Title contenders? Man Utd are set up for another massive fall…

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United’s title challenge
Wow one decent win against a side who everyone knows can’t keep the ball out of the net and play to utd strengths and suddenly everyone is saying they’re in the title race..

I’m gonna reiterate some things united fans told me back when the roles were reversed. You’re not in the title race, you’re just at upper end of the table at this moment in time. To be in title races you need to he consistent against all opposition. Which you’re not.

To be in title races you need players who have won a title and know how to do it, have that experience and cool head (titles in other countries dont quite count) when things get tough. From memory united have Jones and de gea (I’m not sure on Mata and matic) and of those title winners only one played consistently but even he now is rotated with Henderson.

You’re a team on a good run (well done btw) but don’t get giddy because it’s only setting you up for a massive crash and an inevitable flip flop back to – everyone is sh*t and ole needs to go.

I’m not saying this to be annoying it’s genuine advice from a fan who has been in that position almost every year throughout the 00s.

Accept you’re on a good run but prepare for that one game that makes it come to halt and starts a slight rot. Trust me it is coming , but if you’re ready for it you can mentally power past it and stay a strong set of fans. Don’t prepare for it and keep telling yourself youre in a title race and that slight rot will ruin your month
Lee

…Dear Kneejerk 365

Save yourselves the trouble everyone within 9 points of the top of the mountain is a contender. This league will ebb and flow like one of those wrestling matches with multiple wrestlers think Money in the Bank.

Each of the main contenders has an advantage and fatal flaw, some will obviously fall off spectacularly in the next 24 games.
Just enjoy the ride
TIMI, MUFC

…With all this talk of Manchester United being in the title race as they have a game in hand that brings them to 29 points, Are Villa in the title race too? Their two games in hand puts them at 28 and just three points behind Liverpool? (That’s Maths that is)

To fulfill a stereotype I am a fully miserable midlander but those two missing games seem to be putting Villa very far under the radar for just how good they are doing this season? (Although the caveat is always that Newcastle and Man City are both more than likely to spank us because guys….it’s Villa!)
Jay

Five reasons Manchester United will win the Premier League

Watching the same game?
Looking at the mailbox on Monday and there were the inevitable “OleIn/OGS genius” emails and the usual “we don’t need Pogba” chorus. I expected that even though I resisted the urge to write in to remind people to relax, it’s only Leeds, and the difference in quality between attackers is what was most apparent – goodness knows our defence allowed Leeds enough chances. And let’s not kid ourselves, both goals were poor goals to concede defensively but our defensive frailties is an email and a half on its own.

But from the mailbox, what I was not expecting was to come away questioning whether I watched the same game as the others. The game where Fred consistently mis-hit passes, failed to control the ball repeatedly and once just left the ball for a Leeds player on the edge of the box. I get the need for a midfield engine, I really do. I’m one of Park Ji-sung’s biggest fans and I appreciate on the technical level he wasn’t as good as Rooney or Ronaldo, but you need a player who will run tirelessly and selflessly for the team. Park’s intelligence created space for the others to shine, and he won the ball back consistently for the team.

So I get the need for an engine. But Fred is more like an engine with no wheels, or no propeller. He’s not got any game intelligence from what I can discern, he’s got no awareness of the game going on around him, his positioning isn’t great, his lack of passing ability often causes attacks to break down, he offers next to nothing in terms of goals and assists, his inability to trap a ball first time is a liability all over the pitch but especially in our half. I think the best thing I could say about him is that he’s a willing runner and tackler – even that last point is tinged by him being a touch reckless in the challenge (example n – the PSG game). One commenter said that Fred shines when ‘he plays to his strengths and keeps it simple”; there’s nothing wrong with that if you want a solid player for mid-table, but a requirement to play it simple is not good enough for Man Utd (or any other team that has competitive aspirations). If he is to be the all action defensive anchor, then the team still needs him to be able to pick out a pass regularly, or control the ball first time and not put the defence under pressure.
Daniel (honestly felt the win was more about Leeds being utterly unable to defend) Cambridge

Maths with Mikel
Can somebody with a math degree please chime in and explain what in the absolute f*cknuts Arteta is saying in his *latest* pure maths rant?

Can somebody from F365 chime in and explain why there was only 1 article on this, without any obvious jibbing by the author? Just imagine Jose said something like that, the media would literally eat him alive. If Ole said it, F365 would have 427 articles about how stupid he is with his adorable babyface.

For me (Clive), it just makes one wonder: did Arteta send each of you at F365 a signed turtleneck and a pair of eyebrow pencils?
N.V.M. (Yea i said it)

A beautiful mind
Am I the only one in the world who understands Arteta-math?
He is saying the Everton game was a banker for Arsenal, but they lost. Same as Burnley and Spurs, the Gunner’s chances of losing were low, yet they lost. But the press needs someone to laugh at this week.
The press has their favourites, usually the rich oil clubs, so Pep and Frank are sliced bread. Ole is hot and cold, depending if he wins that week. Klopp, any chance they get, they stick the boot in, but not easy to laugh at someone who wins Manager of every fecking year. Mou is Mou, the press needs him for the headlines. Arteta drew the short end, he is mocked, he is meme’d, Lego hair haha.
I rate Arteta above Ole and waayyyy above Engerlunder Frank. He is intelligent, buys smartly, has a plan to solidify Arsenal before using it as a platform to build an attacking side. The results have been freakish, the ill discipline not helping, and a barking-mad fanbase out for clicks is the biggest enemy of the club.
Don’t be a lemming and follow the press. Arteta is a tactician and a mathematician.
Vinnie Pee

Silva’s a star
Before the game I was incredibly nervous, West Ham and David Moyes in recent seasons always seem to show Chelsea up on match day, 3-0 in the end looks comfortable but it certainly wasn’t till the end of the game that is for sure.

Thiago Silva was the stand out star at Stamford Bridge, the fact Leonardo felt he had slowed down with age at PSG and it was time to bring in the next generation without the Brazilian is in hindsight looking like total madness, he still showcases that world class talent even at the young age of 36, he is a born leader, an experienced mind and gives everyone around him a lift, his positional sense has truly stood out for me in his first few months at Chelsea, we spent millions in the summer on a wide range of talent but our deal to sign a 36 year old on a free is looking our best move yet.

3-0 in the end does flatter us, but we grounded out the win and sit 5th after back to back defeats, hopefully an early Christmas gift for Chelsea fans will be positive news on the ankle injury suffered by Ben Chilwell early in the first half, because Emerson is not even 50% the defender Ben is.
Mikey, CFC (Quite looking forward to Brentford v Newcastle today)

READ MORE: A title-winning omen as Chelsea overcome adversity

Nuno on refs
Listening to Nuno Santo Esprito’s post-match interview, I feel like anyone who has seen there team on the receiving end of one of Lee Mason’s stop-start-style displays should be able to empathise. The Fa’s kneejerk reaction is always to fine and ban, but I don’t know whether we’ve ever had a manager outwardly questioning a ref’s ability to do the job so expressly before. We’ve had Fergie calling Phil Dowd too fat, and every grumpy sod accusing a referee of being biased against their team, but straightforward criticism of performance to this degree seems like new territory. Is there room in the FA’s (admittedly ad hoc) rulebook for fair comment?

Thanks
Jamie

Sam and an unwanted answer
Ed Quoththeraven asked about Allardyce signings but “…probably not you Toffees fans” which caused me to immediately spring into action to let Ed hear from who he really didn’t want to hear from. Yes, Sam righted the ship for us and at the time, Tosun, and to a greater extent, Walcott did help the cause. Now, we’re trying to get the wages of both off the books.

Where Evertonians were unhappy was the style of play. I get it, we were floundering at the time and he did what he had to do. But believe it or not, what irked Evertonians more than the style of play was that when we sacked him and went after Marco Silva, the general consensus from neutrals was “Why would you sack Big Sam” and “Look at what he did for your club, he should be given more time.” Simple translation? “Know your place Everton, Big Sam is as good as you can get.” We found that incredibly patronizing and even more so now considering Big Sam was never considered for United when OGS was clearly out of his depth at the time nor is/was he considered for Arsenal before WBA picked him up. The idea that those clubs were “too good” to have someone like Sam while he was right for Everton smacked of pure hypocrisy (let’s not get into the comments we heard when Ancelotti was rumored to be headed to Goodison.)

My point here is that why is a manager good for some clubs but not for others? Don’t tell me it’s “tradition” or the pressure of a “big club.” Don’t tell me it’s the “big names” at the club. If your “big names” aren’t getting it done…. Hate to break it to you but the pressure of managing a Premier League club and the expectations of its supporters runs from 1-20. You think Big Sam would have been intimidated by taking a job like the United job? You’re having a laugh if so. If Sheffield United were to be connected with Allegri, Tuchel, or any other “name” manager, I’d say more power to them. The saying beggars can’t be choosers comes to mind but that doesn’t mean you can’t aim for the sky when it comes to managerial appointments. Nor does it mean the “big clubs” should only consider the “big names” when it comes to managers.
TX Bill (Christmas looks like it’s going to be much nicer since Carlo figured out a back four works much better than a back three) EFC

A season of six-pointers
This season of football is a lot like buying the generic-brand version of a favourite product; it is meant to be the same, and yet the vague similarities only heighten your awareness of the differences vs. the real thing. I am not here to complain, or provide any “well actually” style statistics. I just want to air a theory about this season and see what people think.

My gut tells me that because of the slightly irregular scheduling, truncated preseason, and residual fitness weirdness from suddenly having March through May off, teams will continue to drop more “random” points through the remainder of this season. As a result, it would seem that performance against immediate rivals (i.e. Title/European candidates, and Relegation Battle) will have a strong correlation with final position.

As it is, Liverpool top both the Top 6 Mini Table, and the Actual Table. I haven’t crunched the numbers for the relegation teams, but would be very interested to see if someone else would. “6-Pointers” are usually a bit overstated, but I wonder if that term will be closer to a reality during this store-brand season.
Dan, NYC