And Utd’s annual income is significantly higher than City’s.
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One of them got a nice clean tackle from Stevie down at QPR.
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Interesting point, you wonder why so many players have gone there and regressed?
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It really is remarkable. We can debate how good Mata really was, and whether or not No. 10s are a thing — I know he was pushed out of Chelsea by Jose (whom he then went on to outlast at OT) — but I thought he was really good for Chelsea in 11-12 and 12-13. Other than a bicycle kick at the Anfield Road end and the equalizer in the FA Cup Final, hard to say what else he has done.
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@petergriffin2020 Could be a case of wrong fit. Most footballers need a good situation - right role, right team - and with player types like Mata maybe more so than others. He was really good under Van Gaal, less of a central figure under Mourinho. Which makes a ton of sense given the differences between the two coaches.
I think Donny van de Beek is likely to be a case of that as well. Good at some things, really nice player in the right setup, but I suspect it needs to be in a 433 or 343. Something with a 3-man midfield base. That’s a transfer that looks very odd, but it might be they bought him with 433 in mind but later found out that wasn’t the right system.
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I dont really understand Mata’s thinking in moving to Utd at the time he did. I understand he might have felt urgency to get out of Chelsea given Jose’s arrival, but he surly cannot have looked at Moyes and thought “thats the guy who is going to help me resurrect my career.”
As for VdBeek, it always looked like an odd move unless they were planning on moving on Pogba. With them two and Fernandes it was just two many players in the middle who have to be fit into the right team with the right players around them to work, so it felt like a move in preparation for something that didnt materialize.
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That’s probably fair, he does seem like one of those mercurial types (ahem, Ozil) who is either on it or invisible. Yes both are classic No. 10s who probably needed a certain system to be successful (4-2-3-1). I guess I just go back to – even if he left Chelsea in 2017 – he’d have two Premier League titles. I know it’s easy to say now (hindsight is 20/20), but it just made no sense to me why he would move. Going elsewhere to start fresh is surely cathartic after a frustrating spell, but it shouldn’t be a step down per se, and United were definitely a few steps down the table after just 5 months of the season (and not looking like coming back any time soon).
My thoughts pretty much exactly – the logic was puzzling to me. United had done nothing to suggest that they’d be good through January and Chelsea were clearly the better side. It is worth remembering that some (namely my Chelsea supporting mate) expected United to catch us in the 13-14 season and Mata to be the guy to do it, but – aside from a few purple patches here and there – he seems generally to have regressed, because, for me, he was unbelievable at times at Chelsea.
Decorating the new apartment.
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The badge is to high. It needs to be on the bottom of the bowl
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That looks like a New Toilet or is it just a polished turd?
It’s plastic!
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Or on the toilet paper.
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I dont think that’s fair. Mata is a great pro, he’s just limited physically and went through a run of years of playing for managers whose game plan requires more physical athleticism and so found it difficult to use him effectively. By far his best time at Utd was under Van Gaal, it just all amounted to nothing because they as a team were junk.
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Oh right, they bought him when Moyes was there? I tend to forget he has managed ManU. I guess Mata just wanted to get away from Mou. But for sure not a natural fit in a Moyes team either.
The ‘specialist’ thing you mention is a good point. I wonder how they do it if Pogba stays; someone said they’re looking to make the switch to 433, but Pogba and Fernandes as the two 8s sounds unlikely to me. Fun, but fragile. Maybe they go with Fernandes on the left of the front three, that could be good. Then there’s room for VdB as well.
I’m not sure what their go-to setup could be with the current group. A trio of VdB-Fred/McTominay-Pogba looks pretty good in isolation; one guy who needs the ball, one who is very good at moving off ball, and a holder in the middle - albeit not of the quality they would want. As a unit that looks good in terms of complementary skill sets.
But I think they would end up having to play both McT and Fred again to hold it all together. You’re not getting much help defensively from Sancho, and maybe not Fernandes either although I don’t know. Haven’t paid attention to what he does defensively.
So then it’s back to the bench for VdB, I guess. And, looking at it from a collective point of view, maybe moving Pogba wouldn’t be the worst thing they could do. But I suppose it depends how highly they value what he can do individually.
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I think you’re conflating my mention of Ozil alongside Mata with the idea that No. 10s don’t work hard. I certainly don’t think that Mata doesn’t work hard, but I’ve generally found that with him he is either in the game or completely invisible. That may be a product of the position, and perhaps why we see so few “true 10s” in the game, or with his physical limitations, but has nothing to do with him being a “great pro” or not.
That again looks like one of their limitations. They have been quite solid with both of them in the team, but not very good at moving the ball effectively. That’s exacerbated by the fact that isnt really the strength of either Pogba or Fernandes either. Those two are very good at making a key pass, but they’re still missing a step of the Alonso/Scholes type player who’s going to make sure they’re getting the ball where they need it. All signs indicate they want to “flip the triangle” but I dont think either Fred nor McTominay are good enough by themselves to adequately sheid the back 4.
It seems to me they have put together a decent team, but one with lots of disjointed parts and none of it gets solved by just replacing one player with a single better player.
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I responded to your use of the word mercurial to describe him. That is a word that describes someone with a variable and unpredictible level of effort. That appears to be a fair way to describe Ozil, but not of Mata.
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Plenty of examples mind this isn’t just Mata, not even sure Penandes has been all that when you remove his penalties and Pogba, Sanchez.
They eithier can’t buy the right fit or something doesn’t fit right. Buying players is only part of the plan.
No guarantee the signings they made this summer will amount to anything and next summer we will have another oh look what Man Utd have bought.
Klopp had that Man Utd for the last 6 years they would have won the title.
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From Graun -
Solskjær talks up Manchester United’s title hopes and knows pressure is on | Manchester United | The Guardian :
Given United finished second and reached last season’s Europa League final are they now sufficiently robust to secure Premier League and/or Champions League glory? “I’d rather be an optimist and be wrong than a pessimist and be right,” says Solskjær.
Nice to see Ole already admitting defeat for the upcoming season.
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If anyone else had a cunt of a day and needs a laugh…
- Man Utd
- Man City
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
- Leicester
- Aston Villa
I still think City are the team to beat but I’m going with us.
The theory being defences win titles.
With two class centre backs I think we can do this. Shaw is fantastic and AWB is the best tackler in the league.Martial is back and I think he’ll be hungry, Rashford was superb last season until he got injured, Greenwood ended the season really strong and he’ll get 20 goals this year. Bruno is going to thrive in-front of the fans. Cavani looks happy and was excellent. I expect VDB to show his class too and if Sancho is what we hope he is we’ll be cooking. Pogba wants Madrid and a big contract now PSG are out, so he’ll need to play his sovks
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The ‘best tackler in the league’ thing is still completely fucking baffling to me.
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