⚽ Football (Soccer)

[B]

Ange Postecoglou: Tottenham boss leaves 16 days after Europa League triumph

I'm quite surprised personally, long wait for a trophy & not only that, a European one. Disastrous league campaign, but I'd have thought ending that drought would have bought him more time & another transfer window.

 

[BlackFox]

I'm quite surprised personally, long wait for a trophy & not only that, a European one. Disastrous league campaign, but I'd have thought ending that drought would have bought him more time & another transfer window.

Its an odd one now but then we have sacked managers after winning a trophy so its not like its a total surprise, I mean it seemed to be he would be gone the moment they went out of the Europa so it was certainly something they were looking at.

Brentford manager seems the most likely to take over it seems.

 

[Hunter Rider]

We've so many deficiencies that have become apparent last season it's hard to pick just one area. Although probably my biggest worry was some of our attacking players inability to find the net when presented with a good chance as there were games we drew/lost last season that we really shouldn't have given some of the chances missed.

We dropped points in 25 games or so give or take, if you can even rectify even just 5 or 6 of those types of games & turn them into wins, well there's 15-18 additional points, we're still not going to be challenging for the title but we'll at least not be an embarrassment languishing just above the relegation zone.

Cunha & Mbeumo given there track record in the league seem to be targeted signings that should help with our lack of goals given they both go through. If I could pick another 2 positions I'd like strengthened, it would be goalkeeper as Onana's blunders have also been something that has cost us several games & I'd try to sign a RB/RWB as I think Dorgu coming in was a breath of fresh air on that left hand side, he did better than I thought he would initially & if we could get someone on the opposing side I think it would help even further. I'd like to avoid Amad playing there as being widely suggested he will even though he has done well when he has played the position, I'd like him further forward competing for one of those advanced roles.

The middle is a worry also, I can't see Casemiro going unless a Saudi or MLS club come in for him, Ugarte I'd be amazed if he was given up on & sold so quickly & Mainoo I hope they don't sell. I'd expect Collyer or Kone to be brought in as depth. We could use another signing in the position but I don't think we'll sign any until we can shift a few players or find ourselves a player available relatively cheaply.. or free.

We'll be overloaded with forward players if Cunha/Mbeumo both arrive so I'd expect a couple of Rashford, Sancho, Antony, Hojlund, Zirkzee or Garnacho to be some of those making way as is widely reported anyway.

Our attack definitely needed a complete overhaul, we were absolutely toothless last season, so I'm not against getting a complete new front 3, I'm just not sure about the balance of Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres, I feel like there's a lack of real guile in that trio, Cunha and Mbeumo seem more suited to playing off a fulcrum striker, like Firmino was at Liverpool, I actually think Zirkzee might fit well with them.

I actually prefer Amad at RWB, I think he thrives with the extra space to drive into, it also means CB's can't get as touch tight to him, and he's diligent with his tracking back and duels. I agree we need a new keeper, you mentioned the lack of goals costing us points, I'd say an Onana replacement could be worth 10 points given the amount of dreadful errors he's made that cost us games last season.

If we don't buy a midfielder then it'll be another disastrous season mate, truth is we should have sold Bruno and revamped the midfield the way we are the attack. Casemiro doesn't have the legs anymore and Ugarte isn't good enough, Collyer should go on loan, we have to get at least one, and he's going to need to be positionally good to mop up behind the erratic Bruno, as he'll be in the double pivot pretty much all the time next season.

Sales are definitely crucial, Garnacho is an easy sell and we should get a good fee for him, Antony has interest from Betis and now Leverkusen since ETH is now manager there, Rashford and Sancho will be the hardest as both are so greedy, teams won't take on their wages.

 

[B]

Our attack definitely needed a complete overhaul, we were absolutely toothless last season, so I'm not against getting a complete new front 3, I'm just not sure about the balance of Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres, I feel like there's a lack of real guile in that trio, Cunha and Mbeumo seem more suited to playing off a fulcrum striker, like Firmino was at Liverpool, I actually think Zirkzee might fit well with them.

I actually prefer Amad at RWB, I think he thrives with the extra space to drive into, it also means CB's can't get as touch tight to him, and he's diligent with his tracking back and duels. I agree we need a new keeper, you mentioned the lack of goals costing us points, I'd say an Onana replacement could be worth 10 points given the amount of dreadful errors he's made that cost us games last season.

If we don't buy a midfielder then it'll be another disastrous season mate, truth is we should have sold Bruno and revamped the midfield the way we are the attack. Casemiro doesn't have the legs anymore and Ugarte isn't good enough, Collyer should go on loan, we have to get at least one, and he's going to need to be positionally good to mop up behind the erratic Bruno, as he'll be in the double pivot pretty much all the time next season.

Sales are definitely crucial, Garnacho is an easy sell and we should get a good fee for him, Antony has interest from Betis and now Leverkusen since ETH is now manager there, Rashford and Sancho will be the hardest as both are so greedy, teams won't take on their wages.

You'll hear no arguments from me, lack of speed, movement, power all of the above & when we did manage to carve an opportunity it was squandered. Zirkzee could thrive with those 2 around him to bounce passes off. That being said if Gyokeres is interested & we can get him for a reasonable fee ie £50m-£60m, I'd still try & get him to see if we can make it work. He's reaching/is in his peak years & he looks built for the Premier League with his size & speed.

Amad did very well when he played there no question, but for me against the better sides it would be nicer to have someone who's a bit more well rounded, built & suited to the position.
There's no doubt either on Onana, far too many costly errors in such a short period of time & when he's not making errors, I just don't think he's a good enough actual goalkeeper.. not for a side like us.

I don't think Bruno playing that deep will work in anything other than occasional special circumstances ie injury problems or chasing a game. I think we should basically have 6 players capable of playing in those 3 forward positions & Bruno should be classed as one of those players moreso than one of the CM/DM roles. He's too aggressive with his passing, I mean it's fine if he's in the final third, that's what I want to see in that area, but when you're hovering around the centre circle the success rate of those defence splitting passes lowers drastically. He's got the workrate, stamina, agility & technical ability to play deeper, it's moreso he'd need to be instructed to play less risky passes in certain areas of the pitch so we don't get carved open on the break. He'd also need more positional discipline as you can't be constantly roaming off leaving your partner on his own for 90 minutes. I don't think we'll improve the area personally, although I do agree it needs strengthening, but I can't see it unless we start to see sales. Casemiro would likely have to move on as well because you can't have £300,000 a week sitting on the bench.

A lot of our players we want shifted will be hard sales, Antony has raised his stock because of his loan & I don't think his wages are that out of control that some clubs wouldn't take him. Rashford & Sancho will be difficult unless they take a pay cut at a new club or unless the club eats some of their wages. Sancho in particular I think will be difficult, if Chelsea couldn't agree terms with him to the point that they were willing to eat a penalty fee for him returning, that should tell you he isn't interested in doing United any favours to make a move, Rashford might be more compromising.
I think the pair will end up on loan again, likely in Italy. Antony I think we'll be able to sell permanently, he's actually went on loan with a I'll show you mentality & did himself justice. If we could get £20m-£25m for him, I'd be happy. I think the club would also as I believe I read somewhere they need £25m for Sancho & £25m for Antony to avoid a PSR/FFP deficit.

 

[Hunter Rider]

You'll hear no arguments from me, lack of speed, movement, power all of the above & when we did manage to carve an opportunity it was squandered. Zirkzee could thrive with those 2 around him to bounce passes off. That being said if Gyokeres is interested & we can get him for a reasonable fee ie £50m-£60m, I'd still try & get him to see if we can make it work. He's reaching/is in his peak years & he looks built for the Premier League with his size & speed.

Amad did very well when he played there no question, but for me against the better sides it would be nicer to have someone who's a bit more well rounded, built & suited to the position.
There's no doubt either on Onana, far too many costly errors in such a short period of time & when he's not making errors, I just don't think he's a good enough actual goalkeeper.. not for a side like us.

I don't think Bruno playing that deep will work in anything other than occasional special circumstances ie injury problems or chasing a game. I think we should basically have 6 players capable of playing in those 3 forward positions & Bruno should be classed as one of those players moreso than one of the CM/DM roles. He's too aggressive with his passing, I mean it's fine if he's in the final third, that's what I want to see in that area, but when you're hovering around the centre circle the success rate of those defence splitting passes lowers drastically. He's got the workrate, stamina, agility & technical ability to play deeper, it's moreso he'd need to be instructed to play less risky passes in certain areas of the pitch so we don't get carved open on the break. He'd also need more positional discipline as you can't be constantly roaming off leaving your partner on his own for 90 minutes. I don't think we'll improve the area personally, although I do agree it needs strengthening, but I can't see it unless we start to see sales. Casemiro would likely have to move on as well because you can't have £300,000 a week sitting on the bench.

A lot of our players we want shifted will be hard sales, Antony has raised his stock because of his loan & I don't think his wages are that out of control that some clubs wouldn't take him. Rashford & Sancho will be difficult unless they take a pay cut at a new club or unless the club eats some of their wages. Sancho in particular I think will be difficult, if Chelsea couldn't agree terms with him to the point that they were willing to eat a penalty fee for him returning, that should tell you he isn't interested in doing United any favours to make a move, Rashford might be more compromising.
I think the pair will end up on loan again, likely in Italy. Antony I think we'll be able to sell permanently, he's actually went on loan with a I'll show you mentality & did himself justice. If we could get £20m-£25m for him, I'd be happy. I think the club would also as I believe I read somewhere they need £25m for Sancho & £25m for Antony to avoid a PSR/FFP deficit.

I agree that Gyokeres is suited to the PL, it's the balance of that front line I'm not convinced about at the moment, I also have to question buying a garage full of sports cars for the front line while we have a midfield of Ford Fiesta's and a clapped out old Merc.

The thing for me is we don't need to spend a large amount to improve the goalkeeper position, Onana is so erratic, just get a solid keeper with good fundamentals and it's already an improvement, it should also ease the defence as well, as I think Onana makes everyone nervy at the back.

I agree that Bruno in midfield is a mistake, but if we actually buy Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres then that's where he'll play, we won't spend North of £180M on forwards to bench one of them, and Amorim won't change to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1. Casemiro is a pain in the arse, and we need to get creative in securing a new midfielder, as him or Ugarte with Bruno, or together, as our midfield pairing will see us struggle to get top 8, no matter how many forwards we buy.

Rashford is apparently willing to take a pay cut to join Barcelona, but the problem there is that Barcelona don't have a pot to piss in, so they'll not be able to pay the £40M for him, and Sancho is sadly just a complete waster, Chelsea were still offering him huge money to be part of a squad in the CL, and he turned it down because he's only interested in money. We need the Garnacho sale, that should be £50-60M pure profit.

 

[B]

I agree that Gyokeres is suited to the PL, it's the balance of that front line I'm not convinced about at the moment, I also have to question buying a garage full of sports cars for the front line while we have a midfield of Ford Fiesta's and a clapped out old Merc.

The thing for me is we don't need to spend a large amount to improve the goalkeeper position, Onana is so erratic, just get a solid keeper with good fundamentals and it's already an improvement, it should also ease the defence as well, as I think Onana makes everyone nervy at the back.

I agree that Bruno in midfield is a mistake, but if we actually buy Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres then that's where he'll play, we won't spend North of £180M on forwards to bench one of them, and Amorim won't change to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1. Casemiro is a pain in the arse, and we need to get creative in securing a new midfielder, as him or Ugarte with Bruno, or together, as our midfield pairing will see us struggle to get top 8, no matter how many forwards we buy.

Rashford is apparently willing to take a pay cut to join Barcelona, but the problem there is that Barcelona don't have a pot to piss in, so they'll not be able to pay the £40M for him, and Sancho is sadly just a complete waster, Chelsea were still offering him huge money to be part of a squad in the CL, and he turned it down because he's only interested in money. We need the Garnacho sale, that should be £50-60M pure profit.

What an analogy

I agree, you don't need to blow the lot on someone world class, you just need someone that's a solid shot stopper & you'd get immediate improvements. Don't get me started on Onana, I honestly think he's one of the poorest pieces of business we've done post-SAF reign.

I think if we were to sign all 3, it would enable us to have proper rotation to keep them all sharp & fit. Pretty much since his arrival Fernandes plays nearly every minute of every game 45-55 games a season, it's no wonder it looks like he's running on fumes, having the ability to bring one of them off after an hour yet not suffer a massive dip in quality would be nice to be able to do. I hope your wrong & we don't see him played that deep for prolonged periods, not unless he can adapt & change his game to perhaps be more keep ball orientated. It's not out of the realm of possibility, we've seen other players do it as they get older to varying levels of success not just at United.

Garnacho should be easily sold, I'd just try & sell him abroad even for a slightly lesser fee so long as we get a sell on clause negotiated so we don't miss out on any big money future signing should he turn into an elite player.

 

[blueharvest]

 

[HammerDown]

Such a tragedy.

It was a great final between Portugal and Spain and while the Spanish where the favorites, Portugal managed to show just how good and deep their team was. Portugal has to be a Top 3 national team in the world with a richness of young talent coming through the ranks every few years.

Incredible game by Nuno Mendes who’s been on fire this season. Not only the best left back in the world but one of the very best players overall. And CR is finally filling the captaincy shoes as he should’ve always done as a player of that age and status. Aging just like a fine Portuguese wine.

 

[Hunter Rider]

What an analogy

I agree, you don't need to blow the lot on someone world class, you just need someone that's a solid shot stopper & you'd get immediate improvements. Don't get me started on Onana, I honestly think he's one of the poorest pieces of business we've done post-SAF reign.

I think if we were to sign all 3, it would enable us to have proper rotation to keep them all sharp & fit. Pretty much since his arrival Fernandes plays nearly every minute of every game 45-55 games a season, it's no wonder it looks like he's running on fumes, having the ability to bring one of them off after an hour yet not suffer a massive dip in quality would be nice to be able to do. I hope your wrong & we don't see him played that deep for prolonged periods, not unless he can adapt & change his game to perhaps be more keep ball orientated. It's not out of the realm of possibility, we've seen other players do it as they get older to varying levels of success not just at United.

Garnacho should be easily sold, I'd just try & sell him abroad even for a slightly lesser fee so long as we get a sell on clause negotiated so we don't miss out on any big money future signing should he turn into an elite player.

Agreed, keeper is a position where we definitely should be able to invest the maximum of £20M and get the position sorted for the next 5 seasons, at the bare minimum.

I'm almost 100% certain mate, if we sign Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres then Bruno will start in midfield most games, the rotation for the front 3 will be Zirkzee, Mount and Obi. Bruno plays every game, I don't see that changing, especially as he's Captain, and we won't pay £180M+ on a new front 3 for rotation. As for Bruno adapting, by his very nature he's erratic, his passing is erratic in it's quality and he's a chaos machine positionally, selling him to fun 2 new CM's was the right thing do, add that to a new front 3 and keeper and we'd be looking at a very promising rebuild, but as always we have to screw it up and keep a square peg.

I'd definitely prefer we sold Garnacho to Napoli or Leverkusen than Chelsea or Arsenal, it just depends on how much more they are willing to pay.

 

[B]

Agreed, keeper is a position where we definitely should be able to invest the maximum of £20M and get the position sorted for the next 5 seasons, at the bare minimum.

I'm almost 100% certain mate, if we sign Cunha, Mbeumo and Gyokeres then Bruno will start in midfield most games, the rotation for the front 3 will be Zirkzee, Mount and Obi. Bruno plays every game, I don't see that changing, especially as he's Captain, and we won't pay £180M+ on a new front 3 for rotation. As for Bruno adapting, by his very nature he's erratic, his passing is erratic in it's quality and he's a chaos machine positionally, selling him to fun 2 new CM's was the right thing do, add that to a new front 3 and keeper and we'd be looking at a very promising rebuild, but as always we have to screw it up and keep a square peg.

I'd definitely prefer we sold Garnacho to Napoli or Leverkusen than Chelsea or Arsenal, it just depends on how much more they are willing to pay.

I'd try to flog Onana to Saudi, there was reportedly interest from clubs there after it was reported he was unhappy about the wage cut after the club lost out on Champions League football which if true I find absolutely hilarious considering when we did play in the CL in his first season he was a massive reason we went out in the groups because of costly errors.

It's hard to say because even when we signed Sancho & Antony for big money they both seemed to be regularly included in the rotation, it would probably depend how quickly they can settle & gel.
I'd try to move Mount on, coincidentally another disastrous piece of business.

I honestly wouldn't have had the confidence even if Bruno had accepted the move to Saudi in the clubs recruitment staff that they could use that money wisely.

Leverkusen would be a good landing spot for Garnacho both from our perspective & even his own. They'll have the money if the Wirtz deal happens, if we could get £60m & a sell on clause for him, that would be good. If Chelsea or Arsenal want him, I'd charge a Premier League & rival tax, £75m.

Did you see City are reportedly close to signing Nypan?

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Hunter Rider]

I'd try to flog Onana to Saudi, there was reportedly interest from clubs there after it was reported he was unhappy about the wage cut after the club lost out on Champions League football which if true I find absolutely hilarious considering when we did play in the CL in his first season he was a massive reason we went out in the groups because of costly errors.

It's hard to say because even when we signed Sancho & Antony for big money they both seemed to be regularly included in the rotation, it would probably depend how quickly they can settle & gel.
I'd try to move Mount on, coincidentally another disastrous piece of business.

I honestly wouldn't have had the confidence even if Bruno had accepted the move to Saudi in the clubs recruitment staff that they could use that money wisely.

Leverkusen would be a good landing spot for Garnacho both from our perspective & even his own. They'll have the money if the Wirtz deal happens, if we could get £60m & a sell on clause for him, that would be good. If Chelsea or Arsenal want him, I'd charge a Premier League & rival tax, £75m.

Did you see City are reportedly close to signing Nypan?

Exactly, he was dreadful in Europe for us, I wish the Saudis would come and get him and Casemiro so we could get a nice chunk of funds and get their wages off the books, as ì can't see any serious European sides coming in for either of them.

I think the difference is that Cunha and Mbeumo are at a more experienced age and have already played well in multiple PL seasons. I agree on Mount, I've never rated him, but selling him will be tough given his injury record over the last 2 seasons.

This transfer team is still a jury out situation for me, but Bruno doesn't fit into this system and will be 31 when the season starts, selling him and buying 2 midfielders made the most sense.

With Ten Hag at Leverkusen now there's an added element that might take Garnacho there, and they're going to have the funds, I'm gutted about Wirtz.

They've signed him for £12.5M whike we twiddled our thumbs, those 115 charges are a joke.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[BlackFox]

I dont expect great things from any signing these days with United and they just dont get me excited anymore, but good luck to Cunha at least somebody different to watch crumble under the United shirt and expectation if nothing else.