Transfer Market Special
“Ridículo!’ ran the headline in two of Spain’s leading sports dailies. No translation needed. Except that the farce surrounding David de Gea’s aborted transfer to Real Madrid extends beyond the Spanish capital to United’s approach to the transfer window generally. The third in which the judgement of the club’s senior executives must be called into question. Ultimately the success of United’s transfer strategy is judged in May, but a window that began with the club having planned ahead, ended with embarrassment laid at Ed Woodward’s door. Ed & Paul discuss.
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look fwd to it on drive – Preston tmrw.Takes1hr by that time I guess you might just have finished on DDG
@UtdRantcast @Teejsound Get in! I may not be a friend of the #Rantcast but the rantcast is a friend of mine!
Gents — a very fine podcast, and therapeutic to listen to after the shambles over the failed DDG transfer.
One comment: early in the pod you give credence to the pursuit of big names like Neymar. Those felt to me more like PR stunts aimed at pulling the wool over the eyes of the supporters as opposed to bona fide efforts by the club to sign players; there was never a chance of Neymar/Mueller/Bale/Ramos/Ronnie/etc. coming in.
Thanks for a great listen I had not expected this week; cheers!
Tancredi Palmeri made this point on Talksport this week, he said that hypothetical transfers like ‘Bale to United’ take months to finalise and talk of any deal being done in the final days of the window were a complete nonsense, he went further by adding that United do not have a credible transfer strategy. United have been made to look desperate given Martial will cost more than Aguero and Benzema.
@UtdRantcast @Teejsound this should fill me in during my long flight to Manchester.
Some very good points. However, I beg to differ on Young – he did a lot more than Depay and he managed to get a few crosses over and from near the by-line. Rooney *nearly* got on the end of one. Depay is a big concern to me; at this very early stage, he looks like a ‘one trick pony’ – if the defender (as he should) cuts off the route inside and shows Depay the line, he has no answer. Depay has yet to show us that he can beat a man and get to the line and cross dangerous balls into the box.
Regarding, Januzaj, IMO, he was awful last season – almost inexplicably so – the only explantion I can give is that he has been angling for a transfer – which has been granted, albeit on loan at present. LVG has given Januzaj plenty of chances to prove his worth and aside from that slightly fortunate goal recently, he has failed to convince anyone that he’s worthy of a regular starting place.
On a slightly topic. I had an exchange with Richard Keys on Twitter yesterday in which he claimed LVG is running every aspect of the club and that he’s ruining United in the process. When I asked Richard to provide evidence he replied by stating that he doesn’t make things up and that he’s closer to what is happening than I am. It’s fairly well known Keys is pally with Bob Cass and Cass is Fergie’s mate. Fergie has in the past given Cass the inside track on United since retiring. This could be one to watch over the coming weeks.
Finally, I totally agree that we will struggle to score goals. Rooney will probably be an MLS player next season and Blind can’t continue at CB.
At this point in time, Januzaj is worth his place at United as much as any other of the attacking players including the expensive new boys Memphis and Martial. His goal against Villa may have taken a bit of a deflection but it was the build up play which was important. Januzaj started the move by taking on and beating a couple players before releasing the ball to Mata. Januzaj kept on running through to receive the return.and score. United needs players who will run through the inside forward channels thus getting ahead of Rooney creating space and chances.Currently there is a log-jam around the edge of the penalty area.
The comment attributed to Richard Keys is interesting and is quite beliievable. I, for one, am looking forward to the day that van Gaal rides off into the sunset to his retirement villa on The Algarve and United fans can look forward to a brighter future where goals are not as rare as hens’ teeth.
I refer you to my original point that Januzaj, IMO, has been angling for a transfer. Why? Who knows. Is LVG at fault here? His form has been nothing short of lousy for over 12 months. The goal against Villa was in marked contrast to every cameo or full 90 min performance (if there has been one). Januzaj is no loss in his current state of mind / form.
WIth that said, and this also applies to Wilson and it’s something that Scholes and Neville have often mentioned: “These young lads have to take these chances when they come along”. Both Januzaj and Wilson have failed to make their presence felt when given chances, this raises serious questions about them. Do they want IT enough? IF not why?
With that stated, there are some mitigating circs. To survive up front and really make it happen in the PL, you need to be street-wise and tough – think Shearer and Drogba. In the case of Wilson, he’s not helped by the fact that unlike say City, we do not create a raft of chances and someone like Aguero has to just apply the finishing touches from within the box (as brilliant as he is). Our forwards are expected to create chances and then finish them off. In short United are a bit of shambles up front, Rooney being the main bone of contention. To use an analogy, Rooney is playing like a punch drunk boxer, from memory; this is not helping the player in the supporting no.10 role. Both Wilson and Januzaj have struggled for all of the reasons above. Martial will have to be something really special to make any impact the way we are currently shaping.
Ref the comments attributed to Keys, I’m fairly certain it is him btw.