09 Aug 2018 20:34:58
Reading the windows posts these last few days has been a bit bizarre. I was listening to Talk Sport today and Durham was berating Spurs for not signing anyone, his view was they should have signed somebody, anybody, and that seems to be the view of many of our fans. I don’t agree.
Maguire scores a good goal at the World Cup and suddenly he is worth £50M to £70M. He may be rugged and good on the ball but he’s pretty crap at defending so I think we swerved one there.
Mina has gone to Everton which is probably the right level for him, Sandro stays at Juve, based on his form last year another good decision for us. Boateng? Thank God no. Godin was interesting, short term fix and experience which would have been a coup but alas no. Toby is an odd one, Spurs didn’t really play him last year and he is available for £25M next year. If e did want him then I’m amazed the 2 clubs couldn’t find a sensible price to settle on.
No idea about wingers but I didn’t see Perisic as the answer either. Opinion on here was split on Bale and so many names were Nadeem about that it’s hard to know what was real and what was made up.
However, I suspect we didn’t sign players for one of 2 reasons. Clubs refused to sell, or put too high a price on the player we wanted. I’m cool with that. Like it or not, clubs are richer and don’t have to sell any more. That puts the onus on developing the players you have and the ones coming through.
I think the doom and gloom has come from Jose’s sour conferences where he bemoaned the lack of activity and dissed the team he has. Let’s pretend he had said the following:
‘I am looking forward to the new season, we have a couple of targets but I am relaxed about whether we get them or not. Fred has joined, we have signed one of the most talented young full backs in Europe, and Alexis is like a new signing. We have a World Cup winner and some exciting youngsters ready to take the next steps’
Alas he didn’t, but none of that is wrong or inaccurate. What it does is focus on the opportunities and not the negatives. It’s up to Jose now to focus everyone, build bridges with Pogba and Martial, and earn his money.
09 Aug 2018 21:05:19
Post of the day.
09 Aug 2018 21:20:44
Still a chance of Real or a European team coming in for Toby before the end of August.
09 Aug 2018 21:38:53
Tony, the truth is the club have backed managers since Fergie to over £700 million i read. So many decent players, that should be challenging for every trophy. When i look at the team and then at others, i wonder who i would swap? De Gea a massive no against any other keeper. De Bruyne or Hazard? I actually prefer Pogba. Sterling or Mane? Martial, Sanchez and Rashford are just as good. Fernandinho and Kante, i like Matic. Aguero, Kane and Salah or our Lukaku. I think we rival all teams in our lads, seems we can't get the best out of them.
09 Aug 2018 21:41:38
Well said AJH. I'm really hoping Fred injects some energy in the midfield and frees up Pogba to play a more advanced position. If that happens, I'm hopeful of Alexis playing to his full potential. The thought of Pogba, Alexis, Lingard and Lukaku linking up and playing attacking football is quite exciting. Hopefully, it'll happen.
It's not all doom and gloom peeps.
09 Aug 2018 21:58:45
Ajh top post.
09 Aug 2018 22:43:15
Tony. I think McGuire is a good defender and he's improved year on year. I hope he doesn't play tomorrow, because i can see him scoring against us in a free kick situation.
The fact that Mourinho has made it clear that our cb's are not up to the standard required, we are left with the same personnel again and they all know our manager doesn't rate them. This is not a confidence boosting situation.
On the winger situation, Perisic is head and shoulders better than martial and Rashford on the wing. But i would like us to give Chong a go, why not? Also, maybe recruit pulisic as he has bags of potential. I also think julian brandt will be the next superstar, and i would love us to have him in our side.
The world will not end because we didn't buy anyone today, but we are not of the level of City, and liverpool are a better "team". It is up to Mourinho to turn excellent individuals into an excellent team.
{Ed0333's Note - Brandt, Bailey and a commanding center back and your golden. This managing Man Utd lark is easy.