Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2016 - Mod Note in OP, 13/9

adox

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I'd still play Herrera and Pogba, but put Schneiderlin in with them against the top sides.

I think Pogba and Herrera are good enough going back and forward to play in such a midfield (with then two wingers and a striker).

As the above but would have Fellaini instead of Morgan.

Think this will be Schneiderlins last season with Utd and hopefull will be replaced with someone better who will walk into the first team.

In the meantime Fellaini is the best of a mediocre bunch for the role.

adox

J. Marston wrote: »

From Reddit, Ibrahimovic less than impressed with Rooney's attempts at pressing...

http://gfycat.com/WebbedElaborateBubblefish

Thought it was probably Ibras worst game for Utd last night but he's still a real handful for CBs and of course ended up scoring the only goal.

He's been mighty impressive to me and doing a heel of a lot better than I expected.

J. Marston

J. Marston wrote: »

From Reddit, Ibrahimovic less than impressed with Rooney's attempts at pressing...

http://gfycat.com/WebbedElaborateBubblefish

Seen that gif last night alright, and to be honest as critical as I can be of Rooney, I don't think this is something to beat him with. At that late stage of the game while trying to see out the narrow win, the team needed to keep their shape and maintain discipline. Rooney pressing further up would have created some gaps and compromised that shape. I'm going to give Rooney and his experience the benefit of the doubt here, and he tactically chose not to press harder than simply 'Meh...couldn't be arsed.' Great determination from Zlatan though.

That gif RobertKK post though is something I missed during the match. I left the laptop once and it must have happened then. I had said that Rooney played well in a post last night, and still think that, but that type of careless, over-hit pass which scuppers a good chance is, in my opinion, an example of his football instinct and ability declining. Never mind him playing 50 different kinds of a better pass in for the runners, the Rooney of old might have even looked to take on that last defender himself.

Flint Fredstone

adox wrote: »

Thought it was probably Ibras worst game for Utd last night but he's still a real handful for CBs and of course ended up scoring the only goal.

He's been mighty impressive to me and doing a heel of a lot better than I expected.

I thought he wasn't great against Leicester when I was watching it live but I watched a couple of different highlight shows and he was involved in much more than I had realised.
It's easy to forget the little things he does so well when you're expecting a moment of magic every time the ball comes to him.

Football Espana

A few new quotes from Mata on his relationship with Mourinho, courtesy of Football Espana.

http://www.football-espana.net/61186/mata-mou-relationship-never-bad

Football Espana wrote:

Manchester United star Juan Mata has rejected widespread reports that he's ever had a bad relationship with new boss Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese boss sold Mata to United six months after taking over at Chelsea to prompt rumours that he either did not value the Spaniard's abilities or that the two did not get along at a personal level.

"My relationship with Mourinho has never been bad," the 28-year-old explained on Cope on Thursday night.

"Many lies were told about me and Mourinho when he arrived at the club this summer and it bothered me that every day I had to read and listen to rumours that weren't true - with him I'm fine.

"You read a lot of comments on facebook and twitter but they just make you laugh.

"I really want to lift titles at Manchester United, the Premier League is a trophy I have never won but I believe we can do it with this group."

Giggsy11

Liam O wrote: »

Pogba and Herrera will be overrun by any competent 3 man midfield. Grand for the home games against bottom half and I'd encourage that but Fellaini is far far better than Herrera in his defensive tasks and that's needed a lot too. As I said it's hardly like Fellaini is a bad passer, not being as good as Herrera doesn't make him worse at it.

Having good pass completion percentage is not enough, Fellaini takes too many touches and too slow to play the passes. He is playing well as an individual but team performance is below par because of that as he plays in very important position.

Just having a physical midfielder is not enough to win midfield battles, you need a player who is a quick thinker. Playing Carrick along with Herrera and Pogba gives much more balance to the team than playing Fellaini.

Not saying Fellaini is bad player as he isn't, he is good player in proper set up and I like him as he gives 100% in every game and probably our only player who plays with bit of passion.

deaddonkey15

J. Marston wrote: »

From Reddit, Ibrahimovic less than impressed with Rooney's attempts at pressing...

http://gfycat.com/WebbedElaborateBubblefish

Don't see much wrong with that. You can see him pick up the pace on both occasions that the Zorya player receives the ball. He knows Rooney is there and plays it back into his own half both times. That's pretty much what you want with about 5 mins to go.

Headshot

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Don't see much wrong with that. You can see him pick up the pace on both occasions that the Zorya player receives the ball. He knows Rooney is there and plays it back into his own half both times. That's pretty much what you want with about 5 mins to go.

Brother deaddonkey15! I knew you'd come!

Cookie_Dough

Headshot wrote: »

Brother deaddonkey15! I knew you'd come!

Don't even go there...you will be getting told you can't police the thread and tell people what they can and can't post about soon...:rolleyes: It's a slippery slope...

Edit: Will I prepare the battlefield?

Lithium93_

Cookie_Dough wrote: »

Don't even go there...you will be getting told you can't police the thread and tell people what they can and can't post about soon...:rolleyes: It's a slippery slope...

Edit: Will I prepare the battlefield?

DELETE DELETE DELETE :pac:

Cookie_Dough

Lithium93_ wrote: »

DELETE DELETE DELETE :pac:

You're not the boss of me! :P It wouldn't be the final deletion though

I would love us to go and smash Stoke. I loved Mark Hughes as a player but as a manager he is such a miserable whinger! He never looks happy. If we stuff them at least he will have an excuse to look miserable.

deaddonkey15

Cookie_Dough wrote: »

Don't even go there...you will be getting told you can't police the thread and tell people what they can and can't post about soon...:rolleyes: It's a slippery slope...

Edit: Will I prepare the battlefield?

His post, although childish and pointless (which unfortunately is quite well received here, such is the maturity of the thread), didn't attempt to pressure me into not speaking my mind as I am entitled to do.

Lithium93_

Oh get a light bulb, and lighten the hell up.. This place can be so/too bloody serious at times, what's wrong with a little humour every now and again.

Cookie_Dough

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

His post, although childish and pointless (which unfortunately is quite well received here, such is the maturity of the thread), didn't attempt to pressure me into not speaking my mind as I am entitled to do.

I'm glad about that because everyone know you're entitled to your opinion as is everybody. So win win. I'm so very sorry that the thread is too immature for you also. Perhaps you might find something more appealing elsewhere?

GSPfan

I rarely read the thread now as the Rooney thing is destroying the place. Its got way too personal in here too. I am glad everyone posts their opinion on Rooney as that is the basis of this whole thread but posting comments on each other regularly is an awful way to behave. This place used to be a "must read" before i go asleep kind of place where id read every post at night from the last 24 hours, but its now a "why bother" kinda place. Its depressing.

I'll continue to pop in and out and hope for a decent bit of gossip or opinion but until Rooney retires I don't see it ever going away.

Lithium93_

GSPfan wrote: »

I rarely read the thread now as the Rooney thing is destroying the place. Its got way too personal in here too. I am glad everyone posts their opinion on Rooney as that is the basis of this whole thread but posting comments on each other regularly is an awful way to behave. This place used to be a "must read" before i go asleep kind of place where id read every post at night from the last 24 hours, but its now a "why bother" kinda place. Its depressing.

I'll continue to pop in and out and hope for a decent bit of gossip or opinion but until Rooney retires I don't see it ever going away.

I thought the whole point of the Wayne ****ing Rooney thread was to keep said discussion in that thread, but it bleeds over into this on a constant basis, it's a dead horse discussion at this point if I'm honest, and it's annoying..

adox

adox wrote: »

Thought it was probably Ibras worst game for Utd last night but he's still a real handful for CBs and of course ended up scoring the only goal.

He's been mighty impressive to me and doing a heel of a lot better than I expected.

He is actually quicker than I thought he was too not saying he is pacy but defo quicker then I thought he was

GSPfan

Cookie_Dough wrote: »

Lithium93_ wrote: »

DELETE DELETE DELETE :pac:

I loved Mark Hughes as a player but as a manager he is such a miserable whinger! He never looks happy. If we stuff them at least he will have an excuse to look miserable.

Sums him up perfectly for me. Ive said the same for years, his moany whinging face during and after every game annoys me. He is the worst at blaming referees and officials for cheating his teams out of games compared to any other manager i know.

Billy86

Might get accused of backseat modding, but would it make sense for Rooney posts to be kept in the Rooney thread? They really seem to be getting under a good number of people's skin (regardless of their position on Rooney).

Cookie_Dough

GSPfan wrote: »

Sums him up perfectly for me. Ive said the same for years, his moany whinging face during and after every game annoys me. He is the worst at blaming referees and officials for cheating his teams out of games compared to any other manager i know.

Even when he wins there's something to moan about and misery. Also with the other ex players turned managers i like to see them doing well - Bruce at Hull and Robbo at Middlesbrough come to mind but not Hughes.

I hope we keep up the good form and beat Stoke to build up some good momentum going into Pool game

adox

While I also find the Rooney stuff tiresome at this stage(and I'm convinced there are a few not being genuine) you can't really not have the club captain mentioned in the teams superthread.

Billy86

adox wrote: »

While I also find the Rooney stuff tiresome at this stage(and I'm convinced there are a few not being genuine) you can't really not have the club captain mentioned in the teams superthread.

Another reason to sell/release him, so!

















*Legs it!*

Lithium93_

You can mention Rooney, but it's the inevitable **** storm of back n' forth that follows is the worst part..

deaddonkey15

I think people just need to keep their emotions under control and not fall over themselves trying to post in here whenever he does something that isn't perfect.

Giggsy11

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

I think people just need to keep their emotions under control and not fall over themselves trying to post in here whenever he does something that isn't perfect.

And you don't have to defend him everytime like you are his mum or something.

deaddonkey15

Giggsy11 wrote: »

And you don't have to defend him everytime like you are his mum or something.

I don't defend him every time. I just occasionally offer more reasonable and objective opinion on his mistakes and influence on the team.

DM_7

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

I don't defend him every time. I just occasionally offer more reasonable and objective opinion on his mistakes and influence on the team.

Its not ocassional and can't be objective if you feel the need to directly reply to someone else and feel the need to correct them so often.

It would be good to see more posts that are unprompted or directly opposing another posters view by quoting them. Its possible to have a discussion about things without the tit for tat exchanges that get lost in a "you said" "I said" "i'm right you are not" circle.

bucketybuck

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

I don't defend him every time. I just occasionally offer more reasonable and objective opinion on his mistakes and influence on the team.

I must admit to being curious about the technicalities, how exactly do you do it? Is it an app? One that beeps or buzzes every time the word "Rooney" is used? Is it some sort of java script that searches for "Rooney" every two minutes? Or is it something more mundane, like a child wage slave somewhere in China who watches the thread constantly and sends you a Whatsapp message when needed?

Its impressive whatever it is, so go you!

deaddonkey15

DM_7 wrote: »

Its not ocassional and can't be objective if you feel the need to directly reply to someone else and feel the need to correct them so often.

It is occasional and it is objective. Take last night for example, people couldn't post fast enough about how Rooney messed up the volley for Ibrahimovic's goal. I was the only one that made the point that the cross to him was less than ideal and difficult to execute a first time goal scoring volley with. Could he/should he have done better with it? Possibly, yes. Was it all his fault? No.

Also on the pressing clip that a few people made reference to. Again, Rooney at fault for not doing what Ibrahimovic wanted him to do. A more objective stance would be, maybe he's not doing exactly what Ibrahimovic wants but he is doing exactly what Mourinho wants? The camera showed Rooney receiving instructions prior to coming on last night, for all we know those instructions could have been to do exactly what he did in that clip. Hold the shape if we're protecting a lead and make it difficult for them to bring the ball into the United half, don't get sucked too far forward leaving space behind for the opposition to exploit. Plus as I pointed out above, the player he apparently wasn't pressing didn't turn and bring the ball deeper into United's half, he instead played it back towards his own goal into his own half. Twice. They can't score if the ball is in their half.

As you can see, there's plenty of reasonable discussion to be had rather than just blaming Rooney for everything.

deaddonkey15

bucketybuck wrote: »

I must admit to being curious about the technicalities, how exactly do you do it? Is it an app? One that beeps or buzzes every time the word "Rooney" is used? Is it some sort of java script that searches for "Rooney" every two minutes? Or is it something more mundane, like a child wage slave somewhere in China who watches the thread constantly and sends you a Whatsapp message when needed?

Its impressive whatever it is, so go you!

Cookie_dough already made that joke a few weeks ago and although it was hilarious it's a lot less funny when it's ripped off by someone else. I regularly check up on the thread, especially around matches. People regularly post about Rooney, so I just offer my opinion the same as everyone else.

bucketybuck

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Cookie_dough already made that joke a few weeks ago and although it was hilarious it's a lot less funny when it's ripped off by someone else. I regularly check up on the thread, especially around matches. People regularly post about Rooney, so I just offer my opinion the same as everyone else.

No, you drop unsolicited Rooney turds constantly and along with one other poster have made this thread almost unreadable, why not own your behaviour and at least consider posting honestly.

deaddonkey15

bucketybuck wrote: »

No, you drop unsolicited Rooney turds constantly and along with one other poster have made this thread almost unreadable, why not own your behaviour and at least consider posting honestly.

Plenty of "unsolicited Rooney turds" coming from the other side of the Rooney debate also. Everyone's posts are unsolicited, unless in response to someone who addressed them. Do I need permission from the anti-Rooney unofficial thread police to post about him? Absolutely not. What is dishonest about my posts? Own my behaviour - what are you talking about?

Lithium93_

And. Here. We. Go. Again

StringerBell

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Plenty of "unsolicited Rooney turds" coming from the other side of the Rooney debate also. Everyone's posts are unsolicited, unless in response to someone who addressed them. Do I need permission from the anti-Rooney unofficial thread police to post about him? Absolutely not. What is dishonest about my posts? Own my behaviour - what are you talking about?

Well, you could stop denying it is your personal mission to respond every single time someone mentions Rooney in a negative light? That would be owning your behaviour. It would be helpful if you stopped making personal swipes too now I think of it, they are unnecessary and make a mockery, of you making a mockery, of the maturity level of the thread.

Also you spark a Rooney thing when he isn't even being mentioned by posting something along the lines of

Player x has misplaced a pass

You: Oh but that's alright though, heaven forbid if a certain other player on the team did it, but its alright for this guy.

What is that other then an attempt to stir it up for no reason?

Chagan

https://twitter.com/DuncanCastles/status/781858340439719936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Duncan Castles: Mourinho & Ferguson join forces to put Manchester United back on top.

I know it would inevitably lead to "exclusives" telling us about a massive power struggle between the two, but I would love to see Fergie have a prominent advisory role with the coaching team. Jose would be mad not to tap into such an incredible resource. What's better than having Jose Mourinho or Sir Alex Ferguson at your club? Having them both working together.

Billy86

There appears to be something growing out of the back of Sir Bobby's head?

It's absolutely impossible to keep any discussion of Rooney to the other thread. One example - If you try to discuss Mata and/or that #10 position, you're going to very quickly get dragged back into a discussion about Rooney, I'm speaking from experience.

user2011

Losing the will to keep reading this thread. So circular.

GSPfan

Can we petition for the quote button to be disabled in this thread. I guarantee you it would solve half the problems.

Flint Fredstone

GSPfan wrote: »

Can we petition for the quote button to be disabled in this thread. I guarantee you it would solve half the problems.

Yeah. The ignore feature is a bit pointless when it's wall to wall quoting of posts you're not supposed to see.

GSPfan

Exactly. Im not asking anyone to ignore anyone but its a bit mental that if you have ignored someone you still see every post they make in someone else's quote.
Most of the arguements would never exist if the people who you want to ignore actually were hidden from view.

Pity you cant ignore the word Rooney!

Sand

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

It is occasional and it is objective. Take last night for example, people couldn't post fast enough about how Rooney messed up the volley for Ibrahimovic's goal. I was the only one that made the point that the cross to him was less than ideal and difficult to execute a first time goal scoring volley with. Could he/should he have done better with it? Possibly, yes. Was it all his fault? No.

Also on the pressing clip that a few people made reference to. Again, Rooney at fault for not doing what Ibrahimovic wanted him to do. A more objective stance would be, maybe he's not doing exactly what Ibrahimovic wants but he is doing exactly what Mourinho wants? The camera showed Rooney receiving instructions prior to coming on last night, for all we know those instructions could have been to do exactly what he did in that clip. Hold the shape if we're protecting a lead and make it difficult for them to bring the ball into the United half, don't get sucked too far forward leaving space behind for the opposition to exploit. Plus as I pointed out above, the player he apparently wasn't pressing didn't turn and bring the ball deeper into United's half, he instead played it back towards his own goal into his own half. Twice. They can't score if the ball is in their half.

As you can see, there's plenty of reasonable discussion to be had rather than just blaming Rooney for everything.

All that implies that Rooney was given a plan by Mourinho. Mourinho did not tell Zlatan the plan. Rooney did not tell Zlatan what the plan was. Or Zlatan was told the plan but at 35 years of age with years of experience wanted to run around, just because. How likely is that?

There is an awful amount of ifs, maybes, and stretches required to excuse Rooney's behaviour. Even his body language looked guilty - he made a half assed jog forward, checked his run with a slump/shrug when he realised he was off the pace, and ran away from Zlatan not bothering to defend himself or bawl Zlatan out for not sticking to the plan...

The reason why Rooney is the never-ending topic is that most people watching the game see he is seriously on the decline and is being picked more on hope/past glories than what he can actually deliver today. But others want to argue about it and claim there is some missing X factor he is offering that everyone else is missing and will jump through all sorts of hoops to find some scenario where Rooneys behaviour seems acceptable.

Mourinho will have seen Zlatans exasperation at Rooney. A captain needs to have the respect of his team mates - he needs to be the guy who sets standards and demands more from the team. Rooney will not last long when all the players around him see him screwing up again and again and again. Rooney is certainly in no position to do a captains job and bawl out an unacceptable performance from a teammate.

beno619

Leroy42 wrote: »

Heard Brad Friedel talking about Rooney yesterday and the commentator was making the point that it is a tricky situation.

BF said that it isn't really, Rooney has had many years at the top and the end comes to every player and football will continue. Utd relied on him in the past as he was the best, they have simply got better players than him in each position, whether through buying them i nor youth development.

Bf couldn't understand why everyone seems to be struggling to see that Rooney has dropped a level, it was totally natural and expected. His view was thanks for the memories but unless you continue to prove you are the best available in your position the next player is always ready.

Friedel is a fantastic pundit. It's a shame we have to be up with such crap from sky ect.

Adamocovic

Missed the game because I was on a flight but when I saw all the comments about Rooney I thought he must have started the match. Then found out he only played the last 20 minutes or so!

People wanted him dropped due to his form and he has been the last two games so I don't see what many can complain about who are unhappy with him, for those who want him to start he needs to earn that back now, so again no complaints.

I struggle to imagine Rooney being so awful/brilliant in a 20 minute cameo to warrant the sort of reaction he has gotten in this thread, one he seems to continue to get. It's mad altogether. He probably could come on and play for 1 minute and we would still see debate after debate on here.

I'm all for a debate and that but my god we are all just going in circles, it is the same arguments both sides being circulated with nothing really new added, of course the thread is here for Manchester United debates, and Rooney is definitely one, but I wonder how some people are able to get anything done outside of boards with the amount of time spent on this one topic.

It is showing no signs of dying down, this is going to be one long season.

StringerBell

GSPfan wrote: »

Exactly. Im not asking anyone to ignore anyone but its a bit mental that if you have ignored someone you still see every post they make in someone else's quote.
Most of the arguements would never exist if the people who you want to ignore actually were hidden from view.

Pity you cant ignore the word Rooney!

I seem to remember something about an extension that could do something like that in one of the browsers, back a long time ago, in some other time when people didn't want to read other peoples posts but the ignore function simply wasn't enough. Someone else might remember it better

deaddonkey15

StringerBell wrote: »

Well, you could stop denying it is your personal mission to respond every single time someone mentions Rooney in a negative light? That would be owning your behaviour. It would be helpful if you stopped making personal swipes too now I think of it, they are unnecessary and make a mockery, of you making a mockery, of the maturity level of the thread.

I don't respond every single time Rooney is mentioned, over exaggeration once again. Of course if there wasn't so many posts about Rooney here in the first place, I wouldn't be able to respond to them which then gives the impression that I'm responding to all of them. I try and avoid personal swipes, despite the many made against me. I try to criticise the post and not the poster. Can you give an example of when personal swipes on my part? I'm not saying I don't do it, I just don't do it consciously. If I do make a remark that can be considered a personal swipe it will only be to someone that has probably already taken a personal swipe at me.

StringerBell wrote: »

Also you spark a Rooney thing when he isn't even being mentioned by posting something along the lines of

Player x has misplaced a pass



What is that other then an attempt to stir it up for no reason?

I do this to highlight the double standards, not to start a Rooney debate. Other players make plenty of mistakes which barely get a mention here. Rooney makes the same mistakes and there's 5 or 6 posts and maybe even a few video clips pointing it out and blowing it way out of proportion. Now, if people don't want constant Rooney posts and debates then why do they feel the need to post about every little mistake he makes when the same mistakes made by others don't warrant a mention? We all know each other's stances on Rooney and we're all watching the same game. We know if a pass is poor without needing to see it written here. My point is, maybe if people were as reluctant to post about Rooney's mistakes as they are about other's mistakes then this thread wouldn't end up being dominated by Rooney posts.

Sand wrote: »

All that implies that Rooney was given a plan by Mourinho. Mourinho did not tell Zlatan the plan. Rooney did not tell Zlatan what the plan was. Or Zlatan was told the plan but at 35 years of age with years of experience wanted to run around, just because. How likely is that?

I don't know how likely that is as I'm not privy to the United coaching plans. You might note that no other United player is busting their boll*cks to move up and press so maybe the plan was to keep the shape, and make it difficult for them to get the ball forward. Not exactly an uncommon Mourinho setup is it? He did win a Champions League that way after all. But we don't know for sure what the plan was. We could speculate and have reasonable football discussion as I pointed out, or we could just all blame Rooney which is what most people want to do.

Sand wrote: »

There is an awful amount of ifs, maybes, and stretches required to excuse Rooney's behaviour. Even his body language looked guilty - he made a half assed jog forward, checked his run with a slump/shrug when he realised he was off the pace, and ran away from Zlatan not bothering to defend himself or bawl Zlatan out for not sticking to the plan...

Again, this is just typical of someone who, as I said above is letting their emotions (and bias) get the better of them. Everything he does in that clip is wrong apparently. Half assed, guilty body language, slump/shrug, off the pace. You'd swear the player he apparently didn't press was moving the ball forward at pace and into space. He isn't. He doesn't even try to do that on both occasions that the ball is given to him despite his team needing a goal. Why not? Because he knows Rooney is behind him. You say he checked his run with a slump/shrug when he realised he was "off the pace". It looked to me like he just realised that the player he was approaching no longer had the ball and he then reverted back to sitting just inside the United half as the next line of defence behind Ibrahimovic. By then the ball was out wide, where it was Martial's turn to defend.

Suppose Rooney did press like Ibrahimovich wanted. What would have happened? He'd probably have pressured that player into playing the easy ball back his defence instead of trying to bring it forward. Exactly what he did anyway. Job done in my opinion.

Adamocovic

Sand

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Again, this is just typical of someone who, as I said above is letting their emotions (and bias) get the better of them.

I'm not biased against Rooney. I was defending him on this thread up until January of this year when I just couldn't anymore based on what I was seeing in the games. I remember you thanking more than a few of my posts defending Rooney.

adox

Criticising Rooney -biased.
Defending Rooney- unbiased.

Ok.

Does anybody remember laughter?