10 Aug 2021 16:00:05
I was hoping the close season might see a drop in the negativity but it seems not. Hey ho.
For what it's worth, here's my view.
City have / will buy well but they are replacing quality with quality so they will be strong again although I doubt they will be stronger.
Chelsea needed a striker and they have bought one, but he was pants for us and I expect him to be as hit and miss again as he was here. Strong finish to the season from Tuchel and he'll have them up there.
Liverpool look like they need to sort a few things out, they had a dodgy season and whilst VVD is back, I'm not convinced that they haven't peaked and need some tweaking. All did not seem happy last year, we shall see.
As for United, we needed a high class CB and have bought one. We needed a RW who could have an impact and we've bought one. Whilst those are both huge plusses, we need Ole to vary his tactics and be more ambitious.
We have some very talented youngsters who look like they are developling and will hopefully contribute, if Rashford can get fit then we might see the player he promised to be, like it or not it seems Pogba is staying, we need DVB to show why we paid £40M for him.
I think we have a great squad which is now much more balanced, but we have some issues that need urgently addressing:
1. One of DDG or DH needs to go, 2 GKs fighting over the No1 spot is not good for anyone.
2. We need to reduce the size of the squad, too many players who will not grace the first team need to go, I'm not going to list them but surely Lingard is on his way out.
3. McFred has to go, just stop. With Varane at the back let's trust the back 4 and try and hurt opponents instead of the safety first approach.
4. Bruno needs to be consistent. He had a huge impact but his form in the last few months (and the Euros) was poor and his goals tally i massively inflated with penalties. Yes he was overplayed but I'm amazed he wasn't dropped.
Ole has admitted he overplayed some players, has he learnt any other lessons?
Time will tell but remember this, we finished second last year, ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool, yet many on here have us 3rd 4th or out of the top 4. Sigh.
10 Aug 2021 16:15:17
1.) Keep DDG and sell the more sellable player in Henderson.
2.) I think this will pick up once the season gets going and a few team invariably start poorly and then end up panic buying/ loaning players.
3.) I think McFred still have a place in the squad but they started the majority of games last season and i hope that's not the case this year.
4.) couldn't agree more, quality output from him last season but was very erratic at the back end of the season.
10 Aug 2021 16:30:13
Yeh we finished 2nd last season, but since Chelsea appointed Tuchel they were better than us and have improved with Lukaku, anyone who think Liverpool are a spent force are kidding themselves I’m afraid. They had huge injuries last season which clearly derailed tham yet still got too 4 because unlike us they have a world class manager in charge. With the players they have back and fit they’ll be in between 1st-3rd again for sure. I have us down as 4th this season. Once again we can’t sell the rubbish and we CM hasn’t been addressed.
10 Aug 2021 16:43:57
Sigh people don't always agree with you sigh again!
I agree with a lot of that. The squad is in great shape. But too many ifs surrounding the manager. If lukaku was pants for us ole has been knickers
City don't look any stronger.
Chelsea did finish behind us but also won cl and won more points in last 15 games.
Lukaku will improve them.
Liverpool I don't count or care about.
Good squad with a crap manager will nearly always be out done by a crap squad and Good manager.
Ole is a useless manager that's our biggest issue.
10 Aug 2021 16:53:24
"Good squad with a crap manager will nearly always be out done by a crap squad and Good manager. "
Are you saying Tuchel, Klopp, Ancelloti, Nuno. are crap then?
10 Aug 2021 16:57:08
Very good summary AJH.
10 Aug 2021 17:16:56
Big debate on 5 Live last night about the upcoming season, and much of the focus on Utd was about the GK situation. The pundits couldn't think of an example in recent years where there hasn't been a clear No.1, and reckoned that it had a detrimental effect.
I thought Kepa/ Mendy was a recent example although it was clear the club wanted Mendy whereas DDG/ Hendo are alternating. They say it's good to have competition like that in a club as it drives both forwards, but at the same time probably causes issues too.
They (forget the pundit) said DDG had to go now as you can't have a 350k wage on the bench, or sell Hendo. Seemed to favour Hendo.
{Ed014's Note - neither good enough for me at this point in their respective careers.
10 Aug 2021 17:56:39
Said it a few times last year -can never ever work at club level. I can't imagine the thinking behind keeping them both as it leads to nothing but trouble behind the scenes.
10 Aug 2021 18:32:44
AJH
If there is negativity on here it is warranted and as I haven’t been on as much, it can’t be me driving it.
Agree with much of what you say there apart from finishing position expectation.
I expect Chelsea will seriously challenge this season, City will be hard to get above. Liverpool I am not sure about except their exceptional manager knows how to maximise performance, bit like Clough back in the day. I suspect Leicester will also take points off some. I suspect it won’t be a 100 point season but a more equal one where the top 5 teams take points off each other.
United still haven’t bought that Central M player, sorted out buying the best keeper and sold both DH and DDG. I also wonder about our lack of goal scoring in tight games, that forward who can get goals against a tough defence.
I also wonder if we got in front whether Ole has learned not to wave the white flag to protect his young players, but David OLeary like.
If I was guessing I would go for 4th but challenging for 3rd whilst keeping an eye on Leicester over our shoulders. Probably enough for the owners to be happy.
10 Aug 2021 19:01:34
Can't just be me who thinks Chelsea under tuchel last season were just riding the new manager high that often comes at Chelsea?
10 Aug 2021 19:21:54
I find it funny how many people are "unsure" about Liverpool this season.
They have essentially the same squad as they had that got 99 and 97 points. None of the players have particularly aged bar Milner everyone is 31 or younger. Plus they have added Konate, Jota and Thiago.
I think they will be right in the mix.
10 Aug 2021 19:25:50
Rather than negativity it is realism. We probably have the squad to make a challenge, its the manager that is the issue and there is no point pretending otherwise.
In Ole's favour he has done really well with off-field managerial duties, assembled a good squad which seems to have a good spirit, its the in game management that needs to improve. If that clicks this season then we will provide Chelsea and City with some competition.
However if we end up 3rd and no trophies at the end, I think the club will look to change. I believe the owners finally realise that being also rans is not good enough.
10 Aug 2021 19:57:34
Tuchel always has the immediate positive effect - let’s see how he does post Xmas. I guarantee they will fall away.
10 Aug 2021 20:03:18
Agree with almost everything there AJH except Bruno.
In one and a half season, he has won 2 player of the season.
40 goals and 30 assists from 80 matches is madness.
Nobody has been better than him since he's at United.
I just hope Ole doesn't overplay him or anyone this season.
10 Aug 2021 21:03:53
Lolll your questioning about Bruno. Bruno is worldclass, a lot of other players play like bots.
10 Aug 2021 21:45:16
I agree he is world class and he has a fabulous mentality, just what we need, but his from was dreadful n the late part of the season and he doesn’t turn up in big games. I’m not looking for an argument, it’s just what I see. As for the goals, how many of those were penalties?
10 Aug 2021 22:12:12
Even scoring penalties consistently is a challenge Tony.
Before Bruno arrived, players like Martial, Rashford and Pogba missed fair share of penalties.
Point is he took us from mid-table to top four and is even out-scoring the strikers.
Nobody comes close to chance creation like he does.
10 Aug 2021 22:23:53
Bruno is the highest scoring midfielder in the league even if you discount all penalty goals.
I think he gets unfairly labelled a penalty merchant.
10 Aug 2021 22:27:54
To be fair ajh you have been 100% consistent in that view on Bruno.
There were games he was poor and gave the ball away time after time but he nearly always poured popped up with a goal or assist and was the difference maker.
He does have that mentality you speak of. He is always trying and always trying to be the difference maker. He delivers in a lot of games even if he was poor for 89 mins
Sancho will give him more options he makes intelligent runs of the ball.
Vdb playing would also help him he also makes good runs off the ball from deeper.
10 Aug 2021 22:31:14
AJH, maybe his performances aren't great near the end of the season because the manager has run him into the ground?
Have a look at Brunos stats and then look at Lingards stats of zero goals or assists in 18 months playing in his position. The man is the driving force on the pitch.
10 Aug 2021 22:47:00
I think Bruno struggled when Rashford got injured. Our only tactic of hitting it over the top for him to run on to stopped working, so it was all on Bruno to make something happen.
11 Aug 2021 04:52:15
AJH,
Can you even blame Bruno? How do you expect consistency when Ole is in overplay mode?
Players need to be rested and managed properly for them to mentally and physically be ready to give their best on the pitch.
Finishing 2nd last season was nice but where do you think we would have finished if the other top teams didn't struggle or mess around?
11 Aug 2021 06:43:48
Eric79
If you were right and Chelsea faded away after Christmas, probably you mean to finishing third rather than be Champions? In that case they would look at the manager and see whether he needs replacing, they are set up to win, second is not good enough. United, in the same circumstances, would just start putting articles out about 99 and DNA.