he has to be more mature not arguing that at all but I will not take his recent lack of composure as an indictment of his entire play with us he started slowly but has been a very important player and valuable contributor for us for a couple of seasons now and I think that is being lost on quite a few imo
I just don't know what role he can play here. He's got talent, but outside of running, he isn't particularly great at any one thing.
would be great at closing space and pressing the flow of the game if used correctly or quite useful on both ends of the pitch in a box to box role and could be very good in something similar to this GK Back Four Matic Ramires Oscar Willian Hazard Forward
more of a 41311 the three flow in attack and defense similar to now with Matic at the base Hazard with a free role in front of them and hopefully linking/playing with an effective forward just listing that as a formation with Ramires in it which may not be our best formation or team but for purposes of this discussion I hoped it would be worthwhile
for sure, Id be happy with him as like a utility player, able to take advantage of his versatility, just not a starter
Just nice to have the discussion without having to overhaul the squad after each bad result I am vexed that we have been so close and now have basically let it slip away, but I never expected us to be this close in the first place
Congratulations to Sunderland, I hope they somehow save themselves from relegation. Also nice to see ex-Chelsea Borini being the one scoring the second goal. As for the referee, he did make quite a few weird decisions (including the Ramires no-call). I, however, don't like to blame the referee for defeats so I won't. Regardless of the refereeing, a team that deserves to win the EPL should win vs. Sunderland at home by at least 2 goals. I do feel sorry for Jose's streak coming to an end, although it was never going to last forever. Still, lets focus on the ECL now. And even if we dont win that either, lets keep our heads straight and stay optimistic about next season with a new striker and more experience on key young players like Hazard and Willian. No matter what the situation, remember to KTBFFH always!
If we were going to lose at home , Im glad it was to Gus. I hope his efforts keep him up this year , I always love watching the Sunderland-Newcastle game . We certainly dont need a squad overhaul , and I would be beating a dead horse about going on about our 'striker' situation. Jose knows its a huge issue and will address it in the next window.
I'm upset that we let the title slip away but, going into the season with the squad we had I don't think anyone expected us to win it or end up a few points shy of first. I think that the fact that we lost matches against the weaker sides who bunker in shows how we are missing that killer blow in a striker who can score 1-2 games against these sides to put the games to rest. We have a difficult time scoring and when you let sides like Sunderland, Villa, Palace, etc stay level with you or have hope that they can get a result it becomes increasingly difficult. We are 2 starters away from being where I think we need to be. #1 A Top Top Top Striker #2 Partner for Matic A LB would be great but with Azpi playing the way he is I don't see the need to spend 20-30m for a LB when we need those funds to go to the above. I think if we had Matic from day 1 we would be champions, and if we had Matic from day 1 and a top striker then no doubt in my mind we would be champions. But to be in the Semi's of the CL and make it within a few points of the title with this strike force is unbelievable and shows how much Jose has improved us this season. We may go out empty handed this season but even if we do, if we make a few key acquisitions in the summer it will be a success in my eyes. Liverpool still have a tough away match at Norwich, but even if we lose the title, we are 3 matches away from the CL.
I'm more upset at the fact that we lost the title.....i know it's a cliche thing to say, but I just don't feel like the best team (Pool) won it. Yes yes, over 38 games, the most consistent team, hence the best team, is the champion. It's just this is a team that has not played one European game this entire season. My consolation now will be to not let them become champions when we visit next weekend. My other consolation is that as a United fan, I'd be a lot more suicidal at this point. Also, maybe Pool wining will bring back Lampard vs. Gerrard comparisons....those threads were so much fun 5 years ago.
I'm upset that Schwarzer started and mishandled that shot which lead to the 1-1, and obviously the shitty reffing.
Does he have to go looking for a new #10 as well? BA for Oscar in the 59th minute is shocking, unless it was due to an injury I didn't hear about.
Thinking about it the next day, a few thoughts occur and they all go to a wider point... 1. Dave has been off form for a while now. He got himself into an awkward position, slipped and then gave the ref an opportunity to give them a soft penalty. He also made an even worse blunder earlier on which, against a better team, would have been a definite goal but the guy screwed it up. Maybe he's just tired but, if that's the case, why hasn't Jose been playing Ashley who's still a great defender. 2. When Mata left, Jose said that Oscar was his 'No. 10'. Since then, Oscar has been dreadful. But regardless of Mata going, maybe piling the pressure onto the shoulders of a 21 year old wasn't a wise choice... not for an entire season, anyway. The odd game is one thing but, in the absence of Hazard though injury or suspension, to be your teams creative spark is a hell of load on young shoulders. Frankly, fellas like Willian, (all £30m of him), and Schurrle WILL struggle to break down even an inferior side but one who gets everyone behind the ball and works hard. I'd say those two guys are extras... not stars although, to be fair to the guy, of the two of them, Schurrle's been a LOT more effective in the limited chances he's had. If we'd been beaten by citeh, Arsenal and other top sides but beaten the bottom feeders more reliably I wouldn't be saying this but I can't help thinking we've got too many 'runners' who work hard and close down and not enough fellas who can attack with skill and pace. In the absence of Hazard we look almost utterly bereft of ideas.
I don't think so. I know oscar has been underperforming over the last 3 or 4 months. But I think that's due to the fact that we do not have a true striker to make runs and be a real threat for opposition.
Yeah, the lack of a guy who can put the ball in the net reliably is the biggest single issue. Eto'o's done well enough in that respect but his game was based largely on speed of turning and movement and he's not as quick as he was, say, 5 or 6 years ago. When you see Torres or Ba coming on you tend to think, 'Really... what's the point?'
things have fallen into place for them and it reminds me a great deal of our CL Run and at the end of the day they are on top of the pile for a reason as much as the games we lost hurt us I think of the two WBA draws and the West Ham draw and those 6 points would be vital right now I do think that they will have a very tough go of it next season with CL Football and having a big target on their back and while some of their signings came off well a couple of their others were nowhere near good enough so Rogers will have to be very astute in his investment this summer I think with some wise investment on our end we can be actually target silverware instead of being the "little horse"
B.Munich on pens in the Super Cup PSG - Away - Champions League Do we count the League cup these days? This is the truth. This is a startling piece of evidence. We lost and we drew some really silly games. . . As to the reasons. A striker? I think we all agree on that now. Torres the trojan horse - that gifted the title to the scouse. Oscar went off the boil - but then an exciting striker in front of him - would have given him MUCH more to play for. Ramires gives his all - loose cannon - frustrating times for him - and imho he still as a future in this squad - if not the first team choice
No excuses… Jose can moan about the refs all he wants, but beat Sunderland and one other shit side and we'd be ahead of 'pool by a point right now. He can expertly set our team up (to everyones praises) against top teams, but we have yet to display any type of consistency in our midfield or attacking play outside of relying on Eden Hazard to make things happen most of the time. Lots of work to be done in the summer, and at least we've got the CL to look forward to.
Can I just say, before we trot out any more tired old cliches, that, around these parts we avoid them like the plague... and I've told you fellas that a million times