Sownak27

Indeed, he's been really very impressive every time I've watched him play.

You can add Pereira's progress to the RIP list. At this rate, we're going to struggle to make the Champions League places. Given that top four is the extent of ambition in this club, I can see failure in qualifying for Europe as the only thing that purges us of Jose.

There goes our +1 GD too

Ultimately, you're never going to have a hope winning games with zero shots on target.

Ultimate humiliation

The day David Silva retires will be a great day for the Premier League

For all his faults, Pogba is the only player in the team that can actually find a creative pass from midfield.

This is going to be a bloodbath

I think that, at some level, early goal concession is a symptom of the same problem of mindset. Bournemouth & Newcastle are just two recent examples I picked, but there are countless other instances of the same problem dating back to the first few games of the season and, indeed, several times last year (Sevilla at home, most prominently). I agree that there's a difference between being placed on the back foot with a goal conceded in the first ten minutes compared to an away game vs Chelsea, but if the team's overall philosophy is always to contain and only attack with maximal caution, you invite the risk of lapses in concentration much more easily. As I said in a previous post, I am actually not wholly against a philosophy of being solid first and then hitting a team on the counter (as Inter often did under Mourinho), but the problem is that even while containing (let alone breaking forward), there is a complete lack of intensity. As it was brutally exposed against Bournemouth, this lack of intensity -- from the very outset -- can be catastrophic, and our only saving grace in that game was that they were unable to capitalise on their dominance and go two, three goals ahead. You rely quite heavily on luck (and a world class goalkeeper) playing a game of containment with a lack of intensity, and my worry is that luck will not always be so kind to us. Having Herrera as a more regular component of our midfield helps mitigate against this as he is one player who constantly plays at a higher tempo off the ball. But, of course, this is seldom accomplished by one player, and requires a more holistic team approach to be effective.

It's a bizarre assertion that the "gameplan" of sitting back till you concede -- regardless of whether the opposition is Juventus, Chelsea, Bournemouth or Newcastle -- is "perfect". Especially coming from a manager who has publicly bemoaned his shit selection of defenders. There are occasions and ways to achieve success with this as a true gameplan, as Mourinho himself demonstrated with Inter and Chelsea. Our players have consistently shown that they cannot execute this without a helpful serving of good fortune; eventually, this luck will run out.

... is why in the £@!$ we start every game with an underdog mentality, with our tails up against it. Every single time in the last few games when we've started to impose ourselves on the opposition, we have looked infinitely better. I know this is a "Mourinho thing", but surely even he can appreciate the difference in the team when actually trying to play football?

LOL JOSE

Martial wrecking muddafuggas in this game

NOW HOLD THE FK ON

ROB JOB