...::[The Footy Desk]::... (Part 2)

[Jason]

I'm not setting expectations, getting my hopes up, etc. ETH when he was hired was according to everyone the right man and after his first season I was convinced he was the right man... and then we all saw how that went.

 

He will absolutely get his fair chance, he will get time from the fans and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does with the team, formation, style of play etc. But yea, whether or not he'll be THE man to get us back up there remains to be seen. I will say that now we are properly in the INEOS era of the club, the football people INEOS handpicked to run the club are all now here and the new manager is handpicked by those people. There's no pre-INEOS agreements to deal with, Amorim was signed by INEOS and so whatever control he has, whatever influence he has, particularly on transfers, is on INEOS.

[smokeless6]

Thank the stars for Mo Salah. Liverpool were terrible today. I would guess they have set a record for passes to the opposition. The Slot Machine keeps rolling, but for me it seems a bit despite themselves. The early schedule has been very kind, and they will need to be far better against stiffer competition.  I struggle to identify just how Slot wants them to play, there is very little pattern to their play. When a player receives the ball there is little sense of following instruction, of looking to exploit a game plan. It's all freelance, and so far they have made it work, but they won't get away with playing like they did today against better sides I don't think, and Mo won't be able to rescue the club every weekend.

 

And somehow, despite playing poorly in my view, they went top of the league. Football eh?

Edited November 2, 2024 by smokeless6

[Jason]

Arsenal looking like they're out of puff a bit. Two seasons of chasing the title only to come up short both times, not buying a much needed top class striker and an injury to their talisman. Wonder if they've got enough motifivation and belief left in them to turn it around.

 

They did alright for a few games but the stats from the past few years back it up, City without Rodri just aren't as solid. That one injury alone has blown the title race wide open.

 

As for Liverpool and Slott, it's been a great day for them and Slott's had a great start. The question will be what happens when they dip and lose this momentum.

[smokeless6]

That will be coming soon at this rate. They have to be much sharper than they were today, especially with their passing, movement off the ball and decision making. I don't worry too much about this side succumbing to a dip in form, they've seen it all and they're a veteran squad,  many of whom have played in finals, been in European campaigns and title fights. But then again, I can't say. They'll get run off the park one of these rounds playing like today, so we will see.

 

And I doubt we will see both City and Arsenal lose again on the same day the rest of the season.

[Eutyphro]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

As for Liverpool and Slott, it's been a great day for them and Slott's had a great start. The question will be what happens when they dip and lose this momentum.

Though one Dutch bald man got sacked the other one is doing really well. And Ødegaard injured, with all the back ups such as Smith-Rowe and Fabio Vieira not in their squad anymore, and Rodri injured for City, their main competitors have their most key player out injured without serious backup. That provides a real opportunity for Liverpool, who have been playing really great under Slot, and Gravenberch is a revelation in the DM role. Absolute monster talent IMO.

Edited November 2, 2024 by Eutyphro

[smokeless6]

On 11/1/2024 at 10:31 AM, Jason said:

 

De Ligt, Martinez, Yoro, Maguire, Lindelof and Evans. Not saying they're all gonna be here next season, but we do indeed have six centrebacks.

 

I watched the match yesterday whilst thinking about this, about how suitable United's current crop of centerbacks would be for the incoming gaffer, and in the end I think it's probably just one, or maybe two.

 

Yoro is probably the one best suited even if I don't know enough about him. But he's tall, has pace, good football IQ, positioning from what I can see. But he is very young, and looks a little goofy too lol. His strengths however play well in a back three.

 

Martinez is the other one, he has the tools to work in this system, but he's a suspension in waiting. Should have been sent off and suspended for yesterday's mauling of Cole Palmer and should have been sent off and suspended for his double-footed lunge on Palace's Kamada back in September yet escaped on both occasions with a yellow. Whether Amorim rates him is to be determined, but they called him the Butcher at Ajax and I wouldn't be surprised to find the new manager wants to replace him.

 

De Ligt is too ponderous, too slow for this system in my view. He will be sold.

 

Maguire same, and worse.

 

Lindelof? Can't say for sure, but I think United will not extend him, or they already would have right?

 

Evans? Too old, and will be released.

 

If I'm right -- and who knows what will happen -- then United are going to need at least four new centerbacks. You cannot snap your fingers and players get sold and bought, so it might take a few windows, but I'd bet that of United's six centerbacks that Jason listed, only two maximum will be there come next September. Compounding the issue is the ones they'll be rid of won't be bringing any funds, unless they sell Martinez and de Ligt (whose value has gradually faded from his early promise), so this revamp will be costly. Mobile centerbacks of the requisite quality are not cheap.

 

And this is just talking about one position (well three technically). The new gaffer has a project on his hands doesn't he?

[Jason]

De Ligt's not going anywhere. It's largely social media sh*te that acts as if he's been horrendous for us, is too slow, etc. It took him a few games to get fit and ETH's weird rotation policy at CB didn't help, but he's been pretty decent despite playing in a team with a very uneasy defensive structure.

 

The idea we've not got the squad for playing a back three is just odd, lol. It's not some mystical system.

 

We'll of course be letting some of them go in the next 6-18 months, Evans will retire at some point, Lindelof and Maguire will leave, but on paper we have a good foundation to switch to a 3 ATB immediately when the manager comes in, assuming he wants to play 3ATB.

[Guest]

I still can't believe we cruise that easily against Real Madrid  Thought there was no chance, I mean we got Emerson vs Vinicius. He gives up a pen but overall he's not really bad. Maignan GOAT. Reijnders must be kept at all cost.

 

Sporting also won 4-1 vs Man City. Earlier Ruben Amorim said that if he loses, his expectation would drop; but if he wins, people would call him the next Sir Alex Ferguson lmao.

[Jason]

I'm sure he'll score and win things, he's a great player, but in the short term Mbappe to Madrid is causing all sorts of problems. His best position today is the exact same position Madrid's actual best player plays in, so fitting them both in is not only proving tricky but it's also stifling one of their best goal scorers last season which was Bellingham. They've certainly got some figuring out to do.

 

As for Sporting and Amorim, I won't lie that was a very enjoyable game to watch. But it also massively highlights just how much City miss Rodri. KDB is back which will help, but the control and stability Rodri gives that midfield just cannot be replaced by anyone in their squad at the moment. Teams break through them too easy without him.

[TheSantader25]

Mbappe seemed off even before coming to Madrid. Something is definitely going on with him in his personal life. He hasn't been good for a long time now. 

[Jason]

Past his best now Pep, think the only sensible thing for City to do is sack him now before it gets worse.

 

(anyone who underrates Rodri should now realise how good he is)

[TheSantader25]

Time for him to go to Brazil

[Eutyphro]

Pep is known to be a very mediocre football coach and definitely should be sacked asap

 

Anyway, it's interesting to see Real and City struggle so much this season. Liverpool is absolutely flying. Liverpool is really benefiting from those key injuries to Rodri and Ødegaard. Though Ødegaard is coming back, and if he comes back the season can still be saved, but I personally think Arteta made a mistake letting all the good back ups to Ødegaard such as Fabio Vieira and Smith Rowe go.

[TheSantader25]

I really haven't had the time to watch much football lately but i would like to see how different Liverpool look under Slot. They definitely have the best form in Europe at the moment.

[Eutyphro]

13 minutes ago, TheSantader25 said:

I really haven't had the time to watch much football lately but i would like to see how different Liverpool look under Slot. They definitely have the best form in Europe at the moment.

The big change is that they play Gravenberch as a 6 in stead of an 8 now and that has improved them a lot. Apart from that it is stil Jurgen Klopp style 'heavy metal football' so to speak.

Edited November 10, 2024 by Eutyphro

[Jason]

Liverpool hadn't really played the "heavy metal football" style for the last few years, they slowed down a bit and became more defensively solid, and just adapted to losing Mane and Firmino in general. There were still elements of it but yea, they definitely changed in Klopp's last few years.

 

As for them today I'd say Klopp's style is still in there as you'd expect but under Slott they're far more adaptable, he's not afraid to change things mid game to counter what the opposition are doing, and in general I'd just say they're a more diverse team in general in terms of style of play.

[TonyRyodan]

On 11/10/2024 at 6:05 AM, TheSantader25 said:

Time for him to go to Brazil

Oh I hope so, Dorival sucks so bad imo. There are rumors about it since 2015 and every year or so this comes back, recently some rumors about R9 trying to get into the presidence of CBF made this whole Pep thing get into the news again, It's finally time to try an international coach, nothing here is good enough.

 

On 11/10/2024 at 7:37 AM, Eutyphro said:

Pep is known to be a very mediocre football coach

This is veryy new for me, is this the general European/England impression? Always heard of him being one of, if not the best of all time.

Edited November 20, 2024 by TonyRyodan

[Eutyphro]

On 11/20/2024 at 4:33 PM, TonyRyodan said:

This is veryy new for me, is this the general European/England impression? Always heard of him being one of, if not the best of all time.

I was being sarcastic. Pep is the best coach in the world.

[Jason]

1 hour ago, Eutyphro said:

Pep is the best coach in the world.

 

He's rubbish without Messi Rodri.

[Eutyphro]

Seems like what I said about Mazroui is also Amorim's perspective, so he converted Mazroui into a right centerback of a back three system, and not a wingback.

 

What I really like about this back three system is that it creates an inside forward position for Rashford, where Rashford is not the pure winger, and also not the most central striker. That could be Rashford's perfect position and I hope it revitalizes him.

 

Edit: Yup, my post was pre game, but seems that in this system the forward positions do fit Rashford much better, and Zirkzee was excellent today. We are starting to see how this system will function, how every player fits in it and what the starting 11 will likely be. Suddenly United's bench even seems strong now. This game could be a big switch in momentum in the season. We saw a lot of promising stuff, and I can't remember the last time United convinced this much in a game. It was quite long ago.

Edited December 1, 2024 by Eutyphro

[wqx]

It is really funny to see city trying to waste time since the beginning of the game, lmao.

[Jason]

Mazraouri is straight up one of the signings of the season, and a bargain. He has so much quality and we got him for only £15m which in todays game is a bargain. Good result for us, but Amorim is right that we weren't THAT good. Gonna take some time, plus signings, to be more solid defensively for sure, we look weak defending the channels which is a worry against Arsenal.

 

1 minute ago, wqx said:

It is really funny to see city trying to waste time since the beginning of the game, lmao.

 

Their best defense this game is to keep the ball as much as humanly possible because if Liverpool get it they look like scoring every time, the first 10-20 minutes had the potential of a bloodbath but City started keeping the ball and slowing the game down to steady the ship a bit.

 

[Eutyphro]

Yeah, Mazraoui is a maestro and that assist he gave on Hojlund against Bodo Glimt was pure class. The positive from ETH's transfer policy inheritance is that their current back three Lisandro, de Ligt, and Mazraoui are all good at playing from the back. I think what we saw today looked very promising, but I think they need higher fitness levels from Casemiro. He looks slow as hell.

 

As for City, they look extremely vulnerable without Rodri. My personal view is they should ditch this system which totally depends on special qualities of Ruben Dias, Rodri, and in form Walker. With Rodri out the defensive organization aspect of the system collapses. City should keep it simple and go back to a basic 433 with a single pivot. This advanced system doesn't work without Rodri's exceptional qualities as a pivot.

Edited December 1, 2024 by Eutyphro

[Jason]

Casemiro's been better the past few weeks, especially when Ruud took charge and he played Ugarte and Cas in midfield together. He's doing alright though but yea he's not got the pace anymore and you need to be mobile in that midfield duo in Amorim's system. I'll be surprised if he's here next season but he'll be good to have around for this season I think. Ugarte is definitely his main man in there, the question is who partners him.

 

Amad has been absolutely brilliant over the past few games as well, he's already I think claimed that right wingback role for himself.

[Jason]

Five years and hundreds of millions spent and Arteta has turned Arsenal into Tony Pulis' Stoke City.

 

I'm not even mad, they are lethal from set pieces and we're only a few games into a new manager, but holy f*ck. They're never winning the league with Arteta.

[TheSantader25]

Haha they are quite frustrating to play against. He's much more pragmatic than his mentor. I'd say they might win more cups or even the CL in some obscure scenario but the league is tough to win like this. But still you gotta admit what he's done is impressive. I'd hate to meet them in a CL match.

[Guest]

Man City returns to winning track. You know what it means? It means they'd now go 50 matches unbeaten and win the league again lol I'm familiar with this PL script 

 

Anyway, we have a big win in Coppa Italia, but nearing half the season, I'm still not buying Fonseca. He's too on and off. Brilliant against Madrid and Inter, but failing with Cagliari, setting the weirdest formation I've seen against Juventus, and almost losing against Slovan Bratislava, ffs, a pot 4 team! We're still stuck in 7th and if nothing changes, I'd join the #FonsecaOut army.

Edited December 4, 2024 by One of Wisemen

[smokeless6]

The Liverpool-Toon match was fantastic. Breathless football. Liverpool played well enough with the ball to win, and poor enough without it to lose, so a draw is probably a fair result. We had a discussion about Konate here in the past and I recall some not rating him, but I think his importance is obvious in his absence. Salah could have had five. Nunez has burnt up all my good will. Nothing against him, he tries hard, but he does not possess a football brain. When Jota's fit I'm shifting Nunez a little farther down the bench if I am Arne Slot. He must lead the league in big chances missed.

[Jason]

I describe Nunez's style of play as chaos ball, he's honestly great to watch... but he's never been good enough and I'm glad we dodged a bullet by not signing him lol.

[TheSantader25]

Nunez reminds me of Lukaku tbh. Chaos ball is the perfect way to describe it lol.