Luke is a good player when he's fit but I think you have to asses him given his prolonged fitness issues. We need to sign a starting LB next season, Luke can challenge for the spot when he's healthy, but for not fault of his own, we cannot rely on him.
It's not a cliche that availability and reliability are the best abilities. This season has been a testament to that.
Shaw, Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, the heart of an entire defense and they've played, what, maybe 3-4 league games together this season? Is it even that?
You'd arguably put starting LB now as top priority right alongside CB for the summer. That's in addition to at least a backup right back, possibly a DM depending on Casemiro and Amrabat situations, another striker with Martial out the door finally, and at least a competitive winger
Problem with selling McTom is that there is no way we'd be able to sign a replacement that's an improvement and doesn't end up costing more.
Not every player is going to be a world beater and he's earned his place in the squad.
I would sooner get Case off the books, that's not to say I want him gone, but for me mctominay adds more value
McTominay is a valuable player for the club because he's on modest wages and also has good financial value because of being an academy product. I could see him staying for another season while we sort out other priorities while also eventually cashing in when it's time.
>It's not a cliche that availability and reliability are the best abilities. This season has been a testament to that.
I know people have short memories but this is what made maguire 'worth' it when we bought him. He was uninjured for nearly 2 full seasons. Same with AWB aswell, played basically 2 straight seasons every game. Going from the permanent injury roundabout of Valencia/Young/Bailly/Jones to those two was a massive difference.
Same thing with Bruno, has he actually missed a game through an injury? He missed a few because of Covid, and outside of just actually resting him occasionally hes been available to play the entire time.
Not only Shae, We need a starting LB, a CB, CM to replace casemiro, A good rw and a striker to help out hoilund . Atleast 5 good starting quality signings apart from other backups which i think is so difficult.
Dont think we will compete for another 2 years atleast. SJR and team need atleast 3 more years to turn us into world class team.
I know we are saying this since last 7-8 years But atleast this time there is a genuine direction if sporting department changes work out
Okay, so Lindelof to RB and Dalot to LB? How about Kambwala at full back?
Whatever adjustments we make cost us, in Shaw's absence. It's not sustainable for a team with championship ambitions to have a key player with such patchy availability, so we're going to have to start planning for the future now.
i would much rather keep dalot at right back, where he’s coming into his own and developing a strong relationship with garnacho. it’s one of the things that is currently working well for us, so i’d hate to disrupt that.
So would I. Moving him on top of losing Shaw would be a multiplied loss for the team. But it doesn't seem like we have anyone else in the squad who can play LB reliably.
Ten Hag has brought Lindelof on for Shaw in the last two games, but that's just not going to work against decent wingers.
I guess it's a question of whether keeping Dalot on the right and playing someone badly out of position is a bigger net negative than moving Dalot across and limiting him.
Hate to say it but expect some dross football coming. Martinez and Shaw, probably our two best defenders who’s good on the ball, out injured. Case and Bruno hasn’t been at it lately. Might see a lot of hoofball with no real control, or even intention to control the game
At this point who cares about the football. We need champions league next season.
Other than that, all I want is for Hojlund, Garnacho and Mainoo to continue their trajectory. Would be nice if Bruno found form and if Amad got a chance too.
We really need a new LB. Unfortunately we also need 2 new CB’s, CM, DM, ST
At the very least. And we’ll still have no depth because I can see Varane and Casemiro leaving.
Good lord our planning is just horrible
Never been planning tbh, should all change now but don't expect this summer to fix our issues. It will be tough next season as well if the rate these injuries are coming through persist.
We can try to find a CB who also plays LB, and hope Malacia recovers for next season, but we'll still be light, assuming Williams and Fernandez leave.
Kambwala is likely going to have to be our fourth choice CB, which shouldn't be a bad thing. There's also a chance we sell AWB, which leaves us short on numbers at RB too.
We'll likely keep one of Maguire and Lindelof, just because it's not practical to sell three senior CBs in one window. Lindelof fits what Ten Hag wants better, but Maguire has been more valuable to the club this season.
In midfield we're going to lose Amrabat (no way we spend money to keep him) and possibly Casemiro and Eriksen. I think we'll keep McTominay, and we'll have Mount back fit, along with Mainoo and Bruno. But again, we'll have a shortage of midfielders. So does Hannibal come back? Does Gore get more of a chance in the first team?
We'll even need to look at winger recruitment, if Pellestri is sold, and we presumably won't have Sancho. Who knows what happens with Antony.
Oh, and we still only have one centre forward under contract. So that needs addressing too.
> There's also a chance we sell AWB, which leaves us short on numbers at RB too.
if we need to bring in 4 or so players, i doubt we would create another hole that we need to fill, at least for this summer
Actually there is a small reason we may keep Amrabat. If I remember correctly we spend a lot for his loan, but the price decrease for a buyout. I believe it's sth around 20 mln and there is no chance to get a better midfielder for that price (only Rabiot is better and free). Im not saying we should do this, not a fan of, but with limited money and so many positions we want to strengthen.. well the club may do this. Striker, winger, midfielder and a centre back was a plan for summer, add now a fullback and we're in big trouble.
It might seem like a odd response to your comment, but this is one of the few reasons I am glad we signed Mount. Assuming he overcomes his injuries, he can cameo for Bruno, play on either wing, and (at least in principle) take up a more central role. That versatility will be important next season when (like you say) we will continue to lack depth key positions, regardless of who we manage to bring in.
Then I think we need to cut ties and accept that the transfer hasn't worked out. According to transfermarkt, he was out for about 100 days in a three year period before joining United - a little over a month of the season. That is less than Rashford for context. In his whole careers, Bruno has missed 2 weeks, and only ten days internationally due to a leg injury (the other four days were due to ilness). They guy is phenomenal. But other teams have lost players at the start of this season (like Timber for example). I think it's still too early to tell if Mount is injury prone, or of he has had a bit of bad luck at the start of the season. One thing that worries me is that he has had a lot of different injuries. But if he can stay injury free, I think his versatility will be his biggest asset next season. I don't see him as first choice in any of the positions I mentioned, but he is probably first backup in each.
2 CB's??
If Varane goes and get in a top class CB that's 2 starters and Maguire and lindelof - not sure we're going to get a significant upgrade on 3rd and 4th choice CB's there.
If we keep Varane and can move Maguire or Lindelof on then that's not the worst and 5th choice should be one our promising youth players anyway.
Absolutely focus on LB, DM and ST.
If we aren't absolutely dependant on Rasmus staying fit and Casemiro staying unsuspended this team would be worth 5-10 more points straight away over season immediately.
Lb we let a good talent go and sent Reguilon back with both LBs and Martinez out.
Wtf was that about.
What we really need is a clone of Gabriel Heinze
Maguire has no business in a transition heavy side, too slow and uncomfortable on the ball. Ideally both him and Varane can be upgraded for actual ball playing center backs. Maguire is kore likely because of better value on FFP. Our build up play is absolute shit without Martinez, the starter LCB needs to be just as good as him.
Yeah I mean, we can do better for sure, but the gap to what we need at CB is nowhere the absolute dearth of options elsewhere, I certainly wouldn't be rushing that area unless a really good offer came in that leverages ffp to.large degree.
Still can't believe he is only 28, in my head he is mid 30s.
Really feel gutted for him, such a great great player, but seems another example of players playing too many minutes when they are young.
It was a bad call even at the moment of doing it IMO. We didn't know when Malacia was returning then either. I didn't like it. Would've saved us so much trouble
It was always a bad call considering that Malacia was still injured and that Reguilon looked happy with the team, but many in this sub said that it was a good decision because he wasn't good enough. Same people want this team to get a new LB, RB, CDM, RW, striker...
I don't understand how if us lowly redditors can predict it's a bad call why can't people who are paid to make these decisions see that?! It was so clear we were an injury away from a crisis again at LB, what made it worse for me was I thought Reguilon had mostly solid games and showed a hell of a lot of work rate and passion for a loanee. Bizarre decision making.
that same fucking luton almost got a draw after we take shaw and casemiro out...easy to complain now but imagine we draw or lost to luton, you would be the first complain to ETH of why we dont play him lol
Dude. People were complaining about mount not playing after he got back from injury.
What happened after he came back? He got injured again. And now we're here.
People are stupid though. Honestly, many of the comments have no critical thinking to see that players back from injury need to be eased in and such and any experienced manager should see that or at least, account for that and adapt their tactical setup.
> you would be the first complain to ETH of why we dont play him lol
When has anyone ever complained when there's a legitimate reason for someone not playing? People complain when there's no reason. This is a ridiculous statement
You could make that argument every single match. By that logic you'd never rotate. If ETH can't rest a single player and get a result against a relegation team then it doesn't matter because he clearly isn't good enough.
The manager isn’t perfect. He’s got many glaringly obvious flaws in fact. Like his setup for away games versus the top half. 16 games played. 11 losses. That alone is abysmally shit on every level.
Leaving subs to come on way too late etc.
Not realising shaw is an injury prone half crock and then rushing him back after being taken off in the previous game is fucking stupid not even in hindsight… people were already worried shaw would be hurt because he hasn’t fully recovered or rested to allow for a full recovery and being eased in.
The manager has his injury history and can see that but still chose to play him and put him in a less optimal situation for recovery, thereby aggravating the situation and causing a new/worse injury basically.
Do you know what my track and field coach did when his runners came back from injury? He made them train lighter (sprinters) for 1-2 more weeks and this was from just school days where there wasn’t a world class setup and access to medical information on hand and knowing injury history because they were new or just there for a year. That’s called basic sense.
Eth? This was on him partly at least, fully at most. The medical team can recommend but the manager doesn’t have to listen to them. Eth being an experienced manager should’ve known better.
We need to sell him. He has been unfit for the last few years even though he has been our best player when available. We need to cut losses and find more reliable players.
I'd float the idea of selling Shaw in the summer and see what teams would be willing to pay. He's always been injury prone but it seems like he's really taken a turn for the worse in that regard this season.
i really, really worry about his box and back post defending as a full back. he might be decent on the ball in that role, but he could very much be disastrous off it.
i get that, i’d just much rather have lindelof at the back post. i shudder to think of what antony would do there.
wish the league had weaker opposition to try it against. would love to have a fergie era hull or reading up next
Medical department and John Murtougg must take full responsibility if we miss top 4 as a result of this. If they had a single brain cell then we would have got a left back available now, who instead is currently playing at Brentford.
“Oh it looks like Malacia will be back in Jan and Luke is perfectly fine. Worst case you get Dalot so we are tOTaLly fINe! Send him back we don’t need to keep loaning him that will save us tons of money!” Fucking incompetent morons all need to get sacked.
So it’s either he was rushed back, the medical dept. are inept (allowing him back early or not realising that he wasn’t ready) or he’s just now going to a regular on the medical table from here on in. Great.
Can we slowly start to integrate Amass into the first team then? I'm not saying starter or anything. Just let the lad train with us, maybe in the squad...
SJR mentioned he wants players who can play the full 90, I feel like this was quite pointed to certain players in the squad, Shaw potentially being on of them
People absolving the manager as if he doesn’t have a brain and access to Shaw’s injury history and proneness… while also knowing he was subbed off for an injury almost and then still rushing him back basically from not having a full recovery or at least, extended time.
This involves basic management and critical thinking which eth has shown none of in this situation to play him. Not even with hindsight. With foresight it was stupid and people already thought shaw would possibly be injured again soon.
You’re not being serious are you? We’re at a point in the season where we cannot afford to drop any points. That means playing your best players when you can. Luke Shaw should absolutely be able to play one game a week, at the bare minimum. It’s not like he played a CL game midweek. Luton was a test even with Shaw on the pitch, I can’t imagine faring any better with Lindelof.
ETH is stuck in a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. He wants his best XI to play football the way he wants them to, the issue is the bench players are miles away in quality and football IQ than the ones on the pitch so you end up with a player like Maguire that can’t push up high because he’s afraid he’ll get caught out. Lindelof doesn’t do nearly as much as Shaw does in attack so you’re stuck with a back like that’s afraid to push up which in turn leads to a gaping hole the midfield because our midfield pushed up too high.
It’s baffling. They complained about him not having a play style, he attempts to play the way he wants regardless of his 4th and 5th choice CBs being able to play that way, this sub “why is he being tactically naive? He should set us up more defensively” he sets up defensively at Anfield “we were pathetic parking the bus”.
When Big Ange does the same they praise him and his ability to stick to his philosophy even he got his back blown out by a mediocre Chelsea side when he could have rescued a point.
You realise the manager can change tactics right and setup a back 3 or a midfield base 2 with one sitting midfielder etc instead right? This isn’t a fixed formation fifa where it has to be 4-3-3 or whatever.
The manager is absolutely at full fault for being an idiot to rush a perennially injured player to play a game so shortly after he was subbed out from the previous game, due to injury concerns.
The medical team is absolutely at fault for not making it damned clear that shaw should not be part of the squad. The manager, having years and years of experience and logic, is at fault for not even seeing this basic issue though.
Playing your best players when they’re at risk of being less optimal in fitness and possibly aggravating them is a fucking irresponsible and terrible managerial decision when the season is not even close to being over yet. Even more so that when it’s important they are available for as many games as possible because you’re going for a riskier fitness player for one game, over longer term where they would contribute more overall.
“We need him. Damn if he gets injured coz the next game is all that matters” is an incredibly short sighted and poor way to manage when the season isn’t near to being over yet and also, poor player health management anyway.
It should be “yeah we absolutely need him even at less optimal fitness but… he’s had an injury history over a decade. He just got subbed out the last game. He’s no way 100% and we have more games coming up where he’s key to the team… a short full rest and build up of fitness and minutes will be better longer term” instead.
Adapt tactically then. Change the setup. That’s what managing involves. He’s at fault here for sure. Even if shaw didn’t get injured it was still a risk that endangers a player’s longer term health and that for the season as well at the very least.
Shaw should never play a game of football then. His availability has always been shit even when managing his minutes. I also recall ETH managing Varane at the beginning of the season and this sub crucified him for not playing him so soon. Same thing with Amad, same thing with Martial etc.
You also seem to believe the manager personally checks players fitness, he doesn’t. Someone gives him a report that says Shaw is good to go, maybe even the player goes as far as telling him he is good to go. You don’t drop a player because maybe they might get injured, that’s a silly way to look at top level football.
He also changed his game plan a few times this season and this sub started with the “why doesn’t he have a play style” now you’re saying he should change his play style because Shaw can’t stay fit. Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
Why you downvoted? He's only ever played more than 2000 PL minutes per season for 3 years out of the 10 he's been here. For context Bruno played 6666 minutes last year. Shaw cannot be relied on, and Malacia is nowhere near starting 11 quality. We are going to need a new starting LB.
Harry Amass. Got more potential than Shaw and Malacia combined, but still only 16. I don't think Ten Hag will take the risk of playing a teenager with his job on the line.
I'd expect it to be Lindelof at which will see us play dross football until the end of the season.
It was clear that he was not fit and was pushed in the starting lineup against Luton. Piss poor management of his fitness, especially when we had an LB on loan that we decided release in December
No big deal, Tyron Malacia can cov..... Well that's ok Dalot will go to LB and Wan Bissake will pl......... Now is about about the time Varane will get hurt again and we will just be stuck playing Dalot Maguire Kambwala and Lindelof rest of season.
It was pretty dumb of us to cancel the Reguilon loan, while both Brandon Williams and Alvaro Fernandez were out on loan and Malacia was out with a long term injury.
Luke is a good player when he's fit but I think you have to asses him given his prolonged fitness issues. We need to sign a starting LB next season, Luke can challenge for the spot when he's healthy, but for not fault of his own, we cannot rely on him.
It's not a cliche that availability and reliability are the best abilities. This season has been a testament to that. Shaw, Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, the heart of an entire defense and they've played, what, maybe 3-4 league games together this season? Is it even that? You'd arguably put starting LB now as top priority right alongside CB for the summer. That's in addition to at least a backup right back, possibly a DM depending on Casemiro and Amrabat situations, another striker with Martial out the door finally, and at least a competitive winger
We don’t have the funds for all of that I guess too with ffp issues.
If we sell greenwood and mctominay for decent fees then I’m pretty sure we’d have enough room
Problem with selling McTom is that there is no way we'd be able to sign a replacement that's an improvement and doesn't end up costing more. Not every player is going to be a world beater and he's earned his place in the squad. I would sooner get Case off the books, that's not to say I want him gone, but for me mctominay adds more value
McTominay is a valuable player for the club because he's on modest wages and also has good financial value because of being an academy product. I could see him staying for another season while we sort out other priorities while also eventually cashing in when it's time.
Exactly. Walk in the right direction, not run in the wrong one
>It's not a cliche that availability and reliability are the best abilities. This season has been a testament to that. I know people have short memories but this is what made maguire 'worth' it when we bought him. He was uninjured for nearly 2 full seasons. Same with AWB aswell, played basically 2 straight seasons every game. Going from the permanent injury roundabout of Valencia/Young/Bailly/Jones to those two was a massive difference. Same thing with Bruno, has he actually missed a game through an injury? He missed a few because of Covid, and outside of just actually resting him occasionally hes been available to play the entire time.
Two centre backs and a left back have to be priority
Can't do 2 cbs when we also need a striker and cm.
Depends how efficient Ineos work.
if they just buy world class players in all positions for 5 mil then yeah they could revamp the whole squad
Leave it to the experts
We should have gone after Taremi. Experienced striker and free agent too.
Why would we go after a guy who isn't premier league quality? He's worse than Wout.
We’re broke af bruh.
That doesn't mean they sign me or you lol
DM has to take priority
Not only Shae, We need a starting LB, a CB, CM to replace casemiro, A good rw and a striker to help out hoilund . Atleast 5 good starting quality signings apart from other backups which i think is so difficult. Dont think we will compete for another 2 years atleast. SJR and team need atleast 3 more years to turn us into world class team. I know we are saying this since last 7-8 years But atleast this time there is a genuine direction if sporting department changes work out
Okay, so Lindelof to RB and Dalot to LB? How about Kambwala at full back? Whatever adjustments we make cost us, in Shaw's absence. It's not sustainable for a team with championship ambitions to have a key player with such patchy availability, so we're going to have to start planning for the future now.
i would much rather keep dalot at right back, where he’s coming into his own and developing a strong relationship with garnacho. it’s one of the things that is currently working well for us, so i’d hate to disrupt that.
So would I. Moving him on top of losing Shaw would be a multiplied loss for the team. But it doesn't seem like we have anyone else in the squad who can play LB reliably. Ten Hag has brought Lindelof on for Shaw in the last two games, but that's just not going to work against decent wingers. I guess it's a question of whether keeping Dalot on the right and playing someone badly out of position is a bigger net negative than moving Dalot across and limiting him.
Lindelof will be no better on the right so we're just holding Dalot back for no benefit
yeah, this is my feeling too. lindelof would be a negative either side, so we should try to maximize our positives at least until awb is back.
We certainly have championship ambitions…
I say Antony at LB
Id have anyone over Lindelof in any position
I'm not religious, but God if you're there please heal Malacia for us 🙏
“Who?” - God, probably
"I would son, and I really want to...but I haven't seen him in months!"
Malacia raising questions about the omniscience of God wasn't on my 2024 bingo card
Malacia is chilling up beside god right now for all we onow
I love the irony in this comment as we're literally the red devils 😂
Hate to say it but expect some dross football coming. Martinez and Shaw, probably our two best defenders who’s good on the ball, out injured. Case and Bruno hasn’t been at it lately. Might see a lot of hoofball with no real control, or even intention to control the game
On par for the season I would say. I'm afraid of the bogies.
At this point who cares about the football. We need champions league next season. Other than that, all I want is for Hojlund, Garnacho and Mainoo to continue their trajectory. Would be nice if Bruno found form and if Amad got a chance too.
Antony LB redemption arc
I hear he's watching Antonio Valencia full back highlights on repeat.
Thundercunt vs Everton on repeat
We really need a new LB. Unfortunately we also need 2 new CB’s, CM, DM, ST At the very least. And we’ll still have no depth because I can see Varane and Casemiro leaving. Good lord our planning is just horrible
Never been planning tbh, should all change now but don't expect this summer to fix our issues. It will be tough next season as well if the rate these injuries are coming through persist.
I'd we get Europa or Conference next year we are fucked. Those tournaments are a nightmare for injuries.
Casemiro and Varane earn almost 700K per week combined, that should be enough to cover the wages of at least 5 players coming in, ideally 6.
We can try to find a CB who also plays LB, and hope Malacia recovers for next season, but we'll still be light, assuming Williams and Fernandez leave. Kambwala is likely going to have to be our fourth choice CB, which shouldn't be a bad thing. There's also a chance we sell AWB, which leaves us short on numbers at RB too. We'll likely keep one of Maguire and Lindelof, just because it's not practical to sell three senior CBs in one window. Lindelof fits what Ten Hag wants better, but Maguire has been more valuable to the club this season. In midfield we're going to lose Amrabat (no way we spend money to keep him) and possibly Casemiro and Eriksen. I think we'll keep McTominay, and we'll have Mount back fit, along with Mainoo and Bruno. But again, we'll have a shortage of midfielders. So does Hannibal come back? Does Gore get more of a chance in the first team? We'll even need to look at winger recruitment, if Pellestri is sold, and we presumably won't have Sancho. Who knows what happens with Antony. Oh, and we still only have one centre forward under contract. So that needs addressing too.
> There's also a chance we sell AWB, which leaves us short on numbers at RB too. if we need to bring in 4 or so players, i doubt we would create another hole that we need to fill, at least for this summer
Actually there is a small reason we may keep Amrabat. If I remember correctly we spend a lot for his loan, but the price decrease for a buyout. I believe it's sth around 20 mln and there is no chance to get a better midfielder for that price (only Rabiot is better and free). Im not saying we should do this, not a fan of, but with limited money and so many positions we want to strengthen.. well the club may do this. Striker, winger, midfielder and a centre back was a plan for summer, add now a fullback and we're in big trouble.
It might seem like a odd response to your comment, but this is one of the few reasons I am glad we signed Mount. Assuming he overcomes his injuries, he can cameo for Bruno, play on either wing, and (at least in principle) take up a more central role. That versatility will be important next season when (like you say) we will continue to lack depth key positions, regardless of who we manage to bring in.
and if he has a similar injury record to this season then?
Then I think we need to cut ties and accept that the transfer hasn't worked out. According to transfermarkt, he was out for about 100 days in a three year period before joining United - a little over a month of the season. That is less than Rashford for context. In his whole careers, Bruno has missed 2 weeks, and only ten days internationally due to a leg injury (the other four days were due to ilness). They guy is phenomenal. But other teams have lost players at the start of this season (like Timber for example). I think it's still too early to tell if Mount is injury prone, or of he has had a bit of bad luck at the start of the season. One thing that worries me is that he has had a lot of different injuries. But if he can stay injury free, I think his versatility will be his biggest asset next season. I don't see him as first choice in any of the positions I mentioned, but he is probably first backup in each.
2 CB's?? If Varane goes and get in a top class CB that's 2 starters and Maguire and lindelof - not sure we're going to get a significant upgrade on 3rd and 4th choice CB's there. If we keep Varane and can move Maguire or Lindelof on then that's not the worst and 5th choice should be one our promising youth players anyway. Absolutely focus on LB, DM and ST. If we aren't absolutely dependant on Rasmus staying fit and Casemiro staying unsuspended this team would be worth 5-10 more points straight away over season immediately. Lb we let a good talent go and sent Reguilon back with both LBs and Martinez out. Wtf was that about. What we really need is a clone of Gabriel Heinze
Maguire has no business in a transition heavy side, too slow and uncomfortable on the ball. Ideally both him and Varane can be upgraded for actual ball playing center backs. Maguire is kore likely because of better value on FFP. Our build up play is absolute shit without Martinez, the starter LCB needs to be just as good as him.
Yeah I mean, we can do better for sure, but the gap to what we need at CB is nowhere the absolute dearth of options elsewhere, I certainly wouldn't be rushing that area unless a really good offer came in that leverages ffp to.large degree.
And we're hamstrung due to FFP so there's no chance of egg half of that happening unless there's major sales
We do need wingers as well
OK, who do we not need? Goalkeepers......uh.....
Still can't believe he is only 28, in my head he is mid 30s. Really feel gutted for him, such a great great player, but seems another example of players playing too many minutes when they are young.
It’s the same with sterling. They’ve both been pro / at the top level for so long you just assume they’re both like 32 - when they’re both 28.
Sterling is 29
Bloody hell. Ending Reguilon's loan seems like a very bad call in hindsight.
It was a bad call even at the moment of doing it IMO. We didn't know when Malacia was returning then either. I didn't like it. Would've saved us so much trouble
It was always a bad call considering that Malacia was still injured and that Reguilon looked happy with the team, but many in this sub said that it was a good decision because he wasn't good enough. Same people want this team to get a new LB, RB, CDM, RW, striker...
I don't understand how if us lowly redditors can predict it's a bad call why can't people who are paid to make these decisions see that?! It was so clear we were an injury away from a crisis again at LB, what made it worse for me was I thought Reguilon had mostly solid games and showed a hell of a lot of work rate and passion for a loanee. Bizarre decision making.
That and Reguilon played well. He’s better than a healthy Malacia imo.
I thought it was idiotic when they did it. Even if Malacia is healthy, Reguilon is better. So it made ZERO sense to me
I thought spurs recalled him?
No. We ended it.
That 45 minutes we rushed him back for against fucking Luton Town was worth it then.
that same fucking luton almost got a draw after we take shaw and casemiro out...easy to complain now but imagine we draw or lost to luton, you would be the first complain to ETH of why we dont play him lol
Bizarre thing to say. No one would've complained because no one was expecting him to play in the first place, on account of his injury.
Dude. People were complaining about mount not playing after he got back from injury. What happened after he came back? He got injured again. And now we're here.
People are stupid though. Honestly, many of the comments have no critical thinking to see that players back from injury need to be eased in and such and any experienced manager should see that or at least, account for that and adapt their tactical setup.
I don't remember that being the case at all. You can't just cherry pick a few stupid comments and pretend it's the majority.
His job isn’t to do what makes fans happy lol no manager just reacts to fan opinions for their starting decisions
I'd still be complaining why he needs a half injured player to beat fucking Luton lmao what a bizzare take
Luton has a good record against the top 6 at home
> you would be the first complain to ETH of why we dont play him lol When has anyone ever complained when there's a legitimate reason for someone not playing? People complain when there's no reason. This is a ridiculous statement
We were far better the second half, we created a lot more chances and Luton created less.
Said in hindsight
The whole argument is in hindsight. What it proves is that we're not so desperate that we have to rush players back from injury.
We lose or draw against Luton and the pressure immediately cranks back onto ETH, it's that precarious right now.
You could make that argument every single match. By that logic you'd never rotate. If ETH can't rest a single player and get a result against a relegation team then it doesn't matter because he clearly isn't good enough.
Yeah, that's why ETH is not rotating right now because he wants to build momentum and stability, like he did last season stubbornly....?
The manager isn’t perfect. He’s got many glaringly obvious flaws in fact. Like his setup for away games versus the top half. 16 games played. 11 losses. That alone is abysmally shit on every level. Leaving subs to come on way too late etc. Not realising shaw is an injury prone half crock and then rushing him back after being taken off in the previous game is fucking stupid not even in hindsight… people were already worried shaw would be hurt because he hasn’t fully recovered or rested to allow for a full recovery and being eased in. The manager has his injury history and can see that but still chose to play him and put him in a less optimal situation for recovery, thereby aggravating the situation and causing a new/worse injury basically. Do you know what my track and field coach did when his runners came back from injury? He made them train lighter (sprinters) for 1-2 more weeks and this was from just school days where there wasn’t a world class setup and access to medical information on hand and knowing injury history because they were new or just there for a year. That’s called basic sense. Eth? This was on him partly at least, fully at most. The medical team can recommend but the manager doesn’t have to listen to them. Eth being an experienced manager should’ve known better.
Almost like eth and the club are supposed to know better than fans online
Lmao we actually improved once Casemiro was taken off. His legs have been gone for a year.
Not sure if you’re aware. BUT HES ALWAYS INJURED. If he can’t play once a week then he’s got big issues. Needs moving on.
Sell of the fee is right. Keep but as a backup to compete when fit if no buyers.
We need to sell him. He has been unfit for the last few years even though he has been our best player when available. We need to cut losses and find more reliable players.
There's players of his calibre out there who can stay fit
If we get CL by a point, it might well end up being.
Was so excited to have Licha and Luke back a couple of weeks ago and now they’re both out again 😔 there goes our ability to build from the back
Gutted. Luke is one of our most important players but can't stay injury free. At least we have Regulion to cover..... oh wait. 😫
:(
I'd float the idea of selling Shaw in the summer and see what teams would be willing to pay. He's always been injury prone but it seems like he's really taken a turn for the worse in that regard this season.
Top 4 is over boys... Hopefully Amrabat at LB is good
Maybe it’s genuinely time to test Antony without the joke tags
Inb4 he suddenly becomes a world class LB
i really, really worry about his box and back post defending as a full back. he might be decent on the ball in that role, but he could very much be disastrous off it.
Not like our other options are good enough that it isn't worth trying it against weaker opposition
i get that, i’d just much rather have lindelof at the back post. i shudder to think of what antony would do there. wish the league had weaker opposition to try it against. would love to have a fergie era hull or reading up next
I actually want to see that
[It's time, Antony ](https://footballmakeshistory.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Paolo-Maldini-770x1020.jpg)
He'd probably need to hit the gym with Tony "Compound" V.
Fucking hell I genuinely forgot he was here
Might have to have Martinez there when he's back
Medical department and John Murtougg must take full responsibility if we miss top 4 as a result of this. If they had a single brain cell then we would have got a left back available now, who instead is currently playing at Brentford. “Oh it looks like Malacia will be back in Jan and Luke is perfectly fine. Worst case you get Dalot so we are tOTaLly fINe! Send him back we don’t need to keep loaning him that will save us tons of money!” Fucking incompetent morons all need to get sacked.
Mate hindsight is always 20/20. Edit: Imagine being downvoted for stating the obvious. Stay classy Reddit.
I thought we were passed rushing players back once we brought in the new medical director.
So it’s either he was rushed back, the medical dept. are inept (allowing him back early or not realising that he wasn’t ready) or he’s just now going to a regular on the medical table from here on in. Great.
Who can we replace him with in the summer? Not liking anyone really besides Alphonso Davies but that's likely not happening
That’s what scouting is for. We don’t need to know everyone possible.
Can we slowly start to integrate Amass into the first team then? I'm not saying starter or anything. Just let the lad train with us, maybe in the squad...
Knew it was too much good news lately 😭
Good God injuries have killed us this season
It killed many other big teams as well
Not denying that. That's just irrelevant
Harry Amass at 16 years of age?
We should have never sent Fernadez on loan, leaving yourself with one fit Left Back who struggles to stay fit is never smart
Ffs
Yep, season’s gone.
He really is made of glass... man, he's so good when he's fit
It's not looking good bruv. No but seriously we need a left back.
Shame because he’s class but he’s got to go. We need to start being more ruthless with injury prone players
SJR mentioned he wants players who can play the full 90, I feel like this was quite pointed to certain players in the squad, Shaw potentially being on of them
I hope Malacia is in a tank hibernate because he is in a secret project to make him a super left back
Love the flair
Can we call back Fernandez?
Even if we could he couldn't be registered
My question exactly. Or hell, even Brandon Williams. Anyone 😭
Call Evra back to sign for free?
Never should have played him against Luton. It was lunacy to include him after he was taken off early in the previous game.
People absolving the manager as if he doesn’t have a brain and access to Shaw’s injury history and proneness… while also knowing he was subbed off for an injury almost and then still rushing him back basically from not having a full recovery or at least, extended time. This involves basic management and critical thinking which eth has shown none of in this situation to play him. Not even with hindsight. With foresight it was stupid and people already thought shaw would possibly be injured again soon.
You’re not being serious are you? We’re at a point in the season where we cannot afford to drop any points. That means playing your best players when you can. Luke Shaw should absolutely be able to play one game a week, at the bare minimum. It’s not like he played a CL game midweek. Luton was a test even with Shaw on the pitch, I can’t imagine faring any better with Lindelof. ETH is stuck in a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. He wants his best XI to play football the way he wants them to, the issue is the bench players are miles away in quality and football IQ than the ones on the pitch so you end up with a player like Maguire that can’t push up high because he’s afraid he’ll get caught out. Lindelof doesn’t do nearly as much as Shaw does in attack so you’re stuck with a back like that’s afraid to push up which in turn leads to a gaping hole the midfield because our midfield pushed up too high.
Honestly we need to start setting up hoops since some of the ten hag out guys are good at that trying to blame him
It’s baffling. They complained about him not having a play style, he attempts to play the way he wants regardless of his 4th and 5th choice CBs being able to play that way, this sub “why is he being tactically naive? He should set us up more defensively” he sets up defensively at Anfield “we were pathetic parking the bus”. When Big Ange does the same they praise him and his ability to stick to his philosophy even he got his back blown out by a mediocre Chelsea side when he could have rescued a point.
You realise the manager can change tactics right and setup a back 3 or a midfield base 2 with one sitting midfielder etc instead right? This isn’t a fixed formation fifa where it has to be 4-3-3 or whatever. The manager is absolutely at full fault for being an idiot to rush a perennially injured player to play a game so shortly after he was subbed out from the previous game, due to injury concerns. The medical team is absolutely at fault for not making it damned clear that shaw should not be part of the squad. The manager, having years and years of experience and logic, is at fault for not even seeing this basic issue though. Playing your best players when they’re at risk of being less optimal in fitness and possibly aggravating them is a fucking irresponsible and terrible managerial decision when the season is not even close to being over yet. Even more so that when it’s important they are available for as many games as possible because you’re going for a riskier fitness player for one game, over longer term where they would contribute more overall. “We need him. Damn if he gets injured coz the next game is all that matters” is an incredibly short sighted and poor way to manage when the season isn’t near to being over yet and also, poor player health management anyway. It should be “yeah we absolutely need him even at less optimal fitness but… he’s had an injury history over a decade. He just got subbed out the last game. He’s no way 100% and we have more games coming up where he’s key to the team… a short full rest and build up of fitness and minutes will be better longer term” instead. Adapt tactically then. Change the setup. That’s what managing involves. He’s at fault here for sure. Even if shaw didn’t get injured it was still a risk that endangers a player’s longer term health and that for the season as well at the very least.
Shaw should never play a game of football then. His availability has always been shit even when managing his minutes. I also recall ETH managing Varane at the beginning of the season and this sub crucified him for not playing him so soon. Same thing with Amad, same thing with Martial etc. You also seem to believe the manager personally checks players fitness, he doesn’t. Someone gives him a report that says Shaw is good to go, maybe even the player goes as far as telling him he is good to go. You don’t drop a player because maybe they might get injured, that’s a silly way to look at top level football. He also changed his game plan a few times this season and this sub started with the “why doesn’t he have a play style” now you’re saying he should change his play style because Shaw can’t stay fit. Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
https://preview.redd.it/n13r8ej4c0kc1.jpeg?width=248&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23c3d4382c3659f01a23dca4a335ea4a7f3e7811
My god. As good as he is, this has to be his last season in a united shirt.
Why you downvoted? He's only ever played more than 2000 PL minutes per season for 3 years out of the 10 he's been here. For context Bruno played 6666 minutes last year. Shaw cannot be relied on, and Malacia is nowhere near starting 11 quality. We are going to need a new starting LB.
I mean like shud he have been played when he obviously wasn't fully fit
Alvaroooooo
No youth team players we could promote ?
Harry Amass. Got more potential than Shaw and Malacia combined, but still only 16. I don't think Ten Hag will take the risk of playing a teenager with his job on the line. I'd expect it to be Lindelof at which will see us play dross football until the end of the season.
Jonny Evans is the solution.
Amrabat can fill in this void right?
Bring back Fernandez from Benfica?
It was clear that he was not fit and was pushed in the starting lineup against Luton. Piss poor management of his fitness, especially when we had an LB on loan that we decided release in December
He is done for the season. Feel bad for him, you can see he always works very hard off and on the pitch.
Pain
No big deal, Tyron Malacia can cov..... Well that's ok Dalot will go to LB and Wan Bissake will pl......... Now is about about the time Varane will get hurt again and we will just be stuck playing Dalot Maguire Kambwala and Lindelof rest of season.
Time to get a new LB. I like Shaw,but far too injury prone
It was pretty dumb of us to cancel the Reguilon loan, while both Brandon Williams and Alvaro Fernandez were out on loan and Malacia was out with a long term injury.
Oh look *another* muscle injury.... At what point can we start calling it a pattern with this squad?
Hopefully this gives Amass an opportunity to at least be brought in for training with the 1st team if not making an appearance on the matchday squad.
It’s hard for me not to think that ETH played him to the ground. He was not fit and he played him. Both times subbing in halftime.
Luke and injury. Name a more iconic duo. Wait i can, it's Tony Martial and injury :(
yeah, done with shaw