Great pod as always lad.
I was listening while working so I needed to take notes not to forget what was said and so I can concetrate on both.
Enough about me, lets get started.
Agree on
@AR87 about Sevilla match. We cut them open time and time again but couldn't score. It was refreshing to see us making chances but of course frustrating cause it like we wouldn't hit the sand in a desert. But I agree, people should chill the f. out, and not expect us to play like a 1970 Brazil every match.
@Vault Dweller was prepared with his statistics (stat man
) so kudos to you man, that's how you prepare for a pod.
It was interesting to see statistics on goals and it is a bit staggering to realize how dependent we are on our front 4 and in recent times on penalties to get us goals. That's why it's essential to get Sancho and it's always wrong to ask is he worth it. Of course he is, just need to get the structure of payment right.
One huge problem are set pieces too like you guys wrote. No goals from free kicks or corners. Not only that our corners look horrible still and when we get them it's usually a lost ball which is shocking. Laughed about the Maguire's huge face.
Was it Vault or
@That'sHernandez who said it? Buty yeah its a bit easier to head the ball away in defense than to score it but even still you have to wonder how Maguire hasn't scored a single header until now.
Agree with Ashwin about Pogba. It's as if he doesn't look for goals anymore. Is it cause he's too deep or something else but its a shama cause he has it in him to score goals and nice ones too. It's a bit about him overcomplicating things and he's at his best and always was when he played it simple, it's the same with goals, if you see an opportunity go for it, dont think it over too much.
About Ighalo, one of my gripes with Ole is the lack of trust for this guy. Giving him peanuts, 5 or 6 minutes when obviously Rashford is out of form and contributing nothing. As you guys said it with giving Ighalo more chances we can mix it up a bit up front, not just play Martial as a front man. He's more than capable of playing from the left. Trying over and over with the same front 3 combination is not good if one of 2 are out of form or just having bad games. Agree with Ashwin that it shoudln't be a big deal to rest a player every now and then and I dont think Marcus would be mad about it. Also we should mix it up a bit while playing offense too. Not just looking for 1-2 combinations. If that doesnt work put your wingers wide, try combinations with fullbacks, something.
Williams is not good at left back and that's why we need a FB cover in this window if Ole doesn't trust Dalot or he's good enough. Williams has been thrown into the deep due to circumstances and although he had some decent games it's obvious he's not at home so to say when playing LB.
Back to Sevilla goal, there was a lot of talk about that goal. That was a huge brain fart by the whole defense. But mainly Maguire and Lindelof were occupying positions which were nowhere and from which they couldn't do nothing. They had 2 men in our box to our 4 and they still managed to score. I've seen better defending on my schoolyard and it is baffling how he have those kind of huge mistakes. We didn't score at one end and we got punished at the other but it was a ridiculous goal to concede. Comedy relief moment.
I'd give Maguire about 7 too, he's been solid and it's not just so to say to put his price tag on his head constantly. Hopefully it will tend to disappear by time from next season on. He had some lapses in concetration when he was in some strange positions or didnt read the game well or just got owned by strikes but generally he's been solid. I tend to agree with Vault he maybe shouldnt be captain but on the other hand agree with Ed too that too much of a deal is made out of who's the captain cause yeah essentially he's just the guy who speaks with the ref sometimes. But it is a problem we lack leaders in the dressing room and I cant imagine players roasting each other after defeats, they look more like they're busy updating their Instagram profiles but adding Bruno is a step into the right direction and he strikes me as a leader too.
Good shouts about Dan James too. He wasnt brough as a first 11 material but was thrown into the deep and was actually pretty good. He had a dip in form and he deserves a chance to prove his worth. If it was to Caf he would be sold after 2 months. Same with Fred and Scott, they had a dip in form after the brake and they were already rubbish.
Is Ole good enough. I'm still not sure, I tend to agree he's not the man who'll bring us the title but he is the guy to make the team the best he can and better than before. Better than having mish mash of players. He knows what kind of players he wants and what does he want from the team in general, not just the way they play but the whole culture of a club and atmosphere. He already made a good job in lifting the whole club and our general gameplay, not to mention getting rid of deadwood. There is still some more deadwood to get rid and hopefully we'll do that soon. Jones is a nice guy but it's baffling how he's still at the club. Ole got rid of the guys who didnt want to play for United or thought from the 2nd game in how it would be to not be at United so f. Lukaku and all the others. Who needs them?
Pre brake player of the season Fred too. He gets too much hate in these boards but he's a good player and he proved it more than enough time.
Post brake award is between Bruno and Mason. Bruno had a Cantonaesque influence on the club and Mason is a future star, he's just crazily good and so, so young.
Anyway that's from me, kudos to anyone who read all this till the end.