SEE YOU! A brand spanking new modern fitba thread 2022/23

One thing I will give Liverpool credit for is they have fight in them.

Our Jota is injured by the way.

 

A thorough beating is in store for Man U. I'm here for it.

 

On the basis of what? Liverpool have lead for as many minutes this season as United have.

Fucking Zero.

 

Desperation and quality vs disarray

 

We're fucking disjointed and our big money boys got a week or three off

 

Our Jota is so handsome he's given himself the Don Mattingly haircut from the simpsons to try and tone things down

 

I heard an interesting comparison between Ten Haag & Frank De Boer yesterday. Frank won 4 consecutive titles at ajax with possession dominant, slow build football then tried to implement it at Palace..... Palace got absolutely arse-raped by high presses playing out because they didnt have the ball playing defenders/pivots or the general quality relative to opponents to play that way. De Boer criticised both the club for not recruiting to suit his plan and the players for not committing to it. He gets sacked after like 5 or 6 games....Zaha publicly states Palace didnt have the right players for the style and De Boer should have been more flexible. Mourinho sticks the boot in, calls De Boer the worst manager in premiership history

....until Ten Haag?

 

"Ten Haag needs time. Its the owners. Its time for Ten Haag to go. Its the owners"

The old days are gone. Patience isnt a virtue. Its a myth. Guys come in and if they're not Champeens inside a week, the bullshit starts. I'm as bad as anyone but I'm not an "expert".

The old "he doesn't get our style" comments reminds me of immigrants trying to bend a culture to their liking. Its the same thing in reverse. A manager is successful. He's recruited by a struggling outfit from without. He arrives, then attempts reforms and is reprimanded for his alien foreign ways, sacked and admonished for his having demanded access to the tools and systems required to make the improvements for which he was hired.

Mark my words.... Anything Maureen had to say about DeBoer had fuck all to do with DeBoers time at Palace and everything to do with some private war Maureens fighting on the side.

Likewise, TenHaag will be targeted by Maureen over an oblique "United Thing" war. It won't involve nuance or finer points of voetbal, just rancour from old beefs whereby Mourinho constantly plays out his final days at United via the failings of Uniteds latest manager.

And as for Wilfred "Blue Moon Goalscorer" Zaha he's at his level. An odd goal in 5 attempts on the break. Who's he to dictate shit? He just wants the whole thing set up to cater to his specialty of "running off the shoulder" and "getting in behind" whereupon he'll convert 1 of every 5 chances and bemoan his "lack of service"

And Wrighty will be sat there on MOTD applauding him.

 

Agreed. While some managers are too inflexible and try to force square pegs into round holes most just aren't given the time, nor the resources to make lasting improvements.

You're not hiring a babysitter, you're hiring a leader. Surely during the onboarding process there were discussions of what the manager wanted to achieve and how. If you're not going to back their plan or provide them with anything you shouldn't have hired them in the first place.

From the outside it seems like here is how the discussions go: Manager states the style of football he wants to implement, mentions the type of players they should sign and probably even gives some specific names. Because it's a departure from the current method(s) and some of the players are either not suited for that style or just aren't used to it things will take time.

The owners: "Yeah, uh uh, right, yes, we see , understood , yep, uh huh". A little bit of time passes, they're unhappy there is no immediate success and they sack the manager.

 

It makes me understand the potential value of the director of football role a bit more - someone whos insulated enough from the spotlight and pressure to provide continuity, then in times of transition, select a manager with a fitbaw philosophy which makes sense in the context of the existing squad/recruitment policy/timescale.

Albeit i guess all thats for shit if you have owners who dont know enough to appoint a good DOF or give him the freedom

 

We had one at Liverpool. Damien Commolli. Fired.

 

Or they're unhappy that his comments or approaches are exposing their previous bad decisions and use his difficulties - indeed exacerbate them- to effect his removal.

 

The problem for Ten Haag is that too few in the squad seem fit for purpose - you look around the pitch and all you can see are players who need to be moved on or have lost their mojo. With bad influences like Ronaldo hanging around, he risks being fatally undermined before he gets a chance to get off the ground. Didnt help that the few players he brought in don't look they can make an immediate positive difference. My view from the couch is that they need to let Ronaldo go (anywhere, free), move on McTominay (too limited no matter how committed or scottish he is), shift Martial, and let some of the younger forwards try out between now and Xmas, and pick up a more experienced forward in January. Then plan to move on DeGea, Maguire, Varane, Wan Bissaka, Fred and/or Dalot next year, also Rashford if his situation does not improve. I also don't like Fernandes but thats just dislike, he probably has more to offer with a better supporting cast.

 

I think for the most part anybody part of a club should keep any and all problems out of the media whenever possible.

I can understand the frustration though. A run of bad form and the fans and owners aren't happy. There will inevitably be an insert_manager_name-OUT campaign. They get blasted in the media regularly and then have to attend press conferences. After every loss or subpar performance you have to answer "why" and every decision is second guessed. On top of all that you get called into the boss' office to go over the same shit. "I don't want to hear excuses!"

It's no wonder there's going to be times when they get a bit more honest with their public statements. Multi-million/billion dollar organizations and somehow failure is all down to one individual. Obviously the job comes with expectations and a level of accountability but it seems like mayors of major cities don't have every possible failure put squarely on them.

 

It would be fun to see Roy Keane take the job but also the management gives him even less to work with. Sell off the few decent assets left and sign a bunch of complete random semi-pros from leagues all over the world.

Everyone would enjoy the press conferences.

 

And this time he'd have to put up. He's got the answers TACKLE HIM!!

 

Roy Keane is a joke albeit he's a natural for TV, the management ship sailed for him some time ago, the TV gig has shown that he doesnt have a tactical view, its all intangibles

 

It's obviously in jest and exaggerated for said reason but it reminds me of Brendan Rodgers and "character".

It would be over the top when it comes to Roy and intangibles, heart or whatever.

 

Roy knows what's needs doing, and has no ability to put it into action.

Roy and Martin O'Neill would suit United.

 

So you don't think intense brooding alone would take care of everything?

 

It would if he took results of said brooding and passed them over to somebody who could parlay them into semi intelligible instructions.

 

Tim Howard scored a goal from his own box.

 

I thought De Boer only last 4 matches but I could be wrong. Everton were considering him before hiring Marco Silva.

 

Can't keep track of his own teammates never mind the opposition.

 

Did you see the thing with De Gea in the tunnel too? Lines up on the wrong side of the tunnel then visibly sulks about it like a 14 year old boy.

Ever see that Peter Seller film 'Being Here' about the gardener with learning difficulties who blunders into a job in the white house through an incredible serious of misunderstandings? MacGuire feels like the fitbaw equivalent

 

Dammit it's "Maguire" not MacGuire. Why do you Scots got to take oor good names and "do things" to them? There's no DOCHERTY either, it's Doherty!! There's name "Maginnis" either!! Stup!! Will ye stup!!

I'm not sure I've ever seen that one but I've seen Robbie Coltrane when he gets the job of the Pope so it's basically the same thing.

THEN THERE'S THIS.....

 

"gardener with learning difficulties"

Aka the Biden Presidency