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Man U have done well against the big sides this season and last season with Ole managing. They have teams like Everton, Newcastle, and Watford coming up on the fixture list, and if the pattern of Ole's management continues, they will concede multiple times against these sides and draw or lose. Consistency will be the real test.

Nah, that's rubbish. Rafa never had us looking like this in the Championship and we are playing a team fresh out of the Championship today. Fork off man, this is killing most, we have been superb at a smash and grab and if this was last season we'd be fucking all over Rafa, folk just wont admit it. It's a great result, but the fact is it's been dire. We did not play this way under Rafa against this level of competition. It was really only against Man City and Liverpool for which we were criticised heavily by the same media now claiming we've defended so well. We practically have 11 men in our box against Sheffield United for goodness sake. Knock it off. Rafas teams weren't expansive till after xmas, get points on the board first get safe then shackles off.Same as this season,honestly the criticism is fucking hilarious, we are winning 2-0 away from home in the PL,not east in ANY match. Its pathetic to criticise it tonight I'm not tied to any result. I'm calling it as I see it. I would be sick paying to watch this every game. This is how we play every single game. It's awful. Rafas football was fucking shite anarl man,I loved him for the man he was not his football That's just not true man. Sorry. I mean you cannot say his football was shite and then praise this. It makes no sense because this is definitely infinitely worse. Bruce has removed the centrebacks that use the ball so well, and Longstaff is no longer what he was last year where he kept the ball on the ground and allowed us to play through the front three. Shelvey is now back in and playing long balls that continuously lose us possession. He's scoring which has been good currently, but the team does not function well at all. It's just bad. Bruce is directly mirroring Rafa's tactics, only with an inferior playing staff due to injuries at the back and typical NUFC transfer business taking away the best attackers. I don't understand why some people on here are twisting themselves ten different ways to find some way that things would be different or better under Rafa after two hard-fought results this week. This group has been moulded with a certain ingrained organization and mentality for some time now, which is why they are still in this league despite the deficiencies. Bruce's challenge will be to maintain what has been built and expand upon it going forward, working under the same nonsensical financial limitations as all previous managers under Ashley.

Was listening to a pod the other day which was saying linesmen are basically redundant and only add confusion. I would agree with that sentiment, but the problem then becomes what we are meant to do when players are blatantly offside or goal hanging, which is difficult to see from the referee's position It would be farcical to continue the pattern of play if someone is 10 yards offside and will just lead to more goals overturned via VAR review. The only real solution is for the offside tech to be instantaneous of for the linesman to become competent, but these are equally unrealistic if we are being honest.

I am surprised there haven't been more goals like that one and Kelechi's on Sunday for Leicester (though this probably would have been a goal regardless). The new rules are a big adjustment for defenders and linesman. It is easy for both parties to have a mental lapse when they have been trained a certain way for 20+ years. The main issue is the linesman putting the flag up for marginal offsides decisions, it creates nothing but confusion.

Agreed. Joelinton hasn't shown much and could probably do with sitting out for a match or making an impact from the bench. Carroll has the potential to be a threat, the main concern is that he may need to get euthanised by halftime.

My favourite bit was when Mings felt like he couldn't celebrate a goal until the guys in the office watched it in microscopic detail 14 times. My favourite bit was when the linesman incorrectly ruled out Iheanacho's goal and then VAR overruled them and the goal was correctly rewarded with massive celebrations on the Leicester bench Spoils celebrations though apparently. Yep Can you give me an example? Tyrone Mings against Man U Also El Ghazi against Newcastle in Villa's previous match. Human psychology is funny. I believe everyone is comfortable when we are talking about situations like Kelechi's on Sunday, reversing offside decisions that have given incorrectly for legitimate goals that are close calls (though this situation should not really exist if referees follow protocol). However, when a goal is taken away for a players boot being a centimetre offside based on the same "science", it feels like an injustice. The only way I can see it truly functioning properly is if we can remove linesman from the offside decisions entirely and have the referee communicating directly with VAR.

Fantastic hit by Shelvey. Manchester City are complete rubbish at defending, very disorganised.

Need to bring on a Longstaff for the last ten minutes here.

Neither of them have done anything. Shelvey has done the requisite in hard work in midfield to the best of his ability, but I agree Joelinton has been mostly rubbish.

I honestly thought he’d do well. Given his success in Spain and the Europa League and him being a more tactically defensive manager I thought that would provide the structure Arsenal needed to build on their usual style. I didn’t expect he’d somehow make the defensive side worse and their attacking players non existent. I didn't follow him enough at Sevilla, to rate his work there, outside of the Europa League dominance, but he was complete rubbish at PSG, had them playing bland football and oversaw the usual European collapse. It was a poor choice of manager. Vieira is not doing well at Nice. This is a club that was fighting for the Champions League under Favre, and he has them near the relegation zone with poor football. It would be an Ole type appointment at this time.

What's that in in today's football money? I believe there are a few different ways to calculate this, all incorrect. Using an inflation calculator found on Google, the 1.2 million from 1992 has essentially doubled and would be 2.4 million today. Using another method, the British transfer record at the time was 5.5 million for Gascoigne, and the 1.2 million paid for Cantona was 21.8% of this. Taken against the current British transfer record of 89 million for Pogba, the transfer is worth 19.42 million. The world transfer record at the time was 13 million for Lentini, and the 1.2 million paid for Cantona is 9.2% of this. Taken against the World transfer record of 198 million paid for Neymar, the transfer is worth 18.28 million. These numbers are from Wikipedia and likely falsified, but maybe it is a rough idea.

I just do not see the evidence of this or understand when people say it. His Man U team was average in terms of talent and he led them to decent results. It was a failure by his standard, but this will eventually happen when you manage at five different clubs over the course of 15+ years. How are you comparing him to men in their 70s and 80s who have not managed at club level in more than a decade?

I do not think football has changed this drastically in the four years since he last won the PL and domestic cup.

Mitrovic has 20 goals in the Premier League already, is in the best goal-scoring form of his life, and is just entering his prime years. It is pretty silly to write off his career in the league because Benitez did not want him in the team. I am confident he would score a decent number of goals (important in football) at the least.

The individual season that I most clearly forgot to include in my team was Carroll (2010-31/1/2011). Ba was great in 2011-2012, but Carroll was completely unstoppable for a short period of time at the turn of the decade, a dominant force. It is a shame how the rest of the decade went for him.

I think it is a fairly easy team to put together. The first half of the decade was far superior to the second. The hardest player to leave out was Ayoze (2019), but Cisse (2012) is possibly the best player of the decade and Perez is not at his best when played wide. Krul (2012) Debuchy (2014) Lascelles (2018) Coloccini (2012) Enrique (2011) Ben Arfa (2012) Tiote (2011) Cabaye (2012) Sissoko (2013) Ba(2012) Cisse (2012)

His hand was directly by his side. What is he meant to do?

Victor Oshimen looks like a star with his performances for Lille so far. Great athlete and deadly finisher. Ajax look just as good as the side from last season, despite the departures. I am stunned they managed to keep Ziyech, tbh.

Repeated scenario is that the team looks competent until Bruce has to tactically adjust.

How can the most popular and rich league in the world do VAR worse than anyone else. This is atrocious.

I do not know why Joelinton is on the pitch, still. He has been rubbish generally and you need pace around Carroll. If Almiron is tiring you can bring on Atsu, but why have two slow attackers when the team has 7 or 8 players sitting back.

For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure Canada is in the top 10 countries with the most amount of registered players. Ok the country is massive, but it only has a population of 40m, which is smaller than both the UK and California. I understand that previously Canada have been shit and not really produced anyone of any real quality, however the interest in the sport is there and it’s growing. I think 5-10 years time, North American football will be dominated by Canada, Mexico, and the USA. You have to say though, the USA and Mexico are certainly on a downward spiral from where they used to be. I don't deny that the game is growing in Canada. I've been to Toronto, Quebec, and Alberta and I have seen some interest (especially in the first two places), and like the US, it will benefit from a large population of first and second generation immigrants coming from places where football is very popular. The MLS teams and the new Canadian football league will also help. However, it is still not a football nation, and I doubt they will take over CONCACAF anytime soon though. Costa Rica is tiny, but has a great football culture and will remain more competitive. From what I saw at Gold Cup, Jamaica, Haiti, and Curacao have the national resources to be serious teams in the current generation before Canada if we are talking in the next 5-10 years. I think America will be alright in the long run with the young players coming along, but they need to use the endless money that have to dump the current coach and hire a real manager right now. They will struggle out of the hexagonal again if he remains. The Nigerian FA has no money that they are willing to spend, and even we have a real manager.

It is bizarre how rubbish the United States are now. Honestly, the talent is just poor outside of Pulisic and even his progress has stalled for two years now. I saw the match yesterday and the Davies boy was a class above anything the US could purport to have. Not sure when America became so weak-minded on the pitch, either. From 2002 to 2014, I thought of them as a physical team that was extremely hard-working/defensively organised and could rely on their one or two good attacking players to create a few chances. There is not any of this now. They just play passively and let themselves be bullied when playing away to the Central American countries and now even Canada which has no use for football.

Atsu is a decent player to have, but no serious team can have him as a long time starter. The boy works hard and has moments, but he is so easy to defend against, not a physical challenge, never beats the man, and rarely plays a telling pass. Not dynamic at all. I thin Almiron is really suffering without a proven goalscorer like Rondon and Perez. Something that worries me about this side is that neither Saint-Maximin or Almiron are really natural goalscorers, but players that should be complementing natural goalscorers. Almiron has never scored a ton of goals if you look at his career. He was the dominant player in MLS, but only got 10 goals a season and has scored once for Paraguay. Someone earlier compared him to Sissoko, and I think that is apt in some way. He'll cause all manner of havoc and create a ton of chances with his intelligent runs, pace, ability to carry the ball up the pitch and defensive effort. I think he can be a big player for a competitive club, but I don't think he'll be prolific. Both he and ASM would benefit from the other wide player in the "Rafa" 5-2-3 being a player that is more like a forward and someone who floats into decent positions and scores like Ayoze.

Especially hilarious considering we have no alternative. That chance was shocking. He twice was more concerned where De Gea was then when he had the chance to take the shot on, took an unnecessary extra touch. Doesn't look like ever scoring. He is the classic example of a player in a crisis of confidence. His technique and sharpness in front of goal were better when he arrived, but it just didn't go in because he was unfortunate. Now, the boy is in his own head and his technique and sharpness with chances are suffering for it. The Longstaff family are a better are markedly superior to what Man U have in midfield, which is sad for the state of that club, but good for the state of Longstaff genetics. This is not new. I remember the same sort of fight over Anita, who was much more rubbish.