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Woodward. Your thoughts?
FrankMead Posts: 26 Registered: 06/09/2014	17 Sep 2014 19:14 It's about time we actually flexed our financial muscle. Its fair to say that Woodward didn't actually cover himself in glory in his first summer, with Marouane Fellaini the only big money buy of a frustrating transfer window. The signing of Juan Mata, who I believe we are still yet to truly see the best of, placated fans for a while, but its been blindingly obvious to most United fans ever since 2010, when we began to suspect that Owen Hargreaves was finished as a player (still a sore point with me), that our midfield needed reinforcements. As this summer wore on, it was looking like being a similar story. a lot of my friends were panicking. I reserved judgement, as both our new manager, and most of the players we were targeting, were at the World Cup. It was always going to be a tough ask to get people to sign while they were focusing on the biggest prize in football. Looking back, I now believe that Moyes was just as culpable for our failure to sign any big names during the summer of 2013. I heard an Everton fan say once that one of his nicknames was "Dithering Dave", based on the fact that he had to scout a player something like 50 times before he would finally commit to buying someone. Whether it's true or not I dont know, but why would you pass up the chance to sign Thiago Alcantara for such a cheap price, especially when the word on the grapevine is that he wanted to join us. Woodward must have been aware of the abuse being spouted by United fans about him, and yet he quietly went about his business, spending the kind of cash United fans have been demanding for years, while casting an envious glance at the riches being touted around the EmptyShed just a few miles across town. Another thing that must be considered is the amount of money this man has brought into the club. The deals he has secured with Addidas and Chevrolet are ridiculous sums of money, and probably one of the main reasons we have had such a splurge in the transfer market. I dont think too many Reds can be too disappointed at the players we have bought this summer. It is true that we could do with another centre back, especially given the fact that Phil Jones is the sort of player who could pull a hamstring during a sneeze, and it's also fair to say that we probably shouldn't have let Vidic go. He was the only one out of the old guard I would have kept, but what's done is done. Daley Blind is one in particular who has got me excited so far. As he showed against Q.P.R, he looks more than capable of shoring up the one position we have struggled in for years. OK, so they aren't exactly world class opposition, but if we had played Cleverley there, we probably would have seen a different result. Luke Shaw is a bit of a risk, but one that's worth taking. if he develops the way he is expected to, that's the left back position sorted for the next decade. I like the look of Rojo so far as well, and given our deficiencies at Centre Back, he could end up being just as important a signing as any we've made this summer. Herrera looks like a class act as well, and if him and Blind hit it off as a partnership against the better teams the way they did against Q.P.R, we wont lose many games. Di Maria is awesome. The minute he picked up the ball against Q.P.R. he had defenders shitting themselves. We knew he was good, but he could well end up being one of the greats if that's a sign of things to come. Most Reds fans would have been happy with that, but then Woodward pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the signing of Falcao. Something like £6m for the use of a world class striker for a year, with no obligation to buy if it doesn't work out? That is fantastic business. With the sort of money Ed Woodward has been bringing in over this last year, if we get back into the Champions League, the revenue will only increase. If he keeps bringing in players of this calibre (dare we dream about Ronaldo coming home?), then it is safe to assume that Old Trafford will soon have it's fear factor back.
TheSalmon Posts: 21 Registered: 18/09/2014	20 Sep 2014 15:22 I agree. So many United fans just expect success, both on the pitch and off it, and it pisses me off. I think its fair to say that last season showed that Fergie had squeezed every last bit of life out of his ageing squad, and LVG will have took one look at the resources available to him and told the board that there's no way they can win trophies with that lot. I would imagine he told them to get their hands in their pockets or he wouldn't be joining. It makes you wonder why we haven't spent this sort of money before? All that bollocks about "No value in the market", and City paid around £25million each for David Silva and Yaya Toure, both of whom have been key players in them winning the title. So was the money not available, or was Fergie just being stubborn. After all, he knew he could keep United challenging for the title, but we came up short whenever we played any of the top European teams.

Woodward. Your thoughts?

FrankMead

Posts: 26
Registered: 06/09/2014

17 Sep 2014 19:14

It's about time we actually flexed our financial muscle. Its fair to say that Woodward didn't actually cover himself in glory in his first summer, with Marouane Fellaini the only big money buy of a frustrating transfer window. The signing of Juan Mata, who I believe we are still yet to truly see the best of, placated fans for a while, but its been blindingly obvious to most United fans ever since 2010, when we began to suspect that Owen Hargreaves was finished as a player (still a sore point with me), that our midfield needed reinforcements. As this summer wore on, it was looking like being a similar story. a lot of my friends were panicking. I reserved judgement, as both our new manager, and most of the players we were targeting, were at the World Cup. It was always going to be a tough ask to get people to sign while they were focusing on the biggest prize in football. Looking back, I now believe that Moyes was just as culpable for our failure to sign any big names during the summer of 2013. I heard an Everton fan say once that one of his nicknames was "Dithering Dave", based on the fact that he had to scout a player something like 50 times before he would finally commit to buying someone. Whether it's true or not I dont know, but why would you pass up the chance to sign Thiago Alcantara for such a cheap price, especially when the word on the grapevine is that he wanted to join us. Woodward must have been aware of the abuse being spouted by United fans about him, and yet he quietly went about his business, spending the kind of cash United fans have been demanding for years, while casting an envious glance at the riches being touted around the EmptyShed just a few miles across town. Another thing that must be considered is the amount of money this man has brought into the club. The deals he has secured with Addidas and Chevrolet are ridiculous sums of money, and probably one of the main reasons we have had such a splurge in the transfer market. I dont think too many Reds can be too disappointed at the players we have bought this summer. It is true that we could do with another centre back, especially given the fact that Phil Jones is the sort of player who could pull a hamstring during a sneeze, and it's also fair to say that we probably shouldn't have let Vidic go. He was the only one out of the old guard I would have kept, but what's done is done. Daley Blind is one in particular who has got me excited so far. As he showed against Q.P.R, he looks more than capable of shoring up the one position we have struggled in for years. OK, so they aren't exactly world class opposition, but if we had played Cleverley there, we probably would have seen a different result. Luke Shaw is a bit of a risk, but one that's worth taking. if he develops the way he is expected to, that's the left back position sorted for the next decade. I like the look of Rojo so far as well, and given our deficiencies at Centre Back, he could end up being just as important a signing as any we've made this summer. Herrera looks like a class act as well, and if him and Blind hit it off as a partnership against the better teams the way they did against Q.P.R, we wont lose many games. Di Maria is awesome. The minute he picked up the ball against Q.P.R. he had defenders shitting themselves. We knew he was good, but he could well end up being one of the greats if that's a sign of things to come. Most Reds fans would have been happy with that, but then Woodward pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the signing of Falcao. Something like £6m for the use of a world class striker for a year, with no obligation to buy if it doesn't work out? That is fantastic business. With the sort of money Ed Woodward has been bringing in over this last year, if we get back into the Champions League, the revenue will only increase. If he keeps bringing in players of this calibre (dare we dream about Ronaldo coming home?), then it is safe to assume that Old Trafford will soon have it's fear factor back.

TheSalmon

Posts: 21
Registered: 18/09/2014

20 Sep 2014 15:22

I agree. So many United fans just expect success, both on the pitch and off it, and it pisses me off. I think its fair to say that last season showed that Fergie had squeezed every last bit of life out of his ageing squad, and LVG will have took one look at the resources available to him and told the board that there's no way they can win trophies with that lot. I would imagine he told them to get their hands in their pockets or he wouldn't be joining. It makes you wonder why we haven't spent this sort of money before? All that bollocks about "No value in the market", and City paid around £25million each for David Silva and Yaya Toure, both of whom have been key players in them winning the title. So was the money not available, or was Fergie just being stubborn. After all, he knew he could keep United challenging for the title, but we came up short whenever we played any of the top European teams.

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