₦airaland Forum

LostMyZeal:
That's usually the part I no dey like think about. You know why? The owners who should avail the funds aren't serious.

I won't be surprised at all if we don't buy more than 3 players this coming TW. It's like a ritual in this club to have a dull TW.

We can't catch up to city overnight; it's a gradual thing because we're in a rebuild. The scary thing is a typical rebuild involves clearing out unwanted players and bringing in players that fit in.

But at what pace can one rebuild if a club takes forever to clear out players, takes forever to acquire players and also has a useless scouting system?

These are the issues. We should take our eyes off City right now and trust the process

Won't be shocked if ETH rebuild no reach Arteta own cos of lack of support from our stupid club

ETH should resign if the club does not match his ambition else he'll share in the blame.

Talking about support to buy players, I will say the owners have polished the cash but we have been very irresponsible in the market making rash decisions time after time. Let's stop overpaying for players and sign players that fit a defined pattern of play. Talking about pattern of play, do we even have a recognizable pattern set?

LostMyZeal:
Takeaways

Sancho is improving

Dalot is recovering his old form

ETH might convert Shaw and make the CB position permanent for him.

Sabitzer is more suited to the hole

Eriksen and Rashford are just there

Then finally, ETH surpassed expectations

I see some of you blaming and threatening, implying that Carabao ain't shi*t

Yeah, you might be right. But be fair in your assessment and think about where we're coming from

I know it doesn't hurt to have expectations, but y'all need to cut ETH some slack

The players did very well today, but who knows what they'll serve us in the next game?

It'd be good to see them chasing every team down just like they did today.

If they play City like this at the finals, then there's something to be hopeful about.

Baba if we must improve, we must look at what we are up against to assess if we are making progress...At this rate, unless we have a flawless summer of transfers-in we won't pose a threat to City.

If that was Caesemiro, It is a red. Skipp is lucky.

We make teams look better than they are because we can not maintain the intensity we use to start games...

Bombblacks:
This applies to all top clubs.

No, it doesn't.

Bayern, Madrid, Arsenal, and others sign players who are not superstars in most cases and they go ahead to do well.

I know what I am saying. I mentioned Danny Ings here 3-4 years ago and guys here laughed off the signing but this same club signed Ighalo, Cavani etc. In the same period, Ings scored more goals compared to the ones we got.

It's less risky to sign 2 players for 50m each than a single player for 100m.

The first time I heard of Caicedo he was being linked to Manchester United but as usual, the fans wanted established footballers and will always pressure the board to sign established players. Now, the same fans want the board to go after Caicedo and pay a huge fee.

If anyone had dared mentioned Bruno Guimaraes here when he played in France, people would have written him off because he plays in the French league.

The club should not pay above 50m for any player and should go after players who are excellent on the ball and have high work rate.

CapitalCee:
Am I the only one that is not comfortable with the signing of Kane at this stage of his Career? We need a striker that is Under-25. If we have the Qataris we can sign Kane and another young striker, because Kane for me has the Sanchez-vibes and Lukaku-to-Chelsea vibe written all over it

👌

eph12:
I'm afraid we will continue to struggle unless we can get a forward and midfield line up that can play with high intensity for 90 minutes. Everyone presses as a unit and show up for passes, not what most of our players are currently offering

I didn't even see this comment before replying to Doc. This is the main issue I am on about.

afrodoc2:
On paper our midfield should be better than Brighton's and i agree that we should be performing better than what we are seeing, but you also have to consider the actual characteristics of the players.

Only Bruno out of our 3 midfielders can press in a manner approaching that of his Brighton counterpart. Both Case and Eriksen at this stage in their careers can never press the way Caicedo and the other Brighton midfielders do.

None of our 3 midfielders can progress the ball through midfield with runs. Casemiro and Eriksen don't have the legs and Bruno does it mainly in the open field on the counter. He doesn't have the technique to consistently dribble through a set midfield. Fred and McTom that can do it with pace (not technique) are horrendous in so many other things.

So what we have are midfielders that have no solution once the passing lanes are blocked unlike Caicedo, McAllister, Bernardo Silva, Partey, Gundogan etc. that can break a press or even settled midfield by running with the ball.

We desperately need a proper no8 who can send Eriksen to the bench and enable us to offload McTom and/or Fred finally.

For this specific game however i think it was more because our players didn't have the gas tank to step up to Spurs partially because of our 120 mins game a few days earlier. ETH still struggles with his substitutions though.

You have made very good points but on the whole, it points to a lack of proper game management from the coaches. They should have locked up shop in the second half rather than sit and watch Spurs continually play through us.

Another thing I have noticed is that our players do not take up the right positions in games and that makes it practically impossible for us to retain the ball. You watch City other top teams and it is different, the player on the ball almost always has like 2-3 passing options around him that's because they move into space to receive the ball but our players hardly do that save for a few. You'll see your teammate being closed down but instead of running into space to receive the ball they hide behind the opponents.

The lack of movement and intensity characterized our play under Ole and we still haven't showed considerable progress at this stage.

Jokerman:
🚨🇳🇱 Ten Hag: “Of course when you’re 2-0 up you are a little bit disappointed when you draw. It’s obvious. We had the chances for 3-1, but after this week 2-2 is a good draw.” #MUFC

We need an elite mentality from the coaches to the players. Send 9ut the right signals, he should be saying It's 2 points dropped and reiterating that it's not acceptable going forward.

nitrogen:
ETH is not who we think he is. Maybe with time, he will get there, but he is shitty right now. We are known for nothing except counterattacks that happen sometimes when Bruno is on the pitch. The players are lazy, the ones that are not are just workaholics with no sense.

We all attacked previous managers for not telling the players to do the basic/simple things, but we want to exonerate ETH. No way!

People are saying since we won the Caraboa cup, we should cut ETH some slack. Like say na UCL we win...

We need to improve o! Why can't we play with intensity like City?

LostMyZeal:
Lol... that second paragraph omo

One thing United fans don't want to come to terms with is the fact that our players are not as up to par as they might think

It's not a coaching thing. That's simply what you get when your midfielders are not that good on the ball.

I watched the Brighton game as Caicedo kept dribbling and breezing past our players but it didn't shock me.

Forget about the big name and focus on the display. A player's abilities are in the display and not the name

We saw Aston Villa battling relegation with Gerard as a coach and now the same Aston has Europe in their sight.

Our midfielders are better than those of Brighton but as a unit, they function better and that is down to coaching because there's no way you'll tell me Caicedo is better than Casemiro neither is Gross better than Erikson nor Mac Allister better than Bruno. Our midfield today should have controlled the game against Skipp and Hojberg.

Leyqute:
Not true.

The average cost of Pep's defenders is 50m.

Ruben dias - 65m gbp (2020)
Nathan Ake - 41m gbp (2020)
John Stones - 50m (2017)
Cancelo - 60m (2019)
Kyle Walker 45m (2017)

Manuel Akanji is the only defender they got for peanuts - 15m or so.

His midfielders are more expensive. Graelish was 100m and Haaland would've cost them much more than the officially quoted transfer fee.

Can you compare that to United?

Can you compare that to Maguire, Sancho, Pogba, Lukaku, and Antony?

If Antony performs like a 100m player, do you know where we will be as a team? Check Maguire, check Sancho, check Martial, even Casemiro is beginning to frustrate me and I will not hesitate to call him out for his poor performances.

All the City players you mentioned have been integral to the advancement of the City course over the years.

Winning the Caraboa cup is welcomed but if we keep playing this way we will struggle big time next season.

See the number of goals we have conceded. We know the level of Liverpool at top form and with Chelsea you know they'll bounce back especially when you look at their owners and the amount of money they're willing to spend come the end of the season.

LostMyZeal:
No coach can implement any playing pattern or philosophy apart from the Ole pattern with our current players

If ETH doesn't get good support to bring in his kind of players... then it's Ole pattern till mama calls

Our midfield is Casemiro, Eriksen and Bruno yet we can't dominate the play or string meaningful passes together in midfield.

Isn't our midfield better than that of Gross, Mac Allister and Caicedo? But you watch Brighton's play in midfield and you're impressed compared to ours.

ChristineC:
you are seriously blaming Ten Hag for cost of players?
lol calm down. it's one game. we'd get the top 4, which the goal at this stage.
it could be worse, we could be Chelsea.

Pep as City coach has never hesitated to move onto other targets if the selling club is playing hard ball. Will you blame the board for EtH's insistence on De Jong?

Martinez even had to beg EtH to look at his side if not EtH wanted us to go all out for Timber.

Oasis007:


Lots of changes bruh, but I ain't gonna arguing it with you or anyone. With EtH, United future is bright.

I won't be surprised if we beat man city to FA Cup with same Squad.

Same EtH had won many games from bench this season. If yeye Martial can stay fit for atleast ½ a season, Ghost wouldn't have joined us in any capacity.

If EtH wasn't handed players like McTom, Fred as our best midfield combo, I would have joined you guys to call for his head.

What of Maguire? Lindelof..........sigh! We will be alright las las.

My gross is that EtH lacks in-game management skills. He reads the game poorly and makes questionable decisions. Why did he take Wan-Bissaka off? What did Fred offer us? Why Martial?

They was a time Martial held onto the ball close to the centre circle until he was finally dispossessed even when he had teammates around calling for the pass. Pep will have a go at him in that scenario same with Pep but EtH will rather be writing what I don't know.

A coach should do well to motivate his players from the touch line. At 1 vs 2 it was obvious they were going to equalize, it was coming and I was screaming over here.

ChristineC:
perhaps you don't remember the state United was when the last manager left. if you remember you'd not say there is no improvement. Ten Hag will be lucky to get 5 players next season, yet we'd return two loanee for sure. we all know what we need, how long before we get there? aside the poor bench, upgrades are required in the starting eleven. it won't be magic.
City qualified for the UCL when Pep took over, and Pep won nothing in his first season for the records. he got 18 players to challenge for the title.
when we make comparisons, let it be on scale.

Ten Hag sanctioned the purchase of Antony for crazy fees and wanted us to pay another crazy fee for De Jong. Meanwhile, Pep will use 50m to buy 2 very good players. It's just Grealish they have overpaid for.

eph12:
When I said something similar the other day larride wanted my head.

Sometimes I really wonder what these guys practice in training. Because even if they can't execute it, we will see what they're trying to do.

In terms of fitness, energy and mentality, I fail to see how things have changed significantly. If it's a case of whether these players can never implement what the manager is trying to teach, he better get in his players early so we can finally see some progress. So far, only 3 players out of about 7 he brought in have impressed. Eriksen should not even be a starting 11 player

You watch our players and you begin to ask why our players can not play with any form of intensity. I have not seen a game where we played with intensity for one half of a game.

Abi City players dey on drugs?

ChristineC:
you do remember Pep got 18 players in his first two seasons?

Please go and watch City in Pep's first season and you'll see the playing pattern he was trying to establish. Can you say the same for EtH and this Manchester United team?

Oasis007:
Make una calm down, top 4 plus 1 trophy is a good start for EtH. He inheritted a dying squad and managed well to resuscitate it.

EtH don try well well, he should take a bow honorably.

What changes have you noticed in our game to suggest we are headed in the right direction?

If Liverpool and Chelsea didn't have a disaster of a season, we would not be 4th on the log.

I will say we have profited from the poor form of Liverpool and Chelsea and not that we have improved.

Right now, I am leaning towards Nani667's position on EtH...Winning the Caraboa cup does not mean we should stomach mediocrity.

Useless players started playing the game at walking pace immediately we went 2 goals up and EtH was standing there watching the players playing like we were 5 goals up.

Another game and EtH strikes with stupid subs. That man can not read a game to save his life. I am very disappointed...

Almost a season gone and we don't have a recognizable pattern of play meanwhile it didn't take 5 months for us to see the direction City were headed with Pep.

Fred is a terrible footballer. That mofo should never play for United again.

Ours is a club where good players join and immediately become useless. See the rubbish Casemiro is now playing.

I now understand why EtH's Ajax fell to Spurs, that man is clueless about defending. We concede way too many goals.

Ten Hag is a useless coach.

Bruno why?

Shaw has been immense.

We are playing very well safe for few misplaced passes but then again, it is Spurs, a team that's low on confidence.

akwesenana:
Them put Mbappe-Lottin for pot 2019.

That was Tuanzebe's doing...

CrystalTiger:
If Antony no dey unnecessarily selfish, him go dn dey on like 10 assists this season..Had two chances to pick out Bruno to his right and another one with Rashford to his left but him go try him weak shot..

Very annoying.

1callAway:
Are you the same guy that failed as a goalkeeper?

I am new here.

E for make sense if you use your recognized moniker launch this ICBM...😂

See how you knack Expert plank.

Expert17:
I wonder the agenda Spain NT has with De Gea

Spain 25th choice for a reason

Spain? How well have they fared?