Ch 25 : Changes in the Lineup!
Raw in MTLNovel : "The Red Devils Successor"
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The day after returning from Argentina, Tiger immediately got to work. The players were about to return from their vacation one by one, and there were many things he needed to prepare in advance. After Woodward arrived, he immediately reported the details of this trip to the Glazers family, and there were also some remaining contractual payment issues that needed to be dealt with.
In the morning of the same day, Tiger was in his office at the Carrington training ground, holding a freshly printed "The Sun" newspaper with a smell of ink, and reading a piece by journalist Wolf titled "Good Coach" with relish.
"We have to admire the Glazers' vision. They really had chosen a good coach. From the perspective of his cost-saving transfer strategy, he completely meets the Glazers' requirement of money above all. Look at the new players he signed: English Championship, French Ligue 2, German youth teams. Oh my god, with this new coach transfer list, I have to admire the club's selection standard. The most expensive transfer deal Manchester United spent this summer was signing Zaha in advance before Ferguson's retirement for 15 million euros. Since Tiger took office, he has bought 15 young players in one breath. Is he secretly a pedophile? Or can he really recognize diamonds in the rough, seeing these 15 young people as future stars like C. Ronaldo?"
There were two people in Tiger's office at the time, his two assistant coaches, Mike Phelan and Paul Scholes. They each had a copy of "The Sun" in their hands, frowning as they read. Tiger looked at the two men in front of him and fell into deep thought.
Mike Phelan was 45 years old this year, Scholes was 37, and Tiger himself was 38, so the three were similar in age and communication was very smooth in many areas. Not to mention Scholes, with whom Tiger had a good relationship since their time in the youth team. Phelan himself was also very familiar with Tiger, as Sir Alex had instructed him to cooperate well with Tiger before leaving. Therefore, these two people were Tiger's right-hand and left-hand men.
Phelan had been Ferguson's personal assistant for the last five years of Ferguson tenure before his retirement and was very familiar with team management, intelligence gathering, and player management. Scholes, on the other hand, was an assistant coach assigned by Tiger to specifically train players, and with his ability and reputation, he was definitely capable for the job.
"This is nonsense!" a hot-tempered Phelan exclaimed, bringing Tiger back to reality. "What do they mean by a pedophile? I'll sue them! This is a personal attack!"
Scholes quickly waved his hand, "Calm down first, don't be in a hurry."
Tiger laughed, "Phelan, Paul, don't worry, I just found this newspaper interesting on my way here this morning, so I bought it to let you guys take a look. There's nothing serious about it. We're mainly focused on rebuilding our team now, and we don't have time to waste on these rubbish articles. I just wanted you guys to see how the outside world sees us."
"Is this... the first team player list?"
Tiger nodded. "Yes, a while back I was mainly busy with buying players. Now that the buying is over, it's time to clear up the team. Phelan, Paul, you were both in the first team last season, one as a coach and the other as a player. Take a look now and see which players are not strong enough and need to be cleared out."
Phelan looked at Tiger in surprise. He saw that although Tiger was smiling, there was a strong determination in his smile.
Phelan understood in his heart: he was determined to clear out a group of players who were not strong enough. It seemed that Tiger was decisive and efficient.
The three of them looked at the list and carefully studied Manchester United's current lineup.
Goalkeeper: De Gea, Lindegaard, and Amos.
Centre-back: Ferdinand, Vidic, Jones, Smalling, and Evans.
Full-back: Evra, Rafael, and Buttner.
Midfield: Carrick, Anderson, Fletcher, Kagawa, Cleverley, and Januzaj.
Winger: Giggs, Nani, Young, and Valencia.
Forward: Rooney, Van Persie, Hernandez, and Welbeck.
Tiger first asked his two assistant coaches, "Other than De Gea, how strong are the backup goalkeepers Lindegaard and Amos? I have bought Allison now and I plan to let him be De Gea's substitute."
Phelan shook his head: "These two have very limited skills and their presence in the team doesn't offer much help. Since Alisson has arrived, we can consider letting them leave."
"Okay, that's settled." Tiger continued, "The bench depth for the central defender position is good enough for now."
Phelan pointed at Evans name and said: "Last season, West Brom always wanted to buy Evans and promised him a starting position. At the time, Sir Alex asked him to stay for another year and consider the transfer in 2013. Tiger, if you can't give him a starting position this season, he will probably ask for a transfer again."
Tiger shook his head and said: "Although Ferdinand and Vidic are getting old, even the new players like Van Dijk and Bailey, even Jones and Smalling have more stable performance than him. It's impossible to give him a starting position. If he wants to leave, he can go."
Phelan also agreed: "There's no problem with the central defender position, but the bench depth for the fullback is not enough."
"I bought Alonso to replace Evra, and Jones can be the backup for the right back. In this way, there's no more bench position for Buttner, and we can consider selling him. Any objections?"
"Agreed," Phelan said in agreement after giving it a thought.
Tiger then looked at the midfield: "The midfield is the current concern, Carrick is getting old and has frequent injuries. Next season, I plan to let Kanté take on the defensive tasks in midfield, so the midfield will become stronger. The other five can't meet our requirements, so if someone offers a suitable price during this time, we can sell them."
"Our midfield is indeed a bit bloated now, and several players' skills do not meet the requirements of top European clubs, so it's necessary to clear them out." Scholes also agreed.
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