Joey8FrogsLegs

Nowhere near good enough to play on the wing for us in a 433. And wouldn’t be an upgrade to our midfield either imo. If we change to a 4231 then maybe, but I still dont think he’d make the first eleven. Harvey Elliott is probably a better player anyway in a year or two for the positions Odegaard could play. Maybe he is already. We need a CB.

This is a good point. Midfield hasnt offered goals at all for years. Trent was becoming a source, but has dried up for now. And not least we have zero threat from CB at the moment. Without Van Dijk and Matip in the team our main threat from corners is Sadio. He’s brilliant in the air, but when he, and to a certain degree Bobby is all we have to offer then no team in professional football will have much to fear about from our corners.

Fair enough, we have a somewhat different view on Thiago. And I do see your point that it may take time for him to get to know his team mates and the way we set up. And probably also for them to understand him, he seems to be a move or two ahead at times. And I definately agree about the pressing. It’s key to both attack and defence for us, and it’s not working properly at the moment. Even if I’d say the first half yesterday was step in the right direction.

Ribery, Lewandowski, Robben.

This. Every word of it. If I should add something it would be his ability to hit progressive passes first time, through the lines, in many cases where the obvious choice seems to be a short sideways pass. How people fail to see this is beyond me. And suggesting we drop him and play Gini and Henderson in midfield because we lack creativity and goals? I have a lot of respect for a difference in opinion, but this one really baffles me.

Well, there is a post I 100% disagree with. Fair enough.

Tough crowd. He did produce one good shot from outside the area yesterday. A chance he created on his own. Unfortunately the shot went straight at De Gea, but it still troubled him. Dont know what you expect from a player in that position, to me it’s obvious he’s a world class player.

Showed again today that he’s simply world class. A joy to watch, and the best player on the field by some distance in the first half. Like the rest of the team he ran out of steam a bit as the game went on. He’s probably also not on his best physical form yet after a long time out. Looks a great signing,

Probably the best keeper in the world. On a day where many spend their energy on how we need to rebuild the whole team I choose to enjoy the fact that he’s ours and will be part of the backbone of a brilliant team for years to come.

I’m normally a moaning cunt in the match threads. But reading today makes me laugh. We need to rebuild, we’ve been found out, we’re past our peak and so on. Well, good news, that’s all bollocks. We’re a great team, with plenty of great players and the best manager in world football. We have some obvious and major injury problems, and we’re off form at the moment. We’ve stopped scoring and it’s clearly affected our confidence. We’re making it harder for ourselves with the CB situation, it should have been addressed in the summer and we should address it now. But we’ll work our way through it, and we’ll get back to a completely different level.

We’re probably doing it because they are totally superior in the air. By playing it short we’re hoping to create some movement and from that space before we cross it. With no CBs we provide more or less no threat from corners and crosses from free kicks. Mane is our main threat, and to some degree Bobby. The rest are making up the numbers in the box.

Game is changing now, their more compact and our pressing is weaker which allow them space to break.

We’ve had golden opportunities inside their box. Final ball or shit finishing on every occasion. The one Bobby fluffed on 33 mins for example. Is a massive chance. Also he could have played it sideways to Sadio to finish from point blank range. Earlier when he shot wide with his left earlier in the half he could easily have played Robbo through inside the box. We’ve done all the hard work, pinned them back and carved out the openings, but failed to take advantage.

Excellent half from us, showed who are the better team overall. By some distance as well. But our finishing and quality in and around their box has been poor. Should’ve had two goals at least from our total dominance. Their counter attacks remain a worry, and even more so set pieces. Can see them, and all other teams really, scoring against us from a corner. And fuck off to the clueless ref as usual, blowing off the first half as a through ball was in the air.

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