Apparently Fosu-Mensah is not in his plans? What the feck? Hope it would just be a loan move although would want him to be part of the first team now.
Jose Mourinho's Utd
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
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He will alternate between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3.
I think its obvious bar the holding CM, how he will line up. Rooney will be in the 10 in the first formation and may drop back into MF in the latter.
I think its obvious bar the holding CM, how he will line up. Rooney will be in the 10 in the first formation and may drop back into MF in the latter.
I seriously doubt Rooney will ever play in midfield for us.
I'd imagine we'll drop Rooney in the more difficult games and play a three in midfield with Pogba playing the furthest forward role; which is exactly what we should do.
Don't see why we are going to buy Pogba if we are still going to be playing 4-2-3-1. We have to play 4-3-3 if we buy him, and that means Rooney is out of the team
Ideally that would be the case but it's unfortunately not going to happen right away.
What's this based from?
The mail had a story saying him, Januzaj, McNair, Keane and Blackett he wants out. Don't like the sound of it.
Ah fair enough, yeah me neither.
Just running through the squad in my head after seeing who has been training and who hasn't. I wouldn't read as much into it as all the sensationalist journalists tend to but it is interesting nonetheless. I would assume that Mourinho only wants to work with 20 outfield players per session (in order to play full 11v11 matches) It would be pointless to bring more than that and have them watching the training match rather than focusing on their conditioning.
My only hope is that Mourinho wants a look at some of the players he plans on selling before deciding to offload any of them. Fellaini, Mata , Blind, Rojo etc are all under the cosh according to various sources. Again, putting myself in the managers shoes I think it is wise at this stage of the season to not make any contentious decisions that could cause disharmony in the squad. For example, in an ideal world I would love to see Fellaini, Young and Rojo dropped to the u21s for Perreira, Januzaj and TFM. These senior players who are on larger wages and come with a bigger reputation would all expect to be in and around the first team squad would all have to be training with the first team or you could be sure team morale would be affected detrimentally. It is much easier to leave some of the youngsters with the u21s for the time being. Once a few of the pieces of deadwood in the senior squad can be offloaded then hopefully some of these youngsters can claim their spot in the 22.
My only hope is that Mourinho wants a look at some of the players he plans on selling before deciding to offload any of them. Fellaini, Mata , Blind, Rojo etc are all under the cosh according to various sources. Again, putting myself in the managers shoes I think it is wise at this stage of the season to not make any contentious decisions that could cause disharmony in the squad. For example, in an ideal world I would love to see Fellaini, Young and Rojo dropped to the u21s for Perreira, Januzaj and TFM. These senior players who are on larger wages and come with a bigger reputation would all expect to be in and around the first team squad would all have to be training with the first team or you could be sure team morale would be affected detrimentally. It is much easier to leave some of the youngsters with the u21s for the time being. Once a few of the pieces of deadwood in the senior squad can be offloaded then hopefully some of these youngsters can claim their spot in the 22.
If you were to divide it up into training squads and teams based on preferred rankings at the moment the teams and player ranking order would probably go like this (assuming a 4-2-3-1 formation and assuming that Mourinho is going off reputation and not like the rest of us Muppets would do after last season!):
1st XI:
De Gea
Darmian Bailly Smalling Shaw
Schneiderlin Pogba
Mkhitaryan Rooney Martial
Zlatan
2nd XI
Romero
Valencia Jones Rojo Blind
Carrick Herrera
Lingard Mata Memphis
Rashford
3rd XI:
Johnstone
McNair TFM Tuanzebe CBJ
Schweinsteiger Pereira
Januzaj Fellaini Young
Keane
De Gea
Darmian Bailly Smalling Shaw
Schneiderlin Pogba
Mkhitaryan Rooney Martial
Zlatan
2nd XI
Romero
Valencia Jones Rojo Blind
Carrick Herrera
Lingard Mata Memphis
Rashford
3rd XI:
Johnstone
McNair TFM Tuanzebe CBJ
Schweinsteiger Pereira
Januzaj Fellaini Young
Keane
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Valencia so good he covers both wings?
Probably just for the first XI. A loan to get him consistent playing time wouldn't hurt (except during our annual epic Holiday time injury crisis).
Apologies, Blind as the backup left back!
Memphis in 2nd or 3rd team?
It's fantastic what's happening at United right now. I know we are spending obscene sums on managerial/coaching staff and players but if someone had told you 10 weeks ago that we'd have Mourinho, Ibramovick, Mkhitaryan and Pogba - not to mention Bailly and possibly Fabinho in defence - in our ranks that might have taken some believing.
We've got the most charismatic manager out there, one of the best two keepers in the world, smashed the world transfer record to fill a problem position, have arguably the most flambouyant striker in the game and a smattering of young players like Martial, Shaw and Rashford for whom it is no exaggeration to say look nailed on to develop into world class footballers.
I don't expect us to trample over the competition but this is going to be the most watchable United team, I think, since the '99 team and it has the stardust to match or even outdo Fergies finest from earlier in the 90's. There are £30m footballers that you can't quite see where they're going to fit into a match day 18 - frightening !
We've got the most charismatic manager out there, one of the best two keepers in the world, smashed the world transfer record to fill a problem position, have arguably the most flambouyant striker in the game and a smattering of young players like Martial, Shaw and Rashford for whom it is no exaggeration to say look nailed on to develop into world class footballers.
I don't expect us to trample over the competition but this is going to be the most watchable United team, I think, since the '99 team and it has the stardust to match or even outdo Fergies finest from earlier in the 90's. There are £30m footballers that you can't quite see where they're going to fit into a match day 18 - frightening !
I threw Pogba in the first team and forgot about Memphis in my hurry also. I would assume that Memphis would replace Young as the left wing in the second team shunting Young down to the the third XI.
Previously we signed Arsenal's and Chelsea's best players, this season we have signed player who made highest assists in Bundesliga, highest assists in Serie A and player who scored most goals, 2nd most assists in French league.
Fantastic. Jose's team is shaping up nicely.
Fantastic. Jose's team is shaping up nicely.
Anyone who was/is expecting Jose to suddenly change his ways and play exhilarating football, while at the same time developing the youth of this club, was/is living in la la land. The football under him will be efficient and pragmatic rather than entertaining. It will be comparable to Fergie's last few years but a little more boring. Fans who want high energy/high decibel football or want synchronized pressing from us to win the ball early are in for a huge disappointment. The deal you make with a devil like Jose is to win in the present without worrying too much about the style of football; and unfortunately that is the most important thing for us right now after finishing outside the top 4 in two of the last three years. We could not take the risk of another mediocre year result wise.
My hope is that he wins plenty with us in the next 3 years and leaves a team with a base of players who will challenge for years, like his first Chelsea team that remained competitive long after he left. Then it'll be time to get a younger manager like Poch or someone else to implement an entertaining style and continue with our tradition of giving academy players a chance.
My hope is that he wins plenty with us in the next 3 years and leaves a team with a base of players who will challenge for years, like his first Chelsea team that remained competitive long after he left. Then it'll be time to get a younger manager like Poch or someone else to implement an entertaining style and continue with our tradition of giving academy players a chance.
After rooney's last 4 years, would replace rooney with herrera, hell I would say herrera and mata should be ahead of rooney in the no10 position when both mata and herrera are much better on the ball and probably will do better in the goalscoring department than rooney, herrera is one of these players that cannot be put in a midfield 2 when he is better close to the final third, and I hope Jose sees this that herrera is better supporting the striker
If Mourinho starts winning plenty in those 3 years that you hope, why would united or Mourinho want to leave? part of the reason why he has left a few clubs was interference from board members, if its going well for Mourinho don't see him wanting to leave, especially if he has got it in him to stay longer than 3 years and things go well, be good to see him build united into a dominant force as there is not many good managers out there. During Pogba's best years I would rather it being in the hands of Mourinho, especially if its going well
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You don't think LVG's dogmatic philosophy and approach to our team has nothing to do with that? Can't be a coincidence all of our central players were shit for the same reasons, particularly on the likes of Sneiderlin and Herrera who are used to instinctive football rather than controlled, thoughtful, and conservative style of play?
Look at fergie 2012/13, moyes 2013/14, under fergie the players played with freedom, identity and a manager knowing how to get the best out of the players. Under Moyes? clueless on every front. So it shows, when a manager refuses to understand how to get the best out of his players, any player can look terrible.
Precisely.
It has something to do with that, but even then Schneiderlin is too limited on the ball to play in an advanced role for an elite club. As a ball stopper, worker, interceptionist(?)he's good, but on the ball he is just good enough for Everton/Southampton and that. Even Blind showed more promise on the ball in his first season. You cant expect Schneiderlin to play Busquets, Kroos, Xhaka, Alonso, Sahin role etc, he's just not that gifted.
Limited in what way exactly at Southampton he demonstrates great passing range, ability to make sharp runs into the box,and is more than capable of playing the short passing game too. As an engine of a midfield he isn't good at that, he is great at. In fact he was one of the best in the premier league at it. Did you watch Sneiderlin at Southhampton? One bad season due to mismanagement shouldn't be the decider on whether a player is good or not.
Are you sure this isn't Francis Coquelin or Kante you are talking about?
Great passing range, please dont let me laugh. He doesnt have that ability, if he hsd that he would have shown signs of that here, even though the set up doesnt suit him. He was excelling in a team with far less expectations of making play and a far more simple set up. He's no Fellaini but he cant play defence-splitting passes, change the pace of the game by skipping the midfield like Carrick can, his through balls/cross passes are nothing special as well. If his teammate is free and unmarked, I admit he has some decent accuracy and venom on the ball to get it there, but other than his passing ability is nothing to special to play him in a more advanced role, unless you want to create 2 chances per match again. He's great in his strengths, interceptions, blocks, clearances, duels, aerial duels, tackling, he's strong and quite mobile, but limited on the ball. If you want to be a title contender at least.
He did show signs of his great range here you just did not see them. His range is what makes CDMs like him very unique and proved to be very helpful for Southampton.
To say he doesn't have what it take to be on a title contending team because he dosent play like the caliber of Bosquets and them is a stupid comment to make because by your logic Leicester won the league with Ngolo Kante who is a prolific ball winner and proved to be a pivotal player for them. The year before Chelsea won with Nemanja Matic who served as a pure destroyer who would sit on top of the back four while Fabergas made plays. Guess who that was under? Mourinho. Are Coquelin and Kondongbia, and Casmiero not good enough for title contenders? What about Claude Makeleke, one of t greatest DMs and motors in EPL history who also had tremendous success under Mourinho?
I watch every United match, they werent there. In which matches did he actually play good on the ball? Almot everytimes he got credit it was because of his interceptions, energy, tackles etc, never because of him creating, dominating midfield on the ball.
Why are you putting the words in my mouth, I said that he's too limited to play in an advanced role, not that he wouldn be good enough as CDM, you just completely made that up. He's too limited to play a role in which he has to take on midfielders, create chances/space, raise the tempo of our build up and supply our attack. If he's our stop-man in midfield, blocking attacks with interceptions, blocks wtc etc Im okay with him. Still not overly wowed but he'd be good enough for such a role, as long as he doesnt get the ball in possession for long.
Try vs Manchester City? He played beautiful football playing great Tika Tika with Mata and some cute but incisive back heels for martial and rashford. He additionally played two great scholes-esque passes.
Secondly I apologize. I misread your post really sorry. But I think it unnecessary to criticize him for not being like Bosquets and Xabi Alonso who are champions of serving the deep lying playmaker role for their respective teams in a midfield 3,rather than being a ball winner and engine of a midfield 2. The former is not is role, and luckily we have one of the worlds best box to box midfielders coming in who will handle the creativity of our center midfield with the likes of Bastian and Herrera as his backup.
I'm hoping for some attacking football this year, allow the players to express themselves and let them off the leash so to speak. I don't think we'll see that in the big games though, unless its at Old Trafford and Jose fancies his chances.
And what's wrong with that?
Fergie was just the same as Jose in big games but this doesn't get said. His lines up away from home were baffling at times especially City away in 2012. Fergie did the usually sit deep and counter Arsenal, which worked. We always got dominated at Anfield.
The two big games he actually tried to go toe to toe were against Barca. Which was a mistake.
In an ideal world we start off with a few 1-0 then become more expansive with more understanding.
Nah i think he'll play attacking football, did it at Chelsea with worse players, not the whole time, but you know he can do it. He wants to prove a point and with the likes of Zlatan, Mkhitaryan, Martial and perhaps Pogba he has got the tools to do so. Not the whole fanbase is behind him yet and Manchester United has and always will be about attack. Score lots of goals and win trophies is the best way to win over the doubters.
Against Dortmund it wasn't pretty and one could see a few problems Chelsea had but when the season starts, we'll be ready. No fecks given about any opponents, our games are gonna be buzzing, this time we're not going to throw the towel early, lots of fights and some big results. Confidence is flying high, you can quote me if things aren't going our way...
Against Dortmund it wasn't pretty and one could see a few problems Chelsea had but when the season starts, we'll be ready. No fecks given about any opponents, our games are gonna be buzzing, this time we're not going to throw the towel early, lots of fights and some big results. Confidence is flying high, you can quote me if things aren't going our way...
Think it might be a slow start in that some of the key players will either not be playing yet (Smalldini, Pogba at the very least) and a few others will be undercooked because they joined pre-season late. Once things settle down, hopefully in September, I expect a more settled side and stronger performances.
I'm no fan of Rooney, but no. Perhaps in Mata's case, yes but even then he is more of a poacher when it comes to his goalscoring ability which is not at all what you seek in a no10 in this kind of system. Furthermore, if both he and Rooney reach their top form(big ?), I would back the latter to score more, and by quite a bit. But I really don't understand why people still wan't to see him play as a no10. Even at Chelsea, he was more of a second striker rather than a 10 and the games he has been put there in recent times; he didn't do anything special whatsoever. He's very overrated by some on here to be honest. If anything, our best option at no10 is Mikhitaryan, however he is also very effective off the right, unlike Mata. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that for Mata to shine, we would have to build the team around him in a way, and he is no where near good enough to warrant that, IMO.
I agree with mou on this one, he should be back up to that postion. Also do you not remember Herreras games as a no10 ? He had one good performance there out of around 6 or 7(dont remember exactly) but I do remember he wasn't nearly as effective there as alot, myself included, expected him to be.
I do agree with you however that Rooney isn't the best choice for that position.
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I tried saying it and nearly vomited
could be worse imagine if our lads had to regaal I never said it was wrong mate. Don't jump the gun...
Yeah, I can't see is hitting a real rhythm until late October/November when the Europa League games and Sunday matches come thick and fast. Early season we need to grind out a few 1-0's.
I watched it, City away right? That Rashford pass was good, the Mata tiki taka looked fun (although not sure what use it had). But funnily enough that quite easy through ball he gave on Martial/Rashford (cant remember), he overhit that pass to miss a clear goalscoring opportunity. He's not the only one who does that, Lingard, Rooney, Herrera, Fellaini for example often miss that finesse to just pull of those game-changing passes to actully score and create. Missed the 2 Scholes-esque passes I think, didnt see anything too impressive beside that.
Let's hope, if we play him any more advanced than CDM, it's squeaky bum time for me, play against another elite club and have Schneiderlin up as one of your directors, playmakers, creator etc and I think you'll get found out. But at CDM, I think in time he could be an excellent fit.
Not having Darmain in there at first choice right back!!
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