You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I think we'd have probably sold Longstaff in preference but Anderson is just a better prospect
(and fwiw I thin Longstaff is maligned, he does a lot off the ball that he doesn't get proper credit for, and if he could finish his record would look overall quite decent. Big if, of course)
Oooooh what's Trippier been doing to get in the papers?
Rumours he's been playing away at home.....having been grassed up by his own doorbell.
We've suffered from selling home grown talent as well, PSR is a joke, us having to sell Johnson for 15m less than we'd get at the end of the same window to appease accountants then losing points for it when it's meant to be protecting the smaller clubs..
Just glad someone at Forest had the foresight to bring him in, plus you got one of Greece's best keepers in part-ex? 😉
How come Newcastle have struggled with signings? Rumour of an Elanga bid came in Friday at 5pm, 30+Almiron was doing the rounds but I'm kind of glad the big man put the phone down, we are starting to learn a little.
Clubs aren’t forced to sell their homegrown players. They end up having to do so because they buy some foreign bloke who’s probably not much better for a quick fix, rather than coaching/developing the home grown player. Eg McTominay v Ugarte / Tonali v Anderson.
McTominay had reached his ceiling, how much more development could they have done with him? Anderson's about 3-4 years off being at Tonalis level if he ever makes it, he could do an ACL next game and never recover, Newcastle need points now not in 3 years time.
In the case of Forest we had to build a team who could stay up in one window which theyd have just about done if they'd submitted accounts at the end of the window not mid-way through?
Tonali is as untested in the prem as Anderson is. His first few games before his ban weren’t great, but agree he has good pedigree. Let’s see. Yes, McTominay wasn’t going to get much better but he gets goals, has good energy, and gives 100%. I think he’s even scored more goals at Old Trafford than Salah!
McTominay in the ManU team was always a fudge to fit in, but would have been a great EPL player for a Newcastle, or Villa, or Spurs, or Brighton, the lad has ability and goals, knows the EPL inside out and would fit into most teams well.
ManU have instead gambled twice the money they got for him on Ugarte, who is unproven in the EPL, was not a starter at his previous club, and is going to be trying to break into a basket case of a team!
As stated a few times, ManU should have went for Onana, the guy was pretty much 100% able to fill the gaping hole ManU had in their midfield, allow Mainoo and Fernandes to do their thing, and wouldn't have had to move house!
You’re trying to apply logic where there is none. Uniteds transfer policy hasn’t made any sense for over a decade. Worryingly, it sounds like things are now even more chaotic behind the scenes
https://Twitter.com/centredevils/status/1830622639204729065?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
The whole Fergie stuff is getting a bit old, yes he was a great manager, but he was in charge of ManU at the best time in history, at the same time he had youth players coming through and bought wisely, they won with Sky TV and the likes kicking off, and dominated for a while, with only really Arsenal chasing them at that point, and that allowed them to build an empire off the pitch, that benefits them to this day.
Fergie retiring reminds me of Tony Blair leaving, the writing was on the wall, and he left at the right time, which has left this whole 'since Fergie left' myth, the issue they have is that the league got more competitive, they bought less wisely, and the youth players hitting it big dropped a bit as well.
I think the issue is the dizzying speed with which it went from multiple title-winners to complete and utter ****ing shambles and it’s been a consistent downward trajectory ever since.
I fully expect this season to be the worst yet, with this present squad under this manager, with the chaos that’s clearly going on both on the pitch and behind the scenes.
United are presently 14th in the table and I can honestly see us finishing the season there or thereabouts. God knows who the manager will be by that point. Big Sam?
To be so catastrophically bad given the enormous (if inexplicable) spend on players is absolutely nuts!
There really should be a Man U thread!
If Ugarte is the answer in midfield, why’d they take so long to sign him? So long he misses all pre-season and the first three league games. Panic buy.
It’s the same every season. Like Groundhog Day. A complete farce!
Fergie built insane expectations which the fan base now hold, and the owners don't really care as long as they're creaming off the top. Shrug emoji
I don’t think the expectation to watch something that isn’t complete and utter shite on the pitch is too insane?
Bruce is a Tangerine
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cg4ywkr1lqdo
Is it warm up gig for the Man Yoo job?
I backed Southgate, and I know it's only the RoI but so far this more positive intent and lineup is pretty good to watch so far. The second goal was a delight.
Enjoyed that England performance- can’t normally say that!!
I didn't.
Thought it was a good performance against a very average ROI side. Will be interesting to see how we play against Finland on Tuesday
This is a first in the fact that I was actually glad to see the international break for some pointless Engerland games.
But can we just take a moment to acknowledge the best performance anyone has put in while wearing a United shirt for a good few seasons?
Wrexham top of the league (sorry @Doris5000) and 4 clean sheets on the bounce. Phil Parkinson getting pelters from opposition fans for his 'anti-football' with wxm 24th in possession stats and 23rd in touches in the opposition box but boy is it effective and I'm fed up with teams in the lower leagues trying to emulate Pep. Happy to give up possession and work incredibly hard to close down the opposition before putting in some strong tackles (remember them?) to set up the counter. Birmingham away next Monday should be a cracker.
Shame he's bringing the current Utd way to management.
Sigh. I saw the highlights on YouTube. What the suffering **** was that third goal all about 😆
Proper lower league action! Our defending wasn't much cop for the 2nd goal either, but it was well taken tbf...
The crowd noise in that video is proper FIFA video game crowd noise.
Just noticed that Wrexham's highlights video is three times as long as the Shrewsbury one, arf. Also has a lot more views, and comments of people saying things like "Awesome match Reds!! Saw it live in the US on CBS Sports, STōK Cae Ras was electric!!! My dream match is Celtic vs Wrexham!!"
It really is mad what a bit of Hollywood glamour can do...
Birmingham away next Monday should be a cracker.
Can't wait for that, almost sold out - will be sold out by match day. 🙂
Can we come back from the embarassment of drawing with blinking Walsall...?
As a Forest fan I never thought I would see the day we are in a Champion League slot in the table. I wasn't a fan of Nuno but give him credit, a few astute signings this season and the unbeaten start has been amazing. Perhaps a top 10 finish this season rather than a relegation battle is possible.
Nuno is a bloody good manager. I’m not remotely surprised with how well he’s doing at Forest. Playing good football too. I had the Liverpool match on while I was driving and it sounds like he turned up with a pretty solid game plan and stuck to it
God only knows how Villa are conspiring to lose this match to Everton? You never know though… Everton could still end up losing it 5-2
EDIT: And right on cue! Shocking defending
Taylor's lost the plot in the Bournemouth Chelsea game. 9 bookings in a tame game.
Watching Chelsea and their team reminds me of playing Champ Manager with unlimited funds, but without being able to restart if you have a bad game
14 yellows. New premier league record.
Taylor’s lost the plot in the Bournemouth Chelsea game. 9 bookings in a tame game.
Only the 14 yellow cards, imagine the odds on that one!
Some were definitely yellow, but it was hardly a dirty game.
Gets results for a while but Nuno’s a bit of a one trick defensive pony. Not usually a good watch.
This north London derby is getting handbags already. Saliba picking up a stupid yellow already. Why do players do that, when they know things are likely to get pretty lively anyway and you’re on a totally self-inflicted card from ten minutes in? Especially when one of your team mates is suspended for this game after doing exactly the same?
Worth taking another look at Durans put-your-****ing-laces-through-it screamer from yesterday. Goal of the season contender already
https://twitter.com/skysportspl/status/1835019053850632217?s=46&t=1lK7Dw1b6RqGJyvufO-trQ
Looks like the ref is going for yesterdays new record of 14 cards. He’s totally lost it
I've just fixed my surround speakers and now I get an earful of sweary crowd noise.
Saliba yellow was just daft on his part. Bentancur’s wasn’t a yellow, but hard to argue with the others. That was a proper case of “winning ugly”, but 6 points from visits to Villa and WHL is probably 4 more than Arteta expected.
I understand Beckham's making his first visit to St Andrews tonight, for Blues vs Wrexham - that'll be an eye-opener for him. 🙂
Saliba yellow was just daft on his part. Bentancur’s wasn’t a yellow, but hard to argue with the others. That was a proper case of “winning ugly”, but 6 points from visits to Villa and WHL is probably 4 more than Arteta expected.
The spurs goalie got booked after being grabbed by the arsenal player, always love seeing in football when there's a bad challenge that the ref books an opposition player as well, and you end up with the same punishment for each team.
Really enjoying the media omerta on the toon being in 3rd place. It clearly doesn't fit with their toon civil war Howe vs Mitchell 'it's all falling apart' narrative. If it was Spurs or Villa in 3rd and level on points with Arsenal we wouldn't hear the end of it. All good though, Howe is clearly taking advantage of all the gossip to unify the players and coaching staff. I can only wonder what they'll be like when they start playing. 🙂
They need to start playing.
Didn't understand the starting line up either?
They need to start playing.
There were small flashes of it yesterday. Gordon looked like the player of last season, but too many are off the boil. Isak, Bruno and JoeLinton all need to improve. Tonali, Willock and Trippier need to start next game, we were miles better once they came on. Not sure how you solve the Barnes/Gordon problem, probably stick with the current approach of using Barnes as an impact sub but he deserves a place in the starting 11.
Given Barnes loves to cut in, he can play on the right and go on the outside. He won't get as many shooting chances, but will get in behind, and make chances for others. It also means the front three can be very fluid, Isak can play on the left, Gordon can play through the middle, and right, Barnes can play on both wings. It could be a nightmare for teams to deal with. they need time to play together though.
Barnes on the right is much better than any other option.
Longstaff ahead of Tonali is pure Howe. trusts hard work over footballing ability way too much. Tonali instantly made a difference yesterday. Always looks to play forward as a first option, Longstaffs first touch is almost always negative. Eddie has to prioritise Tonali and Barnes. Doing anything other than this will put him in a very awkward position if we start losing games.
Man, Iwata and Paik are class! McLean's somewhat of a knobjockey, though.
Liverpool's defenders showing their better at scoring than defending.
And Antony has found his level where he looks half decent vs Barnsley (still had to stretch a foot out to win the pen).
massive surprise about the passing of Schillaci - he always looked like the bloke who won a chance to play for his country and hit a purple patch he cloud never repeat. In interviews he seemed like a top bloke and very popular.
RIP Toto.
Sad to hear, older i get, the more you reminisce about childhood, 1986 was the first proper world cup i remember, 1990 i was 13 so remember it a bit better, '86 was all about Maradona, 1990 was Italy and Schillaci, was his moment in the sun for football, hit form before the tournament and then did well, think injuries got the best of him afterwards though, back then a lot of good players were done for with injuries that you'd get fixed today easily.
Similar sentiments argee - lots of sporting and cultural icons from my youth seem to dying. RIP ToTo.
It's mad, Paolo Rossi was the player of '82, Maradona '86 and Schillaci '90, all passed away now :o(
Gazza was also an icon of 1990...
That Forest Brighton game was a bit lively. I’m sure this one will be the same.
What’s going on with the Sky pundits doing the pre-match stuff while wandering aimlessly around the pitch like a bunch of United players? They need to pack that in!
A lot of them can't get over that they've retired and hang around. Old blokes used to that in factories.
Probably be a bore fest this. Arsenal defensively Mourinho esque.
Or possibly another Haaland hatrick?
Holy shot!!
As an ex-GK, if Ederson gets a foul for that the game's gone.
(on cue - game's not gone!!)
I thought they’d have learned after the first corner where Gabriel was marked by Doku and should have scored. And then Walker marks him? Surely you put Gvardiol/Diaz/Akanji on him?
Oliver levelling it up here…..
Trossard you complete bellend. Why? Just why? Why do footballers do such childish things?
I'll call it now, 4-2 Citeh.
Oliver levelling it up here…..
Both the foul and delaying the restart are yellows. Can't really complain. Refusing to leave the field could then be dissent as well. Could be reported for 4 yellows if Oliver's brought enough report forms with him.
Yeah, thought it was harsh at first but agree deserved. I guess this should stop them doing it.
After Rice did it 2 weeks ago it was extra dumb.
Not been the blood and thunder entertainment of the first half but a good watch nonetheless for the tactician.
Who's in charge of the pizza in the tunnel after?
Rope a dope nearly worked for Arsenal. Very entertaining for the neutral.
As a neutral, i was happy the anti-football arsenal were trying was punished, was always going to happen the minute arsenal went ahead.
Saying that, City were without any ideas for a long period there, the amount of times that Kovacic or Dias had the ball and every man and their dog knows it's going sideways, it just made it easy for arsenal to have them pass side to side.
was always going to happen the minute arsenal went ahead.
A bit unfair; it didn't happen until after the sending off. Admittedly they were close-ish in time but I don't think they'd have done it for 45 mins if 11v11, they'd have been defnsive minded but look to break. Once 10v11, it was the 'right' tactic with the 6/3 or even 7/2 banks. Although as Roy noted, they didn't do it very well because City scored (he is brilliant entertainment)
I’m amazed how uninspired City were. If any team were capable of breaking down a massed defence you’d have thought it would them.
That wasn't anti-football, but a great example of how to defend. I expected more from City, but inexplicably they kept giving the ball to players less well-equipped to do anything with it. Them celebrating a draw is a real plus for a Gooner. Seven points from successive away matches at Villa, Spurs and City is probably a couple more than Arteta hoped for.
The anti-football comment is down to the stopping the game every minute due to 'cramp' and so on, as stated, they were always going to defend like that, only a daft team would go at city with 10 men, but i don't think i can remember a time when a ref has basically stated he's not stopping the game for players hitting the ground without contact in a long time.
Arsenal are hard. Proper organised, battlers. As blackhat says, 7 pts from those away games is above par. Might be enough to wobble City, especially if Rodri is out a while.
At the other end who’s getting his P45 first? I’m going for Lopetugui - West Ham look a shambles defensively and those jeans he wears. Sackable.
I had no skin in the city arsenal game and maybe because of that I just saw a bus parked and city's inability to move it. If Reading were ahead against Oxford and their highly tuned players started to fall over with cramp I suppose I'd be apoplectic with rage.
Psychology of footie.
I thought Arsenal were embarrassing in terms of snide fouls, feigning injuries and general timewasting. Such shithousery does not deserve any success. They have a lot of very good players and should not need to resort to such cynical play.