^^^ JUst saw this on fb, very good.
Louis Louis Louis......
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Haha 😀
I don't agree. Last season was all about getting top 4. After spending the guts of a quarter of a billion, Van Gaal simply has to get his United team challenging for the Title this season.
No more excuses.
The target this season is top 4 it would be nice to think we could challenge but that is an unrealistic hope rather than an expectation.
Yes we have spent a lot of money but in the current market it isn't enough to guarantee a title challenge from the position we were in.
Since LVG has taken over we have spent £215m and recouped £96m a net spend of £120m.
It is a lot of money but in the same period Liverpool have spent £76m. It is a chunk extra but certainly not enough to guarantee a title.
LVG has pretty much completely overhauled the squad in that period. The only players that look like they will be starters pre his time here and Rooney, Mata and Smalling. 8 all in the first XI on a spend of £120m is good going ,and the team and squad is stronger IMO.
We are still short up front though. Pedro would have been almost perfect IMO. Pedro, Mata and Memphis behind Roney would have got enough goals.
At the back we could do with a CB but it isn't as crucial as some think because we look solid with Darmian, Shaw and Schneiderlin protecting them.
GK needs to be replaced when De Gea leave but there is nothing LVG could do about that as we havent been able to get him to sign a contract extension for the last 2.5 years.
Overall I am relatively happy with the progress under LVG, we play boring football but I think we will get results.
As some have also said the real test will be next year and LVG will face his biggest test with a challenge expected. I think the key to that could be getting rid of Rooney if he doesn't perform this season. It will be a big call but I think he will make it if he has to.
There you go - I've changed it back. I was going to anyway but your 'banned' jibe was the little nudge I needed.
Interesting post as usual from you, but for me it's over-optimistic in one or two respects. You defo need more options than just Rooney in terms of out-and-out strikers, and the defence still looks iffy to me - however much protection there might be in front of it, that won't be enough if the defence itself isn't up to snuff and Smalling and Jones do not convince me as a first choice CB combo. I happen to think the league may well be quite tight this year and nobody with any sense would write you lot off, but you'll be in the pack rather than leading it IMO.
I may have asked this before and apologies if you answered and I didn't see it.
What is the general feeling among Utd fans about the state of the club Ferguson left? Are you lot pissed at him? You have spent the best part of £200m net since he left you with a title winning squad and yet yourself think you won't challenge for the title this season. And I agree with you there. What has gone wrong? Mismanagement before he left or since?
I do realise you have had a raft of retirements, but this was very obviously coming. Age is one thing you can predict!
I don't think it matters in the end - as you'll throw all the money you need to, to get back to challenging - but are you happy with how it's unfolded?
I think it is debatable whether Rooney is good enough to be the main striker for us this season. If he doesn't then I think we will bring in a big name next season.
As we are only playing up up top I think the cover from chicharito and Wilson is sufficient and we could always put Januzaj or Fellani up top if we had to.
The first choice CB pairing seems to be Smalling and Blind. Jones is probably 3rd choice behind Rojo.
Is it good enough to winner the title almost definitely not, is it good enough for top 4. Probably.
I don't think there is any I'll feeling towards SAF.
He did and spent what he needed to win a title. It is just that every other manager in the world will need a better and more expensive team to be nearly as successful.
I also think he made the right choice not replacing the likely retirees before he left. That has given the new manager(s) the freedom and money to go for who they wanted rather than who SAF choose.
Also £200m net over three seasons is about £70m per season. It really isn't all that much.
I think it is likely in the current market and competition at the top of likely that all the top teams will have to spend qbout £50m each season just to maintain their position.
Fair enough. If Utd's fans are satisfied, then who am I to question!
Rag.
Personally I think that's bollocks and Ferguson chose that moment to retire because he knew the team needed a complete overhaul due to pending retirements, he should have started that process 1-2 seasons earlier regardless of how the team were doing.
He gets a pass from United fans because of what he achieved, and maybe when contemplating the big picture that is right, but it doesn't and shouldn't mean that he is blameless. He put them in the shite with no chance whatsoever of Moyes having a decent year.
Since LvG only managed to improve by 6 points (and very luckily get back into the CL because we and Spurs went AWOL) I do wonder what Moyes could have done given the money LvG has spent. I honestly think he couldn't have done much worse, if not better but the fans were never going to give him that chance because they didn't want him from the beginning, only a 'big name manager' would satisfy them, regardless of whether he performed better or not.
I love it that LvG has been caught lying his arse off. Intimating they were not in for Pedro and that if United truly wanted a player they would get him if he was actually available. Then Pedro's agent comes out and says United dozed off - Woodward was actually in Spain to conclude the deal but Chelsea came in and in a whirlwind 24 hours wrapped it up.
Sounds far more likely than we weren't interested.
But as I said we can never know what actually happens on any transfer from the rumour stage to actually signing and everything in between as about 90% of what is printed is complete bull shit.
Possibly but I doubt it.
The team needed an overhaul and SAF possibly knew it. But maybe even he didn't realise how much more he could get from a squad than any other manager.
That's very convenient yiz fucking faggit.
Mourinho did the same at Inter. Left at the right time. Inter needed to replace almost the whole squad and had big debts. He didn't care about Inter long term. SAF also left a squad that he knew needed an overhaul and bought players the last couple of seasons so he could go out on a high. In the end he didn't care about what would happen to the club the next few years after he left, just like Mourinho at Inter.
Ferguson was the most savvy and ruthless manager of the Premier League era, the idea that he didn't know what was in the near future for his team is bollocks. He knew what was coming and smartly stepped aside.
He probably could have built another strong squad, to be fair, as he had done at least three times before.
He probably couldn't be asked doing it all over again with so few years left to live.
I reckon he'd simply had enough. I had hopes that he'd hang around making life impossible for his successors the way Matt Busby did when he retired years ago, but (though they've had other problems) that hasn't happened and Ferguson gives every indication of not missing it one tiny little bit.
It's weird every United fan I've spoken too seems happy with their defence, they reckon Darmain (fair enough) and Shaw are very good full backs, and have complete faith in Smalling as the number one centre back, and Rojo, Blind etc as the second centre back. Now admittedly I haven't seen that much of Smalling over the last year, but does that seem completely fucking bonkers to anyone else?
A bad case of wishful thinking certainly. Darmian seems decent but is new to the Prem, Shaw has a lot of lost ground to recover from his Southampton days, Smalling is OK but no more, Rojo despite his fee couldn't get a regular place last season, Blind looks like a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. Next.
Seems a little optimistic to me.
Shaw looks much better than last year. Smalling looks excellent so far this season.
Darmian looks adequate.
Blind is doing a job, but they definitely need a better CB.
But, all in all, the back four look alright. I think Benteke would give the this group nightmares, but not quite as bad as suggested above. Unfortunately.
Haven't watched today, but they've started impressively in defence and opposition teams are seldom creating much in the way of chances. I agree on paper it looks weak as piss, but for now it seems to be working, probably down to an improved defensive midfield. I maintain that they're biggest problem this year is scoring goals. Wayne Rooney looks finished at a top level striker to me and they've got fuck all in reserve.
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