This was the summer after Kompany left. They desperately needed a CB as all they had left were Stones, Laporte and Otamendi. After failing to land Maguire, the only one they were credibly linked, they responded by turning Fernandinho into a CB. That suggests that not only did they rate Maguire highly, but they saw no one else in the entire market who could do what they thought Maguire could do. It was an evaluation of him that I didn’t get at the time, and have seen nothing form him at Utd to justify it.
Your point about it being an issue of being homegrown might explain it.
They also had a massive hole in midfield with an aging Fernandinho, but no suitable cover/replacement for him to protect the defence with those snide shitty fouls stopping teams from being able to hit them on the counter
I always saw maguire as being carried by Evans in that Leicester lineup and they’ve improved quite easily defensively by adding soyuncu and fofana to that.
There were some articles albiet unreliable at that time which linked maguire to liverpool as well (if virgil had not come on board)
But as of now , there will be atleast 30 premier league defenders who are better than harry maguire. Impossible on how clubs failed with respect to their scouting there. City dodged a bullet. Man utd took a headshot to their already adled brains
Even Phil Jones had some alright seasons under Ferguson. As did tbe likes of Smalling and Evans. I can’t look at one season of maguire in united where he wasnt a liability.
Maybe, but I was talking about lacking in personnel in a specific position and how their search to fill it seemingly went no further than being priced out of a deal for Maguire.
Also i think where city win is on the package they offer in terms of the wages etc and not just the transfer fee…
A ruben dias wouldn’t have been available for that price had his head not been swayed by the incredible package that city were offering for him. That gives him more impetus to say to his club that city would be the only club he would join.
Ok , English isn’t his first language but he can speak it well enough to be able to convey basic ideas and concepts. The fact that he doesn’t and instead resorts to cliché and idiom in almost every sentence kinda gives the game away.
Listening to him speak is almost as embarrassing as watching them play.
Asked whether he had spoken to the Scot and if he could survive a precarious period like Ferguson did in 1990 before going on to achieve success, Solskjaer said: “Yes, on both accounts.”
Ah, ok - missed the context. But the failure to get cover/replacement for the DM had as much of an impact on their team that season as failing to replace Kompany on the pitch, although losing Kompany’s leadership and influence off the pitch was also a massive hit for them
It’s insane that United dont focus on data. Absolutely insane. It’s not moneyball anymore its the present and future. If united fans are seriously wondering why their team isnt as good as City or Liverpool look no further. FFS Salah wanted to know from Ben Foster which we way he would have dived if Salah had won a penalty. That’s a question that follows from something our data science team would have told Salah.
Lol, I finally read through that Jackson piece in he guardian and its atrocious
It talks about Utd’s CM problem as being one they need to solve. While that is possibly correct it is not correct for the reasons he cites. He seems to put the blame of McFred being so overrun on them, rather than the rest of the side and their manager letting them down and leaving them 2 against 4 or 5.
He then makes a bizarre comment comparing McTominay, Henderson and Rice, showing he doesnt know what any of those players actually do. He claims McT could maybe be their Henderon…the holding mid (WTF) but that would still need a dynamic string puller along side him, and cites Rice. They didnt prioritize him last summer because he is simply a better version of what they already have in McFred and even after buying him theyd still need their string puller.
