manc-mag

De Gea looks like he's more used to playing with a ball with a bell in the middle on the evidence of today and last week. Great stuff, hope theres plenty more to come from him.

Did they mention they were off for a Chinese after the match?

Ant, usually agree with a lot of football post you make but we will have to agree to disagree on Jonas if you have the same opinion of him as CT constantly spouts. tbf manc and kitman have discussed/highlighted everything I was going to say about his game. There was a moment yesterday when Walcott was around Colo and Jonas was there behind him to mop up - we even got a goal kick out of it. For me that spoke volumes about his commitment and worth to the team. Oh i don't disagree his tracking back etc is excellent, but primarily his offensive side is awful, he can't cross pass shoot or really dribble (just looks awkward) If we're going have him on to be a fit nuisance we may as well buy another full back and have him play on the left hand wing, least then it's one who can tackle properly. Sorry like but as a winger going forward he's so inconsistent it's maddening. As for Argentina picking him, Madonna did and played him at right back, which was mental. edit > oh aye i'm not saying he shouldn't get on he probably should, we've no better option currently, and his lack of crossing ability doesn't matter now carrolls gone, he could get the ball to shola 3yards out and he'd still spoon it wide or tackle himself. He has been picked as a winger in his own right too though, and Argentina have hardly been short on decent wingers in recent times.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Im sick of hearing that tbh. I appreciate the gap between midfield and defence and think if Pardew should have stuck with pre season form, stuck Best up on his own, Vuckic for Jonas and Gosling as the link man. Personally I think it was a big game against Arsenal and Pards bottled it a bit, hence Ameobi and Jonas's inclusion. I think in a few weeks, neither will be in the starting 11 Jonas is a footballer. His trouble is he plays in a team with dogshit upfront. His value would increase manifold if he had intelligent strikers to hit, as it happens it's reduced to carrying the ball and retaining possession because he doesn't. That still has merit though for the reasons I've stated, particularly against a team which should be beating us, such as Arsenal. So why havent all the teams with intelligent strikers been banging our door down to get him? Can they not see what you see? By and large the teams with the top strikers also have top midfielders in place, but I can accept you point. Argentina pick him though if you're after evidence of him playing at a higher level. I just think he gets a lot of stick, or more to the point, what he does do goes largely undervalued.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Im sick of hearing that tbh. I appreciate the gap between midfield and defence and think if Pardew should have stuck with pre season form, stuck Best up on his own, Vuckic for Jonas and Gosling as the link man. Personally I think it was a big game against Arsenal and Pards bottled it a bit, hence Ameobi and Jonas's inclusion. I think in a few weeks, neither will be in the starting 11 Jonas is a footballer. His trouble is he plays in a team with dogshit upfront. His value would increase manifold if he had intelligent strikers to hit, as it happens it's reduced to carrying the ball and retaining possession because he doesn't. That still has merit though for the reasons I've stated, particularly against a team which should be beating us, such as Arsenal.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday. Yes. I also think Jonas tracks back a lot to give the full back support. He breaks out of that defensive position pretty well, shame there's usually no end product but he wins a few free kicks I'll bet you any money a more mobile striker than Ameobi (and ideally an intelligent and mobile front two) would see him picking out more through balls. I take your point on crosses, but it shouldn't be the only thing he's judged on. He should be cutting in and having the choice of two runners to hit while pulling their defence out of position in the process. Doesn't happen though because theres nobody making those runs. The emphasis on crosses (from open play) should be less since Carroll left anyway.

Jonas played well yesterday. I know the game is all about pace these days but athletes that can kick the ball and chase after it at 1,000,000 miles an hour are ten a penny in the Prem. Half of them could spend the week training without a football I reckon, they're footballers in name alone. We could barely string two forward passes together yesterday, so Jonas picking the ball up and actually carrying it forward himself was massively important even if only to take the pressure off our defence. Thinks its a pretty shit statement when the basic rudiments of the game (someone whos actually comfortable with a football at their feet) play second fiddle to pinging balls at nothing, which would have been the alternative given the gaping hole between midfield and attack yesterday.

are you serious? we were playing arsenal, that side that have been in the top 4 for how many years running? who play in the CL every season, who play their kids in the CC and still do well in it. luxuries we can hardly boast. a 0-0 draw v them is a good result, we defend like that against lesser attacks while playing against lesser defences and we'll be just fine this season. They could (and should) have scored a couple. They basically gave us the chance to defend by constantly taking the extra touch. Not that I'm complaining - we can usually find a way to ship a goal even when the opposition aren't pressing. 0-0 was a great result. They played five in midfield so dominated the game, but never look like scoring. That's because they didn't shoot. If they shot on occasion (rather than kept passing ad infinitum) they would have had significantly more chance of scoring. We defended well but only in the context of an opponent which kept looking to take up a shooting position from no further than 6 yards out-you get infinitely more chances to intercept when that happens.

are you serious? we were playing arsenal, that side that have been in the top 4 for how many years running? who play in the CL every season, who play their kids in the CC and still do well in it. luxuries we can hardly boast. a 0-0 draw v them is a good result, we defend like that against lesser attacks while playing against lesser defences and we'll be just fine this season. They could (and should) have scored a couple. They basically gave us the chance to defend by constantly taking the extra touch. Not that I'm complaining - we can usually find a way to ship a goal even when the opposition aren't pressing. 0-0 was a great result.

Wes Brown still getting the plaudits on MOTD despite going to ground more than any other centre half in the history of modern football. Fuck off eh? Ta.

Good stuff. Hopefully more of this to come and some over adventurous dribbles out of the back into trouble on their squalid little pitch.

Dunno how the season will pan out but I don't think Obertan disgraced himself today. Very good result given how poor we were going forward. Arsenal should have won by a couple but that's their fault if they want to try and walk it in, even we can defend when you're given enough chances to block. Definitely zero creativity and a gulf between midfield and attack, but I imagine we'll see that starting midfield change a few times over the next few weeks. Have to say, as much as I love him, today showed what an awful footballer Tiote is. Absolute 100% athletic spoiler who covers every blade of grass to break moves down-and we've lacked that for such a long time- but I whince every time he even contemplates a genuine forward pass. Fortunately he knows his limitations (which is another strength some players don't possess) so he doesn't do it too often, but the combination of that and an unfit Cabaye (in terms of Prem pace) meant we were gonna struggle to create anything today.

Belated happy birthday to Toontastic's most high profile defector

FYP

I don't agree with this at all. If they had 3PF&T then surely they're covered. If they '3rd party only' cover then surely this is a financial decision they made and they should deal with the consequences? I doubt criminal damage is covered under 3PF&T. Inclined to agree with you about the 3rd party point though-you take a pretty obvious risk when you go with the absolute scantest form of insurance cover. Easy for you to say with your company car mind. Fella at work reckons that under the 'riot act' any costs for damage incurred should be footed by the police. Heard summat similar. Not the Riot Act itself (the famous one which gives the various powers to the authorities in the circumstances) but some antiquated piece of civil recovery legislation, the Riot (Damages) Act. Same end result though, if certain police forces get stung for it the government will only end up having to make some emergency funding available=taxpayers foot the bill.

Very good point that. On a personal level, I'll bet he's immeasurably happier dealing with the current crisis than he was about the last one, to the extent that, media soundbites aside he's actually glad it happened.

I don't agree with this at all. If they had 3PF&T then surely they're covered. If they '3rd party only' cover then surely this is a financial decision they made and they should deal with the consequences? I doubt criminal damage is covered under 3PF&T. Inclined to agree with you about the 3rd party point though-you take a pretty obvious risk when you go with the absolute scantest form of insurance cover. Easy for you to say with your company car mind.

Yeah, some of his honest insight is what I'm craving at present.

What does it matter what he says though in all seriousness? Do you think he was that blind he didn't know this was the name of the game when he agreed to be manager? The man was a desperate chancer with no other prospect on the horizon, he's here to do as he's told.

I think I'm a bit more philosophical about it than that tbh. This is essentially cyclical for us now where any top performer reaches a contract renewal phase. They will naturally want more money, they won't be offered it and so they'll want away. In that case it's all about managing their exit, their replacement and damage limitation. In the case of newbies, you get them in on peanuts and if they perform they got one contract upgrade. They don't get another one after that however. In the case of those brought in on the higher money, if they perform there's no scope for contract upgrade and they get shipped. Aye. Tbh, unlike the club, he's ambitious. Massive shame he's going to them lot though. Yup. I think he probably has acted up a bit as Tom says, but I'm not taking that personally. At the end of the day, within reason, that's often the players weapon of choice when they want to engineer a move. It's the club that sets and operates the wage policy so they're effectively on notice this is the likely outcome each time renewal rolls around. So if the wage policy stays the same, taking the sentiment out of it, it's about getting the player shipped with the minimum disruption to team moral (which is wholly foreseeable) and with a genuinely viable replacement lined up (deal basically done). If the club isn't doing that, then it's the club's fault. Enrique's ambitious for better football and for better cash, and in the case of the latter, he's not arsed about the economics of it, he's only arsed about who can give it him. In that case he's like any other footballer in the history of the game, bar perhaps Matt Le Tissier, so the club can't cry foul.

I think I'm a bit more philosophical about it than that tbh. This is essentially cyclical for us now where any top performer reaches a contract renewal phase. They will naturally want more money, they won't be offered it and so they'll want away. In that case it's all about managing their exit, their replacement and damage limitation. In the case of newbies, you get them in on peanuts and if they perform they got one contract upgrade. They don't get another one after that however. In the case of those brought in on the higher money, if they perform there's no scope for contract upgrade and they get shipped.

Nothing personal against Jose, but I genuinely hope he tries to play too much football for Dalglish's tastes and it all turns to shit for him pronto. Some ill advised dribbles out of defence, followed by dispossession and the ball banged into his own net would be a nice little bonus.

Birthdays are decadent, but I hope you got a new phone at least.