Football (Soccer)

[Zantera]

Our scouting and recruitment has been shocking for a long time now sadly. It's fine for a manager to have his preferences and players he wants but the reason you end up with Mount for 70m or Antony for 100m is because you don't have anyone capable and knowledgeable who would say "Yeah.. maybe not" and have 2-3 alternatives that would be just as good (or better) for a cheaper fee.

The story of Salah being Klopp's second or third choice is pretty interesting. Sometimes the manager doesn't know everything.

 

[Iceman]

'Man Utd now in talks to sign Sofyan Amrabat on loan'

Needs to get sorted asap!

 

[Hunter Rider]

'Man Utd now in talks to sign Sofyan Amrabat on loan'

Needs to get sorted asap!

Was just about to post that, I don't how they think we can loan him, he's in the last year of his contract so Fiorentina aren't going to accept that, surely we can afford €25M

 

[Iceman]

Was just about to post that, I don't how they think we can loan him, he's in the last year of his contract so Fiorentina aren't going to accept that, surely we can afford €25M

He’s one of the few players who is available for a fair price. Dumb to quibble on a player where you need that position filled quite urgently and can easily afford the asking price.

 

[Zantera]

Was just about to post that, I don't how they think we can loan him, he's in the last year of his contract so Fiorentina aren't going to accept that, surely we can afford €25M

Aren't we ****ed because of FFP? If we had off loaded Maguire or Mctominay weeks ago when West Ham were keen I feel like a CM would already have been through the door.

 

[Iceman]

Our scouting and recruitment has been shocking for a long time now sadly. It's fine for a manager to have his preferences and players he wants but the reason you end up with Mount for 70m or Antony for 100m is because you don't have anyone capable and knowledgeable who would say "Yeah.. maybe not" and have 2-3 alternatives that would be just as good (or better) for a cheaper fee.

The story of Salah being Klopp's second or third choice is pretty interesting. Sometimes the manager doesn't know everything.

Utd have had a habit for a good while now of overpaying at the rate you’d expect almost guaranteed results for players who can’t yet guarantee that, or paying top dollar for players who are already well into their peak and likely about to start their decline for the price of someone at the start of their peak. You can’t always have only one target per position or you’re more likely to end up in a terrible negotiation position, especially as the transfer deadline clock runs down.

 

[Iceman]

Aren't we ****ed because of FFP? If we had off loaded Maguire or Mctominay weeks ago when West Ham were keen I feel like a CM would already have been through the door.

Play excessive hardball unnecessarily early when a deal suits all parties, and then fold later on or miss out - great business strategy.

 

[Iceman]

We are in an absolute mess mate, Heaton is OK, not ideal but the least of our issues. The defence is in tatters, we have no idea how long Shaw and Malacia are out for and we're lining up the LB that failed miserably at Chelsea, now Varane is out 6 weeks and we don't have Todibo because Maguire is a greedy bastard, I would play pretty much anybody before letting him pull on a United shirt again,




That's exactly it, it's hard to care about Bayern possibly buying McTominay as the replacement is another run of the mill workhorse drudge. The thing with Amrabat is that while he's a better option than Hojberg, neither of them are great but it's obvious that Ten Hag just wants a body to put in there in certain games like he did with Fred, he's not looking for a midfield partner for Casemiro as he clearly plans to continue with the Mount as a #8 farce. It'll be interesting to see which of Ten Hag and Arteta concedes they screwed up first, but at least for Arteta when he does he's got Partey and Jorginho to partner Rice.

The defensive mess is partly bad luck and partly Maguire/Glazers fault, the midfield mess is on Ten Hag.




It seems hard to believe but apparently Tuchel wants to sign him according to quite a few of the better thought of journos. When you look at it either way mate our midfield is in a sorry state.

Casemiro - World class midfielder but looking a bit leggy, hopefully just a slow starter

Eriksen - A #10 with enough football intelligence to positionally operate as a #8 but lacking the physicality and is out of steam by the 60 minute mark

Mount - A #10/wide midfielder pretending to be a #8 so he can get back in the England team, not good enough on the ball or physical enough for a deeper role

McTominay/Hojberg - The definition bang average basic midfielders

Mainoo - Very promising 18 year old but he's only made a handful of senior appearances

It increasingly does sound like a mess, and I thought it was midfield and upfront (depending if Hojlund hits the ground running or shows nerves) that would be the issue. Looks like it’s defence and GK too!

Feels like Arteta and ETH have a bet or forfeit going on who can get away with this double no.10 plus 2 wingers and striker combo longest. That’s also why getting Amrabat in is important IMO as he’s likely the best of that type of player you’re likely to be able to land in these next few days and if/when ETH’s experiment collapses, he can slot Amrabat in there alongside Casemiro to shore things up.

Good summary of your midfield. It will be interesting to see what happens when this lineup comes up against an energetic, intense midfield with stamina, made up of all players playing in their best positions.

 

[Iceman]

Emergency at Chelsea after going 2 days without any transfers.

Chelsea interested in signing Man City forward Palmer

 

[BlackFox]

Aren't we ****ed because of FFP? If we had off loaded Maguire or Mctominay weeks ago when West Ham were keen I feel like a CM would already have been through the door.

The whole FFP excuse smells like BS to me from the Glazers when you see what Chelsea have been doing for the past two windows.

Perhaps it is true but still smells well fishy to me and a media smoke screen for either not wanting to or not being able to afford to spend.

Maybe Im just burned out with all these transfer windows and rebuilds and not really getting anywhere with the team itself. This window certainly wont go down as a huge culture shift or rebuild. With or without Amrabat its hardly top tier players we are signing and we are still saddled with players who should have been jetisoned long ago.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The whole FFP excuse smells like BS to me from the Glazers when you see what Chelsea have been doing for the past two windows.

Perhaps it is true but still smells well fishy to me and a media smoke screen for either not wanting to or not being able to afford to spend.

Maybe Im just burned out with all these transfer windows and rebuilds and not really getting anywhere with the team itself. This window certainly wont go down as a huge culture shift or rebuild. With or without Amrabat its hardly top tier players we are signing and we are still saddled with players who should have been jetisoned long ago.

People have run the numbers. It's true. That doesn't mean they'd want to spend that much.

Chelsea is doing stuff thanks to Saudi Arabia and the kind of stuff that will catch up to them when a lot of the contracts don't work out.

 

[BlackFox]

People have run the numbers. It's true. That doesn't mean they'd want to spend that much.

Chelsea is doing stuff thanks to Saudi Arabia and the kind of stuff that will catch up to them when a lot of the contracts don't work out.

Fair enough then, it just goes to prove I guess how terrible we are at selling and moving on players to free up room for FFP. Tying our own hands behind are backs with the contracts we have been throwing out the past 10 years and now we are paying for that. Sigh.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Fair enough then, it just goes to prove I guess how terrible we are at selling and moving on players to free up room for FFP. Tying our own hands behind are backs with the contracts we have been throwing out the past 10 years and now we are paying for that. Sigh.

Yep. We overpay for players and can't sell worth a damn. It's painful.

 

[Iceman]

The whole FFP excuse smells like BS to me from the Glazers when you see what Chelsea have been doing for the past two windows.

Perhaps it is true but still smells well fishy to me and a media smoke screen for either not wanting to or not being able to afford to spend.

Maybe Im just burned out with all these transfer windows and rebuilds and not really getting anywhere with the team itself. This window certainly wont go down as a huge culture shift or rebuild. With or without Amrabat it’s hardly top tier players we are signing and we are still saddled with players who should have been jetisoned long ago.

Chelsea used the super-long contract thing which is now not allowed anymore. That means only 1/8 of some of those costs show up as a FFP entry each year. It’s a huge gamble as they will limit their future spend even before spending a penny in those years with this technique - a little like Barcelona who gambled on doing well now to support their future (and many championship clubs gambling everything to get into the PL).

Also they’ve made a lot from incoming sales, and the likes of Mount who were never bought go through as 100% profit in year 1 Vs the incoming player’s 1/8 costs.

Unless they can continue to sell big and start making profits on more sales and get back into the CL, they could get stuffed if those on the longer contracts don’t work out.

 

[Iceman]

Man City agree £47.3m Nunes deal with Wolves

How good is this guy? I haven’t seen enough of him to say.

 

[Iceman]

Huh? Everton won a match? It was only against bottom club of the fourth tier of English football Doncaster Rovers and they needed a last minute goal to edge the win, but still…

 

[BlackFox]

Champions League draw today.

England squad announced.

Last 48 hours of the transfer window, probably going to be a few things to talk about the next couple of days.

 

[Iceman]

Newcastle vs Manchester City drawn for the Carabao Cup. That’s one trophy out the way, unless we play a whole lot better than the last couple of games.

 

[Iceman]

Champions League draw today.

England squad announced.

Last 48 hours of the transfer window, probably going to be a few things to talk about the next couple of days.

Pretty exciting to see who we will draw in our first CL for so many years. I don’t care about big names, would rather get them later. Just give me a draw we have a shot of getting out of please.

Deadline Day coming up for all the disorganised clubs lol.

 

[Hunter Rider]

He’s one of the few players who is available for a fair price. Dumb to quibble on a player where you need that position filled quite urgently and can easily afford the asking price.

It's embarrassing **** from the club as per usual under these poisonous owners.

Aren't we ****ed because of FFP? If we had off loaded Maguire or Mctominay weeks ago when West Ham were keen I feel like a CM would already have been through the door.

We've sold Henderson, Fred and Elanga for a total of at least £40M as well as bit for Telles, we should be able to afford Amrabat, the Glazers are next level penny pinching.

It increasingly does sound like a mess, and I thought it was midfield and upfront (depending if Hojlund hits the ground running or shows nerves) that would be the issue. Looks like it’s defence and GK too!

Feels like Arteta and ETH have a bet or forfeit going on who can get away with this double no.10 plus 2 wingers and striker combo longest. That’s also why getting Amrabat in is important IMO as he’s likely the best of that type of player you’re likely to be able to land in these next few days and if/when ETH’s experiment collapses, he can slot Amrabat in there alongside Casemiro to shore things up.

Good summary of your midfield. It will be interesting to see what happens when this lineup comes up against an energetic, intense midfield with stamina, made up of all players playing in their best positions.

Everything is a mess right now, the defensive issues are just unfortunate but the rest is incompetence all over the shop.

Agreed, I think some United fans have built up Amrabat way too much but he's decent enough to do a job, he's good on the ball and covers the ground, and unlike Eriksen and Mount he's an actual central midfielder.

We're going to struggle in those type of games as we don't have the forward line to compensate for it and relieve the pressure.

Man City agree £47.3m Nunes deal with Wolves

How good is this guy? I haven’t seen enough of him to say.

He's talented, I'd have preferred him to Mount and he was a player I hoped we'd look at next summer.

 

[Iceman]

Maguire and Henderson in England squad. ie doesn’t matter if you don’t play at all or go to a low intensity retirement league, you’re still ready and good enough for World and Euro finals.

Levi Colwill and Nketiah get their first call ups.

 

[BlackFox]

Maguire and Henderson in England squad. ie doesn’t matter if you don’t play at all or go to a low intensity retirement league, you’re still ready and good enough for World and Euro finals.

Levi Colwill and Nketiah get their first call ups.

Maguire doenst play and Henderson plays in the Saudi League.

And we wonder why England doesnt win anything.

No Ward-Prowse either

 

[Hunter Rider]

Maguire and Henderson in England squad. ie doesn’t matter if you don’t play at all or go to a low intensity retirement league, you’re still ready and good enough for World and Euro finals.

Levi Colwill and Nketiah get their first call ups.

Southgate is a bum, a spineless manager who'll waste a very talented generation of England players.

 

[Iceman]

It's embarrassing **** from the club as per usual under these poisonous owners.




We've sold Henderson, Fred and Elanga for a total of at least £40M as well as bit for Telles, we should be able to afford Amrabat, the Glazers are next level penny pinching.




Everything is a mess right now, the defensive issues are just unfortunate but the rest is incompetence all over the shop.

Agreed, I think some United fans have built up Amrabat way too much but he's decent enough to do a job, he's good on the ball and covers the ground, and unlike Eriksen and Mount he's an actual central midfielder.

We're going to struggle in those type of games as we don't have the forward line to compensate for it and relieve the pressure.




He's talented, I'd have preferred him to Mount and he was a player I hoped we'd look at next summer.

So maybe the loan deal for Amrabat is being proposed to help Utd with this season’s FFP.

A ton of issues facing Utd, the bookies seem to still have Utd as finishing 4th but seems challenging (oh wait finally odds now same as Newcastle for 4th).

I think Amrabat is a necessary purchase at this point, and he may improve over time being thrown in at the deep end. He doesn’t lack for desire or physicality at least.

Nunes has been under my radar for some reason. Pep seems to really rate him.

 

[Iceman]

Maguire doenst play and Henderson plays in the Saudi League.

And we wonder why England doesnt win anything.

No Ward-Prowse either

JWP should be starting alongside Rice IMO if Bellingham is going to play further forward. Phillips not playing and Henderson in Saudi should rule them out to a competent manager. I bet other countries don’t field players in these situations.