13 Jan 2025 00:48:38
So happy to eat my own mid 2nd half words on Bayindir, who despite his very poor distribution and a weak punch, when he probably should have caught the ball, which in turn led to Arsenal's goal, stepped up, made 2 excellent penalty saves and was ultimately the man who put us into the next round. Hats off to him. I was surprised when I was told he's actually 6'5". Somehow he always looks so small at corners.
Great team spirit. De Ligt and Maguire immense. It seems like this system plays into Harry's strengths, which is no doubt why his contract has been extended. Yoro's PK was beautifully taken. That spirit, and determination not to lose, is what led to 5 perfect penalties in the shoot out.
Not to put a downer on a great victory, we rode our luck too. A decent CF for Arsenal would probably have scored a couple. I'm looking forward to seeing how this apparent new team spirit manifests itself against the weaker teams as opposed to those that are confident enough to play a high line, like Liverpool, City and Arsenal.
2 draws in regulation against 2 top teams feels like success! It shows how desperate we have become to have a team to be proud of again. The last 2 games do feel like the process has started. Amorim's hard nose approach to Rashford may have been the key to the turn around in the general team attitude. Another shout out must be given to Bruno who has started to play with purpose and passion. How the referee missed the blatant foul on him on the edge of the penalty area is a mystery. Never mind the awful penalty decision against us. The standard of refereeing is really quite poor. VAR cannot overcome that.
13 Jan 2025 05:32:46
6'6" - every inch matters! Especially for reaching the corner of the goal for penalties!
13 Jan 2025 06:13:22
An incredible result. i'm seeing a new resilience in this team.
I recall the first few training videos we saw when RA took over, it struck me then, and even more so now, but the teams willingness to get back, every single time. They run themselves into the ground to get back.
Luckily, I was at the game, it was fantastic to be there. I'm so optimistic. It could be turned around very quickly now in the league.
Harry Maguire, take a bow by the way.
13 Jan 2025 09:18:42
Begrudgingly I will accpet Maguire had a good game. But is still like Jeep Wrangler. Unstable, unpredictable and an accident waiting to happen.
But fair play he did run the show at the back last night.
Good on you Harry.
13 Jan 2025 10:30:09
Keefy
Maguire is a solid CB and people never seem to forget mistakes. its not a coincidence when fit he always starts for england. He is a beast in the box and cleans up everything that comes in from crosses and there is a lot more to being a good defender than being silky on the ball. Vidic was not a ball playing Cb but did okay:)
I think guys like mazroui, deligt, maguire, Martinez, Ugarte have a lot of character and fight in them. Dalot does stupid stuff but also will give you 90 minutes of fight. You need that in any good team that is being developed with some younger talent. The burden should never be on guys like Mainoo and Garna as long as they have a good attitude.
All in all could not be happier with yesterday. We are some ways away from where we need to be but yesterday was more gratifying in some ways as it showed a degree of resilience and toughness we have lacked.
Don't think anyone would have given us a snow balls chance with 10 men, away at arsenal at 1-1 to play for an hour and get a win.
Who knows but would not be surprised if we end up at wembley again.
13 Jan 2025 10:43:21
An outstanding performance. Can't add too much to the above. Love to see the fight and grit that we've shown in recent weeks. Great to see the reserve GK pretty much win us the game with those two outstanding penalty saves. A bit more confidence and who knows, could be pushing Onana as first choice.
Only concerns are the two ongoing issues we already know about - looking light up top, and thin on the ground at LWB esp with now Dalot suspended.
13 Jan 2025 15:09:46
Maguire is the best defensive header of the ball in the league.
Most impressive was the team resilience, been lacking over the last few seasons, but they were fighting, literally for each other. Anyone who says they aren’t playing for the shirt, we got shown that it does mean something to them yesterday.
13 Jan 2025 20:06:32
Hey. i make no secret of the fact I am NOT and never have been a Harry fan.
Credit where it is due on this occasion. He, at the very least, deserves that.
But he remains pedestrian at best and will have his challenges this season.
13 Jan 2025 20:10:34
Ahmad. Also note that there are lots of players who play/ have played for England that are rubbish! And a lot of better players that don’t. So that’s not always necessarily a good yardstick ?.
13 Jan 2025 22:23:53
Maguire had a great game yesterday. This system suits him better.
Yesterday's game also suited as arsenal don't really play with a cf.
There are games that won't suit him and many that do.
The attitude of the team is improving no doubt about it.
I really do hope that we can get a few out this window and 1 maybe 2 in.
There are a few very good players available on loan or sale if we can shift 3 or more from rashford cas ericksen antony lindelof Evans possibly even a wildcard sale of garnacho which is something I'm torn on.
I don't hold out great hope but getting a couple more like minded players in would really enhance our chances of good cup runs and a better 2nd half league campaign.
14 Jan 2025 11:25:04
erikesen, lindelof, evans are all out of contracts in the summer. No one will pay for players like this unless desperate. Decent players for maybe 2nd and third tier teams but their wages make them unattractive and why move for a lower wage to a second third tier clubs. They will all be gone come summer. Antony will go in the summer, boy need to play in a easier league.