Bring on your Manchester United....Sunday, 14 December 2014.

[Anubis]

His view of rooney was blocked by Gerrard (I think). He's dived to his stronger side in anticipation or hope of it going that way. Not sure he could do much about the 3rd either to be honest.

 

I agree. But I do think his positioning was poor for the third, in that he didn't read what Mata was doing quickly enough. But then neither did Lovren. Nothing he could have done about the first two though.

[Frank Dacey]

Lovren was still admiring his pass to Mata for that one.

[magicrat]

Having calmed down slightly I would accept Jones whilst being a bizarre inclusion today was not in fact the main reason we got stuffed. He is nevertheless useless ..Having no strikers is however a bit of a handicap and will see us struggle in every single game we play. 

[Nightcat]

Sakho just as shit as the others?

 

Not the Sakho I have watched with France in the summer and previously.

 

Just because Rodgers and his coaching team are incompetent to make the team defend it doesn't mean it's Sakho's fault.

[J-V]

Yes it is, Sahko is just as shit as the rest of them.

 

You're talking shit.

[J-V]

are you fucking nuts? Nobody in the world would resign in his position.

 

He should break the mould then.

[GRADY]

I thought jones in no mans land for first an third goal. Lovren's layoff clearly didnt help for third one or some of the general defending. However I agree mignolet is shit on ground an doesn't command his box - an therefore clearly not suited to us but nobody can say surely brad jones should be playing for us.

 

On the plus side we had pace an movement today for first time in while. Thought 3-0 harsh.

[magicrat]

He should break the mould then.

In the real world he would be suspended for gross incompetence pending a disciplinary hearing where he would be paid till the end of the month and fucked off without a reference

[J-V]

In the real world he would be suspended for gross incompetence pending a disciplinary hearing where he would be paid till the end of the month and fucked off without a reference

 

No he wouldn't.  If a Manager in his position quits that's the end of that.  Obviously he'd get some sort of severance.

[magicrat]

No he wouldn't.  If a Manager in his position quits that's the end of that.  Obviously he'd get some sort of severance.

I know that . Just pissed off with him

[J-V]

I know that . Just pissed off with him

 

Indeed hence my initial piss taking comment.

 

Oh well Wednesday...

[magicrat]

 

 

Oh well Wednesday...

 

His last game ?

[J-V]

hahaha

[Dan Vito Corleone]

Brad Jones is a complete, total and utter waste of space. Say what you want about Mignolet but there's no way he dives out of the way of that first goal. He also doesn't go walkies for the third. If you're going to drop Mignolet then through gritted teeth, do it. But before playing those cunts? Not a chance. A very, very poor decision. Mignolet has had a poor year but I'd play him before Jones every single day of the week.

 

As for the rest.... carried a threat going forward and I maintain we shouldn't have lost the game in spite of the cataclysmic scoreline. We gifted them two goals and their second was two yards offside, not even close. And yet all I can do is moan about it because we didn't take our chances.

 

I do get the feeling we're cursed as others have said and it does feel a lot like everything does its best to fly in our faces but we need to try and take that offensive performance into our next game when we're not going to be facing David De Gea.

 

And I'm done with Lovren - he cannot be justified anymore. All the other summer signings have something going for them in one way or another. Not him. He's a disaster.

[J-V]

Mignolet doesn't go "walkies".  He did the same at City and another game (can't remember which) already this Season.  Though Jones is shit but that was obvious when he was with Boro in the Premier League.

[bouncebrigade]

Martin Tyler is a massive Manc loving shithead.

[ngogswilly]

Lovren is the big one for me. He's awful and not getting better. He just cant keep starting any longer. He'll cost us games if he does. And if we keep losing games its not going to end well for anyone

[Dan Vito Corleone]

Mignolet doesn't go "walkies".  He did the same at City and another game (can't remember which) already this Season.  Though Jones is shit but that was obvious when he was with Boro in the Premier League.

 

I didn't say he never goes walkies - I'm saying he wouldn't have for the third goal. And he wouldn't because no goalkeeper in their right mind has any need to even consider coming out in that situation. None whatosever.

[bouncebrigade]

RVP is a cunt.

 

See him yesterday, whinging when he got a little push.  Same fella who doesn't think twice about throwing his elbows around for fun.

 

Fucking little Dutch prick will get his comeuppance.

[lebron]

As bad as we are, the Mancs aren't much better. They have a matchwinner in goal though, and even if van Persie and Rooney have regressed, they are still pretty good when presented clear chances. I don't really fancy us to win due to our lack of striking options, but I'm pretty certain we won't get battered (as they haven't done that to anyone else bar QPR when they were at their worst). 

 

They are really poor in midfield, and personally I'd look to exploit that by playing all of our quick-footed and skillful players to pressure them into making mistakes, as well as retaining possession a bit better.

 

I'd go:

 

---------------------Mignolet----------------------

 

----Manquillo---Skrtel---Sakho---Moreno---

-----------------------Lucas-----------------------

---------------Can----------Allen-----------------

---------Coutinho----Sterling------Lallana----

 

Possibly Borini for one of Can/Allen, with Coutinho dropping into midfield, but as Borini is not even making the bench these days, that's hardly going to be done...

 

Brendan and I agreed on the use of our smaller, technical players then... Too bad he had to include Gerrard and Lovren (and Jones). We go 3-4 games with a bit more solidity to us (without Gerrard and Lovren), we force them back in, and lo and behold, we leak goals again. I see Jamie is slaughtering Coutinho (rightfully I might add) for his lack of tracking back with Rooney for their 1st. What the hell are Gerrard, Lovren, Allen and Moreno doing though? Everything wrong, that's what!

 

My "analysis" was unfortunately pretty much on as well, the difference between de Gea and Jones/Mignolet is going to amount to 20+ points for them over the course of the season. Yesterday wasn't even his best performance for them, as our (Sterling's) finishing was the weakest I've ever seen from a PL side. We did pressure them into mistakes, and that side must be the worst ever to win 6 games on the trot in the league, they are truly woeful. Can't remember us ever creating more at OT, even our recent 3-0 and 4-1 wins there were a result of good finishing (and penalties) more than chances galore. That has to be a positive, and I thought yesterday was a step in the right direction in how we performed, both the pressing and directness of last year was back (to a degree). We can't continue playing Gerrard and Lovren though (I might add Moreno, but I guess Enrique is injured again?). In our wait for Sturridge I'd be tempted to go:

 

 

----------------------------Mignolet (lesser of two evils)-------------------------------------

 

----------Manquillo--------------Skrtel-----------Toure-------------------Moreno-----------

 

-----------------------------------------Lucas-----------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------Can---------------------Coutinho----------------------------------------

 

-------------Lallana--------------------Balotelli----------------------Sterling-----------------

 

with Henderson competing with Can, and Allen competing with Coutinho (and Lallana), play whoever seems to be hitting a bit of form. Markovic filling in for Sterling/Lallana when necessary. Under no circumstances should Gerrard and Lovren be starting for us at the moment.

 

I don't get the sudden love-in with DeGea, he is just a younger version of Mignolet, in that he is a good shot-stopper with no physical presence.

 

He's the best keeper in the league, Courtouis might be commanding his area a bit better, but I prefer de Gea for his one-on-ones, distribution and ability to make reflex saves. I'd actually have him over Neuer as well, he's THAT good. Hopefully Real will come and get him soon.

 

Agreed (on de gea)

 

Don't know why people are slitting their wrists over the mancs, they're not much better than us and extremely unbalanced.

 

Well, you're wrong too. Agreed on your second point though, unfortunately, we presented them with exactly the type of chances their strikers needed, and our finishing was woeful, making de Gea's job even easier (Mario's second strike included).

[ratcatcher]

Hahaha de gea better than neuer. Yeah ok.

[Tony Moanero]

Some of you head cases have to realise there is more to life than watching overpaid prima donnas stroll round a pitch. It's a game. Laugh it off for fuck sake. Get angry during it by all means but let it go afterwards and go have a sherman tank.

ZonkoVille knows.

[Guest LFD]

My head is a mess at the moment.
 
We didn't play that badly, but obviously the same two problems occurred - not clinical enough (saw on SSN earlier we have scored 1 goal in our last 50 shots) and being poor / naive defensively.  Saying that we did create a lot of chances.  Sterling and Balotelli both could have had hattricks.  So the positive, if you can see positives at the moment or after a 3-0 loss, was we were at least creating chances... something we haven't done in many games this season.
 
I think a lot of people can forgive Sterling for not being clinical.  He's 20, he isn't a striker, two of the chances were on his weaker foot and he created two of the chances by himself.  He should have done better though, no doubt.
 
But Balotelli... how many fucking chances does this guy need to score?  He's not a youngster, he is a striker and he is a joke. Coming on and shooting from 40 yards out.  Hitting a free kick straight into the wall.  Then not finishing any of his three chances, all of which were on his strong foot.  I hate him.
 
Even with the team selection I was torn.  I was personally delighted we didn't start with Lambert or Balotelli and played with Lallana, Sterling and Coutinho in the attacking roles.  Players who want to play the same way and as a result they linked up and created good chances.
 
Then again I saw Allen playing over Can once again.  Allen looked like a boy against men.  Awful game from an average player.  Can hasn't had a look in since the Chelsea game where he was our best player - why?  Don't think anyone knows.
 
I see a back three.  Fair enough, change the system, I don't mind that I like to see him trying things to find a solution to this mess of a season.  But then I look at the back three.  No Sakho, who for me is our best centre back.  He doesn't even get on the bench, yet he is fully fit.  No Toure, our player of the month.  Then we put Johnson in the back three.  WTF?  If I was Sakho I'd leave, he is wasted at this club.  He should be playing for a top club, not rotting on our bench.  
 
Then Rodgers is still selecting Lovren.  He's made the most defensive errors that have led to goals in the league.  He's also made numerous other errors - look at his positioning at times - https://twitter.com/SamMcGuire90/status/544434583467737088.  He was shocking again, and I don't know why Rodgers keeps selecting him.  Even against Basel he should have got sent off in the last game.  He is a complete liability.  
 
We then put Gerrard back in the role where he was struggling and not protecting the defence again.  Why?  Lucas has been playing that role much better than Gerrard.  Gerrard should be used higher up the pitch or not at all.
 
I don't have too much of a problem with him not playing Mignolet, as he has been really poor this season.  But if he was willing to drop Mignolet it should have happened two or three games ago, when he was really playing badly.  Not before this game when he actually looked a little better.  Just odd, although I am not convinced Mignolet would have saved the first goal himself the way he has been playing.  Saying that, fuck knows what Jones was doing for the third.
 
So I was partly happy with the line up and partly disappointed.  But then you look at our squad and the problem is apart from Sturridge and Sterling which other players are clear first choices?  Is there a big difference between:
 
Manquillo or Johnson
Skrtel or Toure
Moreno or Enrique
Lallana or Coutinho
Lambert or Balotelli
etc etc.
 
We might have our personal preferences, but generally there is no too much difference in the quality between the above players really.  That's why everyone in the summer said we might have a stronger squad than last season, but our first team is much weaker and it has been proven.
 
It is so frustrating because Man U have won the last 6 or 7 games and they have not been good at all.  Especially against Arsenal, Southampton and us.  But they have strikers who will finish chances and we don't, bar Sturridge.  Only Rodgers is to blame for that and it will probably cost him his job!
 
I am even torn with Rodgers, part of me wants to give him more time, after last season and I would like to have some stability at the club.  But I think deep down, I know we probably need a change, as he can't buy the right players, can't coach the team to be good defensively and I personally think we should start looking for a new manager behind the scenes.  If we can't attract the right man then keep with Rodgers, but if we can get someone better then make the change.  Unfortunately for Rodgers he only has himself to blame for this mess.  He can point at Sterling or Balotelli for not finishing the chances, but he took the punt on Balotelli, he is using Sterling as a striker because he bought badly in the summer.  He is accountable for this mess and it is not going to get better until Sturridge gets back.

[johnsusername]

Bring on your Bournemouth AFC.

 

Actually, they've only lost one game in the last 16 so they're probably rubbing their hands together for Wednesday.