It has turned out to be such a strange season, that even after we playing at our best, beating teams for fun, winning at shite hart lane, keeping clean sheets more than any other teams, scoring more than anyone else – we are going to end up second! Man City just can’t lose can they?
Fulham can do us a favor, they can restrict Pep to a draw or win against them. I have zero confidence in Tottenham beating City and West Ham can’t go through them on the last day at Etihad. If something can happen, it’s today. Lets hope the gods favors us and Fulham and we get to see for once the sad face of Pep Guardiola. We have one of ours play for Fulham, Bernd Leno, who has promised that he will give his 100% to stop our competition.
There has been some happenings while I was missing. Jorginho signed the contract for another year, Mikel was full of praise for him and it basically confirms it’s time for Thomas Partey to go. I don’t believe Mikel wants to keep two 35 year olds to fight for one place when Declan Rice is a starter. If I was you Mikel, I would sell Thomas for whatever money we can get, and go into the market for a DM understudy to Rice/Jorginho.
Bayern did us dirty in the quarters. Saka was denied a clear penalty. Harry Kane got away with an elbow on Gabriel which should have been red. They weren’t so furious then about refereeing, but when it happened to them against Madrid when the offside whistle was blown a bit too early, all hell broke loose. Mr Tuchel, Karma is a bitch.
Next year’s kit has been leaked, and I am disappointed to say the least. Last season was best of Adidas, both Red and White, and the black ones were great. This season, the third kit was a standout and home one was fine too. I think I might skip the next season’s if the leaks are true.
A belated Happy Birthday to Dennis Bergkamp, you happened when I was playing cricket as 10 year old but looking back, I would have loved to see you play live. A gentlemen, a magician, red through and through.
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Fabrizio reported that we are monitoring the young 18 year old Ajax centre back Jorrel Hato. He has a deal till 2028 and he will be an investment for the future. We most certainly need a third regular CB to rotate with Saliba and Gabriel without hampering our game play. White/Tomi are CB but we haven’t seen them play there, and we don’t know if they will turn out to be equally good. If it costs us 10 odd million, I would say go for it.
Sacking news have started about Pochettino. He talked about an interview, the content doesn’t really matter but if the manager comes out and talks about it, either he is fearful he will be sacked, or he knows he will. Chelsea has just moved from a billionaire russian who managed to win things to a billionaire american who can’t make things happen. Loving it.
Right, and Ten Hag just can’t stop talking about us can he?
is the storm rolling in more ominous for us or them??
Wally with the brolly KP
thankfully this match wasn’t 400 minutes longer or Garnacho might have actually scored
good result, luke-warm performance overall…Saliba is the well-deserved MOTM
We got the 3. Currently on top.
Over to the Spurs to get a draw
…and yeahh
We’re all Spuds fans on Tuesday night right?
thankfully this match wasn’t 400 minutes longer or Garnacho might have actually scored
TRVL 😂
You’re right mate. But there were nevertheless some arse-squeakingly bad moments along the way. Palace ripped those cunts a new one 6 days ago as well.
https://youtu.be/xhtq1ObGHy8?si=CV134LruhPMLa7iO
This is priceless. Steve McLaren a few days after arriving as manager at Alkmaar thinking he’d have a go at Dutch. What a wanker.
I want to give MA a pass for the lame tactics against another injury-riddled side, as ultimately the result is the only thing that mattered, but just imagine what would have been said if gifting United all that possession had backfired, which it easily could have if Garnacho hadn’t worn his mother’s boots
A lackluster 2nd half performance where if Rashford had played we might not have got all 3 points.
Another game we did just enough and the different between us and City. Even when city drop pionts they will have probably had 25+ sots on target. We managed 5.
Now our GD is shyte. As Marc said City will hammer the Hammers.
Still it’s not over until the fat lady sings and El B says he has it in his head we are going to win the trophy.
Funny, I did too until we dropped unnecessary points agains poor teams.
That game arguably had a whiff of a pre-ordained result. Manure save face by losing against a vastly superior team who played in 3rd gear, in the process hindering City’s chance of another title. Let’s hope Tuesday night doesn’t feel the same. If Liverpool beat Villa, Spurs must want a result against City no?
I want to give MA a pass for the lame tactics against another injury-riddled side
Vieira
Has someone hacked your account? Is that really you or have you been replaced by a chat bot? 🤖🤖🤖
Next thing I know you’ll be blowing smoke up his tight, hairy culo!
But I agree by the way!
No one rubbishes Manure as well as Roy Keane!
KP–the same thing that has hurt the Spurs at times, is the same thing that makes them dangerous against City…Ange’s seemingly unapologetic quest to have his team play on the front foot at all times, could present Pep with a problem, if they don’t get their defensive tactics right…that said, when you adopt this style you likewise afford plenty of Grade A opportunites for your opponents, which means this could be a 4-2 or 5-3 affair
KP—I’m turning over a new leaf…actually it’s step 3 of my court-mandated anger management program…this is my 22nd year in the program, which btw usually takes the average human 6 weeks to complete….so wish me luck
Professional, efficient performance and not for the first time this season. This sort of performance would have us worried us 8 months ago, now we get it.
We learnt lots in Wenger days, including the fact that 80%+ possession can simply be ‘illusory’. All that possession and no XG. We don’t need possession to control games. Our defensive record shows how much control. ManC levels.
We played this game like the Luton game. No stress against a team whose only plan seemed to be get the ball to the tricky guy and see what happens. You didn’t see and ManU players offering Garnacho options because they either don’t trust him take them or they had no clue what to do next themselves. He didn’t seem to trust anyone else either. So dysfunctional, players ambling around while Ganracho tries to take on the World.
Diallo also became an irrelevance once he realised he was on his own too.
Great awareness from Havertz for the goal. Being aware of Casemiro dawdling and taking the space he did, the hold-up, shift and cross putting it on a plate for Tross. The fans’ endorsement, voting him player of the month for April, was well deserved and he’s kept up his good form with another assist borne out of his off the ball intelligence. Some people would have scoffed when his off the ball awareness was praised early in the season. They probably just didn’t get the concept of ‘off the ball’. Perhaps much like the same luddites who never ‘got’ Ozils skillset and his use of space.
All we can do is our thing. The numbers show how good we’ve been even if it’s not enough to beat City to top spot in the end.
Christ that was fucking hard work.
Praise the God’s of Capitalism for alcohol! Not that I consumed any in the pub I’d never do that.
All over to the Spud’s now – they get something on Tuesday and then we can discuss GD etc and where we are.
Marc—or not nearly enough hard work…I must say it was a little too easy for United at times, considering our defence-first approach…thankfully they were a bag of toys in the final third
Morning all
This DM headline kind of said it all for me:
“Arsenal were drained of energy and innovation but were grateful for United’s predictably woeful finishing as they take the title fight down to the wire, writes OLIVER HOLT after vital 1-0 win at Old
Traffordhttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-13409143/Arsenal-energy-grateful-Man-United-predictably-woeful-finishing-OLIVER-HOLT-vital-1-0-win-Old-Trafford.html
We looked tired, jaded and bereft of ideas always attacking down our right side because we still don’t have an 8 and Havertz couldn’t shine against the aging Evans.
Havertz watch:
70% pass rate
0 shots on target
0 shots off target
13 times lost possession
7/22 successful tackles 31.8%
1 assist
Zero shots for our 9 says it all. At least Garnacho was peppering the stand behind there goal. I’m not Havertz bashing but with a strong likelihood Havertz could be our starting 9 next season, after scoring 12 and with 6 assists.
Trossard had these numbers:
1 goal
1 shot on target
8/12 passes with a 66.7% pass rate completion
1/5 successful tackles
1 interception
4 x lost possession
Trossard has 12 goals with 2 assists from 33 games
Saka offered these results:
2 times fouled
0 goals
0 assists
1 shot on target
0 shots off target
19/28 passes @ 67.9%
10 times lost possession
1 shot blocked
7/20 tackles @ 35% success rate
1 yellow card
Saka has 16 goals with 9 assists from 36 games.
When you look at it our front 3 have scored 4 goals between them when our 9 should be a 20+ goal scorer a season. I believe it’s this stat that will be the reason we lost to City.
Midfield are adding a little less than they should, but we don’t have an 8 to compare with Ode for creation who has 8 goals and 8 assists from 33 games.
Partey has had limited game time with 0 goals or assists.
Rice has been good filling in at 8 with 7 goals and 8 assists, which is a good season’s return for an 8. However, Rice needs to work better with our LW as Ode does with Saka. Otherwise, we are a one trick pony down the right hand side and too easily defended agains.
Saka’s goals just prove how good he really is.
Martinelli has had a mixed season down to El B’s selections and has contributed 6 goals and 5 assists from 34 games.
We have the meanest defense, which is why we are 2nd, and chasing City, but had we had a 20-goal 9, we would be ahead by at least 6 points, as a guess.
While the fans boys are all patting each other on the back crowing about El B’s improvements in the team this season, they forget we are losers yet again. 3 times imploding in April for successive seasons.
El B’s mistakes this season are just the same ones from last season and some from before that one. In game management is still poor when we need it to change a game.
Did anyone see any different game intelligence in last night’s game from El B? Just repetitive tactics the beleaguered Ten Hag had countered and had Garnacho got one on target, he may well have scored.
The point is we were poor against an even poorer Manure. An all too familiar story this season.
I’m going to hand this over to you LIRers. Are you happy with our returns from our front 3?
If not, how could we improve tactically, and who do we need to buy?
For me it’s an elite 8 or young with no ceiling. Branthwaite at LB and a 20+ goal a season 9.
We buy right in those positions, in the summer TW, and not lose any long injuries to the Euros, then I don’t think even El B could lose next season’s title or could he?
For me, next season has to be El B’s last: win the CL or PL or accept the loser he currently is; except in the eye of the fan boys who are happy to win nothing because we look good at times.
It’s the ‘at times’ that is costing us trophies.
Tony—good synopsis of the current state of the franchise…it’s difficult to predict what’s on the immediatehorizon, from a recruitment standpoint, but it’s clear to me that a front 3 of Tross, Havertz and Saka wion’t get it done against clubs that matter
first and foremost, I would want to know the status of Jesus and Marts, as I think one or both could be sold on…sadly I think it’s more likely that the latter is on the outs, as his reduced role, especially during the business end of the season, means the manager has lost confidence in him, and he’s a far more attractive target for those with deeper pockets…I feel for the kid though, as our tactics, which clearly favours the right side of the pitch and lacks any real directness, just doesn’t allow him to cook, unless we put the kibosh on the whole left side inverted backer experiment…furthermore, there’s even been some chatter that suggests he’s been figured out and teams can take him out of games by simply forcing him towards the endline, but that’s only because we don’t provide him with the necessary help
if I was to hazard a guess, I think we might try to be slick when it comes to the Striker position and get someone who might be a younger, more athletic Jesus type, like Zirkzee, who’s got high-end link-up capabilities, but will likely never score 20+ goals…he will be shoehorned as an 8 or out wide at times, then act as the primary backup to Havertz, who appears to have the stranglehold on a position that he’s ill-equipped to handle when the going gets tough, unless we’re planning to flop and duff our way into the upper echelon of European football
as for the forward position, we will have to invest in at least one player, especially if Marts leaves, but it might not be the flashy kind of signing some might be expecting…with Tross under contract and Rice seeking more advanced pastures, it might be a younger, cheaper project purchase, so we can spend more on the backend…with Partey likely on the way out, we will undoubtedly bring in someone who will help facilitate Rice’s offensive dreams, then buy a defender or two, depending on our ability to re-up Gabs…let’s face it, it could be another headscratching managerial moment, in that we just spent the most money ever to secure the services of one of the best DMs in the business, but since we gave him assurances about playing up top, we’re right back in the transfer market spending big bucks on another DM
frankly I’ll be pissed if we fuck the recruitment pooch again by simply applying the same positional flexibility model as in the past…this could quite easily be the case beacuse the analytics seem to suggest that we don’t need major offensive reinforcements, whereas logic would suggest otherwise…the very fact that we ran up the score against piss-poor and injury-riddled sides, then couldn’t manufacture goals against City or the last two sides we faced in the CL, should tell you that we would be foolish to rely upon these numbers when it comes to predicting future success…ironically the numbers will likewise suggest that we shouldn’t invest too heavily on the defensive side of things, as our record is comparable with the best sides in Europe, but for some inexplicable reason they will be completely ignored and we will once again bring in some more expensive half-measure options