Football: For Now We Are All Champions!

[Spockydog]

22 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

wow,do most Arsenal fans feel this way ??

You'll never see a more deranged bunch of frothing loons than these idiots.

 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Just now, Spockydog said:

You'll never see a more deranged bunch of frothing loons than these idiots.

 

haha that's what i thought.

[Iskaral Pust]

I'm late to the party here.  I felt despair in the first half: we were so sloppy, slow to the ball, uncoordinated and Moreno gifted them three scoring opportunities (thankfully only one taken).  Arsenal had much better energy and ball control, without actually creating much.  Coutinho stole us an undeserved equalizer with a peach of a free kick.  No point listing all the underperformers in the first half.

It was amazing that in the second half we immediately regained some semblance of composure with the very same 11.  Once we got our coordination, we ripped them apart.  Cech, Chambers, Monreal and Bellerin individually had quite good games, but when our attacking play clicked it was creating dangerous chances and we finally converted a respectable %.  

Then we conceded a dozy, complacent goal and another from a perfectly executed free kick.  But for the last 15 minutes, Arsenal didn't have another shot.  We did a very good job of controlling the rest of the game at that point.  We just need to be more ruthless about switching into that mode sooner.  

Nice to start with a win at a very difficult ground.  Some positives to build on and many negatives to improve.  In the first half I was cursing that we ignored the need for a LB and DM, but let's see how it goes.  

[Spockydog]

Just now, AncalagonTheBlack said:

haha that's what i thought.

Actually, just watched that clip in full. He's certainly got the foam turned up to eleven, but there's truth in his madness.

 

[Iskaral Pust]

I forgot to mention: Coquelin and Xhaka both should have seen another yellow each for tripping players who had already broken past him and late, nasty challenges.  The ref was being pretty generous.

[BigFatCoward]

12 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

Henderson was fine, as was Lallana.

Wijnaldum, Lallana assist aside, was dogshit, and Firmino was really poor too.

I really will never understand how people value two good passes over 3 scuffed shots and 8 half-arsed giveaways.

always shit away from home. 

had to get the tube through arsenal last night around kicking out time, the moany bastards, when you have lost your first 2 games to fulham and huddersfield, then you can be whinge your tits off. 

[StefCurry]

i was really surprised by Liverpool. They were so quick, and i disappointed again in Arsenal.. 
Do Wenger really think he hasn't any problems with defenders?!

[Mark Antony]

13 minutes ago, StefCurry said:

i was really surprised by Liverpool. They were so quick

Huge credit to Mane for that. Such a good debut, guy was relentless. 

Seems Joe Hart is on his way out at City as Pep doesn't rate him. Everton the favorites to snag him. 

[StefCurry]

10 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

Huge credit to Mane for that. Such a good debut, guy was relentless. 

Seems Joe Hart is on his way out at City as Pep doesn't rate him. Everton the favorites to snag him. 

Bravo> Hart?! I can't believe in that! Yes, maybe Hart doing many mistakes, but  he is still one of the best on the line.
Mane were very impressive in right wing zone.

[polishgenius]

I think the problem is less what Hart does on the pitch and more that he's a bit of a wanker and Pep isn't great at dealing with ego. So rather than have a situation for six months he's just gone 'fuck it, let's deal with it now'.


On one hand, better to not let it fester if it is that, on the other, Pep is a wanker too and a proper oddball.

[StefCurry]

1 minute ago, polishgenius said:

I think the problem is less what Hart does on the pitch and more that he's a bit of a wanker and Pep isn't great at dealing with ego. So rather than have a situation for six months he's just gone 'fuck it, let's deal with it now'.


On one hand, better to not let it fester if it is that, on the other, Pep is a wanker too and a proper oddball.

Possible. Anyway Guardiola knows the situation much more better than we... 
What can you say about United game yesterday?

[polishgenius]

1 minute ago, StefCurry said:

What can you say about United game yesterday?

Not a lot really... Slow to start, good at the end, but at the end of the day we did to Bournemouth what we should be doing to Bournemouth. The lack of real pace going forward is a concern, though like Consigliere says we have players coming in who can change that (and our full-backs on the other hand are rapid as fuck).

Decent start.

[StefCurry]

8 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Not a lot really... Slow to start, good at the end, but at the end of the day we did to Bournemouth what we should be doing to Bournemouth. The lack of real pace going forward is a concern, though like Consigliere says we have players coming in who can change that (and our full-backs on the other hand are rapid as fuck).

Decent start.

I was definitely impressed by Eric Bailly ( looks like he playing in United for many years) and Valencia. Antonio is simply great finding for Manchester as right back. Ibra is Ibra =)

[polishgenius]

Bailly looks like an absolute nut. He's going to have to be a little more careful to avoid red cards, but he's certainly a talent.

[Mme Erzulie]

Yeah, Bailly has looked very, very good from what I've seen so far, although a couple of his challenges on King yesterday were only not yellow/red by a hair.

I'm very worried how good Fellaini looked. He's a massive bellend, and thus perfect for Mourinho. I've always thought that when he's on song, he's virtually unplayable, in part due to his sheer size and physicality, in part due to his amazing chest control. /s

Also, Zlatan's goal was really good. He just has that star quality.

Apart from that, though, I wasn't all that impressed with ManU. Two of the goals were quite flukey (double assist from Francis and scuffed shot from Martial (?) turning into an assist for Rooney.

Ibe showed exactly why he was such a frustrating player for us. With the skill set he has, he should have a much greater impact on games, but his decision making must be amongst the worst of any professional footballer. The amount of times he'll let three or four chances to pass the ball go only to lose it in an attempted dribble is embarrassing. Maybe Howe will be able to knock some sense into him.

Chelsea - West Ham could be a zinger.

[polishgenius]

14 minutes ago, Mmerek Hamšzulíe said:

I'm very worried how good Fellaini looked. He's a massive bellend, and thus perfect for Mourinho. I've always thought that when he's on song, he's virtually unplayable, in part due to his sheer size and physicality, in part due to his amazing chest control. /s

I can't see Fellaini keeping his place past Pogba's arrival. Unless he gets moved into Rooney's spot, which isn't out of the question but realistically he's too similar to Zlatan and between them far too slow.

I do agree though that when he's on it he's superb, he just has to have a team set up in a way that accounts for his chaos.

[Calibandar]

I've been surprised to see Fellaini starting the last two games, honestly thought he wouldn't even make the bench under Mourinho.

But, he has qualities. Surely best suited to the midfield position he is now, doing some defensive work, making runs, and being difficult due to his size and how physical he plays. I'm sure opposing players don't relish coming up against him, and therein lies his quality. Impossible to see him keeping his place when Pogba comes in though, and I don't think he is in the running to replace Rooney. If Rooney fails ( and he was solid yesterday to be fair to him) I think Mata or the Armenian are much more likely to come in.

All in all, not a spectacular game from United but the team looks to me to be in good shape and ready to get better. Zlatan two goals in 2 games, I like Bailly and Blind in defense, good to see Shaw back, Valencia has been excellent and I've always been a fan of him anyway. Seems like Lingaard, Mata or Mkhitarayan may all play from the right wing position.

Questions I have are, will Depay becomes useful under Mourinho? Will we see goals from Martial and Rashford in addition to them making runs? Who will play center midfield when it really matters? Quite a few options now, on the positions that have troubled the team for many years.

[Calibandar]

15 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Firmino did look a little off today and tends to give it away too much in general (Lallanas give away led directly to a goal though hah) but he is still usually a huge threat in the final third and is really good at tracking back, think he is pretty much a nailed on starter for Klopp. Prefer when he plays behind Origi or Sturridge though myself. 

I like Firmino as well, and like you I would prefer Liverpool to play at least 1 striker, either Origi or Sturridge.

That will sound off coming off 4 goals scored though. But I think we can say we mean "in general" that will make them more lethal.

But maybe we're wrong and the way to go is more wingers and attacking midfielders and no strikers? You see it more and more. Arsenal tried it as well yesterday.

Anyway, I share the Liverpool fans' enthusiasm at the way they played, the team bombing forward when in possession and as I said pre-season, Mane is a sensational buy regardless of the great goal he scored. Wijnaldum is an upgrade as well, just a competent player.

[Jeor]

I'm refusing to watch the Arsenal/Liverpool match (it was on around 2am on a Monday morning for me so I didn't stay up for it and I had a feeling we were going to get thrashed) and anything I read from Wenger is making me annoyed. To top it all off, Lacazette just has to score a hat-trick in France and Ramsey gets injured.

It's pretty much as close to a total disaster of a weekend as possible from Arsenal - although I'm balanced enough to know that all it takes is another week for things to perk up again. Wenger will continue to be stubborn in the transfer market, and he won't buy just because of a bad match day, but if he already has things in the pipeline this will hopefully speed him up.

[Mark Antony]

2 hours ago, Calibandar said:

But maybe we're wrong and the way to go is more wingers and attacking midfielders and no strikers? You see it more and more. Arsenal tried it as well yesterday.

Yeah Firmino combines really nicely with the attacking midfielders and occupies spaces that enables them to push forward into threatening positions plus he is really skilled at winning the ball back. I rate him highly and think he will have a big year. For Arsenal though Sanchez at striker hasn't ever worked. 

Hope to all the gods Klopp replaces Moreno. If he doesn't in the transfer market then I guess Milner will be our starting LB