Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by MichaelCarrick

Our former captain turned pundit didn't think MU will challenge for the top 2 spots in PL this season.

https://talksport.com/football/11502...pool-man-city/

I agree with him...1st 2 positions r v hard, they belong to Pool n City...for 3rd/4th position, may hv a little chance i.e. if Spurs or Chelsea hv a slip up...but v hard with excellent managers like Pep, Klopp, Conte n Tuchel managing them...which other team can beat any of the 4 of them ??...likely only MU, Arsenal, West Ham or Leicester i.e. if their lucky stars r shining on them

United shd hv got Conte when they sacked OGS...he was available n waiting to take over but knuckleheads in the BODs were scared to employ him for fear he will turn the Red Devils' DNA upside down n bully the players like wat he is doing now to his Spurs team...Harry Kane n Son, their 2 famous players couldn't stand up properly after his exhaustive training sessions...that's how hard he pushes his players to ensure they play excellent football...but his n their rewards will be a place in the 1st 4 of the table, like last season...who knows, he might even beat Klopp or Pep to the League title n become League Champions in the new season...never discount or disregard Conte...this man can be a beast of a manager. .. every league he goes, he makes his team champions

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

ETH have 3 signings so far....
Tyrell Malacia (LB)
Lisandro Martinez (CB)
Christian Eriksen (CM)

But it is still early days and the 2 matches are basically exhibition matches.

The real test will be the EPL.

P.S. I watched the Melbourne V match and dismayed to see the first goal being conceded...and guess who.....famous #5....so slow....

Yes, u r right lacoruna, the real test is when the season proper starts in August...but this is a good glimpse of their state of fitness whether how well they can play for the new season...

I watched the Leeds match against the Brisbane Roars, the team full of their star studded regulars were struggling to win the play against this unknown team in Brisbane Australia...they could match Leeds 1 for 1 n were threatening to score more goals after having scored 1...Leeds were lucky to win the match 2-1 in the end...they could well hv ended in a 2 all draw if there was more extra time...in defence they were struggling to prevent goals from going in after having conceded 1....

As for the Man U vs Melbourne Victory last night, yes u r right...playing with him there at the backline will always be at least 1 goal scored against them...he is really slow n can't run fast to challenge speedy opposition attackers...hence they conceded the goal...not sure why ETH is still so blind that he keeps on playing him like OGS n RR b4 him n continuing him as the Capt....he will be shooting himself in the foot n killing himself if he continues to play him n make him the Capt of the team...most of last season's deadwoods r playing better now except this guy e.g. Martial who hv scored 2 goals so far...maybe not his fault as that is the best he can do...think when ETH gets more good defenders like Martinez etc, etc coming in to play, he will bench or sack him or sell him to other teams ???

[imom]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

ETH have 3 signings so far....
Tyrell Malacia (LB)
Lisandro Martinez (CB)
Christian Eriksen (CM)

Pretty excited as to what Eriksen can bring to the team.

Pretty impressive by the youth players too...good to see ETH are getting them to play on the field and give the seniors a run for the money.

But it is still early days and the 2 matches are basically exhibition matches.

The real test will be the EPL.

P.S. I watched the Melbourne V match and dismayed to see the first goal being conceded...and guess who.....famous #5....so slow....

Martinez can play defensive midfielder too, apparently.

And from the last two matches, seems like Eric Bailly can too. Bombing forward to set up attacks from defence, picking out a peach of a pass to Rashford for the 3rd goal against Melbourne...

And yes, the youth players have impressed. Waiting to see this rejuvenated and refreshed team kick off the EPL.

[lacoruna69]

Another victory....this time against Palace. The same trio of scorers!!

Poor Cpt Magoo kenna booed when his name was read out and every time he touched the ball...

[imom]

Originally Posted by imom

...We should try to sign Boro (on loan to Forest) right-back Djed Spence this window man. Rock against Martinelli, strong bombing runs forward. Looks quite an upgrade to AWB and/or Dalot...

Originally Posted by imom

...
A bit surprised no premier league club moved for Djed Spence....

Oh well, Spurs have just snapped him up for what appears to be a bargain 12.5M (+7.5M in performance add-ons).

To be fair, Dalot has been linking up well with Sancho on the right flank, so maybe the right-back position isn't a priority for Ten Hag.

[lacoruna69]

Bruno Fernandes embraces strict Manchester United approach under Erik ten Hag

Bruno Fernandes has welcomed Erik ten Hag's strict regime at Manchester United and said discipline within the squad has been missing "for a while."

Ten Hag has introduced a series of rules following his appointment at Old Trafford, including demands that players are punctual for training sessions, meetings and team meals.

According to Fernandes, Ten Hag's hard-line stance has gone down well with the players and hinted that rule breakers have been allowed to go unpunished for too long.

"I think we missed that for a while, and I think, for me, the way I see discipline is important," Fernandes said.

"For me, discipline is not only the way you play on the pitch, the position that you have, what you have to do, it's also off the pitch -- don't be late for the meetings, don't be late for the meals.

"I think that's really important because if everyone is on time and someone comes late, he should be punished and I think that's really good that he's doing that and for me amazing, because I like to be on time, so I won't have problems with that."

(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

Bootlicker or not.....the lack of discipline aspect had been confirmed as many of us had speculated.
Million dollar stars they might be, but no player should be bigger than the club.

[imom]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Bruno Fernandes embraces strict Manchester United approach under Erik ten Hag

...
(excerpt from ESPN Soccernet)

Bootlicker or not.....the lack of discipline aspect had been confirmed as many of us had speculated.
Million dollar stars they might be, but no player should be bigger than the club.

Just hope every player can embrace it and the board will back ten Hag in shipping out snowflakes who dare rebel.

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by imom

Just hope every player can embrace it and the board will back ten Hag in shipping out snowflakes who dare rebel.

Wat will he do to those who purposely down tools like last season when they caused OGS n RR to be sacked ???...not interested to kick the ball properly when on the pitch ???

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by Rickey

Wat will he do to those who purposely down tools like last season when they caused OGS n RR to be sacked ???...not interested to kick the ball properly when on the pitch ???

Played v. well in the 1st half in the pre-season friendly match against A. Villa in Perth WA when their passing were v. accurate n even when those few times they lost the ball they recovered it v. quickly thus helped them to score the 2 goals against Villa.....but the end result again shows that they can only play well up to the 1st half only n then tire out just like last year, not much of a difference

once Villa introduced their substitute Leon Bailey, in the 2nd half, the whole game changed against them v. fast...they were constantly troubled by this guy who can run very fast towards goal n score...sigh, United don't hv such a player that can change the game for them n can run powerfully from midfield to hit goal...n he was the one who scored their 1st goal...then on Utd started to pass the ball inaccurately to each other causing the ball to be intercepted by the opposition easily ...n from then on they were robbed of the ball quite often too...Fred was the biggest culprit, he was robbed of the ball a few times by the opposition ...his losing of the ball gave Villa their 1st goal

n the worst thing is that they even conceded a last minute goal all becos of DDG who didn't position himself properly during the corner kick or come out more to either punch away the ball or collect it...in fact, he lost catch of the ball n let the ball fly past him to the opposition player who thanked him n just kicked it in....during the whole match he looked very nervous n unsure of himself whenever Villa attacked ...i think they need to look for a better GK than him to get to top 4....

on the whole, i would say it was a poor showing by ETH esp in the 2nd half...if not for time up, Villa could hv won the match instead of settling for a 2 all draw...if this is the way they r going to play for the whole of the next season, they might not even get into top 6 prolly slip to mid table or lower as most of the other teams hv strengthen considerably but not them...sigh

P/s..of course, this is discounting their 2 new signings, Erikssen n Martinez who hv not played yet...note Nunez, Pool's new prolific striker scored 4 goals all by himself in their friendly match...this is the type of striker we shd get...n we shd hv got him when he was available b4 Pool dived in from under their noses to capture him into their team...another United failing...sigh...when will they ever learn from past mistakes

[imom]

Originally Posted by Rickey

Played v. well in the 1st half in the pre-season friendly match against A. Villa in Perth WA when their passing were v. accurate n even when those few times they lost the ball they recovered it v. quickly thus helped them to score the 2 goals against Villa.....but the end result again shows that they can only play well up to the 1st half only n then tire out just like last year, not much of a difference ...

This match against Villa was the first proper test... up to about 60 minutes. The B team has never been good at defending set pieces and I already had a bad feeling when they conceded the corner. DDG is a fantastic shot-stopper but his positional sense has always been suspect, as is his ability to collect/clear corners. None of our B team can be properly commanding in the air - dare I say we missed Maguire for that last corner.

Anyway, while the result stings a little, still won't read too much into this result. First team played only 60mins, plus playing in a hurricane, the pitch was all chopped up by half time. Many potentially good situations to break and potentially extend the lead were muffed up by the roll of the ball. Or rather lack thereof. Only thing to read from that is that they need a silky pitch to play the passing game of ten Hag. Perhaps Villa will deliberately chop up their pitch when we visit...

Waiting to see if ten Hag will play the first team a full 90 minutes vs Atletico next. If so, that will then be a proper full test.

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by imom

This match against Villa was the first proper test... up to about 60 minutes. The B team has never been good at defending set pieces and I already had a bad feeling when they conceded the corner. DDG is a fantastic shot-stopper but his positional sense has always been suspect, as is his ability to collect/clear corners. None of our B team can be properly commanding in the air - dare I say we missed Maguire for that last corner.

Waiting to see if ten Hag will play the first team a full 90 minutes vs Atletico next. If so, that will then be a proper full test.

A or B team they hv never been good at defending set-pieces or from corners if last season's statistics r anything to go by...besides the Capitan, this nervy goalie DDG is responsible for the many goals that went into his net as he is unable to command his goalmouth well collecting or punching out corner balls, his worst weakness ...as i said he shd be replaced by a better GK...think for tonight's match against A. Madrid, ETH will hv to play his 1st team for the full match as it is against a goliath of the La Liga

On the side note, the rebel is saying he wants to play against Rayo Vallecano tomorrow night...it seems he was watching the match against Wrexham 2 days ago in which new boy Erikssen scored a goal...it's better he leaves asap as that is wat he wants n they get a new striker who can score as many goals to replace him instead of being around destabilizing the team

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by Rickey

A or B team they hv never been good at defending set-pieces or from corners if last season's statistics r anything to go by...besides the Capitan, this nervy goalie DDG is responsible for the many goals that went into his net as he is unable to command his goalmouth well collecting or punching out corner balls, his worst weakness ...as i said he shd be replaced by a better GK...think for tonight's match against A. Madrid, ETH will hv to play his 1st team for the full match as it is against a goliath of the La Liga

The match tonight ended in a 1-0 loss to Atlantico Madrid scored by their striker Joan Felix nearly the end of the game ...a striker linked to them b4... didnt watch the live match so not sure who was responsible to let the ball into the net

Though there were improvement in every player on the pitch tonight under ETH, they are still basically the same group of useless players who lost games after games last season n lack skills to score goals, except for the 2 new boys Erikssen n Malacia who did very well...but they r still in need badly of prolific strikers like Nunez of Pool n Haaland of City who can score goals easily....it's ETH 1st taste of defeat in the friendlies ..by watching their performance tonight, they r still a long way to win games against teams in the Premier League like Aston Villa or teams in other Leagues like A Madrid tonight...all their wins so far in the friendlies are against weak or small unknown teams ..they couldn't beat established PL teams like Villa n LL teams like Madrid....provided they sign well known strikers like Kane n the 2 mentioned abv in the next few days when the transfer window close, they r going to prove the super computers prediction correct that they won't make it to top 5 in the new season..yes, their defence hv improved quite a lot but their midfield n up front are still weak n they won't be able to score goals against any mid table teams easily .

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by Rickey

The match tonight ended in a 1-0 loss to Atlantico Madrid scored by their striker Joan Felix nearly the end of the game ...a striker linked to them b4... didnt watch the live match so not sure who was responsible to let the ball into the net

Wah liu....I know you very agitated after Man U loss....
But it is Atlético Madrid and João Félix.

Want to watch the match but apparently it was only available on MUTV.

From post match reports, the Madrid players were clearly in a more aggressive stance. A tough match comparing to the previous friendlies.

Next week, the EPL starts and we shall see some real action.

[imom]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Wah liu....I know you very agitated after Man U loss....
But it is Atlético Madrid and João Félix.

Want to watch the match but apparently it was only available on MUTV.

From post match reports, the Madrid players were clearly in a more aggressive stance. A tough match comparing to the previous friendlies.

Yeah Atletico was the only proper test of the pre-season. As usual Simeone decided to get a result rather than play football, and unfortunately our forward line spurned quite a few chances and we got caught out near the end. We lost the ball up the pitch and Dalot showed Felix way too much space for that goal. Ten Hag must be seething at how they lost the ball.

Oh well, hope they learned. On the plus side, Eriksen and Malacia were looking good.

Vallecano last night were surprisingly tight and crisp. Again it was Telles being in two minds about who to press, that allowed them to pass it in for their equaliser. He's had many a chance pre-season but never convinced. Guess he's way down the pecking order now, especially with Malacia doing well. Garnacho was quite the spark. Youngsters didn't look out of place, suspect ten Hag will be giving some of them chances this season.

Ther gaffer should now have a pretty good idea of his first team now.

Looking forward to the season opener.

[ilovepantyhose]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

...

Next week, the EPL starts and we shall see some real action.

Originally Posted by imom

...

Oh well, hope they learned. On the plus side, Eriksen and Malacia were looking good.

...

it was a decent pre-season overall, ETH implementing his ideas n style, the team pressing higher up with more intensity, created more chances with crisp incisive passing. weaknesses still remain with defending at set pieces and opponents directly running the ball against the defence

positives:
- eriksen might be scholes v2.0, his composure, vision and passing will benefit the team, but i dun think ETH will start him every match, most probably rotate with fernandes or sub on when fernandes is ineffective
- dalot and malacia add width and pace down the flanks, although ETH will have to improve their defending
- rejuvenated players like rashford, martial, VDB, i believe they will perform better after last season and with a clean slate
- squad depth is good, and a nice mix of youth, prime and experience
- academy players look promising, they will benefit from loan moves, alejandro garnacho may be the breakout youngster if ETH uses him as an impact sub

negatives(?):
- ETH employs high pressing with high backline and decided that maguire remains as capt. i still feel that maguire is too slow against speedy or counterattacking opponents (like last season where the defence was dismantled at will)
- is it crazy to deem AWB, telles and CR7 surplus and sell them before the window closes? if ETH rates dalot>AWB, then AWB is an expensive substitute, or just sell him and throw laird into the deep end as backup to dalot. telles is now behind malacia and shaw, and he is 29 liao, so time to move on. no doubt CR7 is proven goal-scorer, can he fit into ETH game plan? he might start against weaker opponents or becomes another expensive substitute who gets thrown on as a plan B targetman (and is his heart and mind still with the club?)

ETH probable first XI:
GK - DDG
DR - dalot
DC - maguire
DC - martinez
DL - malacia
MC - mctominay
MC - VDB
MC/AMC - fernandes
AMR - sancho
AML - rashford
SC - martial

new season, new hope: either a top-4 finish or win the UEL to gain ticket into UCL, this season is likely to be a 2-horse race between city and pool again; deep runs if possible for domestic cups (rotate squad players and blood youngsters)