Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2018

pjohnson

I think most people honestly couldn't give a shíte about possession percentage. Once we use it well when we have it.

Results win games and titles not statitstics.

StringerBell

StringerBell wrote: »

The Poch thing hasn't been done for a while I suppose, wait it out till Spurs inevitably run out of steam toward the end of the season, fall away and win nothing I suppose. No point in going back over old ground again.

One thing struck me more than anything else (other than how poor and wasteful Juve were obvs) is how much my dislike of Dele is growing every time I see his stupid head. The latest in a long line of overblown English hype jobs, and a nasty one to boot.

Didn't realise I cared so much.

There is a joke in here somewhere

limnam

Deleted User wrote: »

The biggest concern for me with Jose is he still hasn't got us rock solid defensively like his team's in the past were so impressive in defence and while I know we have a good record in the premier league we still look so open so often. He has had 4 transfer windows and we are still lining up with a fairly uninspiring back line.

Yet has the best defensive record in the prem this season while missing his first choice CB for most of it. Not bad.

TitianGerm

limnam wrote: »

Yet has the best defensive record in the prem this season while missing his first choice CB for most of it. Not bad.

The defense has been leaky and giving up quite a few chances. De Gea is papering over a few cracks. But that's the benefit of an excellent keeper.

Liam O

TitianGerm wrote: »

The defense has been leaky and giving up quite a few chances. De Gea is papering over a few cracks. But that's the benefit of an excellent keeper.

And not having to play Smalling and Valencia on the same side for most of it too...

TitianGerm

Liam O wrote: »

And not having to play Smalling and Valencia on the same side for most of it too...

Smallish just seems to lose concentration a bit to often.

DM_7

In fairness to United, they have only scored one less than Spurs (for example) while also having a strong defence. It is not like the football this season is way off the pace of top four like last season. So it shows improvement for United in 20 months. I would like to see what United are like in a fourth season of Jose.

I am going to paraphrase him, early in the season, when things were going well, he wanted to see how the team responds to tough situations. Recently he said he now needs to see better play from them now he is happier with the attack options. All good to hear.

Liam O

DM_7 wrote: »

In fairness to United, they have only scored one less than Spurs (for example) while also having a strong defence. It is not like the football this season is way off the pace of top four like last season. So it shows improvement for United in 20 months. I would like to see what United are like in a fourth season of Jose.

I am going to paraphrase him, early in the season, when things were going well, he wanted to see how the team responds to tough situations. Recently he said he now needs to see better play from them now he is happier with the attack options. All good to hear.

It's these brain fart games which had started to creep in during Fergie's final season despite the overall high points total that season, having a lethal striker in top form papered over that.

Since Fergie left there is a complacency that is rife throughout the club which is at odds with the on pitch performance. The players who have come in should have things to prove but they don't look like it. Sauntering around under 3 managers and playing the same insipid low tempo football when it's not going their way.

Ultimately when it's going well it's a team that can look like world beaters but they haven't been able to deal with adversity for a long time. It looked like Jose was going to go away to fix it but games like Sunday show that it's certainly still there.

Cantona's Collars

http://www.marca.com/en/football/spanish-football/2018/02/13/5a835f6de2704ed7658b45cb.html

Herrera could be facing jail and a 6 year ban from football over the match fixing scandal.

The thing is,he noticed that he got £90,000 paid into his account, returned it through his bank and got a receipt. The others handed over cash in cafes etc. which sounds very dodgy.

Lord TSC

RE Our defensive issues (and ignoring we have the best defense in the league, per the table...), this was posted to Reddit yesterday. It's a breakdown of each result, and what combo of center backs we used in the games.

Mitch Connor

Anyone know what the actually story is with Bailly?

He just seems 'injured'. I've no idea what the injury is or when he is expected back - have United provided any actual information? It seems really odd.

This type of vague injury can sometimes point to something else being the actual issue.

pjohnson

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Anyone know what the actually story is with Bailly?

He just seems 'injured'. I've no idea what the injury is or when he is expected back - have United provided any actual information? It seems really odd.

This type of vague injury can sometimes point to something else being the actual issue.

Was it not a twisted ankle with the Ivory Coast he had?

pjohnson

Lord TSC wrote: »

RE Our defensive issues (and ignoring we have the best defense in the league, per the table...), this was posted to Reddit yesterday. It's a breakdown of each result, and what combo of center backs we used in the games.

Hah. Smalling is the only CB present for all the losses.

Cantona's Collars

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Anyone know what the actually story is with Bailly?

He just seems 'injured'. I've no idea what the injury is or when he is expected back - have United provided any actual information? It seems really odd.

This type of vague injury can sometimes point to something else being the actual issue.

Perhaps we should tell him to call into City, their players seem to make miraculous recoveries from injury.

Lord TSC

https://twitter.com/LukeShaw23/status/963717486515576832

Jesus, Luke...

Adamcp898

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

Perhaps we should tell him to call into City, their players seem to make miraculous recoveries from injury.

Strange how no matter where he goes he keeps these small squads that trot out 60 game seasons and win everything without breaking a sweat :pac:

Lord TSC wrote: »

https://twitter.com/LukeShaw23/status/963717486515576832

Jesus, Luke...

Jesse's media team gone rogue again I doubt

pjohnson

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

Perhaps we should tell him to call into City, their players seem to make miraculous recoveries from injury.

Wont be long until one of them has a "serious" ligament injury after one of the many "horror" tackles they endure in an opening 45 mins of "butchering hoofball". Only for said player to trot out fine for the second half

Trigger

Lord TSC wrote: »

https://twitter.com/LukeShaw23/status/963717486515576832

Jesus, Luke...

He has it on Insta as well and DeGea replied “I love you too man” :pac:

yabadabado

Lord TSC wrote: »

https://twitter.com/LukeShaw23/status/963717486515576832

Jesus, Luke...

Harmless bit of fun.

yabadabado

Liam O wrote: »

It's these brain fart games which had started to creep in during Fergie's final season despite the overall high points total that season, having a lethal striker in top form papered over that.

Since Fergie left there is a complacency that is rife throughout the club which is at odds with the on pitch performance. The players who have come in should have things to prove but they don't look like it. Sauntering around under 3 managers and playing the same insipid low tempo football when it's not going their way.

Ultimately when it's going well it's a team that can look like world beaters but they haven't been able to deal with adversity for a long time. It looked like Jose was going to go away to fix it but games like Sunday show that it's certainly still there.

At some stage it's going to be a case of getting rid of these players. No matter how much talent or potential some of these lads have if they can't do the job consistently and when the going gets tough then they will need to be let go.
Plenty of deadwood still around the club.

Trigger

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Anyone know what the actually story is with Bailly?

He just seems 'injured'. I've no idea what the injury is or when he is expected back - have United provided any actual information? It seems really odd.

This type of vague injury can sometimes point to something else being the actual issue.

He had to have Surgery on his ankle apparently.. this is the last update from Utd..

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2017/Dec/eric-bailly-faces-longer-spell-on-sidelines-due-to-serious-injury.aspx

Due back,we’ll targetting, the second leg of the CL

Lord TSC

yabadabado wrote: »

Harmless bit of fun.

Obviously :P I was joking.

hufpc8w3adnk65

bangkok wrote: »

i said city were great tonight, im not a united supporter either

Hold on? Your not a united fan ?

pjohnson

MrMac84 wrote: »

Hold on? Your not a united fan ?

You cant really be suprised :P

Giggsy11

MrMac84 wrote: »

Hold on? Your not a united fan ?

Im surprised.

duffman13

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Im surprised.

He was being sarcastic as people were called non United fans for various opinions.

Edit: well at least I hope that's the case

pjohnson

pjohnson wrote: »

You cant really be suprised :P

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Im surprised.

Giggsy11

duffman13 wrote: »

He was being sarcastic as people were called non United fans for various opinions.

Edit: well at least I hope that's the case

Oh yeah, somehow I missed it. At least what you said makes sense. It was reply to my post and now I i'm sure that was sarcastic post.

bangkok is not a Utd fan
HAHAHA **** me, we've been all duped

*Edit* needs a gif

bangkok

Just to confirm. I am a united supporter. That joke must have gone over a few of yer heads

bangkok

bangkok wrote: »

Just to confirm. I am a united supporter. That joke must have gone over a few of yer heads

Trigger

Come on lads, if Bangkok wasn’t a United fan he would have engaged in the biggest WUM in the history of Boards, even bigger than AIG..

Of course he is a United fan


Right?

jimmytwotimes 2013

astradave wrote: »

Come on lads, if Bangkok wasn’t a United fan he would have engaged in the biggest WUM in the history of Boards, even bigger than AIG..

Of course he is a United fan


Right?

I dont believe in nothing no more.

limnam

bangkok wrote: »

Just to confirm. I am a united supporter. That joke must have gone over a few of yer heads

Fanatic itself, introduced into English around 1550, means "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion".

That doesn't sound like you at all boss.

If it stated. Non stop criticism and fapping over rivals we'd believe you.

bangkok

astradave wrote: »

Come on lads, if Bangkok wasn’t a United fan he would have engaged in the biggest WUM in the history of Boards, even bigger than AIG..

Of course he is a United fan


Right?

Wum?? Aig?? What are they?

Trigger

bangkok wrote: »

Wum?? Aig?? What are they?

Wind up merchant

Andersonisgod

don’t worry I believe your a United fan anyways so you have someone on your side ha

Cantona's Collars

astradave wrote: »

He had to have Surgery on his ankle apparently.. this is the last update from Utd..

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2017/Dec/eric-bailly-faces-longer-spell-on-sidelines-due-to-serious-injury.aspx

Due back,we’ll targetting, the second leg of the CL

https://twitter.com/10JoseAlvarez/status/963757633730727937

Bailly back in training, expected back for second leg against Sevilla.

Adamocovic

Sometimes I close my eyes and wonder what AIG would say to us now

Adamocovic

Adamocovic wrote: »

Sometimes I close my eyes and wonder what AIG would say to us now

It can be a lonely aul day today.

The_Kew_Tour

The dreaded thought when Barca scored a Tap In in La Liga

secman

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

https://twitter.com/10JoseAlvarez/status/963757633730727937

Bailly back in training, expected back for second leg against Sevilla.

Rashford 25 Feb
Fellani 31 Mar
Herrera 25 Feb
Blind 17 Feb
Ibra 25 Feb
Bailly 21 Feb

All from Physioroom

bangkok

'Utd fans' open letter over atmosphere'

http://www.skysports.com/share/11250518

TheDoc

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

was a time when United would be 2 down with 20 minutes to go and you be still thinking they could win

First goal in our games seem be so BIG now. We Score first, great, we win majority. Concede first and "oh crap" let's hope we can score and get a point. I can't name more the 1 game ( Boro last Xmas) where went goal down and won in PL last few seasons.

I'm sure I'm missing few obvious ones but it's so rare last few years.

We noticably can't claw our way back into games when going behind.

Reflection on the players, character, play style, tactics and manager. Just everyone and everything, nothing in particular.

Could even just be one of those "monkey on the back" things where we need a big turnaround result to breathe a bit of confidence.

But I know what you mean, we score first I'm pretty comfortable we will get the win. We conceed first I start getting freaked. And I really shouldn't considering some of the absolute garbage teams I can be watching us play against.

TheDoc

Lord TSC wrote: »

I feel as if that was there at the beginning of the season. The games where we were scoring 3 or 4 goals in the last 20 minutes of games through just battering the other teams.

But yeah, it's gone again now. There's a fragility about some players in the squad, and while we've added some who keep trying (Sanchez has impressed me in that regard so far), there's a few who seem to lose all self belief that they can fight back against teams that are beating them.

Its the "character" issue; we're badly in need of a few more hard men, for lack of a better term; players who when a goal goes in (preferably not in the opening 15 seconds) put their head down and go "Not an issue, we'll score three more now!"

Pogba is obviously beloved by the players, you can see that in how people look at him on the field. But as a captain, I've not seen him have that ability to grab other players when there's a bad performance and give them the kick up the ass they need. Valencia, Carrick, Smalling....they aren't the type of captain to roar abuse when a team is screwing things up, nor the type to inspire a struggling team to kick things up a notch.

It's the downside of spending the last few years focusing so much on youth.

Also debatable in terms of is that really a captain we need, or even exists. There are no Roy Keanes anymore. You have Jordon Henderson, a pretty average player blustering at people.

For a Keane type captain you need to be a top player and then have that viscous streak and confidence to balk and bleat. Reason the likes of Hart, Henderson and others of that modern ilk fall flat in that type of captaincy is because they arnt good players.

I think Valencia has put in some really good captain performances, for that "type". Really led by example, drove the team when struggling and led with his feet.

I do agree with you we don't have that. For all the complaints of Van Gaal sitting there on the bench, Mourinho seems to do very little in terms of berating the team. He moans a bit to himself, dramatic arm throws, but rarely are we catching him lash someone out of it. And there is plenty of scope for it.

Probably just for debate if that old school captain has a place in the modern game with modern players, or how best you motivate this type of modern player.

But I whole heartedly agree, serious lack of characters in the team, on the pitch, to let people know when things arnt acceptable. Zlatan probably the only one that springs to mind with enough presence and respect that other players would react.

Jones does a fair bit of it, but I find he's just doing it for show. Rages me when you see him doing his "calm down" arm thing, when the team clearly needs to crank the gears.

I think David De Gea should be a lot more vocal and aggressive. Clearly not in his nature, but he gives a more "come on lads" look when the defence is scrambling. If you put say Schmeichels aggression into him, my god. Club Captain until he retires.

Think Pogba maybe could be like that. Obviously as a player with such clear talent and ability he can likely give out to others and have it received. I'd say Sanchez will be like that as he grows into the team and club. He's already had a few mini tantrums since arriving, but you'd hope maybe his reactions provide a positive reaction, as opposed to the Arsenal one where players got tired of him and just hated him being around.

TheDoc

Adamocovic wrote: »

Gas seeing AVB mentioned. I remember I was hugely in the camp of people who wanted AVB to be Fergies replacement. Still am a big fan of his.

Once Chelsea dropped out of the top 4 it all went horrible and the relationship with the board and some of the more experienced players soured. Thought he did ever so well at Spurs during his first season and was unlucky to miss out on the champions league despite setting a record for their total points. Didn't help losing Bale then obviously.

Saw he's currently out of contract after turning down an extension in China, hurt his back competing in a rallying event last month though (I'm not making that up).

Now I'm not suggesting I think he should be next in line for United but would love to see him get back to managing a team in a top league again, then who knows down the line.

His career has gone really weird.

I was also a big fan of his, loved how he came across, thought he was interesting and for a "young" coach was pretty brave and had a decent looking style and idea.

Pity it went so mental for him. Like there is massive mitigating circumstances for the Chelsea situation, but it all just went so weird.

Probably issue on his end also that he's not interested anymore in management or something?

TheDoc

Cantona's Collars wrote: »

4th, the FA Cup and Champions League would be decent.

Win the CL or just secure our participation?

TheDoc

pjohnson wrote: »

So you would be happy to loose once we played pretty?

Dunno how people remember the LVG era with such fondness.

Still fresh in the memory are victories against rivals. There was a good few. There was also some immense performances. Some incredible moments. Martial vs Liverpool?

Jose's reign so far, nothing is etched yet for me. Even the Europa League final, I watched it, can barely remember it. I can remember a lot of Zlatan stuff as I sit here, but while we have had some good results against rivals, nothing feels "etched" yet. Might do so as time moves on, but I don't think his reign yet has really ignited.

Maybe thats a good sign of the work hes doing, with the success thus far and the how this season goes, with nothing being immediately memorable for me.

TheDoc

Andrew Beef wrote: »

Interesting to see the “great” Pochettino’s Spurs being humiliated in Turin. The man’s record of 4 Manager of the Month awards in the last 5 years make him an obvious choice for the hotseat at Old Trafford. Very similar to Alex Ferguson coming from Aberdeen or Jose Mourinho from Chelsea/Real Madrid/Inter Milan/Porto.

The man should be turned away by the security guards at Carrington and not let within 5 miles of the place. People are gas really, fawning over the flavour of the month whoever that might be. Brendan Rodgers, Andre Villas Boas, Phil Brown, Alan Pardew, Rafael Benitez; at least Rafa won the Champions League. Pochettino just looks brooding and collects a Manager of the Month award every 1.25 years.

Oh yeah, just had to check the time of post.

Because pretty sure two away goals in Turin, finishing in a draw, is a pretty brilliant result.

Fromvert

TheDoc wrote: »

His career has gone really weird.

I was also a big fan of his, loved how he came across, thought he was interesting and for a "young" coach was pretty brave and had a decent looking style and idea.

Pity it went so mental for him. Like there is massive mitigating circumstances for the Chelsea situation, but it all just went so weird.

Probably issue on his end also that he's not interested anymore in management or something?

I think it was on Totally Football podcast where AVB came up recently, a few might have heard it.
They said he always wanted to do the Dakar rally after a certain amount of years of being a coach and that he saw coaching as a way to travel and live in different countries and that he never wanted to spend too much time at any club. He's a just different lad compared to most coaches it seems.

TheDoc

Fromvert wrote: »

I think it was on Totally Football podcast where AVB came up recently, a few might have heard it.
They said he always wanted to do the Dakar rally after a certain amount of years of being a coach and that he saw coaching as a way to travel and live in different countries and that he never wanted to spend too much time at any club. He's a just different lad compared to most coaches it seems.

Been struggling with Totally Football to be honest, and I'm annoyed I am. Think by the time I get around to it, I've had two full pods on football, so its listening to a third round of opinions on the same stuff : /

Might try mix it up a bit, they have a consistently impressive lineup of people