United Thread 2014/15

[Wio Gumflapdinand]

United have been awesome so far. 2 games played and already 5 points behind Chelsea. Cracking stuff.

1 point more than qpr you mean.

3 points worse off than this time last year and Sir. Moyes first two were a lot harder Swansea away and Chelsea at home lol

 

[sir baconface]

They better sign him soon or he won't be able to make his debut in the Carling Cup on Tuesday

Ah yes, the Carling Cup and a titanic clash with MK Dons.

Fingers and everyfink else crossed.

 

[mosssideblue]

I rarely watch their games but after watching the replay of the Sunderland game it was extraordinary how poor they really are as a team. The standout for me is the lack of pace in the team. They are collectively so slow all over the park that they look like a mid table team, at best.

Their current team is a savage indictment of a policy where they simply assumed that conquest and victory were part of the natural order. It's a bit like an old, fat, corrupt King who loses sight of the kingdom because he is too busy enjoying the spoils and largesse which accompany victory.

The good news for us is that their collapse is so profound that it's hard to imagine them emerging from their downward spiral for quite a few seasons.

Di Maria is not the answer. Their defence and midfield are terrible. If they choose to splash a British record fee on him, then so be it. Di Maria is not going to solve all the other problems.

At the moment we are polar opposites. City has stability, fantastic leadership, the brand being taken around the world etc.

The other mob are simply a shambles, both on and off the field.

Di Maria would help them a lot. Ask yourself who on that team yesterday could beat 1 man? Di Maria can beat 3.

Who on their team/squad has pace? Danny boy then who else?

Who in the rags team/squad would get in our team? Maybe ddg in goal. Then who else? Shaw possibly in a few years but not now. DI Maria would get in our starting 11.

The rags attacking play was so slow, predictable and safety first. Everything Di Maria isn't. They desperately need a player of Di Maria's class to give penetration to their attacks.

They might over pay for him, I reckon he is worth over 45 easily in today's climate.

In isolation Di Maria wont sort them out as he will have to pass the ball now and again, and on their current form, he may as well knock it into touch. On paper, the squad does have some reasonable charges but to be honest, the front two struggle to play on the same field and Wooney is certainly past his sell by date. Van Persie, just looks so disinterested.

Midfield and defence needs rebuilding and with a week left in the TM cannot see them getting the quality they need.

What really pisses me off though is their "protective" schedule. If they had to play one of the big guns in the next week or two, they would be crying when the final whistle went and that would really hit their colective confidence. Counter argument is that they are losing "easy games", but they must pick up 3 points sometime soon.

Interesting times at the swamp and great reading on Sadcafe.

 

[eversince 76]

I just wanna stay calm. Only two games played. Not used their new signings yet and a different manager. They will have a couple of new players coming in as well for sure. A win or back-to-back could change the lot.

I just wanna enjoy City. Whatever happens to that lot (and other big or minor upsets to the old top 4) minorly adds to that enjoyment.

 

[sparky1]

Can yoonitey still get 18 points from the first 6 games?
Lots of rags in the summer were making this brag and it got louder when they won the International Guinness Champions Cup of Champions.
I haven't heard much from them since the season started.
Yippeekayhay.

 

[CTID1988]

I was at a house party last night and there was some united fan there, everyone was winding him up and he eventually snapped. He started crying! I mean proper crying. He stormed out, shouted "20 league titles" and slammed the door, leaving his girlfriend in the kitchen. Ive never laughed so much in my life

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I rarely watch their games but after watching the replay of the Sunderland game it was extraordinary how poor they really are as a team. The standout for me is the lack of pace in the team. They are collectively so slow all over the park that they look like a mid table team, at best.

Their current team is a savage indictment of a policy where they simply assumed that conquest and victory were part of the natural order. It's a bit like an old, fat, corrupt King who loses sight of the kingdom because he is too busy enjoying the spoils and largesse which accompany victory.

The good news for us is that their collapse is so profound that it's hard to imagine them emerging from their downward spiral for quite a few seasons.

Di Maria is not the answer. Their defence and midfield are terrible. If they choose to splash a British record fee on him, then so be it. Di Maria is not going to solve all the other problems.

At the moment we are polar opposites. City has stability, fantastic leadership, the brand being taken around the world etc.

The other mob are simply a shambles, both on and off the field.

Great post.

I think, in addition to the worthwhile points you make, united's performances since City's takeover in 2008 (when they were Champions League holders, remember) demonstrates how much of professional sport is won and lost in the head.

For five of those years, in-spite of chronic and perpetual underinvestment in the team, and their talisman being sold, Ferguson managed to paper over the cracks in a manner which now seems, looking back upon it, truly incredible. Not so much in 2009-11 when the spine of a relatively young squad remained intact, but the two years that followed it, when united always seemed to win without playing well. It is a testament to his powers of man management, the influence he wielded in the game and the cult of his personality, especially within that club, that he managed to inspire that particular group of players to run us so close in 2012 and seize the title back the following season. Upon reflection, Van Persie was the most telling sign of where his priorities and long term future lay, towards the end of his tenure. He knew what was required to win the title in 2013, but he also must have known that there were wider, systemic issues with the squad which he chose to ignore and leave to his successor.

Since he left what have we had? Well firstly a successor to Taggart who was comletely out of his depth. Perhaps it was a challenge that was beyond anyone, but its difficult to imagine a title winning squad, in this day and age, deteriorating to such an extent, given the gap in wealth between those at the top and the middle of the Premier League. Ferguson's departure has also seen a dimming of united's influence on referees, especially at old trafford: who knows, but maybe some of those marginal decisions that they're not getting anymore are influenced by officials harbouring subconscious resentments at the way they were bullied when Taggart was around, now feeling a little emboldened. Even the way united are talked about in the media has been subject to a slight change in tone, limited as it is, however, by the commercial considerations that always enter into reporting on united.

What all the above has meant for the playing squad underlines my original point about psychology in sport. The club had an air of invincibility which carried them through many, many games, which simply isn't there any more. The fear factor has disappeared. The umbilical cord of Ferguson and all that went with it, which acted as a shield to so many of the deficiencies in the squad, has gone, and without it the squad and the club seem in utter disarray.

There are problems at that club that won't solely be resolved by the Glazers throwing money at the problem in an increasingly frenzied and haphazard way. They seem, at the moment, like a husband who's been discovered having an affair, buying his wife presents and flowers to try and make amends. The flowers might look pretty, but the damage was done well before and he's going to have to do a lot more than that to salvage his marriage.

They thought it would last forever, but as soon as you start thinking that, this world has a habitual way of showing you you're wrong. My most overriding hope on this, is that we, as a club, don't fall into the same trap. I'm pretty certain we won't, not least because the running of the club will never be centered, so crucially, around one individual.

Ferguson's legacy to united will, I expect, be remembered in very different terms to what he imagined, when he gave that vainglorious 'support your new manager' speech a little over a year ago.

May 2008 seems a 'lifetime' ago.

 

[bluevengence]

United have been awesome so far. 2 games played and already 5 points behind Chelsea. Cracking stuff.

1 point more than qpr you mean.

BUT BUT!!!!!.......surely they are top of the league,every pundit and raggy fookwit were telling us their first six games
were a guaranteed 18 points.

 

[Skashion]

There are problems at that club that won't solely be resolved by the Glazers throwing money at the problem in an increasingly frenzied and haphazard way. They seem, at the moment, like a husband who's been discovered having an affair, buying his wife presents and flowers to try and make amends. The flowers might look pretty, but the damage was done well before and he's going to have to do a lot more than that to salvage his marriage.

You speak from experience? ;-)

I think we've got to give ourselves a lot of credit for making this league a hell of lot more interesting than it was in the old Sky Four days. You raise a very good point when you say the Glazers have left it too late to rebuild and they should have been doing it years earlier. They have, as you rightly point out, fucked up and are now frantically running around in desperation but we've served as the catalyst for that. For six years though, that top four was composed of the same teams, just the order changed. We well and truly disrupted that, US, we broke up the cosy cartel of those four clubs who were the only game in town for the world's best who were willing to come to England. The proof is that not only have the rags suffered but so have Liverpool. Of course there have been poor management at those clubs which contributed but I don't think they would have happened without our looming presence forcing those errors.

 

[Bilboblue]

I rarely watch their games but after watching the replay of the Sunderland game it was extraordinary how poor they really are as a team. The standout for me is the lack of pace in the team. They are collectively so slow all over the park that they look like a mid table team, at best.

Their current team is a savage indictment of a policy where they simply assumed that conquest and victory were part of the natural order. It's a bit like an old, fat, corrupt King who loses sight of the kingdom because he is too busy enjoying the spoils and largesse which accompany victory.

The good news for us is that their collapse is so profound that it's hard to imagine them emerging from their downward spiral for quite a few seasons.

Di Maria is not the answer. Their defence and midfield are terrible. If they choose to splash a British record fee on him, then so be it. Di Maria is not going to solve all the other problems.

At the moment we are polar opposites. City has stability, fantastic leadership, the brand being taken around the world etc.

The other mob are simply a shambles, both on and off the field.

They are shite.
Whiskynose left them with an aging poor team.
They will take a while to get over it.

Agreed.