Shame all the Juve boys here were such soft lads, it just hits different taking the piss when there's fans of the club in question
By Freewheelin Go To PostYeah Yurt became a weeb and I'm not sure why Zabo never visits here anymore :(zabo is too busy banging bitches, making music and taking care of his farm.
living the life.
Chico Lamba made his debut for the main team on Saturday, he isn´t that great of a center back but we need everyone we can get with so many center backs injured.
3 days later... "Chico Lamba is injured and out for a month"....
3 days later... "Chico Lamba is injured and out for a month"....
By LFMartins86 Go To PostChico Lamba made his debut for the main team on Saturday, he isn´t that great of a center back but we need everyone we can get with so many center backs injured.oh no
3 days later… "Chico Lamba is injured and out for a month"….
By Scum Go To PostMorning, lads.
Was all Paratici, the rest didn’t know anything.
Lock him up. Conte too while we are at it.
Good article from Michael Cox in The Athletic. Tldr? Fuck you, Will.
The past week represents a significant step forward for Manchester United, which might seem peculiar if you solely compare the results with the equivalent games from last season.
After all, United also beat Tottenham Hotspur at home last season and drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge. What’s the difference?
Well, almost everything. The 3-2 win over Tottenham last season was almost a parody of the arguments for and against including Cristiano Ronaldo in the side. United were largely outplayed, but Ronaldo smashed in a brilliant hat-trick. At Stamford Bridge, in the brief period when Michael Carrick was in charge, United played very defensively and only scored thanks to a silly Jorginho error allowing them to break from a Chelsea set piece. They created little else.
This time around, Erik ten Hag’s side were controlled and confident against Tottenham, peppering Hugo Lloris’ goal with shots throughout the first half before winning the game in the second half. On Saturday, they needed a superb late Casemiro header to claim a point at Stamford Bridge, but their opening to the game was again excellent, dominating midfield to such an extent that Graham Potter needed to radically change his formation before half-time to ensure Chelsea weren’t overrun.
Since the 6-3 destruction at the hands of Manchester City, United are defensively stronger, conceding just twice in four games (to a long-range Alex Iwobi goal and a Jorginho penalty, rather than through their defence being opened up). Their pressing is cohesive, which prevented Tottenham and Chelsea from playing from defence into midfield.
The midfield is fluent, with the trio breaking through the opposition swiftly. At times they’ve looked like a 4-2-3-1, at times more like a 4-3-3, appearing in both formats against Tottenham in different phases of the game. Fred sat alongside Casemiro to help press Tottenham’s midfield trio but then pushed forward to play alongside Bruno Fernandes — although the Portuguese midfielder always looked to break in behind the opposition defence.
In attack, there are runs in behind and dangerous shots from range. Perhaps most interestingly, United are a constant attacking threat despite the fact Jadon Sancho still isn’t at his best, Marcus Rashford remains wasteful in front of goal, and Antony, while excellent so far, is still in his formative days at the club. In other words, Manchester United are not excelling purely through individual magic from their attackers, which may come at a later date.
The man who is once again dominating the side, however, is Fernandes. He curled home an excellent goal in the 2-0 victory over Tottenham and created two fine chances in the first half at Stamford Bridge, for Rashford and Antony. After a year where Fernandes’ prominence was compromised because of the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, this is now his side once again.
Fernandes remains underappreciated and his impact at the club is often forgotten. Upon Fernandes’ arrival in January 2020, Manchester United were a shambolic outfit and the league table from that point is worth a glance. United were fully 36 points behind eventual title winners Liverpool and merely four ahead of Burnley, Newcastle and other mid-table teams.
From that point, United were transformed. From Fernandes’ arrival until the end of the campaign, they collected the most points in the league. The following season, they finished second behind Manchester City.
This wasn’t all down to Fernandes, of course, and his statistics were boosted by a decent number of penalties. But he recorded 15 goals and assists from 14 games in his first season, then 30 in 37 games in his second season.
In his first calendar year at the club, he won the Premier League player of the month award four times. To put that into context, only six players (Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie) have won the award more than four times in their entire Premier League career.
Fernandes’ impact was extraordinary and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to base the side around Fernandes as a No 10, rather than as a dual No 8 alongside Paul Pogba, was the best of his United tenure.
And then, of course, United signed Ronaldo, and the side went from being based around Fernandes to being based around Ronaldo. He largely fulfilled his individual responsibility, but the side suffered overall. United slumped to sixth and in points terms, they were as close to 19th-placed Watford as they were to champions Manchester City.
That’s a simplistic summary, but it tells a story. When The Athletic asked Fernandes whether he plays well enough with Ronaldo earlier this season, he gave a diplomatic answer.
“Most of my assists last season were for him, so I don’t think (it is a fair criticism),” Fernandes said. “I just had a poor season in terms of my own numbers. I don’t think it is about Cristiano or myself… to play with Cristiano as a No 10 is actually really good because players respect Cristiano so much that it creates more space, as the opponents are afraid of him taking the ball and scoring. They want to mark him and create an overload where he is to mark him.”
And there are examples of Fernandes and Ronaldo combining for goals, as you’d expect of a top-class attacking midfielder and a legendary striker. There’s no personal problem between them, although Fernandes can sometimes seem too deferential, feeling compelled to pass to his more famed team-mate at times.
The numbers from this season, though, make for interesting reading. Here’s a chart looking at Fernandes’ combined expected goal (xG) and expected assist (xA) numbers for the season so far, alongside information about whether or not Ronaldo played the majority of the game. (For clarity, “yes” indicates he played 62 minutes or more. “No” means he played 32 minutes or less.)
OPPOSITION RONALDO? FERNANDES XG+A
Brighton no 0.41
Brentford yes 0.10
Liverpool no 0.86
Southampton no 0.87
Leicester no 0.16
Arsenal no 0.72
Man City no 0.02
Everton yes 0.09
Newcastle yes 0.18
Tottenham no 0.87
Chelsea no 0.45
The pattern is striking. Fernandes was lively even in defeat at Brighton when Ronaldo was left out, then anonymous against Brentford when Ronaldo started. Ronaldo being dropped against Liverpool prompted a significant improvement from Fernandes, who was also excellent against Southampton and Arsenal.
Granted, there were a couple of quieter Fernandes displays against Leicester and in the hammering at Manchester City, but the pattern returns afterwards. Fernandes offered little against Everton and Newcastle when largely playing behind Ronaldo. Then, as Ronaldo has been left out against Tottenham and Chelsea, Fernandes has starred again.
This is a relatively small sample size of 11 games. But the pattern feels significant, especially as the numbers back up the eye test.
In the equivalent of 3.75 games together, Fernandes and Ronaldo have assisted one another for merely 0.19xG of chances.
To put that into context, Fernandes created chances for Rashford against Tottenham and against Chelsea that were both individually higher than the xG figure between Fernandes and Ronaldo from 3.75 games.
Ronaldo tends to make runs for himself, coming short to get a touch of the ball simply because he wants to be involved. He often occupies Fernandes’ space rather than helping to drag opponents apart to create space.
While Rashford’s shooting has been patchy, his and Fernandes’ movement has been structured and cohesive. United usually have an attacking option between the lines and another in behind.
Fernandes has a reputation as an individualist based on his performances since joining Manchester United. And there are valid criticisms; he has sometimes been guilty of trying killer balls too early, for example. But he was often too ambitious because there was no real underlying structure under Solskjaer or Ralf Rangnick. Players were largely left to fend for themselves in the attacking phase and Fernandes did that better than anyone.
It’s a different story under Ten Hag. Fernandes has to think more about the structure of the side and his positional responsibilities. At times he’s a No 8, at times a No 10, and at times a runner in behind. But that suits his skill set and his obvious awareness of what is unfolding around him suggests he’s capable of functioning in this system. It is notable that he’s barely missed a minute this season, only being substituted in stoppage time on the opening day.
Ten Hag won’t entirely base his side around a single player — that goes against his philosophy and partly explains why Ronaldo has been on the fringes — so Fernandes isn’t in the free role he enjoyed under Solskjaer. But he’s the key player in Manchester United’s revival and the biggest winner from what everyone must surely now acknowledge: United play better without Ronaldo.
By Vini.lad Go To PostYeah nobody is reading thatHello, my name is Nobody.
By n8 dogg Go To PostGood article from Michael Cox in The Athletic. Tldr? Fuck you, Will.More like Erik Ten Years
By Laboured Go To PostCome back cowardWas he locked up?
By Vini.lad Go To PostYeah nobody is reading that
Basically it says he's been a better under Ten Hag than last season but at this point it's safe to say his first season and a half was a bit of a flash in the pan.
Been good the last two games but I don't think he's been very good before that really. Still guilty of wasting a ton of good positions by blasting it over the bar from 30 yards. 2 goals and 2 assists in all competitions isn't very good.
By Willkiller Go To PostBasically it says he's been a better under Ten Hag than last season but at this point it's safe to say his first season and a half was a bit of a flash in the pan.
Been good the last two games but I don't think he's been very good before that really. Still guilty of wasting a ton of good positions by blasting it over the bar from 30 yards. 2 goals and 2 assists in all competitions isn't very good.
His xG is decent over a longer period though. Suggesting he should be scoring or assisting around a goal a game. Rashford’s poor finishing to blame for fewer assists.
By n8 dogg Go To PostHis xG is decent over a longer period though. Suggesting he should be scoring or assisting around a goal a game. Rashford’s poor finishing to blame for fewer assists.Should be on 15 goal involvments then. On 4 for the season. It's
By n8 dogg Go To Posti’m glad we agree, brother
Shame there isn't a stat for all the times he's wasted good attacking opportunities, because it's easy to get the impression he's having a good season...actually.
By Laboured Go To PostCR7 back training with the first team.I can see the disgust in Horse eyes as he typed this.
Also see Maguire, Van de Beek and Wan-Bissaka are back in full training. While we do need to beat Sheriff, would be good to rest a few players too.
By Laboured Go To PostAlso see Maguire, Van de Beek and Wan-Bissaka are back in full training. While we do need to beat Sheriff, would be good to rest a few players too.Spurs fans, man.
By Scum Go To PostI can see the disgust in Horse eyes as he typed this.He would rather it be Greenwood
By Lego Go To PostBruno has been great for awhile in my opinion, his team mates let him down.
By Laboured Go To PostAwful.
Chelsea really struggle to exit the defense with their back 3 huh. Feels so awkward for the team each time they used it under Potter.
By Esch Go To PostWe should forfeit the three points for turning up in that.
💀
By Scum Go To PostJuventus and Benfica are two of the most honourable clubs in world football m9
By inky Go To Postyou don't have a neutral third kit?
People are saying apparently, pink can look very similar to red and white in game speed motion / distance?
