Football 17/18

[The Nal]

Rafa is a stain. He'll be sacked at some point for moaning. He always gets sacked. 

Great stuff from Huddersfield. Deserved. The three worst teams went down this year. Top 4 still not sorted. Squeaky bum time for LFC fans. 

[eFestivals]

11 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Squeaky bum time for LFC fans. 

nah, a draw shouldn't be a problem on Sunday.  Would have been worrying for them that if Chelsea had won last night tho.

(now i've predicted it'll be OK, that's a guarantee it won't be. :P)

[Gnomicide]

Liverpool and Chelsea both losing on Sunday to teams they're expected to beat will be a fitting end to the league season and set them both up nicely for glorious defeats in their respective cup finals.

[kaosmark2]

6 hours ago, eFestivals said:

i don't think Rafa is doing anything special with a squad that's average-ish with average-ish spends.

Just because Rafa complains that he's not being given the funds to compete at the top level doesn't mean he's having it tough.

Last 5 year spends:-
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/premier-league-last-five-seasons/transfer-league-tables/premier-league-table-last-five-seasons

Most of those buys were under McClaren, including a load of dirge, Saivet, Riviere, Thauvin. Rafa's net spend is about £10m

6 hours ago, zahidf said:

didnt he not got any new players this year but just loans?

No, that was in January. We made some signings in the summer, Atsu's loan got made permanent then, we signed Jacob Murphy from Norwich, Lejeune, Joselu, and Manquillo, as well as Merino on loan (got made permanent in November). 3 £8m players and 3 £5m players. The problem was that we needed upgrades in about 5 positions from the Championship, and only really got notable improvements in 2.

I'm hoping Merino and Murphy come good after both have shown promise at different times this season, Lejeune and Lascalles have formed an excellent defensive partnership (av points per game with both: 2, with one of them: 0.8, with neither: 0.1). Atsu's done OK but the fact we signed Kennedy on loan after signing two young wingers permanently in the summer is worrying, for both their prospects and the decision to buy them.

Joselu and Manquillo are Championship quality at best, and both have about 15 games for us despite barely being able to do the basics of their position. Attitude is fine so they're just about acceptable squad players, but they're not really good enough to be anything more than 4th choice options, and the fact they're 2nd choice is worrying.

 

Our first 11 matches up to most Prem teams (strikers aside), at least when Shelvey and Diame can be bothered (which isn't always), but the quality behind our first 11 is sorely lacking. We only have two players who've scored 5+ goals this season! Two! And neither has reached double figures. It's hard to say a manager hasn't overachieved when we haven't got any goalscorers in the team and look like we might finish top half. Whether it would have been better to spend £20m on one player instead of £18m on 3 (prob equiv when you factor in wages) is debatable, everyone we signed has got game time so we clearly needed some numbers, but the biggest problem in the team is a lack of quality up front (and until Feb shit keepers).

[kaosmark2]

6 hours ago, The Nal said:

Rafa is a stain. He'll be sacked at some point for moaning. He always gets sacked. 

Great stuff from Huddersfield. Deserved. The three worst teams went down this year. Top 4 still not sorted. Squeaky bum time for LFC fans. 

Man U fan talking about another team's manager being a moaner  

[Wooderson]

6 hours ago, The Nal said:

He always gets sacked.

C'mon chief.

O'Farrell - Sacked (a disaster)
Docherty - Sacked (for riding the physiotherapists wife)
Sexton - Sacked (shite footie)
Atkinson - Sacked (shite footie)
Moyes - Sacked (a disaster)
LVG - Sacked (shite footie)

 

 

 

[thetime]

11 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

C'mon chief.

Atkinson - Sacked (shite footie)

 

 

 

You were pretty much spot on everything else but big Ron.

Wonderful time  to be a red. 

[Wooderson]

5 hours ago, thetime said:

You were pretty much spot on everything else but big Ron.

Wonderful time  to be a red. 

Scintillating stuff under the current goofball.

[thetime]

2 minutes ago, Wooderson said:

Scintillating stuff under the current goofball.

Edge of the seat stuff...

[eFestivals]

9 hours ago, thetime said:

Edge of the nose stuff...

corrected.

[pryce]

Good win for Shrewsbury last night

 

dreading another possible trip to Wembley and another Loss though!

[The Nal]

11 hours ago, thetime said:

Edge of the seat stuff...

Hes doing what every Utd fan wanted though. Certainly what Utd fans wanted when he first took over. Gradual improvement, hard to beat, stop losing 4-0 to MK Dons, be tough with the players, implement a philosophy. Comfortably 2nd all season which is the first time since Fergie that Utd have been strong.

The ball is plopsies though yeah, next to be addressed or there will be rumblings.

[thetime]

12 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Hes doing what every Utd fan wanted though. Certainly what Utd fans wanted when he first took over. 

He really isn’t. 

 

[The Nal]

4 minutes ago, thetime said:

He really isn’t. 

Whats he missing? Style of ball aside. Beaten all the top 6 this year. From beating 1 of the top 9 last season at home. 

Big clear out in the summer. Will be on the criticism bus if the footie style remains shite however.

[eFestivals]

27 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Will be on the criticism bus if the footie style remains shite however.

it's Moaniho. Why would you be expecting anything different to dirge?

[CRW5252]

22 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Whats he missing? Style of ball aside. Beaten all the top 6 this year. From beating 1 of the top 9 last season at home. 

 

Actually competing for the Prem or the CL. With how much money he has spent, 2nd and a possible FA cup is poor. Last season was even worse as well.

Also worth mentioning his shocking man management. He's treated Shaw appallingly and his indirect moan at Rashford and Martial was just as bad. 

40 minutes ago, The Nal said:

 

Big clear out in the summer. Will be on the criticism bus if the footie style remains shite however.

Why would the style of football change? It is not Jose's style to playing exciting football.

 

[The Nal]

22 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

it's Moaniho. Why would you be expecting anything different to dirge?

He did it at Madrid. 

He will have to change. If hes just a transitional manager who buys a few decent players and stops Utd being completely shit then so be it. 

2 minutes ago, CRW5252 said:

Actually competing for the Prem or the CL. With how much money he has spent, 2nd and a possible FA cup is poor. Last season was even worse as well.

Also worth mentioning his shocking man management. He's treated Shaw appallingly and his indirect moan at Rashford and Martial was just as bad. 

Shaw has been shit when hes played. Martial has been shit when hes played. Rashford has been ok.

[DareToDibble]

To be fair it would be difficult not to play attractive players at Madrid. Even if he set them up defensively the likes of Ronaldo, Benzema, Isco etc would still make them look like an attacking team.

It'll be interesting to see who he signs over the summer - that'll tell us a lot about what he plans to do with his style next season.

[eFestivals]

4 minutes ago, The Nal said:

He did it at Madrid. 

No. What you mean is that he didn't degrade the playing style he inherited by too much.

His management career demonstrates he doesn't polish a turd of a playing style. And Utd are turds.

[CRW5252]

7 minutes ago, The Nal said:

He did it at Madrid. 

He will have to change. If hes just a transitional manager who buys a few decent players and stops Utd being completely shit then so be it. 

 

He flopped at Madrid.

I can guarantee you won't play consistently exciting football under Jose.

8 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Shaw has been shit when hes played. Martial has been shit when hes played. Rashford has been ok.

It doesn't mean it is acceptable to publicly call them out. All that does is make their performances worse by ruining their confidence.

It's no coincidence they were better under other managers

[eFestivals]

18 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Martial has been shit when hes played.

there were streaks of games earlier this season where he looked like the only player interested in playing football.

If you want him out then quality is only going to get worse, not better.

[The Nal]

9 minutes ago, CRW5252 said:

He flopped at Madrid.

He won the league at Madrid and still holds the record for the most goals scored in La Liga. 121. Won the league with 100 points. Beat that great Barca team. He can do it. Rarely does, granted. 

there were streaks of games earlier this season where he looked like the only player interested in playing football.

If you want him out then quality is only going to get worse, not better.

I don't! Hes world class on his day. Ironically earlier in the season is when Utd played the best ball. When Martial was playing every game. Hammering teams. He has played 30 games in the league this season. 12 as sub. 44 games in total though.

Ill be the first to criticise Mourinho if we're watching the same footie come October or November. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

7 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Ill be the first to criticise Mourinho if we're watching the same footie come October or November. 

you said that a year ago. Still waiting.

[The Nal]

Just now, eFestivals said:

you said that a year ago. Still waiting.

Ha, yeah the start of this season was good. Nice ball, loads of goals. But he started that way too and finished 6th. All for giving managers time. 2 1/2 years and another 200 million you'd imagine this summer. Time to deliver on all front. Challenge for the league and the Champions League and play good ball.

[eFestivals]

53 minutes ago, The Nal said:

Challenge for the league and the Champions League and play good ball.

wrong manager.