The demise of Manchester United

[Daffydd]

Now the furore has died down there's currently only seven different articles about Ronaldo on the BBC football page.

[Insidious]

Let be honest, OGS is like Brendan, he has stars that will carry him. They will be up there and competing. No further demise in my opinion.

They don't look like they're going to suddenly slide further down the League now that they have consolidated a bit, that's for sure. Though I think the competition around them is so strong that they're more likely to be akin to Wenger's Arsenal (Champion's League spots, quarter finals, perhaps a domestic Cup) than anything like what ourselves or City have been doing in the last five seasons.

In terms of ascending the ladder a little further, they need better coaching. The amount of quality individual talent you need to compensate is huge - though they're exactly the club you'd expect to throw more money at the problem before addressing where the real issue is - thankfully for us.

Falcao, Di Maria, Lukaku, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Cavani and now Ronaldo. We'll see where it takes them, but they could have spent those fees (and wages) far more intelligently.

[shminkyred]

Let be honest, OGS is like Brendan, he has stars that will carry him. They will be up there and competing. No further demise in my opinion. Hate to say it, but they have an extremely strong squad now

Like Brendan???? Unbelievable .....

[HLOGI]

Now the furore has died down there's currently only seven different articles about Ronaldo on the BBC football page.

Lol

[TheDOC1979]

They don't look like they're going to suddenly slide further down the League now that they have consolidated a bit, that's for sure. Though I think the competition around them is so strong that they're more likely to be akin to Wenger's Arsenal (Champion's League spots, quarter finals, perhaps a domestic Cup) than anything like what ourselves or City have been doing in the last five seasons.

In terms of ascending the ladder a little further, they need better coaching. The amount of quality individual talent you need to compensate is huge - though they're exactly the club you'd expect to throw more money at the problem before addressing where the real issue is - thankfully for us.

Falcao, Di Maria, Lukaku, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, Cavani and now Ronaldo. We'll see where it takes them, but they could have spent those fees (and wages) far more intelligently.

I’m more worried about our ascending than theirs.

[Insidious]

I’m more worried about our ascending than theirs.

There's bound to be more from us than last season certainly (obvious caveats of possible injuries etc) though - Thiago's been here longer, Minamino will be a bit more familiar with the language and system, Tsimikas actually getting to play, Elliott developed from loan, Jones further in development, Wijnaldum's absence opening a very competitive squad spot, Jota's been here longer, Konate's come in.

We can't ignore transfers though, of course. Right time, right player, better handle on the finances after the Pandemic and I think we'll see appropriate moves. Strengthening a first team as good as ours isn't all that easy mind and buying £50m back-ups seems wasteful.

[Insidious]

Ronald's wages will dictate how much patience Utd will have from now on

Speaking of wages, Fernandes and Maguire apparently both set to be getting £300,000-per-week deals soon.

Ronaldo £510,000
De Gea £375,000
Sancho £350,000
Varane £340,000
Pogba £290,000

- plus Fernandes and Maguire possibly getting these rises to around £300,000.

That would be roughly £110m a year on those 7 players? Are my maths way out? That seems a madness - yes, they're still thriving from commercial deals made on the back end of Ferguson's success with them, but surely (unless the silverware comes) the sponsors have to remind them that they haven't won one of the biggest two trophies in years?

If they don't get what they want from Ronaldo's time at their club, they're literally a couple of seasons away from not having won the League for 10 seasons and not having won the Champion's League for 15 seasons - assuming the Glazers don't sell up, that (relative) lack of success has to catch up to them eventually, does it not?

[eggy81]

Speaking of wages, Fernandes and Maguire apparently both set to be getting £300,000-per-week deals soon.

Ronaldo £510,000
De Gea £375,000
Sancho £350,000
Varane £340,000
Pogba £290,000

- plus Fernandes and Maguire possibly getting these rises to around £300,000.

That would be roughly £110m a year on those 7 players? Are my maths way out? That seems a madness - yes, they're still thriving from commercial deals made on the back end of Ferguson's success with them, but surely (unless the silverware comes) the sponsors have to remind them that they haven't won one of the biggest two trophies in years?

If they don't get what they want from Ronaldo's time at their club, they're literally a couple of seasons away from not having won the League for 10 seasons and not having won the Champion's League for 15 seasons - assuming the Glazers don't sell up, that (relative) lack of success has to catch up to them eventually, does it not?

And yet we still are in the same ball park wage bill wise??

[Steveo]

PR - via the Boston globe...? Our owner owns a major media source.


I would wager that we aren't close to their wage bill or Cities or Chelsea's for that matter.

Only one club out of the 4 would be keen to admit to a huge wage bill, and that is surely us? After such success and such a low net spend it stands to reason. Or am I miles off track? I am no expert at this tbh.

To me it seems that the rest are desperately trying to underplay it for obvious reasons, while we are doing the opposite to show that nothing is being taken out.

[eggy81]

PR - via the Boston globe...? Our owner owns a major media source.


I would wager that we aren't close to their wage bill or Cities or Chelsea's for that matter.

Only one club out of the 4 would be keen to admit to a huge wage bill, and that is surely us? After such success and such a low net spend it stands to reason. Or am I miles off track? I am no expert at this tbh.

To me it seems that the rest are desperately trying to underplay it for obvious reasons, while we are doing the opposite to show that nothing is being taken out.

No expert either but when you see the figures bandied about around contracts with the other big 4 teams and the sheer size of squads it dosent add up that we’d be anywhere close to them wage bill wise on the face of it.