Manchester United Banter Archive August 19 2012

19 Aug 2012 22:34:37
Thoughts on our REALISTIC chances of actually signing Witsel ? I would love to see him at United. Thought anyone ? Ed's ? Sydney ?
Bp

Well we only have Roma and Anzhi at this time to compete with. Roma still do not need him due to them still having De Rossi, even if De Rossi is sold to City they still may not need Witsel due to De Jong possibly being offered in the deal. I think we would pay more than Roma too and I think Witsel may prefer the EPL as many of his international teammates are in the EPL. Anzhi is probably not going to appeal to the lad, he's young and ambitious and probably will not want to go to Moscow/Kazakhstan at this stage in his career. Now we have dropped our interest in Baines and bought a cheaper option it seems we may have more cash for one more buy. Seems we bid for Witsel last week I would say there is a good chance we could do it again. We also have Anderson that could be used as a makeweight in the deal if Benfica are interested. I think we have a decent chance in getting him. There is always the danger of someone like Chelsea entering the race or RM selling a player and re-entering the race.

Sydney!

I think this could possibly be our best transfer window since Tevez, Hargo, Ando, etc

Sanshine

Thanks, so have we ba a bid rejected ? Also reports are coming out now about a loan move for Kaka, which isn't unrealistic as we were apparently willing to take Sahib on loan. When I heard about Kaka I just thought its the cheaper option than signing Witsel. Thanks again Syd.
Bp

I wouldn't put our chances too high, Benfixa have a reputation of only selling players for top dollar, with Ramires Di Maria and Coentrao all being sold in recent years for over 20m each. So if we were to sign Witsel he'd cost a similar amount. If we loom at how much we've spent already and compare that to how much we normally spend then we've already spent far more than normal, so I think another 20m+ on top seems unlikely. But hey we can all dream.

Shappy

Are we sure that this 1 more signing Fergie hinted at isn't Buttner ? Also worried we wont get Witsel because there hasn't been anything going around about it uike the RVP transfer.

We bid for Witsel when we were sealing the RVP deal, so there must be a good chance we will bid again at some point. I think going for a cheaper LB as opposed to Baines may have freed up a little more cash for Witsel. I still wouldn't rule out Nani or/and Anderson being sold. Hopefully we can keep Nani.

We will see.

Sydney!

19 Aug 2012 21:51:28
---------------DDG----------------
Tony----Vidic-------Carrick----Evra
--------Cleverly--------------------
--------------------Kagawa--------
Nani----------Rooney--------Young
---------------RVP-----------------

Thats what my money is on for tomorrows match, assuming RVP starts we will see.

I know the way I have done the formation makes it look like Kagawa is very central but I think he and Rooney will go forward and back together to support RVP and then Cleverly when off the ball.

Subs will be Scholes for Kagawa and Welbeck/ Hernandez for RVP. Rafael won't play as he has had a tough summer.

1redarmy

__________DDG
Rafa__Ferdy___Vidic__Evra
__Clevers_Carrick_Kagawa
Valencia__Rooney__Youngy

I think Ferdinand or Evans will play, not convinced we will be without both. Certainly hope not anyway. Valencia and Young for the wings as they are better than Nani defensively.

Sydney!

19 Aug 2012 20:49:40
ed any chance of united signing James McCarthy from Wigan? {Ed007's Note - I wish mate....... :-( *sighs* We can but only dream of such happy times.}

19 Aug 2012 20:27:49
I'm glad we've signed this Dutch boy. Cheap And I guarantee you he will do a job. Just hope this is not the last signing sir Alex was talking about. Ed's do you believe this will be the last signing {Ed007's Note - I think there will be another addition before the end of the month.}

Any idea who Bond? Or who do you think it could be? Witsel? Dembele?

G.A.G.U.S {Ed007's Note - I would say Witsel if I'm pushed on it GAGUS, even just going with what Ed002 has told me it looks the most probable.}

19 Aug 2012 20:27:59
So does anyone know anything about buttner? His he good?
RR

So far from what I've seen which is very little he can give Evra a run for his money.

19 Aug 2012 18:17:02
This is a transfer move from nowhere and most people will have to look the player up to learn about him, but there are several reports in Holland that Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign Dutch defender  Alexander Büttner.
Büttner is 23 years old and plays for Vitesse, he had spent time at the Ajax youth system when he was younger, he has no senior international credit as of yet. The usually reliable De Telegraaf are saying that a deal has been agreed to take the full back to Manchester United before the end of the transfer window and that it could all just rest on the results of the medical. He can play as a left back as well as further forward on the left wing.
A medical may not be totally straightforward as Alexander Büttner was due to join Southampton until he failed medical tests for a reason which was kept out of the media, Vitesse disagreed with that stance and released the following statement to their website at the time:
Vitesse came to an agreement with Southampton about the transfer of Alexander Buttner to the Premier League club.
Because Buttner himself also agreed on his personal conditions with Southampton FC, Vitesse was of the opinion that the transfer was a fact, with the proviso that Buttner would pass medical examination.
The Dutch club went on to say that after they thought a deal was agreed a third party asked for an extra payment which would have seen them get less from the transfer, something they weren't prepared to do.
Whether it's a genuine medical issue or a greedy agent, Manchester United will hope they don't face the same issues. As well as De Telegraaf carrying the story, Gelderlander say that a medical could be carried out as soon as tomorrow. 

If you check out the story on TV it seems the deal is done pending medical. £3.9m. I think this means we will blow whatever we have left "so to speak" on Witsel.

Sydney!

It wasn't the medical. The problem was a third party claiming a fee which was going to reduce what his club had already agreed with S'oton. When asked to top up, S'oton opted out of the deal. Buttner was upset with his club. Am very sure United was sounded after that and Leighton Baines proving expenses they went for a cheaper deputy to Evra. He will need to adjust very quickly though as I can see him putting in a lot of shifts. Evra isn't going to all the games this term like he did last year! Which was the cause of loss of form as well.

Very happy, and Ive never seen the lad play!

23, good age. Dutch, solid as a rock usually, reliable with a bit of skill. No worries about acclimatising like a Latin-American or Mediterrenean lad. Small fee. Happy to play second fiddle but a) ready to hit the ground running if needed and b) a solid backup to Evra and maybe, a kick up the ass? Reminder that he's not a guaranteed starter?

Anyway, if going low-key means we sign a CM with class, I'll be finishing my meal of crow and I'll be happy with the summer dealings (Witsel ideally).

RED_SKY

RED_SKY, it's coming together mate isn't it? I heard that he is quick, has a very good cross and can play LW. I haven't heard anything regarding his defending yet.

Sydney!

If this lad is so good why was he not picked ahead of an inexperienced 18y/o Willems in Hollands euro's squad? Has to have been injured...

Syd

It seems that way, man. Couple of cheap, promising prospects combined with a couple of world-beaters. I wanted a couple of new CM's, a LB and a striker and if we sign Witsel or Dembele, I'd have to say I'm satisfied this summer!

RED_SKY

Perhaps he should have went to the Euros given Willems' performances, but a PSV LB will always get picked ahead of a Vitesse LB. Buttner did make the preliminary squad.

Sydney!

I think me and Sydney (not his real name ;)) both said at the start of summer we would be happy with 3 signings if Pogba stayed. A left back, a midfielder and a striker to replace Berbatov, maybe a young lad.

If Pogba left we said we needed 2 midfielders, so 4 signings this summer.

With Buttner, Kagawa and van Persie we have 3 signings. I feel Powell is one for the future and cannot be classed as the midfield signing. I think the young striker we were always going to sign was Henriquez but when RVP came along we had to make that bid and he was too good to turn down.

This still means we need 1 more midfielder for this to be the perfect summer that we needed, and would leave us set for the next few years with just a few tweaks here and there.

This is of course, unless Nani is let go, then I feel we need his replacement, which I think the Moura / Hazard deals were all about. Just wonder who the 3rd choice will be, and will probably be signed next year if Nani was to leave.

Good, exciting summer so far (as I have said all along), just one more signing needed and I think we are set for a challenge on all fronts.

GDS

p.s. I didn't mention the G word once ;)

Would have loved to replace Evra, but Everton played hardball and the Baines deal is off. Apparently Everton quoted £15m to United on Friday. That is a ridiculous amount for him. Twice his true valuation IMO. So I am disappointed that we have to put up with another season of Evra's poor football, but hopefully a signing like Witsel will give him more protection. I do believe Witsel would be the icing on the cake this summer. Give Nani a one year extension and flog him next summer.

Sydney!

19 Aug 2012 18:23:13
Well it looks as though we have as good as signed this Buttner kid. Never heard of him and never heard him linked with us. No reported fee either, can't imagine it will be too much though. It makes perfect sense that we sign someone like him rather than Baines who's fee would probably command more of a starting spot.

RedDevil19

Was it splash the cash on Baines and try and get Dembele on the cheap or get a cheap LB and spend decent cash on Witsel?

Sydney!

We'll find out soon enough. If we had set aside £15 million away for Baines, then hopefully we can get £6 million for Berbatov and a couple for Macheda so that would give us up to £25 million to spend on Witsel.

RedDevil19

That was my thinking aswel syd, i think we would of tryed for baines but everton wouldnt of budged so we went to plan b. Regarding witsel i hope we make a new offer and get the lad i think he's exactly what we need, dembele would be ok but id hate not to a least make a big effort for witsel. tom17

Reports the price is around £3.9million

19 Aug 2012 18:13:24
i am a liverpool fan but just a little post on how bad the game of football has become. already, fans of clubs have got there managers under pressure, us with rodgers, mark hughes, chris houghton, avb. im a season ticket holder who has been to the 4 corners of the earth following liverpool and i enjoyed every minute of it, but now the game has changed for the worst so much. to many fans now havent got a clue about football its a social event for alot of people . every club has got alot of good knowledgable fans and you find most are working class people, not all but most. but football now has virtually been took away from us. most fans up and down the country cannot afford to go the game now and as for taking our kids to its just impossible, so more and more the working class man is being squeezed out the game. so in a few years time it will be 80percent corparate or as roy keane said the prawn sandwich brigade. i no by speaking to alot of fans and workmates that they are coming to the end of there love for the game. we work 50 sometimes 60 hours a week really struggle to keep are heads above water, like most in the country. i live by the ground and struggle payin my morgtage but if rooney and van persie put one weeks wages together they could buy are whole side of the street ! fottballers now are so far from the fans its ridiculous, i dont blame them for the wages they get cos anyone in there right mind would work for as much money as they could get. but clubs need to do something before it really is to late and the working man and his kids walk away from the game. sent this post to most clubs sites and would be grateful for peoples thoughts, thanks.

Completely agree with what you're saying mate but this is a factor across all professions.

Top athletes earn top money, to bankers earn top money.

Take Aldi the super market for instance, they've just started a programme which pays TRAINEE managers 40K a year, not much in comparison to a footballer admittedly but hugely stupid wages are seen across every industry it's just highlighted more in football because it's football.

Usain Bolt, Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather, Federer, etc. all earn far more than the top footballers earn.

The Moon.

Moon... where do i get an application...

oxred {Ed007's Note - Be careful of those type of jobs for supermarkets like Aldi or Lidl. One of Moneypenny's friends started in one, just working at the checkout etc for about £9 an hour, but it turns out that you are self-employed (SE60) and has to sort out all her own contributions, nightmare.

Haha not a clue mate.

Here's the story if you want a read though: www.standard.co.uk/news/aldi-trainee-graduates-get-40000-plus-audi-6856041.html

40K a year + an Audi sports car? incredible.

The Moon.

It's not as simple as that, my mrs is an area manager at Aldi, she gets an Audi a4 and 60k a year, the graduates who train to become area managers get 40k but u have to have really good results in a business degree, normal trainee managers are on 30k (stil great for a trainee) u can't jus walk into the job tho, u have to have good education

Big Mac

19 Aug 2012 18:03:58
Dutch newspaper Reporting that United have Agreed a deal with Dutch Side Vitese For there lb Alexander Buttner, subject to a medial which will be held tomorrow

Nearly signed for Southampton last month but deal broke down over agent fees
jred

19 Aug 2012 17:44:31
Apparantley, Alex Buttner, a left back, is coming to United.

G.A.G.U.S

Interesting, where did you hear that?

Shappy

Interestingly he is a wing-back. Will we be looking to playing wing-backs in the future? Evra would certainly be able to play as a wing-back as he would get more protection from midfield.

Sydney!

Reports in Holland Shappy.

G.A.G.U.S

19 Aug 2012 17:24:54
Get in there Lambert!!

Tommy

19 Aug 2012 17:12:33
Ok lads

There is no point in getting High Hopes, as of RVP signing this now means that there will be no further MUFC signings. SAF had to sign RVP as there could be no excuses of other clubs outbidding and not signing him would have proved the fans right.

So lets deal with the squad we have, and come January if there are any voids let's hope to god we do have funds to buy.

De Gea
Raphael, Evans, Vidic, Evra
Valencia, Cleverly, Kawaga, Young
Rooney
RVP

Subs
Lindegaard
Carrick - Scholes ( not better than scholes but +>25mins )
Jones - Giggs
Nani - Anderson
Hernandez - Powell ??

Obviously if Rio is fit he comes before Evans

Reddevilfan

Where's wellbeck

19 Aug 2012 16:50:29
I know this is a little extreme but against Everton would it be worth playing 433 with a surprise addition to the squad to handle Felliani and Co.

______________DDG
Rafael___Carrick____Vidic___Evra
___Cleverley__Tunners___Kags__
Valencia__________________Nani
_____________Rooney_________

Maybe changing to 4231 with RVP coming on in the second half.

I think Tunners strength and general play matches up physically with them and he would be a solid defensive player just to hold the line a little more.

There is more chance of Wes Brown playing than Tunnicliffe

If we were to do that then i'd expect Scholes to play ahead of Tunnicliffe.

Shappy

What is certain is that if Fletcher needs a couple of months and we don't sign a central midfielder Tunnicliffe won't be going anywhere as we also have to perhaps play Carrick at the back so Tunnicliffe is useful cover as well as being a terrific prospect. We won't see him play tomorrow though I don't think.

RedDevil19

It was just a thought as there team is far superior in physical stature to us especially if Carrick is playing at the back... Tunners would just sit in the hole in front of the back 4 and break play down.

19 Aug 2012 16:36:54
Does anyone else think we may have missed a trick in not signing Claudio Yacob on a free?
I mentioned him a few times be for he went to West Brom. He was very impressive yesterday.
He had a 96.2% pass success rate, he made 52 passes, He also made 1 key pass as well as 7 accurate long balls. He made 2 tackles 2 interceptions and 2 blocks. All in all a cracking debut. And he would have cost nothing. Just think how well he could have done with the higher quality players he'd have around him at United. Ah well.

Shappy

I would have to judge him against a decent midfield first Shappy mate.

Sydney!

Agreed Sydney. You can't judge a player in a lesser team due to the fact most play will revolve around them like Cabaye he is the stand out midfielder at Newcastle where as we have wingers and centre mids where play goes through just as good as eachother.

Thats true but you can only beat whats infront of you. Besides i've seen him play loads of times in Argentina and he is a very good player. And Argentina are the best country in the world when it comes to producing a traditional "number 5" and Yacob looks like another very good one.

Shappy {Ed002's Note - This is a family site Shappy, be careful with all of this "you can only beat whats infront of you" before the watershed.}

Oh dear MOTD fever already.

Red Daz

Its very difficult to say after one game. We could well have to pay a lot more for him if he impressed us enough throughout the season which is something we have seen with the likes of Berbatov.

RedDevil19

Ed002, i almost choked on my tea when i saw your comment. lol.

I knew i'd get MOTD fever said, but like i said i have seen him about 10-12 times. He is a player an argentine friend of mine told me to watch(he is a Racing fan). I think on a free he would have been worth a gamble. But if he does have a great season then he'll become alot less "value for money".

Shappy

19 Aug 2012 16:06:23
Eds or Syd any news on how the loan deal of kaka to united is looking.. Or is it the daily BS? {Ed004's Note - I haven't heard anything concrete}

It looks like it is a twitter joke
jred

19 Aug 2012 15:58:37
Don't expect anymore players at United.
Powell, Kagawa, van Persie & Henriquez.

All that's left is 5m in the kitty that we offered Fulham for Dembele.

We needed to ship Berbatov 5m, Bebe 2m Macheda 3m off first. No one seems to be interested :-(

This is why a 12/17m player hasn't arrived? The likes of

Strootman, Rodwell, Baines, Isca or M'Villa.

LOL, you do know we had a bid for Witsel turned down a week ago, don't you?

Sydney!

Haven't seen any reports of us having a bid turned down , how much was it and whats the source
jred

Jred, don't know the amount, but Ed002 is the source.

Sydney!

What bid Syd? Enlighten us please

I thought Ed002 said about an enquiry and not a bid, the two are very different things.

Shappy {Ed002's Note - He said there was a bid.}

Ed002, you are a she, i think you are getting confused.
MU93

19 Aug 2012 15:16:04
I said it many times before and united keep overlooking this player.


Victor Moses.

Very direct, very hard to play against always causing problems.

Young, strong and bags of ambition.

10 million is a good price for him.

Ps. It should be 4-2 to Wigan!

Cban

Played well today
jred

We don't need him. How on earth is he going to get in the team?

RedDevil19

19 Aug 2012 14:50:41
Do you think RVP will start tomorrow.
If you think he will click believable
If not click unbelievable

I think he should come off the bench since he has done little training.

19 Aug 2012 13:29:09
Secret signing for MUFC seems like it's Kaka on loan didn't see it coming! but he would fit in so well when called up on! would of prefered Sahin on loan who's more defencive but Fergie knows what he's doing!

----------RVP---Rooney--------
Kaka-------Kagawa-------Nani
------------Cleverley-----------
------------Back-Four----------
---------------DDG-------------

It would be amazing in possesion but only Cleverley can tackle from the Midfield and we will not be trying to sign Kaka. Although I can't say i wouldn't like to see it though.

Red Joe

19 Aug 2012 13:46:50
dont be surprised if we dont sign anybody else personally imo we have had a good window with very exciting players do we need dm i think not we just need to keep the ball better very excited for tomorrow.

cant wait to see fatman and robin scaring defenders witless next year hears to number 20

bigrednev

The manager clearly wants a CM, but I do worry that if he misses out on his main target will he not bother getting anyone else. That seems to be the case with the LB spot. Is it Baines or no one and Witsel or no one?

Sydney!

Considering the Moura interest, we should have at least £10-15m to spend on CM so it baffles me that we're being linked with Kaka on loan. What would that achieve?

Surely we should spend out on Witsel or someone, who'll be there long-term!

RED_SKY

My god fans on here are deluded. we cant afford witsel you are looking 25-30 mil for him. we have already spent 40 mil, if we buy witsel thats over 70mil i dont think the glazers would spend that amount of money, kaka would save us 30 mil for season the market is obviously inflated if benfica want 30 mil for witsel so kaka is a good loan deal, im sure no one said things like that when hendrik larsson came on loan! lol

19 Aug 2012 13:20:34
Where on earth would kaka fit in?!

Would be hard picking teams with so many forwards and mid field players.

Nozzla

19 Aug 2012 14:15:28
Alot has been said about how poor Evra has been and i'll be the first to admit on the face of things he hasn't been great. But then neither has Rafael at times. So what is it that makes our full backs poor? Well the only problem with them seems to be positionally, they both get caught in the wrong positions. But they both tackle well, they both intercept well, they both link up well and pass well. So they have all the attibutes to be great full backs, but they get caught out of position too often.

Lets look at Evra's stats:

Last season he played 37 league games, in which he made on average 2.8 tackles, 1.4 interceptions, 4.6 clearances and was dribbled on average 0.8 times a game. Which will stand up against anyone in world football.

Lets compare him to the accepted best LB in the world Ashley Cole. He played 31 league games, in which he made on average 2.5 tackles, and 1.6 interceptions, 2 clearances and was dribbled on average 0.9 times a game.

So Evra is the slightly better tackler, Cole shades interceptions, Evra makes more than twice as many clearances and gets dribbled slightly less. So the Stats show Evra to easily be as good as Cole but Cole plays in a team that always has someone in midfield who will cover their full backs.

Do you think the reason why both get caught out of position so often is more to do with tactics rather than ability?

Effectively we ask our full backs to get involved with midfield play and attacking teams. Thus making them play more often as wing backs rather than full backs. This is fine as long as you have someone in midfield who can cover them when we get caught on the counter. That is how you make wing backs work. If you look at Barca when their wing backs get forward you have Busquets covering them, at Bayern you have Gustavo, at Real Madrid you have Khedira. The only person we have is Carrick who isn't a natural defensive midfielder, he has been moulded into the role and as such he has limitations in this role. He is more like Pirlo who has always had a Gttuso Vidal or De Rossi along side him to do this job. Sir Alex signed Hargreaves to do this role but we all know what happened there.
When Jones was playing in midfield last season Carrick looked much better and got forward and imposed himself on the game much more because he had the freedom to unleash his passing without having to worry about what is going on behind him.

So we have a midfield which struggles to impose themselves on teams and leaves our full backs exposed all because we don't have a midfielder who sits and covers the back four and gives us a base to build on. Every house is built on foundations and teams should be built the same way.

So it becomes obvious that what we need more than better full backs is better cover for them in midfield. Now Jones played okay in midfield along side Carrick and he wouldn't be a bad option but his passing would need to improve as would his vision and awearness as far too often he was caught holding on to the ball or his passing went astray.

So what we really need is someone who is a speciallist in this role.

Now your all familar with the name Javi Martinez but he looks set to join Bayern. Which i think is perfect, as the player i feel we should go for is a player which only Bayern would really challenge us for and with them signing Martinez it should leave us a clear run at the player.

So who am i talking about?

The player i feel we should sign is Lars Bender.

Now i know some of you maybe familar with his twin bother Sven Bender of Dortmund. But Lars is the better player, and i'm not the only one who feels he is either. So does Joachim Loew.

Last season Lars Bender made on average 3.5 tackles a game, 3.4 interceptions, with around 45 passes with a pass success rate of 82.6%, and gets 0.9 key passes a game. He also got 4 goals and 3 assists.

He plays as the sitting midfielder just like his brother but he has much better vision and passing which allows him to help out with the attacking side of the game and not just the defensive side. He starts attacks from deep while shielding the defense and covers the full backs when they are forward.

In short he would complete our team and enable us to challenge on all fronts. He wouldn't be cheap but he wouldn't cost a fortune, somewhere between 20-25m which considering what he would bring our team and considering his age(23) is a bit of a bargin. I hope he is the player Sir Alex is refering to when he says that they will go for one more if he becomes available, hopefully he is just waiting for Bayern to tie up Martinez so as to take them out of the picture.


I know you guys love my long posts

Shappy

Good post Shappy and an interesting follow-up to Darren-Bermuda's earlier post. Good to see someone looking at different midfielders, instead of constantly regurgitating the same names (why are we talking about KAKA again - ffs).

J Bones.

Great post and exactly my view

19 Aug 2012 12:32:55
I think our window will be shut unless a midfielder or defender comes along at 10m or under can't see us paying more than this.

19 Aug 2012 11:40:28
Do you reckon there's any truth in the Ferdinand injury or do you think it's another one of those like Newcastle yesterday saying that cisse, cabaye, tiote and ben arfa are doubts?

19 Aug 2012 11:55:53
i think that we should sign ben arfa he plays well would add somehing to our midfield THE HEMMINATOR

I think Nani, Toni and even Young are miles ahead of Ben Arfa.

The Moon.

19 Aug 2012 11:03:09
Seen a lot of people on here woundering why we have spent so much on transfer fee and wages for van Persie especially when last summer the main reason we didn't sign big names ie sneijder was there enormous wage demands, well apparently it is due to the fact that saf is planning to retire either the end of this season of we win the champions league or the end of next if we don't and he is like a farewell present from te glazers
JS

Apparently, last summer United agreed to pay Sneijder what he wanted and it was all going swimmingly, the deal was going through and United believed they had their man, but then he upped his demands and wanted more money and the deal collapsed. What Sneijder wanted was a lot more than RVP is getting. Both Chelsea and City baulked at his demands. I cannot see United going back to Sneijder now, especially now we have Kagawa. It is a tough tackling box2box midfielder we are looking for at the moment and I hope it materialises.

Sydney!

19 Aug 2012 10:35:19
In my opinion United's priority is a midfield general, someone to dictate the midfield. Witsel, dembele or Martinez. In addition I think a recognised Rb is required. Don't agree with these temporary measures jones, smalling, Valencia etc. None of them will ever be Gary Neville.

Erm... Rafael?! He's class, young, yes makes the odd positional mistake but is learning, and will be one of the best right backs in the world. For cover we have plenty who can play their. We need a left back, I'd do everything possible to get Contaoe (Sp) from Real... In my dreams )

DodgyBanter

Rafael is our long term right back. Hence the number 2 shirt being given to him.

TK-Red

Rafael's ability is not in question, it's his decision making, but that will be ironed out I'm sure.

Sydney!

Some people seem to have very short memories. I remember people slating Gary Neville in his early years, saying things like he isn't good enough going forward and his positional sense isn't very good. The same things were said about Fletcher when he was 21/22, now people say Neville was one of our best RB ever and how things would have been differant if Flecther was available for key games.

All young players will have faults in their game as they are still learning. Rafael is a fantastic player who's worked on his rashness in the tackle and now will learn to make sure he is in the right position at the right time, once he's sorted that out then he won't have any weaknesses to his game so why the hell would we need someone else to play RB.

Shappy

Here here Shappy!

DodgyBanter

19 Aug 2012 10:29:42
please can someone suggest a site where I can see yesterdays match highlights

Match of the day on BBC Iplayer

-JakeW

19 Aug 2012 10:17:35
Rumours we are interested in cabaye. Ed's what are the chances of getting involved in the Javi Martinez transfer {Ed002's Note - Slim to say the least.}

Is it a money thing or just that saf is not interested? Assuming there was an intention to buy Moura and van Persie, then the Moura money would be close to Martinez release clause or am I dreaming. Shahram {Ed002's Note - Clutching at straws.}

Thanks lol, we are allowed to dream. In years past bfore the glazers he would have been here already.what a shame

Which year was this that we signed players with no prem experience for extortionate fees?

GDS

Try Veron GDS... And look how successful that was ;)

DodgyBanter

GSA
Veron rvn stam
Jred

Stam RVN

Jred, RVN's and Stam's fees were far from extortionate.

Sydney!

I would even go as far to say that Veron's fee wasn't extortionate. Think about it, at the time Zidane went for £45m, Figo went for £37m, Crespo went for £35m. So £28m for Veron was not a bad price at all, certainly not extortionate.

Sydney!

Syd
was stams not a world record for a CB at the time.
i think he cost about 11mill and the transfer record at the time was 20 for ronaldo so i would say it was a lot of money at the time
jred

Syd
if you are going to work it like that is 30 mill for martinez extortionate compared to ronaldo 80 mill.
i think 28 for veron compared to 45 for zidane is a bit closer than 30 martinez 80 ronaldo.

so maybe GDS should of said a player with no prem experience for a large fee
jred

Extortionate means grossly overpriced and I wouldn't say anyone we have bought other than perhaps Bebe was grossly overpriced. I would say that RVP and Berbatov were overpriced, but not grossly.

Sydney!

Syd
have we not got massively off the OP tho talking about overpriced players
jred

£25m-£30m is a fair price IMO, £30m+ is overpriced IMO and anything above £40m would be extortionate.

Sydney!

19 Aug 2012 09:01:10
Alan Hansen predicts Citeh to win the league. That will do me as we all know his track record on United predictions

19 Aug 2012 08:38:29
According to reports apparently SAF could be looking at bringing in 2 more players but he is trying by all means to keep it a secret to shake off competition from other clubs,for so far we are believed to have made a rejected low bid for Moussa Dembele of Fulham,and Spanish reports suggest we are locked in talks with Real Madrid to sign Kaka on loan and also rumours suggest that we have prepared a £12m offer for Leighton Baines AND Lastly SNEIDJER is back in the picture after reports also suggest that we are also contemplating to incite Inter Milan with a swap deal involving Nani.......,Eds any chance we can bring in a LB and a CM...? {Ed002's Note - Midfield certainly. LB, perhaps.}

19 Aug 2012 08:34:03
Jesus wept!

I'm away for a day and the next thing The Moon is lecturing all Utd fans about what should be discussed on an open floor forum? The same guy that is a football fan first, Utd fan second! I would have thought a more open scoped field of discussion over the plights of other clubs, the dismal performances of others, how well another club played etc would tickle your fancie instead of just Utd, Utd, Utd!

The clue is in the title! BANTER!

Yeah some go overboard then cry about it when a few folk reply to them (GDS), other take loads of stick yet continually put their point of view across (Sydney!), others sit and wait for the next LFC or Blaire post to roundly have a good laugh at their expense (more so yesterday) and others like KLOOT keep banging the same drum about stuff we all know his opinions on already.

Point is we are all utd fans and we are all football fans (maybe not in that order for everyone) but all can see when another certain club that used to be a main rival and still gets the odd fan popping up on here for, what they still call banter, get walloped 3-0 by mighty West Brom that there will be stick getting aimed at them.

Imagine this site as a table in a pub. We are at the utd table, across from us is the city, arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool tables. We all watch the same match on the big screen which happens to be say Chelsea v City. Chelsea win 5-0, there is massive fights in city ranks, red cards, Mancini going mental over something new, hazard scores a hat trick etc etc. so we as the Utd table are not to poke fun between ourselves at what we have all just witnesses just because we are at the Utd table? that's the point of this site!

Yeah we are on the Utd page and yeah primarily 95% of the posts are all to do with Utd issues does it really matter if a few folk want to post a thread about another team getting pumped? Where do you stand on the multiple threads of support for players like Abidal, Muamba etc? Nothing Utd related in those stories but as we are all football fans as well the good in people who regularly visit this site comes through and is seen in those supportive comments on non Utd related issues.

Compared to other sites I have previously been on mate this is by far the most easy going one of the lot and not only do I thank the eds for that but also all (or almost all, trolls excluded) the posters. Without everyone input on here it would just be Sydney! Rambling for a reply from Ed002 ha.

But seriously all the fans make the site mate whether it's tactics talk, signings, formations, line ups, prefered players, fantasy football, an incident in a non Utd game, a utd loss (not the more enjoyable reads mind) a Utd trophy, terrible midfield performance, Evra, Gibbo before him, Suarez, Terry, England, failed champs league effort, Liverpool getting pumped on opening day or indeed optimism for tomo night I for one enjoy reading most posts (not so much Shapps lengthy ones ;-) Utd related or not.

I work in the RAF so maybe I'm more used to all types of fans openly discussing different teams all the time but as I see it anyway this is a Utd site for Utd fans to huddle around while still reserving the right to openly discuss all football topics, not a Utd site for Utd talk and Utd talk only mate.

Jono

Jono, yeah I'm footbal first but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

I'm more than happy to discuss Liverpool or any other club for that matter however when people start doing exactly what they tried to get Liverpool fans banned for last season then I'm not really for that.

the hypocritical side of it is what annoyed me, not the fact that Liverpool was being mentioned on our site.

The Moon.

Jono,

Love people replying to me it's why I post on here, enjoy the banter. Have said please disagree with any post I write if you like, football is about opinions.

My issue yesterday was nothing to do with that so don't be talking about me if you didn't read the whole thing.

Cannot wait for the season so start now, gonna be a tough game tomorrow night and I would be happy with a sneaky win by one game, I think we should be looking at 13 from the first 15 available.

GDS

19 Aug 2012 08:27:45
Dio
You need to man up my friend, there is no circumstance where I would possibly be kicked out of my own house! (night on the sofa maybe ;-)
Snakey80

19 Aug 2012 07:32:26
Why do we need Kaka on loan? For how long is this loan.....a year??

Kaka is an attacking midfielder....but we already have a certain Paul Scholes for another year....so why Kaka?

19 Aug 2012 06:44:52
These Nani/Sneijder rumors are some of the worst yet! Sneijder and RVP don't get along at all, it would be foolish to have them on the same club team. I really think Nani will stay, and I hope he ups his consistency. I really reckon Dembele will come into the squad, mostly because there aren't many other players with a decent price tag that can solve our midfield problem. I think the line up for the Everton game will be pretty safe, nothing too adventurous.

De gea
Rafael Vidic Rio Evra
Valencia Carrick Cleverly Young
Kagawa
Rooney

Andy!

18 Aug 2012 21:12:25
Hey Ed, any plans to create ways for posters to sign up and have accounts on this site (and obviously the affiliates)? {Ed002's Note - Perhaps at some point.}

19 Aug 2012 02:03:32
Your loan signing will be Kaka.

Tom.

19 Aug 2012 00:25:36
couple of rumours, twitter kaka on loan with an option to buy and a deal comprising of nani for sneider. who knows who it will be if anyone. aaarrghh

It will be neither of them my friend.

Sydney!