Drogba was a bit part player in that side, he was hardly a major part of the title win, so I didn't ignore it, you are again saying a main part of our 11, you are also repeatedly ignoring that I have pointed out over and over that he's a crock which John Terry, the only valid example given, isn't.
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Drogba was a bit part player in that side, he was hardly a major part of the title win, so I didn't ignore it, you are again saying a main part of our 11, you are also repeatedly ignoring that I have pointed out over and over that he's a crock which John Terry, the only valid example given, isn't.
Drogba is one of about half a dozen examples in multiple league. Clearly there is a proven pattern that he doesn't see things as you do.
Should we have sold Ferdinand, Giggs, and Carrick in 2011 then ? Fergie obviously didn't think so.
All of the examples you gave were from the same league, a league synonymous with has-beens, his Real Madrid side, his first Chelsea side and his title winning 2nd Chelsea side weren't, so the pattern is he used old players in a league littered with them and had an old striker playing a few minutes here and there when he won the PL in his second stint as Chelsea boss. None of that is the same as you saying a 32 year old crock who is past his best will be a mainstay in the most demanding league around.
CB's are different, Carrick has also been in this league his whole career and has hardly had any injuries until the last 2 seasons. Yes I think we kept Giggs and Scholes around too long at the expense of buying in prime CM's, which cost us against Barca in the CL final both times.
No they were from the Prem and the Italian league, which you attempted to casually brush off as irrelevant because they are less physical than than England.
That's a fact, they are less demanding by a long way. So a bit part Drogba and a hardly ever injured John Terry playing in a totally different position are the English examples, again it's not the same as an injury prone and injury ravaged CM being a regular starter.
Herrera is a CM and most of our players gave been shit under LVG because of the restrictive system, won't hold that against Schneiderlin.
So let me get this straight - Italians can play much longer than English league players because the Italian league is slowwww ?
Herrera isn't a CM, he's an AM in a midfield 3, pretty much Oscar's role at Chelsea. Being shit is one thing, being a completely invisible ball dodger in midfield is another, Schneiderlin plays in the position where you see most of the ball in a possession team and offered nothing.
Good point, which is often overlooked. When the manager is disconnected from the squad, the players will almost always collectively perform poorly and vice versa when a manager like Mourinho galvanizes the squad to punch well above their collective weight. Most of our players should simply not be evaluated based on LvG's tenure - especially Schmidfield and Memphis. I think each of them as well as Darmian, Varela, the kids, et all will improve significantly next year simply as a result of having a cohesive manager who instills an ethos of belief in the players.
Yes, if your body isn't having as much taken out of it week after week it sustains better, and it's not just the lack of speed and tempo, it's the wear and tear of the physicality in the PL. It's not a coincidence that you have players like Totti still going at nearly 40 just like Maldini and Zanetti did, or that AC Milan had a team full of mid 30's players not that long ago.
I think that's pipe dream stuff, expecting every mediocre player to suddenly be good under Jose is not realistic, LvG was a crap manager but some of these lot need to take responsibility for their own shortcomings.
Well you just had Giggs going until he was 40 as well so that's not much of a contrast. In each case you cited those players stuck around because they were mainstays at their respective clubs who held onto them longer for sentimental reasons as opposed to slothlike tempo of the Italian league.
His Inter Milan team were even older with the likes of Milito, Stankovic, Eto, Lucio, Samuel, materazzi and zanetti all in either the same age group as Bastian right now or older.
Theres a reason that team sunk as soon as Jose left, other than his second go around with Chelsea, he had always favored quite a few older players in his squads.
Suddenly becoming good is completely subjective - we can however assume the squad as a whole will perform more cohesively than under LvG - both by way of squad solidarity and goals scored and conceded. If anything, Ranieri's Leicester have proven that fairly inconspicuous players with minimal experience can win the league with a good manager who can coach and inspire the players to believe in themselves and play as a collective team.
Milan aren't the only team in Italy with a lot of old players, just the most prominent, and we did the same and are doing it again with Carrick, Giggs was a freak of nature in those latter years, while he had niggling muscle injuries as a younger player like a lot of speed merchants, he was in great physical condition through his 30's, the complete opposite of Schweinsteiger and a rarity for most players in the PL, especially at top clubs when it comes to CM.
Milito was pivotal during their treble run as well. Fortunately, the slow motion aspect of the Italian league allowed a 30 year old to knock in two goals in the CL final.
Jose's Real Madrid and both Chelsea sides all had younger players at the core, he inherited an old side in Italy as most of their teams were old back then and it wasn't until Juve got back on track that we started to see a shift to more dynamic sides in Italy, with Roma, Fiorentina and Napoli following suit and the Milan's in a period of transition.
Leicester are like Pep in the Giggs debate IMO, exceptions to the rule rather than the rule, last season was as bizarre as you will ever see and Leicester unearthed 2 gems that helped them to win that title, it was unusual to say the least. I thought our team spirit under LvG looked ok out on the pitch, but I'd agree that a player like Herrera struggled under his demands as he's a risk taker, but the likes of Schneiderlin and Memphis only have themselves to blame for how bad they were in my view, lacking the mental requirements to step up at United, they were shown up by players like Lingard and even Fellaini who showed the fight and desire required, even if their level of talent seems lesser.
30 not 32, one off CL game vs a 38 game PL season, a striker not a CM so not in the the thick of the combative aspects, and also not a crock.
Beast calves.
Those fatty legs are a disgrace, I hope Jose cuts his rations.
He looks a lot thinner there than he has done all season for us.
Bet he has a fantastic tournament. Always seems to do well in big occasions.
Basti always has been a big man for the big occasion. I hope he doesn't leave it all out there in France and come back to England crocked. A fit Schweinsteiger could be like a new signing.
Last season was a write off. Looks very lean in that photo.
Reminds me a bit about the 2010 World Cup, when Klose after a really underwhelming season under van Gaal was unfit and overweight before the tournament. He even said it himself. There was a huge discussion in Germany that he shouldn't go to the tournament at all because his performances were awful and he looked out of shape. Löw got him into a top physical shape within 4 weeks. Klose looked lean and healthy and ran himself into the ground for Germany, had no fitness problems at all.
Not trying to blame van Gaal here by the way, it's of course down to Schweinsteiger. He's responsible to work on his fitness/eat healthy and it raises questions about his attitude last season. But I wrote before that I found it odd how he was allowed to travel to Rome and Dubai to watch his girlfriend play tennis during the season just because he was injured. He should have stayed in Manchester and worked individually in United's trainings facilities to get ready for his comeback in my opinion. The two cases are just oddly similar and I hope we get to see another great tournament from Schweinsteiger. He's so important to our balance in midfield.
Not trying to blame van Gaal here by the way, it's of course down to Schweinsteiger. He's responsible to work on his fitness/eat healthy and it raises questions about his attitude last season. But I wrote before that I found it odd how he was allowed to travel to Rome and Dubai to watch his girlfriend play tennis during the season just because he was injured. He should have stayed in Manchester and worked individually in United's trainings facilities to get ready for his comeback in my opinion. The two cases are just oddly similar and I hope we get to see another great tournament from Schweinsteiger. He's so important to our balance in midfield.
Think he will have an excellent season under Mourinho
I have that feeling too. I think Mou will know how to utilize him, both tactically and physically, knowing when to rest him and use him. Could be huge for us.
I thought when he played he added a lot to us, his passing was good and he gave us a sense of composure. Obviously he's not got the legs of a 26 year old anymore but under Mourinho expect to see a lot of BFS. I can't fecking wait.
Hopefully he does well and get some confidence back. Mourinho was always a huge fan, and I thought he was actually decent when fit for the most part last season. Main problem was LvG's tactics which he listened to, even though they didn't work. But I don't think he's completely past it and can still have a huge impact next season I think. Just needs his games to be managed instead of being overplayed like LvG did with him.
His calves have calves
What a crock. Hope Mourinho releases him and buys some midfielder none of us have heard of.
Or buys a really good in his prime one we have heard of......
That's true.
Even on his bad games, he'd be quiet, shuffling about, and next thing he'd close down a mid on the ball, make an interception and ping a first time 30 yard lobbed through ball to leave Rooney 1 on 1 with their keeper(or something else awesome).
Then of course Rooney would feck it up, but I guess you can't have everything...
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