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Post by Sméagol on May 11, 2018 15:00:14 GMT
 Phil Jones is special. There are certain moments in every special footballer's life that are truly iconic. No matter how much they achieve and regardless of the accolades they collect along the way, we tend to zone in on particular instances in their careers, and these become lodged into our mind's eye whenever they are mentioned.  With Diego Maradona, we are immediately transported to Estadio Azteca; refer to Johan Cruyff and his famous turn comes to mind. The very utterance of Gordon Banks' name conjures up that amazing save of a Pele header, whilst Dennis Bergkamp is forever synonimous with plucking a ball from the Marseille sky. It is not to belittle or dismiss anything else they've achieved, like continual demands for a rock star's biggest hit, rather these moments stick because they are distillations of genius. You can long-play through an entire career and learn little more than you would in a few magical seconds that capture an essence. Which brings us to this week, and Philip Anthony Jones. He may not boast Bergkamp's grace or touch, nor Cruyff's effortless élan, but to millions around the world Jones is just as much an other worldly enigma. There are things he does on the football field that cause us all to gasp, and simply wonder: how? His actions often defy all known logic. On Thursday night, the burley defender had his own moment of quintessence. As with so many of these iconic snapshots, it was almost incidental to the outcome of the game, and certainly blink-and-you-miss-it in its brevity. But upon witnessing it again and again in all its glory, few can deny it was pure Phil Jones. In the eighteen minute of Manchester United's game at West Ham, a long wayward ball was lofted to the right flank, where Marko Arnautović and Jones both tried in vain to keep it within the bounds. The Austrian forward checked his run, but Jones continued on his journey to immortality. That's when it happened. His left boot caught the edge of the faux grass rug at the perimeter of the field, causing him to hurtle to earth like a failed space mission. Arnautović looked around to see where his opposite number had disappeared to, but he had missed this most exemplar of Jones moments. It had all the hallmarks of the United man's standard: demented lower limbs desperately flailing for purchase upon the soft ground; numb, lifeless arms swinging like dead convicts on the hangman's noose; and the thick slab of his ample torso slapping on terra firma like a tranquillised rhino. It was magical.  What makes it even more iconic is what we don't see - the famous 'Phil Jones face'. It is hidden from view, leaving us with no alternative but to create a contorted collage in our heads. We can only imagine the combination of fear, determination, sick joy and panic in the face of a man meeting his fate, like a suicidal salmon leaping towards the sweet release of a jagged riverside rock. Chilling, and yet beautiful. Phil Jones being Phil Jones, he simply picked himself up and lumbered back to his position as if nothing had happened. But deep down inside he must have known that he'd written himself into history. And no doubt he fashioned those plasticine lips into a grin at the thought of children everywhere recreating his move on hard concrete. Thank you Phil Jones. For everything, but especially that magical night at whatever West Ham's ground is called these days. You have transcended sport with your magical grassy faceplant. www.joe.co.uk/amp/sport/the-quintessence-of-phil-jones-177854?__twitter_impression=true |
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Post by WhatsTheMata on May 11, 2018 15:29:38 GMT
The 0-0 draw against West Ham may sound unfair to lots of United fans around there – although in my country this doesn't exist. "The ball punishes you", we say – but our chances were limited and we could not beat one of the league's 'dead' teams. Maybe because we're part of the same group.
No, no. Wait a minute. I forgot. We were facing David Moyes' super-powerful West Ham United, so when Mourinho decided to put together a well-rounded system to eliminate his opponent's strengths (if there's any lol) and focus on counters he was right.
Young, who has rested yesterday, has been praised by the gaffer and has already earned a key-role status for the upcoming season. Although I'm not discussing his merits or that he deserves respect, the insistence on average athletes is worrying.
Also, let's take it easy on McTominay. He was back on the starting XI and had an okay performance, but let's not put a lot of pressure that he will be our next big academy product, no matter how proud we are of him.
Lingard and Sanchez opened up again discussions about the benched players I see. Their current phase should not warrant an immediate and undisputed start, but we need perspective on the use - and development - of some talents. 25/11, 20/01, 15/01, 05/11: these are the dates of the last time Rashford, Martial, Shaw and Bailly started two straight games, respectively. It is easy to point out a lack of resilience or consistency in a player's trajectory, but it is difficult to see them start regularly.
Shaw had a great display yesterday, defended effectively and was an important option in the attack. He also surprised positively with his physical condition, something that had been disturbing him this season. He did a lot more than Young does, but soon he will return to oblivion.
The subs were a joke. I'm all in for tactical ones, but some crossed the line.
In summary, another boring match. Thank you for reading all of this.
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Post by Stew1980 on May 11, 2018 15:37:23 GMT
Gets on my nerves with Shaw and people going on about his 'condition'.
Anyone get me a picture up of him not looking ripped without his United kit on? Sanchez looks a bit wide too, is he a lazy fat fuck?
Matic come to think of it is a bit wide, Sterling has a fat arse, so does Yaya Toure.
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Post by weetomsligaments on May 11, 2018 15:40:22 GMT
Gets on my nerves with Shaw and people going on about his 'condition'. Anyone get me a picture up of him not looking ripped without his United kit on? Sanchez looks a bit wide too, is he a lazy fat fuck? Matic come to think of it is a bit wide, Sterling has a fat arse, so does Yaya Toure. Shaw can be the fattest fucker out there IF he has the lungs to go box to box. Critiquing his size is a valid argument ONLY if he cannot physically cover the entire wing. Funny thing is, Mourinho instructs his fullbacks to stop at the half line so the conditioning of the fullbacks can be less than other outfield players. |
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Post by _ on May 11, 2018 17:05:19 GMT
Gets on my nerves with Shaw and people going on about his 'condition'. Anyone get me a picture up of him not looking ripped without his United kit on? Sanchez looks a bit wide too, is he a lazy fat fuck? Matic come to think of it is a bit wide, Sterling has a fat arse, so does Yaya Toure. He runs funny too with his ducks arse |
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Post by Karma on May 11, 2018 19:00:06 GMT
Modern day players? What the ones who sulk when they get called out for half arsed performances? Or go running to the press because they didn't get picked to start a game? Those ones? Ever since Fergie left we've been protecting players, the majority of whom have done little to justify it. 3rd manager in now, same old shite. Please. Spare us. Just program a bot to say "automatic message: Mourinho is blameless and it's all on the players" It's impossible to have an argument with you. If you want to settle for pragmatic football, just get Big Sam for the job. Remember Atkinson, since you are the one who's averse to modern day stuff? Atkinson said football should be an entertaining competition. We are not really competitive as we saw vs Sevilla and we are not entertaining. You're too hooked up on the argument that those players did nothing to warrant a place on the squad but when there is a collective failure, you should know it's about the coach too. Mourinho signed a large fraction of the players who work under him now, he's not obliged to work with them. And even if he was, it's the manager's job to bring the best of the player. Are they blameless? Of course not and they shall share part of the blame. However, you come here and you slag them empirically, deflect arguments and fuck off to say the same thing over and over again. Where am I slagging them off? I have suggested that some aren't putting in enough decent performances. Meanwhile some feel the need to continuely slag off certain remembers of the team regardless while others give some a free ride to underperform. Sanchez is a busted flush Lukaku a donkey according to some on here and there aren't enough adjectives for Fellani looking at some of the venom directed to him . Thankfully for Lingard he has had a productive season so has been spared some of the hate this time around. The meltdowns on match day threads if someone's favourite isn't playing and the grief directed at their replacement is hilarious. So really I'm not the person who should be getting pelters for slagging off players. The lack of self awareness on here is off the scale. |
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Post by Stew on May 11, 2018 20:46:46 GMT
Please. Spare us. Just program a bot to say "automatic message: Mourinho is blameless and it's all on the players" It's impossible to have an argument with you. If you want to settle for pragmatic football, just get Big Sam for the job. Remember Atkinson, since you are the one who's averse to modern day stuff? Atkinson said football should be an entertaining competition. We are not really competitive as we saw vs Sevilla and we are not entertaining. You're too hooked up on the argument that those players did nothing to warrant a place on the squad but when there is a collective failure, you should know it's about the coach too. Mourinho signed a large fraction of the players who work under him now, he's not obliged to work with them. And even if he was, it's the manager's job to bring the best of the player. Are they blameless? Of course not and they shall share part of the blame. However, you come here and you slag them empirically, deflect arguments and fuck off to say the same thing over and over again. Where am I slagging them off? I have suggested that some aren't putting in enough decent performances. Meanwhile some feel the need to continuely slag off certain remembers of the team regardless while others give some a free ride to underperform. Sanchez is a busted flush Lukaku a donkey according to some on here and there aren't enough adjectives for Fellani looking at some of the venom directed to him . Thankfully for Lingard he has had a productive season so has been spared some of the hate this time around. The meltdowns on match day threads if someone's favourite isn't playing and the grief directed at their replacement is hilarious. So really I'm not the person who should be getting pelters for slagging off players. The lack of self awareness on here is off the scale. You keep lumping Lukaku and Sanchez together as examples of players who keep getting stick and it’s disingenuous. The vast majority of people on here have backed Lukaku even when he was going through a relative lean spell, because the guy has played well and has performed to a high level. Sanchez hasn’t at all. And has had the added bonus of effectively ending the Utd career one of the best young players in Europe. You can come up with all the counter arguments you want but Martial was performing to a high level, was contributing goals and assists from the LW before Sanchez arrived. He won our player of the month before the transfer ffs. Since then he’s been unfairly dropped and not treated in the same fashion as Sanchez by his manager, so who can blame him for leaving? He is also in grave danger of missing out on the World Cup. A World Cup that Sanchez isn’t taking part in. Lukaku and Sanchez are completely different cases. |
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Post by GeniusCantona on May 11, 2018 21:09:08 GMT
Some of the football this year has been dire but there has been more good than bad. Our performances at the beginning of the season when 4 nil became a regular scoreline were entertaining. Then the anfield result and derby loss at home stunted our progress. On top of that Pogba gets injured derailing what was looking like his best season. Then December was a complete shambles when our forwards forgot how to put the ball in the net. The Leicester City result was so damn frustrating when we could have had 7 or 8 goals in that game.
The comebacks against Palace, City, Chelsea and Spurs were the main highlights for me. That to me is the biggest progress shown to date. For the past 4 years we showed almost absolutely no fight when we went down. What I'll give Jose credit for is trying to instill a harder and tougher attitude in the players. He's trying to establish the high standards again. We were starting to become a country club for players: big paycheque, big club, live off past achievements and fame rather than your own etc. I'm happy at least that Jose is trying to toughen up some of the weak links in our squad. Don't you want the standard again where the manager is the boss? Chelsea are the prime example of when you give players way too much leeway. They've given up on two managers after winning the title. So quite frankly Merson and the ABU brigade can fuck off. You shouldn't be fearing your manager if you're putting the effort in.
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Post by . on May 11, 2018 21:19:49 GMT
Some of the football this year has been dire but there has been more good than bad. Our performances at the beginning of the season when 4 nil became a regular scoreline were entertaining. Then the anfield result and derby loss at home stunted our progress. On top of that Pogba gets injured derailing what was looking like his best season. Then December was a complete shambles when our forwards forgot how to put the ball in the net. The Leicester City result was so damn frustrating when we could have had 7 or 8 goals in that game. The comebacks against Palace, City, Chelsea and Spurs were the main highlights for me. That to me is the biggest progress shown to date. For the past 4 years we showed almost absolutely no fight when we went down. What I'll give Jose credit for is trying to instill a harder and tougher attitude in the players. He's trying to establish the high standards again. We were starting to become a country club for players: big paycheque, big club, live off past achievements and fame rather than your own etc. I'm happy at least that Jose is trying to toughen up some of the weak links in our squad. Don't you want the standard again where the manager is the boss? Chelsea are the prime example of when you give players way too much leeway. They've given up on two managers after winning the title. So quite frankly Merson and the ABU brigade can fuck off. You shouldn't be fearing your manager if you're putting the effort in. Out of the 37 league matches, you think 19 of them were good? And that would make it barely more good than bad. I'd say that number is less than 10. We had some good wins and some great half-game performances, but I'm left with a blur of staid, boring matches when I think of this season. In the champions league matches I don't remember any of them being particularly good, with the Sevilla matches qualifying as horrific. FA Cup matches? If we win it then you could have a point there. The 'country club' stuff, do you mean Rooney? Who else fits into that category? I can't think of anyone. |
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Post by Bestie on May 12, 2018 0:08:10 GMT
Some of the football this year has been dire but there has been more good than bad. Our performances at the beginning of the season when 4 nil became a regular scoreline were entertaining. Then the anfield result and derby loss at home stunted our progress. On top of that Pogba gets injured derailing what was looking like his best season. Then December was a complete shambles when our forwards forgot how to put the ball in the net. The Leicester City result was so damn frustrating when we could have had 7 or 8 goals in that game. The comebacks against Palace, City, Chelsea and Spurs were the main highlights for me. That to me is the biggest progress shown to date. For the past 4 years we showed almost absolutely no fight when we went down. What I'll give Jose credit for is trying to instill a harder and tougher attitude in the players. He's trying to establish the high standards again. We were starting to become a country club for players: big paycheque, big club, live off past achievements and fame rather than your own etc. I'm happy at least that Jose is trying to toughen up some of the weak links in our squad. Don't you want the standard again where the manager is the boss? Chelsea are the prime example of when you give players way too much leeway. They've given up on two managers after winning the title. So quite frankly Merson and the ABU brigade can fuck off. You shouldn't be fearing your manager if you're putting the effort in. They weren't, really. Some said it at the time. We were efficient and ran up scores against sides near the end of games, but let's not pretend we were consistently brilliant and threatening. |
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Post by WhatsTheMata on May 12, 2018 0:15:45 GMT
Some of the football this year has been dire but there has been more good than bad. Our performances at the beginning of the season when 4 nil became a regular scoreline were entertaining. Then the anfield result and derby loss at home stunted our progress. On top of that Pogba gets injured derailing what was looking like his best season. Then December was a complete shambles when our forwards forgot how to put the ball in the net. The Leicester City result was so damn frustrating when we could have had 7 or 8 goals in that game. The comebacks against Palace, City, Chelsea and Spurs were the main highlights for me. That to me is the biggest progress shown to date. For the past 4 years we showed almost absolutely no fight when we went down. What I'll give Jose credit for is trying to instill a harder and tougher attitude in the players. He's trying to establish the high standards again. We were starting to become a country club for players: big paycheque, big club, live off past achievements and fame rather than your own etc. I'm happy at least that Jose is trying to toughen up some of the weak links in our squad. Don't you want the standard again where the manager is the boss? Chelsea are the prime example of when you give players way too much leeway. They've given up on two managers after winning the title. So quite frankly Merson and the ABU brigade can fuck off. You shouldn't be fearing your manager if you're putting the effort in. They weren't, really. Some said it at the time. We were efficient and ran up scores against sides near the end of games, but let's not pretend we were consistently brilliant and threatening. On the first matchday thread I called it up. |
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Post by WhatsTheMata on May 12, 2018 0:19:17 GMT
Please. Spare us. Just program a bot to say "automatic message: Mourinho is blameless and it's all on the players" It's impossible to have an argument with you. If you want to settle for pragmatic football, just get Big Sam for the job. Remember Atkinson, since you are the one who's averse to modern day stuff? Atkinson said football should be an entertaining competition. We are not really competitive as we saw vs Sevilla and we are not entertaining. You're too hooked up on the argument that those players did nothing to warrant a place on the squad but when there is a collective failure, you should know it's about the coach too. Mourinho signed a large fraction of the players who work under him now, he's not obliged to work with them. And even if he was, it's the manager's job to bring the best of the player. Are they blameless? Of course not and they shall share part of the blame. However, you come here and you slag them empirically, deflect arguments and fuck off to say the same thing over and over again. Where am I slagging them off? I have suggested that some aren't putting in enough decent performances. Meanwhile some feel the need to continuely slag off certain remembers of the team regardless while others give some a free ride to underperform. Sanchez is a busted flush Lukaku a donkey according to some on here and there aren't enough adjectives for Fellani looking at some of the venom directed to him . Thankfully for Lingard he has had a productive season so has been spared some of the hate this time around. The meltdowns on match day threads if someone's favourite isn't playing and the grief directed at their replacement is hilarious. So really I'm not the person who should be getting pelters for slagging off players. The lack of self awareness on here is off the scale. You, when you put the entire blame on the team and none on the manager. Your manichaeism towards Mourinho is baffling to say the least. Funny thing is that you'll repeat yourself, deflect the subject or ask me "so who do you suggest to replace him?" If the latter, I'd say that even Pope Francis wouldn't play for the draw vs West fucking Ham. |
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Post by Karma on May 12, 2018 1:18:36 GMT
Where am I slagging them off? I have suggested that some aren't putting in enough decent performances. Meanwhile some feel the need to continuely slag off certain remembers of the team regardless while others give some a free ride to underperform. Sanchez is a busted flush Lukaku a donkey according to some on here and there aren't enough adjectives for Fellani looking at some of the venom directed to him . Thankfully for Lingard he has had a productive season so has been spared some of the hate this time around. The meltdowns on match day threads if someone's favourite isn't playing and the grief directed at their replacement is hilarious. So really I'm not the person who should be getting pelters for slagging off players. The lack of self awareness on here is off the scale. You, when you put the entire blame on the team and none on the manager. Your manichaeism towards Mourinho is baffling to say the least. Funny thing is that you'll repeat yourself, deflect the subject or ask me "so who do you suggest to replace him?" If the latter, I'd say that even Pope Francis wouldn't play for the draw vs West fucking Ham. Where have I blamed everything on the players? Maybe I should join the merry band on here where everything should be blamed on the manager instead and everyone else gets a free ride unless your name is Fellani, Sanchez or any other poor sap who is keeping out the forums darlings from their rightful place in the starting 11. As I have said before we are 3 managers in since Fergie but some players are getting a free ride. Let's just replace him with the next flavour of the month, the Poch fan club have retreated until the next time no doubt and the much mocked Klopp seems to have taken his place for the time being. Jose has done enough to warrant a 3rd season regardless of some of the hysterics on here. The last two managers were fired for failing to get top 4. You don't fire a manager for securing second if you don't want to set a dangerous precedent for his replacement. |
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Post by WhatsTheMata on May 12, 2018 2:11:25 GMT
You, when you put the entire blame on the team and none on the manager. Your manichaeism towards Mourinho is baffling to say the least. Funny thing is that you'll repeat yourself, deflect the subject or ask me "so who do you suggest to replace him?" If the latter, I'd say that even Pope Francis wouldn't play for the draw vs West fucking Ham. Where have I blamed everything on the players? Maybe I should join the merry band on here where everything should be blamed on the manager instead and everyone else gets a free ride unless your name is Fellani, Sanchez or any other poor sap who is keeping out the forums darlings from their rightful place in the starting 11. As I have said before we are 3 managers in since Fergie but some players are getting a free ride. Let's just replace him with the next flavour of the month, the Poch fan club have retreated until the next time no doubt and the much mocked Klopp seems to have taken his place for the time being. Jose has done enough to warrant a 3rd season regardless of some of the hysterics on here. The last two managers were fired for failing to get top 4. You don't fire a manager for securing second if you don't want to set a dangerous precedent for his replacement. Who's getting a free ride? Enlighten me. Also, if you think Fellaini does deserve the jersey for contributing to close to nothing but panic, almost accidental goals you should get your head checked. You can mock Klopp all you want but he is on a Champions League final again and if he wasn't so stubborn, he could guide the scousers for their first Premier League. You can see Liverpool has a style of play, you can see that if they strengthen X area, they are fully capable of achieving something. We are just lucky he's a stubborn prick. What about us? Sometimes you sound very out of touch with reality. |
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Post by dazjoe on May 12, 2018 5:38:40 GMT
Some of the football this year has been dire but there has been more good than bad. Our performances at the beginning of the season when 4 nil became a regular scoreline were entertaining. Then the anfield result and derby loss at home stunted our progress. On top of that Pogba gets injured derailing what was looking like his best season. Then December was a complete shambles when our forwards forgot how to put the ball in the net. The Leicester City result was so damn frustrating when we could have had 7 or 8 goals in that game. The comebacks against Palace, City, Chelsea and Spurs were the main highlights for me. That to me is the biggest progress shown to date. For the past 4 years we showed almost absolutely no fight when we went down. What I'll give Jose credit for is trying to instill a harder and tougher attitude in the players. He's trying to establish the high standards again. We were starting to become a country club for players: big paycheque, big club, live off past achievements and fame rather than your own etc. I'm happy at least that Jose is trying to toughen up some of the weak links in our squad. Don't you want the standard again where the manager is the boss? Chelsea are the prime example of when you give players way too much leeway. They've given up on two managers after winning the title. So quite frankly Merson and the ABU brigade can fuck off. You shouldn't be fearing your manager if you're putting the effort in. I don't have the greatest memory in the world anymore, to be honest I remember games from the 90's better than most matches played the last couple of seasons, but I'll tackle the "More good than bad" theory. This season, games I'd class as good performances? West Ham (H 4-0), Swansea (A 4-0), Everton (H 4-0), CSKA (A 4-1), Palace (H 4-0), Newcastle (H 4-1), Watford (A 4-2), Everton (A 2-0), Chelsea (H 2-1), Liverpool (H 2-1), City (A 3-2, well, the 2nd half was good, the 1st was beyond shit, but I'll be generous and class the game as a whole as a good performance), Spurs (Cup 2-1). That's it for me. Arsenal away? Without De Gea we lose about 6-3. It wasn't a particularly good performance, we just have the best 'keeper in the world doing what he does. 12 "good" performances. The shit ones? Stoke (A 2-2), Huddersfield (A 1-2), Basel (A 0-1), City (H 1-2), Bournemouth (H 1-0), Bristol City (A 1-2), Burnley (H 2-2), Southampton (H 0-0), Spurs (A 0-2), Newcastle (A 0-1), Sevilla (H 1-2), West Brom (H 0-1), Brighton (A 0-1). 12 shit performances as well. The rest? A bunch of "Meh". Not overly bad, but hardly good either. |
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"United’s flag is deepest red, it shrouded all our Munich dead. Before their limbs grew stiff and cold, their heart’s blood dyed it’s ev’ry fold. Then raise United’s banner high, beneath it’s shade we’ll live and die. So keep the faith and never fear." 
