Y & Z United Perspectives

by Kevin, Justyn & Wayne Tabone

Oh how much the Tabone boys have missed the feeling of seeing their club winning a trophy! More of the same please…

With all this talk about the takeover, who would you prefer - Qatar, INEOS, Elliot Investment Management hedge fund or keep the Glazers and why?

Wayne: The Glazer family has owned Manchester United since 2005. Their ownership has been controversial among many fans, who believe that the Glazers have prioritized profit over on field success. So I would definitely not choose the Glazers to keep the club as they don’t have the club’s best interest at heart. I would choose Qatar as they have already proved that they are willing to put in the money required for the club to succeed, as shown for the huge French side, PSG. With some signings the manager could add to the team, it could lead to more titles.

Justyn: Out of all the options one thing is for certain, the Glazers need to go. They have filled the club with huge amounts of debt from the beginning of their reign. There has also been a lack of investing in the infrastructure of the club. Moreover, there has been a clear lack of communication with fans.

In my opinion, the two best options are Qatar and INEOS. Qatar has shown that they can manage a football club and are not shy to invest in the club to make it one of the best in the world. A clear example of this is PSG. Although Manchester United is a different animal in terms of stature, I believe that they will be looking to bring the club back to its former glories. As promises they have realised that the club has been held back from having a top notch stadium and training centre. The only thing that worried me is that Qatar has always been in the limelight for lack of human rights. Effects of any slipups might be huge on the club and I think this needs to be taken into consideration. However, I think so far they will be the best owners to go with.

Kevin: Whilst there’s loads of speculation on who will be the new owner of our beloved club, as far as I’m aware there are only 2 concrete bids. Being fair, Glazers’ family statement said that they were looking to “explore strategic alternatives”. This doesn’t necessarily mean selling the club. From the two known bids, the Qatari one and Ratcliffe’s, given a choice I would go for Ratcliffe’s. I feel that the Qatar bid will not help in keeping the club’s soul and principles. Manchester United will only be like a toy to a kid to them. Ratcliffe is Manchester born and this is reflected when he said that he wants to “put the Manchester back into Manchester United”. One also has to say that the financial muscle that can be provided by Qatar far outweighs Ratcliffe’s. Having said all this, in my opinion it is far too early days to know the full details of the takeover.

Imagine you are the lead consultant to the new owner...which three main areas you would invest in first and foremost and why?

Wayne: The first thing that is required to change is the stadium, obviously not whilst the season is going on, but as soon as the club is finished from this season I would look to rebuild Old Trafford again. I would use same location, increase to a 100,000 capacity and make sure it will be the best stadium in the world. I would then change the current CEO, Richard Arnold and get the best CEO in the sporting industry. I would also add some of the best people in the recruitment department. I would then ask the manager Erik Ten Hag for a list of target players he has in mind.

Justyn: I think that the most important is to get rid of the massive debt the club is in and to invest in the infrastructure of the club. The stadium is growing old now and the fans know that it is not up to standard with what other clubs have. I don’t think that building a new stadium will be a good idea because there is too much connection with Old Trafford. The renovation of the stadium is needed and so is that of the training centre. Again clubs like Tottenham have state-of-the-art training centres and a club like Manchester United should have one of the best if not the best training grounds.

Kevin: I would advise the new owner to build his strategy around 3 principles -

Imagine you are Erik Ten Hag and you have all your players fit for tomorrow’s Cup Final. Who would be your starting eleven? (This question was answered a day before the Carabao Cup Final match)

1. Sporting & Commercial Balance

3. Facilities.

2. Academy Excellence

1. Sporting & Commercial Balance - I would start off by making sure that there is a balance between the commercial and sporting decisions. One has to appreciate that we’re not living in dreamland and completely eliminating the business aspect from the club is never going to be a possibility. Football has become a very good business prospect throughout the world and will continue being so. However, a better balance than that applied by the existing owners can definitely be found.

2. Academy Excellence - Manchester United has always been known as having one of the, if not the, best academy in the world. The record of always having at least one youth player in every first team squad since 30 October 1937 speaks for itself. The Busby Babes or the Class of 92 are the most known examples of this but there are thousands more players who have come out from the academy. This is all thanks to the club’s policy to nurture youngsters. One that should be cultivated and remain as one of the core elements of the club.

3. Facilities – It has been well documented that our stadium has fallen behind other more recently built grounds. Late last year I had the opportunity to attend a match at Tottenham Hotspur’s new ground. Everyone kept telling me that it’s state-of-the art, so my expectations were high. As soon as you arrive you immediately realize that these expectations are not only matched but exceeded big-time. The whole experience was a brilliant one – starting from The Dare Skywalk, up to the match experience. And they even have more plans to come! So we have ground (excuse the pun!) to make up on this front. However, there are other facilities that we need to improve on. Ronaldo’s comments about the training facilities also have to be taken on board, giving the fan the ultimate experience are other examples of this.

Wayne: I would first start off by putting De Gea between the sticks followed by Lisandro Martinez and Varane as his partner. On the left I would start Shaw and on the opposite side I would put Dalot because he is more offensive than Wan-Bissaka who has great defensive abilities. In the middle I would pair Casemiro together with Fred. This pairing, as shown in previous matches, is simply outstanding. Casemiro’s defensive and creative abilities complimented by Fred’s energy makes them my choice. In front of them I would put Wout Weghorst, who as he so ably proved in the Barcelona game is very good in the 10 position with his non-stop press and perseverance to win back the ball whilst also creating a spaces for Rashford. In the right wing role I would go for Bruno Fernandes. Since Ten Hag’s arrival he has selected Fernandes countless times. Bruno’s has hawk-like vision together and also excellent passing range. On the right I would put Anthony for his 1v1 skills and his ability to beat his player. He would also create chances from nothing. Finally, the man that has risen to his full potential, Marcus Rashford who’s seen as a goal scoring machine at the moment.

So to recap my first XI will be : De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Fred, Casemiro, Fernandes (c), Antony, Weghorst, Rashford.

Justyn: For the goalkeeper spot, there is only one option really and that is David de Gea. He has been very good this season and has improved with his distribution as well. The back line would consist of Dalot, Varane, Martinez and Shaw. Wan Bissaka has been very good as of late, however, I think that Dalot is better going forward, and I see us having more possession than Newcastle. The centre-back pairing have been by far the best all season for us. Both of them complement each other very well and offer perfect balance for what you would want from them. Shaw has also been excellent and offers good deliveries into the box for players to get on to. In midfield I would go with Sabitzer and Casemiro. I think Sabitzer is better on the ball than Fred and also is a threat going forward. Behind the striker I would go all out and play Antony, Bruno and Rashford. Antony is our best right sided player and can be very effective when cutting on his favoured right foot. Bruno and Rashford have been two of our best players this season. Both of them can create a lot and also are deadly in front of goal. Up front I would play Weghorst, who starts the press very well and also has very good hold up play.

So to recap my first XI will be : De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Sabitzer, Casemiro, Fernandes (c), Antony, Weghorst, Rashford.

Kevin: I’m writing this a day before the match, so if I get this completely correct it’s not because I already know the first XI. De Gea in goal is an obvious choice. Who would have thought that the choice between WanBissaka & Dalot would be such a difficult one. I’m going to go with Dalot for the simple reason that Newcastle are a counter-attacking team so they will sit and wait for us to attack. Varane & Martinez are the obvious centraldefence pair for me. Shaw & Malacia is also an interesting one but I will go for Shaw simply because he has more experience than Tyrell has. Casemiro & Fernandes are automatic choices. The dilemma I have is their partner in midfield. Will it be Fred or Sabitzer? I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Marcel but surely Fred’s performance against Barcelona the other night deserves to be rewarded. The front three in my opinion will be Rashford on the left, the Brazilian Antony on the night and Weghorst up top. Rashford’s brilliance this season speaks for itself. Anthony didn’t start the other night and the winning goal he scored against Barcelona will do his confidence a world of good. Starting Wout might raise a few eyebrows amongst United supporters. Yes he’s not a natural finisher but in my opinion Ten Hag has found the perfect person that fits the profile he was after. Such a hard worker for the team!

So to recap my first XI will be : De Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Fred, Fernandes (c), Antony, Weghorst, Rashford.

As transfer deadline day approached at the end of January, contrary to most previous deadline days this year I was optimistic that Manchester United would do some business, simply and purely because they just had to. In reality it was inevitable. The midfield personnel situation had become precarious. Firstly we had the sad news of Donny van de Beek’s season ending injury. This was followed by the news in January that Christian Eriksen was also going to miss the majority of the remainder of the season through injury. And as the deadline approached, United also had to contend with a short term injury to Scott McTominay. In effect, for a while this would have left United with only three fit and available central midfielders in Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Fred. This was not only unsustainable but potentially detrimental to United’s hopes of continuing to fight on all four fronts for the remainder of the season.

In the days leading up to transfer deadline