Farewell Sweet Tulip .. Louis announces his retirement

welcome back Siders... i see nothing has changed

There are posters and there are bloggers, some people confuse the two and have started littering the place with 'I think' essays, the last match thread was full of them iirc.

Keep it pithy people.

Originally Posted by TripDownMiseryLane

There are posters and there are bloggers, some people confuse the two and have started littering the place with 'I think' essays, the last match thread was full of them iirc.

Keep it pithy people.

don't read the threads if you don't like them.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Mate you'll have to get rid of more than just the players to erase the Big Man's imprint.



Unlucky.

stick zlatan at 9 in louis' system and it's a dramatic improvement

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

stick zlatan at 9 in louis' system and it's a dramatic improvement

And Mkhi on the right/Pogba in the Fellaini role and it's night and day.

Originally Posted by dunk

And Mkhi on the right/Pogba in the Fellaini role and it's night and day.

So is the point that he brought in the wrong players for his system and style of play?

Originally Posted by Iron Fist

So is the point that he brought in the wrong players for his system and style of play?

I think the point is that he'd have been more successful if he had players that he didn't have, playing in a system he wasn't sure of. Feel a bit sorry for the guy now tbh.

Originally Posted by Iron Fist

So is the point that he brought in the wrong players for his system and style of play?

More that the he couldn't get the players he wanted tbh. He made it clear he wanted a CB, a striker and some tricky wide men. We bought what we could get.

Originally Posted by dunk

More that the he couldn't get the players he wanted tbh. He made it clear he wanted a CB, a striker and some tricky wide men. We bought what we could get.

Why what players did he want, and which ones did he buy that he didn't want?

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

Why what players did he want, and which ones did he buy that he didn't want?

Wanted

Zlatan
Logan

Didn't want

Scheinsteiger
Schneiderlin
Depay
Darmian
Shaw

United really shafted him

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

Why what players did he want, and which ones did he buy that he didn't want?

Well we spent 2 summers being linked with the likes of Ramos, Bale, Neymar, Muller etc. got none of them, pie in the sky, maybe, but that suggests he wanted that level of player, but none were available.

He went on record as saying we needed fast wide players a couple of times. Memphis let him down hugely in that respect.

But, you can only buy what is available, if the clubs aren't prepared to sell the players you want, you're a bit stuffed.

Originally Posted by itisme_panaflex

don't read the threads if you don't like them.

Perfectly pithy, good man

He had enough money to buy a lot better than he did.

What didn't help is that he was always playing catch up in the market, partly due to all the mainstays in the club leaving just as he came in. The fact that summer 2015 he bought what seemed 5/6 good players yet most felt we needed a few more says it all.

Meant he really had to nail all his signings. In the end he signed some absolute duds.

Originally Posted by dunk

Well we spent 2 summers being linked with the likes of Ramos, Bale, Neymar, Muller etc. got none of them, pie in the sky, maybe, but that suggests he wanted that level of player, but none were available.

He went on record as saying we needed fast wide players a couple of times. Memphis let him down hugely in that respect.

But, you can only buy what is available, if the clubs aren't prepared to sell the players you want, you're a bit stuffed.

So he only wanted players from Barca, Madrid and Bayern? I can see the problem with this transfer strategy.

Originally Posted by dunk

Well we spent 2 summers being linked with the likes of Ramos, Bale, Neymar, Muller etc. got none of them, pie in the sky, maybe, but that suggests he wanted that level of player, but none were available.

He went on record as saying we needed fast wide players a couple of times. Memphis let him down hugely in that respect.

But, you can only buy what is available, if the clubs aren't prepared to sell the players you want, you're a bit stuffed.

David Moyes likes this. NotMyFault.

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

So he only wanted players from Barca, Madrid and Bayern? I can see the problem with this transfer strategy.

I didn't say it was right.. I was plenty critical of him, the club and our scouting at the time IIRC.

Mourinho has arrived just as Zlat was out of contract, Mkhi was in his last year and Juve had decided to cash in on Pogba..

Sometimes it's as well to be lucky as good..

I reckon Mou would've liked a few others that weren't available/we couldn't get for whatever reason.

Originally Posted by dunk

Well we spent 2 summers being linked with the likes of Ramos, Bale, Neymar, Muller etc. got none of them, pie in the sky, maybe, but that suggests he wanted that level of player, but none were available.

He went on record as saying we needed fast wide players a couple of times. Memphis let him down hugely in that respect.

But, you can only buy what is available, if the clubs aren't prepared to sell the players you want, you're a bit stuffed.

When he took over everyone was setting the bar very high. We were taking Hummels and Vidal.

We badly needed that star quality. Di Maria worth the risk but again a poorly judged personality.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

When he took over everyone was setting the bar very high. We were taking Hummels and Vidal.

We badly needed that star quality. Di Maria worth the risk but again a poorly judged personality.

There's another 2 we were linked with, clearly wanted and couldn't get for whatever reason.

The judging of the personalities we've been signing has been way off for about 5 years.

Originally Posted by dunk

The judging of the personalities we've been signing has been way off for about 5 years.

True, but it's really not easy. Which is presumably why Mou let the club give Raiola whatever he wanted to make sure we got those two huge personalities this summer. Huge aspect of the leadership at the club in recent years, clearly majorly influenced by losing half a dozen of the most experienced players within the space of 6-12 of each other.

Was a bad combo as LvG certainly doesn't relish signing big personalities. Instead took the risk on largely young and/or unproven.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

True, but it's really not easy. Which is presumably why Mou let the club give Raiola whatever he wanted to make sure we got those two huge personalities this summer. Huge aspect of the leadership at the club in recent years, clearly majorly influenced by losing half a dozen of the most experienced players within the space of 6-12 of each other.

Was a bad combo as LvG certainly doesn't relish signing big personalities. Instead took the risk on largely young and/or unproven.

It's not. United were typically one of the best at judging the characters of players under Fergie, waned a bit in the last 3-4 years of his reign, do wonder how much of that was down to only being able to sign what we could afford/was available though.

Mourinho has always seemed to be able to source the right sort of characters, and he's started well here..

I don't think the impact of losing Giggs, Vidic, Rio, Evra, RvP, even Rafael, all in the space of 12 months can be fully appreciated. Was always going to take time to rebuild and find the right faces after that.