Manchester United have made some questionable transfer decisions but was this the worst of the lot? The inquest continues.
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People should be sacked for one Man Utd decision
The difference between the Ten Hag/current United and earlier United teams of LVG, Mourinho, Moyes? Only and only David De Gea.
There was nothing stopping United from finishing bottom half every season other than the one man wall & savior DDG. That is the difference a bad transfer makes. At least 15-20 points a season lost, 40 million + salary lost, just to get in someone who isn’t fit to be a goalkeeper.
Meanwhile DDG is dishing out MOTM performances weekly for Fiorentina. You may point to dozens of worst transfers made by United, but nothing beats this nonsensical decision to let your player of the season for 2-3 years running leave on a free and replace him with a clown. There is no other transfer that so directly has cost us actual points.
Sack the people in charge of transfers, sack Onana, sack the goalkeeping coach, sack the set-piece coach. Because this is getting embarrassing. And if we can, hire Ten Hag again just so we can fire him for making some of the worst transfer decisions in the history of any sport, let alone football.
This reminds me of the days of Chamakh and Gervinho at Arsenal or the Hodgson era at Liverpool. Absolute joke of a “top” club. Tired of watching this rubbish.
Aman
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Man Utd ‘going down’ and Ruben Amorim could be sacked before summer
👉 Former Man Utd winger slams Amorim, names alternative manager INEOS should’ve appointed
Man Utd fans so entitled
Good grief.
‘I have been supporting this club for over 25 years now. I have seen its ups and downs.’
Is there anything more annoying than an entitled fan base? They’ve had unprecedented success in that period, but here’s another fan who probably doesn’t understand that United were pretty average for over 2 decades before the advent of the Premier League. You haven’t seen anything like downs, mate. Downs are getting relegated under Tommy Docherty, a mere 7 years after winning the European Cup. Downs are going 27 years without winning a league title. It’s not even half of that since your last one!
Just because the media tells you that your team should be challenging every year (this is Manchester United we’re talking about, Gary), doesn’t make it so.
Pull your head out of your backsides.
Aidan, EFC, Hoxton
…Lots of chatter about certain United players not being good enough to play for the club.
Do United fans still see the club as this all conquering giant who only signed and produced the best players?
Before Alex Ferguson they were a cup team, after him they are again.
They might never get back to that level.
Chris, NUFC
Man Utd have lost their soul
They say nothing is impossible, but as an opposing fan, I’ve seen the impossible happen. Manchester United, once untouchable, has lost its magic. The fortress has become a watchtower, and the soul has truly left the club.
Manchester United has never been the same club. Old Trafford, once a fortress where opponents were “not allowed to win,” has now become just another stadium, no longer feared or respected as it once was.
As a Liverpool fan, here are 10 observations I believe have led to the decline of Manchester United:
1. Sir Alex Didn’t Leave a Great Team Behind
Clubs with a long legacy often strive to leave a strong team for the future. Unfortunately, Sir Alex left behind a squad that wasn’t built to maintain long-term success.
2. The Wrong Successor
The club chose a coach with no top honors to replace their most successful manager. A team like Manchester United deserved someone with proven success at the highest level.
3. Loss of Identity
New coaches failed to recognize that Manchester United is a club larger than life, with a unique style of football defined by wingers and full-backs. Instead, each manager imposed their own style, diluting the club’s identity.
4. Living on False Hopes
Minor cup wins created a false sense of revival among fans, masking the core issues and leaving them unaddressed.
5. No Scary Players
Every successful team has players who intimidate opponents and are hated by rival fans. United has lacked these kinds of players in recent years.
6. Buying Players Past Their Prime
Manchester United has repeatedly signed players past their peak—Schweinsteiger, Ronaldo, Casemiro, Zlatan. These players came for fame and salary rather than to build a lasting legacy.
7. Poor Grooming of Homegrown Talent
Talented young players like Rashford, Adnan Januzaj, and Mason Greenwood were not nurtured properly, leading to inconsistent development.
8. Over-Reliance on De Gea
For several years, David De Gea was their best player, which is a worrying sign for any top club. If your goalkeeper is the standout performer, it highlights deeper problems in the team.
9. The Ronaldo Effect
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return disrupted the squad, particularly Bruno Fernandes, who had been one of the league’s best players the previous year. The team never fully recovered from this imbalance.
10. The Body Without the Soul
The club remains powerful in name and stature—”The Theater of Dreams,” “Richest Club in the World,” “Most Successful Club in History,” “Golden Generation,” and “The Red Devils.” But the soul is gone. The once-feared legacy is now a shadow of its former self.
As an opposing fan, I’ve seen the impossible happen. Manchester United has lost its magic. The fortress has become a watchtower, and the soul has truly left the club.
Jitu Deshmukh
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Ruben Amorim predicted Manchester United ‘storm’ but should have known shower of sh*te was coming
👉 Man Utd ‘going down’ and Ruben Amorim could be sacked before summer
👉 Former Man Utd winger slams Amorim, names alternative manager INEOS should’ve appointed
Stars aligning for Newcastle
NUFC should sign an astrologer, because our stars seem to align on Thursday. The only result that impinged on us in any way and didn’t go in our favor was Nottingham Forest’s victory against Spurs, and who can begrudge Forest that? Certainly not a Magpie, what with Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood earning the heck out of their paychecks.
Heck, Ugarte and Fernandes even earned suspensions for Newcastle United’s Monday visit to Old Trafford. I suppose it would have been even better if Leicester had held or beaten Liverpool, but we’re never going to catch Liverpool, anyway.
As everybody has started to notice, Tonali’s notional — notional, in that he and Guimaraes often swap roles — change to #6 and penchant for late runs is starting to provide both he and Bruno G with predictable looks at goal; Bruno has gotten the exact same opportunity for a header in the last two matches. It was a pleasing team performance, with Isak staying hot and healthy and a monumental Joelinton performance rewarded with a goal. Villa sure did seem self-destructive, though.
The foul that earned Jhon Duran his sending off actually had me shaking my fist at the screen in fury. That said, the replay suggested that Schar had a subtle little kick out at Duran as he fell and I have to think he provoked the foul. Also, I sure hope Dubravka is bringing good money in his expected January move because I’m hesitant to trust Odysseas Vlachodimos, whatever make-weight, probably dishonest, fee we paid for him in that bizarre deal.
I keep expecting a reaction from Manchester City, a blistering reminder that they must be reckoned with, but I can’t count the times I’ve been wrong before even just here in the Mailbox. One wonders which club is being presented with a greater opportunity when City visits Leicester on Sunday. ESPNBet is waffling at the moment, offering City at a miserly -270.
Chris C, Toon Army DC (Is there a point where Erik Ten Hag starts to look like the good old days at Manchester United? I’m eager for Monday.)
The Villa view
I wrote in the other week regarding the debatable refereeing of the Forest v Villa game having a decisive impact on the outcome of the game. That was nothing compared to the absolute shitshow that was the Newcastle match yesterday. The majority of my ire has to go to VAR. The whole point of this god forsaken system was to prevent major errors but yet again was not used effectively to overturn a ridiculous red card early in the game.
A player who is not challenging for the ball will
be sent off if they:
•
use or attempt to use excessive force or brutality
against an opponent, teammate, team official,
match official, spectator or any other person,
regardless of whether contact is made
If you want to argue that was ‘excessive force’ or ‘brutality’ then fine but Duran’s ankle went from under him and the action seemed to be him trying NOT to tread on his opponents back with his studs.
I have said it before I can accept a referee on the field making a mistake. We all make mistakes. Fine. But when you have VAR these kinds of errors should not be happening.This is why it is infuriating. Added to that is Anthony Taylor who folded to the baying of the crowd continually and the (appropriately for the season) pantomime acting of the Newcastle players who flip-flopped between throwing themselves to the floor in abject pain and jumping up to get in the ear of the referee.
I used to like Newcastle a lot but the fans enthusiastic embracing of a human rights ignoring Saudi ownership coupled with a team of unlikeable, whinging cheats (apart from Isak, he seems cool) means they have been on my list of ‘top 5 teams to get in the sea’ for a while. The most embarrassing thing I’ve seen in many a year was Bruno celebrating a handball goal like he’d won the league. When already 2-0 up. Against ten men. This after Konsa had cleared the ball off the line, hit him on the elbow from 2 yards away, the ball was about to go out for a goal kick until hitting Digne on the arse and going in. Bearing in mind he knew it had hit his elbow and it would be disallowed (unless he doesn’t understand the rules….) to tear off to the corner flag like he’d just scored a worldie was frankly both fascinating yet sad.
As many Newcastle fans would tell you, they don’t like us because we made fun of them once for getting relegated. Well I don’t like them because they’ve turned from a loveable, respected and honest team and set of fans into the perfect example of everything that is wrong with modern football.
Funstar (football is bad for your mental health – discuss) Andy
Spurs not entertaining…just sh*t
Only Wolves, Leicester and Southampton have lost more games than Spurs in the league this season. Wolves will also slightly bridge that gap when they beat us this coming weekend.
That sentence alone tells you everything you need to know about how f*cking terrible we are.
When we beat Southampton I made a comment on X about how the result was much more about how awful Saints were than how good we are. Then got called out. Why do optimistic people think realistic people are pessimistic?
Injuries cannot cloak the awfulness that is Tottenham Hotspur. The whole ‘Spurs are fun to watch’ shtick is only applicable to non-Spurs fans. It’s not fun getting battered from pillar to post by the good teams and it’s not fun getting beat by less than mediocre teams. There’s nothing fun about losing most of the time.
The recent 4-3 and 6-3 losses to Chelsea and Liverpool, respectively, absolutely flattered us.
We may be missing starters and we may be lacking quality but a good manager is flexible. Our system is massively flawed when we have the players who fit that system, never mind when we don’t have the right personnel. A decent manager (even one not decent) would set their teams up accordingly. Ange is a dead man walking. Managers have been chopped for a lot less than the dog shit he’s serving up.
You could be the best team in the world – which clearly we ain’t – but if you tell your full backs to come inside and play centre mid and don’t worry about being in any sort of defensive position (even when we’re on the defence) PLUS you tell your 2 CM’s they don’t have to ever defend or cover any gaping holes, and also don’t have to offer much going forward, then you’re gonna struggle. That’s if you’re the best team. And we are Spurs. lol. So do the math.
We have lost 50% of our games. 50 bleeding percent. I know most of us say we could do a better job than managers who are struggling, but a smarter than average pigeon could produce a stricter back 4 and garner better results than this current nonsense, ‘mate’.
Glen, ‘very very very tired of Tottenham’ Stratford Spur
In defence of Will Ford
Holding a grudge is like peeing on yourself. You’re the only one who feels it and everyone else will look at you funny.
So for any reader who might have written in or commented about Will Ford and criticised his writing, his club bias, his mean-spirited views, or petitioned F365 that he shouldn’t be allowed within 100 metres of an article about Liverpool Football Club – I say, shame on you.
I have taken it upon myself to write in his defence, as a true believer in freedom of expression, the indelible power of the written word and in F365 as the last bastion of independent football reporting and journalistic integrity.
In the first instance, if Mr Ford is unsuited to writing about Liverpool then surely it is the editor’s fault for allowing a man so deeply traumatised by the reds out of his playpen to exorcise his demons at the reader’s expense? Not so. In fact these assignments are a kindness, an opportunity for Mr Ford to save money on counselling sessions by way of exposure therapy, and I say again shame on anyone for criticising them.
While I don’t for a second believe that Mr Ford is biased, you have to admit that if the entire Liverpool team came around to your house, scribbled all over your Premier League albums, took the first slice of your Colin Caterpillar birthday cake and spat it out, stole your Hot Wheels, punctured your Stretch Armstrong, stuck play dough in your Transformers and took your mum out for fish and chips and never called her again, you would hold a totally legitimate grudge against them as well and you’re a liar if you say otherwise.
Nevertheless I refuse to believe Mr Ford is anything less than one hundred per cent objective. This is a man who at the age of eight started supporting Chelsea despite previously following Man United, for no particular reason other than that most noble and righteous sense that he had grown tired of United’s winning ways. He is an unassailable island of virtue in a cynical sea of modern commercialisation of the game and his decision had absolutely nothing to do with Abramovich buying the league.
In any case, Mr Ford is totally correct. Liverpool were arrogant. And hubristic. It’s not like Leicester got lucky and capitalised on an error to score with their one shot on target. By his own admission, this is a man who believes that when Bellingham celebrates a goal for England before Foden even touches the ball it is heartwarming scene, but if a professional football team at the top of the table go out to play struggling relegation-battlers with the self-belief they can win, that’s arrogant and hubristic.
And what do these words, “arrogance” and “hubris” even mean anyway? Do they mean a sense of unearned entitlement or exaggerated belief in one’s ability? Or do they mean what we need them to mean to serve the article and to garner clicks and these types of responses?
Let’s cut Mr Ford some slack. This writing gig is hard and words are difficult. He doesn’t go down to your job and demand you do it to an acceptable standard, and you shouldn’t hold him accountable either.
Rough Justice, Dublin
