After a tumultuous season we have managed to secure third place guaranteeing CL football and we are still in with the chance of silverware in the form of the Europa League. Not bad for a team that were languishing in mid-table at the turn of the year. Ole deserves a lot of credit for identifying the problem, signing Fenandes to fix it, and for getting the team to play as well as they have post lockdown. If there were any remaining questions regarding his ability to manage then surely his work in such exceptional circumstance will have answered many of his critics and doubters. Obviously we need to refresh the squad so it will be interesting to hear people's views on who should stay and who should go - and who we should bring in to strengthen the side. I'll start by saying I don't want that ****wit Grealish anywhere near our club - he isn't and never will be the type of player that we want anywhere near our club.
A champions league place was the absolute minimum requirement for our club. This is not being cocky after the event. Missing the CL would have meant the club suffering financial losses of nearly £100m from loss of CL revenue and also financial penalties from sponsors. Coming 5th would have led to the team shouldering an incredible pressure to win the Europa. Ole’s position would have been untenable should he not win that comp. Fernandes made a huge difference to our labouring midfield. Pogba until then was either a disappointment or injured or creating mischief on social media. Shows that the club needs more the player with the right temperament than the one with the best skills. Although I wouldn’t yet put BF in the same class as cantona in terms of their catalyst effect, the effect on the team has just been phenomenal. Also shows that if a player is wanted as the right fit we should get him ASAP rather than dilly dally and procrastinate. BF at the start of the season, we would have had a different season. Bringing one or two exceptional players with the right temperament can make all the difference. We had a really poor mediocre first half of the season salvaged by a really good second half after BF came. So End of year report: the progress is encouraging but the backup to our regulars is not nearly good enough. We need to install more hunger and more refusal to accept dropped points, like in the Fergie and Keane days.
We should earn something in the region of £55m fro CL prize money and TV rights in addition to the £75m from Adidas that we would otherwise have lost so we're already £130m to the good before we start selling off our deadwood which could bring in another £40m and shave shedloads off the wage bill. We need Sancho, so lets pay £90m and move on, I would also sell De Gea while we will still get a decent price and put Henderson between the sticks and if we do that, even after the Sancho transfer, we should have something in the order of £80m to spend elsewhere without even going to the bank.
We haven't really made that money though have we? I'm sure the club had it allocated for future planning anyway. All it means is we won't be prevented from making a big signing but that's about it. I think the season has been ok, but what concerns me is that in both of our last 2 seasons we've had a long period of winning games playing attacking football and then it all hits the skids at the first poor result and we just can't seem to get out of it or resemble the side we were just a few weeks earlier. I don't think it's tiredness either, seems more a mental block or something. Other than Sancho we need a quality CB and a box to box midfielder or playmaker so the burden isn't always on Fernandes. I was hopeful his presence would bring the best out in Pogba but it hasn't and I wonder whether he has a real future at the club. Maybe, maybe not.
The CL minimum prize money/TV money and the full sponsorship payment from Adidas would not have been available had we not qualified for the CL. Yes, it's not in the bank as of today, but we can certainly progress with transfers in the certain knowledge that we will have additional income of £130m as next season progresses which was a great Plan B, plan A being the dismal certainty of £5m from EL football and £75m less from Adidas.
The club will always expect to be in the CL or at least they certainly did when that Adidas deal was made. So my point is that the spending (or giving it to the glazers) would've been in the planning anyway. It's not extra money earned from say winning the league, the CL or some new sponsorship. It's already been factored in. Had we not qualified for CL, wherever it was to be allocated would've been affected. That may very well be for a big money signing... or not. All that qualification has done has meant we won't be robbing peter to feed paul should we decide to spend big on someone like Sancho.
I think what we've done is the minimum requirement. We need to go all out for the EL now, add an actual trophy to it. I'd say Solskjaer deserves another crack after finishing third as we're clearly not at the level of City and Liverpool. We shouldn't be as far behind as we finished though, points wise. We actually lost fewer games than City so we need to get past the dross drawn games, Fernandes has gone some way towards that. Agree with Treble; Sancho, a centre half and a centre mid to challenge/replace Pogba are absolutely essential. At least half dozen players must leave as well; Jones, Lingard, Sanchez, Rojo, Mata, Pereira, Chong, get rid. Shame about Mata but if he's not playing he should be allowed to go somewhere he'll get a game, he deserves that.
That would free up a considerable amount in wages too. Not sure about Chong though, i have seen him totally boss U23 games, he has never had much time on the pitch to show himself in the first time. I would give him another year and let him have full games in the cups but not in a team of kids, with a strong team around him. Same 3 as you and Treble for incoming, not sure if we will get Sancho but any decent right winger would help for now.
Even though I like DeGea and recognise that he’s saved us many times and been our best player in many seasons, I think it’s probably time to promote Henderson to our No 1. I am afraid time waits for no man and it’s very unlikely that DeGea will arrest his habit of making those crucial mistakes in odd matches. He definitely cost the team the FA semis, about 2 or 3 league matches through fumbles but he also saved us points in others e.g that incredible Arsenal match. Whatever the number points he cost us he didn’t affect our final ranking in the premiership. We wouldn’t have done better than 3rd. But in a very tight race in the future these points could make the difference.
IF Arsenal win the FA cup, all the top 6 enter Europe when a few months ago it looked likely that teams such as Wolves, Sheffield United, or Burnley could break the stranglehold and emulate Leicester and play European football next season.
Looks like that's the case. Tbh whilst I like the idea of any of those clubs getting a European spot, realistically how long will it be before they sacrifice the competition to prioritise their future in the PL? Wolves have done brilliantly this season but I think the reality is often quite different for most other clubs outside the regular top 6. It doesn't mean I don't want them getting a spot btw. As far as I'm concerned I'd be happy not to have either Arsenal or Chelsea in there.
So, in our only pre-season friendly Villa beat a mixed team of youth, fringe players and a newcomer today 1-0. My thoughts on the game, ditch the **** awful Zebra stripe kit asap
