₦airaland Forum

LostMyZeal:
Abeg oh...is there a reason they refer to this silly G.Neville as a Legend?

And if he's a legend, then legend of where

It can't be a coincidence that fans of other clubs are saying Ole should be given time na. Naah, it can't be

They're probably enjoying Ole's moonwalk progression

You dey go back, but e be like say you dey go front

Neville is a hypocrite, the worst type. He has lost all credibility with the fans. United fans are now sick of him. It’s a disgrace that Carragher has now overtaken him in punditry.

Gary Neville is a club owner - he has sacked at least 4 managers in recent times including Richie Wellens that won him the EFL trophy and yet he’s asking United to keep Ole who has underperformed for 3 years straight.

To be fair to him, he never asked for the sacking of Jose or LVG. So his criticism isn’t really about asking for Ole’s sack, the criticism is moving the goalposts for Ole and lowering the standards of this great club.

When Mourinho had the worst defensive unit ever to play for United, Neville demanded Mourinho must win the league in his 3rd season. Now, he’s saying winning a domestic cup or Europa cup and a top 4 finish is a successful season for Ole(after 3 seasons).

The other nonsense he uttered was that United hired world class coaches in the past and they failed - so Ole should be kept. Now the question is this. How did Mourinho fail after winning Carling cup and Europa Cup but Ole would be successful if he wins a domestic cup and Europa cup?

The problem with pundits like Neville is that they talk too much that they begin to contradict themselves. Mourinho failed by winning 2 cups with the worst squad in recent memories but Ole should be considered a success if he wins those same cups with a superior team?

Before Ronaldo was signed, Neville actually insisted that if Man Utd signed Harry Kane, United would outrightly win the league. United had completed the transfers of Sancho and Varane by then. United did him better by signing the greatest goal scorer on the planet(Ronaldo), Neville is now saying a top 4 finish should be considered a successful season.

When Ole gets sacked and arrested, Neville should be thrown into jail with him. They can continue their friendship in Pentonville Prison. Gary Neville is the most useless member of the class of 92. I used to think Scholes was the worst, but Neville has surpassed him.

Their mates(Zidane, Vieira, Pep, etc) are all on the touchline trying their hands in football management while the class of 92 cult sit behind giant screens and make dreadful opinions, protect their idiotic Norwegian PE teacher. Carragher is more of a United legend than Neville will ever be for us - and Carragher never even kicked a ball for United.

Gary Neville can do one.

elampiro:
You still don't get me. I am saying Mourinho will not do well with a young team now. Even if you give Mourinho this team, he will not fly. His best players will be Lingard and Bissaka. Even McTominay will get ahead of Bruno and Pogba.

Mourinho should be coaching Cameroon

What is young about the team that has Ronaldo, Cavani, Pogba, Lingard, Varane, Matic, Fred, Mata, Lee Grant, etc?

This is a classic Mourinho squad. A mixture of youths and old heads. That Ole is intellectually useless to make this team greater than the sum of its parts isn’t Mourinho’s fault.

Ronaldo plays for Portugal and has scored plenty of goals for them. Does he press and chase the ball like a dog for Portugal? How does their coach still manage to get the best out of him and make him productive?

A player as deadly as Ronaldo shouldn’t be pressing. Ronaldo/Messi have both earned the rights not to press anyone. There are still 9 other outfield players who can do the pressing.

Using that as an excuse is just irresponsible from these idiotic British journalists to excuse Ole. United lost twice to Leicester last season without Ronaldo. Nobody blamed the lack of pressing as the reason for the losses.

Give this team to Mourinho and he will win all the domestic titles in the country this season.

Joezinho:
What’s really really concerning is the strength of opposition is about to leap up with Liverpool, City, Chelsea coming soon plus a resurgent Arsenal..This is going to get ugly. Well, uglier.

Pep Guardiola started managing Barcelona B in 2008.
Ole Gollum the serial failure started managing United Academy in 2008.

Yet some olesexuals won't stop conflating Ole's lack of ability for inexperience.

Right now, it all feels very Moyes at the moment. At least under Jose Mourinho we had direction...
At the moment, we’re directionless.

Even Moyes won community shield.

Ole Gollum is just a sad case. He smiles and he’s brought happiness back to the club. There’s positivity at Old Trafford and the players are happy.

You would think Man Utd is a concentration camp trying desperately to improve their HR with all these stupid job description.

The main job of a manager is to win games that lead to trophies. Who cares if the players are happy? Any player unhappy at making £200k/week should leave the club.

Joezinho:
Keeping up with Ole Gollum for the rest of the season is pure insanity.

Ole Gollum is going to completely waste the season..

If this incompetent board that give renewals like candy don’t try to salvage something of this season then we are truly fvcked..

It’s insanity for those that expect any good result from him, I don’t.

Your heart can’t be broken when you don’t expect anything from anyone.

Ole is a failure - give him the current Bayern team and he would finish 5th in Bundesliga.

raumdeuter:
Thats why top clubs are after Pep and the likes of Spurs and Roma are the ones interested in Mourinho

Madrid begged Mourinho twice, he turned them down.

Real Madrid is bigger than any football club Pep can ever manage.

End of discussion!

raumdeuter:
Hart was so good that Torino rejected him
Sagna landed in benevento
Clichy landed in Basaksehir
Mangala landed where? Loaned all over Europe
Zabaleta was even rejected at West Ham

They all reached CL semis before Pep’s arrival, they won the league a season before Pep arrived.

It took Pep 4 years to get to a CL semi with almost £800m spent. Pellegrini achieved more than Pep at City with these players including a debut PL title.

Pep’s elite coaching couldn’t take CL semifinalists to a step above. He’s the most fraudulent manager in the history of the game.

obonujoker:
How did Pep improve fernadinho but couldn't improve young iheanachor, Navas, Nasri, Clichy, Negredo etc?

Please don’t forget Hart, Sagna, Clichy, Kolarov, Mangala, Nolito, Bravo, Zabaleta.

elampiro:
When Mourinho won the UCL at Inter, what were the ages of the players? What were the ages of Chelsea regular players? Go and check and you see old men like Makalele, Essien, Ballack, Lampard, Maicon, Eto, etc

What were the ages of the players he inherited? He won the UCL a year after he joined Inter.

You mean Mourinho should have sacked all the players he inherited at Inter and sign a bunch of Elangas and Greenwoods to replace them?

raumdeuter:
Man City spent big, Man Utd spent big. City won big Man utd failed

I thought you said it was elite coaching that gave Pep the edge, not the money.

United didn’t spend big. Mourinho signed a total of 11 players throughout his stay at United, Zlatan was even a free transfer out of the 11.

Pep on the other hand signed 22 players in his first two seasons. Add that to the quality he met on ground

raumdeuter:
Mourinho that was bantering with failed coaches like Gary Neville and Thierry Henry in Skystudios before Spurs was the one Madrid begged?

Why are you triggered that Madrid wanted Mourinho? The Spurs offer came after his appearances for SkySports and BEIN Sports. When Madrid learnt he was going to Spurs, they offered him £12m to wait until Zidane’s contract was expired.

So the offer didn’t come while he was in SkySports, it came when Daniel Levy offered him a new contract. Another offer came in 2021 when Zidane finally left.

He’s Mourinho - he will always be in high demand.

raumdeuter:
Barcelona that was shopping for free players, No wonder they hijacked Memphis, Aguero and Eric Garcia, Eric that was like 6th CB for City is currently a starter at Barcelona. Braithwaite and LuukDejong are Barcelonas attackers competing with Aguero

So why didn’t they sign Morgan Schneiderlin?

raumdeuter:
Mourinho broke the EPL record for a midfielder, broke the EPL record for a striker, yet was always double digits from Pep every season. In Addition to Mikitaryan Baily Lindelof Dalot and others. First season he even finished 6th, before he was sacked, he was 6th.

Yep, if you bought a £400 pair of shoes, you have spent more money than your friend that bought 100 shoes at £120 each.

After all, £400 is bigger than £120.

Weird logic!

raumdeuter:
Madrid begged Mourinho but he preferred to join Skysport studio with Gary Neville and co? You really believe that

They begged him not to take the Spurs job and wait till Zidane completes his contract. They offered him £12m for that but Mourinho wanted the job ASAP.

After Zidane left and Mourinho had already signed for Roma, they went back to beg him again for the job before considering Ancelotti.

Ancelotti finished 10th in the PL last season, way below Spurs. So if it’s about performance or whatever you are trying to say, the job should have gone to Ole or Lampard.

If you really think elite managers like Jose or Ancelotti would run out of big jobs after their respective illustrious careers, then you don’t understand football dynamics. Their legacy is set forever and the uselessness of the board they worked under cannot tarnish what they have built.

Mourinho is bigger than football. He’s the special one!

raumdeuter:
Aguero was only able to join a decrepit Barcelona whose best layer is Memphis Depay. Current Barcelona is like Everton. Schneiderlin had to battle Pogba and Kante for the French team that was loaded in midfield

The question begs how this decrepit Barcelona didn’t throw a punt at Schneiderlin.

Morgan now plays for Nice. It seems like he’s found his level.

raumdeuter:
Aguero was only able to join a decrepit Barcelona whose best layer is Memphis Depay. Current Barcelona is like Everton. Schneiderlin had to battle Pogba and Kante for the French team that was loaded in midfield

If he was world class and coveted by most PL clubs, how come he couldn’t battle Pogba, Kante, Matuidi, etc for a place?

raumdeuter:
Mourinho had Shaw, Had Herrera yet did not finish close to Pep any season. They were not finishing above because of the quality of coaching at Man Utd, You were using Moyes LvG, Mourinho and Ole. That is the problem not the quality of players.

So it’s got nothing to do with Pep spending £300m on his defence? Pep binned Zabaleta, Hart, Sagna, Clichy, Kolarov, Mangala and Demichelis and got £50m defenders. He even managed to sign Claudio Bravo and binned him instantly after his debut season failed.

Meanwhile, Jose was forced to play ex-wingers like Young and Valencia as full backs till he left United. The only defensive signings he got were rookies(Bailly, Dalot and Lindelof) while Pep was signing top class defenders.

How you can even say in public that a manager that has spent close to a £1 billion in 5 years is using elite coaching to improve his players should have you embarrassed. If Pep’s elite coaching is the key, why didn’t he improve Sagna, Kolarov, Zabaleta, etc

raumdeuter:
Pep is in the CL, Mourinho couldnt even get a CL level club to play in, How many CL seasons has Mourinho played in the last 5? Mourino will soon join Ole and Pirlo as coaches who couldnt win the CL with Ronaldo Mr Champions League worse still Mourinho got peak Ronaldo

That would be the same Jose Mourinho that Madrid(the most successful football club in the world) begged 3 times in a week to take the role of their manager? Do you people even pay attention to the world around you?

raumdeuter:
Schneiderlin was damaged by Mourinho like he did for Mata. Like he almost did for KdB and Salah who had to step down to tier 2 clubs to rebuild their careers

He was damaged by Mourinho

Yet during Euro 2016(few months before Jose started his career at United), Morgan wasn’t picked to kick the ball throughout an entire tournament.

Mourinho damaged him before managing him?

And after he left Mourinho at a peak age of 27, no other big club wanted him this amazing world class player yet Aguero was wanted by Barca at 34, Zlatan still has a career at Milan at 40, Ronaldo still coveted at 36.

Yet, a young Schneiderlin of 27 can’t find a decent club.

Even a dog cannot be convinced of your argument.

raumdeuter:
Shaw was a big money signing for a left back

Shaw was 18, got injured under LVG. It took him almost 3 seasons to recover from his injuries and he’s only had a decent season since.

raumdeuter:
Herrera left Man utd to PSG

Mourinho’s most trusted soldier at United.

raumdeuter:
That was a solid team at par with City which Mourinho failed to improve unlike Pep

If they were at par with City, how come United never finished above them between 2013 and 2016?

raumdeuter:
You see Sterling scoring 20 goals the same Sterling that people used to laugh at pre Pep. Even till date many people can't believe Pep made Sterling look like a semi productive player

Sterling’s improvement is the natural progression of a young player to a mature player. Are we talking about the record breaking Raheem that City paid £50m for in 2015?

Soon enough, you would say it was Pep that spiritually improved Danny Ings that used to be a low scoring player to a highly productive player. Pep can solve every problem in the world except winning CL trophy without Messi.

raumdeuter:
Dante and David Luiz were also part of the 7-1 team demolition plus Fred plus Bernard plus Hulk plus Luis Gustavo how many of these are top class?

Schneiderlin was a big money signing that was coveted by top epl clubs

Shaw was a big money signing for a left back

Herrera left Man utd to PSG

That was a solid team at par with City which Mourinho failed to improve unlike Pep

You see Sterling scoring 20 goals the same Sterling that people used to laugh at pre Pep. Even till date many people can't believe Pep made Sterling look like a semi productive player

Schneiderlin was no big money signing. His transfer was £25m in 2015.

Rio was £30m in 2002. Rooney was £30m in 2004. How the fück is £22m a big money signing in 2015?

Let’s even admit for a second that Mourinho ruined Schneiderlin, how come no top 6 club picked him up after he left United at only 27 years of age?

Why is he now playing for Nice? Even before Jose’s arrival, Deschamps didn’t consider him elite enough to give him a minute of football throughout Euro 2016 tournament.

That’s your big money signing coveted by most EPL clubs. You can only convince yourself that United and City were at par as at the summer of 2016.

They were at par but United never finished once above them in the 3 year period between Fergie’s retirement and Mourinho’s arrival.

Similar strength my ašs!

raumdeuter:
CL is a knockout competition where anything can happen

Lyon 2 seasons ago finished Midtable in France yet made the CL semi.

Rashford was already a breakout star just like Sterling. If Rashford was put on the market he would command similar amount to Sterling. Martial even did despite coming from France without the English player tax

Fernandinho was improved under Pep, only that Mourinho failed to do the same to Schneiderlin

Yaya was as finished as Schweinsteiger. Post City, Yaya landed in Olympiakos where he was sacked in less than a season

Mata was same level with Silva until he ran into Jose Mourinho. We can compare their epl stats

Fernandinho was improved under Pep? The same Fernandinho that was already a household name in Brazil, played every game in 2014 World Cup including the 7-1 decimation by Germany needed Pep to improve.

Meanwhile, the world class Schneiderlin that Mourinho couldn’t develop wasn’t even considered good enough to play a minute throughout Euro 2016(before Mourinho arrived at United).

Revisionism is a cancer on this forum.

elampiro:
1/1000

Of course, giving Debuts to Morata, Nacho, Sarabia, Fabinho, Diego Llorente, Loftus-Cheek, Solanke, cannot count.

Balotelli(19), Mikel Obi(19), Varane(18), Zouma(19), etc didn’t thrive under Jose, they wilted.

Some of you just talk rubbish offered to you by SkySports pundits without doing your own research.

elampiro:
I said Mourinho does not do well with young players, bar his days at Porto

Rubbish assertion when the evidence showed he backed Petr Cech over the fans’ favorite Cudicini in 2004.

Fergie learnt from the experience which prompted him to choose David De Gea over the more experienced GKs to replace Van Der Sar.

I am not convinced you follow football.

elampiro:
Pogba did not qualify because the 10 secs before he gets a pass he thinks only of his number 9 or a leg over

Yet, he won the World Cup?

elampiro:
He was no longer in his formation years.

How does that matter?

Your point was Mourinho doesn’t like midget players but he was the one that bought Modric from Spurs.

Deco was another midget that prospered under Mourinho, same as Lassana Diara.

Mourinho is about work ethic and leaving blood on the pitch. If you can give him that, you would be loved by him. This is why he didn’t like Luke Shaw(the lazy slob).

Panther7:
We have to emphasize on "Mcfred" bro, the myth on this thread is we can't win without them and they give the team balance.

McFred is the best combo we have to avoid defeats. It’s factually true but it’s not enough to win you a trophy or title.

There would be more draws than wins but we don’t lose many games with those two in the midfield. They are tireless workers.

Panther7:
Wow! What are those things Mcfred can work on and improve on with their current age.

It’s too late for McFred. They have already developed their own habits and that isn’t going to ever change. You think this type of skill at a very young age when kids are taught to look both sides before crossing the road.

Get rid of McFred altogether and sign a player like Essien(Bissouma, Ndidi, etc). United also need to replace their full backs. At this level, Shaw and AWB do not pose enough threats on the flanks.

Panther7:
Rodri has similar stats too, I think 176 passes in a single match.

176 passes with 100% accuracy?

Do you know what it means to make 96 passes and not lose one of them against PSG in a KO game?

That’s sheer ingenuity.

elampiro:
Where is the £80m Manchester United midfielder on the list?

.

They didn’t scan everyone, it was just a selected group.

elampiro:
More like Mourinho would have killed Xavi career if he was his coach.

So who took Modric(similar height to Xavi) to Real Madrid? Was it Moyes or Pep?

elampiro:
You made good points. But in my sincere accessement, we played the best football under Ole since Ferguson. I am not for or against anyone, but Moyes, LVG, Mourinho played very uninteresting football. The closest we got to what we used yo have came under Ole.

Moyes (the one I tagged PE teacher at the time) brought this zone thing that disintegrated our players. He marked zones for each player and wanted each one to man his zone and be runners. The fluidity and compact play ended. The players were getting old, so they could not cope.

LvG played the most boring football in history of club. Emphasis on completing passes rather than hurting the opponents. Every mistake in the PHILOSOPHY was noted in a diary during matches. So United had zillion of back passes, slow play and safe football. But he did play some scintillating football against the big teams with his 4-1-4-1 formation where Fellaini took long balls from defence and DDG on his chest, and Mata worked with Herrera on the right side. Fellaini was with Young on the right, and sometimes Di Maria in the mix. Rooney at the top. When it appeared sometimes that LVG has got a working formula, he soon tweak the formation and players position and we got hit. We conceded lots of late goals to lose to small teams.

Mourinho's case was that even when lined up against Kano Pillars, he would park the bus from first minute until we concede, then the players begin yo venture beyond the half line. If he went ahead, he brings in Fellaini in the 80th mimute as a 5th defender to secure the one goal lead. He was able to win Europa because he still had some old and experienced players. Bar his days at Porto, Moutinho flops with young players. He needs very experienced players to help with the discipline and tenacity to combat pressure when parking the bus to see out a slim win. He had Valencia, Young, Herrera, Smalling, Fellaini, Rooney who provided that for him.

Under Ole, we were less careful about being hurt and for once trying to be the predator. Lots of adventure play and coming from behind to win. If Ole has got what is required to play this way this season, is another question. But at this time last season, we were 13 points from 8 matches. We were also struggling.

This is why we don’t win. A manager has to adapt to the strength of his team. Mourinho had Valencia/Young(33 year old ex-wingers) as full backs and Jones/Smalling center pairing.

What kind of football would a sensible manager play with that low level of talent? Play like predators and lose in every game?

When Mourinho had the crème de la crème players in Madrid, did he park the bus? Did Mourinho’s Madrid not outscore Pep’s Barca consecutively in La Liga when they were both there?

Forget that one, what about his first Chelsea team in 2004/5, they notched 95 points. They were the most feared team in the history of the PL. They tore Wenger’s invincibles apart, beat SAF home and away, won 29 league games that year.

Panther7:
Fair point, I don't appreciate physical midfielders, I prefer technical and intelligent ones e.g KDB.
United don't have these types of midfielders that's why we struggle at times.
Xavi will be a great coach, his understanding of the game is magnificent, I learnt a lot from his coach's voice interview. How he broke down the possession concept is interesting. That's what we except from Amaka but baba go dey talk about DNA and passion.

The culture is different in England. Passionate players are preferred to technical players. Xavi spoke about this in 2011 when he said Scholes was the greatest midfielder he had seen play in 20 years.

Meanwhile, in England Scholes didn’t get the love players like Gerrard or Gareth Barry had. English fans want to see enthusiasm, chasing the ball like a headless chicken. If Xavi was English, he would never have made it out of any academy. Scouts would have considered him too weak to be a midfielder.

Xavi was a possession god and when you peep some of his stats, it’s like we didn’t appreciate him enough and we gave too much credits to Messi/Ronaldo. Xavi should have won about 6 ballon d’Ors based on his talent alone.


How is this possible? 100% accuracy

Panther7:
I read that article, it was very interesting but I have my reservations sha. I want to see how Xavi would have perform in this age where pressing is more relevant. (High press). Against the likes of Liverpool or City let's see how scanning will help him.

Xavi would impregnate all of them. Look at the other names on the list who scan less frequently than Xavi, markers couldn’t touch them too.

KDB or Gundogan for example. They were running riots against the likes of Kante or Wijnaldum and they have less awareness than Xavi. Xavi is too crafty - small but mighty.

People thought midgets like him couldn’t run a midfield because of the size. The likes of Edmilson, Vieira, Van Bommel and other human mountains were preferred for combative football. Xavi changed that notion for ever with his high level appreciation of time and space.

My God, Xavi is the god of midfielders.

Of all players some research groups have filmed in the past 20+ years, Xavi Hernández is the one with the highest average scanning frequency in a full game (measured last 10 seconds before receiving the ball):

For those who don’t know, a scan was operationally defined as a player’s active head movement where the face (and hence, the eyes) is temporarily directed away from the ball, with the assumed intention of gathering information about teammates and/or opponents, to prepare for subsequently engaging with the ball.

Xavi’s head is always moving to check his environment before receiving the ball. No wonder United players were chasing shadows in 2009 CL final. We couldn’t get close to him. Fergie said it’s like he had eyes behind his head. If you think you have closed Xavi down, he just turns to the other direction he had scanned before receiving the ball and eludes his marker.

McFred in a million years can’t attain this level of awareness.

elampiro:
All the points you mentioned above, I also mentioned, but they kept shouting me down. However, Mourinho didn't deserve to remain because we were relegation bound before he left. The players he bought were also not playing well. The only plus then was Mctominay he promoted from the youth team and looked like Herrera 1.5

United were 6th when Mourinho was sacked and he was about to embark on the easiest run of fixtures.

Ole the messiah was brought in, players had something to prove so they won mostly all the games in that run of easy fixtures. Shortly after, they started losing in almost every game.

In short, Ole inherited United in 6th position and took them to a lofty height in the same 6th position. He crashed out of CL knock out stage(Mourinho qualified us from the group before the sack) and Ole also lost scandalously to Lampard’s Chelsea in the FA cup run.

If Mourinho deserved the sack, Ole should have been sacked immediately after the completion of 18/19 season. He didn’t improve on Jose’s worst season at United.