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Post by Paul on Jan 24, 2023 15:43:48 GMT
A good match, but heartbroken with the result. So close, but not to be in the end. I'm heartened that there is even a comparison between us and Arsenal (I still cant believe its ARSENAL challenging right now....FFS) at this stage if I'm being honest. ETH's with 6 months working time vs Arteta's over 30 months. When you put it in context, provided things go right with the club's acquisition, we really could be looking at a major title soon. So disappointed but not disheartened, all things considered. One defeat in ten,i'd be delighted if we go on another run like that & win the next 9. With the run we have now there's no reason we can't.
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Post by viking22 on Jan 24, 2023 16:31:13 GMT
Love the confidence. But think it will be another scramble for top 4.
If we continue to play our strongest team every week we're going to see burnout and injuries derail our season.
If we try to start rotating and giving more game time to dross like Scotty, Maguire, Elanga etc then we are going to drop points.
We've had a great run but we've had to fight for every victory. We do not yet have the ability to cruise to a two or three goal lead and take our foot off the gas and let our best players take an early bath.
The challenge for Erik is keeping morale and confidence high even as momentum runs out of steam and we find ourselves having to bounce back from draws and the occasional loss. That will be the true measure of how far we've come in terms of improving attitudes and mentality and team spirit. Ole and LVG had some good runs but as soon as they ended they turned into slumps.
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Post by Stew on Jan 24, 2023 16:53:10 GMT
There is no use complaining or making excuses. If we want to kick on next season under new ownership we need to finish in the top 4 and it would be inexcusable not to win the Caraboa Cup when you consider the teams left in the competition. We've seen already that our strongest team can beat anyone. But this isn't the 90s. You need to rotate and Erik hasn't been very good at that so far. The way I see it the key players for us have been Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno and Rashford. Obviously in the big games we want all of them on the pitch. But there should be scope to rest a few of them in games against weaker opposition. Of course that means getting the team selections and tactics right. It also means that we have to keep our bench options relatively fresh. Erik's approach of only rotating when he is forced to will cost us a lot more points than considering the quality of the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and deciding who we can afford to rest. And much better to keep players fresh by giving them the occasional rest than waiting until they burn out so we are forced to rest them. For example: When Martial is fit we can probably get away with giving Rashford the occasional rest especially as we have Garnacho in reserve. Fred isn't amazing but he can do a job when required so can occasionally slot into our team allowing us to give Bruno or Eriksen a rest. Shaw can do a job at CB so if Varane or Martinez need the occasional rest he can slot in. Against teams that will park the bus we can probably get away with resting Casemiro and playing Scotty alongside Eriksen. There is no way Scotty should be playing against teams with any kind of attacking threat because he doesn't provide the protection or control that Casemiro does. But against unambitious teams he can do a job for us and Eriksen and Bruno can provide the creativity to break them down. It shouldn't be necessary to play all six the way Erik has been doing most games so far this season. I didn’t dream up the Newcastle takeover did I?
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Post by Bestie on Jan 24, 2023 17:17:48 GMT
There is no use complaining or making excuses. If we want to kick on next season under new ownership we need to finish in the top 4 and it would be inexcusable not to win the Caraboa Cup when you consider the teams left in the competition. We've seen already that our strongest team can beat anyone. But this isn't the 90s. You need to rotate and Erik hasn't been very good at that so far. The way I see it the key players for us have been Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno and Rashford. Obviously in the big games we want all of them on the pitch. But there should be scope to rest a few of them in games against weaker opposition. Of course that means getting the team selections and tactics right. It also means that we have to keep our bench options relatively fresh. Erik's approach of only rotating when he is forced to will cost us a lot more points than considering the quality of the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and deciding who we can afford to rest. And much better to keep players fresh by giving them the occasional rest than waiting until they burn out so we are forced to rest them. For example: When Martial is fit we can probably get away with giving Rashford the occasional rest especially as we have Garnacho in reserve. Fred isn't amazing but he can do a job when required so can occasionally slot into our team allowing us to give Bruno or Eriksen a rest. Shaw can do a job at CB so if Varane or Martinez need the occasional rest he can slot in. Against teams that will park the bus we can probably get away with resting Casemiro and playing Scotty alongside Eriksen. There is no way Scotty should be playing against teams with any kind of attacking threat because he doesn't provide the protection or control that Casemiro does. But against unambitious teams he can do a job for us and Eriksen and Bruno can provide the creativity to break them down. It shouldn't be necessary to play all six the way Erik has been doing most games so far this season. I didn’t dream up the Newcastle takeover did I? If we can't beat Newcastle, takeover or no takeover, we might as well give up.
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Post by viking22 on Jan 24, 2023 17:19:10 GMT
Barring serious injuries or a major slump in the league that leaves us in a position where we cannot afford to rest players before the final we should be beating Newcastle in the final. They haven't splashed the cash since the takeover and they are not yet in a position where they can sign the best players. We've spent similar amounts over the last few seasons as they have. And they don't have anyone of the quality of Varane or Casemiro or Rashford in their team and we have a better manager as well.
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Post by Paul on Jan 24, 2023 17:19:54 GMT
There is no use complaining or making excuses. If we want to kick on next season under new ownership we need to finish in the top 4 and it would be inexcusable not to win the Caraboa Cup when you consider the teams left in the competition. We've seen already that our strongest team can beat anyone. But this isn't the 90s. You need to rotate and Erik hasn't been very good at that so far. The way I see it the key players for us have been Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno and Rashford. Obviously in the big games we want all of them on the pitch. But there should be scope to rest a few of them in games against weaker opposition. Of course that means getting the team selections and tactics right. It also means that we have to keep our bench options relatively fresh. Erik's approach of only rotating when he is forced to will cost us a lot more points than considering the quality of the opposition and their strengths and weaknesses and deciding who we can afford to rest. And much better to keep players fresh by giving them the occasional rest than waiting until they burn out so we are forced to rest them. For example: When Martial is fit we can probably get away with giving Rashford the occasional rest especially as we have Garnacho in reserve. Fred isn't amazing but he can do a job when required so can occasionally slot into our team allowing us to give Bruno or Eriksen a rest. Shaw can do a job at CB so if Varane or Martinez need the occasional rest he can slot in. Against teams that will park the bus we can probably get away with resting Casemiro and playing Scotty alongside Eriksen. There is no way Scotty should be playing against teams with any kind of attacking threat because he doesn't provide the protection or control that Casemiro does. But against unambitious teams he can do a job for us and Eriksen and Bruno can provide the creativity to break them down. It shouldn't be necessary to play all six the way Erik has been doing most games so far this season. I didn’t dream up the Newcastle takeover did I? The last thing we need to be doing is taking them lightly. They've only lost one all season for a reason and they shouldn't have lost that. I expect us to win, but isn't a given.
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Post by Kojak on Jan 24, 2023 17:20:26 GMT
I didn’t dream up the Newcastle takeover did I? If we can't beat Newcastle, takeover or no takeover, we might as well give up. They’ve just gone a bit goal shy the Geordies, hopefully Southampton can do them on penalties after an inevitable two legged nil-niller.
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Post by johnboy14 on Jan 24, 2023 17:48:29 GMT
If we can't beat Newcastle, takeover or no takeover, we might as well give up. They’ve just gone a bit goal shy the Geordies, hopefully Southampton can do them on penalties after an inevitable two legged nil-niller. Almiron seems to have gone in recent weeks but defensively they are pretty solid. I'd take Southampton every day of the week over Newcastle.
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Post by Diablo Rouge on Jan 24, 2023 18:04:39 GMT
I didn’t dream up the Newcastle takeover did I? If we can't beat Newcastle, takeover or no takeover, we might as well give up. We already failed to beat them, at home, in mid October(with a mis-firing Ronaldo). They've only lost a single league game all season, very unluckily also in the 96th minute at Anfield. And currently are behind them in the league. So yeh, we may give up now so.
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Post by Bestie on Jan 24, 2023 19:03:53 GMT
If we can't beat Newcastle, takeover or no takeover, we might as well give up. We already failed to beat them, at home, in mid October(with a mis-firing Ronaldo). They've only lost a single league game all season, very unluckily also in the 96th minute at Anfield. And currently are behind them in the league. So yeh, we may give up now so. A Cup final (and we have to get there first) isn't the League. Newcastle haven't seen a trophy they haven't had to walk past in nearly 70 years. We have fallen a bit but we are still Manchester United for fuck sake. Could we at least pretend to remember what standards are? Fucking hell.
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Post by Stew on Jan 24, 2023 19:24:00 GMT
We already failed to beat them, at home, in mid October(with a mis-firing Ronaldo). They've only lost a single league game all season, very unluckily also in the 96th minute at Anfield. And currently are behind them in the league. So yeh, we may give up now so. A Cup final (and we have to get there first) isn't the League. Newcastle haven't seen a trophy they haven't had to walk past in nearly 70 years. We have fallen a bit but we are still Manchester United for fuck sake. Could we at least pretend to remember what standards are? Fucking hell. That sounds very familiar to the stuff we used to say before City won their first trophy. That banner was taken down a long time ago. City weren’t City anymore. Newcastle aren’t Newcastle either. They’re nation states in football form. PSG were an also-ran in France for decades. This idea that we’ll beat Newcastle because we’re Man Utd is a quaint but Times have changed man, that’s the sad reality. I think we’ll win it but Newcastle in the final would be a bloody tough game.
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Post by Diablo Rouge on Jan 24, 2023 19:38:16 GMT
We already failed to beat them, at home, in mid October(with a mis-firing Ronaldo). They've only lost a single league game all season, very unluckily also in the 96th minute at Anfield. And currently are behind them in the league. So yeh, we may give up now so. A Cup final (and we have to get there first) isn't the League. Newcastle haven't seen a trophy they haven't had to walk past in nearly 70 years. We have fallen a bit but we are still Manchester United for fuck sake. Could we at least pretend to remember what standards are? Fucking hell. When Olé used to say "we are still Manchester United" while failing miserably on countless occasions against so called lesser fodder, he was duely lambasted and ridiculed. But now its OK to say it? Makes sense.
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Post by viking22 on Jan 24, 2023 19:49:07 GMT
The takeover was in October 2021. The last two seasons they spent around £280m on players. The last two seasons we spent £380m on players. OK some of that money was wasted but we also got some incredible bargains such as Varane for £25m, Casemiro for £70m, Martinez for £50m and Eriksen on a free. So it isn't as if they have been flexing their financial muscle in a serious way yet. So saying "Oh they have oil money and we don't" isn't yet a valid excuse
Their team is more balanced than ours and their form has been very impressive this season. But at this point in time our first team has more quality and Erik should be able to make that quality count. Erik has won trophies before. Howe has only won the Championship. As a collective our first team squad have won way more trophies than theirs has. So that should give us an added advantage.
I'm not saying it will be an easy game. But I would much rather play them than Manchester City, Arsenal or Liverpool. But if Erik is the right man for this job then he should be winning a final against Newcastle. Jose and LVG won domestic cups. Ole and Moyes didn't.
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Post by Bestie on Jan 24, 2023 19:54:12 GMT
A Cup final (and we have to get there first) isn't the League. Newcastle haven't seen a trophy they haven't had to walk past in nearly 70 years. We have fallen a bit but we are still Manchester United for fuck sake. Could we at least pretend to remember what standards are? Fucking hell. That sounds very familiar to the stuff we used to say before City won their first trophy. That banner was taken down a long time ago. City weren’t City anymore. Newcastle aren’t Newcastle either. They’re nation states in football form. PSG were an also-ran in France for decades. This idea that we’ll beat Newcastle because we’re Man Utd is a quaint but Times have changed man, that’s the sad reality. I think we’ll win it but Newcastle in the final would be a bloody tough game. Yeah, but city had Kompany, Toure, Aguero, and Mancini. Newcastle haven't gone full financial doping (yet). They're still in the Mark Hughes phase. I'm not talking about beating the ownership and the superpower they're almost certainly going to buy themselves into being, I'm on about what is on the pitch right now.
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Post by Bestie on Jan 24, 2023 19:58:05 GMT
A Cup final (and we have to get there first) isn't the League. Newcastle haven't seen a trophy they haven't had to walk past in nearly 70 years. We have fallen a bit but we are still Manchester United for fuck sake. Could we at least pretend to remember what standards are? Fucking hell. When Olé used to say "we are still Manchester United" while failing miserably on countless occasions against so called lesser fodder, he was duely lambasted and ridiculed. But now its OK to say it? Makes sense. He was ridiculed because he said it while failing miserably and pretending losing in finals was progress. There is such a thing as context. How is that confusing.
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