Disaster for United yesterday vs Sevilla. They had their chances, couldn't capitalize. It happens. But it did exploit their three biggest weaknesses imho.
1-full back. They have one great one in AWB. Shaw, when fit is serviceable, but let's face it, he's fat, he's slow and often injured. Brandon Williams is complete shit. He ran towards the wrong guy on Sevilla's first goal, total blunder. He makes way more incomplete passes than successful passes. He can't cross, is often out of position or running over a winger and dives. I honestly can't think of a player I've disliked at United more other than maybe Fellaini. I really hope they loan him off.
2-center back. Maguire is good. Probably not worth the money they paid for him, but he's a rock back there. But Lindelof and Bailly are not nearly good enough. I suppose if you combined them into one player they would be okay, but their deficiencies are exploited often enough that it's time to move on. Both should have a bit of value to sell. Lindelof could be good, but he has no confidence at all at United. I swear when he plays for Sweden, he's all world or just shy of it. At Old Trafford, he makes at least one big mistake per half. Bailly is probably the preferred partner, but he's pretty bad with the ball at his feet, but worse yet, he has a propensity for being wrong sided on the attacker way too often and makes desperate wild challenges. Just not good enough at this level.
3-coach/tactics. I like Ole and want to see him succeed, but I don't trust his acumen enough to think he has it for the job. I'm happy with the starting lineup he put out there vs Sevilla, very attacking, strong mf and it clicked. Again, they had way more chances than their opponent and were always a danger on the attack. But as the game wears on, you have to realize you have tired legs - he's ridden the likes of Fernandes, Rashford, Maguire, Martial hard since the restart. He goes down a goal and doesn't make his first change until the 85th minute? And then three player change? ugh. Now perhaps it's because the quality on the bench isn't great, but ffs, Williams should have been subbed off at HT, he was running all over Rash the entire game in the attack, and out of position most of the game in defense. If you want to bring on James, give him 20 minutes to make a mark. He will run down the wings relentlessly and put pressure on tired legs. Is he terrible and likely to give the ball away a lot? Well, sure, but giving him 5-7 minutes to effect the game, something he's not done since the preseeason, is just foolish. And Mata needed to be brought on earlier. He actually has made a difference when brought on, and changes the formation of the team, thus making the other manager have to make tactic changes. It's obvious that at the highest level, United always has the second best manager and just relying on their talent alone. Top talent sure, but not deep enough just yet.
The offseason is going to be extremely interesting. EPL teams are in very good position to strengthen their squads due to the massive television revenue the league has. I'm spitballing here, but off memory, La Liga's revenue is not evenly split and if memory serves, RM and Barca both get the lions share there. However, they both also have massive debt loads that they need to see to. With no gate revenue being brought in, there's going to be massive pressure on teams to manage costs. RM will be a buying team, but I don't see them as able to get into bidding wars with the likes of the richer EPL teams. Barca HAS to rebuild, they are old af, but the only way they get this done is if indeed they are able to ship Messi off as he's requested. That's a double edged sword though. Moving Messi is a bitter bill to swallow as he's massively popular, marketable and brandable. But if you are able to move him, you get a shit ton of money, and not need to pay his huge salary. If they are unable to move Messi, I don't see how they can bring in the top talent needed to get this team back to top of the world status. Still good, but no longer great.
In Serie A, Juventus already has the fire sale going on. Shopping CR7, Dyabla, pretty much every one is untouchable at this point. They need to cut costs, as does about every team in Serie A. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see some big names rotate around Europe, more so than normal. Which brings me to who will be buying? Well, Chelsea already has made a big splash with Werner and Ziyech - and they are odds on favorites to get Harvetz. That leaves City, United, Liverpool, Bayern and PSG? Sure you may get a Gladbach or a Newcastle or Leicester make a splash with a name, or Arsenal grab someone, but I think those are going to be the 5 big buyers with deepest pockets. I'm probably overlooking someone else here, but normally you get 15-20 big clubs buying. I think this year we get fewer clubs buying and way more clubs selling.
