Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

[dalliance]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

oh come on garcia. There are plenty of reasons that man utd didn't get through their CL group like losing to PSV in the aftermath of Shaw's injury, that lingard missed a sitter at home against CSKA, and that united were missing nine players for the final game of the group. (Rooney didn't even play in this game)

I think it's fair enough that Man United went out of the CL at the group stages when you take all these factors into consideration.

So what that the other clubs in the group have a minuscule turnover compared to their English counterparts; none of them had to contend with such debilitating and unlikely factors as injuries and chances missed. No-one gets injured at PSV, CSKA and Wolfsburg and they take 100% of their chances in every game.

After three....everyone else is shit, Manchester United is unlucky.

[E10 Rifle]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

I like that this basic conversation is still going on, 15 years after it started, with not an inch yielded.

[Borracho]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

The real reason why United went out in that group is because van Gaal made a balls of the home game against PSV Eindhoven. That performance was an absolute embarrassment.

[dalliance]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

You can make a balls up of a game in the group stages and still coast through. You have to be pretty hapless, as United were, over the entire set of games to not even reach second place.

[Sean of the Shed]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

Arsenal fucked up both their first group games and still managed to scrape through.

[dalliance]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

And Arsenal at least had one very good team in their group.

[garcia]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

(Rooney didn't even play in this game)

and why was that?

[ursus arctos]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

So, it turns out that L'Equipe was spot on on the Martial fee.





The use of "nominee" in the third clause is strangely vague. If it really means the "short list", the chances that Manchester United are going to end up having paid 80 million euros for him are seriously high.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

garcia wrote:

(Rooney didn't even play in this game)

and why was that?

Oh this is back when he was apparently suspended for two games because he turned up drunk, but actually he missed three games because it turns out he was injured.

So what that the other clubs in the group have a minuscule turnover compared to their English counterparts; none of them had to contend with such debilitating and unlikely factors as injuries and chances missed. No-one gets injured at PSV, CSKA and Wolfsburg and they take 100% of their chances in every game.

I didn't say anything about other teams, or whether or not man utd faced certain circumstances that other teams didn't. I was just pointing out that man utd's half finished squad wasn't strong enough to compete in both the premier league and the CL. Also could you try and stop making financially based arguments, because it's difficult to watch.

After three....everyone else is shit, Manchester United is unlucky.

You love saying that, even though at no point do I ever claim that Man utd are unlucky. Injuries happen to all teams, and depending on your stage in the squad building cycle you can wind up getting a lot of injuries, as Man City are discovering this season.

I've never considered that to be bad luck. It does however affect your ability to field strong teams, particularly when a lot of these injuries accumulate at the same time. Nor do I consider players missing key chances to be bad luck. the point is really to highlight that trying to ram through an entirely spurious point, on the back of a narrow result through use of "scoreboard journalism" is foolish given how the result could be completely changed by one kick of the ball.

you just come out with this tiresome bollocks, because at all times you want to attribute any setback suffered to Man utd because you think every man utd player is basically shit, and they're always managed by some kind of moron.

So, you are perfectly happy with Wayne as main striker and think that is one area which they should not improve upon this or next window?

I'm happy enough. The issue isn't with the forwards. The issue is with getting them the ball enough, and creating enough chances for them. To that end it would be more beneficial for man utd to find a Proper first choice midfielder for the Carrick/Schweinsteiger role, because Carrick is too fucked by injury to keep up his side of the jobshare, and as a result Marouane Fellaini gets in the team, and the passing game falls apart. He has to go.

They could also do with a replacement for Marcos Rojo, who is another moron, with poor decision making skills. They could also do with another forward player who can fill in across the line, because they only have two players that can play at centre forward, and even then While Anthony martial may show a lot of promise at the striker bit, he has a lot to learn about being a centre forward.

United have to make sure that they have two players for each position who can play in the style they want to play, before they start thinking about replacing players.

[dalliance]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

Also could you try and stop making financially based arguments, because it's difficult to watch.

That's a crazy lack of self-awareness going on there.

I was just pointing out that man utd's half finished squad wasn't strong enough to compete in both the premier league and the CL.

No-one expected them to compete with Barcelona, Madrid and Bayern (though for the money that's been spent they perhaps should), but we're talking about at least getting past a bunch of middle order teams who cannot afford the sort of players who wouldn't get off Man United's bench.

As I said when we discussed it at the time, I have to admire Monaco's poker face when Man United offered 50m euros for Martial and they knocked it back.

Had they been negotiating with any other club with more money than sense (or negotiating nous) they would have taken the money and run, not haggled out another, easily attainable, 30m of add-ons.

I mean he's a talented young player but when they're paying Luis Suarez money for him....

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

No-one expected them to compete with Barcelona, Madrid and Bayern (though for the money that's been spent they perhaps should), but we're talking about at least getting past a bunch of middle order teams who cannot afford the sort of players who wouldn't get off Man United's bench

what people expected them to do is neither here nor there though in this discussion really is it? I expected man utd to be about as competitive as they usually are when they're in a rebuilding stage over the years, i.e. group stage, or second round exit. You have to be in really good nick to combine a serious PL campaign and a meaningful CL run.

I would reckon at this stage that you can broadly compare CL group stage games with run of the mill PL games. Man utd weren't doing anything in the CL that they weren't doing in the PL. There was no difference in the way they played, and no real difference in the results that they were getting.

A club like PSV may not have quite the resources of a West Ham or a Stoke, but they are still the champions of a country, and have reached a certain level of organization, cohesion and team spirit. These are factors that can turn a couple of one off games in their favour, but tell over the course of a season.

In order to make relatively short work of a team like that, you have to be able to at least match those non-financial factors, in order to bring your greater financial resources to bear, and Man utd weren't anywhere near that level. But that's what happens, when you sign half a new team.

I mean he's a talented young player but when they're paying Luis Suarez money for him...

Well what do you expect when you wind up relying on Jorge Mendes to help sort you out with a player at the end of the transfer window, because things really haven't gone your way, and you realise that januzaj isn't anywhere near ready, and you only have one other forward.

Half that price is desperation money.

[Mr Beast]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

How do Liverpool fans feel about the reported 5 year deal for Mignolet? He's better than Brad Guzan admittedly, but that's a very low bar.

[dalliance]

Come on, there's only one TV thread this weekend

I'm not a Liverpool fan but I'd guess it's to protect his transfer value as much as anything. I'd guess they would still look around for a better keeper safe in the knowledge that if none of their targets come to fruition then they still have him as a decent enough back up.

If they do sign better and he's not happy on the bench, they sell him and recoup some money.