Interesting words about our signings...
Gary Neville thinks Jose Mourinho has changed the way Manchester United buy players and says the Portuguese coach won’t purchase a player out of “desperation" like under previous regimes.
United are currently sixth in the Premier League table but find themselves eight points off leaders Liverpool.
The Red Devils’ big summer transfers Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly have been criticised at times this season, but Neville believes that they are traditional United signings.
“I do think they are players that traditionally fit the Manchester United profile," Neville said, speaking at the Oxford Union on Monday.
“Players like Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly are physical signings. Louis van Gaal liked to sign possession-based and technical players.
“The best United teams have pace, they counter-attack, they are dynamic. Louis van Gaal felt like a departure from that. Jose Mourinho I think has been trying to correct a situation where there have been signings that have smacked of desperation of times."
Do you agree with Gary Neville?
posted on 16/11/16
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 9 minutes ago
So we should never spend big on a player
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I don't have a problem spending big on a player if they are worth it. In this instance I'm not convinced Pogba a was worth it and think we could have strengthened more by buying in 2 or 3 players.
posted on 16/11/16
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 9 minutes ago
So we should never spend big on a player
----------
I don't have a problem spending big on a player if they are worth it. In this instance I'm not convinced Pogba a was worth it and think we could have strengthened more by buying in 2 or 3 players.
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But you seem to think the two are mutually exclusive. Pogbas fee didn't break our bank. We had/have more money
posted on 16/11/16
Fair enough, while I agree the fee for Pogba was steep I still think we bought a fantastic player who will only improve. While I would always love to see a bargain come like I said they don't always work and for the past 3 years I've felt that the club have needed to bring in real proven quality rather than mid price players who could improve like the list I gave above. If our scouts and Jose felt there were quality bargains out there I'm sure they would have got them if they felt they were needed.
One player I felt we maybe could have tried and gone for in the summer was Matuidi. Maybe for the right price PSG would have sold but that wouldn't have been cheap either.
posted on 16/11/16
comment by Robb Trump (U21234)
posted 37 minutes ago
comment by Nickalopodis (U9257)
posted 7 minutes ago
I don't think you do Robb, I saw pogba play probably half a century of games at juve, full games.
as for this comment :-
There was nooone available at £30 million who had the potential that Pogba has----
Kante
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Different types of players. Pogba has a higher ceiling and Kante wanted Chelsea anyway.
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love all this talk of ceiling. how can you judge a players ceiling btw? what is the statistical criteria
posted on 16/11/16
He's a big lad he needs a high ceiling
posted on 16/11/16
comment by Robb Trump (U21234)
posted 1 hour, 25 minutes ago
comment by Elvis (U7425)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 9 minutes ago
So we should never spend big on a player
----------
I don't have a problem spending big on a player if they are worth it. In this instance I'm not convinced Pogba a was worth it and think we could have strengthened more by buying in 2 or 3 players.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But you seem to think the two are mutually exclusive. Pogbas fee didn't break our bank. We had/have more money
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You do seem to know a lot Robb about things that you don't have any access to. You have absolutely no idea what was or wasn't available for transfers taking into consideration Pogba's fee.
posted on 16/11/16
comment by Nickalopodis (U9257)
posted 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
comment by Robb Trump (U21234)
posted 37 minutes ago
comment by Nickalopodis (U9257)
posted 7 minutes ago
I don't think you do Robb, I saw pogba play probably half a century of games at juve, full games.
as for this comment :-
There was nooone available at £30 million who had the potential that Pogba has----
Kante
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Different types of players. Pogba has a higher ceiling and Kante wanted Chelsea anyway.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
love all this talk of ceiling. how can you judge a players ceiling btw? what is the statistical criteria
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Its just the latest meaningless buzz word. Ravel Morrison had as high a ceiling as you'll ever find, but he scrabbling around trying to force a move back to Hull apparently.
Players develop at different ages and at different rates. Some continue to develop throughout their career, whilst others peak in their early/mid 20s.
posted on 16/11/16
Elvis
But money doesn't seem to be an issue for us like it is for other clubs. I remember Woodward often stating that we have special reserves for when those top players become available and I assume Pogba was deemed that. Jose said he wanted 4 players and bought 4 players, maybe that was a mistake but I don't personally think that the Pogba signing hindered any possible signings if we wanted them.
I'm sure Jose would have loved a load of players but he probably also thought about what was at the club already and worked on what he could get from that. I'm sure after a few months he has a far better idea on who needs to stay and go and if he's here next summer will work on that as well as bringing in other areas he has assessed need fixing, you can't expect a manager to come in a sort all the positions in 1 summer, especially not a club who have been in such a mess for 3 years.
posted on 16/11/16
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 7 minutes ago
Elvis
But money doesn't seem to be an issue for us like it is for other clubs. I remember Woodward often stating that we have special reserves for when those top players become available and I assume Pogba was deemed that. Jose said he wanted 4 players and bought 4 players, maybe that was a mistake but I don't personally think that the Pogba signing hindered any possible signings if we wanted them.
I'm sure Jose would have loved a load of players but he probably also thought about what was at the club already and worked on what he could get from that. I'm sure after a few months he has a far better idea on who needs to stay and go and if he's here next summer will work on that as well as bringing in other areas he has assessed need fixing, you can't expect a manager to come in a sort all the positions in 1 summer, especially not a club who have been in such a mess for 3 years.
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We obviously have more money than most, but we don't have an unlimited pot. As you say, Pogba was surely identified as a special player and those reserves were used to buy him. In addition to that, we spent another 55m on Micky and Bailly. None of us know for sure what we have otherwise have spent had Pogba not being available, but I'd surprised if an outlay of 90m on one 'special' player doesn't impact on the transfer budget in general.
posted on 16/11/16
Yeah it's clearly not unlimited, my point being if the club and Jose had identified other players that were also available then I think we would have at least tried to get them such as Kante who is not similar to any of the players we did buy but who if available to us then I feel we could have spent that extra money. Sadly he had already given his word to Chelsea by then.