Manchester United Thread

beachryan said:
Here's my bold prediction for the season. If we don't get in a single midfielder of quality (and it now sounds like we won't) we're going to finish either 4th or potentially even 5th.

Because at some point Michael Carrick will be injured, and we will then have 0 talented central midfielders playing for us.

I hope this happens. Because I've just checked and despite all of this summer's woeful business, poor preseason and our rivals strengthening significantly, our share price has continued to rise since June.

And in the end, Ed Woodward is there to do one thing, and one thing only: maximise shareholder value.

So if bringing in tire sponsorships rather than new players is the best way to achieve that, then so be it.

From the Glazer's point of view, financially there's not a ton of difference between finishing 1st and finishing 4th. So why bother trying to spend alongside sugar daddy clubs - when your club can just be the top of the 'profitable' clubs?
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Let's not forget there are still a significant number of influential millionaires walking around the place who would not accept a shift away from performance on the pitch.. SAF included.
 
dplane said:
Let's not forget there are still a significant number of influential millionaires walking around the place who would not accept a shift away from performance on the pitch.. SAF included.
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Accept? What can these mysterious millionaires do exactly?

How have the Bucs been doing since the Glazers took over?
 
Aboutreika18 said:
You're full of shit, ryan. I can't find a nicer or more constructive way of saying it.
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Cool, fair enough, cheers for the opinion.

I'm a strategy consultant - I'm just putting it through my own personal lens. If the Glazers hired a strategy team to devise a method to maximise their return from United, that's what they would be told.

Especially given most LBOs look for an exit strategy after about 10 years, and we're coming up on that in the near term.

Now it's entirely possible I'm full of sh*t, and that Moyes literally has a 'blank check' to buy anyone and everyone he wants. I don't know. I'm not privy to that information. All I know are the facts from our club and others:
1. Moyes said he identified the midfield as needing strengthening
2. Moyes confirmed we tried and failed to buy Cesc (for apparently a very small fee)
3. Ed Woodward rushed home from Aussie land on transfer business
4. Everton confirmed we made a derisory offer for Baines and Fellaini.

That's it. That's the summer of transfers. In our biggest transitional year in modern memory.

So call me full of sh*t that's fine, but at least share your opinion.
 
beachryan said:
Accept? What can these mysterious millionaires do exactly?

How have the Bucs been doing since the Glazers took over?
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Surely you r not comparing one of the biggest jokes in the NFL (cheerleaders excluded) to one of the most successful clubs in the bigger world of soccer?

I doing think the problem lies as much with the club as it does with the by American standards backroom type politics and practices that FIFA and Uefa seem to turn a blind eye too. I'm not saying the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, or whatever other league doesn't have its fair share of nasty stuff going on,..but as I'm sure you know from your career (as do I), the way business is done in other parts of the world doesn't always mesh with our ideas on this side of the ocean. Not saying its wrong or make a holier than thou statement..`tis the way things are. W the big money coming in these days and increased agent and player power I'm glad that at least we are seeing clubs like Utd and Pool take a public stand against it. I actually think this whole public bidding concept Utd seems to go with at the moment is a good thing, even if under the current climate it might not get results. What I'm tired off is things dragging on and on because the press, clubs and players seem to get some kind ofsick enjoyment oit I of dramatizing the transfer window, while in the meantime holding the emotions of the teams, fans and others hostage in the process.
 
Beach when did you become such a doom monger?

I agree this summer has been a bit of a disaster but in fairness it's nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be, were not Arsenal. it could be MUCH worse. We'll be competitive even if we don't buy anyone and I still suspect we'll pull of something.

take a chill and just enjoy the actual football.
 
Gotta love Jose. Release a provocative interview the night before a key matchup. Mourinho is back in the premier league ladies and gents, and he loves it.

I do love the meta powers of the media though. How's this for crafty journalism:

1. Selectively trim words out of Moyes' statement on Rooney to make it sound worse than it is.
2. Feed these back to Jose Mourinho in an interview to get comment.
3. Write new story on Jose commenting on your edited quotes to his benefit.

It's beautiful in a way.

Football is entertainment, sold by the media. Jose is just morally corrupt enough to thrive in that environment.
Also, big game day today. Lots and lots of subplots and interesting things tactically too.

All I hope for is a completely Atkinson-free result. Win, lose or draw I'm fine with it, as long as the game is decided by the players and coaches, and not Martin Atkinson.

Oh and I hope United sell Rooney the very second the final whistle goes. To Everton. For a quid. He can be guaranteed a starting spot, play in blue and get a change of scenery. Everyone wins.
 
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The moment we sell Rooney I wouldn't be shocked to seeing you relegating us to top 6 at best so im not sure how you count that as a 'win'. ;))

Yeah this is a big test Moyes tonight, not only is it against Jose and Chelsea but his first game at Old Trafford.

I thought SAF got the tactics spot on at the bridge last year so something similar would be fine by me.

EDIT: Line Up Predicts.

--------De-Gea--------
Fabio-Rio--Vidic-Evra
----Carrick-Jones---
Valencia-Rooney-Welbeck
-------Van Perse------
 
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YoungGun_UK said:
The moment we sell Rooney I wouldn't be shocked to seeing you relegating us at best so im not sure how you count that as a 'win'. ;))

Yeah this is a big test Moyes tonight, not only is it against Jose and Chelsea but his first game at Old Trafford.

I thought SAF got the tactics spot on at the bridge last year so something similar would be fine by me.

EDIT: Line Up Predicts.

--------De-Gea--------
Fabio-Rio--Vidic-Evra
----Carrick-Jones---
Valencia-Rooney-Welbeck
-------Van Perse------
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Just had to adapt this to a more beach level of pessimism ;)
 
Godotelli said:
Draw please
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I'd take that.

Wow, never thought I'd be the doom merchant. Sigh.

Hoping to see a good performance from us tonight. First home game couldn't be much harder for Moyes and co, but to be honest this is what the United job is, so he might as well jump into the deep end.

Expect a tight game with goals, so predicting a 1-1 or 2-1. Think luck will determine which way the points go, as much as anything. Teams are pretty evenly matched at the moment, with both having very strong and reasonably weak areas. Mourinho has a reputation as a better coach, but United are at home, so maybe those will balance each other out.

I think Moyes will start exactly the same team as Swansea, and pull Giggsy off around the 55th minute for Rooney.
 
I'd be surprised if Rooney doesn't start.

I think our delivery into the box will be key, we need Valencia or whoever is outwide to be 'on'. Robin will take care of the rest :SMUG:
 
We've had plenty of joy down the flanks against Chelsea over the years, Valencia vs. Cole especially.

More of the same please.
 
We did alright, especially against a team that suddenly are so much better than us due to change in management.

Three things we learned today.

1. WE NEED A MIDFIELDER! If we had someone able to control the game from central midfield we'd have won or atleast created far more problems then we did.

2. Our delivery was crap, We missed Rafael from the right and Young on the right was instantly better than Valencia. For a position were well stocked in we continue to have issues out wide.

3. The answer to the above two is to sign Ronaldo :))
 
Didn't see the match, but sounds like we shaded a fairly dull affair, and didn't get the chance/luck we needed to steal the points. Fair enough.

Always gonna be a tough game, first at OT for DM, Mourinho back, the Rooney crap - all in all I think it's a positive.

We've kept pace with our rivals this week (City/Chelsea) and got a really tough game out of the way. And even survived Atkinson!
 
bebo said:
Kagawa was on the bench. Why doesn`t he play? I was very shock to see such a toothless match. I couldn`t figure it out :THINK:
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Yeah the Kagawa benching is starting to worry me. You'd figure with his speed and technical ability we could have given them a bit of their own poison but it doesn't like Chelsea came to play anyway.

For as big as an impact as he had at Dortmund though it's a big letdown to not have him out there. My excitement for his signing feels like a distant memory.
 
I'm really shocked that Kagawa wasn't playing and Welbeck was playing for so long. And then Giggs and Young came on? Not sure if I agree with Moyes' moves.

With that said, I'd take the point on the basis that it is against an improved Chelsea side with Mourinho and it is Moyes' first competitive match at Old Trafford, so it was always going to be played safe. But it also seems that Mourinho gave us the point (and maybe wanting to give us more) with his odd formation and his front line not knowing what to do for most of the match. So with that said, we should've punished his decision with a win if it was still Fergie at the helm, but regardless, we can only improve....i hope
 
I can only hope that Kagawa just isn't fully fit. He looked woefully off the pace in the last pre season match, and didn't really have the summer off.

I certainly would rather see him coming on than Giggs, but would much rather see him in his proper role, in the middle behind the striker.
 
But the thing with Kagawa is, like his national team position, he can play out on the left, behind the striker, or up top. He can basically do what Welbeck was doing on the left and swap places with RvP or Rooney mid game. And he'd have a better vision and better control than Welbeck. The only thing he won't have is the speed or the conditioning to lead the attack while also covering for Evra on the defensive end.
 
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