Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Read Mod Warning in OP 7/1/15

kryogen wrote: »

This is something that has some merit, it perplexes me at times to see some of the team selections, but he is working toward something and as long as he hits the target of CL football for next season I am happy to accept that he knows what he is doing and sees the players day in day out and is in a better position to make the calls then me. I don't have to agree with all the decisions and though I think we could be in such a more comfortable position if certain things were different, we are on course for CL qualification so I wont criticise the manager too harshly just yet.

This pretty much sums up my feeling on everything at the moment. As long as the man gets us into the champions league then he can experiment and tinker away to his hearts content. Finishing 2nd or 3rd would be a great season for us but the difference between 2nd, 3rd and 4th is mainly just bragging rights and a bit of extra cash. Right now, its all about finishing in the top 4.

Tyson Fury wrote: »

At newballs, don't you not know by now that you're not allowed criticize anything about the current state of Manchester United or the resident mob will be on your back straight away? Only positive dreamland talk about the club please.

Dont post it if you dont want it discussed.

TheDoc wrote: »

Erm, maybe Van Gaal's presser had an actual effect?

SSN have been rolling out loads of stuff about it this morning explaining how we are high in the table of "long passes" but low on "long balls".

Even OPTA have been clarifying the difference between long balls and long passes, and that while United do heavily utilise a long pass, they do not use a long ball (playing a ball over 35 metres into space, rather then at a team mate)

Again maybe feel it's something that didn't need to be addressed, but has had some decent coverage today somewhat vindicating his point.

It's also shown the continued seething of Jackson and Ogden of their agenda, as people questioned them this morning if they intentionally misused the long pass table to fit their own agenda/narrative.

Liverpool under Rogers haven't been averse to using long balls/passes to open up defenses yet he gets praised for having them play free flowing football.Look at when they played us,the most common tactic was a long ball over the likes of Evans who had the turning speed of a cruise ship.It worked so they used it,a long pass can be effective-it's not a case of lumping it up to the big man and try to capitalise on knock downs.

I`d also add that its incredibly early to be pontificating about Utds future under Van Gaal. Sure he is making some weird decisions selection wise and the performances have for the most part been underwhelming but, and I think I`ve said this before, his tenure has only really started properly since the new year imo. The decimation of the squad with injuries in the first half of the season cannot be overstated. All the chopping and changing and for large parts, not being able to pick any of his summer signings left no room for any sort of continuity etc.

There has been huge changes at the club. The shambles of last year. The amount of senior players that left in the summer. the amount of new players that came in. Youth players promoted to the first squad. A new manager. All this stuff takes time. It is absolutely massive change. It is going to take time for everyone to adapt and gain some sort of continuity. I think the nay sayers are being incredibly short sighted and naive in their outlook.

As it stands Utd are still are on course for top 4(and a place higher than I thought they would finish). Thats all that matters this season. If that goal is achieved then mission accomplished. Whatever way it was accomplished the means will have justified the end. Even if we dont finish top 4 I still wouldnt be calling for Van Gaals head. I would criticise him where I thought appropriate but I certainly wouldnt be calling for a manager with his track record and experience to be sacked after one season(or indeed half a season really).

People need to realise where the club is and the job in hand to get us back challenging again. There is nothing more irritating to read on this thread than "but we are Manchester United".

newballsplease wrote: »

Finishing in champions lg would be a good season as it is now but seriously for all the money that was spent, surely every utd fan was thinking of a title challange at the start of the season?

I was..... Naive maybe. Thought LVG was a better manager then im seeing. So many bizarre team lineouts and im having second thoughts.

At the start of the season I expected a slow beginning to our league campaign, given the upheaval at the club, players leaving, retiring, new signings, new manager etc... The only way I thought we could possibly hope for a title challenge was if everything ran smoothly, little or no major injury concerns and the big signings hit the ground sprinting

I expected that we would be seeing things start to take shape around now and that is not happening. No doubt it is at least partially down to our injury crises not allowing LVG to get a feel for his best 11, best positions etc...

It is not shocking that we are playing poorly at the moment when you take all of these factors into account.

All that being said, if we do not start seeing improvements on the pitch very very soon it will be extremely disappointing.

Gowlasauras Rex wrote: »

I'm sure in your time of playing semi pro you will know performances don't mean a whole lot, it's the result.

They are important for sure, but the result trumps it .
Eg. Arsenal utd fa cup final a few years ago. Who were the happier supporters that day?

It is wrong to think that people are only concerned about performances because of how they relate to the pleasure of the fans. People point out when performances are bad because that is a good indicator of when we can expect results to be bad.