ever more imminently, as ManU goes down limply to WAT, Ole applauds the away fans in a got-to-be knowing swan song. ManU Board calls for an emergency meeting, 2PM EST (yes, EST, acc to Arlo White's citing a report from Sunday Times).
- Pulisic scores in another clean sheet for CHE.
- Klopp and Arteta both carded for their 'furious' confrontation on the touch line over lack of a call for Mané's swipe to head of ARS mf. Mané, who has the only goal in 1H, been quite chippy all game. Half time there.
- AVL, in Stephen Gerrard's 1st game as Mgr (if I have that right) gets a win as 2 goals in the last 6 minutes of regulation give AVL a win over BHA after a string of losses.
Seems like clock has about struck 12 for Ole, and guessing many ManU fans will rejoice, 'what took the Club so long?'
I'm not a MU partisan like some here, guessing BHE and others, but their colors and loyalty run deep, and when it seems the players have given up on their manager, there's only one way the Board can go even if the players are not playing to their capabilities. Painful, often seen in these parts too.
I saw Palace's 2-0 win at Man City - they're good. Fun to watch as well.
And of the upstarts this year, WHU which I mentioned in a footie thread a week or two ago for its surprising ascent lost today to Wolverton, itself just behind Arsenal. Table not looking like its 'normal' self.
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But Ole is just a fall guy who loves the club. That's why he's still there and not Conte or Pochettino. The ownership has literally screwed up every aspect of the club since SAF left (and some would say even before that). Every decision is based on commercial value, not on a football strategy or philosophy.
I could go on and on, but nothing about the squad makes sense. They are essentially playing 4-2-4 every week because they don't have quality central midfielders while Mata, Jones, and Bailly are still on the squad. The Van De Beek saga is insane. Their transfer strategy is a joke.
No identity for the club other than trying to stay in the top 4 to make the Glazers money.
Don't forget Klopp knew this about the Glazers years ago, and chose not to replace Moyes.
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If I heard it right, one of the NBC Sports crew mused on Zidane; I'm not glued in to the British Press so that may just have been a throw away.
Del, thanks for the Pulisic clip.
Here is a too short clip of the Jota-Mané-Salah goal, which doesn't do the Jota header justice and too small in frame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1coUqBRKFJE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1coUqBRKFJE
Here's a longer version with replays that show the buildup. Nice indeed!
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He also wasted Pogba as a holding midfielder half the time which is pointless. Pogba should be in the attacking third sending balls into Ronaldo.
Meanwhile in Tottenham, Conte made them stay 3 hours extra this week to run shadow play passing over 150 times. What United could have had.
He also wasted Pogba as a holding midfielder half the time which is pointless. Pogba should be in the attacking third sending balls into Ronaldo.
Meanwhile in Tottenham, Conte made them stay 3 hours extra this week to run shadow play passing over 150 times. What United could have had.
Pogba was never a fit because they never had an all-action CDM like Kante or Arturo Vidal next to him. Instead he had garbage Fred or the corpse of Matic. They've had the same problem since Michael Carrick retired.
I'd be shocked if Zidane takes the job, when he can simply wait 13 months to take the France job after the Qatar World Cup. But stranger things have happened.
Overall thought the roster ROI is ludicrously bad - they are thin at both fullback (Ole wouldn't play Telles), the central defense is a mess - they spent 80M on Maguire when Manolas and Rudiger each cost more than half that at the time, no CDM and for some reason they bought VDB and never played him, they were already 6 deep up top in a 3-3-4 and still signed Ronaldo, Mind-boggling stuff.
Pogba was never a fit because they never had an all-action CDM like Kante or Arturo Vidal next to him. Instead he had garbage Fred or the corpse of Matic. They've had the same problem since Michael Carrick retired....
Overall thought the roster ROI is ludicrously bad - they are thin at both fullback (Ole wouldn't play Telles), the central defense is a mess - they spent 80M on Maguire when Manolas and Rudiger each cost more than half that at the time, no CDM and for some reason they bought VDB and never played him, they were already 6 deep up top in a 3-3-4 and still signed Ronaldo, Mind-boggling stuff.
I don't follow the team like you do BHE, but all you say has the ring of truth, similar to the condemnations that have rung around Reese and DG for the past decade. So frustrating to see the boneheaded signings and mis-use of players.
CHP, very similar to the Giants with a lot of band-aids, unwilling to make tough decisions and no general direction -- they didn't have a Director of Football for years! I do think there is something to the English players being exhausted after the Euros, you can see it across the league.
They need an actual project, a coach with a vision, which they missed when Woodward didn't impress Klopp years ago. The whole midfield and defense needs rebuilding. Maybe Pochettino decides he wants to come back to England, maybe they hire Ten Hag, we'll see.
Yeah, the header was amazing. More so because Jota seemed to supply all the power; it wasn't like ball was coming at him and he headed it away.
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For me, there is little that is so dispiriting as failed re-builds, especially when management doesn't recognize a full re-build is in order and fails to own up and take it head on. The Giants haven't even called these re-builds after multiple cycles of tinkering around the edges: 2011, 2015, seemingly each year 2017 - 2020, lol. As you say, without a sharp football (both types) mind and insightful vision, it's a treadmill to nowhere.