Transfer Rumours Let's ignore the big ****ing elephant and blame the latest manager, again. Are we nearly there yet?

Players are not consistently getting better. That is an ultimate concern at the club. The manager is not helping by constantly playing them when they are off boil. On the reverse, players like Maguire and McTominay should not just be discarded. We should seek to get more out of these players that are all great professionals considering the adversities.

 

Five points behind Liverpool, six behind City, after an utterly ****e start to the season.

Hardly cut adrift.

Ok, we have to improved ten fold, but we could be out of the picture completely if truth be told.

We're not.

 

If you take two points off Arsenal, even better had we got the full three without crazy VAR, and we didn’t tank the home game last week against Palace, that’s 6 points. Those margins are going to matter this season.

 

When I was a kid they didn't used to put on a league table until the 6th or 7th match cos its way too early to judge form.

Last year we were unbeaten in our first 7 games...it meant nothing in terms of the season.

United, Chelsea and toon are not out of the fight for top 4 imo.

 

I'm going to continue to lack all confidence until we start getting some defenders back.

Martinez we can forget about.

No AWB and Shaw for a month at least. No Malacia until the new year at least. Varane can't last a full game.

The best we can hope for is Reguilon may be back after the international break.

We'll continue to ship goals. It's going to be ****.

 

I don't feel as down about losing Licha as i would have before Evo came back, Evo Varane Maguire and Lindelof should be enough to hold the fort and keep goals down to a lowish level.
The loss of the two first choice FBs is devastating though, we are so open out wide and teams are getting round the back far too easily.

 

I don't have much confidence in any of them currently out there tbh.

I wouldn't mind if we were passing it around and playing pacey, attacking football. But we're not so I have little desire to keep watching us having to come back from a 1/2 goal deficit playing insipid 'safe' football OR taking the lead and then watching us capitulate to another **** loss.

 

Speaking of FBs, i really hope Brandon Williams is out on loan and not sold.
Just watching highlights of Ipswich V PNE and he,s just scored his second goal in 3 games for Ipswich, won the ball just outside his own penalty area and ran the length of the pitch to score a lovely shot into the far corner.
Playing RB by the way as he can play both sides.

 

Always liked him. He was one of the few I genuinely believe could've made it here.

 

That's the bit that's missing and after last season i have no idea why, it's almost like the energy is gone and the players are ****ed.
Training too hard?

 

Something's fcked. Why are so many hamstring injuries???

The lack of any imaginative quick attacking football must be down to lack of confidence. That, and a lack of quality with a lot of our passing in the final third. We rarely create team goals anymore. So much so, that when you see one it's like a treat.

 

Why do you all keep pointing to all these things that come to how the manager has been operating? Why is that so hard to acknowledge? Why are players knackered? Why are there no team goals? Why no imaginative football? Why did we bring in a LB from Spurs and we send two qualities ones away?

Too many fkin whys. I really hope that yesterday was a turning point for the manager to own up and to start bringing this team together under a dynamic and structured system. Make them play and fight for each other.

 

You mean a bit like last season. Who was the manager then?

 

So, we can’t blame the manager then. But we can sit here and list all the issues while we sidetrack the big elephant in the room. Makes sense!

 

There may be some element of truth to that. It's not one thing or the other but I do think the injuries have been the biggest problem and they've affected the confidence of the team, the belief, and I dare say impacted on Ten Hag's ability to put in place the football he wants to deliver.

He has a bit of credit in the bank after last season though and deserves our backing.

 

Who was responsible for the way we played last season (which was quite good and entertaining)?

 

Exactly, the manager has not changed his "system" or "philosophy for Van Gaal", he just hasn't yet had a full squad to pick from yet and is still a way off that position.

 

Oh, and Rashford is sulking because we have brought in a central striker and he thinks he could do that job.

 

No I don't believe that. I think the issue with Rashford is very much a confidence thing.

 

If a man who scored 30 goals last season started this one with low confidence what chance have the others got