Little Legume is a top quality striker but from what I remember of him in the PL, too much of an 18-yard poacher in the mould of Owen or Van Nistelrooy (sp?). My impression of the Poch system has always been that, due to the fluidity and interchanging of the '3', the '1' needs to be a bloody hard worker who can hold the ball up and drop deep/wide to pick up possession if he's getting no luck from the channels - and doing so won't leave us toothless because hopefully one of the '3' will push up to a central position and hope to score from there. Alli and Lamela are particularly good at doing this whenever Kane drops deep or wide. A player like Chicharito strikes me as the type of player who depends on a more predictable, static midfield who can pick him out in what is ultimately a much smaller area of operation than Kane would occupy during a game. However, as back up I'd take anyone with a pulse at the moment if I'm honest, with Njie out for months we're beyond desperate.
2-0 Stoke. Surely Van Gaal can't survive a thrashing, if that is what transpires. Stoke are a decent team these days, but not good enough to wipe the floor with Man Utd.
Man Utd's last 7 games in all competitions: DDDLLLL. Unheard of. Mourinho's debut as Man Utd manager... Chelsea?
Hard to tell, as van Gaal seems to have lost the dressing room in the same way that he did. Not an open, expansive kind of manager, either. They desperately need a big change right now, though.
Not a bad shout, but I suspect Guardiola already knows where he's going. Spainish national side or City would be my call.
Rumours are that Giggs will get the job. I can't see it, although he might be picking the team on Monday before Mourinho is installed. I can't see Utd allowing a manager of Mourinho's pedigree to slip through the net.
He managed Real Madrid and was under pressure to play with style. One season they scored 127 goals and got 100 points. He's good enough to be adaptable, although I would expect him to look to grind out results to begin with. The irony of van Gaal's approach is that there are many players in the squad suited to a fast paced pass and move game, yet their talents are not being used. Delay and Martial have pace, but rarely get to show it. Mata, Herrera and Rooney, in form, are great at finding space between the opposition defence and midfield and using the ball productively. The talent is there if the players are given a chance to show it.
Mourinho only succeeded in delivering exciting, all-conquering football at Real because the level of competition in La Liga is frankly shocking. He realised last season when he went to a place they call 'three point lane' and got tonked that the PL has become an entirely different beast since he last graced us with his divine presence in 2004. A lot of fans see the whole saga with Carneiro and Hazard as derailing them this season, but I personally think it started going downhill well into last season. Think about it, if you were a player with the talent that Hazard, Oscar and Fibreglass have yet you were told to play defensive football by an increasingly paranoid manager whose every word the media treated as gospel, you'd also be royally peed off and disillusioned. I don't think he'd risk exciting football at United for this reason, and secondly because their squad frankly isn't good enough. I said in the summer that LVG reminds me of myself aged 12 paying Football Manager after I'd used the cheat for infinite cash. There appears to be no strategy, long term or short term, behind his spending. Thus he now controls a top-heavy squad that is severely lacking in key areas (notably CB and ST) and still overly reliant on ageing legs to do the business. United don't just need a new manager, they need another complete overhaul. Fergie left behind a rusty squad desperately in need of a new identity and a new direction. The past 3 years have seen it stripped of whatever little quality it had left to be replaced by a collection of overpriced and inexperienced misfits who clearly aren't buying into anything more than the fat pay check they receive every month. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see them finish 8th at this rate.
So many chances and shots though, they deserved it - just. Newcastle definitely look like a changed team though - much more steel and resolve than they showed earlier in the season. I think Villa and Sunderland are gone - who takes the 3rd spot is a far harder question.
I tend to agree. Largely because Swansea and Newcastle both play Man Utd soon, which is as guaranteed a three points as you can get in this day and age
