₦airaland Forum

mcfarlin:
Manununited team alteration:evans starts in place of smalling


Chai I know van gaal takes shekpe

But now am sure someone prolly giggs put e-gbo in his drink today .

Heard that Smalling just took a knock.

Obiagelli:
Jimumu George agbaje where your manifesto, you have not told lagosians what you intend to do in office. Insuring threat and attacking opponents won't win you election.

Btw how is life under bode George? CAPTIVITY

Instead of him to concentrate on telling us what he`ll offer us, he`s busy campaigning for us to vote out of blackmail and intimidation that Niger Delta will shut down the country`s economy if we don`t vote Jonathan.

He too isn`t the same Jimi we all know during the days of his DPA. He too have become one of the as he used to say "Same of the same".

chrisley024:
Has been clear Rafael and Shaw are not wingbacks. He paired Di maria and RvP though but why sub RvP when Falcao isn't available.

Exactly my point. We should go back to back four where they`ll thrive.
Di Maria wouldn`t stay upfront because he isn`t a striker. RVP got isolated because of that.

We need to go back to back four. This three at the back isn`t working with the defenders we have. The defenders were just losing possession anyhow. There was no penetration.

We lost that match because LVG played the formation with some wrong personel.
Shaw isn`t a wing back.
Why didn`t he pair Rooney with RVP when he knew that Falcao isn`t going to be available?
He shouldn`t have substituted RVP.

papercoin:
Hope he has found his certificate

You should know that if his qualification or certificate is in doubt, your President(GEJ) would`ve been the first person to instruct his dog (Attorney General) to take GMB to court for disqualification and prosecution for perjury. Don`t you think your President has first hand information about this?

So far no PDP member has taken the man to court to stop him from contesting and you are here asking whether he has found his certificate.

Danhumprey:
Hian! Na back to the treatment table be that! Smh.

No real wing backs and full backs against Southampton

Luke Shaw and Rafael injured in the first half - LVG

Rafael - Fractured cheekbone

Shaw - Ankle injury

Man Utd’s 2014 in numbers: The statistics which tell the story of the Red Devils’ calendar year

By Daniel Anwar

Posted on December 31, 2014
Louis van Gaal

2014 has been something of a rollercoaster for Manchester United fans, and the first half of the year saw the club mired in the dark days of the David Moyes era, but they head into 2015 with a renewed sense of belief under Louis van Gaal.

United failed to qualify for Europe for the first time since 1989/90 last season, as they slumped to a disappointing seventh-place in the table, and Van Gaal was unable to turn results around immediately.

The former Netherlands boss led United to victory in just one one of their opening five Premier League games this season, but they will close out the year in third place after winning seven of their last nine matches.

The Old Trafford faithful hope the club can return to their former glory in the coming year, and we’ve broken down the vital numbers for the last 12 months.

Louis van Gaal enjoying life in England as Manchester United head into 2015

£170 million - On last season’s evidence, it was clear that the club needed to invest heavily to make the squad competitive again, and United were the top flight’s biggest spenders this year by some distance. They spent around £170 million during 2014, substantially more than any other club. The next biggest spenders were Liverpool (£133m), though their outlay was offset by the £75 million sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

57 chances created – United paid £37.1 million to sign Juan Mata from Chelsea in January, which made him the club’s record signing until Angel Di Maria arrived for £60 million. The playmaker did fairly well in first few months of his time at Old Trafford, but his addition wasn’t enough to improve the club’s form under David Moyes.
Mata created five chances against Hull

Mata created five chances against Hull

Questions were raised about his role in the side after United’s summer spending, but the stats show that he still has plenty to offer. The Spain international leads the club in assists (7), chances created (57), final third passes (488), and completed through balls (.

16 goals – Another topic that has been heavily debated this year has been Wayne Rooney’s best position. The 29-year-old was named captain of both Manchester United and England this year, but Louis van Gaal has often played him in midfield, rather than the forward role he has occupied for most of his career.

Whichever position he starts in, Rooney poses a huge goalscoring threat, and he scored more goals than any other United player this year (16). He was the highest English scorer in the league this year, and only Wilfried Bony (20), Sergio Aguero (18), and Yaya Toure (17) scored more. Rooney also scored three goals on the counter, the joint-highest total in the top flight.
Rooney's goals this season

Rooney’s goals this season

40 goals conceded - United’s defending has often been criticised this season, and they have had to cope with an incredible number of injuries, but only Manchester City (33) and Chelsea (22) conceded less goals during the last year. United also kept 14 clean sheets, which was bettered by just City and Southampton (both 16), and Chelsea (21).
Goals conceded by United this season

Goals conceded by United this season

1576 passes – Michael Carrick missed the first nine games of the season after sustaining an ankle injury during pre-season, and his influence was greatly missed.

The midfielder returned to the starting line-up against Crystal Palace in November, and his comeback coincided with a run of six straight wins. Carrick played 1576 passes this year, more than any other United player, and the 33-year-old remains a vital part of the team.
Carrick's passing against Stoke

Carrick’s passing against Stoke

53 tackles - The club’s defensive injuries mean that they have struggled to field a settled back line this season, which has contributed to the lack of any United player in the league’s top 25 tacklers. Antonio Valencia has often played at wing-back or right back in the current campaign, and the Ecuador international won the most tackles at the club in 2014 (53).

He also completed 17 interceptions in the opposition half, the joint-fourth highest total in the league.
Valencia's duels this season

Valencia’s duels this season

66 points – Over the 38 league games in 2014, United have won 66 points, the fifth-highest total behind City and Chelsea (both 88), Liverpool (76), and Arsenal (70). They averaged 1.74 points per game and have a goal difference of 25, though supporters will expect the club to improve next year, as Van Gaal’s ideas are fully implemented and they add more quality to the squad.

Read more at http://www.squawka.com/news/man-utds-2014-in-numbers/261510#uMerEeXerSdvVQ4h.99

Caveatemptor:
It appears you conveniently forgot a certain biting incident at the World cup that led to the suspension of a ceryain Mr Suarez.
And by the way,how has a thread about Manchester United suddenly delved to become about Suarez,who is not and jas never beem a United player.
Falcao is living on past glory and that is why Momaco got rid of him as soon as they could and United picked up a dud cheque.
By the way this is a player that no one is sure of his real agr.

I am only using Suarez's case to tell you that a player cannot regain his full fitness without playing regularly and also that a player in a new league and team may need time to adapt.

"Falcao is living on past glory"

2013/14; played 1392 mins and scored 9 goals

2014/15; played 128 mins for Lille and scored 2 goals

2014/15; played 540 mins for Man Utd and scored 2 goals and assisted 3 goals.

Meaning that he has contributed to 7 goals this season.

And considering that he's just coming back from injuries and he's in a new league. You will need to explain your "living in past glory" for me to understand.

I'm not continuing with this because that your statement just confirmed your dislike/hatred for Falcao maybe for the money he's collecting. Your assertion of him is not in line with what he's done so far this season.

Caveatemptor:
Stop this your clutching at straws argument. Can you compare the performance of Suarez at Barcelona with the performance of Falcao at United?
Look at the body language of the two players. Suarez is performing while Falcao looks lost.
Any way lets watch Falcao against Stoke in a few days then we can come back to argue if he is worthy of being paid 265,000 pounds a week.

Let me know the performance of a player who scored 31 goals in EPL last season(54 in last two seasons in EPL) moved to Barcelona on a transfer fee of 75mil pounds, earning around 200mil pounds per week and scored 1 goal with 5 assists in La Liga. With the standard attained by Suarez in EPL in the last two seasons, he should be banging in the goals in La Liga right now.

Mind you, nobody on the forum is saying Falcao has reached his full fitness. We all know that he still needs some improvement.

Odunharry:
yes na....d guy dy try though yestaday no be im day


let look ahead

The guy just hate Falcao. He should just wait till the end of the season for proper assessment instead of judging a player that's just coming back from injury with just a little above 500mins play. Whether he'll stay or not will be judged at the end of the season by his overall performance.

Caveatemptor:
At 265k a week,he needs to hit the ground running. His body language on the pitch does not imply he can do this. He might score the odd one or two goals here or there,but in the end he is not what United need now to teturn to dominance.
I cant see him being at OT next seadon. This loan deal has fiasco written all over iy from day one.

For what Luiz Suarez did in EPL last two seasons and considering his huge transfer to Barcelona, why hasn't he "hit the ground running" as your logic implies?

coogar:
if fit, falcao should play every game. at least, he gets into good positions and he shoots on target more often than our regular strikers. it will take time before his team mates understand his movements & runs. i trust him more to terrorise opposition's defence than RVP, rooney or wilson.

I don`t know why he`s using 500 minutes to judge a player who is just coming back from injuries, in a new team and in the toughest league. We all know that he`s not 100% fit yet. And he needs regular playing time to gain full fitness and to understand his team mates. I`m sure if he were to be our coach, RVP will be sitting on the bench now. So also he would`ve discarded DDG in the first half of his first season.
Falcao needs time.

Caveatemptor:
The rate at which Falcao falls to the turf shows a player lacking fitness and confidence on his own ability. He is just not the player he once was because his body has been ravaged by injuries.
The amount of money being paid for this guys loan deal is ridiculous considering he has done practically zilch sine he arrived OT.
The loan is even more annoying considering the fact that we released Welbeck and loaned out Chicharito,Nani and Zaha.
Is Falcao better than what we've got on current form? I say a big fat NO.

So, in your own opinion it is by sitting on the bench that he`ll gain his full fitness back.
If RVP had been benched when he`s poor at the begining of the season, would he have been able to gain some of his fittness back?
For crying out loud, this guy is just getting back his fittness in a new league and new team. He needs to be given enough chance/time to prove himself. He has only played about 500 plus minutes, he`s scored and assisted during those minutes. What else do you want from him?
We can only judge him by the end of the season.
In your own, will you prefer playing wilson?

Caveatemptor:
That is why our draws with Villa and Spurs are annoying. We should have cut down the gap a lot more. Now we got a tough,tough visit to Stoke where we NEED to pick up three points.
Does Van Gaal persist with the ineffective Falcao or turn to rookie James Wilson?

Has James Wilson been effective so far?
I`ll rather keep on playing Falcao than playing Wilson who has not brought anything to the team.
All our strikers were poor today. Why single out Falcao?
He only needs to calm down. It seem he`s too much in a hurry in his game.

chrisley024:
I think the only reason Fletcher is still with the team is cos of Giggs(he's the assistant n therefore has some influence in players selection) otherwise I can't fathom any other.

He will definitely be out of contract at the end of this season. So, he will be free to leave.

codedguy1:
It was just a few minutes after subbibg RvP for Wilson that the red card came. I don't think Lvg would have removed RvP if the red card came while Rvp was on the pitch.

Wilson, Evans and Fletcher need to rediscover what their talents are - maybe guinea fowl hunters or something because right now they don't even look like ball boys in a primary sch match.

He shouldn't have subbed RVP in the first place. Wilson isn't going to offer more than even half fit RVP.

Dadehmola:
Van gaal should have left young on the left.

He shouldn`t have even subbed Valencia. The intensity dropped the moment he subbed Val and there was no longer movement in the striking position.

I don`t know why LVG sub RVP. Wilson should be loaned out.

This Evans is so useless.

Where is Herrera?

I have an android phone. I`m having problem with the camera. it`s giving me this message "Camera error" "Can`t connect to camera" Anybody with any solution please?

I have an android phone. I`m having problem with the camera. it`s giving me this message "Camera error" "Can`t connect to camera" Anybody with any solution please?

Dadehmola:
Are you Telling me that the best playmaker in the world only had 2 assists all season?? What then was he "playmaking", since we have been told that creativity/playmaking go hand in hand with the ability to assist?

Mata in 2012/2013 nko (his best season at Chelsea)?

Cc nihilist and co..

I have said that it is not only assist. What about chances created or assist of assist?

Dadehmola:
I don dey find am since

In his best season there (2004/2005), I saw that he scored 15 goals and had no assist

I want to believe that stat is wrong.

Kindly do some research and post your own results.

The stats is wrong. He scored 16 goals with 2 assists.

elampiro:
A playmaker might even be a good scorer, like Zidane. But these aren't their primary functions. They dictate the flow game for their team.

Can you please list their primary functions then?

elampiro:
Assists and chances created are not their primary qualities. I don't know why you guys don't get it. What made them playmakers is their ability to influence overall build up play. Same with Pirlo. They make the game flow in a certain direction. The rest 21 players are forced to follow. Herrera might develop into this kind of player. Silva also influence a great deal.

This is the general playmaker. It's different from the small titles as advanced playmakers and deep lying playmaker which are second names for certain positions- AM and CM.

So a playmaker is not supposed to be creating chances.

Dadehmola:
If the creativity you are talking about is based on contributing assists, I don't think any of those 3 players had that attribute as a key quality

I didn't say assist alone. I said assist/assist before assist/creating chances.

elampiro:
These are the secondary qualities of a playmaker. A playmaker is someone who obviously dictates the direction of play for a team. Particularly attcking play build up from the deep. Zidane, Xavi, Scholes.

Herrera looks like he is going to be a great one soon.




Cleverley and Mikel are not playmakers. They lack sense for attacking build up.

So, in your own word, Zidane, Xavi and Sholes are not creative.

Of course Cleverly is not a playmaker because he is not creative.

Shirley07:
Cleverley obviously doesn't make penetrative/incisive passes, it was always sideways passes with the rare long ball. That was why fan turned on him, not because he wasn't creating chances.
Obviously, playmakers has it in them to create chances but it's not their primary duty to do so and the position they operate in, doesn't allow for such as they are too deep in the central midfield.

What does that penetrative/incisive passes do? It is part of their primary role to either create an assist or create a pass that leads to an assist(purpose of those incisive/penetrative passes). If Cleverly were to be doing that, he wouldn't be on loan to Aston Villa.

Shirley07:
Their passes are more incisive as a result of their great intelligence and vision of play, which is fantastic.
We can say Playmakers are creative players because they have to break down opposition's midfield wall and provide their attackers with the right passes to archive their aim but what I meant by that word 'creativity' is creating chances.
In a better way, lets just say playmaker doesn't have to create chances before people acknowledge him as one.

That's the creativity we are talking about. They create something special out of their passes. Every playmaker must have the quality to create chances, assist or assist before assist. That's what makes them special and different and that's the creativity. Being able to fashion out a through pass.

Cleverly makes a lot of passes. He is always one of the players with highest percentage of passes completion. What then made so many fans dislike his play was his not being creative with his passes. That was the person we were told would've taken over from Scholes.