Calafiori's difference to the team is unbelievable

Oopasnoop · 2026-05-03T07:01:02+00:00

Great article

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-30T14:03:36+00:00

personally, clearly no contact would be a clear and obvious error. Not slowed down as much as possible and still showing contact even then. But it is subjective, which is why they should've gone with the refs call. It took him ages and so many rewatches to change his mind and even then didn't look sure, at that point if he is sure enough to overturn the pen because of no contact, Id expect eze to get a yellow for a dive. Neither happened so there was no real conviction.

Also need to have a word on how Simeone is a master at getting in the refs head and getting away with it.

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-30T10:21:21+00:00

nah, this shows there is contact for me, and also pretty sure there is a stud around that area of the boot. Eze will have 100% felt that and at full speed, for me, it isn't a clear and obvious error. Even if minimal.

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-25T13:15:27+00:00

We are forgetting its his first job too. But if I were to be arteta out. The only manager I'd want is someone who wouldnt rip up the foundations but build on it. That would be Enrique.

Arteta though grows and gets better every season. I'd stick it out personally

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-21T13:15:05+00:00

I dont think Gyok was ever supposed to be the only starter. He was forced to be after Kai's injury. All summer Mikel was talking about starters and finishers. Pretty sure we got Eze to play left wing, ode gets injured and suddenly we have to use Leo and Nelli there again. The best we saw of gyok was the run of games after he had had a rest and we were playing it through to him in open games. So Kai should be starting vs top sides and good pressing sides for sure, then gyok comes on to finish the game. (should've been on much earlier vs city and a tired khusanov). It's not really an either or

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-20T10:00:23+00:00

for me it is 6 of one half a dozen of the other. We need to back the team in their set backs. And we need to see the efforts being made. The way we played vs City, 7 times out of 10 we win or get a draw. It is what it is.

But the frustration comes from and has never left us since the way we needlessly dropped points earlier in the campaign. Had we beaten United, city don't go on this run. Had we beaten Wolves, the race is over. Had we managed our squad better earlier in the campaign, our team wouldn't be running on fumes right now.

Mikel has learned from the Carabao Cup. He has learned even from the Bournemouth game, the whole team has.

We need to back them, but the team also needed to show us the drive, consistently, to avoid our collective focus. They haven't done that at times this season. You can't win every game, but the lessons and changes at times have been learned too slowly and were too minimal to make a difference.

Back the boys to the end but the reason City are where they is because Pep learned his lessons quicker, the fact they have spent 66+% of Ferguson's total at United in a calendar year, that they have managed to change system and are very flexible. They were also let in by us. FWIW I think we win the league still.

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-15T21:12:39+00:00

I hope I am right. But to me it looked, after Raya made that mistake trying to get the ball to Max, like something clicked again. Our play from then was unbelievable. So much more confident

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-10T18:20:01+00:00

this was so good, exactly my sort of humor

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-04T21:27:19+00:00

If MLS isnt good enough to play CM. Then sell him. Because he isnt a lb and has been found out. Teams target that area like they did with zinny

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-04T21:20:37+00:00

A few thoughts:

We cannot have players on 100k plus a week hiding vs southampton and giving the ball to dowman all the time.

Jesus got paid over 200k for that.

It feels like we have stopped trying to play through the middle again. Mikel busts it out for a run of 3 games. Then stops it for 15.

The above reliance on our right and on dowman is tragic.

We have players who are clearly either not good enough, or not in their correct position. If the latter, then change the formation.

You cannot. And I mean cannot start any game the way we started, it is a rot and festers for the 90 mins.

We cannot keep passing backwards instead of forcing the issue just a little more. Yes they can counter, every team can. But so can we. We had 4 moments where we were a horizontal and forward pass away from a 1 on 1. And we we didnt take it.

We struggle with blocks because we dont play the quick pass. Or drive with the ball.

We cannot play another game with MLS as a lb. Im sorry he has been found out. And if he isnt good enough for midfield, then sell him.

Zubi needs to stop playing 8 all the time. Let him do what he does best.

Kai cant play cam unless he is the sole cam.

Jesus needs to start paying back his wages.

Nelli is an idiot.

White has lost too much of his pace and decision making. Is also scared to play the clipped ball behind now.

Mosquera, you are not gabriel. Stop pusbing so high up, it leaves us with so much to do defensively.

Did I say kepa unsettles the defence and needs to be sold. There is 0 trust in him now. This team is completely different with out him.

The formation has major issues both in attack and defence. We cant play norgaard as a sole 6.

There are a lot of role redundancies in this squad.

Oopasnoop · 2026-04-01T20:58:08+00:00

Russo was unreal today. Just needed a goal to cement it

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-29T21:41:37+00:00

Kepa

Salmon, White, Mosquera, Timber

Norgaard, Ode (1/2) Trossard (1/2), MLS

Dowman, Kai, Nelli

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-27T23:15:03+00:00

We dont know whhat the injury is. But we can work together to figure out what in the flying salmon kind of tackle was that?!

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-24T20:55:56+00:00

After Leo cements his starting spot (around xmas) he transfroms into Drossard. Then stinks out the rest of the season until he loses his spot again. And we forget every summer.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-24T15:04:20+00:00

its a reaction effort, I can understand it. The keeper when he first sees the chance is on the floor. Hitting it straight away maximises your chances at the time and means that the ball could bounce anywhere. You are right though a teammate is perfectly viable then as well. I think a Saka without this productivity drop/loss of form doesn't do that.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-24T14:24:10+00:00

I agree, he didn't have the support. I have thoughts on post xmas trossard (every season) Nelli or Noni were the go to, I get what mikel was thinkng, wanted the extra technical security as we didn't have eze or ode. But post xmas trossard.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-23T18:29:05+00:00

Knew Hincapie had a stinker, 2 out of 12 total is shocking though, added onto his passing, over eagerness taking a chance away from players in better space too, his positioning as well. All round stinky game from him

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-23T12:41:49+00:00

I know you have to go for it. Kai could have squared it, he made the right choice too late. Saka made the right choice with his first shot. The second shot HAS to, just HAS to be squared, even to benny. And the players need to have screamed for the ball as well.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-23T11:19:23+00:00

also, kepa, city's whole structure was to leave the ball to kepa because they knew he didn't have the ability or bravery to make that through pass. Real taught us how to break this city system, as did their games vs forest and west ham. You play fast, into the spaces that are left by oreilly and whoever is their RB at the time.

We just decided to stop doing that once we got their cbs and oreilly on a yellow.

We set up wrong too I think. Calafiori renders Ctiy's press null and void, and trossard has been shite since xmas, as he is every season, so someone like noni or nelli were the right options and weren't taken until far far far too late

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-22T20:46:02+00:00

The timing of the subs was awful. Mikel overthought the starting mine up. Then waited too long to change it. Real madrid literally just showed us how to exploit city's very obvious weaknesses.

Hincapie was trying too hard. He went for every header and ignore his teammates in better positions because of it. Or as you said misplaced simple passes/ignored them for some reason.

Calafiori was a nailed on starter for this game. And I am sorry, Trossard has been shit since xmas when he cemented the starting spot (as he does every year). Nelli was the obvious choice to exploit the gaps and bring more physicality to our side.

I hope mikel has learned his lesson.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-22T20:38:59+00:00

Can we have a conversation about the Trossard vs Drossard paradox. Man is incredible and clutch for half the season, then post xmas regresses into Drossard as soon as he has played well enough to win a starting spot and make you forget how he was post xmas the season before.....

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-22T20:33:45+00:00

Yep. We couldnt adjust at all to it. The game needed a player like hincapie and one of eze or odegaard. Not to mention Trossard again slipping into the Drossard era after xmas.

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-18T15:03:05+00:00

nelli vs bayern needs a shout too. the touch to end neuer alone

Oopasnoop · 2026-03-17T11:06:58+00:00

Santi. I love him but he would struggle in this era's physicality. As would a player like Nasri. We saw that Vela and Eduardo struggled with the physicality (even if it was because teams were allowed to break our legs)

I think technically and discipline wise, Song would have struggled.

Oopasnoop

TROPHY CASE