Manchester United Banter Archive April 19 2014

19 Apr 2014 19:37:23
There were those who asked for the mangers head when we got knocked out by Sunderland in the league cup because of a howler by DDG.

Watching first city and now chelsea stumble when it counts most brings me to 2 conclusions, one this sunderland team is better than the points suggest and both sets of players for Chelsea and City should hang their head and they have truly choked.

I wonder what the comments would be if it was us. The worst f. ng thing is the scouters have won the league and I am going to go puke now.

Liverpool are talking advantage of a poor league, just like we did last season. Although I think it's a poorer league this season. Spurs look shocking without Bale. Like they have lost all belief. Chelsea and City have lost to lower teams all season, Arsenal choking like usual and ourselves having the worst time in decades. Liverpool are the only side that's improved and they are taking full advantage of it.

In regards to the people wanting Moyes' head after the Sunderland game. People have wanted his head all season and have a very good point. We are 7th after winning the league just months before. Not all Moyes' fault, but it's fully understandable why people want him gone. It's it certainly justified.

Hopefully Chelsea can beat the scouse mob, and then if City beat Everton, basically win the rest of their games, City will win the league, which would be much better than the scousers. After all I don't have the money for a three week holiday let alone the three month holiday I would need to miss the entire summer. Also I wouldn't mind watching the world cup and I don't want every comment from the pundits and so on for the England matches being about how Liverpool won the league.

Sydney, this is the most competitive premier league in a long time, when's the last time 11 points seperated 1st - 5th with 4 games to go? Everyone is losing games now because that is the the premier league, that's why it's the best league in the world.

Chelsea and City have both lost 6 games so far which is only one more loss than last season (Utd) and the season (City) before champions lost.

It's more competitive or in other words "closer" because the standard has dropped. Only Liverpool have improved this season whilst everyone else have stagnated or regressed. Liverpool have taken full advantage of it and if Liverpool win the league, then they deserve it.

No one will convince me Spurs, City, Chelsea, Arsenal or MU have improved this season. Standards have dropped.

Chelsea and City both have much better squads than they did last season, Spurs have never been a challenger and Arsenal have had a better season than last, they've already reached the FA cup final and look like they'll get top four once more.

The standard hasn't dropped, the leagues got much more competitive.

MU have a better squad than last season, but we haven't improved have we? Neither have City and Chelsea.

The standard has dropped significantly this season and Spurs, Chelsea, City & ourselves all have new managers.

Listen I am not taking anything away from Liverpool, you have been excellent this season and if you win the league, you deserve it.

Sydney, am not bothered whether or not you think we deserve it, my arguement is that Chelsea and City haven't stagnated, Chelsea have been significantly better this season than last season, do you remember how they we're performing under Di Matteo/Benitez last season?

People are trying to make up stupid excuses for Liverpools resurgence and it's extremely pathetic.

The only sides in the top half of last season's table that have notably improved this season are Liverpool and Everton. Even the likes of Swansea, WBA, WHU, Southampton etc have regressed.

The EPL's standards have been dropping for a few years now and at this moment in time it's at it's all time low. MU took advantage of a declining league last season, Liverpool are doing it this season.

I think it will start to improve next season with managers having a year to settle and transitions nearing an end for some of the clubs (not MU). Football works in cycles. That's football! Now I bid you goodnight ;)

Syd
Arsenal city liverpool and chelsea have more points and have played better football than they did last year.

Last year I argued united had won a poor league that the standard of football was poor .i can't remember a really good team last year .

You argued it was the strongest ever, obviously because we where top and where therefore a great team winning a great league.
Now that we are not you are trying to argue its a poor league in decline .
Lol

Thanks Jred, It's nice to see a non bias view.

{Ed007's Note - You lost the argument when you said the EPL was the best league in the world. Jred isn't agreeing with you, he's disagreeing with Syd, there's a difference.}

What is the best league in the world?
prob la liga, but I think the Epl has improved on last year, its been a better standard of football than last year even with fergy I don't think we would of walked the league by 11 points this year

Plymouth Red you say you don't care whether Syd! thinks you deserve it and then at the end of your next post you are complaining about people making 'pathetic excuses for Liverpool's resurgence' so, quite clearly, that is exactly what you care about. Like it or not the rest of the PL have closed in on the top 4-6 but those top few clubs, despite the quality of player, are no better than they were last season. Chelsea have become less attractive to watch, City have become more attractive but BETTER? I think not. As Syd says the only teams in the top 6 to improve from last season are Liverpool and Everton. The league may be more competitive as the lower standard has been raised but the higher standard has remained the same.

Jred will always try to disagree with me, even if he knows I am correct. He cannot help being the t!t he is.

There is no way the league has improved on last season. Utter nonsense as only Liverpool and Everton have improved.

TK, city, Chelsea and arsenal all have more points than last season, therefor they have all clearly improved, it isn't an opinion it's a fact.

TK, finally someone talking a little sense. Only the Liverpool sides have notably improved this season, even teams like Sunderland, Stoke, WHU, WBA, Southampton & Swansea have regressed and were much harder to beat last season. Newcastle, Fulham & Villa have gone to sh!te. Teams like Wigan and bottom of the table Sunderland have been able to beat or draw against the so called top clubs. The lower table teams have improved overall over the years due to having more money and being able to compete for better players, but these teams have taken a dip recently.

Plymouth, they have more points because the rest of the league's teams are easier to beat. Like I said, the only teams arguably in the whole division that have improved this season are the two Liverpool sides. Teams like Stoke who were hard to beat at home are easier to beat due to their change of footballing philosophy. Swansea who were excellent last season have been a washout. Southampton who are still a decent side this season were much harder to play against last season. They gave all of the top sides a hard time. Spurs were playing some excellent football last season with the likes of Bale, they have significantly regressed as have we. Neither Chelsea or City have taken the league by the scruff of the neck, unlike Liverpool. For me Liverpool have been excellent this season and they fully deserve to be where they are, but the league is not very strong at the moment. It will be better next season when Chelsea finally complete their transition. Pellegrini will have a season under his belt and will finally sort out their defence. We are just starting our transition, as are Spurs. Arsenal are still lacking 1-2 top players who they will probably sign this summer. I think the league will be stronger next season, but we will be ready to challenge a year and a bit from now.

In 2001 we got more points than we did in 1999 yet in 1999 we won the treble and in 2001 we won only the league so which season would you say we were the better side? Talk of improvement doesn't only come down to points totals but then we know how you lot like your "facts".

Syd tk
last season when I argued the standard of the league had dropped it was you 2 who disagreed you both argued it was stronger than ever.
last year united imo were not that great but won the league by 11 points due to the poor standard, chelsea and city in particular where below par.you both strongly disagreed.
the standard of football from the top 4 has been much better than last year imo.
united won the title by 11 points last year I don't think even with fergy we would be 11 points ahead this year .
Im actually dissapointed you have both back traked so much on this point the site is about opinions and is better when people stand by them

Spurs have a similar amount of points to what they had last season. Are they better this season? Not even close. They have been murdered on a few occasions this season by the better sides just like us and it's been humiliating for them, just like us. Last season's Spurs were great to watch and were a tough team to beat home and away. As were we. This season they have been diabolical and they still have a similar amount of points to last season. What does that say? Ourselves and Spurs have not taken many points from the top sides this season. That is why the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, City etc have a few more points than last season. That and the lower league teams being easier to beat.

Jred, what I said was the lower league sides are stronger than they were 5-10 years ago due to having more money to spend, leveling the playing field more. And they still are better than they used to be, but over the season the lower league sides have been poor. No one has backtracked.

Heed- you're a liar, plain and simple. Find a post by me saying that last season the league was as strong as ever. You won't be able to as, again, you're talking out of your backside.

What's more, Jred, the issue isn't about the quality of the league last season, it is about whether it has improved THIS season. I know you enjoy slightly changing the issue just to suit your desire to disagree with Syd! but what you're saying is irrelevant to this discussion.

Tk syd
After the very long debate we had last year on the quality of the league I am honestly disappointed by your back traking.
United won the league by 11 points last year I don't think they would of won this league by the same amount as everton city chelsea arsenal liverpool the teams that imo will finish in the top 5 have been better than last year .
I think it would be harder to finish above them teams this year than last.

Tk
i argued the quality of the epl had dipped and that once over if you won the epl you where prob the best team in europe, I backed this up by pointing out the amount of teams we had in the last 4 of the CL.
You argued the standard hadnt dropped other leagues had just got better.
I still think the standard has dropoed but if you want to call me a liar then fine.

Jred, you are just proving that you do not listen to what people are saying.

The league as a whole 'IS' better than it was 5-10 years ago, the gap between the top sides and the lower league sides has narrowed considerably. The lower teams have improved due to more money in the game. They can buy better players and pay better salaries. But over the past year or so the lower league sides have gotten worse. The league in general has dropped a standard. I am not saying that's the only reason Liverpool are doing so well as I think if they were playing like this last season, they would have finished 2nd. All I am saying is the league this year is pretty poor, more so than last season. No one is backtracking, this is a different argument to the one we had last season.

Syd
I don't think the league as a whole is better than it was 5 years ago.
I still maintain that you had to be a better team to win the league a few year back than last season.
I said last season it was a poor league you disagreed.
This year the top 5 imo have played better than last year, united may of been up there but they wouldn't of been 11 points ahead of city 14 ahead of chelsea or17 ahead of arsenal like they where last year imo.
I think last years united team would of found it harder to win the league this year than last.
I don't think the standard has dropped this year compared to last to be honest .

Am I missing the point here if the leagues standards have dropped doesn't that mean utds decline is even more startling? Football chaps goes through cycles what makes this league the best is that over the decades many teams win the league, not quite so in Spain or Germany, embrace it for what it is you can only beat what's around you no one remembers poor years etc plain and simple the best team always wins the league

19 Apr 2014 19:18:47
Reports circulating everywhere that Adil Rami has been offered to United for 10 million. If true this would be an excellent piece of business, prices of other players that are supposedly 'done deals' are well over the 30 million mark so a 10 million bid for a CB with experience that would allow Jones to develop fully into that role would be excellent.

Also hearing rumours that Barca fans are pushing for fabregas to be sold, could we end up seeing Moyes go back in for him if the supposed Kroos deal doesn't go through?

I hope so on Fabregas but the ed said it won't happen - that is of course not to say that it won't.

{Ed004's Note - Not sure about fabregas. Were would he play? He'd have to play deeper in midfield but didn't he pick up a lot of injuries playing there for Arsenal and go missing in big games? Also lacks a bit of pace and not great defensively}

Alongside William Carvalho or Fellaini he would be terrific. He is by trade a central midfielder, not a number 9 as Barca see him as. He tore us to pieces a couple of times playing in the middle - perfect player for me.

{Ed004's Note - I'm not sure I'd worry he's wasting our time as well. A midfield of Carvalho/Vidal, Fabregas and Mata would struggle without speed on wings IMO and I'd start Kagawa as he and Mata are excellent together}

Never been convinced by Rami, the only centre back I would want from the Italian League would be Benatia from Roma.

19 Apr 2014 17:17:09
Am I the only one who would like some other players rather than Kroos? I know that Kroos is a class midfielder with an acute eye for all forwards, but I think we would rather want some pacy forward moving midfielder.Fast football is the best football so if we can inject pace in our midfield we will surely be the devil we used to be. Thiago was my choice but unfortunately it can't happen so modric or gundogan alongside Vidal would be superb. A pacy attacking midfield would solve our lack of goals problem and as for defense a world class CB and LB would make our defense solid without too much need of help from midfield! Opinions are welcomed! :)

{Ed004's Note - I think Kroos is the best available option. Take into consideration he played in a really quick attacking team last year under Heyneckes. It's our forward line lacking pace. I reckon we could sign Di Maria this year then Reus next year and that would be terrific wing options with Mata/Kagawa behind RVP}

It would be great to see Reus or Di maria running in our wings but ed! is it really possible for moyes to sell Valencia or young? He loves to play them so without selling them we may not buy any wingers . I hope we get rid of Young as he was, is and never will be of Manchester United standard. I would rather prefer nani

It would be great to see Reus or Di maria running in our wings but ed! is it really possible for moyes to sell Valencia or young? He loves to play them so without selling them we may not buy any wingers . I hope we get rid of Young as he was, is and never will be of Manchester United standard. I would rather prefer nani

{Ed004's Note - I would sell Young before Valencia. I like Valencia he offers something different, seems a loyal and hard working player who wouldn't mind a squad role}

I think that Reus is ready to come now and I think now is the time to take the lead in the race. I'm hoping contact has been made and he 'apparently' wants to join. There are only a handful of midfielders that I think are good enough, Kroos, Fabregas, Koke, Herrera maybe, Moutinho and Modric.

Di maria has been one of reals best players I would be surprised to see him leave

19 Apr 2014 15:45:52
sorry, forgot marco reus aswell!

19 Apr 2014 13:43:51
Yes this is MOTD fever, but just wanted to ask people's views are on Schlupp at Leicester?

I've not seen him too much this year, but when I have he's looked promising.

Strong
Quick
Athletic
Imposing
Retains the ball
Dribbles past players
Out Sprints players
Only 21
German (probably good at pens!)
Good experience this year in a winning team in the Championship.

Could he take the step up to the level we need?

We gave a him atrial last year I believe.

We had him on trial a while back if I remember rightly.

Didn't he have a trial with us last year?

Bebe is a better player imo. Schlupp is mid to bottom premier league at best, Bebe could be starting for Benfica next season.

MU were trying to see if Schlupp could be a decent LB. He was at MU for months, but they decided against offering him a deal.

19 Apr 2014 08:40:50
Reading the fergie autobiography and he said that the reason he thought beneitez didn't do as well as he might of at Liverpool is "he had more regard for defending and destroying a game than winning it.you can't be totally successful these days with that approach"
To me that makes the Moyes choice even more bizarre!

19 Apr 2014 06:48:43
Great post by Damon 86 further down about Baines comment and think Red Man summons up how most of us feel about things right now. let's have more debates like that instead of if you had £200m to spend!

Acker

The Baines comments are also interesting because it is well known Moyes wanted Baines yet in the summer window Baines didn't really push for a transfer to us. I speculate but perhaps one reason was that he quickly bought into the Martinez vision and Baines comments now vindicate why he didn't push last summer. I also wonder if Fellaini saw the writing on the wall in terms of what the change in style of play may mean to him which together with a desire to play for us promoted him to push for the move.
Everton players seem to have bought into Martinez style far more than ours into Moyes.

Every time we play a decent team he brings out Young and Valencia on the wings to protect the fullbacks. instead of worrying about the other teams players let them worry about ours.

When you have our fullbacks you need to protect them
as for letting the other team worry about our players the problem is they don't because due to our midfield they know they can control possesion and starve our attacking players of the ball

You lot are really clutching at straws Moyes is the Manager he is the right choice even if you lot don't think it now and Baines never put in a transfer request because he is Everton Through and Through but if they did accept our offer he would of jumped at the chance and the debate is not if we have 200m we have as much as we need could be more could be less but we are going to sign a lot of top players I can't wait to watch you guys eat humble pie its every opportunity to slag the club the manager and the players would not want to be in the trenches with you lot that's for sure

Baines is actually a big Liverpool fan, the reason he didn't put in a TR is because he was glad to finally be rid of Moyes's negative tactics.

Most of you need to grow up and get on with life and taking things out of context to suit your argument is silly.

I agree Roberto Martinez just plays his way of football and this is the same manager who would sit there and watch his teams at Wigan get hammered 6-0 8-0 and some embarrassing scores without changing things and had them every year in a relegation tussle and finally they got relegated.

IMO the 2 managers are not even comparable and moyes is miles ahead of him. Martinez inherited a good team and had 3 or 4 high quality additions to it.

Go watch some football, have a beer and stop being so bitter about life.

Baines is a boyhood Everton fan. It's a common myth that he is a Liverpool fan.

Katef

What is the basis of your assertion that Moyes is the right choice? Someone said so or facts? Please enlighten us?

The reason Baines isn't a United player now is because United didn't want to pay silly money on a 28/29 year old full back. If he was 23/24 he would be in red this season. It doesn't matter what he says now, he is Everton captain and will continue to say all the things the people around Everton want to hear. I would much rather splash the money wanted for Baines plus a bit more for Shaw.

Brendan

I agree to an extent on Baines, I said last year it was far too much to spend on a left back of his age and was not unhappy we didn't buy him. I also championed Shaw last summer as a better choice. The interesting point is our manager was desperate to get Baines but unlike Fellaini Baines made no push to get the move which you should reasonably have expected to continue playing for the same manager at a bigger club on better wages. Baines comments recently are damning on Moyes style. Martinez is not a manager for us at this point due to lack of experience at the top level but his style is more United style than Moyes.