robsblubot

Kepa!!!

Azpi tackles from behind and got enough of the ball and player to disrupt the finish. It was mane all alone, because zouma was asleep, who passed into the net. when attackers get behind the defense line it’s the entire defense problem.

Poor by zouma at something I thought he was actually good at.

And going forward... amazing player!

UCL season they will all play a lot of games. sorry for the dp - on phone

Agreed, but You have to believe docs and fitness coaches would not clear him otherwise. hopefully the the recent issue is more like a knock and nothing that could get worse.

Much stronger starting XI 👍

Partially disagree. while organization and focus would definitely help, player characteristics are hard to ignore. cant ask players to do what they don’t know how. I mean you can, but they won’t be able to do it.

I’m sorry, but were you born last Saturday by chance? We’ve been watching zouma play for quite a bit of time - at Chelsea and on loan. it’s fine if you disagree, but please don’t accuse people for being hasty here. I’ve always thought he’s a poor footballer and united game did not surprise me one bit. My prediction: he will crumble when under pressure because he does not have the technique to control and move the ball. He will do better against the smaller sides and poorly against the stronger sides who more often employ a high press.

Folks who say they are not worried should be. Bad results and poor performances can really become a deterrent to youth development. Ah regarding your second point, that’s worrying. I say that because I don’t think we have the players for the high press esp defense. The left side is ok with Emerson and Andreas, but the right is for a diff style.

Yeah that’s exactly where frank err and where I disagree with you and @Tomo that match shouldn’t have been about the future! Play the senior to stabilize the team which will also help the younger players. I’ve seen younger sides go into losing spirals quite easily. Starting Tammy over giroud in that game was a massive mistake and I do t even like giroud. even the shape was poor... bring one of the ams back into cm as Oscar used to do. Make it compact. Sorry very naive strategy and formation. I hope it was a one-off tho.

^ frank looks like he’s about to kick that football perhaps he should...

heh yes, but it really shouldn't be. Andreas and Rudiger are by far our best defenders. Zouma, disregarding last game, is way way below that level. Passing from the back is kinda important, and Andreas is probably our best passer atm, even if rudiger is fairly good at that too. We don't really have a team to sit back and we have to play with a higher line. Just can't see zouma being comfortable in that type of setup.

That’s actually the main argument for starting the best players even if they are not 100% and then deal with the subs as needed. start with the most senior players to avoid situations like that. Then add youngsters for minutes and for mixing things up. no, nothing is a sure thing, but things are more likely to happen with the senior players since they already happened for them before. For ex, giroud is more likely to score at this level than a youngster who never scored at this level. Giroud would have been more likely to have scored that sitter. Tammy lowered his head and hit it. not great technique tbh. All these small decisions are likely to have influenced in the outcome and the final score line. No one wants a return of of the lack of youth development from mourinho era, but imo nobody forced frank to use so many youngsters in a single match, against a top club in their turf. Agree or disagree, that was a questionable decision, and one which did not quite work. another thing I can add is that it is a very common tale with overly young sides: they have the impetus, the work rate, sometimes even play well and look good, but lack the finishing touch and make too many small mistakes that hinder the team. And they are usually more likely to choke under stress, of say, having to chase a result after conceding early. Again, for obvious reasons... I mean it should be obvious.

I know this makes sense to most, but does not reflect reality. once a player reaches a status in world football, like it or not luiz has, you tell him he isn’t part of your plans as a manager and he is calling his agent. This will happen with any player! Yes guys like kante would not force an immediate move, but he’d do so in the next window. It is a very bold choice by frank and reckon, like others said, as much about locker room than anything else. Fair enough to him, but there will be a cost this season because of the situation we are in. Just think the club, and frank, overrated zouma.

Couldn’t agree more. That misplaced pass looked just as bad as the pk. United should have scored then and there. andreas was having a solid game while zouma looked bad from the first minute. His hands sticking out to make the easiest pass is very bakayoko like and a big 🚩

Poor against United like most in attack. Older players tend to take a little longer to regain their fitness, so I’d not rule out Pedro just yet. Same applies to azpi.

Exactly. If we go with a similar approach and starting line up, we will get thrashed again.

We have a fundamental diagreement regarding Tammy. I think he’s terrible awful footballer, so we have to agree to disagree. Heh I don’t much care how I sound. Listening to folks here and it seems we did not get thrashed by a shitty united side. There are games and games. Want to give Tammy minutes do it in a different match. Same for mount. This match was to fuck them up and make life difficult for them. barkley (who was playing left wing strangely enough) scored many goals in the pl which is more than both mount and Tammy ever did. Experience matters! And it is well paid for. It reflects prices of players who are already doing well in the PL vs coming from weaker leagues.

And Tammy played well in the PL when? same for mount... and the. He subs Ross Barkley who does have a lot of pl experience. sorry I honestly think Lampard fucked up big time.

Think pulisic has quite a bit more experience at top level than mount, as much as I like him. kante is a tough one: if he were sitting on the bench, I think he should have started otherwise he should not be sitting there. If he can’t play 90, sub him. regarding giroud and Tammy,’sorry that’s not debatable. They belong in completely different footballing tiers. Giroud was, along with hazard, our best player in the last cup win. So, starting Tammy made no sense to me. And his poor performance was very predictable. no need to start a striker in this game either. Play Pedro there for ex. for me playing 2 possession cms for this game was also questionable. Stick Alonso there, or literally anyone else even yoko guy. Populate the middle to avoid the predictable thrashing. Think folks here were underestimating United. They have very dangerous attackers and miss who can punish you for every mistake, as they did.

Yup. I’d not mention smaller national teams though. Being a starter for USA or Nigeria means nothing at this level. Esp in the conditions the teams are in atm. So, mostly I made my point against the majority of pl sides, but against the top clubs we are indeed lacking. That’s why United were more clinical. We have nothing like martial or rashFord at this time. We have potential, but not the final product. we have to hope some of these potentials deliver very very soon tho.

Fair enough on the Mount point. Still, Ross is the more established PL player of the two at this time. Completely disagree on the second and I 100% blame lampard for the thrashing. I'm very confident both Mourinho and Cconte would've easily avoided the thrashing by being more pragmatic in order to match the challenge. Yes, that's exactly what I'm arguing, that the approach was nowhere pragmatic enough for the fixture at hand. Starting Tammy in this game was a very questionable choice (being generous here). For ex, does he (over)rate Zouma perhaps? Given that he let luiz go and then played zouma with only two possession cms protecting him in a tough away match.

same question I ask about Bakayoko. I think it's their physicality: it can only take you so far though. They are both super strong athletes, but really poor on the ball.

hmm you talk as if our starting XI was not filled with national team starters. When Rudiger is back, both him and Andreas start for their respective national teams. Azpi is selectable on the right - only Emerson is not in contention for Brazil. Zouma is poor, but Lampard was behind Luiz departure, so... In midfield all three players are strong internationals, one being a key player for the last World Champion. The striker, who bizarrely did not start today was also in that same winning WC side. Ross Barkley starts for England and has given good performances so far. Yes, once we go into wingers and AM, we are lacking, even considering Willian as an international as well. But let's not pretend we aren't a lot stronger than the vast majority of the PL teams. So, yes, Lampard should be given time, but he also needs to do better and adjust accordingly. For example, if he does not have the quality to keep possession, then don't. If the defenders are lacking at the moment protect them by having more defensive mids in the lineup, not more attackers/wingers. Wasn't the main criticism of Sarri how inflexible he was?