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It’s painful to watch Havertz at times; like many “front players who aren’t natural strikers” he is best when he doesn’t have time to think about what he needs to do. He does a lot for the team outside the box (I reckon he must top the stamina charts) but he doesn’t do enough of the thing that someone in his position should be doing.
The number 9 position is obviously a dilemma for some modern managers - City arguably still struggle to decide how to play despite the prowess of Haaland and all the talent in the squad.
Rice is world class with the presence to dictate where the game is going to be played by his own positioning.
But when you’re talking about individuals, the best central midfielder in the EPL at the moment is Declan Rice. By a mile. He just does what he did today… bosses the midfield.
Bruno and Sandro beg to differ. Big Joe even had the night off. Rice is now resorting to tackles you can time with a calendar.
Tonali is looking like a class player recently, but he has to show it over a longer time period to be considered up there with rice.
but he has to show it over a longer time period to be considered up there with rice.
I wouldn't swap Tonali for 3 Declan Rice's. The toon have the best two central midfielders in the league right now, along with the best striker and one of the best wingers. This is probably better than any other team we've had, I just hope we can hang on to them all.
I would love to see a Spurs v Newcastle final - cannot see it happening though.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/feb/05/bruno-guimaraes-newcastle-arsenal-carabao-cup
Perhaps the most visible gulf between the two sides, though, was right in the centre, where Guimarães and Sandro Tonali were taking Declan Rice back to school. Rice is a fine, gutsy, intelligent player, but he simply has insufficient dawg in him for games such as this. He wants it calmer and simpler, he wants the extra split second that doesn’t exist. Trust the processes. Do the processes. Next thing he knows – yoink! – Guimarães has not only read the pass and won the ball but pinged it 35 yards and given you a sharp but inexplicable pain in the kidneys.
Wait a minute - a few days ago we were proclaiming Rice as world class!
Spurs have gone City.
Spurs have gone City.
Spurs have gone City.
a few days ago we were proclaiming Rice as world class!
Not me - I think he's the football equivalent of a flat track bully; give him the chance and for sure he'll put on a show but get after him and he loses the plot. For sure Bruno in particular is no angel, but he's physical and nasty while playing the game. Rice was just hacking players down by the end.
Wow, 3 posts. I'm not obsessed, t'was this odd new forum.
So tonight, given that our home form is absolutely appalling, we’ve nobody up front who could hit a barn door with a shovel, Martinez is now out injured, we’ve got a returning temporary manager (and iconic player), who was unceremoniously punted on to make way for this one, I’m going to have a bet on a comfortable win for Leicester
I see the left wing back you desperately needed is playing on the right 🤔
Par for the course. Keane summed it up nicely at half time saying that the United players need it explaining to them that the point of the game is to try and get the round thing into the netty thing at the other end of the pitch, as they’d shown no particular interest in doing so in the first half.
Absolutely dire!
Well Garnacho changed that game! Utd stole that having been dreadful for most of it. And Maguire was well offside too, but it’s so much better without VAR even with the mistakes…
Garnacho was the only United player who bothered to turn up tonight and Maguire was indeed well off. But, hey, we fluked the FA Cup last season with performances like that. We were truly awful but we’re still through 😃
Come on the O's!
Loving the Orient match, cue "proper FA Cup" clichés.
Couple of times Orient just needed a bit more belief on the attack, but all their players have been fantastic.
VAR & Goal line technology are having a good weekend
Yep, not convinced that was over the line, but what a proper blood and guts cup tie. Impressed by Sandro again when he came on, just had half a second more on the ball tonight than anyone else.
They'll be passing the ice packs and arnica round in the changing room.
Looks like Arne Slot might learn a valuable lesson today about the FA Cup - as soon as I saw the Liverpool side I thought this could be an opportunity for Plymouth.
Lesson learned, well done the Pilgrims.
His important lesson was that he doesn’t really give a shit about the FA Cup. PL and UCL are the priorities.
It’s men and boys with this Villa Spurs game. Villa should be out of sight by now. Spurs are actually worse than us, and that’s saying something
Citeh v Real tonight
Any predictions?
I predict I will spend most of the match with hands covering my face, just occasionally peaking through the gaps in my fingers.
2-2 I think. Would not be surprised by 5-5 though given City’s defending, and the defenders Real have absent.
Don't like Real. An artificially inflated club who was backed by dubious money with appalling human rights. As opposed to city who...em.
Is there a return leg or is it settled tonight?
This new champion's league format is too confusing
Two legged games now - knockout time.
It goes from bad to worse for Pep. Now he's been banned from owning a dog by the RSPCA.
Seems he's incapable of holding on to a lead.
The worst thing about last night is they we the architects of their own downfall.
The last 10mins were so sloppy.
FA Cup giant killers Plymouth Argyle probably cannot wait to play them.
If matches were 70 minutes long, we'd probably be top. Story of the season is Liverpool finding ways to win late and us finding ways to lose.
Oops, Havertz out for the rest of the season apparently - according to The Athletic. I think that's the end of any sort of Arsenal title or Champion's League challenge right there. Kind of frustrating that we have about ten left backs and no centre forwards. Sigh...
They were paying 2M a year to Ferguson for his 'ambassador' role???
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/feb/12/sir-jim-ratcliffe-manchester-united-job-cuts-ineos
That’s a shame for Havertz. Gets loads of flak but he’s having to play as striker when it’s maybe not his best position (I don’t know what is though!) - his goal record isn’t bad, at nearly 1 every 2 games.
Loved the guardian headline:
Ratcliffe believes latest Manchester United job cuts will help club avoid going bust
Maybe not continually paying 70 - 90 million quid for a succession of absolute donkeys who are actually worth a tiny fraction of that may also help? Just a thought.
Lets sack a few hundred people on minimum wage instead though.
Modern capitalism in a nutshell
A few discussions took place at the end of that game.
As a half-interested Everton fan, I'm pretty glad that was the one game of the season I'll watch. Properly jumped off the sofa when Tarkowski smashed that in and then bit my nails while they VARd it. And THEN it kicked off.
Football eh.
Still think there’s mileage in this title race. After Wolves Liverpool have got Villa and City away then Newcastle at home. Five games in 15 days then only one league game in March before the run in, which includes Arsenal at home in May.
indeed. All it takes is a couple of bad games and things can look very different. Ask Kevin Keegan
And the battle between us and Spurs for that much cherished 13th spot is hotting up too. Superleague anyone? 😀
indeed. All it takes is a couple of bad games and things can look very different. Ask Kevin Keegan
And the battle between us and Spurs for that much cherished 13th spot is hotting up too. Superleague anyone? 😀
Amazing that twice European Player of the Year Keegan, will mainly be remembered for that rant.
Still don't see Liverpool throwing this one away, although it would be hilarious.
They should have enough to scramble home. 8 of their remaining 14 games are at home so win all them and they’d be on 81 points. That would leave Arsenal needing to win 10 or 11 of their games, minimum. Not convinced they’ll manage that.
Weird to have a title race without the ominous City machine closing in!
That's the difference, normally at this point City would win pretty much all of their remaining games, can't see Arsenal doing that.
Lets sack a few hundred people on minimum wage instead though.
Hey, at £350k a week Casemiro only earns as much as 778 minimum wages. That's a bargain in anyone's money.
What's up with Chelsea?! Todd Boehly will be getting twitchy if this carries on a few more games.
Still think there’s mileage in this title race. After Wolves Liverpool have got Villa and City away then Newcastle at home. Five games in 15 days then only one league game in March before the run in, which includes Arsenal at home in May.
I'd like to think that was true and I think it might, at a stretch be, with a full-strength Arsenal, but our forward line is absolutely decimated - no Saka, Martinelli, Havertz or Jesus - we have three fit forwards left across the entire front line and one of them is an admittedly super-talented 17-year-old and one of the others is Raheem Sterling. Oh, and still no Ben White. And an Ødegaard who seems out of sorts.
I think we're still strong enough elsewhere to mostly not concede much, but scoring lots of goals looks like a bit of a stretch. I guess Arteta may come up with some sort of genius work round and revert to a George Graham era 'one-nil to the Arsenal' dogged resilience, but unless Liverpool have an absolutely calamitous run of results, it all seems massively unlikely.
It'll be interesting to see how we cope though.
In other news: INEOS doesn't seem good at elite sport...
What’s up with Chelsea? The Seaguls!!
Up the Albion 😆
It'll be interesting to see how we cope though.
Looks like we had a striker lurking in the ranks all along. Game on*.
*I'm not entirely serious.
Shame Tonali didn't play today, I would have liked to have seen him after the rave reviews last week.
I’m loving the Ineos implosion, I have to admit. Cycling, Ben Ainslie and now NZ rugby are suing them. Hopefully they’ll be able to focus their sole attention on making United worse.
Good win for Arsenal! I reckon they could stick Merino up top for a few games, I’d half expected Gabriel up there, he’s their best finisher.
Good win for city pre bernabeu.
Wow Mitomas goal on Friday night was something else!!
The battle for 13th spot between United and Spurs should be ‘interesting’ later.
I’m predicting a nil nil draw but with 138 attempts on goal by both sides as the most comedically inept defences in the league come up against the most laughably wayward strikers. There’s going to be lots of giving away of the ball by apparently disoriented defenders, resulting in absolute sitters being launched into Row Z
Hopefully it'll be as chaotic as the Carabao Cup game!
Amorim saying again this week they can't sign anyone in the summer without selling. They've very few sellable players, other than Mainoo and Garnacho, bet Jim wishes he'd ended up with Chelsea instead.
Mainoo and Garnacho are apparently being touted out for sale, which is insane. The rest of the players we’ve got (with the possible exception of Bruno) are unsellable due to being both crap and on ludicrous contracts with bonkers salaries.
There’s an article in the Observer Sport section today about just how good the latest crop of kids are that are coming through the Academy. Amorim must surely be tempted to drop all the overpaid donkeys and just put the kids out instead. And if he isn’t then he should be! This season is a write off anyway, so why not?
Since when did corners become UFC contests?
You’ll never win anything with kids Binners! I agree - play them, bed some in, if they’re good enough. The downside would be putting them into such a poor team.
Watching Liverpool v Wolves. The ref, Simon Hooper, looks at least 3 stone overweight. Red faced and sweating like hell. How can he keep up with play and keep a cool head when he’s physically ruined?!
Liverpool looked knackered second half, did well to hang on there.
The ref, Simon Hooper, looks at least 3 stone overweight. Red faced and sweating like hell. How can he keep up with play and keep a cool head when he’s physically ruined?!
We try our best!
Watching a couple of ageing divas fighting over the prom dress now. With my stinking everlasting cold.
Red faced and sweating like hell. How can he keep up with play and keep a cool head when he’s physically ruined?!
On a related note, how are United getting on in the second half?
Dear god that was dire! Watching an absolutely shite team beat an absolutely woeful side, then considering that every one of those players is on hundreds of thousand pounds a week?
Sweet Jesus! We’re now 15th and there’s not a single one of those useless, lazy, overpaid *s is fit to wear the shirt
This is what happens when you’ve owners who couldn’t give a flying * and mercenary journeymen players who couldn’t give a flying **** either.
Sign for United and get paid 350 grand a week for just turning up. Sometimes you don’t even have to do that. Zero effort required.
In form Everton away next 😬
That Rashford looks a player.
Remind me where Villa found him?
Seriously though I do wonder if his and to a degree Sancho:s apparent bad attitude was due to the useless players there earning way more and being useless.
We’ve got a ‘striker’ who we paid £75 million for, who hasn’t scored (or had an assist) since the beginning of December, and that was in the Europa league against a side nobody has ever heard of. He was as hopeless as ever against Spurs yesterday.
In other news, apparently the club is on the verge of bankruptcy, saddled as it is with servicing the Glazers huge debts. The 1 billion Jim Radcliffe paid for his stake in the club has already been swallowed up by the financial black hole and still none of original debt has been paid off.
The whole club is a total basket-case. If there weren’t 3 clubs at the bottom who really are terrible, we’d genuinely be in a relegation scrap now. We could still be yet if this form continues.
Sadly I don't think you need to worry about relegation - 3/4 of the clubs beneath you are incapable of putting a run together.
These Championship games are far more entertaining than that premiership game last night. These teams really want to get out of the pit.
To be fair, watching me feed my cats would actually be more entertaining than that premiership game last night. My cats could probably make better footballers than any of the donkeys on display it that turgid debacle
Excellent performance from Leeds tonight getting the winning goal in the last minute of extra time after trailling Sunderland for much of the game, and pushing Sunderland further away from the automatic promotion spots, but they should be safe for the play-offs. Next Monday could be interesting when Leeds go to Sheffield United in a top of the table clash. The Championship is seeing some mighty games this season.
MOT / ALAW
Looking forward to next Monday night now Utd V Utd.
Yeah, that was a bonkers finish last night, but for some reason, when we got that corner at the death, I had a feeling we'd score. I am not sure I will be able to bear the pressure next Monday! MOT
but they should be safe for the play-offs
Absolutely - they are 18 points clear of seventh place so it would take some stunning runs from the teams below them, coupled with a shocking dip in form from them to miss out.
And I loved the BBC headline on the match feed:
Lightening Struijk's twice.
Superb result for us that 'should' take Sunderland out of the auto spots. Must admit I thought we were heading for another 1-0 defeat where we had loads of possession but little cutting edge. MOT, ALAW.
Must admit I thought we were heading for another 1-0 defeat where we had loads of possession but little cutting edge.
That's a bit harsh – our GD is almost the same as Sheffield United's and Burnley's combined! If we don't get promoted I don't think a single Leeds fan will ever be able to live it down.
Some performance by Celtic this. Looking forward to Brendan’s adjectives afterwards.
Right kick in the goodies for Celtic,- goal in the very last minute.