Has he really repeatedly said that spamming crosses is the DNA of the club? I've never heard that once. I know attacking play and wide play has been mentioned and it's true that it's in the DNA of the club, but until this match it's never been pointed out as something we've overdone. I genuinely think it's a byproduct of that much possession. I watched the entire game - yes, there were a huge number of crosses but there were a lot of attacks that attempted to go through the middle, too. Interestingly Neville even complained at one point that there was nobody out wide right for United when we were attacking through the middle.

Quote Originally Posted by Psychotic View Post
I don't know if you need to see more transfer windows from Moyes - he's already had two and neither were great.
I do feel that a lot of this is not Moyes' fault. When it comes to signings, the manager is involved, but not nearly as much as the chairman and the scouts. The manager was going after very good players to my knowledge, but the chairman sucked balls at the negotiation tables and the scouts were perhaps not able to spot good alternatives at the time.

I think if that's your goal, Lukaku should've been the Chelsea player to sign.
I'd love Lukaku! But I don't think he's going to leave Chelsea until he's forced out. He's only at Everton on loan.
How much more money do you want to give the man? Especially if United fail to make the CL and that huge wad of cash is lost.
I'd want to give him one summer transfer window where the chairman isn't having his first day on the job. I think that's fair. Woodward has, to my knowledge, never been the one dealing with major signings at a football club until July 2013. He's excellent at signing commercial contracts, which is where his experience lay when he was at the club prior to this summer, but it was most definitely Gill who was pulling the strings of transfers in recent years.

I also think if Fergie was put in as caretaker right now I would bet on United getting CL football.
I agree. I think if SAF was put in charge of any club in the PL he'd have them significantly better than where they are now, including every team above United at the moment. Let's face it, he's the best manager of all time. That isn't an act that will be easy to follow up.

Again, I am concerned, absolutely. But it was never because of the summer transfer window which I (and most United fans at RedCafe, it seems) feel was mostly down to Woodward's failings rather than that of Moyes. Nor will I question him based on the first few months where, knowing he has time at United compared to those at Chelsea/City, was allowed the time to play everyone repeatedly and get a real idea of who he wants to keep.

What I do question is his decision to bring along Phil Neville instead of keeping one of United's existing backroom staff, whether or not he is motivating his players well enough, whether or not he will have the balls to release/sell/retire many of the bigger names at our club at the end of the season, and whether or not he can find the leaders in our youth (or elsewhere) capable of replacing the many leaders at our club. I will definitely judge him on next season's transfer window, although again that will be a time for judging Woodward, too. And I absolutely judge Moyes on his tactics during a game. I love our attacking play, I really do, but I hate it when he takes off genuine midfielders and replaces them with forwards. It just irks me. If a forward isn't doing well enough to win, take him off so he knows next time he'll have to do better. If a midfielder isn't doing well enough to feed the forwards, find a midfielder who can. Don't cut the midfield out altogether. I get that his subs got us two goals, but I'll also point that our lack of midfield/defence cost us right at the end of the game, when we needed them.

Speaking of leadership, though: Seriously, just look at past years where we were so successful. We had Rio, Evra, Vidic, VDS, Giggs, Scholes, O'Shea, Neville... now all due to retire very soon or already have. Where are our new leaders? I'm told Jones is supposed to be a natural leader but on the pitch, I don't see him leading much. I see that from the likes of Evans and Rooney more than anyone. Even Rafael shouts more than Jones! I do genuinely worry about our lack of imposing players, and I feel this is perhaps our biggest weakness now. We need players who are not afraid to yell at each other or be yelled at. We've flooded our side with quieter guys recently, and I've no idea what brought that about but I hope it can change soon. I actually feel that this is a bigger issue to United's future than what manager we have. Our players need more drive on the pitch.