Phube Posted January 13, 2016 Author Posted January 13, 2016 My gut instinct was telling me to watch the Liverpool/Arsenal game and I'm glad that I did! The first half in particular was just insane. Great game, stunning goals, excellent attacking play. Crazy two days of football with some of the results. League table is a bit of a mess! Looks pretty good to me!!
dan-likes-trees Posted January 13, 2016 Posted January 13, 2016 Looks pretty good to me!! Every time I click on this thread it, for whatever reason, takes me to your first post on page one and I have a good chuckle. This season could prove quite humiliating for me - I spent about 100 hours playing taking Leicester to a league title on Football Manager a couple of years ago. Claudio is poised to make a mockery of my fictional achievement by doing it in the real world in a season less. Bummed out for the loss but if there's one team I'm happy to lose to this season and at this moment it's Leicester!
killthenet Posted January 13, 2016 Posted January 13, 2016 Yeah, I like seeing Leicester challenging at the top, it's a shame that Villa will have to beat them on Saturday
Phube Posted January 13, 2016 Author Posted January 13, 2016 Yeah, I like seeing Leicester challenging at the top, it's a shame that Villa will have to beat them on Saturday Being a Leicester fan, I'm genuinely worried that will happen...
Hero-of-Time Posted January 14, 2016 Posted January 14, 2016 Gutted I didn't get to see the Liverpool match due to BT having it, or the Newcastle one for that matter. How in the hell did SKY not have a single game of footy on? There were plenty of other games that they could have shown. Happy we at least nabbed a point. Given our injury problems I half expected Arsenal to give us a thrashing. I honestly can't believe we are giving Mignolet another contract! The guy is such a dodgy keeper and has been for a while. I was hoping we would be looking to replace him during the transfer window but that doesn't look to be the case.
Charlie Posted January 14, 2016 Posted January 14, 2016 Haven't seen a game that good in a while, Mignolet set to sign a new contract.... awful from him as per. Some great goals scored, Giroud turn was a beauty and Firmino goal was a peach. That Giroud turn was Bergkamp-esque. Absolute peach.
Ramar Posted January 15, 2016 Posted January 15, 2016 That Giroud turn was Bergkamp-esque. Absolute peach. And the miss was Gervinho against Bradford.
Phube Posted January 16, 2016 Author Posted January 16, 2016 Being a Leicester fan, I'm genuinely worried that will happen... Knew it... Bloody Mahrez, two crap peno's!! We could have been 5 points clear!!! If's, but's and maybe's!!!
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 This is so gonna be one of those games where we've had numerous chances, can't finish them, and then the opposition is gonna go and nick a goal. We've pretty much dominated in this first half but just can't put anything in the back of the net.
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 This is so gonna be one of those games where we've had numerous chances, can't finish them, and then the opposition is gonna go and nick a goal. We've pretty much dominated in this first half but just can't put anything in the back of the net. We don't score goals anymore. Van Gaal's football evolution has gone beyond the need for goals. Can't believe he started the game with Fellaini AGAIN. He really doesn't learn. It's been a low quality first half and I'm not sure if either side has the quality to put the ball into the net.
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 We don't score goals anymore. Van Gaal's football evolution has gone beyond the need for goals. Can't believe he started the game with Fellaini AGAIN. He really doesn't learn. It's been a low quality first half and I'm not sure if either side has the quality to put the ball into the net. Baffling how both these teams managed to score 3 goals each in the mid week games.
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) Baffling how both these teams managed to score 3 goals each in the mid week games. We're lucky that Liverpool can't shoot for shit and that we still have De Gea. We are awful. Actually, this is a regular performance of ours now. Edit: Herrera gets taken off. Fellaini stays on. Cheers, Louis. Edited January 17, 2016 by Fierce_LiNk
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 We're lucky that Liverpool can't shoot for shit and that we still have De Gea. We are awful. Actually, this is a regular performance of ours now. Edit: Herrera gets taken off. Fellaini stays on. Cheers, Louis. It's so frustrating to watch. If we had a decent striker this game would have been put to bed ages ago. EDIT: There it is. What did I tell ya.
Hero-of-Time Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 I should have put a bet on. It happened exactly how I said it would. I hate this sport sometimes.
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 That was the only chance we had in the whole game. The only time we looked threatening and it was from a set piece. We played a terrible game and I have no idea how we won that. Same team will start next game, minus Young who went off injured. If Liverpool could finish their chances, we would have lost this game 2-0 or 3-0.
Kounan Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 (edited) That was the only chance we had in the whole game. The only time we looked threatening and it was from a set piece. We played a terrible game and I have no idea how we won that. Same team will start next game, minus Young who went off injured. If Liverpool could finish their chances, we would have lost this game 2-0 or 3-0. We have won and I am happy. This season we almost can't play well and win (only few games). Chelsea and Newcastle games had to be won and we managed not to, we almost didn't win against Swansea, and in all three games we "deserved" the win. Today we "deserved" a draw, Liverpool were better and had better chances and deserved to win more, but they also didn't really have any good chances maybe one, like we did, everything else de Gea had to save. But all round they were the better team (it just shows that both teams have a lot of work to do). When it comes to next game, I think that Fellaini will not start if Bastian or Carrick are ready, as he only starts when we have 2-3 midfielders missing. PS Cameron Borthwick-Jackson looks like he could make it here at least as a back up. Hi is really calm which is already a huge plus. Edited January 17, 2016 by Kounan
nekunando Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 I should have put a bet on. It happened exactly how I said it would. I hate this sport sometimes. I haven't seen the game but I had a feeling this would happen too.. and I knew it would be Rooney
Fierce_LiNk Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 We have won and I am happy. This season we almost can't play well and win (only few games). Chelsea and Newcastle games had to be won and we managed not to, we almost didn't win against Swansea, and in all three games we "deserved" the win. Today we "deserved" a draw, Liverpool were better and had better chances and deserved to win more, but they also didn't really have any good chances maybe one, like we did, everything else de Gea had to save. But all round they were the better team (it just shows that both teams have a lot of work to do). When it comes to next game, I think that Fellaini will not start if Bastian or Carrick are ready, as he only starts when we have 2-3 midfielders missing. PS Cameron Borthwick-Jackson looks like he could make it here at least as a back up. Hi is really calm which is already a huge plus. I'm not sure I can agree that we deserved a draw. We deserved to lose. We were over-run for the majority of the game and it's only down to Liverpool's inability to finish as to why we didn't concede today. We're a bad football team. The football is crap to watch. We didn't really pass the ball well forward at all or show any grit in midfield or defence. We relied on a corner kick to get a goal. This is meant to be a big game and we simply didn't turn up. 3 points against Liverpool away is massive and there's no denying that. But, we did not deserve a single point today after that performance. It was very amateurish. It's interesting. I've had a browse on RedCafe and it seems that the vast majority of United fans agree. The football isn't getting better and Van Gaal's "plan for the future" isn't really working at all. I'd say that Liverpool under Klopp are probably in a better position for the future than we are under Van Gaal. Today was pure luck.
Kounan Posted January 17, 2016 Posted January 17, 2016 I'm not sure I can agree that we deserved a draw. We deserved to lose. We were over-run for the majority of the game and it's only down to Liverpool's inability to finish as to why we didn't concede today. We're a bad football team. The football is crap to watch. We didn't really pass the ball well forward at all or show any grit in midfield or defence. We relied on a corner kick to get a goal. This is meant to be a big game and we simply didn't turn up. 3 points against Liverpool away is massive and there's no denying that. But, we did not deserve a single point today after that performance. It was very amateurish. It's interesting. I've had a browse on RedCafe and it seems that the vast majority of United fans agree. The football isn't getting better and Van Gaal's "plan for the future" isn't really working at all. I'd say that Liverpool under Klopp are probably in a better position for the future than we are under Van Gaal. Today was pure luck. I say deserve, as there were no horrible decisions by the referee which have influenced the game. Now, when it comes to us, we played better against Chelsea, Swansea and Newcastle and we didn't win in two of these games because we were not able to take our chances and we had much better chances than Liverpool today. Liverpool didn't have to many big chances which they had to score (how many actually?). To say if they had better strikers is the same as saying if we had better midfielders to keep the ball. We could say that for the Chelsea, Newcastle and Bournemouth games (if we had better finishing we would have won). We didn't have luck against Chelsea and Newcastle (I am only mentioning these games as they have just happened). When it comes to today's game, I think that the tactic was spot on, but the execution was bad. You do not play open football against Klopp's teams (unless you have really a good team) because his pressing will usually destroy you. We have seen what happened to City and also Arsenal (just Arsenal managed to score goals), and Chelsea also.... If you don't have a top team, it is better to wait and play deep as he often has problems against these teams because counter attack doesn't work there (that's how Arsenal beat them in the CL, how teams started taking points in Bundesliga and BVB had a better team than most teams). I agree, we looked really bad, especially in the first half, but I wouldn't say that the tactics was the wrong one. Also, actually we have improved in our last league games (since some of our midfielders came back). We are not playing something special, but we play better, but we will also not play much better as for that we need Depay to step up, Fellaini to be on the bench (which means healthy midfielders), plus we need another CB (or Jones or Rojo to stay healthy) which will allow us to play with more freedom and probably at least another attacker as I don't think that all of our young players will step up at the same time. Don't forget that we play with only 2 real defenders, Darmian and Smalling, while everyone else is injured and that is also part of the reason we have to play with more defensive minded midfielders. We just can't play attacking wise, or at least not and hoping to win games, even when we have a full squad. The horrible run we had happened after we had only one defender fit and one central midfielder (after Darmian got injured we had 4 defenders plus Young and Valencia injured and Morgan, Herrera and Bastian missing). I don't know why do people forget that. Yes, we played boring before that, but we were usually taking the points. Forget LVG, I don't want that to be thread about him, even other managers would have the same problem as we have big problem with injuries, especially in defense (which actually was part of the team I thought we have enough cover and suddenly we get three long term injuries).
pratty Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 Today's game was sickening, I felt Liverpool were by far the better side but it was a sobering reminder that the only stat that counts in this game is the final score. Utd stuck the ball in the net after doing a big pile of nothing for the majority of the game and it counts more than everything good we did, and as it should to be fair. Many of liverpool's players and sides in recent years can be described as "promising", we seem to have a knack for signing promising players rather than dependable ones. I don't want to be too hard on the lads as I felt they gave an honest effort, but it is what it is, overall they're just not consistantly clinical enough and it's been that way for several managers. The lack of finishing probably highlights this problem even more so than the defending, with the possession and chanes we had today we should have been able to score our way out of our defensive troubles.
Ramar Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 We really need a good month Liverpool (A), Stoke (A), Chelsea (A). We come out of that with 6 points I'll be happy. I could settle with 5. Looks like we need to beat Chelsea on Sunday to reach my minimum target. Bit disappointed but we're still top. Just.
killthenet Posted January 18, 2016 Posted January 18, 2016 I had started to have hope that we might survive the drop after we beat Palace in midweek, I thought that getting the first win was going to be the most difficult part, playing with confidence we might find goals easier to come by. My hopes were almost completely dashed by Leicester though, but thank god Mahrez has forgotten how to take penalties, otherwise there'd have been no way back. 1-1 was definitely a fair result, we were dire in the first half but looked really good at times in the second so it gives me a bit of hope for future performances. With Swansea winning tonight though, things look truly bleak again - it's odd the difference 3 points make. I suppose though the worst thing that could happen for us Villa fans is if we start to believe it's possible, at the moment we're fucked and can just start thinking about life in the Championship. Even at times like this though I feel sorry for Manuel Pellegrini. They're probably going to win the title this year and it looks like they might go far in the Champions League for the first time ever - especially if Aguero stays fit - but whatever happens Pellegrini is going to get sacked and replaced by Guardiola. Anyone else think that definitely means City will win the Champions League this season? Guardiola took over at Barca the year after they beat Arsenal in the final and took over at Bayern the year after Heynckes won the treble he always takes over at a club when they're already at the very top.
ipaul Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I had started to have hope that we might survive the drop after we beat Palace in midweek, I thought that getting the first win was going to be the most difficult part, playing with confidence we might find goals easier to come by. My hopes were almost completely dashed by Leicester though, but thank god Mahrez has forgotten how to take penalties, otherwise there'd have been no way back. 1-1 was definitely a fair result, we were dire in the first half but looked really good at times in the second so it gives me a bit of hope for future performances. With Swansea winning tonight though, things look truly bleak again - it's odd the difference 3 points make. I suppose though the worst thing that could happen for us Villa fans is if we start to believe it's possible, at the moment we're fucked and can just start thinking about life in the Championship. Even at times like this though I feel sorry for Manuel Pellegrini. They're probably going to win the title this year and it looks like they might go far in the Champions League for the first time ever - especially if Aguero stays fit - but whatever happens Pellegrini is going to get sacked and replaced by Guardiola. Anyone else think that definitely means City will win the Champions League this season? Guardiola took over at Barca the year after they beat Arsenal in the final and took over at Bayern the year after Heynckes won the treble he always takes over at a club when they're already at the very top. Yeah as a Newcastle fan I felt good about this until Swansea won, gits. As for City - I can't see them getting past Bayern or Barca. Can't see anyone defeating them really. Maaaaybe only having to deal with one of them in the final itself (Juve came quite close) but not over 2 legs.
WackerJr Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Another big night of football ahead, and with no major upsets so far it seems only fair that there's at least one upset this round... Which means it's all set for Exeter to pull off one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history, right? Right.....? Gutted I couldn't get a ticket (can you believe that even Liverpool have sold out of tickets to watch the 'mighty' Grecians!), so am having to find a pub with BT Sport and no doubt there'll be a lot of banter with everyone else. I can see the Liverpool second string team either walloping us (most likely) or the one team will sneak by with just a single goal in it.... Financially Exeter are winners from this either way! Game on!
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