Mails: Mata and Schweini worse than Rooney

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There’s a lot of this
Very mean of me, but I’m reveling in Rooney’s decline. 3 out of 16 conclusions discussing this, marvelous. I bet his defenders are furious about this, also marvelous.

Why does LVG persist with him? On £300k p/w you’ve got to try something. Got to try and play him into form. There is also the worldwide striker shortage, with Arsenal, City, Utd and Chelsea all short up top. With the this pig faced elephant in the room, Martial is not the waste of money here.

Storey said Rooney will not recover his pace, power or positive aggression. Some doctors can recover the latter 2 of these. If Rooney does recover form I know what I’ll be thinking. Relating to this point and the pace of things over their, I think a move to Italy would be wise for Wayne. 300k p/w means he’s going no where sensible.

The horrific smugness of this mail of course has a lot to do with the Storey’s first conclusion, that Arsenal can win the league. The fitness of Aguero versus that of Walcott and Welbeck might well decide this one. Utd are only in with a shout Rooney gets injured, or visits the doctor for another reason.
James Gooner

Wayne Rooney. How? What? Why? I don’t even know what to say about the man anymore, that’s how infuriated and fed up I am. I thought it was just tabloid rumours at the time but now I have absolutely no doubt that he must have some sort of stipulation in his contract stating he must start all games (cheers for that Moyesy). I honestly don’t believe Louis van Gaal is an idiot, for a man so famed for his strict and direct approach, selling his star players and taking no nonsense etc, him starting Rooney just doesn’t add up, I mean Rooney even started against Ipswich Town for christ’s sake! Why? All Rooney does is deny better players opportunites (Kagawa, Martial, Herrera and more). Wayne Rooney might be a club “legend” (still haven’t forgiven him for those two transfer requests) and he’s given us great times but it hurts me and a lot more united supporters not knowing how long he will hold us for ransom.
Saladinho, MUFC, Botswana

I’ll keep this as short and sweet as possible , after watching every Man Utd game this season , Wayne Rooney is done as a premier league footballer, I take no pleasure in this but its glaringly obvious.

I find it slightly insulting that no pundit will even comment on this. It’s basically there job to analysis and comment on games , how can they avoid this elephant in the room , week in week out.

They should all have their appearance fees withheld as this is clearly a dereliction of duty.
Pedro Luxembourg.

What does Rooney have to do to get benched?! (And that’s a serious question). No one who watched the Manchester derby can deny the obvious lack of form of our club captain. Yet I sat in disbelief as the commentators (Gary Neville?) struggled to NOT question Rooney’s form.
Monica (even girls can see the bleedin’ obvious) MUFC, Indonesia

Dear LVG,

I understand you are probably constrained by the “shadow clauses” written into Mr.Undroppable’s bumper contract. But for the sake of sanity of millions of United fans across the world, can you please put PotatoHead out of his misery? Every man with an iota of common sense could see that what United needed today was to put Martial, our most dangerous and skillful player through the middle and Mata/Herrera behind him. But no, you go ahead and replace Mata. What does Rooney have to do to get dropped? I can honestly say that players in the Indian Super League, including “superstars” such as Florent Malouda, Helder Postiga, or even our own local lads have a better first touch and hold up play than Rooney’s which reminds me of a sack of cement rather than a professional footballer.
Vivek, India

Rooney has been finished for nine years
Rooney has been this bad since 2009, tap-ins may have masked it for the majority, but the fact is he’s been abysmal for years. The way the commentators and pundits (Shearer in particular) gloss over every pathetic thing he does is a disgrace. Every bad pass or miscontrol is “that’s not like the Rooney we know”. Well after 5-6 years I’m inclined to say it IS the Rooney we know.

I’m sick of the sight of him and do believe he must have a clause in his contract that says he plays when fit. What a disgrace. That documentary, the wage demands, all for performances like THAT. Shambles. We’d have been better off with Van Persie, Falcao or Wilson and Januzaj.

I think he’s actually been finished since the injury at Chelsea in 2006. Rooney was all about driving at the defence, weaving left and right, going past defenders either side and banging it in. After that injury he was never the same, and for the last 5 years has wanted to be cutting in and pinging a pass. He’s been dining out on his early performances for years.
Silvio Dante

Justice for Welbz
I see some support for Rooney in the comments section. It goes along the lines of: “So what if he didn’t have good stats, he worked hard and harried the opposition…”

Could someone please remind me why he was better than Danny Welbeck?
Girish (highest paid player in the league, pffft), AFC, Chennai

Mata a problem too
You wont print this cos you lot wear rose tinted pantaloons and spectacles when it comes to Juan Mata (I’ve even sent this e-mail in a rose tinted font so you can’t read it) but he’s not good enough to play for Man Utd. Two big games against Arsenal and City, both title rivals. Did nothing of note in either except get caught in possession a few times.

United have had several extremely talented foreign players in the past few decades whose assets have not been catered for in terms of the teams playing style (Veron, Forlan, Berbatov, Kagawa). Mata is being catered for in so many ways (as well as being supported by Spanish speakers on the pitch; Valencia and Herrera) and is still not producing the goods.

Rooney is the main problem with United’s attack but Mata is the next on the list in terms of culpability.
Eddie (A rose by any other name) Munro

Schweini a bigger problem
From your match report:

“Only in the last 10 minutes that United started to turn the screw on their rivals.”

Schweinsteiger was substituted off in the 75th minute.

He’s more of a problem for United than Rooney is.
Tim Sutton

Give Klopp time
I am not going to lie, watching Liverpool this season is an absolute exercise in frustration. It’s the equivalent of listening to an old scratched record as it keeps repeating itself infinitely. Lots of possession, poor set pieces, wasteful possession, wasted chances, and soft conceded goals. 

Now that the dust of the Klopp hype has settled, we can see that Rodgers has done some real work on this squad. Poor signings, no real cohesion, a general lack of confidence or belief, all hallmarks of his reign post-Suarez. Klopp has a mountain to climb.

However, I see positives too. The team performances are marginally better, important players like Benteke, Sturridge, and Firmino are coming back to fitness (Hendo too), and Klopp is a world class manager. People will be jeering at Liverpool now, mid table, Jurgen Flopp, yadda yadda etc. But it’s only been 3 games, and frankly Klopp will need at least another full season to see his work really come to fruition. It won’t be miracle working, but there is no doubt he is a massive signing, and one that can lead Liverpool back into relevance again.

Rodgers did his best, but it wasn’t good enough, no disrespect to him. Klopp was never going to turn the likes of Origi and Joe Allen into world beaters after 3 games. The hysteria over Klopp was largely media created. I believe in him, but I also realize the need for time. Rodgers got 3.5 years, Klopp deserves at least that long.
CB, Washington DC

B*nter
I don’t think this is what Liverpool expected when they said that Jurgen Klopp is a big draw.
Francis Franchise ( MUFC? )

Villa specialists in treading water
This is different. When Lambert was finally relieved of his duties in February, I felt a small pang of joy. And relief. His football was misery-inducing. Cancerous effluence for the eyes. Even Sherwood seemed to be an upgrade. There was an undeniable sense that the team was under-performing under Lambert. The fact that Sherwood managed to coax some rather good performances out of Benteke, Cleverly and even (on occasion) N’Zogbia seemed to back up this idea. Look, no one expected the guy to perform miracles. Especially with a club that’s so obviously up for sale. But at the very least I thought Sherwood might elevate the club to say, thirteenth. Perhaps through sheer enthusiasm and expressions of manliness.

But his sacking brings me no joy. Or even the slightest sense of relief – despite the evidence that he was so obviously out of his depth. There is, instead, a hollow feeling that Villa are now forever kicking against the tide. Remi Garde may well turn out to be a very decent appointment (if indeed he gets the job). He may not. The difference between doing a good job and a poor job at Villa is now measured in the distance between finishing eighteenth and, say, fourteenth. But it hardly matters. The club is stuck in an awful rut. One that is half of the club’s own making and half-not. One that even the best coaches cannot fix all by themselves.

Villa are the San Francisco 49ers of the Premier League. A team playing on heritage, mired in utter mediocrity. Caught between London’s financial elite and the North-West’s footballing powerhouses, they are lagging behind financially – and their struggles are epitomised by player recruitment. At most points in the recent past, Villa have had one or two high-value assets on the books. The likes of Southgate, or Dwight Yorke, or James Milner or Benteke. Looking at the team now, it’s hard to see who would interest the top clubs. Grealish, perhaps? As a potential youngster or squad player for someone like Spurs or Liverpool, maybe. But the rest? Agbonlahor? Richardson? Bacuna? Hutton?

It’s hard to see where this cycle will end. Whoever comes in as the new coach will no doubt bring bundles of enthusiasm and energy. Hell, they may even be able to briefly haul Villa out of relegation trouble. But the club is treading water; has been for the past few years. Like a man drowning at sea, kicking furiously but knowing that eventually the legs will tire, the end for Villa is inevitable. A sad, slow decline. Short of a new owner (with an army of accountants who can circumnavigate FFP) I see little hope for reversing it.
TJ Andrews

Mourinho moan
In many ways what is happening now could be foreseen last season(20/20 hindsight and all that). Chelsea limped over the line last season, sure they won the league convincingly but the football they were playing by the end of the season was very flat, boring and on reflection tired. The squad was knackered by JM’s playing style, he used a small number of players and he has a very demanding playing style both physically and mentally. History has shown us that the only way JM has to fix problems is by spending millions on new players and by marginalizing the knackered ones (or those that question his management). Two problems with this – the owner wouldn’t let him spend as much as he wanted (presumably) and the most knackered players are also the most important in the team (I mean who do you realistically buy to replace Hazard? And who would you want to sell Hazard to?). JM created the problem and he cant solve it. I have no sympathy for club or JM . He is a short term manager and Chelsea hired him back any way; they got the EPL last season but now they are paying the price. This has been the worst defence of the EPL by any champions, they are currently making history for all the wrong reasons and every time a Chelsea fan talks of the 2014/15 season we can talk of the 2015/16 season (the season can be saved with a cup win but the league doesn’t lie Chelsea are currently sh*te). It is very amusing for all us non-Chelsea fans and with hindsight seems so predictable.

JM has always come across as arrogant which makes this all the more enjoyable. The only sad thing is when he is sacked he will get a huge pay off and have no trouble getting a high paying job somewhere else. I just suggest his next employers only give him a 30 month contract. If JM stays expect them to spend big this coming January.
Murray Whiteford

Kane the new Berba
Saw the headline at your fine website for the Bournemouth – Tottenham match.

Couldn’t resist, Harry Kane feels like Berbatov – not the tottenham version but the Man Utd one just before he got shipped out.

Scoring hat-tricks at matches already won? Checked.

Patches of drought? Checked.

Golden Boot? Almost for Harry but Berba had to share so I’ll put it as Checked.

So don’t hold your breath, still a long way to go before we can truly ascertain Harry as the next England big hope.
Powell Powers

Some seasonal conclusions
I seem to remember that ten games in used to be considered the point where enough football had been played for the table to mean something and for conclusions to begin to be drawn. So without further ado, I’ve come up with a few quarter-season gongs.

Best team: West Ham – it’s an incredible feat to have taken Arsenal, Liverpool and City’s scalps away from home already this season. The fact is things could be even rosier at the Boleyn Ground if they hadn’t lost at home to Leicester and Bournemouth straight after that win at the Emirates or come away from games with Norwich and Sunderland with just two points. Maybe the win this weekend is a sign that they’ve got the hang of beating the league’s lesser lights (chortle).

Best signing: Dimitri Payet – that it’s a toss up between him and Jamie Vardy is a decent indication of how weird the season’s been. Payet’s arrival was somewhat overshadowed by Yohan Cabaye pitching up in Croydon. They’re both outstanding examples of the ability of smaller Premier League clubs to harness new-found spending power and no player sums up West Ham’s season better than the swashbuckling Frenchman.

Biggest disappointment: Bournemouth’s injuries – Wayne Rooney would be a fairly obvious choice but for me (Clive), it feels like one of the three relegation spots have been decided already. For Bournemouth to survive without three absolutely critical players would be a historic performance. It’s especially sad for Tyrone “nicest man in football” Mings.

Feel-good story: Chelsea – I imagine there will even be a few Blues who get why this is one bout of schadenfreude we all want to continue. I hope they don’t sack that nice man Mourinho just yet, though he seems to trying to get the boot. Second place goes to Claudio Ranieri, for entirely the opposite reasons.

Top four: City, Arsenal, United, Spurs – like United, Spurs have been largely uninspiring this season, but they don’t lose. With the wheels exploding off at Chelsea and Liverpool hitting the reset button, that could be enough.

Biggest gripe: This is weird, but what the hell is it with not being able to appeal yellow cards? The notion that there aren’t the resources to review them is ludicrous. If referees aren’t going to be given the assistance they need to make better decisions in the game, at least use the technology available – ie videotape – to make amends when they do mess up. I think with the extra safety net you’d also begin to see more refs caution players for diving. Speaking of which – nice to see Match of the Day and Goals on Sunday both gloss over Deulofeu’s antics on the weekend.

This was long. Sorry.
Anon