One fan reckons Man Utd are in \u2018absolutely really big trouble\u2019 financially, as another calls on the Red Devils to sign 12 players. Plus, another title coming at Liverpool next season if they sign Florian Wirtz, Mackems,\u00a0Arsenal are European champions and more\u2026<\/p>\n
Send your thoughts to\u00a0theeditor@football365.com<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Amorim or Amorout<\/strong> No European football *hopefully* has all the squads salaries reduced in line with the reduced income, so hopefully forces a few of the mercenaries out.<\/p>\n No European football has probably scuppered Amorims transfers to plan B.<\/p>\n No European football gives Amorim more time to implement his system which was his war cry when he joined mid campaign.<\/p>\n If he feels he can\u2019t get rid of certain players within a reasonable timeframe to get his plan B players, he might as well walk away now rather than get sacked in December.\u00a0 He has proven our squad can\u2019t do what he wants and to start the season with the same old is setting us up for a relegation battle.<\/p>\n It\u2019s crunch time and he can have no excuses. He blew the final with his stubbornness to bring on impact subs earlier.<\/p>\n We need a major clearout and I hope by August we see 12 new players.\u00a0 He should also reduce our squad to 22 and promote a few youth players as less games means squad trimming which will save a few more tea ladies. \u00a0<\/p>\n Man\u00a0United\u2019s Finances<\/strong> I am no financial mastermind but, after about an hour or so of fact finding, I can\u2019t help reach the conclusion that Manchester United are in absolutely really big trouble.<\/p>\n Over the past five seasons, United have sold at a rate of 25% of the full market value. From what I can see, they have sold \u00a3708.3M worth of talent for only \u00a3172.5M. This is astonishingly bad when compared to the likes of City, Real Madrid, and Benfica and even clubs like Brighton, Bournemouth, and Leverkusen.<\/p>\n Over the past five seasons, United have bought at a rate of 65% of the full market value. From what I can see, they have bought \u00a3681.3M worth of talent against their value of \u00a31,024.6B. However, their current squad is valued at \u00a3516.3M, so somehow the value of their current players has decreased by nearly exactly 50%. My goodness, that\u2019s shocking.<\/p>\n If they were to sell their whole entire squad at a rate that they\u2019ve been going (25% of full value), they will only be able to generate \u00a3129.1M which is based on the above patterns over the past five seasons. The BBC have also recently reported that United owe \u00a3272M in outstanding transfer payments to other clubs, \u00a3156M of which is due this summer. It\u2019s not a stretch of a conclusion to say that selling their whole entire squad would not see off this summer\u2019s bill alone.<\/p>\n (Source: transfermarkt)<\/p>\n Changing tack, over the past five seasons, United have paid their players, and wait for this, a staggering \u00a31,040.3B. This season, United\u2019s annual wage bill is \u00a3173.8M, but their commitment to the current players full contract lengths is a colossal \u00a3567.7M in future salary spend.<\/p>\n (Source: capology)<\/p>\n At the start of the year, the BBC reported \u00a3370M losses for United (including \u00a3113M in 2024) over the last five years.<\/p>\n To indicate the scale of the problem, this guy thinks that even selling a whole squad at a rate they\u2019ve been going coupled with total TV\/prize money for finishing 17th\u00a0(\u00a3253.1M) is absolutely dwarfed by their reported losses in recent years and by already committed salary spend (\u00a3937.7M)<\/p>\n FFP allows a club to be compliant by allowing losses of up to \u00a3105M over three years. Gulp. How they aren\u2019t facing Manchester City level of scrutiny is beyond me.<\/p>\n It\u2019s one hell of a huge summer at Manchester United. If the future is bleak right now after the EUROPA League final defeat and sticking with a manager whose 3-4-3 formation is ill-suited to the Premier League and the players at his disposal, I think this could be just the start. The above indicates that United not only have to sell, but they have to sell at a 75% loss from transfer fees as well as hoping that buying clubs do not insist on United paying most of the outgoing player\u2019s wages. And that\u2019s just to avoid FPP sanctions if that is now even possible. Do not expect the ownership to gamble money they just don\u2019t have on signings to keep them in the Premier League. Do not expect clubs to sell to United as they still owe transfer costs. Do not expect players to agree to move on without compensating the rest of their contracts. Expect to lose players for peanuts to offset this. Expect the club to make no new signings. Expect the club to rely on youth. Expect FFP points deductions. Expect relegation next season followed by the Championship. READ:\u00a0The ten greatest Premier League final days includes Man Utd, Liverpool and Spurs bottlings<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n 21 in 25\/26<\/strong> Liverpool<\/p>\n If we sign Wirtz, I am sorry, FSG. I see your 4D chess game, spending smart normally and big when necessary. With Frimpong, Kerkez and Wirtz, No.21 is done and dusted.<\/p>\n Arsenal<\/p>\n New slogan \u2013 \u2018Say can.\u2019 This is about belief and purpose and team spirit. You know you can deliver. \u2018SAY CAN\u2019.<\/p>\n Man City<\/p>\n With Rodri back, they will be up there again. Just don\u2019t let Partey near him.<\/p>\n Chelsea<\/p>\n Only Caicedo with Lavia is any good, so start there. With midfield sorted, focus on fixing the attack. An attacking team gets fans behind them. Spend money where you should \u2013 write a better chant than \u2018Chelsea Chelsea Chelsea.\u201d<\/p>\n Man Utd<\/p>\n A year ago, I said don\u2019t sack ten Hag, the players are the issue. United fans came at me with pitchforks. Lads, it\u2019s the players. Bin Hojlund, Alehandroooo Gaaaarnacho and keep Zirkzee. Get the gettables \u2013 Mitoma and Joao Pedro. Get a wingback on the right, with Mount back, they will surely be 100% better than this season.<\/p>\n Spurs<\/p>\n Congrats! A big, big trophy but I have a feeling Spurs and their fans would want a change. No idea who they will get, but they do have a good 1st team. Get a couple of good benchers and Archie Gray is a year older. Promising season.<\/p>\n I\u2019m stealing from Arsenal fans when I say, I\u2019m super excited for next season. \u00a0<\/p>\n Football.<\/strong> United on the other hand either their sense of entitlement just thought over this last decade that trophies would fall into their lap as they felt so imperious. Half the reason for their downfall has been Pep & the rise of City & the other half was the emergence of Klopp & Liverpool\u2026. United were caught in a maelstrom & were left floundering \u2026& started panic buying amid a serial change of managers.<\/p>\n Instead of being pragmatic & methodical they panicked & that\u2019s why they are where they are & it\u2019s great to see them get their comeuppance. I don\u2019t agree with the Newcastle fan on here previously who stated that Klopp was \u201cover rated\u201d\u2026 Klopp won every major trophy in English club football quicker than any other English club manager. He won the world club the champions league the f a cup the league cup & the super cup in 7 years \u2026<\/p>\n Pep took 9 years & Fergie took 22 years! He probably thinks that Keegan was the messiah & not over rated \u2026 but what did he win! On a footnote the section of fans who booed Trent were out of order \u00a0& a blemish to a great season \u2026 and I laud Klopp\u2019s video message.<\/p>\n We are a great club a totally together club & the future is very bright\u2026. I think next seasons top 4 will be a runaway top ; of Liverpool Man City Chelsea & Arsenal \u2026 there will be those 4 in a mini league then a mini mid table league of 10 teams ..& then a relegation mini league of 6 teams. I also think that the bottom 6 teams should compete in a relegation play off scenario \u2026 it would give all fans hope to the very end of the season & scare a few \u201cgiants\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n It may not seem fair but monetary wise it would. And on the subject of fair \u2026 the team that wins the championship gets a trophy which is obviously right & proper \u2026 the team that finishes second doesn\u2019t get one which is right & proper but it\u2019s a joke that the team that finishes third wins a play off & gets a trophy. READ:\u00a0Amorim? Ange? Nuno? Five Premier League managers who might not reach next season<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2026of pots and kettles<\/strong> RHT\/TS define \u2018The Kop\u2019<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Is it the stand, the LFC fanbase, or just the people who booed TAA? Seems like what AS said has given you the chance to jump in and have an ill-defined and poorly-worded pop. Perchance, did you rub your hands with glee? Seems a little bit, erm, childish. Perhaps you\u2019ve got a virus\u2026<\/p>\n I\u2019ve got no problem with TAA. He\u2019s going to a horrible, toxic club, fine. It\u2019s entirely his decision and he\u2019s got his bezzy mate Jude to keep him company. He\u2019s been a force of nature for us and we wouldn\u2019t have won what we\u2019ve won without him. I wish him all the best but not that bunch of whinging prancers he\u2019s joining (sorry, that was childish).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never booed players as it always comes across as pantomime, childish if you will. Not when there are so many more better, actual words, said with a hard \u2018t\u2019 to be employed, but never against my own players. Football, for me is a chance to watch an exciting spectacle and a bit of tribal-based stress relief at the end of the working week and that includes a bit of tongue-in-cheek cursing of the opposition (including the refs). I don\u2019t want the things I say to actually happen to them (I think). But, never do it to your own team (and I\u2019ve followed Hodegeson & Konchesky\u2019s Liverpool, the thoughts were dark). No excuse for booing TAA. He was and always will be a cast-iron LFC Legend. But I separate players from club and I\u2019ve never wanted his sweaty match-worn shirt to cuddle up to at night, nor a beer-stained napkin with his moniker or even to ask him what his favourite colour is. Red right? Would I buy him a beer if I met him? Fuck that, he can buy me one. He\u2019s on the big pay-day.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll always have \u2018Corner quickly taken!\u2019 That goal caused me to full-on hug a man I had only chatted to down the boozer three or four times previously (in hindsight I think it was welcomed, reciprocated and platonic but, just in case, sorry Sean!).<\/p>\n And now he will drop out of my consciousness not quite entirely, like Torres, Suarez and erm, Andy Carroll. I\u2019m looking forward. Something about a club being bigger than an individual, I mean that\u2019s just O-Level Physics (how old am I???). Since we\u2019ve won the league, the players seem to be on the beach. I\u2019m not, I\u2019m already in August, waiting for the next bout, wondering who\u2019ll be the next force of nature.<\/p>\n What AS said. It\u2019s up to him (so, sorry you\u2019re disappointed btw). He\u2019s European and (in my own humble experience of fifteen years working in quite a lot of mainland European countries) the people there tend to be quite frank and matter-of-fact and perhaps, not as nuanced as us diffident islanders. Oh no, I\u2019m generalising now. How puerile (childish). I don\u2019t agree with public laundry days or booing but, their decisions.<\/p>\n So, in conclusion, This Means More. Some opposition fans seem to be jealous of our inspired motivational and dare I say it award-winning, go-to strapline. Well, I say get your own! For information, a quick internet search has revealed that \u2018This Means Nothing\u2019 is still available.<\/p>\n How childish! \u00a0<\/p>\n Why does everything \u2018Liverpool\u2019\u00a0get held to such a high standard?<\/p>\n Arne Slot says what millions of others have said over the years \u2013 that Trent Alexander-Arnold could work harder on his defensive game. The OTT reaction from people like\u00a0\u00a0RHT\/TS is . . . \u201cCompletely unnecessary comments which he used purely to further ingratiate himself with the children who support his team by chucking one of his own under the bus.\u00a0Sad, but inevitable I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n Jose Mourinho publicly shamed Tanguy Ndombele in 2020. The\u00a0Spurs star was subjected to a scathing rant where his desire was called into question. Last season, when asked to explain why Jadon Sancho had been omitted from his squad, Erik ten Hag ruthlessly explained how the England international had fallen short of his expectations on the training pitch in recent weeks and that his performances were not up for scratch.<\/p>\n It goes way back \u2013 in 2014 Harry Redknapp brutally picked apart star man Adel Taarabt for being \u201cthree stone\u201d overweight and being unable to help luckless QPR.<\/p>\n But yeah, jump on the Trent bandwagon to slam fans who are annoyed at seeing a local lad \u2013 who publicly said he saw himself as a future club captain \u2013 leave for nothing in his prime. In contrast Dean Huijsen earned \u00a350m for Bournemouth despite having no connection to the area and was only at the club for a year. READ:\u00a0Ten huge summer transfers hinging on Champions League qualification<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018Proper fans\u2019<\/strong> But his actual point that there is too much sniping in the online football universe is of course true, as you have just proved.\u00a0 And it does feel like it is the glory hunting fans that are much more likely to engage in this behaviour.\u00a0 You don\u2019t see many Newcastle, Palace and Spurs fans sniping at each other to try to denigrate each other\u2019s cup triumphs.\u00a0 We all get the joy involved in seeing your club lift a trophy, especially after long barren spells.\u00a0 There is no need to take pot shots just because it wasn\u2019t your club.\u00a0 Let us enjoy it while we can. \u00a0<\/p>\n There is always better football to watch<\/strong> I just read John Nicholson\u2019s op ed on football being boring and felt compelled to share the solution I found.<\/p>\n Traditionally, I am an England and Arsenal fan.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t bother with the whole favourite team in Scotland, Spain and Italy thing.<\/p>\n I fell away from watch England during the C@nty years,\u00a0 the John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Bridge stuff.\u00a0 They were all such scummers I just stopped watching. Now it\u2019s WC and European Cup only.\u00a0 I also can\u2019t handle the media tripe that surrounds England games. It\u2019s pitched like a shit East Enders.<\/p>\n Arsenal also got a bit boring too, from the tail end of Wenger even until now.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not that the football is bad per se but the entire wrapper, leading us to today where I watch some games and try to avoid the Henry, Carragher, Richards\u2019 cringe fest on TNT.<\/p>\n What I found, as a brilliant replacement, was Five Guys FC.\u00a0 A five-a-side outfit who play up in North London.\u00a0 Games come with sound effects (ha-dou-ken), comedy commentators, jeopardy, wins and losses.\u00a0 It\u2019s great.\u00a0 After a few minutes you completely get into the game, and as the whole thing is on YouTube you can watch it at will.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure there are a load of variation on this, but it\u2019s well worth diving in.<\/p>\n Moreover, they are clearly enjoying themselves where so much of football is a joyless obligation (thanks Keys and Co).\u00a0 If you want painful obligations play a From Software game instead (if you know, you know)<\/p>\n So next time, instead of shelling out sum on Sky or tickets that leave you 100m from the players, tune in to something like Five Guys instead.<\/p>\n Enjoy. Thank me later. \u00a0<\/p>\n John Nicholson does love to bang his drum.This from the Europa League final: \u201cPeople have found the stupidity of the winner playing in the Champions League amusing and a bit pathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n I take it you think this road to CL qualification should be closed, like Arsene Wenger? And that you\u2019re saying this because of who the teams are and the way it highlights the dominance of money.<\/p>\n However, this seems like back-to-front thinking. Surely this dominance is most evident in league performance where a quality squad gives an edge over time? Despite this year\u2019s winners, it still leaves cup success as the best route for an underdog. A shot at the big time. A chance to live the football fairytale.<\/p>\n And why shouldn\u2019t there be a back door to the big money competition? An opportunity for those that can\u2019t usually afford it; those who use a targeted approach to climb the qualification ladder to glory.<\/p>\n A way to break the glass ceiling and for fans to have all the excitement that goes with it? Why not? Next season Hibs and Palace fans can think\u2026\u2019if we win it \u2013 we\u2019ll be in the CL! \u2018.<\/p>\n Why would you want to steal that dream from them?<\/p>\n Granted, Man Utd and even Spurs are not little guys but you can\u2019t just change the rules when *they* win or you\u2019d be supporting structural prejudice right? Rules have to apply equally.<\/p>\n The \u2018problem\u2019 is that the Prem has more good, wealthy teams than CL places which leaves CL standard teams qualifying for the second and third tier continental competitions. This, of course, reduces the very opportunity I\u2019m describing above. (I know, 17th, but I\u2019m making a broader point.)<\/p>\n I\u2019m no capitalist, however I don\u2019t have a problem with healthy competition, especially if success demonstrates a better idea. In this case the almost even distribution of TV money in the EPL**. (And PSR \u2013 based on absolute figures rather than percentages \u2013 seems to be working too.)<\/p>\n The Prem is the richest because it\u2019s the most watched because, I think, it\u2019s the most competitive. For the above stated reason.<\/p>\n Rather than complain other leagues need to catch up. I know you love Scottish football but surely even you can see the harm that permanently uncompetitive leagues are causing? (Perhaps including cognitive acuity; you previously said Scots now view 3rd as first (!) Something else you share with Wenger.)<\/p>\n I applaud this aspect of PL governance and say the answer is either to reduce everybody else\u2019s CL allocation \u2013 make the CL smaller \u2013 or increase the allocation to 6 or 7 for English teams.<\/p>\n Maybe you\u2019re banging your drum so loud you can\u2019t hear yourself think.<\/p>\n **My preference would be a more progressive distribution; the lowest revenue clubs get more TV money than the highest. Not only adding to the general competitiveness but helping to bridge the chasm to the top of the Championship. Which is a problem that needs attention. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Following on from Badwolf, here is how I see it.<\/p>\n
Dale, Northern Ireland<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dear Editor,<\/p>\n
Rich (let\u2019s hope for a better season next season at The Hawthorns), WBA.<\/strong><\/p>\n
I\u2019m gonna be that guy who talks about next season before this one is over, because this season is over.<\/p>\n
Vinnie Pee<\/strong><\/p>\n
As a long time season ticket holder & proud scouser I can\u2019t tell you how proud I am the way LFC are run. Our recruitment over the last ten years has been second to none & our seamless passivers from players to management has been magnificent.<\/p>\n
Joey Windle LFC.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Paisans<\/p>\n
Sebbo (worn-out, half-watching the Scottish FA Cup Final and eating crap) This is Anfield<\/strong><\/p>\n
This season Ruben Amorin has called his players the worst United players of all time.<\/p>\n
Jo (Frimpong fan) Deepest Darkest Kent<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh dear Stevo my old pal.\u00a0 Jim French\u2019s mail must have really hit a nerve.\u00a0 There was just one sentence in it that mentioned his pleasure that his boys chose to support their local team.\u00a0 It really wasn\u2019t aimed at you.<\/p>\n
Jim (THFC)<\/strong><\/p>\n
Dear Editor,<\/p>\n
Alexander<\/strong><\/p>\n
Hartley MCFC Somerset\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n