Y & Z United Perspectives by Kevin, Justyn & Wayne Tabone
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ith 2020 well underway, the Tabone clan is looking forward to going to their second home together for the first time this season. Win, lose or draw the Theatre of Dreams is our football heaven! For Wayne’s sake (try and guess why!), let’s hope for a United win this time! He’s witnessed too many drubbings for any United supporter’s liking! Did the Manchester United activity in the January transfer window meet your expectations? Wayne: I think that Manchester United made a great move by purchasing Bruno Fernandes and by getting Ighalo on loan although I think that we could have bought Ighalo and not just got him on loan. Maybe the club or Ighalo have their reasons. I think that we could also have bought a more defensive midfielder like Torreira or Neves. These are the sort of players that let no one past them, are also playmakers that move the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and are great leaders. Justyn: I expected Manchester United to sign one player at the very minimum, which of course did happen. The addition of Bruno Fernandes to our midfield could be a very vital component in the midfield. Not only does he bring creativity which we definitely lacked since the absence of Paul Pogba in the squad but he seems to bring
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third. Hopefully, Ighalo will turn out to be a shrewd signing which forces our hand to sign him on a longer term deal. Do you think a Director of Football appointment at Manchester United could help improve the player negotiations department? Wayne: I think that we need a Director of Football because Ed Woodward doesn’t know much about football. Despite this he still decides who to buy and how much money is spent. I still agree that he continues managing the financial part, but I think that the club needs a person that knows a lot about football. Justyn: In today’s world of football a director of football is almost imperative for football clubs. To me it is unheard of for a club the size of Manchester United not have such a director. With the likes of Brighton and Bournemouth having directors of football, I don’t know how Manchester United haven’t yet appointed one. The Ighalo signing for me explains why Manchester United need one desperately. Everyone knew that Manchester United were desperate for a striker. Obviously for Manchester United to sign this striker they had to pay a premium since teams afforded to raise their prices. All of this considered, Manchester United waited until the last day of the window to sign a striker and it wasn’t a purchase, it was only a loan deal. The board saw that it was not worth the fees to buy some of the players they were looking at, such as Joshua King. Manchester United left it too late for other clubs to find quick replacements for the players they wanted, which led to just being happy with a loan deal for Ighalo.
a sense of leadership to the team. If he can give these qualities to our squad I’m sure he will be a very successful player at the club. Ighalo was the other signing which may have raised a few eyebrows. He’s definitely not your typical Manchester United player in terms of quality however he can still be a decent enough signing for the next six months. He brings a different dynamic up front. From his days at Watford we know that he is quite a physical striker who is able to hold up the ball and knows where the back of the net is. Not only that but he also brings a level of experience with him. Being 30 years old, he can definitely help the likes of Greenwood to further develop their game and become better footballers. Kevin: The January window actually exceeded my expectations as I didn’t anticipate any signings. January has never been an easy month to finalize transfer dealings for any team, never mind Manchester United. Both first team acquisitions are definitely ones which are needed: Fernandes, one for the current and long term, and Ighalo for the short term. Both are in areas which we have struggled so much in this season. Especially when playing against opposition with low block units, we seem to have difficulty in the final
Kevin: Call the role what you wish, what I know is that unless there are football (on the pitch) decisions taken by football people, we will not return to the glory days. In my eyes, the part David Gill played with Sir Alex to bring and maintain success on and off the field is hugely undermined. We were lucky that we had a CEO who understood what Manchester United was about but also had a business brain. Having an imbalance between the two is a catastrophe
