*Official* English Football Season 2016-17

[Furball]

I hope they're just a tactful way of saying "he's shite". I'm more certain that he's not a striker or 10 than I am that he's not a midfielder, although still pretty certain.

Mourinho referenced other people praising Rooney's passing and said (paraphrasing) 'my passing ability is also brilliant if I'm not under any pressure. Being able to pass well under no pressure doesn't make you a midfielder.'

He also said (again paraphrasing as I can't remember the exact quote) 'Rooney is a 9, maybe a 10 or maybe even a 9.5, but not a 6 or an 8'

 

[Tangles]

I hope they're just a tactful way of saying "he's shite". I'm more certain that he's not a striker or 10 than I am that he's not a midfielder, although still pretty certain.

The good thing, I hope, about saying he's a forward is that it forces him to justify his place in the team as a forward with goals or assists. It's stops him from moving the expectations to those of a CM when he fails at them. Rashford and Martial are better 9s. Mata and Fellaini in different ways both offer more as 10s.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

He also said (again paraphrasing as I can't remember the exact quote) 'Rooney is a 9, maybe a 10 or maybe even a 9.5, but not a 6 or an 8'

This might blow GIMH's last fuse

 

[GIMH]

This might blow GIMH's last fuse

It went long ago or else it would have

 

[vcs]

"There are some managers who haven't won titles for 10 years. Some of them never. The last time I won was a year ago."

This sums up neatly why I'll always despise him. So much success, and yet so insecure.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Some people just have that desire to win and look at anything else as a disappointment.

It's not insecurity, just a fierce competitive streak.

 

[sledger]

While the parrots chatter, the eagles stay silent.

 

[Uppercut]

Pretty pleased with his snideness for now. We've definitely not been bitter enough since Fergie retired.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah at the end of the day when a club is hated, you probably want to do a lot of the things that played a part in that hatred.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah at the end of the day when a club is hated, you probably want to do a lot of the things that played a part in that hatred.

Yeah. I mean there's a balance to be found, I don't want to win at ALL costs, but recently we haven't given anywhere near enough ****s about losing. That nasty, desperate competitive streak that Conte gave Italy and Simeone gives Atletico is exactly what we need right now.

 

[GIMH]

What would be a bridge too far then? If not at all costs?

 

[Uppercut]

The Carneiro/Vilanova stuff was definitely too far for me. I also really don't like mass feigning of injuries to waste time. There are a lot of other examples, I'm not a purely result-oriented fan, but I'm definitely willing to put up with a manager being rude to Wenger and playing defensively in big games.

 

[GIMH]

The Carneiro/Vilanova stuff was definitely too far for me. I also really don't like mass feigning of injuries to waste time. There are a lot of other examples, I'm not a purely result-oriented fan, but I'm definitely willing to put up with a manager being rude to Wenger and playing defensively in big games.

Fair, I don't like feigning injuries either but there's a bit of can't beat em join em in that.

 

[Uppercut]

Fair, I don't like feigning injuries either but there's a bit of can't beat em join em in that.

Yeah true, but I wouldn't want us to be boundary pushers on it the way his Chelsea side were. Like RM eventually concluded, it can wreck the club's image. A lot of kids who got into football at that time will now always see Barca as the good guys and it might mean RM end up missing out on the next Neymar.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Manure fans were very negative on talkSPORT about Rooney. One described him as "a poor man's Ray Wilkins" in midfield. Not sure what that means but I assume it wasn't a compliment.

 

[sledger]

Had never really thought about how a club's image might affect things like that for some reason, It's obvious enough stuff, but it never really occurred to me at all.

 

[vcs]

With Mourinho, it's not just one thing. It's the sum of all the despicable traits of every manager out there. Wenger's whinging, Fergie's bullying and ref. intimidation, Benitez's negative tactics against half-decent opposition, Guardiola's diving/card-waving/gamesmanship, Pulis's tactical fouling. He does it all, and throws in some random vicious acts like eye-gouging as well. He holds a personal grudge against virtually everyone who has ever dared to challenge his teams, and keeps throwing in his "digs" and "taunts" without provocation. Complete lack of respect for fellow professionals. Not to mention claiming all the credit when he wins, but throwing individual players or staff under the bus when things don't go his way.

Apart from all that, I'm sure he's a lovely chap.

 

[sledger]

It's not really like him to throw his players under the bus at all tbh. Siege mentality is one of the things he is renowned for more than anything else.

 

[vcs]

He did a lot of that last year. Remember him singling out Matic, maybe a few others as well. One of their youth products? Hazard when they lost to Atletico in the CL. Guy's a ****.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, but most of that happened when the game was up. Was clear from a fair way before the end that the dressing room had been lost. Not denying it happened, but that sort of thing was generally an exception rather than the norm. Usually the narrative is him and his merry men against the world that is out to get them.