Redmond & Solanke would do as well as Rashford at Man Utd

Joe Williams
Marcus Rashford Manchester United

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Marcus Rashford is distinctly average
This post is going down like a fart in a space suit as Utd and England fans think he’s the next Pele but I believe Rashford is distinctly average. Hear me out…. he’s average now. A young player blessed with physical attributes ie pace that makes him a nightmare for defenders. But……unfortunately that’s about it in my eyes.

Remember Walcott? He scored a few goals when he was young too. Rashford short comings, his decision making is poor, his link up play and hold up play is average, his shooting is substandard and his shooting technique is also below par. The most worrying thing is between his ears.

Rashford tries his best in every game, but that’s worrying in itself as his standard isn’t great. I feel sorry for the kid as the first goal he scored the English media had him as the second coming of Jesus. If you stick a Nathan redmond, Calvert Lewin, Tammy Abraham, demari grey, Dominic solanke etc in a utd shirt, would they not achieve something similar if not, arguably better??

Rashford also gets overpraised for his take on ability purely because he’s the only one practically at Utd who can dribble. I could go on but I won’t. Media and Utd fans need to get off this kids back with the pressure. He could still be a very good player but not if he gets fed a bunch of lies that he’s the man for England and Utd and that he’s already made it. He’s miles off the consistency to start for club or country.
John

 

Fact!
Gosh, there’s lots of bitter Liverpool fans in the mailbox this morning, aren’t; there? Anyone would think there is a game on and they are trying to sway fate in their favour.

Alex in NY is impressively bitter in his vitriol towards OGS and Utd, are you a tad worried we’re not going to help you out there son? I probably shouldn’t bite but I am going to. Can you not see the irony of a Liverpool fan criticising OGS for talking about the glory days of SAF? Those ‘fair few years’ of success were 20 years me old mucker, in which time we overhauled your total of top flight titles, did the real treble and developed arguably the best player on the planet right now, or second best, depending on your opinion. If I had a quid for every time I get reminded of the Shankly days, I’d have enough for a meal at your ex place of work.

OGS has just started at United but why wouldn’t he want to remind the players of the history of the club they are playing for? I would expect any Manager at any successful club, even your lot, to do exactly the same. Also, how do you know he isn’t inspiring with innovative ideas, tactics and style of play? We sure as hell aren’t playing in the same way as under Mourinho, Everton debacle aside. Are you present at the training sessions? No. Don’t present your bitter opinion as fact, Klopp has had years at Liverpool and what has he won so far? Unlike you I won’t slag him off based on supposition but what I will say is if you don’t win anything this year it’s going to get harder to win, not easier. Let’s just hope you don’t ‘slip’ up, eh?

Cheers,
Paul, Man Utd

 

Dynasties
City will go on to be a dynasty whether they win the league this season or not; they’ve got the infrastructure, the personnel and the money all in place to make sure of it. They’ll learn from their mistakes (not getting adequate backup for Fernandinho or Mendy) and come back stronger. The only potential threats to their dominion are FFP (should FIFA find a way to apply it properly) or losing Pep without warning and botching the succession. I’d be surprised if they finish outside the top 2 once between now and 2030.

Liverpool, as was alluded to in the weekend mailbox, are in a virtuous cycle. FSG have completely overhauled the management structure of the club and their changes have delivered significant improvements both on and off the pitch; this is not a middling club happening onto an excellent side and temporarily punching above its weight, but a sustainable programme of coordinated development. They may not have the wealth of an oil state behind them but there are plenty of excellent players to go round and City can’t buy them all.

The Liverpool teams that went close in 08-09 and 13-14 shared a feeling that this was the apex of their development, a perfect storm where everything fell into place for them. After falling short there was no confidence that either team could go that extra step in the following seasons, so key players left and their replacements (Aquilani, Balotelli) were nowhere near the required standard. However the 2019 vintage is not nearing the end of a cycle – the first XI are all under 28, and all of them have the potential to improve further. Plus, crucially (or maybe naively) I don’t believe that any of them will look to leave the club this summer. This means that recruitment can be targeted at the few remaining areas of weakness – they need another attacker to mitigate the reliance on Salah, Mane and Firmino, and cover at full-back (they’ve been lucky with Robertson, and TAA has looked shaky at times against the better sides). Both of these should be achievable and Liverpool’s recent record in the transfer market is excellent.

Liverpool most likely won’t win the league this season and probably won’t win the champions’ league either. But they’ll be stronger, not weaker, for the experience.
JG LFC (#backstronger)

 

F365 keep derailing Watford’s season
Can you please stop praising Watford players? You seem to have some sort of curse over them! For most of the season, we’ve been ticking along nicely, going under the radar and quietly pushing for a Europa League spot. No one was talking about us very much and we were perfectly happy.

Then you published your Top Ten Goalkeepers Of The Season, included Ben Foster, and in his next game he kicked the ball against Aubameyang with the ball rebounding straight into the goal. Watford go on to lose 1-0 having been the better team.

Yesterday you published your Top Ten Centre Halves Of The Season and included Craig Cathcart. He goes on to kick the ball straight at Shane Long with his first touch of the game, giving the Southampton striker a clear run to score the fastest goal in Premier League history. Watford manage to salvage a draw with a last minute goal in a game they should have won.

In between, you published your Top Ten Full Backs Of The Season and included Jose Holebas. Luckily he’s been injured so hasn’t had a chance to mess anything up, but I’m dreading his first game back!

So please, for the love of God, don’t include any more Watford players in any more Top Ten lists. You’re derailing our season!
Jimbles, WFC

 

Good defensive display from Brighton
Not sure what match Chris Feather was watching last night but Brighton pretty much time wasted from the first goal kick. That’s fair enough I suppose, time wasting is part and parcel of the game albeit maybe not so early in the match. It’s up to the ref to penalise whatever team is doing it. It was a very good defensive display made easier by some fairly awful shooting by Spurs. 4 shots on target out of 25 or something like that. All worked out in the end though..
Aidan Boyce (#givevincentachance) Wexford

 

I was going to write in earlier about this but didn’t have time to, but after Chris Feather’s mail I was spurred into action as I don’t know what match he was watching. Myself and the other season ticket holders I sit with all agreed that Brighton’s display last night was quite probably the most negative and time wasting ridden display we had ever seen, and we see a lot. Within the first ten minutes their keeper was already being ridiculous with it (one of his first couple of goal kicks took 26 seconds) and this continued all game, only getting worse. Then of course there was one minute added. It was an absolutely embarrassing display from Brighton, all carried out with the knowledge that (a) the ref will never add an appropriate amount of time, and (b) even if the keeper gets a yellow, no ref has the guts to show a second and send a keeper off for this.

There is no sweeter feeling than a late goal against this kind of display and it was celebrated with gusto in the stadium. Also very enjoyable was Lloris openly taking forever when he got a goal kick after the Eriksen goal!
Ryan

 

Random allegiances continued…
Great topic (so much so I couldn’t write this in quick enough). Here goes:

Borussia Dortmund – Sympathy for always finishing behind Bayern. The 2013 CL final. The stadium. The yellow wall. Marco Reus. Have loved watching Spurs play them so often over the last few years.

Atletico Madrid – Oblak, Godin, Gimenez, etc. Seemingly always losing CL finals (there’s a pattern developing here). Lovely kit.

AC Milan – Kaka in the mid 00s. Enough said.

Millwall – Granddad and childhood friend from home both support them fanatically

AFC Wimbledon – Great story. Rise through the leagues after the Milton Keynes debacle. Play (for now) where I grew up.
Mark, Southwark (THFC)

 

I know I’m a bit late to the random allegiances party, but hopefully this will sneak in;

Leeds United – have to be added cos the wife is a Leeds fan, would love to see them back in the premiership though

Fiorentina – the Gaelic football club I played for as a kid wore a similar coloured jersey but nowhere near as nice and also all because of one man, I don’t even have to mention his name just imagine Alan Partridge commentating on his goals….

Stenhousemuir – all down to their name which I found unusual when I was updating my old Shoot league ladders many years ago. Have had their jersey before and will go someday

AC Milan – Maldini, Weah, Van Basten, Guilltt, Baresi no need to add to that
Macker, Ath Cliath

 

@Tom – I think we all do somehow!

I lived 8 years in Stuttgart, Germany so, VfB Stuttgart are my German team and I also lived 2 years in Torino, Italy so I had to chose between Juventus and Torino so, of course I took the underdogs – TORINO FC (plus you should read about their history / plane crash tragedy so, it was a no brainier).
Mark (Pompey, Torino & VfB Stuttgart!)

 

Rival gifts
Before seeing the piece this morning on “doing a solid” for your rivals, i had a thought over the weekend.

On the last day of the 94/95 season, myself and my fellow Liverpool supporting friend were keeping up to date up in his room (cant remember if it was by radio or teletext). I was well aware of the implications of both main games (pool v rovers & west ham v united). But in all truth, i couldn’t help but pray for a pool victory- even though we’d really nothing to play for! I know that might for some seem… ill-advised. But always the most important thing was to support your team and not worry about others.

I, of course, had an intense dislike for united. Still do, but probably not to the same degree. The just seemed to win bloody everything- and this was before the truly great united teams emerged. But i was small minded enough to just hope liverpool won and the bonus would be if united dropped points. It was a happy day for me as well as many others.

Looking back on that now, i dont know which way united fans will lean- but one thing is for sure. United of the 18/19 season have a LOT more to play for than we did back in ’95. Im hoping they show it.
Sean (LFC in Dublin)

 

Let me say what everyone is afraid to say…
I can’t stand Liverpool winning the league. I don’t know how this sounds or if it makes me feel dirty, but I just can’t.

Will I jubilate if we win tonight? Definitely Yes
If we lose the match? It won’t be the end of the world.
Teejay Mufc, (Yes I said it! And hopefully, I’d forgive myself someday)

 

The fans want to lose, but does the manager?
There’s been a lot of talk by fans, and the media that ManU would rather lose tonight than give Liverpool a sniff at the title.

I think OGS and the higher ups would beg to differ. The club is chasing a top 4 finish which equals pots of cash. Why would they risk that?
Taz (unlike Milner, I’ll be watching the game tonight)

 

Clean sheets
So the other day I popped off to the PL stats pages to see how the ‘Pool are doing in the clean sheets stakes….we are still top that particular league. It’s this particular stat that sets us apart from the 13/14 team that got so close. In many respects it’s a miracle that Brendan did so well and got so close with such a shoddy defense, which ended up 13th in the clean sheet league.

Clean sheets aren’t everything but they do signify solidity and you can’t win leagues without it. Which brings me to this evenings blockbuster. In my perusing of the stats I found out – surprisingly to me – that Utd have topped the clean sheet chart for the last three seasons. That’s pretty impresssive. Obviously this year they are nowhere near to this (currently 15th) but it does seem strange that such a sharp dip has happened, with similar players at the helm.

As a Liverpool fan, I’m hoping they can make a plan to channel the frugality shown in the last few years: TODAY! Somehow. Anyhows. Please?
Barry, LFC

 

A mail from a melancholic Liverpool supporter
There’ve been quite a few emails from Liverpool supporters in recent weeks about how we should celebrate this season as an achievement regardless of whether we actually win anything or not. I’m not so sure about that. I understand the point about progress, but eventually you want that progress to lead to silverware. I wonder do Jimmy White or the Buffalo Bills celebrate all those finals they lost back in the 1990s. Or Napoli last season, having come so close to toppling Juventus after recording their highest ever points tally.

I’ve been a Liverpool supporter for a long time — I can still remember Alan Kennedy’s winning goal in the 1981 European Cup final. Since our last league win, I’ve seen us come close under Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier, Rafa Benitez and Brendan Rodgers. With the exception of Roy Evans, the close-calls of these other managers have all been followed by an abrupt decline in fortunes and the departures of key players. Now I don’t expect this to happen at all under Klopp, but still I can’t help feeling melancholic about this season, despite how well we’ve done. The thing is this: if we can’t (finally) win the league having amassed 97 points and having lost just one game, as seems likely, when are we going to do it? It’s all very well looking forward to next season but what do we aim for then? To go undefeated? To get 99 points? What if City get 100 points?  Or 101 even? Do we celebrate second place then too? Will Napoli celebrate it this season?

I appreciate how negative all this sounds. But after the season we’ve had the romantic in me won’t settle for anything less than winning either the league or the CL this year. It almost feels unfair if we don’t.
Mick (C’mon Utd!), LFC

 

Defending Sterling
I find it outrageous that people still find it acceptable to criticise a player making a stand against racism. To criticise is to be complicit in the problem.

When did someone have to be perfect to make a moral stand? I don’t see that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s affairs got in the way of his accomplishments.

Sterling has no power over the Qatari state; he is not a role model to them. But he is a role model to football and England fans. He can only make a stand to those who look up to him, and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

In any case, what right do we have to criticise Qatar right now? I 100% disagree with their stance on LGBT rights, but they also take a strict view on any hate speech against religion. Couldn’t the UK learn a lot from that last point? My club is owned by a dodgy US billionaire and if you look hard enough most clubs in the EPL are owned by some pretty nasty people who have power to change the world for the better but don’t. Why single out Qatar as the worst of the lot? I have my own suspicions…
Mike

 

Recommended reading
Dear Sirs

I was a little surprised not to see Daniel Lavelle’s article listed at the bottom of the Mediawatch webpage this Lunchtime.

It discusses how Man City’s “Teflon” fans utilise their sense of humour to parry the multitude of insults thrown at them now they are close to the summit of premier league football.  They laugh at themselves rather than their counterparts.   In doing so, it shades a somewhat different light on why the neutral football fan  is desperate to see city win the league over and above their scouse neighbours.  That said, across the spectrum, the story remains the same; one of humanity and how different sets of fans approach winning and losing; referring decisions; player actions; victimisation from other fans and general behaviour.  Even the omni-reasonable one eyed Minty couldn’t resist a pop at those “empty-seats” a couple weeks ago in the mailbox, as if it was a stick to beat a club that didn’t have a dissimilar level of support when they were mid-table two leagues below.  A fact that should be applauded and not ridiculed.

When I first came down to London I was amazed at the high percentage of vitriol that spilled out fans’ mouths regarding their local rivals.  Of course every team has their horrible songs about each other but in London town its takes up a lot of band-with.  There was very little genuine humour (save for West Ham fans who are funny f@#kers).

With this in mind, the important take away from the piece is not that it is written by a united fan, but one who writes on mental health issues.   So given the rise in mental health awareness and the fact that there is only ever one winner (and a bunch of losers), isn’t it about time that we all took a leaf out of City fans books and take a long hard look at ourselves and have a big loud laugh.  I know it will make losing that much more palatable….
Rosie Poppins