Don't worry, London's Only Remaining Routemaster Conductor will be along soon to dig out the quote and put it in his sig to show us all how cool he is. I believe what I actually said was Gerrard was not top top top ****
As one of the more balanced posters on here Rufflad, what do you think are the ramifications, if any, if you get twatted by Citeh tomorrow night?
Ramifications for Mourinho? Very little. Ramifications for our players? I think the defence is definitely under scrutiny and rightly so.
It'll look like we're in freefall. We're not really, I'd like to think that Mourinho is merely going through a laborious process of elimination before settling on a winning team, but it would seem like it. We've got to stick with Jose, it would be lunacy and disastrous to get rid, but we need to string some wins together. Tomorrow night would be a good starting point. If he continues with Fellaini it won't happen though, he's just not good enough and it's not like we've got no other options. We've got half a ****ing dozen other options. He is the catalyst for all that is ****e within the side. I would say leaving both Zlat and Rooney on the bench tomorrow night and having a front four of Rashford, Martial, Michytarian and Mata would be a grand idea also. Personally I think Schweinsteiger needs to be brought out of isolation too. And by **** do we need a centre half or two.
Agreed. For all his defensive 'qualities' he adds nothing going forwards. And honestly does nothing in defence that Herrera or Schneiderlin couldn't do. It is quite bizarre tbh - I can understand that Mourinho is a stubborn ****er and that is part of who he is. SAF was the same sometimes. But why stubbornly sticking with a player you didn't buy and have no real connection to. It was different at Chelsea last year, where he may have felt had to stick with Fabregas and Matic after spending big on them, and wouldn't ditch Ivanovic after making him VC. Similarly with SAF being loyal to players like Cleverley and Gibson he'd brought through the youth set up. But there's no reason for the same behaviour towards Fellaini.
The Fellaini thing will perplex me for the rest of my confused life unless Jose or even LVG explains it. He is utterly ****e, I can't believe he's ****ing aces in training!
I don't understand why he gets picked for the big games, he does f uck all in them, he slows our play down and passes it sideways as well, It pisses me off. The sooner he leaves Manchester United, the better.
The reason he picks Fellaini is because he's an easy short term fix while Mourinho searches for a long term solution. He wants everyone to be playing the system he wants but doesnt believe they're ready to do it yet especially in the big games. So he puts Fellaini in as a safety measure. The problem is, Fellaini stops the team from developing. The irony that picking Fellaini is actually prolonging what Mourinho is trying to achieve.
Short term fix for what? He's **** on the deck, **** in the air, slow, can't pass and gives away silly free kicks. Is he a getter option than Carricknir Schneiderlin in any formation/system?
I believe Mourinho sees him in a totally isolated role. He probably felt that in his first few months, Fellaini could just slot in and be someone who can break up play, and play the simple pass to someone else. The comparison with Carrick or Schneiderlin doesn't square because I'm sure he sees them in a wider role however that is a gradual process which he wants to develop long term. Hence my comment earlier that Fellaini is a stop gap while he searches for a long term system for the rest of the squad. We judge Fellaini by what he adds to the team, both defensively, technically and creatively. IMO Mourinho just sees him as that short term stop gap, a Mikel type who can just sit in there while he develops the rest of the team around him. BUT the problem is, that's all good in theory, unfortunately Fellaini CAN'T be counted upon to even do that. Nevertheless, up until the Chelsea game, Mourinho could probably justify in his mind why Fellaini continued to serve that purpose. Break his season down... Fellaini plays first 3 games against Bournemouth, Southampton, Hull and we only concede 1 goal. We play City and lose 2-1, he gives Fellaini benefit of the doubt and plays him against Watford and we lose 3-1. At which point Mourinho drops him for the next 2 games. Brings him back against Liverpool and we keep a clean sheet. I can see why he didn't write off Fellaini. I doubt Mourinho will play him now (not for a while anyway), as he's failed to do what was required. If Mourinho does play him again in the immediate future there'll be NO excuses now.
Thank you. I remember the comment my reporter mate made when he saw you were starting with Fellaini and Young against us the other Monday "Could be 4 or 5". Didn't pan out that way though.