United Thread 2015/16

[JustAnotherCityFan]

Is this instead of Schneiderlin or as well as?

 

[-nibz-]

Is this instead of Schneiderlin or as well as?

Don't care

Still shit

 

[Sergi0 Na5r1]

Swine is a decent signing for them even if he lasts a couple of years. However their team is still mostly a shambles and De Gea has made the most decisive impact in their games and still looks like he's leaving. They will suffer no matter what.

 

[Ric]

Is this instead of Schneiderlin or as well as?

I'd be surprised if they went for both Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin.

 

[Matty]

Schweinsteiger is a good player, but he's a player to bring success now, not in the next 2 or 3 seasons. He'll be 31 come the start of the season so is past his best and can only get worse from here on out. United don't have the squad to win the league at this stage, so do they really need a 31 year old midfielder?

 

[sam-caddick]

I'd be surprised if they went for both Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin.

Reading around it looks like they will.

Schneiderin will rotate with Carrick.

Schweinsteiger isn't a holding midfielder so will have a position to himself.

 

[Ric]

Schweinsteiger is a good player, but he's a player to bring success now, not in the next 2 or 3 seasons. He'll be 31 come the start of the season so is past his best and can only get worse from here on out. United don't have the squad to win the league at this stage, so do they really need a 31 year old midfielder?

Akin to the van Persie transfer. Short term gains outweighing long term planning. Not the United way, so we're told.

 

[Matty]

Akin to the van Persie transfer. Short term gains outweighing long term planning. Not the United way, so we're told.

I said (at length!) earlier in this thread what I thought of United's planning for the future. It's a case of them balancing being competitive with making a profit. 4th place is just dandy with the Glazers, still bring in a decent financial wedge, qualify for the Champion's League, keep the dividends coming in. The amount needed to be spent to win the league, to overhaul City and Chelsea, is huge. The benefits, from a financial perspective, don't add up. As a football club, and as a fan, you'd want to win things, as a financially motivated owner, you're not so bothered as long as you keep making money. Schweinsteiger is a prime example of this, he'll help solidify 4th spot, for the next couple of years, he'll be relatively cheap as he's 31 with 12 months left on his contract, and he's a big enough name to placate the fans and make them believe there's bigger things on the horizon, which there isn't.

 

[TCIB]

As long as they are scrabling for short term solutions it keeps them busy from building anything meaningful. With that i mean a plan to dislodge us and Chelsea.
I am convinced the Glazers have the same mindset as Arsenal though. Any Utd fan thinking they will get the investment they really need to wipe out their poor player recruitment and player management of the last few years are going to be let down.
For the same reason they will not get a women's team they will not invest like our boss, they are using the club as a direct profit making asset.
A woman's team gives their money men a frowny face and so does the idea of investing the money needed to really push Chelsea and ourselves... even Arsenal possibly.

I am content they as a club right now are miles behind us and it is hard going to even get close to catching us up.

 

[Matty]

As long as they are scrabling for short term solutions it keeps them busy from building anything meaningful. With that i mean a plan to dislodge us and Chelsea.
I am convinced the Glazers have the same mindset as Arsenal though. Any Utd fan thinking they will get the investment they really need to wipe out their poor player recruitment and player management of the last few years are going to be let down.
For the same reason they will not get a women's team they will not invest like our boss, they are using the club as a direct profit making asset.
A woman's team gives their money men a frowny face and so does the idea of investing the money needed to really push Chelsea and ourselves... even Arsenal possibly.

I am content they as a club right now are miles behind us and it is hard going to even get close to catching us up.

As I said a few days ago......

United's main issue is a lack of a strategic plan for how they progress from their current situation (of being good but not great, and being unlikely to win the league as opposed to perennial winners) to where they used to be. They need a coherent plan setting place as to how they are going to achieve their goals, they need a style of play that the club is going to use at ALL LEVELS from youth through to first team. They need a transfer policy that aims at building the best team, as opposed to buying whatever big name happens to be available. Van Gaal isn't the manager for this, his tactics are bewildering, and too often he tries to force square pegs into round holes to suit what he wants. Woodward isn't the chairman (or whatever his title is) to do this either, he's clueless when it comes to the footballing world. He's got a background in accountancy, tax dealings, and merges/acquisitions. None of that makes him qualified to negotiate player transfers. He's a buffoon.

I said this a few years ago, and it's still true now. The Glazers aren't interested in titles, or trophies. They want the biggest profit on their investment, for the smallest cost. Moyes' 7th place finish wasn't an acceptable achievement, for their business model, as they failed to get the big bucks the Champion's League brings in. Van Gaal's achievement was exactly what they needed, 4th place, Champion's League money, yet not having to splash huge sums on a plethora of World Class talent (Di Maria being the only truly top level name to join).

So, United's actual needs, as far as a football club, are actually, in many ways, in conflict with their owners desires, for United as a business. The football club needs to bring in top quality players in the right positions, and invest in coaches/youth to build the club from within. The owners don't want to do any of that, they want to keep the club "ticking over" as long as they are still profitable.

There's a reason why United are 1 of only 2 Premier League sides (Southampton being the other) with no women's side affiliated to the club. It's not going to contribute anything really to the profits, and there's the costs associated with setting the team up. The Glazers simply won't see any cost benefit here, so they won't be doing it until there is a cost benefit.