Manchester United Banter Archive August 17 2015

17 Aug 2015 22:05:34
Wonder what peoples opinons on Michael Carrick playing centre back with Smalling instead of Blind if Scweni play in the number 6 role.He has good positioning is tall and is a good passer and it would be a way to fit both of them in the one team

17 Aug 2015 23:09:40
Blind has twice played well there so I would give him the benefit if the doubt over Carrick who has previously played poorly in defence.

17 Aug 2015 23:53:13
I'm not against it however I would prefer Blind as he is defensively better.

17 Aug 2015 23:56:29
I think blind has done very well there these last 2 games.

18 Aug 2015 10:08:28
Just wanted your opinons but do mostly agree Blind deserves a chance.I do think Van Gaal is trying to master the Barcelona way Smalling is his Pique Blind is Mascherano and Scweinstiger/Carrick are playing the Busgets role

18 Aug 2015 10:58:28
I think Carrick is perfect where we play him. LVG admitted Herrera is not getting starts as he prefers to play with 2 strikers assuming delay is who means as the second Striker.

I think like some of his experiments early last year that did not pan out we will end up seeing a one striker approach with depay on the wing and herrera as part of a midfield 3.

Herrera will score 10 a season if played consistently. I can see Pedro/Janusaj and Depay/Young on wither side of rooney/hernandez/other with various midfield combination carrick/schweinsteiger, shneiderling/fellaini and mata/herrera.

Eventually there is some logic to his madness and he will find the right combination through trial and error lol.

17 Aug 2015 20:45:33
Refs on Liverpool's side today?

Disallowed Bournemouth goal, offside Liverpool goal not called, card given when there's not even a foul. Makes it hard for a little club to make the grade when all the decisions go against them.

17 Aug 2015 21:11:10
What decisions have gone against Liverpool then ?

17 Aug 2015 21:42:49
Haha Bilko!

17 Aug 2015 22:01:52
Its about time our incompetent officials had to answer questions after the game like managers do. For a club like Bournemouth, every point will be vital to stay in the premier league, and the buffoons that make these decisions are affecting millions of pounds, and get away without any questions asked.

17 Aug 2015 20:29:17
Browsing through some articles today on the net and was quite surprised and happy that Aymeric Laporte was someone we would now look at, despite his release clause being rather steep!

Anyone or any of the Edds heard anything on this?

A lot of people on here suggesting he's waiting for one of Spain's big two, but I've also heard he is a Man Utd fan?

Worth mentioning anyway?

Cheers, Ronnie.

17 Aug 2015 20:44:38
He won't come.
But i would prefer him for 35m than whatever otamendi costs.

17 Aug 2015 21:06:40
I personally think that Laporte will go to Real Madrid and Varane will go to Chelsea to replace Terry.

17 Aug 2015 20:50:40
Go get him ed

17 Aug 2015 22:21:37
Why would he not come? That's a very interesting comment.

17 Aug 2015 18:55:45
Don't know what will be worse case tommorow if we lose 6-5 and create 51 shots on target or we win 1-0 with a deflected goal or own, seen as the result is irrelevant I think most on this site will not want the latter, they will be happy that we scored five, so then they can moan about us at the back and therefore no longer need a striker, what's everyone think

17 Aug 2015 19:43:50
As long as we get a result away I am confident we will beat them at least 2-0 at home so the important thing is getting through no matter how we play.

17 Aug 2015 20:26:54
Big poppa

LOL great post. 75% of the poster disappear once the window closes. I think they are more deal junkies here that like to moan about everything. I want what he is having kind of site at the moment:)

17 Aug 2015 21:15:40
Gcu it's so true mate they come on here just to bitch about there so called beloved team but winnings never enough, seeing United my self knowing it's not great but where winning i'd rather win 38 1-0 then den 20 odd 6-0 if means we win the league the good play will start soon I'm sure of it, if don't and we play and win 1-0 every game I for 1 will be cheering them along each and every game

17 Aug 2015 21:21:11
Or MAYBE we could play well, created a few chances and win 2/3-0? Or do you have to use the most extreme cases to support your posts?

17 Aug 2015 21:51:30
The most extream post, all I've ever seen you post is criticism never anything positive, just be a city fan or Leicester they have scored more than us and played better, do you see Leicester finishing where they are or isit just because it's the 2nd game of the season or Chelsea staying where they are or is that because it's the 2nd game of the season but we won't become good because where hopeless apparently

17 Aug 2015 22:02:30
Agreed Stand. I think standards are dropping and now we just want to win.

17 Aug 2015 23:21:09
Big poppa red, are you a regular? Just haven't seen you in the last few years yet your calling people out for the "transfer period". Quite ironic.

Your so deluded you can't even criticise your own side. Its grim when you let your united goggles blinker what's wuite clearly in front of your eyes. If you were a long time regular you would see last season I was one of the regulars who defended lvg. But after spending £250m we should be back up to challenging for the league. Without improving the forwards and defence that won't happen. It's not blind criticism, it's reality. You choose to ignore it

18 Aug 2015 00:36:41
Yes I've been on this site for years just thought it would be time to say my piece after listening to most of your doom n gloom, would you not say where better than when lvg took over, haven't we also got rid of a lot of players that wasn't up to scratch and aren't we in a building process, do you think that Chelsea team we seen last season happend overnight or this city side that everyone is fascinated with, everyone can have an opinion but when you never seem to see any positive out of a win then you sound like you have a few issues, we are no where near our best but I believe we will improve and the next manager that comes along will have a stable decent team to start with

18 Aug 2015 08:15:01
Stand you have made some good comments on this thread. Well Said.

18 Aug 2015 09:00:50
Stand/Maze

Wait till we have played 15 games, see the quality of football and where we stand in the league. I will join you in the criticism depending on how things look then. You guys having a moan about our play after 2 games is really unbelievable. No one from the top sides bar city has played anything decent.

The other team that has played the best football is Leicester funny enough, so does that make them contenders?

17 Aug 2015 16:52:05
Hi Eds, have a new article for you here on United's defensive plus points and att. Would you post it as an article please?

{Ed033's Note - The article is on our Football News and Views page with the title, Manchester United's - Dutch Courage

17 Aug 2015 20:29:47
Nice article KingGiggsy.

17 Aug 2015 18:46:31
If City sign Otamendi and De Bruyne I would go as far as saying that they have recruited better than us this year, like every year since they was taken over bar last summer when they had transfer restriction, why oh why oh why is it so hard for us to attract the best world class players year after year unlike them, I'm sick and tired of it now, it just doesn't make sense anymore, I can't understand it, we are supposed to be the biggest club in the UK, surely players want to play for us, and we can't blame it on the weather anymore, they've signed players that we need, how can LGV not realise we need to strengthen our defense, week after week it let's us down, we can all see it, why can't we, we was never in for Ramos or Hummels, just trying to please the fans and put pressure on our below average central defenders, there's loads of centre backs out there that are better than ours who we could go for, why are we just going for midfielders and wingers is beyond me, just can't work it out, anyways let's hope for a good start in champs league tomorrow, I'm going for 3 points with a nice easy win 4-2 with Rooney kick starting his season with a brace and Mata and either Schneiderlin, Depay or Young with the other goals.

17 Aug 2015 19:16:17
I'll tell you why. Its simple
Sterling is not worth 49m to us
KDB is not worth 50m to us
Otamendi is not worth 35m to us.

City have an unlimited budget, we do not. We bought very rashly last year, overpaying for adm and even shaw.
Imo we haven't overpayed for any player this year.

17 Aug 2015 19:19:37
Otamendi and De Bruyne would improve us immensely and even make us title challengers.
De Bruyne makes an assist every game and could play in the hole as good as anyone in the world

17 Aug 2015 21:46:59
I disagree Imightbesomebody, we have overpaid well more than city have in the last couple of years, fellaini, Di Maria, falcoa even though it was a loan it was loads, Mata, just to name a few, I would rather of had all their business done for us than what we have bought in the last few years since Fergie retired, we seem to buy players in positions that were not desperate for unlike all the other best teams in the league, city Chelsea arsenal always improve their weak areas unlike us who seen to buy players for the sake of it, I just don't get it anymore, I can't understand it. I would rather have De Bruyne given his age, for £50 million pounds sterling, than Di Maria or Fellainie for their given prices. I'll be very upset and gutted if we don't sign a new world class brilliant centre back and a centre forward like that too to replace Rooney when he isn't performing like he should be.

17 Aug 2015 17:15:10
What is happening with pedro are we getting him or not does anybody know anything

17 Aug 2015 19:13:36
Woodward flew out to Barcelona today with the aim of concluding Pedro deal.

17 Aug 2015 17:42:15
Sorry my last post was a duplicate of someone elses. So I will try again to bring something new to the table 😂

Evans is apparently not training with squad and utd have refused to give a reason.

Could he be Everton bound as part of a deal for stones?

17 Aug 2015 18:47:10
Or just going to Everton?

Not every transfer has another player involved. Stones looks to be Chelsea bound.

17 Aug 2015 18:49:59
I struggle to see where Stones fits in unless he will be played left sided CB; but isn't he a right footer?

17 Aug 2015 20:53:07
Stones is already better than Smalling, if we sign Stones we will sell either Smalling or Jones. Stones will be a top top player you can be assured of that. Ask 025 his opinion of Stones, also look at the difference he made when he came back in after Christmas.

17 Aug 2015 22:58:42
Weggy nobody said every transfer has to be I was talking about this one. "Stones looks to be Chelsea bound" based on your inside knowledge? Or just reading the papers?

17 Aug 2015 17:32:21
LVG seems to have changed his stance on the captain always plays, with his latest press conference comments. he's now said nobody has a fixed place in the starting 11.

17 Aug 2015 18:14:46
Well based on what we've seen so far can you blame him?

17 Aug 2015 15:51:56
Can anybody else see all this media attention to Rooney end up positively for us? He tends to play better when he has a point to prove and now he has got all the negative attention, I can see him picking up his form within the next few weeks. Hopefully he does as an in form Rooney is always handy to have in our team.

17 Aug 2015 16:42:47
I hope your right Weggy and it is just a drop in form but he doesn't look the same as he did a couple of years ago and I'm not talking about the hair transplant.

He just seems to be less sharp, lacking fitness and playing less on instinct than he used to. The Rooney of 2009/10 is what we need but I just can't see that level of performance coming back.

17 Aug 2015 17:36:53
Well according to the s*n, rooney was the dream team star man. glad i don't use them for my fantasy football

17 Aug 2015 17:27:41
Captain of my dream team!

I have a feeling he will come good with something to prove. The funny thing is he has been playing just as bad most games, it was just highlighted more because he was isolated up top and everyone knows we have lost strikers. His touch, passing and overall contribution has been just as poor for a very long time. The club can't give him anymore incentives so hopefully us fans bitching/worrying can motivate him. He needs something.

17 Aug 2015 15:13:47
Perhaps Van Gaal, supposedly giving Januzaj hope, sending message to Rooney when he said in press conference that no-one guaranteed place in starting 11.

Fellaini to possibly start against Bruge. Holding the ball up as a striker?

17 Aug 2015 17:34:30
Sorry for posting the same just now I didn't see this

17 Aug 2015 13:57:20
Good listen than podcast over on the liverpool page Ed001, nice to put a voice to the name, I'm sure there will be more in the pipeline. What's the plans for this site going forward are you looking to grow it and add more Eds or bloggers etc. ? I'm sure plenty on here would be up for working with you guys. Don't wanna lose that cole knit feeling by growing to big I suppose.

{Ed001's Note - we are always looking for improvements mate. Currently Ed033 is working on a feed for the profile that shows you when there are replies to any threads you have posted on.

As for this site itself, we are just waiting for Ed004 to get back from abroad to see if he wants to do a podcast, hopefully with Ed007, though I have not got round to asking him yet either. Just thought I would put it here first so he wouldn't be able to say no if you all think it is a good idea.

Other than that, we are always looking for more people to write for the news and views site and we do have a bunch of other improvements for the profiles lined up.}

17 Aug 2015 14:29:26
How about letting JMB do the United podcast? It would be like a Steve Coogan solo show with him doing a different voice for all his characters.

17 Aug 2015 14:34:59
Have you ever been on the fantasy football scout website ed? They have a similar like live feed of people posting replies to threads, always thought that was quite cool.

{Ed001's Note - I haven't mate no. I will suggest Ed033 has a look.}

17 Aug 2015 15:06:18
Sounds good Ed, lots of good things on the go then. Ha yes both ed004 and Bond can't refuse now ;)

{Ed001's Note - Ed007 will probably go into hiding now.....}

17 Aug 2015 13:39:35
I don't think we will see any signings until we have got past Club Brugge. This fills me with hope that the quality of signing we have lined up would not be willing to not play in the Champions League.

As such I have very high hopes for three new players after the second leg. 1 CB I would think Hummels or Otamendi, a striker, Lewandowski perhaps or even Lukaku and a wide forward, more than likely Pedro.

17 Aug 2015 14:10:51
Good point. CL qualification could well have a bearing on the quality of player we potentially could sign.

17 Aug 2015 14:18:52
Our additional signings and getting past club club Brugge has nothing to do with it. All your wish list are pipe dreams but pedro.

17 Aug 2015 14:35:28
GCU,

None of our 'wishlists' had Di Maria or Falcao on last summer until the day we signed them, and although they didn't turn out to be too great it does make me realise that the club do a lot of things we know nothing about that could surprise us at any time.

17 Aug 2015 14:57:23
I would have thought it could have a bearing on a "potential" (operative word) signing if that potential signing said it was a prerequisite that we are playing CL football.

17 Aug 2015 15:29:02
Couldn't agree more GDS, just look at Real buying Kovacic yesterday, all happened so quick.

17 Aug 2015 15:35:45
I wouldn't want any one that said "unless you get passed Club Brugge I'm not signing".

17 Aug 2015 16:55:13
GDS2 and Nathaniel

You are both quite naive to think the players mentioned are available. Kovacic has been available all summer and not even an integral part of the inter team and in most games he does not start.

He is very talented but is also hit and miss and can have atrocious games. Real buying him is a punt that he might come good in the future. There are many players like him like Iturbe, Munian etc etc who fit the same mold and can be bought but all a gamble as they can be big busts as well.

Di Maria was put up for sale last year by Real once they got Rodrigues and Falcao was also going somewhere as Monaco has been Dumping their wage bill as fast as they can.

The players you are mentioning are key parts of big teams with similar ambitions to us and will not be sold.

There is a big difference when a player is surplus to requirements i.e Pedro because of Suarez than when they are a guaranteed starter for a Major team with CL ambitions who at this point in the window can not find a suitable replacement and in the case of strikers there is none available.

17 Aug 2015 16:58:05
Forgot to say

Druvcker who is a very reliable journalist has said for months we are not interested in Ottamendi, whether true or not we are definitely not interested at the asking price or would have signed him a long time ago. Hummels does not want to move and neither do dortmund want to sell him so get over it.

17 Aug 2015 11:31:44
On a post further down about the state of our club. I'm in total agreement with Red man and Stand United. There's nothing more that annoys me than the sight of citeh being top of the league and buying top players while we argue the toss whether we get Berahino so as not to upset rooney.
There's no one bigger than the club. If rooney is not performing then we need a top striker who will knock him off his perch. And if he doesn't like that then the door is wide open.
I'm getting mightly peeved off watching city buying top talent like Sterling and possibly buying de bruyne and otimendi while our manager is strutting out his philosophy bull. I don't want us to go and buy a "nearly "player. I would rather we let pereira and januzaj play if that's the case. But the fact of the matter is we do not have a top quality striker or right winger. We do not have a top quality cb. Our midfield, while very solid, does not possess a world class players (as schweini was 5 years ago).
And as red Man said, city are putting so much infrastructure in the club and it's future while we get loads of sponsorships and do little on that side. All the top youngsters are choosing city academy as they've gone out of their way to advertise it. I kept thinking United will reply by announcing our own academy our own club with the fantastic history. But there's been total silence on that front.
The club does not seem to have a football direction any longer. All we have is owners and their men who are very good at getting sponsorship deals. We don't seem to want to show the good side of our club. Instead, every day we hear a story about how unhappy ddg is or how Rafael felt unloved, or how city have got the young player development at heart. Our marketing dept needs to start working overtime to project the right image. Our management team need to work day and night to have a long term plan to get the club back where it belongs.
All we hear these days are people refusing to sign for us, Lvg fighting with players, ex players slagging the club. It is worrying in the extreme and someone needs to look at the bigger picture.

17 Aug 2015 12:14:38
Top post. Best I have seen on here in a while.

17 Aug 2015 12:20:25
Great post absolute spot on from start to finish.

17 Aug 2015 12:36:41
I think when your first response is from MAZE saying its a top post you are in trouble.

There are parts of that post I agree with, but one thing that I have to question is the part about 'people refusing to sign for us' which to me is just nonsense. If you believe the press we have tried to sign 150 players so far this summer, obviously only 5 or 6 of them are going to sign for us so that means the press can say 140+ of these players turned us down. They love nothing more than making out United are on the way down and then we get people believing what they write.

I know as well as the club knows that we need a top striker, I pointed out to you the other day, don't you think we are trying to sign someone but struggling to get the player we want, the last thing we need is to overpay on a player who isn't good enough and you would be the first person to complain when that player turns out to be not very good.

I also think we should wait until August 31st to look at the transfer window as a whole, we signed 3 players in 2 days earlier in the summer, so it is possible we could still be very active and posts like this will look a bit silly.

17 Aug 2015 12:42:19
The usual knee jerk reaction nonsense.

17 Aug 2015 12:44:32
Periods of change are often hard, we have gone from being the most successful team in the EPL to one that's struggling. At the end of SAF tenure a lot of fans were asking for more modern European tactics don't forget.

The club made a huge mistake in Moyles, he was advised to keep the back room staff but also needed to show he was the boss. It was a very difficult position.

Add to that we had an ageing squad and bought poorly over two windows means the task of the new manager and Cheif Executive was a very very difficult one.

In LVG we got what we needed, a guy who can make the hard decisions, who can steady the ship and undertake a rebuilding excercise whilst improving the clubs league and European position. Task one has been completed, the club has got European football.

Reshaping the CLUB, scouting, youth teams, football systems etc takes time. From information in the press I understand that the scouting system has been improved, we play the same tactics all through the youth ages now, thus meaning the players we develop fit with our style of play.

In rebuilding the first team, it's enevitable you will upset people playing and non playing as you are affecting personal relationships and people may not buy into or understand why things are changing.

Last season our midfield was weak we all knew it and it's been addressed. We can see issues up top and the club/LVG have said they want to bring in a forward. LVG has also spoken about a lack of pace and creativity up top. This says to me the club know the issues and want to address them.

In conclusion, we are improving, weak areas are being addressed and we look much stronger than last season. HOWEVER we are still a work in progress, change is difficult and takes time. The most important thing is the result, we can improve the entertainment value as the other issues are addressed.

Just because it's different to the football we were used to during the SAF era doesn't mean it's wrong.

17 Aug 2015 13:05:11
First off , not saying I'm a massive lvg fan but he is definitely not the type of manager that would worry about upsetting ANYONE Rooney included.he has proven this time and time again,even this season with rvp
At the moment he is our best option upfront so that's why he is playing, also there is a fair chance we will bring in another striker which would cancel your first point out anyway.
'watching city buy top talent like Sterling' well that is opinion , don't get me wrong not saying he's awful but £50 million is a lot to pay for a player who falls under the 'nearly' catagory you were moaning about too because he's not the finished article so It seems a little hypercritical .
I had to work at the Ethiad recently and yes its really impressive , but this was done with money the club can't possibly earn off their own merit , that money gets pulled for whatever reason and they sink , we are financially the soundest team in the league because our revenue is streaks ahead and our fan base is too, you cannot buy that , it has to be earn'd .

What annoys me is fans like you to be honest,I appreciate you want the club to be successful and to be the best we can be and I appreciated you have a lot of love for the club .But like loads of other posters on here you also strike me as a spoilt kid. You support the most succesful english team in history who are going through a transition period.its only two years since we won the league, if you demand this level of success then why shouldn't Arsenal ,Chelsea and man city who also have plenty of money , they can't all win can they.
We are back in the champions league and are steadying the ship , if you do not like leg then relax because after next season he will be gone.
I think he's done a good job. we look really hard to beat and do look solid at the back, we bore teams to death with our posession football but we are winning.
Damian looks like a world class right back , the 2 sch's look pretty settled in our midfield and we definitely look a lot more solid.
We will buy more players and we will continue to get better.

I truly believe there can be no pleasing supporters like you , you cannot guarantee success just because our club is called Manchester United.
Its embarrasing reading some of these posts.
Chelsea win their first two games and all your points would be switched to examples from their team.
The grass is never greener and personally I'm so pleased and happy that I support a proper football team that has built its reputation up to become the greatest sports team ever.

17 Aug 2015 13:06:42
You guys need some new scripts. It is getting boring reading the same hackneyed posts abut City being great and we so poor.

Anyone would think we lost our first two games of the season.

Support your team and stop moaning all the time.

I am all for banter and opinions, but the fawning over City and the constant criticism of our team is starting to p.s. me off now.

"Buying all the top talent" lol
So we don't have top Youth talent? Januzaj anyone?

17 Aug 2015 13:06:46
City is doing what exactly with its academy? The owners despite the debt have freed a lot of cash to be invested in the players. Its upto the football side of the club to manage what and what not to do with the cash, to buy who and offer contracts to which academy prospects. I don't want to even start with the prospects we have with our club right now in the first team squad and academy. Ultimate propaganda to say everything is in crisis. Team building does not happen overnight. LVG is basically starting from scratch, and has made very brave decisions to let some average players leave. You are upping the scale of utter dross here.

17 Aug 2015 13:08:44
Brilliant post and best I have read in a long time.

Our club with it's famed youth academy hasn't produced a world class academy graduate since 1992!! 23 years!!

John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Danny Welbeck, Darren Fletcher. all good solid players but world class? No!

City are not only buying top class 1st team players but are putting MASSIVE funds into the club infrastructure for the future. If you go to East Manchester it's like Man City land!! They have bought an entire postcode of Manchester and are building jaw-dropping facilities both for the club and residents. whilst Utd try and get foreign companies to sponsor the training ground canteen!!

Utd need a young, hungry top class manager

The 1st team need a GK, CB, RM & Striker

The academy needs to start producing quality players able to challenge first team members for places, not just one's the club can sell to League One teams for £1.5m!!

17 Aug 2015 13:12:22
Rewz- I could understand all of that if the LVG philosophy lives on longer than the 1-2 years he has left. What are the chances on the next manager wanting everything to run how LVG has it from top to bottom?

We should do this with a young manager who we intend to keep for a long time, not a dinosaur who is unlikely to leave much of a relevant legacy imo.

It's all a waste of time, rebuilding everything for a guy that has a very strange way of doing things that won't be hear long.

17 Aug 2015 13:20:58
Thank god it wasn't just me then after the initial response from Jmb and nach agreeing with everything because it's a negative post.

Rewz, your post is the one I would say I can relate to most here, really good response without getting too annoyed at what was written.

17 Aug 2015 13:23:07
Well said Redatheart.

17 Aug 2015 13:36:06
I think Jack Rowley has just added a real good post as well.
Good post mate.

Good post nomid, it is always good to spark a debate with many different views.

17 Aug 2015 13:47:29
This love in for City is embarrassing.

17 Aug 2015 13:48:25
Sam, in regards to your comment about where the top talent is going, there's an article I read a few weeks ago saying how all the young players, and I mean young as in 16+, not 21 like adnan, are choosing city's academy over ours because of all the facilities they have and I believe they also pay for their education too, so we will see more youngsters at our club than city breaking into the first team now but in a few years it may be the other way round. I think we should invest in our acady without a doubt we have more money than anyone let's use it wisely.

17 Aug 2015 14:16:38
Andy, I know City have infested a lot in recent years and it is something that should be commended as it has helped rejuvenate the local area and has given youngsters the opportunity to express their talent and give them a solid foundation to grow from. That said, how many off the lads will end up in City's first team down the line?

I honestly think that unless some sort of law is brought in that forces the top clubs to use the younger players in their starting line-ups on a regular basis, we won't see a high number of young talent playing at the top clubs; not while said clubs are allowed to spend millions on ready made players.

17 Aug 2015 14:38:59
LOL - I meant to say invested not infested. Probably more a subliminal slip than a typo.

:O)

17 Aug 2015 15:11:50
Agree with that, a quota for a starting 11 would help improve the chances local lads get, but what I was getting at is that there's only a small pool of talent to choose from so we can't afford to let the best youngsters go to city or we will really struggle to promote youth through into the first team.

17 Aug 2015 15:15:46
Hi Beast, I'm no expert on Barce or Bayern but from what I understand one of LVG's best legacy's from both was the impact he had on their club structure. Pep has said on Many occasions that LVG's philosophy is the basis of his own, possession being used as a tool to manipulate space which is exploited quickly and the emphasis of the transition period.

If We are playing 4-3-3 possesion based football throughout the youth groups one would assume we will end up with some very technically gifted players.

You are correct about what about when he's gone. This will need to be handled carefully by the board and the selection process will need to take into account the managers style of play as you could effectively be undoing all of LVG's work. Much like Moyes did and that didn't go to well. Someone like Pep and I'll get slated for this Monk (assuming he can win something over the next couple of years) who already base the way they work on how it appears we are trying to operate will make the transition a smooth one.

You have to assume the club have a long term strategy, they know they have LVG for 3 years. It would be terrible business management on the clubs part not to have a succession plan that's taken all of this into account.

17 Aug 2015 17:12:14
Schmidfield

"There's nothing more that annoys me than the sight of citeh being top of the league and buying top players while we argue the toss whether we get Berahino so as not to upset rooney."

BTW Berahino is very goose striker and i would be delighted to see him in a united shirt.

Is this a fact or some posters view mate. Do you actually believe it could be possible and any player in the team has any say in terms of who we buy or sell, if you do you are naive.

Has city bought DeBryne and Ottamendi? Did people here not scream and throw their toys out last year when we turned down Mangala and city paid 35 million for him and how did he turn out for them?

We were stupid last year with the Di- Maria and Falcao purchase, i prefer we don't repeat that by just buying for the sake of buying.

I do agree the manager is weirdo and his approach and handling of players leaves a lot to be desired and he is not a long term manager for us.

I would be happy to see Pedro signed and a Goalie and think we have a very good team.

17 Aug 2015 10:58:06
Eds / fellow posters do u think we will sign anyone from now to end of the window, blind has played well in last 2 matches but he is not and will not be a cb, we also need a striker to compete with rooney, right now he is playing as well as my grandma would and she is 75 years old.

17 Aug 2015 11:28:57
Yes, I think we will bring in at least 2 more.

17 Aug 2015 11:50:48
I believe we are still working hard on transfers and there will be some movement, calm before the storm maybe.

17 Aug 2015 10:01:46
Just wanted to mention how pleased I am we failed in our bid to get Fabregas a while back. He is the weak link in that Chelsea team and he would be the weak link here. (props to Ed001 who has been saying this for years)

{Ed001's Note - no one was saying that at the beginning of last season, even when Jose had to make changes at half time after Chelsea were torn to shreds in one game because of his constant day dreaming defensively. Poor Ed033 had to put up with me dragging him over to the TV during one game while I pointed out the position he should have been in and where he actually was during the whole of that first half. Poor guy doesn't even like footie, but he had to humour me!}

17 Aug 2015 10:52:41
I was one of them to be fair Ed001! It's easy to ignore a player who isn't doing their job while they are racking up the assist stats, guess that's a good example of how stats can skew the truth.

{Ed001's Note - that is why I hate them, every attack against Chelsea exploited the space he left but it was hidden by the assists. There are so many ways of twisting stats to make anyone look great or useless, you need to look beyond them. I did think Jose would be able to get Fabregas to at least bother working back over time though, surprises me that he seems to have got lazier instead.}

17 Aug 2015 10:55:09
Mata works harder than fab. I'm not saying he's better but he definitely puts in a lot more effort.

17 Aug 2015 11:02:18
Fabregas is a great player. In the United team with BS, MC, DB and MS behind him to do the 'donkey work' if you like he would carve out chance after chance.

He had a poor game agaisnt a rampant City side. So because Rooney had a bad game against Villa does that mean he is a weak link? Or is he still Wayne Rooney a good footballer who had a poor game?

Behave.

17 Aug 2015 11:09:31
Maze
He's been doing this for a long time now. I'm talking about fabregas. Go over to the chelsea page and see what they have to say about him. He's too lazy and hides behind assist stats. Nobody said anything about his ability.

You behave.

17 Aug 2015 11:11:42
Maze we probably wouldn't have signed MS, BS, AH or even DB if Moyes had got Fabregas. Nice that you still slate Rooney though.

17 Aug 2015 11:22:44
Is he still here?

17 Aug 2015 11:29:30
Who slated Rooney? If anything I stuck up for Rooney.

17 Aug 2015 11:52:19
Rollo agrees with Maze.

17 Aug 2015 12:13:44
Maze - Fabregas hasn't had many good games in the entire of 2015. His spacial awareness is not good at all. There seems to be some myth that if played in a number 10 role you don't have to work as hard going back and the example always given is David Silva. except David Silva does track back and does work hard off the ball, Fabregas doesn't. I don't make sweeping statements on players after one game.

So yeah. behave.

17 Aug 2015 12:01:59
Maze rooney is most definitely our weak link and if we played mata in his correct position he would carve out plenty of chances and score more than fabregas.

17 Aug 2015 12:05:06
Very lazy player but can play that killer pass.

Watch him at arsenal, extremely lazy there.

17 Aug 2015 12:19:22
Rosie - Silva offers very very little defensively. He is the best player in the league but he is by no means renowned for tracking back so I have no idea where you pulled that stat from.

Nach - I am by no means defending Rooneys oerformaces this season, I am just pointing out that to say a player of his ability is a weak link is a poor statement. Their are reasons for Rooney's lack of goals and that is the tactics of the manager.

17 Aug 2015 12:54:28
Maze I agree the tactics are part of the problem but as a loan striker it's his job to stretch the oppositions defence and run in behind making space for our wingers but he continually gets dragged into midfield looking for the ball. Van gaal says he prefers a striker playing the number 10 role so surely buying a top striker should have been priority and then play rooney in the hole.

17 Aug 2015 13:07:14
Again Nach,

If that is the case and Rooney is constantly being dragged into the midfield then who's call is it bench him or play someone else? It all comes down to the useless management team mate.

17 Aug 2015 14:39:56
I watch the games pal. He works hard off the ball to win it back. Fabregas doesn't. I don't need stats to tell me what my eyes are seeing.

17 Aug 2015 09:37:37
Well at least now the Ramos saga is over it's a shame I would have loved him here:( imo I don't think we will target another cb this window I think a winger and possibly a striker if the right one is available.

17 Aug 2015 10:54:16
Was never going to happen Dean.

17 Aug 2015 09:11:25
Where do people think Fellaini will fit into the team/squad when his ban comes to an end. Will he start upfront to help Rooney, will he be an impact sub, will he get any game time at all or could he even be sold ??

{Ed025's Note - impact sub for me captain..

17 Aug 2015 09:55:08
In a season where not one player got injured and we won every game he would never get a start, but in a long drawn out season with games away at teams where we will need a physical presence I think he will get quite a lot of games, starts and sub appearances.

17 Aug 2015 10:24:02
I think we might see him tomorrow. he may prove to be a weapon in champions league this season.

17 Aug 2015 10:30:15
Away games in europe

17 Aug 2015 10:56:03
He will push Herrera further down the pecking order. He will play more games than he will not.

17 Aug 2015 10:56:40
I can see him playing behind Rooney first 11, with Depay out wide. We have looked toothless upfront all of pre-season and for the first 2 games.

People say it's a working progress and the performances will come - well we did see the performances for 4-5 games last season, Fellaini was key to them. We played with tempo a bit of directness and good movement. I think LVG rates Fellaini more than most of us. Kind of like the opposite situation with Herrera.

17 Aug 2015 11:30:09
Agree with the beast

17 Aug 2015 12:39:21
MAZE,

Seriously?

17 Aug 2015 13:10:09
Seriously what GDS2?

Are you making a point here or just trolling another one of my posts?

17 Aug 2015 13:23:49
Jmb

Just 'agree with the beast' must be on your automated response list, it's brilliant, makes me laugh. Not trolling mate, you keep saying this but out of the 2 of us I think it may possibly not be me who is the troll.

17 Aug 2015 13:33:30
I am just agreeing with a post. What did you add to this thread?

17 Aug 2015 14:24:36
Also agree with the beast, I think we'll see a lot of Fellaini in the no.10 role this season.

17 Aug 2015 14:37:33
I wound you up, I can't put a price on that on a banter site.

17 Aug 2015 14:41:06
There's a button for that JMB.

17 Aug 2015 15:44:33
Rosie,

Beats wouldn't know who his biggest fan was then though!

17 Aug 2015 03:32:18
sorry folks i know only to games into season glaringly obvious we need a striker defense we have not conceeded roll back 12 months in complete disarray only 4 teams with 100 percent record a new striker will galvanise us smalling has started off where he left off a late developer i think that red against city last year gave him a kick in the arse
rojo still to come back
shaw beginning to show why we spent big
darmian a steal for 14 mill
romero not been tested as of such
this time 3 weeks ago wouldn't have been so positive ithink on tues against brugge we will see a statement of intent
saturday against newcastle 3 more points

17 Aug 2015 02:51:37
Hi all,

Just wanted to discuss smthng dat has been said a few times over d past year. the amount of money spent being proportional to the quality of football being played.

People go on about 200-300 million being spent and still being served "utter tosh"
Than they go on comparing our football with city or arsenal or other top 4 contenders.

Wat I wish to say here is dat the amount of money being spent means old faces being replaced by New ones. which means New faces trying to gel in with the team. An unsettled squad.

Last year v had 5 coming in. they took time to settle and that was evident towards d back end of the season where v had glimpses of quality of football.

This year again v hv several coming in n many leaving. which again gives us the same prblm of n unsettled squad.
Wat v r doing is rebuilding Fr d future. I m pretty sure v won't hv as many changes in the next window. v will hv a settled squad . remember d 3 Windows theory by the EDs. v r thru with 2.

So my point is that once the squad get to know each other and r settled v might c d brand of football that beast wishes to c. lvg has said as much himself. as SAF said "games are won by strikers while championships are won by defenders" or smthng lyk dat. v r being very difficult to beat. so I thnk v r building from the back.

None of Chelsea or city or arsenal have made wholesale changes to their squad. so a settled squad and good football.

Keep patience devils. v r enroute to glory. v will b there soon. trust the enigma that is lvg. he certainly knows wat needs to be done. he is doing it.

17 Aug 2015 05:46:58
V all v'lly v'lly agree. Thanks for the post.
;-)

17 Aug 2015 07:21:43
I think your keyboard is broken?

17 Aug 2015 07:30:30
Come on if you are going to take the time to write a long post like that at least use proper words it's excruciating to read 'wen itz lik dat! '

17 Aug 2015 07:56:59
Auto correct mode on for Shan. Here you go -

Hi all,

Just wanted to discuss something that has been said a few times over the past year. the amount of money spent being proportional to the quality of football being played.

People go on about 200-300 million being spent and still being served "utter tosh"
Than they go on comparing our football with city or arsenal or other top 4 contenders.

What I wish to say here is that the amount of money being spent means old faces being replaced by New ones. which means New faces trying to gel in with the team. An unsettled squad.

Last year we had 5 coming in. they took time to settle and that was evident towards the back end of the season where we had glimpses of quality of football.

This year again we have several coming in and many leaving. which again gives us the same problem of an unsettled squad.
What we are doing is rebuilding For the future. I am pretty sure we won't have as many changes in the next window. we will hv a settled squad . remember the "3 Windows" theory by the EDs. we are through with 2.

So my point is that once the squad get to know each other and are settled we might see the brand of football that beast wishes to see. lvg has said as much himself. as SAF said "games are won by strikers while championships are won by defenders" or something like that. we are being very difficult to beat. so I think we are building from the back.

None of Chelsea or city or arsenal have made wholesale changes to their squad. so a settled squad and good football.

Keep patience devils. we are enroute to glory. we will be there soon. trust the enigma that is lvg. he certainly knows wat needs to be done. he is doing it.

Hope this is much more bearable to the eyes.

Cheers

{Ed025's Note - it is shan..

16 Aug 2015 12:18:18
Can't remember which of 025 or 007 are the Everton fan. The press are reporting that we have significant interest in Stones (no idea what that means).

Can you see Everton letting him go? If so do you see us as somewhere he could end up signing for?

I'm guessing signing Stones would mean the end for one of Jones/Smalling?

Another one relating to CB's. Does anyone feel we'll bring in another left footer or will LVG stick with Rojo+Blind? My personal opinion is Aymeric Laporte should be signed for the left CB position.

{Ed025's Note - im the everton fan rews, john stones is being strongly courted by chelsea and if he does go they look strong favourites mate, we are saying hes not for sale but we all know if the price is right that will change..

17 Aug 2015 07:28:01
Rewz, if John Stones is a sensible man, which I think he is, why would he up root to London, when he can play for Utd and not have to move! Laporte is then our best bet at LCB too!

I'm worried we'll now get no new keeper or striker?

In the bigger games, it's not just going to be a stroll in the park?

Pray on Muller!

17 Aug 2015 09:29:23
Something similar albeit early in the transfer window happened with Jones.
Chelsea were interested in him but we signed him.
If Stones is a sensible man, he'd know he'll be competing against Zouma, Terry, and Cahill for a position.
But here he'll compete with Blind and Rojo.
And everyone knows who's better at managing younger players, LVG or mourinho.
I think we should take a pass on Stones, strongly because Everton have had many 1 season wonder younger players. Barkley, rodwell both turned bad. Lescott.
We should rather be looking onto Ashley Williams if we are going to go English.
What we really need is a player like Mascherano or Javi Martinez.
I'd take carvalho William or Biglia or Gary Medel and make them play CB.
They could pass as good as blind but are better defensively than them.
De Vrij looked comfortable to me on the ball.
Ogbonna too is good on the ball from what I've heard. Don't know how good of a defender he is.

{Ed025's Note - barkley has not turned bad rohan, he is a young man who had a poor season last year which happens, the guy is very talented mate..

17 Aug 2015 10:00:06
Similar to Januzaj, young players very rarely play consistently well at this level. Patience is needed with Barkley as it is with Adnan.