Manchester United Rumours Archive February 01 2014

01 Feb 2014 07:12:25
Guys. I think we can be very happy with our January business. When you look into it, where really the only team to have got better, I like the fact where not settling for any cm, any where on looking for quality not quantety (spelling)
I think we are in for a very exciting summer, deals may already be in place for Kroos and Vidal

I have to disagree. Although I think mata is a terrific signing, and I agree no other top team has strengthened, we have not addressed the areas that have been the problem for years. I don't think it's through lack of trying in DMs part but rather he couldn't bring in a decent defensive mid or LB

Can't say I would hold out much hope for the summer since if not for the Mata deal we would have nobody in and Moyes admitted that he didn't find out bout that about being possible till about a month ago?
So he mustn't have had anybody linned up for this window?so could end up with more players leaving then joining, hopefully we'll see some players brought through from the youth ranks?

With zaha going out on loan and nani injured hopefully young jessie lingard will get an opportunity at the right times.

If we can keep Rooney and RvP fit then we'll have a much improved second half of the season with the help of Mata too. Still think Fellaini could provide a bit of a presence in midfield when he gets fit.

Our long term issue has been adressed and quite emphatically. Moyes has confirmed mata will be "the first of many" big signings.

A 40m player - in an area where we are already strong, suggests we are prepared to pay what's necessary to rebuild, and as we will all hope,
sustain the club's success in the modern era.

As good news as this is, I honestly think Woodward and Moyes have made a crucial error which could affect us in the next 2/3 years. The failure to secure a player with both distribution and athletic quality in central midfield means the team will still be playing with a fundamental flaw in this area for the rest of the season. We use either giggs or carrick and get stretched, finding it difficult to win possession, or play with cleverly/fletcher and are unable to utilise possession. Either way we have been unable supply the attack for the last 2/3 years and that will continue now for the rest of the season.

Our odds are maybey 50/50 to finish fourth at the moment, but they could have been considerably higher had we signed a 15m midfield target. Signing a player like a guarin should not have been about "signing inferior quality." It should have been about signing what was necessary to simply compete. Its like refusing to purchase a goalkeeper because a superior option wasn't available, and then playing the season with no keeper instead. It lacks sense especially when there is so much money, and reputation at stake. A 15m player could have still been replaced at the end of the season and remained a squad player, but would have had huge short term value to us.

I think Moyes and Woodward's performance has been good in this window, - they've managed to send out a powerful signal with a big signature, but the lack of a much needed central midfielder is a foolish oversight.

Sorry ed007, I thought I was logged in somehow.(my screen name is redisotope in case this one doesent show the name.)

I think your right Marmite mclovin regarding some of the long term potential targets. I get the feeling we have been involved in a transfer merry go round taking place in the serieA, and may well be close to some deals.
Guarin almost moved to juventus twice, we loaned out anderson to fiorentina,
inter bought hernanes on deadline day. Everybody seems to be lining up central midfield replacements. And it seems like our better quality fringe players are often being linked with moves to the scudetto sides too. (nani and hernandez have been strongly linked to italian clubs.) Could they be bargaining chips to sweeten deals?

Those who followed the deadline day back in august might remember nick powell's loan move to wigan being followed in quick sucession by mcarthy's to everton, and the deal for fellaini being closed shortly after just before the deadline elapsed.

I think a part of united's methodology in the transfer market might be to try and close deals with these types of tactics. Using fringe players, agents and relationships with other managers (look at the business done with solsjaer, mulestein, even ravel morrison was sold to a manager sir alex had a good relationship with. Could there be a buy back clause there?)

I believe woodward and moyes have an overarching plan to try and help the clubs that we sign players from to identify effective replacements so that their sales and transactions to us end up strengthening both parties. Quite smart if true, but still wander whether it will be enough to fend off the likes of psg, city and real, who seem at times likely to snap up our targets at any time - a la loucas moura.
Hopefully we have already got some deals for the summer.!

Personally I think you are deluded(in the nicest possible way). We will sign no one of any ilk as we will have nothing to offer.ie., champions league. David Moyes is destroying this club and the sooner everyone wakes up and starts to believe this the better.

Enjoy the decline to mediocrity.

Sorry, Marmite, but it was a disappointing window. Mata was an excellent player in the previous 2 seasons, but had slipped to 5th place in Chelsea's attacking mid-field options after their purchase of Matic at half the price. He was really desperate to play.
The long sought left full back and centre back never materialised and to make matters worse, the target of Zouma was captured by Chelsea, paid for by the fee for Mata.
There can be NO guarantee that the combination of Moyes and successful come next summer when the excuse will be that the targets are committed to the World Cup. You have absolutely no evidence that Kroos and Vidal United, especially as seems highly probable we cannot offer Champions League football. Thinking and blind faith cannot obscure the fact that Moyes has presided over the worst spell in United's history since 1972. Statistics do not lie. The manager has to bear responsibility.
A very sad Red Setter

Red setter. Mata was not dropped to the Chelsea bench by bad form,,, he was Chelsea player of the season twice, we desperately needed creativity and there's not many better than mata.
There's massive rumours on Vidal joining us. And massive rumours on big signings,,, we might not be able to offer champs league football next year but playing for Manchester United could tempt the best players. It's all doom and gloom at the minute

I rated our champions league odds as 50/50, but its starting to seem far off now.
I have to agree with Redsetter that vidal and kroos are unlikely purchases without champions league football.
Honestly I don’t think its necessary to get too depressed though. A club the size of united can have 2 or 3 years in the wilderness and still return to where we were. Barcelona in the early 2000’s were scrapping for 4th, but by the mid 2000’s, ronaldinho and laporta came in, and laid the foundations to produce one of history’s great teams.
The most worrying issue in my opinion has been the inability to spend money. No one knows for sure yet how much the owners are prepared to commit to the team, but signing juan mata, a 40m pound luxury player, suggests they will invest a lot. Whether united end up signing 1st choice players like kroos, vidal, pogba, or whether we have to settle on secondary targets – Herrera, koke, one thing for sure is that the squad will improve vastly if money is there to spend.
Moyes and Woodward have made mistakes, particularly the failure to get even a 10-15m central midfielder in the last 2 windows for short term cover, but u have to acknowledge the club has chosen a manager who has the potential for a 15 to 20 year reign. If he does fulfill some of his promise in the next 5 years, we will eventually become much stronger because of the longevity he will have. There aren’t that many managers around who you might look at and say they could stay for that kind of length.
He deserves at least 2-3 years to get a decent quality squad, before being judged.

Marmite,
Chelsea obviously considered that Oscar, Hazard and Willian are better than Mata. That's why he faded from their starting team. Matic played very well tonight too. There were many rumours about other players joining United during the January window, but none of them materialised. not even a suggestion that United had offered too little. Remember that Woodward flew back in August, presumably to negotiate a signing that never happened. There is no basis for optimism in rumours.
Redisoptope - you may have forgotten that Ronaldinho chose Barcelona instead of United. We would almost certainly agree that one of the most important reasons a player chooses to join one club instead of another in the manager of the club. Quite often the player will follow a manager to a new club. Brian Robson and Moses followed Ron Atkinson. Moyes could not persuade Leighton Baines to follow him, even though United were champions, in the Champions League, etc.
I have read several posts that Moyes should be given time to turn things around. If results were not going so badly, there would be no need to turn things around.
Still sad Red Setter

How has Mata gone from being Chelsea's player of the season to 5th choice over a pre-season? It was a decision Mourinho made that has baffled most people. The face just didn't fit is my opinion. He is a class act!

Possibly Chelsea seeking £37 million to help meet FFP regulations, having decided to reinforce the defensive mid-field (Matic) wingers (Sala) and eventual Terry replacement (Zouma) who together cost over £40 million. But their loss is our gain. Let's hope that Mata is as successful as past buys from Chelsea, like Stepney (he took the penalties!) and Wilkins.
Red Setter

Red Setter
About the ronaldinho transfer. Ronaldinho choosing Barcelona over united is apart of the point I am making to you. It shows that even in a bad period, one where Barcelona had nothing like the glamour that they would a few years later, they still attracted players that could go on to be star players. This was a period where figo famously left, and they seemed to be signing players that were already on the way down like overmars and kluivert, who went off the boil at Arsenal and Milan respectively. Barca had certainly lost the pedigree of strength they had in the early 90’s, when the kooman/romario side won the clubs first champions league.
Its not unusual for a south American player to choose spain or even italy before the premier league. That’s something that can work both ways however. You might see English based players, scandanevian’s, germans or even dutch, all of who have more in common with british culture, likening to the idea of coming to the premier league. There are also players who have grown up supporting premier league teams, and dream of playing in the competition. We will get opportunities to sign potential stars too.
The fact that we have just signed juan mata illustrates this to some extent. The signature has come during a period where we are performing badly, and during an era where we have not played attacking football for 2-3years. Do you think that Mata would have been as eager to join tottenham or Liverpool in that type of situation? Uniteds brand is still powerful. If we fail to challenge for the title in the next 5-6 years, then we are talking about having some problems.

About juan mata. Jose mourinho is playing a system with 4 attacking midfielders, all of whom he expects to defend from high up. There was a good feature by Pat Nevin (former Chelsea player) a few weeks ago on match of the day where Oscar was analysed in a game – he was praised as having been the best tackler on the pitch! This is a Brazilian playmaker no less. Pat Nevin is close to Chelsea and I wouldn’t be surprised had this been pointed out to him from within the club. He did a long interview with mourinho on Chelsea tv a few months ago.
A few weeks ago frank lampard said “the only person that would be able to get eden hazard to track back to the corner flag and make a tackle was Jose mourinho.”
Mourinho is a manager with a specific tactical system. It involves attacking midfielders being competent defensively as significantly as they may pose threats in attack. It is something he clearly states himself in the press conference Chelsea held when they accepted united’s bid for mata.

Im trying to go through these things because I think there is a significance for united fans to understand what the board is trying to do with Moyes.
I can say myself that I never agreed with Moyes’s appointment. Like many I feel he lacks experience, and i'm not convinced that he has the ability of a “special one, ” which ferguson clearly did when he took charge. United performed badly in ferguson’s early years, but we had a manager that had the potential to do something out of the ordinary. There was a lot to invest in with ferguson, even during difficult times.
I am choosing to have faith in sir bobby and alex however. I think their argument regarding Moyes is clear. He has been one of the best managers in Europe in the last 10 years that is aged in the 40 to 50 category. He has shown he has the potential to be a top manager, and he has illustrated great loyalty to former employers. If you add those things together, he is possibly the only candidate in world football that could possibly build a 20 year legacy with a club, and from their point of view stability and long term growth is one of the most significant things a football club could have. It means bearing with him in the meantime, like we would do with a young player that has great potential e.g. ronaldo. The long term benefits may prove to seriously outweigh short term benefits.