Haaaaa! Knew it.
I see the 'ABU' Media are back in full voice...
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We sat top if the table for a week or so and the media angle was "false position", "it's an unusual season because of covid" etc etc.
Leicester go top for not even 24hrs and "they're in the title race", "great young team and manager" etc.
Trevor Sinclair even said today: "Brendan Rodgers is one of the greatest British managers OF ALL TIME and is elite. If you don't agree then you know nothing about football".
The media is flooded with shite pundits at the moment who were average players at best.
Leicester go top for not even 24hrs and "they're in the title race", "great young team and manager" etc.
Trevor Sinclair even said today: "Brendan Rodgers is one of the greatest British managers OF ALL TIME and is elite. If you don't agree then you know nothing about football".
The media is flooded with shite pundits at the moment who were average players at best.
Been listening to Talksport eh? I didn't hear Sinclair say that this morning as I turned off when Simon Jordan was still slagging off Ole. I have just heard about it on drive time show with Adrian Durham.
I put it on from time to time but normally turn it off after a short while. It's really gone downhill in the last couple of years, they should rename it talkshite. Although I still find H&J entertaining.
I didn't hear him this morning but I heard Durham quote him on his show.
He's a good coach Rogers but one of the greatest EVER British coaches? Come on Trev share what you've been smoking.
They want to cause controversy and get people to ring in. With me it just makes me switch stations.
Could Durham have misquoted him? I can't find anything when I google the quotes and it would be a crazy claim from Sinclair.
Could just be that he has deliberately twisted it to be controversial. Wouldn't be the first time that radio station has done that. I tune in after we win and they always manage to suck any joy out of the happiness I am feeling by either saying someone should have been sent off, lucky penalties, the other side had more chances etc, etc. It is endless.
I think the ones who are really struggling to give United any credit at the moment are the self styled high brow journalists like the guys at the Athletic and The Guardian.
They've spent so long painting Solskjaer as a tactical novice, that they can't now walk it back without lacing their articles with backhanded compliments and caveats, as it would undermine their own image as tactical geniuses (even though I'd be surprised if the likes of Jonathan Wilson or Carl Anka have kicked a ball in their lives)
Just the title of Wilson's latest alone tells you all you need to know:
Manchester United's lack of philosophy an advantage in these chaotic times
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side are better able to adapt to the bizarre circumstances of this season while Liverpool are struggling
^I almost feel sorry for the guy at the level of snide manoeuvring he's now having to currently undertake while we're top of the league
They've spent so long painting Solskjaer as a tactical novice, that they can't now walk it back without lacing their articles with backhanded compliments and caveats, as it would undermine their own image as tactical geniuses (even though I'd be surprised if the likes of Jonathan Wilson or Carl Anka have kicked a ball in their lives)
Just the title of Wilson's latest alone tells you all you need to know:
Manchester United's lack of philosophy an advantage in these chaotic times
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side are better able to adapt to the bizarre circumstances of this season while Liverpool are struggling
^I almost feel sorry for the guy at the level of snide manoeuvring he's now having to currently undertake while we're top of the league
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Sounds likely. Doubt anyone would use Rodgers' achievements with Celtic as the basis of such a wild claim.
I do also find this thread quite paranoid tbh. Half the the threads here are slagging off Ole and the players, then fans rage about ABUs if anyone else dare criticise anyone.
How lovely it would be if Ole wins the league with our low brow, pauper class brand of non-football.
The Wilson article shut comments early because so many people called him out for blatant ABU / anti-Ole bias.
We probably shouldnt be held to the same standards as the journalists though....well except you maybe
Heh, the abuse you get as a football journo must be another level, given all the tribal nonsense.We probably shouldnt be held to the same standards as the journalists though....well except you maybe
I didn't think The Athletic piece was too bad, I mean, we DO kind of rely on moments of individual brilliance
The biggest wind up for me recently is the "how great is Thiago" issue....
Fred/McTom have been fantastic all season, they are a big part of the reason we are top of the league (as well as Bruno and a few others) and they get almost no media recognition.
Thiago, has an average game, plays a standard forward pass, media and commentators....."wow glimpses of what he can do there, what a world class player"
Huh?! Am I missing something here
Fred/McTom have been fantastic all season, they are a big part of the reason we are top of the league (as well as Bruno and a few others) and they get almost no media recognition.
Thiago, has an average game, plays a standard forward pass, media and commentators....."wow glimpses of what he can do there, what a world class player"
Huh?! Am I missing something here
Fans, and some in this very thread, are so fragile sometimes. Just read this supposedly snide and condescending article by Wilson in The Guardian and…yeah; it’s a good article in the main.
He highlights the pros and cons of different styles of play. He mentions how Liverpool with their obvious philosophy can be both positive when it’s all going well, but when one important cog gets taken out they can find it hard to adapt.
I think his point about United over the years (and Fergie) not really having a philosophy, per se, is an interesting one. Whether you agree or disagree is up to you. But there’s nothing in here that is so wildly slanderous that it's bordering on hateful. Most of the things he’s saying are what many fans have been saying since Ole took charge. I’ve said some of these things, and I still believe some of them.
I do think we are a “moments” team. I know that’s sometimes a vague word to use, but I don’t necessarily see a team when I watch United play, who have complete control over the game. We have moments of brilliance, interspersed with moments where you question whether some of them have actually played the game before. And this can happen multiple times in one game.
Quite frankly, I couldn’t give a shite at the moment. It’s working, and if we win the league (or go close) then I don’t think any United fan will care about not having a “defining philosophy”
But yeah, there’s nothing bad in this article at all. The only weird bit is when I hear “they rely on individual players” I think I get where he’s coming from, but every bloody team relies on individual players. You can have any philosophy you want, but if you haven't got the individuals then it doesn’t fecking matter one jot.
He highlights the pros and cons of different styles of play. He mentions how Liverpool with their obvious philosophy can be both positive when it’s all going well, but when one important cog gets taken out they can find it hard to adapt.
I think his point about United over the years (and Fergie) not really having a philosophy, per se, is an interesting one. Whether you agree or disagree is up to you. But there’s nothing in here that is so wildly slanderous that it's bordering on hateful. Most of the things he’s saying are what many fans have been saying since Ole took charge. I’ve said some of these things, and I still believe some of them.
I do think we are a “moments” team. I know that’s sometimes a vague word to use, but I don’t necessarily see a team when I watch United play, who have complete control over the game. We have moments of brilliance, interspersed with moments where you question whether some of them have actually played the game before. And this can happen multiple times in one game.
Quite frankly, I couldn’t give a shite at the moment. It’s working, and if we win the league (or go close) then I don’t think any United fan will care about not having a “defining philosophy”
But yeah, there’s nothing bad in this article at all. The only weird bit is when I hear “they rely on individual players” I think I get where he’s coming from, but every bloody team relies on individual players. You can have any philosophy you want, but if you haven't got the individuals then it doesn’t fecking matter one jot.
Was going to post this somewhere but couldn’t think where.
It really is an astounding article, not just for the comments on Solskjaer, but for the larger points he draws about Ferguson.
Wilson may be a good football historian, but I’ve rarely been convinced he has anything of note or value to say as a journalist. I don’t think it’s an issue of being an ABU though, I’ve seen similarly clueless comments of his about Chelsea in the past month.
We've always relied on individual brilliance, in the sixties when I began watching, it was Best Law Charlton. It's the United way
I really like Jonathan Wilson's books, but it must kill him and other football intelligensia to see someone like OGS doing well.
It kind of undermines what they spend their careers researching and writing about when you have a boring Norwegian , whos more of a man manager than a master tactician, doing okay for himself.
Any compliments will always be backhanded and heavily caveated.
It kind of undermines what they spend their careers researching and writing about when you have a boring Norwegian , whos more of a man manager than a master tactician, doing okay for himself.
Any compliments will always be backhanded and heavily caveated.
I think the reliance on individual brilliance has diminished heavily since Mourinho's time (where it was fair to say that was the case)
Especially since we're top of the league with none of our front three having yet got into top gear. The rest of the team (not specific individuals) have stepped up collectively to get us there.
What's lacking from a lot of recent articles is the acknowledgement of an emerging pattern of play. It seems increasingly clear to me that we are developing our style as a team, at least in the last couple of months or so.
Also the 'individual brilliance' thing is such a weird insult, every great team has those individuals which make the difference.
I just read some of that article and it basically says that united have always just relied on good players whereas Liverpool have always relied on having a good footballing philosophy. Seems like a load of shite to be honest
I've not even bothered reading beyond the title, as his articles do my head in. Might have to dive in though now given how outlandish some of his statements seem to be this time around...
Does it really matter what our default style of play or philosophy is? If we had one, which the so called "experts" agreed on, they would be kicking Ole and accusing him of inflexibility every time we lost a game. I consider Ole, aided by his coaches, to be an extremely capable and flexible manager, who picks teams and uses varied tactics, which are appropriate for each match. Such pragmatism is what is needed to win matches against teams who have different strengths and adopt different tactics. Fergie had that skill and so does Ole. Of course, it doesn't fit the ABU narrative to praise Ole for having changed both the culture and personnel of the squad within 2 years, set up a club record run of unbeaten away matches and sit at the top of the Premier League table. The ABU journalists are still sore at Ole's appointment when Mourinho was sacked, as not one of the so-called "experts" had seen it coming and predicted it.
Wilson always falls back on "Well they spend more than any other club so of course they will be successful regardless of who's in charge"
Up the ABU, up every single one of them
Anka's a United fan. Judging from his comments on the United podcast they have, he's wary of going all in but wants us to win. So I read his articles in that view.
He smashed a "pass" out of play in the away game, and the commentator instead of saying how crap it was, said it was a sign he was starting to boil up to full capacity.
Jenas was pretty special in his ABU commentary today.
Guys a tool, I've not listened to talk shite for years. I was a avant listener but they got butes who say stuff to be controversial just to get callers on there station. We see at end if season what's said on there.
Hes a bute, only because everytime he played against utd got battered and got stick.
He should be sacked.
He should be limited to the tedious show I saw the other day where a bunch of C list pundits sit watching screens and no-name host chatted through the FA cup action, with occasional chat if something was going on in their game.
He's obviously a red and wants us to win, he sounds just as upset as I feel when we don't.
He's gone on record to say that he thinks Ole has done well, but he doesn't think he's the manager to take us all the way. It's fair enough I think, plenty of other people have said the same, even I've found myself hopping back and forth.
The difference is Anka wants United to keep winning and to be proven wrong, whereas some of these other mugs have just doubled down in the hope that they can say 'I told you so' at some point.
Agree Klopp is under pressure has been for few weeks. And Alcantara was bought for his creative passing, so far it's been about 2 a game. Falls out of the game after 50mins or so, thinks every defender will fall for his look one way pass another trick . Klopp has fallen into the trap of listening to ex pros etc saying they didn't have a cm creative one , so he got on who's energy levels are not the same as the 3 he had in last few years.
Also FSG will not throw 70 80 million for players, and that's what's it going to cost them now. Under pressure indeed
So in short, United digs deep into it's roots and culture to hire a ex-player without much experience as a manager, who listens to other football men rooted in the traditional culture of our club, takes us from 6th to 1st in a season and a half. Gets ridiculed. Klopp digs deep into his connection to the club and ask bitter english media pundits for advice and ends up buying trash players and looking like a twat on tv regurgitating conspiracy theories made up by his pundit friends to get referees on their side. Still manages to take them from 1st* to 6th*. Stay true to the culture Liverpool. Still not too late for Liverpool to eat Klopp alive.
Not sure why Ian Wright didn't think it was a free-kick, glad to see Shearer and Linekar disagreed with him.
Its a load of shite. Anyone with a brain would know that we always had a philosophy. The fact that the best three players in the world did not always play according to the script is besides the point. I mean in the away match against Sporting, Sir Matt told everyone to play defensively for the first period but Bestie ignored the advice and scored two quick goals. But we always had a set plan and the players are allowed to express within that set plan. They make it look like it is eleven players and the manager sends them out to just play.
Today it was even more ridiculous. It seems to them that we are a championship side playing against a top PL team and it was a shock for us to beat Liverpool. Everyone was talking about how Liverpool played and this and that very conveniently forgetting that right now we are on top of the PL and they are not even in the top 3.
Absolutely bizarre stuff that, it wasn't even debatable.
Jenas definitely doesn’t like Man United not sure why.
It's weird. You can understand the likes of Keown not liking us due to past history, but he isn't as bad as Jenas.
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