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Football: CL is back


Mark Antony

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McManaman's probably got a bit of a bias towards wingers who're good at dribbling but don't have a lot of end product but he's got a point that it's a bit odd how reluctant Sevilla seem to be to give the ball to Correa and let him run at Valencia.

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Spoiler

 

That was a fucking nightmare to watch. If I wasn't a United supporter I'd have changed the channel before halftime. Really, fuck Mourinho. It's not like we have a shit squad. Put Poch, Pep, Klopp or any manager with some balls in charge and we would be so much better. Mourinho hasn't been an improvement over LVG. The only area he's done  better in is the transfer market but LVG was by far the more successful big game manager. I fully expect a score draw at OT and us to be eliminated. 

 

3 hours ago, polishgenius said:

For me it's not so much that he can't play in a midfield 2 because he can, and when you do that and ask him to play the Sergio Biscuits role he'll do that fine. It's just that playing that role is a complete waste of his talent. He's played in a midfield 2 in the games where we've not been tasked with sitting back though and he's fine then.

Also, he's had the odd bad game this season, and he isn't consistent in big games at all yet, but for the majority of the time he's been absolutely brilliant and Mourinho throwing him under the bus for the Spurs game in which no-one played well and Mourinho's tactics were dreadful again is pathetic behaviour.
And no, he played the same role in the Newcastle game. He didn't need to be sitting as deep though so he had a bit more freedom, but that was one of his bad games. I'm putting that down partly to confidence though, since that was after Mourinho singling him out.

The biggest problem with our 4-2-3-1 is that it is totally unbalanced. Our front four  are all strikers or wannabe strikers so the 4-2-3-1 is actually a 4-2-4. This leaves us top heavy and Pogba  as a second defensive midfielder but he is also expected to be the primary creator and this is where the problem comes in - he looks unsure about his role. Our complete lack of pressing from the front compouds the issue and leaves our midfield totally exposed. Mourinho's shitty tactics of setting up attacking players to fail don't help either. 

 

ETA. no idea how a spoiler tag got in the post and can't delete it. Fuck this shit and fuck Mourinho. 

 

 

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After an exhaustive investigation, reviewing all footage and interviewing everyone nearby on the field, the FA announced they have found no cause to charge Firmino with any racist slur toward Holgate.  

Holgate faces no reprimand for a false accusation or slander, nor for the homophobic content on his Twitter account (hastily deleted), and still has not faced any sanction for pushing Firmino over the hoardings and into the fan seating area. 

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17 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said:

 

Holgate faces no reprimand for a false accusation or slander,


Well of course he doesn't. 'There's no evidence against Firmino' is a whole different kettle of fish to 'Holgate heard nothing from no-one and maliciously made up the rumours to get Firmino in trouble', and the last thing the FA want to be doing is telling black players that if they hear something and report it, but there isn't evidence, they're the ones who are going to be getting into trouble. Liverpool don't want to encourage that climate either, especially with the Rhian Brewster situation.

 

I don't know about the homophobic remarks, but a quick google says the FA started an investigation but nothing that they've finished, so for all we know that's still ongoing.

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13 hours ago, JordanJH1993 said:

I think there has been far too much made of Pogba’s ‘best position’ debate and his form in general. 

It's certainly true that these sort of debates often boil down to 'this player is supposed to be good but he's playing crap right now and I can't figure out why'. If Pogba was playing well, this would not be an issue. 

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2 hours ago, mormont said:

It's certainly true that these sort of debates often boil down to 'this player is supposed to be good but he's playing crap right now and I can't figure out why'. If Pogba was playing well, this would not be an issue. 

I don't mean that I disagree that he may have a better position that he would probably play better in. It is clearly common knowledge that he was brilliant for Juventus on the left side of a midfield three, and that his best games for Man United have come in that position, too.

But I don't think when he plays badly in a midfield two we should use the excuse 'that's not his best position'. It's not like he is being played as a winger or a striker; he's still playing in central midfield, albeit with less freedom than a three, but it shouldn't be that foreign to him that he looks almost a different player at times. You need defensive discipline in a three, as well.

Last season, Jose Mourinho said Pogba could be a 'phenomenal' centre back. A statement like that suggests he has great defensive qualities. Why can't he show those when he is playing in a midfield two? 

He may not like being held back, being handed less freedom to go forward, but he chose to sign for Manchester United, who are managed by Jose Mourinho. He should have known that he wasn't going to come in and be given a free role to play how he wants, all the time. He should have known, if he paid attention to Jose Mourinho teams, that he would have to sacrifice himself in certain games, and learn to play a different way.

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Kolasinac has nearly become a forgotten at Arsenal. Hard to even pin point why. He started the season really well - think he had a bad game against Southampton - then, shortly after, he was replaced by Maitland-Niles, a midfielder, at LWB. After they switched back to a back four and Monreal became left back, Kolasinac has barely been seen.

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