11 Oct 2024 13:50:35
So we are now another full back down and again the decision not to do anything in summer about a left back literally defies description. I also posted questions in summer on why we let Alvaro Fernandez go to Benfica, a natural left back. I watched him at Preston tall at over 6ft, and nice left foot, needed more physicality but that would come.

So this morning I read this, "Manchester United are weighing up whether to activate the buy-back clause in 21-year-old Spanish defender Alvaro Fernandez's contract with Benfica. (O Jogo - in Portuguese) "

How many games have we played without a left back? Shambolic decision making.

1.) 11 Oct 2024
11 Oct 2024 16:28:21
His contract was running down. They did a deal with Benfica where the club would make some money with a sell on clause should he turn out to be a good LB.

RM and Barcelona have often let players do this.

2.) 11 Oct 2024
11 Oct 2024 16:29:05
Where's Amass?

3.) 11 Oct 2024
11 Oct 2024 16:48:04
To be fair, having Shaw and Malacia, 2 others who can cover (Martinez and Mazraoui) plus Lindelof should have been sufficient.
Ultimately you're right, the problem is the failure to make a decision to sell Shaw and bring in a new first choice LB. His injury history is dreadful and only going to get worse with his age, position and frequency of games.

4.) 11 Oct 2024
11 Oct 2024 20:01:43
Is Shaw sellable at his wage and given his injury record?

5.) 11 Oct 2024
11 Oct 2024 20:26:31
Nobody is paying a penny for shaw now. We are stuck with in the treatment room until his contract is up. Shame really, he’s good when fit and flying.

Same with Malacia I guess. Difference is, Malacia is never going to be good enough whether he’s fully fit or not.

My guess is they will leave Dalot at left back and play lindelof at right back.

6.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 11:08:45
It's time to play an academy player!

7.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 11:55:43
We all know we need a new LB, just like we need a new midfielder, and a winger and probably a few more others as well.

Yet it was always going to be the case that there was going to be areas of weakness in our squad this season and injuries or suspensions could leave us short in some areas.

Ultimately we were never going to be able to bring in all the signings we needed in one window.

My worry with the signing of Mazraoui and MdL in the summer was they both have a dodgy injury record.

I said at the time that when they play they will improve us, but they might not play as much as we hope due to injuries.

However, I do feel the club were in a really tight spot this summer due to the poor running and decisions made over the past decade.

They had to sell to balance the books, they had to be savvy with signings. They couldn't afford or in truth compete with other top clubs for the premium players. The signings were always going to have to be a compromise in one way or another.

MdL is a very good CB and a leader, but he has a dodgy injury record and might not be ideally suited to playing alongside Martinez.

Mazraoui is a great full back, but has a terrible injury record.

Zirkzee was available for a good price due to his buyout clause.

Ugarte was available because he had an average season at PSG.

Yoro was the only one who we signed where we got a top top young talent that other clubs were all interested in. We got him by paying over the odds, and it was the only way we had any chance of getting him. Yet he's still a young kid who has a lot of developing to do. There are no guarantees that he'll reach his full potential.

Maybe we could have signed a LB, but it would have meant either not signing one of the players we did sign, or signing a different option who would be cheaper.

Maybe not sign Ugarte and use that money on a LB and bring in Rabiot instead.

Or not sign Yoro and bring in a cheaper CB with lower potential so we had funds to sign a LB.

I think overall the summer window was very successful, but it was never going to be possible to fix all the issues. While they probably did make the odd mistake. Could they have given Alvaro Fernandez a contract extension and keep him at least until January as cover?

But then if they truly feel Amass has the ability but is maybe 3-4 months away from being physically ready to play then I understand the thinking behind allowing Alvaro to leave.

Ultimately the club are in a tricky spot with two senior LB's who were unsellable due to their injuries, along with two talented young players in the academy who have great potential but maybe aren't quite ready. Do you then sign a 5th LB when you have to be sensible with your spending and you have so many other areas that also need reinforcing?

8.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 13:32:15
Shappy

With all signings judge them at the end of the year.

Mazroui injury record is a bit deceiving as he got a freak eye injury that affected him for a long time. He is lot more durable than people give him credit and even his other injury that skews the stats, he was played when he was asked to play when fully recovered from injury because they needed him and got reinjured. His words and not mine.

Just read Rasmus saying he is not ready for 90 minutes of football, his words and not mine and people were wondering why we are not playing him sooner or longer.

9.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 13:44:52
Meant to say not fully recovered from injury.

10.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 15:16:21
Not bringing in a special-ist LB in the summer was a mistake. Even a player on a free should have been considered. We have already been badly exposed down our left side multiple times, and now we are going to end up playing Lindelof probably at RB if masroui is out for a few.

A blind man could see that Shaw and malacia as your only senior options is a problem. We suffered badly last season. How was this not addressed?

11.) 12 Oct 2024
12 Oct 2024 16:23:44
Chilwell on loan should certainly have been on the table IMO. Maybe it will be come January if we keep getting exposed down that side. What is it, 7/ 8 Prem goals conceded have come from that area.

12.) 13 Oct 2024
13 Oct 2024 07:40:12
The decision to sell Alvaro Fernandez was frankly stupid. We had no one last year with a left foot to play left back, Alvaro had played it for Preston, Preston’s young player of the year if I remember correctly. Naturally left footed 6ft 1in tall, could put in good crosses. (Ah ETH teams don’t cross the ball) . Now playing first team for Benfica, whilst we still have no left back fit. Ridiculous decision by the manager to sell at that time.

13.) 13 Oct 2024
13 Oct 2024 08:20:49
It would be good for a change for the journos at the presser to ask some questions about the status of the injuries and why shaw is taking so long. Calf injuries can be quite nasty and even it feels its healed you can pop it again.

I suspect they will spend most of it asking him about his job being secure or not.

We have a buy back clause on Alvaro from what various reports say so if they think he is the long term solution, I am assuming they will exercise it. Real Madrid does these quite often.

14.) 13 Oct 2024
13 Oct 2024 11:46:13
AF seems to be getting heavily inked to RM and Barcelona over last few days.

15.) 13 Oct 2024
13 Oct 2024 18:38:08
Oakbark

Yes seen that, plus Liverpool. We got him from Madrid. Let’s see what he does, but I maintain the decision to sell when we have had no left back for months was ridiculous.