Manchester United Banter Archive February 26 2019

26 Feb 2019 22:10:40
I am concerned more about our midfield than our attack. Palace with Townsend and Zaha need to be shackled properly and the midfield has to help out and shield the defence whilst still providing ammunition for out attack. Not sure if Greenwood has an injury. Chong might be bullied out of things as he is not physically strong. I would love Gomes to do well as he has huge talent. It's one thing to blood a youngster or even two when the rest of the team is strong enough but if they come in and the team is beaten and they can't get into the game I hope the fans still support them.

26 Feb 2019 23:07:23
Tomorrow night is a weird one selection wise i think only ddg shaw pogba and Lindelof can be the only players sure of selection. I would say smalling but bailly is there to cover if he doesn't want to risk him as he is only back from injury himself.
Mctom is probably a safe bet along with sanchez and lukaku so that leaves 3 spots between young dalot periera and fred from our usual squad. Rojo probably bailly one of the 4 above along with gomes garner and chong on the bench with romero.
Personally i would play a front 3 of lukaku right sanchez centre and young on the left. Dalot at rb and mctom pogba and periera in midfield.
I don't expect that to be oles choice.
I think he will play the same midfield with fred as 10 behind lukaku and sanchez.

27 Feb 2019 12:43:55
Ken any more injuries and Ole and Carrick will be playing. Apparently Sir Bobby's been spotted at Carrington smashing a few shots at Romero.

26 Feb 2019 17:23:11
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Manchester United v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective

26 Feb 2019 17:58:33
Like two kids at a disco afraid to make the first move. United's goal of reaching the top 4 has a lot more wiggle room than Liverpool's title aspirations, which is why I think Ole set up to defensively and try and counter. As well for Ole's CV, a draw with Liverpool reads a lot better than a loss.

We'll know at the end of the season if a the point at Old Trafford is one gained or two dropped. My mate who is a Liverpool fan wasn't happy at all with settling for a point. Considering what transpired with our injuries.

26 Feb 2019 17:56:27
Fair assessment ed thank you. Only thing I disagree on is shaw. Thought he had one of his best defensive performances. Pretty dire game though anyway.

{Ed001's Note - I like Shaw as a player, but all the attacks came down his side for a reason, he was nowhere near blocking any of the crosses. Even those he was trying to close down. If Milner had put his boots on the right feet he could have put the ball into the box multiple times. Whether that would have created anything is a different matter, but still.}

26 Feb 2019 18:31:23
I felt henderson going off helped us get up the pitch a bit second half. He made a lot of interceptions, which weren’t replicated after. Helped us get out at times.

26 Feb 2019 18:59:34
Ed001 I like your rating system. Couple i'd disagree with of course but a fair analysis.
For a team going to win a title i thought it was a very tame and weak effort from Liverpool. Understandably klopp started a little cautiously despite a couple of injuries united were still on a pretty hot steak of results but after 30 mins we had a very inexperienced midfield and a cf on 1 leg. If he had gone for it they could have won.
City are too good to allow you to stumble over the line. Your going to have to find your early session form again to see it out.
I think we have our work cut out to get 4th unless we get a few players back quickly.
A point each was a fair result but a result that may not be good enough to help both sides achieve their respective goals come May.

{Ed001's Note - it was one of those games that no one is truly happy afterwards as both could have won that and neither did.}

26 Feb 2019 19:41:29
Good read that Ed, thanks.

{Ed001's Note - welcome mate.}

26 Feb 2019 20:43:27
Mumbles now I got 'i think we're alone' in my head.

26 Feb 2019 22:18:46
If that had had been City playing us they would have gone for the jugular from the start. Seems to me that Liverpool are feeling the pressure and have lost confidence. Their movement is not the same and their passing is not as crisp. That said City too are also not playing as fluently as they can. It might well be a case of who can handle the pressure better. Whether City determination and experience will triumph over the Scousers desperate desire to land a first title in years. I think we will really see the managers earn their large wages now. As for us. I fear it is going to be a struggle if players are out for a long time. It's not just the length of time they miss its the whole balance of the team being upset and it also takes time to regain match fitness I want us to beat PSG and go through as much as anyone but maybe if we do lose to them the silver lining is that the players get more recovery time and it helps get us 4th place so we can have a real Crack at winning next year.

26 Feb 2019 23:04:34
City are just suffering from 3rd season pep-itis where his teams just start to burn out. He should have experience to cope with the pressure, he's been there before with Barcelona and Bayern but I wonder if he's tempted to go all out for Europe. If they win the champions league I could see a shock resignation. Klopp's not been in this position for a few seasons and the pressure is getting to him especially all the recent finals he's blown. I think he's looking st it slipping away. They could still win it but the pressures going to ramp up more and I think klopp can't handle it.

26 Feb 2019 22:00:43
Tbf 001 before I read this I thought maybe you would take a bias. But I was surprised to be fair. I mean it's hard to say united weren't more up for it but I was surprised how low some Liverpool players you rated that game.

Like me, do you see Liverpool buckling again? On a neutral side the football and squad you guys have you deserve to win the league imo as much as I hate to admit it. but do you think Liverpool will ever get over the pressure of a run in? Again this season I can't see it, I think City will be champions.

{Ed001's Note - I don't do predictions mate, far too superstitious. There is still a lot of football to be played though and I think both teams have the capability to lose points. Pep was not brought in to win the Premier League, he was brought in to win the Champions League.}

27 Feb 2019 01:35:10
Good read Ed.

Shaw didn't have a great game. I remarked to my mate at the time that he always let's crosses come in. He plays narrow then is about 8 yards away from the player putting the cross in. Even when he has time to get out to him, he elects not too. Think both Van Gaal and Jose said the same.
Its a fault in his game that is easily rectified if he can be arsed too and I hope he does as he's finally looking like the player we all hoped he can become.

{Ed001's Note - it is a common problem amongst modern day full backs. That is one thing that stands out with Bissaka - he stops crosses and I can't think of a single other one around right now that does.}

26 Feb 2019 09:40:30
Well, there is a split of opinions with respect to whether Ole should get the job or not. But, what really upsets me is some people saying that Ole has done nothing yet and anyone could have come in and done the same. Really? . Yes, the fixtures were perfect and with a new manager coming in, we would have expected a reaction from the players, but what we have achieved so far in a very short time under Ole is just fantastic to just discredit or brush aside casually. Since Ole has come in, there is positivity all around the club, the players are performing and have a great team spirit and the majority of the fans are loving what they are seeing and looking forward to the games ahead with lot of excitement. Ole has been doing the right things, saying the right things and all the credit goes to him and his coaching staff for reinvigorating the team and getting us challenging for the 4th spot. Would anyone have guaranteed the same kind of results when Ole took over. I guess not.

The managerial situation is a tricky one - we had tried our luck with 3 different type of managers over the last couple of years and none of them really worked out - probably they never understood the traditions, ethos of this great club and were looking to implement their own style and make a statement. Many might have Poch to be favorite for the job, but I am not convinced. What he has done at Southampton and Spurs is great, but this is UNITED and a completely different proposition. Can he handle the pressure being at a big club, does he have the mentality to inspire the team to win titles, can he co-exist with Woodward in case no DOF is appointed? It is similar to the Moyes situation, the only exception being Poch has better credentials overall. The last few years has proven time and again that appointing one of the best young/ experienced/ most proven and successfull manager and spending millions on transfers doesn't guarantee success at United.

For what Ole has done so far, he deserves the chance. He loves the club, understands the club traditions and ethos, has the respect of everyone at the club (the staff, players, former players and fans) and most importantly has that winning mentality instilled into him during his time as a player under Sir Alex. He might not have the experience at the top level, might have less credentials than Poch, but is probably best suited to United - what we need is maybe not the best manager but the best man for the job. I would say go with the flow of positivity that Ole has brought back to this great club and just improve upon it by providing him the job and the resources to take us forward, rather than stem the flow by bringing in someone external and start from scratch again and disrupt everything.

26 Feb 2019 11:21:29
LPU, I really don't think anyone has said that Ole has done nothing. The most I have seen and even read here was the fixtures were perfectly lined up, and that he resorted to Mou's tactics to get through some games.
That being said, I cannot deny what he has achieved. The stats no matter how misrepresented, skewed or even unrealistic are heavily in favour of Ole's achievement. He may be getting praises because he is already loved at the club but he has also brought an aura of freshness. The fans are lively and vocal, OT has woken up and is vibrating again, the players are happy and our results reflect these.
Whatever the decision will be at the end, I will enjoy the here and now and just hope Ole's run continues, be it his luck, his tactics or simple genius.

26 Feb 2019 11:26:52
One thing all these posts are missing about ole is, we need 4 or 5 players out and 4 or 5 players in and that's going to take time,
Ole was bought in to keep things happy steady the ship,
I would give the job to poch,
We played psg and we saw how we are way off the top sides,
Now I wouldn't have gave both smalling and Jones a new contract and have a look at sanchez contract, someone needs to come in and take care of these contracts and buying the right players,
Now ole has done a good job with what he has, but is he the man to take us forward. Not for me and that's my opinion.

26 Feb 2019 12:12:48
Leahy, everyone knows that we need the players to compete with the best and it would require probably another 2 windows at the very least.

The PSG game could had been different without the injuries to Martial and Lingard. With a full strength team, we would have caused them problems as well. In terms of overall quality in all positions, we are lightweight and need to strengthen.

You are also reading too much into those contracts given to Smalling/ Jones, it was probably done to have some backup in case we don't get our defensive targets or in order to get a decent transfer fee when we sell them.

As far as Poch is concerned, with all due respect to Southampton/ Spurs, United is one of the biggest clubs in the world and you need to win titles - just being title contenders is not going to be enough. And some of his post match comments recently after losing games doesn't inspire confidence in him. Yes, he has done a splendid job so far, but there has not been any real expectations/ pressure on him to win the big cups/ championships, which would all change with coming to United. Can he handle the pressure with all the spotlight on him?

It would be the same for Ole as well, if appointed, but based on what he has done so far and his strong association with the club would give him that slight edge when things get tougher. He's also got that infectious smile and personality that I absolutely love and spreads positivity among the players and the staff, that one can't ignore.

26 Feb 2019 12:44:17
The Man Utd manager would definitely be top 5 in a low budget Channel 5 documentary about Britain's hardest jobs. However, you could come up with a simple checklist on how to go about it, play football the Busby way, be tactically astute in the big games and handle yourself like a true leader both behind closed doors and to the world. Ole's done all three better than any of our three previous managers. Then factor in due to the poor structure of the club and nearly a decades worth of bad recruitment we currently only have maybe 9 'proper yanited players' it makes what Ole's done even more impressive.

26 Feb 2019 13:00:51
He understands the club, adheres to the core values that makes this club up what Sir Matt and Sir Alex did before.

The results have surprised us of course. Winning helps but I be delighted with finishing 4th under the circumstances. I think we will and win the FA Cup.

Onwards and upwards. He must get the job. The club need to learn from their mistakes. Bring the likes Gomes and Greenwood through who bleed United and bed them in with Rashford, Lingard etc. Buy some young promising players that want to play here and not use us as a stepping stone. And we be challenging next year.

26 Feb 2019 13:31:18
If Ole is just playing Mourinho’s football then he does it a lot better than him. In 10 PL games we have let in less goals and scored more than the previous 17 and effectively doubled our points. We beat Spurs and drew with Liverpool in the league plus had away wins in the cup at Arsenal and Chelsea which we couldn’t of dreamed in December.

If we played this way for the first 17 league games we would be 10 points better off and comfortably in 3rd place.

People are picking holes in tiny details when you have to take the collective view.

If Ole had the top class RB, CB, DM and RW that we need plus got rid of the dead wood then we would improve further and be challanging City and Liverpool.

26 Feb 2019 14:37:15
I wonder if Ed wood is debating something similar to the above (i. e football pros and cons for each candidate) or is he thinking to himself he'll save a reported 30 - 40 million pounds in transfer fees and a lengthy battle with Daniel Levy too. On reflection i think Ole would appear to have a foot well and truely in the door.

26 Feb 2019 15:48:36
Ole has to be in pole position, for no other reason than that we know what we will get from him. Any other manager is just speculation as to how well they could or couldn't do at our club. Jose had won the title in every job before he came to United. Yet he failed to do so with us. This just highlights that there is no such thing as a guarenteed win.

Many have Pochettino as their first choice, and I fully understand that. I wouldn't be disappointed if he is our manager come August. Yet for me I would pick Nuno Espirito Santo ahead of Pochettino. I prefer his style and I think he does better at getting results when it really matters. I don't see a great plan b from Pochettino, or a way of adapting. All he does is change shape or makes a like to like sub. But the tactics never change.

{Ed025's Note - i like nuno as well shappy...mind you i thought marco silva would do well at everton, so ignore any candidates that i mention mate.. :)

26 Feb 2019 16:18:01
I think he's the best man for the job. We tried a tried an tested experienced manager. Failed. We tried the experienced foreigner who's managed two clubs with a similar ethos to united and a focus on youth. Failed. We tried the serial winner. Failed. Ole gets the club. I think Poch would collapse under the pressure. He's creaking already at Spurs and its only February and they aren't really in contention for anything. And I think most of his signings have been bad.

26 Feb 2019 23:01:44
Good post, mate. I'm still minded to use the time we have to make sure we get the right man, whether that be Ole or someone else, but I agree won the sentiments you expressed in your post about the feeling of positivity around the club.

Like you, I've never subscribed to the view expressed by some that it's all about your CV and your experience. Sometimes, especially in a job where you have to get the best out of a group of individuals, being the right man, rather than the right manager, is more important.

As for his tactical acumen, some of us who still can't get over José being sacked, would have been wetting themselves if Josè had got a result and performance like that against Liverpool, in such trying and absurd circumstances.

26 Feb 2019 09:33:51
Happy Bday OGS!
Have a legendary one!