alexf

Is this going to be the new Woods? ?

Wolves were solid defensively and in possession against spurs. Particularly down their right side where Neto tracked back really well to help Jonny. I think ASM will have a much harder and quieter game because of that and I hope fans don't get on his back because of it.

Have to agree. @HTT II I think your barking up the wrong tree here with Casemiro. He's been fantastic for years and won everything there is to win at club level. What I would say is Man utd are spending alot on a player who's best years are likely behind him and may well decline quickly.

Bruce- "the boy wanted to play... But unfortunately he's now torn his hamstring for 3 months. It's just bad luck against me"

That is a crazy, likely unsustainable ratio ?. But it's also probably why I turned to my gf as soon as we won the freekick and said Trippers is going to score from here. Just gives you that confidence. With players like ASM aswell it's great because teams will be scared to foul him around the box due to the added risk of Trippier.

That moment when Haaland burst through the middle of our 2 CB's gave me Ronaldo Barcelona 96-97 vibes when he scored that great goal.

I thought the ref in general was poor. Was a classic top team bias like it used to feel playing against man utd for years under fergie. City players were just flopping to the floor, Walker in the corner Vs Joelinton for perfect example of this. You could definitely feel that general bias towards them today from the official. Disappointing.

Would feel way more positive if De Bruyne and Haaland were out, but they are just so strong all over the pitch. I'm one of ASM's biggest fans but he usually gets little joy out of Walker or Man city in general and apart from him and fast counter attacks I can't see us getting much offense.

Hate son's facial expressions everytime he tries to win a decision. Same with Kane and his constant appealing for things.

Jenas being a prick on commentary as usual.

I'm torn. Instincts say this to just play as compact as possible and rely on ASM to carry the ball and break at pace in the few chances we get. However the way City play is to keep the ball in front of the wall and move it side to side quickly to pull us apart and look for gaps. In some ways packing the defence and sitting deep plays to their strengths and hands them the ball. It would be high risk to flood the midfield instead of defense and try and go intense high press and get in their face, but it would be high reward if it came off. Problem is, especially now with Haaland they will always have that pace sitting on the shoulder waiting to pounce and occupying the CB's ? god they are such a strong beast now. So frustrating we are gonna have to watch them dominate for so long due to FFP restrictions.

So FFP.... If a team can only reinvest the money it makes back, through sponsorships, winning things, profit on player sales etc. Doesn't that make the wealth of an owner irrelevant? I know realistically there are workarounds and sneaky tactics but if everyone was playing fair and adhering to FFP then isn't that the case? The owners personal wealth can only be used for things like training ground developments etc?

He put in the exact same cross as Harrison from the other side. It was the only attacking highlight they showed in match of the day if you're wondering which example I'm talking about. Unfortunately Wilson didn't get Infront of the defender to poke it home. Was a great cross, let's not ignore things because they don't suit the narrative.

Is that the Rio Ferdinand speech about us and Ashley? ? To be fair could be any of the media gobshites. Feels good for them to get a taste finally.

And people gave Ronaldo a hard time for seeing the writing on the wall and wanting out. Even if he's 38 a player like him doesn't deserve to be playing with this mess of a team ?

Midfield has been poor so far. Bruno not able to bring the intensity today, same for many in the heat. That Caicedo has been good again for them. Broken up play alot.

Souness is a fucking prick. I'd love for someone to actually have a straight shoot out conversation with him who can call him out for his outright bullshit. He was the original Bruce when it came to deflecting and deferring any criticism. Annoyingly his prominence on sky for all these years has enabled him to continue his false narrative ever since.

Villa have a good squad so there's really no excuse if they flop this season other than Gerrard being the reason. Be interesting to see how the media try and spin it if he gets the boot.

I think Martial is still shit and will prove that again this season. Preseason means nothing. Know a few man u fans who think hes suddenly going to be great, I think they are going to be disappointed.

His off the ball work is great but I was actually impressed yesterday that he is starting to appreciate what a physical beast he is and was basically backing into players and then using his body to roll them and create a break away. Did it a few times and made me think, there are very few midfielders he will come up against that will be able to stop that. Bodes well, also great work on the overlap assist for the goal, he's done that before. As others have said just needs to be practising shooting every day in training because it really is the weakest part o this game.

He and others recently are snatching at their shots when they get openings. I'd like to see him try and open the body up and go for the curler to the fall post rather than trying to power the near post so often. But defenders are shit scared of him and rightly so, and we need to exploit that. Like the Joelinton overlap yesterday. That looked simple but Joe gets so much space because of the fear maxi had put in the defenders earlier. Also if they track the overlap it will give him more space to cut in and take more free shots. Just needs to keep mixing it up. But I have high hopes for maxi this season. ☺️

Fraser isn't really that quick, his legs are just moving faster than most cus they are so small ? Almiron looked rapid today and his closing down and instigating the press was fantastic. Just as others have said his lack of right foot hurts his end product.

Absolutely smothered them all game. Bruno and Joelinton are great. Really liked how we moved the ball around and got it to saint-maximin and Almiron in good areas. Only concern was our finishing was poor at times and Wilson seemed to be on his heels alittle too much today, especially first half. But couldn't ask for a better opening day performance really from all involved.

Yeah there's something about Gordon now that I'm watching him properly. He's got that raw pace that gives defenders problems.

Hate to see players get such nasty injuries like that. Especially when it was avoidable if the linesman had spotted the blatant out of play. Still hope Everton have a shit season again.