OneMoSalah

Courtois had a offseason when Jose got sacked (probably similarly to what Kepa is having this year) though and not the best start at Real prompting a majority of the people on this forum to say shit like they thought he was finished or never would be as good as he was before. It just shows how fickle football can be. I would say as good as Alisson is, Courtois is on his level. 100%. He is and always has been undoubtedly one of the best GKs in Europe since he started making real headway at Atletico playing every week. That is why I am also going to keep saying regarding Kepa that this season is a one off imo. We have to give the guy a chance, he will be better next season and if we can improve our defensive approach in phases of games and set plays, everyone in the back 5 will look better not just him. Its no secret that I keep banging on about the organisation and that helps a lot. As weve seen in various games this season and in the past with other managers. Maybe Kepa will never be world class or achieve anything near what Courtois and Cech did before him but he is still a good GK. The price tag will always bring scrutiny and he has been inconsistent this season, although Cech and Courtois also had similar moments in their spells here but I don't think he is a second rate GK. I mean our consistency all over the pitch has been really bad. Bar Kovacic perhaps. He is the only one who has done consistency well over the course of the season. Although again, his goals and assists can still go up because he should be very capable of getting a total of 10 goals a season at least through scoring and assisting imo. I mean Matic (okay different players) got what 8 or 9 assists under Conte the year we won the league and he has half the natural ability and skillset Kovacic does imo.

What stats are those? Because I doubt they exist. He hasnt had a good season in terms of consistency or stats since the year before he did his ACL. In Serie A.

I know Frank said Jorginho in his plans but he has to feature a bit more prominently now to the seasons finished. Kante injured so higher % chance but who knows.

Tbf for all the talk of the Bundelisga being one sided, dont forget Dortmund were at the top for ages and blew the lead, the one real chance they had to win the title for years.

Why would that matter? If thats Franks thinking its even fucking stupider. Even if he wants to leave, which I doubt, he should still play as he os one of our best players. Eden had made it clear he wanted to leave us when he came back from the 2018 WC last season but did we bench him or exclude him? No. Willian hasnt committed past the end of this season either but he also plays.

If Lampard is going to consistently keep picking Barkley over Jorginho and shoehorning Kante in that role then he may as well start packing his bags. It makes no sense against West Ham or against Watford. None whatsoever. And people thought Sarri was stubborn with Jorginho in that role and Kante to his right last season but I dont think its so hard to see it is absolutely a better option than Kante sitting and Barkley in the team. If FL is trying to convince people he knows what he is doing, it isn’t working. Azpi at LB as well. Fuck sakes. Must win regardless but I do think this constant omission of Jorginho is so stupid. I mean is he trying to make Kante Makelele?

Talking about a lack of height is just a poor and lazy excuse that sums up the naivety he has shown as a manager as well as the shit to do with in game management. Liverpool and City don’t particularly have height throughout but defend set plays much much better. Its not just down to Ederson/Alisson, Van Dijk/Laporte/Gomez/Otamendi or Fabinho/Rodri either. He would be a fool to think our organisation has been good enough and that we only concede because of a smaller players. Its not as if Pep or Klopp are regarded as defensive coaches either. I mean even Pep’s Barcelona werent great at set plays but they werent exactly weak either and other than Busquets, Toure, Pique, Zlatan among a few others during that period he was there he didnt have a lot of tall players in his team. Again Klopp didnt have to the biggest team either at Dortmund but they were generally good at defending set plays.

Its not that the physical side why people felt he should of been included. Regardless, are you saying as well he hasnt shown that he can read the game and make interceptions as well through positioning? He has done it in several games this season. If your able to read the game or see something you dont need to be a freak athlete either. Look at Busquets at Barca or Kroos at Madrid. There are countless others. Was Xavi a freak athlete? Was Pirlo? Was Scholes? Was Roy Keane? Is Rodri? Is Fernandinho? Is Fabinho? No but they are/were good at reading the game and could recover the ball. Regarding his inclusion: It was more about controlling the game when it got frantic. He has got composure others dont, always offers himself to take the ball and is also a lot better at moving the ball forward and faster in the role Kante played the other night. I mean would you rather watch Kante or Rudiger or Christensen try force those passes or play sideways or have Jorginho who keeps the ball moving quickly, has a more adventurous passing range to drive the team forward? West Ham had men behind the ball, you need to move it faster to move them around And having someone who can get it off the CBs do that than piss about getting the ball from the CBs to Kante to the fullbacks and eventually to Ross/Kovacic/Mason/Willian/Pulisic or whoever gives us a better chance of breaking them down surely? Or do you disagree? As bad as we were defensively your not going to tell me that we created several clear chances or got a lot of opportunities to isolate their players in 1v1s or find runners in behind are you? 73% possession resulted in 6 shots on target. We looked ordinarily predictable bar when Pulisic had the ball.

I agree that he will be a mainstay in the long run. I was a bit annoyed that the club caved and gave him a lot as it does set a bar for others to pressure the club into these sort of demands (Tammy allegedly wanting close to that amount as well) but in the next 1-2 seasons, if hes fit and healthy, playing very regularly, he has an excellent chance of becoming a very very good player. As does Reece James, Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour. I think what United have had and probably will continue to have is that with their home grown youngsters, they have never really given into these guys agents who demand excessive wages. And even other than Pogba is it that frequently that these very talented young players leave United? I mean Ferguson let Pogba go on the principle that he believed his agent was trying to strong arm United to giving him a contract on bigger money than what Juventus offered IIRC. I dont think they've changed their mentality in regards to their academy. I mean I would hope we would follow suit, we are a massive club if you dont want to be here, then it is ultimately your loss. I know United stand to lose Angel Gomes but again, it is very rare that they lose these guys because they integrate youth and have been for 25+ years. Ok the scenario was slightly different but again, there was still a while before CHO resigned after Frank came in... The examples with United in recent times: - Rashford started out, got his foot in and played a lot over the 3 or 4 seasons before he got that huge bumper deal he is on now to reflect his status at United. - Jesse Lingard again same idea, played regularly over a period then got a bigger deal as a reward. - McTominay to a lesser extent, played over the course of a few seasons and they've given him an improved deal but nothing to the wages Rashford is on or Lingard if what I am reading is correct. I think the likes of Mason Greenwood and Brendon Williams will follow the same path, I cannot see United being in a poor position like we were with Callum. Plus their playing regularly. I think if it wasn't so clear and was unlikely Eden would of left, I do think we wouldnt of been as desperate to give Callum that huge contract to get him to commit his future imo. Regardless of what he could become.

Has to go imo. Hasnt done anything in the shirt bar a handful of games with Sarri. We have got Mason and Ruben as well as Ziyech arriving who can play centrally in a 4231 or 433 so surely has to be one of the first casualties this summer? 3 assists all season. 0 league goals. Ziyech I would imagine will probably be able to hit the ground running or as close as can do when he comes in so depending where he plays - if it is centrally - that will mean that one of Mason, Ruben or Ross wont play anywhere near enough minutes. I don't see Ruben as a left sided player and think once he gets fully fit he will return to a more central role. Kovacic, Jorginho and Kante wont be binned either from the squad so in all reality Ross would probably be the most vulnerable.

For all the criticism of Willian over the years and this season too, the harsh reality is he has more goal involvements than all our other wide and attacking midfield players this season in the league. He’s currently on 8 PL Gs and 5 As. While they aren't fantastic numbers the closest is Pulisic with 7 Gs and 2 As. Hudson Odoi hasn’t really done much this season (1 G 4 As) although his recovery from a long term injury always meant he would need more time same with Ruben so not really taking them into account. In terms of goals or assists Mount hasnt done better than Willian (6 Gs 2 As) but again those stats of his paints a false image, he has 1 league G and 2 A in the whole of 2020 (13 or 14 games) so to be fair to Willian, who has been involved in 6 league Gs since the start of 2020, while that isn’t fantastic its a lot better than the majority of the others again. Take into consideration, Barkley hasnt got a PL goal this season either and only has got 3 assists. Pedro has 1 G and 1 A. Yes some haven't played as frequently but Mason and Willian have played a lot of games. Pulisic has started to be a regular more and the harsh reality is if we didnt have Ziyech and Werner coming in you could see why the club and coach would want Willian to stay because statistically he has more goal involvements than anybody bar Tammy this season. Ziyech and Werners arrival cannot come soon enough. They will allow the likes of Mason and Callum to maybe grow into the team a bit more without being overly depended on to they find their consistency. Losing Willian is what it is but if he hadnt stayed to the end of this season we would be struggling a bit more imo. I mean his goals maybe were pens or dodgy FKs or whatever but they are goals and we have lacked those in those wider and central areas this season. Obviously stats dont paint the full picture but in terms of productivity it shows that he has done more than certain others we have in the squad.

Lautaro likely to go to Barcelona. They are extremely keen still even with the financial impact of Covid. Think their was talk of player swaps, Umtiti, Semedo, Rakitic etc but Inter were really keen on Arthur whos off to Juventus. Still they will be much better next season. Has Tonali been confirmed?

He scored career high league goals in the PL under Jose IIRC.

He would never score that many goals. I am pretty sure many people thought that as well. He isnt as selfish or as ruthless in front of goal as Messi or Ronaldo. Or even to a lesser extent Bale and Neymar. I think fully firing he should be looking for 25 goals a season at Madrid though, someone of his talent should be able to do that when you consider the other guys they have around him. Its not been an ideal season for him but I dont think people ever excepted him to score the rates Messi or Ronaldo did. Thats an unfair ask for many players, not just Eden.

Hakimi and Emerson at wing back is an improvement on what they have perhaps. Emerson has struggled in a back 4 for us but he suits a wingback role more. Will be keeping an eye on what Inter do in the market, they have got a good nucleus of a squad and will make some big moves. Interesting to see who they replace Lautaro with when he goes to Barcelona as well, if they can arrange the deal.

Honestly think he still can turn it around and his performances last season as well as parts of this one are proof that he isnt as bad as people are making him out to be. I do get some will disagree and I do get he has made mistakes yes and in terms of his consistency he has struggled this season but out of our squad this season, who hasn't struggled for consistency? Who hasn't made mistakes? If we didnt make mistakes in games all across the team we would be better off than we are. Its not as if we were miles better last season in terms of what we had in the squad bar Eden. The fact that we have changed our CBs so often and LB as well this season just shows that there is nobody in the backline who has really got passmarks this season. Kepa is also unfortunate than Tibo and Cech before him were both top top level, world class goalkeepers during their spells here. He will always be compared against them or their reputations or it will always be his strengths aren't what theirs were etc. He took a risk but if he pulled that pass off Alonso/Emerson (cannot remember who played think it was Marcos) would of had space to go into as opposed to if he played that slightly safer to one of the CBs, Sterling and Mahrez or whoever were wide would of been able to make it up and pressure them. The willingness of us playing out under pressure or against pressing teams really has dropped since Sarri left. I dont think it was a huge issue that pass, nothing came of it, sometimes Alisson or Ederson or De Gea take risks with their kicking etc too and for all the amazing passes or whatever they provide youll find there will similar ones that didnt come off or were recovered by the other team etc. Its not as if it was a bad idea because if the ball was a foot or 2 foot higher Alonso would of had it and we would of been in their half.

I think if FL wanted to get JT in he would of when he arrived. In all fairness as well, Villa arent exactly a shining beacon of being a strong defensive team and Mings was maybe more just needing to play more often to develop as he was always very talented. it has to improve obviously though.

Exactly. Lets not forget that Conte revitalised Cahill and Luiz’s performances here that first season as well as Matic’s as well in midfield and managed to give Eden, Willian and Pedro that freedom that they weren’t really afforded with Mourinho. I do think the fact that he made David play in a position where he maybe didn't have to engage players in 1 v 1s in wider areas as often as he would of perhaps done so in a back 4 and gave him a more disciplined position in the middle made a difference without even mentioning the midfield. I mean how many times have we seen Luiz be out in wider areas trying to cover his fullbacks and get beat? Conte also gave him a bit more freedom to come out with the ball into midfield at times which suited him as his use of the ball is a plus. Matic and Kante also gave a lot of protection in the middle which did help but I do think that their individual performances were so consistent. Obviously there was the organisation that Conte drilled into the team too, something he has been renowned for doing for years, it gave us a real platform. Everyone knew their roles, where to be, the distances to be between each other etc when defending. In general it was a very complete team I felt, we had goals in attack as well as creativity in midfield with Cesc once he got in and the wingbacks, despite lacking obvious top level quality, created real width that freed up pockets for the likes of Eden and Willian in central areas too. It did mask some of the flaws of these players as you mentioned. We really should have built on that foundation with Antonio but Bakayoko, Zappacosta and Morata (still annoyed he started so well and then faded and is now likely to never become the player he should have been) were poor signings. Things obviously soured with him too but I do think what he has already done at Inter as well as what he did with Juve, Italy and here shows how good he is. I am also sure Cesc said on Twitter that Conte was the best manager he had ever worked with at giving a team such a clear and obvious identity in a short period of time. I would like to see us go back to using Jorginho, Kovacic and Mount. There was such a real connection and chemistry with those guys at the start of the season. I can see why hes trying to fit Kante in but it hasnt always worked. I think he has to play with a Jorginho or Kovacic in either a 2 or on the right of a 3 with Jorginho as a 6. He isnt necessarily in one fixed position he can get up and down a bit more as well as hunt the ball down in those areas of the pitch. Obviously he is top quality but shoehorning him into that fixed position in a 3 man MF in front of the defence isn't always going to suit his game or ours if we play smaller teams and have much more of the ball.

Exactly. Was almost like the days of AVB asking Bosingwa and Cole to play as wingers back in the day. I really dont see how FL couldn't see we were so vulnerable to West Ham counters and at 2-2 as well as the fact we conceded in the last few mins, he should have just played for the draw. I think with more experience behind him he will realise this in the future. Even more so when the teams playing badly. The in game management hasnt been great all season though, be it through having to chase goals due to not taking advantage of our chances and killing games off or pushing for more goals when we don’t necessarily need to etc. It is something that regardless of personnel needs to change.

That is odd. Actually it isnt an odd comment, it is incredibly mind boggling. Andre Villas-Boas wouldnt even stoop to saying something like that when it is so clear there is more to it than a team being taller than us. Or have we been playing taller teams most games this season then because defending set plays has been a major issue for us. If FL truely believes what he has said there then I don’t know what to expect. I know we lack height in comparison to previous teams but Andreas, Tomori, Rudiger, Zouma, Alonso, Tammy, Giroud and Barkley have all featured regularly across parts of the season and they are all 6 ft plus. Even if there is teams who have more height than us several other teams find a way to deal with that. They have done before us and will do after. It just seems like a very lazy answer to give or he’s deflecting it to protect his own arse or the players. It is clear as day we need to work on defensive set pieces... it has been since the first weeks of the season. I seen a stat in Feb that we had conceded 80 corners which was lowest amount but had conceded 6 goals from those which is 7.5% - the highest % of anybody in the league. Not sure where to find most recent ones but wont be good reading Id imagine.

In all fairness I disagree because I would of thought the in game management as a whole has to come more from the sidelines from the coach/manager. Obviously good players can see what is happening around them and identify these things but for instance, if the coach wants them to press high/be 20m further up the pitch in the last 10 mins and some players will maybe think its better sitting off, I mean who's right or who's wrong? Who's decision is it that ultimately matters above all? The managers usually and thats why he is paid to manager the team and thats why they do come out and take responsibility for these things at times. I mean City haven't been all relentless press high every match for 90 mins since Pep came because they manage spells of the game and neither have Liverpool because again they adjust and manage the game when they need to. Obviously in terms of maybe last 5 or 10 mins tonight, the fact we conceded 89th minute sums it up that there is a lack of it at times as well as many other games throughout the season. I dont think Lampard is too dissimilar from past managers where its likely his way is the only way to do it. Okay we can play different formations, use different players to suit games but still just like Conte before Sarri and Jose before Conte, I can see Frank is more in that mould where he will want players to do what he wants and maybe not be similar to what Carlo or Zidane are like where they kind of leave things the way they were and let the players have more a say or more freedom with some of these things. There have been games where we have gone and taken the sting out of phases of matches by managing the games better, just recently at City, the super cup v Liverpool, that game at Wolves away. Obviously there is more and theres also been games where it hasn't been done so well. I also don’t get this captain gripe with Azpi. He is severely respected by the squad and many many other top players in the league. In terms of seniority as well as how his career path has developed since arriving he is the best choice in the squad. Jorginho has shown in his time here as well good leadership qualities as well as at Naples which is why I can see in a young squad he has been given such a role ahead of others such as Rudiger or Kante. This captain thing was the same with Cahill in Conte’s second season and I do think it will continue to be a recurring theme because it was also the same when Azpi was made vice captain and it was things such as “greatly deserved” “will make a good captain” “very good choice” etc as it was most of the time when Cahill was wearing the armband in Terry’s place (although some did want Azpi to wear it beforehand).... in general some of the comments about Azpi on a whole the last few seasons be it about that he was written off as finished, isnt a good enough captain etc drive me insane. It just strikes me as madness. Reece James was going to be the number 1 RB from as soon as he was fit and had kicked a ball in the PL. based off the last few games hes had I would severely disagree that he will be first choice for another 1 or 2 years yet which obviously isnt a pot shot at him we all knew he would need time to grow and settle in the team on a more regular consistent basis etc. as he had come from the championship. The promise is there obviously as we have seen at times but we have also seen in other players at other clubs and even to a more severe effect here with Josh McEachran, they need that time to fully develop into these players. Even Rashford was in and out or on the bench when Van Gaal had all his players back from injury which ultimately led to him getting his shot in the first place with United. Now he really is undoubted first choice for club and country having played over 150 career games since making his debut 4 or 5 seasons ago.

Excellent post. Regarding Kante as a 6 which was heavily mentioned last season under Sarri for nearly the first 2 months of the season. Looking back on Kantes time here bar against Man City last week, I cannot remember any other games in which he has played this role except when Conte tried him there before going 343. I get the impression he is better playing with Jorginho, playing on the right of a 3 or even in a 2 as he isnt just fixed to that position and he can get up and down the pitch, while there is someone there who can take the ball from the CBs and play the passes to get us through a press or organised team. So tonight, I dont understand FL not playing Jorginho, I mean we had 73% possession or something but only scored through a penalty and freekick. He moves the ball forward more and quicker which takes the burden off the CBs to be more adventurous with the ball. We have also went from having the 3rd best defensive record in the league last season with Sarri to whatever we are now.... conceding more than Arsenal... and lets consider thats with the same defensive players bar David Luiz. The defending from set plays have been worse than last season 100% as well. Maybe with a CB and a LB we will improve defensively but there is an aspect of in game management and coaching that has to be considered here as well. Because these arent blips that happen irregularly, that can only be put down to individual mistakes, its been happening since the season began.

Poor. It is so poor that we can beat Man City (yes they werent great on the day perhaps), playing much better but to then get beat by West Ham where we’ve been dominant with the ball but havent scored from open play.... its close to shocking in all reality (even more so because if we concede that freekick Willi scored it would be the GK should have saved it - Fabianksi’s positioning was awful and gave himself a bad start in which if he hadnt be probably gets it). In attack Pulisic, was really the only one who looked like making stuff happening. You can talk about defending or GKs or whatever but look at the possession stats, look at the shots on target, that hasnt been good enough tonight. No point having the ball for god knows how long if your not going to create chances in the final third. 14 efforts with 6 shots on target. Our goals were a penalty and a freekick. Also to concede in the 89th minute, when you have a 3 or 4 point gap on the nearest team to you in the table, just sit back a bit for the last 10, take the draw, talk about naivety in game management even more so when you look at the performance as a whole. I mean does Alonso need to be that far up? 89th minute? Also the huge stroke of luck that their disallowed goal didnt count much earlier as well. Its a harsh reality now that if we drop any more points, which with performances like that after the good game v City, we ultimately will end up 5th or even 6th. May seem harsh but is that really good enough? When you consider the point gaps we've held recently and earlier in the season over other teams for the top 4? For me, not really. It has been a learning curve for Frank this season and many of the players but the harsh truth is if we do not finish in the top 4, it wont be because the other teams have been much much better than us, it will be down to us dropping unnecessary points due to a lack of taking chances in key moments of games, poor in game management and awful defending throughout the season. Obviously signings will be made in areas. Ziyech and Werner will help us in attack undoubtedly but If we dont sort out our defence we are likely going to be miles off competing for the title next season. Again.

I think the club kits should do what the international kits do instead of putting a massive shitty sponsor logo on the front, put smaller squad numbers there in the middle? I must admit I am quite irritated of seeing big fuck off sponsor logos such as three or LG or bet companies or whatever on the front of kits when they could easily put them on the back like with some German or US teams do. Maybe an unpopular opinion. Just feel the big sponsor on the front ruin some of the modern day kits and I get they are there to promote a brand or whatever due to an agreement but still. Theres probably some legislation shit from the FAs or UEFA regarding this but too much effort to look into it. Home top looks nice though, bar that giant three logo.

Its probably my bad for not looking far enough back 😂 and actually after checking it is 100% my bad for jumping the gun on a thread where he is mentioned maybe 3 times in a different context. Oh boy.