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My theory is that VdB and Sancho were not Ole's transfer choices and he's sulking by not playing them. Or some kind of weird internal politics of that nature.
Sancho - and others, are adversely affected by the signing of Ronaldo, and him having to play every game.
Prior to him coming a front three of Sancho, Rashford and Cavani looked tasty. Pacy, hard working, interchangeable, they could set the tone for the whole team with Martial and Lingard as back up wide players. With the formation change to 3-5-2 there’s no wide forwards and I can’t see Sancho getting a game unless it’s 4-3-3. Shows United’s scattergun approach after pursuing him for so long but on the other hand Ronaldo guarantees goals! A blessing in disguise might be for Phil Jones to nobble him in training, put him out for a couple of months.
The other issue seems to be Bruno - not sure he can hack not being the biggest fish anymore. Seems to be whinging all the time, at teammates and the ref.
Yup agree with all that. Bruno was amazing last season and has been pretty average this one. Klopp spoiling the pen-fest doesn't help either. 🙂
It's very weird to be saying someone who scores so many goals is harming the team but I really think Ronaldo is.
It's also surely not wise to base your whole team's play around a 36 year old.
Should we start a seperate Ole/Utd thread? I think the postings would justify it 😀
If Jonathan Wilson can make a living out of rewriting the same article about Ole being out of his depth then we probably can justify a dedicated STW thread.
It is a bit ghoulish but there is something fascinating about the story of the treasured player returning to manage with the spectre of the old legendary manager lurking in the background, and now the star player returning and smashing in goals but is it actually helping etc. Has a lot of good dramatic elements to it!
Thats the whole point. It's no longer really a football club. It's a soap opera.
Just look at the ongoing will he/won't he Pogba saga
Whats happening off the pitch is considerably more interesting than the woeful, shambolic displays taking place the other side of the white line, whilst clearly being the cause of it
It continues to generate acres of news coverage (albeit in a car crash sort of way) all while the club continues to generate vast sums of money for the owners despite the mid-table obscurity (at best) nature of the performances on the pitch.
Maybe there really is no such thing as bad publicity?
Man U are a 2 man team at the moment, the goalie and the goalscorer. Everyone else is a bit part player in a pantomime.
Lingard is actually a West Ham player on loan to Man U, (reckon a cut price deal for him will be done in January). I bet he can't wait to get out of there.
In fact I wonder how many other United players would rather be playing elsewhere.
They're just not doing the basics well, the 11 players aren't working as a team, and on the pitch they either can't hold their position, or are easily dragged out of shape with a couple of passes.
There's also a lot of unhappy players, who aren't hiding it and are the older ones, no leaders either, and as Keane has said, Fred in central midfield!
Sad to hear Dean Smith has got the boot at Villa. That has come as a complete shock despite their recent dip in form. I wonder if they have got someone lined up to replace him, and if not I can't think of anyone available to fill such a big job.
or are easily dragged out of shape with a couple of passes
It was schoolboy football yesterday with the defence of no discernible shape, running after the ball en Masse, being dragged from side to side by Citeh constantly switching it. Clueless!
Sad to hear Dean Smith has got the boot at Villa. That has come as a complete shock despite their recent dip in form
It’s absolutely bonkers! What exactly is expected? Champions League? A crack at the title. It’s ludicrous! You always hear ‘he’s taken them as far as they could’. Well, Who do they think is going to get them further?
Didn’t Spurs say that about Poch? Well, that’s gone well, hasn’t it?
There was a Villa fan saying they should get Simeone in. Yeah, right. He didn’t expand on what exactly would have him jumping on the next plane for his exciting new life in the midlands
Conceding after 3 minutes?
Are you us in disguise? 😂
Have just watched the Hammers put Liverpool to the sword and coupled with the current situation at United I thought that with all the money spent, if Moyes had been given more time, where could United have been now?
This last week or two has seen the fall of a few premiership managers because failure is so very expensive but if clubs were to give their managers more time makes me think they might have more success.
Doubt Moyes would have done much more, it's throughout the ManU club structure, he's where he needs to be just now, he's got good backing, a good group of players and the fans love him just now.
It was a good game today, Liverpool lost due to unusual errors for them, but again, never out of the game really, West Ham will give everyone a game this year, they have a strong core in that team, and a decent pool of players.
They play the same team every week which has got to be a good thing - top four is definitely on if they can avoid too many injuries.
That was an absolutely cracking match!
West Ham look like a genuine top 4 squad. Playing as a proper team but they’ve some real quality players. I was out with my mate who’s a Hammers fan exiled in the north the other night and he still can’t quite believe what he’s seeing.
The table doesn’t lie. They’re where their performances deserve. They look good all over the pitch. They look a damn sight more of a top for team than we do at the moment. They just deservedly beat the team that (also deservedly) absolutely trounced us 2 weeks ago
I’d bet on them winning today at 5/1 which was an added bonus (and daft odds)
Nice to see me making Salah the captain on my FF team proved the usual kiss of death 😂
They’re not in Manchester, they’re in Trafford, Greater Manchester…
Don’t tell me that, tell the manager of the team that said it.
and the fans love him just now.
Yes we do, I’ll admit, I wasn’t keen the first time round, let alone the second. But he’s done something that I haven’t seen in my lifetime.
Im loving being a West Ham fan right now. What a result today!
Moyes went off, looked at what was going in coaching advances, did a learn and came back. Impressive when you consider hes old and has taken a kicking for best part of a decade
As much as West Ham play in the image of their manager, organised and diciplined and all that, there's a spirit of fun and even silliness in how they go about their business that you wouldn't usually associate with a team run by Moyes and Pearce.
It's said that they shouldn't have sold Haller but I can see why they did, he was skilled but a bit aloof. Team spirit seems to be a massive (pun intended) requirement for Moyes 2.0 and the team are riding high off that energy as much as anything else, there doesn't seem to be a single moaner, sulker or shorter in the pack.
There doesn't seem to be much dead wood on the books either,what he hasn't offloaded already he seems to have coached up to scratch.
Liverpool lost that match because they didn't have a plan for defending corners....against the best team in the league at taking corners.
Love the way Rice and Antonio seem to bully opponents without being bullies themselves. The days when it was said that certain players need to be able to show their 'nasty' side are over in the days of VAR, if players are going to bully theae daus they have to be nice about it.
Very impressed with how they physically dominated Liverpool, who couldn't handle it and had to fall over at every opportunity.
Klopp seems to be getting more and more ‘Mourhino’ with his post-match comments when he doesn’t get his way.
There was nowt up with the first goal. It was just badly defended and the challenge on Henderson was never a red card ina million years.
They lost to a better side on the day. Simple as that. Baseless moaning about refereeing decisions (a la Maureen) just looks churlish
Klop has always talked a load of shite, and like Mourinho has got away with it because of his charm, and also like Mourinho I think people are starting to tire of it (obviously everyone tired or maureen a long time ago).
The first goal Alison punched Ogbonna on the way to knocking the ball into his own net, Alison is the only person who could or should have been penalised there. However the ref should have been called over to the monitor to look at that challenge on Henderson. I don't think it was a definite red because of the way Cresswell played the ball deflected him into a worse challenge than intended, but it was very close to a red. If a yellow had been given straight away, then it could be said not to be a "clear and obvious" error but with no card issued then var should be drawing the refs attention to it.
It is another of those where the var official isn't looking to correct errors but is looking for any excuse no defend the on field decisions.
Good weekend to keep the race for the top spot tight though.
Hmmmm, wouldn’t say Klopp is any worse/grumpier than normal after a defeat. Isn’t it straight out the managerial manual to blame the ref/VAR to deflect from a poor performance by one of your players?
Interesting how leaky Liverpool’s defence is despite having VVD back. Could be a good title race.
United had the ball in citys box 3 times and a total of 4 touches. Of those 1 was a header from a free kick.
I don’t think you need to be specific about touches in the opposition box, touches anywhere on the pitch must have been in single figures
Apart from De Gea. He had quite a few
We’re locked in mortal combat with Spurs to see who can go the most games without a shot on target. Unbelievably, they’re actually winning by quite a stretch
Really pleased to get Howe appointed at NUFC. A progressive, thoughtful coach who is tactically astute, a great man manager and has the support of most the fans. In other words... a bit of a change to the last fella. Now we've done the deal to get his backroom staff in the next appointment is arguably the biggest: Director of Football. A person Howe needs above him to take charge of signings etc. Rumours are it'll be Michael Emenalo (former of Chelsea and Monaco). These are foundations for the long term, not next week or indeed this season. We'll have a good chance of staying up if we spend well in January but if we don't, it won't be the end of the world. Howe-ay the Lads.
I was at the Amex Saturday and was chatting to a few of the Toon Army on the train home. They seemed fairly happy with Howe coming in. Hope it works out for you lot.
That was a strange game. We were awful but could and probably should have won it. Soft penalty against us (again) and Sanchez denied Wilson a certain goal. I think there needs to be penalty goals like in rugby for something so obvious like that or Suarez's handball in the 2010 World Cup. Brighton were miles ahead of us and it was good to see a fit Lallana pulling the strings. If you had a goalscorer you'd be comfortably top 6. PS: Can we have Lamptey please?
Not really a foul on Alisson for the first WH goal but could defo have been red for the tackle on Henderson.
Not really a fan of the whole 'stick a big guy right on the keeper to try and put him off' thing but Liverpool do it too and Alisson should be wise to it so I guess I can't really complain.
I'd rather have a manager like Klopp who is passionate - he'll often admit afterwards when he's got carried away. He's also suffered more than most from his players getting injured by bad tackles.
Comparison to Mourinho is a bit ridiculous.
Klopp did what Fergie used to do. Draw attention away from his player who was at fault so the headlines are about him, not about how poor Alisson was yesterday.
Can we have Lamptey please?
You can but it’ll cost you. Obviously money is not an issue for you lot now. I think he has his sights set a bit higher than where you are right now though.
Yeah it was a strange game, we did our usual of dominating a half but not taking our chances. Second half we just couldn’t get past your deep defence and you looked dangerous on the counter. We always struggle against sides that defend deep. Last season we didn’t beat any of the teams below us and think Newcastle was the only team around us that we managed to beat. We definitely look better against the sides that are more attacking.
As other say, Klopp is never happy in defeat, and he shouldn't be either, not a huge fan of managers or players being cheerful in defeat. As for the 'fouls', no chance for the Allison OG, and a yellow at most for Cresswell, he basically stood on the ball and fell over with a little tap of his studs on Henderson, the way they make it sound it's as if he went in over the ball, it was clear as day he stood on it.
As for Newcastle, it's going to be a long road to the top half i feel, they still appear to be having issues getting Howe's backroom staff in place, the same issue that stopped him taking over at Celtic, once that's done he needs to get something going and a plan for the January window, they're a long way down the pecking order for the top players, the worlds moved on since the days when Newcastle were able to get the top players, and most of the top teams now have huge budgets that Newcastle still can't compete with until they up their turnover for the financial fair play rules.
From the FA website.
Using excessive force is when a player exceeds the necessary use of force and endangers the safety of an opponent and must be sent off
Doesn't really matter whether he 'meant it' - still a sending off under the rules. Pretty clear imo.
Most sensible Newcastle fans know it'll be a long road to the top table. Most are just delighted Ashley and Bruce are history and pleased Howe (unlike Emery, Conte etc) isn't a 2 year manager and he's keen to build a legacy. Even if we could, it's pointless buying CL level players right away. Keegan didn't do it. City didn't. 4-5 solid prem level players like Sarr, Ward-Prowse, Tarkowski would be a great start. The current squad is better than position suggests. They are unfit and lack organisation. 2 things Howe will sort before the window opens.
Doesn’t really matter whether he ‘meant it’ – still a sending off under the rules. Pretty clear imo.
By the same token Jota should've been sent off for elbowing Ogbonna in the face. Then there was Salah's dive for the equalising free kick.
Funnily enough, Klopp didn't mention either of those.
Oh cool, whataboutery. You could maybe argue Jota's would come under the same rule but jumping like that doesn't seem anywhere near as reckless or likely to cause an injury AFAICS. Not sure how you are supposed to jump without your elbows being there.
The fact Ogbonna got injured or aggravated his injury was just bad luck really.
Oh cool, whataboutery.
Not really. I don't think that either incident was a red card, but if you're going to quote the rules, then let's at least have some consistency and apply them to both teams. Otherwise you risk looking as myopic as Klopp.
Bugger. Looks like Gerard is off to Villa.
Nobeerinthefridge
Free Member
Bugger. Looks like Gerard is off to Villa.
😆
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And it looks like Pogba is out injureduntil January, them he’s off to … oh who cares?
Don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out
And it looks like Pogba is out injureduntil January, them he’s off to … oh who cares?
Don’t let the door hit your arse on the way out
This should cheer you up then Binners. Will it be Ed Woodward's parting gift to offer Pogba a massive contract?
Some of these players are definitely living in an alternate reality.
The soap opera continues.
I’d be interested to hear how his contribution on the pitch warrants an enormously paid new contract.
I’d say that it’s pretty much nailed on that he’ll get it and be free to swan about doing very little for another few years
It'll be interesting to see how Gerard gets on at Villa. Could be the perfect platform for the Liverpool job, could be a disaster. What's classed as success for them? I don't think their squad is as good as some make out but it's certainly not as bad as their current position.