11 Apr 2016 02:02:08
What ever page this goes on edds appreciate all the work you all do but why dose everyone blame a manager the players get paid an enormous amount of money to do something they are supposed to love doing in my work I give 100% if not I don't get a penny if I down tools that is it I am looking for a new job end of no iffs or buts give me 80 g a week a would run through brick walls pisses me off took me 10 years save for a house a footballer dose it in 1 week.
11 Apr 2016 08:10:42
Trig, People blame the manager because his tactics and man managment are all wrong?! We are 32 games in and he still persists with Mata wide right, leaving herrara on the bench, the more I watch us this season it's so pedestrian we need a change, bring in Mourinho, yes he's a short fix but, this is becoming a joke, we are becoming a joke, Mourinho is a short fix atm, let him come in and do a job and look to further targets down the road, all this talk of "GIggs should get the job" makes me want to smash my head against the wall, Manchester United is the cremĕ de la cremĕ, settling for mediocrity is a crime, if we continue I fear we are going down Liverpool's route, All in all, get mourinho in sign 3-4 players and let him stop us being a joke to world football.
11 Apr 2016 08:31:43
If we had won yesterday we would have been 1 point behind City, 3 points behind Arsenal and 6 behind Spurs with a game in hand. If LVG can't motivate the players with that in mind; when can he motivate them?
His tactics yesterday were all wrong. Young up front? Mata wide right? Ander on the bench?
The players should shoulder some of the blame, sure; but this is the squad he has built and it has not come cheap. We're going backwards under LVG.
11 Apr 2016 08:34:28
Trig DDG earns a lot of money, do u think we should blame him if van gaal plays him upfront and expects him to score goals, playing a winger as no 10, a no 10 as winger then taking off your striker for a winger and rather than letting your striker who is playing as winger to play in his natural position van gaal decides it"s best of the winger plays as striker.
i will never know how rojo was on the pitch for 90 mins, most of the game he was caught out of position which blind had to cover which led to smalling covering for blind to fosu mensah covering for smalling, which left mata playing much of the game as right wing back, our defense was in shambles because of rojo but no changes were made, i could see rojo was a big issue so could others watching the game, my dog and his poop could see rojo was the problem but the guy who is paid to see and fix it couldn't, that's why manager was at fault, u can't blame the players for not scoring goals if manager tells them put put 10 men behind the ball and defend for 90 mins.
11 Apr 2016 10:12:16
First off I kind of disagree with this idea that a footballer can only play one position. Certainly their are roles in which a player will feel more comfortable in, but the skill sets are very similar in many positions. Every outfield player will know how to pass, how to tackle, where to put their body in a defensive situation and where the space is moving forward. They will all have to have a high level of technical ability. Obviously things such as physical attributes will aid or hinder players in certain situations.
All the top managers have twinked a players precieved playing position. Pep has done it, Mourinho has done it and Sir Alex did it plenty.
So let's not pretend it is only LvG who does it.
Our players playing positions played no part in the loss yesterday.
There was no issue with players covering for each other, firstly its a team game and covering for each other is something that happens in every game up and down the country. Its a massive part of a team game.
Yesterday we had three players man marking which is what made our shape appear lopsided. Smalling was man marking Kane, who himself kept trying to get one on one with Blind. This ment that with Smalling man marking him everytime he moved into Blinds partnof the pitch it ment he made sure he was being picked up by two players. He would have had more success if he drifted deep to create space behind him. Which is something he started doing in the second half.
Fosu-Mensah was tasked with man marking Eriksen which he did superbly. It was him going off which made our defense go pear shaped, and by the time they got their composure Spurs had scored three goals.
Mata was tasked with shackling Rose who uses the space left by a drifting Eriksen to overlap. Mata was a poor choice for this job, although he did a very good job, but it ment he offered nothing going forward.
Rojo caused most of our defensive issues, he kept letting Lamela get past him with his poor positioning, he failed to track him and it is no suprise that our down fall came from a combination of Fosu-Mensah going off injured making space for Eriksen along with the poor defensive effort of Rojo allowing Lamela the time and space to get in behind and use the ball to open us up. Blind was covering for Rojo all game.
The only two poor choices LvG made was starting Rojo and Mata, Rojo was playing like an attacking wing back with little care to his defensive duties while Mata was having to focus far too much on defence. Effectively making our most creative player a defender while making one of our poorest defenders an attacking outlet.
I'd have had Darmian at leftback from the start, with lingard in for Mata our wide right and brought Hererra in at No.10 and benched Mata.
The way Spurs play just wasn't a game for Mata, they play a high press with lots of energy and pace. You need to match them for work rate and look to hit them on the counter as quickly as possible. Neither are playing to Mata's strengths.
11 Apr 2016 10:25:10
Flying Irishman
My great fear is the club going all emotional and appointing Giggs. I see that as the start of the decline
I am left wondering what our decision process is, who is in control because it is obvious that the Dutch clown should have gone in December and equally we should be looking for the best available manager. We cannot afford someone without the stature and the faded LvG never fitted. I keep reading drivel about the United way and how Giggs would follow it. There were fans saying that from when Busby retired and that brought mediocrity in pursuit of a flawed ideal. It was only when we brought a determined proven winner that things changed. Now it appears the club has not learned from Busby in the most deep rooted issue, the emotional ideal. It's time to appoint a determined winner even just for the short term and that is Mourinho. It may upset some delicate little flowers at and around the club but it is what is needed. Part of the fans problem is the attitude, the lack of protest, the prawn sandwiches that Keane mentioned stretches to this too. For me Season Tickets should not be renewed until this mess is decided, if LvG continues let him play to an empty stadium. Do not let the club play the emotional Giggs card either.
The club needs to wake up.
11 Apr 2016 10:58:41
So Shappy,
Even according to your analysis LVG made 3 poor chices and not 2. Mata RW, Rojo and Lingard at No. 10.
11 Apr 2016 11:03:30
shappy i agree with u that players can play in multiple position but to do it once in a while because we have injuries or a said sub can't be used because we have bigger issues to resolve etc is understandable but playing players out of position or making ridiculous subs is what van gaal's done over the course o the season, mata is a no 10 not a rw vice versa with lingaard, young hasn't played in a while and u bring him to be a striker is not a seldom event remember nick powell against wolfsburg or bringing defenders when we are chasing games, the manager throws players in expecting miracles every game, he complains that martial missed a chance and how we messed up in 5 mins but forgets to mention that lamela missed a sitter or the fact that martial chance was created by a piece of brilliance from martial despite van gaal's tactics.
Red man i agree with your sentiments but the season ticket idea will never work, utd have a too long waiting list so if u don't take it someone else will, what we need is something like what liverpool did with that 77th minute walkout or what they planned with not attending the final after buying the ticket.
11 Apr 2016 11:20:36
Mbd, I ment he made two mistakes in who started. Rojo and Mata out with Hererra and Darmian should have been brought in. My point was who he selected more than where he played them.
11 Apr 2016 11:58:53
Shappy, players can play a variety of positions I get that, but only when it suits the abilitys they have, Mata is as slow as my grandmother without the walking stick, so sticking him wide right makes no sense when it pulls others out of position to cover him?!
Redman, totally agree, you can never rely on past success it's always about looking ahead (fergie) I will be shocked if they don't appoint Mourinho, realistically he gives us out best chance at success and would cut the Mickey been taking from us.
11 Apr 2016 12:03:57
common_sense moyes - The more I think about it the more I am convinced that Mata was asked to play wing back and FM was playing as a third centre back.
FM was playing far too narrow yesterday to be positioned at fb.
Either way LVG should have seen that things weren't working and that we were far too weak down our right side.
It's easy to say that we were level before FM went off - but that was down to some fantastic blocks by FM (both centrally which highlights my above point) and some poor finishing by Spurs (the Lamela chance springs to mind) .
Even if people believe that we wouldn't have conceded had FM stayed on - we never really looked like scoring. We had one shot on target yesterday and it was straight at the keeper. It wasn't created by great team play as a result of LVGs tactics - it was one man that had enough and decided to take on 4 Spurs players because whatever we were trying to do was failing.
11 Apr 2016 12:19:51
Common sense Moyes
Season ticket waiting list? Myth? I don't believe there is one anymore. Three Seasons ago I didn't renew for various reasons and then went back afresh for LvG's first season and asked for a ST. No problem got one easily.
Fans need to protest if the club don't look like going in the right direction, no "Mour" excuses.
11 Apr 2016 12:30:31
It totally depends on the situation as to whether a player should or shouldn't play a certain position. Nearly all of Mata's best performances for us have come from the right wing, he has flatered to decieve when played at No.10. In the EPL I feel he is too weak to establish himself in the middle of the pitch. We tend to have a lot a big strong defenders and midfielders in our league. This means to play centrally you need to either match them physically or be able to beat them with pace to create space for yourself. How many times have we said that Mata needs other players to play a certain way to tet the best out of him. He lacks the ability to impose himself on a game centrally unless others create space for him as he can't do it himself.
Against Spurs he shouldn't have got a game, even as a sub. His attributes mean he is always going to be a passenger against a team that plays with that much pace, power and energy.
But against a team that sits deep, he has the vision and ability to unlock a tight defence. From either a central or a wider role.
11 Apr 2016 12:46:15
Red man if that's the case then i was mistaken and your way might work but either way people need to protest, and it has to happen in large nos.
11 Apr 2016 12:55:53
Shappy - That would be all well and good had he not played centrally for Chelsea for 2 seasons and been voted their player of the season both years.
Mata can excel centrally if the system suits his style of play. Unfortunately, our system does not suit his style of play (or anybodies for that matter) .
11 Apr 2016 13:22:40
Do we have the quick direct amd consistent wide players along with the physically strong and quick striker needed for Mata to excel centrally?
Everyone around Mata at Chelsea were big and strong and quick. They occupied the opposition creating the space for Mata.
But when Mourinho went back to Chelsea his style doesn't allow for passengers, so he didn't play him, when he did it was on the right wing then he sold him. Does that sound familar?
11 Apr 2016 13:45:20
big strong and quick shappy were hazard, oscar, sturridge, malouda, torres big and strong and they definitely aren't any quicker than than martial or depay or lingard, only big strong guy mata played with was drogba who did not even play more than half the epl games, quality differences are there for everybody to see but it is more down to shackles the manager puts on the players than players being rubbish.
11 Apr 2016 17:52:01
Shaps. I think all Mata needs to excel is freedom.
When he's able to drift into pockets of space - he is deadly. When he's stuck in a rigid system where the opposition can guess exactly where he is going to be - it is far too easy for them to mark him out of the game. Having to bust a gut getting up and down the right flank certainly doesn't help either.
I agree that he has his limitations and that they may not be ideal for the modern game - but you only have to look at players like David Silva to see that small skillful players can still be effective in the league when the tactics play to their strengths.