robsblubot

Nice to see lot of positive takes here. Lewa having a terrible game, which does not surprise me one bit (never really delivered in the CL), and they chose him over our own Auba... ouch Both second tier strikers. While Lewa was better on his day, they've always had one thing in common: never liked big games.

Chalobah did not make any obvious mistake (if you do not consider passing a skill a CB requires), his passing was really poor though. So, United high pressure can only work when passing from the back is poor. If our CBs can pass through their high press, then the ball gets to attack and then we get time on the ball, which evidently alleviates the pressure. I disagree the issue is Azpi, or the "old guard". I'm not saying they can't be improved upon-almost any player can, but for me the worst players on this particular team are BY FAR the new hires: Cucurella, Auba, and Koulibaly. Cucurella so far has been Bakayoko level of shit... like I'm not sure he can play football. Once again I will throw Chalobah in the mix just to get quotes. Chalobah is physical, athletic, a powerful player and that's good enough for the Premiere League for sure, but it sure isn't good enough for a top4 club in the EPL. So, either he learns to play football real quick, like passing the football, or he will follow Zouma to wherever the fuck he is now (I said very much the same thing about Zouma before btw). I'm still hoping Sterling is going to gel in and deliver the good once the ball gets to attack in a timely manner-way too fucking slow right now. The honorary mention here has to go to Pulisic: he was shit under Tuchel and is showing his consistency by being shit under the new manager. Some players just disappoint and will never reach their once sought potential. You get used to it. None of this is on Potter, but so far I'm not one bit impressed by his choices. It's way too soon, so he needs time to fully grok the squad and then get his ideas through. It remains to be seen whether he has the clout to do just that.

yeah I'm not a big fan of Howards myself -- bit overrated goalie back then. On the other hand, that's the position I know the least about, so I usually defer to others. Totally agree that Kepa is (finally!) in good form and should play.

Yeah Tim Howard said once kepa got a full hand on Casemiros header, he should have kept it out. That lack of reach and power has always been the criticism on him. hope just a one-off tho.

They showed a picture from the tech that wasn’t close to what was seen on the pitch. It did not look all the way in, but I guess the tech works dunno. eg the “picture” they showed looked like a clear goal. The replays showed something else—at least very close.

Same could be said when players made mistakes under tuchel — it’s always down to the manager and that’s why they make the big bucks. There are different things at play here: some may think he’s not yet ready for a job like this and I too think he’s a big bet at this level. it’s fair to say he got the starting line up wrong. Every time a manger makes a change at 30min time (without injury) he’s got something wrong. I’m strongly against employing 2 LBs or WLBs because I’ve seen it done many times and it rarely works. It’s also a less common strategy at this level due to the abundance of quality (I know missing players and all that). regarding the rest, he’s still adjusting the team, so he will need time. We are indeed missing players so there is that too. Abu is doing exactly what I expected of him and I think he makes us less competitive than we once were. That’s all there is to it. I’d rather see Kai and Borja up front tbh.

Tbh it was an amazing header and a more fair result in the end.

You are right he definitely did his bit there.

Mctominey gift — let’s take it! What a boneheaded play by him

Shit performance by abu. man can’t believe Brazil is going to a world cup with fucking Fred in the mix. Suppose I’ve just jinxed it and he will score the winner.

At least the floodgates have been stopped with kova — point remains any mid would’ve been better than the 2 LBs. more of an even game now and anyone can score the winner. It’s looking more and more like a scoreless tie tho.

I suspect moderators have been asleep here for a while, but I’m brazilian, spent a lifetime watching and talking with professionals in the game. Don’t come here to be insulted, so welcome to my ignore list — don’t bother replying any more. I have seen this double LB deal attempted maybe 100 times before… it rarely works.

Did he not fix his blunder @30min in? Weird some will say that kova needed that 30min rest, I’m sure.

Can’t blame him for starting 2 LB and losing the midfield like it always happens when managers do that? folks being very generous to Potter.

There is no excuse for that starting lineup tho.

Suppose our dear manager will now fix his ridiculous starting line up.

Yeah loftus has been poor — lack of pace is a prob in games like these.

Abu is comfortably watching the game. Best seat in the stadium. he better score because he does not do much of anything else.

Same midfield due worked before 😉 it’s not it.

It’s not just them (midfield)…no pressure up front. Abu is really poor at pressing and others aren’t connecting either, so middle is overwhelmed. kinda predictable (and predicted) that this setup would be more likely to suffer pressure like this.

Cholobah passing not good enough at this level. United the far better side so far.

We will miss him... he's a shit player at this level tbh. Amazing player a few years back, but players do get old--even the super fit like C. Ronaldo.

wait what? James is out of the WC too? That would weaken England quite a bit.

Not terrible news for us if this issue goes away. he will have wc time to recover and come back stronger or not. It’s a big blow to France tho—don’t think they can compete without him.

"Alisson Becker has MORE assists than Jack Grealish this calendar year - with Liverpool's goalkeeper's pass for Mo Salah's winner against Manchester City taking his 2022 tally to two... one ahead of £100m playmaker" https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11324411/Alisson-Becker-assists-Jack-Grealish-calendar-year-pass-Salah-winner.html