03 Oct 2018 09:29:00
Just in answer to a few posts and Ken below, I don't think a new manager would come in and get us challenging for the title this season but they might allow us to challenge in games against lower teams and not be lucky to be in the top half of the table. The players we have might not be good enough to finish above City and Liverpool but they are good enough to be comfortably top 4 and any excuses to the contrary are nonsense IMO.
Jose came out last night and said 'we don't have many players with intensity', 'we don't have technical quality to build from the back', 'we knew we wouldn't create 20 chances' and best of all 'we thought with 3 or 4 chances we would score and win the game'. What the actual hell is he talking about? How can professional footballers who have all played in teams before that created plenty of chances suddenly not create any chances against an average Spanish team.
He also had 2 players last night who have played for Valencia in Pereira and Mata, both who would have loved to get a game and would have given us 110% against them, Andreas doesn't make the squad and Mata spends 90 minutes warming up hoping to get on and we only make 1 sub despite the fact we are clearly struggling I imagine leaving him gutted.
He just doesn't get it and what he is doing makes zero sense. We saw this same thing happen at Chelsea and unfortunately it is probably going to get worse before it gets better, another season without CL next season for us I think, not that it makes much difference if we play as dreadfully as we did last night, what's the point in being in the competition?
I am known as too positive on here generally and I haven't posted for a bit as I don't like to overreact but I don't think this is an overreaction, the players need to take a long look at themselves but without a change in manager I can't see how this gets better. I really hope it does, but look at our fixtures after Saturday, we could be about 13th by mid November, how bad does it need to get before he goes I wonder?
03 Oct 2018 10:07:47
he has had his time, the dinosaur isn't going to magically change his style.
it is boring and the players look bored playing.
i don't agree with the way the players (some of them) have acted but i was working under a manager like jose the way he is and the way he acts i wouldn't want to play either.
we either stick with him and finish outside of the top4 maybe get a top 6 finish, but the worst is yet to come.
people are banging on about would a new manager make a difference, just look at how hazard is doing under a new manager with confidence and a positive approach.
can anyone really see where we are going to get our next win from.
Newcastle at home Sunday, they haven't won, this will be typical of the way thing are going atm for us and i wouldn't be surprised if we lost the game.
03 Oct 2018 10:06:39
Good post GDS2.
One hire can change everything, it just depends on who that is and who does the hiring.
We need to shift out a few players though irrespective as there are rotten apples.
I just wish people had listened 3-4 months into he tenure when it was patently obvious (to me) this was where we were heading. The procrastination, defending of the indefensible has also contributed to Jose staying in this job and corrupting matters far longer than he should have been. Such a shame he followed LVG and not SAF as we would have been far more decisive.
I take little satisfaction in the 'I told you so' lines as it has been a truly awful couple of years as a Utd fan and it's easy to be an armchair expert. But we are just as bad now as we were by the Autumn of his first year in charge, we have lost so much ground expecting a leopard to change his spots. We hired the failed Chelsea manager, not the Jose of years gone by - just wish the club would do something about it rather than penny pinching. Can't help but feel that Woody is in a bit of bother as extending Jose's contract in January was criminal considering how we were playing.
We need to do the needful now and salvage this season, bring in some energy and positive forward thinking players, get rid of the hype players and get back to our roots. It would be so good to have a team back that plays the game the appropriate Utd way and look like we can go places. Patience with the right man is vital, but with the wrong man it is dangerous!
03 Oct 2018 10:40:55
Beast,
Oh yeah you really hate to say I told you so, course you do. If you are negative the whole time you'll be correct eventually. You have to give a manager time and in his first season we won trophies, last season we came 2nd in two competitions and still played some good stuff, especially early on. It has not been a dreadful 2.5 years, it is this season where the major issues have started and he will certainly leave us with a better squad than he started with.
03 Oct 2018 10:49:20
beast who would you hire if given the choice?
zidane is the fav but is he the answer.
do we go for the younger manager or go for a NAME yet again.
03 Oct 2018 10:53:46
I wasn't negative the whole time. I changed after I realised the first few wins were flattering the performances. I have remained consistent since then - just as our overall performance levels have remained consistently bad (one or two random good performances admittedly) .
Hard to say somebody was correct when you have argued so vehemently against them. I understand but don't beat yourself up mate. Hopefully the third time I say something you will listen a bit more rather than jumping automatically onto the other side of the fence. You never know the next hire could be a good one.
03 Oct 2018 10:55:55
Fully agree with both posts GDS2.
03 Oct 2018 11:18:03
I don't think he'll get sacked until top 4 is mathematically impossible, same as with Moyes. However if results continue to slump as they are and we drop down the table then it could happen sooner rather than later. I have zero confidence in Woodward though to make the right appointment.
03 Oct 2018 11:20:56
Sorry, you weren't negative the whole time, just after 3 games of his first season, I apologise.
I haven't argued against you, I have just had a different opinion and still agree with my opinion over the past couple of years. I would like to hope that next time we have a new manager you give him more than a few games before coming on here spouting how we should all listen to you as you know best, but I won't hold my breath.
03 Oct 2018 11:21:55
Also Beast I don't think anyone was expecting him to change his spots. He failed at Chelsea because he lost the dressing room but that same dressing room also did the same thing with Conte and AVB so in fairness events at Chelsea with Jose never looked like an isolated incident. What we did expect with Jose was someone who could motivate this team and compete. For several reasons its not worked. But the solution isn't as easy as changing managers. This squad needs a good clear out. Too many either aren't good enough or are just bad eggs. And Woodward needs removing from decision making on the football side.
03 Oct 2018 11:31:11
Agreed GDS. Whoever takes over needs patience. Its going to take a lot to turn this around. He'll need to rebuild morale, ship players out, impose his own style and philosophy, bring in and integrate his own players. I think the first few months will be very hard to watch but given time it'll turn around. Problem is that by September a section of fans will have already turned and be complaining nothing has changed.
03 Oct 2018 12:27:55
So long as we hire a young, intelligent, hungry manager that wants to play the game the Utd way they will have my support. Pick players on form rather than reputation, build an identity, try new things if what they are doing isn't working. Build the team into a team, rather than a glorified International team with other priorities. Somebody that is proud to manage the club and commits 100% rather than half in/ half out or thinking they are above it all. Somebody that can accept they make mistakes and LEARN FROM THEM.
Ultimately it didn't take a rocket scientist to realise by Xmas of his first season that Jose was not the answer, just like LVG wasn't. But out fans need to start being analytical and realise that the manager isn't the club, bad decisions can be made, people can be bad fits and most importantly loyalty is earned not gifted. If the next guy is all the things above they will have my support so long as we look like we are going in the right direction.
We need to bring enjoyment back to the club, it's not fun being a Utd fan at the minute, it can't be fun for the players or the manager. They are compensated heavily to deliver and it isn't working - make the change now, we can still get top 4 and have a good run in the CL. If we dither then the job gets harder and harder for the next guy.
Without interviewing the person I wouldn't like to put a man forward, but I do like Jardim (he is doing badly this season but his squad has been decimated), I like how Lyon play, I like how Sassuolo play very much their manager is Roberto De Zerbi, he sets his team out the right way for me and would be an outside punt, unknown quantity really but we need fresh ideas and they certainly play the game the way Utd should play.
03 Oct 2018 13:45:35
no one would be calling for jose if the football BRAND he played was positive.
3 years later and we still look like a bunch of guys that have been picked from the park.
forget about transfers its his job as a coach to get the best out of his players and he isn't doing that.
03 Oct 2018 15:09:26
Agreed bolger and beast. People seem to think we want our managers to fail. The complete opposite is true. I yearn for a young manager to come in and be close to his players and play in a positive and aggressive manner. A young tommy Docherty will be great. In fact I'll take docherty now over Mourinho 😅.
And Woodward, who is being portrayed as a financial genius, extended Mourinho's contract in January for no reason whatsoever. If he was working for me, I'll be questioning his decision making and sacking him as well as Mourinho.
03 Oct 2018 17:23:33
I yearn for the day woody is sacked.