Manchester United Banter Archive July 06 2018

06 Jul 2018 21:25:26
Lukaku has been simply outstanding this tournament. He looks much leaner and explosive than he did during the season. That run for de bruyne’s goal was world class. We need to build the team around him and play to his strengths. He can be the best striker in the world. I am so happy we got him. I wouldn’t even swap him for Ronaldo because his potential is huge.

Absolutely chuffed for Belgium. Wanted them to win because I cannot stand Neymar and his antics. He is an Instagram footballer who falls to the ground. He has so much talent yet his antics ruin it for me. Hazard was phenomenal tonight. What I would do to have him at united. When on song he is up there on the group below Ronaldo and Messi.

Finally, our marmite player fellaini. I will admit I was furious when he signed and to an extent I still stick to my view he is not what we need if we are to get back to the top. But tonight he had a great game snuffing out the Brazilian attack. He has the heart of a lion and I can see why managers love him. His attitude is exemplary and he always gives his all. I stick by not wanting him to sign a new deal. But if he is used in certain circumstances and not a starter, then I am happy to see him in the squad.

This World Cup has been crazy and I’ve loved every second of it. It has been a great advert for football and russia have been great hosts. It is refreshing to see unfancied teams with the potential to make the semis. I am firmly in the camp that believes england can bring it home. And if they don’t, well Gareth and the boys and restored the pride of the country and instilled a sense of togetherness and hope for the future. He is building something potentially great and it has been great to see.

06 Jul 2018 22:50:08
Park, i have always loved how lukaku has played for us this season. I don't understand the stick he gets. You supply him, he scores. Simple as that.
Fellaini did ok without being outstanding. He gave the ball lot and his control in tight situations is poor. But he plays to his maximum and we can't ask for more.
I thought Belgium were outstanding.

06 Jul 2018 23:26:33
Agree mate imagine if we were able to provide him the service he gets playing for Belgium. The guy would be unstoppable. He is so dangerous when he is running behind or coming off the right and playing players through. His distribution is so underrated. I worry we won’t be able to keep him and that his head may be turned by the likes of Real. I would love him to be our no 9 for years to come.

Agreed fellaini’s close control isn’t the best. But when asked to fulfil a disciplined role like tonight he did a very good job. Belgium are a great team to watch and I expect them to turn France over.

06 Jul 2018 23:46:12
I've enjoyed the world cup and always felt Brazil would be the team England found just to difficult, lukaku was fantastic against them as were others but it's the utd page
On a side note maybe it's just me but if Sweden were to score against England I'd fancy it was from a long throw, a corner or a free kick so would anyone apply the horses for courses theory and play Cahill or Jones as a cb and move walker to wingback for just this game to counter this . I think trippier has done fine but walker always gets a game for me.

07 Jul 2018 01:37:55
Pogba has been excellent this world and so has lindelof and jesse. Almost as if we have a really good team with great players in it.

07 Jul 2018 08:43:49
Agreed on lukaku Park. Problwm is we do not posses proper wingers. Mata Rashford and Martial are not wingers, I've been saying this for three years. We need to buy or promote wingers. We have a couple in our youth and maybe give them a chance. In addition, our fullbacks offer nothing coming forward. Sorry, i don't want to start the Mourinho debate, not for another couple of months anyway, but the system he deploys at United does not allow our fullbacks the freedom to go forward.

07 Jul 2018 09:06:18
I think the problem is how the team is set. Does Belgium play with proper wingers, I think not, they are playing with wing backs, and haven't seen any of them even providing great crosses.

Lukaku has pace, makes runs behind the defenders, players behind him needs to see his runs and release the ball quickly, Utd game play lacks that. Even if we buy wingers without changing our game play nothing will change.

All in all Lukaku had great season, and by performing well in the WC brings him with good reputation which is better for Utd and himself.

07 Jul 2018 11:23:27
You are right about our lack of out and out wingers AAA. I have grown up with United always playing with width and quality wingers. There does seem to be a lack of proper wingers these days. The only ones that spring to my mind are sane, Willian and Pulisic. We need to stretch teams by having our wingers stay wide so that the likes of pogba can pick up those pockets of spaces in front of the defence. This will also create so much more space for Lukaku. If we do not have proper wingers, then or full backs need to have the quality and the freedom to bomb forward and create the width. At the moment they have neither. Hopefully we can improve the personnel, especially at lb. hopefully with that, we shall see a more expansive style of play. But agreed we do not set up correctly to get the most out of our most important players (pogba, Lukaku) .

07 Jul 2018 15:53:08
What we we need is a midfielder like Belgium, someone who can break up play, elbow people in the head and release the ball forward for our front line to attack with pace. 🤔.

07 Jul 2018 16:00:20
Lukaku has looked exactly what he looked like he was going to become at Everton.
Pogba playing well and playing in the middle .
Hope it finishes all the will excuses he needs this and that can only play x y z position.

07 Jul 2018 17:49:22
There lots of wingers out there. Perisic, Douglas Costa in addition to the two you mentioned. But it is our fullbacks that should be taking a share of the attacking roles, but i don't think they're encouraged to do so.

06 Jul 2018 21:00:25
Lukaku was bloody outstanding tonight for Belgium. We need to build the team around his strengths. He will score the goals, but his work rate and desire just shows how good he will be and how important he is.

06 Jul 2018 21:27:55
Build the team around him because he has the attributes to be incredible. He looks so dynamic and explosive. What a player with such a great attitude. So happy he is ours.

06 Jul 2018 18:45:26
If we really let Cristiano go to Juve for less than 100mil without fighting them for him, that's a huge mistake on our part. W'll end up spending that much anyways on a much lesser player, without the commerical appeal, and let's be hoenst, Ronaldo doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon. I'd be ok if we try and he chooses Juve, but if we don't even put in our best effort, that's unforgivable in my opinion.

06 Jul 2018 19:01:19
They won't sell him for 100m euros to us or PSG.

06 Jul 2018 19:05:46
Mistake? No we should stay well clear imo Ronaldo best player in the world but at 33 he's only going to decline so spending such an huge amount on him when we should be prioritising other areas is the mistake.

We need to forget the old Ronaldo and search for the next Ronaldo.

06 Jul 2018 19:10:39
Based on Ed002's reply to my previous post I would personally find it hard to believe Ronaldo's agent didn't at least sound Utd out about a move, probably a while ago. Transfers clearly take considerable time to organise, even if a player who seemingly appeared unobtainable becomes available. I'd love Ronaldo back but feel his fee and wages could be better spent in other areas.

{Ed002's Note - It really doesn't work like that with Ronaldo's representative.}

06 Jul 2018 19:29:26
There is no next Ronaldo, that's stupid. And he's in better shape than any 28 year old I've seen, and I have no doubt he can stay a top 5 player in the world into his mid/ late 30s. And is is that big of a sum? When mediocre players are being priced at 60-70mil? I think it's a steal.

06 Jul 2018 19:35:17
Real are built to get the best out of Ronaldo, it's not a simple case of he slips in seamlessly anymore. Players like Benzema and Marcelo carry out a role so unlike normal strikers and left backs.

Plus, I can only imagine Real are entertaining selling him because they believe the decline is coming. He's had problems with his knees and Real's medical staff will know his body almost as well as him.

06 Jul 2018 19:47:36
To be honest dave, we have been saying that for Ronaldo for the past 3 years but he has only improved.

06 Jul 2018 21:17:50
Something tells me all of these posters will be mysteriously quiet when Ronaldo is leading Juve deep into the CL and we're still relying on Lingard to try and get a top-4 spot and past the group stages.

06 Jul 2018 22:44:39
What's the point in paying 80/ 90 million for Ronaldo who would want to be a striker when we already have Lukaku there. We need a team not an individual. LB, CB, RW all far more important areas we need to strengthen.

07 Jul 2018 08:06:21
I am torn on the Ronaldo debate.
He is obviously not young anymore and doesn’t dominate games like he used to when he was with us before.

He would bring huge marketing revenue and more importantly he would bring back the winning mentality.
He would go all Keane on those not pulling their weight. And we have a few of them, considering the performances at the World Cup compares to those in our red shirt.

06 Jul 2018 14:35:43
Hi Eds,
Apologies if this has already been covered, but I would love to know more in-depth about the actual process of how transfer targets are drawn up and acquired. I suspect this is a lot more complicated that most of us realise. Presumably, the manager will identify areas of weakness in their team and would ask for funds to be released for those positions. Do they approach the board or in Utd's case Ed Woodward first? Does the manager go with a list of potential recruits in hand or is that up to Mr Woodwrd and the scouts, or negotiated between the manager and Mr Woodward? Are the board even consulted for relatively 'minor' purchases et cetera. When does someone sit down and calculate the impact of a signing on current wages and FFP?
Lots of questions there, but with Ronaldo seemingly available lots of Utd fans understandably are clamouring for Utd to 'sign him up' (though he seems destined for Juventus) . It got me thinking about how realistic making quick purchases are, given all of the above and many more caveats to transfers that I've probably not thought about.
Thanks in advance.

{Ed002's Note - Scouts, managers, coaches, technical directors are all typically involved in deciding what positions need to be addressed and they will typically identify a preferred choice and several pther. The money is nothing to do with the manager. Discussions take place year around with agents and other clubs about players. FFP is an issue the clubs need to deal with, it is not a case of someone sitting down with a pencil and calculating anything. The club know how much they are able to spend on wages before FFP becomes an issue - as it did for two English sides in January - including Manchester United.

I don't know what you mean by "quick purchases, but the process should be along the lines of: Clubs will typically informally ask an agent (a) if the player is going to be available, and (b) would the player consider a move to the club. There may be some broad discussion on the sort of deal that would be offered but no more than that. If the answer is yes, it is then necessary for the club to approach the player's club to ask if they would be willing to sell and if they would grant permission to speak to a player's agent formally about a transfer and possibly even the player about actually making a move. This will typically involve either broadly (through an offer) or actually agreeing a fee and responsibility for any significant costs (agents fees etc.). Once this has happened the club will be able to speak to the player's agent and perhaps the player himself to look at the package that will be involved. Many players are looked at and discussed at a high-level with agents and clubs; a subset of those have an offer placed; a subset of those involve discussions with the player's club; a subset of those involve discussions over terms, and; a subset of those go ahead.

Agents will often try and get more specific details of wages and other financials before they should - but most clubs are happy to follow this process. Players will often talk to other players about moves but, whilst wrong, is tolerated as it would be impossible to manage.

Alternatively, a selling club may ask an agent to find a new club for a player and he will talk directly to poetntial selling sides about the fee, personal terms and interest.

The rest of the time agents will be on fishing trips trying to find interest in their players.

In terms of what happens when the negotiations take place, broad agreement (player available and open to discussions, understanding of the price) will already have been reached. The clubs will meet to discuss the details of the transfer fee, other costs associated with the move and the structure of the payments and any additional fees (e.g another €5M for winning the Champions League etc.) but this does not take a "few days". }

06 Jul 2018 18:39:02
Great read that ed.
I’ve a couple of questions for you, if you’ve the time to answer that’d be great!
Firstly, how exactly are wages goverened by FFP? What are the regulations surroundings player wages?
Secondly, is it a regular Occurrence for clubs to drop asking prices etc for other clubs to sign their players due to wages etc?

Caolán.

{Ed002's Note - (1) Clubs can raise wages by a maximum of £7m per season at the moment - previously it was £4M per season and it will change again in 2019/20. The can exceed this under certain conditions, (a) if the club can show an increase in the combined additional commercial revenue, match day income and transfer revenue; and (b) if they do not post an overall loss. (2) I am not sure I understand the question. But if you mean what I think you mean, clubs wanting to move a player on who is paid a large amount may need to be creative with any sale. What they cannot be expected to do is put a contracted player in a worse position. Some players will happily take a reduced package to get their career moving or whatever, but some players may need to have their future wages supplemented by the selling club (Wayne Rooney is a good example).}

06 Jul 2018 18:59:27
Thanks, Ed002, for taking the time to write such a detailed response!

{Ed002's Note - You are welcome.}

06 Jul 2018 20:59:17
Cheers ed, sorry that was a poorly worded question, but you have answered it! Thank you very much.

{Ed002's Note - Good stuff.}

07 Jul 2018 00:27:11
Much appreciated Ed002.

06 Jul 2018 08:30:38
Hi all,
Thanks to the Eds as always.
Any chance of an update/ podcast re: transfers/ targets from Ed002?
Hope everyone gets the chance to enjoy the match tomorrow!

{Ed002's Note - When I get time.}