comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 47 minutes ago
I kind of get the premise of the article, even though it’s in now way a cliche, but it’s also a bit polarised.
Is it a particularly good idea to sign aging players with suspect injury records on massive wages? Probably not, but that’s only been an issue for Utd because the rest of the squad is bobbins.
But say Utd brought in Lewa instead of Barca… that would have been a decent transfer. More than decent. Suarez to Atletico is another good example.
Utd really need to be looking at 23-25 year olds who have just broken onto the international and CL scene, can improve and will hold their market value.
They also need to get rid of the silly short contracts that Woodward handed out in reward for their image rights.
But once there is a better balance, considered signings of good experienced pros can work, and work very well, especially if there is a young player who good, but not quite ready for starting every week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But a big part of the problem is the lack of leadership and professionalism within the dressing room when you don’t have experienced winners.
Rooney made a really good point about this when he spoke with Neville. There was a standard set by the players that were winning before he joined. Eventually he and the others in that experience pecking order started to take on that role in the dressing room. Then it all disappeared within a couple of years after Fergie left and we’ve not been able to replace it.
It then puts far too much pressure on the coaches to manage the dressing room. Every top manager will lean on his experienced players for this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, agreed.
I felt Liverpool bottled the league last season a bit and I felt we lacked leadership at times, certainly in terms of game management. I wasn’t against the likes of Henderson, Fabinho and Firmino leaving, but that’s an awful lot of experience walking out the door.
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 47 minutes ago
I kind of get the premise of the article, even though it’s in now way a cliche, but it’s also a bit polarised.
Is it a particularly good idea to sign aging players with suspect injury records on massive wages? Probably not, but that’s only been an issue for Utd because the rest of the squad is bobbins.
But say Utd brought in Lewa instead of Barca… that would have been a decent transfer. More than decent. Suarez to Atletico is another good example.
Utd really need to be looking at 23-25 year olds who have just broken onto the international and CL scene, can improve and will hold their market value.
They also need to get rid of the silly short contracts that Woodward handed out in reward for their image rights.
But once there is a better balance, considered signings of good experienced pros can work, and work very well, especially if there is a young player who good, but not quite ready for starting every week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But a big part of the problem is the lack of leadership and professionalism within the dressing room when you don’t have experienced winners.
Rooney made a really good point about this when he spoke with Neville. There was a standard set by the players that were winning before he joined. Eventually he and the others in that experience pecking order started to take on that role in the dressing room. Then it all disappeared within a couple of years after Fergie left and we’ve not been able to replace it.
It then puts far too much pressure on the coaches to manage the dressing room. Every top manager will lean on his experienced players for this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, agreed.
I felt Liverpool bottled the league last season a bit and I felt we lacked leadership at times, certainly in terms of game management. I wasn’t against the likes of Henderson, Fabinho and Firmino leaving, but that’s an awful lot of experience walking out the door.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually just think Liverpool aren’t as good of a side as Arsenal and City and overachieved to stay in the title race so long. Not sure having a few older heads around would have improved things.
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
-----------------------------------------------
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?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That's a ridiculous offer.
Everton will have way more than that in mind for their prize asset
Sign in if you want to comment
Signing young players
Page 3 of 3
posted on 14/6/24
comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 47 minutes ago
I kind of get the premise of the article, even though it’s in now way a cliche, but it’s also a bit polarised.
Is it a particularly good idea to sign aging players with suspect injury records on massive wages? Probably not, but that’s only been an issue for Utd because the rest of the squad is bobbins.
But say Utd brought in Lewa instead of Barca… that would have been a decent transfer. More than decent. Suarez to Atletico is another good example.
Utd really need to be looking at 23-25 year olds who have just broken onto the international and CL scene, can improve and will hold their market value.
They also need to get rid of the silly short contracts that Woodward handed out in reward for their image rights.
But once there is a better balance, considered signings of good experienced pros can work, and work very well, especially if there is a young player who good, but not quite ready for starting every week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But a big part of the problem is the lack of leadership and professionalism within the dressing room when you don’t have experienced winners.
Rooney made a really good point about this when he spoke with Neville. There was a standard set by the players that were winning before he joined. Eventually he and the others in that experience pecking order started to take on that role in the dressing room. Then it all disappeared within a couple of years after Fergie left and we’ve not been able to replace it.
It then puts far too much pressure on the coaches to manage the dressing room. Every top manager will lean on his experienced players for this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, agreed.
I felt Liverpool bottled the league last season a bit and I felt we lacked leadership at times, certainly in terms of game management. I wasn’t against the likes of Henderson, Fabinho and Firmino leaving, but that’s an awful lot of experience walking out the door.
posted on 14/6/24
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Darren The String Fletcher (U10026)
posted 32 seconds ago
comment by Robbing Hoody - I want to play by my own rules and if I can’t I’ll sue you (U6374)
posted 47 minutes ago
I kind of get the premise of the article, even though it’s in now way a cliche, but it’s also a bit polarised.
Is it a particularly good idea to sign aging players with suspect injury records on massive wages? Probably not, but that’s only been an issue for Utd because the rest of the squad is bobbins.
But say Utd brought in Lewa instead of Barca… that would have been a decent transfer. More than decent. Suarez to Atletico is another good example.
Utd really need to be looking at 23-25 year olds who have just broken onto the international and CL scene, can improve and will hold their market value.
They also need to get rid of the silly short contracts that Woodward handed out in reward for their image rights.
But once there is a better balance, considered signings of good experienced pros can work, and work very well, especially if there is a young player who good, but not quite ready for starting every week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
But a big part of the problem is the lack of leadership and professionalism within the dressing room when you don’t have experienced winners.
Rooney made a really good point about this when he spoke with Neville. There was a standard set by the players that were winning before he joined. Eventually he and the others in that experience pecking order started to take on that role in the dressing room. Then it all disappeared within a couple of years after Fergie left and we’ve not been able to replace it.
It then puts far too much pressure on the coaches to manage the dressing room. Every top manager will lean on his experienced players for this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, agreed.
I felt Liverpool bottled the league last season a bit and I felt we lacked leadership at times, certainly in terms of game management. I wasn’t against the likes of Henderson, Fabinho and Firmino leaving, but that’s an awful lot of experience walking out the door.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I actually just think Liverpool aren’t as good of a side as Arsenal and City and overachieved to stay in the title race so long. Not sure having a few older heads around would have improved things.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
-----------------------------------------------
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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.
posted on 14/6/24
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?
posted on 14/6/24
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.
posted on 14/6/24
Like Schmeichel, Vidic, Kanchelskis, Stam, RvN, Hernandez, Ole and Johnson.
posted on 15/6/24
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?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
That's a ridiculous offer.
Everton will have way more than that in mind for their prize asset
Page 3 of 3