Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 12.02.26

The single biggest reason for Peps success isn't that he is a genius, it is that it was abundantly clear to all players that he was absolutely in charge and could do whatever he wanted. Same power as Fergie had.

Don't do exactly what he says, you are out. Push back against him, you are out. Drop in standards one little bit and he will have replaced you without a second thought.

There is no rumors to the media, Twitter bullshit, whispering in corners, or coasting along until the manager gets sacked. Pep had full backing and the players knew it, so their only option was do exactly what he says and do it hard.

The point being, does Maresca have that same power? I bloody well doubt it. He doesn't have the track record for that, he will be like 99%of managers in that he will have to prove himself. And for the first time in a decade Man City players like Halaand will be judging the manager and feeling like they have an opinion that matters there.

Will City win next season? Probably, I'd have them as favourites. But it is not a sure thing at all, not by a long shot. Lots of machines break down every now and then.

If it doesn't work with Maresca they'll replace him with a top calibre manager like they do with players, that's how the City machine keeps going.

We went tits up because the machine operators were idiots.

Every manager United picked could be argued to be a good choice. Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, lots of people argued the merits for all of them at the time.

Top calibre is meaningless, Mourinho and Van Gall were top calibre, but the line between success and failure is too slim for that.

Man City might find themselves doing a Chelsea and having to replace quite a few managers in the next few years. Will that make them idiots or is that just the way it is in management?

According to Romano the Ederson talk is coming from his end, prob his agent using us to gain value.

I'm sorry but C is just delusional at this stage.

Thats hindsight. My point was that prior to the appointments plenty of people considered them good choices. I was here, I remember it. Before they arrived there were perfectly good arguments made for all of them.

City can do the same. They can make "good choices" that won't work out. It happens all the time, even to well oiled machines.

AC Milan are stacked with decent midfielders; Ricci, Foufana and Jashari are all worth a look.

I think the Baleba deal is just about done judging from his tweet last week and Whitwells comment.

But will they turn out to be duds. I don't have confidence in either signing.

I don't think Ederson will be signed, sounds like agent talk.

Do you honestly believe the club or people working on behalf of the club havnt spoken to Andersons people? Of course they have. And those who would know have been of the belief since late January that Anderson has his heart set on City. No amount of selling the project, selling the club, talking about Robson & Keane will change his mind. He's going to a team that will pay him more than anyone else and that are annual PL and CL challengers, I don't like how City operate but that's just the reality of 2026.

Some people seem desperate to paint Anderson going to City as a failure by INEOS. In reality they've likely done as much as they could but he's made his decision. We are moving on and getting deals done early on Baleba and Ederson, who are already being written off as shite because they aren't Anderson. We aren't going to be playing next season the way we played this season. We had to find a way to accommodate Casemiro and that's what Carrick did. Next season we won't have to accommodate anyone, that's why building the squad is so important.

The fume is going to power me 🤣

If we don't sign Anderson, and we won't be signing Anderson, nobody at the club will talk about Anderson. We know from guys like Mitten and Whitwell that Anderson was seen as the priority signing coming into this summer. Why do you think that has changed? Do you believe that has changed without us speaking to Andersons people?

You seem to want some Woodwardesque PR win of "well we matched their offer and offered him even more money". Thats ridiculous. Thats how we ended up with Martial, Jones, Rashford and Sancho amongst others on obscene wages that nobody else would match. The reality of Manchester United in 2026 is that we can't spend £120m on one player and then go and buy another 4 or 5 to fill the squad. Thats just not going to happen.

This is at the very heart of it. We pay the Glazers their pound of flesh and then struggle to afford the necessary squad building with adequate replacements in order to challenge for titles. Those **** are nothing but a millstone around our necks.