31 Jul 2023 14:25:10
Interesting business we have done so far, not entirely sure how I feel about it.

GK
DDG had more clean sheets than any other EPL keeper last year, but he regularly dropped clangers and is useless with his feet. Onana looks great with his feet but is he a better keeper? Time will tell. What indo like is he has attitude and will get a grip. ofnthe defence, something DDG seemed not to do. On balance, this should be a significant improvement.

MF
Mount is a decent player but doesn't feel like someone we really needed as a priority. Having said that, he has talent and an engine so will suit a high tempo press. He clearly felt undervalued at Chelsea and didn't have a great year, but if we get the player from 2 and 3 years ago then we've made a good signing.

CF
An interesting one. A player with huge potential who hopefully we develop into a top striker, even as raw as he is he will be a big step up from Barn Door Weggy so feels like good signing right? Maybe, but our issue last year was the lack of a top striker, signing a young player with potential doesn't fix that. Good signing but not what we needed.

There seems to be continuing activity with potentially more incoming and, hopefully, quite a few exits. Telles and Elanga have gone, along with a couple of youngsters. I think Fred and Henderson will be next, and please God Martial. What Maguire is doing is beyond me, I just don't see how he gets a game and surely he also knows that now, Scott was given the arm band innthe last gamr which kind of tells him all he needs to know. I also think selling a few will have almost as big an impact as buying a few, the mood will improve massively.

Assuming we can facilitate exits, and add 1 or 2 more, then all in all a positive window, just not sure where the goals come from.

1.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 14:50:52
Hojland seems to score a few tap ins and one touch finishes, something we do not have in the current side. I really hope he can hit the ground running. 15 goals in the league would be an amazing start for him.

2.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 16:13:47
I think we have done some good business and whether we agree with the signings the players have been EtH's main choice in each position.

AJH - I think the goals will be spread around the team next season but you can easily see where we should better last years tally in the PL of 58.

I like Hojlund from what I have seen but being realistic his first season is likely to be nearer 10 goals than 20 (I would love to be wrong), however that tally along with Matial or whoever we have as back up striker (I am ruling Rashford out of this for stats purposes) should easily exceed the striker tally from last year which was just 7 goals. So before we even start we are in a postive goal position.

The other forwards between them scored 30 goals (Rashford being the main contributer) and I would expect them to at least match that again this year with potentially more of a spread of goals coming from the others.

Adding Mount to the Midfield should add at least 5/ 6 goals looking at his average at Chelsea with Fernandes performing as per normal with 8/ 10 on basis of taking penalties etc.

Our defence has not provided many goals and I would hope with improved set piece play we may see more of a return from them to add a few extra.

3.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 16:51:45
It was refreshing to see Onana yelling at Maguire after one of his clangers vs Dortmund. That's what we've missed a bit, players who are a bit more shouty who give each other stick when something needs to be said.
I admit to being a little underwhelmed initially by both Mount and Hojlund when first linked, but I'm excited by the signings now. Not convinced by Malacia at all but EtH hasn't signed a dud yet. It was actually old Jesper Olsen back in the 80s as a tricky left-winger who got me following Utd and that Denmark team featuring the Laudrups et al, so seeing their latest (albeit raw) golden player in a Utd shirt is great. His speed is frightening.

4.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 18:44:01
Obviously, Hojlund will be judged on goals primarily but I think having a striker who is strong, quick and has good movement into the channels will be a massive upgrade even without the goals. We've had years of Martial, Ronaldo, Weghorst who have either not moved off the ball unless it suited them or in Weghorst's case try mightily but lack a lot of quality.

Hojlund will run the channels, try to get involved in some of the build up but also occupy centre backs physically in terms of his movement.

5.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 21:42:01
The goals will come from Greenwood, Rashford, Hoijlund, Garnacho, Sancho, Anthony, Fernandes, Mount etc etc.
That is a lot of firepower, if they click, hopefully we kiss goodbye to the scrappy 1-0 wins and start putting most teams to the sword.

6.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 21:57:01
Gotta create the chances to convert them! That’s something we are seriously lacking. Can’t keep trying to walk the ball into the net. So may times (Antony) we get to the point of a simple cross but pull the ball back and pass it backwards 5 yards! Drives you crazy!

As a result Weggy, despite his faults, was not fed that much in reality. So perhaps not entirely his own doing. Not advocating he should have stayed by any stretch of the imagination!

However I am feeling positive, again, about the season. I just hope that we use Hojlund physical presence like City do with Haaland.

7.) 31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023 22:59:30
Bruno created more good chances than any other player in the EPL last year. The main problem was finishing, not chances created.

Wout may not have had a lot of opportunities but that may have been because he had a poor first touch, losing control quickly when the ball was passed up to him, thus killing attacks. He was generally slow to react and to take advantage of spaces. When he did have good chances he fluffed them, which probably didn't tend to inspire his team mates to look to him. He worked hard to press but beyond that he was out of his depth.

We were also hampered by de Gea's poor distribution, which exacerbated Wout's shortcomings. It's very obvious what the club has been trying to achieve in this window. If Onana uses the ball well, helping us to retain possession, whether the ball is cleared long or short, and Hoyland has technical and athletic ability even half as good as Haaland, we should be scoring a lot more goals this year.

8.) 01 Aug 2023
01 Aug 2023 04:34:20
Look at crosses, assists etc. Chances created by Bruno are what we should expect at that level, but what did we actually create form outside the box other than, in the most part, speculative shots?

9.) 01 Aug 2023
01 Aug 2023 06:37:06
Bruno’s key passes last season are miles ahead of anyone else. The problem wasn’t creating chances. Wout missed many sitters, as did others. We were missing a ruthless striker, and still are.

The Haaland/ Hojlund comparison is about to be forced down your throat by Sky which isn’t going to help the young lad either.

We needed / still need a proven goal scorer. Unfortunately they are few and far between and our striker budget is more Sainsbury’s than Selfridges.

10.) 01 Aug 2023
01 Aug 2023 08:10:21
Hope hojlund hits the ground running and gets goals. Looking at the first lot of fixtures I think he could surprise the opposing back fours and get off the mark growing in confidence. The second games are usually more difficult as the defenders learn how to play against certain strikers, pushing them wide, weaker foot, standing off etc but he is new to the league so good luck .
One area the goal tally can massively improve is set plays. We play with wingers who play low crosses as there are few forward players who are decent in the air: that and corners with defenders coming up should be applied/ trained more.

11.) 01 Aug 2023
01 Aug 2023 09:13:20
It's an interesting point Funky, about how sides get 'found out' and have to change how they play or at least have a plan B. Even City have to do it. I think last season we were quite predictable. Will be interesting to see if the new signings in themselves will allow a new approach or whether it'll be the same template with different faces.