₦airaland Forum

VDB had just 18 touches in his 65 minutes on the pitch. No, he wasn't the striker

ChristineC:
how often and what's the sustainability? new manager bounce is not what will take us to a new level.
McFred have done it time and time again here. people will still say it's Ole ball if they start next game. even you go call am Ole ball.
will the talent of Fred or VDB rise to Modric level if Zidane replaces Ten Hag tonight?
it is telling that all the 6 players we bought in the summer can walk into our team without much ado. if the existing quality was that poor in the first eleven, how low did we go on the bench?
we need quality investment, there's no rent-a-ghost function that will be the substitute.

I'm saying don't run the quality players into the ground. I'm not saying replace them from the first team. We're not fighting for the league, we're trying to build a style of play and winning mentality.

I also agree with you about quality investments. It's unavoidable

Same push that's allowed inside the box won't be allowed outside the box. Weird game

ChristineC:
it's not really about VDB who's quite decent on his day. sometimes absence of key players can be a good thing.
the managers that see them in training and field these guys are not so dumb after all.

Yet time and time again, managers get sacked and the team start to play better and get some results. A new manager comes in and does some tweaking, and the results get better

ChristineC:
EPL against Moyes

Mctom entered for Elanga. Where was he supposed to play exactly with Casemiro and Eriksen on the pitch? Is that not some confusion? Fred later came in for Eriksen in the 80th minute. But were they just thrown into the field or it was clear the positions and roles they needed to play? Have we not seen these same players start games from the beginning and do well?

ChristineC:
how many chances did we create in the last two games? how many today?
Ronaldo keep playing the full 90 mins not because of respect by the manager. we just don't have anyone else. I suspect it's the same for Erikson. don't forget the last game when we had to throw in Fred and McTominay to protect a lead. the team still couldn't keep the ball for common 30 secs under pressure.
so it's not like different combinations haven't been tried. we just have to hope players are available for the next game.
Martial should be fitter hopefully for the next game.

Which last game? The one Maguire was sent to strike?

ChristineC:
a player like VDB is not United quality. there's nothing to fight about there. I mean he failed a loan spell in Everton ffs.
we can't expect miracles.
we either invest in quality or we keep moving in circles.
I don't think Erikson would have played this much football at this stage of the season, but here we are. we don't see what happens in trainings but I don't think Ten Hag will keep a player showing promise sidelined.

Maybe when Eriksen and Casemiro finally pack, we'll get to see those players that we don't have.

Of all the options we have, ETH is playing VDB? Just wow

Expert17:
Thank you o.

We want defenders when we have Sancho, Martial, Elanga and Finished Ronaldo as forwards. Lol.

If we have quality midfield and attack, it will show in our games. We'll be having scorelines like 3-3, 4-3. But let's ignore those areas and buy more defenders, the defenders will still concede because of pressure and they'll lose confidence. By the next transfer window, when we should be talking of improving the attack, we will be talking about buying more defenders

Ellexy:
Clearly this team has key players who are pivotal to how ETH wants us to play and some of them are missing. Varane, Bruno, Antony. It's not an excuse for the drab performances but it can be explained partly. Their replacements don't have the quality to reproduce what's expected on the field of play.

The last two games we've played with Bruno in the team, we've basically struggled. ETH can't afford to build a team that collapses because of 2-3 absences. If you're told real soceidad had about 8 first team players on injuries will you believe? We don't expect to win all the games when we lose some key players, but just do the basic things. This is not even about the result

ChristineC:
the number of quality players we have barely fill the first eleven. I don't blame Ten Hag for anything. we need proper investment and that's that.
these cheap counters today that looked like perfect football from Villa would have been easy mop but of course we wouldn't have noticed.
that's the reason I laugh when fans lay into the few quality players we have. it's a laughable joke because this is a season of 2 or 3 games weekly and I know a time will come when we'll certainly get the chance to see those other players people clamour for.
the football quality have been declining steadily as more and more first eleven players go missing. it's not a coincidence.

Instead of running the remaining "top quality" players to the ground, why not rotate these players now so they don't get injured? I thought with ETH people will fight for their place in the team, but it's not looking like it

Leyqute:
The coach himself is not helping matters.

McTomminay doesn’t get shirt anymore. Eriksen that has been playing rubbish and needs lots of rest plays 90 mins all week.

I don't know what those players did to ETH. It's almost like he's punishing them.

Lana1:
Very concerning. I thought we turned a corner after the Spurs game. Rubbish

Now it's looking more like Spurs are just too rubbish of a team

At this stage of the team where we're still building, the result is not even the annoying part here. It's the way we play that's annoying. If we lose playing the way a top team should play. If we were the better team, but Aston villa managed to sneak the scoreline, I'll still feel better knowing it's just an off day. But this is how we've been playing for the last 3 games or so

Lana1:
He will play another 90 on Wednesday guaranteed

The torture

Eriksen played 90 minutes

LostMyZeal:
Exactly!

Any result now no too bad

The biggest crime is not getting at least 6 new players between January and the next summer window

A clearout is needed

Whether we like it or not, we need attackers that can drive the ball, and midfielders that are intelligent enough to play that midfield. Until then, we will just buy defenders to play Haram football

chrisley024:
Abeg, Garnacho doesn't know what to do with the ball on that left

Our wingers should be having more than one options every time they're on the ball. But almost all the time, there's nobody to receive the ball. The only option is to try to dribble their way out and cross. Why are our fb not running down the lines to receive a pass from our wingers?

Leyqute:
The left side was dead wirh Shaw and Farnachko.

It was still our best side

nitrogen:
ETH himself has issues. He is not good with subs and tactical changes. He needs to be flexible abeg

Honestly it's almost like we make some progress and all the issues we had before just come crashing back.

Ellexy:
The squad is clearly not good enough to compete for the league

LMAO compete for the league? Who's talking about that?

Leyqute:
Slow and sluggish buildup.

No runs behind opposite defenders.

Players looking clueless on the ball.

This is giving Oleball vibes.

I saw some runs behind the defense but our players are just too timid to try the pass. They rather pass backwards

TeslaFC:
That thing wey Martinez do na how everybody suppose dey do

Until VAR reviews and he gets red carded

chrisley024:
partly yes, mostly our midfield.

Why do you think it's the coach fault? Is he not the one that sent out this midfield when it's obvious that some of these players should be rotated

Beorn:
We need a lot of additions. With Varane gone, our defence became useless instantly. Good Lord!!

Defense again when midfield is pants, and attack need more options?

Ellexy:
Aged like milk immediately

It's common sense na. Every team should know that if they rush our midfield, they'll get something

ChristineC:
it is not the same team, don't forget that.
Varane and Antony are very crucial to the set up. now Bruno is out and Rashford is on the right where we all know he will do nothing important.
people deride Antony but if you watch him closely, his use of the ball is among the best in the team.

If ETH doesn't clear out some of these players by summer, I'll know something is wrong with him. We can't have 1 or 2 absences and everything goes to shit. On Thursday we played a team that had about 8 injuries to first team players, and it didn't show.

Ellexy:
They started all guns blazing, they can't keep up that tempo, they no be robots.

Oh well

Good thing that Aston villa withdrew. I suspect they'll come out blazing this second half. I wonder how our midfield will cope

We must win this game. A draw is as good as a loss today

Lmao which kind goal be this

Not a surprising result so far anyways. We've been very close to draw or defeat in the last couple of gamed. We've been playing badly, that's why I don't get excited when we win playing that way, because it's just a matter of time before the defense collapse. It can't continue to hold the team together when we find it difficult to score goals, or even break defences

chrisley024:
VDB is our hidden bro

I'm not even sure his role/position for this game