We had probably the most patient ref of the season last night. It took him ages to show the first yellow card, but it only took 3 minutes for Charlie the Thug to to get one.
I thought the same in the first half against us. They pressed quickly and relentlessly, moved the ball forward at every opportunity and had a nice balance to them with Martial and Rashford upfront. Whilst we were too strong for them at the back and they didn't have any real shots on target, they also limited us immensely and forced us into lots of uncharacteristic errors. That match may well have ended 0-0 until they come back out for the 2nd half with Ashley Young of all people leading the line, and got even worse when they sacrificed their most creative player for the utterly underwhelming Depay. LVG realises his painfully obvious mistake, reinstates Rashford as the pinnacle, and the lad scores against West Ham and Villa. It truly is baffling. Van Gaal, both in his pre-season transfer dealings and then in his in-season management, reminds me of myself aged 15 playing Fifa.
Utd's defence and the two central midfielders were fine, but their attackers were all playing in the wrong positions for the second half. Mata simply isn't a winger and he's rubbish at tracking back, even when he can be bothered to try. If you've got a striker, two wingers and an attacking midfielder to fit into four attacking roles, then it's hard to get that wrong. It's virtually impossible to play everyone out of position, but van Gaal managed it. Young up top, Mata and Martial out wide and Lingard in behind the striker. Perfectly unbalanced.
It shouldn't be a slur. Counterattacking is very effective, as Spurs showed in exemplary fashion last night. Utd have the players to play with pace, especially on the counter too. Why doesn't van Gaal see it?
I sometimes think van Gaal's expression is enough to put his players off.Look at the contrast with Liverpool's manager.I get the impression that Klopp wants to make love to his players.....at least the Liverpool players LOOK happy!
I'm trying to work out which of the following is Klopp's rape face please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Wow! He's been one of our greatest critics in the past, so that is very high praise indeed! Pixie will not be happy, because Carra has basically called him out on just about everything. Not that that is too difficult, of course.
I just think that Lamela isn't very effective as an attacker - I just don't think he's all that good. I know the stats will say otherwise (decent number of assists and a few goals) but I just never expected him to score that header the other game, for instance. I never really expect him to beat anyone with a trick or use his right foot ever. Wouldn't fancy him much on a one-on-one (though I know he's scored them for us at least once). BUT by saying he's the first I'd replace that doesn't mean I don't have a hell of a lot of time for him. It's just that the other 10 are even better. On the plus-side I think his enthusiasm has been clear from day one - he's been desperate to succeed and be accepted, it seems. You always saw him celebrate goals if he was on the pitch or not, if he was involved with the goal or not, all with the same enthusiasm. He's also the guy who (apparently) looked shocked at Danny Rose when they were having dinner together and Rose asked him if he thought we could get top four, and said "My friend, we can win the league!". And he's young and will run all day and is eager to learn (having already adapted very significantly to what his skillset was when he arrived). Which brings me to my conclusion whenever I think about players nowadays - If Poch wants him in then that's good enough for me. And with someone as keen and willing to work and learn as Lamela I genuinely feel that the environment, with Poch at the helm, might be perfect to allow him to continue to blossom. Basically I would not be that concerned if he starts our first game of next season, say. But then it's hard to say who I would want to replace. For me this summer will only be about adding cover for CB, DM and CF really. And if the first 11 going into next season is exactly the same as Monday's team I'll be more than happy.
...which was all a long way of saying that the 11th best player on the team is still a player I ****ing love and don't think should necessarily be dropped or replaced in the summer. (I'm fairly sure that feeling has never happened in my life before - there was always a couple of players who we could clearly upgrade on even at the best of times. Let's not even think of the times when Stephen Carr was our only decent player on the pitch).
I'd add that he's been a big game player for us, at least this year, which puts his worth over the top for me. He might have had two goals and three assists in our three wins over the Mancs, and was MOM twice. The first win over City and the last over United could have been our two biggest wins. But, yeah, he can head about as well as I can, and while I think his right foot has improved a little, he's still far too one footed. please log in to view this image
I always regard a player as key/ important to the side the moment we realise we're not as good without them in the team and in my opinion when Lamela hasn't played, we've looked less creative and Walker doesn't have as much protection down his flank. I think Lamela's become a real quality player this season, especially the latter half, I'm getting comfortable now in saying that it was £30m well spent whereas the previous two seasons I'd have regarded it as a risky investment.
100%. He was conspicuously absent against Liverpool. Son gave them far too much joy down that flank and didn't do enough to occupy them in the final third. One of the commentators on Monday noted that our first line of defense is actually out attack. He said this on the 85th minute when we're 4-0 up but Kane and Lamela were still charging down the ball at the edge of the Stoke area. The ferocity and tenacity with which that entire front 4 presses must be stomach-churning for most defenses. Most CB's aren't the most comfortable on the ball, so that awareness that one second too long and I've lost this must cause such a panic. Son currently doesn't do this anywhere near well enough, which is why he has looked good against weaker opposition and in Europe, where the pace tends to be less frantic and defenders tend to be a bit more cultured on the ball. It was telling that for the brief few minutes he was on the pitch the other night, if you listen carefully you can hear Poch bellowing 'yes sonny!' repeatedly to encourage the Korean to chase the ball down. It is clearly an aspect of his game that is being worked on and what fills me with hope is that if Lamela put his head down and worked his socks off on a skill set that he'd never used before joining us, Son can do it too. If he can, his pace and two-footed ability will make him a monster of a player. But it's an 'if' for the time being.
For a few years people were saying they wanted a Lennon upgrade, and this season Lamela's made a very good case for being that: the obvious comparison is how he covers Walker/Trippier, something Lennon did yet Townsend certainly did not, but Lamela has a much more effective final ball than Lennon did and works better pressing in midfield.
There was a point in the second half where he tried to beat Given at his near post. Someone tore into him for it (maybe Alli?) because a cut back would have opened the goal up and there's no question it was the worse of the 2 options but I liked seeing him give some back to whoever it was. I think his problems have been related to confidence and this is the first time that I've seen him really back his play. Next time get it right but well done on being that confident and then getting it right by squaring the ball to Kane for the third. I love that he told Rose we could win it months ago. That's the kind of player we want, a real bloody winner. He matches our manager, no half measures, no settling for Wenger's 4th place trophy, no giving it up when it looks difficult and your opponent keeps winning. Keep your head and your heart and win. Play well but bloody win. You measure your achievements when it's hard not when it's easy. I see a team of winners managed by a winner. That's a potent combination.
I doubt Lamela is going to be the Bale-esque player we were hoping for. However, if he went back to Italy with the PL experience under his belt, IMHO he would become Bale-esque by their league standards.
It was Kane he gave a mouthful to (the latter being the easy cut-back option). His pass to Kane for our 3rd was him making up for it as he easily could've put it away himself on his stronger (only) foot. You could see his strength of character in the United game. Many 'luxury' players would've gone awol after that horrendous miss to put us 1-0 up. But he, true to form, knuckled down and played an integral part in the second half, putting in a beautiful delivery for Toby's goal and then applying the icing on the cake himself with a well taken finish. We cannot underestimate how much the Poch system relies on characters like Lamela.
