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

Jaysus. How many senior forwards do we have left?

Not getting an attacking player and a central midfielder in January is going to absolutely kill us now.

Makes it hugely difficult for amorim to build a flow and confidence in the side now.

Loaning out Antony, when we had been using him, without replacement as risky as I feared it would be.

I don't think we have any suitable, usable youth waiting in those positions either.

Mainoo out as well, urgarte with a small injury and Collyer ill, apparently. Ugarte and Collyer will be fine for the next game.

Well, we have been told for a while now that he never gets any time to train with the players, so this week might have been the first chance for some more intensive sessions.

The players falling apart when pushed hard would be consistent with what happened in Ten Hags time.

I wouldn't have thought the training would be overly intense.

I'd assume loads of tactical work and repitition rather than hard sprints.

Collyer is ill. Not a training issue.

Amad did his ankle ligament. That's a contact or falling issue rather than intensity of training I would have though.

Mainoo and Ugarte I have no idea whether their injuries would point to a training overload.

Its the amad injury that I'm the most down about. And most annoyed about. We put so much importance on him in this side, too much, and now he's gone for the season. We essentially bet on him being available for every game and we've lost that hard.

Proves out January to be a poor month for united, whether it was financially required to be or not.

I wonder if we will now see dorgu in attack rather than wingback more.

I thought Shaw was nearly ready a few weeks back? Not the first time I know…

Wafer thin squad at the moment

Antony had to go, his confidence was clearly shot and it was best for both parties for him to go elsewhere and find it again.

The problem is deciding not to sign anybody to bolster the squad, even if it were just a cheap stopgap.

They made their choice, they will have to live or die by it.

Never thought I'd say it but Leon bailey might have even been better than this

Hard to say - I think I recall Keane and Scholes saying the modern game is more athletic than what it used to be. That would place more physical demands on players. The medical support has improved - I would think that means there is less expectation on a player to "power through" if the medical advice the club is paying for is that ignoring the injury will aggravate it. Manager can and do get slaughtered if they pressurise a player to "power through" and the injury flares up. Players do seem to have longer careers, perhaps connected to not playing through injuries like they used to. It all counts against just strapping up the injury and getting on with it.

I think definitely players are broadly more professional than they used to be. In the early 1990s, routine drinking during the season was accepted and a normal part of the player culture in top teams. Its not anymore.

There are players who seem to be almost constantly available like Bruno, and Maguire, but while mental strength can be an aspect of it it can simply be down to genetics, position played not requiring the same sudden stress/strain or luck too. Martinez for example doesn't seem like a mentally weak person.