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Post by viking22 on Dec 24, 2023 6:18:49 GMT
Yes we've been down this road before.
But Erik is totally clueless and I cannot see him turning things around. SJR isn't going to be able to revamp our recruitment structure overnight. And Erik's already spent a lot of money to assemble a squad he seems incapable of getting a tune out of.
Our league position flatters us. The Champions League campaign was a disgrace. It is a joke that our entire forward roster has only registered a few Premier league goals between them. We have no discernible tactics or team identity.
And the whole while Erik tries to paint a picture of a team that plays well and controls games most of the time but struggles for consistency because of injuries and makes mistakes in key moments.
Reality is we have been consistently woeful all season and have been papering over the cracks with goals from midfield and what wins we have achieved have mostly been because the weak opposition we've beaten didn't have the cutting edge to kill us off.
The injuries excuse is running thin as well. Erik is claiming all will be well when Licha, Casemiro and Mount return from injury. But Casemiro has struggled so far this season as Erik seems incapable of finding the right balance in midfield. Licha has looked a bit shaky as well. And Mount has done nothing all season to suggest he will make a difference to our impotency in attack unless of course Erik has the balls to drop Bruno and play Mount in his place (which isn't going to happen).
I am all for dumping him and lining up a summer replacement. The season is a write off. We aren't making top 4. And a midtable finish would at least spare us another painful European campaign. And I don't think a caretaker manager would do much worse than Erik has this season and might at least have a go at getting us to do the basics right which Erik seems incapable of and stop the favouritism which leads Bruno and Antony and Scotty to keep getting selected when they make the team worse.
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Post by king nothing on Dec 24, 2023 8:33:56 GMT
Mark Chapman on five live today - “I'm just watching the TV pictures of the aftermath, and he took it well did Kudus, but the ball was given away by Kobbie Mainoo, and that can happen to a young player, it just rolled under his foot. He's there biting his shirt, knowing that he's the one who has made the mistake, and the player that goes up to him to give him a little tap and go 'right, come on' is Kambwala, the centre half who is 19 and is making his debut. Not one of the senior players, the young lad who is making his debut!' This squad hasn’t got a clue. Bin them all off and play the youngsters. At least they will give a shit. Grotesque display from the senior players honestly and this one of the biggest problems I have with this squad. Not one true leader among the lot of them... your up and coming star player makes a rookie mistake and you leave him to suffer alone. You had the debut player picking him up after giving up the 2 v 1 goal. Watching the game yesterday and I said the same thing to my mate. Where the fuck was Bruno? Shit captain. In fact there isn't a player amongst them fit to wear the armband. Come to think of it hardly any of them a fit to wear the shirt. Fucking disgusting display. Shameful. This lot are an embarrassment to the history of our club. |
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Post by king nothing on Dec 24, 2023 8:35:58 GMT
And don't get me started on Anthony. How does a left footed, right winger cross the ball to the striker?
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Post by Stew on Dec 24, 2023 8:46:17 GMT
If further proof were needed (and it shouldn’t be), here’s a comparison with Dan James at Utd.
James- 74 games for Utd. 9 goals and 9 assists.
Antony- 68 games for Utd. 8 goals and 3 assists.
James was a punt who we bought for 15 mill, and was moved on for a small profit when we realised he wasn’t good enough. When we eventually try to shift Antony, we are almost certainly looking at an all-time loss on a player. Would we get 25 mill for him now? 20?
Unreal.
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Post by Stew on Dec 24, 2023 8:50:46 GMT
Mark Chapman on five live today - “I'm just watching the TV pictures of the aftermath, and he took it well did Kudus, but the ball was given away by Kobbie Mainoo, and that can happen to a young player, it just rolled under his foot. He's there biting his shirt, knowing that he's the one who has made the mistake, and the player that goes up to him to give him a little tap and go 'right, come on' is Kambwala, the centre half who is 19 and is making his debut. Not one of the senior players, the young lad who is making his debut!' This squad hasn’t got a clue. Bin them all off and play the youngsters. At least they will give a shit. Grotesque display from the senior players honestly and this one of the biggest problems I have with this squad. Not one true leader among the lot of them... your up and coming star player makes a rookie mistake and you leave him to suffer alone. You had the debut player picking him up after giving up the 2 v 1 goal. Martinez is the leader of this squad. Hugely missed. |
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Yusef
United Reserve Player
Posts: 281
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Post by Yusef on Dec 24, 2023 8:50:50 GMT
Erik seems incapable of finding the right balance in midfield He has tried to do this literally once, at Anfield. In every single other match, he basically plays a 3 - 7 formation, with one full back amongst the seven. It's insane to try it once... His stubbornness/blindness is the most egregious of any of the post-Fergie failures, and he is gaslighting us more than Ole did. Totally incompetent and unbelievably arrogant. |
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Post by Stew on Dec 24, 2023 8:54:16 GMT
Erik seems incapable of finding the right balance in midfield He has tried to do this literally once, at Anfield. In every single other match, he basically plays a 3 - 7 formation, with one full back amongst the seven. It's insane to try it once... His stubbornness/blindness is the most egregious of any of the post-Fergie failures, and he is gaslighting us more than Ole did. Totally incompetent and unbelievably arrogant. We were solid for most of the game at Anfield. Why? Mainoo and Amrabat provided a proper shield for the back four. Yesterday, Bruno came back in, Scott dropped back and the balance was awful. It’s pretty simple stuff too and it shouldn’t take Casemiro coming back from injury to fix it. |
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Post by Stretty on Dec 24, 2023 8:59:02 GMT
If further proof were needed (and it shouldn’t be), here’s a comparison with Danny James at Utd. James- 74 games for Utd. 9 goals and 9 assists. Antony- 68 games for Utd. 8 goals and 3 assists. James was a punt who we bought for 15 mill, and was moved on for a small profit when we realised he wasn’t good enough. When we eventually try to shift Antony, we are almost certainly looking at an all-time loss on a player. Would we get 25 mill for him now? 20? Unreal. Both of them are roughly on the same level but one thing I liked about James is we could just leave him on the half way line for the counter attack(even the likes of city where well wary of him).Antony is just far too easy to nullify by showing him the outside knowing he will do fuck all with it. As said neither are anywhere near good enough but I’d swap Antony for James tomorrow. |
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Post by Stew on Dec 24, 2023 9:10:46 GMT
If further proof were needed (and it shouldn’t be), here’s a comparison with Danny James at Utd. James- 74 games for Utd. 9 goals and 9 assists. Antony- 68 games for Utd. 8 goals and 3 assists. James was a punt who we bought for 15 mill, and was moved on for a small profit when we realised he wasn’t good enough. When we eventually try to shift Antony, we are almost certainly looking at an all-time loss on a player. Would we get 25 mill for him now? 20? Unreal. Both of them are roughly on the same level but one thing I liked about James is we could just leave him on the half way line for the counter attack(even the likes of city where well wary of him).Antony is just far too easy to nullify by showing him the outside knowing he will do fuck all with it. As said neither are anywhere near good enough but I’d swap Antony for James tomorrow. 100% |
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Post by johnboy14 on Dec 24, 2023 9:33:21 GMT
He has tried to do this literally once, at Anfield. In every single other match, he basically plays a 3 - 7 formation, with one full back amongst the seven. It's insane to try it once... His stubbornness/blindness is the most egregious of any of the post-Fergie failures, and he is gaslighting us more than Ole did. Totally incompetent and unbelievably arrogant. We were solid for most of the game at Anfield. Why? Mainoo and Amrabat provided a proper shield for the back four. Yesterday, Bruno came back in, Scott dropped back and the balance was awful. It’s pretty simple stuff too and it shouldn’t take Casemiro coming back from injury to fix it. And there lies the problem with ETH. Unwarranted loyalty got Ole sacked and it will get him sacked. You'd be better off playing Bruno on the right and play a diamond in midfield with Amrabat and Mainoo basically sitting. |
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Post by Kojak on Dec 24, 2023 14:34:01 GMT
If further proof were needed (and it shouldn’t be), here’s a comparison with Danny James at Utd. James- 74 games for Utd. 9 goals and 9 assists. Antony- 68 games for Utd. 8 goals and 3 assists. James was a punt who we bought for 15 mill, and was moved on for a small profit when we realised he wasn’t good enough. When we eventually try to shift Antony, we are almost certainly looking at an all-time loss on a player. Would we get 25 mill for him now? 20? Unreal. Both of them are roughly on the same level but one thing I liked about James is we could just leave him on the half way line for the counter attack(even the likes of city where well wary of him).Antony is just far too easy to nullify by showing him the outside knowing he will do fuck all with it. As said neither are anywhere near good enough but I’d swap Antony for James tomorrow. Aye I’ll say this for James, he had pace. A lot of the wide players we’ve had since Fergie have been painfully slow. Depay, Antony, Sancho. Not capable of running past someone. Isn’t that the most basic attribute of a wide player? Can’t ever remember Fergie buying a slow winger. |
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Post by johnboy14 on Dec 24, 2023 14:54:23 GMT
Both of them are roughly on the same level but one thing I liked about James is we could just leave him on the half way line for the counter attack(even the likes of city where well wary of him).Antony is just far too easy to nullify by showing him the outside knowing he will do fuck all with it. As said neither are anywhere near good enough but I’d swap Antony for James tomorrow. Aye I’ll say this for James, he had pace. A lot of the wide players we’ve had since Fergie have been painfully slow. Depay, Antony, Sancho. Not capable of running past someone. Isn’t that the most basic attribute of a wide player? Can’t ever remember Fergie buying a slow winger. Beckham was pretty slow. Its all about quality in wide positions. Giggs could beat men and score a goal whereas Beckham could put a ball anywhere from a wide area. Personally I hate what's happened to wide players. Left footed players playing on the right never made sense to me. |
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Post by Kojak on Dec 24, 2023 17:39:21 GMT
Aye I’ll say this for James, he had pace. A lot of the wide players we’ve had since Fergie have been painfully slow. Depay, Antony, Sancho. Not capable of running past someone. Isn’t that the most basic attribute of a wide player? Can’t ever remember Fergie buying a slow winger. Beckham was pretty slow. Its all about quality in wide positions. Giggs could beat men and score a goal whereas Beckham could put a ball anywhere from a wide area. Personally I hate what's happened to wide players. Left footed players playing on the right never made sense to me. I’d argue Beckham was a right midfielder rather than a winger but you’re right. Notably all the slow wingers we’ve bought are also absolutely shit at crossing. I think pace is more important these days than it was in Beckham’s era. Arnold at Liverpool is arguably the best crosser of a ball since Beckham, but he’s not a flying machine and doesn’t have a trick in him so he’s a fullback. Now converting into a CM, which was always the intention with Beckham. |
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Post by johnboy14 on Dec 26, 2023 15:22:25 GMT
Beckham was pretty slow. Its all about quality in wide positions. Giggs could beat men and score a goal whereas Beckham could put a ball anywhere from a wide area. Personally I hate what's happened to wide players. Left footed players playing on the right never made sense to me. I’d argue Beckham was a right midfielder rather than a winger but you’re right. Notably all the slow wingers we’ve bought are also absolutely shit at crossing. I think pace is more important these days than it was in Beckham’s era. Arnold at Liverpool is arguably the best crosser of a ball since Beckham, but he’s not a flying machine and doesn’t have a trick in him so he’s a fullback. Now converting into a CM, which was always the intention with Beckham. I find players with a good touch and talent tend to move faster than those without those abilities. I think we're living in an age of mediocre players. The players of yester year were better in my opinion. If you watch Jaap Stams interview on Gazs show, he talks about having to cover vast spaces and going one on one with strikers all the time. You were expected to do that and not rely on two sitting players to save your sorry ass. Football tactics have evolved but in my opinion turned players into robots. |
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Post by Kojak on Dec 26, 2023 15:43:56 GMT
I’d argue Beckham was a right midfielder rather than a winger but you’re right. Notably all the slow wingers we’ve bought are also absolutely shit at crossing. I think pace is more important these days than it was in Beckham’s era. Arnold at Liverpool is arguably the best crosser of a ball since Beckham, but he’s not a flying machine and doesn’t have a trick in him so he’s a fullback. Now converting into a CM, which was always the intention with Beckham. I find players with a good touch and talent tend to move faster than those without those abilities. I think we're living in an age of mediocre players. The players of yester year were better in my opinion. If you watch Jaap Stams interview on Gazs show, he talks about having to cover vast spaces and going one on one with strikers all the time. You were expected to do that and not rely on two sitting players to save your sorry ass. Football tactics have evolved but in my opinion turned players into robots. Yeah I listened to the Jaap episode and found that discussion about the way he and Ronny were asked to defend fascinating. Michael Owen said something recently about how all you need now is to be able to cover ground and you can have a career in the Premier League. I don’t think I completely agree with him, as I think the technical aspects of the game are valued higher now than they were 25 years ago. However, tactics have definitely nullified freedom of thought and expression. The first instance of that I can remember is José turning Joe Cole into a functional wide player at Chelsea. Absolutely unrecognisable from the player he was before. Which was great for José and probably Chelsea in terms of what they needed to achieve, but definitely came at the expense of the fun and freedom of breathtaking trickery. |
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