Kenny Dalglish Won't Be Delivering the Module: English Premiership 2011-12

A PLACE OF PARTY

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pa✧✧✧@sportsdirectar✧✧✧.c✧✧

This reminds me of Xmas 2002 iirc. United had been crap and off the pace then battled back with wins over Newcastle, Liverpool and Arsenal to go level at the top (I think) only to lose back-to-back games against no-hopers and promptly fall six points behind again.

that was actually a lot worse than the City game

Agreed.

oh, i doubt that

v City we were being slightly outplayed by the strongest team in the league until Evans got himself pointlessly sent off. Even with ten men we looked alright, just ended up conceding a ton of late goals. Tonight we were comfortably beaten by a very average side just days after being beaten at home by the worst team in the league.

oh, i doubt that
I think NN means the performance, rather than the psychological damage

yes, and you summed it up nicely

Agreed with NN. ManU looked apathetic.

i think yr rewriting the extent to which citeh outclassed you on home turf, and it wasn't the three late goals so much as the more advanced possession game of silva etc

two of tonight's goals came from wind-assisted 70+ yard passes

yes but City have the most expensive squad in the world. Utd offered absolutely nothing tonight. No control, no passing, just shit.

How many shots on target did we have? there was that block on the line from Rooney...

'comfortably beaten by a very average side'

nah, not at all, krul/coloccini/santon/cabaye/tiote/ba are pretty fucking far from average in the context of the current premier league, and they didn't even play ben arfa or vukcic

ynahtid were shit, but you know, congested fixture list, backshift backline etc etc

vs citeh they were at home and had pretty much the entire first xi who had been tearing apart the lower orders in august

6 - 6 shots on target

4 - 0 off target

6 - 6 corners

51% - 49% possession

16 - 15 fouls

1 - 2 yellow cards

the backline is makeshift all the time now

as is the midfield really

I loathe Coloccini, fwiw. I like Tiote more and more and Cabaye has moments of genius. Having Ba up front, whether scaring defenses, scoring or just holding makes everybody look better on that team.

Man U seem to be in a position of pretty extreme flux. While you're at it, Number None, what do you think of Ferguson's attacking options?

ba just shoots from any position and very effectively, he doesn't rly keep possession that well

Stuck with Rooney i suppose. Berbatov should probably go. Hernandez painfully limited. Welbeck, i like

he doesn't rly keep possession that well

Yet it seemd to me in the first half (didn't see the second) Newcastle ended up getting more throw-ins in United's half and many off of relatively daring balls up to Ba.

describing hernandez as 'painfull limited' highlights how EPL 'discourse' neglects the importance of finishing

i dont even rate , little pea that highly but he is probably the second best finisher in the division

and?

the painful limitations lie in the rest of the side who can't score consistently for shit

I like Chicharito a lot, but it seems that for some time now finding someone to partner effectively w/Rooney or some attacking threesome that includes him has been problematic or at least somewhat inconsistent. I worry that Rooney has become a fetishized striker who should be playing somewhere else; attacking midefielder perhaps.

we tried that. didn't work

Rooney and Welbeck are the only two that have looked like a proper partnership to me

when did ynahtid last lose three in a row

My first guess was the autumn of 1996 - I know there were back-to-back defeats (5-0 Newcastle and 6-3 Southampton) and I know there were other defeats around that time (Chelsea, Fenerbache) but I don't know if there were three in a row. I'm trawling through the stats now to try to find out. I've found three *league* defeats in a row in Nov/Dec 2001 (Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham) but there's a CL victory in the middle of them.

we tried that. didn't work

With what attackers and what other midfielders? Was it a diamond or was Rooney playing central left?

finding someone to partner effectively w/Rooney

that's not how ferguson works, he has four variously talented forwards who he combines with varying effectiveness depending on various other factors

nobody of any consequence rly relies on a a single forward 'partnership' any more

the midfield is far weaker and far more of a problem for them

which Ferguson will continue to ignore

Remember when Rooney was on his way out? Fergie made a big mistake not flogging him to the neighbours imo. Could have ended up w/ Aguero while city just made posters w/ ol hairplugs.

Ah, in April 2001 United won the league with three games to spare and a fourteen point lead over Arsenal. They then lost all three final games (Derby, Southampton, Spurs).

Rooney in midfield wasn't actually that bad, but he just sat back and sprayed the ball around without getting involved in the forward play at all. We just can't afford to lose him from the attacking third, despite his frequent shitness

nobody of any consequence rly relies on a a single forward 'partnership' any more

amoebi&ba; kun&mario; torres&anexistentialquestion

Cleverley's promised Christmas return has melted away as well.

aguero and balotelli have barely played in a 4-4-2, if they have played together this season then it's mostly a 4-2-3-1 with one of them playing lw

ameobi and ba isn't a regular partnership either

dude it was quite obviously a joek retort

Cleverley's promised Christmas return has melted away as well

...and Smalling's 'tonsilitis' seems to be lasting an impossible amount of time

this whole 'what is to be done with twp' is tiresome and wrong imo

twp is a very good player, and quite similar to suarez and tévez, streaky forwards with notable tenacity, strong intangibles and extracurricular problems that need careful managing

there isn't some sort of magical solution that will enable twp to 'fulfill his potential' -- this is about as good as he will get, sometimes great, sometimes not, a valuable franchise player but not an all-time great

yeah that's fair

he's gives off such a bad vibe when it's not happening for him though

he's p much walcott if he was a white northern cunt. little talent hidden by a massive fee and a few great appearances a season.

I was going to say I like how Utd have made Liverpool look good this festive period, but y'know.

Anyway, Utd angst is always entertaining, except that you've got a good chance hitting upon cures that actually happen and work.

too far a hoy hoy, too far