Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016 - Mod Warning link in OP 20/3

Your Airbag

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

We picked up 10 from 12 in the league games including Everton after City. Our problem *so far* hasn't been the big games although with the Europa and FA cup game in there fatigue will be a problem

We have a real chance at 4th now but I think the Europa is going to damage our chances, I wouldn't be too bothered if we go out as long as Liverpool don't go on to win it of course

Plenty of this might see us through

Your Airbag

Some encouraging quotes from VG

Van Gaal: "Timothy has saved us three times I think because of his speed and I was very pleased he was on the pitch. I let him stay on the pitch in the second half because he was the player who always closed the door for us"

LvG: "Youngsters have given us a lot of spirit & when you see the dressing room full of joy with all the players laughing, it’s beautiful."

He seems pleased with Tofu Messiah.........or whatever his name is.............I think we can expect a lot more game time for our new CB.

deaddonkey15

Despite all the optimism, I have a feeling we will lose to West Brom at the weekend and City will hammer Villa and with them having a game in hand we will soon be back to where we've been for most of the season: close, but not close enough.

TheDoc

Hope we pump Pulis, just to see his stupid little head blame the referee for hiss tupid little team. Despise that manager.

bangkok

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Despite all the optimism, I have a feeling we will lose to West Brom at the weekend and City will hammer Villa and with them having a game in hand we will soon be back to where we've been for most of the season: close, but not close enough.

sReq | uTeK

Pro. F wrote: »

Roy Keane dictated the flow, in possession, of nearly every game he played in. Scholes was even better in possession. It should be both CMs that take on the mantle of dictating games. The idea that a CM - at the level United expect to play - who is not good in possession can still be classed as good overall is wrong.

Schneiderlin was better at Southampton, but he was still not good in posssession. When under pressure when receiving the ball he was unable to cope properly.



Those types of stats are useless for judging central midfielders. Indeed there has yet to be found a good way of using stats that is anywhere close to reliably identifying good central midfielders.

Oh right, is that the general consensus among the footballing world or as usual are you speaking for everyone?

As for Roy Keane in my own opinion and that of many people I've talked to he was a great great player but in terms of controlling the pace of a game he was no Xavi or Scholes. I'd very much liken his dictating ability to that of Morgan or Carrick, IMO.

bucketybuck

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

As for Roy Keane in my own opinion and that of many people I've talked to he was a great great player but in terms of controlling the pace of a game he was no Xavi or Scholes.

Thats one area in which he is vastly underrated in my opinion. Behind all the blood and thunder was a very intelligent and economical passer of the ball. You don't dominate the games he did through passion alone.

Liam O

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

Oh right, is that the general consensus among the footballing world or as usual are you speaking for everyone?

As for Roy Keane in my own opinion and that of many people I've talked to he was a great great player but in terms of controlling the pace of a game he was no Xavi or Scholes. I'd very much liken his dictating ability to that of Morgan or Carrick, IMO.

Schneiderlin and Carrick are miles apart in both styles and ability to dictate play imo. Carrick is a way better passer in the pocket than Schneiderlin.

Pro. F

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

Oh right, is that the general consensus among the footballing world or as usual are you speaking for everyone?

It's the general consensus of the football analytics world yes.

There is some confidence expressed these days in using statistics to judge midfielders' defensive qualities - number of expected goals prevented by defensive actions and that sort of thing. I've read and heard a few guys talking about their models on that and they are able to defend their methods well enough. But in terms of possession I've yet to come across anybody with a model that has stood up to any sort of scrutiny. Have you?

There is also the method of judging player quality by using Shapley values, but then that is not specific to any one position.

sReq | uTeK wrote: »

As for Roy Keane in my own opinion and that of many people I've talked to he was a great great player but in terms of controlling the pace of a game he was no Xavi or Scholes. I'd very much liken his dictating ability to that of Morgan or Carrick, IMO.

Not being as good as Xavi or Scholes in possession does not preclude a player from still being very good in possession. Keane was miles better than Carrick and Schneiderlin in possession.

West Brom were very easily got at by Lecister, I was a bit surprised as I thought they would struggle more against WBAs defence, I wouldnt fear us not scoring at least but could see us struggling via Rondon depending who is at the back for us.

bucketybuck

Just for the hell of it, some quotes from footballers regarding Keanes use of the ball.

“You need someone in a team to dictate the pace of the play and Roy does that perfectly. He defends – he’s a good tackler and a good header of the ball – and starts attacks, and passes the ball with metronomic accuracy. — Teddy Sheringham

“Every team needs a player like Keane, someone who can control the game and dominate the tempo. Tactically and positionally he always got it right ” — Jaap Stam

“He was the best in midfield; he could play everywhere. He could play the holding role and be defensive, but then he could suddenly burst forward and score goals. He was so intelligent in how he played the game - Jaap Stam

A midfielder of extraordinary tenacity and box-to-box dynamism, with a ferocious tackle and an underrated ability to use the ball astutely.” — Gary Neville

“I would say he was the best player I’ve ever seen passing the ball 15 yards through the gaps in midfield to his strikers. He always looked forward, and he punched those balls in with such pace and ferocity. A world-class performer.” — Matt Holland

The_Kew_Tour

Last night, sadly, told me we have still lot work to do to even hope for top 4

Chris_Bradley

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Last night, sadly, told me we have still lot work to do to even hope for top 4

Glass half empty type of man comes to mind.

The_Kew_Tour

Chris_Bradley wrote: »

Glass half empty type of man comes to mind.

Or maybe once bitten and all that..

TheDoc

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Last night, sadly, told me we have still lot work to do to even hope for top 4

Come back

Jayop

bucketybuck wrote: »

Yeah, course there wasn't.

I'd say two of those were me and clearly I'm joking. sort of

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Or maybe once bitten and all that..

Literally once bitten in the last 23 years.

jayo26

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Last night, sadly, told me we have still lot work to do to even hope for top 4

And do you think city and arsenal are rubbing there hands in glee that we managed to pull 3 points from a game where we played crap? They are worried as much as we are because they have no form in league at all.

4th spot is anyone's there for the taken and the reason is because arsenal and city and united are playing crap.

Your Airbag

TheDoc wrote: »

Hope we pump Pulis, just to see his stupid little head blame the referee for hiss tupid little team. Despise that manager.

U wot m8?

Maximus Alexander

jayo26 wrote: »

And do you think city and arsenal are rubbing there hands in glee that we managed to pull 3 points from a game where we played crap? They are worried as much as we are because they have no form in league at all.

4th spot is anyone's there for the taken and the reason is because arsenal and city and united are playing crap.

If United had played last night like anything had changed, rather than just fluking another three points, I might be more optimistic. But the reality is that United look every bit the team that has been performing poorly against poor opposition and losing games that they have no right to struggle in all season. It's only a matter of time until points start dropping again.

Arsenal and City are having their own problems, but both look more capable than United. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but you'd probably be better off steeling yourself against what's likely to come than getting all hopeful and stuff.

Jayop

The form table is interesting. How were still in touch at all is remarkable.

From the last 6 games...

1) Spurs 15
3) Leicester 13
7) United 10
14) Arsenal 7
15) City 7

We've only won 1 of our last 6 league games away. It's the home form that's keeping us in touch. We're in second place in the form table at home.

xtal191

Pool match moved to 8pm on Paddys Day

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/705419852333371392

The_Kew_Tour

jayo26 wrote: »

And do you think city and arsenal are rubbing there hands in glee that we managed to pull 3 points from a game where we played crap? They are worried as much as we are because they have no form in league at all.

4th spot is anyone's there for the taken and the reason is because arsenal and city and united are playing crap.

The sad thing is I doubt they are that worried, but we have to ask them I guess

Rossi IRL

It arrived.

Also bought the 1968 euro cup final gift set for myself which is fairly class. Like €34 for a replica kit from the final, a dvd of the match and a reproduced match program.

The_Kew_Tour

Rossi IRL wrote: »

It arrived.

Also bought the 1968 euro cup final gift set for myself which is fairly class. Like €34 for a replica kit from the final, a dvd of the match and a reproduced match program.

That's pretty good.

Lukekul

xtal191 wrote: »

Pool match moved to 8pm on Paddys Day

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/705419852333371392

Jesus Castlebar Mitchels play at 2, then United Pool at 8. I don't know if I'll survive Paddys day

Jayop

So I've copied all the Kate gifs from last week into a match thread elsewhere for the WestBrom game just to be on the safe side.

Strumms

xtal191 wrote: »

Pool match moved to 8pm on Paddys Day

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/705419852333371392

Not many expecting to fly out on the late Ryanair will be very impressed at all now by that to be honest. Going to cost them a fair few bob extra either way with a night in a hotel and or changing flights or getting the ferry...

The_Kew_Tour

Lukekul wrote: »

Jesus Castlebar Mitchels play at 2, then United Pool at 8. I don't know if I'll survive Paddys day

Stop whinging

Lord TSC

Januzaj did a spot of refereeing over on the Sports Relief 57 Hour 5 a side match earlier. Sent off Fatman Scoop for handling outside the box :P

(Link is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/events/e8gv2m/live/cn9mxj Its in Salford, so wouldn't be shocked if more United people pop up...)

The_Kew_Tour

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Last night, sadly, told me we have still lot work to do to even hope for top 4

We should have been a few goals down by half-time last night, that's what worries me most. Only for Ighalo's indecision and misfiring, we would have been chasing the game from early on - at home against Watford. They really did look like the 'home' team for far too much of the game. I'll admit, one player in particular (Daley Blind) made them look more threatening than they actually are, but it was all far too pedestrian and timid from United for too much of the game and we were lucky to get out of jail by the time the final whistle blew.

To me it seems like all of our lads woke up on the 60th minute and only then really started to take interest in the game. Up until then, the game was mainly passing them by, no pressing, no winning of the second ball. Then it's like they suddenly realised there was a game happening, and started pressing and putting the kind of pressure on the opposition that you'd like to see from the first minute of the match. Lads, where was that pressure and participation for the first 60 minutes where we could have went 3-0 down?

Maybe they are tired, maybe the recent results lulled them into a fall sense of entitlement to the win, maybe the game-plan was to allow Watford to play some football for a bit, tire themselves, and then we grab them on the counter somewhere. I don't know, but I do know that most times we've played like that this season, we've dropped points. To come out of those 90+ minutes with the 3 points was quite lucky IMO.

I agree that there's still hard work to be done to even achieve Top 4. We are still in the race mainly because other teams have made a meal of it, rather than United solely playing themselves back into contention. Don't get me wrong, the team picked up 6 valuable points in the last few days, but even still, by now there should be clear daylight between us and the Top 4 given our December. If we do get Top 4 now, that will be 2 seasons in a row where we got it through other clubs' misfortunes rather than our own sweat and results. I won't really care how we got there once we're in that moment, but overall it would be a disappointing season.

I have to give some credit to United though. Yes, other teams can fúck up and drop silly points allowing us to remain in contention, but we still have to pick up points in the meantime and we're doing that. We had a disastrous finish to 2015, with 3 wins from the last 14 games of the year (+6 draws, 5 losses). So far in 2016, the team have 9 wins from 14 matches (+ 2 draws, 3 losses) in all competitions and although that goes nowhere near making up for the shít-sandwich that was December, it shows a marked improvement in our results and gives us a little hope going into the final 10 league games of the season, plus the FA/Europa games.

Hard work to be done, yes, but at this moment I'm starting to believe in the team once again. Not to the point of 'all is well at MUFC, we're deadly', but that rock bottom for the season has been reached and bounced back from, and I'm once again starting to enjoy watching Manchester United play football. I'll take that for now, but no matter what happens between now and the end of the season, there are problems at the club which need addressing immediately in the Summer. Scraping Top 4 is not where this club should be, and after 2 seasons of it something has to give.

TheDoc

Your Airbag wrote: »

U wot m8?

Take any meaning that you like. My first OT trip seeing his stupid head lining ten men behind the ball playing absolutely dribble.

There is next to nothing I like about him, let alone his shady transfers dealings, so would relish whole heatedly thumping him. And slaughtering his team in a match also

Trigger

TheDoc wrote: »

Take any meaning that you like. My first OT trip seeing his stupid head lining ten men behind the ball playing absolutely dribble.

There is next to nothing I like about him, let alone his shady transfers dealings, so would relish whole heatedly thumping him. And slaughtering his team in a match also

I think he meant pump pulis as in a sexual reference. That's what I took from it anyways

Lord TSC

Whoop whoop!

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/news-cat/united-la-decisione-di-berta-entro-pasqua-e-mou-gia-si-sente-un-red-devil-di-manchester/

Bullet points from DiMarzio:

Andrea Berta has told United he'll make a decision on whether or not he wants the Director of Football role by Easter. He's talking it over with his family, but is currently leaning towards accepting the job.
Meanwhile, Jose has been touring Europe, scouting players; he see himself as a "red devil" and is "working" for United. Not official yet, but there's a "gentleman's agreement".

jayo26

Lord TSC wrote: »

Whoop whoop!

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/news-cat/united-la-decisione-di-berta-entro-pasqua-e-mou-gia-si-sente-un-red-devil-di-manchester/

Bullet points from DiMarzio:

Andrea Berta has told United he'll make a decision on whether or not he wants the Director of Football role by Easter. He's talking it over with his family, but is currently leaning towards accepting the job.
Meanwhile, Jose has been touring Europe, scouting players; he see himself as a "red devil" and is "working" for United.

Nice one we have a new director of football and a chief scout...

Lord TSC

Worth noting though, I guess, that every time United play, the next day there's a story saying Jose has already signed. Like Mendes wants to remind people he exists so dont get too attatched to LVG :P

PhlegmyMoses

Lord TSC wrote: »

Whoop whoop!

http://gianlucadimarzio.com/news-cat/united-la-decisione-di-berta-entro-pasqua-e-mou-gia-si-sente-un-red-devil-di-manchester/

Bullet points from DiMarzio:

Andrea Berta has told United he'll make a decision on whether or not he wants the Director of Football role by Easter. He's talking it over with his family, but is currently leaning towards accepting the job.
Meanwhile, Jose has been touring Europe, scouting players; he see himself as a "red devil" and is "working" for United. Not official yet, but there's a "gentleman's agreement".

I can only get so erect...

Lord TSC

United are giving a free white away kit to anyone with tickets to the Pool away game. Want a "wall of white" at the match.

Rayne Wooney

Lord TSC wrote: »

United are giving a free white away kit to anyone with tickets to the Pool away game. Want a "wall of white" at the match.

Good idea at this rate we will probably have to field a few fans best have them ready to play

jayo26

Rashford got united player of the month for February.

caviardreams

Lord TSC wrote: »

United are giving a free white away kit to anyone with tickets to the Pool away game. Want a "wall of white" at the match.

That's a cool idea

J. Marston

Lord TSC wrote: »

United are giving a free white away kit to anyone with tickets to the Pool away game. Want a "wall of white" at the match.

White power!

jayo26

Kenny sansom on Thursday focus good to see him looking so well and doing a good honest interview about his troubles and getting clean. Fair play to mutv for having him on too

Liam O

Lord TSC wrote: »

United are giving a free white away kit to anyone with tickets to the Pool away game. Want a "wall of white" at the match.

A full kit? A whole stand of FKWs would be unreal

adox

I'm sure the irony of a wall of white isn't lost on others, considering Utds rapid decline.

Strumms

jayo26 wrote: »

Kenny sansom on Thursday focus good to see him looking so well and doing a good honest interview about his troubles and getting clean. Fair play to mutv for having him on too

Watching him too but think he isnt a well looking man at all.. looks like a dude in his mid 60s but he has been through a lot and seems a bit shook.. always liked him as a pundit and hope he beats his demons best of look to hum and kudos to MUTV...

jayo26

Strumms wrote: »

Watching him too but think he isnt a well looking man at all.. looks like a dude in his mid 60s but he has been through a lot and seems a bit shook.. always liked him as a pundit and hope he beats his demons best of look to hum and kudos to MUTV...

Ahh yhh that amount of drink would take its toll but in comparison to the pictures taken of him on the park bench he looks alot better.

Yeh he is a good honest pundit in my opinion speaks his mind.

jayo26

Rashford been linked to call up for the euros that is a joke, leave the kid where he is and let him Learn.

Lithium93_

Roy Hodgson can fup right off, Rashford's just getting his chance at first team football and now talk of a call up for the Euros, madness.. No point rushing the lad and risking him.

J. Marston

Rooney, Kane, Vardy, Sturridge, Welbeck, Sterling, Walcott.

Rashford isn't getting called up.

jayo26

J. Marston wrote: »

Rooney, Kane, Vardy, Sturridge, Welbeck, Sterling, Walcott.

Rashford isn't getting called up.

Welbeck is not good enough