any Christmas term reports.
Again and again the briefing from United is that the Glazers would pay £80  million for a star. They have already tried to, when Bale’s move to Real Madrid was in temporary doubt. As some United fans start to question his suitability, Moyes is entitled to be not only ruthless with the players but also clear with the board about who he wants to add and subtract next summer.
If “transition” is just a euphemism now for catching up with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City, they had better get on with it, and burn less energy on pleasing sponsors.

Spot on really. It doesn't rip Moyes a new one and focuses more on the players and need for signings - I don't for one minute class Moyes as a world-class manager. But I also seriously doubt Mourinho or Guardiola would have this squad in the top 2 at this moment in time.

SAF inspired one final push from them, but the truth is, a lot of this squad are now a year older, a little slower, a bit jaded and are facing better competition as all of our rivals brought in good players.

Hell, even teams like Southampton who weren't previously considered as rivals, brought in good players.

I have to disagree on how top managers like Mourinho or Guardiola would do with the present team because I strongly believe the top managers would have got more out of the existing players than Moyes has. The top managers engender respect because the players know what is on their CV, they know that what they say and do WILL produce results because it has done before. Moyes maintained a steady Everton ship but never excited, never won anything. Step back and think what the players must be thinking now having seen the results from Moyes tactics. Take a look at Ferdinand's comment about Moyes telling players when they are playing. You cannot imagine that coming out under a top manager. It tells me that the players are not buying in to Moyes philosophy 100%.
Lets also add that if a top manager had come in during the summer do you really think they would have a) bought Fellaini or b) had a top player or two lined up to join them? To me it shows the paucity of Moyes thinking in the summer and how he is selling his vision of the future to the players because he is not selling it to the fans.
I suspect the idea of a manager who would adhere to spending limits appealed to the Glazers because a top manager would not have needed one minute to assess what we needed and asked for a lot of cash. Well it has come spectacularly unstuck so far and having bought Fellaini I am concerned what January will bring under Moyes.

06 Dec 2013 16:01:49
I think you have the biggest game this weekend.

3 points is a must for you

December may be a big month for us but it is huge for you

Likewise for u mate :-)

06 Dec 2013 13:07:18
I have been pretty vocal since the summer about my belief that Moyes is not up to the job of Manchester United manager. I think that the last few months have provided mounting evidence that my assessment is correct: our worst ever start to an EPL season, consistently poor performances, and the team seems to genuinely lack confidence. Now I am the first one to admit that I think that we overperformed last season, and that the squad needs a major injection of money to bring it up the top level. However, the squad is certainly capable of performing much better than it has been under Moyes. Yet, every time I criticise Moyes I am told that it is unwarranted, that he will succeed and, most commonly, that David Moyes deserves more time, in most cases that we can't judge him until he has been at the club for a few seasons.

Now I can understand why people say these things. SAF's speech at the end of last season made people feel like that the 'real' United fans would support the manager no matter what happens on the pitch, and there is a belief, especially among younger supporters, that supporting Moyes through turbulent times proves that they aren't plastic fans.

The difference between Moyes supporters and me, is that I am of the opinion that Moyes needs to prove that he is worthy of the job. Moyes was hired in a completely unorthodox and unprofessional manner. In his own words Fergie called him and told him that he was the new manager of Manchester United. SAF chose a man who has never won a trophy, has no experience at the top level, and two matches of CL experience to succeed him. It is no surprise that not a single other top English or European side has ever looked at Moyes as a possible candidate. The closest he came was last season when it was between him and Benitez to take charge of Chelsea for the rest of the season. In other words, SAF hired a man who needed to demonstrate that he was capable of managing a top club.

It is much easier to dismiss the criticism of Moyes than to show how he has proved that he is the right man for the job. His two crowing achievements, according to his fans, are that he got Rooney back to his best and he played Januzaj. He has now been at the club for over 5 months, in most new jobs you get a 6 month review in which your employer takes a look at your performance and decides whether or not to keep you permanently. Now I fully agree that Moyes needs to stay until the end of the season, but in five months Moyes should have achieved some impact and began to stamp his mark on the team. My question to Moyes's fans is this, what positives has Moyes brought to the club?

What style of play is Moyes implementing and do you think this is right way forward? Are you impressed with Moyes backroom staff? Do the players look confident? Do they look happy? Do they look like they believe in their manager? How do you think Moyes has performed in the media? Has he made you believe that he knows how to handle the press or convince you that he will turn things round? How well has he handled the pressure? Does he look like he is handling the pressure better now than he did at the start of the season. And most importantly, what improvements have you seen at the club since Moyes took over? What evidence have you seen that the team is plying better now than they did at the start of the season?

It will be interesting to see people's reasoning for why they believe Moyes is the right man for the job because so far all I have seen are excuses and the repeated belief that if SAF chose him he must be the right man. And don't come back with 'the transition was always going to be hard'. Moyes was supposedly hired because he would make the transition smoother.

Danny Pughnited

{Ed007's Note - Can people try and remember to log in please. I don't like just deleting posts that people have obviously put a lot of time and effort into but I still need to look back through your older posts to see who you are, something I probably will have less time to do as the sites get busier in the build up to the January window. Cheers lads.}

Sorry ed, sometimes if you're writing a long post the system logs you out before you send it.

I used to have that trouble Danny, few times I spent what seemed like a week typing a post, and by the time I sent it I had been unknowingly logged out. I just stay logged in permanently now as my posts were ending up on all kinds of pages :-)

Let me just take this opportunity to say I'm really glad I'm not an Ed on here with January looming. I hope people show a bit more respect this time and treat them the same way they would expect to be treated. Their input on here make the site as good as it is and when Ed002 rightly took a break over the summer, we were the ones that missed out.

Here's to a slightly less stressful and miserable transfer window. If this place is the same as summer I may not make February :-)

Danny - Good Post!

I too don't beleive that Moyes is the man for the job. Not because of trophys won, European experience but simply down to brand of football. The Manchester United way is to attack, to play with flair and creativity - something we lack. I get that we don't necessarily have world class players in all the right positions but those that we do have don't get played in the correct positions or to their strengths.

IMO we will see but I would have liked to see a younger more progressive manager at the helm of our club. If we are to lose matches I'd rather lose scoring and playing well than keeping it tight and dull.

Yeah Danny I've been with you a few others since his appointment that he isn't up for the job, and for me the biggest element of this is the backroom staff.

Fergie was never a tactical genius, his man management and choice the right people in the right coaching roles made us play the exciting football that we used to. Completely removing the tactical edge that we had with people like Meulensten, Queiroz etc was foolish. The replacements for those names simply aren't up to the job.

Moyes will of course stay to the end of the season and almost certainly a lot longer, but if next season starts the way this one has then questions need to be asked. The second half of the season is so key for us, we need to show other players and teams that we are still the formidable Manchester United, a team that the top players want to play for. If we can't attract the top names we will suffer. yes we have talent in our youth system but that isn't enough, they need to be supplemented with top class players and right now, if I'm Reus, Vidal, Hummels or whoever. I wouldn't exactly want to be playing for us right now.

Moyes should never have got the job it's far too big for him.It looks to me he could soon be losing the dressing room.I would also like to point out why does Phil nevilles kid play for man city academy.If he doesn't think utd are good enough for his kid then what chance do we really have & please nobody say he could of been at utd but got let go because that ain't true.He chose them over us.Major shake up is needed but with these clowns the glazers in charge don't hold your breath.Every utd fan can see where we need strengthening its not rocket science, we'll probably be in for Osman & Pienaar in January not gundi gran or reus as the papers would have you believe. Blackpool red

Blackpool Red

That's something that's been playing on my mind lately, actually. Moyes has seemingly stayed as firmly rooted in his own comfort zone as possible - sacking the entire backroom staff to bring in the Everton lot. Then concentrating mainly on an Everton duo in the transfer window.

I could definitely see Pienaar being brought in - right sort of price-range, and an Everton player. Moyes just seems like a very unadventurous man in general.

How much dribble and nonsense are you lot going to keep coming up with. Get behind the manager and allow him to retool the team in the next couple of windows and then Judge him.

"How much dribble and nonsense are you lot going to keep coming up with. Get behind the manager and HOPE THE OWNERS allow him to retool the team in the next couple of windows and then Judge him."

There you go mate, fixed that for you. No amount of fan support will make a difference if our owners are happy to settle for less.

So Shahram so you any answers for the questions I have asked?

A lot of people seem to like calling criticism of Moyes nonsense and spouting the mantra 'get behind the manager'. But can you provide any reason why you think Moyes is the right man for the club or any way in which he has improved in the last 5 months. I find it funny that all the people who are more than happy to dismiss the critics are finding it so hard to outline Moyes's positive contributions to the club.

I didn't want moyes but we don't have that choice, what I've witnessed so far has been utter crap with no light at the end of the tunnel.ive said from day one the job was way too big for someone with so little experience on the big stage.the summer window was embarrssing and to panic at the last minute and waste 27.5 mill on a talentless lump was a joke.will the beverley hillbillys let him loose with a big wad of cash? who knows, would you.if by the january window we haven't improved and moved nearer the top 4 then why would any decent player jump ship with no guarentee of champs league football.i don't blame moyes entirely for this saf needs to have a long hard look at himself for leaving an old and mainly average squad.we won the league last year due to our main competitors being poor, we can see that they spent wisely intent on not making that mistake again while we have stood still.i think moyes will get till the end of the season, unless player or fan pressure takes him down and that could happen if we keep losing and drawing winnable games.rio has apparently moaned about team selection not being aware whos playing until the last minute, if he has said this then that's unproffessional from one of our senior players and doesn't help anyone connected with utd.it will be interesting to see if he can pull it around, but after baffling me and most fans with some of his formations, tactics and subs I can't see it happening, I hope i'm wrong starting with tommorow

Danny

Everything you post is about Moyes being wrong for the job. It is like we were some fantastic team before he got here and what we are seeing is a sudden change. We have been poor for 3 years now and what has been the difference is that other teams have been worse and have had their own issues and we were able to scrape results(that is supported by english football results in Europe and Chelsea winning the cl was a joke and probably the worse team that has ever won the thing).

The difference now is that all those teams and the league in general has significantly improved and there is no easy games out there especially away from home and even at home teams like west brom have proven they can play the top teams away and cause you lot's of trouble.

We have not bought well, nothing through the youth system with the exception of Janusaj and just older as a team. Generally when teams buy 20/22 year olds like nani and anderson at what we paid for, they are banking on these guys to be the bedrocks/stars and the core of the team and at their peak given their current age but it has not worked out at all in our case and we have had to go back and rely on the old guard. A players like giggs still a better all-round option than the younger guys and that really is a clear indication of why we are where we are.

I posted a lot on this subject last year that I believe our scouting network is poor, evident by how our young purchases have turned out, so when I read Moyes is changing things, it is actually a positive step where you see it as another reason to criticize him.

Some of the changes that I read about is a good change and unlike you I don't view change as a bad thing, however anytime you change something it takes time and sometimes you have to take a step backwards before you take 2 steps forward.

The one thing that I will not argue with is the glazers purchase has been terrible for the club and has limited our ability to invest. We are unable to compete at the top end of the market and have gone from being a club that bought top tier players to second tier players.

I thought DM would have to go if we missed CL qualifications for group stages and finished outside of the top 4. As of today he has got achieved the first objective and come may we will see if he has achieved the second one.

In summary, we are where we are more because of the previous management and it is not DM doing. Does he get some decisions wrong, off course he does but so did saf, mourinho, ancelloti and the rest but that does not make him the wrong choice and I will wait and see how we go.

Finally, today will be difficult given the number of players we are missing and you guys can be football manager all you want and come up with 50 variations of what the team should be, but I will take an ugly 2-1 score in our favor and breath a sigh of relief and will praise him if we win today and not critics him for our style of play because we do not have the players to play stylish football.

Shahram you're building a straw man here. The number one defence of Moyes seems to be that anyone who criticises him is a fool who believes that everything was wonderful until he arrived. That is simply not the case. Since I started posting here I have been talking about the fact that the squad was stagnating and that since the Ronaldo sale we had been investing in squad players instead of top class first team options. So as I have already said on numerous occasions, we flattered to deceive last year and took full advantage of the problems at City and Chelsea. The problems at the club are obviously not all Moyes making, but he has exacerbated, rather than solved, these problems.

I'm asking a very simple question: in his five months as manager what positive changes has Moyes taken that have convinced you that he is the right man for the job? It's not as if me or other critics are afraid of change, I was looking forward to a new manager coming in with a modern approach. The problem is that any of the changes Moyes have made seem to have set us backwards rather than propel us forward. You say that it's we have to go backwards in order to go forwards, but you have yet to give any actual example of a change Moyes has made that will improve the club in the future. The example of the scouting network is convenient because it is something for which we won't have any evidence of until the summer at the very earliest.

It's been five months I'm not looking for miracles. But I am asking for any evidence that Moyes is moving in the right direction and is the right man to bring the club forward. I'm still waiting.

Like I said Danny, you see everything as the managers fault and fail to see how poor some of the players are. We have guys earning 60k to 90k a week who are not fit to wear the shirt. Blame him all you want but this lot should have been cleared out a long time ago.

So you have no answer to my question then?

No examples of positive changes under Moyes?

And isn't Moyes the one who offered Nani a new five year contract?

It's not all his fault, but I have seen zero evidence that he is the man to turn things around and, evidently, you haven't either. So blind faith it is?

No just change and they are always disruptive in some ways before they produce results and not everyone understands them or necessarily embraces them but that should not matter if it is based on the right fundamentals.

How old are you btw as we might be from very different generations and have different ways of looking at things.

There is a glaring contradiction in what you are saying. On one hand you say that Moyes has made changes but we don't know if they're going to be positive, while, on the other hand, you imply that the changes will pay dividends if based on the right fundamentals. The fact of the matter is the fundamentals that Moyes is putting in place are what is in question. And since no one can give me a single example of why Moyes's fundamentals will help the club move in the right direction, I think people who believe Moyes is the right man are basing it on blind faith.

I'm old enough to remember what being a United supporter was like before SAF arrived, and that's where I can see us headed with Moyes and the Glazers. But I don't think it's a generational thing at all, I think those who refuse the place any responsibility on Moyes shoulders or accept that he is out of his depth must have their heads up a darkened crevice.

06 Dec 2013 10:16:43
How many people here believe that we need a CB! Keeping in mind we have Vidic, Evans, Smalling, Jones and Keane( I rate him very high). Surely the priority is 2 CM! Unfortunately we have given Ando enough time and Cleverly might just be a squad player. With Carrick ageing! And I am not so sure that Fletcher can ever come back to full fitness. Ashley Young just has to go, because him being in squad is waste! We might aswell give our youth player chance come and prove themselves!

At the moment looking out, I can see several amazing players who Manchester United should look out for and have them in transfer target. I have watch and followed each player very closely! And I am so excited!

ilkay Gundogan 23 (heard Barca and Real inquired about him) and he hasn't signed an extension just yet! Rene thinks that he should be our priority transfer!

Arturo Vidal 26 (just agreed on contract extension 2017) The Man is a BEAST

Marco Verratti 21( don't be fooled by his age) Tough tackling and sprays the ball beautifully!

Nemanja Matic 25 (at 6.4 ft, he has attention from all the big clubs!)

and there are these players who has flairs, can hold the ball, dribble and pass it anywhere!

Miralem Pjanic 23 ( this season Roma r doing extremely well, and he is one of the reason)

Koke 21 ( I think this one is feasible since they have Eric Torres coming up and apparent talks with Chelsea about De Bryne)

Ivan Rakitic 25 (9 goals in 20appearance says enough!) Ramsey of Sevilla!

Ander Herrera 24 ( I doubt he needs an introduction) He played brilliantly against Barca!

Obviously we have Nick Powell, Ben Pearson, Andreas Pereira! Once our midfield is sorted rest of the team should fall in place!
I can't fathom the price tag for Baines being £18m+, Might as well pay that much to Southampton or Altberto Moreno Although obviously cheaper option is Fabio Coentrao!

100% agree with you. I rate Moreno higher than Baines he is faster and better in one on one situations and a much better dribbler. Baines has a better cross and shot. But Moreno is only 21 and a physically stronger player than Baines in a few years. I like shaw as well. Matuidi from PSG is also a top player, tough as nails and at that age where he is coming into his peak.

Evertonian in peace.Like you say Red Samurai, Baines is overpriced. Leave him with us, we will be glad to keep him. Go for others. Or face reality, you have to pay the going rate for one of the best full backs in the world. If not, he stays with us. It used to be the case where Manchester United wanted a player, so they got the player. These days your noisey neighbours and Chelski being in the market means that if you won't pay the price, then they will. Plus right now he is under contract so is with us and we can hold on to him until it runs down. then you get him for free. but probably have to pay more wages.
Degsypulford

06 Dec 2013 12:49:58
I tend to agree that midfield need more work than our defence. But it remains that Moyes has used 11 different combinations of defenders this season.

The fact of the matter is nearly always its the team that conceeds the least number of goals wins the league. You need to be built on solid foundations inorder to give your attacking players the freedom to run riot at your opponants. All of our recent success was built on the solid partership of Rio and Vidic along with Evra who at the time was arguably the best LB in the world. Unfortunately they have got old and have lost that yard of pace and are unable to stay fit for the entire season. So we have to keep chopping and changing our defence which has caused chaos at the back with a lack of communication and leadership. This has allowed teams to score goals against us that a few years ago they just wouldn't have had the chance.

So all three need replacing thus allowing the new defenders to come together and for a cohesive unit and make us defensively solid again. The new defenders will need time and consistant runs of games together to get this. That sadly means that not only do Rio and Evra need to move on but sadly Vidic too. Having Vidic keep popping in and out of the line up will be too disruptive to the other defenders.

If Rio Vidic and Evra are to leave then we will need to see a LB and a CB come in as we will only have Evans Smalling Jones and young Micheal Keane as our centre back options. Now unfortunately all of Evans Smalling and Jones have had injury concerns so a new CB who can stay fit and be the main player maybe needed to step in. Personally i'd have loved to have seen Benatia come in last summer. Sadly he is probably unavailable now. Mangala looks a great option but he will.be very expensive and there are several clubs we would have to beat to his signiture. My favourite choice is Bruno Martins Indi, he has shown leadership qualities while also young and be more able to adapt to a new league, he's strong in the air and the tackle while he still has plenty of pace and is good on the ball. He is also capable of playing at LB which would give us some cover if ever needed. His lower transfer fee would also leave more money in the kitty to splash out on other positions within the team.

As for midfield I would agree a deal with Dortmund where they get Kagawa and some money(around 10m probably) and we get Gundogan. Gundogan is wanted by some other top clubs so we may have to sacrifice Shinji to be able to get him. Dirtmund I think would be willing to let him go due to his contract running down and the fact they have a deal with Madrid to sign Sahin for around 7m I think to replace Gundogan.

Also as much as i'm a big fan of Kagawa I just don't think he will adapt to the Premier league or our style of play so he maybe better off heading back to Dortmund.

I would replace him with Remy Cabella, I think he is much more suited to the Premier league and he can also play deeper than Kagawa if needed, this would give us an extra player capable of playing in midfield and greater tactical flexablity.

It think Gundogan and Cabella along with Powell returning and Jones able to push up into midfield if needed wouls give us the adequte options without stiffiling the chances of players such as Powell and Pearson both of whom I rate very highly.

Yes we need a CB along with a LB, a CM and a right sided attacking player. If any players leave we will need more. Vidic is coming to the end of his time at United in my eyes and will be gone in another 1 or 2 seasons at most. Evans I don't feel is good enough for a first teamer, Smalling and Jones could be but they aren't there yet and there are no guarantees. Keane looks very good but again he is a few years away from being a regular. I feel we need a CB who is in his late 20's and at the top of his game. This would give us better strength now while not hindering the younger guys developing over the coming years.

06 Dec 2013 15:13:32
For me the best two CBs we could go for are Mehdi Benatia or Jan Vertonghen both though would cost alot, its just whether you can justify spending that much on a CB when the midfield needs such an overhaul.

06 Dec 2013 09:07:18
Its been along time have posted on this site but I would lyk to correct an impression that there is not we can do against the glazers, when we have a fanbase has large has 650million
With just 5pounds contribution we would buy the club.

{Ed002's Note - And have enough left over for a great party.}

06 Dec 2013 10:30:08
Its a lovely idea, but in the real world it is woefully naive.

First of a lot of those fans are fair weather fans and wouldn't contribute, also a lot of those fans live in parts of the world where a £5 is in fact a lot of money, in some places £5 may be equal to a weeks wage. So it would be impractical to expect those people to give what would be to them a huge sum of money.

Your also assuming the Glazers want to sell, what if they don't what if they tell you they have no interest in selling the club for any price? They supposedly have turned down interest from other parties in the past when the clubs financial situation was in a worse state, why now when they are in a much stronger position would they want to sell the golden goose?

And finally even if you were able to get all the fans to contribute the money required and you managed to convince the Glazers to sell what then.

You'll have 650 million shareholders who will all have their own opinion and views on what is right for the club. So who would run it? Would you want Kloot or me or Sydney running the club? Think how many disscussion happen on this very site which has a large number of posters but a fair few less than 650 million. And we can't even all agree on simple things.

Who would manage the club? Who would be chief executive? Who would be our transfer targets? What would be the future vision of the club?

If we on here can't agree on these things then how could you expect 650 million people to agree on it.

Like I said its a lovely idea, but it is woefully impractical. Which is a shame as it means that we are at least for the time being stuck with the Glazers.