51 minutes ago, layzie said:

This kind of approach definitely take time and you really need fullbacks who are up and down the pitch all day. It's the new times, never thought fullbacks would fetch the kind if money they do these days. 

Not that they were playing much towards the end but guys like Pogba and Mata leaving means some passing ability out the door. Expecting some more signings there though.

Mata, pogba and lingard still had a combined 60 appearances last season. Fred/Mctominay can still play a role but need a proper #6 next to them and definitely not playing with each other.

I’ve spent the last 2 years calling Rabiot a plumber and now we’re linked with him. 

Never thought it would be mufc out of all my teams that would be the death of me aha. 

13 hours ago, roy11 said:

Mata, pogba and lingard still had a combined 60 appearances last season. Fred/Mctominay can still play a role but need a proper #6 next to them and definitely not playing with each other.

I’ve spent the last 2 years calling Rabiot a plumber and now we’re linked with him. 

Never thought it would be mufc out of all my teams that would be the death of me aha. 

I never thought a lot of things with United! Certainly never thought we'd beat you 5-0 in a league game! Probably shouldn't speak too soon we're playing each other in 2 weeks.

1 hour ago, layzie said:

I never thought a lot of things with United! Certainly never thought we'd beat you 5-0 in a league game! Probably shouldn't speak too soon we're playing each other in 2 weeks.

Ultimately, I don't think much changes at United until there is an ownership change, might get a cup win along the way and some good victories but seem very far from the title race at present.

 

Mods - please lock the thread until United are good again 

What on earth happened to De Gea? He looked like he was made of biscuits. 

2 minutes ago, layzie said:

What on earth happened to De Gea? He looked like he was made of biscuits. 

De Gea is a marvelous shot stopper,  has tremendous reflexes etc.

But when you have dross and chaos in front of him, his weaknesses are much more evident.

His distribution is poor, which is problematic given the way EtH wants to play. (See 2nd goal conceded this weekend).

I know it is easy to judge from a keyboard, but if you've watched him a lot, you'll see he is a bit of a coward -  Stays on his line too long, doesn't come out for crosses, too reliant making saves with his feet when he could be more aggressive and dive and doesn't sweeper/keep (essential in modern game) etc.

An interesting stat for you, Dean Henderson who was sent on loan this season has 5 High Ball Claims so far this season from 2 games, last season De Gea had a total of 8. 

Again, i repeat he is a marvelous shot stopper, but there is a reason he is no longer picked for Spain, their manager recently said "A goalkeeper should start the play and generate the first superiority, they must dominate the aerial play." - As I said above, those are his his biggest weaknesses, modern football requires more than shot-stopping. 

Technically speaking his contract expires at the end of this season, but there is an option for an extra year renewal. Given his wage and the above deficiencies, i hope it is not extended as a proper clean out is required. 

Thank him for all he has done, but time to go. 

 

15 hours ago, roy11 said:

De Gea is a marvelous shot stopper,  has tremendous reflexes etc.

But when you have dross and chaos in front of him, his weaknesses are much more evident.

His distribution is poor, which is problematic given the way EtH wants to play. (See 2nd goal conceded this weekend).

I know it is easy to judge from a keyboard, but if you've watched him a lot, you'll see he is a bit of a coward -  Stays on his line too long, doesn't come out for crosses, too reliant making saves with his feet when he could be more aggressive and dive and doesn't sweeper/keep (essential in modern game) etc.

An interesting stat for you, Dean Henderson who was sent on loan this season has 5 High Ball Claims so far this season from 2 games, last season De Gea had a total of 8. 

Again, i repeat he is a marvelous shot stopper, but there is a reason he is no longer picked for Spain, their manager recently said "A goalkeeper should start the play and generate the first superiority, they must dominate the aerial play." - As I said above, those are his his biggest weaknesses, modern football requires more than shot-stopping. 

Technically speaking his contract expires at the end of this season, but there is an option for an extra year renewal. Given his wage and the above deficiencies, i hope it is not extended as a proper clean out is required. 

Thank him for all he has done, but time to go. 

 

He had a brilliant season last year as well in my view. Keepers are allowed to have off days but he just had to be stronger for that first one I thought, one of the true shot stoppers but you're right you need a bit more to be a world class keeper at the moment. He can be a bit cautious, I don't mind a keeper that doesn't charge out every time but it's a physical league and most of the time you gotta go for those 50-50 challenges especially if you are able to use your hands!

You’re only as good as the centre backs in front of you as well and I’m sorry to say but I am just not a fan of Harry McGuire. I’m aware I’m a harsh critic but he’s always struck me as a solid CB who heads the ball well in a team that sits back and counters. In a possession based team I feel he struggles. Worthy England international but not an 80m defender for me. You watch him more than I do Roy so you’d have a better take but that’s mine. 

 

@layzieIt's a tough one, I feel sorry for Harry as he wasn't the one who decided he was an 80 million pound defender. That is some big Manchester United/English player tax.

He hasn't been helped by a few things at United;

• Overall turmoil of the club
• Not having an adequate midfield in front screening the backline
• Inconsistent fullbacks
• Inconsistent CB pairings
• Having to play as a  LCB when he's right footed.

If we look at his positive performances for England they often come when he's in system with 3CBs. When he was at Leicester they also predominantly deployed a back 5 in a relatively defensive compact unit. 

The price was a lot to pay for a player who seemingly excels the most in a 3 CB system, for that price you expect a complete CB. 

A lot of his good games for England came when he was playing behind a good DM in either Rice and sometimes Rice and Phillips, so he is a lot more protected than he is at club level.  

I think he can exceed in a possession based team; he is actually a good passer of the ball. He doesn't have the long range ability of VVD but can spread it around, was very impressive in pre-season, especially his delivery from RCB to the left wing.

I think a key issue here is the midfield not presenting for options and making clever runs. The Brighton game for example, we started with Maguire and Martinez, who are both decent ball playing defenders but they both got caught on the ball a few times because there was no one presenting for a pass. 

He does have other positive attributes such as ball recoveries and aerial battles but his mistakes and $ take attention away from that.

For me his biggest flaw is his positional awareness and he is too prone to making mistakes as a result. I am uncertain if his positional issues stem from the dot point issues i listed above or if these can be fixed. 

One issue is that United often come up against teams who sit very deep and a result our defenders plays with a high line, he does not have the pace or awareness for that - very easy to run in behind as Welbeck was doing in GW1. Didn't help Fred was pressing at inopportune times which exacerbated the situation and highlighted some of his weaknesses (Pace and positional awareness)

As I briefly touched on before, Leicester were a compact team when he was there, easy to head the ball away in those situations, much different ball game trying to play a high line further up the pitch.

Would like to be able to judge Maguire after a season with the following;

• A manager who can bring the players he wants and has a clear style
• A solid CB pairing playing with good fullbacks
• A well functioning midfield

Sadly, not sure if we ever will see this. So in a flawed side he will continue to make mistakes, so you'd have to question whether he should be starting. 

Think he's destined to be remembered as a expensive meme footballer. 

Sorry for turning into Binman, still not sure if i've answered your query that well, given him some praise but torched him for other things.

 

 

 

On 8/16/2022 at 12:13 PM, roy11 said:

@layzieIt's a tough one, I feel sorry for Harry as he wasn't the one who decided he was an 80 million pound defender. That is some big Manchester United/English player tax.

He hasn't been helped by a few things at United;

• Overall turmoil of the club
• Not having an adequate midfield in front screening the backline
• Inconsistent fullbacks
• Inconsistent CB pairings
• Having to play as a  LCB when he's right footed.

If we look at his positive performances for England they often come when he's in system with 3CBs. When he was at Leicester they also predominantly deployed a back 5 in a relatively defensive compact unit. 

The price was a lot to pay for a player who seemingly excels the most in a 3 CB system, for that price you expect a complete CB. 

A lot of his good games for England came when he was playing behind a good DM in either Rice and sometimes Rice and Phillips, so he is a lot more protected than he is at club level.  

I think he can exceed in a possession based team; he is actually a good passer of the ball. He doesn't have the long range ability of VVD but can spread it around, was very impressive in pre-season, especially his delivery from RCB to the left wing.

I think a key issue here is the midfield not presenting for options and making clever runs. The Brighton game for example, we started with Maguire and Martinez, who are both decent ball playing defenders but they both got caught on the ball a few times because there was no one presenting for a pass. 

He does have other positive attributes such as ball recoveries and aerial battles but his mistakes and $ take attention away from that.

For me his biggest flaw is his positional awareness and he is too prone to making mistakes as a result. I am uncertain if his positional issues stem from the dot point issues i listed above or if these can be fixed. 

One issue is that United often come up against teams who sit very deep and a result our defenders plays with a high line, he does not have the pace or awareness for that - very easy to run in behind as Welbeck was doing in GW1. Didn't help Fred was pressing at inopportune times which exacerbated the situation and highlighted some of his weaknesses (Pace and positional awareness)

As I briefly touched on before, Leicester were a compact team when he was there, easy to head the ball away in those situations, much different ball game trying to play a high line further up the pitch.

Would like to be able to judge Maguire after a season with the following;

• A manager who can bring the players he wants and has a clear style
• A solid CB pairing playing with good fullbacks
• A well functioning midfield

Sadly, not sure if we ever will see this. So in a flawed side he will continue to make mistakes, so you'd have to question whether he should be starting. 

Think he's destined to be remembered as a expensive meme footballer. 

Sorry for turning into Binman, still not sure if i've answered your query that well, given him some praise but torched him for other things.

 

 

 

Haha the Binman of the soccer thread! I like it!

I agree that McGuire needs a good CB partner. I don't hate him I just feel like many others do that he wasn't an 80m CB. Can still do a job though.

City by how far? Looking like it at this stage.

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Haha the Binman of the soccer thread! I like it!

I agree that McGuire needs a good CB partner. I don't hate him I just feel like many others do that he wasn't an 80m CB. Can still do a job though.

City by how far? Looking like it at this stage.

The early whisper is it might be Varane and Martinez this week. So we’ll see what happens with him.

 

Expect city to be business as usual until there is some fixture congestion, unsure how that will work this year with the WC break though. 

12 hours ago, roy11 said:

The early whisper is it might be Varane and Martinez this week. So we’ll see what happens with him.

 

Expect city to be business as usual until there is some fixture congestion, unsure how that will work this year with the WC break though. 

Ah yes the dreaded Summer World Cup. Not cool. 

I watched Crystal Palace v Aston Villa on sat night. Palace were impressive yet at the same time Villa's defending was a shambles. They couldn't get drive through the middle, simply needed more out of Kamara and Digne. I could be overhyping Villa but I'm just expecting a bit more out of them than a regulation mid table side.

I'm not a 'second favourite team' kind of guy but I do find myself watching Palace a lot. No idea why, just really like the way they go about it. Thought they may be a bit lost after Hodgson left but I think Vieira is doing a fine job.

Boy, not feeling the best this morning for obvious reasons but you have to hand it to Roy's United. Real sharp movement in the final 3rd and deserved their goals and the win. Varane instantly makes this team better, played a great game.

As for Liverpool we just weren't on in the beginning and it cost us. That split second lapse in conentration and we paid for it. 2 points from the first 3 games is a major worry, think the first part of this season we'll be going backwards to go forwards a bit. 

Long way to go though, well I hope it is because it's only 3 games in and it would be nice to have SOMETHING to watch over summer haha. 

On 8/22/2022 at 9:32 AM, layzie said:

I watched Crystal Palace v Aston Villa on sat night. Palace were impressive yet at the same time Villa's defending was a shambles. They couldn't get drive through the middle, simply needed more out of Kamara and Digne. I could be overhyping Villa but I'm just expecting a bit more out of them than a regulation mid table side.

I'm not a 'second favourite team' kind of guy but I do find myself watching Palace a lot. No idea why, just really like the way they go about it. Thought they may be a bit lost after Hodgson left but I think Vieira is doing a fine job.

I thought Vieira would fail as i didn't rate his previous coaching efforts, but he's done a terrific job.

Curious to see how many years they can keep Ebiowei/Eze/Olise together though. 

 

2 hours ago, layzie said:

Boy, not feeling the best this morning for obvious reasons but you have to hand it to Roy's United. Real sharp movement in the final 3rd and deserved their goals and the win. Varane instantly makes this team better, played a great game.

As for Liverpool we just weren't on in the beginning and it cost us. That split second lapse in conentration and we paid for it. 2 points from the first 3 games is a major worry, think the first part of this season we'll be going backwards to go forwards a bit. 

Long way to go though, well I hope it is because it's only 3 games in and it would be nice to have SOMETHING to watch over summer haha. 

I know your lot wanted a Mane replacement but you already had Salah/Bobby/Diaz/Jota and Elliott as front 3 options. If money is tight at LFC, think that Darwin money would have been better spent on a midfielder 

Yesterday a good day for my Haaland golden boot, Bournemouth relegation predictions

On 8/28/2022 at 7:09 PM, roy11 said:

Yesterday a good day for my Haaland golden boot, Bournemouth relegation predictions

When I throw on the 3 min Man City highlights I always expect 2 goals in the first minute. It happened but for Palace.

Frustrating 😐

Scott Parker sacked, given they were one of the favorites to go down it's a little knee-jerk but need to react after a 9-0 loss I guess.

36 minutes ago, roy11 said:

Scott Parker sacked, given they were one of the favorites to go down it's a little knee-jerk but need to react after a 9-0 loss I guess.

On further reflection, extremely harsh given he was 1-3 in the league with losses against Arsenal, Man City, LFC. Viscous game, especially when Gerrard/Lampard are stinking out their posts too. 

On 8/30/2022 at 7:13 PM, roy11 said:

On further reflection, extremely harsh given he was 1-3 in the league with losses against Arsenal, Man City, LFC. Viscous game, especially when Gerrard/Lampard are stinking out their posts too. 

Thought it was harsh too Roy, I'm really not a fan of panic sackings. Hopefully another job round the corner for him soon. 

The honeymoon is over for Gerrard, he gets team buying in which is great but he doesn't alter anything, ever! 

2 hours ago, layzie said:

Thought it was harsh too Roy, I'm really not a fan of panic sackings. Hopefully another job round the corner for him soon. 

The honeymoon is over for Gerrard, he gets team buying in which is great but he doesn't alter anything, ever! 

The Gerrard v Lampard debate continues in another form. 
Both will be lucky to see out the season.

Although Everton have made some reasonable signings since the start of the season (Onana, Coady, Garner, Gueye, Maupay) so we'll see what happens with Frank

4 hours ago, layzie said:

Thought it was harsh too Roy, I'm really not a fan of panic sackings. Hopefully another job round the corner for him soon. 

 

He's probably got well over 100 choices ... once anyone has managed at Premier level the opportunities elsewhere are immense

Plus, he managed to bring Bournemouth into the top echelon.  Being a worldwide sport played everywhere, he's basically got a managers job for life (somewhere)

Money-wise, he's got no issues either

Edited September 2, 20223 yr by Macca

Meanwhile, after a disastrous start to the season, the Hammers have picked up 4 points in their last 2 games

And how about Erling Haaland?  Scored 6 goals over a 4 day stretch (2 hat tricks) ... as if Man City weren't strong enough already!!

On 9/2/2022 at 5:32 PM, Macca said:

Meanwhile, after a disastrous start to the season, the Hammers have picked up 4 points in their last 2 games

And how about Erling Haaland?  Scored 6 goals over a 4 day stretch (2 hat tricks) ... as if Man City weren't strong enough already!!

Yeah about that, Hammers were robbed a point in my opinion. I know we don't like to point to officiating but taking away their late equaliser when Mendy has decided to come out and smother while Bowen tried to leap over and at very worst may have caught Mendy with a trailing foot but otherwise no contact.

To reverse that decision is a joke. Thought Michael Owen summed it up perfectly in the post game when he said he has been penalised for getting to it first, something you expect a striker to be doing and on the flip side as a keeper if you elect to go in then you risk wearing some contact but it's fair game. 

A shame because it was a really exciting London derby, great to watch.  

 

Edited September 6, 20222 yr by layzie

4 hours ago, layzie said:

Yeah about that, Hammers were robbed a point in my opinion. I know we don't like to point to officiating but taking away their late equaliser when Mendy has decided to come out and smother while Bowen tried to leap over and at very worst may have caught Mendy with a trailing foot but otherwise no contact.

To reverse that decision is a joke. Thought Michael Owen summed it up perfectly in the post game when he said he has been penalised for getting to it first, something you expect a striker to be doing and on the flip side as a keeper if you elect to go in then you risk wearing some contact but it's fair game. 

A shame because it was a really exciting London derby, great to watch.  

 

These things happen

The Hammers will 100% be on the other side of a dodgy decision soon enough

It all evens itself out in the long run, layz

Mind you, re the footy, even though Sydney were the better team, 2 of those 50m penalties were super-dodgy!!

Edited September 6, 20222 yr by Macca