**Official** English Football Season 2024/25

[flibbertyjibber]

Some night that. My brother was a huge Spurs fan because he was diabetic and looked up to Gary Mabbutt. That was for him. I was sat with a bunch of United supporting mates so couldn't really cheer much.

Awful final, United were terrible, no pace in the side whatsoever and for all the people who slag off Hojlund it must be so hard trying to be a striker at that club with basically no service at all. Not saying he is any good but they don't help the lad.

Richarlison made me laugh, such a snide and brilliant at it, had both sets of players rolling about copying his antics and it nearly kicked off in pub between arguing fans all because Richarlison won a free kick .

 

[Niall]

United fans, your manager is a fraud and your club is now even more of a laughing stock. Long may this continue.

Any good news?

The amount of blind faith from United fans who still want Rubin to stay is incredible, what has he shown since his arrival to justify this?

relegation form in the premier league, early exit in coke cola cup, lost in the last 16 at home to Fulham in the FA cup and absolutely tepid performance in a final against a poor side with numerous injuries.

I'd somewhat understand the trust if it was a proven elite manager like Ancelloti , but Ruben is very inexperienced whose only previous job was in the Portuguese league which is a thinking man's farmer league ffs.

 

[Tangles]

Any good news?

The amount of blind faith from United fans who still want Rubin to stay is incredible, what has he shown since his arrival to justify this?

relegation form in the premier league, early exit in coke cola cup, lost in the last 16 at home to Fulham in the FA cup and absolutely tepid performance in a final against a poor side with numerous injuries.

I'd somewhat understand the trust if it was a proven elite manager like Ancelloti , but Ruben is very inexperienced whose only previous job was in the Portuguese league which is a thinking man's farmer league ffs.

You can sack Amorim but it doesn’t fix anything. Like I said when ETH was sacked, the manager isn’t the biggest problem. Only Alex could make it work with the Glazers. Jose and Ole have been the best in the league but LVG and ETH are not bad managers. A decade of marketing based signings have left an island of misfit toys squad.

A squad that’s been rife with clicks and player power the whole time. The squad needs gutting and I don’t think Ratcliff is the answer. He should have let us go broke (if reports are accurate). The rot starts at the top.

 

[Uppercut]

I don’t think anyone loves Amorim, and the early signs aren’t exactly promising, but you can’t say he’s had a fair go. They hired him to create a long term project, and he only reluctantly joined mid season because he said he needed a pre season for his system to work. The squad is both ill-suited to his style and seriously lacking in quality. His only signing is a mid-range young LWB who looks decent. To me we look more like a team lacking in forward quality than a team with major shape problems. He would cost tens of millions to fire. If you can show me a candidate worth paying £30m him for who would actually take the job then I’m open to changing my mind, but the bookies reckon it’s most likely to be Gareth Southgate. Sticking with him a while longer is probably the least bad option we have.

 

[Ali TT]

Club's a basket case but, yes, fire another manager.

 

[social]

The Glasers are subject to a lot of criticism for the amount of money that they have taken out of the club

However, the club has rarely been short of transfer funds

Football management is simply incompetent

 

[Furball]

Club's a basket case but, yes, fire another manager.

The club might be a bin fire but Amorim is also a complete dud.

 

[Ali TT]

The Glasers are subject to a lot of criticism for the amount of money that they have taken out of the club

However, the club has rarely been short of transfer funds

Football management is simply incompetent

Not sure any of that is Anorim's fault though.

Otherwise "changing the manager at Old Trafford" could replace "swapping the deck chairs on the Titanic" in the English lexicon.

 

[Redbacks]

European finals are almost always dour when two domestic teams meet.

 

[social]

Not sure any of that is Anorim's fault though.

Otherwise "changing the manager at Old Trafford" could replace "swapping the deck chairs on the Titanic" in the English lexicon.

Not blaming him at all

Employing a manager with a known philosophy while having a roster totally unsuited to it is just another example

 

[Niall]

Not sure any of that is Anorim's fault though.

Otherwise "changing the manager at Old Trafford" could replace "swapping the deck chairs on the Titanic" in the English lexicon.

2 seasons ago they finished 3rd, won the coca cola cup, lost the fa cup final to an ATG side and ok run in Europe where they beat a gun Barca team.
Last season they won the FA Cup beating an ATG side in the final and finished 8th which is obviously not ideal but overall those 2 seasons did illustrate that the players were somewhat competent.

So the man who has achieved SFA outside a brief tenure in a 3 team minor league comes along takes the side from 8th to 16th while barely winning a game ,and achieves SFA in the English competitions and loses a final against a decimated average Spurs side.

Nobody expected him to challenge for the league but damn the return has been absolutely awful.

Southgate is a bit of meme online, but they might actually win 2 games in a row with him or even the likes of Frank, Silva , Iraola or Glasner who are all realistic proven options who might at least stop the bleeding and get them close to the top 8.

More likely though, they will give this dud a load of money , have a terrible start and then some poor sod will have to clean up his mess.

 

[Pothas]

The thing I find most bizarre is that they actually finished 2nd just a few years ago despite everyone thinking they were basically rubbish.

 

[social]

Read somewhere that the only silverware that Ineos controlled teams have won were done so under management that they inherited & subsequently sacked before going into free fall

 

[Tangles]

The thing I find most bizarre is that they actually finished 2nd just a few years ago despite everyone thinking they were basically rubbish.

That’s what I said about Ole and Jose. People take the piss at Jose saying 2nd with United was like wining the PL but it looks like he over performed with a Glazer squad. The players stopped wanting to put in for both those guys and the modern approach is to bin the manager.

I find it hilarious how many fans want Ole back. Probably the same ones who wanted him sacked after a few losses.

I don’t think the younger fans realize how far off a top 4 team United are. Maybe they do now but I bet they just think it was Amorim or ETH. The same ones who think a squad of top euro talent is going to happen in 1 summer.

 

[Tangles]

The Glasers are subject to a lot of criticism for the amount of money that they have taken out of the club

However, the club has rarely been short of transfer funds

Football management is simply incompetent

FFP is a problem now. The previous approach of buying flashy players and upping the debt to pay for it won’t work now.

 

[Skipper Pup]

Alright, here's my attempt to fix United (long post coming).

Amorim - the manager has to go first and foremost. Not a single player in that squad is improving, in fact the development of Garnacho and Mainoo has gone backwards. That alone is enough to warrant sacking, add in finishing 16/17th, picking Shaw and Mount for a European final - he's shown no tactical flexibility or pragmatism to get the best out of the talent in that squad and rewarded mediocrity, he simply has to go.

Bruno - get rid of the petulant fool. Don't care if he's the best player, he's an Amorim loyalist and he's the leader that has set the standards as low as they are now. Take whatever Saudi will pay and reinvest it elsewhere.

I am on the fence about Maguire. I think he could stick around if its an English manager coming in and someone with experience needs to be captain. If the new manager is coming from abroad then get rid of Maguire. I wouldn't even let the new manager decide if he keeps Shaw or not, that guy has to be cut loose.

Those are the big chess moves, I would hear offers for any other player in that squad not named Mainoo, Dalot, Yoro, Garnacho, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Ugarte, or Diallo. There is some chance they could be good enough players under another manager.

Now we get to recruitment. I'm setting up for some variation of a 433, with Mainoo and Ugarte there's the option to play either a double pivot or a 6 with two 8's. My priorities are a GK, CB and a CM. I'll assume Cunha is already done. There's enough of a back 4 there already with Dorgu, Mazraoui, Yoro, Martinez and Dalot. If anyone wants De Ligt they can have him, his wages are too high for a back up player but I suspect he won't want to leave.

Pending what Maguire does, I'd approach Palace for Guehi. His contract is running down and Palace are ready to sell. Offer £40-50m and get it done. His experience and leadership would be invaluable to this squad and the development of Yoro, might take silly wages to convince him but it's worth it. Give him the captain's armband on the way in.

Looking for a CM slightly more offensive minded to replace the creativity of Bruno, I'd see what Brentford want for Damsgaard. I think that could get done for £50m, maybe offer them Rashford or Antony in return to sweeten the deal if they're asking for big money. Unfortunately Mount won't leave with his wages so he could just be depth for the role.

GK is tough. I'd be looking for value and for PL experience. Ramsdale will be on the move, likely Kepa too. Both those guys would jump at the chance to start for a big club - see which one is the cheapest and make it happen, £20mil would be reasonable.

That's £120m + 60m for Cunha, takes the spend to £180m - most of which should be off-set by the sells.

Leaves an XI (+ depth) of something like:
GK : Ramsdale/Kepa (Bayindir)
LB: Dorgu (Amass)
LCB: Guehi (De Ligt)
RCB: Yoro (Martinez)
RB: Dalot (Mazraoui)
DM: Ugarte, Mainoo (Collyer, Kone)
AM: Damsgaard (Mount)
LW: Garnacho
ST: Cunha (Zirkzee)
RW: Diallo

Anyone not named above is sold to the highest bidder. Likely the squad is short one versatile winger, pending how much money is left over I'd use that for Mbuemo or just hang on to Sancho, use Cunha occasionally on the left and fix it next summer.

 

[Tangles]

Reporting says that purchases need to be financed by sales. Let’s see how that goes since they are generally poor at that.

I would sell Onana, Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mount, Antony, Rashford and Sancho.

I expect them to have issues selling players on high wages again and get crunched at the end of the window. They will be sweating on getting value for Rashford, Antony and Casemiro. Not sure they will because everyone knows it.

 

[Niall]

Reporting says that purchases need to be financed by sales. Let’s see how that goes since they are generally poor at that.

I would sell Onana, Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Casemiro, Eriksen, Mount, Antony, Rashford and Sancho.

I expect them to have issues selling players on high wages again and get crunched at the end of the window. They will be sweating on getting value for Rashford, Antony and Casemiro. Not sure they will because everyone knows it.

The one upside to being a comedy club is the underperforming big earners will be easier to shift as they will be keen to get away.

Out of those players I think Lindelof and Eriksen are leaving on free this summer.

Antony, Rashford and Sancho could bring in some money, but I believe one of Mainoo and sadly Garnacho are locks to leave. Onana probably wants out, the rest will stay for better or more likely worse as I just don't think the interest will be their . Rasmus has interest from Italy for some reason.

The Athletic are adamant their is massive Saudi money ready for Bruno . I like him but I'd be curious to see what elite European teams will want him if he decides Saudi is not for him.

 

[andruid]

Not sure any of that is Anorim's fault though.

Otherwise "changing the manager at Old Trafford" could replace "swapping the deck chairs on the Titanic" in the English lexicon.

Hiring a man with Amorim's tactical philosophy for this squad is one outcome of incompetent management at Systemic issues FC

 

[Skipper Pup]

The one upside to being a comedy club is the underperforming big earners will be easier to shift as they will be keen to get away.

That only works when other clubs are keen to pay their wages and the fees United demand, which won't happen.

A few of those guys might get loan deals but convincing a player like Mount or De Ligt to take a wage cut and leave will be nearly impossible. It might work for someone like Casemiro or Bruno where their brand is enough to interest the Saudi's.

Any club looking at buying United players will have them over a barrel. They know United are desperate to sell and they know the demand for these players isn't high due to the wages.

Sucks to be them.