Sorry to get all Nohlman here but it’s quite depressing (in football fan terms compared to real life issues) seeing how we seem to have downgraded the squad from a period of time when it was seen as not good enough.
For example our 17/18 squad. No, in no way am I saying Jose was a great manager nor was it a great squad but let’s compare that side to what we’ve somehow ended up with now.
Goalkeeper - DDG at his peak compared to Onana now who is average at best
Right back - Honestly think Valencia would be better at right back than what we have now
Smalling - Not as good as Lisandro but probably slightly more reliable. Would love them both together in defence.
Shaw - n/a
Herrera, Matic, Pogba - as a midfield that’s genuinely leagues above what we have right now
Lukaku - Again, not the answer but surely a better striker than Hojlund or Zirkzee.
Martial & Rashford were also playing better then than now.
My point being that as fans many of us couldn’t wait to get rid of many of those players but someone a few years on we’ve ended up with a far worse squad with hundreds of millions of pounds spent on it. It’s just a weird annual downgrading with an endless transition period.
Depressing 🥲
Replacing not good enough with worse
posted on 8/8/24
Going another summer without sorting the midfield is going to be our biggest mistake, and will ultimately cost Ten Hag his job imo.
Whatever new tactics we work on with the new coaching staff, we’re not going to be able to boss a midfield or control games for long enough periods this season.
posted on 8/8/24
We are still poor in all areas. Keeper is suspect, defence can't be trusted, the midfield is non existent most of the time and none of our forwards are consistent.
I want to be optimistic for this coming season, I really do, but I see another long hard season ahead of us. Last season ended with a huge win against City which certainly papered over the cracks somewhat. ETH is going to have to pull another rabbit out of his hat this year in the cups because we will be miles behind in the league again.
posted on 8/8/24
Yes, the midfield certainly does need work on it but, then again, so does the whole team as a unit.
posted on 8/8/24
Agreed with the Op, the squad is worse.
Terribly poor recruitment is the culprit. Antony and Casemiro so bad they look like really fatal blows to us trying to dig ourselves out of it. ETH has had a hand in that to some degree, but mainly gotta look at the club too / lack of a coherent set up above him. Years of mis-management there coming home to roost.
Also bad luck has to be a factor too. No one could foresee at the time of signing Sancho being such a flop, he looked destined to be a top player and should be a starting top class winger for us.
Also Greenwood situation came out of left field, again would probably be a top level starter for us had that not taken place.
Rashford and Martial regressing to a point that would have been unrecognisable a few seasons ago too.
Injury prone players have hampered us disproportionately too limiting the quality of our first 11. Martinez to a degree, Malacia, Shaw, Varane, Rashford, even Hojlund to an extent looks to be prone.
A whole lot of crap there unfortunately that will probably take a very long time to make Un-crap again, and that is provided Ineos make smart decisions.
posted on 8/8/24
comment by Ali - 🇪🇦 🏴 (U1192)
posted 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
comment by rosso says the time has come to unlock the unl... (U17054)
posted 2 hours, 22 minutes ago
From a squad building perspective, the Glazers have royally facked us in four ways:
- There has been absolutely zero medium to long term sporting strategy
- They have allowed unqualified incompetents to waste money on inflated fees and salaries for the wrong players at the wrong times
- They’ve taken £1bn, at least part of which might otherwise have been invested in the squad, out of the club
- And they’ve saddled us with vast debt which will still need servicing for years to come.
Ineos have a huge amount of damage to repair.
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"They've taken 1 billion"
I mean, who would've had control of that billion anyway, Woodward?
Probably would've bought 100 fellainis anyway so who cares in all honesty about that particular line that seems to get repeated a lot.
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The point is that if we’d had different owners, *all* of the above might have been different.
We might have had some (any!) form of sporting strategy recognising the importance of continuity and squad building *and* qualified people on the transfer and negotiating teams *and* far less money taken out of the club meaning more to spend *and* have been left with far, far less debt.
I’m not arguing that things might have been better with *perfect* owners because we didn’t need perfect owners. Just that even semi-competent, less parasitical owners would, holistically speaking, have been immeasurably better from a sporting perspective and would have left us in a better position financially than the mire we’re in now.
posted on 8/8/24
...owners who showed a modicum of interest in the sporting operations of the business would be transformational
posted on 8/8/24
City, Arsenal and Liverpool will likely be top three in some order. I expect Newcastle to be much more like they were in 2022-23 as well.
As well as looking coherent ourselves, we have to hope the likes of Spurs and Villa struggle a bit (which Villa might, with CL football). Thankfully Chelsea look a bit of a mess. I don't know what to expect from the likes of West Ham, Brighton and Palace.
It could be another difficult year. Or will certainly be, without at least one new DM.
posted on 8/8/24
Villa didn't struggle with Europe last season. They will be okay I reckon. Fancy them to drop off a little bit but they will still finish above us. They have a better keeper, a stronger defensive unit and a striker who guarantees them goals.
1. City
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Spurs
5. Newcastle
6. Villa
7. United
8. Chelsea
Europa League is going to make it break our season I sense. I don't think we have the quality of squad to trouble the top 4 really. We look miles off but we have shown that we can be a dangerous cup side on our day beating Liverpool and City last season. No CL clubs drop-down this year into the EL either so we will be among the favs for sure.
posted on 8/8/24
comment by Tyranny of the majority (SE85) (U21241)
posted 1 hour, 17 minutes ago
Villa didn't struggle with Europe last season. They will be okay I reckon. Fancy them to drop off a little bit but they will still finish above us. They have a better keeper, a stronger defensive unit and a striker who guarantees them goals.
1. City
2. Arsenal
3. Liverpool
4. Spurs
5. Newcastle
6. Villa
7. United
8. Chelsea
Europa League is going to make it break our season I sense. I don't think we have the quality of squad to trouble the top 4 really. We look miles off but we have shown that we can be a dangerous cup side on our day beating Liverpool and City last season. No CL clubs drop-down this year into the EL either so we will be among the favs for sure.
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I think Spurs might be a bit lower than that.
Yes, sixth to eighth seems a reasonable prediction for us - at the moment, that is.
posted on 8/8/24
Spurs have to do something in the market to make top four and they seem to be leaving it late