Mails: What is Man United’s Carrick plan?
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Chelsea might not win the league
To Peter, AFC about Chelsea winning the league.
You forgot to factor in that there’s still a few games we can lose and we can lose about nine points I reckon.
We have Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Man U & Everton to play still.
I see us losing at least a few points there and if I’m completely honest still don’t think we can win it, even with the lead we have.
It would be disappointing if we didn’t, but for Conte’s first season I wouldn’t consider the season as a whole a disappointment.
I said to get back to top four and CL would be ideal in the first season and I still think it would be even at 22 games played this season and us on top.
Anyway, if we don’t win I don’t want Spurs or Arsenal to win it…that’s all that matters
T, CFC, London
…No, the title race is not over!! Chelsea have to go to Liverpool and play Arsenal. If they lose both those games Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs are right back in it with momentum as well might I add.
It pains me to say Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs instead of Man United ☹
Lynton (Can we even use emojis on this site? Is it considered manly?? (0_o) )
Man United can still finish second if…
Despite STILL being sixth, United fans are a lot happier with Jose than Van Gaal because they create a lot more clear chances. Thinking (screaming manically), ‘How did we not win that!’ instead of, ‘How will we ever win again?’ is a lot better after a poor result. Problems are still prevalent with the team and I’m hoping they can be addressed with the glut of games in the next 10 days.
1. Finishing – this has been the main problem all season. Zlatan, and maybe Mata, have been the only players close to being clinical, however they still have a number of gilt-edged misses in big games, in particular Zlatan against Liverpool and Mata over the weekend against Stoke. Blaming professional goalkeepers being good is a weak excuse. For me the main problem has been Jose’s rotations of the front three. Bar Zlatan, no one is getting a consistent run up top and these runs are essential for attackers’ confidence. Martial has been the main victim. He’s had poor games but they do not justify the number of starts Lingard gets. United now have an opportunity to start Martial against Wigan, Hull and Leicester in an attempt to get him the goals he needs to relieve the pressure of Zlatan.
2. Left back – United are lopsided. There is a lot of space on the right flank due to Valencia’s endless supply of energy (that basically gives the right winger a free role) and this leads to too many players being camped on the left. Playing a left-back with pace would give United another option running in behind and bring more balance. Blind and Darmian are too slow, so easing Shaw back into the team against Wigan is vital. From there it is up to him to stay fit in order to save his United career.
3. The Carrick problem – Carrick is 35 and more susceptible to high pressing which was shown perfectly by his disaster against Liverpool. The alternative must not be Fellaini. His passing is so poor that teams let him have the ball and double up on another midfielder. He is useful higher up the pitch but he wasn’t used high against Stoke so Herrera and Pogba had to carry him through the game. Few teams can press as relentlessly as Liverpool so Carrick should be brought back in or Jose should play Blind here if Carrick isn’t picked. Blind isn’t quick but his positioning and passing are fantastic from deep.
Second place is a real possibility which marks real post-Fergie progress.
Dave, Ireland
A new Carrick is required
Hi just want to take up some time and comment on the state of play at Man Utd:
Transfers Out: The deals that have been made have been brilliant good prices and beneficial to the players – Schneiderlin and Memphis need minutes and with the way things have gone getting those minutes somewhere else. The first refusal clause for Memphis also smart.
Transfers In: Makes sense to not waste any money this January and Greizmann is a brilliant choice for the summer but what the heck are Utd doing to replace Carrick? He’s already 35. Schneiderlin is gone and Scweinsteiger if he stays is not a long-term option. I’ve not heard any serious rumours on a replacement something needs to be done fast unless Utd plan to try Blind or Fosu Mensah.
Finishing – A lot has been made about Utd’s poor conversion rates can someone offer a solution like extra shooting practice. This week was another bad example. Stoke practically scored without having a shot on target,
Youth – I’m a bit worried about the remaining young players Utd have got. No one has kicked on. Maybe it’s second season syndrome but I had high hopes players like Martial, Rashford, Shaw and Fosu Mensah would become even more integral to our play, they all like the aforementioned Memphis need minutes hopefully they can play in the cup games coming up this week and when is he going to play Tuanzebe? Was all that talk about how many players he gave debuts for show?
Timi MUFC
(Reading the part on youth players makes me feel like a guy who goes into the rain without an Umbrella and is suprised he’s wet).
What’s a ‘thrashing’?
I heard someone recently refer to Crystal Palace’s 3-0 loss to West Ham as a ‘thrashing’ which got me thinking. I have never seen 3-0 as a thrashing. For me, a thrashing has to include conceding at least four goals. I am not sure why but for me a thrashing starts at 4-1 and goes from there. I am interested in what others think.
I would categorise 4-1, 4-0, 5-2, 5-1, 5-0 and anything above as being thrashed. If you manage to score three you cannot really be thrashed until the opposition gets to 9. 8-3 is a classic match but not a thrashing (Arsenal fans lose out here as their 2-8 at Old Trafford is a thrashing but their 6-3 win at Anfield in the League Cup isn’t…guess who I support). 9-3 and you have definitely been done.
If you are bored you can go for the full classification. What does it take to get battered? 6-0? Weirdly I think you can batter someone and only win 2-0. Battering is more a comment on the performance than the result. I have seen teams batter someone and only win 1-0 (we absolutely battered them but their keeper was superb). Likewise I have seen lucky 3-0s. Everton’s recent 4-0 over City is an interesting one. It has to count as Everton thrashing City but did they batter them? Not for me.
A mauling? A steamrolling? A beating? All still starts at three clear goals and scoring four for me.
Micki Attridge
I am a Saints fan and I want silverware
During the BBC coverage of the Southampton v Leicester game this weekend. A comment was made from a Saints fan that he would take one year of glory (Leicester) even if it guaranteed 20 years of mediocracy after. The reporter questioned whether this attitude for a fan made any sense? Rather than entering each season hoping for success, having tasted the forbidden fruit of success and knowing it’s all downhill from here would surely make all those follow up seasons so much more frustrating?
As Claudio Ranieri and Leicester really struggle in the league this season, this is not purely a hypothetical question. There is every chance that Leicester could get relegated this year or next. But even if they don’t, the last 12 months is probably a magical highpoint the club will never reach again.
So how much mediocracy or even failure would you be willing to accept for one brilliant moment in the sun? Or conversely, would you accept a long period of mediocracy knowing there will be no outstanding success, but equally no risk of a bad season?
Portsmouth and Wigan, on smaller scales, spring to mind. Win the FA Cup and then get relegated and a number of seasons later they’re still outside the promised land. Would they trade that FA cup win to have stayed in the Premier League since? I’m not sure they would…
For Southampton, we’ve been poor in the league and crashed out of an easy group in Europe. But we’re one game from our first cup final since 2003. It’s only the Carling Cup but silverware is silverware and if we somehow secure a miraculous win I’ll count it our most successful season since promotion back to the Premier League.
Tom Saints (Can’t decide if Liverpool losing to Swansea is good for us, or whether it’s just made them angry)
In response on Rooney
M.C. calls me out for defending Rooney in F365’s acknowledgement of Rooney in W&L, which is fair, but anytime a ‘winners’ blurb could fit more easily in the ‘losers’ section, it’s a dig. You can identify it by the operative use of the word ‘but’, and you guys do it sometimes to get us all going. In the spirit of well-rounded mails though, I would like to congratulate John Nicholson on his Rooney ‘Blonde on Blonde’ article. A close to the truth and respectful way to honor the man’s genius.
Kevin, MUFC, USA
Rooney’s goal stats: Not all that
This is all according to Wikipedia:
Games per Goal
Wayne Rooney: 546 games-250 goals = 2.18 GPG
Luis Suarez (Liverpool): 133 games-82 goals = 1.62 GPG
Thierry Henry (Arsenal): 369 games-226 goals = 1.63 GPG
Harry Kane: 146 games-79 goals = 1.85 GPG
Would it have taken Henry 177 games to get another 24 goals?
Since the beginning of the 12/13 season he’s averaging 2.62GPG. Another striker who joined the PL at the start of that season is Benteke, 2.40GPG for Villa, Liverpool and Palace at time of writing.
Derek
Stop attacking Roberto Martinez
On Barkley: ‘(last season) He ranked 29th with 1.5 key passes per game last season – the same as Jurado, and fewer than Jordan Veretout.’ – Matt Stead
It’s all well and good giving us stats for key passes, but Ross Barkley scored 12 goals last season, playing well with the rest of the team until about February/March. He outscored De Bruyne in the league, and scored the same as Coutinho and Sturridge. But sure, pick on the key passes (of which he made more per game than Mata, Drinkwater and Ramsey, by the way).
Why not assists? He got eight in the league, more than Fabregas, Lallana..you get the point. Picking and choosing is fun.
You aren’t Martinez fans, we get it. You mention him only to abuse him. It was clear when this site said in an England Ladder that ‘It is difficult to imagine a worse manager for Stones’ development than Roberto Martinez. It is difficult to imagine a better manager for Stones’ development than Pep Guardiola.’
The glare of hindsight reveals the folly of such statements, as you say, but I really don’t see why Barkley’s return to form merits yet another hatchet job on Martinez.
You did something similar earlier in the season regarding Bolasie’s relationship with Lukaku, completely ignoring the successful partnership Deulefeu and Lukaku forged in the early part of last season that was far more fruitful. You fit the facts to suit your opinions, even to the extent of ignoring those that don’t back up your point.
You were miles off on the Winners and Losers piece on Koeman as well, it was never about results. No-one expected top six. It was about performances (improving), youth player integration after Southampton fan scare stories (now looking far more promising), and him generally not looking arsed or happy to be there (amazing what a few wins will do for everyone in that sense).
Well that wasn’t as cheery as I’d hoped…
Rick Jones
Barkley is barely a man
It was interesting reading the article praising Barkley. I’m delighted to see that at last he is living up to his years of promise, that up until now he’s failed to do.
Then I looked again at his age. He’s 23.
Are people mental? I don’t mean to denigrate serious mental illnesses, but come on. What is it about the media and fans in some quarters that they place ridiculous expectations on young players, that people demand maturity from young heads whilst also expecting them to retain their youthful exuberance?
Maybe the standards of the league are higher now, so much so that precocious talents can’t prosper because clubs and fans don’t tolerate their mistakes. I don’t know, but it reminds me of a rather wonderful selection of players: Gazza, Owen, Rooney, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Sterling and Rashford. There are plenty of others. All of these broke though young, got everyone excited and then people forgot that they were kids; instead, they heaped pressure and expectation on them and then started to kick them when they didn’t match up to ill-conceived standards. What was your mental state when you were 17-23?
Barkley has done well to survive to 23 without having been ruined. However, he has now reached probably the earliest age of maturity, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s finally delivering. Sure, having a decent manager will help no end. But let’s try and not forget that these players who break through are young, they’re basically kids. Their age isn’t just a number, it’s a reminder of what is reasonable to expect. Unless you’re Mark Zuckerberg, keep your stones in your pocket.
Of all of those listed above, only one has (so far) successfully carried the weight of that burden to achieve something special, and has been kicked all the way. And we wonder why our best players underachieve…
Guy S
On Palace’s bizarre transfer policy
Last night it became clear that Crystal Palace have made a bid Patrick van Aanholt that appears to be an initial £9m but could rise to £12m. Leaving aside that this means it will cost the Eagles between six and eight times what Sunderland paid Chelsea for him, it does mean they could eventually end up spending £24m on two players competing for the same position.
Anyway, Palace’s interest in van Aanholt follows previous rumours of interest in Robert Snodgrass, which hints at an interesting transfer strategy, whereby money is spent taking important players away from your relegation rivals and forcing them to take a gamble on unproven players, rather than taking that risk yourselves. I can’t think of any other sides who have attempted to beat the drop this way. It’s also a bit of ar$ehole behaviour, a bold strategy when the club is already struggling under a manager opposed by the weight of public opinion.
In some ways, it’s like the old joke about the most effective piece of equipment to avoid a bear attack being a pair of running shoes, because you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your friends, except that in this case, our new favourite Cheryl Cole impersonator is buying his friends’ shoelaces in the hope that they trip up in some way.
Ed Quoththeraven
Love for Nando Llorente
Fernando Llorente should be a Swansea legend after that performance at Anfield. I dont say this because he scored two goals and had an excellent link-up play all game against rivals and one of the chasing pack, nooo I do not care about their results as long as we keep getting three points every week.
It was his goal celebration that got me, he celebrated like he just scored the winning goal in a UCL final, running down to the away end with arms spread screaming. Who doesn’t want such passion from their player?
Uche (Goal Celebrations are the best part of football IMHO} Abuja
Ipswich: Boring and reliable
Interesting read about Ipswich from The Swiss Ramble, got me thinking about the club. It’s only when you realise what they are in competition with you realise that Marcus Evans and Mick McCarthy are doing a solid job with very little comparative funds. I often have to remind myself of this when looking at the parachute payment that the clubs that go up and come back down get. I also have to remind myself the current owner is not prepared to bankrupt the club again in order to gain promotion. Last year was more of a one off with the play-offs, but that was due to a Derby brainfart really, and once we got Norwich? Well, that’s inevitable. But I have to remind myself that the current set-up at Ipswich is, for want of a better word, reliable. Like a spatula. Or a saucepan. Or mild cheese. It isn’t going to do anything reckless.
The thing about reliability is that it’s boring. It’s so sodding boring that it honestly gets to the stage where you would want to get relegated to see something different. It’s sickeningly boring after 15 years now. Whilst reading the piece it said that Ipswich were about 12th in the list of attendance, somewhere in the middle. About 14th in revenue, somewhere in the middle. Almost every stat they had, and they had many, almost always in the sodding middle. I’m sick to death of the bloody middle to be honest, and sick to death of reliable, but you just know that when matchday comes you’ll wake up to ‘I’ve Got You Babe’ and Ipswich will do whatever they need to do to keep themselves middling, it’s like the club motto is ‘equilibrium’. Don’t chant ‘Come On You Blues!’ give it a blast of ‘Steady Now’ and ‘Whooa There’.
Even the last line of the article ‘It would indeed be a major surprise if Ipswich were to go up, especially given their current lowly position. Stranger things have happened, but not too often’. Screams don’t get excited, which is handy, because I’m not.
As for the recent FA Cup debacle, which was gloriously televised, I actually got asked whilst watching ‘Do you really support Ipswich?’ And when I replied ‘Yeah, really’ I got a pat on the back with a sympathetic ‘Ahhh, mate’. And I was like ‘Yeah, I know’, which as a conversation was as interesting as the bloody match, which was awful, really really awful, and boring (Unless you were Lincoln, congratulations to them). So yeah, got distracted a bit there, but credit where credit is due to Mick and Marcus, what they are doing is admirable, especially in the current financial climate. Reliable. Boring, so so sodding boring, but reliable.
Chris ITFC, (Middle) Liverpool
Somebody owes me a quiz point…
Whoever put the Premier League Top Scorers quiz together; firstly, thanks to them for giving me something to do on my lunch break, other than pretending to read finance magazines whilst actually reading Mediawatch and the Mailbox. Secondly however, they spelt Paolo Di Canio’s name incorrectly and cost me a mark. Yes, I am that petty.
Sean, CFC, South East
The red-tops never, ever change
I do love a bit of Mediawatch, always a great read picking out holes in red top arguments, and combines humour into its pedantic-ness.
And even more so since Sunday’s incident with Ryan Mason and how they’ve gone a step too far in its reporting. It’s good that there’s someone out there who will actually call out the red tops, but unfortunately it does very little and it’s been like this for as long as I can remember.
There was a similar incident back in 1993, Gary Mabbutt was smashed in the face by John Fashanu’s flying elbow (and got away with it because he was Mr Crazy Gang…awooooga). Mabbs was carried off the pitch on a stretcher still unconscious. Before any operation, the doc told him that he wasn’t sure if his sight could be saved. The extent of his injuries were an eye socket and cheekbone smashed in several places. A few weeks after this incident, Gary Mabbutt was included in the new years honours list and was named and MBE by her Maj for services to sport.
This was a great achievement for Gary and I know everyone around the club were thrilled for him because he had been through a hell of a lot in his career.
And how did one red top announce the news…back and centre…this photo…
Accompanied with the headline…
My Black Eye.
It’s a tragic state when the press can get away with it, what can be done? They’ve never stopped and sadly, never will.
On a slightly related note, has Mediawatch ever received a honest and sensible reply from any journo?
Martyn THFC