Manchester United Teamtalk/Transfer Rumours/Gossip 2019/20

Dwarf.Shortage

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Because last night United, through watching with my own eyeballs, had the better chances and the stat tells me that they didnt. The fact that a shot from 12 yards out that goes in is never expected to go in apparently.

It may have some uses iver massive datasets but it is incredibly flawed on a game to game basis.

It's implemented a step before that though, you don't expect City to hit the target 5 times in 21 chances or whatever it was.

But yes game to game it's not as important as it is long run. If we toss a coin for a euro our expected win is zero and over 38 tosses that's very close to what we'll actually win once good and bad fortune cancel each other out but we can never actually win/lose zero in a single toss, it's an average.

All else being equal the team creating a higher xG is going to score more than the team creating a lower, assuming it's being calculated sensibly.

Dunno if your familiar with the strokes gained approach to evaluating golfers but it's a similar example, a bit convoluted but over the course of a season a phenomenal metric to predict performance.

Zeek12

Strumms wrote: »

Having gotten so close to Champions League Qualification we are within four points of fourth and a stuttering Chelsea, I really hope the board make funds available in January, that we can get a striker in from somewhere to augment our attack... pointless doing the hard work and not trying to further inject the talent to complete the job.

I wouldn't go as far to say Chelsea are stuttering. Unlucky timing for them they got Everton in the first post-Silva game. Who ran their socks off for Dunc yesterday; was a completely transformed Everton side in terms of attitude.

The City game at the Etihad could easily have gone Chelsea's way too, City rode their luck a lot in the first half. Chelsea have not gone away.

I really just want to see us build momentum and find a winning mentality, put together a run of say five wins back to back. If it takes us into contention for 4th then great.....but momentum and upward development of the team has to be the priority.

It's pretty clear we can threaten the big sides who like to keep possession and press high. We still struggle to penetrate sides who put banks of men behind the ball. The upcoming fixtures should be really interesting to see if Ole has learned enough to meet that challenge.

But all in all a brilliant last four days. If you told me we'd take 6 points from 6, I'd never have believed it.
Onwards and upwards....

Cotts72

Strumms wrote: »

Having gotten so close to Champions League Qualification we are within four points of fourth and a stuttering Chelsea, I really hope the board make funds available in January, that we can get a striker in from somewhere to augment our attack... pointless doing the hard work and not trying to further inject the talent to complete the job.

That and another CM to replace matic. Pereira being our only cm option on the bench is pointless... Send out the Bruno Signal

Trigger

I actually think that Ole's use of Pereira in the last 2 games has been great. Bringing him on to keep the press going in the last 15/20mins.. while he hasnt been the best with the ball, he presses tirelessly

Rayne Wooney

I cringe when I hear the word momentum, it doesn’t agree with these players.

We need to get to January and get a few additions in.

Chelsea losing 3 of their last 5 probably means the 4th CL spot will require a lower amount of points this season, somewhere in mid to high 60s.

We are on course for a 50-60 point season but if we spend well in January that could push us into the 60s with a shout.

Let’s say we need 68 points to get 4th, from this point we need to maintain 2 points per game over 22 games to get there, which is essentially impossible looking at what this team have achieved to date.

Strumms

Zeek12 wrote: »

I wouldn't go as far to say Chelsea are stuttering....

They’ve won 2 of their last 7 games in all competitions so probably reasonable to count it as a stutter.

S.M.B.

I don't see any issue with those xG numbers or xG as a whole. Is it a single stat that manages to boil down exactly how a game went into 2 figures? No. However, I do find it a useful stat that expands upon the very basic Shots on Goal and Shots on Target stats that I find a lot less helpful.

Cantona's Collars

Trigger wrote: »

I actually think that Ole's use of Pereira in the last 2 games has been great. Bringing him on to keep the press going in the last 15/20mins.. while he hasnt been the best with the ball, he presses tirelessly

It's about all he's good for. When it comes to using the ball he looks like he's never played the game before.

Whatsisname

[url]

https://twitter.com/mufccomps/status/1203644265907310592[/url]

Definitely Freds best performance for us yesterday. Guy works tirelessly covering every blade of grass. Was instrumental in our first goal yesterday. Long may his form continue.

Spideog Rua

Are we looking at a couple of midfielders for January? Grealish looks like he could develop into a class player

0gac3yjefb5sv7

Have we ever as many pens as this season?

DM_7

Spideog Rua wrote: »

Are we looking at a couple of midfielders for January? Grealish looks like he could develop into a class player

He will but I doubt Villa will see him for any amount of money, they spent a lot to stay in the league and if the sell their captain mid season it could kill them.

Drumpot

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Have we ever as many pens as this season?

Over a peno every 2nd game on average I think , it’s quite remarkable. Thank god VAR at least tempers most bias suggestions.

RobbingBandit

Pheonix10 wrote: »

Have we ever as many pens as this season?

VAR

markc91

Robson99 wrote: »

Haven't always agreed with your views Drumpot but would with all of the above. This week was the First time in a few years that I actually made sure I didn't miss match of the day. Really impressed with the creativity on the counter attack.. always looking for the forward pass
Pogba is finished at the club. We should cash in and invest the money in 2 or 3 players who would give a **** for the club.
Was dreaming the same thing 're Mark Robins...this might be just the week things turned into something beautiful.
Interesting to see Ole had Keano into the players to give them a talk...shows he is not above getting people around him

When did this happen? first ive read of it!

Rayne Wooney

Vardy is a genuine world class player

xtal191

markc91 wrote: »

When did this happen? first ive read of it!

https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/man-utd-star-leaves-roy-21046010

S.M.B.

How many penalties has Rashford won this season? He still has won every penalty he's scored so far I believe.

It's great to read an article last night starting with the sentence "Is there a better attacking player in England at present than Marcus Rashford?". What a difference a few months makes.

PARlance

Strumms wrote: »

Yes, also we need to appreciate how fortunate so far we’ve been with injuries. As the season goes on we need to expect to pick up a couple. It’s a thin squad, again in an attacking sense we loose a couple it’s going to hit hard and fast.

I sometimes wonder if I'm on a different planet to you! Martial, our only experienced striker, has been out for 7 out of 16 league games. That's almost half our league games and our record is way better with him playing, which is obvious enough.

I would be fairly confident that we would sitting an easy 4th if he had played 14, 15, 16 league games. We've also had Pogba out for most of the season along with a few others.... fortunate is not the word I would use to describe our season injury wise.

Ordinary man

S.M.B. wrote: »

How many penalties has Rashford won this season? He still has won every penalty he's scored so far I believe.

It's great to read an article last night starting with the sentence "Is there a better attacking player in England at present than Marcus Rashford?". What a difference a few months makes.

It wasn't long ago on here a poster was calling him a donkey

Father Hernandez

Father Hernandez wrote: »

Ole will be gone by Monday week I think

New manager bounce at Spurs and especially with it being Jose, I can't see a United win. Maybe a draw.

Can't see anything but a City win next week

Glad to see I have been absolutely wrong here.

United were excellent yesterday, can't get over it.

Wan Bissaka was phenomenal, Fred brilliant, Rashford in the form of his life. Did not see this coming in the slightest but delighted it's happened.

Fingers crossed they'll continue these results, performances were good too.

Love football.

Minime2.5

S.M.B. wrote: »

How many penalties has Rashford won this season? He still has won every penalty he's scored so far I believe.

It's great to read an article last night starting with the sentence "Is there a better attacking player in England at present than Marcus Rashford?". What a difference a few months makes.

Yes . Vardy and Mane

ElChe32

Look at the liquid chamber on Phelan, that man needs a pint. You can tell by the head of him too..."Any beers?" as if he's Denis Irwin after winning the CL final.

ankles

It's been a frustrating, actually enormously frustrating season. But two matches like this give hope. Still think squad is too thin, we don't know how to break down defensive set-ups, we don't have the attitude to turn round matches we are losing. So no idea what will happen next, will we challenge for top 4? Will we slip back down to lower half. As someone very wise once said, it's not the despair, it's the hope that kills you

xtal191

Isn't that pic of the 3 of them from after the PSG game?

Rayne Wooney

If Arsenal win there’ll be 2 points between 5th and 11th

RobbingBandit

Tight league all season bar the top obviously games congestion and challenging on all fronts catches up to teams we have Europa League Cup FA Cup and challenging for top 4 to contend with regardless of it being Colchester I hope it's a strong enough team put out for that game, the league games are against bogey teams in Everton Watford Newcastle and Arsenal and Wolves in the FA Cup is nothing short of a grudge match hard run of games hopefully we maintain momentum and come out on top of this run.

Decent result there with Wolves only getting the draw

monkeysnapper

xtal191 wrote: »

Isn't that pic of the 3 of them from after the PSG game?

Maybe after the 20th anniversary testimonial of 1999 champions leauge final.

akelly02

Fred and mctominay are two proper midfielders.

If the great Paul pogba can’t work with those two soldiers he can go **** himself

Beasty

Why Fred was not given a run like this before is beyond me. We paid what, £50m for him. As I said after Wednesday he can give the ball away, but he's like a pocket dynamo and really getting into the opposition midfield players. McTominay has always show promise, but is starting to mature now. Hopefully Pogba realises he's going to have to compete with the pair of them for a place. With a bit of rotation we can accommodate all three with a couple more fringe players available to step in as and when required. The defence is settling in now, and if Shaw can steer clear of injury, and Williams continues to progress we have the makings of a very solid but flexible defence.

The one thing I do like about VAR is we are winning quite a few more penalties, with perhaps some of the more cynical defenders in the league no longer able to get away with some stuff. It actually frees up the penalty box quite a bit for the type of forward we have.

I believe Pogbas heart isn't in it but again only my thoughts. If he decides he wan'ts to stay then stay, if not then don't mess the club around and leave.
And honestly I struggle to see where he fits in at the moment as a CM.
It would be completely stupid for Pogba to replace one of them now to simple try and shoehorn him into the side IMO
I think he'd be best placed #10 role in behind Martial with Rashford on the left and James on the right.
Leave McT & Fred as they are. Don't break up a partnership that's just showing some promise.

Liam O

Pogba has shown he has no interest in playing as a box to box player like Fred and McT have. It's actually his natural position imo bit he never developed the mental side of the game to play there. Though he did manage to focus on it for the World Cup. Imagine that...

Trigger

The Paul pogba problem.. I dont think he presses enough to play in the role that lingard has been playing. He would definitely be more creative though. So the question is, do you give up the intensity for the creativity, or do you drop one of the two workhorse behind him which also leads to the same issue

J. Marston

People should put Pogba to the back of their minds. He is gone.

S.M.B.

Ole may have his detractors (and it's very possible he isn't the guy to bring trophies back to united) but he definitely has had an impact on how this team plays over the past 12 months. I was very impressed with how eager we were to pass out from the back the last two games. I was a little worried that a lack of confidence due to our poor run of results had put an end to that lately but that wasn't the case.

I'd like to see the stats compared to 12 months ago.

Hococop

Is it worth going for Bruno Fernandes in January? People said he signed an extension but not sure how true that is, what would he cost?

Quandary

As talented a player as he is, I hope Pogba leaves. Imo he is not dependable enough, not consistently hard working enough, does not have the right mentality and he is potentially a bad influence on the younger players.

I hope he is sold for as much as possible and the money is spent getting the best possible no. 10 we can, along with another cm to cover for Fred and McTominay.

I genuinely believe it would be the best outcome for all concerned.

Liam O

Trigger wrote: »

The Paul pogba problem.. I dont think he presses enough to play in the role that lingard has been playing. He would definitely be more creative though. So the question is, do you give up the intensity for the creativity, or do you drop one of the two workhorse behind him which also leads to the same issue

There's no doubt that he's technically far better than Lingard but as I've been saying, Lingard has an incredibly good pass completion for someone in that position. He's not trying to force it through gaps that aren't there but the shift being put in is very good. Thought he played a couple of cracking passes yesterday which is good to see as he has been playing overly safe at times. Shows the difference a bit of confidence can bring I suppose...

Lord TSC

Hococop wrote: »

Is it worth going for Bruno Fernandes in January? People said he signed an extension but not sure how true that is, what would he cost?

For what I've read, the "extension" was just to set a proper release clause for him, and to bump his wage a bit in exchange for him not demanding the fee they owed him for rejecting offers in the summer.

The Sporting fans I saw on Reddit still don't think he'll last long with them.

He'd be brilliant in our #10 role though.

S.M.B.

I'm more curious to see what Ole does with Pogba as an opportunity to see how he handles a relatively difficult situation as opposed to looking forward to seeing what Pogba would bring to the team.

Father Hernandez

Pogba is brilliant on his day but far too inconsistent and work rate is an issue.

The issue with Pogba is that if he is sold, I wouldn't have any confidence in EW that he'll be replaced.

Ideal scenario, Pogba sold and Bruno Fernandes his replacement.

BDI

S.M.B. wrote: »

Ole may have his detractors (and it's very possible he isn't the guy to bring trophies back to united) but he definitely has had an impact on how this team plays over the past 12 months. I was very impressed with how eager we were to pass out from the back the last two games. I was a little worried that a lack of confidence due to our poor run of results had put an end to that lately but that wasn't the case.

I'd like to see the stats compared to 12 months ago.

Why isn’t he. He can do it on a shoestring in the big games. That’s a trophy winning manager if he is backed.

J. Marston

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48020270

Sterling: "On second thoughts...."

PhlegmyMoses

Liam O wrote: »

There's no doubt that he's technically far better than Lingard but as I've been saying, Lingard has an incredibly good pass completion for someone in that position. He's not trying to force it through gaps that aren't there but the shift being put in is very good. Thought he played a couple of cracking passes yesterday which is good to see as he has been playing overly safe at times. Shows the difference a bit of confidence can bring I suppose...

He really needs to be scoring and assisting though. You would say that along with being available to receive passes, unlocking jammed defences and being able to take a shot from 25 yards to keep them honest is crucial for your 10.

I get what people are saying about the pressing game, but McT and Fred bring that. Pogba, if his head is in it, could be that different thing we need in that position that takes us up a gear. His raw chance creation is unbelievable

PhlegmyMoses

J. Marston wrote: »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48020270

Sterling: "On second thoughts...."

Of course his view is going to change. Same way Pool and Chelsea fought tooth and nail to defend their good players from racism accusations. Football pays lip service to racism and maybe go hard on the odd fan here and there but once the punishment is impactful to their team everybody suddenly goes quiet.

A few City players like Silva and Magrez went over to the crowd to try to calm them at that point. Sterling was in the vicinity and didnt seem to give much of a ****. Like most, it's only a problem when it is happening to him.

Annabella1

Fred
Feckin hell
What a transformation !

Robson99

Hococop wrote: »

Is it worth going for Bruno Fernandes in January? People said he signed an extension but not sure how true that is, what would he cost?

Matic for Ericksen would be a start.. Leave fernandes where he is

Minime2.5

I know he's only 27 but I do think Eriksens best days are behind him.