Yeah that sentence really stood out to me. Makes so much sense as to why this club has stagnated. I already knew that is what Woodward and The Glazers thought but I had never heard that quote.
I think the amount of highly talented players that were shoved into the okay-bad section of the transfers segment shows you that there was such a lack of joined up thinking at the top it makes it difficult to truly judge how successful these players were with us. Cause over the 9 yrs we’ve jumped from a manger that likes to be pragmatic, to a possession based, to defensive, to a counterattacking manager and now to a gegenpressing manager. Clearly, not every player is going to be suitable for every system, thus they will struggle despite their reputation. In short the video said far more about our board than our players and don’t forget, many of the players that have left have actually won things since. Great thumbnail though.
@@connoredward354 Absolutely. Look at what we did to Kagawa, Mikki, VDB etc. This is what happens when you run an elite sports institution like a nursery.
I'll give Joe props, in the early days of Tifo (way before the Athletic), he was clearly the funny man to Alex and Seb, but if you listen to the podcasts now his football knowledge and analysis has really come on leaps and bounds.
Pogba wasn't only an unfulfilling signing, but also indirectly started a trend of overpricing inflation of young prospect players that is neither economically healthy nor sustainable. Thanks for such contribution to the ecosystem Mr Woodward
Would more so say the dembele deal did that as pogba was more a proven starter in juve then dembele was. Though I would say it started the signing of players as a brand on a whole different level. I think that's why pogba isn't as liked as he is more seen as someone there to promote his brand rather than play for a team
Great video. Let's not forget some of the other clangers like: - giving Jose an extension to his contract in January when he still had 18months left, only to then fire him a few months into the new season - giving Ole the job before the end of his tenure as caretaker role after the PSG game.. United won 2 of the final 12 games that season - bolstering the Jose team that finished 2nd (best points tally since Fergie) in the summer with Fred, Dalot and Lee Grant despite finishing 19 points behind City - The European Super League There are loads more if you sit and think about all the abysmal decisions the club has made in the past decade. Good riddance!
I still have memorabilia which says 'Manchester United Football Club'. I remember the uproar when they removed the 'Football Club' towards the end of the 90s, how this was a transparent move on the part of club executives to supplant the Sporting Identity of the Club with a more corporate, business-first ethos with an emphasis on profits and the club as a product. It was seen as the most blatantly commercial move by a Footballing entity in a while. They knew what was to come. We all did too - if only we knew just how far they'd go in prioritising the bottom line over the football pitch
There's a strong feeling that some good players were wasted with coaches that didn't understand/care how to make the best of the squad on hand. Man Utd went after "system" coaches that basically don't adapt and want to impose their systems, or inexperienced coaches that might be able to appease the dressing room but simply lack the knowledge, tactics and training regime needed.
There is a lot to be said for going all out on a system. It has worked with many other managers recently and in the past as well. But if you don't buy the right (type of) players for that system, you're gonna be f***ed. Personally I never minded the Woodward era very much. But that may be due to the fact that I support LFC
@@itsmeprasad1987 There's no such thing as a "United way", "Arsenal way", etc. in terms of play style. It's only a "way" when you're winning, if you're not winning it's just pretty words. What we see today aren't a "City way" or a "Liverpool way" - City were often whipping boys before, and Liverpool previously played rigid (but effective) football with Benitez.
Woodward as a "commercial genius" is a myth. Every premier league club has had their income rise massively from Man City to Burnley. And in terms of percentage increaz Manchester United are far behind the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. Woodward happened to be in the right place at the right time and is being credited for a rise in revenue when he objectively did nothing but make Manchester United worse in every area
disagree, woodward is clueless about football but in advertising he was solid. He made utd a international club with global following not to mention having many top brands partnership
@@maruf7956 United were a global club years before he or the Glazers arrived, having a huge overseas fan contingent in places like Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Ireland etc.
@@maruf7956 He did well at the start, mostly when he was the commercial director but towards his tenor as the executive, united's lead over other clubs was narrowing and he did not have new ideas to generate new opportunities and/or the club's on the pitch performance did not support such growth.
The thumbnail is so accurate. Even small small things just show how we're just a business and not a proper club. We only sign overpriced players based on how much they get talked about and not players who are under the radar but really helpful. Why? to please the fans. Even the social media team All they do is spam posts about interviews and etc. Do a lil PR spin when something is going wrong at the club and the fans are unhappy.
Woodward came to power with Manchester United at a point of transition. Despite having one of the largest, best known sports organizations on our planet he is leaving Manchester United in shambles on almost every single metric besides financially. Also, he was the bloke who talked the Hellspawn Glazer family into purchasing the club while also finding a way for them to purchase the club on the club's own credit. Under that criteria Woodward should not expect to walk into any pub within Manchester and find that he doesnt have to pay for his own pints. In fact he will be lucky to walk out of any establishment in Manchester with his life. Except maybe a Man City pub, they'll LOVE him there.
Woodward and the Glazers are so sickeningly American in the way that they started rich, benefitted from the hard work of others (the league and other teams raising their profile), and then hold their hands up in the air shouting about how awesome they are. A mediocre executive could have done what Woodward did, except even they wouldn't have revealed the tone deaf disinterest in the history and culture of the club and the sport by trying something as asinine as the Super League. Hope he gets sunburnt every day he spends on whatever private island he's retiring to.
They also brought in an American style target driven cut throat culture within the business of old Trafford. A colleague of mine worked there for about 20 years but packed it in after a few years working under their new structure.
@@WOOOPdoctorFROGhere Exactly. They're from a generation of Americans that have never cared about the sport, and just because they bought a club, they think that now they know how the sport should be run. Say what you want about City's ownership, but at least they care enough to recognise that it's not strictly a business. United's has no connection to Manchester, even now. And because of the way that the NFL introduces teams, the Glazers have absolutely no concept of the way a club like United grows organically from its community and becomes a beloved and cherished part of local lives. Old Trafford isn't called "The Theatre of Dreams" to be cute. It's a testament to the way that United embodies the dream of a community that works itself to the bone all week just for the chance to see the lads on the weekend. It's the historic goal of not just dreaming, but living the dream of rising up from the tedium of council housing and factory floors to achieve something remarkable. Football is a beautiful game, which is exactly why it can never just be a business. The Glazers and Woodward have never understood that, and I don't know that they ever will.
Ed Woodward was a complete, utter, and unmitigated disaster for Manchester United, both as a brand and as a football club, and one that the club will be lucky to recover from. And given the ownership, I don't hold out hope that we'll ever fully recover.
Ironically in chasing commercial success first so obviously he's turned Man Utd into a meme of a badly run club and therefore the commercial 'success' they've had: A. Hasnt been that great a success B. Will probably be worse in the future, unless they really change that image.
Tifo, if you do something like that again with the tactics board, please make the text on the counters contrast with the background. That white on white was tough on the eyes
Really good video but as a colourblind (and generally hard of sight) person it was really hard to see the tactics board names when discussing good/bad/ok transfers, so couldn't always follow which players were being moved where when not explicitly discussed. I can guess obviously but just a minor feedback point. Love the content as always though.
Over 90% of players signed in the Woodward era were either bad or just ohk. This highlights the club & Woodward's failure to create a environment to develop not just a good competitive squad but individual players as well. We've seen players with great potential come into the club and be ruined. Soon we'll be adding Jadon Sancho to this list of "flops". It says more about the club than the players themselves. It's really sad to see. Under Richard Arnald it's going to be more of the same or even worse. High manager turnover and money wasted. Without real experienced football minds in the board and recruitment department (not ex-players with no experience) this club is going nowhere. Jose Mourinho and LVG tried to warn us but as time always does, it reveals the truth.
Sancho needs time. Remember how Son came into Tottenham from the Bundesliga? He struggled to get used to life in the Premier League, and now, he's very good. Bundesliga is a completely different league from Premier League, as the Bundesliga has zero focus on defense and more on attack, attack, and attack. Sancho is definitely not used to the physical demands that the Premier League requires, and the difference in tactics, and he needs time to get used to all of this. I can see why you'd be considering him a flop right now, completely understandable, considering how much we paid for him, but I think he needs time.
@@AAABattery__ Sancho "just needs time" is the same cliche'd nonsense I've heard from United fans that said the same thing about Depay, Mkhitaryan and countless other flops. Sancho will not become a top player at united, just look at the countless examples in this Tifo video. Players that starts badly at united do not turn things around - in fact, players that start badly almost always go worse. Sancho will not improve. You're ignoring years of evidence and yet again pinning your hopes on blind faith not grounded with any facts or evidence. Of the dozens of signings united have made, not a single player has started badly but got better. Yet for some bizarre reason (probably blatant denial or pure ignorance) legions of united fans think sancho is the exception to the rule and is going to become world class. After he's completeley snubbed by Southgate for the world cup the fans might realise how dogshit Sancho is; he's horrifically slow, can't dribble and underhits pretty much every pass he attempts. He''ll be gone by the next January transfer window, probably a loan back to BVB and eventual sale in the subsequent window.
It’s unfortunate that so much of the dross was skipped over. Pointing out how poor the likes of Rojo, Schweinsteiger, Bailly etc have been would have really hammered the point home
@@footyhub3259 great way to describe him. We also saw at AFCON he plays one of the best games of his career than brutally misses a penalty. He’s always a gamble.
When Man Utd get another manager in the Summer it will mean that in less than 10 years they’ve had as many different managers than they had in the previous 65, dating back to Sir Matt Busby taking over in 1945. This is easily the most unsettled period in Man Utd’s near 150 years in the game. The Glazers, the question has to be asked can you honestly run/own a Top 6 Premier League Franchise and an NFL franchise at the same time, surely one affects the other, and considering that their Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Superbowl last year (2021) it’s fairly obvious which dynasty is taking the hit for their greed right now. As this video proves you can’t just Chuck money at the problem and hope things get better, the evidence has been layer out in all the transfers they’ve made and top managers they’ve had.
Not a utd fan, but I always felt like their owners and this guy Woodward are happy to only get into the top 4 so that they fill their pockets with the CL money and higher sponsorship money.
Not missing a chance to put ronaldo in a bad light in every single video. 14 goals and 3 assists in 24 games answers critics who were saying he won't be that good at united. Tifo tried to shove the agenda of him "not pressing" down our throats many times when rangnick was gonna come and ronaldo showed he can do it even though he isn't amazing at it he certainly isn't an issue some people are making him out to be. And his off field comments are because wants to do well and wants others do well and the statements are true. It's not the same case as lukaku or xhaka or aubameyang. And the team was already starting to look a bit disruptive at the end of last season and the few games before ronaldo joined united hadn't played that well. But no make ronaldo the scapegoat of everything.
Both can be true. It’s one of the toughest situations to judge in football, player that scores but detracts from the overall team, at what point do their goals outweigh the negative aspects of their game. It’s not just pressing for ronaldo, it’s his all round game. He can’t really dribble, he can’t really link, he can’t really hold the ball up. You’re basically paying for a poacher and a threat in behind - which is fine, but by doing that you lose a lot in fluidity, variety of play etc. Hard to judge.
Di Maria best performances for Madrid where in a 3 man cm. He did not play wide, Madrid used Ronaldo and bale in wide areas. Di Maria was also very good for us until they started moving him to #10 and then as a striker. He did more in his first 15 games than mata's entire United career
the comment about him not being a hit in the premier league because you have to be amazing every game in the PL made me cringe. Didn't expect that to come out of tifo
"What we do on the pitch doesn't really matter in terms of what we do off it." They're myopic, they can't see the forest from the trees. It's a football club. Its commercial success can only come from football success. You can't be a Europa League football team and expect to be a Champions League financial giant for too much time. Sponsors want success, trophies, titles, not being married to a has-been.
True, but Woodward had very correctly identified that the brand can continue to be marketed as though they're still the best club in the world. And as much as you can deny it, they were successful in doing this. Even down to marketing incredibly average players like martial, rashford and greenwood as up and coming world class players. The gullible fans and the media in general swallowed this rubbish even though quite clearly on the pitch none of these players were anything special.
@@WOOOPdoctorFROGhere Marketing the brand and marketing the players are two different things. Only the first was Woodward's job. According to their latest published accounts (2019/20) they're #4 in marketing income (322m), miles away from #1 Real Madrid (383m). Building up players has nothing to do with him. The media "didn't swallow this rubbish". Honestly, if I have to tell to you that journalists create the hype for eyeballs, and obviously just because someone is talked up doesn't make them a better player and the team won't win more, probably there's no use.
JJ thinking di maria was an OK signing but martial who has made a couple of hundred appearances and scored lots of goals including some important ones is a bad one is very strange
There are many factors to a new signing settling in and doing well. Not just, Club A is the problem, Club B is a talent killer. Man Utd screwed it up, but not alone.
It's not hard to look good at PSG, ultimately he didn't settle in at United or their systems + the Premier League is a different beast to la Liga and Ligue 1
Great video, but it's crazy to me that Maguire is put in ok, while both Pogba and Martial are put in bad. Not a big deal obviously, but imo there's no way you can argue that. I don't even think Maguire is a bad player (far from it), but it's not like Maguire has contributed more for the money spent on him than either Pogba and Martial. Let's not forget that Pogba had a couple truly fantastic years in the league, and has been better than people give him credit for. He was asked to fix a midfield by himself.
Great video, even though watching it made me throw up in my mouth when it showed me the past decade that we've had to endure under the Glazers and Woodward. The trophy graphic with the sea of blue in the past 5 years says it all.
Reality is Pogba & Martial were amazing signings. They at times practically single handedly stopped Utd falling into mid table. The issue is the situations put around them meant they could only do so much and their talent was wasted.
One of your best videos yet guys! I'd have loved to see how many of those transfers were thought of as spectacular signings then and then devolved into train wrecks
Lorrrddd almighty this was so good. Genuinely so good. I’m fuller and more informationally sustained than ever anticipated - thanks again to Tifo and The Athletic
Matt Slater and Oli Kay both did such a wonderful job bringing home just how much destruction Woodward and the Glazers brought to Manchester United. It's insane how so much has been ruined just from 2013 to 2022.
I feel like Fellaini is an unfortunate individual. Individually, he played reasonably well in many games. But in some ways, he came to symbolise our downfall. SAF was interested in signing him in, and if he had come under him in the window that RVP came, then there would have been less pressure on him. He could have been that valuable squad player like Hargreaves or Fletcher. But in the end, he was the sole signing made in the first window after he left (Zaha deal was agreed earlier), and too much was expected from him.
Watching Txiki Bergiristain and Ferran Soriano on the MCFC amazon documentary just quietly and firmly sorting out the Laporte transfer is so far removed from the obvious triumphalism or panic at other clubs with the execs justifying their jobs by having to make some flash signing every year. It's so obvious that the clubs quietly picking a player, agreeing a price and agreeing a contract then playing that player in the right position are Liverpool, City and Chelsea, and everyone else can't keep up with that trio no matter how much they spend (noting that Liverpool spend sensibly without the clout on wages that City and Chelsea have so it isnt just about having State backing).
wish I thought Woodward leaving was going to change things, sadly I think it will just lead to more of the same with a different face shaking hands with the new signings that won't work as they aren't thought through. sigh.
@3:53 as impressive as Man Ute’s success is in PL, Liverpool in the 70’s and 80’s we’re no mugs. Probably better. But United got lucky because when they started having success, it started meaning more commercially.
Always knew the loss of David Gill was just as big for united as sir Alex leaving. Woodward had no clue on the football side and got away with being poor
Great video, but we really don't need so much text popping up on the screen whilst someone is talking. I'm sure we can all follow it just fine without that.
Was going to disagree with you [DISAGREE] because I've usually liked the little pop-ups with extra information in previous videos [PREVIOUS VIDEOS], but 5 mins in and the text is literally just repeating every other thing [REPEATING EVERY OTHER THING] the guy says in a bold font [BOLD FONT]. A really weird choice [A REALLY WEIRD CHOICE].
Just in case there's still people clinging to the myth that sancho will become a top player at united, just look at the countless examples in this video. Any player that starts badly at united (and at most clubs) will NOT turn things around. In fact, players that start badly almost always go worse. Sancho will not improve. Of the dozens of signings united have made, not a single player has started badly but got better. Yet for some bizarre reason (probably blatant denial or pure ignorance) legions of united fans think sancho is going to become world class
I secretly think of the possibility of the Glazers and Woodward actually being City and/or Liverpool fans They have done a ton of favor to other teams .
Liverpool's rise financially is the absolute irrefutable proof that all cash flows from a good product. They started to win and now they're The IT club in the prem. Go anywhere in the world and you'll see Liverpool merch where a decade ago that'd be laughable. Win, and the money happens, simple as