Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 26.09.24

Ninthlife

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214223#Comment_123214223

Garnacho or Garnashow as tnt commentator was calling him is a very selfish player and its been evident all season and last. Ignores overlaps, his football intelligence and decision making is awful. Hes young and possibly these habits can be coached out if him but Id question is temperment.

Hes also inclined to take to social media to publicly gripe..not a good sign. Likes to roll about feigning near death when tackles dont even touch him..call me old school but ride the tackle get up and show a bit of steel..get in the defenders head

plenty of players of his ilk maybe not with as much raw talent but maybe better discipline and work rate with less attitude out there..id sell him while his stock is high

As for Onana…find a cheap keeper with solid basics and decent attributes fitting of a keeper. Wasnt there links to a Belgian lad

AidoEirE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214223#Comment_123214223

Zirkzee played well and it was a change for set pieces Amorim had said.

Id agree, Zirkzee played well and is able to link up with players better than Garna, especially when. Down to 10.

That instagram post just screams the wrong mentality to me.

Danye

Those Instagram / Social Media is how it all starts with players these days. A picture speaks a thousand words.

He should have taken the substitution on the chin and have been happy his team won and supported his teammates. Speak to the manager directly in the coming days if you have an issue.

Although he is young, we don’t need these type of players and their mentality at the club. I would hope a more senior player calls him out on this.

Robson99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214135#Comment_123214135

Would agree. I've been say it a while as have others we play way too deep with Maguire in the team. But he probably needs a bit of physical presence there as well as MDL hasn't exactly being pulling up trees and looks a bit all over the shop.

Also injuries are killing us in that dept with Shaw and Martinez out.

A really huge summer coming up. GK has to be one first positions filled. We just can't expect to progress with Onana in there. Can't see Ramus turning things around either (hope I'm wrong on this)..so a lot of change required

GK, RB, CH, DM, AM, CF....every one as important as the next

El Gato De Negocios

How in God's name can ANYONE argue that Dorgu didn't deserve the straight red? There was no intent imo but he came down on the Ipswich players shin with the sole of his boot, it's as clear a red as you'd ever want to see.

NITRO95

I thought last night was encouraging. People will say it's only Ipswich etc etc but we've seen people dismiss our results vs Arsenal & Liverpool because they are outliers so some will always find a way to complain.

Dorgu pre red card, and it was a definite red dunno how anyone can disagree with it, was linking very well with Bruno and looked dangerous coming from LWB.

Hojlund because he's a forward that isn't scoring will get plenty of abuse but he's doing a lot of things right and I think the goals will come for him.

Bruno continues to be our most important player and I'll never understand the element of Utd fans that are the first to criticise him, opposition fans I totally understand hating him.

Maz had a very good game after his introduction and I think in certain circumstances he's perfectly acceptable as the RWB. Got forward well and we know he's a very good defender.

Garnacho, if he's posted that on his IG then I'd be happily waving bye to him in the summer. You can have all the talent in the world but if your attitude stinks, hi Paul Pogba, then you'll never reach your potential. Garna is good, sometimes very good but we've seen many many red flags in the past 18 months with him. Cash in and move on, there's plenty of guys available who can give you 15 goal involvements a season and not have such a **** attitude

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214223#Comment_123214223

Reminds me of Di Maria.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214367#Comment_123214367

Lack of force, lack of intention, foot slipped upwards off the ball.

All things that have been used in mitigation that has seen similar tackles get a yellow.

I can see why a red was given. But treating the opposing argument as if people were idiots is annoying.

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214135#Comment_123214135

Hmmm when was Hojlund involved in any positive action involving corners?

When did he last head a ball?

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214462#Comment_123214462

I presume Amorim was referring to defensive corners more than anything. It's clear to me that Hojlund plays more of a role defending corners than Garnacho does. That seems to have been his logic for the substitute after the red.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214349#Comment_123214349

It needs to be a good summer, I can't see 6 incomings though.

The one thing that struck me from yesterday's press conference is that Amorim is clearly learning new things and trying to figure things out, understandable. Given what he has seen so far, I think he might row back on his wanting to wait until the summer to join. It was probably naive of him to think that he could come in over a summer and implement his style. There's a lot of work to be done and judgements / calls to be made before he's in a position to get to that stage.

Seems he is now trying to work towards implementing his system rather than just implementing it.

fatherted1969

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123213607#Comment_123213607

To be fair there was no need for VAR at all, didn't need much looking at it. Was a straight red card all day long

Seattle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123210804#Comment_123210804

I don't think we were outplayed by City, that was a poor game in which neither side was much good imo. I was referring to Southampton at home - I think they outplayed us and should've been out of sight before we came back.

I think I've seen enough of Dalot now as a wingback and he's just not ever going to be a fit for that role imo. He can fill in and do an average job but he'll always unbalance our attack because he just doesn't have the qualities required in that role in the final third.

I think Garnacho is doing ok. Missing chances but that's not Amorim's fault - I'd be more concerned if he wasn't getting them in the first place. I definitely think Hojlund should be better. Last season he was decent (although slightly underwhelming) most of the time but he's regressed.

I know it's a different league but when you look at the spark Antony is playing with at Betis, it's like night and day compared to his performance level at Utd. Rashford looks much better at Villa. To me it's clear that most of our players aren't playing with the right kind of energy consistently. And that's the job of the manager as much as thinking about tactics and player attributes + profiles etc. The manager is largely responsible for motivating the players and creating an environment for them to feel their best and consistently perform. It's basic stuff really that's intangible to us in the sense we can't see what he's doing in training or in the dressing room etc, but it's a basic requirement of a manager and it doesn't seem to me that he's succeeding with it.

There are arguments that the environment is so toxic, no manager could help. But things were pretty bad under Mourinho and Solskjaer managed to motivate the team (for long periods, at least) but lacked tactical skill. It was also very toxic under Raginick and Ten Hag did flip it in his first 6-8 months and had the team looking motivated and enthusiastic. The worrying thing for me is I'm seeing no evidence of any morale shift under Amorim and it's really hard to get off the ground without it. So the question is, do we believe team morale can be transformed if he gets a few more players with the right profiles for his system?

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214541#Comment_123214541

It's easy to say there was no need for VAR after seeing all the replays, but that goes against the reality that the ref needed VAR and I think most watching it didn't realize how bad it was until the slow motions were played.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214546#Comment_123214546

In general terms, at a basic level… yes. I think a couple of players can lift morale.

If you signed a top keeper, and a top striker - I think that alone would see a big upturn, because of the confidence the players would get in not conceding stupidly and having someoone good enough to take chances up top.

Not saying that makes us title contenders, but simply that I think even those two positions 'fixed' would see a far better overall confidence to the side.

But apart from that, I think even comparing to the Ole days, not too long ago, is missing the physical leaps the PL has taken since then, and we have not. We are miles off physically from most sides, and that has a massive impact. Pep has pointed to this with his City side too. Additionally, any good play under any manager in recent years has been a sit back and counter success. Could/Should Amorim put more emphasis on that style - it is at least arguable. But it also limits the ceiling of the side when you commit to that 'style'. It fell apart on Ole when he tried to change to possession based (as we failed to get him the right players), it fell apart on EtH when he tried the same too - so we commited to counter attack chaos ball.

StringerBell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123213718#Comment_123213718

Discipline would definitely have come into it and the manager said himself set pieces was a factor in the decision also.

It worked, I'd have been concerned about how we were gonna push them back in the second half but ultimately he got the call right because we won that second half 1-0.

I know we all have big hopes for Garnacho but he isn't a pivotal player, at least not at the moment. He needs to really improve his final ball, decision making, tactical discipline, vision over his left shoulder and his composure in front of goal..he has had a ridiculous amount of shots since his last goal, up around 80.

Great that he keeps plugging away like, you need that but he also does need to start producing more than flattering to receive. For the record I do think he is improving in plenty of areas just think he is still a very likely candidate to be withdrawn if the team goes down to 10 for a multitude of reasons and they are fair enough right now.

StringerBell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214104#Comment_123214104

Pretty sure he was talking specifically about the second half set up, and that he is said it is difficult for him to approach the game in that way but he feels the players sometimes are more comfortable with the low block, defending the box etc they are fantastic, asking them to cover space is not their strength.

StringerBell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214214#Comment_123214214

Hes back on socials then is he? Thought he'd deleted them after the last slap down and pulled his socks up again.

Either way, Garna has well publicised attitude concerns at this stage. A petulant streak, he's very young still and mentally probably even younger tbh. He will come back stronger again I'm sure and will be disciplined if he has breached some rule and will continue to have moments of immaturity now and then.

Its all on his own hands.

paulbok

Only watched the highlights now.

As much of a donkey I think he is, I wouldn't be blaming Onana much for either goal. He looked to be safely collecting the ball when Dorgu kicked it away from him, and for the second there were too many players coming into the ball zone to be able to think he could get near the ball. Two players around Delap for that one, they should have got to the ball before he missed touching the cross.

Straight red for me on the Dorgu tackle, poor game from him all round.

Great tenacity to pull a victory out of a draw, but we needed an OG and a scrappy second goal to overcome more defensive lapses that nearly cost us.

Robson99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214546#Comment_123214546

I would say Amorim is doing a great job. Rashford and Antony have been given plenty of time to prove themselves at United. They didn't… so he showed them the door. That to me is good mgmt… if you not willing to put in the hard work then the door is that way

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214785#Comment_123214785

As a keeper the m,ost important trait is decisiveness. If he was coming for ball he should have been shouting and going straight through it. Lingering in a halfway house and not communicating left Dorgu wondering "WTF is this lunatic doing, is he coming for the ball or not, there is a man on me, where does he want the ball". Its all on Onana, he has to communicate, he can see the full picture whereas all Dorgu can see is a keeper lingering hopelessly. On the second goal - Onana just needs ot claim to be decisive again. The whole reason there is confusion elsewhere in the box is no one knows what he is going to do.

We are not going to be able to spend another 60m on a keeper so we should either be looking at a dependable veteran where you know what you are going to get and are at least aware of their flaws (I hear there is one in Florence), or a young up and coming keeper - James Trafford comes to mind. You have to also factor in some budget to pay someone to take Onana off our hands too.

Dream best case summer:

Trafford, Frimpong, Ignacio, Wharton, Cunha, Oshimen

Realistic best case summer:

Maybe someone like Jann Sommer, Quenda, Delap, and possibly Gomes - assuming we get transfer fees for Rashford, Antony and Sancho - there is no money for anything else

Most likely summer:

Some striker, a wing back

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214889#Comment_123214889

Ive seen Trafford mentioned elsewhere as a legit target. Newcastle are big in for him.

To be honest, if Newcastle sign him - I'd be checking out Pope's fitness and putting in a bid for him if he's gonna be good.

I've heard Trafford previously rejected us (when we went for Bayindir possibly) as he didn't want to be a No.2, but if we are offering him first choice he probably accepts the offer from us (over newcastle)

pjohnson

Trafford probably devours our entire budget. I dont see how we can outbid Newcastle.

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123214999#Comment_123214999

Its not really outbidding that would be the biggest problem, its convincing him that we are the better option for his career, which to be honest, right now its not.

30million been talked about to Newcastle

Mitch Connor

id be SHOCKED if our entire budget is the reported 25-30m price tag on him.
We will be relegated next season if that is the case, and are utterly finished as a club.

THough in fairness, I think our budget is going to be WAY bigger than some on here do, with some thinking we have basically no money to do anything at all, where as I reckon we will easily spend well over 100m in the summer, if not pushing 200m by the end of it (gross).

I thinik we are going to reduce our wages by about 70m per season from 190m to about 120m, plus money generated from the sales of Rashford and Sancho. In my guess I am also thinking Casemiro goes, but that we don't make any profit in terms of transfer fee on his sale, and Antony goes on another loan.

70m in wage space + 30/40m or so for Rashford + 25m (iirc) for Sancho, + 10m for Malacia maybe.

I think that will all combine to create a very health transfer budget.

THen in terms of players in, I think you could get (for eg) Trafford, Inacio, Quenda, Ederson, Cunha, Osimhen on wages over around 55m. so a 15million reduction vs the current wage bill - plus the transfer income of 65m would create a PSR (which can't all be used) transfer fee budget of 400m.

I don't think we spend close to that 400m, at all, but the wages saved and potential fees do create massive room for manouver. (some of which will be offset by losses)

Ashbourne hoop

Keeper has to be a priority now. This guy is hopeless, an absolute disaster of a signing.

crusd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215040#Comment_123215040

You will get there.

There is £391million in transfer fees owed for a start.

Best case assuming 40million for Rashford, 25 for Sancho and 10 for Malacia(who is going to spend 10 million on a player who is never fit but will give you that) and Casemiro off the books, the absolute maximum we would have to spend is 100million. All wage space does is make the transfer instalments manageable. Thats why I think a realistic absolute best case is a £10million keeper, a £40million striker, a £50million WB and a free midfielder (Gomes). To do more than that would need an equity release to raise funds and would require the owners to dilute their shareholding which they wont do.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123213549#Comment_123213549

Does he really get a significant amount of "hatred"?

I think I am one of a small enough group of posters that have spoken out about him really critically on here, and I may have overstepped the mark once or twice, but I wouldn't say there is any real hatred for Bruno.

Do I hate / get extremely frustrated the way he conducts himself on the time at times? Absolutely. I think even his biggest fans hate that side of his game / personality.

Keane and Wright really go at it over Bruno in today's episode of The Overlap. Keane can go OTT at times but I would be in general agreement with him on Bruno. A real quality player, at times. His passing and vision can be exceptional, at times... but he has a lot of weaknesses as well and is not consistent enough... and definitely not what I would look for in a captain/leader.

To use your words, I'm genuinely baffled by some of reactionary stuff from our fan base at times. Maybe all fans are like this but to me, there's a real lack of balance to it at times. In the past few weeks we've seen a very good cameo from Garnacho against Leicester turn into a "how mad were we to even consider selling him" show, yet he has shown us fairly quickly both on the pitch and off it why there is good reason to consider selling him. Bruno has went hiding in way to many recent games for me to get carried away with his very good second half vs Everton and last night.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215110#Comment_123215110

I regularly see here and elsewhere people say Bruno is rubbish. A hero ball merchant. a low IQ player. Can't follow tactical instruction. I've seen people say United will never improve until Bruno is sold. I've seen people say he should be one of the first out the door. I've seen people say he's one of the worst captains ever.

I don't agree with Roy insofar as he says bruno half hearts doing the defensive side. I disagree. he may be bad at it. I don't think he doesn't put in effort though. I think in part his prerssing can also look rubbish because the others don't press around him so the guy he is pressing has an easy out. Brruno is one of the hardest workers we have imo. To dig him out for a lack of effort is insane to me.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123215129#Comment_123215129

There's a lot to go through there. And I don't think it really points to hatred, frustration would be more appropriate imo.

For me:

Is he rubbish? Absolutely not.

A hero ball merchant? Wouldn't put it that way... his vision is excellent, but he tries the hero ball too much.

Low IQ player? His vision would point to extremely high IQ, but sometimes the simpler ball is the ball to play, so a low IQ on that front. Bar Eriksen, nobody has that vision in the squad, that level of IQ is hard to find..

Can't follow tactical instruction? I think I've always been fair to him on this one. Under ETH it looked like he was doing whatever he wanted, pressing by himself etc… but I actually think ETH may have encouraged / allowed him to do what he felt best. He seems much more structured under Amorim, so that would point to ETH rather than a Bruno problem. Added to that, no issue when he plays for his country afaik.

Never improve until Bruno is sold? I'm guilty of saying that, and it was one of the few times I may have overstepped the mark. But for context, that was at a time when the "United Way" (letting players be individuals / encouraging them to do something special, a team of moments) was the mantra, both under Ole and ETH. We seem to be stepping away from the dated mindset thankfully, Bruno doesn't need to be sold if the right balance can be found.

One of the worst captains ever? He's up there for me, but I look at that role from a personality point of view more so than ability. I've never felt lower watching any other United captain conduct himself like the Bruno has done at times. Toys out of the pram type stuff is way to frequent.

Would agree with you on Roy. I don't question Bruno's work rate at all, and to question that is not right imo. As you say, sometimes his presses are poor, it's not a strength of his, but you can't deny his work rate.