Match Day Thread Premier League, Cups & Euro Watch

We'll ****ing smash'em

 

I've still not seen anything that convinces me that Ollie knows what he's doing.
He looks more like a slightly surprised observer as to how his team is playing rather than the satisfied architect of their current revival.
Imo, he got lucky with Fernandes, but it remains to be seen how long he can ride that luck.

 

They're doing alright atm because the transfer window is open. Pogba always starts playing for a move.

 

Are you for real?

 

Liverpool have not play Manchester United this season, two games home and away.
Liverpool have to play Manchester City at Anfield and play Spurs away.
We are also playing Leicester away and since coming to Leicester Brendan Rodgers have not won against Jurgen Klopp. Chelsea coming to Anfield also.
Liverpool have to play Everton in Merseyside derby at Anfiled.
Liverpool away to Arsenal, have not won at the Emirates for quite sometime.
Usually Liverpool are better in the second half of the season. Can we put a run together???

 

They are so inconsistent. They’ve been very lucky with some away matches especially. Some pens were very dodgy. They are in a false position but after next weekend we will find out.

 

They could easily beat us (though obviously I always go for a win for us ), but that wouldn't change my view of Ollie's managerial prowess. He would have to get them to the top and keep them competing for several years for that to be proven.
I think of the current Utd as a bit like the Suarez era Liverpool - not a one-man team by any means, but certainly driven by one individual whose talents inspire others and who makes everything else click.
Ultimately though, it's down to the manager when things don't go quite to plan on the pitch, and I'm not convinced that he has what it takes. He's not a strong enough character imo.

 

As others have mentioned, United are riding the wave. Every team needs luck - whether it's favourable ref decisions, penalties or even finding a sweet purple patch where every shot results in a goal.

United are going through a purple patch where everything is going their way. Based on underlying stats such as xG, chances created etc etc, they're not doing anything that is remarkable. They're over performing these metrics - but they're doing it at a rate which is not sustainable - and that's why I Think they will fall away soon.

Liverpool on the other side - yes, results and performances have been dreadful but we're still amongst the top creators across the 5 leagues, and still have a solid defence. We're still doing enough to score goals and ultimately win games but we just aren't. Our way of playing is more sustainable than United's ...

Famous last words. ....

 

Thing is united have some decent players. On their day, rashford, cavani, martial, Fernandes, pogba can be real quality.

in most cases they have better individual quality so will win games. It’s a bit like Zidane, he’s hardly a tactical genius, he won the CL cos he had quality players plus Ronaldo and got a bit of luck. But when you come up against players better or as good as you you need the tactics to back it up abs that’s where ole struggles. He’s not a brilliant manager.

you could put anyone in charge of united and get them to pick a team and they’ll win some games because quality players will win you games eventually.

 

I agree. They have some good players and their recruitment has improved a little. But good players alone will run the dressing room and ignore the manager. Like they did with Mourinho and will, eventually do with Ole. Right now though, he is saying all the right things so they will get away with their mediocrity.

 

IMo utd have had a nice little run but the reality of it is not actually very good. Its winning that counts.

Look at them:

Lost to arsenal 1st november. awful
Lose to istanbul and effect cost themselves the CL
beat an awful everton (who have picked up a small bit now)
crawl past west brom 1-0
beat instanbul
southmapton game. 0-2 down. sounds a great result 3-2 but in reality they win it at the absolutely death with solskjaer sat o nthe bench shaking like a leaf
lost to PSG. fred sent off stupidly
beat west ham (some credit as they are not that bad this year)
lose to leipzig and out of CL.
bore draw with poor enough city display. 0-0
beat a woeful everton team in cup.
draw 2-2 with leicester
beat wolves 1-0 with an ultra late Rashford goal
scrape past villa 2-1
lost to city in the cup. fairly easy.

so if you just pull the league out like a good man utd fan and say they are unbeaten since arsenal game sure aint they great, look at the heart and the drive to get results thats yielded a 6-2-0 record. world class infact. Dig a bit deeper and it doesn't look nearly so impressive.

summary: Utd are out of two cups, long may he reign.

 

This season we've had Everton, Southampton, spurs, Chelsea Villa all topping the league and they all without exception fell down the table and no longer considered credible title challengers. Soon we may have MU and like the others they will fall down the table and establish themselves as top 6 contenders.

 

Doesn't matter how good or crap a team you are, form makes a big difference.

 

Fernandez had a really bad game last night and they are quite reliant on him. I expect a really tough game against them and will be happy to scrape any sort of win given our recent form. If they come to Anfield and are the better team, much as I hate them, then I will accept that they are making progress. I think City showed in the last two games that they are coming into form now, have a stronger squad than us and are favourites to win the league. I would love to be proved wrong on that one

 

they will defend and break. Because that’s what they are good at. With our defensive crisis, I wouldn’t make any assessments on the outcome of this game.

 

Fernandez will play a blinder against us, then be crap for a couple of games when it will not matter

 

depends who he’s up against - Hendo would keep him quiet in midfield

 

Hendo will be playing CB

 

Actually I've heard this fernandes played poorly comment quite a few times in several games this season but then there's an assist or a pen and all is well.

I'm not sure how true it really is.

 

I don’t think he’s anything special. Yes, he’s scored goals (many pens) and provided some assists but apart from that he’s not been that crucial to his team’s performances. In many games, his passes are poor and hardly make a difference. Overrated IMO.