What the ****'s happened to him? He seems to have just gone off the boil completely in the last few weeks. He was all over the place yesterday and he's barely made a save for weeks, barring the game at Stamford Bridge, where he still ****ed up.
I am pretty certain Kane will start on Tuesday. He is desperate to win the golden boot and there aren't many games to go now. He will see this as an opportunity to close the gap on Salah.
Anyone got any ideas on why we basically never get penalties, by the way? Barring the bizarre few minutes at Anfield, where we got the last 50 years worth, we've only had the one at Burnley. None at home in the league after 16 matches.
Said the same straight after the game. A yard or two off the pace of a talented but somewhat pedestrian CB partnership. Came back too soon - and if absolutely vital could have stayed a sub for a couple more games to ease him back in. Hopefully he didn't 'fake' the extent of his recovery.
I think that is just a perception we are pretty average in the number of penalties awrded please log in to view this image
I still think people are underestimating the effect Kompany had on yesterdays game. When fit he makes a huge difference to City and IMO is the major reason we lost yesterday. He snuffed out Kane's involvement and I don't know any other player who has managed that.
Our penalty problems probably stem from Dele's willingness to go to ground way too easily. It was always going to catch up with him/us. Harry Kane reacts poorly to breaks in his rhythm. Whenever he's come back from injury, he's looked off the pace and August is always a struggle. When he's 'in the groove', he's a machine. I say that he plays against Brighton and he should be back at it against United. I'd like to see Moura play. Brighton really struggled against Zaha, maybe even Son too and really pin their fullbacks back. They're really not great defenders, playing mostly as attackers.. Wanyama in for Dier whose form has really dipped. Three points needed, boys.
I even feel dirty by slating him, because we've gone through periods where we haven't even deserved Hugo such has been his brilliance. Keepers often get slated for mistakes yet rarely get the recognition they deserve when they keep sides in the game but I can't think of too many this season where I can say we owed it to Hugo. Baring in mind in one performance, Gazza won MOTM and Vorm has been typically steady in his performances, including the excellent double save in his last match against Swansea, it's probably further added to Hugo's problems - not forgetting the fact his distribution has somehow got even worse! I'm hoping it's just an off season for him and next year he'll be back to his typical best but for the immediate sake of the team I think he has to be dropped. It'd be devastating for him if he ended up costing us the semi final or made more mistakes which could jeopardise our top four place (latter is unlikely and would take a monumental **** up by the team but until it's cemented, I won't get too excited).
surprised by your performance & tactics last night. Your pressing in the first half was both half hearted and disjointed in that some were doing it but other players were left in space so allowing City an easy way out. Why you find yourself playing offside near the half way line when it leaves you so vulnerable to just a boot out of defence (as we were earlier this season) i'll never know particularly with the present offside rule. Moura looks a really good addition to your squad/team , particularly for £25m , and as others have said surprised he doesn't get more game time. You will deservedly end up in top 4 but imo like us at present haven't the squad depth to compete with the Manchester clubs over a whole season unless they screw up. PS as you all now you really really need to find cover for Kane.
Yep, said similar, too. I think worryingly - which is unlikely for Poch - I think Kane has somewhat demanded (perhaps but not best choice of words) to be back in the side in the hope to chase down Salah in the golden boot pursuit and I think Poch has allowed it. In the years the gaffer has been in charge, it's been well known that no player, regardless of how good or important they are, ever gets rushed back from an injury but I just get the feeling leeway has been made for Kane - which has effectively had a negative effect on the side. In the time Kane was off the pitch, we hit a combined ten goals against Bournemouth, Swansea and Chelsea, playing well in all of them. Against Stoke we didn't look that great but got the three points. That's not me saying we play better without Kane as that's a ludicrous statement to make but we've shown we're more than capable playing without him and thus we're better without than with him at 50%.
I can see where your coming from mate, theres no doubt Kompany is still a fine CB but you could just see from Kane's body language something isnt right. Even if Kane isnt scoring he chases lost causes, drops into midfield to get the ball, arguing with the ref and playing with such character but last night he was just not at the races.
What's more incredible is that yesterday was the first penalty we've conceded in 59 PL games, a run stretching back to 2016. And it wasn't even a penalty (but should've been a red so I won't complain).
Starting Son or Alli up top as a false 9 would've accomplished nothing. For all the fuss over City's "meltdown" and "creaky defense" the fact remains that only 2 world class attacking line ups have caused them to break sweat. Pool and United. And the latter was only for a 30 minute period in the second half. A fully-fit Kompany is probably the best CB in the league. Kane did pretty well against Chelsea I think the whole team just wasn't at the races. Starting from the back with everyone other than Jan looking nervy, into midfield with Dier awful and Dembele invisible, then to Lamela making poor decisions and Alli not contributing enough. If the entire set-up behind Kane is malfunctioning he is bound to look ****e. Against solid opposition I'd play a 50% fit Kane over a 100% Son. His mere presence on the pitch makes defenders nervous and occupies multiple players. They'll know that he can be ****e for 89 minutes then take your eye off him for 10 seconds and bam, the ball is in the net. If you look at Eriksen's last two goals you'll see the impact Kane has on the bigger picture. Against Stoke 3 defenders track him leaving Eriksen totally unmarked. Yesterday Kane gets the ball on the edge of the area, City panic and no-one notices Eriksen doing Alli's job better than Alli. Start him against Brighton and let him play his way to full fitness. Sub him off if we're 2 or 3 up with 10 minutes to go.
I think that's a little out of date, unfortunately. Palace have had 9 penalties, for example. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/topErhalteneElfmeter/wettbewerb/GB1 Seems weird, to me. You'd expect the more attacking sides to get more, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Palace, Everton and Brighton have had as many as the top six combined.
Yes, to a point. Both are just as prone to doing it but are definitely better at it. Most of Dele's dives are just a bit ****.
Yeah, I don't know why he bothers, even if you ignore the cheating aspect of it. He's just crap at it. He does seem to get clogged all over the place in a lot of games, though. Won't get any sympathy for it acting like that.
Starting a 50% Kane accomplishes nothing either, mate, our team can perform without him and we've proven it, the likes of Alli, Eriksen, Son and Lamela all step up in his absence. In the long run we're no doubt reliant on Kane but we're not as reliant on him as say Pool are with Salah or City with de Bruyne. Kompany's one of the best CBs in Europe but Kane has more than shown he can better the best when he wants too, he's been doing it in the Prem for years now but it doesn't take away the fact that when he's not fit, he's likely not going to be the handful he so usually is, which thus made Kompany's job that bit easier. With regards to Utd's attack, it's no better than ours. Kane (when fit) is better than Lukaku, Son is better than Martial, Sanchez has been well below par since joining them while the media treat Lingard as if he's some promising wonderkid when in fact he's 25 years old and finally enjoying a half decent season which still hasn't bettered the performances of Eriksen and Alli. Utd did however get their gameplan to perfection in the second half against City. Disagree with starting a 50% Kane over a 100% Son, if anything that statement proves that Son is still criminally underrated even by our own. I agree on starting Harry against Brighton, even if it's just for 45 mins. We'll need him firing on all cylinders come the semi final because as much as I hate him, Jose will set up his Utd side superbly and we'll need to be at our very best to beat them.
If Harry Kane's game picks up against Brighton, I want him and Sonny in the team. Our best team contains both. United's full backs are wingers pretending to be full backs and their centre halves are flaky at best. We have to attack them and run them ragged.
Yeah definitely, the point more refers to the fact that Kane shouldn't be starting when he's 50% fit and thus Son should most certainly be. Best XI without a doubt includes both.
