Roberto De Zerbi *OFFICIAL*

[Muttley]

Let's hope so - keeping us up would give him a huge amount of goodwill from all sides of the club (fans/players/higher ups) so it should set us on the right path going in to the summer/next season. However, worth noting that coming in to an extreme situation like a relegation battle and succeeding is not always a precursor to onward progression - I'm sure there's plenty of examples of a manager coming in, beating the drop then not kicking on.

Probably more examples of that than the other way round to be fair. Shouldn't mean we can't have belief in RDZ even a little blind faith.

When you think about it, the playing field isn't level in football. You get clubs like ours who should have an unfair disadvantage with our revenue streams and cashflow model. Other clubs above us could only dream of that. If RDZ just gets us punching at our own weight e.g. 6th biggest team, that will be OK to start with. There is absolutely no reason where we shouldn't expect 6th every season.

 

[harr1984]

Let's hope so - keeping us up would give him a huge amount of goodwill from all sides of the club (fans/players/higher ups) so it should set us on the right path going in to the summer/next season. However, worth noting that coming in to an extreme situation like a relegation battle and succeeding is not always a precursor to onward progression - I'm sure there's plenty of examples of a manager coming in, beating the drop then not kicking on.

Definitely, lets not forget how rosy many thought things were for the first couple of months of Franks tenure. What I will say is, it was pretty obvious from the get go that RDZ is stylistically the sort of manager that suits the squad and the club in general better than his predecessors. That doesn't guarantee things will continue on an upward curve of course, but gives us a better chance.....

 

[Rafa87]

I so want that point (ideally 3!) tonight, of course because it will be nice to be able to basically relax, but more so because I want this back in the boards hands as soon as possible.

I want us safe so it can be “right, over to you, prove what you can do”. For them to actually show that they are going to turn this around, we will have finished 17th two seasons in a row, and this season it’s not even confirmed yet.

Lange, in my view, shouldn’t be in the same job next season, and someone with footballing knowledge needs to be leading things. Di Zerbi needs proper backing, not the ‘backing’ our other managers have had. Our squad, again in my view, needs a proper overhaul, there’s lots of outgoings and ingoings needed - the ‘leadership’ group needs a complete rethink and we have a number of positions that require big upgrades.

We need a proper investigation into the injury situation, and one that leads to actual changes being made because we can’t rely on “when we get x and y back…” for another season, because what the last few seasons have shown us is that even with x and y back, a and b then get injured.

Massive, massive work needs doing and it cannot be that this tin pot board sit there this summer and go “ooh bad injuries you know, it’ll be ok next time” because it won’t be, this and last season need to be the massive wake up call they have so far ignored. Di Zerbi has done a good job so far, I think he can take us places if we out some adults in charge on the board to help him with what he needs.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

There is absolutely no reason where we shouldn't expect 6th every season.

Which we did (or better) for season after season.

But many fans raised their expectations beyond that, but couldn't temper that with a dose of realism of the situation.

These last two seasons have been outliers (hopefully) and a silver lining might be supporters might have a reset of their expectations and just settle the fudge down and be realistic rather than effectively self harming and blowing the lid at the first sign of difficulty.

 

[Muttley]

I so want that point (ideally 3!) tonight, of course because it will be nice to be able to basically relax, but more so because I want this back in the boards hands as soon as possible.

I want us safe so it can be “right, over to you, prove what you can do”. For them to actually show that they are going to turn this around, we will have finished 17th two seasons in a row, and this season it’s not even confirmed yet.

Lange, in my view, shouldn’t be in the same job next season, and someone with footballing knowledge needs to be leading things. Di Zerbi needs proper backing, not the ‘backing’ our other managers have had. Our squad, again in my view, needs a proper overhaul, there’s lots of outgoings and ingoings needed - the ‘leadership’ group needs a complete rethink and we have a number of positions that require big upgrades.

We need a proper investigation into the injury situation, and one that leads to actual changes being made because we can’t rely on “when we get x and y back…” for another season, because what the last few seasons have shown us is that even with x and y back, a and b then get injured.

Massive, massive work needs doing and it cannot be that this tin pot board sit there this summer and go “ooh bad injuries you know, it’ll be ok next time” because it won’t be, this and last season need to be the massive wake up call they have so far ignored. Di Zerbi has done a good job so far, I think he can take us places if we out some adults in charge on the board to help him with what he needs.

No more overhauls please. It is part of the problem why we keep finding ourselves where we are.

We need academy promotions and 2 or 3 elite signings. Let's not go down the quantity over quality path again and try to fix an entire squad in a single summer.

It's completely the wrong strategy.

I do agree with pretty much everything else you've said there though.

 

[Muttley]

Which we did (or better) for season after season.

But many fans raised their expectations beyond that, but couldn't temper that with a dose of realism of the situation.

These last two seasons have been outliers (hopefully) and a silver lining might be supporters might have a reset of their expectations and just settle the fudge down and be realistic rather than effectively self harming and blowing the lid at the first sign of difficulty.

Even if we won back to back PL titles we couldn't even average 6th over 5 years

 

[clownfoot]

Let's hope so - keeping us up would give him a huge amount of goodwill from all sides of the club (fans/players/higher ups) so it should set us on the right path going in to the summer/next season. However, worth noting that coming in to an extreme situation like a relegation battle and succeeding is not always a precursor to onward progression - I'm sure there's plenty of examples of a manager coming in, beating the drop then not kicking on.

Quite often in relegation scraps clubs turn to defensive mindset managers. People make a career out of it. Defensive managers have limitations so can’t press on and improve. I think RDZ and his style of play can and will should we stay up

Dyche for example at Everton. Kept them up and then kept them near relegation the next season. He can’t get past that as a manager. Yet he was publicly saying how he’d turn down the job at Spurs this season. Equivalent of me saying I’d turn down a knee trembler with Sydney Sweeney (for the record if you are reading Sydney - I wouldn’t turn that down)

 

[Rafa87]

No more overhauls please. It is part of the problem why we keep finding ourselves where we are.

We need academy promotions and 2 or 3 elite signings. Let's not go down the quantity over quality path again and try to fix an entire squad in a single summer.

It's completely the wrong strategy.

I do agree with pretty much everything else you've said there though.

I think when I say overhaul I’m not so much saying go big on quantity regardless of quality. We have far too many OK players. I think there’s a lot of players right now who are second or third choice types and of course many of them are playing more regularly due to all the injuries.

I don’t want to see us go out in our usual way and buy players who can be back ups to, who should be, the back ups already. I’m with you we need top quality additions, but personally I think we need at least 4 or 5. Crucial positions such as GK and striker as well. Though we should absolutely be bringing in the likes of Vuskovic and making decisions on the likes of Devine and Lankshear.

I think we may end up with an overhaul regardless this window as I can actually see quite a few players moving on. Personally I think Vicario, at least one of VDV/Romero, Davies, possibly Udogie, Bissouma, and a few others may be going. I think we also see the likes of Scarlett and Donley moved on as well.

I’d be with you completely on not a huge overhaul if I felt that the injury problem wouldn’t be there again next season. Maddison is great but he’s missed a decent number of games in all of his seasons here if memory serves me correctly and I think we need to be aware that he will likely be similar next season (albeit hopefully not as long as this season), plus Xavi is out for the foreseeable anyway. I don’t want the club to fall into the trap of thinking we are ok because those players are due back.

I think there’s a few players we have convinced ourselves are better than they are and we should be ok moving on, and that may require some tough choices.

 

[Bishop]

I so want that point (ideally 3!) tonight, of course because it will be nice to be able to basically relax, but more so because I want this back in the boards hands as soon as possible.

I want us safe so it can be “right, over to you, prove what you can do”. For them to actually show that they are going to turn this around, we will have finished 17th two seasons in a row, and this season it’s not even confirmed yet.

Lange, in my view, shouldn’t be in the same job next season, and someone with footballing knowledge needs to be leading things. Di Zerbi needs proper backing, not the ‘backing’ our other managers have had. Our squad, again in my view, needs a proper overhaul, there’s lots of outgoings and ingoings needed - the ‘leadership’ group needs a complete rethink and we have a number of positions that require big upgrades.

We need a proper investigation into the injury situation, and one that leads to actual changes being made because we can’t rely on “when we get x and y back…” for another season, because what the last few seasons have shown us is that even with x and y back, a and b then get injured.

Massive, massive work needs doing and it cannot be that this tin pot board sit there this summer and go “ooh bad injuries you know, it’ll be ok next time” because it won’t be, this and last season need to be the massive wake up call they have so far ignored. Di Zerbi has done a good job so far, I think he can take us places if we out some adults in charge on the board to help him with what he needs.

If we approach next season like we have this one, the same problems will likely occur. We need to take a proper look at how things have played out and address them proactively. Hoping that the injured players come back both in good time and in good form would be a foolhardy approach once again.

We can't afford another season down at the bottom of the table, next time it will take us. We've seen it too many times previously, if you hang around at the bottom for too long it eventually does grab you. Villa and Saudi Sportswashing Machine have been prime examples of this in recentish years, you could possibly even say Leicester as well.

 

[harr1984]

The difference is, next season we won't be in Europe and back to playing once a week. That is massive, and makes a real difference - See those smaller clubs who challenge for European places when they don't have European football midweek. Or our first season under Ange.

We likely won't get as many injuries just by the fact we aren't playing 3 games a week which is a bonus....

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

The difference is, next season we won't be in Europe and back to playing once a week. That is massive, and makes a real difference - See those smaller clubs who challenge for European places when they don't have European football midweek. Or our first season under Ange.

We likely won't get as many injuries just by the fact we aren't playing 3 games a week which is a bonus....

True. Maybe being out of Europe is going to be the change in the cycle that we need to start getting some rest into these player’s bodies. I always used to be worried that without Europe we wouldn’t keep a squad of two good players for every position happy. But with all the injuries we’ve never been close to being worried about that.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

We likely won't get as many injuries just by the fact we aren't playing 3 games a week which is a bonus....

Nobody play 3 games a week apart from in very very exceptional circumstances

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I so want that point (ideally 3!) tonight, of course because it will be nice to be able to basically relax, but more so because I want this back in the boards hands as soon as possible.

I want us safe so it can be “right, over to you, prove what you can do”. For them to actually show that they are going to turn this around, we will have finished 17th two seasons in a row, and this season it’s not even confirmed yet.

Lange, in my view, shouldn’t be in the same job next season, and someone with footballing knowledge needs to be leading things. Di Zerbi needs proper backing, not the ‘backing’ our other managers have had. Our squad, again in my view, needs a proper overhaul, there’s lots of outgoings and ingoings needed - the ‘leadership’ group needs a complete rethink and we have a number of positions that require big upgrades.

We need a proper investigation into the injury situation, and one that leads to actual changes being made because we can’t rely on “when we get x and y back…” for another season, because what the last few seasons have shown us is that even with x and y back, a and b then get injured.

Massive, massive work needs doing and it cannot be that this tin pot board sit there this summer and go “ooh bad injuries you know, it’ll be ok next time” because it won’t be, this and last season need to be the massive wake up call they have so far ignored. Di Zerbi has done a good job so far, I think he can take us places if we out some adults in charge on the board to help him with what he needs.

Agreed.

I think RDZ has done an extremely interesting job of holding the line in press conferences. The positivity, the focus on the task, the confidence he has projected. It is absolutely tier 1 leadership, and beyond all the considerations as to whether the league has moved on or his tactics have been found out (they haven’t) I think he has shown that he’s a top class manager by how he has handled the projection of positivity into this situation.

With that said, if we can survive, I am absolutely fascinated as to what he then says. What’s his diagnosis for what went wrong? What did he really find when he came in? What does he think needs to happen going forward? He alluded to now not being the time to get into these things. But I can’t wait for when it is time.

FWIW as much as I think our owners and executives have been beyond stupid this last couple of years, I do think that eventually we are going to start getting closer to progressing further than we could have done under Levy. The signing of Gallagher I think is a good example of that. Put aside whether his profile was needed, it showed we were willing to break the wage structure to sign a top player. I think attempts for MGW, Eze and Semenyo show that too. And clearly the club need to realise that it’s not just about the money but also a culture and a way of working that players will buy into.

But all to say, I think eventually we’ll get there. We need to unwind some of the crap we’ve inflicted upon ourselves with the transition. But I think if RDZ can keep us up he’ll be fairly happy with the calibre of player we will be going after, and will also be more of a draw for these top players to want to join.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

True. Maybe being out of Europe is going to be the change in the cycle that we need to start getting some rest into these player’s bodies. I always used to be worried that without Europe we wouldn’t keep a squad of two good players for every position happy. But with all the injuries we’ve never been close to being worried about that.

Going on just this season as a guide...the points totals are pretty low for decent (CL) finishing positions.

One game a week has gotta help you tick along.

 

[Mikey10]

Which we did (or better) for season after season.

But many fans raised their expectations beyond that, but couldn't temper that with a dose of realism of the situation.

These last two seasons have been outliers (hopefully) and a silver lining might be supporters might have a reset of their expectations and just settle the fudge down and be realistic rather than effectively self harming and blowing the lid at the first sign of difficulty.

Well, the chairman was proclaiming the stadium “a game-changer” and talking up us fighting for the title each season, so maybe not too surprising that lots of fans then bought into that idea.

 

[Mikey10]

Slightly concerned by the tone of some conversations here that seem to have taken for granted that we are staying up.

Can I present the nightmare scenario of us suffering (perhaps a heavy) defeat tonight with a poor performance, us and then going into Sunday’s game needing to secure a point at home, where we have looked nervous almost every time we’ve played there over the past two seasons?

We are not there yet, folks…

 

[JerusalemMan]

True. Maybe being out of Europe is going to be the change in the cycle that we need to start getting some rest into these player’s bodies. I always used to be worried that without Europe we wouldn’t keep a squad of two good players for every position happy. But with all the injuries we’ve never been close to being worried about that.

This season has shown how Man Utd have been able to turn not being in Europe into a positive in the League. Despite a far from stellar season as a whole and a squad that has a fair few sub-par components.
Also, before transfers are even considered, De Zerbi will have Vuskovic, Kudus, Maddison, Kulusevski, Odobert and Moore all entering his considerations for a schedule that only incorporates League games and a few cup matches.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Which we did (or better) for season after season.

But many fans raised their expectations beyond that, but couldn't temper that with a dose of realism of the situation.

These last two seasons have been outliers (hopefully) and a silver lining might be supporters might have a reset of their expectations and just settle the fudge down and be realistic rather than effectively self harming and blowing the lid at the first sign of difficulty.

I don’t think it was ever the supporters. The (former) chief exec was the man that kept sacking managers when they failed (or looked like they would fail) to qualify for the CL.

 

[Rorschach]

Which we did (or better) for season after season.

But many fans raised their expectations beyond that, but couldn't temper that with a dose of realism of the situation.

These last two seasons have been outliers (hopefully) and a silver lining might be supporters might have a reset of their expectations and just settle the fudge down and be realistic rather than effectively self harming and blowing the lid at the first sign of difficulty.

The warm embrace of mid-table obscurity. How I have missed you.

 

[Bishop]

No more overhauls please. It is part of the problem why we keep finding ourselves where we are.

We need academy promotions and 2 or 3 elite signings. Let's not go down the quantity over quality path again and try to fix an entire squad in a single summer.

It's completely the wrong strategy.

I do agree with pretty much everything else you've said there though.

I get where you're coming from regarding not wanting to go through the whole quantity thing which I agree with but I'd argue we need both quality and because of how much quality is needed we need quantity as well sadly.

It's unrealistic to expect it all to happen in one window or even one season so I have patience in that regard, 3 quality starters and a top 8 finish would be a good start. Then the following year attack whatever holes we can't plug this season.

The difference is, next season we won't be in Europe and back to playing once a week. That is massive, and makes a real difference - See those smaller clubs who challenge for European places when they don't have European football midweek. Or our first season under Ange.

We likely won't get as many injuries just by the fact we aren't playing 3 games a week which is a bonus....

We actually did have quite a few in Ange's first season. If you recall after the first 10 games we had the whole Romero and VDV missing portions, the start of Udogie's never fitness. Maddison went down as well and never got back up to that start of the season form. Richy was in and out as usual, Bentancur was out for a lengthy time and lots of other injuries. It wasn't quite as bad as the next season but it was still one of the worst (if not the worst) injury records of the PL teams that season