The Footie Thread

[fundy]

Beep, beep, beep.....opinion reversing......beep,beeep,beeeeeeepppppppp

As stuey said we've all been guilty of pre or early season optimism. Our fans felt for years that a certain 1 or 2 signings were the final pieces of the jigsaw and despite it being peddled every year by man U fans we didnt often say "this is our year".

Lets face it a good number of you thought:-

Varane and mcGuire will be our great partnership for the next 4-5 years
AWB is the best right back in the league
We have a great defence.....probably the best.
Ronaldo will get 40-50 goals
Sancho will get 15-25 and set up the same
Bruno will score and assist even more than he had already
Pogba will finally turn the 1 in 10 form into 8 in 10
Henderson/De gea will spur each other on

Whereas

Varane seems AWOL, Mcguire is on the MOTD highlights every week but for bad reasons
AWB, now stands for Any (W)One But in a lot of man U fans eyes now
Great defence - how is that goal difference going?
Ronaldo has held his own up at times, but have United lost even more with him in the team?
Sancho - frozen out virtually, played out of position. I would definitely not write him off, but he needs to be picked back off, dusted off then go again next season.
Bruno - I dont think the stats was his true self in his first year due to the unbelievable amount of pens you got. The last 6 months are also not a true reflection of him, but he needs to be more consistent again and stop the childish strop body language and get on with his game.
Pogba - best rid.
I think man u are at a crossroads with regards to their keeper.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face.

Man u should have had more than enough to finish above Spurs, Arsenal and West ham, and if half of the optimistic points above would have happened been in and around Chelsea, but when a few things have gone wrong, the lack of leadership, togetherness and bloody well fight has seen even more go wrong, than less.

Its like Liverpool fans have forgotten their time in the wilderness, youd have thought if any set of fans would understand....................

 

[Tashyboy]

Watching the Burnley v Southampton match and they've had a break in the match so that those players who are observing Ramadan can take on some calories after fasting from sunrise to sunset. I've no problem with that as an idea but the break is after 40 minutes of the first half. Would it have made that much of a difference for them to wait for 5 minutes until half time? I could understand it if the break had been after 20 or 25 minutes but just seems a bit strange with only 5 minutes left to play in the half.

Am sure I read something the other day where this was done for the first time on the continent over the weekend.

 

[PJ87]

Its like Liverpool fans have forgotten their time in the wilderness, youd have thought if any set of fans would understand....................

Yet they wonder why the country Unites in their hatred of them

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Yet they wonder why the country Unites in their hatred of them

There is always someone who wants to drag it down a level - strange that it seems to be you a lot ?

If anyone “hates” someone because of who they support that says more about their level of bitterness more than anything else

 

[Junior]

wtf have they been doing for the last decade and spending just under a £1bn in the process ?

This has been the essence of the problem. Trying to rebuild by buying several so called "superstars" is not the way to do it. Di Maria, Sanchez, Lukaku, Maguire, Pogba, AWB etc etc. .

What RR (when he goes upstairs) and TH have to do is look at the culture of the squad. Get rid of the arrogance and sign players on character who will play for the shirt. Hopefully they can get rid of the bad eggs who are poisoning the club.

As a fan, it made me so angry listening to Bruno and Lingaard after the Liverpool match saying that they had nothing to play for now this season and that it was a free game as no one expected us to win. Yeah, no one expected us to win but at least so some passion for the shirt you're wearing.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Yet they wonder why the country Unites in their hatred of them

Ha ha I'll give you a clue... All this chat about man United isn't because the country like them. It's because we're all enjoying giving them what they dished out to everyone else whilst they were on top.... A long long time ago it seems. Long may that continue.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

This has been the essence of the problem. Trying to rebuild by buying several so called "superstars" is not the way to do it. Di Maria, Sanchez, Lukaku, Maguire, Pogba, AWB etc etc. .

What RR (when he goes upstairs) and TH have to do is look at the culture of the squad. Get rid of the arrogance and sign players on character who will play for the shirt. Hopefully they can get rid of the bad eggs who are poisoning the club.

As a fan, it made me so angry listening to Bruno and Lingaard after the Liverpool match saying that they had nothing to play for now this season and that it was a free game as no one expected us to win. Yeah, no one expected us to win but at least so some passion for the shirt you're wearing.

It was a very strange comment and as a fan must have been livid to hear them say it- there is always the shirt to play for - the badge , and even then they have CL football to play for - could just see Keane and Neville’s face when they said it.

 

[Pin-seeker]

Its like Liverpool fans have forgotten their time in the wilderness, youd have thought if any set of fans would understand....................

I remember last season when one of them forgot his log in details on here when “operation unbearable” didn’t go to plan.

 

[Junior]

Beep, beep, beep.....opinion reversing......beep,beeep,beeeeeeepppppppp

As stuey said we've all been guilty of pre or early season optimism. Our fans felt for years that a certain 1 or 2 signings were the final pieces of the jigsaw and despite it being peddled every year by man U fans we didnt often say "this is our year".

Lets face it a good number of you thought:-

Varane and mcGuire will be our great partnership for the next 4-5 years
AWB is the best right back in the league
We have a great defence.....probably the best.
Ronaldo will get 40-50 goals
Sancho will get 15-25 and set up the same
Bruno will score and assist even more than he had already
Pogba will finally turn the 1 in 10 form into 8 in 10
Henderson/De gea will spur each other on

Whereas

Varane seems AWOL, Mcguire is on the MOTD highlights every week but for bad reasons
AWB, now stands for Any (W)One But in a lot of man U fans eyes now
Great defence - how is that goal difference going?
Ronaldo has held his own up at times, but have United lost even more with him in the team?
Sancho - frozen out virtually, played out of position. I would definitely not write him off, but he needs to be picked back off, dusted off then go again next season.
Bruno - I dont think the stats was his true self in his first year due to the unbelievable amount of pens you got. The last 6 months are also not a true reflection of him, but he needs to be more consistent again and stop the childish strop body language and get on with his game.
Pogba - best rid.
I think man u are at a crossroads with regards to their keeper.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they're punched in the face.

Man u should have had more than enough to finish above Spurs, Arsenal and West ham, and if half of the optimistic points above would have happened been in and around Chelsea, but when a few things have gone wrong, the lack of leadership, togetherness and bloody well fight has seen even more go wrong, than less.

DeGea, Varane , Bailly , Telles, Dalot (even Shaw?) I would keep. Agree with Sancho but the rest needs a shake up. Fernandes when he first signed was immense and carried us to top 4 on his own, so I'd keep him as well in the hope that without Pogba he can come to the fore again.

 

[Foxholer]

So much of managing top sides is about motivation - and that seems to be what is lacking in ManU curently. They don't seem to be prepared to 'fight for the shirt'. I don't see it improving - possibly getting worse even - until the 'new' manager arrives and that's a long time in Football terms!

 

[PJ87]

Ha ha I'll give you a clue... All this chat about man United isn't because the country like them. It's because we're all enjoying giving them what they dished out to everyone else whilst they were on top.... A long long time ago it seems. Long may that continue.

To be fair ask majority of fans up and down the country whilst United fans were annoying .. Liverpool fans are unbearable. Great city, great team, beautiful football, manager who is a character.. just switch the fans .

 

[Liverbirdie]

Its like Liverpool fans have forgotten their time in the wilderness, youd have thought if any set of fans would understand....................

Exactly, we can see the signs.

That said, 100% of clubs would kill for our wilderness years 4 league cups, 3 FA cups, 1 UEFA and 2 European cups compared to what in man U, Chelsea, City and even Arsenal's poor decades.

 

[Liverbirdie]

DeGea, Varane , Bailly , Telles, Dalot (even Shaw?) I would keep. Agree with Sancho but the rest needs a shake up. Fernandes when he first signed was immense and carried us to top 4 on his own, so I'd keep him as well in the hope that without Pogba he can come to the fore again.

You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, and identifying who to get rid of, who to give a 2nd (3rd) chance to and who to keep is going to be a hard task. Who out of the current crop, or coming through may suit a certain formation and who wont.

2 of the biggest cliches (and my pet hates) are "just throw the kids in they can't do any worse" and "I'm willing to go down (or finish mid table) for a bit to rebuild".

Maybe ok for Everton, Leeds, Newcastle but not for a United or a Liverpool. The media glare and fan reaction just wont cut it, even though a lot say they will be patient enough, whereas when it comes down to it they wont. Ok, in the bad years they wont expect instant success, but expect a modicum of it, or finishing 2nd or 3rd is expected after 2-3 years. Its in our DNA as a club and a fan base, for us and you, mate.

City and Liverpool playing other-worldly football only makes it harder to bear and the gap seem even worse. God knows what we would be like if it was United and Everton getting 95+ points totals and winning trophies together if we were on a down turn.

Man U have always had the biggest profile in British football, normally always paid the top wages, had the marquee signings, biggest ground etc etc, but with that comes the downsides when it goes t### up. You can't escape social media, the players get criticism 24/7, former players in the media hark back to happier times and slag off the current bunch..... etc

Our media profile is only second to yours, but we get a little bit more grace. Our fans also dont expect marquee signings and dont laud our players as Gods as much as your fan base do, I feel. We elevate our managers above all players and always have done, and it may be why even Evans, Houllier, Rodgers, benitez were all given 3-5 years in the main to get our Holy Grail again. I dont think your fan base will give that time whilst us and City are at the top, unless its a former player.

Start signing players based on character, will to win and ability rather than twitter followers, shirt sales and marketing ability would be a massive way forward.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Its like Liverpool fans have forgotten their time in the wilderness, youd have thought if any set of fans would understand....................

If only i could forget the Hodgson months

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Yet they wonder why the country Unites in their hatred of them

Hahaha Knowing beauts like you makes it even more sweeter when we're successful. The cherry on the cake.

 

[Junior]

You can't throw the baby out with the bathwater, and identifying who to get rid of, who to give a 2nd (3rd) chance to and who to keep is going to be a hard task. Who out of the current crop, or coming through may suit a certain formation and who wont.

2 of the biggest cliches (and my pet hates) are "just throw the kids in they can't do any worse" and "I'm willing to go down (or finish mid table) for a bit to rebuild".

Maybe ok for Everton, Leeds, Newcastle but not for a United or a Liverpool. The media glare and fan reaction just wont cut it, even though a lot say they will be patient enough, whereas when it comes down to it they wont. Ok, in the bad years they wont expect instant success, but expect a modicum of it, or finishing 2nd or 3rd is expected after 2-3 years. Its in our DNA as a club and a fan base, for us and you, mate.

City and Liverpool playing other-worldly football only makes it harder to bear and the gap seem even worse. God knows what we would be like if it was United and Everton getting 95+ points totals and winning trophies together if we were on a down turn.

Man U have always had the biggest profile in British football, normally always paid the top wages, had the marquee signings, biggest ground etc etc, but with that comes the downsides when it goes t### up. You can't escape social media, the players get criticism 24/7, former players in the media hark back to happier times and slag off the current bunch..... etc

Our media profile is only second to yours, but we get a little bit more grace. Our fans also dont expect marquee signings and dont laud our players as Gods as much as your fan base do, I feel. We elevate our managers above all players and always have done, and it may be why even Evans, Houllier, Rodgers, benitez were all given 3-5 years in the main to get our Holy Grail again. I dont think your fan base will give that time whilst us and City are at the top, unless its a former player.

Start signing players based on character, will to win and ability rather than twitter followers, shirt sales and marketing ability would be a massive way forward.

Agree, you need a balance and bringing through young players is one thing, but a Phil Foden doesn't come along very often. You need a core of senior players who lead by example and not by tik tok dances.

 

[Tashyboy]

Agree, you need a balance and bringing through young players is one thing, but a Phil Foden doesn't come along very often. You need a core of senior players who lead by example and not by tik tok dances.

Re Foden, it was like buses. 2 came along together. Him and Sancho. They really were like two peas in a pod. Both were offered a similar contract. Foden stayed and Sancho decided to move on.He wanted more brass for being a fringe player. He went onto Dortmund and had a fantastic career there. Foden stayed and learned his trade with both Silvas, KDB, Aguero etc etc. There were times when Sancho was on fire and folk questioned why Foden was happy being a fringe player. Pep did to Foden what Fegison did to some of his young players, he protected them. Now Foden is on fire and Sancho is going backwards. Sancho needs a manager who is going to tell him exactly what he wants and what system he is going to play and expect from him. I don’t think Utd have had a manager for 10 years that has helped to develop a young player. Rashford being a classic example

 

[Deleted member 1740]

Agree, you need a balance and bringing through young players is one thing, but a Phil Foden doesn't come along very often. You need a core of senior players who lead by example and not by tik tok dances.

???

 

[Swingalot]

To be fair ask majority of fans up and down the country whilst United fans were annoying .. Liverpool fans are unbearable. Great city, great team, beautiful football, manager who is a character.. just switch the fans .

Not sure I agree with this. Whoever is at the top is always shot at in football, that's just life, but I'm.enjoying Uniteds struggles far more than Liverpools when they went through a similar patch... and remember United have a long way to fall before they reach the levels Liverpool went to in regards standard of playing squad. I remember Liverpool signing Jimmy Carter in the 90s and my mate who follows Millwall who they bought him from was so much in shock he actually travelled up to Anfield to watch him on his debut as he would not believe it was the same Jimmy Carter ??

When it comes to arrogance, influencing and intimidating officials, tolerating players who were at times out of control, attractung and accepting support from all over the south east, spinning stories to distract people from the truth and using money and power to dominate, you will have to do well to persuade me it is not United who I dislike the most of the top sides in this country .

 

[chrisd]

Not sure I agree with this. Whoever is at the top is always shot at in football, that's just life, but I'm.enjoying Uniteds struggles far more than Liverpools when they went through a similar patch... and remember United have a long way to fall before they reach the levels Liverpool went to in regards standard of playing squad. I remember Liverpool signing Jimmy Carter in the 90s and my mate who follows Millwall who they bought him from was so much in shock he actually travelled up to Anfield to watch him on his debut as he would not believe it was the same Jimmy Carter ??

When it comes to arrogance, influencing and intimidating officials, tolerating players who were at times out of control, attractung and accepting support from all over the south east, spinning stories to distract people from the truth and using money and power to dominate, you will have to do well to persuade me it is not United who I dislike the most of the top sides in this country .

I don't need persuading- boy do I dislike United !

( but I think all Eagles fans do )