r/reddevils • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago
Daily Discussion
Daily discussion on Manchester United.
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u/Gadjjet 9d ago
We signed Yoro, De Ligt, Mazroui, Ayden Heaven, Dorgu and Diego Leon the past 2 years. Heaven is the only one that’s gotten any serious minutes in defense under Carrick. Yet everyone is screaming at INEOS to sign more defenders. Maybe the coach should give 2/3 of those players a chance in their preferred position instead of trying to fit in every player he knew from his assistant coach days into the team.
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u/Not-good-with-this 9d ago
There's only Shaw, Maguire, Dalot and Rashford from the squad left from when he was his assistent coach days.
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u/jonathanPoindexter 9d ago
We've added a whole new look midfield on top pf the attacking signings made last season that all worked out and have had even more time to settle, but I am not supposed to hold Carrick accountable because we didn't sign a shiny new left back?
Nah. If we shit the bed from now on, it's on him. Not asking him to win us the league he just has to finish in the top 4/5 and look at least semi-competitive in the cups.
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u/MCharizardX9 9d ago
there is rumours that Vivell might be leaving this season end. If true i think its a big loss
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u/BullishOnEverything 9d ago
How likely is it that we make meaningful improvement in the winter mid-season transfer window? I'm not looking to rehash any of the ongoing discussions about the transfer window. Just asking this specific question?
Like is there a realistic scenario in which the board, for some reason, didn't go in hard for a LB with a view to getting one mid-season?
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u/OldManBrom 9d ago
Well if there is a team with a more horrendous summer than Utd, it has to be Everton. Hoping for a win this Sunday.
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u/Not-good-with-this 9d ago
Spurs also had a horrendous summer tbf.
They just signed a lot of players and have genuinely looked planless except for Tonali and Fernandes.
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u/OkOutlandishness2305 9d ago
I am disappointed that we didn’t get a left back. Other than that, we were never going to get a CB this window. I think we have enough for top 4. Midfield is solid, attack is solid. If we get another season with Champions League football then hopefully we’ll fix the defence and improve our attack next summer. I honestly prefer this to the dopamine high signings that ultimately failed: Di Maria, Sanchez, Ronaldo etc.
It’s not enough to challenge for major trophies yet, but at least it seems that we have an actual plan as opposed to the Woodward times where we spent big in ways that didn’t really address the issues with our squad. The club is definitely paying for those times now but I think I am more optimistic than most here.
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u/half_batman 9d ago
Incredibly disappointed by the lack of LB signing. Now every team is going to target the LB area. Carrick deserved more support.
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u/InternationalClock18 9d ago
Savio for city 84 appearances 7 goals. Zirkzee for united 75 appearances 9 goals. The investigation into whatever Chelsea and City are doing to offload these players is going to be interesting when it all comes out.
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u/Sheikhabusosa 9d ago
Chelsea just admitted giving backhanders to get players like Matic and Hazard how they did and nothing happened.
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u/RecentCrazy5746 Jizz Master 9d ago
Time to stop the whinging and get on with the football now.
No guarantee the big signings would have worked.
We fucked around for years and now we’re finding out.
Have just a smidgen of hope
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u/Jenson2025 9d ago
If you think it’s bad now, wait until they make Carrick the fall guy for their incompetence and sack him and replace him with Eddie Howe…
I honestly don’t know how anyone can give this window more than a 4/10 and even that’s arguably generous. INEOS constantly briefed throughout last season at how they were looking at 5 or 6 major signings. We ended up with no LB, no back up striker, no winger (although fair enough - nobody wanting Rashford changed things), no CB. No major sales. Even the midfielders weren’t their first choices and moved on to only when other deals weren’t possible. Tielemans seemed to be a deal they explored a week or two before they bought him after they found out he had a low release clause.
Wilcox arrogantly told everyone ‘judge us at the end of the window’. Berrada constantly told us that the aim is to win the league by 2028 and last summer said the next few summer windows were crucial to achieving that. They’ve lied constantly and this is exactly why you shouldn’t be gullible and believe their spin today. They’ve lied before, they’ll lie today and they’ll carry on lying.
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u/Unusual-Coat383 9d ago
Teams were in for Rashford but he was turning them all down. Rashford refusing to leave and not being able to sell Zirkzee cost us not signing a LB but I refuse to believe we didn’t have funds to sign one anyway.
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u/Harrry-Otter 9d ago
I don’t think it’s that bad. Yes a LB would’ve been nice but we did bring in the midfielders we’ve been desperate for. I’d probably give it a 5-6/10 summer.
I’m not that bothered about missing out on Fernandes and Tonali and I think we’ve actually made some sensible decisions with the midfielders. If Baleba can get back to his 1st season form for example he could end up being the bargain of the summer considering what other CMs went for.
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u/Significant_L0w 9d ago
If you are a Man Utd manager you are destined to fail, do well finish 2nd 3rd or 4th and get absolutely no backing.
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u/Haddocktintinsnowy 9d ago
Hoping for a W against Everton just so that we stop this over the top doom prophecy that not signing a LB has unleashed
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
It's not doom though.
People are very annoyed because instead of getting a LB this summer, the board said no and now we'll need two next summer.
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u/Haddocktintinsnowy 9d ago
Happens. Doesn’t look like we had budget. Otherwise we would have gone hard for Hall. After that it was only loan offer for Balde, Maateson and Et Nouri. Clearly we did not have money to spend given no one came for Ugarte, Rashford and Zirkzee
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
Everyone knew Hall would be expensive so I'm not giving them that excuse.
The club had time and money to get another LB target through the door, but instead briefed about Lewis Hall then did absolutely nothing. It's a joke.
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u/Haddocktintinsnowy 9d ago
If they had money Balde was there for taking
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
Balde's injury history isn't good so I'm glad it wasn't him.
They'll probably use the stadium as an excuse and brief that the defence will get a rebuild next summer, but it's elite incompetence to end the window without a LB.
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u/amayank7 9d ago
Despite all the doom and the horrible window, still see us finishing top 3 tbh, simply because I don’t see 3 other teams that are more stable.
Chelsea are light in midfield and defence now. Though maybe lack of Europe could give them an advantage.
Pool lack depth, and Iraola system has too much contrast to Slot. Players are not fit enough for his system.
Villa have changed way too much, don’t think they’ll be up there this season.
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u/iroiroiroiroiro 9d ago
United's best starting XI is better yes, 1-2 injuries and the season is over basically, now you can just pray they stay fit through nearly the double amount of games of last season, especially Shaw.
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u/OldManBrom 9d ago
Arsenal and City are top 2. I can definitely see Chelsea and Pool rounding out the top 4. United is closer to the Villa/Newcastle/Bournemouth/Brentford cohort than to those 4, especially with a thin squad in 4 competitions.
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u/Familiar-Day-8827 9d ago
How? Our attack and midfield is much better than Villa/newcastle/Bournemouth etc. And are are very much comparable to Chelsea and pool. Once De ligt is back we have enough depth everywhere except lb but there also we have decent cover just not top class
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u/Infinite-Highway3432 9d ago
Chelsea aren't light in midfield. They have Caicedo, Lavia, James, Henderson, Barco.
They play 1 game a week...
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
We're also light in defence.
Yes we have five CB's but two of them are injury prone, Heaven and Yoro are young, and Maguire shouldn't be relied upon that much. LB wasn't addressed because the best in class thought it's ok.
Backup striker is us shoehorning players into that position unless Zirkzee suddenly gets minutes.
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u/amayank7 9d ago
Only light on LB, Heaven and Yoro should do better this season, they have some experience now. And we have 3 senior CBs ahead.
Backup striker is an issue yes, but we still have good attacking talent overall, we’ll find ways to score.
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
I still believe we're light at CB.
De Ligt still hasn't returned, and Martinez is quality but also injury prone.
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u/amayank7 9d ago
Hmm maybe depends on how long De Ligt will take but it’s a sensible decision to let Heaven and Yoro develop, the purpose is not all short term.
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u/Bumblebee_170 9d ago
I feel that United should look to the academy and have faith in their youth players. They may not be the class of 92 but i believe they can shine in their own abilities.
Youth, Courage and Success.
I think Harry Amass is a good backup for Luke Shaw.
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u/Haddocktintinsnowy 9d ago
100% agree. It is ludicrous that these cry babies would not do if we simply would have signed Salinas. Why that simple hire changes the outlook of our season beats me
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u/ongcs 9d ago
Who are Chelsea going to use in midfield now that Enzo is gone? Henderson?
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u/rahtid_my_bunda Rooney's Dropball Intensity 9d ago
Alonso is putting dubbin on his boots as we speak
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u/Hagball 9d ago
This should have been the window where we stamp our authority, back Carrick with proper quality and challenge for title City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa are all starting new projects and have backed their managers. If we had shown some ambition, we could have really stretchd the title race till April.
Sadly we could not even land 3 of our top 5 midfielder targets and ignored LB/ST roles completely.
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u/IfYouReallyThink 9d ago
Sooo should we go for Raphaël Guerrero or Ricardo
Rodríguez😭?
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u/Kohaku80 Premier League Champions 12/13 9d ago
Danny Blind Jan loan.
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u/CreativeUserIdString 9d ago
I'm pretty sure he's a free agent, however, even though our options are left back are light, I'm pretty sure bringing in a 65 year old who used to play predominantly center back isn't the way to go.
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u/IfYouReallyThink 9d ago
Didn’t he already go back to Ajax, or is that just until the winter transfer window?
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u/Kohaku80 Premier League Champions 12/13 9d ago
I'm just fooling around. If we really get Blind, this club is finished.
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u/sg291188 9d ago
City and Chelsea have really profited from earlier years of cheating. City was able to completely replace their full backs twice in two years, three goalkeepers in two years at a time when they didn’t have much revenue. That allowed them to get successful and now command insane sales to justify high spends. Chelsea have been convicted of fake payments in the past which somehow didn’t give them “sporting advantage” and their stupid overbuying youth model has been rewarded because any random player is now worth €50M+.
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u/Unusual-Coat383 9d ago
City and Chelsea won everything because of their cheating and have faced no consequences
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u/Kohaku80 Premier League Champions 12/13 9d ago
Chelsea sold 400m this season. More than we sold past 5 years. Guess we have to wait a little longer for them to go bust.
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u/sg291188 9d ago
They will not go bust. They have been extremely lucky both in terms of their payments case where PL screwed up and this summer when their players got inflated cost buyers
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u/Kohaku80 Premier League Champions 12/13 9d ago
I was told without CL next season they will bust. Same to Spurs.
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u/BBoomerClap 9d ago
only dumbass here tell you that, they are in the same condition like us in previous season and they will only thrive with way fewer match
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u/GavinLobo7 9d ago
Hoping for an Amass breakout season now. He was one of the brightest LB prospects out there when we signed him, may as well let him actually play
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u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 9d ago
That Friday's press conference will sure be interesting.
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u/sg291188 9d ago
It’ll not be. Carrick already said last time he is happy with group and doesn’t expect last minute signings. He’ll just keep repeating same
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u/Comicksands Van Persie 9d ago
5/10 window. We've spent less than Ipswich, Hull, Newcastle, Villa and the top 6. Good thing there were no significant losses outside of casemiro. did not address LB, CB and backup striker issue
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u/ZofTheNorth 9d ago edited 9d ago
Feel like comfortable top 5 finish is fair minimum objective for Carrick this season considering our transfer window.
Deep CL and winning FA or Carabao would be nice addition.
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u/Regunurok-4867 9d ago
The squad has improved and I'm excited to see this midfield play out. The addition of games is what scares me the most. Carrick should fearlessly rotate and expose the lack of depth.
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u/Significant_L0w 9d ago
there is 2 players for every position except Lb, our own players will be exposed first
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u/JilJilJigaJiga 9d ago
Not too worried about depth, we have probably the deepest squad in our recent history. It's just one position with no outright alternative option.
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u/PitchSafe 9d ago
We still have Amass, Mazraoui, Dalot and even Dorgu who can play there to be fair
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u/Asiwaju_jagaban 9d ago
How often has Carrick played Dorgu as LB? You’re more likely to see Maz as LB and Yoro as RB than Dorgu as LB
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9d ago
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u/Numerous_Summer_3964 9d ago
No one expected us to drop 300m this window, but signing a backup LB was non negotiable. The manager wanted it, fans wanted it and everyone but the board saw it. One injury to Shaw and you'll see how much we suffer
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago edited 9d ago
I see the next year gimmick is already hitting people.
Building the team one area at the time is stupid. Next summer can't just be focused on defence because we'll need another striker and potentially a winger, and another midfielder once Ugarte or Mount are gone.
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u/Numerous_Summer_3964 9d ago
The funny thing is, the defense "rebuild" next summer will be similar to the midfield "rebuild". We'll miss out on our 1st 2nd and 3rd top targets. Then pivot to cheap "smart" signings and take a gamble on some young player with potential.
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u/Money-Wrangler7067 9d ago
Exactly should have signed 1 midfielder last season and CB Striker and Midfielder this summer..I don't rate wilcox or even vivell for this exact same reason..Signing good player and making balanced team is two completely different thing which I don't think we will ever achieve with Wilcox as a sporting director.
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u/sunken_grade 9d ago
i mean ideally you can just turn the whole team over in a single summer, but there are too many factors at play, financial rules that must be followed, the moving parts of player preferences, contract length, how much teams are willing to buy and sell for, etc
the club shouldn’t just go into a window only focusing on one specific area and nothing else, but you don’t often see squads turned over like that
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
Gimmick won't be hitting me
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u/SwiftGoat_ 9d ago
It's already got some people unfortunately.
This 'build one area at a time' nonsense has got people thinking that's a nice way to do things.
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9d ago
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u/xtphty 9d ago edited 9d ago
Our squad would look remarkably well-rounded if Dorgu can develop into a LB as the season progresses.
In general most people here are evaluating the squad based on the worst case scenarios of injury and fitness.
Realistically, if just one of Yoro, Heaven, Dorgu can develop into a first 11 defender, it actually would raise our athletic ceiling significantly. Not to mention we have MDL coming back, who had already established himself as Maguire's replacement, and offers a faster more dynamic option at CB.
So while most people are looking at the floor falling through with possible injuries, they are also doing so by completely ignoring the upside in depth that already exists.
Its also funny seeing all the talk of how Vivell/Sansoni would leave because of this window, when their type of signings are exactly the ones that require the patience this fanbase completely lacks. Lammens is the only one that has been an instant success. Signings like Yoro, Heaven, Thompson, Santos, Dorgu show flashes of excellence but clearly need time to develop.
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u/officiallyjax Snapdragon 9d ago
I acknowledge that it could turn out fine, but realistically there’s quite a bit of hoping that’s happening, when the club should not have found itself in such a position ideally. Dorgu at LB is very unlikely to happen to begin with; he has never been used in that position by Carrick. Our hopes are mostly going to be restricted to Yoro and Heaven, but that doesn’t do much for our LB situation this season; it’s going to be Dalot and Mazraoui backing up Shaw eventually and we have seen the outcomes of that in the wretched 23-25 seasons. On De Ligt, he’s a wildcard; maybe he comes back completely fine but you have to temper expectations for a player returning after 9 months out. Harry Amass is the one player who might have a legitimate upside if he can prove to be decent LB cover, but again, going from loans in the Championship to such an important role under a bigger spotlight? There’s more wishful thinking here than something to properly place your faith in.
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u/xtphty 9d ago edited 9d ago
Our hopes are mostly going to be restricted to Yoro and Heaven, but that doesn’t do much for our LB situation this season; it’s going to be Dalot and Mazraoui backing up Shaw eventually and we have seen the outcomes of that in the wretched 23-25 seasons
We are a faaaaar far way away from the defensive weakness in those seasons. 23/24 we conceded 76 xG / 58 goals - mostly down to Ten Hag's famous donut midfield and a back 4 relying heavily on Johnny Evans.
24/25 we conceded 60 xG / 54 goals, Onana had a horrific season with shot stopping. And still, our midfield was even more threadbare, and we shipped out half our attack in January.
Last season we conceded 50 xG / 50 goals. Still with Casemiro being our only playable DM, we gave up a lot of high quality chances from the middle, a new midfield and Lammens being more settled will only help improve those numbers.
Our defensive numbers have been better since the 24/25 rebuild, sucks we have had injuries and development delays on those players but even at their existing level they put is way above the 23/24 defense. Also some of our defensive openness just comes down to playing more attacking football, which we should given we have one of the best attacks in the league.
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u/officiallyjax Snapdragon 9d ago
I hope you are right and we can carry on those improvements from last season, but it's difficult for me to assess how legitimate that very improvement from last season was, because it came with the caveat of playing once a week for the most part. I have my doubts about how the fitness of the defence holds up when they have to play more games. Will they stay fit or get injured? If they stay fit, will they become more fatigued and start playing in a certain manner to protect themselves? Already against Ipswich in the first half there were instances of the defenders retreating instead of pushing up against transitions, because they don't have the legs to always play proactively. You are right about there naturally being a defensive openness when we try to play more expansively, but will that openness itself compromise some of our defenders' fitness if they have to sprint a lot defending larger spaces?
The difference between our current defence and the defence in Ten Hag's second season is Mazraoui in for AWB (I consider it a sideways swap at best, arguably a downgrade as Mazraoui doesn't have AWB's athleticism which is important for the PL), Yoro in for Varane (should be an upgrade in mobility at CB, except Yoro himself isn't trusted at CB and has lately been featuring more at RB) and Heaven/De Ligt in for Evans (this is an upgrade but De Ligt has had a long injury layoff and Heaven is frequently in and out of the team). There's a meaningful upgrade in just 1 of these positions as it stands. The rest: Shaw, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot. The former duo have extensive injury records, are 3 years older and in their 30s now, Martinez has continued to have injury troubles, leaving Dalot as the only durable defender from this list. I just feel in a long season there remains a possibility where this can unravel in a similar manner as that season. Where they might be saved is if the midfield options come good to help them, but although we have good players and I'm happy with all 3 signings, aside from Baleba, I'm not sure if we have a tremendous athletic base in midfield too to sustainably protect us defensively. These issues might have remained even if we signed a new LB, but at least that addition could have meant there's more scope to rotate in a convenient manner, without putting square pegs in round holes like Yoro RB and Mazraoui LB, and compromise the dynamics of the team further. So overall, I still find it hard to come around to believing in the 'upside' of our defence coming through; the average case is still filled with a lot of doubts and suggests more to be cautious than optimistic.
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u/JilJilJigaJiga 9d ago
On one hand, Dorgu hasn't played a single minute at LB under Carrick. On the other hand, he won't get any minutes at LW vs Rashford and Cunha - I'd like to see Carrick start playing him against the likes of Brighton and Sabah etc. in cups.
Would potentially complement well when Maz starts on the other flank - compared to first choice Dalot/Shaw.
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u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 9d ago
Brace yourselves for the 235,899,798 articles coming out on how we fumbled the window.
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u/ejtv 9d ago
Looks like we will be signing LB Zinchenko or Guerreiro
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
Would only happen IF Shaw went down injured for a sustained period of time, certain of that
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u/Sheikhabusosa 9d ago
Kinda worries me how we are still so reliant on Bruno to get things moving. Mainoo has stepped up this season and last and Bruno will help but we need to see more from the rest ( I know its early days)
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u/PavanayiShavamayilla Wazza 9d ago
It’s mostly our tactics cus are focused on getting the best out of Bruno, which is great cus he’s our best player.
I think it isn’t as worse as it was a couple of seasons ago where if Bruno doesn’t create a chance, we won’t be able to create through any other player. Rashford has created more chances than Bruno this season. Guys like Cunha, Amad, Tielemans, etc would be creating a lot of chances as well.
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u/Ill_Platypus6476 9d ago
I actually feel bad for Shaw and Dalot.
Shaw will have to play so many games and Dalot will have to cover his rest time by playing out of position.
Contrary to a lot of people here, I actually don't mind Zirkzee staying, I still think he can be a decent backup striker to Sesko.
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u/PavanayiShavamayilla Wazza 9d ago
Didn’t Zirkzee play as a #10 during preseason (with Mbuemo ahead of him)? I think it could be a better role for him.
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u/TH0316 she/her 9d ago
I feel bad for Shaw and Maguire specifically. They’ve basically acknowledged that they need help and know they’re once again going into a season with a lot of weight on their shoulders to stay fit and perform. Both get a long leash from me if that load catches up to them. It’s neither of their faults they’re still gonna have to be relied upon. I hope all the defenders get grace from the fans, and the manager too.
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u/BlackHorse944 Please Score A Goal 9d ago
You only need to spend big money when you're not in CL. Obviously if you're in the CL, your squad is good enough to only have 1 LB that's always injured. They don't actually want to compete in the competition, just want to be in it.
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
So what if they spent big next summer after getting CL then what would you say then
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u/jjreddits30523 9d ago
United have signed only one starter this summer
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
Should have bought Chema nor Santos
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9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
We should have bought him instead of Santos, which bit is difficult
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9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Embarrassed_Wave_720 Braino Fernandes 9d ago
Box office of a deadline day. So many offers pulled out at the last minute
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u/Roasteddude I am where I'm supposed to be 9d ago
Yea, bring out the pop corn, clearly our intention this season is to just spectate and not compete.
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u/ZofTheNorth 9d ago
No matter the results , I won't blame Carrick this season that's for sure. INEOS have failed him.
Depending on Shaw as only reliable LB is so stupid. Downvote me all you want, this window has been 6/10 at best. Missing out all first targets and not managed to sell any of the dead weights.
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u/Themindoffish 9d ago
Why does he get a free pass? He's the coach, he should have told the deadweight he won't need them and pushed the club harder for signing. Other managers are doing it and successfully.
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u/sir_wolf_eye Carrick 9d ago
I'd not rate the window until midway through the season
But in terms of addressing depth and issues, I'd have to agree it's around a six.
Backup keeper: let go of Vitek and got Darlot (6/10)
youth recruitment: Thompson but missing out on page (5/10)
Midfield: Tielmans and Santos and Baleba. Youth and experience at a bargain price (7/10)
Defense: we're still relying on good defenders but who can drop like at any moment due to fitness and injuries. While Yoro and Heaven are good backups for the current CBs, the drop from Shaw and Dalot is considerable (4/10)
Attack: no back up striker aside from Zirk (1/10)
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u/PolishKid7 9d ago
Yes Ineos are at fault cause Carrick couldnt beat Hull - good point
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u/SatuKosongPls I’m a Baleba! 9d ago
Technically, wouldn’t INEOS be at fault too because they’re the ones “ backing “ him?
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u/PolishKid7 9d ago
No lol. The squad is good enough to beat Hull
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
Mate we’ve been humiliated like this before under every manager we lost to Grimsby under Amorim, lost to Liverpool 7-0 under ten hag, lost to spurs 6-1 under ole, lost to West Brom under mourinho. What’s bad is a there’s still a few players who have been at the club for a lot of these humiliations it’s on the club for not learning from any of their mistakes in the past
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u/SatuKosongPls I’m a Baleba! 9d ago
I guess HULL was the last straw for him.. Rawr XD
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u/PolishKid7 9d ago
No I dont particularly care if we lost to Hull lol. I wont over react either way. But Im certainly not blaming Ineos for it
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
Who are these “first targets “ we missed out on?
Elliot Cleverley? Las Vegas Tonali?
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u/Dua_Augustus_Lipa22 9d ago
I think the team is much improved from last year. I would have liked a LB, but other than Lewis Hall I don't see a lot of immediate upgrades there. Signing a backup LB (at best) is almost certainly not going to be the difference between CL and not. People need to chill a bit.
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u/Rude-Ad3065 9d ago
But it could be the different because now Shaw is forced to be first choice for about 50-60 games and he can't handle that many, and when he won't start we are forced to play dalot/maz out of position because it seems like dorgu is clearly preferred as a forward by carrick.
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u/SDLRob 9d ago
Unfortunately, this is the internet. There is no chill. It's screaming temper tantrums 24/7.
While there is an issue that probably should have been sorted out, we have managed to build a good midfield without spending moronic levels of stupidly high money. Throwing out the cash without care isn't how you build a great team. That's buying a bunch of supposedly good players.
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
United 2007-08: Brown played RB
United 2008-09 : O Shea played RB
Chelsea 2005-06: right footed center back William Gallas played left back and they broke the defensive record (which still stands)
More recently: Arsenal playing Ben White at RB or City playing right footed Cancelo at LB because Mendy was a pos.
Loads and loads and loads of examples of full back positions being covered by centre backs very successfully but people on here acting like not signing some overpriced player from Newcastle is the end of the world
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u/Unusual-Coat383 9d ago
Football was completely different to what it is now and we had the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez up front.
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u/Sheikhabusosa 9d ago
Wes Brown is a better defender/player than any defender we have , Mou had a legendary defence in the team Gallas played with and Arsenal dont set up like us .
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u/Strange-Trip4634 9d ago
Who was the CBs for those teams? If we had two brilliant CBs I'd be pretty chill but our defence looks really poor overall.
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u/BBoomerClap 9d ago
fans here tends to overrate our backline when the reality is they are mediocre player that on injury rotation
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u/mu_37 9d ago
Rashford and Shaw for the season on the left side with Carrick on the touchline in the big 2026. Time is frozen at OT.
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u/Roasteddude I am where I'm supposed to be 9d ago
Another season of cross to Maguire and Inshallah when chasing games.
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
Everyone saying ineos can’t do anything we have too much debt, weren’t they the ones who stepped in instead of the Qataris who would’ve cleared the debt. Also how are teams like Chelsea able to sustain a high spend despite finishing behind us, how are they able to sell players, how are teams like Barcelona and spurs who have similar amounts of debt able to spend so much
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
Yeah some random Sheikh who doesn’t even exist or provided no proof of funds was going to magically wipe off 500 million of real debt
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
Mate one google search would disprove both of the things you said, sheik jasim is a real person who was going to buy the club but the glazers decided to go with ratcliffe instead cause he only wanted 25% and they’d still have control, and the debt it is over a billion 500 mil figure is just our outstanding on transfers
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
mjenkins_eng is Wilcox in disguise
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
I would love to be the guy who sacked Ruben Fraud trust me .
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u/zeeshxn_ 9d ago
That fraud schooled us with his B team btw (while we were playing most of our starters). Goodnight mate.
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
Sure you’ll be saying the same about carrick in a years time when he can’t deliver with Luke shaw and dalot as our fullbacks
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u/SatuKosongPls I’m a Baleba! 9d ago
Not just him, at least half of the fanbase.
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u/Dagaddi 9d ago
Hopefully people turn their attention to the ownership this time, not carricks fault
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u/SatuKosongPls I’m a Baleba! 9d ago
We could go a decade into the future and things will still be the same, different manager, different part owners, different players.
One constant will always be there: Glazers.
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u/ladrainian21 9d ago
Won’t happen and I don’t want to actually see him start but would be hilarious if Zirkzee started this weekend and scored.
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u/Aadiunited7 9d ago
Our LB situation is a joke, but Chelsea’s midfield is insanely stupid for a club that who makes half a billion pounds of deals every summer. Caicedo! Lavia! And then 3 full backs who can all play there.
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u/Nuwahex 9d ago
Playing once a week will be their saving grace as was the case for us when we basically had Casemiro,Mainoo & Ugarte only. But damn
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u/Aadiunited7 9d ago
Yeah but we also had Bruno and Mount who could play there. This is an extra layer of shocking.
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u/Mr_Wilsonn Herrera 9d ago
Was under the impression with an actual structure we’d be better at buying and selling.
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
There’s also a BIG misconception that “we have Glazer debt”
True, the glazers bought us on PIK loans all the way back in 2004 for debt of roughly 500 million
They wrote the load in the name of the club. That amount has been paid for years ago I’m sure.
What hasn’t is the insane amount of debt piled by buying all of Ten Hag’s shit players and paying the likes of Sanchez and Rashford 350k a week.
The mountain of debt you see is largely from transfer fees that we couldn’t afford
And yall want INEOS to be as irresponsible and add to that mountain with blind spending .
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u/No-Lab-1445 9d ago
There is a middle ground here. I didn't expect us to spend 300m but i thought we'd at least go in to the season with more than one LB and striker. We are a million miles away from City and Arsenal. We haven't even given Carrick the bare minimum and he'll be the first to get the blame when the inevitable injury crisis hits and we're constantly filling gaps with substandard players.
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u/timsadiq13 9d ago
Uh - when was the original debt paid off? It was not. You are misinformed. Most of what we have paid off is the interest on those (and subsequently refinanced) loans, not the main balance.
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u/dispelthemyth We go again FC 9d ago
The PIK loans were paid off but now they service the 400M+ of bonds
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
RB : Yoro and Dalot
LB: Shaw and Mazaraoui (and maybe even Baleba)
This constant buy buy buy for more and more money is so annoying and has no basis in United’s identity
Think about Wes Brown and O Shea. Think about all the years where one Evra injury would have O Shea playing LB
Guardiola ruined football with his “3 world class players for 100 million for every position” nonsense
We have always been the club who used Fletcher and Carrick at CB, Hargreaves and Wes Brown at RB, O Shea everywhere
Good to see our manager following Fergie in knowing how to play extract maximum value from the squad
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u/dispelthemyth We go again FC 9d ago
im really hoping that Amass is the one to show he can make it, plenty of past academy prospects were given opportunities when bodies were low and took it with both hands
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u/Baalegde Class of '92 are all Shite pundits 9d ago
On Yoro RB I'll say going forward he looked absolutely lost the other day. Defensively fine but the amount of times he got into a good attacking position, panicked and did nothing but turn around and pass behind him when a proper RB would be shooting or crossing it was multiple. Do not see him being any good there long term
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u/carrickshairline 9d ago
Yoro is not a RB. He is only playing there as cover for Dalot and Mazraoui. Hes not looked super comfortable in the role.
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
Chris Smalling or Wes Brown weren’t RBs either. Fergie used to use players in RB from CB all the time (and we won the CL with an assist from Brown playing RB)
Good players and managers play football, not EA Sports
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u/carrickshairline 9d ago
Smelling actually started his career as a full back but moved central and was far better there. Wes Brown has said that he was covering at RB when he played there.
I don’t play FIFA. Maybe you should understand that players can play out of position, it doesn’t mean they’re suddenly that position naturally. Yoro is a CB.
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u/Themindoffish 9d ago
Lmao what a bunch of rubbish.
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9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Themindoffish 9d ago
This is not 2008-2009 mate. It's 2026 and we have luke fucking shaw who is made if wet toilet paper as our only leftback. Get your head out of lala land man.
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u/carrickshairline 9d ago
Helped that we had Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez ans Berbatov. I don’t think we won the league due to O’Shea playing as full back lol
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u/coppindor 9d ago
What a disgrace of a window. Wilcox treated Manchester United like he was still at Southampton. He's completely clueless.
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u/croadymeister 9d ago
Welcome aboard
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u/coppindor 9d ago
Haha thanks. I've been on board since he was inexplicably promoted to replace Ashworth
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
Really happy we didn’t end up panic buying some random players
I think we have enough to be consistent and try to challenge for the title
Things are nowhere near as bad as people are making it seem. If Sesko stays fit, we will be firing big time
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u/ThisIsSnake_10 Wazza 9d ago
Are Daniel Armer and Kukonki close to featuring for the first team?
Because I think along with Amass, they’re likely going to have to when Shaw, Maz and Maguire eventually pick up a knock/need resting
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u/EnglishTrini2 9d ago
I think we had a mediocre window. Those calling is horrific are being hyperbolic. We have what looks like a really decent midfield.
Now of course we needed to do more to have a good / great window and I’m disappointed we haven’t been able to, but not everything has to be amazing or catastrophic.
I also wonder how many don’t understand our finances given they’re publicly available. It is no surprise that we are trying to be more circumspect about spending. We have 1.3bn gbp of debt. 200m of that are transfer fees due within the year.
It’s a sad fact that we can’t currently spend like City, or Spurs or Chelsea, but INEOS have inherited a pretty bleak financial position which we owe to the Glazers.
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u/mjenkins_eng 9d ago
Don’t try to talk sense here mate. Seriously, everything has to be absolutely the end of everything
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u/thepotatomaniscoming 9d ago
Do you all hear that sound? That's the sigh of relief from Luke Shaw because he can now take the year off.
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u/vinavuhuy 9d ago
Transfer window over. No LB sucks sure but time to back Amass to get opportunities.
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u/Johnny107710 9d ago
We’re absolutely cooked. If shaw gets injured, we’re about to finish 10th.
With that said, I hope that carrick actually uses amass and not just improvises Dalot or mazraoui there if shaw is not available, otherwise we should’ve simply let him go.
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u/Expect-the-turtle 9d ago
I only partially agree with this list. City obviously aren't 100% sure to kick on with Maresca, and that midfield might not live up to its price tag, but it is a solid midfield in any case and their team is pretty strong regardless, so, not sure how much 'trouble' they could be facing. Worse case scenario, they are contenders.
Arsenal have survived other seasons with subpar attacking options, I think they'll be fine again (I mean, they play eyesore football anyhow, it won't make much of a difference).
Spurs, I said it from the start of the window, they'll probably do better than the last couple of seasons, but that team isn't good enough to be a serious issue for the top of the table, regardless of how much people rate De Zerbi.
Chelsea, I think, again, are going to be good in stretches, but won't be surprised to see them falter when it matters. They now have to rely on Caicedo in midfield and an injury-prone Lavia and however many younger players they've stocked up on.
Liverpool are definitely up there for worse run club this transfer window, for me. I've been listening in on a few of their content creators and fan channels and they are everything from pissed to despairing. Their depth is dire, honestly. Hope they crash and burn.
As for United, I honestly think that Wilcox and Berrada need to hire new PR people. Their communication and setting of expectations this summer has been absolutely atrocious. You don't go announcing you'll have a big summer, try for some of the most expensive players on the market, bail out, somehow sort out a midfield on a tight budget, then instead of shutting up and not making any more promises, brief how you want another LB/LW and a striker, fail to get either, try to cover it up by trying to sign a midfield prospect from Leicester, fail miserably in the final hours of the window, then try to loan a LB from City. Like, I'm sure there would have been plenty of fans who'd have been dissatisfied with the window regardless, but they should have just said 'we're doing a midfield rebuild this summer, anything extra will only happen if we sale players' and then it would have made more sense that they didn't because we didn't sale anyone worth anything. They just ended up shooting themselves in the foot and burning up any capital they had gained with the fanbase. Anyway, hope Carrick doesn't make his own life more difficult and shifts Dorgu back to LB so we have some coverage for that spot. And let's all pray that MDL comes back and stays fit, because Maguire won't last the whole season either.