OneMoSalah

I wouldn’t start sweating about it yet. We don’t know that Liverpool win all their games or Leicester don’t drop more points. People are acting as if Liverpool and Leicester are these sort of invincible teams or that they will win their games regardless of who they are against. Jesus Leicester were looking like they might drop out of third place prior to their win the other night after dropping points v Newcastle and Southampton. And the same Liverpool who dropped 4 points v Leeds and Newcastle and play United tomorrow who you wouldn’t be surprised if OGS took points off them as is his record against the likes if Pep, Klopp, us etc. ultimately we are still in the driving seat. And theres a goal so now people will stop shitting their drawers.

Jesus do people think we are West Ham or Newcastle or something? Fuck sake. I mean theres the second half still here and then 2 games v Leicester and Villa we are more than capable of winning. Thats 6 points we should be able to get with ease and say we don’t het the win tonight that gives us 70 points. Throw on top potentially managing to get a draw or win tonight still. Even it Liverpool win there remaining 4 they can only get 69 points. Plus if we beat Leicester chances are we go above then.

Records made to be broken. Lets go. Hudson-Odoi on for more penetration in the final third maybe.

It is overreacting. Severely. Even worse the folk greeting about the starting 11. Not one mention from you on how we have completely controlled and dominated the game, which regardless of the score, we have. Poor finishing and sometimes a lack of movement or creativity (which isn’t exactly anything new) has hindered us but I suppose nobody wants to mention that as if it is a one off game thing when its not, its been a problem a lot of the season. I mean I know Arsenal are bad but they’ve literally done nothing all game bar score a fluke goal from a mistake because we have more or less completely dominated them. They cant get out. They have had 2 shots, 1 on target. The only thing that is not good enough has been the mistake, the application has been there, the control of the game has been there, the energy to win the ball back is there. Its not as if we have chucked it. Some drama queens on here man.

Bar the fact we haven’t scored and conceded from an error from Jorginho, all in all we have played alright, controlled the game very well and had 3/4 chances we should of scored at least one from. People severely overreacting. Yes a lot of the plays in front of them but the talks of disgrace/whatever else is a bit far fetched but unsurprising. Why are people complaining about the line up? Thats basically 2/3s of the usual back 3, both our starting wing/fullbacks, 1/2 of our usually midfield starting and also Mount and Havertz who were part of our front 3 vs Real who played so well. Honestly.

This is the game isnt it. Real Madrid esque finishing vs a piss poor team. Probably finish 1-0...

Exactly. Its essential at any team who are building from the back that the GK makes a passing angle if their under pressure. The select few saying about Kepa wouldn’t have said a word if it was Mendy the double standards are laughable.

Also how is anyone blaming Kepa for their goal? Did yous not watch it 😂 wow

Ah well. What a shit start clear chance to score then they go and get the first goal.

Good first 11. Hopefully get to see Livramento and Anjorin at some point.

He did do well with them to a degree that is true but the talks of him being in for the England job or being an acceptable option at other bigger clubs than Bournemouth were always premature. In the PL alone he had spent 25.5m on Jefferson Lerma, 20m on Ake, 19m on Solanke, 16m on Jordan Ibe, 15m on Philip Biling, 14m on Diego Rico, 12m on Benik Afobe etc in the seasons they were up and bar Ake, the rest of them flopped horribly. Also incorrect Mings was at Bournemouth signed from Ipswich and never kicked on there playing 20 matches in 4 seasons so left to go to Villa, so I cannot see how he could have been their defensive lynchpin. Wilshere and Harry Wilson were loanees over his spell there but again Wilshere played 27 games and didn’t put up any trees as his career was effectively over for a player who could play at any club in the top 10-14 spots in the PL if I am honest and well Harry Wilson no clue what he is up to now. His greatest achievement in terms of signings is probably Ryan Fraser who he signed from Aberdeen when Bournemouth were in League 1, Harry Arter, Matt Ritchie or Callum Wilson. Ake was really his only good PL signing tbh. The pont is regardless taking Frank out of consideration completely, Eddie Howe would of been a poor choice for any top club also. Yes 2 promotions was good work from him and on shoe strings but when he got to the PL he also shown exactly the sort of ceiling he would hit as a manager and particularly shown an incredibly poor judge of player whilst he was managing Bournemouth in the PL as some of those signings for those prices listed above were abysmal. If Lampard had managed for the same time period at a club like Derby then it would be a different story as there would be more to judge him on. I don’t necessarily think he had done remotely close to enough for a top end of the table PL job yet alone ours but in hindsight seeing how Derby are now the difference is night and day compared to them when he was there, I think hes maybe not done the worst job in the world in that season although obviously not perfect. He made a mistake leaving there too soon as did we hiring him in all fairness. He did get us to an FA cup final we should have been winning in all fairness but you don’t want to be remembered as a club for only getting to finals, you want to be remembered for winning them. And we were outgunned by fucking Mikel Arteta of all folk and look at the shambles of that team now.

Interesting was thinking back on his time here and what he’s done after when I seen him play earlier for United. I know his career hasn’t exactly kicked on since he left us but he has nearly 100 goal involvements for United - 50 goals and 47 assists - in 271 games so basically a goal or assist every 2.8 games or 3 whatever your pick is. Not amazing but considering he hasn’t really ever been a regular there bar under Moyes prior to his sacking and Van Gaal for a bit but again in and out, it’s still not exactly been a career wasted so to speak, just has maybe underachieved (say that lightly though based on the trophies hes won still). It still does pain me to think what he could have continued to do here although he did have his limitations but at the same time the technical ability and quality that so many others didn’t have who lasted a lot longer than him here. For example Oscar and Willian. Overall though throughout his career, 618 club games, 137 club goals and 157 club assists. Basically a goal or assist every 2 games or close enoigh. Plus he’s won the World Cup, the Euros, the CL, Copa del Rey, 2 Europa Leagues, 2 FA cups and the EFL/Carabao Cup. So all in all not done too badly which is why maybe a waste of a career is a bit harsh although United being piss poor over a long period has largely contributed to a lack of medals. If he had gone somewhere else or stayed he’d have bound to have won more. Would say his playing style and lack of athleticism has made him a victim to how football over the last 10-15 years has seen this continuous emphasis and rise on everyone being even more athletic and even more extremely fit to play in these top teams. The majority of them all now seem to be associated with this relentless gegenpressen or counter pressing approach or whatever you want to call it and doesn’t look like its going anywhere any time soon.

Is it possible for us to leapfrog United? 6 points behind with 3 games to go ... maybe not as probable. Would need them to basically lose all their games.

Tbf Eddie Howe is one of the most overrated British managers out there as well. All this talk of attacking football, Bournemouth were strictly a counter attacking team when they were at their most effective in the PL and still conceded a fuck tonne of goals. Not to mention the money he spent at Bournemouth and they never improved one bit. I agree with the rest of the points though although Derbys fall under Cocu and Rooney now maybe highlights Lampard did a better job there than we give him credit for.

Disagree completely. Why give someone out of their depth who had us sitting like 8th and looking progressively worse than we did the previous season, after spending 250 mil on players who were significantly better than what we had the season beforehand more time? Just to make us even worse? The players weren’t particularly happy either with the lack of tactical instructions or high level of training as well as his inability to react in games before it was too late as well as blaming players and taking no responsibility with if various sources are to be believed. Plus there was tension between him and the club after a poor January and his insistence on a big money move for Declan Rice after spending near 300m with 0 obvious signs of improvement. Just look at his mentality regarding us as well how many times did he say “we aren’t title challengers” this season when people were talking us up based on our squad whicu is the second best in the PL for depth effectively? Look at the difference in the group now we have someone who is willing to say we can win this and this or that. Or even when we go a goal down the reaction is night and day. Tuchels already effectively said we can win the CL after beating City twice and he wants to be a title challenger next season. We would of been lucky to close the gap as it was at that stage in the season with Frank, probably, ok no probaly about it, 100% would be out of the CL and FA cup as well as nowhere near top 4. We would of been where Arsenal or Spurs were/are, who kept/have retained their managers too long and look how thats worked for them. This giving managers more than 18 months time is a thing of the past if things aren’t going well at most clubs in Europe who want to be successful, yet alone without considering our track record for it with bigger and better managers. I dont see how anyone could see how Lampard could have achieved half of what Tuchel has done since January. Obviously his legacy as a player will always be held in the highest esteem here but as a manager he had 2 runs where we went unbeaten in the 18 months he was here and that was it. Finishing 4th with our squad last season was celebrated as a major major success by many outside of the club in the media because it was Frank and we lost Hazard but I still think its no less than what anyone worth their salt should have achieved (Allegri, Sarri, whoever we could have got of a reasonable level) and we also should of finished above United considering we had a 12 point cushion after the first 4 or 5 months of that season and blew it almost going to the last game or two. I am baffled that anyone thinks he should have been given more time.

Has to start v Arsenal and then the FA cup final. Playing at least 60-70 mins in each. Then rest him for the games v Leicester and Villa in the league so he is ready for the CL final.

Are retired players not allowed to drink? Or you making stories up? Never heard that one before, if your talking about Jody Morris that is. I think some people forget that the majority of these guys spend 20 yesrs playing a high competitive sport which means they dont get the same freedom to do what they want or go to the pub with their mates or family or whatever like us regular folks do. Yes they get the money and whatever else but its a big exchange for a lot of sacrifices also.

Hes on about 300k a week. No chance it happens. I am sure he is highest paid defender, signed on a £14.5m base salary, rising to £21.7m with bonuses.

This is true. Regarding who may miss/may have missed if only 23, may have been Turnbull (a creative number 8/10), Nathan Patterson (a RB) and then Billy for sure. Although Turnbull would be the most likely to go out of any of the uncapped players by a country mile and somehow didn’t get in the last NT call ups which didnt go down well. But theres still also more senior players who weren’t in the last squad, Forrest, Griffiths, Cooper, so it wouldnt even be a guarantee he takes any of them. I think our biggest concern with our squad is a lack of goals/creativity. Which is why I think as mentioned above Turnbull has to go. Then theres Ryan Gauld who’s came off a good season in Portugal for Farese (who are like 17th), with 8 goals 7 assists and a lot of big opportunities created in 30 games (think he’s created or made more passes that have lead to chances for his team than most players in the division based on the information doing the rounds) which makes him an obscure, wild card choice but again someone who I can see making it based on the creativity he could bring. Ultimately who knows now though I think SC will be very predictable though and would probably bring the tried and tested bunch he usually picks bar maybe swapping out McLean for Turnbull if he is injured and wont make the tournament and maybe bringing the likes of James Forrest, Liam Cooper then one either Gilmour/Patterson/Gauld. I’d like to see them all 3 of them go obviously on top of Turnbull as the four of them would give us some younger blood and but the midfielders would definitely be a nightmare to pick then also.

Hes a 50m player we have to start treating him like one unfortunately which I think at times people are forgetting. I tend to remember the slagging off Morata and Abraham used to get for being offside a lot on here. Morata still gets it from Juventus fans too and deservedly so because he has scored like 13 offside goals this season. Should we not be holding these sort of similar players to the same standards no? Instead of being impartial and ignoring it for one guy after others would be chastising others for the same? The Spurs one though the point is, he’s still well positioned to look across the line.... which is why I mean its lazy, it would be the same for any CF/attacker. I think as well if some of these results had swung the other way also, there would be more concern and much more criticism. Ultimately he looks like he’s maybe turning the page but these things, being caught offside frequently, not looking across the line, you can accept it a few times but the top goalscoring players don’t get caught out far too often. The top PL top scorers, Kane, Salah, Son, Fernandes and Calvert-Lewin, have been offside 13, 13, 15, 3 and 17 times. Yes Rashford and Vardy may have high offsides but ultimately they aren't sitting with 6 goals 8 assists in 2428 minutes. Both have 10+ goals (Vardy 13, Rashford 10) and 9 assists in the PL). I mean you do want him to score more right? Hows he going to score more if he perhaps can’t stay/get himself back onside or look across the line more often? Shouldn’t that not be an obvious problem for a CF if he is in the top 5 for offsides when he only has 6 league goals?

And that was you shouting he was a more offensive manager than Tuchel a few weeks back due picking more attacking players.... Doesn’t guarantee anything. Particularly if their too top heavy with players who don’t put the work in on the other side.

I suppose he will get more minutes definitely now with the next few weeks so he has a chance to make a late push. Re Walcott was that not more due to a lack of pace out of the other options? I am sure that was what Sven has said about it. For us our midfield is probably our strongest area right now as mentioned in another post to Jason at some point last week. I did notice Kenny McLean may be out of Euros now due to an injury he got for Norwich so it opens the door for one of Billy or Ryan Gauld perhaps, but perhaps again they’d be more there as backups as the majority of the regulars in midfield will be going I would think and probably be ahead in the managers mind as they were big part of getting us to the Euros. Who knows though, I think the experience would be good for Billy and also give us a chance to mix it up but I do feel its too little too late. Plus theres boys like Ryan Christie, Stuart Armstrong, who can play as further advanced midfielders as well with 2 of those 4 or 5 named above also. So its not as straightforward as people might think. Id still say even with 26 man squads its not going to be a cert or even a huge possibility unless he plays every week. Steve Clarke didn’t call him up after his wee run in the team with Lampard either last season so I doubt after 2 games v Fulham then City it will make him more liable to pick him.

Its a bit of a mix maybe for some people but it has been reoccurring this season. Some of the ones v City and Madrid were painful though and thats why Ian Wright has maybe had his say. I suppose big games this late on in the season means more so maybe why it gets more attention also. There have been others undoubtedly of the same ilk due to a lack of awareness or laziness to not get onside. I do agree some teams play the offside system very well but some don’t, some just sit off us in a deep block. I get he was unlucky v Liverpool a while ago with one offside but theres got to be a point as well where you have to also think should he not be able to be smarter or see across the line more for some others no? Its as if he hasn’t learned from any of these moments... particularly v Real from Chilwell’s pass. That was criminal for me, hes quicker than all of their players there. One of the disallowed goals v City tbf hes no chance in making it back realistically having seen it again hes about 3 yards offside but there was another ball played to him where he’s so lazily just standing offside, like its frightening how he’s even thinking he isn’t offside there, the one where he rounds Ederson. Also against Spurs back in November, hes looking across the line, blatantly offside, scores yes but has to hold his run although the pass can come sooner but as it didn’t, its still lazy to get caught off when your looking right across the line, like you’d expect that in youth football... cant remember any more of the top of my head but inevitably there will be others and will do some further digging because 26 offsides cannot be purely down to bad luck, playing style or good offside traps. I do get his playing style also maybe contributes at times or his role but other players who have similar roles in teams such as Son, Martial, Salah, Sterling, are all offside much less considerably than Werner is. So I wouldn’t disagree with what Ian Wright has said or say that its purely just down to his style, its down to a lot more than that. As I said I remember the stress and annoyance from Morata being offside far too often here, I dont see how its unfair or any different for Werner. Even more so considering how many teams bar the top ones, actually sit in against us and play a deep block. To have 26 offsides in the league when probably more than 50% of the games is against smaller teams who play in or around their own 18 yard box in a low block limiting space in behind is extremely annoying.

If he keeps playing regularly now I think so, or certainly hope, but probably has to play well in at least another 3 games for the full duration. He only has 309 minutes this season in CL and PL. If the season finished yesterday it would not be enough. Not sure how many cup games hes played but having not played over 1000 minutes in a combination of the league or CL against higher quality opposition probably doesn’t help.

Cmon Jason its not just been v City. He has been offside a lot, 26 times this season, 4th highest in the league, only behind Mane, Watkins and Vardy. Some of them are sheer laziness not looking across the line. For his pace, he has to learn. As I remember this was the same criticism for Morata a lot here also.