The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Part 55

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Vardy puts Leicester 1-0 up. 5 mins left now.
 
You can't make it up with Arsenal. For years the defence needed work and they neeeded a stronger spine, up top and in the creative department they were very good. Now the defence is looking better, the spine is looking better, yet the attack and creative force going forward is starting to become non-existent.
 
I don't follow Leicester's games but f**king hell, Vardy is fast becoming Drogba 2.0 when he's playing Arsenal. Dude just can't stop scoring against the gunners.
 
I don't follow Leicester's games but f**king hell, Vardy is fast becoming Drogba 2.0 when he's playing Arsenal. Dude just can't stop scoring against the gunners.
It's crazy how similar it is to beat Arsenal to when Drogba was doing it all the time. :funny:
 
Vardy seems like a player that never suffers a drop in confidence even if he doesnt score for a couple of games, he just does his thing and in the end it usually ends up working for him, defences have never really figured him out and he shows no signs of slowing up yet.
 


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Well done Paul Pogba for calling out The Sun for writing lies about him :up:
 
People rushed to defend Greenwood when he was being an idiot. I am sure they will have that same energy for Pogba, who is actually being harassed.
 
While Arsenal look better defensively, they look probably just as bad as us going forward (if not worse). Not saying Özil would find his old form again but he has the qualities they are missing on the pitch right now. But Arsenal/Arteta will rather start with a midfield of Xhaka-Partey-Elneny than to add that splash of creativity. And thing is, even if they don't want Özil to play for them again, they gotta add someone who can find those passes.
 
While Arsenal look better defensively, they look probably just as bad as us going forward (if not worse). Not saying Özil would find his old form again but he has the qualities they are missing on the pitch right now. But Arsenal/Arteta will rather start with a midfield of Xhaka-Partey-Elneny than to add that splash of creativity. And thing is, even if they don't want Özil to play for them again, they gotta add someone who can find those passes.
I am not a fan of Ozil. I don't think he adds enough for what he takes away from a side. But what is going on with him feels wrong and gross. Especially with the uighurs situation.
 
Seems odd to not include a player earning £300k a week in your squad for not being good enough! Ok he doesnt have the impact as before but surely you would find room, is it more a money saving excercise to avoid additional bonuses and the like?

Maybe its just the way football has gone there many players earning rediculous wages that teams cant offload any more because of the stupid contracts they are on. United and Arsenal are paying for this it seems and its effecting them on the pitch massively as well as they cant reinvest in the team in the way they need/want.

Is the bubble beginning to burst?
 
I think Özil at his peak was one of the best players in the world and he was pretty much the engine of a fantastic Germany side and that amazing Real Madrid team just serving Ronaldo assist after assist. I think he started pretty good at Arsenal but Wenger also gave him more freedom and he built the team around him in a way. But Emery didn't play with a #10, Ljungberg didn't and now Arteta isn't, and I think Özil has proven that he's not good enough as a winger or CM to get those starting spots.

I think if Arsenal wanted to make use of Özil, they could probably play a lot more enjoyable attacking football with a 4-2-3-1 with Özil as a 10 with Partey and either Xhaka/Ceballos/Elneny behin him, put Auba front and center and put Saka on the left and either Pepe or Nelson on the right. As things look now, Arsenal just don't have any creativity at all and Aubameyang is totally wasted on the wing. Yeah I know he scored many goals from the left before but if Lacazette is playing worse than Bendtner and you got Aubameyang on your team maybe slot him into the CF role and use some pacey wingers.

Honestly seeing Aubameyang wasted as a winger at Arsenal would be like Crystal Palace moving Zaha down as a left back. He's your best player and you're not playing him in his best position. I think that's shocking.
 
Seems odd to not include a player earning £300k a week in your squad for not being good enough! Ok he doesnt have the impact as before but surely you would find room, is it more a money saving excercise to avoid additional bonuses and the like?

Maybe its just the way football has gone there many players earning rediculous wages that teams cant offload any more because of the stupid contracts they are on. United and Arsenal are paying for this it seems and its effecting them on the pitch massively as well as they cant reinvest in the team in the way they need/want.

Is the bubble beginning to burst?
IMO they are punishing him. For speaking out and not leaving.
 
Brighton vs West Brom finishes 1-1. Spurs playing Burnley now.
 
I am not a fan of Ozil. I don't think he adds enough for what he takes away from a side. But what is going on with him feels wrong and gross. Especially with the uighurs situation.
I doubt they care about that above football. If this was Messi or Ronaldo in the same situation bringing up the same cause, I can guarantee they would be in the squad lol.

Also I'm not surprised if people at the club can't be bothered to back Ozil even when he brings up a worthy cause, when Erdogan is one of his best buddies.
 
I doubt they care about that above football. If this was Messi or Ronaldo in the same situation bringing up the same cause, I can guarantee they would be in the squad lol.

Also I'm not surprised if people at the club can't be bothered to back Ozil even when he brings up a worthy cause, when Erdogan is one of his best buddies.
I saw exactly how the NBA and Arsenal both reacted to the mention of the Chinese market. Capitalist societies fear China too much to not react in the negative. Look at how Disney handled the Mulan situation. If it was Messi or Ronaldo, they would have kept playing them, but they would have separated themselves from the comments and commended them. The NBA is all about the social justice, and yet even LeBron got pissed off the situation was brought up. It's all about the almighty dollar in these situations that don't "effect them".

Also I think there is a big difference between backing Ozil and backing a group of people being persecuted. Condem Erdogan. Also condemn China's state institution concentration camps.
 
I think Özil at his peak was one of the best players in the world and he was pretty much the engine of a fantastic Germany side and that amazing Real Madrid team just serving Ronaldo assist after assist. I think he started pretty good at Arsenal but Wenger also gave him more freedom and he built the team around him in a way. But Emery didn't play with a #10, Ljungberg didn't and now Arteta isn't, and I think Özil has proven that he's not good enough as a winger or CM to get those starting spots.

I think if Arsenal wanted to make use of Özil, they could probably play a lot more enjoyable attacking football with a 4-2-3-1 with Özil as a 10 with Partey and either Xhaka/Ceballos/Elneny behin him, put Auba front and center and put Saka on the left and either Pepe or Nelson on the right. As things look now, Arsenal just don't have any creativity at all and Aubameyang is totally wasted on the wing. Yeah I know he scored many goals from the left before but if Lacazette is playing worse than Bendtner and you got Aubameyang on your team maybe slot him into the CF role and use some pacey wingers.

Honestly seeing Aubameyang wasted as a winger at Arsenal would be like Crystal Palace moving Zaha down as a left back. He's your best player and you're not playing him in his best position. I think that's shocking.
Ozil has never been the engine for any team. I mean, it's Ozil. :hehe:

He was good in a very antiquated way, that has basically disappeared. But even, he was never Sneijder at his best imo.
 
I saw exactly how the NBA and Arsenal both reacted to the mention of the Chinese market. Capitalist societies fear China too much to not react in the negative. Look at how Disney handled the Mulan situation. If it was Messi or Ronaldo, they would have kept playing them, but they would have separated themselves from the comments and commended them. The NBA is all about the social justice, and yet even LeBron got pissed off the situation was brought up. It's all about the almighty dollar in these situations that don't "effect them".
China is a difficult issue for all multinational companies. I'm sure most of us would be happy with big companies putting out aggressive statements to try and help hold them to task, but that's an ideal and unfortunately it's a complicated minefield. International diplomacy is a major part of preventing world wars so the stakes are high when any small perceived offence against the most powerful authoritarian regime could snowball. I am sure we have very similar opinions on what we would want to happen, but unfortunately the world isn't always a nice place and not everything is in our power to positively change.

Also I think there is a big difference between backing Ozil and backing a group of people being persecuted. Condem Erdogan. Also condemn China's state institution concentration camps.
That's it though. Ozil gave away much of his power of helping causes when he buddied up with someone who has caused a lot of misery for other people. Someone like Rashford still has that power because he hasn't done something stupid like Ozil yet. When he becomes mates with Erdogan too I'll lose interest in what he says, even if it's something worthy.

Most people I know do/would condemn both Erdogan and China's camps, but wouldn't for eg bother supporting a person condemning Erdogan who had just become best mates with the head of China's concentration camps!
 
Ozil has never been the engine for any team. I mean, it's Ozil. :hehe:

He was good in a very antiquated way, that has basically disappeared. But even, he was never Sneijder at his best imo.
Haha, that is one word I'd never have thought I would have heard in the same sentence as Ozil. :D

He was good in a way that never appealed to me. And then he declined and there's no way I'd pick a luxury player like that any more.
 
Son gets a late winner for Spurs against Burnley.
 
One step forward, one step back for United, Ole was too cautious at the weekend and got his subs wrong, the starting of James made zero sense, he's not good enough, I don't care how much running back he does, he's got no clue when he gets in the final 3rd. Ole could have played Van de Beek on the LW or kept Rashford there and played Greenwood as the #9.

We also saw what i said about the limitations of the Fred and McTominay midfield duo, they work their socks off and it's settled Maglof, but their passing is ass, especially McTominay who seemed to think we were in blue. Ole seems to think Van de Beek is purely a #10 but he's an Ajax product, he can play #6 and #8 and has done so plenty of times, I'd try him and Fred together against Leipzig as the disconnect between the back 4 and front 4 needs fixing, I guess we're in a period of trial and error right now, I feel the sooner Axel becomes a regular the more freedom Ole will feel with his double pivot selections.
 
One step forward, one step back for United, Ole was too cautious at the weekend and got his subs wrong, the starting of James made zero sense, he's not good enough, I don't care how much running back he does, he's got no clue when he gets in the final 3rd. Ole could have played Van de Beek on the LW or kept Rashford there and played Greenwood as the #9.

We also saw what i said about the limitations of the Fred and McTominay midfield duo, they work their socks off and it's settled Maglof, but their passing is ass, especially McTominay who seemed to think we were in blue. Ole seems to think Van de Beek is purely a #10 but he's an Ajax product, he can play #6 and #8 and has done so plenty of times, I'd try him and Fred together against Leipzig as the disconnect between the back 4 and front 4 needs fixing, I guess we're in a period of trial and error right now, I feel the sooner Axel becomes a regular the more freedom Ole will feel with his double pivot selections.

Agree with pretty much everything you've said, McTominay works hard & isn't afraid to put his boot in, but his distribution just isn't good enough currently to be a starting Manchester United midfielder.. at least if we've any long term aspirations to be contenders for silverware. I'd be starting van de Beek at every opportunity, anytime he's come on for us I feel like our play has improved quite noticeably.

Daniel James was woeful against Chelsea, I think he's got to the stage now where he's afraid to make a mistake because he's getting dogs abuse on social media as he had Reece James isolated on the left a few times in 1v1's & didn't run at him with any sort of conviction.. it's like the absolute opposite of Rashford when he plays LW. Rashford takes his man on when he shouldn't & James wouldn't take on his man when he should.
 
Agree with pretty much everything you've said, McTominay works hard & isn't afraid to put his boot in, but his distribution just isn't good enough currently to be a starting Manchester United midfielder.. at least if we've any long term aspirations to be contenders for silverware. I'd be starting van de Beek at every opportunity, anytime he's come on for us I feel like our play has improved quite noticeably.

Daniel James was woeful against Chelsea, I think he's got to the stage now where he's afraid to make a mistake because he's getting dogs abuse on social media as he had Reece James isolated on the left a few times in 1v1's & didn't run at him with any sort of conviction.. it's like the absolute opposite of Rashford when he plays LW. Rashford takes his man on when he shouldn't & James wouldn't take on his man when he should.

McTominay is like a Phil Neville or John O'Shea, a squad player that is used against the weakest opposition in a week when we have 3 big games, or as a man marking spoiler in specific games, not a regular starter. Agreed on Van de Beek, his movement to recieve the ball and his quick 1 and 2 touch passing is class and quickens the tempo of our play, and he'll put the workrate in as well, he's not a luxury player.

He does look very lacking in confidence but if he can't handle the heat then United isn't the club for him as the scrutiny is non stop, just look at huge money flops like Kepa and Pepe, how many column inches have been used to bash Chelsea or Arsenal over those signings? At United no matter what you cost your performances are news. Fact is he was a cheap punt who wasn't even regarded as one of the best players in the league below and we bought him because of Giggs, the kid is out of his depth and we should have took the money Leeds were offering, to me he's providing less than Lingard would in the same role.
 
One step forward, one step back for United, Ole was too cautious at the weekend and got his subs wrong, the starting of James made zero sense, he's not good enough, I don't care how much running back he does, he's got no clue when he gets in the final 3rd. Ole could have played Van de Beek on the LW or kept Rashford there and played Greenwood as the #9.

We also saw what i said about the limitations of the Fred and McTominay midfield duo, they work their socks off and it's settled Maglof, but their passing is ass, especially McTominay who seemed to think we were in blue. Ole seems to think Van de Beek is purely a #10 but he's an Ajax product, he can play #6 and #8 and has done so plenty of times, I'd try him and Fred together against Leipzig as the disconnect between the back 4 and front 4 needs fixing, I guess we're in a period of trial and error right now, I feel the sooner Axel becomes a regular the more freedom Ole will feel with his double pivot selections.
Ole's got to play Van de Beek at some point. Give the guy a proper chance. I think he's better than many that are getting in ahead of him.
 
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