Gandalf Greyhame

Where did the 60m report from? He is not being talked about at all on the United forums. Chelsea supporters might argue that 60m is more than a good deal for him, but for United - he's worth that fee. Not just for the player he is, but for the balance he brings to the team. We have been crying out loud for a proper top-class right winger - any right winger, actually. Lingard and Mata are not the answer. Add his pace, set piece skills, and defensive abilities - and he's a perfect missing piece of the jigsaw.

Can it be more obvious than that? Zlatan will wear a United shirt next season. He can win us the league on his own - just like RVP did in that season.

Aye, that. But so was Fergie, to the press and opposition. And so was Keane. We don't mind that - our squad is currently too overloaded with gentlemen and their hugs, with very few players elbowing their way into the exceptions. :P We were left embarrassed by the Moyes sacking. For the manager to find out that he's been sacked after the press leaked the story first - it was a farce, and ended up making Woodward look inept and the club classless. The whole Moyes experience is one everyone involved would probably like to forget. For the LVG sacking, well, the media did leak his sacking after a cup win, so this should have looked worse. But the media have been broadcasting his `sacking` for the last 6 months now, and haven't exactly 'reported' anything new when he finally did get the boot at a very expected time. If anything, the quick follow up by another section of the media that the leak was not by United changed Woodward's stance from betrayal to professional decisiveness. Amicable write-ups by both parties, reports of Woodward arranging a private jet for LVG, and silence from the sacked man further strengthened the club's position. LVG's dismissal was much better handled, imo. --- Jose comes with a huge ego, a record for success and a lot of baggage. We're glad to have the first two, and skeptical about the third. I personally feel confident he'll make us competitive again. This squad needs a couple of signings, but it is much better than it looked like under LVG. But despite the joy that a world-class manager who's never hid his desire to succeed SAF is now finally at Old Trafford, the obvious questions remain. Will he survive past three years? Will he play attacking football? Will he sideline the youth players? Will he lead to internal discord? Mourinho will definitely try to adhere to the club's principles at first to win over the players and the fans, but it remains to be seen if he can sustain that. I think rotation will take care of this. With the PL, EL and the cups, there's plenty of games for both, with Martial as backup if they're unavailable. It is obvious that an 18-year old Rashford, in his second season for the club, can't be the main man up front. And it should be obvious to everyone not named Louis Van Gaal that Rooney is simply not good enough to be the number 9 for Manchester United anymore. We need a new world class dependable striker, one who can do a job for us in the short term, can be rotated with Rashford for rest, and teach him the ropes so that he can take over after a season or two. As great as Rashford's debut season might be - he might simply drop off form, or fall to mediocrity, or flatter to deceive. Jose will not and should not take chances. Zlatan is the perfect hig profile signing - if reports of him inking a 1+1 year deal are indeed true. I'm more excited about Zlatan than Jose, tbf. :D

Best record against the top teams, best defensive record in the league, second highest possession stats, the league double over Pool, an FA Cup win. Crazy potential discovered in youth - Martial, Rashford, Fosu-Mensah, CBJ. Keeping Dave at the club. Reinventing Rooney at CM. Makng Smalling one of the best CBs in the league. If only we hadn't lost to Bournemouth or Norwich or Swansea or any one of the 'smaller' teams, we'd be in the CL. And this despite Luke Shaw's injury, Rooney's barren run, Schweinsteiger's injury and Depay's poor season. That's one narrative. The other narrative is - we scored less than 50 goals this season, the football was horrible, we crashed out of the CL group, then in the EL to Pool. We lost to Middlesbrough in the League Cup, and lost out on CL. There was no visible philosophy in place, no fixed starting XI, the manager complained of 'high expectations' and made bizarre subs and selections in almost every game. Fell out with talent like Januzaj and Pereira, sidelined Valdes, and left senior players and fans disgruntled. The 5th place with no CL finished him off, unfortunately. One can only wonder what the next season would have been like under LVG if we'd qualified for CL over City. At the end of the day, we have to thank Van Gaal for a lot of things. Despite all his failings - he made Old Trafford a fortress again, and laid the foundation for a strong team by clearing out deadwood and bringing in exciting young players and winning silverware once again. Mourinho may or may not capitalize on these foundations - but I think LVG's decisions will affect the club for a while to come. Thank you LVG. You deserved a classier exit than the one you got. Enjoy sunny Portugal.

The Mirror, beIN and some other papers are reporting that Van Gaal is set to leave no matter what the outcome. We're getting Jose to Old Trafford within the month, apparently. You might want to revert to supporting Palace instead.

I do not get this 'Jose plays anti-football' theories. He is a pragmatic manager, and prefers to have his teams sit back in the big games and hit on the counter, yes. But we have seen some brilliant attacking football under him at Madrid and Chelsea. The mauling of Arsenal recently comes to mind. However I do agree that this pragmatism may deviate from attacking football more often than not. Jose doesn't have a history with youth or consistent attacking football, and we don't expect to see that under him, either. The very reason we've dithered so far, allegedly considering the likes of Giggs and Poch to succeed LVG is because we're afraid we'll be losing some core tenets of our identity if Jose takes over. Most folks on redcafe are worried about the futures of Rashford, Martial, CBJ, Fosu-Mensah, Pereira, Januzaj and the likes once Jose arrives. However, beggars can't be choosers. To sustain the popularity and commercial success of a club of United's stature - success is a necessity. LVG has proven incapable of delivering it at Old Trafford, and we need to get back to consistently finishin in top four a.k.a Arsenal-style, and compete for silverware. Given the managerial changes all around in the PL and the new TV money - we desperately need a proven top manager who can bring new talent, regular CL and success - and Jose Mourinho is the only option left. I'll leave this here, as I think we're deviating from the thread.

Fergie finished 3rd in 04/05 when you folks won the title, and said that it was a 'season to forget'. Last three seasons, we've finished 7th, 4th and 5th - Spurs level. We're suffering from an identity crisis - spending crazy money on Gaal-acticos, then playing youth when injuries and poor form crippled the new signings, pointless possession based tactics after decades of attacking football, losing the 'nothing bigger than the club' philosophy (read Wayne Rooney), becoming a joke in the transfer market (over paying for Fellaini, Mata, Shaw, Di Maria, getting played by Sergio Ramos and all the ridiculous (alleged) Bale/neymar chases), and having no apparent structure in place. Our best players are a wantaway GK and two teenagers playing their first full seasons. Simply put, the club is in a shambles. And the decline has been scarily steep. This in itself goes to show how much of a one-man club we were, and how SAF's departure (and Gill's) has left the club reeling. I believe there's too much money in place for us to fall away aka Liverpool, but it is hard to see if and when we will ever catch up with the usual suspects, and when we will start winning silverware again. The FA Cup will be a welcome addition. So will be Jose Mourinho's appointment, hopefully.

Well, he just doesn't score enough goals to be a striker at any top club. One of LVG's good decisions, I'd say. He should have been ideally used as a wide man cutting in from the left and getting onto his right foot. He's got pace, dribbling ability, strength, good link up play and he works his ass off. Very poor finishing undermines most of that, though. Also, injury prone. But if he were used as a winger, since he's not that great defensively, he'd need a solid full back supporting him, too. End of the day, he's not a complete winger, he's not a good enough forward. He should be at a mid-table club as a starter.

Hello! I am a Man United fan from India, and have been one for the last 7 years. I usually frequent RedCafe under the same nick. I joined the ShedEnd because quite a few of my friends are Chelsea fans, and I've kinda become used to following Chelsea, too. It gets awkward during the Chelsea-United games, I tell ya. :P Look forward to sharing views as a rival supporter! Cheers.