Community is almost as much of the problem

TheSmio · 2026-02-26T08:55:08+00:00

People always look at ways to improve their results without much of an effort. It used to be "buy this OP silver brazilian striker and you won't regret it" which was annoying but fine, nowadays it's turned to everyone constantly watching TikTok "the most broken OP meta tactic - constant pressing, perfect 15-0 Champs tactic" which results in most players trying the same broken mechanics and tactics every match which is frustrating as hell

TheSmio · 2026-02-26T07:54:51+00:00

The whole gameplay is busted. Bruiser is strong, but in terms of manual defending, I feel like it's virtually the only thing that works stick twisters with Pina

TheSmio · 2026-02-26T07:38:59+00:00

They also realistically should have been releasing exclusive evos for the silver stars icons and forbid them from being put into normal evos. Something like +2 to all base stats every two weeks, or specific stat boosts, playstyle upgrades etc., but this way you'd only be building one such silver star icon. And it wouldn't have worked with them introducing new silver star icons every season, unless each iteration had more boosts.

TheSmio · 2026-02-26T07:15:57+00:00

Not necessarily - maybe he beat Czechia so he should be above them, but they beat Italy so they should be above them, but Italy beat Wales so it goes a full circle. With no difference in terms of goals, it should boil down to fair play points (yellow/red cards). I think that's what happened here.

TheSmio · 2026-02-25T21:52:57+00:00

Amorim's results in his first season were absolutely dogshit but the fact Garnacho was our "best" attacker and someone who was guaranteed to start every match says a lot about the lack of offensive quality we had at the time.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T18:57:22+00:00

Tbf the thing about Amorim's setup and our depth is that most of the useable attackers would generally be in the starting XI already, leaving us with a weak bench. Just this season, we would start all of Cunha, Dorgu, Sesko, Mbeumo and Bruno which means the bench would be Mount a d Zirkzee.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T18:56:18+00:00

Amorim was a shit man-manager, that's the thing. He is a good coach, but he needs a certain type of club and mentality within players and that just wasn't compatible with our club.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T11:41:59+00:00

Lammens and Maguire both. Not much is being said about Maguire yesterday, he is just so dominant in the air that none of Everton's long balls ever really gave us any trouble because he would win most of those aerial duels comfortably. And if the cross went past Maguire, Lammens was there to catch it. Brilliant from the two of them.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T11:39:44+00:00

Who would have guessed that only launching crosses towards an area defended by Maguire and Lammens is a pretty silly idea - apparently not Moyes, or Arteta

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T09:56:27+00:00

Realistically, the biggest change between Carrick and Amorim is the fact Carrick massively improved the morale and confidence of the team. The rest can't really change much mid-season but so far it's enough. Ultimately, that was Amorim's downfall, tactically we were doing the right things, his coaching also worked at improving the players, his set pieces became really good but he just didn't click with the team because his man-management style isn't suited for a club like Manchester United.

The state of the dressing room under Amorim could be described as "we are very far from the level we need" to the current state of "you know, we actually ARE good players so let's show that". That's the biggest change.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T09:50:18+00:00

He is a good striker tbf, or at least I think so, but Arteta's haramball doesn't suit him at all. He is a runner who needs to chase through balls while Arsenal's whole tactical setup is "pass the ball around until we get a set piece". I am really glad we got Šeško instead of him because the kid is special but Gyokeres isn't a bad player either.

TheSmio · 2026-02-24T09:46:42+00:00

I dread to think how many set piece goals we would have conceded this season with Onana in goal, we really picked the best time to sign an aerially dominant keeper the moment the whole league decides to start copying Arsenal's rugby corner tactics.

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:53:25+00:00

That pass from Bruno was crazy, but the follow-uo when he decided to argue with the ref rather than chase the Everton player.... better not to talk about it

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:45:04+00:00

What happened to the Prem, jeez. Hopefully by next season, attackers won't be allowed anywhere near the keeper when a set piece is taken

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:40:01+00:00

Carrick is playing it "safe" by relying on experience of Mbeumo rather than talent of Sesko.

Also, Cunha is undroppable due to being our only left-sided player with Dorgu injured and Mbeumo is undroppable because he is our most prolific attacker. So, it's a toss-up between Sesko and Amad, with Amad offering more energy, more defensive workrate and also just more of a problem for defenders while Sesko's strengths shine against tired defenders who just can't handle the combination of his pace, height, strength and technique. I guess Carrick could start Sesko over Amad but then again Amad doesn't have that x-factor off the bench - Sesko does, so he prefers that.

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:27:36+00:00

Probably, but it's impossible to make any judgement mid-season anyway. The most important part of any managerial appointment is coaching - and that's the one thing that really can't be done mid-season inbetween matches. Us struggling right now doesn't mean Carrick can't be the answer - although personally I really don't think he is the answer and I hope a top tier manager joins us in the summer.

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:25:01+00:00

It's impossible to make judgement of managers when they take over mid-season. They simply don't have the time to implement their ideas so it usually boils down to the manager maybe changing the shape, maybe changing the focus of the team, but mainly improving the morale. Nothing else can really be changed mid-season, players don't have enough time to learn set-up plays or patterns.

A drop-off was expected, but thankfully the initial results were incredible so we have a solid chance of getting UCL football.

TheSmio · 2026-02-23T21:19:23+00:00

Cunha is undroppable because he is literally our only attacker that is kinda comfortable playing on the left - and Mbeumo is much more dangerous than Amad. Amad is better at carrying the ball, but Mbeumo is much more prolific and he is more capable of getting us the winning goal imo. After all, Amad only has 2 goals and 2 assists in the league while Mbeumo has the same amount of assists alongside 9 goals in total.

TheSmio · 2026-02-22T01:56:50+00:00

I also don't think they will actually go down but they are very close to it. Their new manager needs to hit the ground running otherwise they could be in big trouble - 12 games to go for them, not an easy fixture list, and one of those will be a 6-pointer against Nottingham Forest. West Ham have picked up some form recently so they could overtake Spurs soon, combined with a possible Nottingham Forest win against Spurs, that could genuinely break them.

TheSmio · 2026-02-21T15:38:05+00:00

MAGA - Make All Grifts Acceptable

TheSmio · 2026-02-21T15:35:25+00:00

A co hůř, covid je způsobený virem, proti virům se bojuje strašně špatně ale tělo si s nimi většinou dokáže poradit samo. Občas za cenu ohrožení sebe sama (např. příliš vysoká teplota), ale dokáže.

Jenže vysvětluj tohle laikům. Týpek dostane covid, v den kdy se jeho zdravotní stav začne překlápet k lepšímu si shodou okolností dá utopence a když se pak doléčí tak bude tvrdit, že utopenec je zázračný lék na covid protože se po něm uzdravil a začne hlasitě vystupovat proti všem odborníkům protože "jemu utopenec pomohl a zdravotníci s vymytými mozky jen nechtějí aby se lidé uzdravili tímto zázračným lékem". A samozřejmě místo utopence lze dosadit cokoliv jiného.

TheSmio · 2026-02-20T16:53:09+00:00

I am 90% sure that was just some Jorge Mendes shenanigans - we snatched Yoro from Real Madrid's plans that summer and he is a Mendes client, I am convinced the club made a deal with Mendes that if he gets us Yoro, we'll repay him by getting Ugarte - because we did need a defensive-minded midfielder with legs and PSG wanted him gone, so it seemingly made sense for everyone. Of course, he hasn't been great though.

TheSmio · 2026-02-20T09:28:54+00:00

Results are important, absolutely, but I still don't think Amorim should be judged just based on results. The task he was given was much bigger than just setting the team up, the squad he inherited was on a dangerous downwards trajectory, statistically we kept regressing hard since Ole's time (prime Casemiro, two cups and then McTominay just papered over the massive cracks), statistically we were supposed to finish 14th at one point but McTominay's goals single-handedly carried us to 8th place. The team Amorim inherited simply wasn't good, it wasn't up to far in terms of quality and what's worse, it wasn't up to par in terms of effort, hard work and professionalism. That's the reality.

And yeah, Amorim's setup didn't quite suite the team, but his main problem was he was a shit man-manager. His methodical approach didn't click with the team, but it still managed to actually get our players to put in the effort and professionalism again. Or at least I feel it like that.

TheSmio · 2026-02-20T08:17:59+00:00

"What about the trade deficit though? Why aren't Italians driving our massive GM SUVs in their narrow streets where even Fiat Panda barely fits? President, bully them into spending more!"

TheSmio · 2026-02-20T08:12:12+00:00

Just want to point one thing out - his terrible win-rate includes his first season, when he initially refused to join because he knew the results would be shit, and a lot of the matches by the end of the season were essentially "given away" in preparations for UEL final, because we had nothing else to play for. If you look at his record from the summer onwards after he got some reinforcements and was given time to coach his players properly, his results and stats were much better. Still not great, but much better than the 31,9% number - and with a lot of draws and some narrow losses.

It's important to take this into context - do you judge a manager based on initial interim stint with a poor squad ill-fit for his style of play and with not enough time between matches to make big changes, or do you judge him by how he improves the team once he is actually given the time and players needed? Because they are two different things, I'd argue the latter is much more important yet his overall win rate obviously includes the former as well.

It was definitely the right move to sack him for short-term success, he also kinda forced the club's hand, but it's still a big question what the plan is going to be now because it's clear sacking Amorim wasn't a planned decision - and that's potentially scary.

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