Manchester United Banter Archive August 12 2014

12 Aug 2014 23:07:44
Chuffed to see Rooney get the captaincy. He's the best man for the job and I'm glad that LVG recognised that rather than going with his old pal Robin.

12 Aug 2014 22:57:51
Rooney captain
fletcher vice!

Not sure on Fletcher being vice, but correct captain IMO.

12 Aug 2014 23:17:14
Think Rooney is probably the right choice to be honest. I have to say I am delighted for Fletcher to be handed the vice-captaincy after all he has been through. Could this be the announcement that Irwin is referring to? Possibly?

12 Aug 2014 23:58:14
It just shows the lack of leaders we have these days.

12 Aug 2014 22:37:33
Apparently Dennis Irwin has come out with the words, 'huge announcement within 48 hours at Manchester united'. For me he's a little hit and miss with his attempts at mystic meg. If there is some substance to it, surely Rojo wouldn't be classed as huge?

More than likely another sponsorship deal that Ed has prioritised. The only huge deal seemingly in the pipe like is Vidal. He is quite often wrong though.

I think we are hoping it's Vidal, but seems unlikely due to them wanting Hernandez in the deal. But you never know.

Maybe it's Di Maria or Cuadrado.

The big announcement is rooney as captain. Good news but expected better

Sneidggeer

It will be lame if it's just this captaincy thing.

Has he ever been right?

Yep, United have talked Howard Webb out of retiring - Come on, it is the banter page!

Think its the Rooney captaincy aswell

12 Aug 2014 22:33:58
Just wanted to comment on the poor performance from a lot of our fans. Fellaini may have not been immense last yr but who was? What annoys me most is that his style is exactly how it was at everton so why do people expect him to play like messi at utd? Same happened to berbatov. Ppl called him lazy but that was his style at spurs. Lvg must be disappointed at our fans, its embarassing calling ourselves the biggest club in the world and a big family when we boo our own players. For that reason I hope marouane fellaini stays and proves people wrong, absolutely disgraceful

No one was more disappointed than me when we signed fellaini but why jeer one of our own players. Ridiculous.

Exactly, i'm not a big fan but when a player is wearing the red shirt for my team ill back him 100%

12 Aug 2014 23:36:41
The ground was full of people who don't usually go to the games, loads of young kids, hence why it was a different atmosphere and different things happen to usual. When walking out I heard a lot of people saying how chuffed they were for Fellaini getting the winner.

I personally don't think fans were jeering Fellaini, it seemed to me that the game was that poor that when Fellaini came and changed it people were cheering him for doing something with the ball and people were not shouting boo they were shouting shoot. I put this down to the game being that poor nobody had anything else to cheer. He was only on the pitch about 20 mins and did more than anybody else on it all night!

13 Aug 2014 13:53:48
Raymundo,

It was definitely 'shoot' people were shouting, definitely around me, but there were a few boos when he came on. There were also a few for Cleverley when his name was announced, but nothing crazy. Think people are massively overreacting to be honest.

12 Aug 2014 21:51:11
Dennis Irwin claiming that a big signing will be announced tomorrow. He's been wrong in the past - but add to that Paddy Crerand claiming that Rooney had told him about a big signing coming in soon - and I find myself wondering if a deal for Vidal hasn't been agreed. I really want to believe that Mr. Woodward is going to silence the doubters and pull a few rabbits out of the hat over the coming weeks.

He apprently said a big announcement not a big signing. The announcement is rooney as captain

12 Aug 2014 21:43:34
Don't know much about him, but if our major competition for his signature are Southampton, it tells me a lot about how desperation is seeping in.

Looked rapid in the world cup and we do need cover for CB and LB so could be worse though we need more if we want to win things.


Beast

I'm sorry pal but this is so disrespectful! I remember Sydney slating Liverpool fans last year saying There was a reason only Southampton wer rivalling them for coutinho's signature when he signed.

There is an actual reason that lvg is in charge of man utd and why the scouts do what they do, I'm not an expert on Portuguese football n I doubt u are either. Why not give him a chance? By your logic what's the point in going for vidal? I mean, nobody else is so he can't be that good

Diego

Most people hadn't heard of Rojo before the World Cup and most still think he is primarily a left back (read the SSN comments). Southampton are in turmoil and they are our main competition for a player in the £15m-£20m range. 90% of prem clubs could afford him and would be in for him because they also watched the world cup. He would also be viable for several French, Italian, Russian, German and Spanish teams at that price.

Our knowledge/record with Portuguese based players hardly makes me excited - Bebe, Anderson, Nani, yes we signed Ronaldo but even the players were saying sign him!

Vidal will cost upward of £40m and most teams can't afford him because of FFP or they are well stocked in midfield.

So yeah I am not overly excited about Rojo simply because he seems like a panic buy for a position we need filling at all costs and our main targets aren't being done. Since when is it disrespectful to expect us to be signing players that top teams want, not mid-table or worse teams like Southampton?

12 Aug 2014 21:30:00
Pleased for Fellaini. Did well when he came on, stopped Valencia as they were starting to take the game to us, the booing disgusted me. He is one of ours and played no worse than the majority of our team last season. Slag him on here, but never boo him in public, disgraceful.

Hernandez did two decent things all game, and both of those were clearances off our goal line. It is like we are playing with 10 men whenever he plays, he needs to go he isn't up to it and hasn't been since his first season.

James did ok, but he lacks that pace and technical skill needed for a wing back.

Herrera had a couple of great moments, superb technique and passing. But he gave it away needlessly again several times which left us vulnerable, this needs to be stamped out of his game quick because we will get punished.

Rooney quiet and Mata, didn't do much at all. We don't create enough with this formation and we haven't been challenged enough defensively for my liking.

CB's looked assured.

I doubt top 8 teams looked at us and worried, in fact they were probably rubbing their hands together - a lot to be done.

Good post Beast. I agree about Hernandez, he is a good lad but needs a new chance somewhere else.

I was thinking the same thing about James all game. Pace is a must at wingback in this formation, and he does not have it.

12 Aug 2014 21:26:31
The ironic cheering and jeering of Fellaini has been absolutely disgusting.Ashamed

12 Aug 2014 21:43:39
Agree, although a friendly I don't think he could have done much more. Shameful cheering, reminded me of those cringey England games now and again.

Agreed! I actually thought he did well to keep going! I'd have contemplated throwing the towel in. Shameful

I agree. I thought he played well tonight. Moved the ball quickly, looked calm, and it was nice to see him get the winner.

12 Aug 2014 23:35:54
When it's from opposing fans it's in one ear out the other. How the hell do you play through that when it's coming form your fans? And you're right guys he actually played well for the little time he was on. I've been guilty of a rant or two on here and with friends,but you don't cross the line when your player does!

12 Aug 2014 21:24:49
The ironic cheers for Fellaini are ridiculous every time he makes a good pass. Spoilt petty childish fans, he's not set the world alight for us but who has in the last year?

12 Aug 2014 20:09:12
Garay should have been snapped up at all costs - reported £12m or so would have been a bargain!

Im hoping for some more business to be done but don't know where it's going to come from, Vidal saga is boring now. Much like Fabregas this time last year.

If we want Vidal and he wants the transfer then just pay the money, take the hit he will greatly improve our team.

I'm thinking after the Swansea game it will become clear if we are going to step up our interest in our reported "targets"

Think its absolutley vital we sign a quality centre half!

Amen.

12 Aug 2014 19:33:05
To anyone who just booed Fellaini, you don't belong here.

I don't agree with booing your team in any circumstances although can understand people booing if a team plays poorly. To boo a player for simply being at the club however, is disgraceful. I'm proud of the fans who cheered him when he came on and thrilled for him that he got his goal. I don't think he's good enough to play for Manchester United - but I also don't think he deserves to be booed when he gives his all every game.

Anon I wasn't there tonight but noticed on mutv the cheering every time he touched the ball and wondered why.im guessing that was to drown out the vegetables.

The cheering was ironic, but at the start of the game when they go through the team sheet everyone was cheer and Fellaini was met with a few boos

Anon thanks for clearing that up. Pretty pathetic in my book

12 Aug 2014 18:56:25
Talk of di Maria again? And juve semimonthly want €45 million + Hernandez and nani? If we did sign di Maria where would he play in this formation? Does that mean LVG would be leaning towards his preferred 4-3-3? Then where would mata Rooney and RVP all fit? A personally don't think we'll get vidal or di Maria. Sick of this every year now and buying dross.

I wouldn't say Herrera and Shaw are dross, really. Why does everyone constantly criticise and never look to the positives! There is still just shy of 3 weeks of the window to go, too!

Fair do's I can't pass judgement yet on these players. But I'm just so frustrated have people forgot we are Manchester United! The biggest club in the world and when was the last time we actually bought a world class proven player? We just never do it then the likes of Madrid, bayern and barca pay the money and get the deals done, but we can't seem to! Hopefully I'm proved wrong come the 1st September. Rant over!

12 Aug 2014 18:17:53
Android Apps to watch United v Valencia?

Youtube, go to desktop version and type in the match then click on filters, select live. It will bring up a couple of streams

12 Aug 2014 17:46:23
Just on my way to see the boys now,
And I must say this is the most excited iv ever been for a season friendly .

So looking forward to Saturday and the start of what I hope will be an amazing year .

Big thanks to all the eds for there hard work .

12 Aug 2014 18:20:34
It seems a long time since we signed Herrera and shaw and rojo would seem a come down from hummels, bit disappointing.

I disagree as hummels was just paper talk and was never really a reality target, plus he does not even want to come to us, rojo on the other hand handed in a trafer request wants to play for us, can play centre back or left back, is a good buy for 15mil

RedDevil0690, Hummels was not just paper talk, stop talking nonsense. If you didn't expect him to sign then fair enough, but he was our primary target and we spent the best part of a month trying to sign him. Read what the editor says.

12 Aug 2014 16:50:36
Rojo has handed in a transfer request, hopefully we get him and he's just an alternative to Vermealen and not an alternative to say Hummels or Benatia. Off to the game now, anyone there tonight?

12 Aug 2014 17:29:36
Yes Anon,

I will be the one in the Manchester United shirt (Hi Kloot)

I'll keep an eye for one of those ;)

Looks like you are now shopping in the aldi boys. Syd if your around how many points willM Utd finish above us lot
YNWA

In that case Liverpool must have been shopping at poundland all summer

Of course Liverpool are not shopping in Poundland. They see it, they nick it
,! No money involved!

12 Aug 2014 16:39:36
rojo hands in transfer request and says he wants to join united,

i take it we must have had a bid turned down? only seen him in world cup anyone know what type of player he is?

12 Aug 2014 17:01:25
He is a CB that can cover LB and I for one do not rate him

Not a good enough player to restore United to where they want to be, another player to add to the useless bunch of central defenders, probably the worse bunch of defenders in the clubs modern history.

As a LB I thought he was a bit like Buettner, great going forward but lacking defensively. As a left-sided CB I do not know what he's like. I guess he will still need a top CB like Hummels or Benatia next to him.

12 Aug 2014 17:30:26
He's not Hummels so he is rubbish!

Just been discussing Rojo with my Father in Law (Boca J season ticket holder and watches all Argentinian football), and he tells me that he was class when he was playing for estudiantes. Must admit he was one of Argentinas outstanding players in the World Cup at Left back.

LVG isn't normally one whom goes for South Americans, so obviously something impresses him!

Let me just remind you of a couple of defenders we've previously had who 'where not rated' when they started out.

- The last argentine DF we had, Henize (although he left on bad terms he was a good player for us).
- Vidic
- Evra
- Evans

Those 4 since 2006 have all not been rated by our fans during their proposed moves and/or first few months at the club.

LVG put his side up against Rojo (who kept RVP quiet all game), so forgive if I will take the scouting advice of someone who's played (tactically) against him, seen what he can do (and most probably United scouts have seen in Portugal this year).

I hate all this 'he's not hummels' - I would be ridiculously worried if we signed him, terrible CB. Genuinely would rather have David Luiz, well they both make the same amount of mistakes in a game.

lets not forget either that with the exception of this WC Hummels choked in the UCL final, and has constantly underperformed when Dortmund have needed him to step up.

Subotic carries that partnership yet hummels gets the praise because he pass 10 yards.

Anyway, back to Rojo, (and I haven't seen him play an awful lot, however I had seen and heard of him before the WC) he is, imo no better or worse than Garay, I would be happy with him signed. I'd love another CB like Laporte or Inigo Martinez (the best young CB's not just in Spain but the world) but I would also be confident with either Keane or Blackett playing as a back up.

I think everyone needs to stop whinging that we haven't spent £30M on the most over hyped CB in the world. and realize that we've got a good manager who (from his track record) makes good decisions about players.

wind ya necks in and stop acting like spoilt little kids.

Shaw, Herrera (who seems to be the hated player of the day - didn't take long did it) and Rojo to me are all very good signings. now, I would love us to follow it up with a CM signing, but if we don't then that's fine because it means Powell might get some game time (which I'm all for).

call me crazy on this, but trust in Van Gaal, during the WC he was going to win us everything and be the second coming of Ferguson, now he apparently doesn't know what a good player is.

I noted Rojo in the Argentina World Cup games and whilst he wasn't outstanding, defenders rarely are, he did enough for me to note him at the time. He had a good physicality about him and you don't get to play in what was a tough Argentinian defence that didn't concede many goals if you are not very good.

I would still feel we need a top central defender but if the rumour is true, Rojo is young with potential. Remember some would have had similar reservations about Vidic and Evra.

One small point that I would not over play but he is an Argentinian and should DiMaria also arrive it may help them both to settle especially as we already have a strong Spanish speaking core. Mascherano next, he says, tongue in cheek.

Don't know much about him, but if our major competition for his signature are Southampton, it tells me a lot about how desperation is seeping in.

Looked rapid in the world cup and we do need cover for CB and LB so could be worse though we need more if we want to win things.

Beast,

How can you say that?

West Ham are interested in Konoplyanka, he's still a top player.

that's just one example.

from what I've seen, Rojo is more than capable of being a regular in our side for years to come. if he carries on the way he's going from the games I've seen then there is no reason why he can't perform at a top side.

12 Aug 2014 15:38:57
Adnan Januzaj #11.

Saving the number 7 shirt for Di Maria :)

Glad he got the 11, fully deserved.

Has this been officially released?

I think it sends a great message to young Adnan, that the club has great confidence in him to go to become a great player at Old Trafford.

Not official yet, but there has been a leaked picture from inside the mega store.

12 Aug 2014 16:41:36
Syd wouldn't Vidal get the 7?

If it is being saved for Di Maria I just wonder where he will play. One has to assume that it will be right wing back.

I don't think were in for Di Maria, I think its a smokescreen

If Syd posts it must be truth.

12 Aug 2014 17:19:56
fresh di maria will play as one of the front 3 not as a wb but that said i'm not sure he is coming ;(

He would play on the left or right of a front three in a 433 formation or as a RWB in a 343 formation.

Shaw is number 3 and LVG asked RVP if he would like 9 but he stuck with 20, apparently the megastore have stopped printing januzaj 11 shirts, not sure why

Let's just hope the 7 shirt is for vidal

12 Aug 2014 14:02:47
Rumours flying around the Internet that Woody is on holiday until mid September, this would be farcical if true

12 Aug 2014 15:29:18
JF,

What do you think? Do you ACTUALLY believe this is true? That Ed Woodward gets 31 days holiday and can take them all at once in the middle of the transfer window?

C'mon gdsbasf everyone knows ed takes his holiday this time of year. He disappeared in Australia last year and USA this year. You would think he could sort time share out!

12 Aug 2014 17:41:25
The suggestion that that might be true is farcical. I'll reserve my judgement on Woody until the Window shuts.

12 Aug 2014 10:30:47
rumour has it we have bid 15.9mil for Marcos Rojo can any of the eds confirm this?

Good old Marcus Red.

Not a great player IMO, but probably worth that sort of money.

If it's true why the hell are we buying another left sided player. It make no sense.

Didn't realise he was 6ft 4" tall. I guess (if he is signed) he would be a direct replacement for Evans or where Evans plays.

A solid signing if true. There are better players out there but also a lot worse.

12 Aug 2014 14:41:55
He plays as a left centre back simmo, exactly what we need. Was just adapted to a left back at the World Cup.

Not seen much of him but I know he spent last season playing at CB. Wanted for left side of the back 3? Surely that's the role Vermaelen would've played, isn't it?

He'd provide cover for centre back and full back, he'd be a decent signing

12 Aug 2014 15:19:34
He's 6'1 Sydney, not 6'4.

Really GDS2. You are happy with this signing?
It stinks of desperation to me.
Why arn't we aiming higher and buying Benetia, Hummels etc?
It's a cheap option nothing more.
Let me put this to you, would you have mentioned his name as a potential transfer target if he hadn't played in the world cup?

The appealing thing I imagine is that he is good on the ball and is a big lad so will get up well for aerial challenges. Could do worse, but then again we could do much better.

Ay3, 6ft 4" didn't sit right with me I have to admit. 1.89m he is, is that 6ft 2"?

Simmo, this is an alternative to Vermaelen, not Hummels or Benatia. MU want someone to replace Evans and someone to play centre of the CB three. He would play to the left like Vermaelen would have done.

It looks like after getting knocked back for vermaelen we have moved for rojo.
Neither are bad players but I was hoping for better.
de jong instead of vidal?

12 Aug 2014 16:06:50
Simmo,

I never said I am happy with the signing, I know nothing about the player and have only seen him play at the world cup, I imagine very similar to you.

I was just telling you he plays in the position we need, a left sided centre back who can cover left back.

Few things mate:

1. The ed has told us that we are aiming for them kind of players

2. Why do you believe the rumour about Rojo but not the rumours about the other players, it is as if you are only believing the bad stories for some reason?

3. If LVG wants him then he must have something that you have missed, I imagine LVG has done more scouting of the player than you.

Id prefer Rojo to Vermaelen he has had a good world cup and isn't injury prone Vermaelen every week would of been in danger of missing a game if a bad challenge came in

Jred, who was you hoping for to play on the left of the three CB's?

Rojo will be an alternative to Vermaelen, not Hummels or Benatia.

Rojo and Benatia it's looking like at the moment. Benatia will be tough though.

He's a solid but not spectacular player in need of moving to a bigger club to see if he can make the step up.

He is strong in the air and in the tackle, he has very good reading of the game and is a good passer who doesn't panic and likes to play the ball out from the back.

He has a few rough edges that will need rounding off (but for 15m who is the finished article?). Things like his rabona clearance at the world cup are daft and can put the team under pressure when a simple pass would have relieved pressure. But that is something LvG will be able to teach him.

He would be a very good buy considering the lack of depth we have at the back atm and I expect us to still move for a player of the calibre of Hummels or Benatia but they may not be available until January or next summer. We need reinforcements now, and Rojo would go some way to strengthening our back line.

Remember that Holland were very good defensively with a weak and inexperienced back line at the world cup. Vlaar is a mid table player at best, and De Vrij and Martins Indi are very inexperienced.

We could cope this season without a world class centre back, we will need one to challenge at the highest level, but we aren't playing at the highest level this season. So we could in theory make do this season, it may require signing a player such as De Jong to play in front of the back three to give them a bit more protection like at the world cup. But it is manageable.

Not ideal but then nothing has been ideal since Sir Alex has retired. Moyes wasn't ideal, finishing 7th wasn't ideal, even hiring LvG wasn't ideal. But we are starting to turn it around.

I know most of us had hoped for a quick fix, but the Ed has been saying for some time that this rebuild was going to take three windows, and that was the plan thought up by those at the club. So we can hardly expect us to make all the signings that are needed in one window now can we.

If we can get Cuadrado Rojo and either Vidal or De Jong this window it will give LvG everything he needs to have us well in the top four at the turn of the year, with that confidence that us being out of the UCL was a one season blip will grow and we can start courting the big signings we will need to take the squad to the next level. Then they can start to arrive in January if they are available or next summer if they wish to remain at their clubs until the end of the season.

Shappy, good post and completely agree. Rojo, Cuadrado and someone like Benatia would be the defence sorted. Vidal would be the midfield sorted and we already have the attack sorted. So in theory Rojo, Benatia, Vidal & Cuadrado would complete us, but four signings IMO is not going to happen in just under three weeks. Surely not?

Top post!

Syd
If you think its looking like benatia I think a move for hummels could be back on .

I think we need a leader at cb hummels or benatia would be great.
i may of missed something but i'm not sure why a lf cb is so important

12 Aug 2014 17:53:08
Syd,I hear he is flirting with 6ft 3" straight out of bed. Maybe we can sedate him in our state of the art sleep chambers a couple hours before evening kick-offs

Jred, Vermaelen is a left CB and that fell through a few day's ago. MU have clearly moved onto an alternative to Vermaelen. As the editor has said recently, we have enquired about Benatia and he looks more likely right now. Chelsea are interested too though. Clearly LvG wanted Hummels & Vermaelen this summer, but right now it's more likely to be Rojo & Benatia. However things could change again.

Who do you think will get the right CB role if two CB's are signed? Jones, Evans or Smalling?

{Ed004's Note - Evans as he is better on the ball. However Smalling, Benatia and Rojo would be a very atheltic back line}

BornIntoIt, it doesn't matter mate, apparently he can jump very high :)

Syd
Mix and match .
No one will play every game .
I don't think you can say clearly what lvg wants, who saw rojo coming?
Or herrera or even mata

I meant who would be first choice?

Of course we do not know who the manager's 2nd or 3rd choice targets are. But we know that the manager's first choice was Hummels, we also now that we wanted Vermaelen for the left spot next to him. We know Vidal is the manager's first choice midfielder, but we don't know who will be the 2nd or 3rd choice, not yet anyway. Rojo is clearly an alternative to Vermaelen who we missed out on. And having enquired about Benatia very recently it's clear he is the next choice after Hummels. With us letting Keane and Probably Blackett out on loan, the manager is not going to be happy with just Rojo is he? But if everything goes pear-shaped then we could end up with just Rojo. I doubt that's the plan though. Going into a season with Rojo, Smalling, Jones & Evans is suicide. There's been occasions when all three of them have been injured at the same time. That would leave us with Rojo.

Or united are showing interest in several players and once they have weight everything up price wages etc are making moves for certain ones

Yes Rojo was always the prime target. We didn't try signing Vermaelen. It was a figment of everyone's imagination :)

Who said rojo was the prime target?

004, I thought Evans was better on the ball, but watching him in the final friendly he was all over the place. I think we will opt for Jones personally.

12 Aug 2014 13:23:06
There's clearly a lot of concern over the lack of transfer activity in the last few weeks, and to some degree I can understand it because all of the signals suggested that this was going to be a BIG Summer in terms of ins & outs. What I will say though is that United nowadays need to be very strategic in how they go about with transfer targets, simply because of two major factors:

1. There are a lot of clubs out there who can out price us.
2. No Champions League football.

Essentially, there are other teams out there who can offer a seemingly more attractive package as things currently stand. The issue that provides is if you bid for a player too early in the window, the likelihood is that A N Other will come in who can offer that seemingly more attractive package, as well as a higher fee to the selling club. I would not be surprised in the slightest if we're simply waiting for the transfer window clock to count down prior to making concrete offers for players. A large majority of the groundwork can be done prior to lodging an official bid via 3rd parties and agents (i.e. would a player be interested in joining, what this salary package be deemed as acceptable, etc.), meaning that the only hurdle to overcome would be agreeing fees with respective clubs. Leaving this part of a transfer to the last minute means that selling clubs have very little time to ponder, and therefore must react without having time to try and introduce other perspective bidders, and consequently activating a bidding war (which United do not want at all). Of course, this strategy has negatives because if the selling club(s) refuse to budge, you can end up with zero transfers at the end of the window.

I know that some people will say "We have to pay top dollar to get class players!" However a lot of football clubs are owned by people where money is genuinely no object. No matter what you offer, they'll ALWAYS offer more. We're not owned by a Russian billionaire, or a wealthy Dubai family, therefore within the transfer market we have to operate in a fashion that strengthens our chances of success.

I fully expect that during the final 3 days of the transfer window, we will see our real intentions/targets, and with some luck on our side, will hopefully conclude a few of them.

So here's for hopefully watching SSN on the 31st August, and at 11pm watching the that United have tied up deals for both Vidal and a quality CB.

WF Red Devil

12 Aug 2014 13:36:57
Lets just hope we haven't lost the opening 3 games before then!

I tend to disagree.

In terms of teams that can out-price us; FFP regulations mean that City, PSG, Monaco and Chelski are all having to curtail their spending. If we wanted to we could out price anybody. The issue is that the owners do not appear willing to spend.

99% of players won't care about our lack of Champions League football. City were able to attract big players without Champions League football and Liverpool are unable to attract them with it. It all comes down to money.

12 Aug 2014 13:46:53
What a load of crud that is, although I could agree in one aspect because LVG definitely doesn't seem like he would want his players in quick so that he could get them to the peak of their physical fitness and teach them his system. He would most likely prefer to just wing it when players come in at the start of September.

If we signed vidal today he wouldn't play them games anyway, he's only just started light training and is carrying an injury.

That's the spirit GDS2! But why be so negative? We should pick up at least 1 point from those first 3 games.

12 Aug 2014 15:30:23
Pea,

Haha, thought I would throw a curveball in to my usual happy go lucky optimistic posts and see what happened!

In any event is there not the counter-argument that a season being paid twice as much as you were before and having to play less because of no European football is actually an attractive proposition.

12 Aug 2014 11:55:44
Looking forward to going to the game tonight with the missis whos a Liverpool fan . her excuse is we are going to trafford center shopping (we both live in border Scotland). just thinking if I'm able to take my DSLR camera into the ground tonight regarding this new rule on ipads and long zoom cams. it does say in the email "cameras with zoom lens less than 3"" mine has a zoom but only 18-55mm (just over 3" ). I'm not a season ticket holder (cant afford to be one and this home game is real treat for me so can't wait )

12 Aug 2014 14:00:33
Hope u enjoy ure day mate, I can rarely get to OT anymore after having kids. Always try to be there a few times a season if I can (or the mrs let's me) got my qpr ticket sorted last week and if all goes to plan with my buddy a few more. Not sure bout your camera, I would take it the worse that should happen is they ask u to put it away ;-)

12 Aug 2014 11:00:09
hi guys, having tried the search function and not really finding anything, do we know if there is genuine interest in cuadrado or is it just the press just linking us to every player under the sun. thanks in advance

12 Aug 2014 16:22:20
Ed002 has said that there is interest from United but Barcelona are the players choice.

12 Aug 2014 11:22:04
According to ed
1)we have money
2)we're willing to spend money
3)The lack of UCL is not a factor for players he has talked to

According to LVG
1)the team is not balanced
2)no decent wingers
3)Lack of CBs

Now the first thing that will happen is some people will come out and say "that's not how transfers work" and "we won't spend just for the sake of it".
Tell that to teams with money -Chelsea, city, psg, barca, madrid or teams with not that much money -pool, juve, roma, inter.

Its funny that for a team that has clearly struggled in the transfer market, we will settle for nothing but the best or no one at all.
its either di maria/cuadrado or its young/valencia
its either hummels/benatia or its smalling/jones
its either vidal or its cleverly/fletcher.

We don't have UCL.We are in a transition phase.Could it be that some players actually want to play their peak years in a team that can win every title, every year?No, no, no. that's preposterous. All players are greedy.End of.
Lets look at city's case here.They had cash, lots of it.But none of the players they bought were absolute elites.yaya, silva, negredo, dzeko, fernando, fernandinho, navas, milner, kompany, clichy. Many of those players are now world class.But at the time of purchase most of them were much like hererra is right now.
Isnt there a grade or two below world class where we can invest and have much needed reinforcements in areas of dire need. Even in preseason, look at what hererra brings to the table.There are tons of good players out there.We are not looking.

The problem to me seems to be above Woodward ie the owners who I think ae refusing to release the funds

12 Aug 2014 11:11:21
Has interest in Cuadrado definitely cooled? It's a shame if it has I think he is more suited to playing right wing back than Di Maria is.

Would prefer Di Maria to Cuadrado, simply because Cuadrado has only had a good world cup, no one knew about him before that?

I also believe Cuadrado wants to move to Barcelona and if he has his heart set on Barca then we don't need to go for half hearted people.

Cuadrado had a really good season in italy last season! plus di maria plays on the opposite side of the field. why not both

There is nil chance that Di Maria would be utilised as a RWB. The idea is absurd.

That's exactly where he will be played if we played a 343. The season before last he played on the right for RM and his tracking back was excellent.

12 Aug 2014 09:29:38
I think the formation LVG plays tonight will be the one we start the season with. If he goes for 3 at the back again then I will be surprised because we don't have the numbers for that system (yet) and with Swansea less than a week away it is a big gamble - we need some competitive games playing the formation we intend to play and players building relationships - that isn't possible without players coming in.

Obviously signings can come in, but there is less and less time for them to adapt and our current crop will not only need to adjust to a new system but will need to adjust to playing with players they haven't played with.

We are leaving it all too late again. Yes we have a fairly straightforward opening few games, but it shows a serious lack of preparation if you ask me, a gamble that wasn't needed.

I am disregarding all the rumours about transfers as nobody is saying anything and it's all smoke and mirrors. So basing it on what we have seen from LVG's statements and the players we have available, I am confused about what is happening. The one player we definitely went in for was Verm (according to Wenger), he chose Barcelona, surprise surprise.

It's difficult to know who is to blame on the transfer front, but LVG saying he wants to assess everyone first, then picking and choosing who he assesses and who he slags off without assessing them is a bit contradictory.

Most people have been impressed with Young as a wing back. Who is to say that Young/Nani wouldn't have played just as well on the left wing, or Nani/Zaha/Valencia on the right wing with a new style and new manager?

If we look at this without the LVG love goggles on all he has done is exactly the same as Moyes in trying to field RVP, Rooney & Mata in the same team. Our midfield is still lacking, our wing backs are not natural wing backs, our CB's are not proven and we have hardly any to choose from - its a house of cards. All he has done is find a way to play the 3 players up top, which is what Moyes focussed on doing.

We have looked impressive in the friendlies, but that could be a mixture of players being eager to impress the new manager and also having done bugger all last season they have re-renewed desire. We looked very poor first half against Liverpool as well.

Behind the scenes we are a mess once again with very little transfer activity of note (in and out), and the start of the season is imminent. As it stands we are in trouble with 3 at the back and our players haven't been playing any prep games in other formations.

This whole situation is far from ideal and it didn't need to be.

I think we will almost certainly play three at the back, even if Blackett plays - he has done so well and in my books deserves his home debut and a spot on the bench against Swansea. LVG is playing this system largely so that he can have Rooney and RVP up top with Mata at number 10. I expect Januzaj will get some game time today, maybe RVP.

It is very fair to say though that we need a lot of work still. But this crop of players believes in the manager - that is one of the biggest differences.

Beast, I don't know what the season holds so I.can only comment on what I have seen and feel we are doing.
3 at the back - I think this will be our formation for the season. at least until new players come in.
The players have adapted well to this system and the new players discussed all have up side in this formation. Di marea aside.
Same, as Moyes - whilst he is wanting his best front 3 players in he is doing it in a way that actually plays them in there best positions so I think you have missed the point on this one. Love in maybe.but I don't think we are blind. We know we won't win the titles this system is one he has worked with and is potentially the best at the minute.

Yeah there are slight differences with the formation to accommodate Mata, Rvp & Rooney better than Moyes playing them out of position. But with 3 CB's and us barely being able to scrape 3 CB's together and 2 wing backs who haven't played wing back before it is weakening an already weak aspect of our game. I give LVG praise for playing the best players in their best positions going forward. But then you have to take away that for playing with more defenders when we don't currently have them and us apparently wasting all Summer on a player that isn't interested and club won't sell, (Hummels).

So we are better going forward in theory but worse defensively, and our problems last season came from defensive midfield (still not strengthened and Carrick who I no longer rate is injured as well) and poor defending in general.

I hope we sign players for CB & CM, but teams like Roma, Dortmund, Juventus will hold us over a barrel and talk stupid money. I just read we are quibbling over paying Rojo money upfront, so we clearly have some issue with our mindset going into deals.

One injury to Evans, Jones or Smalling and we are in a difficult position. (Blackett hasn't been tested at all yet imo). let's face it all three of them get injured just trying to spell injured!

We are putting all our eggs in one pretty feeble basket if you ask me. Moyes would have been slated for doing this.

12 Aug 2014 08:59:46
Over paying? I love this term, it indicates that we are going to have to pay above market value for a player.

But that's the point, what a player is really worth and what the market value of that player is are never likely to be the same.

Look at a player such as Januzaj for example, at this point in his career if you look at what he has cost us in time training him, in wages and in other costs then you can say he has at this point cost us 5 maybe 6m at absolute most. So isn't that his value? But if we were to sell him we wouldn't consider anything under 18-20m, which is between 3-4 times his actual cost to us.

Yet look at someone like Nani, we paid 17m for his services, over the years he has been here he will have cost us something like 25-30m in wages and other training cost and such, So this is a guy who has cost us 50m, so why would we accept a deal for 5/6m for him?

The market is madness and there is no rhyme or reason to it. The same with the housing market, how many of you have or are buying your own house? It would have cost between 15-50k at most to build that house for the land materials and labour, did you pay that for it? or are you paying 100-500k for that house and that's just buying price don't forget to add the interest on your mortage.

Why did you over pay on that house? The fact of the matter is you didn't, you paid what was needed to buy the house you wanted. You could have spent less on another house but you would have still paid more than that house was worth and it wouldn't have been the one you truely wanted. In fact the only way you will get true value in owning your own house is if you buy the land then pay to build it yourself.

So the moral of the story, if Ed Woodward wants value for money then we need to spend more on the youth system and produce our own players. But until those players are of the required quality then we will have to buy the players we need. And to do that we will have to pay the market value of those players and that value is set somewhere between the price the selling club want and the price we would like to pay. Just the same as when you bought that house.

Good post. I agree that youth should be a priority, but in this age where success is so important it's also vital that money is spent on recognised quality. Woodward does need to pull his finger out and start offering what clubs want, United are in no position to negotiate over transfers. Unless he changes his approach we will continue to miss out on too class players as we did last summer.

Good post Shappy.

Also a player could be a hell of a lot more valuable to us than to a competitor. For example our marketing & commercial infrastructure is far more sophisticated than pretty much all clubs, we can extract more value from certain players and selling clubs know this. We also have a crying need for players in certain positions which vendors will know as well.

What we are currently doing is the equivalent of turning up at a house we like the look of, with our kids in tow, and the removal truck behind us with all our worldly belongings, with a blank cheque open. Then we have said what is the best price you can offer us to the people that own the house - they know they have us over a barrel, not to mention the fact they don't even have a 'for sale' sign up as they are happy where they are living! They would rightly say bugger off, or see this as the perfect opportunity to inflate their price dramatically. For some reason we then think we have some ability to negotiate and think camping on their lawn will convince them to sell, meanwhile all our kids get angry, hungry and worried. (I think us fans are the kids). I suppose LVG would be the wife who stands by you initially but then starts to get angry as well and who knows where that can lead as she has a habit of throwing her toys out of the pram when the going gets tough!

Obviously it doesn't look good for our image either and all the other house owners in the neighbourhood don't want to answer their door to us because they know it's a troublesome process ahead! Except for some badly built house owners who realise we are getting that desperate we will buy anything to shut the family up!

We are playing poker with our cards facing the wrong way, of course we are going to need to "over pay" but the way we are doing this is just farcical.

12 Aug 2014 05:37:09
You can't blame us for panicking a bit over this transfer window. Before it opened we heard about 200mill war chest and where in for a massive summer, and yes we have got shaw and ander. But is that enougth? Yes we will be better than last season but so will everyone else. It's the same rumours everyday. Today you will hear coudrado has agreed terms, or how that bid is going in for Vidal and that where going to break the record for di maria. Where still watching that space woody. The fact we are unable to transfers quick these days is a worry

12 Aug 2014 08:14:22
U r inviting trouble from specifiers on here.
Even last transfer window those werr slating people who were showing concerns about no transfer activity. And were telling them to wait till window ends.
Window ended and they hide their face like anything. Seeing no quality addition.
Same is happening this window. lvg assessing squad and all that. Woodward.s in ability to pull transfers are worrying signs.
At 32m mangala was best cb could have been purchased if hummel's availability was in question.( long time uncertain and now not moving)
Vidal rumours has put people sick to death.
Need of wingers or wing backs?? Still a question to find out?

Dead wood has stick to the club. Club can't even managed to sold a single one yet.

This shows total inability of Woodward. that this role is just way to big for him.
Or simply the shown 200m was a joke to get season tickets renewed. which they have actually managed wisely.
And that's why shaw and Herrera transfers are done to show followers club is targeting high.

This people should have been in politics.

12 Aug 2014 08:29:01
Plenty of time yet, better to get it right than to do it fast.

Hate to admit it but think our lack of Champs league involvement is putting off the big targets - unless LVG can use his charm to convince them that they just need to get on board now and wait a year.

That's why top 4 finish so important for us this year (We can maybe afford this year out, but no more than that). Hopefully next summer's window will be a different story.