That's pretty lazy. We currently have only one player in the squad who came here from the Eresdivisie - Martinez. Another two out on loan. And some more who proved themselves in other leagues before coming here.
Power struggle
- Thread starter Pughnichi
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss three 1-1 draws.
The first got us knocked out of the FA Cup, the next puts us in a good position in our Round of 16 Europa League game, and the latest was an actual decent performance against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
All hopes for the season now rest on the Europa League - does Amorim have the squad to win it?
They hardly won away games in the Champions league. One of the reasons they won less Champions league trophies than they should have during that time. Getting bullied by Celtic and Rubin Kazan away had become trademark and Ovrebo and Co had to help them out massively when they played away because they would regularly get bullied
Harry seems a decent bloke and was bought for his supposed leadership talents as well as defensive skills. It hasn`t worked out that way sadly and the fact he`s still at United is another indicator of the problems. He does a few things very well but has never been flexible enough in his playing although with a better, more stable situation he would have been better.
Yes exactly. Bolton did have a number of pretty skillful players.
I totally agree. Quickness is more important than speed in football. Hojlund's first 2 or 3 steps are very slow and it's why I don't think he'll ever be elite at this level. It boggles my mind that our scouting report didn't include this. Maybe it did, though, and ETH overruled everyone else.
Not quick: Bruno, Hojlund, Maguire, De Ligt, Casemiro (used to be) and Eriksen
Somewhat quick: Martinez, Zirkzee, Dalot, Maz and Collyer
Almost quick: Mainoo and Garnacho
Quick: Amad and Dorgu (I've seen enough to put him in this category)
We need quicker players.
Its funny now that we blame ETH for Hojlund when he was clearly a club signing made because ETH was given less control that summer after Anotny.
Our squad physically is not up to scratch, this has been apparent for a while, going back to when we signed Maguire
Hojlund's acceleration isn't a huge issue in my opinion, where he's good is having a decent amount of ground to run into and he beats most CBs for pace. He's up to speed in a few strides but he's not dynamic/agile but then very few CFs like him are (Haaland, Gykores etc. all are quite fast when they get going but they are big units with long limbs). De Ligt is a better example of this, I reckon in 100m he'd be near the top of our squad but over 25m he'd only beat Maguire, but then Maguire has to run with the ten commandments for a head.
Our main problem is the core CBs and DM/CMs are all fecking slow or average pace (Yoro and Ugarte seem fine but they need more athleticism around them). Maguire, De Ligt, Eriksen, Bruno I would think are amongst the slowest players in their roles in the league, De Ligt is actually very fast but he takes like 89mins to get up top speed.
I agree with this.
We are currently struggling to make/receive short passes - it's staggering how this is the case, at this playing level.
Some people have said that MCFC have been found out this season - I would retort and say that this is their worst season since Pep joined. And here's the punchline: as bad as they have been this season, they are still far far better than us.
I don't know. I see countless 50/50 situations with Hojlund and he rarely wins the ball whether it's one step, two steps or three or four. It's also why he is terrible at holding up the ball because defenders easily nick it off him. The other thing I see is he gets many shots blocked because he is a split second too slow. I would bet Haaland's first 2 or 3 steps is 30% quicker than Hojlund's. That 30% is huge against really good defenders.
So true about De Ligt and Maguire.
I think Yoro and Ugarte fit in the "Almost quick category."
Regardless, whoever was responsible for Hojlund should not be at United anymore. I think any decent scout would have noticed Hojlund is a bit slow with his first 2 or 3 steps.
Yeah I don’t see this. Hojlund is decent at buying a yard and presenting himself in good areas. It’s his touch that is way off. The more you watch him - especially now given the heightened scrutiny - it becomes clear he’s got the mind to do what Amorim wants but the technical side is what’s let him down. In the recent bad games, look at the stats, he’s always getting to the balls first but then loses possession. If he was sluggish I don’t think he’d be finding those moments, defenders would just win the ball straightaway.
Look, you can't call a thread "Power Struggle" and entice people in with the expectation of some dramatic behind the scenes battle to take the reigns of Manchester United Football Club, and then when they open it, it's a fecking thread about Stoke
True. The EPL table doesn't lie. I remain hopeful we can turn a corner but doesn't seem like it will be happening anytime soon.