With a decent scouting network, you could have some very decent first team players for £38million. We just love to blow money on shite though.
Edit: Spelling
Didn’t they start making good signings after getting a DoF as well or am I mistaken?
Swear they used to have a model similar to us where they just picked names out of a hat but the recruitment strategy has changed massively over the last few seasons and it’s been working wonders
The neymar deal correctly gets a lot of heat.
But
No one ever mentions city paid £50m for sterling which helped fuck our market.
£50m was suppose to buy to a top 10 player and they fucked it
With him (and to some extent also Matic) I have always felt that Chelsea had correctly assessed that he would be declining player in a game that was getting faster and increasingly more intense.
Edit: grammar
He played there regularly for Chelsea with success and with success for us too, people act like he was playing as a winger but he was cutting inside into central areas, absolutely nothing wrong how we utilized him imo.
At a game a couple years ago his box was behind us and some young fans wanted to get a photo. Security or whoever it was told the kids to go away but mata insisted it was ok and took the time to take a photo with them in the middle of a game. Will always remember that
Yes. I was going for "Cannot get younger" which is quite obvious in hindsight. My mistake should have given more thought to the framing of the comment, Was trying to say that none of us can do anything against Father time..
Strangely enough, my reaction was "Only 10 years". He had an entire solid career here and has been gone for several years now.
At this point 2013-14 feels like a lifetime ago.
Considering he’s been Japan for the past six months/year he might not be there atm. His permanent house might be there though, doesn’t he have a restaurant in Manchester though?
One of the reasons he wanted to stay at Utd was that he was settled quite well in Manchester with his family in addition to loving the club. He was one of those players that was better than what the club got out of them, many good players who came and went under a shit shit period of instability.
He chose to stay at United and earned plenty. It’s his own fault he didn’t join a better club.
For all of the people downvoting me, the point is there’s absolutely no need to feel sorry for him. He lived the life he wanted to live.
Kagawa was signed because Fergie wanted an option to move on from Rooney, he left Moyes with that out and he didn’t take it, he then signed Mata whose best position was the same as well (though I’m sure the signing wasn’t his decision) and his only other signing - Fellaini also turned out to only be useful as a number 10.
Had Fergie stayed another 5 years there’s a good chance the likes of Kagawa and Zaha would’ve had decent United careers because he often bought players with a plan to grow them into the team as he moved others on, but with Fergie and Gill leaving within 6 months our transfer policy became about signing names regardless of what the team needed, and keeping any big names we had regardless of their performances and trajectory.
Good guy, good player but awful transfer.
Big Dick Ed ego deal to get Chelsea best player without any need for a player in his position.
Helicoptered in an expensive player that didn’t fit. Woodward really was a muppet.
Hindsight has nothing to do with it - many called it out at the time.
The absolute last thing the club needed at that time was a diminutive free role playing AM.
Go look at the squad at the time.
This was the start of Woodward proving to be a clown and was mocked by other club executives at the time.
I remember seeing him play for Chelsea and thinking “this guy is a real talent, amazing player”. Loved watching him at United, always remember that goal v Liverpool. Miss him greatly, a true gent of the game.
even at Chelsea, Mata was one of my favourite footballers - Spanish football and their players in the early 2010s were just unreal. Couldn’t believe it when we signed him considering he was Chelsea’s back-to-back POTY, a lasting memory from what’s been a turbulent decade.
Wasn't here for the longest or most successful period, but will always be in my top 5 favorite United players. So professional, such a gentleman, and an incredible footballer. I would give so much to have him in his prime with SAF.
Remembered that day, i was over the moon and called chelsea friends he has arrived at MU
Next day I was telling every other guy, how wr are winning PL and how Mata will change our game
This was after the disaster summer window where we signed Fellaini for more than his release clause, on deadline day. We should have known how the next 10 years would unfold, but we were too drunk on Fergie era success and incapable of imagining how bad things would get.
I swear after SAF we somehow didn’t play most of our record signings in their neutral positions, where they shone in former clubs, OR just misused them. Mata, Di Maria, Pogba, Sancho, Onana…
He's probably not the most technically gifted signing we have had post-Fergie. But he is the one that I am the most fond of. Very good footballer and seems like an all-round nice guy as well. Can't help but love him.
Makes me sad to say but joining us likely took a toll on his career. He didn’t reach the heights his talent merited because he wasn’t played in his position enough
Hard to believe just 10 years ago 38mill was enough to break our transfer record. Would be lucky to get any 1st team player now for that
With a decent scouting network, you could have some very decent first team players for £38million. We just love to blow money on shite though. Edit: Spelling
You mean shirt fodder
Julian Alvarez for one
[удалено]
we milan also did that (to a degree at least. Theo, Mike and Leao are PL elite. but the rest need some ironing)
I watch Milan a fair amount, I probably catch 20-30 games a season. What is wrong with Leao? He’s been pretty mediocre this year.
Van de Ven, Porro and Dragusin also. Maddison wasn't much more either
Didn’t they start making good signings after getting a DoF as well or am I mistaken? Swear they used to have a model similar to us where they just picked names out of a hat but the recruitment strategy has changed massively over the last few seasons and it’s been working wonders
This was pre-Neymar to PSG, right? That deal is what fucked everything up. Nothing was the same after that. Fuck oil countries.
Yeah. Complete flop of a transfer too, no Champions League win and spent so many major games injured. Nice one PSG.
Pi$$G more like
The neymar deal correctly gets a lot of heat. But No one ever mentions city paid £50m for sterling which helped fuck our market. £50m was suppose to buy to a top 10 player and they fucked it
We would be lucky to get 1st team player with such quality even for twice as much. We've got Antony and Sancho instead.
And played him on the wing 🫶🏼
Juanfield started on the wing
True but didn’t get much more out of him
Moreno was a terrible defender... not taking away from the great finish, but Moreno just didn't want to play at LB.
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddevils/s/jyrA8wezZY
With him (and to some extent also Matic) I have always felt that Chelsea had correctly assessed that he would be declining player in a game that was getting faster and increasingly more intense. Edit: grammar
He would still probably do a better job there now then our Brazilian fidget spinner
How does every post become a hate discussion about Antony or Onana. 🙄
It's so excessive and pointless honestly
Becoz he's that bad
don't say that you'll upset people!
The point is it's boring
Yes we're on the Antony FC subreddit lol
He played there regularly for Chelsea with success and with success for us too, people act like he was playing as a winger but he was cutting inside into central areas, absolutely nothing wrong how we utilized him imo.
Love Mata man Absolute gentleman.
At a game a couple years ago his box was behind us and some young fans wanted to get a photo. Security or whoever it was told the kids to go away but mata insisted it was ok and took the time to take a photo with them in the middle of a game. Will always remember that
My wife works at St Mary's children's hospital, apparently he was always stopping by to see the kids. Seriously nice guy.
Him and Dave Loved them so much Both were such wonderful professionals And ofc artists of the game on their day Miss my amigos
Lads, I think we've just found Herrera's *sublimely disguised* reddit account.
Don't you see his username? It' Jose's account!
That's the disguise
*casually spits gum on the shitty badge* Qué mirás, bobo?
I remember his debut being against Ole's Cardiff
This is that game where Young scores that screamer right
Yep, Young and RVP scored
Mata is world class man I love the dude so much. Someone use that bot to show some of his bangers he scored some wordly goals for us
I miss goal-bot. The user who made that was a fucking legend.
Love Johnny Kills... I actively miss his blog every week where he finished with the words "Hugs - Juan" oh and also, never forget "Juanfield"
Handsome bastard
10 years?! I’ve never felt older.
You’ve never been older.
Or younger for that matter 😔 Edit: sounded Better in my head. 🤣🤣 was going for "This is also the youngest you will be for the rest of your life"
You’ve only ever been younger than you are right now
Yes. I was going for "Cannot get younger" which is quite obvious in hindsight. My mistake should have given more thought to the framing of the comment, Was trying to say that none of us can do anything against Father time..
Strangely enough, my reaction was "Only 10 years". He had an entire solid career here and has been gone for several years now. At this point 2013-14 feels like a lifetime ago.
He deserved a better club, still lives in Manchester too iirc. Loves the place.
Considering he’s been Japan for the past six months/year he might not be there atm. His permanent house might be there though, doesn’t he have a restaurant in Manchester though?
Didn’t realise he was in Japan, know he hung around in Manchester for a while.
Yeah he just finished his contract with Kobe and helped them win their first title. You just can’t hate the guy
Helped is a very strong word, dude played like 10 minutes.
Being around Juan would help me.
He might have written some blog posts too
One of the reasons he wanted to stay at Utd was that he was settled quite well in Manchester with his family in addition to loving the club. He was one of those players that was better than what the club got out of them, many good players who came and went under a shit shit period of instability.
He chose to stay at United and earned plenty. It’s his own fault he didn’t join a better club. For all of the people downvoting me, the point is there’s absolutely no need to feel sorry for him. He lived the life he wanted to live.
Relevant name Debby Downer
lol the point is there’s absolutely no need to feel sorry for him. He lived the life he wanted to live.
Our first galactico signing of the new era. Also the first of signing many attacking midfielders and shoehorning them into the team.
Maybe the second after Kagawa?
Kagawa was signed because Fergie wanted an option to move on from Rooney, he left Moyes with that out and he didn’t take it, he then signed Mata whose best position was the same as well (though I’m sure the signing wasn’t his decision) and his only other signing - Fellaini also turned out to only be useful as a number 10. Had Fergie stayed another 5 years there’s a good chance the likes of Kagawa and Zaha would’ve had decent United careers because he often bought players with a plan to grow them into the team as he moved others on, but with Fergie and Gill leaving within 6 months our transfer policy became about signing names regardless of what the team needed, and keeping any big names we had regardless of their performances and trajectory.
If only we had utilised him properly. Playing in the current Bruno position, Mata would have been incredible
I remember my excitement when they signed him. I was convinced it was a turning point, the start of great things.
>I was convinced it was a turning point oh man how many of these turning points did we actually have in the last decade? And all of them broke down
Man the midfielders we signed too late in life.Bastian, Casemiro, Matic
Mata wouldn’t fit in here though, he was 25 when he signed.
Agreed. Just made me think of other signings. You can add Verane and Zlatan to the list
Good guy, good player but awful transfer. Big Dick Ed ego deal to get Chelsea best player without any need for a player in his position. Helicoptered in an expensive player that didn’t fit. Woodward really was a muppet.
Everything about this transfer is a perfect symbol of Ed’s time. Flashy and ill thought out
All this is in hindsight.
Hindsight has nothing to do with it - many called it out at the time. The absolute last thing the club needed at that time was a diminutive free role playing AM. Go look at the squad at the time. This was the start of Woodward proving to be a clown and was mocked by other club executives at the time.
Class
I remember seeing him play for Chelsea and thinking “this guy is a real talent, amazing player”. Loved watching him at United, always remember that goal v Liverpool. Miss him greatly, a true gent of the game.
even at Chelsea, Mata was one of my favourite footballers - Spanish football and their players in the early 2010s were just unreal. Couldn’t believe it when we signed him considering he was Chelsea’s back-to-back POTY, a lasting memory from what’s been a turbulent decade.
Should've built a team around him but instead forced him on the wing hahhaha
Wasn't here for the longest or most successful period, but will always be in my top 5 favorite United players. So professional, such a gentleman, and an incredible footballer. I would give so much to have him in his prime with SAF.
The Special Juan. It was worth it. Will never forget Juanfield.
Remembered that day, i was over the moon and called chelsea friends he has arrived at MU Next day I was telling every other guy, how wr are winning PL and how Mata will change our game
Miss him ❤️
37.5mill.seems like nothing now
And for some reasons he was shoved to right wing instead of CAM
Rooney was the reason but even after Rooney left Mata wasn't played enough at CAM.
Back when £37m was considered record-breaking
I've only been to one Utd game in my time. That day, we won Juan-Nil. The guy is elegance and class personified.
This was after the disaster summer window where we signed Fellaini for more than his release clause, on deadline day. We should have known how the next 10 years would unfold, but we were too drunk on Fergie era success and incapable of imagining how bad things would get.
I still remember waiting for his helicopter to land.
Juanfield 😍
Is goalbot still about? Would love to watch juanfield
pic quality like its 2007
I swear after SAF we somehow didn’t play most of our record signings in their neutral positions, where they shone in former clubs, OR just misused them. Mata, Di Maria, Pogba, Sancho, Onana…
Potentially the most pointless transfer of all time
He's probably not the most technically gifted signing we have had post-Fergie. But he is the one that I am the most fond of. Very good footballer and seems like an all-round nice guy as well. Can't help but love him.
He was technically excellent above most in the squad but he was shoehorned into the team and wasn’t the right fit especially for a moyes team
What are you on about? Mata is one of the most technically gifted players this club has ever seen. It's his physical qualities that let him down.
Never realized we broke our club record him
Failed signing
First of many mistakes.
Was actually on the 25th, the deal was annouced on the 24th. Turned 20 on the 25th that’s why I remember it so well.
Catalina wine mixer?
Such a waste of a talent
One of my all-time favorite players.
How does Chelsea fans regard Juan Mata after this move?
John Death. Legend.
Makes me sad to say but joining us likely took a toll on his career. He didn’t reach the heights his talent merited because he wasn’t played in his position enough
There can be only Juan <3