Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [21st - 26th March 2014]

Robbo said:
Maybe we'll be okay with a smaller squad, we certainly wouldn't need to replace everyone we sell/release. We do have a fair few promising young players who can feature once we have games wrapped up, etc.

I actually think Mata would be more effective behind RvP, Rooney spends a lot of time getting annoyed and coming deep into midfield (or full back :p), I think he'd get in Mata's way more often. But, Rooney is here to stay and he will probably spearhead the attack, but I still can't see RvP leaving. If we can find a couple of really class wingers, then Mata behind Rooney would be quite fine.

Would a different manager be able to get RvP, Rooney and Mata all working in the same team though? Wouldn't surprise me...
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The best way of getting rid of RvP.......keep Moyes lol - if thats the only reason for keeping the manager Im all for it. RvP did well last season, the title is thanks to him without a doubt, but he has acted like such a petulant child most of this season I really wouldnt mind seeing the back of him.

While I dont want Chicharito to go, I think he will and I wish him the best of luck. He was a brilliant find but he doesnt really work in the team (although with as many changes as necessary he says he wont next season).

Personally I would definitely build from this summer around Rooney ahead of Mata, Kagawa will probably leave and while Januzaj probably prefers no10 role I think he needs to earn that position with Mata and Rooney both available (and understandably better in that position) and the kid is still a very good pacey winger at the end of the day.

With a much stronger midfield next season, I dont see why Rooney would drop back into midfield as often so I dont have any concern about him not being upfront as much, and either way with (hopefully) a better CM/AM in particular even if Rooney does drop back the right AM will have the legs /engine and skill to move the ball centrally.

After all this has been Utd's weakness for several years, no central midfield with any kind of close ball control if Utd get that, then the wings dont have to be overly relied upon for the only avenue forward.

Moyes / Woodward just have ot be careful about not falling into the Spurs trap of buying too many new players at once and not knowing how to use them for 1/2 a season


MF was a mistake and thats pretty clear, but I still think Mata wasnt bought for this season, he was signed to be (along with Rooney and DDG) the core of Moyes' team going forward from next season (and to help attract the big names in the summer too) . While he is still a kid, its fair to say a lot of international (ie European club teams) seemed to be eyeing him up over this season before he signed his new contract. He may not be a big name as such, but certainly an exciting player.

Utd's squad has been so bad this season , while I hope Moyes signs a few really big £30/£40m players another two or three £10/£15m players (in different areas of the pitch) isnt impossible and there is a vast talent pool out there (as an example Salah , maybe a little rough around the edges but looks promising and fitting into Chelsea well for 15m euros or thereabouts - and there are similar deals to be done)


edit - This season is a humbling experience (even with Utd's very decent away record in general) but still very glad I follow the EPL mainly rather than the Bundesliga where BM have sown up the title already (and were probably nailed on for it for a few games before this, even if the table didnt quite show it)
 
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jonneymendoza said:
what did he say?
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...rsenals-lack-of-character-and-discipline.html

Cant disagree with him one single bit in all honesty and i hate having to agree with him but he makes some very good points about the way our team has just fallen apart in the past few weeks.

As for the game last night, i didnt get a chance to watch it as i was out at my in laws and they dont have any sports channels lol. But caught up with what was being said around the net and i have to say im just totally lost for words.

Our season is coming undone with each and every game, Swansea should have been 3 pts nailed on but reading around, it seems like Swansea were hard done by and if anything they should have walked away with 3 pts.

Another accident in Wenger's own words lol...thats all we have been having is accidents and they will continue to happen unless something changes within the team ie tactics and our injured players come back.

But Wilshere, Ozil, Ramsey and Koscielny are all out for at least another 2 weeks :/
 
Great result for Everton last night, I always worry when going to Newcastle but it was a great performance and we're hitting form at the right time. If we can carry on our great form, even teams like Arsenal, Man Utd and Man City won't relish coming to Goodison to face us.

Man Utd were so poor last night. A decent spell in the first half shouldn't paper over how bad the performance was. I honestly can't believe how badly they are playing. I always thought they'd struggle this season, but I never pictured this. Moyes just hasn't got to grips with anything yet. At Everton, he was pretty rigid tactically. He liked 4-5-1, and he'd move players around to fit the formation, but he would at least put the right players in the right position. At Man Utd, it seems like he has no idea what to do. If Man Utd stick with him, Moyes has to be willing to live or die by his own choices. He needs to decide on the tactics he wants to play, what formation he wants, and to stick to it. Forget the "Man Utd" way, Moyes is the manager and he needs to do it the Moyes way. At least then if he fails, he'll fail doing it his own way. If that means he has to drop RvP and play Rooney up top on his own, then do it. At least he'll be true to himself then.

He's got one hell of a rebuilding job on in the summer as well. With 3 of the defence leaving it seems, getting that right is crucial. IMO, he needs to look at getting some of the best players from teams just below the top tier around Europe. Players from clubs like Bayern, Madrid and Juventus are unlikely to move there now (bar maybe Coentrao), so he needs to look at taking top players from other teams. If I were Moyes, I'd be looking at clubs like Dortmund and seeing whether players like Reus, Hummels and Gundoguan are available. As good as Dortmund are, I think Moyes would stand a chance of convincing those players that Man Utd are worth joining.

I hope he doesn't rebuild too quickly though, I'm enjoying looking down on Man Utd for a change :D
 
Yas786 said:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...rsenals-lack-of-character-and-discipline.html

Cant disagree with him one single bit in all honesty and i hate having to agree with him but he makes some very good points about the way our team has just fallen apart in the past few weeks.

As for the game last night, i didnt get a chance to watch it as i was out at my in laws and they dont have any sports channels lol. But caught up with what was being said around the net and i have to say im just totally lost for words.

Our season is coming undone with each and every game, Swansea should have been 3 pts nailed on but reading around, it seems like Swansea were hard done by and if anything they should have walked away with 3 pts.

Another accident in Wenger's own words lol...thats all we have been having is accidents and they will continue to happen unless something changes within the team ie tactics and our injured players come back.

But Wilshere, Ozil, Ramsey and Koscielny are all out for at least another 2 weeks :/
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Not read teh article just yet but will do.But in regards to our injury list i do think it is an excuse to be fair.

The team we put out against chelsea and co is more then enough to match chelsea and beat the likes of stoke and swansea.

Cazola, Arteta, Maybe the Ox, Podolski and rosisky are all good enough to steady the ship and get points on the board/not get beaten 6:0.

they are still international senior players. Cazola plays and sometimes comes on for Spain in such a competitive squad, Podolski also a regular in that german side, rosisky good for his respective country , Ox doing a decent job in england and one our best pacey players and only arteta not an internation per say but surely he is premier league material .

And this is with 4 midfielders ouit injured. If you was to take the best 4 midfielders from chelsea, city and liverpool, there replacements would be far worse and less skillful/tecnicaly giften then what we have now!

The point is, our team has strength in depth in the midfield and it is not excuse to blame injuries imo
 
Davey_Pitch said:
If Man Utd stick with him, Moyes has to be willing to live or die by his own choices. He needs to decide on the tactics he wants to play, what formation he wants, and to stick to it. Forget the "Man Utd" way, Moyes is the manager and he needs to do it the Moyes way. At least then if he fails, he'll fail doing it his own way. If that means he has to drop RvP and play Rooney up top on his own, then do it. At least he'll be true to himself then.
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Tony Barrett was talking about this after the defeat to Liverpool last week. He said Moyes was stuck in no mans land between his own methods and the principles of the club, and that at Everton, at 2-0 to Liverpool he's pushing Fellaini up front and going long, which is so true. We saw that exact scenario last season when we were 2-0 up at Goodison - Moyes stuck Fellaini up front with Jelavic(?), went long and ended up getting back into the match.

The mad Fulham performance with 1001 crosses seemed like Moyes trying to show everyone that he plays the 'Utd way', playing with width and putting crosses into the box.

If I'm honest, I think it's too late for Moyes to change things now, at least this season. Fans are only truly happy when the side's winning but if you're attempting to play decent attacking football then you can be given more time. Utd fans are already losing patience with him and if suddenly goes to an even more defensive/direct style of football it might prove to be the tipping point for a lot of fans.

If he can get through to the start of next season then that's the time for him to try to start again playing his way. As above though, he'll be on even thinner ice if the results aren't much improved.
 
Davey_Pitch said:
Great result for Everton last night, I always worry when going to Newcastle but it was a great performance and we're hitting form at the right time. If we can carry on our great form, even teams like Arsenal, Man Utd and Man City won't relish coming to Goodison to face us.

Man Utd were so poor last night. A decent spell in the first half shouldn't paper over how bad the performance was. I honestly can't believe how badly they are playing. I always thought they'd struggle this season, but I never pictured this. Moyes just hasn't got to grips with anything yet. At Everton, he was pretty rigid tactically. He liked 4-5-1, and he'd move players around to fit the formation, but he would at least put the right players in the right position. At Man Utd, it seems like he has no idea what to do. If Man Utd stick with him, Moyes has to be willing to live or die by his own choices. He needs to decide on the tactics he wants to play, what formation he wants, and to stick to it. Forget the "Man Utd" way, Moyes is the manager and he needs to do it the Moyes way. At least then if he fails, he'll fail doing it his own way. If that means he has to drop RvP and play Rooney up top on his own, then do it. At least he'll be true to himself then.

He's got one hell of a rebuilding job on in the summer as well. With 3 of the defence leaving it seems, getting that right is crucial. IMO, he needs to look at getting some of the best players from teams just below the top tier around Europe. Players from clubs like Bayern, Madrid and Juventus are unlikely to move there now (bar maybe Coentrao), so he needs to look at taking top players from other teams. If I were Moyes, I'd be looking at clubs like Dortmund and seeing whether players like Reus, Hummels and Gundoguan are available. As good as Dortmund are, I think Moyes would stand a chance of convincing those players that Man Utd are worth joining.

I hope he doesn't rebuild too quickly though, I'm enjoying looking down on Man Utd for a change :D
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Dont disagree at all - I would expect Hummels to end up at Barca, Reus could go anywhere and there is a huge question over Gundoguan's back , if he doesnt start playing again very soon , I cant see how Utd can risk it personally (as it will probably cost £25m). Not sure at all about Coentrao though.
 
YouTube clips look awesome considering it's a weekday and isn't an important match.

Edit: Mignolet, Flanagan, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Gerrard, Allen, Henderson, Coutinho, Suarez and Sturridge.

Expecting Sunderland to sit back and try and nick it with a set piece so I'm surprised Sakho isn't playing tonight.
 
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I have a feeling of let down for Liverpool fans tonight, now I've said they will probably win 5 nil ! Sunderland are 16-1 to win that has to be worth a couple of quid...
 
Ref being a idiot in the West Ham game, Diame clear as day handballs it(accidentally) as he runs onto a ball which led directly to it running for him, keeper fell on him, Diame had lost control of the ball and it was cleared off the line anyway.

It was a freekick for handball, nothing more or less, instead the ref has given the keeper a red card, given then a penalty and ignored the insanely obvious handball that happened before everything else.


EDIT:- scored the pen 1-0 West Ham, Hull away from home, down to 10, never a penalty, great refereeing again.
 
well his arm was up and out, it was more accidental than say AOC's but, the ball would never have fallen for him in the right way without his hand knocking it the right way.

99.99999% of the time it would be given as a freekick and play not allowed to continue.

The actual rules themselves aren't as important as the interpretation that is commonly used. Same rule for everyone all year, if that would have been a free kick throughout the season, it's still a freekick for me.
 
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