Teams selling players is such an unrealistic prospect is it. :rolleyes: Get over what happened on an Internet forum years ago.
That would be a sensible idea, next appointment would be under less pressure in the Europa League and battling from mid table.
What happened years ago, pal?
That scenario didn’t do the previous manager any harm…
[quote=“dodgy-keeper, post: 869729, member: 1552”]In for a long season.
It’s a strange one - Fergie left a title winning squad but at the same time left a huge amount of dross, particularly in midfield. Probably testament to his managerial genius that he won the league so convincingly.
Major clear-out needed. Feel a bit sorry for Moyes, Fergie’s successor was always on to a loser. Anderson, Young, Welbeck etc - it’ll be hard to get rid of them with the wages they are on too. One major negative against Moyes is the signing of Fellaini - a panic buy for a £27m Carlton Palmer.
The real damage was done in the summer with the embarrassing transfer activity, paying dearly for it now. Anyway been spoilt over the last decades, twenty league titles was only a pipe dream in 1990.[/quote]
I’m unconvinced by Moyes, and he was never fully convincing in his Everton job either, but he hasn’t been an unmitigated disaster.
It was clear to everyone that Ferguson left behind a shambles of a squad. Not just that, but his one man operation that saw him get so much credit for refusing all this Director of Football modern nonsense meant that his goals were short-term and the club had no targets identified, much less lined up, when Moyes took over. That’s an embarrassing situation for a major global organisation but English football still bizarrely prides itself on giving a manager sole power over deciding the medium term strategy of a club.
Moyes can certainly be criticised for the Fellaini signing but he’s not the only problem, and they’d be in as big a mess whether they bought him or not. He’s managed to qualify easily from a relatively tough European group (helped by Real Sociedad not taking part) and the squad is a distance behind Man City or Chelsea or Arsenal in terms of talent.
Robin Van Persie has handed in a transfer request.
You’ll need a better source than Mark Lawrenson mate :rolleyes:
He mentioned on The Last Word that he had “heard” that RVP may have handed in a transfer request last Tuesday
Off to City it appears.
Aguero going the other way I hear.
This…, i dunno what it is but it belongs here. Moyes accent is terrible.
Unfair on Evans there @Horsebox
He certainly doesn’t deserve to be bracketed with muck like Anderson and Young.
He should be an automatic starter now, class defender even if he throws in the odd shocker every now and again. Chopping and changing the centre halves has led to a complete lack of stability this season (admittedly the Grand Canyon sized hole in midfield in front of them has not helped either). Ferdinand has been a great player but his legs are going/gone. Vidic has been a great player too but he has looked a bit shot in recent games. Think Moyes needs to bite the bullet and go with two from Evans, Smalling and Jones.
The midfield has got steadily worse since 2009. A 40 year old should not be playing 90 minutes in a must win league game. Even at this early stage Fellaini looks like another Birtles. Not dominated in midfield against one team in the league so far this season.
Moyes should be given the season, this season was always going to be a poor one. May as well let him weed out the deadwood and mould the squad. To be fair after the last two decades a slump is a bit overdue. Got to 20 anyway. 
Mark Lawrenson is a cunt.
That would be a truly shocking deal for City. Hard to see how a Club of City’s means would do that.
[quote=“dodgy-keeper, post: 870701, member: 1552”]Unfair on Evans there @Horsebox
He certainly doesn’t deserve to be bracketed with muck like Anderson and Young.
He should be an automatic starter now, class defender even if he throws in the odd shocker every now and again. Chopping and changing the centre halves has led to a complete lack of stability this season (admittedly the Grand Canyon sized hole in midfield in front of them has not helped either). Ferdinand has been a great player but his legs are going/gone. Vidic has been a great player too but he has looked a bit shot in recent games. Think Moyes needs to bite the bullet and go with two from Evans, Smalling and Jones.
The midfield has got steadily worse since 2009. A 40 year old should not be playing 90 minutes in a must win league game. Even at this early stage Fellaini looks like another Birtles. Not dominated in midfield against one team in the league so far this season.
Moyes should be given the season, this season was always going to be a poor one. May as well let him weed out the deadwood and mould the squad. To be fair after the last two decades a slump is a bit overdue. Got to 20 anyway.
Mark Lawrenson is a cunt.[/quote]
Ferdinand and Vidic are finished, mate. Might have been a bit harsh on Evans but you won’t win a CL with him as centre half. United need an entire new starting midfield 4, at least 1 new centre half, a left back and a striker over the next 12 to 18 months. Moyes has a 6 year contract so give him a year at least alright. The ballsy decision would be to get rid of him in the summer though. He is not the right man for the job so the sooner United bite the bullet, the better. The alternative is giving him £100m to spend and see how he does-his first £28m splurge wouldn’t indicate that a chequebook is going to be the answer with him.
Me neither-I just made that up.
Hope he doesn’t go for Baines in January, decent but not much better than Evra if at all.
Don’t think the overhaul needed is as drastic as some suggest - the same squad won the league by 11 points last May.
- Class 'keeper.
- Defenders more than adequate.
- 2 of the best strikers in the league.
- Januzaj a smashing prospect. The likes of Cleverley and Valencia are perfectly acceptable as squad players.
Lack real top drawer quality in central midfield and in fairness by attempting to sign Fabregas Moyes seems to acknowledge how bad things are in there. Would be madness to sack him after a few months imo, deserves two seasons at least.
Mourinho was made for United, he would have had the bollocks to deal with Fergie’s shadow but now Moyes is in he deserves a fair crack at it.
Seemed made up alright
[quote=“dodgy-keeper, post: 870712, member: 1552”]Hope he doesn’t go for Baines in January, decent but not much better than Evra if at all.
Don’t think the overhaul needed is as drastic as some suggest - the same squad won the league by 11 points last May.
- Class 'keeper.
- Defenders more than adequate.
- 2 of the best strikers in the league.
- Januzaj a smashing prospect. The likes of Cleverley and Valencia are perfectly acceptable as squad players.
Lack real top drawer quality in central midfield and in fairness by attempting to sign Fabregas Moyes seems to acknowledge how bad things are in there. Would be madness to sack him after a few months imo, deserves two seasons at least.
Mourinho was made for United, he would have had the bollocks to deal with Fergie’s shadow but now Moyes is in he deserves a fair crack at it.[/quote]
That’s fairly optimistic, buddy. Vidic and Ferdinand are finished at the top level. How do you think Evans and Smalling would fair in a title decider against Aguero and Negredo or a CL match against Madrid? Cleverley is shit. Valencia is decent if he gets some form back but has been fairly kack for the guts of a year now. Januzaj is 18 or 19 and will be shit as often as he will be brilliant for the next 18 months, regardless of how talented he is. RVP back to injured a lot and reportedly wants out. Rooney outstanding so far but is a 4 week layoff away from putting on a stone and going back to being inconsistent and riding grannies. They have to come up with at least £100m in the next 12 months to buy new players and also need to find clubs willing to pay the likes of Nani, Young and Anderson £100k a week to come play for them. They also need to trust that Moyes is canny enough to spend that money well and that he has the charisma and kudos to persuade the best players in the world to come and play for him.
That United team won the league last year because of one man who is no longer there. Moyes has never won a trophy and is now at one of the biggest clubs in the world and expected to challenge/win PL and CL every season. Doomed to failure.
I can be fairly shifty like that if I put my mind to it.
[quote=“dodgy-keeper, post: 870701, member: 1552”]
Mark Lawrenson is a cunt.[/quote]
I think that’s one thing we can all agree on
[quote=“dodgy-keeper, post: 870712, member: 1552”]Hope he doesn’t go for Baines in January, decent but not much better than Evra if at all.
Don’t think the overhaul needed is as drastic as some suggest - the same squad won the league by 11 points last May.
- Class 'keeper.
- Defenders more than adequate.
- 2 of the best strikers in the league.
- Januzaj a smashing prospect. The likes of Cleverley and Valencia are perfectly acceptable as squad players.
Lack real top drawer quality in central midfield and in fairness by attempting to sign Fabregas Moyes seems to acknowledge how bad things are in there. Would be madness to sack him after a few months imo, deserves two seasons at least.
Mourinho was made for United, he would have had the bollocks to deal with Fergie’s shadow but now Moyes is in he deserves a fair crack at it.[/quote]
I’d agree with most of that. I think the biggest problem at the moment is all the chopping and changing. Players need to get a run in the team and get comfortable. Fellaini looks shot on confidence but needs to get used to playing with the same lads around him before we can get a decent call on whether he is cat’s piss or not. The problem is that Moyes has shat himself every time something has gone wrong and tries to go back to an old ferguson team. He uses Giggs more than Fergie did last season it seems.
Personally, I’d go with Vidic and Smalling at the back. Rio is pretty much gone and has been walked by many times this season. I think Smalling is a better fit with Vidic than Evans and needs to have Vidic organise him. Evra and Rafael as full backs but obviously we need to look for a new left full at some stage. Evra has been decent going forward but gets exposed sometimes.
Valencia is just not good enough anymore. It’s infuriating watching him get an initial yard on players but failing to put n a decent cross. As games go on he seems even less sure and often just bashes it off a defender who only has to stand in front of him, and reacts as if it’s surprising when it ricochets back off the defender/him and out for a throw/corner/goal kick.
Our massive problem lies in creation. Something Moyes’ Everton sides often struggled with. Again we need to settle more on a style of play. A shit midfield means we’re more likely to seek wingers but Kagawa needs more possession higher up and players at least attempting to play between the lines as opposed to chasing and having to come in from the wing.
Thank fuck we’ve had Rooney in good form.