With a combined age of 150 😂
Falling apart at chelski apart from the results, Lukaku has given an interview saying he doesn't want to be there and wants to return to Italy.
Well that wasn’t half as bad as expected.
Mrs Binners comment on it all: why is Roberto Martinez dressed as a mafia hitman? 😂
Nothing better than a Chelsea implosion and Tuchel does seem to have a short fuse. Kepa will be in goals while Mendys at AFCON - could be fun.
BBC reporting fresh covid cases at Liverpool - what are the chances of their players about to depart for AFCON being affected?!
Salah has fallen out with the Egypt national team setup before over something silly, I get the feeling he isn't that committed to them. Mane on the other hand I am not sure would play along with any excuses to get him out of AFCON.
BBC reporting fresh covid cases at Liverpool – what are the chances of their players about to depart for AFCON being affected?!
Is Juergie doing a Fergie? 😂
Might do Mane some good to miss a few games, regardless of reason. He’s looked a bit off it in the last few games.
Looks like Man City are unstoppable, just too good and getting all the calls for them as well, the battle for fourth will be interesting, doubt arsenal will be praising the ref today!
Yip… difficult to see where Citeh will drop points. The whole squad is just so strong. If key players drop out they just don’t appear to miss them. It’s incredible that they’re doing this without a striker
It’s obviously just what order Liverpool and Chelski finish, and after that I think it could be a real 4 horse race for that fourth spot if West Ham keep their squad fit.
They looked really good again yesterday. They’re a real quality outfit under Moyes. There’s a good few of those players (Rice, Antonio, Lanzini and Benrahma) who would get into any squad. It’s such a strong, well organised midfield. Exactly what we’re lacking
I think Arsenal look most likely at the moment though. They were unlucky yesterday and even Pep admitted they were the better side
Rumours that Lukaku has been dropped from the matchday squad. Could Roman be backing his manager ahead of the players for once?
He’s not in the squad. Nice move there. Tell the club who just paid 100 million for you that you don’t actually want to be there. He’s out-Pogba’d Pogba
Not sure Chelsea will be top three. At the moment the club is veering from one calamity to another.
They looked really good again yesterday
I thought we were lucky against Palace. We've three first choice defenders out injured and it's starting to show.
Could Roman be backing his manager ahead of the players for once?
I doubt it, more likely he's got Werner and Havertz back from illness so thinks he can afford to. Though he hasn't got the finishing ability of Lukaku the team play better when Havertz is there.
L
I thought we were lucky against Palace. We’ve three first choice defenders out injured and it’s starting to show
Granted the score line flattered you at half time, but Moyes clearly had a game plan - let them have possession then hit them on the break - that worked brilliantly. You took your chances. Palace fluffed theres
Mo Salah, Salaaaaaah!
Ridiculous goal from Kovacic there also!
2-2 now, this game is nuts. Some great goals so far.
Game of the Season contender, keep it going lads.
..and relax.
Think Alison would maybe have done better with the second Chelsea goal but the first one was totally unsaveable.
Looking at the Mane challenge again, should have been red IMO, probably set the tone for the rest of the half though.
Dunno, could have been red fairly easily I suppose but was careless rather than malicious IMO. You have to do something with your arms when you jump.
games like this are when i do regret not having Sky. Just BT and prime for me.
I have my bro's SkyGo login but there are ways and means...
I think that’s any title challenge to Citeh done and dusted. If anyone was going to do it then they needed 3 points today
Looking at the Mane challenge again, should have been red IMO
Mane is one of those players, like the Paul Scholes of old, who inexplicably get cut a lot more slack than most when it comes to cards
Yeah, seeing that elbow, he's not jumping with the elbows out, he's leading with it at head height, to be fair, after 6 seconds it would be a brave referee to produce a red in a game like this.
Brace yourselves!
He’s back!
He's had a real vote of confidence from his manager anyway. 😆
since the other three centre-backs are all out for injury or Covid reasons, for me he was the logical choice for tonight’s game
He’s done pretty well so far!
Jones would be a good player in a decent side, sadly for him he's been in perma-panto for the last few years.
This is absolutely woeful! They can’t string two passes together.
It seems the new manager has no more clue than the last one about what starting line-up or formation can get this lot playing like they’ve actually met each other before
Not been watching until now but 5 shots on target for Wolves vs 1 for Man U??!
19 shots in all and 8 corners too. United seem to have woken up though.
Only caught the last 40 minutes but Wolves were all over ManU and got a well deserved victory!
Not sure what tactics Rangnick is going for, was weird watching that as there was no real high press and no shape, a bit like OGS's last few games in charge, it almost looked like a 4-4-2 they were playing, but i thought that formation went out in the 2000s ;o)
it almost looked like a 4-4-2
If you could fathom out any kind of ‘system’ from that then you’re doing better than me
We could easily have lost that 3 nil. And thoroughly deserved to. Played off the park for 90 minutes. Absolutely dire!
Exactly the same issues as under Ole. No movement, no press, no challenges, no pace, zero creativity, all stood around ball-watching and when we had the ball just immediately gave it away
An utter and complete shambles. We can forget competing for that fourth place with atrocious performances like that. I think any hope of that is long gone.
We’re going backwards. It just keeps getting worse. I’d stick every ****ing one of them on the transfer list tomorrow but who the hell would want any of these donkeys?
If Carlsberg did weekends.......
I would go a little easy on the players seeing the tactics, how on earth would you go for a flat 4-4-2 with full backs, you had huge gaps between the lines, Wolves exploited that, wingers who had no real back up so only useful when cutting inside, two forwards who are easily moved about, honestly the Wolves manager must have been laughing with those tactics.
Still, at least Rangnick is temporary, might be worth checking out who's available this summer!
I would go a little easy on the players seeing the tactics
I don’t see why. Not one of them looked like they could be arsed. As usual.
They got the last manager sacked by Downing tools. Doesn’t look like they’ve been in any mood to pick them back up again yet
I know what you’re saying about the tactics though. Why on earth would you set up like that?
I think there is a big problem with player power at united, it started as soon as Fergi left the building. There was an interview with Rio a few years ago where he was effectively boasting about getting Moyes the sack, because he wasn't doing the same things Fergi did and therefore it wasn't "the united way" although I don't think he realised what the undercurrent of his comments were.
Bringing in a manager stuck in exile as a technical director of a russian backwater club because he couldn't get another job was never going to fix that. The big PR push to promote him as another Pep or Klop was a big mistake that raised the stakes and has hampered his efforts. His job should have always been sold as steadying the ship and preparing to modernise the football side of the club, the problem is I don't think the owners realise that's what is needed.
the problem is I don’t think the owners realise that’s what is needed
Ask any United fan and they’ll tell you what the problem is…
The owners.
They’re absolutely clueless, and more importantly they don’t even care
Just seen Luke Shaw interviewed and after a woeful appraisal of their performance he said ‘hopefully the manager can bring some ideas’
Seriously? WTF?!
‘hopefully the manager can bring some ideas’
Well that's a (barely) coded message isn't it, already publicly saying the manager hasn't brought anything new to the club and the training pitch.
There’s clearly nobody on the pitch who’s got the remotest clue what it is they’re actually meant to be doing
There was no discernible system, formation or shape on display there. They looked like bunch of school kids chasing a ball around. It’s embarrassing.
Commiserations, however we threw away a 2 goal lead against Derby. 3 points above relegation now.
Why on earth was Ronaldo captain? What kind of message does that send out? The player we want you to look up to is a sulky, petulant narcissist who is too big-time to have to bother running/pressing.
Maybe Ed has decided they’re going to start selling Replica captains armbands?
All decisions are taken by the marketing department
This is the formation the manager has tried for the last few games - the BBC usually list it as 4-2-2-2, which would be daft, I first thought it was going to be a very attacking 4-2-4 but in reality it’s 4-4-2, pretty rigid and easy to play against given the modern way of three in centre midfield.
Said it a few months ago and it’s even clearer now that Ronaldo is the issue, he’s effectively marginalised and neutered Bruno and the integration of Sancho. Remember they were top of the league last January! Got to build the team round Bruno, surely, he’s a gamechanger/match winner.
At least you’re not Everton, Binners. Every cloud.
At least you’re not Everton, Binners. Every cloud.
I think that if you equate money spent against league position, we’re there or there abouts
But, yeah, Everton is a total car crash under Agent Rafa
Luke Shaw doesn't seem so overly convinced with the new man
To summarise:
We’re shit. The new manager is shit. Oh well…
The continuing car crash at United is entertaining and it is difficult to see what the decision makers can do to change things. Player power does seem to be a major issue but that is largely self inflicted by signing the likes of Pogba and Ronaldo.
I think they missed a trick by not going for Conte - he seems to be one of the few coaches that can go into big clubs and impose himself - anyone with the stones to rock that wig would not take any crap from any player.
I wonder what, if anything, will happen if they miss out on fourth place.
If?
I think the more relevant question at this point is what happens when they miss out on the Europa Conference League place?
#midtableobscurity
Footballs weird, they'll win a game and be back in the fight, others will struggle, it's a long way to go and ManU have the players to win, it's just that tonight the team and formation that was put on the field was horrific and it took the manager an hour to change it.
It must have felt like Christmas for Wolves to see that formation and link up, shut down the wings and Ronaldo/Cavani are useless, play around the middle and you run McTominay and Matic around the park chasing shadows, a couple of quick passes and all the shape was gone in that team.
But, as always this season, we are seeing a lot of weird games like this, Wolves were fresher and maybe that did something, they hadn't played in a fortnight, and had a full squad back and up for a fight?
Wow.... the ex-Liverpool, Bayern and Barca superstars signs for Villa...
Remarkable..
If they can get him fit and playing well in the team, he's going to be a heck of a signing !
That could be a good signing, they will have to protect him a bit, other players may have to do the running for him now, but his creativity if he gets his confidence back could change games for Villa.
However, off the top of my head I can't think of any manager, signing player he knew from his playing days really working out. I said aa few pages ago that Gerrard had been wise in putting his staff together not relying on a crutch of playing buddies, I would also question the wisdom of doing so for players.
@binners - did you see this article yesterday on the BBC?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59898608
Yeah but it's not like he's dragged Alan Hansen out of retirement or asked Gary Mcallister to kick again... Coutinho is a valid and active option... Sure, out of form potentially and looking for a bit more TLC than he could get at Barca...
Barca are desperate to get their wage bill down, Villa are trying to make that leap to be a top 10 team in the EPL and then work from there, i'm more shocked that it's a straight loan deal, thought it would be loan with compulsory buy or an outright signing to help Barcelona bring in someone else.
Was also good to see ManU have managed to promote Woodwards understudy for when he leaves, was worried they were about to get someone in who actually cared about the football side, sorry i should say soccer side ;o)
The players at utd showed for those 45 mins against palace that they can do what is being asked of them. It's just hard work and they don't want to do it.
The lazy, indulgent ****ers are being caught out with their lies and are windmilling all over the show.
These are the lads that lost 4-1 to Watford, because the losses to Liverpool and city weren't enough to get Ole the sack. Blaming Ole for a lack of instructions and coaching and now that a manager who everyone knows can coach has arrived they are giving out again (I don't think Ole was a good manager, but the mental results once he was signed on a long term contract showed you the players were not playing properly). The video sessions are confusing, it's not going to work,it's not the utd way. After, what 6 weeks? Half the "team" are press leaking man-children that need to realise the common denominator is them and not the managers.
Ronaldo has shown up, shown up the chancers who think they have made it and brought this all to a head instead of the players just doing enough to deceive. Not that having two aging strikers up top is a long term strategy, the club planning side is pathetic too. Fingers crossed the new guy can't be as shit as Woodward, handing out excessive contracts to players who barely play so we can't sell them. Signing players to get Instagram and Twitter likes to drive the commercial side hasn't worked on the pitch for all your tenure Woodward. Now you get to run off leaving the culmination of years of shit leaving the club in a mess.
I've not seen that @ElShalimo. I'll have a read. I could write my own assessment of Ed Woodwards tenure but I fear the swear filter would explode
Lets just summarise it as an unmitigated (and ongoing) ****ing disaster
I'd agree whole-heartedly with that appraisal @Saccades. Unfortunately the guy who's following Woodward just looks like more of the same, so I'd temper expectations accordingly
It's going to be interesting to see how Courthino gets on at Villa.
I've had to put last night's wine glasses away as Steve Muppet MunaMuna moaning is getting ever more high-pitched. Does gave a point about Lukaku not holding the ball up.
Top bus parking thus far by Chelsea. Smash and grab?
Couple of clear dives from Stirling, are players no longer booked for simulation?
What a finish that was!
Couple of clear dives from Stirling
Stirling is doing what Sterling does. Running into areas then forgetting why he went there in the first place, then falling over
It's kind of academic though. Citeh could be three up here, easily. Have Chelski been out of their own half yet?
Looks like this is the title done and dusted
Looking forward to us contesting that 7th place finish later
Yea, people talk about Salah being the best in the world at the moment, but kevin de bruyne is imperious.
Pfft! When talking about the best in the world, how can you go on about De Bruyne and Salah but discount McFred? 😂
If anything was ever going to emphasise just how bad things are...
Meanwhile: Agent Rafa strikes again!!! Everton 2 down to Norwich in less than 20 minutes!😳
I didn't watch the game but for me KDB doesn't show up enough in the really big games, and don't get me wrong as I love him as a player but not best in the world for me as he's too inconsistent.
Lukaku is the biggest waste of money since Utd signed Veron.
Lukaku is the biggest waste of money since Utd signed Veron
Oh steady on that's just cruel.
Jeez I knew City had pulled away but 13 points clear now!
Newcastle bottling it in the relegation battle, would have taken them out the bottom 3 and given them some confidence, instead they've given Watford confidence.
Villa Man U game is very good to watch (especially now :P). Coutinho has made a great start.
Wasn't the greatest in terms of skill that one, was like two mid table teams battling away, ManU go 2 up with two bad errors, then break down to end up 2-2.
I bloody knew he’d do that!
It had an air of inevitability about it
was like two mid table teams battling away
That’s what it was
Lukaku is the biggest waste of money since Utd signed Veron
Steady on. Two words:
Alexis Sanchez
Someone did the maths and every United goal he scored cost us £6.5 million
Jacob Ramsey looks a good prospect. Villa could easily have beaten Utd twice this week.
Lukaku is the biggest waste of money since Utd signed Veron.
There's quite a lot of competition for that title.
Agent Rafa is gone! I wonder who they’ll replace him with? Steven Gerrard? 😂
This Leeds, West Ham game is an absolute belter!