₦airaland Forum

airmark:
Man utd or Milan fan?

In Italy, Milan is his favorite team...

Very annoying end to the game. The ref should have allowed that play on...Poor officiating.

Roland17:
Halftime 1-1

How?

Roland17:
But of course, my boy Leao scores! A well taken loop over the goalkeeper

AC Milan 1-0 Spezia
#FORZAMILAN

Leao is a very good player...

After that penalty miss, I began to wonder if it was going to be one of those days...

Skimpledawg:
Egbon mi, trust you are recovering fine.

Sure bro...

eph12:
I was also expecting RR to take off Cavani and bring in VDB. Lingard has some energy, bring him too for Elanga. Looks like RR became lost and confused

The man reacted late...

eph12:
I think Fred is pressing forward because our attackers don't have it in them., they can't press, they can't close down passing channels, they won't pass/create chances for each other. This is a big problem

If we can't press up front, isn't it sensible to remain compact in the midfield and defense rather than risk recovering the ball up front only to be exposed defensively?

Another mistake over the weekend was RR's poor reading of the game hence delayed subs...Gerrard in a bid to exert more control and attacking output brought in ball players in the midfield and attack but RR didn't respond and on time. Cavani should have been replaced by VDB while Lingard come in for Elanga with Greenwood moved up front. With VDB and Lingard (especially) you are sure of more pressing and control in the midfield...We totally surrendered possession to Villa after the hour mark or thereabout which left me wondering what the control RR talks about so often in his pressers is all about...

eph12:
Shaw has crosses in him. In fact, he crossed to Ronaldo recently that Ronaldo made a mess of. For the same tactical reason, or lack of tactics, Shaw has not been doing enough of that. That's the same excuse you're making for Telles now.

But my post was not particularly about last match. I'm still waiting for the crosses, assists and goals that was promised if Shaw and AWB were benched for Dalot and Telles.

And yes I understand your point, and you should understand mine too. We were promised crosses, and that's it. Last match was not the only match they have played

Telles has a better cross in him than Shaw and with him, you are sure of 2-3 good crosses per game. One thing is certain, not every good cross leads to a goal...I have no qualms with Shaw as he has 8t in him but AWB is not just it...

I am not judging our players using whatever happened during Ole's reign but from when Rangnick took over and even then, RR opted for a strange 4-2-2-2 that had the whole team struggling. I just hope he reverts to a proper 4-2-3-1 that has 2 DMs or a DM and CM who can help us retain possession. The idea of Fred pressing forward especially when he is paired with Matic is one tweak that is not sustainable as Matic just doesn't have the legs to over when we are attacked through the middle and Fred is out of position.

I rather have us play 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 where our full backs have the license to bomb forward and we have our wing men tucking in to see us have more bodies in the box...

Skimpledawg:
Bros, I just can't talk about Alonso. Almost all the time I was on the edge as soon as the ball found its way to his wing. But, he later grew into the game.

I wouldn't fault the Kova - Kante partnership today that much cos we've seen what they can do. Kante missed KDB by few seconds that normally he would have gotten and saved the team.

Our front three was what let us down today and not really the middle pack.

See all the balls Lukaku got today for instance from the same midfield that he fluffed time and time again.

Ziyech playing like he should have gone for Afcon and Pulisic running everywhere doing nothing.

Spot on...

eph12:
Oh and the game before? and the one before that? How many crosses, assists, goals from both? Or its now tactical decisions?

You asked a question and I explained what I observed to you and now you're back with another question as if you didn't see some of those games to know that Shaw and AWB were preferred and even when Telles and Dalot played, we opted for 4 2 2 2 which saw the whole team struggling...We only reverted to 4 2 3 1 in the Fa Cup game and the game on Saturday and in those games, for some reason, Rangnick rather instructed Fred to press forward meaning Dalot can't bomb forward as usual as we will be open to counters...Maybe you should go back and watch our game again to understand my earlier reply...

The essence of 4 2 3 1 or 4 3 3 is to give the full backs the license to bomb forward while the wingers play as inverted forwards but here, we rather see Fred pressing high up the pitch meaning Dalot has to be cautious in his offensive play.

Mrviktor:
Bruno was covering for Fred..

Fred was pressing for Bruno


The problem came when matic was tired.

They just ran us down nd took their chances..



Greenwood should have killed d game off too if he passed d ball.

Bruno is poor at marking and positional play even though he covers a lot of distance...

Talking about Greenwood, I noticed from the replay that once he gets the ball, he makes up his mind to go for goal so, he doesn't even raise his head up to see if someone else is better positioned...It's one part of his game he needs to change...

eph12:
How is that myth about Telles and Dalot supplying crosses and assists coming?

Telles sent in some very good crosses yesterday one of which resulted in a shot from Greenwood which Martinez did well to save.

Dalot not bombing forward looks like a tactical decision because I noticed that Fred was instead given the license to press forward and that contributed to our midfield being dominated because Fred couldn't fall back into position as quickly as Aston Villa attacked thus Matic was left isolated most times.

See VDB wey the mad man dey bench...

What is the usefulness of playing Matic and Fred?

Gerrard was making positive subs, our coach was sitting there like zombie...

What exactly is the point in playing Matic and Fred when we are still so open through the middle? Abeg nothing anybody go tell me, VDB can not be any worse than Fred...

Where is the control Rangnick keeps talking about? At 2 goals up, control the game ffs...

eph12:
Somebody said Bruno will have a man of the match performance today. LMAO looks like with Ronaldo on the pitch Bruno can't score those goals he's known for

I think it was a reference to the formation change rather than the absence of Ronaldo that preempted the comment.

slimghost:
Very lively but I worry about this quality in the final 3rd. Not sold on the lad yet.

He will only get better from here...

larride:
Shey you read all those pages of absolute nonsense of agenda?

I read it but we have to be matured about it...Ronaldo is definitely not the problem, no need to rub it in their faces likewise those who will want to come out and say Bruno scored 2 because Ronaldo didn't play...

You watch Aston Villa and you see well crafted moves towards creating a goal scoring chance...

We are far behind those we want to depose from the top...

slimghost:
He is affecting the young players game negatively from his house. What a man!!

Abeg make una no start...

TrebleChamp:
See miss by Elanga

He did well there...

eph12:
Is VDB really worse than Fred?

I wonder o!

We are terrible when it comes to closing down passing lanes with our positioning...

Expert17:
E shock you too

I just dey observe o!

We should have been two goals up if we were a bit clinical with our finishing and better with our passes in the final 3rd...

Elanga is even more lively than Sancho...

Meanwhile, Greenwood should play closer to the box...

eph12:
I don't want to see just 2 players in that midfield please God

Hopefully Bruno sticks to his role so we don't get overrun in the midfield...

Is Elanga ready for this kind of game? I would've preferred Lingard or VDB starting instead but let's see how it goes...

Abeg I no want that Ronaldo argument affecting the team or not to continue after this game because I know a couple of folks are waiting to use this game to reference their point...

weedtaker:
True, we always start games like we are a goal up already, if we are winning a match with let's say a goal margin, be sure that we shall be under pressure in the last 20 minutes because we can't control a game even if our lives depends on it.

The reason I was excited when RR was appointed is because I was optimistic that we will improve the tempo of our play but it's been proving a herculean task as of now. It's a bit early but the signs are not evident if I must be honest...

weedtaker:
Tbh most of the teams in the league play till the last second, it just seems Manchester United play in a totally different league from the other teams.

The tempo Manchester City and Liverpool sustain over 90mins is unmatched however, a good number of teams are trying in that regards whilst we lag behind...

TrebleChamp:
Which position do you think we are seriously lacking in quality players? Even my Arsenal supporting wife sef no say we no get good midfieders. Well i have concluded that United's problem is more spiritual than physical...

You made mention of how we opted for Sancho rather than strengthen the midfield under Ole as if to imply that under Rangnick we are toeing the same path when in all honesty we can't say it the same since we have not splashed the cash at all...

At this point it is best to infer that the club has no plans to splash the cash as nothing points to that however, it will be quite sad if they finally do but opt to strengthen any other position but the center of our midfield (DM)

weedtaker:
Man city players don’t get tired.

You watch City and Liverpool and wonder if their players are on drugs...