I've been to the games, spend a ton on merchandise and pay a fortune for every sport channel on Virgin Media.
So let's start with the sacking of LVG, I feel for him I really do but let's have a quick peak at the mistakes he made?
- Spent a lot - £250 million.
- Half those players were/are flops - the biggest being Di Maria even though he showed glimpses.
- No plan B - for a time Fellaini's head was the plan. With no on form strikers to rely on but still attempting Rooney as a striker.
- Players out of position, Valencia as a RB, Young as a LB and striker, Fellaini as a striker even Blind isn't a natural CB, Carrick as a CB and Mata on the wing. It wouldn't be so bad if this was occasionally but it became a norm.
- Wrong tactics against the wrong teams, at times teams would park it and hit United on the counter. This didn't always work and in fact usually caused massive problems for United.
- Multiple holding mid-fielders. There is a reason why some teams only allow one holding midfielder. This allows every other player except that midfielder and centre backs to have pace and speed with creativity.
David Moyes
Dave made one mistake, he didn't plan for the loss of RVP. Although United had strikers, United didn't have perfect finishers. As a result United had scoring problems just as much as they did before RVP turned up. Losing out to City on goal difference was why Fergie pushed for another striker with Van Persie. A striker who already had respect and fear from defenders and rival fans. Daves end of season mistakes involved the likes of Zaha, Janu and losing several key players from Evra to Vidic. You also have to remember the loss of of Rafael and Evans - that's 4 critical 1st team defenders that won Fergie league. Those defenders were replaced with Shaw, Damian and Rojo. And in all honesty I do not rate Rojo what so ever as a defender, lack of pace and no creativity moving forward.
Luke Shaw
When people talk about Uniteds best players, they talk about one man Da Gea. Yet there is no mention of Martial, Rashford, Lindgard and the amazing Shaw. I rate shaw to be our best LB not just for club but for Country. Funnily enough our season went down hill when we lost Shaw, our LB with Rojo was easily beaten and couldn't go forward. There was a time when Rojo wouldn't breach the midfield line. He has not got the pace and very limited creativity. The loss of Shaw was a major factor in losing a top 4 slot. Will he return to form? players rarely do. His fitness was impressive after what LVG did to him.
The best parts of LVG
So he did make a positive impact, he made Luke Shaw fitter. He got Martial, Rashford and Lindgard all playing. Although many considered Martial a waste of money, those critics were fast silenced after one game. Even after that game it was "lets see if it wasn't luck" and guess what, Martial has been another player to mention this season. Who's next? Well the impressive Rashford who has not had many shots on target but has consistently scored. He is very cool headed and relaxed, doesn't get stressed as much. Perfect for United.
Lindgard, although inconsistent - I really think we should build our team around him and Rashford/Martial.
Jose
So, the Special one, the antic one, certainly not the boring one. We all know him, the majority of Chelsea fans didn't want him gone but understood why it happened. When he went the results only slightly improved and Chelsea still struggled. Was it Jose's fault or perhaps the players simply didn't perform? I think it's safe to say that the players really didn't bother.
The problem with Jose was he never blamed the players, he protected them, sugar coated them and it seems when he stopped doing that - they didn't like it. Kind of goes back to Fergie when he said that times have changed. We can no longer batter the players, we have to look after them - they are sensitive.
So back to Jose, I believe he is a great manager. Even SAF wasn't perfect. He is arrogant like most footballer managers but I do think he is the right choice for the next few years. Till a more long term solution can be resolved.
The sacking of LVG
It's interesting when rival fans banter, #hypocrisy comes to mind often. The same fans that complained about LVG being sacked are the same ones that laughed constantly at his performances and results. The same fans that complained at the way it was handled also criticised Man City's openness, Liverpools instant sacking of Rodgers and every other EPL manager (theres been plenty of sackings this season). I even watched an Arsenal fan rip in to Uniteds handling of this. Yet Arsenal fans who have been the most inconsistent supports I have ever witnessed with their ever changing minds of Arsene Wenger. They complain at how United have booed LVG yet they did the same (insert all the banners, campaigns etc etc etc). #Hypocrites.
One thing I can say is I am proud of United fans. I know a lot of non United fans from all sorts of teams and they all say one consistent messaged, we are not by far the worst fans in the Premier League. We supported LVG through his mess, supported Moyes longer than most other fans have done (as shown by this and last season). It took us 6 months of poor results and performances to finally say enough is enough Moyes. We was on course to missing top four by a mile, losing the CL and every competition. Struggling to score goals and have a laughing stock of a defence - then blame it all on luck. The same fans that criticised this entire escapade only take one or two bad losses to call for their managers head. As shown by Arsenal and even Liverpool fans.
I watch football occasionally with a few Arsenal fans and I have to say, quite shocking. The same person who says "Insert Player Name" was missed, will also say a few weeks later that the player is a waste of space. The same fans who "We are top of the league, we will win it" at Christmas then whine and complain when they bottle it. The terms deluded gets used, aimed at poor Arsene yet the fans do the same thing. Instead of "Lets see how this goes" it's always we will win it, come next season and then the bottle gets smashed. You only have to see the tweets from a certain Piers Morgan to know exactly what I mean. If I ever see an Arsenal fan whine about Uniteds treatment of LVG, I just remind them to look in the mirror at their own obscene fans who whine non stop, blame everything (like Jose) and then use terms like "injuries" as if they are the only team that faces them.
Injuries
A major factor in football, I keep an eye on the most injuries stats. This season United has been amongst the highest, last season
As I type this United has the same amount of injuries that Arsenal has #4. That's it. A team like ours always should have plan B players.
So let's look at a pivotal point - JAN 2016:
Manchester United had 20 players injured with City on level. Who was higher? No one. Liverpool and Stoke had 19. So where is Arsenal on this table? 14. Which actually is sitting on the average, with the lowest being 9 (likes of Leicester).
I remember growing up listening to an Arsenal fan go on about injuries which is why United won the league. Hold up? I thought it was refs? I thought it was because United spent money? The same fans who said Fergie was nothing are now respecting him, telling United those glory days are gone.
Such fickle fans we have - quite sad really.
JAN Injury Stat
DEC Injury list
Yet according to some fans it's been their bad luck on injuries. Funny? Those stats say something else.
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