What a performance that was. Everyone was exceptional and made Spurs look a very poor side. He may be England captain, but I can't stand Harry Kane made worse by the fact he scores for fun against us, but he might as well not have been on the pitch. Kristiansen is quickly becoming my favourite player with another great performance. Him and Soutter are both looking like great buys and the future mainstays for our defense. Great to see Ricky p back as well.
... only gripe has to be Harvey's first getting disallowed... how the **** that was given as offside is beyond me ...
Fantastic performance and result yesterday. Maddison's return has made such a difference. The transformation from 2 or 3 weeks ago is incredible. It's like there is suddenly a belief that, with him in the side and in his best position, we can create, score and win games. He has to be the most influential player in the league when he's on this kind of form. Confidence, self-belief (particularly in players like Barnes - and no, he wasn't offside) and energy levels are on the up all through the side. Everyone can see the improvement that the 3 new boys have brought, along with Iheanacho's installation as first choice striker. He brings so much to the team with his composure and link up play. Could anyone see Vardy or Daka scoring the goal that he put away? The one concern (apart from that Castagne/Ward debacle) was hearing that Maddison was only able to train on Thursday and Friday. I hope this long-term problem he has can be sorted, because we need him playing for the rest of the season. If we can keep this side fit for the next 2 matches we could really give Man Utd and Arsenal a run for their money. We've already got 3 points more than I thought we'd have from these 3 games.
Need to give a shout out to Mendy ... not just for THAT strike ... he was key to the balance we had ... Tielemans should not come back in even if fit right now ...
Agreed. However it wouldn't surprise me if Rodgers picked Ndidi or Soumare ahead of Mendy if they are available. Why wasn't Tielemans in the squad?
To say that went better than I expected is an understatement. New faces, round pegs in round holes and a creative Madison. Amazing the transformation to the team. Unsurprisingly, as a result a much better atmosphere too.
Read an interesting stat, first time in Prem history a team has conceded first two games in a row yet gone on to score three first half goals. Its great to see we will have life after Youri, but if Maddison leaves in the summer, then he will be much harder to replace. Obviously hope he signs a new contract but would rather sell for mega bucks in the summer than keep him for another year and then go for free. What's the bet if he goes to a top four side, regardless of form he will be in every England squad.
A full selection of shocking results for us today. Have to hope we can produce one ourselves tomorrow.
One thing that may help us is that Man Utd have the return game with Barcelona on Thursday, and the league cup final on Sunday. I’m expecting a few tweaks in their line up, but I imagine they’ll still be pretty strong regardless. Saying that, we’re in a good vein of form at the moment, scoring goals, and more encouraging we’ve gone behind in the last two games but shown some character to come back and win, handsomely.
Another thing that can help us is Brendan sticking with the same team that started last week and maybe not tinkering too early with any substitutions.
Had we taken our early chances we could have got something out of todays game, I just knew they’d need one chance and they’d score. Terrible pass from Faes which led to the goal. As for Sabitzers challenge on Faes, had it been the other way round and Faes would have been off. Their second goal looked offside, even frozen looking down the line Rashford was further forwards than our last man. Very frustrating afternoon.
Our first half display deserved more, but clinical finishing let us down. We never got going in the second half and we seemed to run out of ideas and energy after 55 minutes. If United had not got such a heavy week ahead of them we could have been punished even more. But it was very disappointing to see us fade so badly out of the game. We are in a relegation battle and we need to be competitive for the full 90 minutes. That was the first time I'd seen Tete play. I don't know what his previous performances were like, but I thought he was very poor yesterday. He got absolutely nothing out of Luke Shaw apart from one pass across the 6 yard box, and he really didn't look to be keen to get involved in the physical side of the game. I wasn't too impressed with the substitutions either. Tielemans and Praet did try and get hold of the ball and worked hard, but Soumare looks as though he doesn't want to be here. So slow and ineffective, he added nothing. Get him off the books ASAP and get someone in who has energy and determination. Praet or Ndidi would have been better in the midfield with Ricardo coming on and giving us some pace out wide. United are on a run of form at the moment, so too much criticism may be harsh. Hopefully after the Arsenal game we can start to get some confidence and results against the lesser sides.
The finishing was poor/De Gea is brilliant or Rashford was good/Ward is simply not a Prem goalkeeper. Mix and match still gives us nothing.
Predictable result yesterday with no Maddison. What really angered me though was the fact that Mendy was not only dropped but never even got to come on to replace Ndidi. Soumare got the nod instead. What does the guy have to do to keep his place? And did Vardy make a difference when he replaced Iheanacho?
What a shambles that was. Trying to play out from the back with Amartey and Soumare in the side is asking for trouble. Both were liabilities tonight, the difference Mendy made when he came on was clear to see. There were so many misplaced passes, poor first touches and people dallying on the ball all over the pitch. The lack of urgency was also alarming, this was a good chance to maybe qualify for Europe, that’s gone now, just a relegation battle to look forward to. Fair play to Blackburn, good value for their win, some of our players could learn something from their work rate.
So ... having had some time for reflection... or more accurately, to have calmed down ... here are my 'considered' thoughts ... Brenda has a lot to answer for and certainly failed to 'read the room' in terms of what the fanbase wanted from this 'transitional' season ... the Cup was our only chance for some relative 'success' but he has completely ****ed that with his initial team selection and approach ... we should have started with our first choice line up and getting in control before giving minutes to squad players ... Given that he didn't, he should at least have hooked Amartey, Soumare and Thomas at half time as they were all having mares ... not doing so led directly to us going 2 behind ... Iversen deserves to start in the league- he is much more convincing than Calamity Dan ... and without him tonight it could have been a much more embarrassing scoreline before the substitutions were eventually made ... Mendy HAS to start and be the first choice for defensive mid ... Daka didn't do too badly when he came on and certainly did more in his cameo than Vardy did all game ... no point playing Vardy if there is no quality service (Maddison / Tielemans) ... Iheanacho should have played from the off ... he is the 'in-form' striker and we wanted to give this competition a real go ... as it was we went out with something of a whimper... Rodgers brought us our first FA Cup and for that he'll always have my thanks ... but his selections now seem to be based on stubbornness and ego rather than form and logic ... and fresh ideas are needed ... wouldn't mind the Blackburn manager on what I saw tonight ... they looked more like the Premiership team in the tie, despite being without their 2 star players ... Rant over
