Post match thread

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Net spend this summer was slightly higher than normal. Sunderland outspent us. The mancs as per usual outspent as by miles like they've done for well over a decade. It's really not rocket science Nial.

Why bring Sunderland into it? They're in the bottom three mate.

Yeah the scum out spent us, but I'll state my point again, spending more than them is no guarantee that we'll overhaul them.

You need to find the right players, the cost of those players and the net spend is irrelevant.

Example; we sell Kuyt, Riise, Carson, Sissoko and Pennant for £30m combined, then buy 3 players at £10m each and then win the league. What does it matter?

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

He has been backed on Torres only. All the other players were signed with CL money and sales.

You know this for a fact?

And what does it matter where the money came from?

[Nic83]

You're entertaing Tom I'll give you that. Clueless but good for a laugh!

[Tom]

OH dear god!!!

Actually you're right, it's far FAR bigger. i suggest you do some research. Real and Barca's budget is 3/4 times that of Valencia

please provide the figures for the seasons we're talking about.

[Nic83]

Historically not producing academy players HAD nothing to with them, wait a few years and see what happens ............... understand that little boy?

Understand this old man. I was talking in the present and in the future.:whatever:

[Nic83]

please provide the figures for the seasons we're talking about.

Go look it up yourself. I assure you it's true but then again, everyone (bar you obviously) knows this.

[Tom]

You're entertaing Tom I'll give you that. Clueless but good for a laugh!

I wish I could manufacture a back-handed compliment for you, unfortunately I agree with the majority view of you, that you're a prick of the highest order.

[Guest]

Why bring Sunderland into it? They're in the bottom three mate.

Yeah the scum out spent us, but I'll state my point again, spending more than them is no guarantee that we'll overhaul them.

You need to find the right players, the cost of those players and the net spend is irrelevant.

Example; we sell Kuyt, Riise, Carson, Sissoko and Pennant for £30m combined, then buy 3 players at £10m each and then win the league. What does it matter?

All these players were bought pre investment.

Rafa had to find solutions with what he got. All these players had potential. Momo was a huge hit in his first season and the other players have roughly justified the money spent. It's not difficult to understand mate.

When you compare that to the huge amounts invested by United and Arsenal (playing big bucks on young untrusted players) then it's difficult to compete. Add to that the farce over the stadium over the years.

The club has been losing ground off the pitch, that the fact behind why we're playing catch up.

[kemm1]

Understand this old man. I was talking in the present and in the future.:whatever:

Then why mention Gerrard as part of your example little boy?

[Howard_lfc]

I still believe Rafa is the man to bring us the title but he needs the boardroom support and financial clout to bring in quality players. Our squad has improved ten fold since GH left but there are still some players that are not title winning standard. I think Rafa is still learning his way in the premiership. We need to be patient with him and the owners need to back him to the hilt to get the players he wants, 1st choice not alternatives. I thought united came with a plan today and executed it to perfection. We lacked composure when it counted and most players out there today were guilty of not making the most of the possesion we had.

Just got back. Gutted.
Agree to an extent. I thought we played without any brains. It was all off the cuff stuff, no real thought to it. Utd were sharper all over the pitch.
Rafa likes to use the word 'mentaility' alot and today only two players from the starting XI showed it for me: Sami and Riise. THe rest of them were average at best with Kuyt, Kewell and Carra having dire games. We looked a bag of nerves and couldn't hit simple 5 yard passes - all over the pitch.

Watching Masher and Gerrard switch roles with Stevie holding was another poor, poor decision. Gerrard was way too deep to affect the game.

Rafa bemused me. His substitutions were too late and the wrong way around. kuyt was having a total mare and yet stayed on longer than Kewell..... How Dirk stayed on for so long was astonishing.

I used to believe Rafa would win us the league but I'm not so sure. To say he's still learning how the Premiership works is wrong. He's been here long enough to know it by now. A game against Utd is a battle of wills - and today we simply didn't have it.

[Nic83]

I wish I could manufacture a back-handed compliment for you, unfortunately I agree with the majority view of you, that you're a prick of the highest order.

*cracks up*

How in good god can you not know about the spending power of Barca nad Real I'll never know!!

You got a TV?

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

Of course not, and if you look at any individual game you will find reasons for the result.

My point was that people are using the game today to extrapolate the rest of the season. And over the rest of the season United's extra quality (gained through spending a lot of money) will count. We have a good core, (Reina, Carra, Agger, Mascher, Gerrard, Torres) but don't have the quality around that (IMO) to beat the big teams/best defences.

If you take the key creative positions (RM, LM, Second striker) and compare the teams we arent good enough, these are the positions that unlock defences and win games. Babel may do it in time, but for the moment IMO we don't have enough quality there for our style of play to be effective against the best teams, or be consistent enough over the course of a season.

United: Ronaldo, Giggs, Tevez (32-42m)
Chelsea: Cole, Wright-Phillips, Lampard (39m)
Arsenal: Rosicky, Van Persie, Hleb (19.5m but Arsenal are a special case)
Liverpool: Benayoun, Kewell, Kuyt (19m)

Why are Arsenal a special case?

Tell me?

Or is it the fact that their manager has played a blinder and bought and developed quality players - mostly at a young age - at the fraction of the cost of Chelsea and the scum.

It just re-inforces my point that building a side isn't all about money, it's about being clever, if you're good enough you can build at top side without having to buy 5 or 6 players who cost £20m each.

[Cisseshairdresser]

All this talk about spending big/more money will get you better players when some of our best signings have cost **** all. Arbeloa anyone? The only player recently that we have paid BIG money for, and who looks like justifying this, is Torres. Babel looks like he COULD end up justifying his price tag, time will tell. Spending big money on players doe's not guarantee success, or make certain a quality purchase. Shevchenko, Juan Sebestian Veron?

[Guest]

You know this for a fact?

And what does it matter where the money came from?

Well it's relatively simple. Look at how much we've spend and roughly how much we've cashed in with sales and CL money. It's not a definite figure but on the whole you see what I mean.

It's about outspending and paying more to sign the quality players. We've lost out on Walcott a couple of years ago because of that, allegedly ... We were in also for Ronaldo but lost out again.

[Tom]

*cracks up*

How in good god can you not know about the spending power of Barca nad Real I'll never know!!

You got a TV?

Yeah whatever, some figures would have been nice and we could have had a sensible discussion of the differences between la liga and the premiership. Whatever.