Why don’t Man United bring in Roy Keane as Ole’s assistant?

Matt Stead
Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-Roy-Keane-Football365 Man Utd

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United were actually alright
United deserve a lot of criticism for the Everton game, but they really did well for the City game. They finally looked like a team and they defended well for most of the game by keeping City.

City deserve to win overall due to Silva’s goal and better finishing but it was a game of slim margins and the scoreline flatters them. Had Lingard converted that open goal to make it 1-1 or De Gea didnt make that howler (a reason why United didnt deserve to win), United would have had been in the game longer.

The XG score seems to put pan out something similar, with them being 0.51 vs 0.53 in terms of chance creation. United didnt’ deserve to win this for sure (a draw at best) but after their other recent displays, they should walk off the field with their heads held high. The question is, whether they can continue this going forward for the next few matches – which with this team is not a certainty.
Yaru, Malaysia

 

What a morbidly fascinating mess
Didn’t manage to see the game on Wednesday but was back in time for the post-game analysis. I’m a City fan but listening to the talk that United are probably still half a decade away from being  good enough to seriously challenge, despite the money spent and the ridiculous resources still at their disposal…no mockery intended, it’s morbidly fascinating. If City are an example of a club that has strategised expenditure for the future well, United are surely their polar opposite.

There was clearly no smooth plan for Fergie’s exit. His genius only seems to have fostered epic levels of complacency around him. The team was allowed to stagnate right to the end when the soul was ripped out of the club in lightning fashion. Fergie, Vidic, Gill and the coaching staff all gone simultaneously. In comes Woodward with no clue about the footballing side of things and Moyes, the rabbit in the headlights of what turned out to be a freight train. Since then there appears to have been no plan for the team and every decision has been reactive. An ideal time for a footballing director surely…but Ed must have thought ‘There’s nothing to this football malarky’. Even if they do appoint a DOF you can’t help but get the feeling it was because every man and his dog has told him to!

Big name transfer targets like Ronaldo and Bale were selected with all the strategy of lemmings running off a cliff, and typically were botched in such a fashion as to expose the sheer incompetence of the post-Fergie regime. This has been compounded by the hapless leaping from one manager to the next with all the foresight of ‘that bloke down the pub’. Each moved in a new direction, each required another clear-out (yet somehow Ashley Young has survived) and each another war-chest to spend.

Again the whole thing has been reactive. So instead of accepting that there might be some lean years, whilst the club fosters a new identity under a promising young manager, they have picked for the short term, then proceeded to sack the floundering manager as the panic of not getting Champions League football next season kicked in. If there is a ‘United way’ at the moment, it is ‘Wait until the horse bolts then close the stable door.’

So we come to to the current state of affairs:

* The squad needs another complete revamp. It has been put together about as lovingly as the contents of a table at a jumble sale.

* Team morale is clearly rock bottom again after the buzz of getting rid of Jose for ‘the cool supply teacher’ wears off.

* Their top player is a <celebrity 1st, footballer when he can be bothered> personality that others in the squad look up to regardless (After all, he did win the world cup!)

* Unwanted players are on bloated wages hanging around for a sweet payday because no-one will match it elsewhere.

* The players United want to keep are running their contracts down.

* This means that the sale value of players in both groups above will have plummeted drastically.

* Other huge clubs that need overhauls but don’t look so clueless such as Real and Bayern will be competing in the same market.

* City and Liverpool are not going to conveniently go away, and to even get top four is getting tougher by the year.

* Every year in this state will reduce their attractiveness to managers, players, fans and sponsors. Fair play to Woodward. He could probably sell a ship aflame for a tidy profit, but the magic can’t last forever.

Despite all this, you still get the feeling that the plan for next season is ‘Let’s just see what happens with Ole first’. Could the rebuild really take as long as at Liverpool?
Nic MCFC

 

Any ideas?
OK folks, we’ve all come to the conclusion that Man Utd are complete and utter rubbish. Some came to this conclusion quicker than others and some are enjoying it more than others. However, something still doesn’t make any sense to me? Maybe someone more cleverer can explain?

I think all will agree that Man Utd have been completely wasteful in the transfer market for a number of years despite having lots and lots of cash to splash. We don’t struggle to spend money and have also pulled the trigger now on 3 managers and replaced them pretty quickly and even improving Joses package before giving him the boot. I would assume that a director of football costs a lot less than a Jose Mourhino or a David Moyes – probably less than Jose’s hotel bills. I would also assume Alexis Sanchez salary for a month would cover a Director of Football salary for a year yet I have no doubt which one would add more value to the club. 75 thousand pounds extra we paid him to come on and touch the ball once in a game that was already long gone, how can that be justified – stick him in the f***ing reserves as 4th choice goalkeeper, pay his contract out, do something you bloody idiots…..I digress…..

So why the hell have Man Utd not gone and got one of the best Directors of Football in the world?

The only conclusion I can come to is that they don’t want one as the Glazers and Ed Woodward are lining each others pockets and don’t see a need to change anything.

Come to think of it, Ole’s contract negotiations timing is also worthy of a conspiracy theory. Jose fired just before an easy run of games, Ole starts, overacheives to be fair, and goes on that ridiculous winning streak. Fans and pundits are calling for his permanent appointment and then when Ed sees the tough games are approaching realises it could be now or never. Ole is thus a (presumably) cheap manager who they’d have to keep next season whereas if he was currently still the temp manager fans might not now be so keen for him to stay and instead expect an expensive managerial recruit in the summer who would also be doomed to failure with no DOF.
Jon, Cape Town (I hope that by writing this some fantastic DOF with a great track record at a European super power gets announced and subsequently makes me look foolish)

 

Get Keano in
I’m a bit late to the post-derby party (busy day at work, for once!) but I wanted to quickly throw my two penneth in. First, I would echo some of the sentiments from yesterday’s mailbox in that the loss shouldn’t have come as any surprised. At the start of the game, City were four places and 22 points in front of us, and on something like a 10-match winning run in the Premier League, so a 2-0 defeat is pretty much par for the course – there is no shame in losing under those circumstances. And, having watched the game, we did play well for the first half which, although in itself a damning indictment of our expectations these days, is better than we got in the Everton game. Of course, the fact that we are trailing so far in City’s (and Liverpool & Spurs’) wake, despite having spent comparative amounts of money on transfers, is massively disappointing to begin with, but there was little that could be done about that in time for the derby. So, all in all, it could have been a lot worse and at least we actually held our own for a bit.

But then again, the fact that some players did show noticeable improvements in their attitude and application in the derby game is infuriating too; yet more evidence that this group can and will turn it on and off as they please. I thought Roy Keane’s remarks were bang on the money. I don’t actually like the guy (or at least what we fans see of him) and I was never a fan of him as a player, but it would make a degree of sense bringing him in as an assistant manager or something, should Mike Phelan make the step upstairs he’s being linked with. That kind of fire and fury and, more importantly, winning mentality instilled from his United days, could be the key to weeding out some of these primadonnas and ensuring that only players dedicated to the cause are at the club. Just an idea.

Where I think United really slipped up, however, was in the January transfer window. While I understand the trepidation around signing players with no permanent manager in place, it was inarguable that the defence we had was good enough. Even excluding a quality issue, Bailly, Rojo and Jones have all missed large periods of the season through injury, leaving us with just two recognised centre-backs. The club must have had a number of scouted targets in mind, so I don’t see why we couldn’t have moved for one of them. They had an entire month in which to do some business, which could have gone a long way to aiding either Solskjaer in the short-term or a new manager next term (obviously with Ole not having been confirmed as permanent back then). Even if they didn’t want to commit to new signings without a permanent manager, they could have done one of these increasingly more common loans with a permanent option. Ok, you probably pay more that way but it would have been a risk worth taking.

But the prevailing theme of United these days, and arguably since 2013/14, is missed opportunities. It all started in that season when City first won the title and it’s been getting worse every year since. Missed opportunities with a view to being innovators instead of slowly declining, not developing Old Trafford, not building for the future when it became clear Fergie’s time was coming to an end, dithering in transfer windows and with player contracts…all these things have contributed to where we are now. Even now, the club is dilly-dallying over appointing a director of football, leaving our summer transfer business up in the air and, more than likely, in the hands of Ed Woodward once again. Forget us being in the lack of Champions League football – it’s the lack of direction of the club that will put prospective players off. It’s a big summer ahead and right now we are so badly unprepared for it that next season could end up being a write-off too. I can only hope that Ed finally takes his thumb out of his ass and actually does something for a change.
Ted, Manchester

 

Klopp’s biggest mistake
Klopp’s biggest mistake so far – the way Liverpool played the second half at Old Trafford.

MU had all the substitutes used in the first half. We should have risked and pressed them as City did. We would have faced a United team who wereexhausted in the last 15 mins and most probably would have won.

Hope it’s not late for late drama. In Klopp we trust.
Marin, Lfc Sofia

 

What about Arsenal?
I’m going to give Alan (THFC) the benefit of the doubt and assume he was being flippant, not trolling Arsenal fans, with his summer advice for each top 6 team.

And what with all the Man U introspection (basically eject half the squad) here’s my grand plan for Arsenal.

Hug Ramsey goodbye (tightly) after he scores the winner in the Europa final, sign up Cech to the coaching staff and extend Welbecks contract – to replace a utility man/back up striker of his quality will cost £20-25m.

We have Martinez returning as number 2 GK below the increasingly impressive Leno.

Find a way to get rid of Mustafi, any way. Sign an established replacement CB to keep Holding/Mavropanos on their toes and fill in for Captain Koscielny whose knees won’t last forever.

Extend Lichtsteiners deal by another year as cover, promoting Osei-Tutu from the U23s to understudy Bellerin. Say thanks and bye to Gooner Jenkinson while signing a young left back to shadow and then replace the lovely but aging Monreal.

If rumours of a weirdly large bid for Guendouzi are to be believed then sell him and Elneny and go wild on whatever awesome midfielder we can find. Shift Maitland-Niles back to his natural and favourite position in CM and bring Smith-Rowe and Nelson back to start integrating them up front.

Looks like we’ve signed Martinelli which is cool but he’s pretty young so I’ll reserve judgement.

All in all, no major surgery needed just a CB, LB and attacking midfielder with promotions and loan recalls doing the rest. A year of consolidation, Emery really hammering home his work ethic, playing style and fitness requirements and we are on a good path. We won’t win the league any time soon but then literally no-one is expecting that. I’ll take some cup runs and (hopefully) a seat back at the big boys table for now.
Alay, N15 Gooner

 

Brendan will win it
Brendan will do a job on City. Without a shadow of a doubt. It will be Brendan who wins the league for Liverpool. You probably didnt hear it here first but I haven’t seen anyone else mention it!
Chris, British Columbia 

 

Tasty
The last day could be a once off goal chase

If (and yes this is quite a few ifs)

Utd beat Chelsea, Huddersfield and Cardiff
Arsenal draw away at Leicester then beat Brighton and Burnley
Chelsea having lost at United beat both Watford and Leicester at home.

All seem like the most likely results.

All will have 73 points.

United likely to miss champs league on goal difference for the second time.
Matt

 

Team effort
Absolutely loved the article on every player named in the PFA TOTY. It throws such an interesting light on how we compare players from a older generation to current players. Obviously over the years there have been several glaring omissions and baffling inclusions, but still leads to an interesting read and even more interesting conclusions 8 times – Slippy G has been in the PFA TOTY an astonishing 8 times in 17 seasons! That’s being one of the best players in your position in the league for almost 50% of his career. Funnily, the next player with most inclusions from Liverpool only has 2, which highlights the mean spell they were going through before Klopp came

6 times – An absolute who’s who of legends with Giggsy, Neville (G not P), Alan Shearer, Henry, Viera and Rio (5 for Utd + 1 for Leeds). I guess the best CB and fullback in the PL era are Rio and Neville

5 times – With 5 inclusions David De Gea has the highest inclusions of all current players and the highest of all goalkeepers. At only 28, Dave might just have his best years ahead of him and is bound to get atleast one more inclusion (if he sticks around). Will be remembered as a United and PL legend

4 times – This is where things get interesting. Vidic, Terry, Ashley Cole, Wes Brown all join the list of PL’s best defenders. CR7, Beckham, Hazard and Kane all pegged as equals in an illustrious list. Kane is bound to add a few more to his name (not that Hazard will be bothered in Madrid)

3 times – Evra, Kompany and Cahill (lol) join the list of all time PL greats. Rooney is surprisingly only at 3 inclusions. And to settle a long-standing debate Scholes = Lamps.

2 times – Aguero, David Silva, and Drogba all stand at only 2 inclusions! Joining this illustrious list to put things into perspective is the greatest fullback/winger/wingback combo Mr. Ashley Young
Yash, MUFC (bye-bye top 4)

 

A Burnley squad ladder
So a good result against Chelsea more or less confirms Burnley’s survival in the top flight for another season and Sean Dyche’s legendary status at Burnley FC. You gotta hand it to the Ginger Mourinho; turning relegation form into top 6 form has been a great achievement. More so considering the paltry January transfer window only delivered a 37-year old Peter Crouch.

Closing out the season, here’s our squad in order of how I see its importance:

1. Dwight McNeil. The lad has a great future ahead of him and we have nothing else like him. Replacing him would cost a fortune.

2. Tom Heaton. Club captain and part of the huge change in form since January which secured our Premier League status.

3. James Tarkowski and Ben Mee. Best centre back pairing outside the top 6.  They’re equally important and equally as brilliant. In my mind they live together and share a bedroom (with separate single beds, matching stripy pyjamas and nightcaps) with posters of Tony Adams and Martin Keown adorning the wall.

4. Chris Wood. Record signing and scores all the goals.

5. Ashley Barnes. Plays like the opposition defenders have been texting his missus. Booked for kissing an opponent.

6. Ashley Westwood. A solid tackler and recycler of the ball. Much better player than his Aston Villa days.

7. Charlie Taylor. Has come on leaps and bounds in Stephen Ward’s absence. Could have a better end-product though.

8. Matt Lowton. Not good enough but we don’t have anyone better. An upgrade would push this man way down the list. He allows attackers to turn every time. Even when they signal it with a ferry horn.

9. Johan Berg Gudmundsson. Has his difficulties with injuries but is a main threat when he plays.

10. Steven Defour. Another player with his injury issues, but when he plays he does things no other player we have does.

11. Jack Cork. A huge dip in form since last season but still a regular starter. Needs competition to arrive in the summer to kick him up the ass.

12. Jeff Hendrick. Not a fan’s favourite by any means but he’s alright. Recent performances have been above average.

13. Nick Pope. A season injured hasn’t done him any favours. Would probably still command a £40 million transfer fee due to his age and nationality though. Sell him if the right bid comes in.

14. Phil Bardsley. A tough tackler who looks difficult to play against. Useful squad player. Knocked out Wayne Rooney once upon a time.

15. Robbie Brady. A season injured hasn’t helped him whatsoever but if we’re honest he’s never really settled anyway. Good enough for the squad.

16. Stephen Ward. Perhaps his age is starting to catch up with him but he’s been injured a lot this year so he’s hardly played. Good enough for the squad. Move him on in a year.

17. Ben Gibson. Probably still a good player but hasn’t played this season due to injuries. Actually forgot he was in our squad.

18. Joe Hart. He’s a capable back-up goalkeeper but if his salary is high then he needs shifting ‘cos the return on investment isn’t worth it. He should probably retire before the ignominy of playing League 2 football becomes his reality. He probably won’t. Definitely still has ambitions to play for England again, lolz.

19. Peter Crouch. Apparently he’s good fun for the dressing room and his lanky frame definitely unsettles defences. Kick the ball towards his head and watch those elbows clamber above anything smaller than the Empire State Building.

20. Matej Vydra. Quality in the Champo but just hasn’t been given an opportunity in the Prem. Shame. I’d give him a chance but then again Burnley would be in the Conference if I was in charge.

21. Kevin Long. 4th choice centre back and hopefully he’ll never be anything more.

22. Anders Lindegaard. 4th choice goalkeeper and hopefully he’ll never be anything more.

23. Adam Legzdins. 5th choice goalkeeper and hopefully he’ll never be anything more.

24. Aaron Lennon. No end product and definitely overpaid whatever he gets. Constantly injured. Needs moving on. Like a horse that should be taken to the glue factory. Bring back Glen Little.

Areas to focus on in the summer transfer window in order of importance: a first-choice right back and competition for central midfield and the wings. Shift the last 2 players on my list and another of the goalkeepers. 4 is too many goalkeepers, 5 is ridiculous.
Nick P. Burnley FC.