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No. 17
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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2015 5:35 pm Post subject: |
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More rumblings.....
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-players-unhappy-at-louis-van-gaal-tactics-in-arsenal-defeat-a6681811.html
Manchester United players 'unhappy' at Louis van Gaal tactics in Arsenal defeat
Van Gaal went for a passing game rather than playing on the counter
Tom Sheen @Tom_Sheen Tuesday 6 October 2015 11:14 BST2 comments
Macnchester United players have been left unimpressed by Louis van Gaal's tactics for the 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, according to a report.
The Dutch coach, whose side entered the game at the Emirates top of the Premier League and unbeaten at the stadium since 2011, abandoned the counter-attacking style that has served them so well against the Gunners.
According to The Times, it was suggested to Van Gaal, who has an open-door policy with his players, that he play on the counter again. Instead he selected the ageing and immobile Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger over Morgan Schneiderlin, and the United midfield was ovverrun by the speed of Arsenal, who scored three times in the opening 19 minutes.
After the defeat, Van Gaal was "very disappointed" with his players, who did not execute his game plan.
“I was surprised, amazed,” said Van Gaal. “I didn’t expect that: not performing to our game plan, not the will to win. I have not seen that. When you give a team like Arsenal so much space to play football then you know you will lose. We have prepared ourselves to play more compact and not losing our aggression. I am very disappointed.
“I don’t know why it happened,” he added. “I put the question at half-time and after the match because normally I say the things how I see them in the game.
“We have lost, and lost in a way that you cannot lose when you are top of the league. You cannot start like we started. The worst thing is that now everybody is going away now (on international duty). I can’t build up a new situation so they have the confidence to play football to win your next battle.”
It was revealed at the start of the season that Carrick and club captain Wayne Rooney had approached Van Gaal as they were concerned that the dressing room was "flat".
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Moses
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:52 am Post subject: |
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In fairness, moment I saw the team-sheet I knew that a Carrick-Schweinsteiger pairing wouldn't have the legs to keep up with Arsenal, and knew Ashley Young as a fullback would be exploited.
That's on LVG and nobody else, if you expect those players to "execute" a game plan, you're either over-estimating their ability to carry out those roles, or massively underestimating how fast your opponent is on the break. The midfield was comprised of good passers in the middle, but how would they be able to keep up when they didn't have the ball?
2 reasons for the loss: Arsenal played well, and LVG picked the wrong lineup.
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No. 17
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| Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2015 7:10 am Post subject: |
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Liverpool: Jurgen Klopp agrees three-year deal as manager
| Quote: | Jurgen Klopp has agreed a three-year deal to become Liverpool manager.
The 48-year-old German replaces Brendan Rodgers, who was sacked on Sunday after three and a half years in charge with the club 10th in the Premier League.
Klopp has been out of work since May, when he ended a seven-year spell at Borussia Dortmund to take a sabbatical.
He is expected to have Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz - his former assistants at the Bundesliga club - as part of his coaching staff at Anfield.
Sean O'Driscoll, who was Rodgers's assistant, has left the club while Gary McAllister has been removed as first-team coach, although he is considering the offer of another role with the Reds.
No contract has yet been signed but that is viewed as a formality when Klopp arrives in Liverpool later on Thursday. He will be officially unveiled by Liverpool on Friday morning.
Klopp facts
Born: 16 June 1967, Stuttgart
Playing career: Mainz (1989-2001)
Managerial career: Mainz (2001-08), Borussia Dortmund (2008-15), Liverpool (2015- )
Honours: (with Dortmund) Bundesliga 2010-11, 2011-12, DFB-Pokal 2011-12, DFL-Supercup 2008, 2013, 2014
Individual honours: (with Dortmund) German manager of the year 2011, 2012
After seven years as Mainz boss, Klopp joined Dortmund in 2008 and led them to two Bundesliga titles.
They lost to Wolfsburg in last season's German Cup final - his final game - at the end of a campaign in which they struggled domestically, finishing seventh in the league.
Klopp will take over a Liverpool side who have won only four of their 11 games in all competitions this season.
The international break means his first game in charge is a Premier League match at Tottenham on 17 October.
Klopp will have work within the existing structure and what has become known as Anfield's 'transfer committee'.
It is the group that plots and carries out transfer strategy and up until Sunday night consisted of Rodgers, scouts Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, the man in charge of analysis Michael Edwards, FSG's Anfield representative Mike Gordon and chief executive Ian Ayre.
Rodgers, who took over in June 2012, led the Reds to second place in the Premier League in 2013-14.
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http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34469429
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm starting to worry for him. Seriously. |
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No. 17
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| Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is seriously considering sacking manager Jose Mourinho, according to reports.
The Russian billionaire has been unimpressed with Chelsea’s form this season – four defeats in their opening nine league matches – and will wield the axe if Mourinho doesn’t turn things around quickly.
And he’s already got a replacement in mind: Pep Guardiola.
Abramovich is a big fan of the Bayern Munich coach and believes he would be the perfect candidate to replace Mourinho, according to Fichajes.
The Portuguese coach will be given time to save his job, however, and Guardiola is unlikely to leave his post at Bayern before the end of the season.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/10/23/chelsea-owner-roman-abramovich-seriously-considers-firing-jose-mourinho-bayern-munich-boss-pep-guardiola-would-be-his-first-choice-report-5457324/
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Moses
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| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:55 am Post subject: |
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AFC top of the league 
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No. 17
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| Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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United should have won this game. No Aguero and Silva and you tie at home? not good enough. Why isn't Martial playing in the middle? Are we appeasing Rooney here? Defense was good, attack.. not so much. It felt like neither side did anything spectacular to win. Rooney needs to be dropped. Seriously.
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No. 17
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 7:42 am Post subject: |
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Wayne Rooney: Why Anthony Martial should lead Man Utd attack
| Quote: | By Jermaine Jenas
MOTD2 pundit
Wayne Rooney has been given a lot of stick for his performance in Sunday's Manchester derby and I think it was more evidence that he should not be leading Manchester United's attack.
I am not saying he should not be playing for United at all - I am one of Rooney's biggest fans and would always have him in my team even if he is out of form because of his influence on other players and ability to change the game with a piece of magic.
But it is clear that playing him up top on his own, often with his back to goal, is not working. He should have been in Ander Herrera's position, as United's number 10 behind their main striker, not their number nine.
Man Utd's starting XI v Man City
Manchester United's starting XI v Man City, with Rooney leading their attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation
Rooney slowed play down because he is no longer a player who can get the ball, face up to a defender and fly by him. That is the bottom line.
United do have someone who can do that in Anthony Martial. Just by playing him in Rooney's position against City would have meant they were far more of a threat. Instead, Martial was kept out on the left.
Rooney turned 30 this week and he has got to the stage in his career where his options are limited when he is so far up the pitch because he does not have the pace to run at defenders or behind defences anymore.
United struggled going forward for long spells against Manchester City, and did not manage a single shot in the first half.
Their problems in attack were not down to a lack of ambition, more that they had the wrong player as their centre-forward.
Lack of pace leaves Rooney short of space
Rooney did not manage a shot on target against City, and only one shot at all - which was blocked.
He is usually effective when he comes deep to get the ball but on Sunday he was unable to find any space.
Rooney made the fewest touches of any United outfield player to play 90 minutes against City
Centre-halves don't like having to guess whether the opposition striker is going to come short to look for a pass to feet or make runs on to balls behind the defence, especially if he is faster than them.
But City defenders Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi knew they were quicker than Rooney, and they also knew he was always going to want the ball played to his feet.
It meant they could squeeze up the pitch keeping a relatively high line and, with Fernandinho and Fernando almost always in front of them, Rooney was denied space in the area of the pitch he loves to operate in, between the halfway line and the edge of the area.
Only 14 of Fernando's 45 touches came in United's half
Rooney had around the same number of touches against City (50) as his average in previous Premier League games this season (52) so he was no less involved than normal, but he was under immense pressure whenever he got the ball and made far more mistakes than he would do usually.
His passing accuracy of 54.8% was well down on his average of 80.7% for the season and he lost possession 28 times - his average from his previous seven league games was 12.2.
Martial's speed would have scared City
If Rooney had been playing as number 10, with Martial in front of him, then Kompany and Otamendi would not have been able to press him because they would have left a massive hole for Martial to run into.
To me it is clear that is the right combination in United's attack but it seems there is an issue with Memphis Depay, who was on the bench at Old Trafford for the third successive game.
Louis van Gaal is using Martial on the left instead of Depay, and sacrificing Martial's pace down the middle, which means Rooney has to go back up top.
All 52 of Martial's touches came down the left
I don't think it is working. Not so much in terms of their results - I find United's style of play a little boring to watch at times, but they are only two points off the top of the table.
It is more to do with what they could be getting out of Martial, especially in tight games like the derby was.
His speed would have frightened Kompany and Otamendi, no doubt about it.
City's right-back Bacary Sagna is no slouch but Martial went past him like he was not there on a number of occasions.
We know Martial is a great finisher but against City, when he got past Sagna, he would find himself in a crossing position not a shooting position, and with only Rooney to aim for.
For me, Sunday was a missed opportunity for Van Gaal.
With no Sergio Aguero or David Silva, City were far less of a threat than when they are at their strongest, and I thought it was a good time for United to go for the jugular.
Nothing near to that ever materialised, though. But while United were disappointing going forward, you have to give credit to City too.
Defensively, they looked far more solid than they have been for a long time.
Kompany's return was a factor - City have not conceded a goal in any of the six league games he has played this season, compared to eight in four league games without him.
But I thought it was more down to them pushing Yaya Toure forward and going with a partnership of Fernandinho and Fernando in front of Kompany and Otamendi.
Together they closed down Rooney and anyone else who tried to run into the hole between City's midfield and defence.
United only caused City problems in the final 10 minutes, when Jesse Lingard hit the bar and Chris Smalling was denied by Joe Hart.
Until then, City's defence looked extremely comfortable - which is not something you expect to happen when you go to Old Trafford. |
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34633786
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| Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:17 am Post subject: |
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Rooney as no. 10; I've seen this tried unsuccessfully last season, it'll be crazy to implement something that has already been done and failed.
Truth of the matter is despite having just turned 30, Rooney is on the decline as a top footballer. Yes his workrate is still high and he'll put together a full 90 mins, but he's lost his pace and guile that he had a few seasons ago. This season he's been nothing short of a trainwreck: giving away passes, terrible first touches, unable to hold up the front, etc.
Fixing the front-line will be one of the priorities this coming summer; that and continuing to add depth to the defense will help us challenge for the PL title for coming years.
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No. 17
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| Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 7:05 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Chelsea Midfielder Hazard ‘Wants Real Madrid Move’
Hamann believes that a few of the decisions Mourinho has taken will have been an effort to draw a response out of those that have been in the Chelsea first-team for a time, but he adds that Mourinho has gone too far in his treatment of them – especially with his captain Terry.
Meanwhile Eden Hazard, the reigning Footballer of the Year, was dropped with his manager citing defensive solidity as his reason for omitting the Belgian. “And that mistake cost Scotland their chance. These two solid performances are good for us”. Eden performs for the national team.
John Terry is adamant that under-fire Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho remains the best in the world and stresses that he has the backing of his players.
“I continue that way [leaving out Hazard] or he comes in our direction, and tries to play that way”.
“We have the game at home, Dynamo plays against Porto so they have to lose points”. It’s very simple, you pass him the ball and he always does something.
Eden Hazard hit the post early on for Jose Mourinho’s side, who also hit the crossbar through Willian’s free kick while they had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down.
“The thing that worries me about Chelsea is that he seems to be falling out with all the players”.
“In all my life I have never had a problem with any coach”, Matic said of his recent absence from the team.
“I am professional and I respect all decisions of the coach”.
“So other people, other opinions, I don’t care, I’m not really bothered”.
Mourinho re-signed Matic for Chelsea in January 2014 for £22 million from Benfica and he has been one of the club’s best players since his return. Matic agrees the Portuguese has been good for his career. “We are not in a great position but we are working hard and slowly we will get back to what we had last season”, Matic told Chelsea’s official website. We are collectively together, the players, the manager and the fans and we will be all right. “But to say the referee was “weak and naive”, referring to one of the top referees, not just in this country, also in Europe, to call him “weak and naive” we can do”.
“You don’t win trophies year after year without that hunger in the belly”.
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http://tvnewsroom.org/newslines/sports/chelsea-midfielder-hazard-wants-real-madrid-move-4124/
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Wilt
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:49 am Post subject: |
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 Mourinho.
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Moses
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:01 am Post subject: |
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Will love it if Jose gets fired!
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No. 17
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:55 am Post subject: |
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I'm sure its the same thing the rest of the league is saying about LVG.
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No. 17
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 5:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Gatekeeper wrote: | | No. 17 wrote: | | I'm sure its the same thing the rest of the league is saying about LVG. |
We'll still finish top 4 |
You're sure about that? Hes playing an absolutely toothless format. Stubborn as a mule. This guy worries me more than Wayne Rooney..
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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| No. 17 wrote: | | Gatekeeper wrote: | | No. 17 wrote: | | I'm sure its the same thing the rest of the league is saying about LVG. |
We'll still finish top 4 |
You're sure about that? Hes playing an absolutely toothless format. Stubborn as a mule. This guy worries me more than Wayne Rooney.. |
Yes, we don't concede many goals; currently, we aren't creating many goals either because of players in poor form (Rooney, Young, Memphis, Herrera, Mata) or tactical mistakes (Arsenal, CSKA, City). Hopefully things will pick up, but right now we're in the doldrums.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Who's going to knock ManU out of the top 4? Leicester? West Ham? Tottenham? Liverpool? Say what you want about LVG, but Man U is better than any of those teams. In fact, I would rate the odds of Chelsea making the top 4 as better than the odds of ManU not finishing top 4. |
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Moses
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| Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:15 am Post subject: |
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| Aeneas Hunter wrote: | | Who's going to knock ManU out of the top 4? Leicester? West Ham? Tottenham? Liverpool? Say what you want about LVG, but Man U is better than any of those teams. In fact, I would rate the odds of Chelsea making the top 4 as better than the odds of ManU not finishing top 4. |
Exactly. Utd aren't playing anywhere near the level they could, but who is gonna stop them from getting top 4?
For every question mark you have about them, you have an equally significant question about anyone else who could finish top 4.
I still think the top 4 will be same as last season, just in a different order. Don't buy Liverpool as a team with enough quality to finish up there, same with Tottenham, and can't see Chelsea continuing this all season long.
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Aeneas Hunter
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| Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm. The table:
Man City -- They look like the best team in the league, then they get blown out by the English wheelchair football all-stars, or something like that. Weird team. They're the logical pick to win the league, I guess.
Arsenal -- At this point, everyone is waiting for them to swoon for some inexplicable reason. Maybe this will be the year when they don't. Yeah, that sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Leicester -- A feel good story. They could stick in the top half of the table. You gotta give Ranieri his due, no matter what you think of him.
ManU -- Two months ago, who thought that people would be calling for Martial to be the focal point over Rooney? LVG may have this team underachieving, but they're still stacked.
Tottenham (assuming they beat the wheelchair football all-stars, er, I mean Aston Villa) -- Bizarrely enough, Tottenham is the mirror image of Arsenal, but one notch lower in the table. You figure that sooner or later Spurs will find a way to underachieve.
West Ham -- I actually think that the Hammers could sneak into the top four. It's a gritty team that seems to be pumped up by the prospect of moving into a serious stadium next year.
Southampton -- I was surprised that they are so high in the table. I had the sense that this was a down year for them. Flying under the radar isn't a bad thing this time of year.
Liverpool -- Klopp makes them a contender for the four spot. I don't see the elite talent level being there, but that isn't what matters most in the end. They have as much or more talent than the other contenders for the four spot.
Everton, Crystal Palace, Watford, Swansea, West Brom, Stoke: Happy to be where they are, for the most part. Gotta give CP some credit, though. They're another feel good story.
Chelsea -- Ha ha! They are just 10 points out of the four spot with 27 games to play, but that's a lot of teams to go through. The margin for error gets smaller with each dropped point.
Norwich, Bournemouth, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Aston Villa -- Somehow, I think Newcastle will survive. Ditto for Bournemouth. As for AV, it looks like the team is finally about to be put out of its misery. I don't follow AV, so I don't know what their problem is. It may just be the result of management living in the past, as has been the case with other clubs. |
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