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Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2018/2019 [Mod note 31-Aug-18]

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Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    Lord TSC wrote: »
    I'd actually like to see that, even if it meant playing kids really. Just go with the players he trusts, and leave the likes of Pogba behind if he feels Pogba won't give 100%.

    and valencia hammer us 5 or 6 nil, that is basically writing his own p45


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 42,605 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lord TSC


    bangkok wrote: »
    and valencia hammer us 5 or 6 nil, that is basically writing his own p45

    You say that as if its not already printed off though.

    He's pretty much 90% out the door now. He needs something drastic to change his fortunes.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    Lord TSC wrote: »
    You say that as if its not already printed off though.

    He's pretty much 90% out the door now. He needs something drastic to change his fortunes.

    just play an attacking formation and let the players loose. Sitting back on the 18 yard line to the likes of Derby, West Ham, Wolves, Brighton is absolutely pathetic from a Manchester United manager




  • Ah the old doozy

    'Let the shackles off'


  • Posts: 0 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Lord TSC wrote: »
    I'd actually like to see that, even if it meant playing kids really. Just go with the players he trusts, and leave the likes of Pogba behind if he feels Pogba won't give 100%.

    Im interested to see who he thinks it is at least, as far as I remember he tried it at Chelsea in one of his last games but it didn't work out too well


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 14,846 ✭✭✭✭Liam McPoyle


    Ah the old doozy

    'Let the shackles off'

    There's a few lads around here that could do with a good shackleing!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    Ah the old doozy

    'Let the shackles off'

    well its better than, hey lads, lets go 6 at the back when west ham are attacking, scott Mctominay, you are a good midfielder, but we want you to play centre back, lukaku and martial, ye just stand up front and dont bother tracking back, we will launch long 60 yard passes to ye and ye can fight for them. alexis, you are world class on your day, come down to london on the train and sit in the stand and watch how **** we are


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,824 ✭✭✭✭yourdeadwright


    Liam O wrote: »
    Last year to me was almost a fake , Chelsea went bust and didn't bother from January on, Liverpool had champions league on there mind and from April the Prem form really suffered ,Spurs never played a home game all season and Arsenal where saying good bye to Wenger ,
    The Prem was very odd ,

    Haha. That's a new one. United finishing above Liverpool was almost a fake. Weird that.
    You know what I mean by it ,
    Even this summer it seemed strange there was a worry about United even after they had finished second, Jose himself was asking why he was getting pressure and other's where not ,
    Iv never seem a team finish second have so much negativity around them in the press and media and by fans as a new season was starting ,




  • bangkok wrote: »
    well its better than, hey lads, lets go 6 at the back when west ham are attacking, scott Mctominay, you are a good midfielder, but we want you to play centre back, lukaku and martial, ye just stand up front and dont bother tracking back, we will launch long 60 yard passes to ye and ye can fight for them. alexis, you are world class on your day, come down to london on the train and sit in the stand and watch how **** we are

    giphy.gif


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    giphy.gif

    truth hurts


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  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    bangkok wrote: »
    just play an attacking formation and let the players loose. Sitting back on the 18 yard line to the likes of Derby, West Ham, Wolves, Brighton is absolutely pathetic from a Manchester United manager


    This is what we should have been doing from the start of the season and against most lower to mid table teams last season and its painfully obvious to everyone except Jose.




  • bangkok wrote: »
    truth hurts

    Hurts who? :pac:


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    bangkok wrote: »
    truth hurts

    Lies worse


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    Hurts who? :pac:

    you reply to my post using a gif. a total cop out.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,358 ✭✭✭✭SlickRic


    Ah the old doozy

    'Let the shackles off'

    it's the stupidest thing I hear in relation to Pogba, or indeed any 'talented' player.

    it doesn't mean anything.

    people point to Pogba's France form. were his 'shackles off'? he did more defensively in that team during that World Cup than he does for Utd. so where's the argument left then?

    the players get away with so much nonsense so often.

    take some responsibility man.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭ericzeking


    This is historical nonsense IMO.
    The club has proven it no longer has a philosophy. Just because the fans perceive us having to play a certain way and conduct business in a certain way doesn't mean it's actually happening.

    Very true as is evidenced by the sackings of Moyes and LVG and the hiring of Mourinho.....note that I said, what the club needs to do....I didn't say what I thought they will do.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 53,262 ✭✭✭✭GavRedKing


    Im interested to see who he thinks it is at least, as far as I remember he tried it at Chelsea in one of his last games but it didn't work out too well

    Hazard walked off the pitch against Leicester in Joses's game.

    For weeks before it Jose said he'd play the kids, RLC played 45mins against Villa or West Ham, done well and wasnt see again. It looked like Jose being desperate and threatening the star players but he never dropped them at Chelsea and the Hazard situation was embarrassing for everyone but pointed towards weeks and weeks of discontent between Jose and Hazard and the squad in general.

    He brought on Matic against Southampton and subbed him off after about 30 mins too, the dressing room was well and truly lost by the time he was left go, Costa came back from pre-season about a stone over weight finished with 12 goals but was awful until Jose left, Willian seem to be the only player pulling his weight at the time, the rest were in cruise control or just didnt give a s**t.

    I dont think the Utd situation is that dire but if you start falling out with popular people in the dressing room it wont end well. See Chelsea and Real Madrid as examples of that under Jose.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    SlickRic wrote: »
    it's the stupidest thing I hear in relation to Pogba, or indeed any 'talented' player.

    it doesn't mean anything.

    people point to Pogba's France form. were his 'shackles off'? he did more defensively in that team during that World Cup than he does for Utd. so where's the argument left then?

    the players get away with so much nonsense so often.

    take some responsibility man.

    i was talking about the team as a whole.

    we played defensively against poor opposition. 6 at the back v west ham??? come on, that is pathetic and then we we attack its slow, no movement, nothing




  • ericzeking wrote: »
    Very true as is evidenced by the sackings of Moyes and LVG and the hiring of Mourinho.....note that I said, what the club needs to do....I didn't say what I thought they will do.

    Fair enough if this is what you implied.
    When the club sacks him and signs another manager we are right back where we started. Sad times.
    Signing Zidane, signing Potch, signing whoever. Not going to make squat of a difference.
    The merry go round will eventually continue.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    SlickRic wrote: »
    it's the stupidest thing I hear in relation to Pogba, or indeed any 'talented' player.

    it doesn't mean anything.

    people point to Pogba's France form. were his 'shackles off'? he did more defensively in that team during that World Cup than he does for Utd. so where's the argument left then?

    the players get away with so much nonsense so often.

    take some responsibility man.


    No, saying take the shackles off a Jose team is perfectly fine

    Here we are 4mins into the game against West Ham https://i.redd.it/vfqub246dap11.png

    Thats 10 players inside the defensive third and 11 inside our own half in the 4th minute while west ham are handed the ball and passed around us. We had parked the bus away to West Ham waiting for a mistake, no closing down or urgency. This is Jose all over and the players cant shoulder the blame for this.

    If this was away to Madrid maybe I could understand but its bloody Westham. Fellaini is our most advanced player behind Lukaku and look where Partial is, we had parked the bus from the get go and a minute later we are a goal down.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,825 ✭✭✭Sebastian Dangerfield


    Fellaini is our most advanced player behind Lukaku and look where Partial is, we had parked the bus from the get go and a minute later we are a goal down.

    Intentional or not, that's actually quite an appropriate name


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 46,335 ✭✭✭✭Mitch Connor


    Fair enough if this is what you implied.
    When the club sacks him and signs another manager we are right back where we started. Sad times.
    Signing Zidane, signing Potch, signing whoever. Not going to make squat of a difference.
    The merry go round will eventually continue.

    so we just close up shop and forget about the football?

    If replacing Jose is not part of a solution, what is your argument for keeping him?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 53,262 ✭✭✭✭GavRedKing


    bangkok wrote: »
    i was talking about the team as a whole.

    we played defensively against poor opposition. 6 at the back v west ham??? come on, that is pathetic and then we we attack its slow, no movement, nothing

    Its no consolation but theres no way the West Ham v Chelsea game should have finished 0-0.

    We battered them in terms of passes, possession, shots and should have won with the chances we created and missed but West Ham the best and most clear cut chance in the game when Yarmlenko (I think) missed a free header from about 10 yards out.

    West Ham started terribly but will improve from here, tough to beat and a real cutting edge, they'll probably be this years Burnley.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    Adamocovic wrote: »
    Lies worse


    What a childish and meaningless comment. Prove it was a lie?

    SlickRic wrote: »
    it's the stupidest thing I hear in relation to Pogba, or indeed any 'talented' player.

    it doesn't mean anything.

    people point to Pogba's France form. were his 'shackles off'? he did more defensively in that team during that World Cup than he does for Utd. so where's the argument left then?

    the players get away with so much nonsense so often.

    take some responsibility man.


    Honestly the ganging up on this poster is pathetic at times, it was clear he meant the team and a perfectly reasonable comment. I'd expect mods to be discouraging this type of behavior but when a post is clearly misrepresented so I guess not in here.

    bangkok wrote: »
    you reply to my post using a gif. a total cop out.


    More rubbish, don't hold your breath waiting for constructive replies.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,749 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    bangkok wrote: »
    just play an attacking formation and let the players loose. Sitting back on the 18 yard line to the likes of Derby, West Ham, Wolves, Brighton is absolutely pathetic from a Manchester United manager

    Don't you mean Fergie?

    Another issue here is the shadow looming of SAF. Oft is quoted, the manchester utd style, or the ethos of the club, or the methods and tactics which are employed. I never saw Moyes or LVG adapting these styles, and indeed nor did Jose.
    The problem is that these aren't styles of the club, they're a hangover of one man controlling everything for a very very long time. Albeit very very well, but as an outsider looking in, I can't see any semblance of cohesion since his departure on 2013


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,358 ✭✭✭✭SlickRic


    bangkok wrote: »
    i was talking about the team as a whole.

    we played defensively against poor opposition. 6 at the back v west ham??? come on, that is pathetic and then we we attack its slow, no movement, nothing

    that's fine, but I've watched enough Mourinho teams through the years to know what he wants them to do.

    he plays 'defensively'. absolutely. but no functioning Mourinho team has ever stood off the opposition like they did against West Ham. yes, Mourinho prefers to prey on mistakes and counter. nobody credible will argue that point. but in that defensive shape, especially away from home, they do normally press cohesively.

    go back and watch his two Chelsea sides at their best.
    go watch Real.
    fúck it, watch his Inter side in their Champions League Final.

    he doesn't often get his teams away from home to press in the opponent's half, but he certainly asks his players to get close to the player who has just taken possession of the ball.

    we can argue the merits of Mourinho's style until we're blue in the face, and as I've said, his position is pretty much untenable now, but the players are getting off fúcking lightly for what they did on Saturday in particular.

    that first goal was nothing to do with Mourinho. the shape was fine. the players were just letting the likes of Arnie and Yarmolenko turn easily in advanced areas. no manager, no matter how defensive, wants you to allow that. it was offside, but how easily did Zabaleta get to the byline?

    for the second, do you think Mourinho doesn't know to pressure Yarmolenko and keep him on his right foot, which he basically only uses to stand on?

    for the third, regardless of whether Rashford was fouled, do you think he's telling Smalling and Lindelof to give Arnie the freedom of the width of the penalty area? does Mourinho tell Smalling to jog rather than sprint his hole off to get back?

    none of this lets Mourinho off the hook in any way. He, I'm sure, isn't great for morale when a team is losing. we know this. but the players are taking no pride at all in their own performance right now. you can see it by the lack of desire to do the basics well. even if you, as a player, for argument's sake, hate the style the Mourinho is asking you to play, the basics have nothing to do with tactics.

    do your job. run as hard as you can. have some pride in your work.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    SlickRic wrote: »
    that's fine, but I've watched enough Mourinho teams through the years to know what he wants them to do.


    Its not fine if you understood what he meant but called it "stupidest thing I hear in relation to Pogba" when it was as you clearly understood how negatively a Jose teams plays. Maybe this should have been your first reply




  • so we just close up shop and forget about the football?

    If replacing Jose is not part of a solution, what is your argument for keeping him?

    My discussion is about the primary issues at the club. Not a secondary or tertiary one like the manager of the club.
    This is the way I see the club being ran.
    As I said, sack him and get the little boost in performance that's fine.
    It changes nothing long term.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,358 ✭✭✭✭SlickRic


    Honestly the ganging up on this poster is pathetic at times, it was clear he meant the team and a perfectly reasonable comment. I'd expect mods to be discouraging this type of behavior but when a post is clearly misrepresented so I guess not in here.

    i saw the phrase 'shackles off', and I posted. Pogba is the obvious one that has been used as an example of 'shackles off', so I talked about him.

    i've responded, as you'll see, to a post where he talks directly about the team.

    there was absolutely no ganging up in my post. I was simply commenting on the term 'shackles off'.


  • Registered Users Posts: 361 ✭✭BazBox


    Give it to Giggsy


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  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    SlickRic wrote: »
    i saw the phrase 'shackles off', and I posted. Pogba is the obvious one that has been used as an example of 'shackles off', so I talked about him.

    i've responded, as you'll see, to a post where he talks directly about the team.

    there was absolutely no ganging up in my post. I was simply commenting on the term 'shackles off'.

    So you didn't read the entire post, jumped to a conclusion, called said post stupid and added to the other posts attacking a reasonable comment from a poster who gets that treat meant often, and offered no apology.

    What a lovely example to set.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,220 ✭✭✭20 Times 20 Times


    It will be results and Jose's own poor tactics that cost him. Pogba will be here after he's gone. There is no way the club will ship both out. Pogba has not shown a history of going against managers before, fine at Juve and fine at the world cup, where Jose has that history. It will be one or the other and not both.

    Did you read the whole post ?


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 42,605 Mod ✭✭✭✭Lord TSC


    SlickRic wrote: »
    i saw the phrase 'shackles off', and I posted. Pogba is the obvious one that has been used as an example of 'shackles off', so I talked about him.

    i've responded, as you'll see, to a post where he talks directly about the team.

    there was absolutely no ganging up in my post. I was simply commenting on the term 'shackles off'.

    Welcome to the United thread :p


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,358 ✭✭✭✭SlickRic


    So you didn't read the entire post, jumped to a conclusion, called said post stupid and added to the other posts attacking a reasonable comment from a poster who gets that treat meant often, and offered no apology.

    What a lovely example to set.

    again (and you can take it DM after this please if you need to), i did not see bangkok's original post, or know that he had even been the one who said 'shackles off'.

    i saw the phrase, posted by Fred, and commented.

    bangkok, if you were actually offended by what I posted, well apologies. but, i honestly hope you weren't, as it's quite obvious I hadn't seen your original post. i really hope you're not so sensitive to have actually been offended, seen as I addressed your team point in a subsequent post - a post I wrote still not seeing your original 'let them loose' post.

    so can we just move on now lads? take it to PM if you really need to please.


  • Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 52,220 Mod ✭✭✭✭Necro


    The long term goal is for the issues that are clear at board level to be addressed which I have absolutely no faith in the club doing.
    From reading this thread the majority of the people who want Jose out the door think think that it's the solution to Utd's problems and to drop in yet another manager like Zidane, Potch, Blanc or whoever it may be and think that everything will be fine and dandy.

    Sacking Jose isn't going to make **** of a difference. You might see some little boost from the players and especially the ones who have outlasted 3 mangers now but the same problems will rise their ugly heads again in about a year or two and we will be in the exact same position again.

    The club is a circus of nonsense at the moment and it's really hard to see how we get out of this.

    Imo, the bolded above kinda hits the nail on the head for me. It reminds me of Arsenal stagnating over years of mediocre players being essentially given carte blanche to start. Only for the fact that Wenger managed to make top 4 (and was the most successful manager ever at the club), he would have (and should have been anyways) sacked years and years before it happened.

    There is a core of bang average players at United hanging around like a bad smell, with a number of diamonds either left to wallow in their stink or being ostracised and alienated by a manager who has no idea how to stem the tide.

    The fact that Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ashley Young, Valencia to a degree, Jesse Lingard... I could go on and on... are still there, year after year, poor performance after poor performance - is the crux of the issue and Arsenal suffered from the exact same disease - the board does not give two sh1ts about the results as long as the money keeps rolling in.


    As for Mourinho, it's clear he's done and is in super-sulk mode. I do believe that Bailly and Lindelof, Martial and Rashford, Shaw and Dalot - all may have a future, and perhaps a bright one at Utd - but not under this manager. His track record for development of youth is absolutely terrible.

    De Bruyne, Lukaku (at Chelsea), Salah, etc, etc - he has no interest in long term player development in the slightest.
    Even Martial and Rashford have been completely and utterly stunted in their development with the signing of Sanchez, when it was plain as day the issues in attack at United were on the right, not on the left where Sanchez ousted Martial who was in a rich vein of form.

    There aren't any easy answers, although talk here earlier of Laurent Blanc as manager imo would make the most sense at least in the short term. But as above, it's highly unlikely the board will allow any new manager to make the root and branch changes that United so desperately need.




  • Full presser



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    Did you read the whole post ?


    Yes and I quoted the relevant part. You said if the next results dont go his way that Jose will be out and that "Player power has won". No it wont and thats not what it will mean if Jose goes after losing. His passive ineffective football will be the reason.


    "Either way Pogba will be gone given either scenario". I said I can't see the club letting both go, scenario one if Jose goes, 2 is he doesn't. My reply was fine and I perfectly understood your post but disagreed with the points you made.




  • Had to laugh when Jose was asked about Zidane


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    What a childish and meaningless comment. Prove it was a lie?

    I must clarify I wasn't accusing anyone of lying, I was quoting a James Morrison song.



    Whenever I see someone write "Truth hurts.." all i can hear is that song "Truth hurts, lies worse", couldn't help myself.

    You were right about it being childish and meaningless anyway. Maybe now isn't the time for tongue in cheek posts.




  • Nice to see Matic openly admit he had one of his worst games for Utd


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,612 ✭✭✭uncleoswald



    Once it became clear that the manager was being undermined then a drop off in performance was not only possible, it was inevitable. Especially when you are talking about a group of players that aren't exactly strong characters at the best of times.

    And thats not hindsight, many of us said this before a ball was kicked this season.
    Sure many people can go one better and claim they were saying this situation was inevitable 3 years ago with his appointment, but I know many people don't like to hear that...


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    Nice to see Matic openly admit he had one of his worst games for Utd

    Ah to be fair I'm sure they are all aware how crap they were. We don't need all of them coming out one by one admitting they were awful :pac:

    Lord we need a win this week to try steady the ship.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,500 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    Adamocovic wrote: »
    I must clarify I wasn't accusing anyone of lying, I was quoting a James Morrison song.



    Whenever I see someone write "Truth hurts.." all i can hear is that song "Truth hurts, lies worse", couldn't help myself.

    You were right about it being childish and meaningless anyway. Maybe now isn't the time for tongue in cheek posts.
    Whoosh. I'm wasn't aware of the song, fair enough


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    Whoosh. I'm wasn't aware of the song, fair enough

    You're welcome so. A craker of a song. It's in my head now.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,638 ✭✭✭✭bangkok


    Nice to see Matic openly admit he had one of his worst games for Utd

    matic has been poor for a while now and as with Shaws comments earlier, when pogba came out after the brighton game and said the very same thing he was slated.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,424 ✭✭✭✭The_Kew_Tour


    Like the Republic of Ireland many just think getting a new manager will sort out everything and the world will be all sunshine.

    The reality with both is that they're bigger elephants in the room and a new change of Manager won't automatically see a huge change in my opinion.

    The club needs overhaul from top to bottom. Not just a different manager.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,424 ✭✭✭✭The_Kew_Tour


    Like the Republic of Ireland many just think getting a new manager will sort out everything and the world will be all sunshine.

    The reality with both is that they're bigger elephants in the room and a new change of Manager won't automatically see a huge change in my opinion.

    The club needs overhaul from top to bottom. Not just a different manager.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,627 ✭✭✭Sgt Pepper 64


    Hindsight is a terrible thing, but this article from may 2016 couldnt be more wrong

    José Mourinho can mould an exciting, attacking Manchester United side

    When it comes to football managers, first impressions are extremely important. José Mourinho’s “special one” assertion in his first press conference as a Premier League manager became his default nickname, and his subsequent defensive approach with Chelsea is considered his default footballing philosophy. In reality, things are much more complex.

    Mourinho’s reputation as a purely defensive manager is unjust and based largely upon the questionable notion that attractive football must involve long spells of possession. Even his most defensive sides, the Champions League-winning Porto team of 2003-04 and the Chelsea side who recorded back-to-back Premier League titles in the mid-2000s, were capable of thrillingly direct counterattacking football which produced wonderful goals, not to mention winning plenty of trophies.

    Since then, Mourinho has become more adventurous. His Internazionale treble winners of 2009-10 are remembered for their bus-parking exercise at the Camp Nou, but in the first leg they brought their Serie A game – scintillating attacking football – to outplay Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Mourinho’s Real Madrid, meanwhile, outscored Barça in two of his three La Liga campaigns, and his Chelsea title winners of 2014-15 showcased rapid combination play in the final third, particularly before Christmas.

    Generally, Mourinho’s sides play perfectly exciting football throughout the majority of a season, but in big matches – particularly in Europe, and towards the end of a campaign – become more cautious. This does not differ significantly from Sir Alex Ferguson’s approach during the final decade of his tenure at Old Trafford, when United’s purposeful, high-intensity football would give way to reactive, counterattacking displays against elite opposition.

    If United supporters accepted that approach, Mourinho’s blueprint should not be problematic.

    Where his first Chelsea side were packed with physical midfielders and functional attackers, he has recently accommodated more technical, creative footballers. He has not determinedly searched for a Claude Makelele figure, using the deep‑lying playmaker Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid. The creative but positionally undisciplined Cesc Fàbregas played a deep midfield role in his second spell with Chelsea – albeit rarely in big games – and Mourinho also turned Wesley Sneijder and Mesut Özil into world-class No10s by freeing them from defensive responsibilities. The same applies out wide: Mourinho’s most recent left wingers have been Cristiano Ronaldo and Eden Hazard, who have pinned the opposition right-back rather than tracking them.

    Mourinho generally trains his players in two separate formations. Initially he liked the option of a diamond midfield, but with Real Madrid and Chelsea has favoured 4-2-3-1, with 4-3-3 the plan B, and that will be his probable approach at Old Trafford.

    Manchester United had the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League in 2015‑16, and having worked under Louis van Gaal at Barcelona, Mourinho will understand exactly how United’s players have been drilled. However, he will unquestionably utilise different defenders to Van Gaal.

    It is difficult to imagine Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young playing full-back: the injured Luke Shaw should become a regular, and Matteo Darmian needs to improve his positional sense but could become one of Mourinho’s trusted, disciplined full-backs, like Paulo Ferreira or Álvaro Arbeloa. Daley Blind is not a Mourinho centre-back, and will presumably return to midfield.


    The use of Blind or Bastian Schweinsteiger would necessitate a combative, mobile midfield partner, in the role Michael Essien and Sami Khedira have previously played under Mourinho. Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera could be perfect. The FA Cup final winner Jesse Lingard, meanwhile, is the type of hard‑working, versatile squad member Mourinho will use for specific, individual tactical reasons against dangerous individuals.

    Wayne Rooney may play a permanent midfield role, but Juan Mata lacks the dynamism of Mourinho favourites Sneijder and Özil and having been discarded once by the Portuguese coach at Chelsea, will presumably be considering his options.

    Up front, meanwhile, Mourinho should be licking his lips. Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay are hugely talented, dynamic youngsters who could be converted into devastatingly effective wide forwards, while Marcus Rashford’s ability to run the channels and link with onrushing midfielders makes him a promising lone striker.

    It is not difficult to assemble a Mourinho-style starting XI from United’s current squad, and it is a surprisingly exciting side – and that’s without considering the assortment of new signings he has been promised. His off-field approach will, as ever, court controversy. Tactically, however, Mourinho and United appear a perfect fit.


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,292 ✭✭✭Adamocovic


    Like the Republic of Ireland many just think getting a new manager will sort out everything and the world will be all sunshine.

    The reality with both is that they're bigger elephants in the room and a new change of Manager won't automatically see a huge change in my opinion.

    The club needs overhaul from top to bottom. Not just a different manager.

    I fail to see the real camparison other than poor performances and questions about management (and higher ups)

    Ireland has a limited player pool, heavily criticised for lack of development, lack of funding and poor domestic turn out. The manager must work with what he has and get best out of it.

    United have finances, a huge pool of players to recruit from, world class facilities and far more interested parties in managing the club. Obviously the manager has more finances and services at his disposal.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,424 ✭✭✭✭The_Kew_Tour


    Adamocovic wrote: »
    I fail to see the real camparison other than poor performances and questions about management (and higher ups)

    Ireland has a limited player pool, heavily criticised for lack of development, lack of funding and poor domestic turn out.

    United have finances, a huge pool of players to recruit from, world class facilities and far more interested parties in managing the club.

    I get what you say, you're right.

    My point was pretty clear in that in both cases a change in manger won't automatically see huge change.

    From United point of view we have players who seem to think they are bigger then the club. We have a board more interested in the money then trophies.

    Get rid of Jose won't charge that and with all the money we have does not matter if the vision is backward and not forward


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