Manchester United Banter Archive July 20 2015

20 Jul 2015 22:35:25
Eds, I've tried to post a link for a predictions comp for the coming season but it hasn't appeared. Is there a problem with it?

{Ed002's Note - Never arrived.}

20 Jul 2015 21:48:17
So apologies in advance if the Eds have already set up a separate section for such posts but.

Ronaldo is coming home. And I don't mean to Madeira.

That's the surprise signing that LVG alluded too and Paddy Crerand is giggling about.

Now before you dismiss it out of hand remember this is a rumour site but also:

- It's last chance for Real to recoup top dollar for him given now 30.

- United would bring him home in a heartbeat as additional revenues will outweigh transfer fee

- Adidas want a big name to launch their new shirt deal

- even at 30 he's a world class talent that immediately makes us a credible title challenger.

I'll build Ed Woodward a statue myself if he pulls this one off!!!!

20 Jul 2015 22:20:52
Real don't need to recoup any money for him, he pays for himself each season.

20 Jul 2015 22:23:41
Ronaldos home is at the bernabau he is a real player. Why would real sell their biggest asset? He is now the first choice number 9. i'm started to get anoyed with the ronaldo stuff all over again.

20 Jul 2015 22:31:27
Not writing your rumour off completely but wouldn't Adidas want a big marquee signing that wears the Adidas brand?

20 Jul 2015 22:36:26
This happens every year. The chances of bringing Ronaldo back are so slim and I doubt Real would sell the second best player in the world when they're already behind Barca.

I doubt Ronaldo will ever return and if he does it will be as a club ambassador and even then I doubt it will happen.

20 Jul 2015 22:39:17
Simon why would you get annoyed at a rumour? Viva Ronaldo he's coming home! He plays on the lefffttt he plays on the riiiiiiiggghhhtttt

20 Jul 2015 23:14:43
Because every ttansfer window it starts. He uses a club he claims to love to get himself a new deal. Ronaldo is not coming end of.

20 Jul 2015 23:33:20
Muller

21 Jul 2015 02:17:20
I read he's sold his image rights to someone not connected to RM. why would he do that? he'd do it if he was not playing for them anymore and wanted more control of his investments.

20 Jul 2015 19:38:10
These rumours of United bidding for Bayern are now trickling in. I tend to believe rumours that come from that paper - but regardless of whether it's true or not, I wonder if Muller himself would like the move or it's a case of bayern willing to sell.

One thing I've wanted to as Eds - will clubs normally go cold turkey with bids for such high caliber players without having some belief that the player would be open to the move?

20 Jul 2015 21:50:37
We're bidding for the entire bayern team?

20 Jul 2015 22:50:51
Maybe peps sending all the best players over before he takes the reins himself ;)

20 Jul 2015 19:33:46
Holy sh!zzle €100mil for Muller !!

20 Jul 2015 19:21:29
I see no way in which Bayern will sell Müller and Schweinsteiger in the same window.

20 Jul 2015 19:36:55
Well the Ed's said they would sell Lewandowski. I can't see them selling Muller who is a real BM legend though.

20 Jul 2015 18:46:41
Rumours surfacing of an apparent £69.9 million (I'm guessing in £'s) bid for Muller with a 5 year contract potentially on offer.

20 Jul 2015 19:16:47
I would rather have Lewandowski

20 Jul 2015 19:25:57
eric really?

20 Jul 2015 19:43:35
Muller is a special player

20 Jul 2015 20:23:50
So is Lewandowski the men's a goal machine.

20 Jul 2015 21:04:25
I don't believe they would sell Muller as he is first choice, in a similar way I doubt Barca would sell Messi. The Ed's have said Lewandowski is available at the right price, perhaps we should believe them rather than the latest outlet hoping to be the "one that got it right", after all someone will claim that back on (insert date) they were first to say they got the scoop first that (insert name) was United bound.
Muller is an outstanding talent but Lewandowski would fit perfectly at United. I don't believe we would get a choice but I hope we buy Lewandowski before someone else does

20 Jul 2015 21:23:10
Spb. Yes without a doubt

20 Jul 2015 21:24:31
never in a million years worth that kind of money. vidal just went for 25 mill and these same papers were talking 50 million lat year with a gimp knee.

20 Jul 2015 22:48:19
I would take Lewandawski over Muller any day.

20 Jul 2015 17:26:56
MinniMan and La Bombonera, which catalogues do you get the Buenos Aires born wives? Quite interested.

20 Jul 2015 15:15:50
with around two weeks to go and very much excited for new season especially because every signing has improved our weak areas except for cb. if that position is covered (ala otamendi, hummels) and degea stays then.I'm sure we'll challenge the title. nevertheless well be more exciting to watch . can't wait

20 Jul 2015 18:47:22
I predict that De Gea stays and we sign both Otamendi and Pedro.

20 Jul 2015 13:52:47
I read all the rumours every day but don't put any credence in any of them. It might be fun to speculate but that's all it is.

My sense of what's going on right now. We are clearly in the market for the "right" signings, but who they are none of us have any idea. The transfers we have already completed have already restored balance to the team, so from here on in, there will be no panic buys. The club would prefer to go with what we have rather than be forced into overpaying for players who are no better than the ones we have. Nor will we be brow beaten into selling, because we have no need to sell. The two areas that everyone seems to consider needing improvement are CF and CB.

If LVG is going to rely on a 4-3-3 as his main formation, playing a sort of muscular tika-taka suited to the EPL, then I would expect uppermost in his wishes would be a goal scoring winger. Rooney will be given 1 year to prove himself as the out-and-out striker. He will be kept out of the areas where we know he is definitely not good enough. The club really has no alternative to giving it a go given his wages and the length of his contract. Are there better #9s, yes, quite possibly but hopefully he will prove the skeptics wrong. We have backup in Chicha and Wilson, but the goal threat must come from midfield and the wide areas as much as the centre.

Moving on to the CB it's the same story. The personnel we have are simply not as bad as they are made out to be. Sure, they had a shaky start last season with injuries and playing a new system under a new manager with a totally new line up after the departures of 3 club stalwarts. But they improved and I expect them to do so again this season. Plus they are all relatively young so could actually become fixtures in the team for 5-8 years, gaining those qualities that come from familiarity with a consistent tactical approach and each other. The question is whether we can find someone who is likely to be better, and I am not so sure we can do that.

So, whatever happens now over the rest of the window will be a bonus. One we would all like to see. But if nothing happens then IMO the club hierarchy will not regard it as a disaster. It is now up to LVG to knit this squad into a unit that will challenge for the title. That's the true test. There are those like the Beast who are skeptical as to the manager's ability to cut it in this league. We are about to find out who's right and who's wrong.

The first part of the job has been done. The club no longer wreaks of desperation, able to be manipulated by buyers and sellers alike. That's the basis upon which the second part must be achieved - winning. There can be no more excuses.

20 Jul 2015 12:43:22
I do like to look at things from a different perspective from time to time and I have come up with the theory, based on behaviours and posts on here.

If Rooney played for a different Team and he was linked to us to be our main striker there would be a lot of negatives. I believe his goal record would come under intense scrutiny. However because he already plays for us

20 Jul 2015 13:25:54
I've scrutinised his goal scoring record many times, it just falls on deaf ears. He's not a prolific scorer of goals.

He has got 20+ league goals twice in his career playing in one of the most attacking squads to grace the EPL.

Alan Shearer got 20+ goals SEVEN times playing in some great teams and some pretty poor teams BUT he always delivered.

As a striker you have one job, score goals and lots of them.

20 Jul 2015 13:28:02
It works both ways people look at fancy names in fancy teams that they don't really see much of and have to have that player , kagawa for example , then when they watch the player week in week out see his good and bad points he suddenly doesn't look that good .
Ozil is another good example , the epl is a hard league .
X young player scored x amount of goals we must buy him , even if he doesn't suit United style or the epl etc etc.
Rooney will get you goals and assists he has done it year after year that's why managers keep picking him.

20 Jul 2015 13:28:53
Clicked send by mistake,

I was saying because he plays for us people use his negatives as positives. Many cling on to the one season he scored a lot as a positive to justify his potential impact, people say he was played out of positions etc etc but on the flip side when we have discussed players ie cavani who scored 31 goals despite being played out of position he is deemed not good enough or unsuitable. This got me thinking about a hypothetical situation, let's say rooney never played for us but everything else is the same and we are in the market for a new striker. What would be the reaction to the link with rooney be like?

20 Jul 2015 13:29:16
Oh god let's not start this, there is enough to talk about without a rooney debate. Search 'rooney' on the search page, you will see the opinion everybody has.

20 Jul 2015 13:41:50
GDS is there anything else you do on the site apart from troll everybody's posts? If you don't like the topic of conversation then scroll past it, otherwise start your own topic.

20 Jul 2015 13:56:20
I agree Rewz people say he works hard for the team, but that for me is not his job. if I hired a Gardener a Window Cleaner and a Cook and came home to no evening meal, I wouldn't keep the cook around because he helped out with the windows n hedges.

20 Jul 2015 14:09:07
WAAD,

Yes, I contribute all sorts of things to this site thanks mate, no trolling from me, I assure you this topic has been done countless times.

20 Jul 2015 14:30:03
The reason being is we have debated Rooney over and over again .
It's easier to search for Rooney under the search section and find out everyone's opinions.

20 Jul 2015 14:42:38
Im sure rooney has been debated time and time again just like every other man utd player but my post was in reference to the current situation we find ourselves in just like at least 3 other posts have touched on in regards to us buying or not buying a striker. I was asking based on the way people have been super critical of potential strikers what do people think they would be saying if rooney wasnt a utd player but he was being linked to be our lead in attack based on his overall career, age etc

20 Jul 2015 15:04:42
Waad
It would be no different some people would want him some wouldn't.
The same way some would want cavani and some don't

20 Jul 2015 16:04:59
Waad , this has been done several times some bring it from time to time just to stir up some debate/ cause arguments/ etc. If you want to know everybody s opinion look it up but you are entitled to state your opinion of course but not sure too many want to get into that debate again again again again😉
Some to choose to ignore that he will be englands top scorer of all time and will be Manchester uniteds leading scorer of all time not a bad couple of endorsements but that said I think we need another top striker at the club this year because if he is out injured for a sustained period we have no other specialist experienced striker which is not good enough for club with our aspirations.

20 Jul 2015 16:55:23
I'll be glad when he retires just so we have no more endless arguments.

Let him break the united and England scoring records, get his place in history,.by the time he achieves that we'll be looking for the long term successor anyway

20 Jul 2015 17:18:32
Rooney out! Rooney out! Rooney out!

20 Jul 2015 17:54:36
I was trying to get people to look at the current situation from a different perspective, i was not trying to get into "the rooney debate" we are potentially going to start the season with rooney as our only main striker so in order to gain peoples opinions on whether they were happy with that i was just trying to get people to think of it a different way ie if we was in need of a striker and we didn't have rooney but it was reported that we was buying him for let's say 40m do people think their opinion would be different given the high level of expectation set for the current potential new striker.

20 Jul 2015 18:23:58
waad
if we had cavani for example would you want to buy another 50 mil striker.

rooney will be at the club next season if lvg plays him cf we don't need a big name striker .

at some point we will need to replace rooney (pos next summer) we will buy a big name striker then

20 Jul 2015 19:16:40
If cavani had scored 31 goals i would see no reason to look at another striker because I would be confident in his ability to lead the line.

Good question tho

20 Jul 2015 19:27:52
waad
and is that not the the point you where trying to make right at the start

20 Jul 2015 19:34:46
i like cavani i think he would do really well in the EPL but you have to take in to account he only scored 18 league goals last season and 16 the year before.

20 Jul 2015 11:10:25
And here we go. Apparently Ed Woodward has left the US tour and returned home to seal two transfer deals.

Just hope his flight lands in time and on the correct airport this summer unlike lasts.

20 Jul 2015 12:00:18
I know yea because last summer we didn't buy anybody! Wasn't it the summer before when that happened?

20 Jul 2015 12:17:56
Finalise deals for Otamendi and Pedro? But is Pedro not in America currently with Barca?

20 Jul 2015 11:46:54
I believe his return was scheduled. I might be wrong. Hopefully he is returning to finish up some more deals.

20 Jul 2015 12:26:02
Pedro is currently in freshs basement

20 Jul 2015 12:51:16
To be fair at the rate he's going Ed Woodward could complete deals without internet or phone service.

20 Jul 2015 10:05:05
lot of reports that united won't buy a striker, lvg thinks he has enough goals in the team.
so could just be a cb and gk left to come in .

i would back rooney for 20 league goals (he has 12 and 17 in the last 2 seasons playing all over the spot ) but the question is , is there enough goals in the rest of the team

20 Jul 2015 10:46:23
jred,

Good question, I don't think there is if I am being honest, do feel we need another striker. Wilson is a bit frustrating as I have seen what he can do at all other levels and if he applied that in the league he could also get 20 goals, but I have a feeling we are a couple of years off that.

Not seen any reports about us not buying a striker though, where are they? All reports I am seeing seem to be linking us with lots of different ones.

20 Jul 2015 10:56:22
gds
a good few reports today that lvg not after a striker.
rooney will play there with chica and wilson as cover

20 Jul 2015 11:23:10
I would be very concerned at relying on Rooney. We desperately need a striker and there are better ones than Rooney, Lewandowski as an example. The only way it would work is to bring in someone not seen as a central striker but would guarantee lots of goals. The one who fits the bill would be Ronaldo so we could play similarly to 2008, however Ronaldo is now 7 years older and not as mobile. We haven't been linked with several others who could perform that, notably Messi, Suarez and Neymar but give it time I guess!

20 Jul 2015 11:54:56
I should add that potentially Bale could perform that role but his goal scoring isn't that of Ronaldo. I personally do not see the fixation of having Rooney as our figurehead.

20 Jul 2015 12:05:18
jred,

I have seen the report on sly but it seems to come from nowhere and have no basis to it, also stating we are happy to play with Rooney up there IF we don't get a striker. I think we have as much idea about United's plans as any 'sly sources', so hard to know what to believe so I try and just think what would make more sense, which is that we are looking to sign a striker.

20 Jul 2015 12:07:55
redman
i agree we should buy messi suarez and neymar

20 Jul 2015 12:19:09
gds
does it make sense tho?
i always thought we would sign a striker but it would be more a cover striker.
we may go and splash 40 or 50 mil on a striker but that would mean rooney playing the 10 or outwide and i'm not sure that's on the cards .

20 Jul 2015 12:19:13
Rooney I think will get 20-25 goals which for the focal point of the team isn't bad.

You'd expect the likes of Schneiderlin, Herrera, Mata and Young to chip in with a fair few as well as Memphis and hopefully any new forwards that we sign like Pedro.

20 Jul 2015 12:21:04
Am sure that lvg would love to sign any one of the strikers that have been mentioned but the trouble is that the selling clubs don't want to sell as they would then have the problem of buying someone else. If we can find someone between £25m -£35m eg lacazette we may sign someone but i v much doubt that we will be signing lewi, cava, kane, or beza.

20 Jul 2015 12:23:50
i think the pedro rumour makes more sense . a multifunctional player which is what lvg likes, a player that can and has played lw, rw and striker for spain and barce .

20 Jul 2015 12:30:25
Jred

Messi definitely ,but not Suarez

20 Jul 2015 12:47:47
jred,

At first I didn't think the Pedro rumour made much sense, and I will be honest he seems to have passed me by a bit, I know very little about him for some reason, which may or may not be a bad thing, so I am unsure if he would be a good signing. We are lacking a right footed right winger (not including Valencia anymore) so it could be perfect.

LVG seems happy to have 2 top players in each position and rotate with the number of fixtures so it wouldn't surprise me if a striker did come in, but it may not be a priority like some think.

I agree Messi and Neymar are 'exactly what we need'.

20 Jul 2015 12:48:36
I'm with jred on this one, not because i think rooney fits the role, but because buying another striker would disrupt our system.

20 Jul 2015 12:55:46
i think we have goals in the team.

Rooney who is nearly one of our all time top goal scorers, Depay who was top scorer in his league last season, Chic and Wilson who i think will contribute with a lot. Mata and herrera both got close to 10 goals each last season. Felli as a plan B can knock a few in with his bonce. Maybe Januzaj, Young & ADM will contribute, who knows.

All in all i think LvG knows what he's doing, if he doesn't buy a stiker then he believes we don't need one, and who are we to question the manager?

20 Jul 2015 13:21:11
We can't rely on Rooney as any injury will mean Wilson or Hernandez and neither are good enough. Hernandez can't play the lone striker as we've clearly seen in the past. Wilson for me is like a headless chicken, runs around a lot and achieves very little. Time is on his side, so he might grow and change his game to be more patient and make the runs when he has to. He messed up simple passes against club america. He is nowhere near ready.
I think if we have any chance of getting Lewandawski, then we should go all out to get him. He could be the difference between winning the league and not.

20 Jul 2015 09:14:35
I've heard rumours that we have an interest in Frasier Forster if De Gea leaves next summer, depending on whether he can prove his fitness once he returns from injury. Can anyone second this?

20 Jul 2015 09:27:42
There's much much better out there

20 Jul 2015 09:29:10
There will be a new flavour of the month in 12 months time I'm sure.

20 Jul 2015 09:47:40
He is a beast of a keeper though .Just what we need if DDG goes

20 Jul 2015 00:57:33
Cant believe Newcastle are close to signing Mitrovic what a signing that will be, honestly this guy is special. Shame we've not looked into signing him but suppose we have our own James Wilson who I hope kicks on this year.

20 Jul 2015 07:03:09
Wilson needs to be more aggressive if he's going to succeed imo.

19 Jul 2015 23:02:30
Regarding Paddy's comment a week back or so about why we would see United's the biggest club in the world, I think we haven't brought that signing yet. Schweini is obviously a stellar signing. But I feel we are still waiting to make that big one. And LVG's recent comments about a 'surprise' stokes the fire even more. As badly we needed midfield fixed, we need a class striker who can guarantee goals.
Eds, what is the current situation regarding Lewandowski? Has anything changed after his agent made those comments? Thanks.

{Ed007's Note - Maybe LVG meant Anthony Stokes, that would be a hell of a surprise! I haven't a clue what Lewandowski's agent has said mate but Utd should have made their move for him in 2013.
It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up at Arsenal, he's the type of signing they've pulled out the bag over the last few windows with Ozil and Sanchez, I was gutted to see Ozil join that mob.}

20 Jul 2015 08:56:23
Everyone assuming a surprise will be a big stellar signing, but would that be a surprise that's what most people are expecting. I think the surprise could be someone under the radar that no one would have linked with the club. Someone like Sakho would be more of a surprise than Bale. LVG doesn't think along the same lines as most of us so not getting too carried away with the surprise bit. As long as a striker comes in with some pedigree I'll be happy.

20 Jul 2015 06:19:21
Do Arsenal have interest in Lewandowski, Ed007?

{Ed007's Note - Benzema is Arsenal's main target.}