Today's Football

[Torvald Utne]

Whe you're playing against average teams in the Premiership, you need to make sure you have your best players on the pitch, in their best positions and you have to just attack them. Don't be complacent in the way you approach the game but be confident because you're better than them, and as long as you keep doing things in the right way you'll be rewarded for it.

 

That's pretty much the opposite of last week against Stoke. And away against Arsenal, and away against Villa.

 

Rafa doesn't have the balls that Fergie does, or, he doesn't realise that a lot of the games in the Premier League aren't decided upon trying to to out-think the opposite manager.

 

The Mancs didn't win today because Ferguson out-foxed Megson, they won because he had courage in his convictions and he threw the kitchen sink at them. Same against Sunderland at home and Stoke away. Just compare that to last week, it's sickening, it really is.

 

 

I love the way that when we win it's because the players decided to go for it, and when we don't it's the manager's fault for not going for it...it wouldn't have mattered what tactics we used last week, the players were shit.

[Ponz]

Losing top spot may prove a blessing in disguise. We've fetished merely holding on to it rather than trying to accumulate as many points as possible. Today will force the players (and Rafa) out of that comfort zone and hopefully allow us to play with more freedom and aggression.

[George Costanza]

Let's be honest. Monday is the most important game of the season.

 

It's very make or break stuff, this.

 

I agree. If we fail to win I can see the wind being blown out of our sails. Without playing well Salford have gone on a winning run at the right time unfortunately.

 

As much as I absolutely hate them, in fact i fucking despise them with a passion but they show that if you throw caution to the wind against the shitter Premiership teams you will more often than not be rewarded. Thy've been shit by their standards this year yet theyve managed to grind out so many 1-0 wins. I fear that they'll start to click and be almost out of site by mid March.

[The 5th Benitel]

I love the way that when we win it's because the players decided to go for it, and when we don't it's the manager's fault for not going for it...it wouldn't have mattered what tactics we used last week, the players were shit.

 

I can live with us playing shit, that happens to every team. It's if we dont stick our best attackers on and finsh the game with two defensive midfielders that i feel cheated. Players can have bad games but the manager needs to do what he can to try to win the game.

[Brownie]

Maybe so. But do it against a team with any sort of a threat on the counter attack and you could end up dropping ponts. They can't keep doing it every feckin week. They aren't playing well at all, they aren't scoring goals and if their form continues then home advantage or not they will have a hard time against the likes of Villa, us and Arsenal.

 

Hope we go out and fucking smash Everton now.

 

We've drawn seven games this season. If we'd gone for it in every one of them like the Mancs do (I accept we have in the odd one) and won 3 of them and lost two because of it, we'd have 11 points from that instead of 7 for all draws.

 

I suppose I have a different ethos towards football than you mate.

[ratcatcher]

Of course it is. Everyone with any connection to Liverpool Football Club would have been happy if offered this position before the start of the season.

 

This attitude is so wrong. Its akin to finding yourself leading a marathon race after 20 miles then someone comes and overtakes you. You're happy with second spot afterall.

 

It must be something in the british psyche always prepared to finish second. Be happy with second, dont be surprised when you do finish second.

[The 5th Benitel]

Losing top spot may prove a blessing in disguise. We've fetished merely holding on to it rather than trying to accumulate as many points as possible. Today will force the players (and Rafa) out of that comfort zone and hopefully allow us to play with more freedom and aggression.

 

Agreed. That's the one positive i'm taking from this. It really gives him no option other than to go for wins.

[rargh]

Simple as that, IMO. These last minute winners from those cunts should be desperate winners to keep themselves in the race, not go top.

 

The horrible thing about it as well is the fact that everyone will start giving the Mancs loads of credit for going out and winning the league (if they do) when in reality, we'd have lost it.

 

That's the feeling that I'm getting now, unfortunately. Memories of losing at Highfield Road the Saturday after beating Newcastle 4-3 in '96, losing at home to Coventry the day after Man U lost at home to Derby in '97 - the last two seasons when we were involved in a title race.

Edited January 17, 2009 by rargh

[rargh]

This attitude is so wrong. Its akin to finding yourself leading a marathon race after 20 miles then someone comes and overtakes you. You're happy with second spot afterall.

 

It must be something in the british psyche always prepared to finish second. Be happy with second, dont be surprised when you do finish second.

 

Testify!

[Brownie]

I love the way that when we win it's because the players decided to go for it, and when we don't it's the manager's fault for not going for it...it wouldn't have mattered what tactics we used last week, the players were shit.

 

Excuse me? I gave Rafa massive credit for the Man City game, as an example. Taking off two full backs and replacing them with attacking midfielders was brilliant to see. I said so at the time.

 

That was a long, long time ago though. Instead of focusing on what others think, what's your view of it? Do you think Rafa is too negative, or are you happy with his approach to all of the games?

[rargh]

Losing top spot may prove a blessing in disguise. We've fetished merely holding on to it rather than trying to accumulate as many points as possible. Today will force the players (and Rafa) out of that comfort zone and hopefully allow us to play with more freedom and aggression.

 

How is being second in the league compared to first a blessing in disguise? That's like saying it's a blessing in disguise to be chatting up Kelly Brook when in all honesty you should already have her back to your flat.

[CS111]

Just when i think i cant hate them bastards anymore , every week this is getting more and more fustrating. I am sooo fucking angry right now.

Said it a million times the dropped points home and away against the fulhams, stoke's etc etc was always going to come back to haunt us, and its just starting.

I fear manure will run away with the league this season now prob finish 6-8 points clear of us then chelsea and then villa.

With Man city to probably spending 100,s millions over the summer, villa, arsenal, manure, chelsea . Where does this leave us next season, when we are supposed to be having our best season in years and are still only a couple of points clear of chelsea and villa.

[rargh]

I agree. If we fail to win I can see the wind being blown out of our sails. Without playing well Salford have gone on a winning run at the right time unfortunately.

 

As much as I absolutely hate them, in fact i fucking despise them with a passion but they show that if you throw caution to the wind against the shitter Premiership teams you will more often than not be rewarded. Thy've been shit by their standards this year yet theyve managed to grind out so many 1-0 wins. I fear that they'll start to click and be almost out of site by mid March.

 

They've been ordinary in comparison since 1999. They just know how to grind out the results by continually throwing knock-out punches until one eventually gets through the guard. Not literally, like, as that would be boxing and not football.

[JMARKH]

Whe you're playing against average teams in the Premiership, you need to make sure you have your best players on the pitch, in their best positions and you have to just attack them. Don't be complacent in the way you approach the game but be confident because you're better than them, and as long as you keep doing things in the right way you'll be rewarded for it.

 

That's pretty much the opposite of last week against Stoke. And away against Arsenal, and away against Villa.

 

Rafa doesn't have the balls that Fergie does, or, he doesn't realise that a lot of the games in the Premier League aren't decided upon trying to to out-think the opposite manager.

 

The Mancs didn't win today because Ferguson out-foxed Megson, they won because he had courage in his convictions and he threw the kitchen sink at them. Same against Sunderland at home and Stoke away. Just compare that to last week, it's sickening, it really is.

 

Spot on, lets hope from now till the end of the season he shows the same kind of courage he has done with his attacks on ferguson. I imagine now we will have to win at least 15 or maybe all of the remaining fixtures, we will only have ourselves to blame if we don't take the title.

[Mendoza]

I knew it. I fucking knew it. Bastards.

[hamstrung]

We'll get it back Monday anyway.

[JMARKH]

I love the way that when we win it's because the players decided to go for it, and when we don't it's the manager's fault for not going for it...it wouldn't have mattered what tactics we used last week, the players were shit.

 

how does that work then? maybe if keane got on the pitch he could have scored after all he has 3 goals in his last two league starts.

[Vincent Vega]

We'll get it back Monday anyway.

 

[JMARKH]

I love the way that when we win it's because the players decided to go for it, and when we don't it's the manager's fault for not going for it...it wouldn't have mattered what tactics we used last week, the players were shit.

 

how does that work then? maybe if keane got on the pitch he could have scored, afterall he has 3 goals in his last two league starts.

[Code]

Just for the record, we have scored 12 goals in the 75-90 minute period this season in the league while the mancs have scored 9 times in the same period.

 

This was their 10th PL match in a row without conceding a goal though and thats what really have made them move up the table.

 

15.11 ManU-Stoke 5-0

22.11 Villa-ManU 0-0

30.11 ManC-ManU 0-1, 42 min.

06.12 ManU-Sunderland 1-0, 90 min

13.12 Spurs-ManU 0-0

26.12 Stoke-ManU 0-1, 83 min

29.12 ManU-Boro 1-0, 69 min

11.01 ManU-Chelsea 3-0

14.01 ManU-Wigan 1-0, 1 min.

17.01 Bolton-ManU 0-1, 89 min

 

So in their last 10 games the mancs have only scored more than 1 goal in two of them, but when you dont concede goals this will give you points.

 

They have also grabbed the winner three times during the last 10 minutes in the same games and twice during the last minute.

 

The mancs are not playing well and sooner or later they will drop points so the deafitist attitude a few of us show at the moment should be put to bed a bed for a while yet.

 

They have also played 6 of their last 10 games at home and three of their last four, they have had fairly easy opposition as well, and their away form and their play away from home does not suggest this is a team that will walk it from here.

 

Everything is still in our own hands so I for one are still optimistic.

[The 5th Benitel]

How is being second in the league compared to first a blessing in disguise? That's like saying it's a blessing in disguise to be chatting up Kelly Brook when in all honesty you should already have her back to your flat.

 

Because not having a couple of points buffer will hopefully force back into playing the attacking style we employed at the start of the season rather being happy to draw.

[The 5th Benitel]

Just for the record, we have scored 12 goals in the 75-90 minute period this season in the league while the mancs have scored 9 times in the same period.

 

This was their 10th PL match in a row without conceding a goal though and thats what really have made them move up the table.

 

15.11 ManU-Stoke 5-0

22.11 Villa-ManU 0-0

30.11 ManC-ManU 0-1, 42 min.

06.12 ManU-Sunderland 1-0, 90 min

13.12 Spurs-ManU 0-0

26.12 Stoke-ManU 0-1, 83 min

29.12 ManU-Boro 1-0, 69 min

11.01 ManU-Chelsea 3-0

14.01 ManU-Wigan 1-0, 1 min.

17.01 Bolton-ManU 0-1, 89 min

 

So in their last 10 games the mancs have only scored more than 1 goal in two of them, but when you dont concede goals this will give you points.

 

They have also grabbed the winner three times during the last 10 minutes in the same games and twice during the last minute.

 

The mancs are not playing well and sooner or later they will drop points so the deafitist attitude a few of us show at the moment should be put to bed a bed for a while yet.

 

They have also played 6 of their last 10 games at home and three of their last four, they have had fairly easy opposition as well, and their away form and their play away from home does not suggest this is a team that will walk it from here.

 

Everything is still in our own hands so I for one are still optimistic.

 

 

We did at the start of the season but other late strikes were against teams we were beating by 2 or more goals already. Did you go and work all that out yourself? Rafa would fucking love you.

[rargh]

Because not having a couple of points buffer will hopefully force back into playing the attacking style we employed at the start of the season rather being happy to draw.

 

Yes, let's hope we keep up the home form, eh? :whistle:

 

Seriously though, you HONESTLY think that we are suddenly going to shift into overdrive and start winning games left, right and centre between now and the end of the season? What leads you to that conclusion?

[Ponz]

How is being second in the league compared to first a blessing in disguise? That's like saying it's a blessing in disguise to be chatting up Kelly Brook when in all honesty you should already have her back to your flat.

 

The only first place that matters is after 38 games. I'd rather lose it now, adjust our approach to games and ultimately pip United at the post than cling desperately to a 1-2 point lead and get overtaken with 2 weeks left and no time to adjust.

[rargh]

The only first place that matters is after 38 games. I'd rather lose it now, adjust our approach to games and ultimately pip United at the post than cling desperately to a 1-2 point lead and get overtaken with 2 weeks left and no time to adjust.

 

Adjust our approach:

 

"Lads, we can't afford to drop any more points. Stevie, you're in goal!"