Gallowgate Toon

Would be madness to sell him.

goes both ways tbh, there's only one poster who has come out with something totally outrageous that i can see so where the rest of your post comes from is a mystery, other people think it's fair to point out that he's made mistakes in his selections and tactics so far, which he f***ing has overall i'm personally not unhappy but instead of getting more quality at the back and forming a solid defensive unit we've 'opted' to get the whole team to protect the defence that's still as shaky as f*** when exposed imo and that's coming at the expense of our own attacking intent you'd have to be overly harsh not to accept that we're going through a process mind and that mclaren is clearly trying to instill some professionalism all over the place and we'll be the better for it in the long run, he's being cautious and i can accept that but he can't do it forever he's actually going to have to get some points on the board, which i'm sure he will I was referring to both Elcid and TCD who have made comments on the fact that SMC is s*** because we're not playing attacking football (amongst other things). Of course he is going to make mistakes early on, he's been manager for four games for crying out loud - he's got new players he's trying to fit in around the existing team. If we had lost every game and been battered in each one, I'd understand peoples comments - but so far we've looked more organised (especially defensively) then we have for years. I just think he is a s*** manager end of and just have a look at the number of times he has been sacked fully illustrates that. He is here though (how many actually wanted him though lets be honest) but to continue to play Colback and Anita to the detriment of the team is just totally baffling - doesn't matter if it's only four games or not a it was a lot more last season when they played together - the two don't work together as they neither have the physique or the passing ability to dominate the centre of midfield and are overrun very easily and in just about every game also. I could get away with Anita (though even then he would not be by first choice as he is just brushed aside too easily) but to play both is honestly just shocking management and I don't care how you dress it up it is. Perez has done a million times more than these two and contributes a lot more also but is dropped and as a result we isolate our main striker. Sissoko is not a winger as he can't cross the ball and if he is to play should be in the centre of the pitch. Looks like everyone would not play Colback and Anita and yet I am being seen at 'outrageous' for criticising the man who is selecting them to play lol - totally unreal - the formation is wrong, the tactics are wrong and playing on the break howay man do you really want to watch the passing of the ball 10 - 15 yards for 90 minutes between the midfield and defence to then have the odd break away. I put money on now that McClaren will continuously play Anita and Colback doesn't matter what - I wonder what would be said if a certain Mr Pardew carried out the same selection if he was still here. The other options we have aren't exactly great, for a scenario such as yesterday's, but you seem to be painting it like it's completely obvious. You drop Wijnaldum back, he's going to have to do a lot of covering work for one of Anita/Colback against a team like Arsenal; plus he's not particularly defensive, he's probably never played in a 2 man mid in his life and he's brand new to the league. Put Tiote in there? Right sort of player but he's a liability, these days. Drop Sissoko back? Can't tackle and doesn't have the defensive concentration. If we'd have gone 4-3-3 against Arsenal with Wijnaldum-Anita-Sissoko there's barely any defensive cover in there against one of the best midfields in the league. Yesterday highlighted we need a new central midfielder to come in that can handle himself defensively, tbh. Mitrovic is going to be isolated, no matter what, when we play 5 men in midfield against better sides. We played Perez last week, he had to do a lot of tracking back. That's why we need Mitrovic to hold the ball up and allow players to get forward. We certainly got numbers forward against Southampton, in contrast. SMc said in his BBC interview that he thought Wijnaldum was a good option for when we had to go for games, did he not? I'd wager he'll not be playing Anita-Colback in a lot of fixtures, once we're settled.

The Anita-Colback thing's way overplayed, IMO. If we'd have been playing a primarily possession-based game over the last few matches then they'd have been a proper hindrance but I think they're a serviceable combo for when we're mainly looking to play on the break. They provide a platform for the front 4, protect the defence, cover the gaps left by full backs (which we do generally push high, tbf) and are decent enough to keep the ball when we need to relieve pressure. They're not particularly creative, aye, but we just need them to release the ball quickly when we have set ups like we did yesterday. I do think Wijnaldum-Anita-Sissoko has some potential but it's not combative or disciplined enough to play against a team like Arsenal. Unfortunately, I think it's Anita that is the weak link in that scenario because he's just not got the physical ability for it and it'd mean Sissoko-Wijnaldum have to drop more and cover more to make up, creating an even bigger gap between the midfield and striker. We do need another midifelder to come in in the next window, hopefully swapping Tiote out. We started aggressively yesterday, btw, but they quickly got into it. No shame in saying they were just in full flow for those 10 minutes. We were practically 4-3-3 then anyway as Wijnaldum was having to drop really deep as Coquelin was happy to push up. It was only a shame that we were too eager to get rid to Mitrovic in those early minutes, Simpson was seemingly trying to get them to calm down.

There's a picture in the paper of Gabriel's foot about an inch and a half away from Mitrovic's head while the ball's a good 5 feet in the air. Sure I remember that situation in the game and nowt was given. Could've been potentially SERIOUS.

But from what I can gather, SMc hasn't played defensive football since he went to Holland.

To be fair, we've had 2 games with 10 men against superior teams and a game at Old Trafford where we probably produced more chances than we'd have expected. If we're not creating against West Ham and Watford I'll start to worry. Let's be honest. Didn't look like scoring against swansea anyway. Ditto Arsenal. 2 half chances and one genuine chance is hardly anything to talk about in attacking terms. I don't consider any of the teams we'v faced to be real untouchable top quality. Pretty sure McClaren himself has said the passing/attacking would come later, the focus is on making us solid first. After last season, he has to be super careful with confidence, especially as do/did have quite a tough opening run of games. I think there's a plan in place and this has to be remembered, it took us quite a while to look an attacking force under KK when he came back, let's not forget.

It's amazing we sat back against Southampton but still had 56% possession, even with some of our players clearly being absolutely paggered for the last 15 minutes...

Palace countered the shit out of Chelsea, I imagine that's exactly what we set up to do. And yes they do have a different mentality, but that's for good reason.

If we'd pressed from the start we'd have been ripped to shreds. They couldn't have been set up better to capitalise on space and if we'd let in the early goal and then had to press on, we'd most likely have been thrashed. Don't think 4-3-3 would've made much difference yesterday, either. They've an excellent midfield, it's not like Sissoko and Wijnaldum are physical enough to compensate either.

Stop acting like a tool ... how about an intelligent articulate response to defend your points .... 'Get a grip' is hardly Rene Descartes stuff is it ... either that or don't reply at all. He's hardly wrong, tbh. Your initial post is pretty reactionary without taking into account any context at all. How quickly do you think we're going to develop into a passing team? He's said what he wants to deliver and you've given him 4 games to do it.

Well we've played two of the best teams in the league and we've played two games with 10 men. It's hardly a surprise. So have West Ham and decided to attack them instead of assembling an 8 man defence. McLaren is a proven failure and is already laying the foundations of ruin with his negative philosophy which cost him and England dearly Can't stand the suave smiling clown instead of moving forwards we decided to go sideways. Looking forward to defending a 0-0 lead every week ... seen enough already it's negative dross and will end in near disaster come May West Ham haven't just come off any absolutely gut-wrenching season and aren't trying to implement a completely new system. Their situation isn't comparable to ours. Southampton, imo, is truly what we're trying to aim for. We controlled that for long periods until fitness kicked in. We've actually started the last 2 games openly but were getting mullered. We shut up shop against Man U and then things went South vs Arsenal.

Boro aside, which McClaren teams have been dour and defensive? Edit: club teams.

Didn't we dominate possession against Southampton, for large periods? We looked very comfortable until fitness went. Even so, it's a ludicrous post, it doesn't take much to figure out what we're trying to do - they've explained their plan.

Don't think we'll be boring at all. He seems to have changed a lot since Boro (which was nearly a decade ago, tbf) and will try and play good stuff. Nothing amazing, aye, but still good, passing football.

Watched it back and I don't think it's a red at all. Even the slow mo isn't that bad. Bollocks decision, simply a yellow card.

Thought Haidara was relatively solid defensively, tbh, and made some really good tackles. He needs to play games, he's certainly got brittle confidence.

Looking back over the start, we could've done better at getting ourselves into it, but I do maintain we did look positive going forward when we got the opportunity. Suppose it is difficult when they were so obviously set up to retain possession (and are excellent at it) but we needed a bit more to stamp our authority on the game. We tried to pass it short but seemed to lose too much faith early on with it, we were better when down to 10 for it, tbh. Was good to see SM trying to get the players to push up and push on late on, mind. Reckon the close-score will actually benefit our confidence, in a way.

What did he say? 'the player did well to get up, I don't know how he's still walking after the reaction he gave'

Ripped Coquelin in his NUFCTV interview Get in, Steve.

Also want to add that his movement off the ball was very impressive, at times. Bet he's learnt that from Bielsa.

His role was very different at OM, from what I can gather. He's obviously a very gifted footballer, definitely one of those that is quicker with the ball at his feet.

The linesman was an utter fanny, had an even worse game than the ref too.

For the next match, I'd be doing this, but I don't think it was right for today. We should go to West Ham and look to nail the cunts and look to play more of a possession game.

Fucking this.