Because they are forced to employ top salaries, Manchester United is forced to beg, steal, and borrow players. Liverpool, though, is it any better?
Liverpool—does it even try to compete?
It now appears likely that Liverpool won’t be adding any new players during this transfer window, proving that the team has been getting weaker and poorer over time. Do we still aim to challenge Manchester City? Those times are already fading into the past.
Do you believe this circumstance makes Klopp happy? To me, it just appears like our team will be content to place in the top 4. similar to what Arsenal developed under Wenger. My belief is that we should not have allowed Wjinaldum to leave so easily. He was replaced by Mane, Firmino, our club captain Henderson, and an accomplished defensive midfielder in Fabinho. who, it must be said, had a bad season.
With time, the Gakpo signing has grown stranger, and it’s unclear how Nunez fits in. It’s all gotten a little demoralizing, and it reinforces to me that the owners are no longer willing to even try to compete with teams like City. At the top, poor planning and a lack of clarity appear to have taken hold.
Richard, Newport
Man Utd still meandering thanks to Edward Woodward
What started as a surprisingly efficient transfer window for Man Utd, is slowly meandering to the 
potential disaster that we have become used to over the last ten years…
Mike, Oxford addressed this as a lack of direction, resulting in an endless cycle of panic buys – and it is hard to argue. The evidence is compelling and right in front of our eyes (yet again).
In desperate need of a midfielder and a senior striker, we are currently jumping from Ryan Bertrand to Cucurella to Reguilon to Tagliafico to a mystery player no one has mentioned and now back to Cucurella to replace two injured left backs. All the while having Diogo Dalot and Alvaro Fernandez on hand and loaning out Brandon Williams. It’s not a great look.
United entered this window with a plan. They secured signatures of Onana, Mount and Hojlund in quick succession – the lads are even in on time for pre-season. Hurrah!
Sofian Amrabat is on the way too to provide much-needed cover and competition for Casemiro. Double hurrah!
But then. Ed Woodward. Ed Woodward and his ludicrous contracts. The reason we have to sell players for a pittance. If we can sell them at all.
Buyers were found for Fred, Donny van de Beek, Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly and Scott McTominay. Deadwood or squad players that ten Hag looked at and wanted to move on to bring better, more suitable players. Players like Todibo and Ambrabat. Kim Min-Jae was available (that would have been glorious).
But those buying clubs, quite rightly, don’t want to pay full whack for players on £150k plus a week when alternatives are available for probably half the outlay on wages. The net result is that, bar Fred, all of those players are still on the books. Even Fred went for a disgustingly low sum in this mental marketplace.
Amrabat is desperate to join United. United desperately need reinforcements to save having Christian Eriksen play 90 minutes twice a week. We can’t afford to buy him, so we’re now trying to loan him. All because we can’t shift players.
We have to take massive losses to even tempt a buyer, and then when one is found, we have to pay the players to leave.
Barring a takeover, which is less and less likely every day that goes by, this is an issue that will continue to haunt the club and act as an anchor to recruitment.
And now here we are. Again. Shopping in the bargain basement for loans.
I am not attaching any blame to Erik ten Hag for this. Arnold and Murtough slightly more so, but these players were given fat contracts by their predecessor. It’s not like they can hog tie Harry Maguire and drop him off outside the London Stadium is it?
I’m not all doom and gloom like everyone else seems to be about the prospects this season. Consolidation inside the Top 4 is still very much on the cards. Open season for banter there on what “success” looks like to me as a United fan now, but let’s be real. Only once in the ten years post-Fergie have United had back-to-back Top 4 finishes. The reality is that that would be a success for ten Hag.
But this increasingly frustrating transfer window is just yet another symptom of a decade-plus of mismanagement at the top.
The new manager and new recruitment team is slowly, very slowly, turning the ship around, but it might get worse before it gets better.United fans just need to keep the faith. For the love of all that’s holy, do not turn on this manager, hang on, and pray for a takeover.
I’m going to assume Mike from Oxford is not a United supporter, as he uses the term ‘they’ throughout his mail and not ‘we’ when discussing our transfer business. Regardless, to take Mike’s points in turn below (for my sins).
Apparently we are “declaring interest in seemingly every average player” we can think of”. Funny, I must have missed those announcements from the club; note to self, check Fred the Red has my correct email address.
According to Mike we purchased Mount to play DM and not, as most people understand, as competition for Bruno and Eriksen. Earth to Mike, Mount wasn’t bought to play DM.
No point addressing the DDG issue, you don’t pay a keeper those wages to sit on the bench. We let Henderson go because he doesn’t suit TH’s style of play. You know, that plan you’re criticising him of not having. Can’t answer for the Kovar transfer but you can bet your bottom dollar TH assessed him in great detail and didn’t fancy what he saw. But Erik, Mike knows better because he has wikipedia?
Thanks for stating the obvious Mike, that Hojlund is not currently banging in goals like Kane or Salah. How many goals did they score in a top league when they were 19/20? Not very many I would wager, because I have checked and they didn’t. Interestingly, Benzema did score a good amount the season he turned 20 in Ligue Un, so who knows. But let’s not write him off before he has kicked a ball eh?
For the love of god can we not get back into the Greenwood saga again? Thanks.
As for Maguire, who still might leave this window by the way, he’s not a defender who fits the style of football TH wants to play. But he hasn’t been “allowed to insist on staying”. The club have placed a value on him which they think is fair, for a player who will be very good for any team who do not play a high line.
Sure if this was a game of ‘Championship Manager’ we’d just laugh manically as we cancelled his contract and sent him out to pasture. But this is the real world, where players have value and if that value is not met then Maguire still has a use as a squad player. Lindelof, fine defender that he is, will be first reserve or potentially even first team.
Finally, Magic Mike tells us that our transfer targets are mid-table players. Ignoring that Mike doesn’t know who our actual transfer targets are, marvel at this list: Kalvin Phillips; Kovacic; Jack Grealish; Nathan Ake; Pedro Porro; Mahrez; John Stones and Leroy Sane. All bought by Pep from teams who could be considered mid-table teams when they joined City (not an intentional zing at Chelsea but funny all the same). The number of transfers between top teams is fewer than you would imagine. The right player is the right player, regardless of who they play for now.
