General Manchester United Chat

This topic contains 1,980 replies, has 1 voice, and was last updated by  englishbob 3 months, 3 weeks ago.

Viewing 20 posts - 701 through 720 (of 1,981 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #2119699

    jm1502
    Participant
    • :

    On a general note, thank fuck they’ve canned this taking the knee bullshit. If it did anything it was to increase racism by pissing off white working class blokes who weren’t racist in the first place. Real racists don’t give a fuck what you bend, they’re racists and always will be.

    #2119754
    Zico
    Zico
    Participant
    • :

    Agree jm.

    #2119777
    killyboye
    killyboye
    Participant
    • :

    The fact that a fair few African players stopped taking the knee made it obvious that it wasn’t particularly effective any more, if at all.

    #2120139

    mufc
    Participant
    • :

    Thanks to everybody who is participating, we have 20 people who’ve entered teams. Remember, it begins tonight – Good luck.

    #2120221
    Zico
    Zico
    Participant
    • :

    What do you need to enter this?

    #2120322

    happyhurling
    Participant
    • :

    An understanding of how football works, so it’s not for you! Ha ha!
    😉

    #2120523
    Zico
    Zico
    Participant
    • :

    Fantasy,right? Thats your game,mate.

    #2121580

    Who is this Michael Knighton fellow and is there any hope of a successful buyout?

    #2121604

    jm1502
    Participant
    • :

    Michael Knighton agreed to buy the club for 10 million quid in 1989 but the deal fell through 😂😂. I bet he’s never had a good night’s (no pun intended) sleep since. If he gets Jim Ratcliffe on board you never know.

    #2121623
    killyboye
    killyboye
    Participant
    • :

    Mata to Leeds? Always knew he was a cunt.

    #2121624
    killyboye
    killyboye
    Participant
    • :

    Only newspaper worth its salt reporting on Knighton’s takeover is the Independent, it hasn’t appeared in any of the business papers yet so it’s either in the very early stages to not warrant notice or it’s complete bollocks

    #2121936

    moral
    Participant
    • :

    Scientists can’t quite agree on how long it will be until the universe ends. The most trigger-happy astrophysicists have it at around 22bn years, but if we’re lucky it could keep chugging away for 200bn. Earth has slightly less time – becoming a burnt-out lifeless rock in about 5bn, after the sun runs out of fuel and enters what’s known as its “red giant phase”.

    Which brings us to Manchester United – who appeared to run out of fuel in 2013. As a gaunt, expressionless Erik ten Hag stood in his technical area at Old Trafford on Sunday, it was hard not to feel that this Groundhog Day paint-by-numbers crisis might be put out of its misery only by the demise of the entire planet.

    Within seconds of the full-time whistle the memes began. Complete this sentence: The biggest problem at Manchester United is … Where do you start? Should we create a Microsoft Word template just below “create your own CV” with a simple go-to list that you save as a PDF or print out and keep? A simple, effective service that you can refer to every time there’s an issue at the Theatre of Dreams.

    The first thing to mention is DNA. Divide everyone into those who “really understand” the DNA of the club, and those that don’t – including some blithe mentions of attacking football, of taking the game to the opposition and of turning Old Trafford into a “fortress”.

    At which point the camera must pan to Alex Ferguson in the stands.

    You can imagine United conceding an early goal at home to Sturm Graz in the opening game of the European Super League Division 2 in the year 2047. The 50-year-old Scott McTominay, parachuted in as head coach after a mid-table Championship finish in charge of Reading, shakes his head. The TV director calls for a closeup of the 105-year-old Sir Alex. He looks on glumly.

    It took 17 minutes for the camera to land on Fergie’s face during the Brighton game. Feels like that’s the longest it’s ever taken. Progress perhaps.

    It is almost becoming acceptable to question the benefits of the great man’s continued presence – is a “thinktank” with David Gill and Bryan Robson the answer? Football might be 90% nostalgia. But nostalgia is meant to be nostalgic, not current. But what to do? He is simply too important to “work the lounges”.

    What must be stressed in our handy United crisis guide is how Sir Alex would routinely change his backroom staff – a key to his success; no one has done it since – without referencing the fact none of his successors have been there long enough to rotate their wide men, let alone their first-team coach.

    We need a chapter on the players. It is well documented that you don’t just become a bad player overnight. But there must be a minimum number of nights required for it to be possible – and it’s something the club have perfected.

    The almost pantomine attacks on Harry Maguire earnestly galumphing around like a Gorg from Fraggle Rock might be unfair. But seeing him back away from the Brighton strikeforce makes you wonder how Kylian Mbappé might fare in Qatar.

    Jadon Sancho is fast becoming the man with the sword from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – swirling it around and around until Harrison Ford just shoots him. At Borussia Dortmund Sancho stepovered and jinked past people at will. Now he does it in front of them before passing it back to Diogo Dalot.

    Lisandro Martínez is too short (please ignore Cannavaro & Mascherano) to be a centre-back. What HAS HAPPENED to Marcus Rashford? McFred. You could pick so many.

    Callers are lined up to complain (correctly) about the Glaziers (sic) – sucking money, joy, entertainment out of the club. Important here to mention noodle partners, rubber affiliates, biofuel official suppliers, all complemented by an NFT of Ed Woodward’s face. Football fans can be forgiven for switching off when people start talking about leveraged debt. None of us got into this game to hear about that.

    Neither do we want to hear about net spend. But United’s is enormous and yet for what? Where is the plan? Months of hoping for want-to-stay-at-home midfielder Frenkie de Jong only to be seemingly usurped by Chelsea, while each refreshed gossip page underwhelms in turn. Arnautovic. Rabiot. Morata. Odion Ighalo wasn’t the exception. He was the blueprint.

    And of course there’s Cristiano Ronaldo – who should really be higher up this box-ticking exercise. Most pressing would be for one of the more tactically minded columnists to work out if pressing is still part of his game, if it ever was. It’s surprising that no one has really mentioned it. He scored all the goals. But is he the problem? Someone will get around to covering that eventually.

    In all of this, you have to at least acknowledge how this all affects the fans – who the club at least pretend matter in this whole affair. Being a football fan is about expectations. Years of being the best must make this agony. Just because it’s hard to sympathise with the fanbase of a team that dominated for almost your entire youth doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Manchester United fans are people too. However for the rest of us this is the gift that keeps on giving.

    Just before you save this to the desktop for easy access, point out that things can change quickly. It would be wonderful to see players bereft of confidence find it again. It would be good for the league if there was another team competing. What Ten Hag needs is time. Otherwise we rinse and repeat for 5bn years.

    #2121938

    moral
    Participant
    • :

    Guardian. Max Rushden.

    #2125313

    moral
    Participant
    • :

    How to solve a problem like Manchester United: solutions in 100 words or less from five top football scribes.

    Manchester United are in crisis. They have won only two of their past 10 Premier League games, at home to Norwich and Brentford, and have lost the past four matches scoring only once, an own goal. They haven’t won a Premier League away game since February.

    Recruitment has been a disaster: the club almost exclusively sell players for less money than they bought them, their highest-paid star wants to leave, and their new manager is already struggling despite adding several hand-picked signings to the squad. Manchester United’s successful transfers over the past decade can be counted on one hand.

    What’s more, Old Trafford has been left to rot, the training facilities need major investment and while the Glazer family remains at the helm, money will continue to be taken out of the club to pay off £500m of debt and associated interest, as well as to pay the Glazers themselves in bonuses and dividends. Other than that …

    So how can it be solved? How can Manchester United be restored to European football’s top table, or at least to the Premier League’s top half? Here some of the best sports writers around offer succinct solutions:

    Ben Burrows: United remain almost unique in that a true bottoming out season could be tolerated on the balance sheet. They should take advantage and clear out the bad contracts – Ronaldo’s first – even if it means limited financial return and a step back on the pitch. Ten Hag can then select on suitability for his style, not on reputation. Specific areas of need can be identified in January for summer recruitment with the required time to get deals in place. Hire a director of football or equivalent from outside with autonomy and make a conscious move away from Ferguson and the Class of 92.

    Michael Jones: Convince the Premier League to get rid of live football and just show repeats of the 1998/99 treble-winning season. Failing that, United need to invest in a competent director of football and come up with a style of play to rival Man City and Liverpool. That’s not easy and it will take time (years, not months). In the meantime, focus on youth development, shift out the deadwood – Phil Jones is still there?! – and stop giving players ludicrous contracts. Sort out the transfer business and keep faith in the manager… Or just sod it all and bring back Fergie.

    Karl Matchett: Michael Edwards, Luis Campos, Michael Zorc, Dan Ashworth, Marina Granovskaia, Antero Henrique. All either available, [supposedly] retired or moved jobs this year and none signed up or even seemingly discussed by United. When the decision-makers at the club appoint someone to make decisions for them – at least in terms of on-pitch, recruitment and strategy – regeneration can potentially begin then. Some guy called Ralf Rangnick used to be good at this job, too. The squad mentality is damaged beyond repair in many cases, even if, on a technical level, they are outrageously good players. Hit the reset button.

    Lawrence Ostlere: A viral Gary Neville rant persuades the Glazers to sell to a benevolent billionaire or gulf state. They appoint a world-class sporting director who implements a five-year plan investing in hungry young players who retain their market value. Overpaid underperformers are sold cheaply to get them out of the dressing room and off the wage bill, but Marcus Rashford is revitalised and starts his own cryptocurrency. Erik ten Hag is given time, supported by an elite recruitment team who prioritise one or two key additions each window. Debt repayments are now invested in the stadium and training facilities.

    Alex Pattle: Give Erik ten Hag time. On paper, he’s probably their most sensible appointment since the takeover (I know, football clubs aren’t saved in 100 words or less on paper… or maybe they are actually?). You have to give him a few seasons and numerous transfer windows to make the right signings, and some wrong ones. A competent director of football would help. Also, forget the pretence that United are still a ‘big club’ on the pitch, and be patient. The shorter answer would be ‘sell the club’, but the owners are the problem and you don’t fire yourself, do you?

    Jack Rathborn: Short term? Hand Erik ten Hag the power to make an example of somebody, conveniently Cristiano Ronaldo would oblige, but Harry Maguire might also work. Sacrificing one of the many underperforming, overpaid stars would create space and fair opportunities in the squad while outlining clear standards to uphold. For too long now, those on the field have routinely recognised it’s not been good enough. Ten Hag should be afforded the chance to insert repercussions. Medium to long term? Give him the sporting director to compliment an overriding idea to at least observe progress, even throughout inconsistent results on the pitch.

    The Halfway Line Newsletter

    #2125976

    happyhurling
    Participant
    • :

    You might have to start deleting some of these, Moral! 😉

    #2128116

    englishbob
    Participant
    • :

    if this is true, I am absolutely gutted, but not surprised.

    much worse than losing to Brentford 4-0

    https://manutdnews.com/anthony-martial-set-for-man-utd-contract-talks/

    #2128129

    Blacky
    Participant
    • :

    @bob – Has to be bullshit mate, the bluffing fucker has still got 2 years left on his current deal and given everything I can’t believe it’s even been thought of, simple as that.

    #2128139

    mufc
    Participant
    • :

    Have any of you heard/had any contact with Redblood and Wonderfuel? They’ve not posted in over a year.

    #2128152

    jm1502
    Participant
    • :

    I wouldn’t bet against it Blacky.

    #2128163

    Blacky
    Participant
    • :

    @mufc – I think you’ll find that’s at least a ten grand question where Uncle Creepy is concerned mate!!😂😂

Viewing 20 posts - 701 through 720 (of 1,981 total)

You must be logged in to reply this topic.