Graeme Sourness | Retires from “punditry”

SteveJ said:
Unsurprisingly, young black players are to blame, while Kane gets a pass:

Souness goes in hard on Lingard, Dele Alli and England ~
https://www.football365.com/news/souness-goes-in-hard-on-lingard-dele-alli-and-england
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That's a bit harsh. He didn't blame Lingard and Alli but simply said it's not their natural game to sit back as proper midfielders and dictate the game, which is completely true. Both of these players have played behind the striker or out wide for most of their careers. Lingard has played a few games as an #8, but that's only the easy games against weak opposition.

I don't know why you're bringing colour into this.
 
He’s right on some points, there is a lack of creativity and an imbalance with Sterling and Alli in there. I don’t agree on his possession argument though, Croatia had 55% possession last night, hardly complete domination. Our main problem came from us always leaving two up top. It meant we didn’t have enough cover against their full backs and wingers when they were pushing up and that is where the danger was coming from. It was system rather than personnel.

If Kane squares to Sterling in the first half and we go two nil up, then in the second half we tuck in with two banks of four, Croatia are going to find it very hard to score two.
 
poleglass red said:
His analysis after the Eng game was spot on. No creativity in the Eng mid was the issue. You'd a defensive mid in Henderson, with runners in Alli and Lingard. No one who wants to put their foot on the ball and looks to make that pass. Alli and Lingard want on the end of passes, Henderson can't make them. He had a pop at the backline also, they stopped looked for the ball from the keeper and stopped carrying the ball out, hence Pickford hitting it long. Not always a fan of his analysis but he was spot on here
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Would it have worked any better with Dier or Delph in there instead of one of them? Most likely no, and we'd have had even less chance of doing anything.

All this talk would have been moot if Kane or Lingard had out their chances away. We went in at half time having bossed them.
 
3KDré said:
I don't know why you're bringing colour into this.
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Hopefully I'm wrong, and maybe Graeme is just another old-school pundit who dislikes 'show-off young players who just haven't earned it.'
 
Classical Mechanic said:
He’s right on some points, there is a lack of creativity and an imbalance with Sterling and Alli in there. I don’t agree on his possession argument though, Croatia had 55% possession last night, hardly complete domination. Our main problem came from us always leaving two up top. It meant we didn’t have enough cover against their full backs and wingers when they were pushing up and that is where the danger was coming from. It was system rather than personnel.

If Kane squares to Sterling in the first half and we go two nil up, then in the second half we tuck in with two banks of four, Croatia are going to find it very hard to score two.
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I am not saying Souness was right, but overall possession stats can't just be used to assess the whole game. England had the upper hand in the first half. So Croatia was coming from behind and ended up being dominant. It's not steady 45-55 from the start. it's about England couldn't kill the game when they had momentum and gradually things slipped off their hand as the game went just as you said.

About leaving 2 man up top. It can't be helped, England lack plan B aka a target man. Kane is not bad holding up, but he ain't the best as taking down long ball which England had to resort to. Then he's not quick enough to power his way to goal alone. He needs a support partner. For this I am don't think there not much you can do unless you're gambling by subbing off Kane himself, since leaving him isolated alone would mean you're down to 10 men. Having a support forward meaning there was a chance for a counter and kill the game (prior to the equalizer)/ win the game (prior to conceded the goal in ET). It didn't happen but sensible tactically. England problem at back with defenders who ain't very good at defending is predictable, but a separate issue to the 2 forwards partnership to be available for counter. In a sense, even if you sacrificed counter leaving Kane with no support to add more defensive players, there had been no guarantee these defenders wouldn't make mistake and end up with similar result.
 
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Hate to agree with him but he was bang on the mark about the England game. Still looking forward to seeing his reaction when Pogba lifts the World Cup though.
 
Someone's going to have to check on him Sunday. If France and Pogba win he's going to be a wreck.

He's an obsessed, bitter old man. Imagine having that kind of grudge on a lad 40 years younger than you because he does the same thing you used to do and makes well more money.
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
Someone's going to have to check on him Sunday. If France and Pogba win he's going to be a wreck.

He's an obsessed, bitter old man. Imagine having that kind of grudge on a lad 40 years younger than you because he does the same thing you used to do and makes well more money.
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Yes. When he commentates it isn't impartial at all. You can just tell he's getting more and more riled up. It would be funny to watch were it not so odd.
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
Someone's going to have to check on him Sunday. If France and Pogba win he's going to be a wreck.

He's an obsessed, bitter old man. Imagine having that kind of grudge on a lad 40 years younger than you because he does the same thing you used to do and makes well more money.
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Its alright playing well for France but he's surrounded by quality players, the best in the world. There isn't any pressure on him.
Manchester United doesn't have that quality so he has to step up, become that leader. He can't hide and hang back so Mbappe can carry the attacking load or Kante mops up behind him.

I guarantee that's the gist of Souness argument if France do win.
You even see it on here in the Lukaku and Pogba threads this summer. Nobody is ever wrong, its reason A B C D why I'm still right but he's doing well due to circumstance.
 
cyberman said:
Its alright playing well for France but he's surrounded by quality players, the best in the world. There isn't any pressure on him.
Manchester United doesn't have that quality so he has to step up, become that leader. He can't hide and hang back so Mbappe can carry the attacking load or Kante mops up behind him.

I guarantee that's the gist of Souness argument if France do win.
You even see it on here in the Lukaku and Pogba threads this summer. Nobody is ever wrong, its reason A B C D why I'm still right but he's doing well due to circumstance.
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Yeah, I get rival fans not liking or at least giving credit to other players (I personally don't get it I recognize and respect talent and try not to be so bitter I cant give an individual credit) but when I see constant bashing by our own fans and almost a want for them to fail I think that's just bizarre. I don't see that from other fan bases. I'm not saying let's turn into Liverpool fans and say we have the best defender, the best winger, the best striker, the best stadium, the coldest beer, the best corner flags, the best half time food etc; but would be nice if so many weren't so glum about our own players.
 
GeorgieBoy said:
Yes. When he commentates it isn't impartial at all. You can just tell he's getting more and more riled up. It would be funny to watch were it not so odd.
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I don't see the studio stuff as much here, we have NBC covering premier league and they are excellent. We get Fox for Champions League and they are fairly shite but largely inoffensive. I do watch bits and pieces of the English punditry though due to Youtube and some of them are terrible. Souness obviously being near the top of the list. He brings no humor, enthusiasm and clearly has personal ill feelings towards individuals. It's just bizarre. If I'm ever that way honestly I'd stop watching the game I think or at the most just watch United and ignore all else.
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
I don't see the studio stuff as much here, we have NBC covering premier league and they are excellent. We get Fox for Champions League and they are fairly shite but largely inoffensive. I do watch bits and pieces of the English punditry some of them are terrible. Souness obviously being near the top of the list. He brings no humor, enthusiasm and clearly has personal ill feelings towards individuals. It's just bizarre. If I'm ever that way honestly I'd stop watching the game I think or at the most just watch United and ignore all else.
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Point of order here. Souness is Scottish.

I'm with you on the rest though. He strikes me as a bitter individual who has personal vendettas against certain players. As a player himself he was brilliant but known to also go out to deliberately hurt another player particularly if they were frustrating him.

I see similarities with Keane actually. Fantastic driven footballers and born winners but they seem to take no joy from the game and both had an unpleasant edge to them.
 
Barca84 said:
Point of order here. Souness is Scottish.

I'm with you on the rest though. He strikes me as a bitter individual who has personal vendettas against certain players. As a player himself he was brilliant but known to also go out to deliberately hurt another player particularly if they were frustrating him.

I see similarities with Keane actually. Fantastic driven footballers and born winners but they seem to take no joy from the game and both had an unpleasant edge to them.
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I know he is. I'm talking English punditry as in from English TV of which Thierry Henry for example is included.
 
Wonder if they've got an ambulance on the standby for him should Pogba actually lift the WC being one of the France's best players.
 
Well if people keep saying the song irks them and motivates them to do well against England, maybe it really does? Even if it has a different meaning to it and even if it is tongue in cheek.
 
It's been taken totally out of context. The song was written for the Euros taking place in England. That's it.
 
Inter Yer Nan said:
Really? I haven’t seen anything.
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There’s a collectors’ item in the Sunday Times this weekend as Graeme Souness has actually praised Man United’s Paul Pogba.

Souness, the former Liverpool midfielder and manager, is known for not having the greatest opinion on Pogba.

Whether in his weekly column in the Sunday Times or in his role as a pundit on TV, Souness has a history of criticising Pogba in public.

Yet, on the morning of the 2018 World Cup final, the narrative has changed.

Writing in the Times, Souness has shown he can also also big up Pogba when he feels it’s deserved:

Pogba has surprised me with his discipline and industry. He is not playing for Pogba but as part of an overall plan.

Too often in the past two seasons, the Manchester United man has played as if he is either on fast forward or slow rewind. In Russia, however, we have seen him tracking back with the same intensity that he shows when running forward.

https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/souness-praises-man-united-paul-pogba/
 
I don’t know why people are getting giddy. Pogba is proving Souness wrong in a shirt that doesn’t have a Manchester United badge on it.

The past two seasons can only be described as a disappointment and if he reverts straight back to the Pogba we’ve all been used to over the past few years as soon as he’s back in England then anything he does here is of no value to us.
 
Is there anyone that has compiled a list of the comments he has made about Pogba? I feel like there are so many negative ones.
 
How much of a tw@t does Graeme feel tonight? He should be embarrassed.
 
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