Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

bangkok

pjohnson wrote: »

That was mostly the dark times of the pre-Matic days......that was a very odd time for us.

Hindsight is a great thing

Mitch Connor

pjohnson wrote: »

That was mostly the dark times of the pre-Matic days......that was a very odd time for us.

I argued for him as an addition after Matic. Figure he could be a player that just needs some encouragement and coaching to get the best out of him - and if someone does get the best out of him he could be a great player.

Certainly wasn't arguing to bring him in as a solution - but as a potentially very talented CM squad player. But also I'd have prefered Pereira to have taken that spot.

PhlegmyMoses

beakerjoe wrote: »

This thread had plenty of people thinking we should get him at OT, hes just simply not mentally ready for the big stage. Hyped to the max with no good performances since joing Bayern. Out of his depth.

Bayern seem to be going through something similar to us in that they are buying players who aren't the finished article and it is leading to some busts. Costa, Sanches, Coman (not a bust but Martial-like in his inconsistency).

Think some young lads are better off staying put for a few years or doing like Tielemans did and join a decent club who isn't expecting instant results.

bucketybuck

Jayop wrote: »

But it's vitally important if you recognise that there's weakness in the squad to then allow the manager a bit o slack in regards to the state of play.

But I have praised the manager constantly for his entire time at the club. And I have repeatedly stated that a lot of the players aren't good enough. All those posts are there for people to read.

So you can understand my bemusement when during a discussion about the manager and certain trends that concern me, people start claiming that I just accuse the manager and absolve the players of all blame. Do people even read posts any more? Maybe I should start with the Twitter links.

Jayop

bucketybuck wrote: »

But I have praised the manager constantly for his entire time at the club. And I have repeatedly stated that a lot of the players aren't good enough. All those posts are there for people to read.

So you can understand my bemusement when during a discussion about the manager and certain trends that concern me, people start claiming that I just accuse the manager and absolve the players of all blame. Do people even read posts any more? Maybe I should start with the Twitter links.

Ah sure I can't remember what I posted myself yesterday let alone what opinion you've given on something before man

Is this a fair enough assessment?

• The results are currently very good.
• The performances have been waning and showing some signs of 2016/17 form.
• We're missing 2/3 key players during this funky spell and won't know if that's the reason or not till they return.
• The manager will most likely address the weaknesses in the squad over the next two windows.
• We're still in with a chance of winning the league this season although it'll be tough but I expect us to be City's main challenge.

TheDoc

J. Marston wrote: »

Not good enough with the ball, apparently.

https://twitter.com/DTguardian/status/926088391623573509

Did Jones make the squad? Both are as poor as each other in terms of on the ball ability.

Something you think Southgate could have said to Smalling in private to improve on, but publicly just say something like "hasn't been playing enough". That's unnecessarily scathing.

Will backfire if injuries mount and Smalling needs calling up, or if Stones form regresses, where it would help to have defenders who can actually defend

akelly02

HONKEY TONK wrote: »

Jose team signings look excellent additions besides 1

Pogba
Mkhitaryan
Bailly
Ibrahimovic
Lukaku
Matic
Lindelöf :mad:

Others in the team I think fit in here are

Rashford
Martial
de Gea
Fellaini
Rojo
McTominay
Romero:)

If any of the remaining players were replaced I wouldn't bat an eyelid

valencia??

TheDoc

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

One thing we can all agree on though, thank **** we got Matic and not Bakayoko. Lots of people clamouring for Bakayoko in the summer but he hasn't been great so far. He will probably come good at some point but it was nice to get a finished article rather than another work in progress for once.

I can massively hold my hands up and say I was not really moved by his signing, and did not anticipate or appreciate the impact he would have on the team and plenty others did.

Been an excellent signing, more and more impressive everytime I see him. So much more to his game than I thought.

bucketybuck

Jayop wrote: »

Is this a fair enough assessment?

[*]The results are currently very good. - They are fine, I tend not to worry about individual results, how you get them is more important long term.


[*]The performances have been waning and showing some signs of 2016/17 form. - The trend is remarkably similar.


[*]We're missing 2/3 key players during this funky spell and won't know if that's the reason or not till they return. - We have been missing one key player and a few others who would not be in the first 11 if everybody was fit.


[*]The manager will most likely address the weaknesses in the squad over the next two windows. - He had better.


[*]We're still in with a chance of winning the league this season although it'll be tough but I expect us to be City's main challenge. - We absolutely have a chance, as long as issues are addressed now and not later.

Jayop

Fellaini would start. You coils argue that Zlatan would too

bucketybuck

Jayop wrote: »

Fellaini would start. You coils argue that Zlatan would too

I don't believe so. Felliani started what, 2 league games before he got injured? He might start, he is an option, but he certainly isn't anywhere near first name on the team sheet, history shows this.

And Zlatan? No way. Nobody missed him at all until we started looking for reasons we stopped performing.

TheDoc

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Bayern seem to be going through something similar to us in that they are buying players who aren't the finished article and it is leading to some busts. Costa, Sanches, Coman (not a bust but Martial-like in his inconsistency).

Think some young lads are better off staying put for a few years or doing like Tielemans did and join a decent club who isn't expecting instant results.

That's a player I hope we are really keeping tabs on. Great potential.

Kevin Strootman btw, (Strootman watch) is back playing regularly again and while not really at the level he was beforehand, looks to be getting there. Player that oozes class in a three man midfield and can work in a double or as a holding midfielder.

As Adox mentions a few times, team "looks" on paper to be made up for 4-3-3. Fellaini and Herrera can really be upgraded, and Strootman would be delicious.

A certain German is still my ideal preference

beakerjoe

TheDoc wrote: »

That's a player I hope we are really keeping tabs on. Great potential.

Kevin Strootman btw, (Strootman watch) is back playing regularly again and while not really at the level he was beforehand, looks to be getting there. Player that oozes class in a three man midfield and can work in a double or as a holding midfielder.

As Adox mentions a few times, team "looks" on paper to be made up for 4-3-3. Fellaini and Herrera can really be upgraded, and Strootman would be delicious.

A certain German is still my ideal preference ;)

We sold him ages ago :pac:

TheDoc

bucketybuck wrote: »

I don't believe so. Felliani started what, 2 league games before he got injured? He might start, he is an option, but he certainly isn't anywhere near first name on the team sheet, history shows this.

And Zlatan? No way. Nobody missed him at all until we started looking for reasons we stopped performing.

I've missed him. It's credit to Lukaku's start that we didn't miss or feel the pain of losing a world class striker who bagged 30+ goals last season.

Surprised with how blazay people are about Ibrahimovic. That is an incredible option to come back into the team. If he was fit now, it might well allow Lukaku to come out for a break or come out of the firing line and still maintain a seriously high standard.

Think Lukaku has played every minute of the league and most of the CL thus far right?

Jayop

lol obviously no-one misses a striker that's out when you're banging in 4 goals a game.

Fellaini had played in 7 games before he got injured, starting the last 4 and scoring 4 goals. He wasn't starting against the cannon fodder that we faced at the start of the season but you can be certain he'd have started against Liverpool and Spurs even if everyone else was fit. 100%.

pjohnson

bucketybuck wrote: »

Felliani started what, 2 league games before he got injured?

well I guess this confirms you dont watch our games.

pjohnson

Jaysus Strootman is a right blast from the past! I thought his knees/body had totally failed him a lá Giuseppe Rossi.

bucketybuck

Jayop wrote: »

lol obviously no-one misses a striker that's out when you're banging in 4 goals a game.

Fellaini had played in 7 games before he got injured, starting the last 4 and scoring 4 goals. He wasn't starting against the cannon fodder that we faced at the start of the season but you can be certain he'd have started against Liverpool and Spurs even if everyone else was fit. 100%.

Felliani is another whose reputation is increasing with every game he doesn't play.

I'm not trying to run him down at all, but the original point made was that we were missing 2/3 key players and that that could be the reason for some poor performances. How can I not point out that if everybody was available only one of those players is likely to be in the team? That if everybody was fit the team is incredibly likely to be the team that was selected at the start of the season when those 2/3 players were available? That if our best 11 was selected, 10 of that 11 is available to us right now.

Felliani got slaughtered on here for years, I think we could do without going too far the other way when judging his impact.

Jayop

bucketybuck wrote: »

Felliani is another whose reputation is increasing with every game he doesn't play.

I'm not trying to run him down at all, but the original point made was that we were missing 2/3 key players and that that could be the reason for some poor performances. How can I not point out that if everybody was available only one of those players is likely to be in the team? That if everybody was fit the team is incredibly likely to be the team that was selected at the start of the season when those 2/3 players were available? That if our best 11 was selected, 10 of that 11 is available to us right now.

Felliani got slaughtered on here for years, I think we could do without going too far the other way when judging his impact.

That's incredible in relation to Fellaini. Of course he would have started against Spurs and Liverpool, and against Chelsea this weekend too. I'm not saying he's some superstar, but he is a key member of the team.

Last season he started...

League
Man City - Home and Away
Chelsea - Home and Away
Liverpool - Away (came on in home game)
Spurs - (Home came on as a sub)

5 of our knock out Europa games including the final


If that's not a key member of the team then I don't know what is.

Love this from the press-conference...

Journo: How much have your players grown in the space of a year? Bearing in mind it was a year ago you went back to play Chelsea.

Jose (laughing): Maybe Rashford two centimetres, McTominay three.

:pac:

He seems in good form, hope he's confident about Sunday's game. He's due a bit of joy at the Bridge.

Robson99

bucketybuck wrote: »

I don't believe so. Felliani started what, 2 league games before he got injured? He might start, he is an option, but he certainly isn't anywhere near first name on the team sheet, history shows this.

And Zlatan? No way. Nobody missed him at all until we started looking for reasons we stopped performing.

Neither should be starting for us.
A middle of the park 3 of Matic Hererra and Pogba
Front 3 of Rashford Lukaku and Martial

Jayop

Herrera who's been playing really badly should be starting ahead of Fellaini who was playing really well?

Why?

pjohnson

McTominay has surely grown more than 3CM? Or has his mental growth spurt finished as fast as it began?

Robson99

Jayop wrote: »

Herrera who's been playing really badly should be starting ahead of Fellaini who was playing really well?

Why?

Because he is a much better player. Herrera gives a lot more cover to allow Pogba get forward and he is technically far better than fellani

pjohnson

Jayop wrote: »

Herrera who's been playing really badly should be starting ahead of Fellaini who was playing really well?

Why?

I'd say its because form isn't an important trait in FIFA :pac:

pjohnson

pjohnson wrote: »

McTominay has surely grown more than 3CM? Or has his mental growth spurt finished as fast as it began?

Eh..what?

Jayop

Robson99 wrote: »

Because he is a much better player. Herrera gives a lot more cover to allow Pogba get forward and he is technically far better than fellani

So that one is playing awful at the moment and the other was playing great, had scored 4 goals in his last 3 (i think) games shouldn't matter? If Herrera is technically better he sure isn't showing it the last 7/8 games. His passing has been brutal.


I do think that Herrera is also the better player and if both were on form I'd also have Herrera but he's out of form so he doesn't play if both are fit. As was happening before the fellaini injury

pjohnson

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Eh..what?

McTominay had a ridiculous growth spurt coming through the academy. He went from 5'6" to 6'4" in 18 months

Robson99

Jayop wrote: »

So that one is playing awful at the moment and the other was playing great, had scored 4 goals in his last 3 (i think) games shouldn't matter? If Herrera is technically better he sure isn't showing it the last 7/8 games. His passing has been brutal.


I do think that Herrera is also the better player and if both were on form I'd also have Herrera but he's out of form so he doesn't play if both are fit. As was happening before the fellaini injury

I might be wrong but isn't Herrera only back in the team for the last 4 or 5 games?? Yes his first couple of games back were poor but I think he has been much better for the last couple. He has also been one of our best players over the last few years.
We go too direct with Fellani in the team and his technical ability with the ball at his feet is not good enough

Jayop

Robson99 wrote: »

I might be wrong but isn't Herrera only back in the team for the last 4 or 5 games?? Yes his first couple of games back were poor but I think he has been much better for the last couple. He has also been one of our best players over the last few years.
We go too direct with Fellani in the team and his technical ability with the ball at his feet is not good enough

You are wrong. He's been back for 10 games and baring the second half against Spurs he's not showed much improvement at all.

jayo26

Jayop wrote: »

You are wrong. He's been back for 10 games and baring the second half against Spurs he's not showed much improvement at all.

He didn't put a foot wrong against benfica to be fair

limnam

S.M.B. wrote: »

why he's being a bit of an antagonistic dick towards them? surely not that difficult to comprehend.

Lets play a game.

Who said this

"The crowd were dead," "It was like a funeral it was so quiet.
"You need the crowd to create a good atmosphere. It is all right saying the players can make the crowd respond but in some situations, like this one, the crowd have to get behind the players.
"I think there have been days like this in the past. It happened some years ago, when we were dominant. The crowd have come to be entertained. It doesn't help us."


Hint 1. He's Scottish.


Might be worth noting no one from any supports org had the gall to want a meeting to discuss his opinion.


What a load of tripe.

S.M.B.

Jayop wrote: »

Even when Mkhi was hitting great numbers at the start of the season I still thought he was generally fairly poor. He seemed to be able to be involved with one or two really good piece of play in a game that resulted in an assist or a goal. Probably had similar numbers to someone like DeBreune but he was miles away from actual overall contribution.

Someone was speaking of microcosms earlier, and this example (which I completely agree with and felt the same since the start of the season) could be somewhat extrapolated and applied to the entire team and our rivals too. Although I would not go as far to say we are/were "fairly poor.

It's obviously a massive over simplification but it hints at where my concerns lie at the moment.

I was delighted when Mkhi was banging in the goals at the start of the season just like I'm delighted with our important wins at the moment.

I'm a little hesitant to raise my expectations beyond what they were at the start of the season based on what I've seen so far though. Them being...

- close the gap on the eventual champions and hopefully be still in the race towards the business and off the season
- get to CL quarters and see if fortune favours us once we get there
- steady the boat financially by ensuring CL revenue and ensuring the brand doesn't devalue any more
- continue to develop the team with an aim to really put in a title challenge next year after 2 more transfer window's and 2 years of team building

Trigger

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Love this from the press-conference...

:pac:

He seems in good form, hope he's confident about Sunday's game. He's due a bit of joy at the Bridge.

Are we still calling it “zerking it” these days

pjohnson

pjohnson wrote: »

McTominay had a ridiculous growth spurt coming through the academy. He went from 5'6" to 6'4" in 18 months

Holy shít, something something Weetabix. Cheers for that.


Anyone who watched the press conference, the part where Jose was being coy about the injury list - Was I the only one who thought for a moment 'Pogba's in contention for Sunday :eek:'

S.M.B.

limnam wrote: »

Lets play a game.

Who said this

"The crowd were dead," "It was like a funeral it was so quiet.
"You need the crowd to create a good atmosphere. It is all right saying the players can make the crowd respond but in some situations, like this one, the crowd have to get behind the players.
"I think there have been days like this in the past. It happened some years ago, when we were dominant. The crowd have come to be entertained. It doesn't help us."

Maybe it is my bias or something gets lost In translation with José but the above quote to me seems a lot more measured than Jose's passive aggressive antagonistic sniping in a match day programme.

pjohnson

astradave wrote: »

Are we still calling it “zerking it” these days

astradave

astradave wrote: »

Are we still calling it “zerking it” these days

Always.

I zerked, oh well.

limnam

S.M.B. wrote: »

Maybe it is my bias or something gets lost In translation with José but the above quote to me seems a lot more measured than Jose's passive aggressive antagonistic sniping in a match day programme.

Think it most certainly would be your bias.

If he was talking about the anfield crowd at an away game. Stating it was like a funeral.

Do you think Liverpool fans would think it was measured?

Do yo think they would be antagonised ?

Managers having a pop at fans.

non fcking issue.

Was then, is now.

bangkok

limnam wrote: »

Lets play a game.

Who said this

"The crowd were dead," "It was like a funeral it was so quiet.
"You need the crowd to create a good atmosphere. It is all right saying the players can make the crowd respond but in some situations, like this one, the crowd have to get behind the players.
"I think there have been days like this in the past. It happened some years ago, when we were dominant. The crowd have come to be entertained. It doesn't help us."


Hint 1. He's Scottish.


Might be worth noting no one from any supports org had the gall to want a meeting to discuss his opinion.


What a load of tripe.

and he was there for 26 years and built the club to what it is today, Jose is only in the door a season a bit and has taken digs at the fans in his programme notes.

limnam

bangkok wrote: »

and he was there for 26 years and built the club to what it is today, Jose is only in the door a season a bit and has taken digs at the fans in his programme notes.

Ah ok so it's not the fact he had a dig at the fans. You feel you need to earn the right to have a dig at them.

So you can antagonise fans as long as you've been at the club long enough to do so.

Complete and utter tosh.

bangkok

limnam wrote: »

Ah ok so it's not the fact he had a dig at the fans. You feel you need to earn the right to have a dig at them.

So you can antagonise fans as long as you've been at the club long enough to do so.

Complete and utter tosh.

he said it in an interview after the match, same as Roy Keane did, Jose after the spurs game going around putting his fingers to his lips and then writing in his programme notes about it. no need for it

pjohnson

bangkok wrote: »

he said it in an interview after the match, same as Roy Keane did, Jose after the spurs game going around putting his fingers to his lips and then writing in his programme notes about it. no need for it

No need for the "fans" being such eejits. If they can dish out the digs then they shouldn't start crying if Jose correctly tells them to shut it.

limnam

bangkok wrote: »

he said it in an interview after the match, same as Roy Keane did, Jose after the spurs game going around putting his fingers to his lips and then writing in his programme notes about it. no need for it

You're flopping all over the place.

So now it's not how long he's been there. It's the fact it was written in the programme notes.

Make up your bloody mind.

Booing utd players is out of order.
Booing managerial decisions is out of order.

Managers having a pop for doing it.

Expected.

All in all, non bloody issue.

paulbok

pjohnson wrote: »

McTominay had a ridiculous growth spurt coming through the academy. He went from 5'6" to 6'4" in 18 months

Jaysus, was he on the same hooch Messi was on?

bangkok

pjohnson wrote: »

No need for the "fans" being such eejits. If they can dish out the digs then they shouldn't start crying if Jose correctly tells them to shut it.

he should be bigger than that, anyway i dont care, doesnt bother me but i dont think he is helping himself

jayo26

It's true Bangkok if jose was been a dick for telling the fans to shush then the few fans that he was responding to were been spoilt little sh1ts for the boos is response to the sub.

The team is doing well and going along nicely picking up points with key players missing and playing underparr no need for that level if sh1t at all.

This thread is pretty much the same people throwing shots and comments around the place as if we were lying in mid table and out of Europe.

People should get a grip and enjoy it when we are ina decent position.. express concerns but don't do it In a way where we aint open to listening to genuine counter arguments that one of our best players is missing and not been snidy because most of the thread the past few days has been crap talk picking up on every little thing the media writes.

jayo26

bangkok wrote: »

he should be bigger than that, anyway i dont care, doesnt bother me but i dont think he is helping himself

Of course you care you have been throwing 8t around for the past week nearly.

Trigger

bangkok wrote: »

he should be bigger than that, anyway i dont care, doesnt bother me but i dont think he is helping himself

:pac:

Yeah right!

deaddonkey15

A storm in a teacup is how I'd describe this Jose vs. the fans nonsense.