The tale of Jadon Sancho and Conor Gallagher…

Jadon Sancho and Conor Gallagher are at different ends of the summer signing spectrum.

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Sorry, Sancho is still a flop
Came across a Bad take(seems to be becoming a trend) from Badwolf in which it looked like he was giving the big ‘un and flicking one at the haters on behalf of Sancho because apparently the narrative around him being a major flop has died.

Sorry to be the bearer of Bad News, Badwolf, but Sancho has two goal contributions in almost 20 appearances. He got hauled off yet again against Norwich having done nothing with the Norwich fans chanting ‘what a waste of money’. So if the narrative around him has died down, it has more to do with people getting bored of making fun of his signing rather than him proving he isn’t a major flop.
El GAUCHO

Man United lack mentality, not personnel
Mike (who must really have hated every part of the Ole years ) thinks this squad is a complete mess with Ole adding another pile of crap, let’s break it into its components.

Keepers De Gea has had two bad years but has greatly improved would take Henderson/Heaton over the 2nd choice at any other team.

Central Defenders – Gone from the Chuckle brothers to a multiple winner in Varane and three flawed internationals individually would take most of the other 3 over the likes of Stones and Ake.

Fullbacks – AWB loss of brain particles make him a long term liability the rest are decent enough, City have no useful actual left full backs Walker is over 30 Liverpool have no replacements for their 2.

Central Midfield – Needed a body in the summer, Still needs to be sorted out possibly in January. Bruno is a massive upgrade on when we had Perreirra, Fellaini etc .Liverpool have dominated using players selected by money ball who came from relegation fodder.

Attack – Collectively this lot should score as many as any other top 4 team and we have plugged the right wing problem (Salah is probably the best individual

We at best need three firs-team improvements extra midfielder, one center back that’s faster/more reliable than Maguire and a right back who doesn’t pee him once he has gone forward….

It’s /hardly the shambles LVG had assembled that made Pep choose City in 2016, and it’s much better than what Jose left.

So can he get over his grouse with Ole and realise that the key issue holding United back is improving the mentality of players don’t start being held accountable for our failures . What United should do is build on finishing 2nd/ and 3rd the last 2 years ,get top 4 this year make some tweaks and challenge next year – not continuously reboot like a film franchise.
Roode, MUFC

Moyes will be Moyes
Just when you thought ‘The Chosen One’ has finally redeemed himself as a football manager (since leaving Everton), his statement at the first sign of trouble (“trouble” being defined here as West Ham’s goalless draw against Burnley this weekend) could have easily been re-phrased as “It’s not me; it’s them! Believe me: I’m still an elite manager!”. Tsk, tsk…show solidarity with your players, grow a spine and take some responsibility for the team you lead.
Ebrahim (you’ll publish this just for the subject line, won’t you?), MUFC, Seattle

What’s the point of Burnley?
Was wondering, what’s the point of Burnley? Really? A do nothing team whose only purpose seems to be avoiding relegation. Play non-football, a crap watch. What is the point of Burnley?
Darryl, Cape Town (Hate non-football).

Normal service resumed for Big Six + 1
Say what we want about the struggles at Arsenal, Man U and Spurs… but they are now in positions 5-7 with a gatecrasher/ interloper at #4.

Even in the Big Six era, that’s not been uncommon: there was Leicester and Wolves knocking on that door.

Just sayin’.

And as for the front three, it’s shaping up to be an endurance struggle … just like the tour de france mountain stages. One can’t win the Tour during the mountain stages, but one can certainly lose it. It’ll be an interesting next 1-3 winter months.
Gab YNWA

Loving Gallagher
What a stupendous player Conor Gallagher is. I daresay it, but after the stodginess of the last few years, with Gallagher, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, not to mention Mason Mount and Phil Foden, who I maintain are best as a “number 8”, England’s midfield stocks are looking seriously impressive.
Alex Rallis

Everton conclusions
Normal service resumed then?

Some conclusions from that shambles:

-Andre Gomes looks a new player. Maybe a bit of confidence and a freer role are what he needs. Faded badly and made some stupid tackles, and wasn’t helped by our insistence on wing play, but overall not a bad showing.

-Tactics were abysmal. Palace had the centre of the park to play with and Gallagher pulled the strings. He’s a fantastic player and our tactic of ‘let them have the ball then counter using the wings’ is very clearly countered with fast wingers and highly technical midfielders.

-Godfrey did ok as a makeshift left back, but his lack of actual left foot means that short of cutting inside it blunts effectiveness on that side as long as a team can show him the outside

-We made Palace look like City. That’s not a compliment to Palace. A well drilled team with strong positional sense will make mincemeat out of us, every time.

-Taking Richarlison off is f*cking baffling. Is Benitez trying to get sacked? He might not have done much but he’s a match winner. If you’re going to bring a striker on when chasing the game, don’t take your best attacking player off. The fans reacted furiously, and rightly so.

-Rumours of discontent between the manager and the players are all too clear to see. The frustration from the players is evident, from Richarlison’s reaction at being subbed to the petty and stupid tackles flying in towards the end. Has the dressing room already been lost? It’s starting to look like the Arsenal result was in spite of Benitez, not because of him.

-The time to make a change is either now or never. We’re three weeks away from the January window opening, and I honestly don’t trust Benitez to spend any money we may have. All goodwill has evaporated, the honeymoon period is a distant memory. Rafa has lost the fans, seems to be losing the players, and is losing the tactical battle almost weekly. Moshiri needs to either decide to roll the dice again or put up with diamond-creating levels of pressure for the rest of the season.

-Merry Christmas Blues, at least we’re not playing someone well drilled and technically sound next, like the Kopites or Chels… oh
Joe M, EFC

Ha ha
I heard a rumour that big Dunc actually got sacked 15 years ago but no-one has had the bollocks to tell him.
Chris MU