O

Football heritage. 

Mourinho's gamble didn't pay off this time. 6th in Serie A with no chance of securing CL football.

Sevilla have added another trophy to the cabinet with an an old squad. Some proper characters in that team though.

Rakitić has had an incredible career. Jesús Navas too.

Telles filled in for Acuña quite well.

2 minutes ago, CB78 said:

yeah - probably more likely -

Antony defo out from what I read, poss Garnacho but Weghorst prob will give him more disciplined defensive shape- (which is all this game is likely to be about)

ten Hag said that he thinks Antony will likely make it.

He must have low pain threshold to go from crying in agony to fit again 10 days later. We'll see. Maybe just the bench.

11 minutes ago, CB78 said:

3-5-2 unashamedly set up to counter type set up / Garnacho & Rashford's pace up front 

Only hope 

ten Hag hasn't played with a back three once this season. I doubt he changes now.

Rashford

Sancho------Bruno------*Antony

Eriksen----Casemiro

Shaw-----Lindelöf-----Varane------AWB

De Gea

*Weghorst will come in for Antony if injured

Rashford

Bruno--------Weghorst------Sancho

I can't see the sponsors being for it.

30 minutes ago, CB78 said:

Listen - Nxt season

when the glimmers of decent football start emerging

& your regretting pushing yourself into a corner with an unnecessarily extreme anti Ten Hagg position when you could’ve given him some time / reserved judgement 

I just want you to know I’m here for you;  

Hmmm...  no glimmers this season then. Sounds very negative for you.

I stopped being a United supporter around Istanbul B' away. I have zero regrets.

The fact that you're deflecting from the points made shows you have no real answer to them.

In an ideal world, Newcastle will become the top dogs and crush United, Liverpool, City and co. We're 5+ years away from that, so enjoy every trophy that you can until that day. Wey aye, man! Byker Grove FC.

2 minutes ago, Deez Nutz said:

Next season is is when we can asses his management skills with a clearer understanding of what he's about, especially if he signs players he thinks will improve the squad, on a personal level, O doesn't like him, probably means he's a likeable individual.

Still waiting on your response to the current state of La Liga, mate.

30 minutes ago, CB78 said:

so;

not only is Ten Hagg a counter attacking half wit who shud have had UTD playing dominating possession Footie in his 1st season

he’s also now a dodgy bloke/possibly even evil;  FFS

you really don’t like him do you?  

I stopped liking ten Hag during the Overmars incident at Ajax. He continued to defend him after the evidence came to light.

Do you deny that he played a player accused of stabbing someone (soon fled to Russia after Ajax facilitated a transfer), defended his friend Overmars who was forced to resign, tried to sign a racist (Arnautović), made his latest Greenwood comments (soft launch to gauge public opinion).

His family are one of the wealthiest in The Netherlands. He's from old money.

Tbh, I dislike you more than ten Hag. He's many things, but not a fool.

25 minutes ago, Albert Quixall said:

Don't knock it. The received wisdom is that all City have to do to win the treble is show up. Pep has played the second string for the last two games and has lost both. He should have kept the momentum going like Fergie did in 1999 as best he could given that Scholes and Keane were out of the EC final. I don't think we will roll over and I don't think Inter will either.

Pep beat Chelsea 1-0 with their second string, then drew 1-1 away to Brighton with a stronger XI, and then lost 1-0 away to Brentford with their second string,

They key to their season has been good rotation. Very few of their players have started more than 25 league games this season. It's helped keep them fresh. The five who have started 26+ games are Ederson, Rodri, Gündogan, KDB and Haaland. Ederson, Rodri and Haaland have started 30+ PL games. That's why City peaked at the right time this season.

If anything, the Brentford defeat will have a grounding effect ahead of the final. Pep isn't an idiot. He won't be underestimating either team. He's lost enough games vs United over the past few years to know what can happen on any given day.

I think Inter will make a game of it in the final, but would still expect City to beat them by a goal or two. 3-1 City.

1 minute ago, TFIA said:

Ten Hag will have almost nothing to do with the Greenwood decision.

I imagine most managers would take him if given the choice. Their job is to win games above anything else.

It wont bother the players. Football dressing rooms aren’t exactly college campuses when it comes to progressive values. They’ll largely sympathise with him I’d bet. I suspect Greenwood and his team will do some PR work before any return, probably involve Harriet in some capacity to win people over.

If he doesn’t play for the club again it will be because they deemed him too problematic for the brand. Football will be a secondary consideration.

Stop trying to justify it.

ten Hag is a dodgy individual. Maybe having someone evil is what United need to return to the top. ten Hag and Greenwood as Master and Apprentice.

I doubt many of the senior players or the ones with children/sisters will be a fan of Greenwood returning. Maybe the young ones like Sancho won't mind. Some of the Women's team already voiced their concerns over having to share facilities with him, apparently. That was reported a few months ago.

Your last paragraph is exactly what it comes down to.

7 hours ago, aardvarked said:

ETH acknowledging he'll continue to be a squad player at best, nudging him along to leave. 

Doubt he does though.

He's going to fill the void left by Weghorst.

Hazza ST redemption arc 2023/2024.

He's a questionable individual off the pitch.

The Promes situation, his comments on Overmars, and now Greenwood.

It's clear that ten Hag would bring him back if it were up to him. Not a good look.

Oh, and Arnautović too. The club stopped that.

29 minutes ago, John Locke said:

How was it supposed to have worked out? Strikers don't just score goals they play a role for the team. When martial was injured we only had one recognised striker and rashford couldn't be expected to play in every minute. It's better to have a bad striker a lot of the time than to play someone out of position. It seems that ten hag saw weghorst as being useful for his pressing, attitude and physical presence. I agree, it's not the kind of player we want in the summer and he wasn't that good to warrant keeping at the club. He was a dirt cheap option to plug a hole.

He didn't plug the hole though. 2 goals.

United got by thanks to goals from the likes of Rashford, Martial, Casemiro and, more recently, Bruno. Weghorst is not a Welbeck ST. His stints at Burnley and United are the only barren spells of his career. He simply failed to score enough goals. He should have scored at least 5 PL goals playing with better players than at Burnley. He couldn't deal with the pressure, despite his best efforts.

It's really that simple. United qualified for The CL with zero goals from him.

2 minutes ago, John Locke said:

People who are against ten hag will say it's a bad loan signing. The fact is we are third and in two cup finals. The totality of what has been achieved by the club since Christmas can therefore be construed as positive. Chelsea spent hundreds of millions in January and had no recognised striker whereas we brought one in for a few million of compensation who at least knew the role of cf. 

He scored zero PL goals. 2 goals from 30 appearances.

Pretty much every United fan recognises that Weghorst didn't work out. Even ten Hag's most devoted supporters.

He had a bit of cult following initially.

Chelsea did have a ST in Aubameyang. They simply discarded him after Tuchel was sacked.

1 hour ago, TFIA said:

Benzema may be going to Saudi Arabia according to some reports.

If so then Kane’s going to Madrid.

Hopefully.

25 minutes ago, hdcantona said:

 

Rangnick is a genius.

Just now, 1Day said:

Just take out the few blips,and United would have been 2nd, on goal difference,if anything .

1 minute ago, hdcantona said:

True but assuming Kane is off the table he’s probably a safer bet than ramos who I’m a big fan of but would cost 20m euros more (at least) and hojlund is also less proven, but could be interesting, out of the semi feasible names who would you go for ? Martinez might end up being the best combo of availability and track record even if he’s still somewhat risky due to the reasons you’ve mentioned above 

I'd sign Haller if possible. ten Hag has worked with him at Utrecht and Ajax. His profile is exactly what ten Hag likes.

Openda, RC Lens, would be much cheaper. Balogun too. Although Arsenal would prefer to sell him to a foreign club.

I'd take a punt on Patson Daks as well. There's a vey good striker in there. Rodgers didn't give him enough starts.

9 hours ago, hdcantona said:

Being linked with Lautaro Martinez (we often are) - would actually be a really shrewd move if he's like 60-70m rather than 80/90+m on my boy Ramos if Osimhen is off the table (presume Kane is too pricey etc) 

I like Lautaro, but he won't help settle down the chaotic nature of United.

His movement off the ball is brilliant. Bruno would benefit from it. But he can miss some sitters when he's not on it. He had a horrific World Cup. Very good in 2023 though. This has been his best goalscoring season to date.

Signing players from Serie A is probably even more risky than The Bundesliga. He's lived in Milan for 5 years now. Manchester could be a huge culture shock.

Yesterday might have been his worst performance of the season statistically:

• Passes completed - 26/41 (63%)
• Possession lost - 21 times from 55 touches
• Long balls completed - 1/6 (16.66%)
• Crosses completed - 2/7 (14.28%)
• Dribbles completed - 0/1 (0%)
• Ground duels - 1/3 (33.33%)
• Aerial duels - 0/3 (0%)
• Dribbled past - 1

He took his goal well tbf, but the guy is a genuine terrorist.

10 hours ago, hdcantona said:

3rd, more points than when we finished 2nd with ole and our 2nd highest points tally post fergie (I still think season to season points comparisons are largely stupid within the same league but some of you seem like them) 

side note: LOL at Giggs being named manager in the moyes year

There are so many games that could have swung either way. United somehow took 6 points from the last 2 games despite giving up numerous chances in the 1st half of both games. Leicester at home was similar, which wasDe Gea's best game of the season.

United will either drop off by 6-9 points next season or take an extra few points. It's difficult to judge due to how chaotic they still are.

It will be difficult to replicate the home form. But even if that drops off by 2-3 wins, the away form should improve to balance it out.

I think United will finish on 75-80 points next season.

4 minutes ago, Deez Nutz said:

Your addiction to Xg has clouded your judgement.

Brentford allowed Citeh all the possession they wanted Infront of the back five, and citeh barely penetrated through, their best chances coming in the last minutes, but great defending and keeping kept them out, fully deserved 3 points.

Alcohol has clouded your own. There's no allowing City possession. They have it 9/10.

So the chances did come and they didn't take them. A draw would have been a fair reflection of the game. 1-1.

Not that City will really care overall. Pep already knows that the likes of Sergio Gómez aren't good enough long term.

Ederson and Walker are the only two that will start in either final. Maybe Aké, but Akanji has sort of cemented his place during his absence.

ten Hag will play on the counter attack also. But up against superior players on the day.

45 minutes ago, Deez Nutz said:

Surely Bailey for Stepney.

Don't forget that Brentford were without Toney and Jensen, but yes Citeh rested some players, but Rico Henry totally bossed Walker and Pinnock and Mee had Foden so frustrated that he was wondering what was going on.

ETH should be on the phone to Thomas Frank for advice.

They've won their last 3 games without Toney.

Foden wasn't even playing up front either. You must have been so drunk that you didn't realise that Alvárez was up front.

City still won the game on xG. A draw would have been a fair reflection of the game.

5 minutes ago, Albert Quixall said:

I think Inter will beat them and that we will win the FA Cup. Pep will fuck things up.

The CL is the one they want. They'll have learned from 2021. Like how they learned from the semi-final defeat last season. They put Real away this time.

City only lost today because they rotated 9 of their starting 11.

Even if United do beat them, they'll be even more determined to win vs Inter.

Pep has only lost 2 major finals out of 13. I can't see him making it 4 out of 15.

What a disaster of a season.

They back Marsch with signings such as Kristensen, Adams and Aaronsen who he worked with at the Red Bull clubs. They further back him in January by signing Wöber and McKennie, and then sack him only a week after convincing McKennie to join the club.

If that wasn't bad enough decision making... they then stall for around 3 weeks before deciding on Javi Gracia. 

Not done with their chaotic ways, they panic by sacking Gracia in order to bring in Big Sam for the remaining 4 games of the season. Big Sam talks a good game in front of the press, only to take 1 point from his 4 games in charge. He even manages to somehow lose to Spurs at home on the final day.

This all could have been avoided with a better managerial appointment back in January. Marsch might have even managed to keep them up. He accumulated 18 of their 31 points.