Recent content by jamesblonde

Totally. Cole was better than what we had before, but not top class. We could have won in Europe a couple more times with Shearer. It was clear when Ruud came what a top striker did to a team - pity we were on our way downhiill when he arrived.

Supporter since 1983 here. 1989/90 was bad - Fergie bought a lot of dross, particularly in midfield - Phelan, Webb, Milne, Wallace. Replacing great players like McGrath with Donaghy. Hughes and Sharpe and McClair and Ince and Irwin and Bruce swung it for him. 1990/91 things starting looking up...

I started following at the 1983 cup final. The Whiteside goal in '85 was a great underdog moment. 1986, we won 10 in a row (i think) under Atkinson, and it felt like we could become something. Then, back to normal - like now - all fell apart. A few great players - Robbo, Hughes, McGrath, but...

I agree with this. I lived through it. Juve would skin us every year in Europe and Cantona looked out of his depth against the top teams. Schmeikes and Giggs were our only world class players at the time - mid to late 90s (Keane and Irwin were very good, as was Yorke in '99)

He didn't make the Argentinian final 26-person squad. He was in the last 28, but cruelly cut. I imagine he's gutted.

We've seen this happen before. A truly great player, Haaland, lifts up the value of those around him. Haaland made him look good, because he created acres of space for him, and he finished chances created by Jadon (that other strikers would have missed).

A classic...

Love this quote, although I think Cleverley was way below the bottom 5%. Gibson did in an ECL semi-final!

Some people on this thread seem to think Darren Fletcher was actually Fergie's son. It was Darren Ferguson who played in the early 90s. I wasn't that pissed about it, he barely played and wasn't good enough. We have had a lot of those in midfield. Like somebody else pointed out Phelan got the...

I have a heart condition and you don't just get palpitations. There is an underlying cause. Unfortunately, the most likely explanation is either Covid or the MRNA vaccines. As mentioned already, there is a high enough rate of myocarditis that we are seeing well known athletes having heart...

I agree completely with this. I watched him in the Euros and he was wretched. More backwards passes than Paul Parker in his prime. The ball needs to be progressed through midfield, he has shown no ability to make this happen. He will not help get the ball to Pogba and Bruno, teams will be able...

I read this very good article on how analytics departments are valuing midfielders (mostly around Liverpool's limited midfield): https://global.espn.com/football/english-premier-league/story/4066509/liverpools-weird-midfield-has-been-key-to-their-remarkable-premier-league-season TLDR...

I tend to agree with this right now, but it all depends on Matic. Will he be able to adapt to a new pressing system? If not, i have no idea what we will do with midfield as i don't have confidence in Fred or Peirera.

That still leaves Levy to deal with. Woodward will not come of that one on top. (I would love to have Eriksen, frees up Pogba to go to Real).

Been following intently since '83. Was in Barcelona in '99, so it's not going to top that. Or even the semi in '99 against Juventus. Or 2009. The difference with tonight was that i never expected it - made it magical. But the aftertaste today is that, we will still get knocked out soon. And in...