OneMoSalah

If we hadn't dropped points v WBA and Southampton, I would take this draw as a clean sheet at Old Trafford along with a point isn’t always the worst thing in the world. Now though, having dropped them points, I think today was a real chance to make a statement and we needed the 3 points. Typical we went 343. Don’t understand why. We didn’t even play 343 v Liverpool. 9 points from 6 games isn’t amazing and questions rightfully should be asked as its a poorer return than expected. Must win every game in the league up to Spurs now to get some more points on the board, then hopefully get a win v Spurs.

Yeah seen that. mental

They are there to be had. Getting beat is not an option. Draw away would normally be sound but with 8 points from 5 games a win is a must IMO.

I think for Barcelona yes, 100%. He did play CM for Liverpool briefly under Rodgers for a period but I don't think its his best position because in terms of building the game it isn't a strength of his. He has to be in the final third. Also the 4231 it gives them the chance to put someone with more legs in beside Busquets who is slowing down but his quality on the ball is still good. Then de Jong obviously, is a top player, tremendous at receiving the ball under pressure and dealing with it 9/10 times.

Been wondering why they have never played 4231 for years. Suits Messi, suits Coutinho, suits de Jong, would of suited Suarez if he stayed and played infront of Messi as a 9 also before he left. Obviously it gives Messi the chance to play on the shoulder or more liekly, drop as a false 9. He has plenty of pace around him with Pedri and Fati as well.

I think he bought himself some time after the first 6 months of last season. Before the dip. I really do. And getting the chance to buy players this summer has obviously helped him to the point where he has put his own stamp on the squad a bit but as you've said we need to see where we are at in December. I don't think 18 months is unfair and most clubs now a days probably give that as a minimum time before changing unless its something drastically bad. 8 points in 5 games isn't good enough though and a win today regardless of it being United, is a must imo.

It is a tough place to be. As many of us are/have been. You want these guys to be successful. Ex players as managers, regardless of your team or even if you have no interest in the PL you'd want to see Lampard doing well here or OGS doing well at United or in Serie A, Conte/Pirlo doing well with Juventus or Neil Lennon doing well at Celtic or whatever. Just because these guys have player legacies and you think doing bad doesn't just tarnish their managerial reputation but potentially their player legacies in a way (not directly but it probably does a wee bit) or you think it will, which is why you want them to do well because you go it would be a shame if that tainted fans opinions on him a bit. You are right though, a players career shouldn't be used to give them a bit of leeway as a manager but the romanticism to a degree, maybe sentimental side of it is a better term, especially with someone like Frank as it would be with JT or Petr or Didier or Ashley Cole, you want to lean that way more and more and give them the benefit of the doubt. But then you have to consider Villas-Boas was shot off after 9 months, Scolari after however long, Carlo sacked after finishing 2nd. Jose a year after winning a title. Conte after finishing 5th and winning a trophy. Sarri basically may as well have been after finishing 3rd and winning the Europa League. These are guys who had varied levels of success at other clubs and had good reputations also so it kind of takes you back down a bit. I think now a days in management at top clubs, 18 months minimum is the sort of time you should be giving these guys before judging them (that's 3 transfer windows realistically). I said last season that Frank had to get things sorted because he won't get too long if the teams still struggling with the basics because people expect teams to be able to defend in general be it free kicks, set pieces or from open play and be tough to play against because people would say that these are the basics in football. I mean if Burnley or someone like that who spend 150-200m less each summer window can do that with what you'd say are poorer/less innovative coaches, why can Chelsea not? How many times have we heard Roy Keane say about teams failing to do the basics? Or Jamie Carragher or Gary Neville? Not necessarily just us but other teams Even things like individuals closing the ball down a meter away from them as well as other things as a collective such as defending corners/freekicks and whatever else. I really don't think you have to be a coaching genius to make your team be hard to beat, I think you obviously get players who aren't in the same mould as the guys we had 10-15 years ago but I don't think its neccessarily something that you only need specific players for. I think if come December, things don't look good, the pressure will ramp up (although you can see there is more and more people in the media kind of asking the question how can Chelsea still be making the same mistakes they did last season).

Perhaps but I think the last 3 or 4 years he's had a lot of niggling injuries and still managed to be a regular. I get he's getting older but I still think he has plenty life in him, just seems to be the case with a lot of these South American guys at the very top level. They seem to manage to keep playing even with accumulations of these wee injuries and such, I mean Messi's no doubt had his problems the last few seasons, as has Aguero, Di Maria at times, Cavani last season etc but they don't really look like slowing down. Obviously different cases for others. Even then if he's going to play 65-70% of the games or be a rotational option you'd take him no problem because he is goals guaranteed. Teams would shit themselves if you took him on with 20-25 minutes to go because he normally just needs 1 good chance to make a huge impact. Talking City, Foden changed the game for them today. Crazy without Silva now Pep isn't starting him every week. He has to now. He has no excuses, he didn't buy a replacement.

That was purely driven by Antonio Conte, you can tell now more than ever why he wanted him here. Hes turned him into a very rounded player. None of them look consistent which is why getting a result today v United is paramount. We only have 8 points after 5 games. Wouldn't be so sure. He has been an amazing player since he was about 23. Injuries obviously may slow him down a bit but I think many people thought he wouldn't improve under Pep and again he's taken his game another level in my eyes and they are still a totally different team without him. I think he is the sort of guy who could drop back and play as a second striker/10 for a few years (like Tevez did) also because he is so potent outside the box and his linking up and ability to spot passes is vastly underrated. I know he doesn't get a lot of assists but he definitely isn't capable. Or even playing upfront in a 2 man partnership with a bigger guy like Pellegrini had him do at City. Still gutted we never got him back in whenever it was. Criminal really. If the whole JT story is true, which I doubt, its even more criminal...

Aye, thats it. I mean if it takes someone 8 years after signing to basically now say that he is good enough to be Chelsea’s 3rd choice then that sums him up and why he isn’t at the club. Dont remember hearing about Bamford in the Championship from these guys either in his last 2 seasons with Leeds. I will admit I have been critical of Mount, Tammy and Reece to various different levels last season but Mason and Tammy had the unfortunate ‘luxury’ of being overplayed through a poor patch when Frank had others he could have utilised. Which would have taken them out of the firing line. And was poor on Franks behalf If I am honest as young players do need protected/taken out if they aren’t doing well. Not to the level of where some guys are now, which is unfair and its to the point where I havent been surprised because I see Jorginho get it, Willian last season despite being one of our best players also (probably 3rd best attacking player and statistically best season in a Chelsea shirt), countleas times Cahill getting shot down and questioned as captain, Azpi also, before them Ivanovic, Mikel and others also from mainly our own lot (a big percentage on here) and then you had the whole Jorginho-Kante thing in the media with Sarri. Different as they aren't youngsters but its typical. Just don’t understand it sometimes. Its typical though, I get we all have opinions and so do pundits journalists etc but English media are really bad at shooting down their own.

All well and good and as you’ve said but those 4 photos, not one of them is Jorginho? So the others are at fault. But mainly, it seems to be why doesn’t HE play those passes? Not Kovacic, not Kante. Jorginho. There is a photo of Jorginho playing that pass OTT to Werner v Liverpool in that Twitter thread, although it isnt great, hes played it still. Makes me wonder if he was on the ball for instance in any of those photos, I could argue he would maybe make one or two more of those passes but we won’t know because it wasn’t him on it? For me, personally it is just any game, any result, could be any other talking point and there will be someone complaining that Jorginho doesn’t do this or do that, I dont think there’s one game hes played where he has had a bad game this season in the league if I am honest but he is obviously not a player people appreciate to the degree they would others. Its not a direct comment towards you because at least your giving an argument or your opinion towards it in a way where you've got actual things that make it a bit easier to see where your coming from but some people, he could play a very good game and its still a total meltdown or because he gave the ball away once or because he isn’t Usain Bolt its a disaster 🤣 I know I said that perhaps we don’t make the runs as much and okay thats photos showing otherwise in one game but again limiting it just down to one game, v Liverpool every week is hardly a good sample either. Its also not like Jorginho didn’t set Werner up with a pass OTT of a high line v Southampton. So I suppose the point is valid about their being runs to some degree but its not like we’ve missed the chance to find in 4, 5 or 6 of these runs every game. Ziyech should help as we seen in preseason v Brighton with that pass for Hudson-Odoi(?) I think for any movement but its still debatable. Comparing him or many other MF players in the PL to Cesc is always going to end badly. He has like the 2nd top assists in PL history, so obviously his creativity was unbelievable and obviously going to top Jorginho’s. Even then Cesc, still got a lot of stick here at times, even when trying to find people further forward because it wouldn't be coming off and he was apparently giving it away too much/shouldn’t be trying to force it as much... so its not as if people would be exempting him from any sort of criticism in the same way they have been overly critical of guys like Jorginho, Mason Mount, Branislav Ivanovic, Gary Cahill, Diego Costa, Mikel, the list could go on and on.

Precisely. He was out of his depth in the PL on his previous loans and more than likely below average until 2017 when he made a good progression in the Championship but aye, people will then say Mourinho wanted Falcao instead of giving him a chance to make out hes made a mistake. Please. 33 PL appearances. 7 goals. Take out his 6 goals for Leeds in 6 games. 1 goal in 27 games. Just typical though people will jump on the bandwagon and be like I told you so despite the fact, he hasn’t particularly achieved anything of exceptional level like Salah and KdB have who are the main examples. Be interesting to think what Mourinho would say about that comment 🤣 Also that thread on Twitter is ridiculous. Says he called him Chelsea’s Harry Kane. Kane didnt burst on the scene to 2013-14 on a regular basis for Spurs, we signed Bamford in 2012 and unlike Kane, Bamford didnt make an impression at PL level in various loan spells where as Kane did when he got a chance in the PL. Bamford had various loans before landing at Leeds. He was at Boro permanently prior to Leeds also. Then he bangs on about him turning down Harvard to sign for Chelsea and only Chelsea as if the boy wasn’t already playing planning on being a pro footballer having already made appearances for Nottingham Forrest as well as already having already been privately educated as well (meant to better than most in the UK get in public schools). I really hope that guy isnt an aspiring journalist or whatever because he is so full of shit its unbelievable. Maybe should just make a Twitter to send him it 🤣 seems like anything to try and paint the club in a bad light.

What was alarming for me and am a bit relieved its finally being mentioned now more regularly is people questioning or saying that Frank now has to find a solution for us leaking goals and cannot just blame individual errors because you can only excuse individual errors to a certain degree, if they keep happening as they have done here, it would indicate something deeper rooted. There was a lot of Chelsea need a keeper, Chelsea need a LB, Chelsea need a CB but now we've got all 3 who are big improvement son what we had so I think this season if that improvement cannot be clearly visible by the end of the season it will be a big big indication that its more to do with coaching that people originally would be willing to put it down to. I feel that his spell at Derby, I think which was spoken about more with positivity because he got them to the playoff final, was there when they shifted some higher earners, guys like Mount, Bogle, Tomori etc became part of the furniture for that season as well as reducing the age of their squad etc but their goal difference and the goals they conceded from set plays (he questioned his players on them in a game v Birmingham - https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/what-frank-lampard-said-derby-2780645 - note he says we are not the biggest team.... where have I heard that before, was it West Ham last season? and it was a bit of a recurring theme and again has been the same here) which seemed to be totally overlooked when he was linked with the job. It should of been a potential warning. I hoped somebody who's Derby team conceded 70 goals in 57 games in all competitions (1.22 per game) would manage to improve upon that with better players but I think looking back at it, a big deal here has been in game management, set plays and organisation it has been alarming. I mean we've had some bad spells here and looked poor defensively with other managers but FL's goals against record is the worst of any Chelsea manager in the Abramovich era which says a lot. I mean if Sarri had the 3rd best defence in the PL behind Liverpool and City 2 seasons ago although at times we weren't particularly too solid, it would indicate that for Frank that's still not too bad a platform to start with. Even if it needed improved upon. Its gotten worse for whatever reason - more for me coaching wise due to the structure, the organisation and the fact Frank is much more of a forward thinking manager (but so was Sarri) than the likes of a Conte or a Jose. I mean I get the quality difference would perhaps contribute a bit but even then look at Pep's first ever season as a manager with Barcelona B, 38 games, 41 goals conceded (1.08 per game). Then Zidane's record as his first ever managerial experience with Madrid's Castilla, 58 games, 57 goals conceded (0.98 per game). I think these things perhaps should of indicated a sign that these things can actually transmit over regardless of the level as its more to do with playing style or the tactical system or the coaches ideas as opposed to actual individuals making mistakes as we've probably seen with Frank so far here - although individuals have definitely contributed and these things do happen with players at some point as its impossible to play a perfect season, everyone makes a mistake. I know its maybe a bit unfair to pick them as comparisons as they've been successful in their careers but I look at them in the same mould as Lampard, a club legend who was given the job with 1 seasons of managerial experience. I don't think that's necessarily unfair. They've achieved more but I think you look at their records at Madrid and Barcelona defensively in terms of goals against and I think if Frank was given the same time as they are, his record will be a lot lot worse. I know people will say Klopp also had a dodgy defence at Liverpool when he first came in but really bar Joe Gomez who has grown into a much better CB over time (signed the year Klopp was appointed but by Rodgers prior to his sacking in whenever it was), I don't think he had the luxury of having players that were at the level Zouma, Christensen and Rudiger were (excluded Tomori as he was back from loan). Even if they are seen as average or not good enough for title winning teams they guys for me, were certainly better than the likes of Sakho, Skrtl, Toure, Caulker, Lovren and Lucas who Klopp played as CB and Liverpool only conceded 50 goals in the PL that season. Even then the next season they conceded only 42 goals in the PL (we conceded 54 last season), with pretty much a similar selection bar Matip and Klavan signing for them and Toure and Sktrl being sold. So it is interesting people say Klopp needed time because he instantly had a better defensive record than Lampard when he took over at Liverpool although I do get it, Lampard is a lot more inexperienced and maybe will need to learn that but even Pep's first season at City they didn't concede as many as we did last season. Again I know they are top level coaches, who have coached for longer but they were the instant barometer in terms of look how long they guys took to get their defences to improve or to be successful. The successful part is true yes, they needed time but the defensive improvement I don't think its as valid as some make out. That is a good stat but again, I think here more so than ever, it is pretty irrelevant stat because people expect us to be successful with or without the kids unfortunately. Yes it saves the club money, yes it looks good for us, its nice for us fans and the academy has long been overdue this sort of attention due to the guys like Mount, James, Abraham, Tomori, Gilmour, Hudson-Odoi getting a chance and being regulars but ultimately it means nothing if the club isn't' successful because that's the bar we have set in the last 20 years and that's how it will continue to be looked upon. It does give Frank a plus point but I think his spell isn't going to be remembered (whenever people reflect back on it in the future) on purely the fact he played the young guys, its going to be based on trophies won or lack of or competition for titles etc. The defensive record we have right now is probably more commonly thought of regarding Frank's spell here than the debuts he's given out from guys on the outside looking in.

Would have never ever ever thought I'd see Bamford scoring a PL hattrick. He's done very well so far for Leeds. Think Bielsa is a huge fan of him because he is a rounded player and just wants him to get goals.

In terms of their squad, they don't have any real top quality players bar Rodrigo Moreno arguably although they have got some other good players but the fact they are playing so well and in this style, it shows the value of having an excellent coach who everyone buys into, this style like Rodgers at Swansea clearly helps them and has improved them. Jack Grealish and Barkley looking pretty quiet. Grealish had maybe one decent moment but has to do more to get into the game although Leeds are doing very well in getting men close to him when he receives it. Its okay doing it v Liverpool in a freak game and then having a few moments v Leicester but to make the next jump up he has to do it week in week out against all teams. Harrison looking a very decent player also for Leeds in the few games I've seen him. I know hes on loan from Man City and thats not his level but capable of being a good mid table player more than likely.

If they play the same team they did v PSG. Rashford, Martial, Fernandes and Telles, who's delivery looked very good are going to be a nuisance. All of them played well for United. Even with Thiago Silva playing and if we commit our fullbacks, we seen what Southampton tried to do with their forwards getting into channels behind where the fullbacks are. Fernandes will undoubtedly find some sort of spaces, especially if we are going to be looking to be on the front foot and commit players forward because 1) he is a good player and 2) we tend to leave spaces regardless of opposition 9 times out of 10. Telles again, if he plays as a wingback, I hope we force him back the way more often than not but his delivery looked good in the PSG game and if he gets time and space, he will be able to get crosses in. If Cavani plays as mentioned previously in any sort of capacity, I think he is just going to score, he just seems to do so against us in recent times for PSG and Napoli. We need to be solid but shouldn't sacrifice Ziyech, Havertz, Pulisic if I am honest. Even if one of Havertz or Ziyech plays in a MF position in 433 and the other outside on the right. Werner upfront then maybe bring Giroud or Abraham in later on depending how the game goes. Its not been mentioned but if we go to a back 3 this game it would also be a big mistake, I wouldn't be surprised either we seen it plenty last season and while it did work v Man United in the FA cup semi final, we seen the other games after wins at Spurs etc where we continued and it was quite frankly, honking, to say the least. Focusing purely on Rashford is going to be a mistake, even playing the 3412, I wouldn't be surprised if one of Fred/McTominay are out the team for Pogba either and while he's temperamental as shit, he can still do something off the cuff and while he doesn't do it often enough I'd prefer they kept Fred and McTominay in but still think Matic or Pogba will likely come in. As much as I think Mount gets unfair criticism at times, while he did frustrate me last season, he shouldn't be playing in the wide positions now. If we go 433 I don't think he will start either v United but who knows? If he does play, it will be at the expense of better players and I think we need to see Ziyech, Pulisic, Havertz and Werner all playing together regularly to develop some chemistry, be it 4231 or 433.

Offensively he has made a huge difference. You can see the difference. Defensively he is better than Alonso and Emerson but I still think and am unsure if it is down to the system or him as an individual he can do better. Against Southampton he was out of position and there were times he looked unaware of players going into that area he is meant to be covering. I think when the team shape improves (well I am hoping it will but have been for about 9 months now) that it will limit these but defensively he can still do better. As he can offensively but that side I am much more happy with. I think now for 45-50m, instead of the original 80 they quoted, he looks like he will be a very good investment in the long run. He was a lot more solid v Seville than he looked v Southampton though. Which is promising as they are a better standard of team. But the whole team also was at times.

Totally against it. The Champions League is the CL for a reason. Teams who win the league all across Europe should be in it automatically. Even if they are smaller clubs or not as financially stable as others or whatever. It will be the European Super League then after however many years it won't be long before the top 6 or 8 PL teams want to go their own way as well and you lose them from the PL. It would kill football. Yes it guarantees bigger games but as I said in another thread, with regards to the likes of Celtic, Ajax, teams who win titles and are historically huge clubs, they already have to do the CL qualifiers when they've won the titles which is an instant disadvantage so you take these bigger clubs aside like the top 4 in the PL, Bundesliga, Serie A etc your taking them out and killing these clubs without the huge financial backing. As someone who has gone to Celtic games regularly during my time studying over the last few years, on the CL nights there really isn't many places better, its an amazing atmosphere and they make a killing off these games financially. Ajax would be the same, the CL money helps them. As would the likes of Kiev, Brugge, the Turkish teams etc. its not fair enough as it is and a European Super League would be even more unfair on these clubs who need CL or the exposure helps them with players that have a stage to show themselves on at a higher level and can secure big moves. For instance the likes of Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Virgil van Dijk would probably never have made it to the PL if they hadn't had European football at Celtic because people frown upon the standard of the SPL. Same with Ziyech, Milik, Eriksen, Sneidjer, de Jong, de Light, Huntelaar, Lozano, Van der Vaart, Depay, van der Beek among countless other guys from Ajax and PSV, they would never have had the opportunity to have made these bigger moves that they have made because people probably think the Dutch league isn't that great either but they had exposure in the CL or Europa League and whatever and probably people would of maybe thought a bit more of them as they would have featured in bigger games. Its the same with project big picture or whatever Liverpool and United were reportedly trying to push. All its doing is making the rich richer and killing these clubs who don't have the same backing etc, would make the divide already so much bigger than it is already. If people want this at the expense of killing football, yes fair enough but it would be totally different if we were a championship club or say in the Dutch League or Scottish League or Turkish league etc. Even more so now with the COVID scenario, a lot of clubs are probably lucky they are managing to function in the lower leagues and really, instead of making the gap bigger between top to bottom, they should be looking at helping these teams maintain their status and also try and create a much better standard throughout as opposed to let money dictate football as usual, I know footballs a business but it is getting ridiculous. If the Super League does happen, I will be disappointed because as an whole UEFA will again be showing that they do not actually care about the majority of the clubs which they are bodying but only the elite/financially well of ones. I think as well the likes of us or Spurs or these teams who aren't as good as a Liverpool or a City etc, we will find out very quickly that our standard isn't necessary as good as many think and that's why having the PL and the CL is great, because you play a variety of teams, in a variety of places. It allows fans of the club in other places as well to get to games more accessible to them too as you've probably seen there are folk on here from all walks of life and all over the world.

You'd be surprised, I think the standard of some of the teams is slowly getting better. Celtic and Rangers huge clubs and the top 2 but Aberdeen always remain competitive despite losing players every season and working on buttons. Like I would rather watch an Old Firm than watch Burnley play Sheffield United or something. Two absolute dogshit teams punting it long. Its obviously not great throughout still but seen enough of the games to know that if these guys had a 5th of the money that teams in the bottom 10 of the PL get for TV deals, it would make an absolute massive difference. The standard in the PL, particularly below the top 4, 5 or 6, has purely been accelerated because of the amount of money in it. Teams like Southampton can spend 50-60m a window if they want. Or Wolves. Or whoever. Clubs like Celtic and Rangers, are historically massive clubs so having to go through CL qualifiers when they finish 1st and 2nd is embarrassing on behalf of UEFA, while countries like England, Spain, Germany, Italy get 3 or 4 minimum then have a spot for qualifiers also (or used to) because its obviously more financially beneficial for UEFA to have these clubs in and it draws more money in for the games. I think Ajax also had a similar issue despite winning their league? Like realistically I don't see how finishing 4th in the PL warrants a CL space. I know we finished 4th but regardless of anyone finishing there, other than the financial gain having these bigger games between these clubs from these leagues, it is a bit unfair, its called the Champions League for a reason.

Think what they've got is as well is a manager who has sorted them out a bit. Plus the experience as well with Kjaer, Donnarumma (over 200 games), Ibrahimovich, Romagnoli to guide these younger players its going to help them. Sandro Tonali looks good, really rounded, impressive physically as well, the Pirlo comparisons are obviously more on looks than actual playing style although he can clearly control a game as well but he is a bit more than that, looks to break forward a bit more. Theo Hernandez also impressive yes, 100%. They are building a really good side. More watching this from a Celtic point of view, as I try watch some of their games to see their younger players but they've not been great this season at all. The likes of Eduoard, Frimpong and Ajer are interesting players. Don't think Ajer has kicked on much under Neil Lennon now but Frimpong looks like he will be the next guy to make a big move from that bunch alongside Eduoard.

Milan only playing Celtic but they look like they have the very makings of a very very good team. Good mix of pace, power, obviously then players who are very capable on the ball. Plus Ibra on top of that.

Dont praise Sarri. People on here will slag you off for that.... yes those points are true. Kepa didn't look horrendous. Neither did Rudiger and neither did Luiz at times. But everything was so much more rigid and structured which can help players look better. But people wanted him gone, the fans didn't appreciate what he was trying to do or understand him. There was so much complaining (on here especially but its not as if its any better now in terms of the style of play or that is it? Or if the gap from City and Liverpool is any/getting any closer but we do need time to get these new guys in the team but as we seen with Conte first season, certain managers are able to innovate and make that difference) because of these games where we were predictable in attack (again any surprises bar Eden its not as if he has the likes of Havertz, Werner, Pulisic, Ziyech to work with now like FL has and even then without those players and Eden, our attacking play has suffered since 2020 aftera a promising start with FL) and the fact he didn't play RLC and CHO, which many people think stopped getting him sacked when they started playing them.... as if haha, the results improved, if they got worse with them playing it would of been exactly the same, we seen it with Frank last season also playing young players and not getting good results doesn't grant you any sort of immunity. I wonder what he's going to do now. That's 2 clubs that have really given him a chance and then turned around an effectively got rid of him after a year. We didn't sack him but we may as well have because we all know that the backing of him in terms of as a manager and what he wanted to do clearly wasn't there based on his comments at the end of May where he was going to have a meeting with Marina and by the sounds of it he was basically making out he wanted to stay, the fan unrest didn't help and then Juventus, huge club was basically an escape for him. Juventus was always going to be a huge job for anyone, had been saying for ages after Conte and Allegri were the squad had the same backbone for so long, it needed fresh ideas. The Sarri/Tuchel/Pochetino's of the world were the sort of guys they need to go for while refreshing an aging squad and Pirlo looks like he's gonna be in that mould, while trying to play attacking football. I think he will get another job at some point this season but I don't know where. He will have plenty Marlboro Reds with that Juventus pay off anyway, meant to be costing them between 20-30m after sacking him because of his contract.

It is but I think the fact they didn't take him to Paris and he stayed behind with Maguire, Greenwood and whoever else to train would indicate they want him ready and could possibly be looking to use him in the game v us. By sounds of what Solskjaer said in his interview, he's hinted more that Cavani will be closer/more ready than those others who stayed behind. Course the risk is greater because he hasn't played competitive football since March at club level (think it was March they cancelled Ligue 1?) but I don't think its highly unlikely he will have been doing work prior to his contract expiring and maintaining it over the period he was out of contract. Plus as mentioned before the time he was self isolating, he wouldn't just of been sitting about and he's been in about with their first team training so would think he will be close to offering something be it starting for 55-60 minutes or coming on for 25-30 minutes. And either way I hope he doesn't. He's a different proposition to what they have in CF positions and now the fact they have Fernandes who can find those guys in the advanced positions, as I said I hope he doesn't play because everytime he seems to do so against us he has a tendency to score.

There is but how are you meant to get match fit not playing any games? At some point you've got to play somebody, match fitness and getting some rhythm from playing games is different from training yes but they can't get it keeping someone out... I think they'll throw him in if they don't play 3412 again.

Maybe but I still think its easy to see we arent that organised and purely blaming it on the GK isn’t necessarily correct. A good bit of them he who shall not be named should have done better perhaps but your not going to sit and say that the team doesn’t have its shortcomings defensively or the in game management and tactics hasn’t contributed at all either in moments either, surely not? Same last season. The in game management was more of a contribution to how the game went v Southampton the mistakes from Zouma and Kepa for that second goal. Even Danny Ings goal what are Christensen and Zouma doing? There’s countless games you can use from last season for the argument its more than just one person why our defensive record is so bad. Most goals teams conceded from open play they more than likely have more than one opportunity to prevent the chance from being created, not just necessarily due to individuals making a mistake like Zouma did or he who shall not be named again.