OhForAGreavsie

I don't disagree with any of this. I don't think anyone could. The point is that none of it is news. We already knew that we are in a tough spot, that we lack both breadth and depth of quality, and that unlike Jose the new manager is not a magic wand. He isn't going to win the league with this shower. What we might have hoped to gain from yesterday was information about how the quest for solutions is going. It is in the way you have assessed that quest that I think your response is pessimistic. Only two players have arrived so far to help strengthen the squad. Neither of them started. Far from being strengthened, the back four has in fact been weakened. Their frailties were visible but they were by no means as bad as they have been characterised. Take any back four, put them behind a better front six and their defending will immediately improve. We need to distinguish between a team's defenders and its defence. Last night our defenders started the game behind a horrible front six and as a result our deence was worse than it might have been. Look for example at the way Nemanja's inability to play a simple pass with his right foot caused him to play a less sound one with his left, that led eventually to Ola being dispossessed and the second goal being conceded. On the other hand Bats was okay when he came on, Hazard was okay when he came on, and Nate continued his better-than-expected form. I felt there was evidence that once Antonio decides to put his top 11 onto the pitch it will perform better than our top 11 did last season. Our best 11 is nowhere near the quality we would like but when you start from when we did the journey back is always going to be a long one.

Hello Jay, First of all, I think you are right to caution everybody not to get carried away simply because we have appointed a new manager and have shown promise against two very weak Austrian sides. On the other hand, I think you are being overly pessimistic here. I tend to agree with the points @Belgiannutt made in his reply but I'd like to add something to what he said. It concerns your fourth point. I don't know how you would describe the lineups with which the two sides finished the game. C/D for Real and A/B for Chelsea perhaps? If that was so, what should we expect to happen in that situation? Surely we would think Chelsea would have much the better of the game. Well that is exactly what happened. We cut through them at will and if our finishing had been better we'd have won. This doesn't mean the players who were on the pitch at the time are world beaters but at least they lived up to expectations and that's a start. We are not as good as Real, nor as good as we should be, but I'm confident that we are better than we looked yesterday. It's self evident that we can put out a stronger 11 then we had on the pitch at any stage last night. That 11 would still loose to Madrid but only because they're a great team and we are not. Our focus should be on whether or not we are better than we were, on the manager figuring out which players can help him, and which cannot, and on further successes in the transfer market.

I saw his debut. Being old does that to you. Graig is not usually fair, he is usually extremely critical. That is something I don't like but can accept. He is often under-prepared however because he hasn't done his homework and that is unforgiveable.

No.

Yes, I realise that is the general expectation. I just expressed myself in that way so as to imply my own opinion which is that Bats is the better player.

Nothing to see here folks. We have a much better XI we can put out than the one which struggled in the first half. Players win matches; ours lost that one. We can, and will, be better. We are not yet good enough but nor are we as grim as we seemed for spells here. I also feel it's a deliberate plan by Antonio to obscure his real thinking about the team. Just a guess of course.

So what do we do with Costa then? Sit him or sell him?

Lots of free kicks from gullable refs for a start.

Is there anyone left who thinks Lukaku is better than he is and how long will it be till everyone realises that Michy is our first choice striker?

If the front six played better then that would already improve our defence.

We already know you like to say idiotic things so, although further evidence is welcome, it's not compulsory. How exactly do you have even the slightest idea what Dave does, or does not, have the confidence to say? Does this nonsense sound sensible inside your own head before you type it out? By the way, Jose won the league and did it with a much less capable squad than we have this season.

Let's be fair and factor in the front six they are defending behind. That makes a difference. A big one.

If Baba is the answer then I don't want to know the question.

One thought which is growing on me is that Antonio is doing a Joe Gibbs. Gibbs, legendary coach of Washington's NFL side, was famous for showing absolutely nothing in pre-season. HIs team only ever ran 'vanilla' plays. Not a single one of Washington's key plays or sets was ever called until the regualar season got underway. We're seeing only one of the atacking players who is likely to start the season. As for the scoreline, it's mainly individual quality that is beating us at the moment. They have it and we don't.

OK, fair enough Ola was disposessed, but it's Matic's outrageous one-footedness which is to blame for the second goal. Half the passing angels on the pitch are closed to him. That time there was a simple and effective right foot pass available but he couldn't take it so he went back instead and that forced a pass which then gave Ola no option but to take on his man and that led him to run into trouble. Matic is not the answer.

I don't agree with you about the club not trusting youngsters and not encouraging managers to select them but, first, I'm hoping that Victor is ready for a reality check. Having been basically a squad player at Liverpool, Stoke and West Ham, is Victor now ready to accept that this is the function he is suited for at Premier League level? If he isn't, that's perfectly understandable, but if he is willing to accept the situation then I'd be happy to keep him in that role. I am not as bullish as some people are about Charly Musonda's prospects but he does have a chance of making an impact here so, from a squad planning point of view, it might make more sense to keep someone like Victor as a 'place holder' for him, rather than to invest in an expensive acquision who would only get in Charly's way later on. The energy, the finance and the emotional commitment thrown at the academy make it clear that youth development is much more than just a contractual obligation for the club. Having seen all of that investment in Cobham, it would be crazy for us to think that the club is not interested in the results. Every manager of the Roman era, bar Claudio, has spoken of how the club wants to develop youngsters. If that is not evidence that they are being encouraged then what is? If Cobham has not developed any players who the manager wants to pick, what do we suggest the club can do to push the actual selection of the kids? Perhaps refuse to provide the cash for senior recruits and hope that improves the odds for some kids? Has anyone seen any evidence that such a thing might have been tried? I'd say perhaps we have. If that is so then it suggests that the club puts too much trust in our youngsters, not that it lacks faith in them.Ultimately however the club should not, and does not, directly interfere with the manager's choices. That would be going too far with the encouragement. I've often argued that it takes a long, long time to develop kids through an academy structure and so it does. It is, in my opinion, still too early to pass a definitive judgement on the work being done at Cobham but maybe, for the first time, we can begin to form some opinions. As we do that however, I'd ask people, prticularly those with an anti-Jose outlook, to bear in mind that the players who were not considered ready last season are now a year older and, at their age, a year makes a big difference.

Which is why I don't want Rom.

Despite what Anders has said about dreaming of a Chelsea future, Gladbach would not be pursuing this transfer unless they knew he'd be prepared to join them I'm not caling the lad a liar, I'm sure that his statement is more than just a well advised bit of public relations but, when faced with a choce between a dream and a reality, it's hard to completely turn your back on reality. Gladbach will be reminding Anders about the difficulty he faces getting into the Chelsea team and they'll be asking him this question, "What does it tell you if Chelsea are prepared to enter into negotiations with us about your transfer?"

My attitude is simply that if Costa leaves, he leaves. As long as we get a good fee that is.

I must say I like Higuain but I understand the point you're making. Even so, Juve haven't really overspent. What they've done, or will have done if United go through with it, is swap Pogba for Higuain and a pile of cash. That must be quite easy to justify to themselves.

It is obviously not just the players who are preparing for the season!

Seems you two need to get a coffee and work this out.

disagree about Brana & JT Even with no further signings this squad is superior to the one with which Jose won the league. As for sitting deep, it's to the credit of good manager that he uses a shape which gives his team the best chance to win.

Presumeably after Jose's has been completed?

I hope United walk away. Whether measured in Sterling or Euros, the 100m is already beyond the pale, Throw in the agent's fee and if United pay this clubs, players and their representatives will loose all restraint when doing business with Premier League teams. Only by refusing these silly demands can our clubs hope to curb the outrageous excesses of the transfer market. If, on the other hand, they cave in on these fees then just wait till you see the numbers on next season's price tags!