vs. City - 24/04/19 CITY TO WIN THREAD

[simon46]

Apr 24, 2019 20:50:36 GMT . said:

Imposters is correct.

As per a couple of posts back, majority of these guys heads are at other clubs.

Mercenaries effectively, they literally couldn't give a toss.

Ole needs to rethink about his gradual steps in the transfer market statement the other day in the presser.

We need 10 players out and 10 players in, rough estimate!! The goons running the club will piss about again, nailed on.

Imposters is absolutely right. Pogbas entire United career was summed up in that passage of play when he lost out to David Silva and then ambled along whilst Silva collected a return pass and then got a shot in 30 metres away.

He is a lazy shit who won the World Cup in a shit year when Holland and Italy were not even there. He has no work ethic and I would give him his P45 tomorrow and play one of Nicky Butts youngsters instead to instil some pride.

Anyway him aside we did at least try and lost to a better team. However we are a team of bluffers as Roy Keane has said. Thank god.

[smithy2]

It’s a good thing Lingard kisses the badge and Pogba talked about responding....bunch on con artists the lot of them

[.]

Lingard grabs the crest, Pogba 'apologies' on Sky Sports??

Cheats the pair of them, jettison them in the summer window.

[Rustin Cohle]

Apr 22, 2019 10:53:25 GMT Rustin Cohle said:

2-0 please. 2 early City goals then they pass it around their back 4 for 80 minutes.

Close enough.

[aussiegraham]

Aside from the other obvious advantages of living in Australia, at least being so far away removes you from the majority of the shit storm in circumstances like this.

Never in a million years did I think I’d see United fans wanting the team to lose at OT to City.... and the scousers supporting united for the day!

Now I just want the season to end, the deadwood (especially “nowhere near as good as he thinks he is” Pogba) to be cleared and to start again with a new, energized and committed squad. Too much to ask for, I know ☹️

[Ole's Red Whiteknight03 Army]

Apr 24, 2019 23:46:41 GMT aussiegraham said:

Aside from the other obvious advantages of living in Australia, at least being so far away removes you from the majority of the shit storm in circumstances like this.

Never in a million years did I think I’d see United fans wanting the team to lose at OT to City.... and the scousers supporting united for the day!

Now I just want the season to end, the deadwood (especially “nowhere near as good as he thinks he is” Pogba) to be cleared and to start again with a new, energized and committed squad. Too much to ask for, I know ☹️

An energized committed squad is the least we can ask for.

[Karma]

Apr 24, 2019 20:39:52 GMT On a break said:

Apr 24, 2019 20:37:14 GMT Stew said:

I do think Rashford has looked really dangerous tonight.

As in he might injure someone in the crowd if he takes a free kick kinda way?

He’s probably at fault for that hole in the roof?

[Rustin Cohle]

Some fair points raised here. There are lots of players who need to be gotten rid of, but it also goes deeper than many of the playing squad. Quite frankly, the club is a cancer right now.

www.football365.com/news/premier-league-winners-and-losers-115

Losers

Manchester United, and the wastage

After 88 minutes at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, Luke Shaw gave away a free-kick. With plenty of stoppage time on the way (four minutes was added on), Shaw should have been desperate to get the game restarted. His team were trailing in the derby, and hadn’t scored for almost three matches. These were the minutes to put pressure on their opponents, pinning them back.

But Shaw did not want the game restarted quickly. He ran over to the ball and knocked it well out of play. Manchester City were only too happy to delay proceedings, but so was he. Shaw had had enough. He was beaten. He wanted the derby to end.

Looking immediately to the stands, and Manchester United supporters felt exactly the same. Old Trafford was half-empty by the time the final whistle finally blew. They had had enough too. They were beaten. They wanted the derby to end.

On Sunday, Manchester United didn’t want it enough. On Wednesday, they wanted it plenty but were far below the standard required to be good enough. Those are separate problems that require different solutions. Nothing about Manchester United over the last five years suggests that they have the competence to solve either.

These are not bad players; I’ve said that over and over again in this column. All have either succeeded before joining Manchester United or succeeded at Old Trafford before declining. But there is something rotten at the core of this club that drips from the top down and leaves watermarks on every individual. Blame the players if you like – and they deserve some censure – but who was the last player who actually improved their reputation at Old Trafford? David de Gea in 2011?

Either you believe United somehow exclusively signed 20-odd snakes and work-shy man-children in the eight years since, or you reason that there is something about the club that drags them down, allows complacency to fester and ultimately makes underperformance inevitable.

Take Alexis Sanchez as an example of the outright negligence within United’s hierarchy. The Chilean, signed predominantly to stop Manchester City getting him, has been wretched ever since he arrived, is paid £400,000 as a weekly salary and receives an extra £75,000 just for stepping onto the pitch. On Wednesday night that got Manchester United one touch of the ball. Sanchez was signed with no plan and for no obvious purpose other than ‘we can sign him; let’s sign him’. That stinks.

If the answer lies in the transfer market, and it must do if you believe that many of this squad aren’t good enough, that’s hardly a foolproof strategy. You could pick a starting XI from United’s current squad that cost the club £437m in transfer fees alone, and that excludes Sanchez and his massive salary.

It’s not about what you spend but how you spend it and who is responsible for doing so. And that’s without considering that elite-level players may not be too keen to join a club that specialises in damaging the reputations of expensive signings and will likely not be participating in the Champions League next season.

What must now change is the structure; bad news must bring with it a double helping of humble pie. Only through an acceptance of their guilt can United bring meaningful change. And that doesn’t mean appointing Mike Phelan as the sporting director, thus starting next season with a manager and sporting director that no other high-level club in Europe would want. Manchester City sought domination, so they went out and cherry picked the best in Europe from Barcelona. Manchester United are seeking domination and are in danger of giving the most difficult task in their modern history to two rookies.

Do things properly this summer, and positive change can come quickly. Money will forever grease the wheels and Manchester United have stacks of it. But bury their heads in the sand and pretend that everything can be rosy with a few minor tweaks, and United will only fall short once again.

There are clubs that do it smarter than them, clubs that do it better than them and clubs that get more than them from less. That is a damning indictment of Manchester United’s ‘management’. The word deserves the inverted commas.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

The other thing Manchester United haven’t tried is a forward-thinking tactician who prides himself in his positive relationship with his players who has been recently successful at the highest level, and that covers David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Look down the Premier League, and a few fitting the description jump out. Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Mauricio Pochettino, for sure. Nuno and Brendan Rodgers, perhaps. The jury may be out on Maurizio Sarri and even Unai Emery, but they both fit the bill. Even Ralph Hasenhuttl, who took RB Leipzig to second in the Bundesliga.

Solskjaer might work out, but it is a whacking great gamble for a club that cannot afford any more missteps. The nostalgia-fuelled references to the 1990s have already worn very thin, and their repetition only increases the concern that that is all he has.

But Solskjaer will not succeed until the structure above him changes. And more disturbing than his slump after being named permanent manager is the suspicion that he is not prepared to force through change at the top of the club because he considers himself so fortunate to be in his position. This may not end well, and it may end quickly.

David De Gea
He’s the only signing in eight years to improve his reputation at Old Trafford, and now the Manchester United disease has got to him too. De Gea’s confidence is dented by every tame shot that he allows to squirm past him. Leroy Sane’s goal on Wednesday forced the type of mistake you would expect from a schoolboy goalkeeper afraid to use his hands.

Fred
First Fred gives away possession. That’s no surprise; he’s been doing it all evening to a choir of groans and moans from supporters who cannot fathom how bad this £52m midfielder is playing.

Then comes the second mistake. Fred charges at Raheem Sterling, as if to try and spook him into ceding possession. Instead Sterling dances around Fred, who is left making a limp grab for his opponent like a schoolboy rugby player who would rather be anywhere else than standing in the cold trying to stop bigger boys from trampling over them.

Six seconds later, as Fred is jogging back towards his own penalty area, Leroy Sane scores. The game is over, decided by a goalkeeping error and a masterclass in central midfield sh*ttery from a big-money signing.

Thanks for coming, Fred. But just one question before you do go: Are you Kleberson in disguise?

The top four ‘race’
The title race may be an assault of consistency the likes of which we have never seen before, but the battle for the top four has turned into a drunken pub brawl with flying fists and swaying bodies.

Manchester United have taken six points from their last six league games and failed to score in three of them. Arsenal have now lost consecutive matches against two non-top-six teams. Chelsea have won three of their last seven and supporters are booing their manager. Tottenham are missing their best player and are visibly knackered.

And yet they all still have a chance, and Tottenham’s place is virtually secured. That’s not a good look for the other three.