dave u

5 hours ago, Mark M said:

Good report.

One of the things that annoys the fuck out of me when watching it yesterday is how much they tried & the effort they put in against us which they don't do when they play their local "rivals" City.

In the first 20 minutes and then in the last five. There wasn't much effort in between that when our lads were in acres of space every time they got the ball. 

3 hours ago, El Rojo said:

Genuine question - do people think the players will be aware of how bad losing to them in that way is for us, or are they more insulated from it these days?

 

Hopefully lads like Virgil, Trent and Curtis won’t leave the others under any illusions as to what’s expected in the league game against a now revitalised side.

They'll know how we're feeling, absolutely they will. I don't think these lads are insulated from that at all, they get it.

My question would be what I said in the report. Do they know just how fucking embarrassing and inexcusable that was to lose that second half given how easy it was and how many opportunities they had to slice them apart? I hope they do, and they don't look at it as "it's away at Old Trafford, it's a tough game" because it fucking wasn't.

1 hour ago, Mark M said:

They didn’t rope a dope us and score once or twice.
They scored fucking four!! And Kelleher made a couple of saves first half they could have had more than that. 
fucking four!!!!

Not going to lie I’m dreading the league match against them now I thought we’d win comfortably at the weekend.

Never ever again am i underestimating those pricks. 

Ok I'm not explaining this properly. It isn't about under-estimating them. For the most part they were as shit as I expected them to be. Yes, they scored four. Two of those came when we were absolutely fucked in extra time and I'm completely discounting extra time from this. Some of the other chances were offside and wouldn't have counted (so ignore the laughably distorted XG nonsense), but it distorts how we view the balance of the game.

What happened was they came out all guns blazing and caused us problems early on. They were good in that spell, no question. It's to be expected though. I could even see Everton doing that to us at home because they have to come out with fire in their belly but these plucky underdog sides just can't sustain that level of manic effort for very long. They punch themselves out and then rely on having a good shape, making it as difficult as possible and then hoping for counter attacks. United had counter attacks, but they did not make it difficult at all and their shape was hilarious.

The better side just has to wether the early storm then take control, which we did. That second half was complete and utter dominance, because they are - and I can't stress this enough - proper shite tactically. There were gaps everywhere, it was like playing a kids team. At times Szoboszlai was in 20 yards of space between their midfield and defence, it was laughable. 

We beat them 7-0 last year and most of the failings they had then were there this time too. We were just sloppy and far too lacking in focus when it came to exploiting them. Us not scoring in that second half had nothing to do with them and everything to do with us. They did their best to let us batter them.

Of course they still have players who can hurt you, and occasionally there were flashes of that (especially when we got tired), but this was not a game where the opposition played well above their usual level and we didn't show up. That's what usually happens in this fixture when a heavy favourite doesn't win, but this wasn't that.

We drew here 1-1 when we won the league, it can happen when they raise their game and we don't. We've done it to them loads of times too when they were much better than us. I'm saying that didn't happen this time and the reasons we were so confident about this game were there for all to see. 

They were fucking awful from around 20-85 minutes and for us to not have put them away in that second half is scandalous really. We won't have more space in a game all season than we had in that second half. How many attacking overloads do you need to get a fucking goal?

We had 5v2, at least twice we had 4v2 and there were probably half a dozen more where it was essentially 5v5 with a ball carrier running at them with passing options. That doesn't happen against a team that has played well and made it difficult for us. It didn't happen at Luton. Shit, it didn't happen at Palace or Sheffield United either. Even Burnley were more difficult to play through, and they're naive as fuck.

Tactically this is the worst team we've faced all season and it's embarrassing that we didn't exploit it. We lost that second half 1-0. That's fucking incredible when you think about it. That's why we got beat, not because of extra time when half the team were out on their feet, our game management went to shit and they got their tails up. It should never have got that point because they were genuinely hopeless in that second half and they'd basically given up. They were beaten and they knew it, until it gets to 85 minutes and they're somehow only a goal down and they suddenly have hope.

So Mark, you didn't under-estimate United and neither did I. United are exactly who we thought they were. This defeat is 100% on us.

3 hours ago, s(k)aturation said:

 

I just don't get the "we'll beat them because they're shit" thing.

I mean, yeah, we're the better team at the moment, but when we play each other all bets are always off.

There's always the chance of an unexpected result.

And anyone who thinks they won't be going crazy to fuck up our season in a couple of weeks... brace yourself.

We should win.  I really really hope we do.

But it's no guarantee.  Against them.  Ever.

But they were shit in this game, that's the point. None of this "form book goes out of the window". It has done in the past, for both sides. We've won games we had no right to based on the league table, but we did it by raising our game.

That's not what happened here. They were shite and were really easy to play against. Not winning that game is all about us, nothing to do with anything they did.

We're getting City in the final. Nailed on.

Darwin and Mo to run wild and at full time me and Code will be like...

1 hour ago, sir roger said:

Don't like the overwhelming sense on here that we only have to turn up to win.

Very, very rare in my long lifetime that we have strolled to victory at Old Trafford.

Very, very rare in your long lifetime that they've been as shit as this (and injury ravaged too) though. We have to do more than turn up to win, but not too much more.We'd have to be pretty shit to not win this. Which is possible of course, I just think it's unlikely.

Him sayING Slobozlai all the time is incredibly irritatING.

Yeah nothing's been said about Scanlon and until a week or two ago he was in all the training videos, but on the Inside Anfield from the City game I saw him on crutches at the end of the game. 

JB handled that like a pro. I thought I might break him with "Ben Doak" but he soldiered on. He even powered through when I brought Callum Scanlon into it. Fair play.

All good mate, like I say I only saw the snippet of Walker talking about the ref so that's why I felt a lot differently about it than you did, as you had the context of his Academy stuff and the reason he was doing the interview in the first place, so it will have felt different to you watching the whole thing. I have more of a problem with SSN asking the question than him answering it (and then putting it out as a snippet to generate engagement, which it did, massively!). Walker defo knows what he's doing but it's just smart from him really and he's gained further favour with his boy "Mike" no doubt.

I agree with you about the picking our battles with refs and I've said repeatedly on the pod and in the match reports that it's really hard for refs on the pitch. It's rare I go off on one about the on pitch ref (I've even defended Tierney at times!) and I give them a lot of leeway in general as they only get one look at an incident and it's really difficult. My problem is mostly when VAR is getting things wrong as they have every advantage available to them and there's no excuse.

The ones taking money from UAE is a whole different story though and it needs highlighting as much as possible. Not that a few dickheads on a pod are going to make a difference like, it has to be done on a national level.

My issue isn't about refs being "useless twats" and it's not my job to be "productive in regards to how the process of refereeing/operating VAR can be improved" (even though we have offered plenty of thoughts on that throughout the season on the pod). If you want know how I think it can be improved though, well between us we've covered that on the pod before but from my own point of view I'd say sack Howard Webb and then ban refs from taking side gigs where they are being paid by the chairman of clubs who they are then officiating. That would be a good start.

It's not just Keys saying that about Oliver either, it's been doing the rounds for a while, Keys is just the most high profile 'voice' to state it. Just because the source is an absolute cunt doesn't mean it can't be true and he and Gray will definitely have contacts either in or connected to PGMOL. It's not that big a leap to think that might be true, especially as is nothing to contradict it. No-one has sent Oliver to the screen since he stuck with his on field decision early LAST season (18 months ago). In light of what happened on Sunday I thought it was worth mentioning.

Why would I possibly give Michael Oliver any benefit of the doubt after he took Al Mubarek's money and within a couple of weeks of it we had the Kovacic debacle and him plucking a penalty out of thin air for City when he was VAR in the manc derby?

The Kyle Walker thing, fair enough he's doing the interview to promote something. I didn't know that but it would only change what I said about it slightly. Conducting an interview with him is obviously not unprofessional, but airing all that stuff about "Mike" absolutely was. It's unethical from sky to have him defend a referee who has been giving them beneficial decisions in big games. So yeah, I think that is unprofessional, lowest common denominator clickbait from SSN. Bigging up a ref on national TV can be seen to be trying to influence him. How do you think Oliver felt when he saw that? And do you think it could potentially impact on a future decision he makes when Walker is involved? Not that he needs much influencing.

If you don't want to hear "conspiracy theories" about Oliver then the national media is your best bet because for some reason there's no mention of his little jollies to U.A.E. anywhere. It's almost like it never happened. 

Personally I think everyone should be yelling that from the rooftops until a stop is put to it. Presumably you don't see anything wrong with it though as you seem to have more of an issue with me mentioning it than Oliver doing it!

On 12/03/2024 at 20:02, Code said:

The one and only answer is the manager with 36 games played so far this season in all competions and no losses, and only with a net spend of €12.6m in the summer. 
 

 

It's the biggest no brainer of all time. Ticks every single box. Has a team punching well above its weight because of his coaching excellence, didn't need to spend money to achieve it and his team has the same never give up mentality that ours has. 

The fact he played for us is just an added bonus but even if he hadn't he'd still be the most obvious choice by a mile.

1 hour ago, Barrington Womble said:

We don't know the whole story. I wish the lad would shut the fuck up, he's embarrassing himself. 

 

https://www.90min.com/posts/jordan-henderson-moving-saudi-arabia-mistake?utm_source=fotmob&utm_medium=share

We know enough. He's a tit.

2 hours ago, HazelyCosmicJove said:

Also Kung Fu Doku appears to have both feet off the ground at the time of the alleged non-offence which no-one seems bothered by. Surely as "out of control" as you can get? Unless he also has the wings of an angel of course.

Looks like the ball hits his hand as well. Which would be in an unnatural position if he wasn't executing a Karate Kid 'Crane Kick'.

14 hours ago, Paul said:

These Tory cunts will deport him soon enough. 

Nah he's got money, he'll be sound.

17 minutes ago, Jamie H said:

Arsenal's goal difference is a worry, don't think we can get a 7 goal swing in the remaining games tbh.

We could get that in one game if we put our minds to it. With Salah back up there with Darwin, and Diaz running right into form, we could absolutely demolish someone.

2 hours ago, NoelM said:

"Not today, son."

On 10/03/2024 at 19:19, Barrington Womble said:

What did klopp say? I thought he really struggled 1st half, especially when they were moving the ball quickly early on. Had a cracking 2nd half though. 

The 442 video explained this in detail and showed how our tactical change early in the first half helped Endo and swung the game in our favour. basically said in the beginning he had no chance as he was having to cover De Bruyne and Bernardo, but then we cut off the supply to them (by pushing two players up onto Rodri and Stones) and he was then able to do his thing and dominate the midfield.

That's interesting from Keys because as much as he's a fucking dickhead, he will have contacts that told him about Oliver and his antics.

Some might say that's down to his ego, but what if it's more sinister? What if it's him wanting to influence games and not wanting his colleagues getting in the way? It's incredible that a ref is kicking off about being sent to a monitor by colleagues who have the benefit of replays, angles and slo mo's that he doesn't have. It's suspicious as hell too.

The more I watch City's goal the more I think something needs to be done about blocking at corners. I'm not saying it should have been disallowed as it happens all the time, but I think it needs looking at for future reference. Standing your ground and blocking someone off is fine, but Ake basically acted like an offensive lineman clearing a space for his running back. People said Macca needed to be stronger, but he's an undersized midfielder being shoved out of the way by a centre back who has no interest in the ball, only in stopping Macca from getting to the near post. If this is seen as ok then there should be a free for all and we may as well hire NFL offensive line coaches to teach players how to block.

I'd need to see your workings out on that to come to such a specific number!

I just can't get on board with ripping Diaz after the performance he put in. And Mo should have done better with the chance when Diaz played him in, as that right footed shot was weak as fuck.

He's like a slightly less reckless, considerably more ugly Pickford.

1 minute ago, Code said:

«Ireola has the same agent as Xavi, which might be useful but probably means nothing.»

 

I’ll let you off the hook by the fact V and B are together on the keyboard. 
 

 

 

Appreciate that mate.

Ten games left and we'll win nine of them. Maybe ten, but we might draw somewhere. Spurs at home might be trickier than people think because of how they counter attack, but equally if we're on it that day we could fucking batter them with their high line. This team looks like it's on a mission and won't be denied and Klopp is ridiculously calm and seems to be enjoying himself like never before.