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Originally Posted by Locke
That being said though, appointing a 'sacrificial lamb' manager is a common tactic used to buy time from the fans and jettison deadwood.
I kind of thought that was going to be Moyes/LVG but they kept on buying players.
I thought Ole/United had a pretty good transfer window getting players out, the only major issues was that then they go out and splash a bunch of money on Maguire which isnt in keeping with the strategy as well as the fact that a lot of the players being booted are only out on loan.
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I don't necessarily think Ole is a sacrificial lamb. He might very well be, if results don't improve and a game-changing manager becomes available. But I also think he has it in him to improve things.
The Maguire signing was fine. Trusting youth is great, but you need a reliable spine and Maguire is a great fit. The only mistake this summer was signing only 3 players (who have all looked really good so far) when everybody with healthy eyes knew they needed 5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis
I brought up Dyche because Burnley have scored more goals than United this year. There are issues at United, but there is still enough talent they shouldn't be getting outscored by a route one team. And I saw another horrible number where they have scored one goal or fewer in something like 17 of their last 21 games. As for Lukaku, if Ole still wanted him there he'd be there. I know youth takes time, but you also have to play them and not keeping sending Lingard and Mata out there. If you're gonna suck, might as well suck with some promise.
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but not scoring enough goals so far isn't down to the manager. Dyche is called the Ginger Mourinho for a reason and Solskjaer is a former striker.
The problem, again, is squad planning. Selling Lukaku was the right call, but not bringing in a replacement was criminal. Martial is fine, but prone to injuries and bad spells. Rashford's not a number 9 and will never be one. Greenwood is 17. There's just not enough depth there and, despite creating chances, you often come away asking yourself "well who tf is supposed to score a goal here?". Add in a couple of missed penalties and here we are.
And that all leads to Bagors point of deadwood getting exposed, the squad is just too thin in terms of players that can actually have an impact and so you HAVE to field players who are not good enough. And I don't think a change of manager would get a lot more out of this group.