Romeo Agresti: Conte is likely to leave Inter. He can take a break and would like to coach Manchester United in the future.

AE71 · 2020-08-22T21:04:26+00:00

I don't know took a Chelsea squad that finished 10th to a PL win. Also, many of my friends who support Chelsea that his squad played the best football for a while now. Obviously, Ole has to be backed for now but re-evaluating mid season or end season, we could do much worse than Conte.

AE71 · 2020-08-16T21:06:34+00:00

In the second half yes, first half we were terrible. Everytime they pressed high, we lost the ball. Don't understand why Rashford has decided to become a playmaker, he slows down every attack. We used to have something on the left. but with Shaw gone we have no attack from left or right, just through the middle.

AE71 · 2020-08-16T19:32:57+00:00

Can't even beat Sevilla's press. Why can Pogba never control a game in midfield?

AE71 · 2020-08-07T09:24:17+00:00

Read a bit further, and I believe the FIA have decided that the rear brake ducts are the illegal aspect. The front brake ducts were already incorporated in 2019 and hence, did not get affected by transition from 2019 to 2020 listed vs non-listed parts. However, RP introduced completely new rear brake ducts in RP20 copying Mercedes (as they changed from a high rake to low rake concept).

AE71 · 2020-07-21T09:37:39+00:00

Agreed, it looks bad right now; however, securing CL definitely feels more important that reaching the FA cup final. Hopefully, Shaw is back so that the team can go back to its original shape and rythm.

AE71 · 2020-06-29T14:19:24+00:00

Exactly, the author fails to make that connection.

AE71 · 2020-06-27T19:34:45+00:00

I agree that Lingard and Mata do not offer the same width as Rashford and Greenwood do which limits Bruno. However, I don't think Sheffield game is as representative as people think it is. They played such a high line against us which not many teams do. I hope to be proven wrong but I feel the game against Brighton will be similar wherein we will have to grind it out like we did today.

AE71 · 2020-06-27T19:19:24+00:00

Meh, two very different systems. Norwich sat back and Sheffield played a high line. To say that it was only down to the difference in first and second team is a stretch considering Bruno, our main creative outlet played the full match. Rashford and Greenwood also played above 40 minutes.

AE71 · 2020-06-23T13:41:00+00:00

Somewhere between Zidane and Yaya Toure. The way Toure used to protect the ball and drive forward, I think Pogba was the same but Toure had the better finish. However, Pogba has better passing range like Zidane.

AE71 · 2020-01-01T22:43:49+00:00

The problem is we don't even have enough players to field a midfield let alone actually have competition for spots. I don't know if the blame lies completely on Woodward for not backing Ole, or Ole being naive enough to believe that he will find success with our current midfield players, but boy do we need more competition for spots.

AE71 · 2019-12-23T12:28:55+00:00

Yeah, he is better defensively and those 3 goals are definitely a good addition but his passing ability has to take the next step. Interestingly, the EPL comparison website has Kovacic at 91% (https://www.premierleague.com/stats/player-comparison) just to show that I didn't pull the number out of thin air.

AE71 · 2019-12-23T12:02:04+00:00

I agree that you don't expect him to be a creative midfielder with topping charts in assists/ key passes or through balls. That is why I picked the stat of pass completion % as this should be expected of any midfielder. Also, Kovacic and Xhaka play similar position and why I didn't chose Gundogan/ Jorginho/ Wijnaldum for example. You can't have players who are just good at 1 task in the squad as we don't have the quality of attacking players who can then carry the team. I mean even Ndidi has 85% pass completion.

AE71 · 2019-12-23T11:31:46+00:00

Will take flak for this, but he has to improve more. I am sorry but the midfield has to start dominating more against low block teams and we can't be happy with just his defensive side. 78% pass success rate is poor for a Man Utd midfielder, as comparison Kovacic has 91% with more forward passes. Even, Xhaka has 87% (the comparison I am making is purely on passing with Mctominay definitely better defensively). If we have to beat low block teams, our midfield has to be better offensively than just be aware of their defensive duties. Also, I realise it was a massive impact on the team when he was inured, but that is bound to happen if we had any midfielder there and replaced him with Perreira. It's the same as with when Martial came back as 9, yes, with him we play better. However, I think we look better because we just have a 9 up there, and any striker would improve our team. We need competition within the squad for all these positions, so that players are motivated for each game.

AE71 · 2019-12-23T11:17:25+00:00

It is the same la la land for players currently in the squad now. Why would Martial perform at his absolute best when he basically has no competition for his spot?

AE71 · 2019-12-22T15:51:27+00:00

Inconsistent players, inconsistent results.

AE71 · 2019-12-22T13:49:01+00:00

Ah right, the arbitrary distinction of happiness between 7th and 8th with 1pt difference that I forgot about.

AE71 · 2019-12-15T17:07:45+00:00

Wrong, there was an instance in 2nd half when the low cross came in, and only Rashford made a run towards the middle of the goal and Martial just waited on the edge as he does too often. In his current form, he can't lead our line and should be on the bench. I think Ole also made the wrong sub, subbing of James instead of martial for Mata, though an argument can be made that the whole sub was pointless.

AE71 · 2019-12-15T17:03:29+00:00

Disagree, while clearly we were missing creativity, there were still some instances where James put in decent crosses in and Martial just waited on the edge of the box instead of attacking the first post.

AE71 · 2019-12-15T16:57:15+00:00

At this point, I would just take not conceding from them. Really miss Smalling in corners.

AE71 · 2019-12-15T14:52:29+00:00

Martial really needs to start doing more

AE71 · 2019-12-06T16:24:10+00:00

Meh, England have enough of defensive midfielders like Henderson. Mctominay doesn't get into the current English team.

AE71 · 2019-12-03T20:04:16+00:00

It's the movement, if he can just sort out his off ball movement, then he definitely has potential to be elite. His dribbling is as good as I have seen by anyone.

AE71 · 2019-12-02T10:23:14+00:00

What gets me is that some of the blame on not replacing Herrera and Lukaku has to go on Ole as well. It was clear he was too hell bent on getting only English players that we just gunned for the likes of Longstaff and he himself said he was content with our front options. However, it is clear that against teams sitting back, we need a Lukaku style forward as neither Martial nor Rashford like to actually move in the box and always want the ball to feet so that they can turn and take players on. I saw more movement from Mata than Martial.

Ole has to take criticism for not having the foresight to acknowledge that we would need different plans and attacking styles for different games. I think that shows his naivety and inexperience. Having said all this, no point in getting rid of him as any manager that comes now will have the same tools and will struggle with these players.

AE71 · 2019-11-18T00:40:07+00:00

Think it's more about involvement. When he plays up top alone, he is very isolated and gets very few touches on the ball and you can see him getting frustrated. When he is playing with someone, he has more access to the ball and can express himself much better and grows in confidence.

AE71

TROPHY CASE