₦airaland Forum

patrickmuf:
I think some senior players messed Lampard up...

Alli might lead an uprising against Mou...Time will tell...

The truth is that we have long gone past that Fergie era where a manager is in charge 100%

Amaka is a better man manager for the modern type of footballer than JM. Even players like Lukaku that should be angry with him with the way he was discarded appear not to think badly of him.
One can also see that the players want to fight for him whenever there is any rumor of his job being at risk. When JM had such rumors they simply downed tools both at Chelshit and at United.

I still think he is a poor trainer though and an average tactician at best. We can do better but coming to this thread to nag about it every day like a despondent ex-gf is derailing the thread big time.

TrebleChamp:
Na Olesexuals wey dey drop fake stats upandan dey derail the thread Doc ...

If that is what you believe no wahala but it really was OleOut that derailed the thread.

But you guys should carry on. Wetin don spoil don spoil.

You people have derailed this thread finally finally. Nigerians can be so stubborn ehn.

Jodera:
chai

E shock you?

E shock me too o.

Wahala dey o.

Patickmuf you dey vex these days o.

CapitalCee:
Honestly I personally dont rate Mount no biases. I just felt they will be overloaded at AM position. But it will be criminal to leave out Maddison, the guys form now is on Bruno/KDB level.

Doc if you are Southgate who will you start in tge first match assuming everybody is fit

GK: Henderson or Pope. Pickford is too erratic and jumpy.

RB: TAA. His creativity might be key especially for a team that is often one dimensional in attack. On a short leash though and to be replaced if a defensive liability.

LB: Shaw or Chilwell to fight it out in camp.

CBs: Maguire and Stones. Makes no difference, they are all pretty useless anyway.

CDM: Rice OR Henderson

RAM: Maddison

LAM: Foden

LW: Rashford

RW: Sterling

CF: Kane

A 4-3-3 with 2 attacking midfielders will allow for more creativity and flexibility of play which is the major problem England suffers repeatedly in tournaments i.e one dimensional play.

However i suspect Southgate will be cautious and rather use a double pivot of Rice and Henderson thereby stifling their creativity.

CapitalCee:
Football

Why would you rate or be interested in a tournament that your country never qualifies for?

You have never been emotionally involved, your father never watched, your grandfather never watched?

It all stems from lack of participation due to the Home Nations’ issue.

I get your point about relevance and interest though, however the unstable history of the COPA shows it is not at the level of the Euros for instance.

CapitalCee:
Nigeria do rate AFCON very highly. My point is that if a single nation decides to not care about a tournament doesn't make it less relevant.

I am aware of the home nations' membership issue of IOC, but British people dont rate Olympics tournaments in general.

Olympic football or Olympic sports?

CapitalCee:
You are correct I chose Maddison because of his form, but I think Mount will be better for versatility.

If am Southgate. I will play 3-5-2. Pope; Stone, Maguire, AWB; TAA, Chilwell/Shaw, Rice, Henderson, Grealish, Rashford, Kane.

The major reason Mount is getting mentioned is because this is a Shekpite thread. There is no position in which Mount is not 3rd or 4th choice. His versatility is not needed.

A fit Maddison gets ahead of him at CAM, as will Grealish and Foden.

At RW Sterling, Sancho, Foden, Rashford are ahead.

At LW Sterling, Rashford, Grealish, Sancho are ahead.

CapitalCee:
Yeah. But Copa is a continental tournament. Whether Brazil rate it or not doesnt make it less relevant. For example British teams dont rate Olympics. Its not an easy tournament to win.

Apples and oranges though. It is not that British teams don’t rate the Olympics but that they really can’t go for the Olympics.

There is no British National Team. You have teams for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

Unfortunately England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland are not members of the I.O.C, U.K is.

And i am just hearing for the first time that Nigerians don’t rate AFCON. When did this happen?

CapitalCee:
It doesn't matter what Brazil did, the fact remains that Copa America is a continental competition. Equivalent to AFCON and Euros and wining it is very huge. That competition has teams with 9 world cup wins and 14 world cup final appearances between them. Its safe to say that apart from World Cup and arguably Euros, Copa is the next biggest international competition in the world. And you know this dayo

Brazilians have never rated Copa. They often send undermanned teams for the competition.
For e.g Pele played for Brazil for 14yrs and in that period he attended only 1 Copa and did not go for 4.

Trevor012:
You're Gareth Southgate

You can only pick FIVE of these players to go to Euro 2020 in addition with Kane, Rashford and Sterling.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Mason Greenwood
Phil Foden
James Maddison
Jadon Sancho
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Jack Grealish
Tammy Abraham
Patrick Bamford
Danny Ings
Mason Mount

Who do you pick?

LW: Grealish

RW: Sancho

CAM: Foden, Maddison

CF: Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Easily.

There is a lot of variation because Grealish can easily fit in at CAM. Sancho can fit in at LW. Foden can fit in at RW. Maddison and DCL are specialists.

VDB is a good player but he needs to stop keeping it so simple.

patrickmuf:
It's the very reason I said the coaches should work with him to improve his play...If me and you can see it, then the coaches too must have noticed it...I don't want to believe he doesn't have it in him to receive the ball from Fred/Matic and look to find our strikers...He might not be as good as Bruno in that regard but definitely should not be that bad...

It will take time cos you can't correct a habit of 10years in 5 months, and i don't think he himself trusts is own long passing ability. His fast interplay is nice but he needs to mix it up and hold the ball and make defence splitting passes as well.

patrickmuf:
I think most times he positions himself in a way that a quick vertical pass can release him to turn and look for the forwards but the pass doesn't come and when it goes through, he immediately releases the ball back to Fred/Matic...I think this has to do more with lack of confidence in his ability to turn and find his strikers...I'd like to see him going towards the ball and using his quick passing to move the ball forward but that will mean playing with a CM that's good with touch and move football...He'd have worked well with Herrera...

In all, I hope Ole and the others find a way to best utilize him. Maybe, when Bruno is not on the pitch we need to change our pattern of play...

He should not be waiting for those vertical passes all the time. After all somehow the ball gets to Bruno from this same McFred and he makes things happen from there. The problem is with VDB IMO. He should spend less time making runs into the box waiting for vertical passes and more time helping to build up play for others and make those vertical passes himself.

As a 10 he should be creating for Cavani, Rashy, Martial NOT expecting McFred to create for him. Bruno and Pogba pick and choose when to make those runs, he should too.

Let us even forget the lack of McFred vertical passes for a second. What does he do when he gets the ball? He passes it to the nearest man whether it be Fred, AWB, Maguire or DDG. He does not turn and look to see if Rashy or Cavani are making good runs so HE can make vertical passes for them to score. Do you know how many runs by our forwards he has wasted because he refused to turn and look forward with the ball?

He wants McFred to make vertical passes to him, the same vertical passes he refuses to give Cavani and co.

patrickmuf:
Doc, before a player is signed, I want to believe a detailed analysis of his game was done by those in charge and he was deemed a possible good fit for the team...

I remember your debate with Kagawa sha

He is an intelligent player but he is so different from Bruno that if we use him as a sub or alternative for Bruno our play would likely go to pieces, not because he is not decent but because our play right now is based on Bruno's skillset.

Bruno is a player who goes out to seek the ball and can hold it turn and pass long or short. For example Bruno averages about 3 long balls a game for us, VDB for his career has averaged just under 1 long ball a game. He is not the one to pass long for Rashy or Martial's runs INSTEAD he wants to make the runs so that McFred can find him with long balls.

patrickmuf:
That is why we have coaches to help improve players, their positional play as well as passing...

We all watched VDB at Ajax and didn't notice this deficiency or maybe we just didn't pay enough attention but then, for a club as big as ours to go after a player, I don't want to believe they didn't see something that excited them...It is imperative he comes good because if he fails, it will be a case of one too many failures here...

We have signed so many players who were doing well before joining us. If this trend continues, most players will be skeptical when the idea of joining Manchester United pops up.

I believe i had a debate here with Kagawa in which i felt FDJ was better but he said VDB was the main guy in that Ajax midfield. I didn't like the fact that in a possession oriented team that dominates possession in most of its games FDJ was averaging 65 passes per game while VDB was averaging just 30 passes per game.
Watching him at close quarters now it all makes sense. Running far head of the ball into dangerous areas and getting involved only minimally in build up play is his natural style. If the coaches at Ajax could not change him over several years of his development i am not sure how easy it is for him to change now at this stage.

.

patrickmuf:
This VDB situation is pitiful...Baba makes runs, good runs actually but we play more to feet. I'd like him to play more centrally...

I thought Lindelof was excellent tonight away from that one mistake...
Martial, Rashford and Greenwood should have scored but they were wasteful especially Martial and Rashford...

With Telles and Shaw, we have real quality left backs, AWB and Williams weren't bad either...

All our players should learn from Cavani and Bruno, they press so well...

We move!

As an AM he can't just be making runs all the time. He also can't just be giving the obvious quick anywhere bele face pass all the time.

When he gets the ball he should sometimes hold it, turn, and move with it towards the opponent's area OR hold it turn and make a truly incisive pass.

He is an intelligent player but he is not creative enough and quite significantly he doesn't get involved in midfield play enough. His stats for Ajax foreshadowed this and this was one of the reasons i had my VDB vs De Jong debate with Kagawa.

He is presently playing like (using an Elampism) a midfield hyena.

This game is slowly drifting away and Amaka is just sitting on his chair like a chairman.

olabode89:
Docky oloye... what did you see

LOL

If you are always giving one time passes when will you have the opportunity to give assists and make incisive passes.

I have seen enough. Remove VDB and bring on Bruno.

Oasis007:
That means, he's not included at all and can't feature.

Yes.

Meanwhile I see that our Academy product Mipo Odubeko is on the bench for West Ham. He was in the set just after Greenwood and was good mates with Shola Shoretire.

Oasis007:
Amad is included. Mejbri is homegrown, there won't be Problem feeding him along the line. I guess he's in B List.

Mejbri has not been here long enough to qualify as homegrown.

You people have just stylishly derailed the whole thread.

Eyah. A sight for sore eyes. OleOut and OleIn doing Love in Tokyo.

Leyqute:
Hope his wages won’t be much like Schwarzenegger own? Players at that age are always looking for a club to retire at. It’s still a throw up for me. The risks can be worth taking if getting him won’t be too costly. It kinda looks like Cavani’s deal.

It definitely is a risk. Especially with the Bayern and Bundesliga history.

handelex:
I saw a YouTube video about Mejbri, opponents always kick the hell out of that guy and its deliberate oo. After the last game against Blackburn, he left with a protective cast around his ankle.

Fans are saying United authorities should look into it.

The 2 most fouled players in football are probably Grealish and Mejbri. The difference is that the tackles against Mejbri are often hospital tackles. In reserves football the referees are atrocious so i have seen many red card tackles against Mejbri go unpunished and sometimes he doesn't even get the foul.

TrebleChamp:
Doc i believe Pep will do wonders with Rashford too. Sterling used to play like a headless chicken until Pep fine tune him into what we know him for now...

Of course. The talent is there but he needs good coaching to move to the next level.

nitrogen:
I was just trying to play the role of the an Olesexual jare. They want a perfect player!

You know say na fence me dey. If one always looks at issues through the prism of OleOut or OleIn one will slowly start being biased and emotional without noticing. No list is perfect and no transfer is failure-proof. Real didn't know that Hazard would be this woeful if not they would have bid 20m for him.

Having said that, in compiling that list i prioritized pace which is what we need with our current set up with the high press we often use. If your attack is pressing but your CBs are slow and staying back you will be easy to penetrate because of the gaps that would appear in midfield. Arrigo Sacchi clarified this theory in the late 80s. You can't have a high press and use a slow CB.

Soretire and Mejbri to start training with the first team.

They wan use double promotion kill Soretire.

nitrogen:
@afrodoc

See my response here

Oh i didn't see it. Only Ramos is old there.

De Ligt is 21. Konate 21 (but older than De Ligt). Kounde 22. Upamecano 22. Militao 23. Alaba 28.

You said my list has players who are too young then you now suggested a player who is younger than all of them and another player who currently has a career threatening injury and plays for liverpool?