Signing young players

Yeah I was surprised you let them all go at once. I get that you’re looking to freshen things up with a younger squad, but I thought you’d have at least kept Henderson around as he was captain.

comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 1 hour ago
I don’t think your legs just go like that though. I’d imagine it’s a few factors, maybe the initial thrill of a new club went, he’s been injured a lot, been played out of position, playing for a team in terrible form, fed up at the club and wants a new challenge? Age as well will play its part.
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He had a bad injury and probably never quite got back to full fitness in all honesty. I'm unsure how much of a professional he is off the pitch, he strikes me as the type whose always got by with a strong mentality.

I don’t think he has checked out or given up, I simply think his legs have gone.

Even when he was playing well up until March last season the signs were there but since March he’s been very poor.

He wasn’t the only one that was poor this season but he was arguably the worst.

I’m sure VC will attack me for saying that.

…….

No one is attacking you. Get a grip.

Casemiro wasn’t even close to being our worse player last season. He was poor by the standards he set the previous season for sure. At one point he was our highest scorer believe it or not.

In my opinion Eriksen, Rashford and Antony were far worse than him.

comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 56 minutes ago
Yeah I was surprised you let them all go at once. I get that you’re looking to freshen things up with a younger squad, but I thought you’d have at least kept Henderson around as he was captain.
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Over the years successful teams have tended to hang on to some of the older, experienced players, knowing that they will get less game time but that their experience is vital and they can still contribute.

Whether its the players who want more game time now or the clubs under bigger financial pressure to shift these players off the books to afford new ones, it doesnt seem to happen so much now. Henderson is a classic example of someone who could have still contributed to LFC, provide a bit of continuity and an old head in a new midfield but it seems he prioritised topping up his measly pension pot.

The option is now there for players to chase a Saudi pot of gold at the tail end of their careers instead of sticking around to play a smaller roll in a big club.

We need a mix. One of the biggest problems is that we haven’t signed enough players in, or approaching, their prime. Too many are either past it or young players that are years away from it, and the latter often fail to develop.

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Yeah we really need to start focusing on the short to medium term and start building a team that has a good core of the best 23-27 year olds, then we can look to fill in the gaps where necessary and when opportunity arises with young potential and players approaching or into their 30s who can add value to the team.

We need quality now but also need that core group to develop together over the next 3-5 years to make it easier for us to introduce players outside of that peak age bracket.

We've been saying this for years.

We will need some experience alongside youth to put together a title-challenging side. But we need to think carefully about the timing. No point in bringing in 31 year-old leaders if the age profile of the young talent and the squad gaps still to be filled mean we are 3-4 years away from challenging.

Supposedly Everton have rejected a £35m bid. Hopefully we’re doing what I do on eBay when I make a lowball offer and a price is agreed in between. £50m spread over a 5 year contract wouldn’t be too much of a dent in our budget?

It is not that United " ... need players that have won it all before ...".

What's is primarily required is the acquisition of players with either genuine EPL experience or experience of genuinely competitive leagues - the blueprint SAF put together in effect.

Granted a player like Ronaldo was an exception to this rule, but United's sustained success in the early epl era was built around hiring quality (and competent) players from lesser clubs in the epl (and that's all of them by the way) and strong competent players from proper, competitively fought, leagues in northern and eastern europe. Sprinkled with a little bit of magic from players like Veron.

That's not happened too much recently. Maguire and Mount are recent exceptions to this post-SAF era, and are both ideal players for a club like United (as Branthwaite would likely be). Proper footballers are necessary for proper football clubs.

Like Schmeichel, Vidic, Kanchelskis, Stam, RvN, Hernandez, Ole and Johnson.

comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 16 hours, 13 minutes ago
Supposedly Everton have rejected a £35m bid. Hopefully we’re doing what I do on eBay when I make a lowball offer and a price is agreed in between. £50m spread over a 5 year contract wouldn’t be too much of a dent in our budget?
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That's a ridiculous offer.

Everton will have way more than that in mind for their prize asset