Soda Jerk Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I reckon Mourinho wanted the United job. He was being dead chummy with Fergie and United last season. After the Madrid 2nd leg, he was going on about how the better team lost, and how unjust the sending off was. When has an opposing manager, one as ruthless as Mourinho, ever done that? He was kissing a bit of arse there. I'm just speculating. There's nothing concrete in it, but I believe he wanted the United job over the Chelsea job. Whilst it's easy to say United are a club who doesn't often succumb to short term managers like Chelsea and whoever, it's a moot point, because they had Fergie. He was unsackable, and probably never would have been sacked, regardless of league position. He's gone now, and United are now back on planet earth where football moves in cycles. Football is different animal than it was in 1986. Alot has changed during the Fergie reign, and that was a freak situation. It may never happen again. Whilst United may want a long term manager in place, I believe that the long term replacement didn't have to be Fergie's successor. In my opinion, what United needed now more than anything is a stop-gap manager. 3 or 4 seasons of injecting top players, pushing for titles and steadying the ship, especially from a manager who strives for instant success, like Mourinho. The next manager didn't immediately have to be the long term project. The squad was crap last year and only having an on form RVP dragged them through it, this year he has looked a shadow of himself for the best part. Injuries, more than anything. He's look his usual self when he's played. The type of player who only needs a sniff. His scoring record, goals per game, is better this season than it was last season. The issue is that he's been injured for large spells, so he's not scored as many. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 The issue is that he's been injured for large spells, so he's not scored as many. Which to be fair, is him being his usual self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Also, I think Mourinho expected to get the job, because Mourinho was one of the first people Fergie told about his retirement, way before it was announced officially. Months. He put alot of trust in him not to leak it. Mourinho must've thought he was being handed the keys to Old Trafford at the same time. Cruel blow. I'd have taken Mourinho over Moyes whether it was for 2 seasons or 10 seasons. He knows how to win. He seems to rarely lose a tactical battle, even if it means playing some godawful football. And he's a dick too. Like Fergie, who was a total dick. Moyes is a blank slate. He's not a dick. He's neither likable nor dis-likable. He just exists, and he says utterly diplomatic things 99% of the time. He's never once complained that a player "could have killed" Robin van Persie yet, which is more disappointing than the league position quite frankly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I'm not sure whether Mourinho would have been the best men for the job either. I agree with you that a stop gap manager would have been the best approach but the way that Mourinho tends to cause a lot of upheaval at a club could have had long term damaging effects. It all depends how well he would have got on with the board I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 I'm not sure whether Mourinho would have been the best men for the job either. I agree with you that a stop gap manager would have been the best approach but the way that Mourinho tends to cause a lot of upheaval at a club could have had long term damaging effects. It all depends how well he would have got on with the board I suppose. I think it's a lottery. His impact could have either been exactly what the club needed, or could have been a disaster. The United squad is in need of surgery. Alot of dead weight, alot of older players who aren't at the level required. Moyes has played it very safe, and kept that group together for the most part. Where as Mourinho has gone to Chelsea, released their best player from the past 2 seasons to a rival, but it's impossible to argue with his logic, because he's top of the league, and they are a better team than they were last season. Mourinho is a much more ruthless character than Moyes, and I think Mourinho could have taken the fan-backlash on the chin and made the necessary changes to the squad. I don't think Moyes is capable of that. He's even admitted after some games this season that he didn't want to take unfit RVP and Rooney off the pitch because he was worried of the backlash from the crowd. He's not proving to be the tough-as-old-boots character I thought he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsum_Fantastic Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Bastard, beaten to it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladstone Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Hahaha - that is great.A YouTube clip with at least two 'twists'. Brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 BBC subtitle transcriber isn't sure how to spell Adnan Januzaj, so he takes a stab in the dark So close. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrr Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Can't even summon a single fuck to give about Newcastle getting pumped again. It's just not worth it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Arsenal/United game was a bore. Couple of good chances each. Arsenal had alot of the ball. United defended well. Not much going on. Somehow, Tom Cleverley was United's best player, with ease. Colossal performance. I lost count of how many interceptions he made, but it must have ended up somewhere near 1,000. Maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain America Posted February 12, 2014 Report Share Posted February 12, 2014 Rubbish game, Man U totally set out for the draw in the second half. Which is fair enough I suppose away from home. Arsenal couldn't break them down. Thought Giroud had a small shout for a penalty when Vidic just shoulder barged him to the ground but it might have been harsh. Feel if it had been at the other end and Mertesacker had done that to Rooney or RVP the pundits would be banging on about how he was too slow and had to foul him there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Terrible game, two teams out of form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrr Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Really grim game to watch. For me, Moyes' biggest flaw has been trying to instill his Evertonian smaller team mentality into "biggest team in the world" players. There are a lot of deficiencies in the playing staff but he seems to feel that what worked at a smaller club with lower expectations will work with a side that expects to win 9 times out of 10. Very naive. Though the creative tendencies of Mata, Rooney, Januzaj etx. will sometimes shine through regardless, I can't see Man U progressing until Moyes shifts his mentality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 United's biggest problem is still the same as it was before January. They have no one through the middle who can change a game. Mata plays too high up the pitch so they have the same problem as they have had all season, a world class front 4, with no one behind them to get the ball to them quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Moyes wont fucking play anyone good through the middle. They spent fucking loads of money on Mata, don't stick him out on the wing, let him play where he wants. Huge win for Liverpool last night. Imagine they didn't have to play Kolo, they might actually challenge for the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Mata is not a central midfielder tho. Plus, do you drop Rooney for Mata?You cant have Rooney and Mata both wondering about where they want all game you need some kind of shape in order to make it successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Rooney, Kagawa and Mata behind RVP. The three of them buzzing about causing mayhem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 He just needs to stop playing his shite 4-4-2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 But then your putting Rooney out wide somewhere, so instead of shoehorning Mata in, your shoehorning Rooney in.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 They can switch, and I think Rooney can play out wide better than Mata anyway. He'd do it differently, coming in from the wing more direct making runs into the box rather than just wanting to drift in laterally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 btw i dont want it to seem im just disagreeing for the sake of it!I dont think punting Rooney out wide is a good idea, his best games come when he is just behind the striker, with the freedom to roam about. Would you say Mata on his day is better than Rooney on his day? Who is better to have just behind the striker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paranoid Android Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm not sure to be honest who I'd choose in a straight choice but as they haven't been getting good results lately I think they should be trying different things and if they are just going to stick Mata out wide in a 4-4-2 then it was a colossal waste of money signing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Rubbish game, Man U totally set out for the draw in the second half. Which is fair enough I suppose away from home. Probably seemed that way since United have very few players who can retain the ball like Arsenal players do. They just hoofed it away. It was awful. Thought United had the 2 best chances of the game which RVP fluffed. I also though it was a penalty on Giroud too. I think it would have been given if Giroud was closer to the ball as the challenge happened. When players collide like that when the ball doesn't look winnable, they're never given, even though it is still a foul. I thought Vidic was lucky there. Giroud had him sussed all of the first half, though Vidic looked better in the 2nd. Moyes wont fucking play anyone good through the middle. They spent fucking loads of money on Mata, don't stick him out on the wing, let him play where he wants. The formation before the game shows him on the wing, but he rarely ever positioned himself there. Mata looks to have been given licence to roam, and he's all over the pitch, and now Rooney is doing less running, playing much closer to RVP, which is good. The three of them just need to start gelling, which there were signs of last night, but Arsenal pressed and defended well. It's a myth that United play 4-4-2, probably because the Sky Sports graphic shows it as 4-4-2, but they are just guessing. They are given a sheet of 11 players. Besides, formations aren't really all that important these days with footballers being so fluid and free. It's all about getting the right balance of players on the pitch. United and RVP rarely play alongside each other, and Rooney is often much deeper. They have 2 sitting midfielders and two forwards at either side of Rooney. Usually a winger like Valencia or Young, and a playmaker like Mata, Kagawa or Januzaj. The latter aren't wingers and don't play like wingers. It's a good balance of attackers, but it's let down because Valencia and Young are pretty terrible these days. If it's anything though, it's 4-2-3-1. City do the same at the moment, with Aguero and Negredo up top, with Silva playing narrow to Aguero, and Navas playing wide. The difference is that Navas is better than Valencia and Young, and Silva is arguably a shade better than Mata. They also have a much stronger support in midfield from Yaya and Fernandinho. Formation isn't Moyes' problem. It's that he's employing sitting midfielders. Carrick and Cleverley don't venture forward, almost ever. There's always a huge gap between the two midfielders and the front four. Moyes is in dire need for players who can operate between both boxes. If Fergie hadn't made a bollocks of the Pogba situation, he'd be half way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Milner Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Yeah i was gonna say, United dont really play a 442 at all despite what they show on that fancy graphic on TV. You certainly couldnt say Rooney is playing as a second striker, he is always much deeper than that and Mata doesnt stick to one position. I agree with Soda, the problem is the middle, they have no one who gets inbetween the lines and causes issues, they are too flat across the middle and it makes them too predictable going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soda Jerk Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Edited February 13, 2014 by Joda Serk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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