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Episode 93 - Wildcard Wednesday - The Shambles Episode
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Kieran and Niall host a reminisce episode. So you know it’s a bad time right now!
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Transcript
Introduction and Team Disarray
00:00:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello everyone and welcome back to the daily Manchester United. It is a slightly later wildcard Wednesday. The team's in Shambo, so we're in Shambles. it's it's it's
Guest Introduction: Niall Hannigan
00:00:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's the vibe. I'm here with Niall Hannigan. Niall, long time no see sharing the microphone. How are you, sir?
00:00:25
Niall
I'm good, I'm good. I mean, yeah, it could be better, but um yeah, I'm glad to to discuss the shambles with you on this episode.
00:00:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:00:32
Niall
So yeah,
Nostalgia: Past Successes
00:00:33
Niall
looking forward to it.
00:00:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
You've just got to match the vibes of the current team, and if it shambles, then it shambles.
00:00:36
Niall
That's it, yeah.
00:00:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
um oh We thought, Niall and I, we sat down and sort of thought, what can we actually talk about? What would make us happy on a Wild Card Wednesday? And something similar that what we did towards the front end of our podcast adventure altogether as a team was reminiscing about the past.
00:00:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
I wasn't that lovely. how we would love ah an eighth place finish on David Moyes right now. Hey, that would be so, so great. I actually saw a video. We'll come on to that in a minute, but we're we're basically just going to freestyle it today and see what happens.
00:01:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're going to reminisce. We're going to talk about the past. We're going to talk about some great players that have come through on a more, I guess we're going to leave stats on the wayside. We're just going to go by vibes. That seems to be the the order of the day.
00:01:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
How does that sound now?
00:01:20
Niall
Yeah, it sounds great. um I think in terms of a freestyle, it seems to be what the players are doing as well.
00:01:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:01:25
Niall
So I thought we can ah match match that energy. um not Not that it'll turn out great, which is good.
00:01:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:01:31
Niall
but you know the The expectations are quite low at the moment. So hopefully we can kind of maintain that across the podcast as well. But yeah, and let's see how we get on. I mean, it it can't get any worse, as we keep saying across this.
00:01:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
It can.
00:01:43
Niall
It can. It can. It's true.
00:01:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
It can't go on like this, surely.
00:01:45
Niall
It's true.
00:01:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
It can. Well, let's let's start with, them obviously, Nana and I, we're we're both of a similar age. We sort of were raised in that mid 2000s Manchester United.
00:01:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's sort of the, you know, the, the is it the Vodafone logo across the front? That's the sort of United, I remember, with you've brought a key and, you know, leading the front.
00:02:03
Niall
Mhm.
00:02:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I mean, i'm I'm just trying to think of of any sort of, I regret to say DNA because in one of the crossovers I've had, and I've been on in the past,
Challenges: Relying on Past Legacies
00:02:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
which have been great crossovers that I've been a part of, there's this mindset of United can't get away from the past.
00:02:15
Niall
Mhm.
00:02:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
They think that everything should be about the past. They think everything should be, you know, because they were a former United player, they know exactly how everything should be when actually that sort of a regressive look to to have about football.
00:02:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
you look at now, you're Liverpool's and your Manchester City's and heck, even Chelsea now, they went through a bit of a tirade, now they're chasing Champions League football, even with a new owner, um all sorts of outsider business, we'll call it that for now, that had all sorts of effect on Chelsea for no reason.
00:02:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
And yet they've managed to have a new owner, they've come in, they had a bit of a a nightmare to start with, but now they're seemingly in in a better place, a much better place, playing really good football whenever whenever we see them, and they're challenging for that top four spot. So it's it's clear to see that you don't have to stay on your laurels, you don't have to live in the past to have a better future. But here we are now, finding ourselves trying to feel better about the past. We're here again.
00:03:17
Niall
I know and it's probably, I mean people are like probably looking to the past because there's no one to really hang your hat on and in the present at the moment in terms of Yeah, I can I can see that that player really has the United DNA, as you'd say, or, you know, has has elements of leadership or the club's kind of mentality and behind them. And that's probably why we looked at the past. And you kind of look for for inspiration or you hear from kind of big figures are always in the media from a United point of view youre talking about how it was in their day. And yes, there's an element of that where everything's a bit kind of hyperbolic about how it was back in your day or whatever. But
00:03:56
Niall
Football is a very simple game at the end of the day. Like, effort is probably the most important thing. And that doesn't matter if you're playing Sunday League or if you're playing in the Premier League. And and it's clear that sometimes that's lacking. And then you get to more actual difficult things about player performances or you know tactical side of things and having the skill level. And you look around the Premier League, and I just don't think we're good enough.
Criticism and Expectations from Fans
00:04:20
Niall
I don't even nearly blame the players at this stage. And you're you're kind of looking at the squad going,
00:04:25
Niall
If they didn't have a United jersey on, you probably would say that they would deserve to be 13-14 in the league, and which is disappointing, but it's it's kind of our expectations of where they should be and maybe we're guilty as well as fans of kind of overregging some of the players that we might have or looking at them through rose-tendent glasses and and hoping that they would be stars of the past as well. so and Yeah, it's a difficult one to kind of put your finger on in terms of what's actually happening. But yeah, I don't blame any fans for looking in the past and trying to find some inspiration to kind of bring that into the present team.
00:05:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, when I feel bad, I look back to my the the peak of my career, which was under 13. I only played one season of youth football, and it was under 13. So I got the Chairman's Award for Most Improved Player. And we all know what that means. You started out bad. You're much less bad now than you were. That's all that means.
00:05:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
um but you know you say Football's a simple game, but right now we're we're not playing like it's a simple game. We're playing like it's actually quite arduous and nothing's making sense at the moment.
00:05:29
Niall
Yeah.
00:05:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
There's glimmers where the system works. there's glimmers I was speaking about this to Sam the other on another and another episode. i mean How do you go up against the likes of Liverpool?
00:05:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
and and get a point and at the end of the game you're ruining a chance of actually we could have had all three points and then then you come up against Arsenal in an FA Cup and spend the best part of an hour ah down to 10 men and still win a penalty shootout with a striker who's lacking in confidence confident enough to take the fifth penalty score it and book a pot spot into the fourth round. How do you go from that to this display we saw against Brighton? I i i can't get my head around it.
00:06:09
Niall
it's It's even more frustrating that that that is the case you know if we were if we were beaten walls and we're beating Newcastle and we're beating Bournemouth and Brighton which we've all lost to but then losing to Liverpool and Arsenal you'd be like yeah you know it's it's understandable like we're just not at that level yet but that's what makes it more frustrating where The players clearly have it in them. Now, let's not get it wrong. like It's not as if the Arsenal game, we fully deserve to get the three points. I mean, they missed an awful lot of chances. But it's still the character that you showed and the effort that you showed in the application of being down for 10 men for so, so long.
00:06:46
Niall
That's just lacking in all the games where we're expected to actually do something. and We got the three points against Southampton, myself and Cormac were on after that game. um That was an awful performance, but Ahmad kind of got us, saved us at the at the last 10 minutes and and kind of turned our whole perspective on how that game was, but could have easily lost to Southampton at home, who who haven't been able to pick up a point at all, all season.
00:07:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hm.
00:07:11
Niall
so um
00:07:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah It's harsh, I've got nine. A is harsh now.
00:07:15
Niall
they do have They do have nine and they're creeping up on us, which is which is dangerous as well.
00:07:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it is.
00:07:20
Niall
But and yeah, apparently everyone's picking up points now except for us, but we'll see.
00:07:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:07:25
Niall
But ah yeah, no, it is um it is tough. And when you're looking at them getting up for the big games and not being able to actually perform in the games where you should be, that's a sign of of a team that that I don't know, have zero consistency about them when it comes to actually performing at the highest level.
00:07:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, it's as you say, it's frustrating. That is the word of the episode.
00:07:46
Niall
Yeah.
00:07:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
It is frustrating to to see the players. they know they get well We see them put this performance against some of the bigger teams and you know had and any other player other than Maguire a centre-back who's actually pushed up for the final chance.
00:08:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
to try and get the ball in and he's skied it. I mean, I don't blame Maguire for that. He's not a goal scorer, especially with his feet. But, you know, it it is frustrating.
00:08:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
And this is where we find ourselves. We keep looking back at the past and saying, well, we were so good. I mean, 10 years ago, what's that now? 2015, we're sort of in that Van Galera really, aren't we?
00:08:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're sort of just about towards that Van Galera.
00:08:24
Niall
that's scary actually thinking that 10 years ago was only 2015 like you're thinking it's actually so long ago since we were actually good like you know you're you're kind of thinking oh it's kind of that 10 year period but now that you mentioned Van Galle I mean if we're looking back on Van Galle we're going yeah it was it was kind of just the start of the dark
00:08:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
It is, isn't it? Yeah.
Strategy and Board Commitment
00:08:43
Niall
times I suppose in United were
00:08:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Start at the five at the back really wasn't it?
00:08:46
Niall
Yeah, exactly. And where where we had Daily Blend and the boys. I mean, you'd love Daily Blend now, to be honest, in this in this back three, back five system where you can kind of adapt in different positions. But yeah, it's um been a long time since we've been at the top in the Premier League side of things and actually competing. And and yes, we've had second place and third place finishes. But we've been absolutely nowhere near the title in any of those seasons.
00:09:10
Niall
um And you never know. I mean, a city if the city judgment goes well, we might have a ah league title or two. But I don't think we'll be celebrating from the rooftops if we're handed league titles from five, six years ago.
00:09:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
don't know. I kind of liked Matt's sentiment when he was on the show. It was just a case of, no, let's just organize the trophy break, bring Marino back for one day, let him have his trophy at Man United and go from there.
00:09:27
Niall
Yeah. yeah
00:09:31
Niall
yeah Yeah. Bring Ollie back from Turkey. Get the the private jet back in. Yeah.
00:09:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, oh, yeah, bring Ollie back. Absolutely, absolutely. Both of them deserve it. We're going to take a short break. We're going to hear from one of our sponsors.
00:09:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
We'll be back with more reminiscing after this.
00:09:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently. If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster.
00:10:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
We spoke a bit about you know reminiscing in the past. Are are there any players here you you sort of think could make it into those teams of, say, 10 or maybe even 20 years ago? I'm thinking Ahmad, possibly. But then you look at the caliber of players we had in those periods. I mean, are you really displacing any of those players? you know Your nannies, your gigs? um Heck, even your Park Ji Seung, who could have ah have a trial out on the wing there,
00:10:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
and And that's not that long ago in terms of the quality of players we had. And even when it comes to 2012-13, it's proven that we don't have to have the best players in the league.
00:11:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's a mentality, the mentality of the players. You hear some of the managers that come through that say, maybe the players weren't the best, but I had to make them believe they're the best.
00:11:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
a Ranieri style Leicester title sure they're not the best players in the league but boy did they play like it so is there an element we can bring that united please i mean that's an easier question
00:11:25
Niall
Yeah, it's an interesting one. I was actually going to ask you a similar enough question, but reverse in a way. Is there anyone from the past that you would bring into this team that would kind of fix our problems?
00:11:36
Niall
I don't know. I don't know if there is a silver bullet, to be honest, because that that question is asked quite a lot about, OK, if you brought Roy Keane in here, would he actually fix it? Probably not, like because it just seems like it's not ah it's not a one player fix.
00:11:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm, no.
00:11:50
Niall
um But it's interesting in general, if you like the Premier League in in its totality, when you look at that 12-13 season where you know the United team got over the line, was it they won by 12 points in the league or something? There was quite a big gap in terms of who they actually, they won the league with a few games to go with Van Persie's volley against Aston Villa. But um has has the standard of the Premier League raised? Like surely it has. The gap has gotten a lot closer between the teams that are at the bottom of the league, mid-table, and the teams at the top. And and I suppose City have been so good for so long that there has been that bit of a gap at the very, very top. But the rest of it is quite congested in terms of you know all these clubs, Forrest, Fulham. They're all able to spend money now that that they wouldn't have been able to in the past. And that puts more pressure on a team like United, who are now trying to get back up to that, which which sounds awful. but
00:12:47
Niall
they need to be more shrewd with their transfers and with their signings and because everyone can kind of buy good players now and and you United need to be even better than that and spend a bit more and and source players a bit better. so and it is It is difficult in general, but your point about mentality and by bringing that back into the team, that's something that is free, and you can it's a choice as well. um And that's something that we've been lacking, I think, in the squad. In general, we've seen so many successful managers come into my United and failed in the big picture, which is actually of getting us to to winning a Premier League and getting us competing in the Champions League.
00:13:29
Niall
um So it's got to come down to to whatever is is involved in that club in general and and whether it's the players. But there's been a lot of players as well that have passed through over the last 10, 15 years. So it's it's a strange one because is there something deeper rooted within the club that has kind of left since Ferguson left and um we can't seem to get it back?
00:13:48
Niall
It's a difficult one. I
Mentality and Trophy Wins
00:13:50
Niall
don't know.
00:13:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:13:50
Niall
That's the mystery. Everyone's tried to figure it out.
00:13:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think it's mentality over the season, isn't it? Because the the squad of players that we've had come through, have time and time again, I mean, let's not be honest, or let's be honest, it's not been a barren run of trophies.
00:14:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
like we haven't It's not like we haven't won anything since Ferguson left.
00:14:03
Niall
course.
00:14:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
We have a Europa League, we have an FA Cup at least, we have a League Cup, and two of those were won under Tenhar before he left. you know we have the ah what It was the FA Cup under Van Gogh, wasn't it?
00:14:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
sure we won a trophy so I'm trying to remember now but yeah it's not a being a baron run and I think it's shown that even in our worst periods we've still won trophies so it's clear a mentality the mentality is there but only for certain games and this is what confuses me is that how can you have the mentality for only certain games against certain clubs
00:14:17
Niall
Yep.
00:14:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
and fail to keep that momentum and keep fail to keep that mentality up for the rest of the season. I mean, yeah, you compare it to 20 years ago and there were shortfalls of the Manchester United side. I mean, I'm going to bring it all the way back to the late 90s. I think 98, possibly 99 of the first Club World Cup might have been 98. And Ferguson withdrew the team from the FA Cup, pulled them out completely to go over to compete in the Club World Cup.
00:15:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're lost badly in the quarterfinal, I think. But you know it it shows you that even Ferguson had his periods. That even Ferguson, three, four years into the job, was very close to being sacked.
00:15:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it took a magical run in the FA Cup to to save his job.
00:15:25
Niall
ye
00:15:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
And hadn't that not happened? We would not have had the 20-odd years after that, maybe be even more, of just relentless success. 13 Premier League titles from for Ferguson speaks for itself.
00:15:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think no no situation that Man United have been in right now, it's not like they haven't been there before, but it needs a real strategy and it needs real commitment from the board and from the directors, because we've now got INEOS with a minority share, we still have the Glazers inbound,
00:15:45
Niall
Yeah. Mm hmm.
00:16:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
But they seem to be really not doing not doing as well as we thought. We thought when Ineos came in and Sir Jim Ratcliffe came in, it would be that breath of fresh air as a Manchester United fan.
00:16:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yet he's cutting all the wages at the bottom and leaving all of the top wage earners still at the club.
00:16:17
Niall
No, I know mental. Yeah.
00:16:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, that's not the way you approach it. Surely, this should be a time where you're looking at those underperformance on the higher wages. Think, right, you have to go. Even if we have to pay some of your wages for two, three years, you have to go.
00:16:31
Niall
It's worth it, yeah. Yeah, and 100%, you're dead right. And it' it's interesting and when you when you talk about kind of mentality and showing up for the big games. I mean, in any walk of life, it's easy to show up for for a job once a week when all the directors and all the managers are in and you have to show face. But it's about showing up every day and providing that same consistency and providing that same quality across all the days and showing up every day, not just once every month.
00:17:00
Niall
And and thats that's what, when you listen back and we're harping back again to the old days, like we mentioned at the start of the podcast, when you listen to the Nevels and the Keens, it's about the intensity that was in training every single day and the desire to win and having no excuses about what their players are doing, that the sole focus needs to be on Man United and bringing them back to the top.
00:17:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm.
00:17:22
Niall
And that has to be the backbone of everything. That is the backbone of even your skill level. if you If you have that mentality, then, you know, being a collective will kind of drag you up and actually improve the overall performance of the team. So it's... um It's a lot of factors. you know It's a quality factor. It's a mentality factor. um It's about success, breeding success as well. A lot of these players probably are quite low on confidence in general about their own kind of performances. They've been kind of moved around in different managers. They're having to adapt to a new system.
00:17:56
Niall
And they're losing confidence every week, it feels like, because they're overthinking and nearly where they have to be on the pitch and trying to adapt to this new formation. And then your game intelligence goes out the window because you're second-guessing yourself. And at that level, you don't have time to second-guess yourself. All these decisions are split-second decisions. And if you are overthinking where you should be on the pitch, then your man's behind you. So ah you know you can see it all around the time about what defenders should push up onto Danny Wellebeck, leaving some space in behind Danny Wellebeck and already playing with them in terms of I know exactly where I need you to be to create space for Brighton.
00:18:29
Niall
So it's it's frustrating because we've said this with all the managers, it's going to take time. It's going to take time for the players to adapt. But at some stage, you have to start getting results.
00:18:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm. Hmm.
00:18:42
Niall
And when you're 13, 14, the league, it's very hard to make excuses for them.
00:18:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
The issue is we've sort of been saying that like a broken record for the last 11 years, you know, it's it's all we know at the moment, but there we go.
00:18:53
Niall
Mm hmm.
00:18:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
When we come back for part three, more shenanigans, I'm sure. We'll be back after this.
00:19:08
Niall
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00:19:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Speaking of our Lord and Saviour in Sir Alex Ferguson, I've finally got around to sort of listening to one of his audiobooks for the recent ones, which is leading with Michael Moritz. And in it, I mean, I've only got through the sort of first four chapters or so, but in it, he raises an interesting point about how he came into the club.
00:20:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
and he was asked to trial something. One of his coaches said, let me take over the training sessions, you watch. And in doing that, Ferguson actually found that after four or five training sessions whilst he got used to it, he's actually starting to see much more of how the training session is going than when he was leading the training sessions himself. And I wonder,
00:20:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
if someone needs to come along, but say Amorim comes along and just sees the game differently, because
Formation and Strategy
00:20:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
that's all it takes. you You need one person to see something differently and say, let's give it a try. Hey, look, Arsenal have really honed in on their set pieces, you know, set piece coaches. You had, I mean, Stoke went with the long throw. Who doesn't love a long throw to cause chaos? But you you have like Liverpool as well. I think a couple of years ago had a throw-ins coach as well.
00:20:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
but you're trying to find those little bits that can give you an advantage and there's something there's a missing link from this United team and it's trying to figure out what will just unlock it.
00:21:04
Niall
It's an interesting one because you would say Amoram does have a different perspective on the game based off his formation. And every time you listen to him, he's so adamant that he won't change in terms of his style of play and his formation. And even the results are going against him every single game pretty much. He's like, no, it will work. It will work. And I don't know if he's playing games around.
00:21:30
Niall
you know, calling to the board in a way saying I need the personnel to fulfill this formation properly and the vision that I have for the team. We obviously know that he was brought in at a very tough period just before Christmas. United made it very clear to him where it's now or never. He wanted to stay until the end of the season, finish out his season with Lisbon and then actually come into unit United with a full preseason with probably a fresh group of players to actually kind of explain this new system to them and actually get them used to it.
00:22:04
Niall
So he is looking at it from a fresh perspective, but is he coming into it with players that just aren't good enough? Is that the bottom line? You know, you mentioned players that would actually fit into a team in the past and you went to Ahmad Diallo. I mean,
00:22:20
Niall
It's mad that he's the one we have to pick out because at the start of the season, you would never say Diallo.
00:22:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mm.
00:22:25
Niall
You would be saying that, you know, the improvement that he's made this year in an ideal scenario, he should be like your third winger or your fourth winger where he's coming on still gaining experience, but having an unbelievable impact.
00:22:38
Niall
Our hopes are totally reliant on Ahmad at the moment. We saw it in the Southampton game, even when it went to 1-1, just kept feeding in the ball down the right-hand side, hoping that he would create some piece of magic. And he did. But as Gary Knapp would say, this is Manchester United. like that this That is now what we should be doing, relying on ah on a youngster that has barely got his start place in placing the team to actually bring us to some glory. It's um it's a tough place that we're in at the moment.
00:23:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, but I get that. But it's not like Ferguson didn't have the tactic of, give it to Sculls, he'll know what to do with it. If you're in doubt, just give it to give it a pull.
00:23:15
Niall
But it's schools. It's schools.
00:23:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
I get that, yeah. I do get that, yeah.
Team Depth and Performance
00:23:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
no
00:23:20
Niall
It's Ronaldo. It's Rooney. it's like You think back at that 07, 08 team, I think I was on a podcast with Ollie a good few weeks ago now talking about probably reminiscing again. I mean, why wouldn't we?
00:23:31
Niall
I mean, there's nothing else to talk about. and But we had like Rooney, Ronaldo, Berbatoff, and Tevez all in the one team.
00:23:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
So sad.
00:23:38
Niall
like We need to get back to building a bit of depth and buying the best players that are around because that's what, I suppose, I brought the success. Having Berbatoff and having Teves to come off the bench, having that quality where maybe it's not working today, at the moment we're just so shallow in terms of quality and we're just totally reliant on a couple of players. um and And that's not where we were back in the day when we are actually getting success. And even if you go back further with the 99 team,
00:24:09
Niall
You had Cole, York, Sheringham, and Ollie. That's four strikers in the books. We only have two strikers in the books at the moment. And one of them is a nine and a half. So we we don't even know exactly what we have. And if we have the quality and depth to actually succeed and get and get some success.
00:24:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
Sorry I mentioned Dwight York there, this is my obligatory. Oh Dwight York, what a player. Oh fantastic player Dwight York.
00:24:32
Niall
We'll do a podcast on Dwight Guard.
00:24:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, we'll just dedicate it straight to him, Dwight York.
00:24:36
Niall
Yeah.
00:24:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
Fantastic player. No, I totally
Impact of Marquee Signings
00:24:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
agree. Like the quality of players that we had 20 years ago is far superior to what we have now. But I think as well,
00:24:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, you say to sign the best players and sign the biggest players. Well, I'd argue there have been some key marquee signings. De Maria to the club, Bruno Fernandes. Heck, we even brought Ronaldo back. Now, there's some key marquee signings. those Those are massive signings in the grand scale of things. Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal. Bit massive signing at the time.
00:25:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yet, most of them didn't work out. Okay, you could argue Ronaldo was a pretty decent signing, you know, got the goals was our pretty much our stalwart goal scorer, but everything seemed to fall apart from what Ollie had built.
00:25:18
Niall
Yeah.
00:25:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I feel like that, you know, the count that was a counter to what Ollie was trying to set up, broke down, and Ollie cost him his job and Ronaldo moved on ah not long after that. But I feel like with Ferguson gone, a huge chunk of reputation was taken out of the club.
00:25:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
And David Moyes was speaking, and I forget where it was, where he was speaking, but it was on another podcast.
Signings and Reputation Shift
00:25:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
But he was explaining about how he tried to sign two players in particular in the first window, Ses Fabregas and Gareth Bale.
00:25:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, I very much remember we were very much in for Gareth Bale, very much so. And I think it was about 60, 70 million we wanted to bid for him at the time.
00:26:02
Niall
I think it was that Simon Jordan podcast actually and then he was also on the overlap as well but I think he mentioned it on both but yeah I think the original one was that I don't know what the name of it is but it was something William Hill Simon Jordan podcast
00:26:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
It might be. Hmm.
00:26:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Yeah, and but I saw the clip of it and it was about him trying to bring those two players to the club. Gareth Bale, I remember. Cesc Fabregas coming to the club eludes me slightly. I don't don't remember ever being in for him. But both those times, he said that they both went on to other clubs or they both decided no and decided against Manchester United. Bale, of course, going to Real Madrid. Cesc Fabregas pretty much staying at Barcelona until they built a statue for him because, wow, what a player Cesc Fabregas was. But I feel like that was a huge turning point.
00:26:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
11 years ago in the fact that these massive players, these huge stars, just didn't want to play for Manchester United anymore. And you could chalk that up to, well, Ferguson's not there.
00:26:57
Niall
Yeah, no, definitely.
00:26:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
Why would I join you now?
00:27:00
Niall
And I think it's an interesting point about signing those marquee players. I think De Maria, that's a fair one. Like that one probably just didn't work out. But I think for the rest of them, a lot of them were signed.
00:27:14
Niall
after their prime. like It was like United were struggling and just grasping onto something.
00:27:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
Talent Acquisition Challenges
00:27:20
Niall
Maybe if we get Falcao, maybe if we get Ibrahimovic, which i know you're a bit I know you're a bit sensitive.
00:27:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hey, hey, hey, soft spot, soft spot there.
00:27:25
Niall
I know i just thought i would i thought I could kind of just drop that in there and hope you wouldn't notice.
00:27:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
Won us the Europa League, Niall.
00:27:30
Niall
but ah yeah
00:27:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
Come on now.
00:27:34
Niall
But the full cows, the Sanchez, um the Cavannas, like if we had bought them five, six years before or in the middle of their prime, like when we were buying Cantona, for example, right in the middle of their prime, and you know, buying players like Andy Cole in the middle of their prime as well, where they're actually able to provide four or five years of brilliant output for United, it just felt like we were a little bit late to to the party on some of those signings and didn't really pay off. but da That's what I was mentioning to Aldi on the podcast. I was like, do we need to go out and just sign like the best player in the positions? Because we it feels like we haven't really done that in a while, when when that's kind of what we were known for. I mean, if you were to ask fans of other clubs to just go, yeah, well, United had the most budget, so they just went and bought the best players. Of course they won. But you kind of had that blended of superstars being bought and youth coming through.
00:28:29
Niall
And now we kind of don't have either. We have a couple of people coming through, but we're not really sure if they're going to fulfill maybe that overhyped potential that we might put on their shoulders.
00:28:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, but you you say bringing superstars in, but at that time it was knowing when to get rid of those players or knowing when to move them on. And I think Ferguson, for the most part, had got that down to a tee.
00:28:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
Some plays he released too early. um I think he remembered, I think he mentioned Yap Stam, who he said was you know released too early and had a fantastic time elsewhere.
00:28:58
Niall
Yeah.
00:29:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
But you know for the most part, he got those big decisions right. And that comes as a huge part of maintaining a top level squad for so many years.
00:29:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you see Jurgen Klopp, you know, spent a good time at the top, of course, winning a Premier League and a Champions League.
00:29:18
Niall
Yep.
00:29:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
But by the end of it, by the end of what, was it eight years? Was it eight years? Maybe even longer.
00:29:25
Niall
Yeah, around that. Yeah, yeah.
00:29:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
maybe even longer than that but he felt burnt out and he was tired and he decided it's time to stop and I think that that goes to the relentless pressure not only as as a manager but as as an entire club to make sure you keep those appearances up and it's not impossible for United to rebuild themselves We were talking about Liverpool the you know did just after the Louis Suarez period, where they just missed out on the title.
Inspiration from Liverpool's Rebuild
00:29:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
They had a rough patch there, and some of their teams, they were lining up. It was like, whoa, are you sure? They signed Andy Carroll, for example, for that fee, that fee. um But I just think it's not impossible to rebuild. Liverpool have done it, for goodness sake. And now they're top of the table. They've been you know they've won a Premier League more recently than us, that hurts to say.
00:30:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
And they might be on course to win another one before us and level the tie of English league titles. We can't let this happen. How do we let this happen?
00:30:21
Niall
No, but it's true. like You have to take some sort of inspiration from Liverpool. I mean, some of those teams they were putting out, like you had Barrani, you had Ricky Lambert, like some of those teams were but shocking ah and boring in all those boys. like they had They had some strange teams being been put out there. um And like you have to take inspiration from them because there is There has to be a way back. like I mean, it's not as if we haven't spent. So I don't think it's spending our way out of it. But just need to be smarter in the transfers. you know They got Salah cheap. They got Manet cheap. Buying from like, you know they could see the potential. They got a bit more ane analytical maybe with their signings as well. um And maybe all that's going on in the background with United as well with the new ownership hasn't filled you with a lot of confidence with some of the decisions they've been making, like you mentioned earlier about cutting Christmas parties when Anthony's still on the books.
00:31:14
Niall
But sometimes you have to go through rough patches to get to the good times and maybe we're just in a 20-year rough patch. Who knows?
00:31:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh no, don't say that, Niall. Don't say that or otherwise it might come true. ah Oh dear. As we said, this episode's been a shambles.
00:31:31
Niall
It has.
00:31:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
This club's in slight shambles, so it's fine, don't worry about it.
00:31:32
Niall
Yeah.
00:31:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Niall, it's been a pleasure to share the bike with you this late in the evening.
00:31:37
Niall
Thanks very much, Karen. It was great.
00:31:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Ah, now thank you all for listening as well. Hopefully you enjoy the rest of your time. Hopefully we'll be back soon. We've got the Fulham crossover podcast tomorrow. Don't miss that. Sam and Dan went over to Fulham. Surely with two wins on the road so far this season, the Premier League, we could get win number three. Let's hope, let's hope. Thank you so much for listening. We'll talk to you soon.