mrmojorisin75

i don't think the difference in them in the DM position for the purpose of ball retention and possession are marginal though, colback is absolutely appalling at positioning, can't cover the ground as well as anita, and shows for the ball by hiding behind the opposition he's awful

Colback's positioning was actually OK on Saturday, tbf, better than before. I agree that the positioning for a DM that can handle himself is really important but when they're someone that gets run through so easily and struggles to get close to players (and doesn't really get any support from other midfielders), I don't think it makes much of a difference Basically, stick Anita in for Colback on Saturday and you get the same problems. Neither of those two is going to change how those goals were conceded. If you want to institute a passing game from the back then choosing Colback over Anita is fucking idiotic seeing as we all agree they're both not very good DM's.

Aye, but he just lost his bottle and f***ed another decision by dropping Anita for Colback Playing Colback over Anita isn't some catastrophic decision. They offer the exact same thing. they really don't EDIT: and the point is more that anita was clearly central to his 'playing from the back' style and he dropped it at the first sign of trouble for colback who simply isn't as good in that role They really do. They offer very little consistent presence and very little in the way of passing range, they're both a bit pointless. If anything, the best thing they do when they drop back is allow more space for Colo and Mbemba to distribute. The latter has more zip in his passing than Colback and Anita combined. Don't know why you completely ignore the fact Colback has absolutely no positional sense what so ever, Anita may not be great but at least he knows how to position himself unlike Colback who leaves absolutely massive gaps.

Aye, but he just lost his bottle and f***ed another decision by dropping Anita for Colback Playing Colback over Anita isn't some catastrophic decision. They offer the exact same thing. they really don't EDIT: and the point is more that anita was clearly central to his 'playing from the back' style and he dropped it at the first sign of trouble for colback who simply isn't as good in that role They really do. They offer very little consistent presence and very little in the way of passing range, they're both a bit pointless. If anything, the best thing they do when they drop back is allow more space for Colo and Mbemba to distribute. The latter has more zip in his passing than Colback and Anita combined. i disagree, anita was brought up in the ajax academy and clearly understands the role much, much better than colback...bear in mind we're talking about what parky was saying about playing out from the back, not their ability to physically dominate opponents or create in attack (which they're both shit at aye) if you think about of all the things mclaren has or has not done since coming in imo anita playing that role is the only one that might even come close to being deemed a success - to clarify again i'm talking about him dropping deep with the CB's, taking the ball, moving it on, showing for a pass...basically being asked to be the fulcrum for starting a deep possession game nothing else mclaren has tried has worked to date the fact that it makes anita a 5th defender and there's a huge gap between midfield and attack, and that the front 5 are totally disfunctional is not relevant to him playing that role well enough....the fact the role itself is probably a massive detriment to the overall team shape is another matter, but that's not anita's fault

Worth a try. has to be worth considering to try and get us to january so we can buy one or until taylor gets injured immediately obvs

Aye, but he just lost his bottle and f***ed another decision by dropping Anita for Colback Playing Colback over Anita isn't some catastrophic decision. They offer the exact same thing. they really don't EDIT: and the point is more that anita was clearly central to his 'playing from the back' style and he dropped it at the first sign of trouble for colback who simply isn't as good in that role

If Taylor gets fit would people consider Mbemba as a DM? Physically he's basically twice as good as Colback or Anita, can carry the ball out on his own, is very comfortable on the ball and can make a forward pass. Not ideal by any means but could be a solution.

Aye, but he just lost his bottle and fucked another decision by dropping Anita for Colback

I said SMC was similar to Pardew from the start. I expected him to be bang average. I expect some improvement but still well below what I deem as a decent season. I have never though he's a Newcastle United manager. But he, like Pardew, is not the main cause of our problems. He's a symptom. If we had proper leadership he wouldn't be here anyway. Every club has a vision. For some, it's to just get by. I think the owner has tried a bit to change the vision but it's largely the same. I just can't get on board with this, I'm sorry. Doesn't matter if the club's vision as you put it is merely to exist, on a game by game basis that should have no bearing on how McLaren approaches things and I'm sure it doesn't. He's just not good enough to steer a course away from what Pardew created, or so it seems atm.

It's laughable like aye. Christ. The only thing we compete at is trying not to compete at the level we should be.

I see what you're saying TCD but ultimately McLaren, just like Pardew before him, is responsible for getting the simple basics of the game right and he's failing at that. That is no one else's fault but his own. We don't have a vision and neither do plenty of other clubs really, it should be in him as a football manager to have the professionalism and drive to motivate himself and the team above whatever bullshit aims Charnley or Ashley might have. It's why Pardew was such a fraud in large part as he used it as a constant excuse for his shitness. Thankfully McLaren hasn't done this yet, nor can he I suppose.

It's funny but traditionally people have always said the most important person at a football club is the manager, and rightly so. A manager (traditionally) would be the most important person in executing the vision. A club like Man Utd always had the vision, support and resources but needed the manager to make it happen. But now with so much money being in the game, owners being in the sport for various reasons, they're the most important people. Look at Swansea, loads of different managers but the vision from the top has remained the same. Even with us, without SJH there's no KK or revival. Arsenal's board are happy with Arsene's penny pinching no doubt. Man Utd had the same vision Liverpool have now for about 25 years until they hired Fergie and his ability as a football manager turned them into the behemoth they are today. Before that the vision was crying about their glorious past propped up with some cup wins.

I think he'll be banking it all on Mitrovic at the moment. They signed the lad for a reason and at OT away you could see signs of why they did. If he's any sense now he'll build the entire plan around Mitro and hope to fuck he can stay on the pitch because he literally has no other options, everyone looks totally lost without a focal point to the attack to play off. I mean there's more to it than that but on a basic level if we don't start hurting teams then anything else he does won't matter.

It's funny but traditionally people have always said the most important person at a football club is the manager, and rightly so.

Ashley is definitely to blame for the players not giving a shit and using this club as a stepping stone, and I would have had no problem with that line of thinking before the summer. However since then there's been a new management and training structure put in place and £50m invested in the squad. If the manager hasn't been able to use that to motivate the players then there's something missing from his end. I know it's only 6 games, but it doesn't look good at this point. this is it like, ashley has pretty clearly been hands off at the club for a very long time now so people harping on like he's involved in club decisions on a daily basis is wide of the mark his mistake was obviously appointing charnley who evidently knows absolutely fucking nothing about the game, if he knows anything about anything at all so either charnley or carr have now went all in for a 'failed' manager who has come into a club that's been on it's knees for years and at this stage appears to have no fucking clue how to turn it around on any level

This is absolutely f***ing spot on. For all the talk of Ashley being the reason for the malaise at the club this this the real reason. Coming on 5 years with managers too afraid to do anything. McLaren should have come in and binned about 6 senior players off the bat. Instead he's handed one a new contact and made him the leader of the club, played Obertan and Colback etc. True - but the I believe the fact that Ashley has never gone out and paid money to hire a manager actually doing a good job and in the ascendency is actually the underlying reason. He always employs someone free, unemployed and ideally with connections to someone already at the club as it's the path of least resistance. He still doesn't realise that 5 million spent to release a decent, effective manager from a current contract will get millions more value from the existing playing staff. This is far more important than shelling out millions on additional players and expecting any Tom, Dick or Harry to come in and manage them into an effective unit. The same goes for the executive team. Charnley is nowhere near qualified enough to be doing the role he is doing, and his recruitment in effect led to McClaren's, but it was the easy option for Ashley. Ashley needs to wake up and realise that Charnley, Carr et all need to go, to be replaced by an MD with good experience for the role. More of the transfer sign-off needs to pass to the manager too, although I can never see Ashley agreeing to that as he seems dead set on the DoF model and the manager simply coaching the players bought for him. Well, yes, the fact that the club hire these shitehawks in the first place is the prevailing factor in why they're at the club doing the job badly in the first place

This is absolutely fucking spot on. For all the talk of Ashley being the reason for the malaise at the club this this the real reason. Coming on 5 years with managers too afraid to do anything. McLaren should have come in and binned about 6 senior players off the bat. Instead he's handed one a new contact and made him the leader of the club, played Obertan and Colback etc.

Liverpool could clearly get Klopp if they went for him like.

I'm literally statureless.

Very, but van Dijk sold himself way too cheaply. Aye, looked pathetic. He's got no stature.

Where do millionaires buy their meat anyways? Do they just sort of turn up to a farm and if they fancy chicken throw some notes at a peasant to slaughter and dress it for them? Guess they've got people to do that for them, unless you're Colocinni then I suppose the servants tell you what to do.

Stature now? That's new.

Bought supermarket meat in a supermarket you say?