Heartofice Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 As I suspected, as soon as you take the shackles off United suddenly look good again. I imagine were Jose in charge of that game you'd see United lumping it up to a forward and Cardiff batting those long balls away with ease ( was Lukaku injured?). Instead United played with freedom, they passed and moved. There was creativity and risk taking and it looked great. The problem for United now is going to be what happens at the end of the season. If Ole does well, and I think he will do fine, do they keep him and give him a long term contract? I think that would probably be a mistake, Ole seems to be a decent manager, but is he a visionary or tactical genius in the mould of Klopp or Pep? Probably not. In modern football I think you will need a top quality manager with a set vision of how to play, so I'd see United going back in for Poch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Heartofice said: ( was Lukaku injured?). Lukaku's had some sort of family tragedy and is on compassionate leave. 1 hour ago, Soylent Brown said: United were playing Cardiff, for fuck's sake. I'd wait to see how they do against at least a mid-table team before getting carried away. Solskjaer has shown nothing in his managerial career so far to indicate that he'd be able to compete with guys like Guardiola, Klopp, Pochettino or Emery. This seems to be a reaction to something that isn't happening tbqh... no-one's making comparisons between Ole and those guys, ffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 I don't think there's any chance of Zidane coming here. His most likely destination is Juve. I expect he plans to do what Guardiola did after leaving Barca i.e. take the safe job with a club that already has a top class squad and dominates their domestic league. It wouldn't surprise me if Allegri is let go unless Juve win the CL this season (or at least reach the final). Juve didn't bring in Ronaldo to win Serie A and they used a promising young defender in Caldara as a makeweight in order to bring back Bonucci - this is a team built with the singular aim of winning the CL in the next 3 seasons. There's no chance of Solskjaer staying beyond this season unless he pulls off something exceptional like winning the CL. Maybe a top 4 finish as well might be enough for him to be considered. Solskjaer's job is to get the players to enjoy playing again, set the team up to be more positive and, most importantly, lift the mood around the club and put an end to the media circus and toxicity that Mourinho was fuelling. If Poch is our main target and he is open to moving then we will be favourites to get him. As far as Real Madrid goes, unless Solari tanks this season, I don't think Perez will sack him. Perez has already demonstrated faith in Solari - he initially appointed Solari as interim until the end of the season but then saw fit to hand him a 3.5 year contract. He would not have done that if the plan was to get a new manager at the end of the season. Another point worth considering is that, unless Levy is willing to accept much lower compensation from Real Madrid (10-15 million), it is highly unlikely that Perez would pay anywhere near 30 million for a manager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 51 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said: The United fans on here are sensible, sure, but the post above me was about whether Solskjaer will stay on, and at that point you have to compare them because that's what he'd be competing against for top four. I wasn't suggesting he should stay on. However from experience you will often see clubs hiring an interim manager who does rather well, is popular with the fans, and is given a long term contract. Then a year or so on, they are sacked as they have been shown to be totally out of their depth. I call it the 'Tim Sherwood effect'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Meanwhile, the football year for me has ended on a high note. 4-1 at home, and as a bonus all the teams above us on the table lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Everton have a lead. A win would take them back to 7th. At least this season there seems to be an actual mid-table competition with 6th-12th separated only by 5pts. The teams in there have gone through periods of good and bad form, but they can all point to enough positives to have good hopes of getting stronger in the second half of the season. Edit to add: as I typed that, Spurs equalized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 Pickford is an overhyped David James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Liverpool FC of all supporters should be real quiet about Pickford howlers. But otoh I don't get their anxiousness about the Spurs game anyway. You want to win the league? Finish above City, that's it. If you drop enough points for Spurs to catch up, you will in all likelihood not be finishing the league above City. So really, focus on your games, keep an eye out for what City is doing, anything else is just a sideshow for you this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Spurs deserve some recognition for their own relentless pace despite not playing great in every game. They’ve managed player fatigue and absences in MF and done a great job of finding form in different pockets: first Moura, then Kane, then Eriksen, then Son and Sissoko(!!) and now Alli is back in form after returning from injury. They’ll be only two points behind City tonight and the same logic applies to them: if they can finish above City then they should win the league. It’s pretty incredible that the top teams are playing so well immediately after a WC. Usually that acts as a drag on the following season. Definitely some of the players have been tired and injured, but overall the teams are still playing very well despite it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 23, 2018 Author Share Posted December 23, 2018 36 minutes ago, Iskaral Pust said: Everton have a lead. A win would take them back to 7th. At least this season there seems to be an actual mid-table competition with 6th-12th separated only by 5pts. The teams in there have gone through periods of good and bad form, but they can all point to enough positives to have good hopes of getting stronger in the second half of the season. I'm not sure if the mid-table competition is actually better this season than last. If not for a Mourinho 3rd season disaster class, the gap between 6th and 7th would have been double digits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philokles Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Spurs’ first was more on Zouma than Pickford. If your keeper is coming out to clear the ball, don’t stand directly in front of him. Should have done better with Alli’s goal then nastily hacked him down, though. Shame for the game that Calvert-Lewin’s goal was disallowed when there did not seem to be much wrong with it. Crazy as this match has been Everton scoring two more without conceding again seems unlikely. I guess Lookman is pushing for a move again in January as he has dropped out the squad entirely despite being their best player against City? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 Just now, Iskaral Pust said: They’ll be only two points behind City tonight and the same logic applies to them: if they can finish above City then they should win the league. True, however who do you think will have more points at the end of the season Spurs or City? I still have my money on City (proverbail money, as in I am not a betting man as I've stated a few times). Just now, Iskaral Pust said: It’s pretty incredible that the top teams are playing so well immediately after a WC. Usually that acts as a drag on the following season. Definitely some of the players have been tired and injured, but overall the teams are still playing very well despite it. I thought they'd have a down period starting some time in November maybe early December. So true, I am also impressed, particularly with Liverpool as I thought they'd be more vulnerable to that, as their style of play is physically more demanding than City's. So credit where credit is due. Even if Liverpool's full court press from last season was more enjoyable to watch, but this season they got most of their results while hardly getting out of second gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 55 minutes ago, Consigliere said: Pickford is an overhyped David James. true story! I have felt he was not what was advertised when he was with Sunderland. his decision making is continually poor and just doesn't have the confidence and poise to be a top keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 23, 2018 Share Posted December 23, 2018 December has been hard on Everton. They lost to Liverpool (unluckily), City and Spurs, while drawing with Watford and Newcastle. Only the draw with Newcastle was below expectations, but that is a tough run with very few points gained. Unfortunately their good form in November has been disintegrating as December wears on. They’ve lost a bit of cohesion, possibly because of missing Gueye in MF for the last couple of losses. They have Burnley next, where they need to pick up a win. Then a game against Bournemouth who are direct competitors this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Re Solksjaer and United, he will probably do well but as long as United don't make the top four, I'm pretty sure they'll part ways. There's always a new manager bounce, and particularly in the case when you're following Mourinho, I think most of the United hierarchy would have guessed that whoever came in would give them a lift. I suspect they chose Solksjaer because they knew he would be a quiet media performer, he loves the club and knows his way around the place, and seems to be a relatively easygoing guy - i.e. the perfect interim manager to follow Mourinho. However, for a permanent manager those assets are not as heavily persuasive and I'm pretty sure they'll go for a bigger name long-term. Don't see Zidane going there but I'm sure Woodward has the chequebook open ready to buy Poch from Spurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 15 hours ago, MercurialCannibal said: true story! I have felt he was not what was advertised when he was with Sunderland. his decision making is continually poor and just doesn't have the confidence and poise to be a top keeper. He has good great reflexes and agility as well as a decent ability to pass the ball out though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Sean Dyche is hilarious - he literally said 'millions of children are watching Arsenal dive' - what a moron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 On 12/24/2018 at 11:32 AM, Soylent Brown said: but they also go out to kick lumps out of everyone each week, which makes it even worse. This really isn't true and the fact that I've seen multiple Liverpool fans decide that it is since they comitted a couple fouls against you kind of highlights why I accuse Liverpool fans of exaggerating how much teams shithouse against them. Also of course last season was a blip. Any season they don't get relegated is overperformance going by their budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 3 hours ago, polishgenius said: This really isn't true and the fact that I've seen multiple Liverpool fans decide that it is since they comitted a couple fouls against you kind of highlights why I accuse Liverpool fans of exaggerating how much teams shithouse against them. You mean when Ben Mee broke Joe Gomez’ shin? Yeah, we’re always exaggerating like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 toon will hand liverpool their first defeat. truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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