Manchester United

[smedly]

7 hours ago, xylophone said:

I would like to see Luke Shaw get a run on the left and perhaps keep Ashley Young, who although plays well from time to time does have some defensive shortcomings position wise, as a rotational option.

 

Agree with you on Valencia, and IMO he has done his dash and has run out of ideas when he gets forward, however no disputing his loyalty and commitment, not to mention his past good form.

 

I think a clear out is needed and although I mentioned earlier that Young could be an option to keep, it's also possible he could be let go and perhaps bring in one of the Academy boys/youngsters.

 

Looking at the back line I'm not sure where Rojo fits in now, and although I think that the centre back position is his better position (rather than full back) there is a surplus there. Also he has had long-term injuries and one has to wonder if keeping him is just adding to the doctors bills, rather than getting the best out of him in the future.

 

Darmian, Fellaini, Jones, Blind, Mata (although I like his ability to make penetrating runs) should almost be certain to be included in a cleanout and I was going to mention Sanchez, because so far I believe he has been a waste of money, especially in the way that Mourinho likes to play him.

 

Martial displays some great talent from time to time, much the same as Memphis did, but work rate and "heart" seem a little lacking at times, and I don't think the manager sees eye to eye with him often enough, so perhaps another one on the "let go" list.

 

From what I have seen of Lindelof, I like him, this despite a shaky start, because I believe he has talent and he has good pace and seems to do a good role on man-to-man marking when necessary.

 

Some people complain about Smalling, however I do believe that he is still one of the best centre backs around in the league and sure like everyone else, he makes the occasional mistake, and the problem being that if you make that mistake just a few metres out from goal, then you are inevitably punished most severely.

 

It would be good to see a clear out, not only for the sake of the club, but also for the sake of those players who really do want consistent first-team places........ time will tell.

probably a great post since you spent time on it

 

but honestly could you have shortened it and I  might have been tempted to read it 

Edited April 20, 2018 by smedly

[RickG16]

11 minutes ago, smedly said:

probably a great post since you spent time on it

 

but honestly could you have shortened it and I  might have been tempted to read it 

Harsh... I thought it was a pretty good overview of everything which needs improvement.

[smedly]

4 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Harsh... I thought it was a pretty good overview of everything which needs improvement.

fair enough, I'll give it a go when the fog has cleared 

[nev]

Some great posts by Xylophone and Rick agree wholeheartedly, Big game today one funnily I am confident we can get a result, We will have learned where we went wrong in the loss to Spurs and will not be so naive and play with only two in midfield, Expect Herrera to start as he was excellent midweek.

[smedly]

Great performances tonight from Liverpool and Spurs

 

LMAO  

[Rc2702]

1 hour ago, smedly said:

Great performances tonight from Liverpool and Spurs

 

LMAO  

Yh top performance from your outfit at home to WBA last week. 

[SantiSuk]

1st half great advert for the ancient Cup. 2nd half dull dull dull. Don't think I'll bother with the final.

[nev]

Good win in the end, At the start we looked ropey and Spurs well on top we dug in and in the end came out with a well earned win.

Sanchez was excellent as was Pogba both had average starts but in the end both my joint man if the match, Kane only touched the ball 4 times in the last 20 mins so all credit to our defence.

 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, nev said:

Good win in the end, At the start we looked ropey and Spurs well on top we dug in and in the end came out with a well earned win.

Sanchez was excellent as was Pogba both had average starts but in the end both my joint man if the match, Kane only touched the ball 4 times in the last 20 mins so all credit to our defence.

 

Yep, good summary Nev.......... although I have to say that the Mourinho style of, "surrender the midfield and defend like hell, then rely on breakaways" does put the sh1ts up me, mainly because so much can go wrong when frantic defending takes place (deflections, trips, own goals et cetera).

 

Having said that I thought overall it was a fairly controlled performance and I think Sanchez had probably his best game and the amount of ground he covered was phenomenal. In addition, Pogba was able to spray some lovely balls around the place, especially in the second half, and getting back to the defence, both Smalling and Jones played well, as did Valencia – – not too impressed with Young though.

 

And you quite rightly say, Harry Kane only touched the ball a few times, so well done to the defence, and to the team as a whole because it was a team performance based on a particular style and they played that well.

 

[Sparkles]

While Sanchez got the MOM , a return to form and a simply brilliant header I wouldnt have minded Jones/Smalling sharing the MOM  plaudits I thought they were absolutely top draw.In fact the best display by a MU centre back pairing this season,IMO.

 

Harry Kane hardly got a sniff and can't remember De Gea having to make a real save from a Spurs team renowned for their fire power.

 

I think some suporters are a bit premature about who should be  sent on their way for next season ,still a way to go and if the likes of Herrara for example ,whose hardly played this season ,can reproduce that form  don't see many changes required apart from obviously another midfielder and get the fb's spots sorted.Valencia is obviously feeling the strain, been very long season.

 

Riles me to say it but Mourinho got his game plan spot on. A few smiles and a sense of happiness is not a weakness.

[Sparkles]

7 hours ago, SantiSuk said:

1st half great advert for the ancient Cup. 2nd half dull dull dull. Don't think I'll bother with the final.

The pace the game was played in the first half did you really expect that for 90 minutes ? Its been a long season they are not robots I guarantee more than 50% of the players are carrying minor niggles

 

[petermik]

14 hours ago, SantiSuk said:

1st half great advert for the ancient Cup. 2nd half dull dull dull. Don't think I'll bother with the final.

 

7 hours ago, Sparkles said:

The pace the game was played in the first half did you really expect that for 90 minutes ? Its been a long season they are not robots I guarantee more than 50% of the players are carrying minor niggles

 

"don,t think I,ll bother with the final" up to you Santi.....keeping your eyes peeled for Arsen,s successor is much more time consuming and good luck with it.....I see Brendan Rodgers is being mentioned

Uniteds tactics spot on "our Harry" barely had a kick....good team performance,pity Rashford could not have made it more decisive at the end

 

[Bredbury Blue]

Mourinho. ..he's bloody rubbish isn't he. That's what some on here would have you believe,  but the thing is, though he might not play the most visually attractive football,  he is a serial winner. I have you down to win it now.

 

Still waiting to read the Spurs boy's opinion on the game but they've all gone AWOL today. 

 

[nev]

8 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Mourinho. ..he's bloody rubbish isn't he. That's what some on here would have you believe,  but the thing is, though he might not play the most visually attractive football,  he is a serial winner. I have you down to win it now.

 

Still waiting to read the Spurs boy's opinion on the game but they've all gone AWOL today. 

 

Exactly, watched in Sydney casino had two spurs fans behind me it was funny the first 20 mins or so they was going mad and laughing at how rubbish we was like it was in the bag, but slowly has the game went on they realized it was not going to be a walkover, when we score the place erupted and I took great delight in turning around and celebrated in front of them, For the rest of the match they looked shocked and started to realise their is more to football than attacking and entertaining.

 

[RickG16]

Pogba bullying Dembele for the Alexis goal was a beautiful thing. Can't think of a PL player with so much power who has that skill set - possible prime Steven Gerrard? But even he didn't have that pace.

 

And in Herrera I will admit to seeing a bit of Bryan Robson. 

[Bredbury Blue]

42 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Pogba bullying Dembele for the Alexis goal was a beautiful thing. Can't think of a PL player with so much power who has that skill set - possible prime Steven Gerrard? But even he didn't have that pace.

 

And in Herrera I will admit to seeing a bit of Bryan Robson. 

Agree with your Dembele comment. 

 

Wouldn't say Gerrard had great power but he could run. Yaya had power, pace and skills like Pogba. he could also do it regularly, not when he felt likr it as Pogba does.

Edited April 23, 2018 by Bredbury Blue

[xylophone]

48 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

And in Herrera I will admit to seeing a bit of Bryan Robson

I thought Herrera had a good game, showing a bit of "bite" when necessary and covering a lot of ground and true what you say about Pogba.........lacking consistency, but with great skills when he decides to use them! 

 

Did see him huffing and puffing a little, so perhaps he is not as fit as he should be, something Mourinho has alluded to at times.

 

You mentioned Robson and someone else mentioned Gerard, and for me, I would like to see a player operating in United's midfield who could actually run/dictate the game from there, or at least have a major influence in splitting defences with some great balls. Similar to the likes of Hazzard and KDB when they are in full swing and even perhaps Michael Carrick in his younger days.

 

In Pogba we have someone who could do that if he operated on all cylinders for all the game........hopefully that's to come. 

[Bredbury Blue]

Pogba is clearly talented WITH the ball but he seems to lack athleticism.  Plods around one paced. Can he can get that sorted though?

[RickG16]

3 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

Pogba is clearly talented WITH the ball but he seems to lack athleticism.  Plods around one paced. Can he can get that sorted though?

Either you have used the word 'athelticism' wrongly, or I have misunderstood it for most of my life....

 

Athletisicm isn't necessarily allied to work rate btw....

[RickG16]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

 

You mentioned Robson and someone else mentioned Gerard, and for me, I would like to see a player operating in United's midfield who could actually run/dictate the game from there, or at least have a major influence in splitting defences with some great balls. Similar to the likes of Hazzard and KDB when they are in full swing and even perhaps Michael Carrick in his younger days.

 

It's actually amazing we had such a good replacement for Paul Scholes lined up in Michael Carrick. Between them they covered about 20 years. In the current squad I don't think anyone is capable of playing that killer KdB pass. Probably the last player who could was Rooney.

 

But we do have a lot of others strengths, and we need to use them. 

[Rc2702]

2 hours ago, RickG16 said:

It's actually amazing we had such a good replacement for Paul Scholes lined up in Michael Carrick. Between them they covered about 20 years. In the current squad I don't think anyone is capable of playing that killer KdB pass. Probably the last player who could was Rooney.

 

But we do have a lot of others strengths, and we need to use them. 

Well that's cos your boss won't let them. It's weird as when it's a back to the wall job you get results and fight. 

[Bredbury Blue]

8 hours ago, RickG16 said:

Either you have used the word 'athelticism' wrongly, or I have misunderstood it for most of my life....

 

Athletisicm isn't necessarily allied to work rate btw....

ath·let·i·cism/aTHˈledəsizəm/noun

the physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility.

 

Running doesn't look like something he does easily. He lumbers around. Clear enough? 

[RickG16]

2 hours ago, Bredbury Blue said:

ath·let·i·cism/aTHˈledəsizəm/noun

the physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility.

 

Running doesn't look like something he does easily. He lumbers around. Clear enough? 

I think at full pelt he is one of, if not the fastest player in the PL. When he is jogging around he has the languid look of a tall guy, so has that 'lazy' look about him.

 

For me athelticism is being able to run very fast, jump very high, and be very strong. So I can't think of more athletic player in the PL tbh. 

 

Whether he uses that athletic ability often enough is a different question. 

[carmine]

19 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

I think at full pelt he is one of, if not the fastest player in the PL. When he is jogging around he has the languid look of a tall guy, so has that 'lazy' look about him.

 

For me athelticism is being able to run very fast, jump very high, and be very strong. So I can't think of more athletic player in the PL tbh. 

 

Whether he uses that athletic ability often enough is a different question. 

A little word to the wise.  BB doesn't actually know what a "physical player" is.  Not only did he let it slip, he confirmed he didn't thinking he was being clever,  only to find that he was the only one on the entire forum who didn't know the phrase,  so i shouldn't bother getting into this one either!!

[mrbojangles]

28 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

I think at full pelt he is one of, if not the fastest player in the PL.  

According to Opta, Leroy Sane is the fastest in the PL. Pogba doesn't even come in the Top 20

 

https://talksport.com/football/20-fastest-players-premier-league-season-including-sane-sterling-and-bellerin-180302274136?p=2

 

[carmine]

5 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

According to Opta, Leroy Sane is the fastest in the PL. Pogba doesn't even come in the Top 20

 

https://talksport.com/football/20-fastest-players-premier-league-season-including-sane-sterling-and-bellerin-180302274136?p=2

 

Yes Sane is the fastest and Walker's not far behind him.

[RickG16]

7 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

According to Opta, Leroy Sane is the fastest in the PL. Pogba doesn't even come in the Top 20

 

https://talksport.com/football/20-fastest-players-premier-league-season-including-sane-sterling-and-bellerin-180302274136?p=2

 

Thanks for the link. Looks like they are measuring them over short distances: "The speed in kilometers per hour (km/h) for a given frame is based on the previous 15 frame-to-frame speeds." 

 

So doesn't surprise me a small nippy guy would win. Over 100m however, someone like  Lukaku or Pogba would win I think. Look at the build of 100m sprinters, tells you all you need to know.

 

I think before the PL era they did have a 100m race for some of the fastest players in the 1st Division (not everyone competed) - I think Andrei Kanchelskis won that or have a completely imagined that?

Edited April 24, 2018 by RickG16

[mrbojangles]

3 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Thanks for the link. Looks like they are measuring them over short distances: "The speed in kilometers per hour (km/h) for a given frame is based on the previous 15 frame-to-frame speeds." 

 

So doesn't surprise me a small nippy guy would win. Over 100m however, someone like  Lukaku or Pogba would win I think. Look at the build of 100m sprinters, tells you all you need to know.

 

I think before the PL era they did have a 100m race for some of the fastest players in the 1st Division (not everyone competed) - I think Andrei Kanchelskis one that or have a completely imagined that?

It's true they are measured over short distances, don't suppose there's much other way they can measure it than on a pitch and sprinting with a ball.

 

As for 100m sprint (Hussain Bolt aside), apparently typical sprinters aren't Giants and the ideal height is 1.83m high and 75-80kg. Sane is 1.84m high and 75kg. Pogba is 1.91m high and 84kg.

 

Read an article last year which said, Sane was timed and had he been competing in the Olympics he would have been in the semi-final. I knew he was fast but that's quite astonishing

[RickG16]

6 minutes ago, mrbojangles said:

Hussain Bolt 

Ah the famous Pakistani sprinter! 

 

Yeah it never occurred to me Sane was 6ft to be honest. Maybe he is a loss to Belgian athletics.

 

As for which PL players would do the best in a marathon... probably one of the guys highest in the 'distance covered' list. Always surprised me that David Beckham was high up in the list. 

[mrbojangles]

4 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Ah the famous Pakistani sprinter!  

 

Sorry Usain