These stats show why we're 7th in the table and not in the top 4. It really is as simple as this..
2012/2013 after 20 games..
RVP - played 20 times
Rafael - played 15 times
Carrick - played 19 times.
2013/2014 after 20 games..
RVP - played 11 times
Rafael - played 9 times (went off injured early on in one of them)
Carrick - played 13 times.
Now, i'm not at all saying had those all been as fit as they were last season we'd be top. Probably not but we'd at least be in the top 4. Yes, football is a squad game but watch how City miss Kompany when he's out or Chelsea do when Terry is out. Take Suarez out of the Liverpool side and they are still good but they would not be doing this well.
There's a reason some players are called 'key' players and that is because with them in the side they give you that little extra when needed.
Can Moyes do better? of course he can but i'd love it if some people on here were a bit fairer with their criticism and accept that not only have we missed key men throughout the season (and during the busiest part of our season) but also that since last season Liverpool, Arsenal, City and Chelsea have all improved.
How good is this United side? With everyone fit we're at least a top 4 team and i'd like to think that even the most fervent anti-Moyes man would admit that.
Very telling stat.
posted on 2/1/14
Melton
Of course a manger helps and will give his view on what he thinks a players worth but I don't see how a person who has absolutely no dealings with a club finances can have a better idea of how much players are worth.
Out model compared to a club like spurs is different in 1 clear way. Moyes can identify specific players he wants, at Spurs the manager only identifies the position he wants to buy. In both cases I have always believed the men in suits who's job is to sort the finances deal with how much to spend on players and their contracts.
What would Moyes or any other manager know or want to waste time on knowing the financial side? Surely it only hinders their time needed to spend on the actual players.
posted on 2/1/14
And to add to that, I actually said in the summer I didn't think Moyes should buy quickly, and I think the same with this window too. The summer will be the true measure of the pair of them for me.
posted on 2/1/14
comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 21 minutes ago
Bidding around £25m for Fabregas then bidding £40m for Khedira on deadline day shows how disorganised we were with our transfer dealings. There just seemed to be no thinking behind any of it.
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- I forgot how about the Khedira bid. Seriously, how reta'rded was last Summer's transfer window?
posted on 2/1/14
We bid for Khedira?
posted on 2/1/14
"Of course a manger helps and will give his view on what he thinks a players worth but I don't see how a person who has absolutely no dealings with a club finances can have a better idea of how much players are worth."
But they do have a responsibility on the financial side in terms of the player worth though, why would a chief executive know how valuable an asset would be to a team? He would only know from a contract and age perspective.
Ultimately, we can only go off what managers themselves say and I have not read one yet where a manager not operating in a director of football model has not had some say on both the player buying and sale value in transfers.
posted on 2/1/14
comment by He's French, He's Flash... Number One, Billy Foulkes... Number Two, Georgie Best (U9335)
posted 5 minutes ago
We bid for Khedira?
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Yeah, I completely forgot. It was £40m on deadline day I believe.
posted on 2/1/14
To go in on deadline day to try and work a deal with Bilbao in 1 days was amateurish and no fault of Moyes. The whole window was a joke and the Herrera deal was the icing on the cake with Woodward primarily to blame.
"The fallout continued when it emerged that the delegation that arrived at the offices of the Spanish league on Monday night expecting to finalise the purchase of Athletic Bilbao's Ander Herrera were far from being the imposters or pranksters initially suggested.
In fact they were experienced lawyers who, Spanish league sources claimed, were indeed working on behalf of United. Adding to the malaise of confusion, Old Trafford insiders continued to insist they were acting without authorisation.
In any case, under the Spanish system it would have been incumbent on the player to meet his release clause. United will have known the size of the clause and should have been fully aware that Bilbao would not let Herrera go for any less.
Instead they continued to try and haggle to the end as Bilbao held firm, only finally walking away late on Monday."
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/sep/03/manchester-united-david-moyes-transfer-window
posted on 2/1/14
Moyes's direct quote on it -
"The stuff about Herrera, we made an offer for 23 million pounds, and we were never going to go to the buyout clause. All the rubbish that was talked about that - with people going in, they were never working on behalf of us. Never at any time did we increase our offer."
He explained the Fellaini one as well, he was involved in determining the player worth according to himself, that's all I'm saying.
posted on 2/1/14
That quote by Moyes contradicts what the Guardian and Spanish league sources claim. Those same people that Moyes said "never working on behalf of us" were also used when Bayern bought Martinez from Bilbao. The people were supposedly essential for any deal to take place because of the complex way Bilbao do their transfers.
Fellaini is completely different . He was a player he would have spoken about often with Kenwright during his time at Everton so had inside knowledge on possible fees Kenwright would agree to. The fact we still paid more than the release fee is beyond a joke and just showed how desperate and disorganised we were during the whole window.
posted on 2/1/14
comment by ManUtdDaredevil (U9612)
posted 6 hours, 9 minutes ago
Moyes, I used to work in the gulf of mexico with lots of american drillers.
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American drillers huh? Sounds fun.