Manchester United Banter Archive December 29 2019

29 Dec 2019 23:44:41
I'm glad we didn't sign Haaland, l think for a kid playing in a weak Austrian League the prices quoted plus that Leech of an agent reported fees were way too much of a gamble. Reading ED002's update, think we stick with what we have until the summer, maybe they are having a last look at Ole before either saying good bye or backing him.

30 Dec 2019 09:14:18
I am glad that we haven't thrown money this time just for the sake of it. Its best that due diligence is done before investing in a player. We do need a striker but one that is experienced and would provide something different to what we already have, someone like a Cavani or Lewandowski.

But let's stop calling Austrian league a weak league just because we didn't sign a player. Norwegian league isn't any better and we have a manager from that league.

30 Dec 2019 10:46:16
I said weeks ago that I didn't think Haaland was the right profile of striker we needed.

I feel we need a striker who plays well with his back to goal, someone who can create space and opportunities for his teammates. Haaland is a very good prospect, but hasn't as yet shown the ability to be a target man type striker.

I also feel we would be better off signing a striker between the ages of 26-30 ideally. We have Martial (24), Rashford (22) and Greenwood (18). All young players, for a more balanced squad we could do with a more experienced striking option. Someone at their peak would be ideal.

Finally, if we are to sign a player in January then it would be ideal if we signed someone with EPL experience. We have seen many times players often take a while to adapt to the pace of our league. Especially when moving mid-season. They don't have time to find a place to live, get used to to area, train with their new teammates without pressure. Summer signings at least have a pre-season to acclimatise to their new team and get a chance to find a place to live and get settled before they are expected to perform on the pitch.
Rarely do you see a player with no EPL experience join a club in January and they hit the ground running and lift the teams performances.

30 Dec 2019 12:04:09
Shappy, I feel that if Martial shows maturity with his attitude and work rate, we may not need a striker.
We must also consider that Greenwood almost scores every time when he is on the pitch.
So we have 2 players with huge potential at the perfect age.

Instead we can focus on the RW. Rashford has 16 goals this season from left side of attack. If a new signing on the right side contributes more or less the same, we will be in a great position.
Dan James can provide cover on both the wings.

A top class no 10 to compliment the attacking trio will help this team masively.

30 Dec 2019 12:12:30
shappy cavani's contract expires in the summer, but i think i saw he is on the verge of going athletico Madrid.

i agree we need a striker, we don't really need an experienced striker just someone who fits the system and can score.

30 Dec 2019 13:14:43
Martial. is injury prone aswell. We lack strength in depth and a plan B.

30 Dec 2019 13:25:46
As we saw when martial was injured we moved rashford forward and struggled. Since martial came back and rashford moved left he's been banging them in. We need depth and a plan b.

30 Dec 2019 13:46:42
Bring in Giroud. excellent for the way we play and will be immense against the sides who sit deep.

30 Dec 2019 15:29:25
Ryan, keep banging the drum mate although I’m not sure anyone is listening.

30 Dec 2019 15:57:06
I'd rather have Andy Cole at his current age than giroud.

30 Dec 2019 16:35:25
giroud is underrated. as a plan B he wouldn't be such a bad shout.

30 Dec 2019 19:48:11
Shame is he being used as Chelsea’s plan C/ D. Giroud will move to start games - which hopefully more won’t be to Old Trafford.

30 Dec 2019 23:20:40
Is he more or less underrated that Mr Carrick 🤣.

31 Dec 2019 00:16:15
might as well bring crouch out of retirement.

31 Dec 2019 10:02:23
How about dzeko?

Knows the league already
6'4"
33 yo so probably couldn't play twice a week so ideal for rotation and as a sub for a couple of years.?

29 Dec 2019 15:18:01
I feel Haaland has made the right move. I rate him and we do need a player like him, who can finish scrappy chances. But I feel its better age his age he goes to another club to finish his development. Dortmund are a selling club and raiola will be moving him on in 2-3 years.

29 Dec 2019 15:31:19
I'd be worried that our manager can't convince the kid who he gave his debut to, to join Manchester United.

29 Dec 2019 15:32:21
Yeah sure great move on his part. He will suit BvB style of play.

We will just end up the idiots paying £100m for him in 3 years when we could have got him on his £18m release clause.

29 Dec 2019 15:45:26
Yeah, I thought they shared an unbreakable bond.

29 Dec 2019 15:54:16
Apparently we backed away because of Raiola's demands but anything to bash the manager huh mumbles.

Kurtis as I said Dortmund are a selling club and Raiola is always hawking his clients around. He'll move in 2 years. If we end up paying 100 million then we'll be getting close to the finished article. Not a young player which isn't necessarily what we need right now.

29 Dec 2019 15:56:33
Over the moon we haven’t succumbed to Riola’s outrageous demands. Might become a worldie but I ain’t convinced. Greenwood has far more potential.

29 Dec 2019 16:28:36
I'm pretty sure ED002 said it would be a fee of £80 million, or around that mark.

I think the release clause was the Leipzig aswell, as Salzburg areca feeder club.

{Ed002's Note - Plus €15M in agent fees - but this is an entirely different arrangement.}

29 Dec 2019 16:31:54
I said it before, Dortmund would be the best move for his career. Almost guaranteed starter, playing UCL football and challenging for titles at a club renowned for developing young players, in a league with less spotlight and pressure.

We couldn't have signed him for the 18m, that clause was for very specific purposes that we couldn't take advantage of. For us the fee was supposedly 60-70m to his club plus whatever Riola wanted for facilitating the move.

Great talent, and likely to become a star player. But not what we need right now. We have Greenwood who has similar if not more potential. We need a finished or near finished article. Someone who can play with their back to goal and create chances for our wider players.

I think this is the right move for everyone involved.

However, another way to view this is that Dortmund signing Haaland is a way to bring in a top young player and placate the fans for if/ when they sell Sancho.

{Ed002's Note - Right.}

29 Dec 2019 16:35:46
Many of you Ole fans out there are happy to give the man time to further cement us into mid table mediocrity.

A young player has picked Dortmund over Manchester United. The manager who gave him his professional debut couldn't convince the kid to join us.

It will funny to read your transfer wish lists soon when you put Sancho, Maddison, Rice and any other young decent footballer on it. Why would they join?

Every game we're bullied by a relation fodder team. Every press conference our manager spouts nonsense. Every young player that turns us down. That's all just another ingredient to cementing us to mid table mediocrity.

29 Dec 2019 16:39:55
Its impossible to say Greenwood has more potential but I think with his emergence we could definitely prioritise other areas and Dortmund is a good move for him to prove himself I'd imagine Sancho will be leaving. It would be great to see us bring in a top quality cm if at all possible in January.

29 Dec 2019 16:40:32
I haven’t seen Haaland play, however, it has to be concerning given Ole’s apparent interest and previous connection, plus our need for a striker, that the player chose elsewhere. Perhaps it indicates Haaland wasn’t that impressed with Ole, or it could relate to Riola. People will see what they want to.

29 Dec 2019 16:57:49
Mumbles
It will be a very unhappy world if you react like this to every flipping transfer that we don't complete.

The parties will have looked at it and made a decision based on what is best for them. The fee quoted above is an incredible amount of money. We have been scoring plenty of goals with one of the best looking front lines around. Martial, Rashford, James/ Greenwood look very capable.

Maybe we have chosen other priority positions. Maybe Ole refused to guarentee 1st team football, maybe he wanted guaranteed UCL, maybe he vowed he will never play for Man Utd because of history with his dad, maybe Utd couldn't guarantee Ole future. There could be hundreds of reasons, not all of them match this Ole bashing story line that so many are keen to propagate.

We may never know. But his choice of next club certainly seems a good one for his development.

Personally I would be much happier seeing a maddisson type signing, and if Pogba's leaving another CM.

29 Dec 2019 17:02:51
Mumbles it was Utd who chose not to pursue at the prices quoted by Riola. A bit of sense for once.

29 Dec 2019 17:17:21
Mumbles he is not something we need we have Greenwood.

It's a no brainer for us not to get him we don't need another young forward. he woukdnt have got a sniff in our starting 11

Regardless of his goal record in the austrian league.

Let's see how he does in Germany with better defenders and better teams

Imagine paying 72 million you wouldn't be in up roar complaining about how daft we are paying that much

To be honest any player of that agent we should stay clear of.

29 Dec 2019 17:38:53
Your comment sounds so silly Mumbles.
80m fee is outrageous for a player who is proven for half a season.
And that too in a fairly inferior league.

29 Dec 2019 17:47:18
How many players has Ole come out and said "We're interested in him". He flew to meet him. Spent a couple of hours chatting with him, and the lad still turned us down.

After that meeting, Ole came out and said "the player knows what he's going to do".

Why would Ole go to meet the player if we weren't interested in paying the fees for Him? Did the player tell Ole "I'll sign for you" and then we wouldn't pay up? Or was he told at that meeting "I'm going to Dortmund"

I'm not that pushed on not signing Haaland. i'm angry because it's a rubbishshow from the outside. It shows yet again we can't get a deal done.

Ed002 alluded to the fact that higher ups at United had a expensive decision to make in regards to Oles future. Either back him or sack him. Looks like we'll do neither. Just happy to be filling inches on the back page of the paper with half arsed interest in players.

{Ed047's Note - from my perspective you are nowhere near the attractive proposition you once were.

I think that’s why you’ve reverted to young English potential but a club of your stature needs some of the best quality.

Pogba in reality is really the only big big name to arrive but has failed miserably to cut it in the Premiership which ever way you’d want to argue that.

29 Dec 2019 18:23:32
So it's the board's fault, now? It was Ole's in your opening post?

{Ed047's Note - you guys, what are you like!

Saying that you were all still arguing when Fergie was here and you were winning. 🤪

29 Dec 2019 18:27:07
I think that's fair Ed but I think certain people would've moaned about Haaland whether we signed him or didn't. Anything to throw a negative spin on things.

{Ed047's Note - it’s so difficult when all you all want is a return to better times.

It’s going to cause friction no matter what happens.

29 Dec 2019 18:35:56
Ed047, I was just about to post the same thing, mate. How we're on a decent wee run, and people still come on here trying to start arguments about a kid who didn't sign for us. It's like some people feel uncomfortable with a bit of peace and calm and need a bit of drama 😁

He's complaining it'll cost us 100m to buy him back from Dortmund in a few years, when he's actually proved his worth, but would be happy spending 80m odd on him now, after doing well in Austria and really having proven relatively little and not exactly being up at the top of our list of priorities just now.

Nice deflection, tho Ed 😁.

{Ed047's Note - I do my best Nou! 🤪

29 Dec 2019 18:57:34
In fact, I apologise to Mumbles. It was Kurtis who was complaining about buying him for 100m in a few years. Too many Cuba Libres today 😁.

29 Dec 2019 19:49:32
You win some you lose some. Imo signing another cf at 19 to compete with Greenwood 18 and martial at 23 does not make sense really.
But that's just a personal opinion on squad structure as opposed to his ability.
A more experienced player as a3rd option would be my preference.

Midfield no10 and rw are the priority areas imo.

29 Dec 2019 19:54:35
No one knows what the figures quoted were, but if they were trying to rip us off, then I for one, am happy that we didn't pursue the deal. There are other options like Martinez and there will always be young players coming on the scene.
I think midfield, no10, and Rw are the priorities, and if we can get a good young striker in the summer, then that's great.
I agree with Nou on this, he's played one year in a very average league and did very well, but that doesn't mean that he'll be s hit in Germany, though I feel that he will. I wish him well, and we move on.

29 Dec 2019 20:08:24
As I said, I'm not pushed on not getting the player. You guys can make all the excuses you want but the fact Is, Ole said we were interested, he flew and had meeting with him and the kid decided it would be better to play his football at another club.

My point is and also what ed has alluded to, football won't stand still for Man Utd and Ole Gunnar to ditch the stabilizers and find his feet. He wasn't the first and won't be the last to choose another club. But another year or two in the Europa league and players won't care about a goal scored in 99. They will barely be able to remember the class of 92. There will be 30 clubs ahead of us in the pecking order to sign talented players instead of 5 or 6.

You lot are a sensitive bunch. Ole wins two games and you think all is well again. Some people are just happy with mediocrity I guess.

29 Dec 2019 21:23:10
I kind of get Mumbles point but you need to not follow what Ole says and the media in general.

Its a very good move for Haaland and i didn't wanr him anyway because we have too maby young forwards.

29 Dec 2019 22:42:54
As soon as you said ‘many of you Ole fans’ I kind of gave up, we are all Manchester United fans and want the club to do well. It isn’t just 2 wins that people are talking about saying we have improved, we’ve lost 1 in 9 and we are scoring a lot more goals and seem to have found a way to break some teams down as well as win against the better teams. Got to give Ole some credit for that imo, whether you are a ‘fan’ of his or not.

29 Dec 2019 22:55:15
Who said anything about accepting mediocrity?

So what if Ole met the lad and he went elsewhere. It happens. How many players did Fergie meet who went elsewhere?

We didn't end up paying the stupid money asked for so he went elsewhere. Onwards.

29 Dec 2019 23:25:52
70m+ on a kid who has Had one good half season in the Austrian league when we have young
Forwards doing well in Rashford, Martial and Greenwood emerging would have been utterly ridiculous. Invest it in a much needed area of the team i.e attacking midfielder (Eriksen) or RW (Sancho) in this window.

30 Dec 2019 01:15:36
Juve wanted him so what does it say about them?
17 mil is a great deal for BD.

30 Dec 2019 05:10:08
Our first and the most important priority should be a no 10 who can create more opportunities for the likes of Rashford, Martial and Greenwood.

A RW and a midfield general should be next on the priority list.

30 Dec 2019 09:21:34
I read the deal was around the 50 mill mark with 15 mill to Railoa anf then a relase clause comes into play in the 3rd year of the contract.

Think its a good move for the lad. A step up to a good league and to a team that had been crying out for a proper cf as Paco is always injured. Its a club where he is guranteed minutes and I don't think we can do that here. We still need another wide forward too.

Quite happy to tell Raiola to piss off for his 15 mill and get rid if Pogba in the summer. We then need 2 midfielders, a wide player and maybe another cb. i'd also be looking at selling DDG while wr can get a price for him and get Henderson back. I think that if Ole is here in the summer.

30 Dec 2019 09:23:43
Sorry presses reply too early.
If Ole is still here in the summer then we will see some big changes in playing staff and we might get back in track. 2-3 seasons until we challenge again but Rashford, AWB etc will be ready then.

30 Dec 2019 11:24:10
@mumbles hahaha some people are happy with mediocrity. And I think some people are just never happy at all.

Jeez, u really don't like Ole huh, but that's your opinion and as much as I disagree with it, I do respect it.

Also, deals collapse sometimes, that's a fact! It's not always an indication of impending doom or some bigger picture. If there's one thing that most clubs have in common is that they've all lost players one way or another. and call me crazy but I think in the last 2 decades we have lost the most (deals breaking down and what not) .

Lastly, tis the season of happiness so cut it out :) . I'm sure you'll have a lot of ammo against ole in the future (although I hope not) so stop clutching at straws.

Peace and a happy new year to this dysfunctional yet awesome family here :) ) )

30 Dec 2019 14:51:01
Players even turned us down under Fergie. Imagine!

30 Dec 2019 17:17:37
@ noucamp precisely! Even Sanchez did, when he actually had the legs and the sharp mind. Remember SAF wooed those chilean miners at OT?!?!? Evidently Alexis even told a couple of his national teammates that he'll join us but the fool ended up at barca!

{Ed001's Note - I don't understand why you were in for him. You have plenty of young forwards, you need to sort out your defence and midfield, not bring in more of the same up front.}

30 Dec 2019 19:08:32
Ed001 totally agree. Never made sense to me.

{Ed001's Note - it was an odd one. I don't even see him as any better, currently, to Martial, Greenwood or Rashford, so where would he have played? People are forgetting how poor he was in link up play and that he would have to learn that if he moved to United. Him going to Dortmund makes sense. He can learn it there with regular footie.}