Was this ‘arse-kicking Liverpool needed’ to go and get Marc Guehi?
Liverpool’s shambolic defence against Crystal Palace should see their priorities change in the last few weeks of the transfer window.
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A kick up the arse for Liverpool…
Never good to lose a game but hopefully this is the arse-kicking Liverpool needed to get defensive reinforcement.
On the positive side, the attack looks smoking hot.
Aidan, Lfc (not sure anyone’s noticed but Guehi looks handy)
READ: Liverpool new boys show their worth but Palace may regret exposing problems Isak cannot solve
…Congratulations and well played, Crystal Palace! Showing they fully deserved their cup win over City. I hope you all win your court case and get to play in the Europa and show how good you are 😊💪🏻
As for us, we showed an expected weakness in a transitioning defence with two new faces out of four positions. No matter how good they are, they’ll need time to get used to each other. Once again goes to show how good the Robbo/VvD/(Matip/Gomez/Konate)/Trentsfer defence was, for such a long time! Hopefully we get into a good defensive rhythm sooner than later, or this season’s EPL defence will be a write off.
Gab YNWA
PS we may just need Guehi or Leoni a lot more than Bercola or Isak at the moment … 😥
A word on penalties
Watching the shoot out and seeing Eze do that stuttering start stop run up I’ve decided one of two things needs to happen about this.
Either it should be banned and they should not be allowed to stop their run up once started
Or
The keeper should be allowed to come off the line as soon as the run up is started.
The odds are already stacked way in favour strikers and the stuttering run thing is just making it more favourable for them and meanwhile the keeper is supposed to sit like a statue?
Change the rules.
Lee
PIF v Isak v Slot
Interesting that Newcastle’s owners are seemingly not that arsed about a realistic set of transfer targets, nor a competent sporting director to land them. Could it be that as Newcastle are but one wing of their great sports washing effort, they’re not actually that bothered?
Getting themselves woven into the elite football establishment here was the goal, and they’ve already managed to achieve that, in no small part by doing what no Newcastle owners have done since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Maybe it actually suits them to have PSR restrictions, more wedge for their wee gremlin Turki to throw around in the boxing wing of their nefarious operation. There they absolutely can throw their weight around financially, and are, whilst building legions of advocates across the general population and media globally – not just amongst Newcastle fans with tea towels on their noggins. Much more bang for their buck.
Isak’s got some balls on him too given his employers’ track record on dealing with people who disagree with them.
I do think it’s all set up a fascinating scenario at This Means More FC if they don’t buy Isak or A N Other proper striker too though. Ekitike could be quite good or useless in the PL IMO, and it will be very interesting indeed to see what happens if Mo’s back finally gives out from carrying Jurgen, Slot, and 90% of his team mates for all these years (and/or VVD’s).
Obviously everyone knows my feelings here, so I would love for this supposed mega transfer window to backfire spectacularly.
However, setting that to one side, I am getting strong billy big bollox vibes from Slot’s general demeanor in recent interviews, which is sorta understandable in fairness to him. The bare facts are that he’s won a fairly weak league with someone else’s players (again, no mean feat in fairness), and the top brass have decided this warrants a huge outlay, presumably to let him impart his own style. That’s risky. He’s still a relative PL rookie from The Eredivisie after all.
All that said, I suspect what will actually happen will be a hugely entertaining season with Liverpool, Arsenal, City, and Chelsea fighting it out at the top end though. Looking forward to it immensely.
RHT/TS x
(If Turki manages to arrange for Jake Paul’s jawbone to get launched into orbit by Joshua, even I’m gonna find it difficult to resist PIF’s diabolical scheme tbf)
Why some sort of PSR is needed
There’s been much gnashing of teeth, especially from Newcastle fans, regarding PSR/FFP and whether it “protects the cartel clubs” and is fair on teams trying to break a perceived glass ceiling.
I have no issue with the complaints raised, a lot of the criticisms are valid, it is far from perfect, but I have to ask; what is the alternative? Just scrap them completely? Let City and Newcastle spend as much Middle Eastern oil money as they want? Is that better?
Something that’s forgotten in the annals of time is a move City made shortly after their takeover; they looked at who their main rivals were (United and Chelsea) and immediately attempted to sign their best players, Rooney and Terry. Both United and Chelsea had to dish out new, vastly improved contracts for both players, that they wouldn’t have done otherwise, which eroded the budget they had to go out and otherwise compete. A win:win scenario for City. The point is, with cart blanche to do what they want, the likes of Saudi and Abu Dhabi will not just use their money to improve themselves, they’ll use it to hobble their rivals.
All that is to say, if you think things aren’t competitive now, scrap PSR and see how things look in 5-10 seasons time. I’m fine with people criticising PSR and fully open to ideas about how it can be done better, but I’m absolutely not having the argument that it isn’t better than having nothing in place.
Lewis, Busby Way
Fanmail for Mustafa
From today’s letter from Mustafa:
Opponents don’t yet know how to deal with Šeško, Mbeumo and Cunha together. That unpredictability could fuel a strong start.
Next paragraph:
Liverpool have brought in new players, but it always takes time for signings to bed in.
In conclusion, Man Utd are going to challenge for the league because of all of their new signings, and all other teams are going to struggle because new signings need time.
Football is back!
Kevin Mercer
…Long time reader, very infrequent contributor.
So, Mustafa would have us believe that the new Man Utd are the real deal. His email is full of so many discrepancies and contradictions (427 anyone?), that I felt inspired to write a rebuttal.
New player integration: Liverpool will have a problem because they have bought a host of new players. And Man Utd’s new frontline of Sesko, Mbuemo and Cunha will just gel as if they were identical triplets separated at birth?
Full pre-season = automatic cohesion: Is Man Utd the only team that has had a full pre-season?
No Europe: Are Man Utd only team without European football? Last I checked, 9 out of the 20 teams had qualified for Europe (Palace still on tenterhooks?). That leaves 11 teams without Europe, 5 of which finished above United in the past season. But yeah, Man Utd have a tremendous advantage because they had a full pre-season under Amorim.
Element of Surprise: This might be the single most egregious exaggeration ever. There are hosts of experts available with each team to analyze playing styles & tactics. Man Utd’s tactical surprise, if any, will be found out pretty soon, given the ultra high competitive nature of the Premier League.
Other Teams:
Man City: They are knackered. Are they though? Even in their off year, they managed to get (checks notes) 71 points. Their average points since Pep has taken over as Manager are a ridiculous 89.5! They have crossed 90 points in 4 of the past 8 seasons. So, even in their off year, they can be expected to reach 70+ points, which means Man Utd need 75ish, assuming the rest of the pack (including winners Liverpool) don’t reach there.
Liverpool: Last year’s winners, who have strengthened their squad. Need I say more?
Arsenal: 3 times runners-up, with 2 back to back 80+ seasons. But yes, the burden of proof lies with Arsenal if they can go the distance or not.
Man Utd may win the title. And pigs may yet fly. But for me, Clive, the latter has a higher probability at the moment than the former.
Govindraj, India (Used to love it when emails were limited to 3 paragraphs. Or was it 4?)
…Didn’t take long for a United fan to think they’re gonna win the league after signing a couple of players lol.
Funny part is he says City and Liverpool are vulnerable because new players need to bed in … While then listing all the new players who haven’t yet bedded in who will propel United to glory lol.
I don’t mean any shade but dude you’re setting yourself up for failure. Just hope for better than last year (which should be very easy considering how bad you were) ignore title talk, those days are gone now for United. You’re aim this year is make Europe after that maybe it can be top 4 but you’re at least two years away from even being close to thinking about looking at the Premier League title.
Lee
…In response to Mustafa’s contradictory mail. How can you say MU’s new front 3 will hit the ground running but Liverpool’s new signings will need time to bed in? Plus you’re midfield, defence and goalkeeper are still shit.
CK (Majorca is really hot this time of year)
…As soon as I saw the blurb saying that actually United might surprise everyone this season and win the league, I just knew the points made would be bollocks.
For a start, I don’t know where this supposed optimism has come from Mustafa, but it certainly isn’t I, or any other United fan I know, shares. Most of us think that finishing 6th would represent a fantastic season, and to be honest anything top half would be decent progress, as long as there is a clear style of play being established, and the players we have bought in fix the issues they were bought in to fix.
Also, while you casually state that Liverpool’s new signings will take time to bed in, you seem to be ignoring that our predicted front three are all new signings, one of whom has never played in the Premier League before. Surely they will also take time to gel?
Our defence is still a bit of a mish mash, with Onana (I really did think he would be excellent when we signed him) in goal, and after two seasons has proven he is not up to it. CB’s are all capable of having great games, but equally capable of having brain farts.
And as for our midfield… less said the better.
You talk of a strong start but we are facing teams who could conceivably change very little from their previous strongest XI and still be far better than us. I’d be very surprised if we were top half after 5 games.
‘Title races often swing on ten-game bursts where a team collects 25 points or more’… I mean, sometimes, but you have to be in the race in the first place, which to reiterate, I don’t think will happen. They are won by the team who picks up the most points over 38 games, which I cannot see us doing in a month of Sundays.
I sincerely hope I are wrong, but I don’t see us even challenging for the league, let alone winning it. Maybe a cup, but as Palace showed last season, there are plenty of perceived smaller teams who can provide an upset. Oh, and if we beat Arsenal in our opening game, none of my opinions will change.
Jack (Pre-season makes fools of some people, this is not Football Manager) Manchester
…So there goes Manyoo’s very own answer to Barry Fox, one Mustafa, proclaiming not blind optimism but level headed ‘real possibilities’.
I was going to write in and predict that on opening day Utd will convincingly beat the Gooners, prompting all sorts of knee jerkery, gnashing of teeth and ridiculous conclusions from both sets of fans.
Mustafa is just clairvoyant and jumped the gun by a week. Well done that man.
Manyoo’s chances of winning the title are less than Leicester’s were, irrelevant what the bookies say. Fandom and precedent does strange things to peoples heads.
TGWolf (If we win the supercup that makes us the best team right?) THFC
…Sitting in the garden, enjoying a croissant and coffee, my wife has just asked what made me laugh. Mustafa’s ‘this could be the season Old Trafford finally gets to celebrate the Premier League trophy again’.
‘…not based on nostalgia or blind hope.’
A team that finished 15th, whose performance in the second half the season was that of relegation candidates, is now capable of winning the league?
I think I’ll win the lottery next week. This isn’t based on blind hope. Hoorah for me!
Rob
What should Man Utd actually achieve?
So, we can now confirm that “give Amorim a pre-season” really did mean “give Amorim an entirely new attack” not actually training and coaching the talents he already had into shape. That’s not pre-season, that’s a transfer window and budget. Around £200m so far this summer, for 4 players. (For reference, a net of £210m was spent over the previous two seasons, for 8 players plus loans).
Anyway, having spent all this money on two players who he’d better hope aren’t Poborsky-style one-season-wonders and now another striker who is yet to deliver in a top league, I wonder what fellow fans consider a reasonable expectation for the season.
I suggested before that 6th was the minimum. Amorim surely has to do better than his predecessor’s worst – especially considering how their respective first seasons went. However, every additional big signing adds pressure to deliver not just better football, and not even just European football but CL football.
The team is certainly taking shape. If it clicks, it could be very good, although the cost – not just financially – is high, with many talented players either sent packing or looking marginalised.
If it doesn’t… well, that scenario writes itself.
So I ask: what is the minimum we should expect? Or are you willing to give him a(nother?) free hit year – something not afforded any previous manager?
Badwolf