Devil Geek

Absolutely distraught at this result!

When you look at what we did to change things and it’s not worked!

We didn’t back the manager!

We kept the same team and brought in second rate signings!

It’s time for the glazers to go! Simple!

I’ve said it for so long! This team is awful! If ever we stood a chance of signing top players… it has gone after today! Poor manager… hasn’t been backed but the only positive to come out of this is that the owners need to sell! Fu***ng awful!

After taking some time to digest last weeks result, I’m almost at a stage where I’m giving up on this team.

There’s been so many negative talking points from the past week alone… that has completely killed every positive aspect that we built in pre season!

The victory over Liverpool almost felt like a shock! like we should have been grateful for such a win and it showed and gave us hope but the more pre season went on, the more it crept back in… the draw against villa! The loss to athletico Madrid the draw against real vallecano… a theme which had caused so much pain last season!

Come match day and before a ball had been kicked, Our captain is so clueless that he’s lining up on the wrong side of the tunnel! Then The first kick being a Diego Dalot mistake which nearly results in a goal! It simply set the tone for the rest of the game and for me, for the season!

It’s true that we might not have qualifications to be managers or even skills to be players but what does our manager see that we don’t!? Between us, we watched and followed every aspect of how man United play over countless years of support! Did it

Our questions are simple and the solution is effective! How does ten hag go into that game with maguire and martinez? How does he think that Fred and mctominay are capable of running that midfield? How does he start Bruno as our main striker!!!??? Varane and Ronaldo sat on the bench… better than everything that started before them!! You always start with your best players and It’s then a matter of change it when you have to!

Now we have 3 weeks until the transfer window closes and our value in the market represents our performances on the pitch! Rabiot being another signing to add to free agent, “Erickson” who is just not the answer! We have a player in Martinez but the pressure to play in that first game alongside a player who is supposed to be our captain… who makes so many mistakes per game! There’s no direction or menace to his game! He is not a leader and unfortunately, Martinez will probably regress over the coming weeks because of it! Luke Shaw I also believe is at a cross roads! He was amazing 2 years ago but we have seen this so many times over the years where players hit a pinnacle and then fall away… this is Shaw now! When malacia had played.. he has a dynamic and refreshing energy that reminds me of Patrice Evra! I hope he gets his chance soon!

Which brings us to the midfield… zidane iqbal shone in pre season! Garner was an absolute baller last season! Why are these kids being brought through the academy if they don’t get the chance to shine in the first team!? What is the point in loans when we need energy and freshness now!!!?

Ronaldo is the only exception because of what he brings but still… starting Bruno instead of him or a young energetic garnacho!?

Rashford has just been linked to PSG today and I say “let him go” because he is not the same player and we cannot let these players keep coming through like this! That shot he missed even though it was offside was just simply unacceptable!

I just don’t understand how this club is being operated to the point that everything we do is tainted with darkness and negativity!?

Our team is dying a slow and painful death! Going for arnautavic! What does that say about our club!? And what does that say about our manager!? What does it say about the money that we REALLY to spend! Is de jong even a real possibility or is it a smoke screen to say we tried and then the last day of the season when we don’t get him, they save £85m?

There’s something much more sinister and dark in play at our once beautiful club and everyone can see it! Until someone takes over from these owners… we will never go anywhere!

I argued this week that I don’t believe we will get even a point in our opening 3 games! Brentford will want to start with a bang and Liverpool will smash us!

Such a sad time to be a United fan but if I could take one thing from city and hopefully we never go there… they were relegated to division 2! Look at them now! We need patience!

If you start last season with virtually the same core of players that were so bad the season before then f**k me! You deserve nothing more than to get beat.

I’ll never understand maguire as captain! I’ll never understand Fred and mctominay! Rashford is lost! If this is him rediscovering his form through a strong pre season then please just leave now!

Embarrassing summer transfer window! Chasing players that don’t want to come! Holding on to players that want to leave! Not signing anyone to replace the players that left! It’s shocking!

I’ve been a fan my whole life and been through the greatest times but my god this is probably the darkest that I’ve ever experienced.

All the hard work and talk coming from pre season about we are ready! We’ve just been beaten off Brighton! It’s laughable!

It’s depressing!

Anyone looking in thinking of coming to this club must be thinking no thanks!

Hard times ahead when you’re getting beat first game of the season!

Never heard of this kid but he looks decent! United should be about developing talent and I believe ten hag is the man to do that! Everything in his style of management suggests that he can do it!

More like this!

🚨🎥 “Manchester UNITED have this TOP talent as their NEW summer TARGET”: bit.ly/3PNMg8U

The latest from Fabrizio ⤴️👀⭐️

This de jong situation is madness!

The president of Barca and xavi both coming out, confirming they want him out yet won’t give him what he’s owed! Trained and played his whole life
to join Barcelona and this is how they treat him!? He agreed to lower his salary and help them in hard times and the club are forcing him out without so much as a hand shake!

The situation is simple… just pay him what he is owed so we can all put it to bed!

Not sure how any player can be looking at Barca right now and be wanting to go there after they have treated current and ex players like they have!

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So... United reverted back to that "erratic" football that saw us lose so much confidence last season...

A 2-2 draw with villa... doesn't really represent a bad game because the pitch was shocking but still.. the loss in concentration as pointed out by ETH is cause for concern.

Bringing Martinez into the fold will hopefully give us an edge in terms of a bit more hardcore leadership! I think for the great teams of the past, we've always had leaders with that tough mindset to lead by example on the pitch and at the moment, we are 1-2 players away from having that because I do believe that it will bring the best out of the players that we have.

I just watched Barcelona and Real out of interest for the two players we are linked with in Depay and De Jong. De Jong coming on in the second half to what looked like his normal position but was then pushed back to centre back with further subs, where he didn't put a foot wrong if I'm totally honest.

Depay, I don't think there's a place in our team for him unless we don't get Antony from Ajax. The pressure to come back to a club where you failed in an awful way could either make or break him.. you'd hope the dutch connection of ETH would be a great motivator but that's not a given considering he was signed by a dutchman.

For FDJ, I personally hope he signs soon. He can't be happy with how he's being treated and where he's being expected to play. Will he play there for the season? I can't see it.

For Depay, I would rather us go down a different route but for £17m, could be a decent Antony alternative.

I still think we are in need of a right back... Dalot isn't my kind of player... id like to think that we are just as strong down the right as we are down the left so I see that as a big signing... adding two players to that right hand side in Antony and a right back is going to be a big call... I heard that dumphries from inter is on our target list. seems a decent player.

what everyone saying about the first game? what's your preferred starting line up as it stands?

I did say this the other day

Frenkie De Jong’s agents Ali Dursun and Hasan Cetinkaya have informed Barcelona that Frenkie has still no intention to leave - also that Frenkie and agents are not accepting any salary reduction, or talks related to that. 🇳🇱

Man United are also informed - deal now stalling.

Frenkie de Jong to situation explained :

Man United and Barcelona have agreed to a €65 million fixed fee plus €20 million in add-ons for Frenkie de Jong moving to Man United this summer.

But despite the agreement between both the clubs, the move is yet to be finalized and here's why :

1. De Jong wants to leave Barca as he's been told by Xavi he is not starting ahead of Busquets and both Pedri & Gavi are preferred in central midfield over the Dutchman.

2. Frenkie de Jong can't come out and say he wants to leave Barca for Man United because he is entitled to a €20 million loyalty bonus. If he forces the transfer, he will lose the loyalty bonus whereas if Barca forces him out, they will owe him a sum of €20 million in loyalty bonus which is the reason Barca President Joan Laporta is coming out in the press again and again saying the club is not forcing De Jong to leave, instead they wanna keep him at the club.

3. In 2019-20 season Barca were hit by economic problems and they had to give a pay cut on deferred terms to all their players. Frenkie de Jong took a deferred pay cut by 70% for three seasons and Barca owe him around €19 million in deferred salary. Frenkie de Jong and his agent want the deferred salary to be paid before he agrees personal terms with Man United. Barca do not have the money to pay him as of now.

4. Frenkie de Jong will not be a Barca player next season, even if Barca want they can not retain his place in the squad due to financial reasons. As per de Jong's contract his salary will increase every season by €50k/week and he is also entitled to an annual bonus of €5 million which means if he was to stay at Barca he will earn €400k/week and also recieve €19 million in deferred salary plus €20 million loyalty bonus plus €5 million annual bonus which equals to a whopping €62.3 million which Barca will have to spend on him next season and the club can not afford it, there is a possibility of Barca declaring bankruptcy if de Jong stays at Barca.

4. Manchester United are clam about the situation, they do not want to rush and overpay for this deal. Erik ten Hag speaks with Frenkie de Jong every day, the player is excited and ready to reunite with ten Hag but can't openly admit it due to the reasons mentioned above. Man United are confident the deal will happen but it can take a few more days.

5. Barca will activate the second economic levers on 12th of July by selling 49% of their Merchandise and Licensing rights to American company Fanatics through which they will receive €400 million to balance their accounts and use 20% of that capital to pay deferred salaries of the players. Frenkie de Jong is waiting for Barca to pay his deferred salary after which he will discuss personal terms with Man United and the deal will be completed.

6. Frenkie de Jong will be a Manchester United player next season, there's an agreement between both Man United and Barca, it's just a matter of time before Barca pay what they owe to De Jong and the deal advances.

NOTE - BARCELONA DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER OPTION BUT TO SELL DE JONG. HE IS THEIR HIGHEST PAID PLAYER AND THE CLUB WILL HAVE TO SPEND €63 MILLION ON HIM NEXT SEASON IF THEY WISH TO KEEP HIM WHICH IS NOT POSSIBLE AS PER THEIR BALANCE BOOKS.

&Manchester United

Devil Geek

Melbourne victory 1 vs 4 Manchester United

Another positive performance by United yesterday but most of that came in the second half.

To start with that defense and lose that goal was testament to what I said earlier about maguire not being up to the style of play that we are trying to create.

He was completely left for dead by a second rate player and his decision making as that pass comes in shows exactly why ETH will not have too much patience with him.

To point out and build on the positives, Bruno and sancho were decent and mctominay pushed and grinded well. The goals were well worked and we deserved our lead but still, I felt under inspired by the defense and central midfield selection.

2nd half gave the stage to iqbal, savage and Chong and I felt they were brilliant. They played with intent, flair and speed and it will do great thing for their confidence.

Malacia shown again why he was bought and shown improvement from the Liverpool game and Bailey certainly isn’t doing himself any harm with his strength and assists but I’m still worried about Donny in that position as he really looks lost at times.. not sure he’s going to feature as much as he would like.

Rashford was lively and took his goal very well. The touch to set himself up for the strike was well noted and these wins are great preparations for the start of the season with the potential of not having Ronaldo but we still need more and it’s a shame we won’t see our new players on tour.

Overall, good performance but had it been anything else, I’d have been pi**ed off. Maguire starting on the right of the central defense, for me was an audition for that starting spot once Martinez comes in as ETH will look for his partner at the back… I think it will be varane but we will see.

Interested to see what erikkson does in a red shirt and also really wish we’d get clarity over de jong and either sign him or move on. Not signing him frees up £85m so what we could buy for that is exciting should we not get our man.

Next stop I think is crystal palace. They’ve got 10 senior players on their tour because of Covid vaccination restrictions and won’t have a great team so I see a similar result to this one.

I’d like to see a combination of the Liverpool line up and the Melbourne victory line up

De gea
Malacia
Varane
Bailly
Dalot
Savage
Iqbal
Sancho (right)
Chong (left)
Bruno
Rashford

That’s what I’d start the game with… what do you think?

Got a sneaky feeling that once we start getting games under our belt and our style of play gets more advanced, Harry Maguire will start to show why he’s not good enough to play for United.

With the signing of Martinez only a day away… a left sided centre back will be introduced and currently, HM is and has been our left sided centre back.

Only injury to varane would keep maguire in the team but because of our pressing style and playing a high line… HM will get smoked for pace on any counter attacks.

Not only do I think he will lose his place in the team but I think he will slowly lose the captaincy. ETH wasn’t about to come in and publicly humiliate a player that had his worst season as a player last year… especially when he might not have landed his main target in Martinez.

As a next captain who would you choose?

A lot of people would go with Ronaldo but I strongly believe that Ronaldo has been one of our biggest problems during this bad period. Some would disagree but my belief is that his demands were too high given the squad was so disorientated and down on confidence… the foreign players in the team were easily motivated by him but the younger, British lads probably felt overwhelmed and embarrassed… not that it’s an excuse but Ronaldo has not captained any team other the national team in his whole career and I just feel that deep down, for all he’s achieved… he’s just not the type of captain this team needs…

Ronaldo is motivated by the glory for personal goals and achievements. It’s hard to give that up when it’s been embedded into him year after year! His name is a brand in itself. I hate to admit it, carragher was right all along and I knew he would be and that is why I believe Ronaldo is leaving or wants to leave because coming back to United and captaining the team… by being the focal point in the clubs rebuild would have been one more achievement to add to his long list of reasons as tI who is the greatest of all time.

Maybe I’m wrong but everything points to that reason…

he shown support to the new manager and Promoted the new kit! Even when he knew we didn’t have CL…

if we sign de jong, erikson, Martinez, malacia and another striker which could well end up being dybala… after getting rid of the bad eggs in Pogba and Lingard and all the OAPs… he can’t say it’s through lack of ambition because we backed the manager! minus timber… which is not our fault! He’s got his players!

With a clear style of play being implemented, a squad of players that finished 2nd just a season ago and got to the Europa final… I’d say we are on the right tracks!

For my choice of captain… I’d go with either Bruno as the players favorite or Martinez as ETH’s trusted signing as he’d lead from the back but might be a bit much to ask! I mean, I don’t hate maguire that much that I’d want him to lose his place and the captaincy to the same player in the space of a few weeks… or do I? Ha…

I’d go Bruno!