We still had a nucleus of a top 7-8 side under Rodgers (even with Suarez , Stevie , Sterling gone).
Ten Hag right now has to figure out how to integrate players signed under 5 previous managers (not sure if there are any Moyes remnants left).
If Rodgers is sacked by Leicester , they can just appoint someone who coaches a similar style of play and get competitive.
Same doesn’t hold for Man Utd.
In Klopp’s first press conference he spoke about being attracted to the job by the squad and being convinced this was an excellent crop of players with lots of talent.
A few of seasons later they were mostly all gone.
Agreed. Klopp didn’t sign too many in the first window (Jan window) though. He did give chances to the existing guys
Also, technically they could have a lot of talent but not be able to use it…
Good piece in the Athletic about the failure in thinking over the Ronaldo acquisition. The piece is paywalled, but I’ve quoted the most damning paragraph
United, realistically, pounced for Ronaldo because they couldn’t stand to see a club legend join City. Like their faith in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was about the brand rather than the team’s tactical requirements. Sir Alex Ferguson got involved. Rio Ferdinand claimed credit. United had essentially become an old boys club. Ronaldo’s signing delighted most fans, and ultimately that’s good enough for those in charge.
They didn’t need an article on athletic for that , plenty of us stated the same when Ronaldo came back to United
The problem is City were never seriously in for him.
I get the impression someone from City leaked it to the media as a joke, the media bought it and went public, Utd shat themselves thinking they couldn’t allow him to join City so went balls deep to get him when they likely never needed to.
Not for footballing purposes. City needed Ronaldo as a brand to legitimise them.
this was my suspicion as well. In my thinking it was more of a head fake to Spurs regarding Kane, and the impact it had on Utd shitting themselves was just a happy accident.
Freed link: archive.ph
Sorry don’t know much about Dybala except that he was decent for Juve. Why is he a toxic bloke? What has he done?
I don’t know where the comment that he’s toxic came from, but as a footballer he doesn’t make sense for them. Put simply, he hasnt performed like a top player since 2018. There are real extenuating circumstances for that - a change in shape to accommodate Ronaldo that directly impacted him, experiment with Sarri ball, injury. But that is the sort of record that should see him have to go down a level, not get a lateral move to another club with aspirations of winning stuff (no matter how deluded those might be)
But then you’ve also got the question of what his best role is. He’s typically played his best football behind a more traditional number 9 - Belotti at Palermo and Higuain at Juve. Assuming Ronaldo goes, Utd dont have a striker and are already well stocked in players who are best in that #10 type role. Trying to figure out how to fit in the numerous players they have who like to take up those positions is one of the things that has defined their last 3 seasons. Sure, he can move around a little bit to play other roles, but asking him to do that is what started his drop in performances at Juve.
Manchester United have been asked to pay combined transfer fees of £106m in order to sign Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez, 24, and Brazil winger Antony, 22, from Ajax. (Daily Record)
Ajax being the feared European powerhouse that dominates the CL. That’s the team who’s players you need.
Chelsea are apparently also interested in Frenkie now.
Ronaldo should pay half the price for United to get Frenkie so he can get his move to Chelsea.
Surely Moyes wasn’t 5 managers ago? 
Dutch newspapers report that United have offered the asking price of €50m for Martinéz.
The guy is a 1.75m short CB and a loose cannon, I love it 
Also reports that they are interested in Brian Brobbey.
I’d rather Frenkie went to United. Chelsea are more of a threat to us
