Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

bucketybuck

bucketybuck wrote: »

I think that Mata wasn't that good either and is lucky that Lingard was there to be the scapegoat.

Being at fault for conceding stupid free kick outside the box where Payet is lethal is definition of stupidity.
Gameplan out the window.
Easiest place to point the finger.

Pro. F

Hococop wrote: »

I think mata staying on and Lingard replaced might have improved our chances

Mata doesn't really have the legs to play the full 90 in Jose's system. He's subbed off in most games he starts and it is nearly always justified as he has started to fade. I doubt leaving him on in that game would have worked out any better.

Pro. F

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Being at fault for conceding stupid free kick outside the box where Payet is lethal is definition of stupidity.
Gameplan out the window.
Easiest place to point the finger.

Yeah, any analysis that doesn't require too much thinking is defiantly the best way to go.

Also, you must think that Jose is shít at drawing up gameplans if conceding one goal means they go out the window.

Pro. F

Pro. F wrote: »

Yeah, any analysis that doesn't require too much thinking is defiantly the best way to go.

Also, you must think that Jose is shít at drawing up gameplans if conceding one goal means they go out the window.

Ah yes the usual insults
Didn't expect anything less
Please don't quote me as I have said to you before

bucketybuck

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Being at fault for conceding stupid free kick outside the box where Payet is lethal is definition of stupidity.
Gameplan out the window.
Easiest place to point the finger.

I don't disagree that Lingard was poor and I've said many times that I don't particularly rate him at all. But I do think people are elevating Mata on the back of Lingards poor showing, when in fact Mata wasn't that great either.

Cantona's Collars

Pro. F

M!Ck^ wrote: »

Ah yes the usual insults
Didn't expect anything less
Please don't quote me as I have said to you before

Dude, I'm not gong to stop quoting you. Whenever you say something I want to respond to, I'll respond. If you want to post your opinions without getting them discussed then start a blog. If you don't want to read my posts then put me on ignore.

The_Kew_Tour

Tbh while im disappointed we wont challenge for league, I still think we are going in right direction. We need a 3 or 4 game winning streak in league and I think we can push on from there.

We probably lack a warrior in the Roy Keane bracket although very few out there. I think we need become little more cynicial again. I think the core just become little too soft and nice.

But im not ovetly concerned in that area as I think we are showing lot progress just need take our chances when they come

Pro. F

zerks wrote: »

Look at the three Ferguson seasons in that chart - more shots on target than off, in each season. I wonder how unusual that is in football in general.

bangkok

Pro. F wrote: »

Look at the three Ferguson seasons in that chart - more shots on target than off, in each season. I wonder how unusual that is in football in general.

depending on how clinical the strikers are i doubt it is unusual at all.

berba hernandez and rooney all scoring plenty of goals 10/11

rooney hitting over 30 next year and best striker in the league signed the season after

id like to see madrid and barca stats for last few seasons as well id say they are high, even city last few seasons with aguero

TheDoc

Pro. F wrote: »

Look at the three Ferguson seasons in that chart - more shots on target than off, in each season. I wonder how unusual that is in football in general.

Can we draw any correlation from Ferguson typically playing two strikers consistently I wonder?

Only thing that jumps out at me from those stats. Although Van Gaal's first season, trying to remember how many games we had Falcao and Van Persie up front.


OMG....do you remember that, Van Persie, Falcao, Rooney and Di Maria in our attacking four. Jesus typing that I got a bit excited in my pants.

magnumbud

TheDoc wrote: »

OMG....do you remember that, Van Persie, Falcao, Rooney and Di Maria in our attacking four. Jesus typing that I got a bit excited in my pants.

on paper that should have been a dangerous front four in reality it sucked

Pro. F

Pro. F wrote: »

Dude, I'm not gong to stop quoting you. Whenever you say something I want to respond to, I'll respond. If you want to post your opinions without getting them discussed then start a blog. If you don't want to read my posts then put me on ignore.

The posting is not the issues it's the insults. Your wish has been granted.

Nalz

M!Ck^ wrote: »

The posting is not the issues it's the insults. Your wish has been granted.

It's safer that way. Fly safely!

bucketybuck

zerks wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that Van Gaals team at any point was averaging over ten shots a game... :pac:

Regardless, I'm seeing stats that show we are creating more chances now than we did in any of the previous 7 seasons. Very seriously, I would far rather have a team creating 220 chances and only converting 8% of them, than have a team only creating 136 chances in the same period. Like I have said before, its far easier to fix a team creating chances but not finishing them than it is to fix a team that can't create anything. That 8% stat won't stay at 8% for too long.

Pyjamarama

bucketybuck wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that Van Gaals team at any point was averaging over ten shots a game... :pac:

Regardless, I'm seeing stats that show we are creating more chances now than we did in any of the previous 7 seasons. Very seriously, I would far rather have a team creating 220 chances and only converting 8% of them, than have a team only creating 136 chances in the same period. Like I have said before, its far easier to fix a team creating chances but not finishing them than it is to fix a team that can't create anything. That 8% stat won't stay at 8% for too long.

Or there are loads of low percentage shots in there too.

castletownman

Lads, nothing sums United up right now more than the general opinion (well by a few on here) that Valencia has been the player of the season. I mean like he is determined I will give him that, but it's not like he is providing a similar attacking outlet as Moses at Chelsea (to compare a winger converted into a full back). Everyone of us would be grateful of an upgrade. If his ordinariness (solid but unspectacular) is a barometer of good United are, then they are in deeper **** than I originally thought.

Jayop

castletownman wrote: »

Lads, nothing sums United up right now more than the general opinion (well by a few on here) that Valencia has been the player of the season. I mean like he is determined I will give him that, but it's not like he is providing a similar attacking outlet as Moses at Chelsea (to compare a winger converted into a full back). Everyone of us would be grateful of an upgrade. If his ordinariness (solid but unspectacular) is a barometer of good United are, then they are in deeper **** than I originally thought.

I don't think I've read anyone say he's been player or the season. He's been very glad of though.

bucketybuck

Our best player for the last three seasons was our goalkeeper, a full back being the best now is a sign of progress at least. :pac:

Potential Underachiever

bucketybuck wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that Van Gaals team at any point was averaging over ten shots a game... :pac:

Regardless, I'm seeing stats that show we are creating more chances now than we did in any of the previous 7 seasons. Very seriously, I would far rather have a team creating 220 chances and only converting 8% of them, than have a team only creating 136 chances in the same period. Like I have said before, its far easier to fix a team creating chances but not finishing them than it is to fix a team that can't create anything. That 8% stat won't stay at 8% for too long.

Pogba taking pot shots from 40 yards is not creating chances, you seem to be confusing that with actually creating good goal scoring chances, I've said it before that you guys seem to be fascinated with how many shots yous have, It's not a good metric. It reminds me of a mate I used to play at FIFA, he was always taking woeful long range shots against me, then when I beat him, he'd console himself by claiming that he dominated the stats!

bucketybuck

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

Pogba taking pot shots from 40 yards is not creating chances, you seem to be confusing that with actually creating good goal scoring chances, I've said it before that you guys seem to be fascinated with how many shots yous have, It's not a good metric. It reminds me of a mate I used to play at FIFA, he was always taking woeful long range shots against me, then when I beat him, he'd console himself by claiming that he dominated the stats!

Somebody posted a table of shots, I responded to it. Sorry about your friend.

Liam O

bucketybuck wrote: »

Our best player for the last three seasons was our goalkeeper, a full back being the best now is a sign of progress at least. :pac:

How many crosses does Valencia put in a game and how many chances are created from them? He's useless going forward and wasting great attacking positions. It was especially infuriating yesterday with a ball to Pogba on at the edge of the box and he still runs outside the defender and blasts it off his shin. One of the best headers of the ball in the world in the middle and he still can't get it anywhere near him with 5-10 tries a game.

Cantona's Collars

Chances needed to score
Team Chances created Goals Chances per goal
Arsenal 139 28 5 (1st)
Chelsea 164 29 5.7 (2nd)
Leicester 97 16 6.1 (3rd)
- - - -
Man Utd 164 18 9.1 (18th)
West Ham 137 14 9.8 (19th)
Southampton 152 13 11.7 (20th)

Big chance conversion rates - Selected Premier League clubs
Team Big chance created (PL rank) Big chance conversion % (PL rank)
Man City 25 (1st) 60.61% (2nd)
Liverpool 23 (2nd) 58.06% (3rd)
Man Utd 20 (3rd) 30.77% (20th)
Chelsea 19 (4th) 48.15% (9th)
Arsenal 18 (5th) 51.72% (5th)
Tottenham 9 (T14th) 47.62% (11th)

A Big Chance is deemed by OPTA to be a chance where a team is expected to score,EG. a one on one with the 'keeper.
United have missed more of those clear-cut chances (18) than any other team in the Premier League. Their clear-cut chance conversion rate is the joint-worst in the division - on average they score just 30.77 per cent of those big openings, the same rate as Watford.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has missed nine clear-cut chances this season, three more than any other player in the Premier League. Paul Pogba (three), Marcus Rashford (two), Wayne Rooney (two), Juan Mata (one) and Jesse Lingard (one) have also been culpable.

Robson99

Liam O wrote: »

How many crosses does Valencia put in a game and how many chances are created from them? He's useless going forward and wasting great attacking positions. It was especially infuriating yesterday with a ball to Pogba on at the edge of the box and he still runs outside the defender and blasts it off his shin. One of the best headers of the ball in the world in the middle and he still can't get it anywhere near him with 5-10 tries a game.

The problem is not Valencia. The problem is Ibra needing 5 clear cut chances to score 1.
As full back go Valencia has Been very good this season.
Left back position is a problem at the moment though. Darmian is red rotten useless, Shaw out of favour and nit exactly paying well and blind lacking pace

Liam McPoyle

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

Pogba taking pot shots from 40 yards is not creating chances, you seem to be confusing that with actually creating good goal scoring chances, I've said it before that you guys seem to be fascinated with how many shots yous have, It's not a good metric. It reminds me of a mate I used to play at FIFA, he was always taking woeful long range shots against me, then when I beat him, he'd console himself by claiming that he dominated the stats!

There you are now.

The answer to the question that nobody asked.

Liam O

Robson99 wrote: »

The problem is not Valencia. The problem is Ibra needing 5 clear cut chances to score 1.
As full back go Valencia has Been very good this season.
Left back position is a problem at the moment though. Darmian is red rotten useless, Shaw out of favour and nit exactly paying well and blind lacking pace

How many clear cut chances has Valencia created for Zlatan this season? He has created 12 chances in 11 games it says on squawka, getting no assists. Since nothing is standing out from memory I'm guessing most of them were his usual bad crosses that someone has had to leap very high to get a powerless header on goal. I'd wager that he's crossed the ball about 100 times this season and has nothing to show for it in an attacking sense. He is a problem when someone who is capable of crossing the ball could be playing and getting into those positions.

Pyjamarama

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Is it knee jerk at the end of November?

Late November, 13 league games into the new manager's term, injuries including first-choice CBs in a defensive line which has been ravaged, two games a week for many weeks, players who were converting their chances for fun last season now having a touch of the Welbecks in front of goal (Rashford and Zlatan notably), players to be accessed who were badly underused with the previous manager, new signings to bed in, all with the club coming from the lowest point in its modern footballing history. Some of the reaction in here and elsewhere was knee-jerk, yes.

None of us have to be happy with the club's current league position or the disappointing draws, I'm certainly not. It's not that which I'm referring to though. I'm talking about overreactions and an over-presence of our old nemesis 'hyperbole'. I'm talking about a sense of entitlement in the face of a transitional and competitive reality. I'm not talking about mere critical analysis or some mild frustrations vented.

I do have feelings of frustration and disappointment of my own, also criticisms for the manager too in yesterday's game and other fixtures, but the progress with the football is more than enough to keep me very interested and positive about what this manager will achieve with the club once given the time to do so. However, it helps that I'm not a fan who is hinging everything on him winning the league in November or even in his first season with United.

I'm not at all happy with the league position. It's very disappointing. It's disappointing because although it's only November and there are still 2/3s of the points to play for, most are rightfully ruling United out of the title race already such is the points difference. Although the title was a big ask this season considering where the club was just 6 months ago before Jose came in, plus very competitive rivals also chasing the title this season (Chelsea, Pool back in the mix), it's never nice to concede the thoughts of winning it. Not as a Manchester United fan, and not in November. With the Top 4 looking like tough work now, of course all is not well. But the thing is, it was even worse before Jose came in and when he took control. All wasn't well for quite a while at United and the work required is immense and not just possible in the timeline some fans seem to want it done in. However, I'm seeing evidence of it being done.

The manager didn't make Rashford, Zlatan and Lingard miss golden chances yesterday which would have sent United in at half-time with a comfortable lead. Rashford the worst, he did Darren Randolph a huge favour with his attempt when clean-through. Zlatan took an unnecessary touch and an age making that touch to allow a defender to smother his clear-cut chance by the time he got the shot off. Lingard made a decent effort near the end of the first half and Randolph made a great save, but Lingard John Terryed down on his hole as his foot struck the ball. These are not things the manager can control in real-time.

The manager did however oversee the training, formation, tactics, environment and mentality which has lead to many genuine goal-scoring opportunities. At 0-1 down yesterday, the team could have went in at least 3-1 up at half-time. What would have happened in a similar situation last season where LVG's players couldn't even spell 'passion'? The attack has not been this consistently fluid and threatening since the days of Fergie. Some of the passing and penetration is extremely impressive, but the finishing is a huge problem.

I use Jesse's chance from yesterday as an example of the fluid, effective forward play that this so-called overly-defensive manager has the team playing. In less than 10 incisive passes and as many seconds, the ball is gone from deep in United's half through the middle to a chance for Jesse who is arguably clean through, just not at an ideal angle like Rashford was...

https://gfycat.com/AbsoluteAlarmingHyrax

The United of just 7 months ago would have made 40 passes in succession and still have been looking for a way to penetrate the final third of the attacking end of the field, never mind get a chance through on goal.

The above example is fast progression. There are also examples of longer passages of play with more intricate passing where our attacking players busy themselves to become available for passes to effectively progress the ball towards goal, triangles everywhere etc. Many times this has lead to a goal-scoring opportunity, sometimes even a goal, like United's 4th against Feyenoord last Thursday (Lingard)...

https://streamable.com/0sn9

That final pass probably wasn't meant for Jesse, but it is a good example of that bit of luck you need the odd time in a successful side, the kind of luck that Jose reckons we're missing in the league. By the way, I hope that's just his public reaction and privately he'll be asking for more from the likes of Zlatan and Rashford with their finishing. You do need luck and there's been some impressive goalkeeping, but you can't be going around seriously believing that it's just that we're unlucky and every goalkeeper is unbeatable.

We are not getting beaten, apart from the 3 league defeats earlier on. In these recent matches, getting beaten and defensive frailties aren't the problem. Of course we should aim to not be conceding, but the opposition scoring one is not the problem when we are controlling games for the most part and creating multiple chances which should have won the game regardless of the opposition scoring one. Failure to convert those chances is the main problem right now. Despite progress being made with the football, chance conversion is killing us in the league (see below). I just can't rest that fully at the managers feet, and definitely not to the extent which he seems to be blamed by some.

Man United since 1st October at home in the Premier League: 1st for shots taken (91), 19th for goals scored (3), 20th for chance conversion rate (3.3%)

(http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15115/10675208/manchester-united-have-lowest-big-chance-conversion-rate-in-premier-league-after-west-ham-draw )

One of last season's much-echoed sentiments in here: "I wouldn't mind the shít results if the football was at least entertaining, if the players looked interested rather than resigned to the draw/loss by the 50th minute, if there seemed to be a plan taking shape". Those things are happening now though. Some people were fibbing to themselves and/or others, or football fans' memories are so short that they can't/choose not to remember where this club was heading just earlier this year.

Jose isn't overseeing a project where the two previous managers built it up, progressed it and left it in great shape to pass on to the next guy. The reason there was a next guy was because those managers were taking the club drastically away from the direction it should be going in and needed to be sacked. The success went first with Moyes, then the football with LVG's final 4-6 months being the worst I've witnessed as a United fan since the late 80s. FA Cup aside of course, somehow that happened, but the memories of the last few seasons are so overwhelmingly negative that I have to think for a second "Jaysis, LVG did manage to bag us a trophy at the end of it all." Sure, you could call that 'success', but how long did the good vibes from it last at the club, never mind in here? How many plaudits are we receiving now as the current FA Cup Champions? Do many even remember that we're the current Champions? How much of a sign that United were 'back' and a force to be reckoned with was that FA Cup win at the time? About as much as Moye's Community Shield win. Fair play to LVG, but in the grand scheme of things it was a good day out for us all, another notch on the FA Cup Winners bedpost, and that's it. It unfortunately took nothing away from the fact that the club were well into a period of decline.

I think some are under-estimating the job that the current manager faces and just exactly what he inherited and the decline which was happening, and also overlooking the importance of talented players finishing well-worked and clear-cut chances. Yes, the success (trophies and fear factor) went with Moyes, then the football went to almost unwatchable depths with LVG. In just a few months, Jose has the football coming on leaps and bounds and that is evident in each game as his time progresses. A few of those badly missed chances converted to goals, and we'd be universally agreeing on how great of a start Jose's United are getting off to.

The manager has not been perfect and is deserving of criticism (which I haven't even got to yet, and will some time after I finish this novel). However, I think it's far too early to be going into meltdown and writing off the season. And on the other end of the spectrum, far too early to be thinking "Jose will recreate '99 again, without a doubt". The jury is still out, November simply being too soon to definitively tell in this new manager's reign just how his first season will go never mind anything beyond that. We can opine, guess, criticise, analyse, but very little of that was being done in here yesterday.

If the results and league position were similar to Chelsea's this time last year, alarm bells should be ringing. As of now though, the players are playing for him and appear quite passionate about getting the win. Even players Jose dropped and would have had to have a contentious conversation or two with at some point recently, like Rooney and Mkhitaryan, have come back into the team improved, more determined and hungrier to impress. Rather than have irreparable damage done in their relationship with the manager and be bound for the Old Trafford exit door, they are striving to fight for a place in his team. Even the very publicly rejected Schweini is striving to play for him.

All that said though, it's not just a case of 'As soon as those players start finishing their chances, we'll be Champions-to-be'. No, even with Zlatan, Rashford and some others rediscovering their touch in front of goal, there's still lots of work to be done and even another signing or two to be made before that might happen. My point though is that that work is already underway with the right man. There's genuine progress being made in the short time already passed that I think some fans are taking for granted or just failing to recognise. With the club emerging from its lowest point in recent history, it's going to take Mourinho and his staff more than 3 months to completely fix it. In the meantime, us fans needs to be seeing some building blocks slotting into place and a sign that this is the man who can fix it. Short of him performing miracles in a short space of time, he is showing us that progress, bringing the team in the right direction and I feel he deserves a bit more understanding and support from the fans regardless of the frustrating draws.

Some of the reactions, albeit in the immediate aftermath of a frustrating draw, are certainly knee-jerk in November when looking at the bigger picture.

Pro. F

Potential Underachiever wrote: »

Pogba taking pot shots from 40 yards is not creating chances, you seem to be confusing that with actually creating good goal scoring chances, I've said it before that you guys seem to be fascinated with how many shots yous have, It's not a good metric. It reminds me of a mate I used to play at FIFA, he was always taking woeful long range shots against me, then when I beat him, he'd console himself by claiming that he dominated the stats!

Are you seriously trying to say that we are not creating more and better chances than last season? Come on for fùck sake. Think before you type.

Liam O

Pro. F wrote: »

Are you seriously trying to say that we are not creating more and better chances than last season? Come on for fùck sake. Think before you type.

It's fairly obvious what him, BMMachine and je_suis_jean are at with their comments on Pogba and United in general. They clearly don't watch the games and are just taking potshots trying to get a rise. Best not to engage.

Pro. F

TheDoc wrote: »

Can we draw any correlation from Ferguson typically playing two strikers consistently I wonder?

bangkok wrote: »

depending on how clinical the strikers are i doubt it is unusual at all.

berba hernandez and rooney all scoring plenty of goals 10/11

rooney hitting over 30 next year and best striker in the league signed the season after

id like to see madrid and barca stats for last few seasons as well id say they are high, even city last few seasons with aguero

This was disappointing when I looked into it more. From looking at whoscored, premierleague.com and squawka, it looks like there are two different methods used for recording shots on target. One - used by whoscored and premierleague - has the best teams (like the top two or three in England and Spain in any given season) with rates of shots on target consistently in a range around 33 to 38%. The other method, used by squawka, has the best teams' shots on target rates around 50-60%.

I bet this is down to one system counting shots heading towards goal which are blocked by an outfield player, as well as goals and saves, as shots on target, while the other system only counts goals and saves as shots on target.

In that chart that Zerks posted there's a clear change between the SAF years - where shots on target rates are all around 55-60% - and the subsequent years - where the on target rates are all in the mid thirties. So I'd say whoever put that chart together used two different sources of data for the two different periods. Pity.

jambofc

Pro. F wrote: »

This was disappointing when I looked into it more. From looking at whoscored, premierleague.com and squawka, it looks like there are two different methods used for recording shots on target. One - used by whoscored and premierleague - has the best teams (like the top two or three in England and Spain in any given season) with rates of shots on target consistently in a range around 33 to 38%. The other method, used by squawka, has the best teams' shots on target rates around 50-60%.

I bet this is down to one system counting shots heading towards goal which are blocked by an outfield player, as well as goals and saves, as shots on target, while the other system only counts goals and saves as shots on target.

In that chart that Zerks posted there's a clear change between the SAF years - where shots on target rates are all around 55-60% - and the subsequent years - where the on target rates are all in the mid thirties. So I'd say whoever put that chart together used two different sources of data for the two different periods. Pity.

so is this good or bad

secman

secman wrote: »

Keep the head firmly in the sand....... folks

I wrote my OP which you responded to because I felt that there was a serious lack of perspective in the thread at the time, with some acting as if LVG actually got his 3rd season at the club and we were beaten at home by Stoke, Burnley and West Ham without barely registering a shot on goal. I've elaborated on it further up the page here.

What prompted you to write your original post? Can you show me evidence to suggest that my head is buried in the sand in regards to the current situation at the club? Surely there is some evidence. Otherwise you think that someone accusing others of knee-jerking is the same, or even similar, to someone stating that all is fine and well at the club, which would be a stupidly flawed correlation to make.

beno619

magnumbud wrote: »

on paper that should have been a dangerous front four in reality it sucked

On paper it sounds as horribly unbalanced as it turned out to be.

Jose to miss the Everton game so
Charged

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38129085

secman

stankratz wrote: »

I wrote my OP which you responded to because I felt that there was a serious lack of perspective in the thread at the time, with some acting as if LVG actually got his 3rd season at the club and we were beaten at home by Stoke, Burnley and West Ham without barely registering a shot on goal. I've elaborated on it further up the page here.

What prompted you to write your original post? Can you show me evidence to suggest that my head is buried in the sand in regards to the current situation at the club? Surely there is some evidence. Otherwise you think that someone accusing others of knee-jerking is the same, or even similar, to someone stating that all is fine and well at the club, which would be a stupidly flawed correlation to make.

I said head in the sand because people were being accused of knee jerk reactions. Truth is obviously somewhere on the middle. Nobody is calling for Mourinho's head, but there are those like myself who do question things., like the Managers behaviour. The squad is better than 6th position, no doubt about it. Rashford and Martial have regressed. Rooney and Miccky were suffering from lack of form, both played very well in europa match, made sense to start them against West Ham and get a much needed home win.
We are playing much better, creating a lot of chances, no doubt about it, hopefully it will show on the points tally sooner rather than later.

beno619

secman wrote: »

I said head on the sand because people were being accused of knee jerk reactions. Truth is obviously somewhere on the middle. Nobody is calling for Mourinho's head, but there are those like myself who do question things., like the Managers behaviour. The squad is better than 6th position, no doubt about it. Rashford and Martial have regressed. Rooney and Miccky were suffering from lack of form, both played very well in europa match, made sense to start them against West Ham and get a much needed home win.
We are playing much better, creating a lot of chances, no doubt about it, hopefully it will show on the points tally sooner rather than later.

Martial has carried over his form from the end on last season & the Euro's.

His handling of Rashford is a valid criticism.

People are overstating how good Miccky was at Feyernoord.

One good performance shouldnt have made Rooney an automatic starter, if the choice was Mata or Rooney I would have went with Mata. A more valid criticism would be why it took so long to bring them on in the second half.

Lovely Bloke

RIP to those players and everyone else who has died on the flight carrying the Chapecoense team to their Copa Sudamerica final game in Columbia.

The news must be bringing horrible memories back to people like Bobby Charlton.

Cantona's Collars

@jayo26- clear some space in your inbox.

ollkiller

Just looking at the last few pages of replies and all the stats and so forth to explain how we are compared to last year. Christ i hate stats. I watch the games. It's fairly obvious we are playing a way more expansive game, creating chances and generally dominating teams. We just need a bit of luck and we will go on a run. Compared to the last 3 years it's heaven. I can actually watch match of the day again. The results will follow.

John Obi Mikel rumoured to be on Joses want list!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/nov/29/rumour-mill-transfer-news-manchester-united-mikel-john-obi-chelsea

Lord TSC

The shot conversion stats are actually quite uplifting to me.

If we get someone in who can finish even a fraction of those chances, we're going to be flying. Get in someone capable of finishing them, or even hope that Rashford and Ibra get their finishing boots on, and Jose has the team set up to be thrashing teams. As Buck has said, it's an easier problem to solve than the ones faced under LVG. Doubley so when I feel that it's being done with less than stellar wing options playing...

sky88

beno619 wrote: »

Martial has carried over his form from the end on last season & the Euro's.

His handling of Rashford is a valid criticism.

People are overstating how good Miccky was at Feyernoord.

One good performance shouldnt have made Rooney an automatic starter, if the choice was Mata or Rooney I would have went with Mata. A more valid criticism would be why it took so long to bring them on in the second half.

i think people myself included were just dissapointed that it was lingard starting after rooney and miki had good games.

Lingard has never done it consistently he seems to pop up with great goals every now and again but has done little to deserve a starting place. Hes not even very good defensively were i could see why jose would put him in.

RobertKK

Sport Witness say United have been scouting Benfica more than once recently and the talk is United are leading the race to sign Swedish defender Victor Lindelof in January, who has a release clause of €30 million.
Claims of talks have already started.

paulbok

RobertKK wrote: »

Sport Witness say United have been scouting Benfica more than once recently and the talk is United are leading the race to sign Swedish defender Victor Lindelof in January, who has a release clause of €30 million.
Claims of talks have already started.

Next step so is preparing the auld bid.
Getting it a haircut, some nice shoes and washing it's face.

Trigger

zorro2566 wrote: »

John Obi Mikel rumoured to be on Joses want list!

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/nov/29/rumour-mill-transfer-news-manchester-united-mikel-john-obi-chelsea

According to the Sun.. enough said

Sirsok

Would only love to have Chico back finishing all those chances

0gac3yjefb5sv7

paulbok wrote: »

Next step so is preparing the auld bid.
Getting it a haircut, some nice shoes and washing it's face.

Haha, wrapping up the contract. Putting a bow on it and spraying it with lynx Africa.

Kerrydude1981

Sirsok wrote: »

Would only love to have Chico back finishing all those chances

Offside count would go up as well

Even though the team are playing a lot quicker now then they were in his final season so no wonder he was getting caught offside,he would make his run and the pass would come an hour later

Lord TSC

Sirsok wrote: »

Would only love to have Chico back finishing all those chances

He's the only player I still seriously regret losing. I'd KILL to have him back. I 100% understand why LVG let him go, and why Chico wanted to go, but I wish he hadn't I feel he'd be thriving right now with us.

magnumbud

Lord TSC wrote: »

He's the only player I still seriously regret losing. I'd KILL to have him back. I 100% understand why LVG let him go, and why Chico wanted to go, but I wish he hadn't I feel he'd be thriving right now with us.

i really dont think he would have improved had he stayed. he was in rotten form for 2 seasons its a shame i loved him but he was better off going for himself. that peno miss in his last game summed up his form