The Manchester United Thread

[AayushCFC]

Good luck.

 

[GodCubed]

all true, i think nani should be given one last chance in april....but wtf was valencia doing (in the gif) - everyone apart from him seems to have spotted van persie!

He's offering width. If you check the other side of the pitch, there's sweet **** all stretching the play out there, and as a result the opposition are able to play really narrow. In fact, part of the reason there was a gap that RVP could exploit was because one of the defenders was dragged wide to mark Valencia.

 

[TJD07]

Easy draw for United.

 

[wr1097]

He's offering width. If you check the other side of the pitch, there's sweet **** all stretching the play out there, and as a result the opposition are able to play really narrow. In fact, part of the reason there was a gap that RVP could exploit was because one of the defenders was dragged wide to mark Valencia.

No, I know that, Valencia was doing that a lot early on....but how do you miss a player wide open, screaming for you to pass to him, and then send the ball backwards???

Besides, the only thing that matters now is figuring out how to stop Robben from diving....

 

[Subtle]

I love the revisionism around Mata. He has never been amazing defensive, but he was half decent. But then you didn't buy Mata to put a defensive shift primarily, he was there because he is a lethal creator. Benitez moved him primarily because the Chelsea midfield was so horribly unbalanced ( in fact it has only regained balance with the arrival of Matic), he couldnt really afford to have a floaty player out on the flank, and because it would allow Mata to dominate the game. Jose froze him out because Jose likes quite specific players on his flanks.

When you consider the number of wide playmakers in the premiership, it's bemusing how Mata is constantly hit with this tag (after Jose brought it up). Silva? Nasri? Cazorla?

The simple thing is: if you build a balanced midfield, it matters a **** of a lot less.

Yeah, except that's not what Sunil said at all. He said that it was never noticed or an issue.

It was most certainly noticed because, er, we all noticed it.

It was an issue because it made us a **** of a lot more fragile. There's reason why a young left back with very little first team experience started the CL final for us on the left, instead of Mata.

No one is saying he wasn't good. No one is saying he isn't still on Silva's level. In fact, I even went out of my way in my post to specifically point out that:

Of course, whether having someone like that in the team is offset by his creative contribution is another Mata (☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜) ) entirely...

There's a reason I was so ****** to see him frozen out and a reason why I couldn't believe he would be sold to you: Mata is an outstanding player in the right tactical setup. No one can question that, but to pretend that his defensive faults have never existed and never caused Chelsea any issues before Jose came is just laughable.

 

[sunilvk7]

Yeah, except that's not what Sunil said at all. He said that it was never noticed or an issue.

It was most certainly noticed because, er, we all noticed it.

It was an issue because it made us a **** of a lot more fragile. There's reason why a young left back with very little first team experience started the CL final for us on the left, instead of Mata.

No one is saying he wasn't good. No one is saying he isn't still on Silva's level. In fact, I even went out of my way in my post to specifically point out that:

There's a reason I was so ****** to see him frozen out and a reason why I couldn't believe he would be sold to you: Mata is an outstanding player in the right tactical setup. No one can question that, but to pretend that his defensive faults have never existed and never caused Chelsea any issues before Jose came is just laughable.

Maybe I read something wrong in Chelsea thread then. I didn't see anyone saying Mata is liability defensively back then, all I saw was how Mata is so great for getting so many assists with Torres and Ba as strikers and nothing on how Mata is poor defensively.

 

[Vanjagl]

O ooh.

 

[hughesman]

aaaannnnddd we are buggered

 

[Tyton]

Right now in Munich.

 

[sunilvk7]

Manchester United ‏@ManUtd 9m
"And Solskjaer has won it!" #MUFCBAYERN

 

[Mike.]

Yeah, except that's not what Sunil said at all. He said that it was never noticed or an issue.

It was most certainly noticed because, er, we all noticed it.

It was an issue because it made us a **** of a lot more fragile. There's reason why a young left back with very little first team experience started the CL final for us on the left, instead of Mata.

No one is saying he wasn't good. No one is saying he isn't still on Silva's level. In fact, I even went out of my way in my post to specifically point out that:

There's a reason I was so ****** to see him frozen out and a reason why I couldn't believe he would be sold to you: Mata is an outstanding player in the right tactical setup. No one can question that, but to pretend that his defensive faults have never existed and never caused Chelsea any issues before Jose came is just laughable.

Tbf Subtle, no one was bringing this up over the least 2 years on that thread, until Jose did. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. But it seems it was widely ignored until Jose brought it up and every tagged onto it. AayushCFC, it was nothing to do with Mata not producing, he just didn't fit the system. But we knew that before the season even kicked off. All Jose did was use half a season to deconstruct Mata in the eyes of Chelsea fans. So that it was less a big deal selling (arguably still rankles for many though)

 

[GodCubed]

No, I know that, Valencia was doing that a lot early on....but how do you miss a player wide open, screaming for you to pass to him, and then send the ball backwards???

When you've got a split second to make a decision, your view is obscured by about one and a half players, you're on your weaker foot coming off a bad touch and not entirely sure whether the striker is onside. That's why he looks, tries to catch up with the ball, but as the other defender is being obscured by the ones chasing him he reckons Van Persie's offside and takes the safe option. In fact, by the time he catches up with the ball, I'm pretty sure Van Persie IS offside. If that's right, then it's a good decision.

Either way, one isolated incident shouldn't be used as a stick to bash Valencia with.

 

[Mike.]

When you've got a split second to make a decision, your view is obscured by about one and a half players, you're on your weaker foot coming off a bad touch and not entirely sure whether the striker is onside. That's why he looks, tries to catch up with the ball, but as the other defender is being obscured by the ones chasing him he reckons Van Persie's offside and takes the safe option. In fact, by the time he catches up with the ball, I'm pretty sure Van Persie IS offside. If that's right, then it's a good decision.

Either way, one isolated incident shouldn't be used as a stick to bash Valencia with.

he also had one eye at this point

 

[Tyton]

he also had one eye at this point

Lol. Good point!

 

[wr1097]

When you've got a split second to make a decision, your view is obscured by about one and a half players, you're on your weaker foot coming off a bad touch and not entirely sure whether the striker is onside. That's why he looks, tries to catch up with the ball, but as the other defender is being obscured by the ones chasing him he reckons Van Persie's offside and takes the safe option. In fact, by the time he catches up with the ball, I'm pretty sure Van Persie IS offside. If that's right, then it's a good decision.

Either way, one isolated incident shouldn't be used as a stick to bash Valencia with.

Fair enough...I'm not arguing about Valencia's performances...he's actually one of our best when he's on form.

 

[Vanjagl]

Yea, let's knock Bayern out and convince Kroos to join United!

Clever white text.

 

[GodCubed]

he also had one eye at this point

Didn't realise the gif was from Olympiakos. In which case, yes, that's even more pertinent.

 

[sunilvk7]

When you've got a split second to make a decision, your view is obscured by about one and a half players, you're on your weaker foot coming off a bad touch and not entirely sure whether the striker is onside. That's why he looks, tries to catch up with the ball, but as the other defender is being obscured by the ones chasing him he reckons Van Persie's offside and takes the safe option. In fact, by the time he catches up with the ball, I'm pretty sure Van Persie IS offside. If that's right, then it's a good decision.

Either way, one isolated incident shouldn't be used as a stick to bash Valencia with.

That's the last thing anyone would use as a stick to beat Valencia as you have complete 2 seasons to prove he is not good enough or lost it and will never be back his old beast form.

 

[MANUMAD]

It doesn't. I'm United fan, and I don't hate LFC.

Mate you are in a very small minority there ...

I freely admit that I absolutely loathe LFC to the point that sometimes them losing gives me more satisfaction than us winning.

Incidentally the teams I hate are (in order of hate):

LFC
REAL MADRID
ARSENAL (Cos of WENGER who I really really find annoying, to put it mildly)
****** (obviously)
LEEDS (but since they ve found their level in the middle reaches of the Champo Im not that bothered by them).


Only English team I have a bit of a soft spot for is SPURS.

 

[MANUMAD]

Fair enough...I'm not arguing about Valencia's performances...he's actually one of our best when he's on form.

He's a bit of a one trick pony tho. Which makes him quite predictable. Perhaps this is why he's been struggling to reproduce his form from a couple of seasons ago. Maybe opposing defenders have sussed his one trick out ...