*Transfer Window 2014/15 Season Rumours/Signings *AKA Man U fans listing every player under the Sun

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thor said:
"Liverpool-type approach"? Isn't that the same as a "Tottenham-like approach" from last season? Get a ton of money from selling your star player, then spend it all on mediocre squad players. Didn't seem to work out so well for Spurs...

United have enough mediocre players. They need quality players now.
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Another way of describing the Spurs approach is buying a bunch of really quite good players... but having a **** manager who randomly decided to throw a hissy fit because maybe(he still may have) he didn't pick those players so he refused to use them properly or at all and decided to bench the best existing player to also help screw the team.

Lamela is looking great now, Eriksen looked vastly improved under Sherwood, Chadli is looking better. In fact, not under AVB almost everyone looks better and the crap players have been benched now.

It's looking increasingly like Spurs spent quite well last year but had a **** in charge who made them all look crap.
 
fez said:
Better than either of them. Whats your point?
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Sorry my edit was too slow.

My point was that Utd have 2 strikers that some would say fall into a similar category as Suarez yet fell way short of Liverpool so the rest of our side must have been doing something right.

For what it's worth I'd say that Suarez was on another planet from when he returned from suspension until around the end of January. From then on until the end of the season, when we went on that winning run, he was just one very good performer in a very good side. I'd even say that the longer the season went on it was Sterling, rather than Suarez, that was our standout performer.
 
Can't really figure out how Di Maria would fit into a 3-4-1-2. As I understand it LvG chooses formation (within reason) to suit the players he has rather than the other way round though, so I guess reverting to a back four i.e. 4-2-3-1 or similar isn't necessarily out of the question (i.e. Rooney, Mata and ADM in behind RvP). Not ideal for Rooney but could work.
 
Moses said:
If it's the latter formation, I guess he may hope that Rooney will accept playing coming in from the wing because he's captain now and has to play for the team, etc, etc.
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Even though he's already said before that Rooney told LVG he can and would play those positions, but LVG said no, I like you as a number 9.

And also why he said earlier that he'd have to choose between RvP and Rooney in a 433 formation.
 
Duff-Man said:
So that takes United's net spend this summer to about £137.5m, on four players (Shaw, Herrera, Rojo, Di Maria).

Using figures from transfermarkt: £82.3 + di Maria in, and £8.8m out.


A very different approach to Liverpool's transfer business. They've spent a net £55.9m (£131.6m in, including £16m for Balotelli, and £75.7 out), and brought in:


Moreno, Lovren, Manquillo
Lallana, Can, Markovic,
Origi, Lambert, Balotelli


Even discounting the sale of Suarez, Liverpool have spent less than United, and have strengthened their entire lineup (the above isn't too far off an entire new side). They now have decent quality in depth right the way through the field.

United have clearly taken the opposing view - buy a few big-money "superstars". I could understand this if United already had a top-class side and just needed a few key additions (like Chelsea did this time around), but they don't. I can't help think that taking a Liverpool-type approach would have been a better bet. With the quality they have in attack, strengthening the quality and depth of midfield and defence with ~£10-£20m players would have put them in a good position for a CL place, and given a platform to further build in coming windows.

...just my 2p.


Edit: That's also over £200m net spent since Ferguson left.
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1) that doesnt automatically mean Liverpool have totally replaced the goals / build up play/ movement off the ball etc and therefore its debatable whether their squad is actualy stronger.

2) Utd have indeed spent a fortune ( and Im on record already stating on the wrong players in general), but looking back further remember SAF stating " there is no value in the market" and seriously under spending for years on end?

Of courae its not helped by the last three players bought by the club being either a complete waste (Zaha and Fellaini) or just not working in his preferred position ( Mata, probably because of the weak wing backs and cm positions)
 
Liverpool are going to pay for that it was a massive mistake to buy so many people. Granted they need a squad for Europe and every club must take that step some season but i just dont see the quality there.


At least United can boast a proper front trio. But they also need slapped for spending £200m and not finnishing off the XI. Lets face it since RVP came how many improved the first 11? Fellaini? Mata? Zaha? Rojo? Shaw? Herrera? It is pretty disgraceful business by both clubs if you ask me. What they both needed was four £50m players.


United should have bought Hummels, Mata, Shaw, Vidal and called it a day even if it took the £200m. They would still be in a much stronger position.:mad:
 
The problem at United is there is hardly any value in our squad. When we decide a player isn't right for us we let them rot for a season or two (Nani, Berbatov, Kagawa etc) before letting them go at far below what we should be getting for them.
 
Rofflay said:
Liverpool are going to pay for that it was a massive mistake to buy so many people. Granted they need a squad for Europe and every club must take that step some season but i just dont see the quality there.
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You make it sound as if improving the squad's depth is a bad thing :confused:

The comparisons with Spurs/Bale that some are making are hugely simplistic too. Spurs were hugely reliant on Bale for goals and creativity and signed 5-6 players to go straight into the first 11. Liverpool on the other hand, while Suarez scored and created lots, had a hugely impressive attack even without Suarez and only a couple of the signings we've made are likely to go straight into the first 11.

CB and LB, our 2 biggest weaknesses last season are going to be the only areas of our side that will be different from last season. The likes of Lallana, Markovic and Can may end up forcing their way into the side but we're not going to be reliant on them hitting the ground running.

As for not seeing the quality, the likes of Lovren and Lallana may not be the most exciting signings but both are very competent players and players that a lot of sides below us would love to have. The rest of our signings, Balotelli, Markovic, Can and Moreno are all players that are able to contribute right away but also have huge potential to become top class players.

Who knows how things will turn out but if you'd have told me 2 months ago that this is how we'd end up after losing Suarez, I'd have had few complaints.
 
Vidal not coming is more than likely down to his knee. Nothing more. By all accounts he seems OK to move and the money was not an issue.
 
Shamikebab said:
The problem at United is there is hardly any value in our squad. When we decide a player isn't right for us we let them rot for a season or two (Nani, Berbatov, Kagawa etc) before letting them go at far below what we should be getting for them.
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Wages. It's a problem that every big side has when they sign a player that doesn't work out.

As soon as you starting paying a player £100k+ per week it becomes a risk because there's only a handful of clubs that can afford to pay that sort of money and they're not likely to be interested in a player that's flopped at another big club.
 
The Running Man said:
67 million wasted on fellaiini and mata combined imo. Plus Zaha. Could be costly.
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The Mata money isn't wasted, he's an excellent player but is struggling a bit. I'm sure he'll find his feet once the team get sorted out, it's a major work in progress at the moment.

I always thought whenever we were playing against Chelsea he was by some distance their most threatening player.
 
Robbo said:
The Mata money isn't wasted, he's an excellent player but is struggling a bit. I'm sure he'll find his feet once the team get sorted out, it's a major work in progress at the moment.

I always thought whenever we were playing against Chelsea he was by some distance their most threatening player.
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It'll be a lot easier for him to find his feet when he's sitting on the bench ;)

Joking aside, I'm actually really interested to see how Utd are going to line-up. There's no obvious system that fits everybody in.
 
BaZ87 said:
It'll be a lot easier for him to find his feet when he's sitting on the bench ;)

Joking aside, I'm actually really interested to see how Utd are going to line-up. There's no obvious system that fits everybody in.
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Yeah, well LvG will most likely bench people he doesn't feel are performing correctly.

I think we really need to sign some midfielders though, forget Vidal, just buy some young-ish players with a lot of potential, there are loads out there. I simply don't understand it.

I'm really hopeful that today has highlighted this for LvG, every time Fletcher or Cleverley got the ball they did basically nothing with it, and they didn't provide any protection for the defence either. It's so pathetic, it actually made me angry.
 
BaZ87 said:
You make it sound as if improving the squad's depth is a bad thing :confused:

The comparisons with Spurs/Bale that some are making are hugely simplistic too. Spurs were hugely reliant on Bale for goals and creativity and signed 5-6 players to go straight into the first 11. Liverpool on the other hand, while Suarez scored and created lots, had a hugely impressive attack even without Suarez and only a couple of the signings we've made are likely to go straight into the first 11.

CB and LB, our 2 biggest weaknesses last season are going to be the only areas of our side that will be different from last season. The likes of Lallana, Markovic and Can may end up forcing their way into the side but we're not going to be reliant on them hitting the ground running.

As for not seeing the quality, the likes of Lovren and Lallana may not be the most exciting signings but both are very competent players and players that a lot of sides below us would love to have. The rest of our signings, Balotelli, Markovic, Can and Moreno are all players that are able to contribute right away but also have huge potential to become top class players.

Who knows how things will turn out but if you'd have told me 2 months ago that this is how we'd end up after losing Suarez, I'd have had few complaints.
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Why do you need all these players? Are they European elite level? Or are you buying for the FA/League cup? You've went crazy because of the European bug again and i bet you get a nasty sickener from it. Just because you get into Europe does not mean you have to do well. What you do is keep concentrating on getting that good first 11 and 1 big sub first and keep doing what you are doing in the Premiership. And once you have them THEN build a squad or ideally promote your youth you should have bought a year ago. This would have given them 2 years of youth/fa/reserve games.


Instead they blew it all on people like Can, Llana and Lambert instead of players at the level of Balotelli. Those guys will make zero difference to last seasons finnish. It was the one chance you had i am afraid when United were down you had a 2 year window and thats gone.
 
Robbo said:
Yeah, well LvG will most likely bench people he doesn't feel are performing correctly.

I think we really need to sign some midfielders though, forget Vidal, just buy some young-ish players with a lot of potential, there are loads out there. I simply don't understand it.

I'm really hopeful that today has highlighted this for LvG, every time Fletcher or Cleverley got the ball they did basically nothing with it, and they didn't provide any protection for the defence either. It's so pathetic, it actually made me angry.
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I honestly think Rooney or RvP tearing their hamstring might be a blessing in disguise. LvG's admitting that the 3-5-2 is so that he doesn't have to choose between them and if the decision was taken out of his hands he could play a 4-2-3-1 with Mata off the front and Di Maria + one other wide.
 
BaZ87 said:
I honestly think Rooney or RvP tearing their hamstring might be a blessing in disguise. LvG's admitting that the 3-5-2 is so that he doesn't have to choose between them and if the decision was taken out of his hands he could play a 4-2-3-1 with Mata off the front and Di Maria + one other wide.
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Perhaps, but if he's thinking like that he'll most likely just pit them against each other for one spot, and then we can play Rooney behind RvP if Mata is out of form/injured too. Januzaj and Di Maria would be good on the wings.

Again though, it doesn't matter what formation we play unless we beef up central midfield with some actual midfielders. Admittedly our two best central midfielders are injured, but you need two every game so we need at least one more at the absolute minimum.
 
Rofflay said:
Why do you need all these players? Are they European elite level? Or are you buying for the FA/League cup? You've went crazy because of the European bug again and i bet you get a nasty sickener from it. Just because you get into Europe does not mean you have to do well. What you do is keep concentrating on getting that good first 11 and 1 big sub first and keep doing what you are doing in the Premiership. And once you have them THEN build a squad or ideally promote your youth you should have bought a year ago. This would have given them 2 years of youth/fa/reserve games.


Instead they blew it all on people like Can, Llana and Lambert instead of players at the level of Balotelli. Those guys will make zero difference to last seasons finnish. It was the one chance you had i am afraid when United were down you had a 2 year window and thats gone.
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Again, you're making it sound like improving the depth of the squad is a negative. I don't get it :confused:

And I couldn't disagree more with your last sentence. The single biggest reason why we didn't win the League last season was the size of our squad. We had ~14 players that we could rely on last season and a couple of injuries left us down to our bare bones. Over the xmas period when Gerrard and Sturridge were out, we were practically forced into playing near enough the same 11 every game, despite playing every few days. We played City and Chelsea away back to back and fielded the same 11 where as both of those were able to change half their side to deal with the congested calendar. You then look at the Chelsea game at the end of the season that effectively lost us the title, the injury to Sturridge and suspension for Henderson again left us down to our bare bones. We had nobody to replace Henderson and had nothing to come off the bench to change the game when we were chasing it.

Without Suarez we were already left with a very good front 3 in Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho. Unlike last season though we've not just got 4 attacking players in the whole squad, we've now got 6 or 7; 3 tried and trusted from last season, 2 (Balotelli and Lallana) with PL experience and a huge prospect in Markovic and then Lambert if we're really short.

Are you seriously suggesting that rather than improve the squad as a whole, we should have spent the money from Suarez's sale on 1 player that would have no doubt been inferior to Suarez?
 
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I wouldn't play both RvP and Rooney in the same team. At the end of the day there is no merit in keeping two players happy while the team suffers over ****ing off one and having the team thrive.

I know that people say that teams are not scared of us any more and that old trafford is no longer a fortress but this is nothing to do with psychology, this is simply because we are not punishing teams.

Today we saw a Sunderland team that were committing men forwards and leaving gaps at the back and in front of their defence. They were happy to do that because Fletcher and Cleverley never played with any urgency and never got the ball up to the guys in attack with any pace or accuracy.

Teams won't do that against Chelsea because they will get punished repeatedly so the game plan won't be to attack in numbers. Teams have a go at us because they know our weakness in midfield is so huge that if they can pin us back a bit and get players back when we build an attack at snails pace, they will be fine most of the time.

Di Maria would help to add danger on the break and that threat is so vital when you want to have the freedom to attack smaller sides.

In a perfect world we would end the transfer window with something akin to:

De Gea

Rafael Benatia Rojos Shaw

Carrick Vidal Herrera

Di Maria Rooney Januzaj

With Mata, RvP, Valencia and co on the bench.
 
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