OneMoSalah

Surprise surprise Azpi and Pulisic both off injured. Probably played most minutes along with Mount since project restart.

All Lampard has done is go back to a system which has worked in other games and hoped that it would work again today. I think when you look at their wide attackers, Aubamayang and Pepe who like to come very central and play as strikers basically it was obvious it wouldn’t work. Plus theyve got down the sides too easily. Far too easily.

Missing Willians ability to retain the ball under pressure. Mount every time he gets it under pressure either loses it or is pushed off the ball far too easily.

Good start has fizzled out. Every time Arsenal have the ball they seem to get in behind us far too easily. That Tierney to Aubamayang ball is on every time. James or Mount has to get tighter to Tierney so he cannot play that ball.

Great finish. Mount beforehand for that chance really should of played Oli in though.

Yeah Sarri had his own one in. I think. I think Courtois had issues with the GK coaches at the club and wasn’t necessarily impressed IIRC and I think it could be time for an upgrade/change.

Tbf if it doesn’t get done this summer it just takes a bad season from him and they could potentially lose more than 25-30m euros off his price tag. Just get it done. 70-75m euros rest in add ons. If they want him to play EL let him, heres hoping Rangers can put one over them and knock them out 🤣

Thats one thing about Mourinho I have always liked or admired. He isnt afraid to speak his mind regarding things like this or even in the past using psychology to get into his opposite numbers head before a game. I love that shit and wish more managers would use mind games or ‘we are club X we dont like club Y’ as it brings a bit more spectacle. Pep and Klopp are top coaches although they are very much the opposite with these mind games but I think Alex Ferguson was also a master at it along with Jose over the years. Also love seeing games where people just lose the fucking plot, that 2-2 v Spurs when we basically handed Leicester the title, despite the madness, the poor discipline, Hiddink getting floored, some of the challenges, that is what a big derby game should be about, well... to a lesser extent anyway. Everyones just all too matey now a days. No edge. No Ferguson-Benitez or Mourinho-Wenger rivalries and it is something I think these top games do lack at times, particularly the really fucking shit ones you watch where fuck all happens, the build up and the edge that these games used to have going into them, they dont have it anymore - I mean even if they did go out and its not the best game, you still had plenty to talk about.

Tremendous. Love him or hate him, he knows exactly what to say which will inevitably get a reaction out of OGS again who recently said managers were trying to influence referees by running a narrative that United always get penalties and freekicks through VAR.

You can understand Kane too but aye Merson once he gets started hes just full of good ideas or almost near braindead quotes. He said they didnt need a CB like Luiz as he makes mistakes but suggested John Stones 😂 ”....Stones is English, young enough to improve...” Hes 26. Yes can still improve but I get a whole Jesse Lingard young talent vibe from his comments. Also who can forget this belter from Merson in his column: “Manchester City paying so much money for Kevin De Bruyne is an absolute joke.“I thought he was out of his depth at Chelsea. He never once went out on the pitch and looked like he belonged there. or any of these

Paul Merson saying Frank should sign John Stones. He must be back on the fucking booze. Why do these pundits suggest top clubs sign piss poor English players such as Stones and Callum Wilson for instance? The good ones, the Sanchos, the Chilwells, the Maddisons, absolutely yes it makes sense for some but honestly, John Stones, no thanks. Did think his move to City would work out for him as Pep loved these sort of CBs but speaks volumes about his level now when City have been linked with two new CBs this summer as well having probably used Eric Garcia, Fernandinho (at CB) and Otamendi more than Stones. He was one of Peps first signings and the fact hes wanted more CBs since then says it all. Avoid. Please.

Hope Pep doesnt go back on his word regarding Foden and sign Thiago to replace Silva. What a player he is. Unbelievably rounded and still got plenty of life in him.

Be all for shifting Barkley or Bats but they aren't daft enough to take either IMO. Theyd want a Ruben, Kurt or Fikayo level of player 100%.

Think hes rebuilt his reputation. He had the bigger move to Dortmund earlier on in his career and it didnt come together but now he has slowly improved and become a good CB who is in his prime years, aged 26 now. He has the technical and physical attributes all modern day German defenders have and would be a good option, plus he has developed real leadership qualities and is seen of more as a senior figure at Gladbach.

For all the games Lallana started he wont be a miss. Plus Lovren as well, 16 games in all comps, hardly a huge loss could easily give them minutes to a young kid. If it were more used players yes but can’t really see them missing those 2

In an attacking sense based on chances created yes maybe we have been the 3rd best team in the country but even then its not a given because you still need to take these chances and our conversion rate was poor. Stats are misleading also. Do not think thats exactly fair on Kepa while he’s made glaring mistakes, we conceded 14 goals from corners, 8 from counter attacks and more goals than any other team in the top 10 of the PL. The generic struggle for clean sheets, its not just down to the GK and it would be extremely naive to think this group of defenders are enough to compete for titles even with a GK performing well/not making mistakes, we are still short there. Plus the ‘taller teams are gonna get more chances against us’ comment from Frank in a game however many back wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing to hear either when talking about defending at set pieces. I wouldn’t have thought our defensive numbers should be that good, or if they are then it’s evidence enough stats are hugely misleading because from day one in pre season you could see defence was gonna be a key issue for us in someway or another. Even if the stats do look good, which I am intrigued to see where you seen them, it really doesn’t add up that we have 12 losses and 6 draws but have good defensive stats. I would say under Sarri for a spell we were more solid and at the end of that season statistically were the 3rd best defence in the PL league. Again more evidence stats are misleading because at times it was a horror show.

Yeah he was really good. Pep not fancying him really killed his career although he had made mistakes with Pellegrini but recovered, that was the final nail in the coffin when Pep binned him though. Weird how his career has panned out.

I still think without the mistakes of the last 2 seasons, De Gea would be a cert play ahead of him next season and I really think he will still be their number 1 because he may not be the GK he once was but he still makes some very good saves at times and they still view him as world class. I think Henderson has promise but this accelerated talk of becoming Uniteds number 1 isn’t purely down to how well he has done but how poorly De Gea has done this last 2 seasons with high profile mistakes. Henderson has made mistakes this season also but the scrutiny of making mistakes at a Sheffield United is nothing compared to a Man United or Chelsea. He maybe isn’t necessarily ready to be a number 1 GK at a top 4 club but again, it would be unfair to say that without him actually playing at one. I think of some of the GKs who were good at smaller teams in the PL and struggled when they got bigger moves such as Asmir Begovic, who was extremely talented at Stoke and undoubtedly a better GK than Henderson right now imo when we signed him but he never really was assured here at all and looked very ordinary and shaky at times. Mignolet as well although struggled maybe a strong word, didnt really improve at Liverpool if you ask me but if I am honest he did look a lot more assured for them than Begovic did here and was definitely one of Rodgers more successful signings out of a multitude of utter shite when you see the list but never to the level of what any of the top clubs GKs were imo. Henderson has had good performances and I think he is a better GK than Pickford who was England’s number 1 at the world cup but honestly Pickford is pretty poor it wouldn’t be unfair to even suggest most of the decent English keepers in the PL probably have a better chance of being in the squad come the Euros next summer if Southgate is fair with his selections. If it were this summer you could say the likes of Nick Pope, Dean Henderson, Alex McCarthy, Ben Foster even Aaron Ramsdale and Fraser Forster after an impressive half season spell with Celtic looking particularly good in the Europa League also would be ahead of him potentially. Thats how badly his performances has flatlined. £55m is a bit excessive as well IMO, even if we did spend £71m on Kepa.

Think its been more of a deeper routed issue than their managers though. Players haven't been good or consistent enough. Think if he gets to get 4 or 5 good players into that squad they can push on a bit but I have to agree it will be a tall order if they finish top 6 next season which is probably where they want to be. Coleman came out and said players cant keep hiding behind managers at some point this season and that is spot on. They've invested heavily and have some good players in there and even some less good but more experienced ones who have really shirked any sort of responsibility.

Meant overall in all comps, 15 or theres about in PL would be more than fine imo. As youve said here weve not had many in league score over 20. Even the other teams very rarely do players go over 20 each season, ok Vardy did this season and maybe Aubameyang but think most were between 15-19, likes of Salah, Sterling etc. You do get the odd year where a Ronaldo will score a crazy amount of league goals (that season at Utd he had 40 odd in all comps) or a Suarez (20 odd and then 30 odd in last 2 seasons at Liverpool) or a Aguero (20+ in 5 or 6 diff seasons in PL) but those players are harder to find. if we have a group of players say Puli, Werner, Abraham and say Havertz if he moves, who get between 10-15 PL goals each and then pushing 20+ at least in all comps, I would imagine we would have a very successful season. Great teams dont just have one player scoring every week they have a collection of guys throughout the season getting reasonably solid numbers. That’s without mentioning assists as well. We've missed Edens goals and other sources such as Gaz and Luiz’s couple a season as well this year, 100%.

Surely he will be our new number 11? Heres hoping he can get settled in and make a difference from the beginning but also have a feeling there may be initial teething issues at the start. Have big expectations for him still and he can definitely add another 15-20 goals in his first season to this team. I expect people will want more but I think to consider the potential that he may need time to get accustomed to the PL and the team, 15-20 in his first season would make a very good addition to a side lacking more goals for the amount of chances we created. Plus I like that he can feature also on the left, if push comes to shove and Tammy is doing well, we can accommodate both in or if it suits some games better, giving us real flexibility. Or even when chasing games go to a 433 with those 2 and Christian in attack, who is also likely to be a another goal threat next season (10-15 minimum I think is very possible bases on this year) as well as throw in Ziyech into the midfield, it bodes well to have real options and different profiles of players. Havertz joining would be icing on the cake in terms of attacking positions but we still need to look in the backline at LB and CB as well as GK probably. Also need to consider selling Barkley as we cannot expect to persist with him in the squad when we will have guys like Ziyech, Havertz, Mount and Ruben who will all play more advanced roles. Also mentioning Ruben I am not so sure where he will fit in if this Havertz moves happens also? Its certainly going to be interesting but I dont think only selling Barkley is going to be ideal. Gilmour will be back also and then there is the talk of Jorginho to Juventus. I think in advanced positions, Barkley, Ruben, Mount, Ziyech and Havertz is far too much. Even if Ziyech and Havertz can play wide but both probably like to be more central. At least one has to go maybe 2.

If Lampard wasnt so enforcing of playing him at LB it would of been considerably less I think. James got a good portion of playing time this season. Like 2000+ minutes I think I seen somewhere. Also don’t think Azpi had a bad season either, limited on the left at times but still, the usual 7/10, consistency was there all season. Played well. Got some assists. Good influence on the group.

Number 2 yea. Number 1 no.

Seen he was leaving Zenit, not sure Everton the best move for him but he could be a good addition for his experience and influence on some of their younger players.

Get the FA cup won now. Good step for the young guys and Frank. Still a lot of bad things to look at and address though. Next season will be better though, or heres hoping.