Realistically, what do we have to do to be as good as Real Madrid?

Originally Posted by armchair

So we're allowed to be underdogs to barca when they are the best team in the world and fergie is manager but not when real are the best team in the world and mourinho is manager.

We consistently set up as underdogs against the best sides when fergie was in charge.

anyone look at the team fergie put out against barcelona in rome ffs and tell me we weren't playing the underdog.

Bertatov, tevez and nani on the bench in favour of playing ronaldo up front and having a 5 man midfield of £#%&!ing Park, anderson, carrick, giggs and rooney.

we were champions of europe at the £#%&!ing time as well, not 6th placed europa league winners

Originally Posted by dunk

Not at all, at the same time I don't fancy us under the tutelage of a man who wants to be the underdog, backs to the wall all the time. An expensive Wimbledon, the kings of up and at 'em, underdog football

We played better football in the opening 45 minutes of the '08 final than we have in all Mourinho's reign btw.

You realise how stupid this is?

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

You realise how stupid this is?

The sad thing is it isn't even a little bit stupid.

Originally Posted by armchair

So we're allowed to be underdogs to barca when they are the best team in the world and fergie is manager but not when real are the best team in the world and mourinho is manager.

We consistently set up as underdogs against the best sides when fergie was in charge.

He played like the £#%&!ing underdog against bastard Ajax and their bunch of teenagers ffs

In answer to the original thread question:

- Sell Fellaini.
- Sell Lukaku.

That alone would improve us.

Originally Posted by dunk

He played like the £#%&!ing underdog against bastard Ajax and their bunch of teenagers ffs

No he didn't. He exposed their system as fundamentally flawed and exploited their weaknesses for an easy victory.

Originally Posted by Neo

In answer to the original thread question:

- Sell Fellaini.
- Sell Lukaku.

That alone would improve us.

It's better for our defenders to have 3 6ft+ heads to aim pointless floated 70 yard balls at than just the one tbf.

Originally Posted by armchair

No he didn't. He exposed their system as fundamentally flawed and exploited their weaknesses for an easy victory.

Or, he sat back and hoped to pick them off and got lucky with a deflected goal, then the side defended well with their flat back 6.

Originally Posted by Sparky***

Get about 8 world class players.

End of thread tbf.

Half our team are inconsistent #@&%!s who make bad decisions and have no cutting edge. The other half are shrinking violets who shirk responsibility and seem to hide from the ball when it gets hard.

Both sets of players panic and rush a pass or shot for fear of getting tackled or missing an opportunity.

we don't have the best players in the world (de gea excepted) and we are less than the sum of our parts. and mourinho is a dick who hates football and midfielders. so... yeah.... buying some better players would help, but picking a balanced team where everyone knows what they're doing would help too. more matic and fewer pogba/mkhitaryan/mata/hererra/lingard/rashford/martial/whoever. it's not just lukaku who looks isolated... it's pretty much every one of the front five. essentially, we lack a compact and disciplined midfield 3, in favour of floaty types who run around aimlessly, lose possession a lot and don't really play with each other.

Rehire Fergie.

They've got better players than us in every position apart from the goalkeeper.
There's a reason that they've won back to back champions league and "the greatest club side ever" Barca haven't. It's because they're a great team.

They'd get over a hundred points in the premier league. So yeah let's write off the season after losing the European charity shield to a team that's streets ahead of anyone else we will play

Originally Posted by Sapien

Rehire Fergie.

right

sack the man who should have replaced him, reanimate his corpse, shove him out on the touchline and after all that, expect miracles to happen on the pitch?

think you request too much mate

Originally Posted by marlo

stop playing with a handicap... (an attacking player sacrificed for a "industrious" donkey.....)

I'm confused - who are you referring to?

Originally Posted by lindelof

I'm confused - who are you referring to?

could be one of five players

If Jose is going for a tall powerful team lets get 2 wide players who can at least cross a ball.

They've been building this current side for a while now, have a squad full of of talented world class footballers that fit into the game plan their manager wants to play and have the best player in world football

We're a side in transition, that have a squad full of average players, an unbalanced squad through years of poor transfer business, on our third manager in four years and searching for an identity

That being said I still fancy us to be competitive this season, especially against superior sides. We're really lacking in match winners, someone like a Bale, who can change a game with a moment of magic.

Originally Posted by AK14

They've been building this current side for a while now, have a squad full of of talented world class footballers that fit into the game plan their manager wants to play and have the best player in world football

We're a side in transition, that have a squad full of average players, an unbalanced squad through years of poor transfer business, on our third manager in four years and searching for an identity

That being said I still fancy us to be competitive this season, especially against superior sides. We're really lacking in match winners, someone like a Bale, who can change a game with a moment of magic.

This line has been bandied about since 2013 and is getting a little tiresome now.

Originally Posted by forwardirektion

They'd get over a hundred points in the premier league. So yeah let's write off the season after losing the European charity shield to a team that's streets ahead of anyone else we will play

This.

I'd like to see at least one more player come in this window but even if we don't get anyone else there's no need for the level of doom on here.

Originally Posted by lindelof

This line has been bandied about since 2013 and is getting a little tiresome now.

Don't be £#%&!ing stupid

Originally Posted by lindelof

This line has been bandied about since 2013 and is getting a little tiresome now.

It's a fact though...

Changing managers every two years doesn't help much. also all three managers have had different ideas on how they want us to play so we've basically been hitting reset every time we change manager.