This is the point isn't it. We can get as many players as we want, and can afford, but with no concept of defensive coaching in our management we will continue to fail. The best signing we can surely hope for is for Lampard and Morris to suck it up and go and hire a world renown defensive coach.
I think the reviews on here are not necessarily being directed at this one fixture but is being used to once again highlight a massive shortfall in this set up that has been evident since the very first Man Utd result.
True he is not the sole reason why we look shocking defensively. Just as well the focus is away from him because for a player quoted for upwards of 100m a year ago the few occasions he can be trusted to be put on the pitch, his contribution going forward has been sh!t and then gives up in tracking back immediately. Complete fraud massively overrated who will no doubt prevent a player of real talent getting through. I've said before the development squad is the proving ground not here. If you are not up and running within 3-5 appearances you are probably not going to make it, especially in a forward role. People might not like it but that is generally the way.
When was CHO ever quoted as £100m? And how is 1 goal & 5 assists in 852mins not a fair return? That translates to a contribution ever 142mins, Willian who is well overrated on this forum & heralded for his “defensive contribution” is at 162mins. You take out the pens & that drops to 217mins. Mount who “leads the press” is at 239mins per contribution, can’t even fault him because he is playing out of position. The only player better than him output wise is Pulisic who is at 132mins per contribution. Son is at 118 per contribution, Rashford is at 110 per contribution. Pedro that fans keep banging on about his defensive contribution has 1 goal & 1 assist in 8 starts (662mins). That translates to a contribution every 331mins. How Pedro was meant to help in winning a game we were chasing with that kind of contribution is something only Lamps can explain.
Yeah and then got screwed with a ludicrous offside call to stop us winning it and finishing first in the group.A**x comes to mind, we got all our decisions for the season in one hit
Don't get me started on that. Although if we had have finished first, Atalanta would have probably scored 7 against us too. And given they gave a load of Valencia fans COVID it may have been for the best that he was selfish and took that penalty.
Yes, it's a fine beer.
I don't think I compared him to anybody. I can't see that I did. The reason I didn't do that is because you can bend stats to meet your narrative. For example coming on for the last 15 minutes of a game where the opposition is already beaten and adding an assist for an extra goal in a dead game surely cannot be compared to a season's worth of full appearances in league and cup competitions. If so we'd now be saying that Tolisso is the best player Bayern have got cos if we measured his contribution in minutes he probably would have been at a goal per minute last night.
My impression was that Kovacic was caught napping, lost the ball and went over after minimal contact (if any) hoping to get a foul. They're usually given.
My take as well. I don't think it was a foul, but the consensus after the Liverpool game was that if you brush a player even lightly after playing the ball first, and the player then takes two steps before falling over, then a foul should be awarded. Or does that only apply at Anfield?
Oh come on, that's not fair. It's not about Anfield, it's about the colour of the shirts (Liverpool, Manure, Arse and Bayern all red). Ironic though that it was Kovacic in all those situations and every single one went against us. I'm sad to say it, but maybe he should just be more theatrical?
