Rival watch

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BinghamSpur said:
Big weekend for the 'Pool....
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Big swing today, but a long way to go. They look better than they did under Klopp last season.
City had a blip, but do miss de Bruyne. I’m sure they’ll come strong.
Arsenal have obvious weaknesses. No proper striker/goalscorer. And no creativity without Odegaard. It’s no coincidence that their form has dipped without him. I still maintain that the signings like Havertz, Trossard and Jorginho are not good enough for the elite level they want to compete at.
And don’t rule out Utd finishing in the top four half
 
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Chris Wood has restored parity in his battle with Man Utd.
They're both on 8 Premier League goals for the season now.

In all seriousness though, he's having a fantastic campaign. The man's 33 next month and he's not far off a goal a game.
He's putting some much bigger names to shame right now.
 
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littleDinosaurLuke said:
Forest are 3rd :emoticon-0104-surpr
That young man in charge is doing well, although not yet walking on water
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He may share a beard and hairstyle with Ten Hag, but that's currently where the comparison ends.
As for their opposition, I'm sure another ex-Man Utd manager is expecting another phone call soon.
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PleaseNotPoll said:
Chris Wood has restored parity in his battle with Man Utd.
They're both on 8 Premier League goals for the season now.

In all seriousness though, he's having a fantastic campaign. The man's 33 next month and he's not far off a goal a game.
He's putting some much bigger names to shame right now.
Click to expand...

A goal scoring striker you say, what the bloody hell is that?!
 
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PleaseNotPoll said:
Chris Wood has restored parity in his battle with Man Utd.
They're both on 8 Premier League goals for the season now.

In all seriousness though, he's having a fantastic campaign. The man's 33 next month and he's not far off a goal a game.
He's putting some much bigger names to shame right now.
Click to expand...

Always liked Chris Wood. An honest trier,just try's his best.Unlike a lot big money stiffs. Good luck to him.
 
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The RDBD said:
Dunno what their "season compass" is for
this season (they did lose this game last season too) ,
so their form to date may actually not be an issue.
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I think we're 4 points worse off than this time last season. Look, when people say 'if Arsenal hadn't got those 3 red cards, they would have more points', there probably is truth in that. However, we did get those red cards and we did drop points in those games. Which means we have more ground to make up.

I get we've had a few injuries here and there, but that's absolutely no excuse for Arteta doing a 360 on everything that made us both fun to watch and competitive not so long ago. The setup is not optimal and is hindering us. Our squad is also not balanced.

The fact that Odegaard is our only creative outlet and that we're all screaming for a 17-year old to fill in his absence is shocking squad planning. We should not be putting all the expectation on Nwaneri just because the club failed to prepare properly.

Not signing a striker for the last 2 years (especially given Jesus's decline) is bewildering. Signing Sterling on loan (which I never wanted anyway) and not using him? What was the point of this?

He was able to salvage the Havertz signing by moving him from midfield into attack, but he's not a prolific forward and, whilst he can do a job, we should not be relying on him for the entire season.

Mikel Merino...good squad player, and has his uses, but is he really someone that elevates our team? Because I don't see it and I don't see why we spent £35m on a 'functional' midfield player.

A lot of people felt that we hadn't done enough in the Summer to surmount a title charge. Maybe there were some financial reasons for this, and we couldn't spend as much as we wanted due to the large outlay/lack of sales for the years we weren't in the CL. But we still had money to spend on other areas. Meaning they didn't prioritise the forward/attacking positions or CAM roles because they felt we had sufficient options. If that's the case, then their judgment has been terrible and has cost us another crack at the league title.

I've just got no hope in us doing anything of note because the club haven't given me a reason to.
 
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BrunelGunner said:
I think we're 4 points worse off than this time last season. ...
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As I said earlier in the season, to better Citeh
you really have to do them on pts (their GD is
near always superior to the rest) .

To finish champions on 90 odd pts but with a
season of low scoring wins and few routs :
I suspect supporters can live with that. :)
 
Spurf said:
Do we think United were not playing for Ten?
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Of course. Why is anyone surprised? The new guy will come in and get a few results and the media postings might as well already be written based on, "turning the corner" and "how long until a title challenge". All the entitlement around United makes me sick. They have no more right to win the league than Southampton. But in all the years of failure (or league positions supplemented by an awful lot of penalties), the narrative never really changed. And while there was all this talk of them 'only' finishing 8th last year, I actually thought they overperformed to reach those dizzy heights! So maybe one day, one manager, might just make a difference... but just as likely the players will throw another manager under the bus given the chance. But for goodness sake pundits please shut the frack up about United being entitled to finish higher.
 
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Spurf said:
Do we think United were not playing for Ten?
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It's partially that and partially his tactics and team selection, in my opinion. He failed to sell them on either.
Van Nistelrooy only made minor changes, but they made more sense and it worked out for them.

Both managers picked Dalot and Mazraoui at fullback, for example, but horse face put the Moroccan at left-back, where he's proven.
His Portuguese teammate struggles there and finds it very hard to contribute to attacks.

On the other hand, I felt that they were rather fortunate with the big decisions.
I haven't seen any conclusive proof that Sanchez made significant contact with Hojlund for the penalty, though it was stupid from the keeper.
Martinez copied Fernandes' lunge against us and should've gone the same way. The ludicrous overturning of that red probably saved him.
 
Ipswich v Leicester penalty call:
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How is this not a penalty and down to the ref, while VAR sent the ref to look at the West Ham v Man Utd one?

Dermot Gallagher keeps saying that we all agreed that we wanted the refs to make these decisions. I ****ing didn't.
I want the right call and for it to be a quick, correct decision. I don't give a **** who's making it. Why should I?
Warnock's absolutely flabbergasted by Gallagher's opinion, too! <laugh>

Still not a patch on the ludicrous Peterborough non-goal against Newport:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cx27qyl6g6no
Bizarre.
 
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vimhawk said:
Of course. Why is anyone surprised? The new guy will come in and get a few results and the media postings might as well already be written based on, "turning the corner" and "how long until a title challenge". All the entitlement around United makes me sick. They have no more right to win the league than Southampton. But in all the years of failure (or league positions supplemented by an awful lot of penalties), the narrative never really changed. And while there was all this talk of them 'only' finishing 8th last year, I actually thought they overperformed to reach those dizzy heights! So maybe one day, one manager, might just make a difference... but just as likely the players will throw another manager under the bus given the chance. But for goodness sake pundits please shut the frack up about United being entitled to finish higher.
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A honest hack would just point to the Poool and say :

- it took close to 30 yrs from the fall of their empire to get
back to a position where they were regular title challengers again

- if Man Utd operate similarly (already 10 yrs since Fergie went)
they could face the same fate
 
PleaseNotPoll said:
Dermot Gallagher keeps saying that we all agreed that we wanted the refs to make these decisions. I ****ing didn't.
I want the right call and for it to be a quick, correct decision. I don't give a **** who's making it. Why should I?...
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It's breathtakingly, ridiculously, mind bendingly wrong. How can anyone genuinely not see that as a penalty?

Gallagher was reluctant to give an opinion...he should be ****ing embarrassed about what he ended up saying. Of course, he won't be...the ****!
 
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