Man Utd have ‘barely five above-average players’ but only one wanted by Villa
Man Utd have spent a whole lot of money to have barely any players who are even above average, if they have any at all…
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Those with power don’t always have sense
I have long held an unpopular belief that 90%+ of CEO’s, Owners, Founders, World leaders, and top level management do not know anything more than what your average well educated working person does. When people idol worship and hero worship these fools, I find it cringe and embarrassing as I do not consider most of these people any more or less talented than the middle management or the young guns. And one of the case studies amongst many many world renowned brands and sporting clubs is our very own Manchester United.
If suggesting Southgate as Manchester United isn’t a sackable offence, I do not know what is! On the other hand, to pay a fortune and wait for a Director just to fire him in 5 months doesn’t seem like the world class moves we were promised by Ratcliffe. If you believe in a man’s talent, no reason this couldn’t have been sorted out in a few conversations with the ego kept on the side. But in the end, I agree with the firing, but not with how this whole process has been handled ever since Ratcliffe has been at the club.
But the Manchester United circus continues. Amorim, Amad, Yoro, Hojlund, Garnacho & Bruno should stay, the rest of them need to be offloaded to whoever is willing to take them. There are 0 world class players at United and barely 5 above-average players at United. Most of the squad is not worth 10% of what United paid for them or their salaries are.
This overall reinforces my basic idea and concept: they just talk better and network better, have better contacts and are able to vie for these jobs only and only due to who they know and who they have managed to impress over their lives. Absolute fools across the spectrum not only at United, but at most clubs, the FA, FIFA, La Liga, Jaguar, Twitter, Trump Administration, UK administration and just generally the world over. Clowns who wouldn’t be given internship positions if they did not have the knack of just talking outta their ass to impress. There are always people who are amazing at top positions, but I would say that’s maybe like 10-20% of them
It’s all just throwing shit at the wall and hoping something sticks. See Spurs, Chelsea, United just to name a few. Just shambolic leadership and overall numpty decisions. I don’t want to sound like I think I am too smart, most of our fellow mailbox writers (not the insane ones), F365 writers could do a job as good or bad as the current leadership would be able to do, and we would be fired from our current jobs if we made 1% of the mistakes they do, just like Dan Ashworth was. Don’t believe me?
Answer this simple questionnaire:
– Would you buy an unknown never heard of before Antony for 90m?
– Would you hire someone, pay 5-10m for their services, wait 5 months, then fire them after another 5 months along with what I assume is a good severance package?
– Would you give an already contracted under fire manager a 2 year contract extension which increases the amount you have to pay to fire him drastically, when he is odds on favorite to be fired even before the season starts?
– Sell Sancho for 25m when you paid 80 for him and then fire the manager who was the reason Sancho doesn’t play for another 21m?
– Pay 28m for Fellaini when he was available for 23m 4-5 days prior to that (I will never forget or forgive this)
And none of this is hindsight, this is just BASIC BUSINESS SENSE. If the answer is no, then you my friends are smarter than some of the richest people on the planet. Cheers.
Aman
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Only four players spared ‘sack of potato’ status at Man Utd
👉 Neville destroys Man Utd in 248-word Ashworth rant and demands to be ‘punched in the face’
👉 Man Utd: One Ashworth act ‘infuriated’ Ratcliffe as ‘unimpressive’ ex-director ‘lacked’ two things
…The departure of Dan Ashworth from Man Utd is hilarious.
They spent ages chasing this guy and he’s gone after a few months. The thing is, nobody actually knows what a sporting director does, so they can always be positioned as the saviour/wrecker of a club depending on whether the club is doing well or not. Back in February when Man Utd were chasing him, Henry “Bleak Mid” Winter put out a starry-eyed tweet saying that Ashworth “builds elite cultures” and has a detailed laptop with all the strengths and weaknesses of every player.
If that’s all Man Utd wanted, they should have just hired someone who is an expert at the Football Manager games. They’d have been better off with Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Matthew
PS: It’s never going to happen for Arsenal under Arteta, is it?
Do Man Utd have any good players?
This thing about Utd’s players being good on paper – is that actually true? If you write off everyone who’s injured too often or too old, that rules out Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Malacia, Casemiro, Mount, Eriksen, Evans, Lindelof. Has Amad been injured a lot or did ETH just not like him?
Of the leftovers, speaking as a Villa fan, is there anyone I’d want in our squad? Garnacho maybe, seems to look good without doing much. Bruno obviously but he’s getting on a bit. Mainoo might be handy when he finds the right position, but already looks too familiar with sick bay. Too soon to know about Ugarte and Yoro. Bayindir?
Otherwise: De Ligt, Rashford, Hojlund, Antony, Mr Scared of Rainbows, Onana, Zirkzee? No thanks.
So basically, I’d take Diogo Dalot off their hands without any caveats, and that’s it. How has this happened? All this soap opera about LinkedIn Tories in the boardroom might interest the broadsheets, but it seems to me that Utd are crap because they don’t have any good players. Am I missing something?
Neil Raines
Chelsea, anyone?
For anybody who might have missed Sunday’s late afternoon game but has just read 16 Conclusions: Chelsea (2nd in the league) also played in this game.
Stu, Twickenham
On the transformation of Chelsea under Enzo Maresca
Since Enzo Maresca took charge of Chelsea in August, much has been said about the impact he’s had on the team. But yesterday, the most significant change became crystal clear: confidence.
When we conceded those two early goals, I wasn’t worried for a second. Instead of feeling defeated, I simply thought, “Sh*t happens,” knowing deep down that we’d turn it around. And that’s exactly what happened.
Take Cucurella, for example. Despite his earlier mistakes, he didn’t just recover; he delivered a phenomenal performance, showing his resilience and growth. Then there was Jadon Sancho, who took our breath away with his brilliance. Neto, always alive and making things happen, and Cole Palmer—well, Palmer was Palmer. A player who just oozes class, no matter the moment.
But what truly struck me was the chemistry and joy shared between the players – on the pitch and even after the final whistle. You could feel the unity, the belief in one another, and the genuine happiness from the whole team. And let’s not forget Maresca’s brilliant tactical move at half-time, subbing out Lavia (who had been playing exceptionally well) for strategic reasons. It was a decision that paid off and showed just how much trust he has in his squad.
If this match had taken place under Graham Potter or Mauricio Pochettino last year, I have no doubt we would’ve ended up losing after conceding those two early goals. The resilience, the turnaround, the belief—those are the hallmarks of Maresca’s Chelsea.
While the coach is right to say we’re not in the title race just yet, there’s something special brewing here. This team, this Chelsea, is starting to look like the one we all know and love. The confidence is back, and it’s only going to get better from here.
Chibuikem Eleke
READ: Premier League winners and losers: Frank, Spurs, Nuno, Man Utd, Van Nistelrooy, Martin and more
The perfect Spurs team?
Surely this side is close to becoming an almost perfect Ultimate Spurs team…
Starting with the manager – main-lining Spurs DNA “to dare is to do” in a way that even Terry Venables couldn’t hope to pull off with a straight face. “It’s just who we are, mate!!” Are they really going to shoot him after beating Man City 4-0 and turning every game into a thoroughly enjoyable end-to-end shootout? I don’t think so.
In goal, Vicario has that Pat Jennings nice guy/great shot-stopper combo.
The defence is almost too Spursy for their own good. Absurdly exciting going forward, absurd at defending.
Bissouma stands up the midfield with almost world-class ability and not one single shred of common sense to go with it. You can probably add Bentancur to that list as well, and Sarr is proving to be a quick learner.
The luxury No.10 defines the Tottenham approach. Maddison is obviously not good enough, but he’s a fantastic bell weather; if he’s lazy and self-indulgent…Dr Tottenham is clearly in session!!
Up front, super-fast headless wingers are critical; an iconic, but frankly not great anymore striker is also important; and Kulusevski has that Spurs “je ne sais quoi” that I can’t quite put my finger on.
To be honest all they really need is a Maddison upgrade to an actual incredibly talented and bizarrely overlooked by England hero (hello, Eberechi Eze) and it really couldn’t get much better. FA Cup win and 8th. Happy days. It would bring tears to Gazza’s eyes.
Here’s hoping.
Matthew (ITFC)
MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 16 Conclusions on Spurs 3-4 Chelsea: Postecoglou sack, Sancho, Bissouma, Cucurella and the title
👉 Postecoglou jumps to second in Premier League sack race as Lopetegui leads the way
👉 Tottenham ‘line up’ PL boss as ‘first-choice’ Ange Postecoglou replacement with sack stance revealed
Big Six?
Remember when Man U and Tottenham thought they should be in a Super League?
Mark Lewis (SWFC, 9th! How the hell did that happen?)
Arsenal perspective and questions
Look, a draw at a place where we lost last season isn’t the worst result in the world.
But what the hell are we paying Kieran Tierney for?
The lad is sitting on the bench doing nothing while Partey is playing right-back.
Am I the only one that thinks Tierney should have played with Timber in his proper position at right-back?
Who knows? Tierney could have had the game of his life giving Mikel a selection headache or boosting his transfer value ahead of the window opening next month?
And we could really do with that money as well because who in their right mind would take Gabriel Jesus off our hands?
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
Bad take corner
In response to Mike LFC, Dubai and his question of worst ever football takes please see below for a few of my gems over the years:
I predicted Juan Antonio Reyes would do better than Ronaldo in England. He did not God rest him.
I proclaimed Harry Kewell to be the final piece of the Liverpool Jigsaw. Despite a Champions League winners medal…..he most certainly was not
I also proclaimed Dirk Kuyt would be on for a MASSIVE season in his 2nd year at Liverpool. He scored 3 league goals.
My most recent humdinger though was claiming after a few games into his City career, Rodri was a downgrade from Fernandinho. Il stop here lads.
Adam (Leeds)
