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Post by matt on Feb 21, 2015 18:47:16 GMT
This game was an improvement, I think there is no question about that.
But it was also a sour reminder to LVG that there're still many holes in the first-11 and that some players are riding their luck until this summer.
To be fair, I believe LVG will get it right, eventually, although a top-4 finish is still very much doubtful in my books: we will have to beat our rivals and we're in for a tough run of games from now on with tricky away fixtures coming on as well (Everton, Newcastle,...). Finishing into the top-4 will require us to be at our very best, which we haven't been, let's be honest.
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Post by matt on Feb 20, 2015 21:14:49 GMT
To be fair, I understand not everyone would accept or understand my comparison with Januzaj and that's fine as I don't want to go into an elaborate debate here.
I don't question Depay's pace, dribbling skills or individual talent. It's from a collective point of view that I don't think Depay is the right choice. We let go of Nani who is just as fast, just as strong, perhaps an even better dribbler, with a much better touch, but who failed to be a vital asset on a consistent basis because he wasn't able to make the team benefit from his individual qualities. It happened with Zaha, and my perspective on football tells me Depay is the same story waiting to happen.
But as I said, I am no scout and I might be wrong. I am fine if we sign him by the way, and I 'll be excited to see how he develops. But right now I think there are better (young) players out there to improve our attack.
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Post by matt on Feb 19, 2015 19:52:34 GMT
I may go against the global opinion, but I am not so keen on Depay to be fair. Sure he is an interesting player, but in my books he is very much overrated at this point. He may, or may not become a great player, but at the moment he is very raw, his passing and link up play is rather poor. The lad does have technique and dribbling skills, but I don't see that much end product.
I just don't see why we would splash the cash on a player who is currently behind Januzaj in his development. We have a tendency to think that the grass is greener elsewhere, but Januzaj is imo a better and far more intelligent footballer than Depay will ever be. It's up to us to develop Januzaj and nurture him. I don't believe Depay could come in and make an instant impact, he would need a few years before making the first team. And I'd rather we nurture the players we already have.
Depay in my books looks like another Zaha: great technique, great speed, good athlete etc. but not a good enough footballing brain to move to the next level. Perhaps I am wrong though. If we were to buy a young wide attacker to nurture, I'd much rather we invest that cash on Leverkusen's forward Heung Min Son who has more potential imo.
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Post by matt on Feb 18, 2015 19:07:52 GMT
De Gea Valencia - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw Blind Di Maria - Herrera - Rooney - Young RVP
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Post by matt on Feb 17, 2015 18:55:21 GMT
I agree with Marc's argument that we desperatly lack pace upfront, and that it is affecting our ability to create space for our midfielders and full-back to take advantage of.
As I've kept saying for a while, the biggest investments this summer should be made: - in CM: where we need to add a couple of players who can respond to more physical games - upfront: where we need a forward with pace and trickery
Of course we will add bodies at the back, and rightly so, but I believe we would do much better already if the positions I've mentioned above are covered once and for all.
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Post by matt on Feb 16, 2015 22:01:57 GMT
To be fair, when you see the impact Herrera is having, not only with his goals of course, but with his malice and "vicious" positional play, you just can't leave him out, as he is exactly the type of player we need in CM to add composure, vision, creativity and most importantly DARING.
Then, LVG should start questioning himself and his set up. When we moved to a 4-4-2 with more fluidity, we basically trashed them for fun without forcing much. I am not saying we need to go back to 4-4-2. Losing only once in 19 games shows LVG is doing some things right. But it's obvious his tactics are somehow restricting the player, and perhaps the "balance" he is so keen to find can be found off the pitch, in LVG's mind?
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Post by matt on Feb 16, 2015 21:49:46 GMT
LVG is starting to get on my nerves. I keep wondering how we always manage to get the points nonetheless. 1 loss in 19 games, and yet we look crappier and crappier with each game
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Post by matt on Feb 14, 2015 10:05:06 GMT
Didn't Valencia play in CM for Ecuador in the WC? I seem to remember he wasn't very good at it. I can't see VG trying anything new. Our displays this season have been dull and laboured but we keep grinding out results which I suppose it's all about. I'm not happy about it but it is sort of understandable to try and get us a top 4 spot and get us as far as we can in the cup. To be fair, I haven't quite watched Ecuador's games. But I don't judge players in international tournaments because the football is so much different. How many players have shone on the internaitonal stage and failed to replicate that form at club level, and conversely? What I know about Valencia is that he is not overly creative, and lost his crossing touch a couple of season ago, but that he is very tidy, doesn't lose the ball cheaply, has composure, good short passing, great strength, great pace, great energy and that his overal quality could fill the gap until we (hopefully) get the bodies we're missing in CM this summer. To be honest, I actually don't understand why no manager has ever trusted him to give a hand in that role. We did it against Everton, who are a fairly aggressive and resilient team and it looked like a walk in the park for him as he helped us control both the midfield and the right flank. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I am sure playing Valencia in CM is a lot smarter than it looks, and a lot smarter than playing Rooney in that n°6 position, or Di Maria upfront, or Falcao and RVP in a partnership upfront, etc.
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Post by matt on Feb 14, 2015 9:31:43 GMT
To be fair, this is what I would do: De Gea Mc Nair - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw Valencia - Herrera Di Maria - Rooney - Young RVP/Falcao I know few would trsut valencia in CM, but I believe he is the kind of powerhouse we need to balance the side properly until we make it right in the summer. He is very tidy and composed, and he proved he could handle that role perfectly against Everton at OT where he nullified their midfield. I could truly see it work if all five midfielders keep it compact. It would offer a more direct football, and also a more solid midfield. But I know it's not gonna happen...
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Post by matt on Feb 8, 2015 19:55:15 GMT
Nothing I've seen today is making me change my mind about VG. Yes if RVP and especially Falcao took their chances then it was a game we could of won. But that is besides the point. Most of the season we have played like this and have scraped wins, today we scraped a draw. Our standard of play is terrible. It looks to me that VG has taken all the flair out of the team by his regimental regime. No one is looking happy in their role and the only culpable (for me) is VG. He's had long enough to know what the PL is all about but he just doesn't learn with his team selections and substitutions. Miroslav pointed out our only "real" CM player we had was Blind and I still wouldn't have him as a given CM having played there only one season in Holland. Continually playing Rooney as CM is really getting on my goat especially given the form of RVP and Falcao. In short if VG wants to play like Stoke then he should fuck off and manage them instead of turning us into them. Even Moyes managed to get Januzaj playing last season. This season he doesn't even look like he belongs in the reserves. Di Maria arguably la ligas best player last season is looking worse than average. Mata can change games but not if he's used as a cart horse and I'm not even going to comment on Herrera. Even under SAF who in his last season had a lot worse squad than we have now we managed to play attractive football to some degree. Yes SAF was a bit of a dictator but VG takes that word to a whole new level. To be fair, while a part of me likes LVG's "tactical solidity" and "rigidity", part of me also agrees with your comments completely. He just doesn't seem able to find the right balance, and it's going to cost us massively. If he thinks he is on the right track, he is getting delusional. I appreciate the fact that we have looked more solid as a unit, but I also worry about the lack of fluidity and football in all this. All we do is play long, meaningless balls forward, expecting Falcao and RVP to make do with it. There is no construction from midfield, little penetration from the flanks. The only positives for me is that our defense seems to get better and better. It's funny how most people keep thinking our defence sucks, when in fact it's our attacking football that leaves much to be desired.
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Post by matt on Feb 4, 2015 19:16:25 GMT
I believe this was McNair's best game, and I wonder if he can keep that level of confidence in the BPL. Very promising performance from him. I thought we were boring as usual in the first 20min or so, but all of a sudden it clicked for whatever reason. We moved the ball faster, were more composed, stretched the pitch perfectly and Cambridge were never going to resist that as they tired rapidly, giving us total control. Even defensively, I like how Van Gaal is playing a packed midfield with high pressing intensity: we're never giving our opponents any breathing air, very much like what Barcelona used to do under Pep, and I really like it. That's the kind of display we must replicate week in week out. Sure, Cambridge are a league 2 side, but what made us better yesterday was down to us and us alone: everyone performed perfectly in his role and the movements on and off the ball were much better. If we can carry that rythm and fluidity onto our BPL fixtures, we will reach the top-4 with ease. But if we're to show the same form as in the past few weeks, then I can't see us reaching the top-4 because Arsenal, Pool and Spurs are all improving and coming stronger. It will be a very interesting end to the season anyway
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Post by matt on Feb 2, 2015 19:41:07 GMT
No way we can move for him now. Fair play to Van Gaal for waiting for him (if he did wait for him that is, of course), the way SAF would have done for Fletcher, but come on, we have had enough crocked and injury prone players in the past few years. It's about time we settle for reliable players, that's the only way we're ever going to move forward.
It's a shame because Strootman looked like the real deal in terms of playing style and what we need in the middle, but he isn't the only player of that mould left. I hope Van Gaal stays away from him and moves on to someone else quickly, because we need a box-to-box midfielder like that.
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Post by matt on Jan 25, 2015 17:46:12 GMT
but seems LVG is waiting for a certain Dutchman To be fair, this is worrying me a little in the sense that I have no idea how Strootman has recovered from his injury. I don't see how paying more for a potentially crocked player is smart when you have a healthy and fit player who knows the league, who is young and who fits 100% the profile you're looking for. If Van Gaal wants to buy someone from Roma, I'd rather he goes for Nainggolan at this point, and get us that powerful box-to-box we've been crying for for ages
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Post by matt on Jan 25, 2015 17:31:06 GMT
Wouldn't Schneiderlin be a better choice Marc? I hated seeing us losing Pogba because his potential was there for all to see but we'd probably have to pay in the region of £50+m for him whereas I could see Schneiderlin go for half that. It's true a club our size shouldn't worry about spending money but spending £50m on a player who's capable of throwing his tons out of the pram does seem a bit risky especially with having VG as manager. I guess no one would say no to Pogba. But I get what you mean Hammy, and I completely agree with this. Besides, I'd rather invest in a "lower" profile like Schneiderlin as I think we have enough big-names already. It may seems strange to say, but I think we lack a solid core in this team, which our more creative and big-name players can rely on (more or less what someone like Carrick has been doing for years). Schneiderlin imo fits the type of players we should go after to balance the side properly. I could see a midfield three of Blind, Schneiderlin and Herrera doing wonders for our balance and moreover be very hard to play for any team.
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Post by matt on Jan 24, 2015 12:32:01 GMT
You're saying you think part of his philosophy is for us to be unbalanced? As I have understood Louie, perfectly balanced team is the biggest and most important part of "philosophy". What do you mean Matt? I mean that LVG's "philosophy" is contradictory at the minute. He wants balance, but it's his very philosophy that is breaking our balance right now imo. Not playing Herrera for whatever reason is an example of that. As I said in my post above, my opinion is that LVG will have to adjust his philosophy a little to suit the demands of English football, or he won't find his desired balance and his end-product.
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