Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid) is on its way too.
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Think about Mata, poor guy (not really). Either way it’s hard not to think that he f**ked his career moving to United. I know he was sitting on the bench under Jose but best I understood he was the one who agitated to leave. Would’ve won the League the next year with Mourinho and perhaps under Conte as well, but instead he’s won the grand total of a League Cup, Europa League, and F.A. Cup (Community Shield is NOT a trophy!).
So United sign Sancho and could be getting Varane at the same time… How soon before they wheel out the ol “Transfer window cup” into view and every pundit has us finishing outside the top 4 because Leicester and United have improved etc etc…
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I’ll take the Varane on show against the Swiss.
But yeah to be honest I’m only interested in what we do, I still feel we have the best “team” and the best manager.
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Centre midfield is brilliant, verging on world class when all fit. Sadly, Henderson isn’t getting any younger as his thinning hair proves. We need to swap Naby or Ox for a young healthy talent who can learn from our current masters. Looking at you Ribena boy 
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Pogba is the sort of player that will look great when the team is flying ( not necessarily flying because of him) but will down tools the second things aren’t going perfectly. Under no circumstances would I want a player like him at our club. And it’s why I’m happy to see him at United.
I’m yet to see United get through a season without a drop in form. When that happens, Pogba and his agent will be on the phone stirring up trouble and causing disharmony among the playing group. Long may it continue.
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I was just listening to Neil Atkinson’s take on Utd on the Anfield Wrap, and I think he’s right. Where the league is now, to win it you need to be able to look like you’re capable of breaking 100 points. Not that the league will need 100 points to win it (City only got 86) but you need to look like, if you need to and there is a challenger pushing you all the way, you can hit that kind of run.
Man City and Liverpool both have shown that they can do that. Both have now had season where they could have done 100 points if needed.
Utd simply don’t look like they can get 100 points. They don’t look a side that could put that kind of run together if necessary. Sancho does not change that. In fact, the main reason why they can’t if because of the manager.
you reckon he’ll end up at Celtic as well?
Pogba is the type of player who can pull something out of nothing whatever the match situation. Why he doesn’t do it often for Manure is what I’m happy about.
Really I don’t know him well enough however I question the motives of him returning to Manure and also Manures motives for getting him back. I always felt he wouldn’t be happy there and i stand by that unless someone comes up to convince me otherwise. (We have to consider where he came from, an Italian club).
Every team goes through form fluctuations there influence depends on how long they last. Man Shitty and we do. Man Shitty often have an big drop around mid season. The thing is you need, not just a team, a squad of players. We didn’t have that last season and look what happened. Manure haven’t had a Squad or a manager for a while and long may it last but let’s not say it’s just down to Pogba and say he hasn’t the mentality for it when he might do in the right settings. I just can not say.
One thing I am sure of is the quality Pogba can offer, I also realise he has his weaknesses. I don’t think he’s made for our squad and I don’t think that has anything to do with what I’ve said. I was just discussing hypotheticals and didn’t think I required a lesson. Quite surprise in fact by your reply which isn’t really on subjet.
I dont get the Rice love. I view these signings as what offers them more of a value add than what they already have, and don’t see he moves the needle that much over McTominay.
Sancho, I dont think is as good as some others have claimed (i.e. one level below Mbappe), but think he moves the needle considerably on what they can do up front. Cavani is exceptional but old, and Rashford and Greenwood both have reputations beyond what they’ve delivered. You look beyond those guys and its pish.
However, I think the big issue Utd have to solve is in the middle of the park. They simply use the ball poorly. Pogba takes too much time off to be the second man in a double pivot or the third man in a 3 containing a McTominay and Fred. Fernandes I think likewise, and if not for the pens, many of which were cheaply “earned” would not be looked at as anywhere near the solution for their creative problems. I think with a positionally responsible footballer in midfield who likes getting on the ball and making passes (Scholes) you could ride either of those, but I dont think you can make a top team without one. Utd have one in the little Dutch lad, but they’ve decided they dont like him.
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I’m not entirely convinced the requirements of winning the league have changed that much over the most recent years. I truly believe that tussle we had with City was a flash in the pan - two teams who both coincidently hit absolute peak form at the same time and broke records. I don’t see City (or us) coming too close to the 100 point mark again. We will see what we always see where the winners are on the high 80’s or low 90’s then an occasional high peak, just like Chelsea in 04/05.
Could this United team reach a high 80’s/low 90’s points total? They possibly could. But they have never shown the consistency under Gollum to not have a bad period each year where the opportunity is lost.
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That’s not his point though. The point is that 100 point seasons might be rare, but the consistent thing is that the teams who win it look like if they need to they could do a 100 point season. They might not need to, and they probably won’t. But if they are seriously pushed, that’s the kind of run they can go on.
Look at the last five seasons.
- Chelsea with the league with 93 points
- City win a league with 101 points.
- City follow it up with 98 points, and we get 97.
- We then knock out 99, with City being a distant second
- City then win the league with a mid eighties total.
I think the league is around ninety points, but with the capacity to do more if necessary.
Even as City win it on 86 points, they go 15 on the spin and are unbeaten in 19. That’s the kind of form that makes the rest of the league just give up. When we won the league, it’s hard not to accept that by the end of the season we’d mentally and physically taken our foot off the gas. We should have done 105 points.
You can argue it’s exceptionally hard to get 100 points, because to get within striking distance of that, you have to go at such a pace you probably have the title wrapped up long before then.
Manchester Utd look like a team that, with a fair wind and if everything goes for them, could knock 80-85 points. We can say that because that’s pretty much what happened last season (although they got 74). They just don’t have the mindset or mentally to push beyond that. For that to translate into a league title they would need about three other teams to have, by their standards, horror seasons.
The case in point is their visit to Anfield last season. They looked like City’s closest challenger. They weren’t that far behind City, and we were in the depths of a terrible run of form. They set up and played for a draw. That comes from the manager, and is, in a nutshell, why they won’t win the league under him.
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From the Sancho fee City will earn €14m and Watford €2,5m.
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And yet City haven’t beaten us at Anfield in all this time of record breaking points totals**. Were they playing for a draw? My recollection is that they always played conservatively there to not lose. So IMO even when they were almost invincible they managed their games to take something at Anfield rather than inflict blunt force trauma on us.
Btw, I still don’t agree with the premise, and disagreeing on this is ok. I think every coach in world football does their best from the outset to get the best result they think they are capable of. For City and United, that’s likely playing for a draw at Anfield. Just as it would be for the bottom half of the league. I don’t believe in the idea that teams ‘have some left in the tank’ in case a team challenges them. If anything, I’d imagine being challenged just adds pressure to the playing group regardless of whether that’s us ,City or United.
**I refuse to include the pandemic results as that’s playing at the Anfield ground . Not playing at Anfield
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City tried to play their normal game against us, got their fingers burnt and Pep decided to be more pragmatic against us.
OGS sets his team up on the counter against every team. That’s why they won’t win the league with him as manager. Give manure’s squad to Klopp or Pep and I reckon they would have won the league.
I also don’t think manure have it in them to go on a long winning streak, grinding out the results like City or LFC.
My view is it’s down to the spine of your team, City for years has had the best in the league from keeper through to striker… Ederson → Kompany (Dias) → Fernadinho → De Bruyne → Aguero… Consistent high level performers week in week out… We top class players around contributing as well, but that immensly strong core.
We built the same… Alisson → Van Dijk → Fabinho → Henderson → Salah…
I don’t see that at Utd, still not got a top class keeper or stability there… Maguire is a good defender but nothing more… Central midfield they have no rock to depend on… Up front they swap and change, Cavani is too old and can’t be relied on. Titles are won based on a rock solid spine and then your other players who contribute. Utd are miles away from the City/Liverpool spine’s.
I actually think Chelsea are the ones who will challenge more next season… Tuchel is a good manager, and is building a very solid core, all depends if he gets the striker he wants or not how close they will get.
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That would be a worrying signing and a signal that they have finally learned their lesson by switching from politically influenced big name signings to highest rated young players out there.
I’m not going to lie, I’m going to be absolutely furious if United get Camavinga for £30m or less, and we didn’t even challenge their bid.
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