₦airaland Forum

Adisaowalla I see you peeping
happy new year.
Pls give us your words of wisdom on how to move forward.

elampiro:
Gary Neville talk truth. Jose's buy are good players, particularly Bailly, Pogba and Matic.

Jose has definitely done better than LVG or DM.
Bailly and Pogba have been fantastic and Matic has done quite well.
His 2 mistakes in my opinion have been Zlatan and Mikki, but he can be forgiven for those 2.

The major problem is the way we play and I think 4-3-3 with Pogba and another box to box midfielder will improve things. We don’t need a 10 as most of the top teams are not using that anymore anyway.

Odunharry:
Happy new year doc!!

Thanks Odun, may it bring you all the success and happiness you wish for.

raumdeuter:
Those were exactly the people Mourinho wanted and those were the players he got

Are you saying Pogba isnt quality enough, Or the Matic Mourinho went through the hoops to get or the Lindelof that was bought for 40M or the Bailly bought for 30M

So what will be quality additions if not these best players from various top teams

Like I said, no need to engage in back n forth with you in this particular case.

Happy New Year all!
We have already moved into 2018, and it is looking great!

raumdeuter:
Is that not what the board has been doing with Mourinho from time?

Gave him Zlatan best French league player, Mikitaryan best Bundesliga player, gave him Pogba best Serie A player for a world record, Lindelof for 40M, Matic for 30M , and 75M for a striker

Abeg what else should the board have done

I know you are not really interested a real debate, u just want to bash JM.
Out of all those guys you mentioned only Mikki and Lukaku are of substance.
A geriatric Zlatan and an unknown Lindelof isn’t what I am talking about. And we have dozens of posts from both you and i mocking Matic in his Chelsea days so he was not any sort of wonder signing.
In a different post I mentioned players at their peak not over the hill or undeveloped players.

PietroRico:
nyabinghi and that ruudie incarnate are saying hi

Lol. Practically no one apart from nyabinghi and ruudie.
Nyabinghi i don't understand, but Ruudie's case is simple, he wanted Moyes and Lee Cattermole right?

PietroRico:
Our scouting networks have been undergoing some form of upgrades in recent times, rightly so.
The hope is that Mourinho doesn't fail. Anyone that hopes he fails just so he can come here to told us so are the real fake fans.
But life no begin and end with Mourinho and should he fail in the end, we need to change the manner with which we approach a lot of things at this club

Bro, practically no United fan wants us to fail just to say i told you so. I was in support until i started seeing signs early this season, i am actually still in support, and don't want him sacked now.

The problem is with those that refuse to acknowledge that a problem exists. Having insight is the first step in tackling a problem, and it appears some people here (and probably our manager also) lack it.

I have taken an inter-continental flight, then stood from London to Manchester in a train carriage full of inebriated Liverpool fans only for us to lose 0-3 at home. I have been a fan for over 2 decades and attended several games despite never been in England for more than a few weeks at a time.

The success of the club is paramount to me, and definitely means more to me than winning a faceless argument with people i will probably never meet.
I hope and pray Mourinho proves me wrong and we get back to not only winning ways but exciting fotball.

PietroRico:

On behalf of the real fans, I tender our unreserved apology for our collective recalcitrance, obdurateness (if this is a word) and perversion.

We must make peace in 2018

Apology accepted
And it is obduracy and perverseness.........unless you are sexual deviant LOL.

As we usher in the new year, may there be peaceful communion between the real fans and the fake fans.

But wait o, i thought you said you weren't a real fan. So why are you apologizing for them? Will the real fans please stand up?

eph12:
You used to be a true fan what happened?

Me? i am as fake as you, the true fans wouldn't let me in their club.

I am out for a while, end of the year party starts in a couple of hours, when the true fans finally log in and proffer solutions someone should holla at me.

codedguy1:
I may not know exactly how the negotiations go with boards and their coaches, but if the board gives Jose its full support and players he wants he also has to assure them of some things.

except if after they give him everything he wants and then they give him absolute free hand and all they want to hear is that he wins the league, how he does it is his business or some sorta discussion goes around how he achieves it.

if we give Jose all those players you listed up there and he still deploys defensive master classes, wetin we go do?

My grouse with Jose is his penchant to always want to have game where he won by leading by a goal and then the team putting in a masterclass defensive performance and as fergie has even said it WOULD be hard for this Jose to change his style. what has given him success over the years. But it seems that style s not working with united especially in the league.

Bro if i had a good idea of someone who would come in and definitely right the ship, i would say yeah phuck Jose.
But no name readily comes to mind, meaning we got to ride or die with this guy. The money is there and like many fans have said before "is it your money"? They should spend the money on the best talent possible, and please get people with some cojones and character.

If they decide to part ways with him at the end of the season, they better make sure they make the right choice and back the manager with their transfer planning and funds......no more Herrera debacle of 2013.

PietroRico:
United draw today, association of fake fans.. 'I told you all so from 19gbidi'

They drop points again
I told you

Is that how you all plan to keep 'tolding' us real fans everytime the team drops points?

Abeg this needs to stop in 2018.

We have heard that you told us since August.
Them no dey give money for who told us pass.

That is what friends, parents, and even teachers do to recalcitrant, obdurate, and perverse people.
You keep "tolding" them until they understand and accept the truth. When it is not that they made a vow against knowledge.

But seriously, the board has to go all in with their support for Mourinho in the next 2 transfer windows.
No more Darmians, unproven Lindelofs or geriatric Zlatans. We need to buy the best players and at their peaks.

No more pussyfooting, the sledgehammer approach is needed. Ozil, Asensio, Dybala, Griezman, Aubameyang, Goretzka, Sanchez, Isco should all be on the table.
We can't have a 3rd manager fail in 4-5 years.

codedguy1:
yes, DAN go into action wouldn't be a bad idea.

If only we had DAN operatives in our midst, unfortunately the best diggers are on the Shekpe thread.

codedguy1:
Seems everybody wan claim say him see all these nonsense happening since even when we were winning.

everybody don dey claim " fake fan, Einstein"

na here we dey dey watch.

Identify yourself first, are you a true fan or a fake fan?
In the spirit of what you said maybe we should get the DAN (Diggers Association of Nigeria) to pull up posts from both the fake fans and the true fans before the crap hit the fan.

PietroRico:
We looked our most dangerous when young was released on that right hand side with enough space to whip in a cross, but they kept on ignoring his runs all through the game.

Exactly i just mentioned it in my last post.
Shaw, Martial, Rashford, Matic, Pogba all favour the left side. Mata also likes to cut inside into the middle leaving Young in space on the right but he was not utilized enough.

PietroRico:
Somebody(people) , not sure who dey yarn say we no attack just now.
I get that you are frustrated. I am too, probably even more than you are

But common..

What we had as attack today did not seem organized or practised. We had men forward yes but the spacing was atrocious, the movement was non existent and the less said about the accuracy of passing/crossing the better.

There were times we had 3,4 players within 10 yrds of each other on the left touchline while Lindelof, Mata and Young were in yards of space on the right. Other times we had a man on the ball and no passing lane open to him going forward.

I know they practise attacking plays BUT they are obviously not doing it right. Southampton's attacking forays looked better rehearsed, we just had the better players.

PietroRico:
if you observe closely enough, I have never absolved Mourinho of any blame, I also do not shy away from a good/balanced criticism. What ends up turning into a full scale defence most times are the several baseless claims that fly around anytime we drop points.

Just like someone coming here today for example to say we drew today because Mkhitaryan, martial etc were made to track back.

What I defend against is when people just pick up any 'Mourinho sin' past, present or even future and try to make it stick in situations where it has no business being mentioned.

Fair enough. I am just waiting for analysis from the real fans, we would really benefit from their wisdom and wealth of experience in these baffling times.

Dante log in and log out sharperly, e no wan enter inferno. LOL

PietroRico:
the team attacked quite alright, but most of the forays into their attacking third were dire and we looked bereft of ideas.
The several claims that Jose's teams don't do attacking drills In training as ridiculous as it sounds may have some elements of truth in it afterall.

There's no other reason to explain the total lack of off ball movements and generally poor patterns of attacks.


The distance between the person with the ball and the nearest teammate at times was shocking

I am surprised this is coming from you, were you not defending JM just a couple of days ago? What changed?

I didn't really watch the match, please can any real fan that watched tell me what happened?

elrony:
How long are we going to be using patch-patch approach with either attacking or defensive limitations (Val & Young) ?
It's best we sign a Proper RB and a Decent RW at least, to provide a decent cover and balance to that department for once!

I agree we could do better in that area, but we have more pressing needs in other areas is all i am saying.
We urgently need a RW, we need a forward and we are desperate for a LB, in addition that midfield needs retooling. All those departments need upgrade before RB, so maybe 1 RB but definitely not 2.

elrony:
If we no sign at least 2 new RB for Summer.. I go know say this club no serious.

Unless we are going to sign 7 new players no way should we devote all that money into signing just RBs. We need to sign at least 1 RW,1 forward, 2 midfielders, and 1 LB BEFORE we think of that RB position that Valencia, Young, TFM can play.
Not saying we can't upgrade there but there is more urgent need in other places.

P.S I can't believe i am saying this, but with the way we have struggled lately Young would be better at RB than Valencia and we can then play Shaw at LB. That full back tandem gives the team better balance.

SIRcumalot:
aguero has tree trunks for thighs!

His thighs are merely tree branches compared Roberto Carlos.

Nihilist:
I personally believe that Mourinho might have lost his touch. I suspect that this job might be his penultimate big job in club football.

I used to disagree a lot with nateevs when he used to disparage the man, because when you look at his history, you will find record breaking attacking football in his catalogue.

Jose wouls usually play expansive football up to a point, bookended by games of mors pragmatic football.

Today as i was driving, i heard on radio that mourinho was worried that Lukaku has been working out too much in the gym and has put on a fair bit of muscle...which may have led to him losing some pace.

Sometime during the last decade, the pace of the game has changed a lot. The big bruisers of the yesteryear are gone. You cant see anybody with roberto carlos type of thighs anymore. You cant see defenders that look like micah richards or oguchi onyewu anymore.

The players have shed that muscle and become lighter, faster...even shorter.

.The physique has changed greatly and many of these footballers could very easily be long distance runners. Kante and Firmino easily come to mind. If you look at Leroy sane's body shape too, the guy literally moves like a ballet dancer. I remember watching him doing his stretches and warm up at Wembley last season ahead of the FA cup semifinal and the guy literally moved like a cat.

Mourinho traditionally has always trusted in big strong burly lads. From Drogba to Essien to Matic and Lukaku, powerful men have always been central to his game plan.

This season alone, i read somewhere that Jose already has the tallest squad in the league.

Well what if, a game plan that is so dependent on height, mass and power cannot compete with opponents who are smaller, faster, more agile and boast more stamina?

What if the same bus tactics that used to work so well is failing because top level opponebts can simply run rings around Mourinhos giants?

What if the likes of Lukaku are really piling on the muscle and now struggling to cover distance quickly?

I dont know the answers to these questions...plus im high as fück!

Nice essay, you should post more when high.
I agree with most of what you posted.
Also football officiating has changed, technique and speed is rewarded now rather than power or size.
Most physical tackles are now outlawed and most physical contact is now punished.
All you need in order to dominate in midfield these days is press the opponent quickly and force a turnover, get to loose balls quickly , and keep the ball with your technique. Tackling fiercely like Vinnie Jones, Robby Savage or even Roy Keane does not get you much these days apart from maybe an early yellow card.
Any little pull or shove and your opponent goes down like he has been shot.

Is he a forward? Where are his goals?
Is he a midfielder? Where are his assists?
Shey ako ni abi abo? Even the bible warns us not to be lukewarm. Pius is not leading a good Christian life.

What’s his first name sef? Is it Hidden or Idi?
We know his last name Hidezard. We know his nicknames, One corner dancer a.k.a Mr bum bum a.k.a Houdini a.k.a Mr take ons a.k.a Pius a.k.a Ikebe super.

dopeJemi:
if you like say I dey him anus oh, e no bother me, all I know be say Miss bum bum na Mr one corner and omo shaku shaku

Lingard Vs Hazard. LMFAO

Haba that’s too harsh. Although Lingalee has better goal sense and drive I would still take Idi Hidezard over him. Lmao

Hehehe, now comparing Ikebe super Hidden one corner to Coutinho.
No more Messi and Neymar comparisons, slowly but surely the blind are seeing and the deaf are hearing here like it used to happen at Oke Tude.

This was the Rojo people were saying we missed during his injury absence?
Hehehe, mumu defender.

raumdeuter:
I remember when everyone used to hang up on kagawa because he criticized Herrera.

Till now I still know and believe martial and Rashford are better players than Sterling and Sane

Martial and Rashford have their limitations but have undoubted talent and potential. When people here were laughably claiming that Herrera was better than Lord Kante i was one of those that told them that Herrera was a limited skill set guy who has only a squad player level talent in any champoinship contending team.