I just think it's a massive mistake to treat the manager's role with such a cavalier attitude, as Levy apparently does. The manager is absolutely key to how well a team performs, as the Glaziers are discovering to the cost of their own credibility.
how many of the moaners were all for selling Bale and buying half a dozen new players,how do they feel now,we should have done a "liverpool"" with bale,as they done with Saurez
Hasn't this argument been done to death. Are you seriously claiming that if the pro-Real media campaign had targeted Seweres and Real had bid £80m that that Pool wouldn't have sold him? Be serious.
I agree, Sherwood's inability to even try changing the game was frustrating. There was a real lack of shape to our side as Eriksen once again rarely appeared on the flank meaning that Soldado and Ade were drifting out wide a lot. A top manager can make a difference in a game even when it involves making what might seem like a defensive substitution. Hull were used to the threat we were offering and dealt with it comfortably and I'd have liked to have seen Capoue or even Kane brought on for Soldado to give us a bit of shape. Kane's worked well on the left wing in the few games he's played and Capoue could have allowed Paulinho and Bentaleb to get forward without leaving us so open to the counter. I feel a bit sorry for Soldado, he's clearly not a bad player but something isn't right with him. Whether it's confidence or that he regrets moving he just isn't striking the ball well and when you look at what he did in La Liga that should be his strength. Carroll seems to do better when he's got more freedom in his role, I doubt he'd be much use sitting deeper and trying to snuff out attacks while another player gets forward. Bentaleb's a talented player but as I said before the game, he's not suited to play alongside Paulinho. I don't care what's gone on between Capoue and Sherwood, the boss needs to be the bigger man on this one and get him playing if Sandro's still not fit.
But that's just a poor excuse to be honest...Vertongen has been poor this season imo...he was appalling v Man city in the 6-0 loss. He was in the side that lost 3 -0 to west ham...he played in the loss at home to Newcastle ... and it was him that let Long go free for yesterdays goal. I ain't blaming him for those losses but he has hardly been like Bale was last season...he ain't exactly carried the team. He will be gone along with Lloris ( who believes the hype about himself) ... again he ain't been all that this season. His display yesterday could well have cost us...his decision making is very poor at times. Both are good players and I'd prefer them to stay but it irritates me when players who are responsible for performances on the pitch decide they have to leave when it is they that have failed...or have been part of the failure. 2 yrs ago we were in 3rd place 10 points clear of 4th ... Modric was part of the team that imploded...then at the end of the season demands to leave cos he wanted CL football...maybe he should of looked in the mirror and asked why he'd refused to play in the opening few games of that season ...which we lost...could have also looked at his piss poor scoring record...Modric left and everyone said "well you can't blame him" Last season the match that cost us top 4 was fulham at home ... we lost 1-0... and were really poor... Bale did **** all in that game, Vertongen and Lloris also played...bale left and everyone said "well you can't blame him" and we will lose Lloris and Vertongen and everyone will say the same...
When a club like us sack a manager for missing out on 3rd by 1 point then there is never going to be an easy way of reaching that stage again, so the situation we're now in goes back to the sacking of Redknaop regardless of the reasons behind it. Sherwood on paper may not have been a good choice but in reality there where little options, mid season, all the top managers where in jobs and if you look at the results achieved by Sherwood then you can't argue with what he has brought to the club so far. Hes here on a short term contract and possibly hired by Levy with the idea of keeping things steady until the summer and if he proves a success he will be here for another season, or if it doesn't work out then an experienced manager will be brought in. That is a fairly smart way to deal with the AVB sacking. Overall we put unrealistic expectations on our managers for the budget they are handed and when we sack the only manager to get top four finishes then you set yourself for years of disappointment chasing a progression or even to match these achievements.
Agree with some of that, Verts is being heralded as this special player when he is actually fairly weak at times in terms of defending, Yes he may be classy on the ball and at reading the game but he is nowhere near the level of Ledley King in terms of defending and certainty nowhere near Modric or Bale in terms of the impact within the team.
If Real had matched Arsenal's bid for Suarez then he'd be playing at the Bernabeu. All that Liverpool did was match our stance over Modric to Chelsea. I didn't mean that Carroll should be used as a holding player, but that he suits playing a deep creative role, making the side tick rather than getting up and supporting the attack. I completely agree about Capoue, though. He's not going anywhere now, so refusing to use him just seems stupid and stubborn. We were desperate for some changes yesterday and Sherwood didn't seem to know how to influence the game. Not a good sign.
This. Levy wants top 4, but doesn't make the right decisions to get us there. The "top 4" rarely sell their best players. If you can't compete with the big oil tycoons, you have to keep the top players you already have. Otherwise like you say, a top four finish is an unrealistic expectation. You can't expect to get in the CL if you shoot yourself in the foot all the time. Alternatively, just accept that 5-6-7th is the best we can hope for, based on what we actually spend.
agree with that re; Verts and Lloris,espically,I thought he would be a lot better than he actually is,some of decision making is bad
Lloris has got his faults, but he's still a decent keeper. His shot stopping is unbelievable at times. Although we get on his back for the mistakes, like others have said in the past, he's also got us out of some very sticky situations. Even if he's not everyones cuppa tea, the last thing we need is for him and the likes of vertonghen etc leaving at the end of the season.
They wanted Bale the season before and we kept him, Modric wanted out the season before he left but we kept him...If liverpool don't get top 4 this and they get a massive offer they'll sell. They didn't sell cos a) they didn't wanna sell to an EPL Club and b) the goons took the piss with £40m and £1 bid and c) no one offered them £85m Selling Bale made lots of sense...he wanted out and they offered us mega bucks...what didn't make sense was spending £30m on a player who we don't play...£27m on on a 28 yr old striker and try and make him play as a lone striker...selling a striker mid season and not replacing him...but most of all trusting £100m to a manager that hardly anyone wanted and then sacking him before xmas... rant over
Like you say,i don't want them to leave,just improve,as i believe they can,i still think we are on the verge of having a very good team,but not this season
were these AVB's players though? I was under the impression that Paulinho was the only one that he chose. but regardless, 26m on a 28 year old was very strange, especially with DL and his resale values. I've said before that I think that was simply a panic buy as we'd missed out on so many strikers for about 4 transfer windows. The fans were getting very pissy about the fact we desperately needed a striker and i think Levy knew he had to do something. But by that point we were scraping the barrell.
The top 4 rarely sell their best players? Well two of them have more money than virtually any other side in the game, one of them's in the top 3 earners and the other does sell. Frequently. If Arsenal can't keep their top players, despite qualifying for the Champions League every season and having a wage bill that's roughly 50% higher than us, than what hope do we have? Our only real choice is to keep doing what we have been and trying to address our off-field disadvantages. We've improved the facilities, started bringing through youth and are working on the stadium. Given the FFP rules we can't even lump in massive amounts of cash now, which is how others got around the status quo.
I agree. But there's something about our play and the general mannerisms/attitude on the pitch, which makes me think that a lot of the players have no confidence and are a bit "lost" with it all at the moment. They were probably sold the idea of working in a "project", with a young coach who'd already gained some pretty impressive honours, at a club that has great training facilities and a new stadium on the way. What they've actually seen is: the best player sold, the young coach sacked after 18 months of dour football, no signs of progression with the stadium and another young coach (who doesn't even have a pro license) take the job. for many of them, prior to signing with us, they'd have said "WHO??!!" if someone had mentioned the name Sherwood. I'm not saying AVB shouldn't have been sacked, god no LOL, but it's enough to make the players think "what the **** is this club doing?!"
