The Footie Thread

[Deleted member 15344]

Martial has been unavailable for at least a couple of weeks, as he has been for a lot of the season, so hardly fit!

I had a count two or three weeks ago and there were at least ten players who I would expect to feature on matchday who were unavailable, mainly through injury.

I’m not suggesting other teams haven’t had issues, but we’ve barely been able to populate the bench for weeks. And that’s on top of a significantly weakened starting line up.

But I’m certainly not naive enough to think the problems don’t run far deeper at United than the injury list, and I am tiring of hearing Ten Hag trot that out as an excuse every week.

We have had kids on the bench for the last 2 months but it’s going to happen these days we the level of games - players are going to suffer

Makes not bothering with either Sancho or De Beek or finding a way to sort issues out a bit more baffling

But as you say the issues there run very deep and it’s going to need a significant change and clearout

Looking at the list of players within the squad it’s very hard to see which ones would get into either City or Liverpool - maybe the odd player for the bench - and it’s been a long time since that’s been the case.

 

[Billysboots]

We have had kids on the bench for the last 2 months but it’s going to happen these days we the level of games - players are going to suffer

Makes not bothering with either Sancho or De Beek or finding a way to sort issues out a bit more baffling

But as you say the issues there run very deep and it’s going to need a significant change and clearout

Looking at the list of players within the squad it’s very hard to see which ones would get into either City or Liverpool - maybe the odd player for the bench - and it’s been a long time since that’s been the case.

Totally agree with your last paragraph, and much of the rest of your post.

Interesting nobody has mentioned Rashford this afternoon. My take? Yes, he took his goal really well, but that aside I thought he was really poor again. And his reaction to being hooked, and at full time when he appeared to head straight to the tunnel, would suggest all in Rashford’s world is far from well.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Depends if Palace get here in the snow.
Its forecast.

Rock, paper, scissors over zoom then. Best of 5.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Totally agree with your last paragraph, and much of the rest of your post.

Interesting nobody has mentioned Rashford this afternoon. My take? Yes, he took his goal really well, but that aside I thought he was really poor again. And his reaction to being hooked, and at full time when he appeared to head straight to the tunnel, would suggest all in Rashford’s world is far from well.

What style do Man Utd play or is ETH looking to play - it’s very hard to see tbh

We all know what style Liverpool or City or Arsenal are going to play - how they will set up , even if players miss out then someone else comes in but the style stays the same -

ETH has been there for 18 months now but are they - possession based , high press , counter attack etc - it’s really hard to see and a lot of times without the ball there seems to be a lot of players just chasing players - seems a bit like the old school football and players just running after the ball

And it seems to all come from the GK and not really having a solid spine

Then you look at Spurs manager and he has managed to put into place a style and a blueprint for his squad

Its going to be a big 2 months for ETH - he needs to really step up or he will be out


As for Rashford - he has all the ability and quality to be a star , to be the main player for that team , to be a leader - but something isn’t right with him

 

[Swango1980]

Totally agree with your last paragraph, and much of the rest of your post.

Interesting nobody has mentioned Rashford this afternoon. My take? Yes, he took his goal really well, but that aside I thought he was really poor again. And his reaction to being hooked, and at full time when he appeared to head straight to the tunnel, would suggest all in Rashford’s world is far from well.

Took his goal well, so anyone watching MOTD2 will probably think he was one of our better players.

Yet really slow to make decisions on most other occasions. As usual, kept running into brick walls, or running it out of play.

Frustrating to watch, especially second half

 

[Billysboots]

What style do Man Utd play or is ETH looking to play

Short answer? I have absolutely no idea. No idea at all.

 

[Deleted member 21784]

Short answer? I have absolutely no idea. No idea at all.

Does he know?

 

[Bdill93]

@Bdill93 what's the deal with cash ATM? I heard we linked with him , how comes he being left out? Always seemed to play well

Not good enough going forward for us and not got the pace to recover in defence. Struggling in the system somewhat and I expect he will be one whose place is at risk.

 

[Billysboots]

Does he know?

You’d have to ask him. It’s not a question I’ve ever heard him address.

 

[Bdill93]

Debate
Who has the best backside for winning fouls
King Kenny or Super John McGinn.

I’ve never seen a player shield a ball like John McGinn. He’s just brilliant at it.

Unfortunately never saw Kenny play! Was it a similar style of sticking out the backside?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Gary Neville

 

[Slime]

Guess it’s what’s classed as an injury crisis

Man Utd have 4 out at the moment

Spurs have 7

Utd have only 4, (actually more), out because some have just come back this week, I'm sure you already knew that, though.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Everton and Forest expecting to be found in breach of spending rules

Everton and Nottingham Forest are expecting to be referred to an independent commission over breaches of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations (PSR). Clubs will learn on Monday whether they have fallen foul of the league’s financial rules under new guidelines...

theathletic.com

looking like Everton in further trouble

I suspect at some stage they will sort out the City charges

 

[clubchamp98]

Totally agree with your last paragraph, and much of the rest of your post.

Interesting nobody has mentioned Rashford this afternoon. My take? Yes, he took his goal really well, but that aside I thought he was really poor again. And his reaction to being hooked, and at full time when he appeared to head straight to the tunnel, would suggest all in Rashford’s world is far from well.

Only seen it once but it looked like Rashford lost the ball for Hjolands goal.
But will he get the assist.?

Nothing worse for a CF than greedy wingers who don’t pass to him.

 

[Swango1980]

Only seen it once but it looked like Rashford lost the ball for Hjolands goal.
But will he get the assist.?

Nothing worse for a CF than greedy wingers who don’t pass to him.

Doubt it, as it came off defender. Basically, Hojlund got a chance due to a Rashford error rather than giving him a good assist

 

[clubchamp98]

Doubt it, as it came off defender. Basically, Hojlund got a chance due to a Rashford error rather than giving him a good assist

Yes just seen it on motd.
Rashford just running into defenders again.!

 

[4LEX]

Totally agree with your last paragraph, and much of the rest of your post.

Interesting nobody has mentioned Rashford this afternoon. My take? Yes, he took his goal really well, but that aside I thought he was really poor again. And his reaction to being hooked, and at full time when he appeared to head straight to the tunnel, would suggest all in Rashford’s world is far from well.

Rashford was shocking. His general attitude, pointless celebration and behaviour when subbed wasn't a good look. I've defended him a fair bit but his ego has spiralled out of control.

By the way, I knew Hojlund would score today after my comments

 

[Norrin Radd]

Guess it’s what’s classed as an injury crisis

Man Utd have 4 out at the moment

Spurs have 7

Brighton 9

 

[Billysboots]

By the way, I knew Hojlund would score today after my comments

Feel free to slag him off every week if that’s the impact it has!

 

[Swango1980]

I've said before, for the season as a whole I've never known anything like the injury / off field issues Utd have had. Not even close. I think only 3-4 Utd regulars have been available more often than not.

Defensively, Martinez has effectively been out all season, and Varane much of it, followed by off field issues. Lindelof out, and now Maguire has been out for a while. There were question marks about signing Evans at start of season. Thank God we did. Wan Bissaka was out for a long time, and we've not had a left back for most of the season, even after we signed one on loan for 1st half of it. Shaw can't escape injuries, and Malacia been out all season. Defensively we've been decimated.

Then you've had Casemiro out nearly all season as well, and Mount has possibly never been fully fit. Erikssen has been missing a lot. Hojlund arrived at club injured, but thankfully he has generally been available since because we have no one to replace him, and Martial is always injured anyway (even if he is playing he looks unfit). Then Antony has had legal issues, and undoubtedly personal issues can impact how a player performs on pitch (and a player who isn't great anyway). And Sancho had been a waste of space.

I've no idea what players will turn up one week to the next. But McTomminay would get nowhere near the starting line up of any top side, in my opinion. I suspect a player like Rashford would struggle to play in a possession based side, as he doesn't seem sharp enough to make quick decisions, and pass the ball to a team mate quickly. He's obsessed with dribbling and getting a shot off.

So, for the players that are available for Man Utd, does anyone genuinely think they are better than the players at City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs, Brighton, Newcastle, etc? Probably not. Which is why I'm less inclined to blame the manager, I think he'd have to be a miracle worker to get that bunch playing consistent, exciting football and competing in the top 4. Rangnick was correct that the squad needs open heart surgery. And I think a lot of other things behind the scenes need to change to create a positive feeling within the club and give a good foundation for the players. Could take a while.