*Official* English Football Season 2022/23

[Himannv]

And Grealish would have been a nice fit at United, but knowing us, we’d play him out of position on the right.

 

[Furball]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1558709997374160898

Joe Aribo doing Joe Aribo things.

 

[grecian]

Well that was fun, still is.

 

[Niall]

Having said all that, United still haven’t solved the problem yet in my view since their recruitment is still heavily reliant on the manager’s choices and they don’t look like they have the system in place behind the scenes even now and that’s the most worrying aspect.

The Martinez signing is clearly the call from the manager and while early days I don't get it. He looks another so-so centre half and when it comes to bang average centre halfs United are stacked.

The De Jong saga is weird also, he clearly is not keen and by now you would assume anyone else would have given up but nope they persist.

I know online the feeling was last week of transfer window was they would overspend on Neves as a panic move, but not sure he would consider that a step up in 2022.

 

[Himannv]

The Martinez signing is clearly the call from the manager and while early days I don't get it. He looks another so-so centre half and when it comes to bang average centre halfs United are stacked.

The De Jong saga is weird also, he clearly is not keen and by now you would assume anyone else would have given up but nope they persist.

I know online the feeling was last week of transfer window was they would overspend on Neves as a panic move, but not sure he would consider that a step up in 2022.

As you said, I think it's early days with Martinez. When we were first linked with him, I thought we'd probably play him in midfield against certain opponents. Ten Hag doesn't seem to rate him as a midfielder after obviously trying him out there at Ajax, but considering the other options available, he might consider playing him there. Varane shouldn't be on the bench.

I'm not a fan of United signing players who don't seem to want to come, but it is what it is and the financial tussle between the player and Barcelona seems to be keeping the door open for that deal to materialize.

I reckon United will sign Rabiot first and then see what happens with De Jong before making any other moves for midfielders. Perhaps they only sign Rabiot this window, but that'll be insufficient to improve that midfield I think.

Also, if they really go after him, I don't think Neves will turn down a move to Manchester United despite the current state of the club. They'll always be a step up.

 

[GIMH]

I once liked Gary Neville the pundit but I really cannot stand him these days. Not even to do with his hypocritical behaviour as Salford chief, or his emergence as a Labour shill. Just seems to shout down any criticism of United that isn’t aimed across the pond and it’s tiresome.

 

[grecian]

I once liked Gary Neville the pundit but I really cannot stand him these days. Not even to do with his hypocritical behaviour as Salford chief, or his emergence as a Labour shill. Just seems to shout down any criticism of United that isn’t aimed across the pond and it’s tiresome.

It's funny though, that that bit isn't what you dislike about him, but it is the thing you can't stop bloody talking about.

Punditry is dead anyway, they're playing characters, it's all beyond tiresome, rarely bother listening to any of it anymore.

 

[Furball]

Conte should have punched Tuchel in his stupid face.

 

[GIMH]

It's funny though, that that bit isn't what you dislike about him, but it is the thing you can't stop bloody talking about.

Punditry is dead anyway, they're playing characters, it's all beyond tiresome, rarely bother listening to any of it anymore.

I dislike him with regards to Salford for sure. Have I mentioned the Labour thing on here loads, as you bolded both, and I don’t remember doing so, but it’s feasible.

Anyway, my point was that I dislike his punditry because of the things I mentioned. I dislike the man because of his hypocrisy with regards to Salford, I dislike the pundit because he’s tiresome on United.

I don’t tend to dislike people because of supporting Labour, I’d have few friends if I did, I just disagree with them.

edit - that was the only post I’ve made on CW featuring both ‘Labour’ and ‘Neville’ (well now there’s this one too) but maybe you just meant to bold the Salford thing

 

[Uppercut]

The Martinez noise is classic early season bollocks, he’s played 1 and a half games. Might be ****, might be good, need to just accept that it’s too early to tell.

I don’t know how De Gea avoided becoming the story, for all the deeper problems the biggest reason we lost yesterday was that he threw 2 in in the first 15 minutes. Not being able to sweep or kick is a massive problem for a team trying to play half-decent football, plus he’s making big mistakes. I feel like nobody mentions how much of a liability he is because he was good in 2017.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Quiet weekend then

 

[Niall]

The Martinez noise is classic early season bollocks, he’s played 1 and a half games. Might be ****, might be good, need to just accept that it’s too early to tell.

I don’t know how De Gea avoided becoming the story, for all the deeper problems the biggest reason we lost yesterday was that he threw 2 in in the first 15 minutes. Not being able to sweep or kick is a massive problem for a team trying to play half-decent football, plus he’s making big mistakes. I feel like nobody mentions how much of a liability he is because he was good in 2017.

De Gea escapes criticism somewhat because compared to the midfield and the full backs he is the least of United's worries.

You are correct though he has been flawed for years, his shop stopping isn't as godly as it once was and without that you have a keeper when it comes to distribution and commanding the box isn't good enough.

 

[Tangles]

I think Sancho is still very good and we just don’t put him in situations where he excels. It’s not like with Rashford where he’s clearly slowed down and is making lots of individual mistakes. He just gets the ball and there’s nothing on and he has to dribble round 3 players just to avoid losing it.

Rashford after that ankle injury has slowed right down. Beginning to think he may have hit the Rooney wall. He’s also not passing while predictably cutting in to shoot constantly.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

De Gea had a good season last season but that performance at the weekend was back to his previous few years when he was error prone and not of the standard a club like United need. That midfield is useless though and needs sorting far more.

 

[Uppercut]

I disagree, I think it’s a pretty big problem that makes the rest of the team look worse. When City or Liverpool are playing they run full segments on how crucial their ball-playing sweeper keepers are in the modern game. Imagine if Dias or Van Dijk had to run back towards their own goal all the time because Ederson was a statue, they’d make so many more mistakes. But I’ve never once seen it mentioned when DDG is playing. It’s not a minor drawback any more, there are two crucial aspects of modern goalkeeping that he just can’t do.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

They did have a better keeper with his feet. He saved a penalty for Forest yesterday. Deano is brilliant at saving penalties.

 

[social]

I disagree, I think it’s a pretty big problem that makes the rest of the team look worse. When City or Liverpool are playing they run full segments on how crucial their ball-playing sweeper keepers are in the modern game. Imagine if Dias or Van Dijk had to run back towards their own goal all the time because Ederson was a statue, they’d make so many more mistakes. But I’ve never once seen it mentioned when DDG is playing. It’s not a minor drawback any more, there are two crucial aspects of modern goalkeeping that he just can’t do.

A Manchester United clearout is needed. None of the parts fit together | Jonathan Wilson

A keeper who can’t use his feet and a forward line lacking mobility – not a single element of this side works

www.theguardian.com

 

[flibbertyjibber]

A Manchester United clearout is needed. None of the parts fit together | Jonathan Wilson

A keeper who can’t use his feet and a forward line lacking mobility – not a single element of this side works

www.theguardian.com

Hilarious really isn't it

 

[wpdavid]

A Manchester United clearout is needed. None of the parts fit together | Jonathan Wilson

A keeper who can’t use his feet and a forward line lacking mobility – not a single element of this side works

www.theguardian.com

'Was the performance in west London worse than the 5-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in 1972? It’s probably too early to be sure, but Saturday was haplessness at a volume that will resonate through the generations'.

Hmm. Any excuse to talk about the 1972 game at Selhurst Park of course, but I would suggest that losing 5-0 to a Palace team that was eventually relegated was worse than losing 4-0 to a Brentford team who will probably finish mid-table. And the latter result was effectively settled by two individual errors in the first 18 minutes, whereas the former involved being outplayed by a weak team who happened to be on a hot streak.

 

[GIMH]

I see Souness is getting some strife.