To be fair, I think even with our atrocious set piece defending we're still one of the stingiest defenses in the league and our goals allowed is right up there too. Just sayin'.... They better not boo lest the Club take a page out of Bayern's book and sues those pseudo-Madridistas
But how many goals have we given up on set pieces? It is the same mistakes over and over. That is the issue. Whether it is set pieces or our funnel approach when we attack. My concern is that certain things are not improving. Let's cheer wildly as we burn copies of Marca, AS and El Pais in the stands. The point isn't about the booing... it's about the excuses. And do you not think the fans should demand more? Are you not incredibly disappointed in this side so far? Even our coach is calling out the players. What should the fans do?
It's funny, All of Man Utd's success has been from having a constant manager like SAF. If anyone is trying to get their manager sacked, they should be sacked too. Dont care who it is. The manager can only do so much. You think he just sits in the dressing room sipping tea before a game or at HT? No. The players are 100% responsible for what is happening on a football pitch. We should not change manager (nor should Mou resign). Anyone who disagrees with him or are not "buying" his method anymore should GTFO and stay out. Did you think SAF put up with that shit? What happened to Keane, Beckham, Yorke and a fair few others in his 21 years in charge who stopped agreeing with him or had their feet tucked under the table? They were the ones booted out of the club, not the manager. At the moment, the manager is not to blame. It's the players and every single one of them (maybe apart from Varane, he seems to be our most consistant performer when he plays) that should look in the mirror and be disgusted with how things are the moment. What will happen? They will just continue to ride this shit out and not give a ********. Nothing will change and once again we will see a top quality coach who has won everything in the game resign because he has had enough of the morons who think run the club from the dressing room. For the record, he wont be sacked. Perez values him too much.
So your suggestion is that the fans whistle the team when they enter the pitch and we boo them while they have the ball. The same thing every team does when we play on their ground, and then wonder why we have it so hard away from home while others have it so easy on our pitch.
Yeah fans booing will probably be about as effective as Mou's motivational techniques this season. Useless but at least everyone will be able to stroke their egos and feel better after all is said and done.
Be easy fool, I'm joking. I get what the "issue" is, I just hate when you get all worked p and that vein starts popping out the side of your forehead. Besides it not being a good look for you I also worry about you aging prematurely.
I've said that plenty of times myself. But ... Should he consider altering his method? What has his tenure been at other clubs? His method - both inside and outside the locker r00m - wears on people. C'mon, I never said that. My point is that if the fans dare criticize him or the players, it will be the fans that are wrong... again. So it's the fan's fault. Again. This is what I meant earlier about the excuses. We have gotten caught up in this cycle of looking for blame beyond the front office, the locker room and the pitch. It's the media, the fans, the Mayan calendar, the fiscal cliff. Meanwhile our coach appears to be throwing his hands up in the air because he can't figure this out. He is criticizing the shit out of his players, but the fans can't voice displeasure with him or the players. I don't get it.
Its strange because it seems to be different case about every underperforming player. Ronaldo, Pepe and Coentrao would die for Mourinho, but they have been playing like shit lately, maybe its overconfidence. The problem with Di Maria for example is not that he isn't showing heart, but he is simply in terrible form. Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso, two key players, their woes can be located in ageing. Ozil was taught a lesson by Mou and he responded. Benzema is doing ok as far as I can tell, but the entire ambient is influencing the quality of his play. I really dont know if Mourinho has lost the plot and the players aren't responding to him anymore, but as much as its possible that the players are boycotting him, it is also possible that its their fault for different reasons.
I don't care for excuses. The Bernabeu certainly doesn't have the support that screams "you play like this after all we do for you", it has the support that screams "this sh*t you play is beneath our level". And when it is great, we escape at the 75th minute to catch a break from traffic. Even against Atleti people were leaving their seats towards the end which is incomprehensible for me. The players have to be feeling bad about this. I've read Tim Stannard (amongst others, back when i used to read a lot of football blogs) making jokes about this, and it bothers me. The coach voiced his displeasure with the fans and he made a lot of people mad, and he shouldn't voice his displeasure because he "doesn't get it". As i said, it's not the fans fault, but i don't think the crowd can feel like victims. I still support the team normally, and am totally relaxed before the games. When things come together better (we recover Marcelo, Higuain, Coentrao from injury, Di Maria and Xabi from lack of form) we'll look better as a team. Football is very complicated, and a lot of times, it's about the results. If we'd get a boring 0-1, the general opinion would be that "we did the job". Lately we've been depending on that one player to make the difference because we lack a few key ingredients. I'm not totally worried and shocked by the way the team looks. Maybe Carvalho is a bad idea though. I wouldn't field him at the Bernabeu. Better field a Castilla central defender.
The problem of Real this season is the lack of motivation. Somehow, the players dont want to win in matches outside Bernabeu. This is not Mou's fault, he tries everything but if the players (not all) dont want to win, we cant win. La Liga will be difficult, but the Champions League and Copa Del Rey can be won. Motivation is all what we need. A glorious midfield with Özil Modric and Xabi Alonso would be superb. If Kaka doesnt leave RM, Kaka should be playing at the place of Di Maria. Ronaldo at the other side, Benz in the striker's position.
Di Maria and Benz topping the poll so far of "who do you think Mourinho was talking about?" on AS. We have a couple of relatively easy games ahead with possibly Malaga as an on paper only difficult one, which should ease the tensions somewhat. Unless we go on total meltdown and lose at home against Real, Espanyol and Celta...but I don't see that happening.
No doubt we have the talent to get the results. It is more about whether the core issue gets identified and addressed. A couple times this year I thought we were there, but we can't seem to get into that next gear.
To be honest we were doing that last year too with Cristiano (you know the guy they want out). The difference this year is barca have won every match beside one and it is absolutely killing the masses.
Kinda true. Had we won some of the games in which we were very unlucky, and had Barcelona lost some points when they were very lucky, we would be talking about 5 point difference at most. However, we do have a motivational problem, and we play a good deal worse than last year.
lol.. the perspective gained form watching it live, which is what I was seeking, is different than reading about it.. But.. thank you troll master.. your response to my first post really gets me excited about posting again...
Dude.. no offense.. but I can't respect anyone who comes out with that line up.. Benz is the best striker in Fifa, and you don't play him?.. especially b/c of the new physics engine, which means that strength is at a premium.. Benz has the best combo of strength/pace (outside of our man Ronnie of course) in the game.. not to mention his finishing is off the charts!
I will send you a private message re: who to agree with and who to ignore. It will also include a list of people, entities and environmental factors that can/can't be blamed for our poor form. This is a good forum. Most of these folks care about the club and are good fans. Welcome aboard!
If this list is annotated please send to me as well for quick reference. Maybe if I just memorize it I can save myself from the suffering I go through through watching some of this drivel on display. TIA!
I rarely play with RM, but when I do, I'll play with Ronaldo up front and Benzema as a CAM or RW (which he has done). Ronaldo is just amazing in every aspect of the game. Then again, I am in D1 with a 2:1 win ratio with close to 100 wins and 50 draws. A little under a 2:1 ratio in Fifa 12 with close to 400 wins and 4 first place trophies in D1. Honestly, try it. Mourinho did against Celta