Champions League Discussion 2023/24

I just go on evidence and he's not done it at United, I'm no ETH fan but I get why he got frustrated with Sancho, he gave him 3 months time out to get his head right and that's a rare thing, that's good management. Sancho came back and was no better and had a poor attitude to training and at that point Eth will have felt let down and why he went public, playing for Dortmund in an inferior league doesn't cut it with me, again evidence based he's not done it in the PL it seems too big a step for him.
 
Ronaldo made it clear in his interview how bad things are/were at our club behind the scenes. The fact we hadn't moved any further forward with the facilities, sports science and various other things since he left. Perhaps things like this contributed to Sancho being unhappy for some of the time he was not performing? We know it has been having an effect on our general performance for a long time, so why not Sancho? Maybe some of the other players are not affected as much by these off-field problems, but Sancho was?

The whole behind the scenes was toxic and that is why a brand new set of people and way forward is being outlined now. People are different and react more to certain things. The way we ran things back then and even now to a point probably didn't suit him, or anybody really. They were just better at getting on with it.

Also, giving someone three months out would not help if your head is not in the project. It could have been three years....but if you have no faith in your surroundings and manager, then any amount of time won't help.
 
Mr C said:
errr

I would think the CL/Europa semis, and the fact germany got the 5th league place for CL due to European results says different
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I wish it was that simple, German football is better suited to European comps but domestically it’s not even close they have three or four good teams, the PL is a far harder test over a full season.
 
Jayc1860 said:
Ronaldo made it clear in his interview how bad things are/were at our club behind the scenes. The fact we hadn't moved any further forward with the facilities, sports science and various other things since he left. Perhaps things like this contributed to Sancho being unhappy for some of the time he was not performing? We know it has been having an effect on our general performance for a long time, so why not Sancho? Maybe some of the other players are not affected as much by these off-field problems, but Sancho was?

The whole behind the scenes was toxic and that is why a brand new set of people and way forward is being outlined now. People are different and react more to certain things. The way we ran things back then and even now to a point probably didn't suit him, or anybody really. They were just better at getting on with it.

Also, giving someone three months out would not help if your head is not in the project. It could have been three years....but if you have no faith in your surroundings and manager, then any amount of time won't help.
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Sancho will have agreed to come back after three months he wasn’t forced, three months wasn’t a set period either so he must have agreed he was ready, honestly the excuses for him under performing practically every game while at Utd are getting worse how much time do you want to give him? If playing for one of the best clubs on extortionate wages isn’t enough motivation then he shouldn’t be here.
He had a reputation for staying up half the night playing video games and started getting in late for training I suppose that’s on ETH too?
 
JammyRed said:
Sancho will have agreed to come back after three months he wasn’t forced, three months wasn’t a set period either so he must have agreed he was ready, honestly the excuses for him under performing practically every game while at Utd are getting worse how much time do you want to give him? If playing for one of the best clubs on extortionate wages isn’t enough motivation then he shouldn’t be here.
He had a reputation for staying up half the night playing video games and started getting in late for training I suppose that’s on ETH too?
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I just think he never managed to settle in at the club, for a host of different reasons, bad luck, poor managers and systems that didn't suit him. Players like Antony being chosen ahead of him and he's had injuries and obviously questionable times out, most recently with ETH. Who's fault that is remains to be seen, with 100% certainty. The recent return to Dortmund seems to show that it was maybe more our fault than his though.

To go from being close to useless and looking very dejected, he's starting to turn a corner in quite a short period of time, and for me that is the biggest indicator. If he continues the way he is, then there can be no doubt left to be honest. It wasn't like it was a good perfomance against weak opposition, it was a great performance against a very good side. He looks a completey different player, and I'm not the only one who's said it. Henry, Rio and some others.

As I keep saying, it's all about the player being happy, and getting the attention he needs. The correct managment. This is somehting which ETH struggles with massively.

I don't understand why more people can't see it.
 
Well it will take more than one good game (by his standards) to convince me, if he goes on to hit consistent form, creates chances and scores a few I’ll sit up and listen but I’m sticking with he’s too soft for the PL until that changes,

Latest rumours are Sancho doesn’t want to return to Utd.
 
Let’s not kid our ourselves, if Sancho was here he would probably be stinking up the place very similar to how Antony has been doing and we would all be on his back.

Nothing that he did in his time here suggests he would be influencing this team any more than the guys already here.

One good game for Dortmund doesn’t change that. He hasn’t been great for them in the league - the performances have gradually gotten better granted but the Bundesliga has never been a great barometer of a guys skills. Kagawa and Mkhitaryan were fantastic for Dortmund but failed in the EPL.
 
JammyRed said:
Well it will take more than one good game (by his standards) to convince me, if he goes on to hit consistent form, creates chances and scores a few I’ll sit up and listen but I’m sticking with he’s too soft for the PL until that changes,

Latest rumours are Sancho doesn’t want to return to Utd.
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I actually agree, I'm still not of the opinion he has completed the return to form yet. It is only one great game, and that also can't be ignored. I'm just more open to the idea that there is more to come than you are.

Also, I don't blame him for not wanting to play for us again, I fully expected that. What a shame it will be if he does kick on back to being what he was.
 
It won’t be straight forward if he wants to leave, Utd are currently paying a third of his wages which is about £100 grand a week, Dortmund won’t pay him his full £290k a week so he’ll need to take a big drop.
 
JammyRed said:
It won’t be straight forward if he wants to leave, Utd are currently paying a third of his wages which is about £100 grand a week, Dortmund won’t pay him his full £290k a week so he’ll need to take a big drop.
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Then the only answer is him taking a massive pay cut. He should have plenty in the bank.
 
Can we just stop this German league is crap stuff.

Look at the European competitions

Lots of really good players have gone to different leagues and failed, lots of really good players have changed teams in the same league and failed.

The German league is not sub standard.

My opinion on Sancho is to sell. But I am also curious to see him at united under a decent manager.
 
The German league is a good league but the gap between the top and bottom is huge.

There are also less games only 34 league games and 1 cup with a long mid season break so a much easier schedule that no doubt helps their teams in Europe later in the season.

I also think it’s quite an attacking league the defending in that league generally is not good when I’ve watched it which is why I think young attacking players often shine in that league.

There is also a lot less focus on your performance when you go to the premier league the world rather than just a nation is watching a judging you and that can be tough unless you are made of stern stuff.
 
Dortmund have a shield up on their goal.... woodwork 4 times for PSG. If I counted correctly.
 
Wasn't great to be honest, although it's to be expected away from home. They looked decent on the break, but PSG with the majority of possession.

Mbappe poor all match. Really poor.
 
PSG didn’t deserve anything from these two legs they were very disappointing, all Dortmund had to do was keep their shape defensively and take the couple of chances they had, Sancho was pretty anonymous last night.
 
I turned it on at half time he was very quiet but Dortmund where sitting deep and breaking but struggled to really get out.

PSG had so many chances just couldn't make them count, Ramos had two great ones that he didn't hit the target with.

Dortmund did a great job on doubling/trebling up on Mbappe basically giving him no room to work in.
 
JammyRed said:
PSG didn’t deserve anything from these two legs they were very disappointing, all Dortmund had to do was keep their shape defensively and take the couple of chances they had, Sancho was pretty anonymous last night.
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He's going to be a part of the Champions League final though. I'd say that's massive. He's easily won the battle with ETH now. Easily. ETH has had to begrudginly applaud him too, and I love it.
 
Jayc1860 said:
He's going to be a part of the Champions League final though. I'd say that's massive. He's easily won the battle with ETH now. Easily. ETH has had to begrudginly applaud him too, and I love it.
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Strange way to look at it.
 
Justin Cider said:
Strange way to look at it.
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Perhaps. I just think that's how he will feel. Strange how it's turned out though. Sancho, a player who's deemed not good enough for us, is going to a CL final. We are piss poor too, if the truth be told. There is something here that doesn't add up. That's the point.
 
He had to go you can’t have players gobbing off on social media because they disagree with a managers squad selection.

Anyway let’s hope he smashes it in the final and convinces clubs to make offers for him in the summer. He needs to move on Utd clearly isn’t the right environment for him to play his best football.
 
jsp said:
He needs to move on Utd clearly isn’t the right environment for him to play his best football.
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I agree, and is my point exactly. We really need to up our standards to accommodate great players, or this will keep happening. To boot, selecting the right players for the right philosophy might help. Also a manager that doesn't single out players would go a long way.
 
Jayc1860 said:
I agree, and is my point exactly. We really need to up our standards to accommodate great players, or this will keep happening. To boot, selecting the right players for the right philosophy might help. Also a manager that doesn't single out players would go a long way.
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Or we need to stop paying silly transfer fees and wages to players who can’t handle the pressure that comes with being at Utd. Talent is obvious but there are likely other reasons we were the only horse in the race for him when he decided to leave Dortmund.

His spell at Utd was massively disrupted by both physical and mental fitness problems. 1 good game in every 10 just doesn’t really cut it at the big clubs fans expect you to deliver consistently and he was a player who in my opinion started hiding and not wanting the ball. We saw last week when he’s feeling in the grove he is almost unstoppable but then last night he was pretty much anonymous.

He was not singled out the manager was was asked why Sancho wasn’t selected for a game and he answered the question. I doubt it was a decision he took lightly but he clearly felt Sancho was not deserving of the spot in the squad that day. Sancho’s reaction should have been to confront Ten Hag in person not to go crying on social media.
 
Yeah very cagey both teams struggling to create chances.

Hopefully it’ll open up a bit second half but I dont see either team suddenly deciding to really go for it even if it means extra time and pens.
 
Jayc1860 said:
Perhaps. I just think that's how he will feel. Strange how it's turned out though. Sancho, a player who's deemed not good enough for us, is going to a CL final. We are piss poor too, if the truth be told. There is something here that doesn't add up. That's the point.
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Oh yeah he probably will, not sure that's how one of the highest paid players in world football should be looking at it though.
 
jsp said:
Or we need to stop paying silly transfer fees and wages to players who can’t handle the pressure that comes with being at Utd. Talent is obvious but there are likely other reasons we were the only horse in the race for him when he decided to leave Dortmund.

His spell at Utd was massively disrupted by both physical and mental fitness problems. 1 good game in every 10 just doesn’t really cut it at the big clubs fans expect you to deliver consistently and he was a player who in my opinion started hiding and not wanting the ball. We saw last week when he’s feeling in the grove he is almost unstoppable but then last night he was pretty much anonymous.

He was not singled out the manager was was asked why Sancho wasn’t selected for a game and he answered the question. I doubt it was a decision he took lightly but he clearly felt Sancho was not deserving of the spot in the squad that day. Sancho’s reaction should have been to confront Ten Hag in person not to go crying on social media.
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I think you just need to accept we are not a well ran club anymore, and any player coming here could easily struggle.

I'm not going through the whole thing again though, it's dull.
Justin Cider said:
Oh yeah he probably will, not sure that's how one of the highest paid players in world football should be looking at it though.
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Probably true. We'd all have a sense of 'we won' if it was us though. He was singled out for training badly in front of the press. That's got to piss you off.
 
Don't think it's one you would file it in with some of the badly thought out transfers over the last few years, but it soon became obvious Sancho didn't have the blistering pace needed to play on the right in England, the position he was bought for, it wasn't an issue in Germany where he was quick enough and usually only had one man to beat to be free, and it's not something that would be naturally picked up by the scout(s), and he had numerous players ahead of him for the left-side already at the club - stick with the sprint training and made RW your own, or wait your turn on the left, just don't do what you did.
 
Jayc1860 said:
Probably true. We'd all have a sense of 'we won' if it was us though. He was singled out for training badly in front of the press. That's got to piss you off.
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Depends on your makeup I suppose, and I don't mean blusher and eyeliner
 
Justin Cider said:
Depends on your makeup I suppose, and I don't mean blusher and eyeliner
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Suppose, but the majority of people react badly to that. It's very embarrassing at the least, and if untrue, hurtful. As I said though, probably been through it enough. I'm going to leave it alone.
 

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