Football Season 2018/19

[Fierce_LiNk]

We had fun looking at the players to go into that team. It's weird, we were shopping for humans. They had prices and everything!

I gave @Eenuh a few tips here and there (don't choose Schneiderlin, he'll give you NOTHING) and we looked at stats from last season, other people's teams, lots of googling and swapping players in and out. Basically, she based the team around Vardy, Lukaku and Salah, which isn't a bad strategy, tbh. Part of me was very proud with the "Shall I put Wilson (Bournemouth) in there. I think he usually does quite well!" 

Not going to lie, I think she's chosen a very solid team there. There's goals to be had with that team and I think the likes of Alonso, Maguire and Van Aanholt will pop up with a few goals here and there to give extra points. Jealous that she's managed to sneak Lukaku, Vardy and Salah in there. 

[Fierce_LiNk]

Put Trippier on the bench this week as I wasn't convinced that he'd be starting, seeing as how he didn't start for some reason last week. Fucker only bluddy scored today. Typical! I've also transferred Kevin De Bruyne out due to his injury and have got Mane in there. I was tempted to put Sane, but Pep rotates his attacking lineup so much that I can't really afford to take a chance on him. I've already got Bernado Silva in there and part of me is wondering if he'll do the business for me. We'll see!

[Julius]

Defensively frail today, but otherwise an excellent performance by Chelsea today. Loved the high pressure (again, though, Arsenal playing an oddly high line?), some great expansive and possessive stuff, but we were so weak on the byline in our defensive third. Willian was very lazy in waiting for the ball to arrive for the first Arsenal goal. Morata looks much more confident than he did last week, so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come, and Hazard has two assists in only one half of play, so it’ll be interesting to see his impact when he gets to start a game.

[Fierce_LiNk]

12 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

Defensively frail today, but otherwise an excellent performance by Chelsea today. Loved the high pressure (again, though, Arsenal playing an oddly high line?), some great expansive and possessive stuff, but we were so weak on the byline in our defensive third. Willian was very lazy in waiting for the ball to arrive for the first Arsenal goal. Morata looks much more confident than he did last week, so hopefully that’s a sign of things to come, and Hazard has two assists in only one half of play, so it’ll be interesting to see his impact when he gets to start a game.

I followed the livetext of the game and it sounded very entertaining. The highlights on MotD were fun to watch, especially the first half. I was a bit surprised at just how many chances Arsenal seemed to make for themselves, and equally surprised at how they messed them up. Really should have scored more than 2 goals in that first half. I don't understand why Lacazette isn't playing more games, or at least starting. Felt like his pace could have done some damage yesterday.

Brighton away today. I'm hoping that Lukaku will get off the mark, and I'm going for a good United win. Going to say 3-1. Lukaku with two and Pogba to get the other. 

[Mandalore]

The Pickford & Ings clash was silly. If Ings had just got up straight away and shown the referee the hole in his shirt and stud marks on his back, the outcome would've been completely different. Instead he just lies on the ground for a minute being ignored. 

In contrast, Wilson's goal for Bournemouth was great. He could've gone to ground on a number of occasions to win a free kick like many other players would have. 

[Fierce_LiNk]

1 minute ago, Mandalore said:

The Pickford & Ings clash was silly. If Ings had just got up straight away and shown the referee the hole in his shirt and stud marks on his back, the outcome would've been completely different. Instead he just lies on the ground for a minute being ignored. 

In contrast, Wilson's goal for Bournemouth was great. He could've gone to ground on a number of occasions to win a free kick like many other players would have. 

Wilson's goal was brilliant, but the defending behind it was so, so stupid. I knew that he had scored in the game at some point, so I watched the highlights knowing it was coming. But, when the camera panned to Wilson picking up the ball with 5 players around him, I couldn't help but laugh. There's no way he should have been scoring in the way that the action played out. Dreadful defending. On the other hand, well done to Wilson for having the vision to make something out of that position. 

Think Bournemouth will do alright this season. A top 10 finish would be brilliant, but I think they'll finish just outside, maybe 12.

[Fierce_LiNk]

2-0 down against Brighton within 30 minutes. Awful defending for both goals. Time for the players to show what they're made of.

[Julius]

12 hours ago, Fierce_LiNk said:

I don't understand why Lacazette isn't playing more games, or at least starting.

Emery rarely ever puts a team out in a formation that isn’t 4-2-3-1. Lacazette probably doesn’t want to play anywhere but up front, and he provides more than ample competition for Aubameyang.

I think any other manager in the Prem would try to put him or Aubameyang out on the wing, or even play both of them up front. I guess Emery’s logic checks out, considering his success at Sevilla and PSG, but still, I think him not adapting his style of play and formation when against some teams which will ask questions of his ways is why Arsenal won’t be in the title race this season, and potentially for a few more. It’s just not as tactically stagnant, because of the level of every team and how competitive it is, as the other leagues that Emery’s managed in, so he won’t get away with sleeping on his laurels like I think he is.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Really poor performance overall yesterday. Bailly had one of the worst individual performances in recent memory. Nothing came off for him yesterday and he looked very off the pace. Our whole right side of the pitch is just none existent. There was no pace there in the first half on that side and it's such a major concern going forward. What concerned me most in that second half is at no point did we make a go of it and try to get back into the game. The 3-2 scoreline makes it look a lot closer than it was. The reality is that we played like we were 5 or 6-1 down. Spurs at home next is a good opportunity to get back on track and I expect that the players will make a better attempt at that game. If we were to lose that in a similar fashion, then I don't know what will happen next.

[Hero-of-Time]

Awful match tonight. Once again we had trouble breaking down a team that plays very defensively. I was hoping Klopp would have sorted that out by now as it cost us many a point last year.

The ref had a nightmare. The pen was very soft and I honestly don't think it was a pen. The sending off for Palace was rough and I actually think Salah dived for it.

All 3 points in the bag but it wasn't a convincing win at all. Credit to Palace because they played well and looked the better side at times, even when they were down a man.

[Fierce_LiNk]

1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Awful match tonight. Once again we had trouble breaking down a team that plays very defensively. I was hoping Klopp would have sorted that out by now as it cost us many a point last year.

The ref had a nightmare. The pen was very soft and I honestly don't think it was a pen. The sending off for Palace was rough and I actually think Salah dived for it.

All 3 points in the bag but it wasn't a convincing win at all. Credit to Palace because they played well and looked the better side at times, even when they were down a man.

There looked to be contact for the penalty and my initial reaction to that and the sending off was that the referee got both decisions right.

Unlucky for Palace. Very little in the game and I thought both sides looked difficult to break down. Keita in midfield had a great game, I thought. Palace just couldn't get Zaha into the game enough, which was a shame because I felt he could have done something, like he did in the second half where he won the free kick. Think a 2-0 looks slightly harsh on Palace, but they'll be ok. They look pretty good imo and should be around midtable, which is comfortable for them. They're one striker short, imo. Benteke's shot in the second half where he almost cleared the stadium was comical. 

 

 

[Julius]

Some shade being thrown at Mourinho and United by some of the writers over at GOAL 

Quote

Money can’t buy class, argues Jose Mourinho. Nor, it seems, can it buy Manchester United a decent football team.

 

[Fierce_LiNk]

Just now, Julius Caesar said:

Some shade being thrown at Mourinho and United by some of the writers over at GOAL 

 

I don't think the money is necessarily the problem. The players coming in look like sensible/decent singings. It's just that the club doesn't know what to do with them when they get here. Reminds me of the Di Maria signing, which looked like a very good signing. I think most United fans were banking on Mourinho coming in and really sorting out the squad, but he hasn't really moulded together a team in the way that many thought he would. 

Maybe we need to look at another way. We've tried the "experienced" manager. We've tried "Premier League experience" with Moyes, we've tried "World experience" with Van Gaal with his philosophy and we've tried Mourinho's way which I guess is a combination of both. Perhaps a more youthful coach would be better, someone hungry.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I felt that De Gea wasn't going to get me many points this season due to the defence in front of him letting him down, so I've switched him for Ederson, as I can't see City conceding that many goals. Then, Wolves score a goal against City through a handball, so that's just great. No clean sheets for me.

[nekunando]

Phew

It wasn't great from Liverpool today and Allison had a couple of dodgy moments that Karius would have got murdered for but we got the 3 points

[Fierce_LiNk]

2 hours ago, nekunando said:

Phew

It wasn't great from Liverpool today and Allison had a couple of dodgy moments that Karius would have got murdered for but we got the 3 points

Have you got a team in the N-E fantasy football? You should join, it's been fun so far. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Do Man U have any defenders? Seriously, Spurs made it look so easy. It's laughable. @Fierce_LiNk you must be fuming with that performance.

Crazy to think how different the game would have been if Lukaku had scored that absolute sitter in the 16th minute.

Spurs did brilliantly to absorb the bit of pressure that Man U did put on them and then hit them on the counter. 

Man U had a bunch of possession but once again it shows such a stat is meaningless if you can't get the ball in the back of the net.

Its obviously very early days in the season but Man U are looking really ropey and to get beat by 3 goals at home is an awful result. 

[Fierce_LiNk]

10 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Do Man U have any defenders? Seriously, Spurs made it look so easy. It's laughable. @Fierce_LiNk you must be fuming with that performance.

Crazy to think how different the game would have been if Lukaku had scored that absolute sitter in the 16th minute.

Spurs did brilliantly to absorb the bit of pressure that Man U did put on them and then hit them on the counter. 

Man U had a bunch of possession but once again it shows such a stat is meaningless if you can't get the ball in the back of the net.

Its obviously very early days in the season but Man U are looking really ropey and to get beat by 3 goals at home is an awful result. 

Well, we played terribly against Brighton last week and, although we won our first game against Leicester, that performance wasn't particularly great either. I wasn't very confident going into this game and half-joking said to @Eenuh that I thought we'd lose 3-0. I say half joking, but I never once thought we'd win today.

The team sheet was hilarious. The RedCafe caught wind of the lineup about an hour and a bit before kick-off and they were scratching their heads trying to figure out who would be playing where. Then, when it came out that we were playing 3 at the back, you could see that the confidence was disappearing out of the fans. Smalling and Jones brought back in and starting, the trio of Bailly, Mata and Martial not even making the bench, and McTominay making the bench before all three of them. It's fair to say that many weren't happy with that.

It was well documented during the Summer that Mourinho wanted another centreback but didn't get one. Who knows what the true story is behind that one. I think Woodward didn't want to give him more money and that Mourinho would have to be content with the current squad. So, is that the higher-ups being tight with money or is that a lack of faith in the manager?

First half wasn't too bad, although Spurs got better towards the end of it. Lukaku absolutely should have scored with THAT chance and the same thing pretty much has happened in all three games now. He's come back from the World Cup rusty. In any other squad, there would be another striker coming in to replace him or he'd at least be challenged for the starting spot. We have Rashford, Martial and Sanchez who just aren't doing it. Something is just not right there. I said at half-time with the score at 0-0 that we would still lose 3-0 and that Spurs would just trample us in that second half.

Second half performance was abysmal. We had maybe one or two chances that looked decent, but we never recovered once that second goal went in. Once the second went in, that was it, tbh. The players aren't mentally strong enough to keep going, the substitutes did nothing, the shape was wrong (too many times Lukaku was deep and too many times Fellaini was the player picking the ball up on the right wing...correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't he be in the box on the receiving end of those crosses? Not supplying them. There was a distinct lack of leadership on the pitch. Pogba talked last week about his performances not being good enough, but he didn't improve this week. I thought our obvious best player was Luke Shaw, who did everything that could have been asked of him. Lingard comes close to him, too.

I think that's that, tbh. There are far too many under-performing players and the "plan" just isn't working. Martial, Rashford, Shaw, Bailly, Lindelöf, Sanchez, Pogba, Pereira, and quite a few others could all benefit from the type of management that somebody like Pochettino could bring, or someone of that ilk. We need coaching and tons of it. There were so many moments where basic mistakes were made. Lukaku not showing his composure when taking his chances, players showing a lack of discipline sticking to their positions, Pogba's passing (I imagine his percentage was low today...), Jones losing his marker too many times, Lindelöf not putting enough weight on his back-pass, etc. These are all mistakes that could be reduced through better coaching. What I saw in that second half were a group of players who didn't fully know what they were meant to be doing. 

We'll see what happens, but I'm bracing myself for the possibility of Mourinho going. Wouldn't surprise or shock me if he went tomorrow, and it wouldn't surprise if he goes at Christmas. I don't think this can be written off as a one-off bad performance, because there have been many factors which have led to this performance. The exiling of Martial from the squad, the general unhappiness for certain key players, the lack of quality defenders (we have conceded 8 goals in three games), the general lack of fluid and attacking football, the poor pre-season, the "plan" of how we're meant to approach games. He gambled today and it just backfired badly. I don't particularly want Mourinho to fail, but something has to change. Whether we change our structure at the club, or we work our arses off in training to fix our glaring issues, or whether we bring in a new manager. 

[nekunando]

I remember a post back in February where I said..

Quote

I was delighted to see Mourinho sign a new contract, to be honest..

To which @Fierce_LiNk replied..

Quote

How odd. Me too! It's good to have a proven winner managing your team, especially the type of guy who has actually won trophies in this country and has already brought success back to Old Trafford post-Ferguson, although Van Gaal certainly got things rolling. The man has won the Champions League with two different clubs (Porto and Inter Milan, no less) and has won the league in four different countries. What's also fantastic is that he has the balls to relegate players to the bench if they are not performing well, as he has done with Pogba recently. He was also quick to ship out Mkhitaryan for not delivering, and rightfully so.

Not really sure why you'd particularly want someone of that calibre as the manager of one of your rivals, but Liverpool fans are a funny bunch. 

Man United finished ahead of Liverpool last season and I can't argue with that. In fact, you may well finish above us again this season (I'm not buying into the media talk of the title for Liverpool just yet ) but recent weeks have shown why I was happy to see Mourinho extend his contract back then. I expected it to end in tears and, the way it is going, that may not be too far off.

I suspect he can still turn it around (he has won more Premier League titles than the rest of the managers in the league combined, after all..) but surely something has got to give! In fairness to Mourinho, though, he knew the defence wasn't good enough and hasn't been given the backing to fix it. You can tell how frustrated he is in every press conference, particularly tonight!

[Julius]

Say what you may about his management of United right now, there’s no doubt that he offers the best press conferences in the game 

Well worth watching until the very end. You just know he’s been waiting to throw out that statistic ever since Wenger announced he was parting ways with Arsenal  

[Hero-of-Time]

14 minutes ago, Julius Caesar said:

Say what you may about his management of United right now, there’s no doubt that he offers the best press conferences in the game 

Well worth watching until the very end. You just know he’s been waiting to throw out that statistic ever since Wenger announced he was parting ways with Arsenal  

I can't say I agree with him saying his players deserved to be applauded. If I was a Man U fan I would be fuming at the shift they put in, especially in the second half. Also, his point about the press having a go at him last season for winning games but doing so in a rough fashion isn't valid. He would have a point if his team were playing beautiful football and were somehow  still losing matches but they are losing games while still playing very flat football. Yes, it's great that he's won a bunch of trophies in the past but that isn't exactly any help to Man U fans at the moment.

[Fierce_LiNk]

10 hours ago, nekunando said:

I remember a post back in February where I said..

To which @Fierce_LiNk replied..

Man United finished ahead of Liverpool last season and I can't argue with that. In fact, you may well finish above us again this season (I'm not buying into the media talk of the title for Liverpool just yet ) but recent weeks have shown why I was happy to see Mourinho extend his contract back then. I expected it to end in tears and, the way it is going, that may not be too far off.

I suspect he can still turn it around (he has won more Premier League titles than the rest of the managers in the league combined, after all..) but surely something has got to give! In fairness to Mourinho, though, he knew the defence wasn't good enough and hasn't been given the backing to fix it. You can tell how frustrated he is in every press conference, particularly tonight!

Yeah, he knew the defence wasn't good enough and I'm not going to heap all of the blame entirely on him, just like I don't think the failings under Van Gaal were entirely his fault either. It's a combination of problems. Woodward is at fault, as are other sectors of the higher management. There has to be a reason or reasons why all of the players we seem to be bringing in aren't working out. I'm sure if we were to break down the signing post-Fergie, we would start to see some kind of pattern. Maybe the player we are targeting are not all the right players. Maybe the coaching methods aren't working. Maybe the "template" for how to run the club (not the business, the club) isn't the right one. Maybe it's the tactics that we're using. Maybe it's the man management. Maybe it's all of the above, or at least parts of it in various quantities. 

If the manager has a list of targets and the club don't bring in those targets, then what happens? I actually agree with Mourinho in this instance. We needed centrebacks...but we also needed a right back and a right winger. Also, we needed to move on players. United are becoming notoriously bad for buying players and for letting them stay at the club for too long. Jones is NEVER going to cut it, so why is he still here taking up a spot that could be going to someone who could improve us? It must be a dream to sign for us nowadays because we give out obscene wages and the players are being allowed to underperform. 

6 hours ago, Julius Caesar said:

Say what you may about his management of United right now, there’s no doubt that he offers the best press conferences in the game 

Well worth watching until the very end. You just know he’s been waiting to throw out that statistic ever since Wenger announced he was parting ways with Arsenal  

I've heard about that conference but I can't be arsed watching it. I know it's a part of what makes Jose the way he is, but I'd rather we just got on with it and doubled-down in training. Sometimes this just creates more ammo for the media to throw at the club later on. Why bother?

5 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I can't say I agree with him saying his players deserved to be applauded. If I was a Man U fan I would be fuming at the shift they put in, especially in the second half. Also, his point about the press having a go at him last season for winning games but doing so in a rough fashion isn't valid. He would have a point if his team were playing beautiful football and were somehow  still losing matches but they are losing games while still playing very flat football. Yes, it's great that he's won a bunch of trophies in the past but that isn't exactly any help to Man U fans at the moment.

I know what you mean. I watched the first half and thought that, yes, it was an improvement. But, it still wasn't really THAT great. There were a few odd moments, but we still didn't create enough and didn't take our chances. 

On the one hand, Mourinho has brought some success back to the club. The club has won the Europa League, the League Cup and has been in an FA Cup Final. Second in the league is also our highest finish post-Fergie. So, nobody can deny that these are good achievements. It's the style of football that is in question, particularly at points last season. For the players who he has at his disposal, the football just wasn't that great to watch. It's just not consistent. Part of this is down to the decision making of the players, but Mourinho has to take some of the flack for this as a motivator and manager. There are so many players that are underperforming. I find it a bit daft in a sense that millionaire footballers need motivating to do their job, but we are where we are. They need a kick up the arse. Now, the issue is what do you do if players aren't performing? You drop them, but then you've got a millionaire footballer taking their wages and are not playing. Maybe it's a wider issue at the club and they should be better at moving on these players elsewhere. Take Martial for instance. Is this the fault of the player for not performing better, is it the fault of the manager for not using him to his best ability, or is it the fault of the chairman for not selling him on?

From a fan's perspective, I guess every football fan wants the same thing. They want 11 players who are committed to a cause, a team that play exciting football and a manager who makes the right changes and calls at the right time. The easiest solution is for Mourinho to turn it around. The easiest solution for the players is to work with the manager. If we change the manager again, we have to hit the restart button and it's another rebuilding process. I want Mourinho to be a success at the club and the barometer for that is how they compete in the league. 

[Eddage]

It’s all well and good for Mourinho to complain about the board not supporting him and his wish for a new centre back but let’s not forget that Bailey and Lindeloff are both his signings.
It’s not like he has inherited a brand new defence, he’s got the board to buy players and then later kicked up a fuss and started saying they aren’t good enough and then complained they won’t buy him more!

[Fierce_LiNk]

3 minutes ago, Eddage said:

It’s all well and good for Mourinho to complain about the board not supporting him and his wish for a new centre back but let’s not forget that Bailey and Lindeloff are both his signings.
It’s not like he has inherited a brand new defence, he’s got the board to buy players and then later kicked up a fuss and started saying they aren’t good enough and then complained they won’t buy him more!

True, he is accountable for those two signings. At the time, Bailly looked to be a good signing, but injuries and dips in form have made him to look worse than I think he is. Lindelöf has looked, by some distance, one of his weakest signings. But, is that down to the player's quality, or is that down to chop and changing in defence, the lack of consistency and maybe not being partnered up with a more experienced and commanding defender? 

I think Mourinho is within his rights to ask for a new centreback. Who else is there at the club? Smalling, Jones and Rojo.

Smalling - Has had a good career at the club. 28 years old and isn't going to improve. Is he going to be starting every game and is he good enough to be? If the answer to these questions is no, then we either keep as a third/fourth choice or move on. 

Jones - Too many injury problems and is too reckless to be starting every game, including the bigger games. Was poor yesterday. Imo, we should be moving him on. I don't think he's developed as it had been hoped when he signed.

Rojo - utility player, maybe? Isn't going to be a starting player, so should be moved on. Need to be ruthless here.

So, looking at that, we've got 5 defenders who aren't guaranteed to be starting every game. How can there be a tight defensive partnership if there is so much chopping and changing? We've been bailed out for the last few seasons by the brilliance of De Gea, but we really need to address this issue and it should have been sorted in the Summer.

[Charlie]

On 25/08/2018 at 9:55 PM, Fierce_LiNk said:

Have you got a team in the N-E fantasy football? You should join, it's been fun so far. 

What's the code to join?