24 May 2025 19:38:11
After the little while away, things are better now.
Many thanks to Noucamp99 and Salford7 for your acknowledgement and well wishes, that really did mean a lot - cheers. ?
On to where the club is ATM - shambles.
Here's my view on how we should operate this summer - free agents and no marquee silliness.
Before I go on, some might need the reminder of where we are - looking up at clubs like Palace and Brentford who are where they are because of sensible and astute recruitment.
There are decent plausible options in the free market like Boscagli, Egan-Riley, Walker-Peters, Gomes and Bardghji.
There are the inexpensive options I believe should be considered like Michael Cooper, Mateta, Hackney and Mosquera.
There are the Cunhas of the market who would probably see United as still being a step up like Mbeumo, Semenyo and Rios.
Then there are the probably-want-Europe options of Delap, Cherki, Sane and Ederson.
From those 4 groups there are players who represent far better fits for Amorim's system and the club's needs than these players who simply need to be gone over the next couple of summers imo - Onana, Bayindir, Dalot, Malacia, Shaw, Maguire, Ugarte, Collyer, Casemiro, Mount, Garnacho, Sancho, Antony, Rashford, Hojlund and Zirkzee.
For me, the only untouchables right now are Maz, Yoro, Heaven, Amass, Leon, Amad, Mainoo, Fernandes.
De Ligt, Martinez and Dorgu offer quality, but I don't see enough from them.
Ultimately, from top to bottom, I don't see enough anywhere on the pitch to feel happy with where we are and I'm hoping for a grand change.
Fingers are firmly crossed. ?.
24 May 2025 22:35:16
Welcome back Ork. Hope things continue better for you.
24 May 2025 23:16:11
A well-informed read, thanks Ork. I'm not going to lie and say I've heard of many players in the first few lists, and after a little searching looks like we may well have missed the boat on a few of them, but it's sensible recruitment like this we're going to need, supplemented by a few stronger players to improve a very weak spine. RA has spoken about improving the pace and strength of our midfield - any such players we should be looking at?
24 May 2025 23:27:35
Welcome back. Just out of curiosity, why Collyer. He looks a promising young lad.
24 May 2025 23:43:03
Dorgu needs time to settle he’s only 20, come to a new league in a new country, I think once we get a few players to fit the system he will flourish.
25 May 2025 01:40:12
Welcome back to the madhouse
How anyone can say Martinez in the EPL is quality is beyond me
Deligt is ok if you want to play at a snails pace and injured far too much and that’s gone on for years
Dorgu not convinced, he certainly not anywhere near quality atm but not sure he will be first choice anyway for RA
From your list of buys your clearly happy to be a mid table team from here on in then?
Wow how the United standards have fallen.
25 May 2025 06:28:37
Maybe instead of constantly thrashing the posts and opinions of other people, you can post some of your own too, German? You suggest that the system isn't the problem and that the players are the sole cause of where you are where you are now. Maybe you can suggest some players who are currently attainable that the club can go for.
25 May 2025 08:08:10
Good to have you back Ork, always enjoy your posts.
25 May 2025 08:26:07
Indeed Dracred,
German, you need to read the OP properly. Your negativity is boring.
25 May 2025 09:49:13
Good to see you back on, Ork. Always enjoy reading your posts. Hope things are looking a little better ?.
25 May 2025 16:44:31
Fizz, perhaps you could enlighten what’s not to feel negative about with United then! I see your so upbeat!
25 May 2025 22:34:10
Cheers everyone, it's good to be back.
Spenno
In an ideal world where our project carries the current appeal of a team higher than 15th, I'd be thinking of Wharton and Ederson as realistic targets, but I think we'd need a full season of cohesion and positive vibes before we can pull a chair at that table. Currently, I think we'll need to accept the likes of Richard Rios and Hayden Hackney as being more realistic options.
2toms
Honestly, I like Collyer, but I fear that he might struggle to cement his position in the squad. I know Amorim values versatility, but I think Kone and Tyler Fletcher might well leapfrog him next season.
Bolger
I know Dorgu's young, but the standard of quality I've witnessed from him makes me think of him as a left-footed Dalot - strong and robust with great energy, but just lacking the dynamism required for the role of wing-back.
German
We are a midtable club.
Thinking like a particular type of club is one of the reasons we are where we are. We are currently a club of midtable status. Any club of midtable status with ambition in the PL should 'think' like one that seeks to compete for European places - not necessarily UCL, but just any form of European competition - and we should recruit accordingly. Before the season just gone, many United fans might have looked at players from clubs like Brentford and Bournemouth as, perhaps, not quite at our level, but what is that now? Each of those two clubs has made steady progress by accepting their respective status and recruiting in a sensible manner. They are clubs who finished in positions we should be aiming for as a bare minimum, is it really so defeatist to want to progress from 15th to, at worst, 9th or 10th in a manner that doesn't weaken the prospects of continued growth?
If things work out sensibly - improved league position and shifting more of the expensive deadwood - we might then actually be well positioned to continue with a sensible mindset and seek to match Villa, Forest and Brighton who are all currently far superior as a result of being sensible.
It's just realism mate, sensible realism.
26 May 2025 10:24:38
Excellent post Ork.