02 Oct 2018 07:02:48
Reading comments in the press about some players saying they will not play for the manager. These players are paid extortionate amounts to play for Manchester United, to pull on the red shirt. Not every manager is a good one to work for but this attitude is one of the main problems and regardless what happens to the manager, players with that attitude need to be rooted out of the club in January. SAF would never have stood for this, and Gill would have supported him. Now I am concerned that the club may view those shiny, media money spinners, sorry players, are more important than the manager, yet getting rid of Mourinho now let's those trouble causers win and that sticks in my craw.
02 Oct 2018 07:23:38
Absolutely mate, no matter what they're going through with the manager, all of the money they're on they should be performing for the fans more than anything, the fans who support them haven't done anything wrong! .
I really do find it disgusting how brutal players can be at times, I don't like Mourinho one bit and I think you'll be 10 x the team without him but whilst he is there he's the manager and they should respect that and just get on with it until something changes, unfortunately players these days have far too much power.
If any of us didn't do our job correctly in a workplace what would happen? we'd be gone, I think utd really need big changes and get players like that out asap because they're just poison to the whole club.
02 Oct 2018 09:17:10
Red man, I agree that it's a poor show front those players. However, Jose has to be partially to blame. If you consistently dig out players publicly you can see why those players don't want to play well and help that manager out. Rightly or wrongly the players know bad results will cost Jose his job. If he has alienated them to such an extent that they no longer want to work with him then you can at least understand the logic.
Sir Alex never had this problem, Pep doesn't seem to have this problem.
Maybe modern day players have a different mentality. If that is the case then it is managers who will have to adapt to 25 players in their squad not the players who will adapt to the manager. We don't have to like this brave new world, but we do have to adapt to it if we are to thrive in it.
02 Oct 2018 10:00:16
Good morning Red Man, I don't believe any professional footballer takes to the field and doesn't try and give their best. I just don't think it's in their nature. They've all reached the pinnacle of their sport because of their sacrifice, hard work and determination. They couldn't have done it otherwise. All must be fierce competitors and I bet every single one of them hates losing.
When I hear comments like "downing tools" I think we take this too literally. I think what this means in reality is the players stop listening to the manager. They perhaps become disillusioned with the managers style, tactics or instructions. What you get then it's individualised performances. They start to play for themselves rather than the team. One player might press, the other stand off. One might go forward in search of a goal, another hold their position. They're still trying but they're not playing together as a team, as a coordinated unit all striving towards the same goal. I think this is what we're seeing at Utd at the moment. Players playing for themselves not the team and not following the managers instructions. They've stop listening and that's why our performances appear so disjointed.
It must be incredibly hard for any manager to keep a squad of 25 players happy and engaged. To make them sacrifice their own needs for the sake of the team. The very best managers are able to do this and that's why they are so successful. I just don't think the players are following Mourinho's instructions anymore, that's why he likes players such as Matic, Fellaini and Mctominay because they play how he asks and do their job for team. Perhaps we have certain players that attach more importance to their own performances and desires rather than that of the team. The rub is often these players are the most talented and getting them to do their job can be extremely difficult. Have too many of these players and anarchy can ensue.
Let's see what reaction we get tonight.
02 Oct 2018 11:30:42
I mean when you clearly concede goals because a young midfielder is out of position as a center back and the manager announces it's all the referees fault, you're bound to not really want to play under him. The players need to show respect for sure, but I don't see how they aren't when they are merely attempting to point out what is wrong and then are gunned down by the manager for doing so. The pundits and the fans can pinpoint the tactical problems with the sides Mourinho is picking, I'm sure the players are thinking the same thing and wondering why those problems aren't being addressed.
02 Oct 2018 12:02:13
When you say players won't play for the manager I'm assuming you don't mean actually won't play I'm assuming you mean won't play well in order to get detiorating results and put the manager's position at risk .
If that's common knowledge and in the press it would beg a pretty obvious question in my mind . Why would a manager keep selecting players who were not going to play well in order to jepordise his job, I can think of 4 reasons, he wants to be fired, he thinks replacements would do the same, he's not very clever or the most likely he works with them everyday and duznt believe a word of it.
02 Oct 2018 13:50:55
Slate, did you see the team selection for the last game. Maybe Jose isn't picking players he doesn't think will play for him.
02 Oct 2018 14:15:26
Well if that's the case and he didn't pick players he thought would not try to win the game it's interesting he didn't believe pogba and martial were involved .
02 Oct 2018 15:31:17
If players have problems then they should raise them internally not on social media.
02 Oct 2018 16:17:38
How do we know what players from previous generations would or wouldn't have said on social media had it been about during their time?
Maybe our grandparents feel that true fans don't go online and slate their side publicly and any frustration they have with the club should be kept "in-house".
Brave new world and like it or not we have to adapt to it and accept it. Players are brands now, sometimes as much as 60-70% of their earnings come from off field activities rather than actually playing football.
So is it surprising that they aren't 100% focused on their "on-field" actions.
How many of us watch football online? How many of us know about the next best player by watching football online?
Why are we allowed to have the benefits of modern society and technology while expecting our players to live in a suspended time bubble from the 1970's?
With the advanced and benefits of modern society come draw backs and problems. You can't have one without he other.
There is an irony in coming on to a website such as this and slating a player or the manager or the club for what they say on social media. If you can't see that then you will never be satisfied.
02 Oct 2018 16:29:34
Couldn't agree more Mort I'm not defending pogba and I'm pretty sure he and Jose aren't keen on eachother but the thread was it was suggested some players are deliberately playing poorly and if so jm wouldn't pick them but pogba and martial weren't the ones he didn't pick .
Personally I think people thinking too deep instead of conspiracies could the reason we struggle not be other teams bought better players than us, we bought two poor CBS the midfield often looks slow immobile and not comfortable on the ball, have had very little right side attack for along time and our new left attacker has so far been awful so far . Our tactics of dropping everyone back means even against middle to low ranked prem teams or even championship sides we face large periods under pressure and even doing this we look like we may well concede. Each to their own theory I guess.
02 Oct 2018 16:04:34
Which player has raised issues on social media? I've seen players speak to the press hinting at issues or contradicting the manager, but that same criticism can be levelled at Mourinho, and much more so with his bullying tactics.