That one two with pogba just shows how much more clever / better / confident they are in the final third than any of our other players
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Did good today. Held the ball well and pressed well. Happy to have him back
Where exactly are you going with this rant? Neither of Rash/Miki/Mata/Martial did anything of note this match. Lukaku was poor as well. Where in this equation does Zlatan become such a terrible burden? He did alright and showed some glimpses of class
Lighten up
What a difference it makes to have a player who can actually control the ball and has both the vision and execution skills to provide a threat to the opp with opportunities for other players.
Lukaku was absolute garbage today. I hope Zlatan continues to be a "Hinderance" to him. FFS some utter lunes on this forum.
Lukaku was absolute garbage today. I hope Zlatan continues to be a "Hinderance" to him. FFS some utter lunes on this forum.
He was pretty good in a short time he was on.
I am not part of the Zlatan cult hero brigade but he did well when he came on today. Picked out some good passes and gave us some much needed composure.
My point is what purpose is he serving when he comes on? He may have decent bits of play but as a team how does his introduction into games benefit the team. So far I've seen no benefit.
He forces Lukaku wide but has more quality in the final 3rd than most of our players, his technique and control are a bonus.
If you can’t see that Zlata contributes with his footballing talent and creativity, compared to our ”headless chicken brigade”, you don´t know football.
Why does Threadmarks not have Zlatan ? 
You’re right, we should just keep the same underperforming players on the pitch for 90 minutes and just hope it clicks.
What? He was out top scorer last year by a huge margin and his class is undeniable. I would understand it if we had a perfectly settled 11 that was a well oiled machine, but that's evidently not the case. Except Lukaku none of the other offensive players are guaranteed starters so i can't really wrap my head around the notion that Zlatan returning is disrupting anything
By that logic, did Pogba returning disrupt our midfield? Fellaini did pretty well in his absence. Does Rojo returning disrupt our defense?
Only showing it in little bits of play here and there as you'd expect but give him another month or 2 and I think he'll be quality again. That little link up with Pogba and quick shot was class, and it's stuff like that which we've been lacking. Not to mention the creativity he offers and ability on the ball.
Also feck that defender for going in 2 footed on him. cnutish thing to do considering he's just back from the huge injury.
Also feck that defender for going in 2 footed on him. cnutish thing to do considering he's just back from the huge injury.
That one link up with Pogba shows he is levels above Lukaku.
Quick lay off and moves looking for the return and gets a shot off.
Too often Lukaku stands still after a lay off or hesitates with his movement.
I say start zlatan for the next 6 months over Lukaku. It'll be a nice period before years of mediocre first touches, link up play and poor movement.
Quick lay off and moves looking for the return and gets a shot off.
Too often Lukaku stands still after a lay off or hesitates with his movement.
I say start zlatan for the next 6 months over Lukaku. It'll be a nice period before years of mediocre first touches, link up play and poor movement.
Good to see him back! Probably should just use him as a like for like for Lukaku though. But I trust Jose.
Zlatan is slowly getting into the rhythm. Surely it won't be long before he starts from the beginning. He's going to be crucial for us this season. I was really worried when he got tackled running through the middle and the Brighton player was very late on him. Luckily it wasn't too bad.
Nice little cameo,Bossing it at 36,the mans a beast.
Its encouraging to see that even tho he is not yet 100% you can see he hasn't lost the things that made him great. Hopefully he can improve fast and step up a tad for city on the 10th.
Looked bright.
I am still amazed at his recovery. It is unprecedented.
I am still amazed at his recovery. It is unprecedented.
Came in for 20 minutes and , play better than our front 4.
It's just his body language makes people think he is very slow & lazy , kinda like berbatov , But actually fasten our attack.
Shame he is 36 not 30
It's just his body language makes people think he is very slow & lazy , kinda like berbatov , But actually fasten our attack.
Shame he is 36 not 30
At age 36, coming off a major injury, he still looked better in his 30 minutes than Lukaku did in his 90 minutes. When we signed Lukaku, I feared that Lukaku might turn out to be a downgrade on last season's Zlatan, and our recent games are only convincing me that its the case. I realized that we got a good player in Lukaku but there's a reason why I had a strong preference for Morata over Lukaku. Even right now, when we're seeing Lukaku moving to the right after Ibra comes on, Morata is actually comfortable playing on the wing so he would have been the better fit in that regard as well.
Earlier in the game, Lukaku played a pass to Mata in the box but stood still, instead of going into the box to receive a quick return pass, which would have resulted in a goalscoring opportunity for him. Later in the game, we saw Ibra play a pass to Pogba, but Ibra didn't stand still and got the return pass from Pogba for a shot on goal. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Lukaku eventually loses his starting spot to Ibra once Ibra is fit enough to start.
Earlier in the game, Lukaku played a pass to Mata in the box but stood still, instead of going into the box to receive a quick return pass, which would have resulted in a goalscoring opportunity for him. Later in the game, we saw Ibra play a pass to Pogba, but Ibra didn't stand still and got the return pass from Pogba for a shot on goal. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Lukaku eventually loses his starting spot to Ibra once Ibra is fit enough to start.
Every time he comes on we loose control of the match. Against Basel and today. I cant see he is adding anything but slowing the game. Sacrificing our top scorer for his sake is disappointing.
That's because when he came we finally scored , which means Brighton stop parking their bus & start attacking us
Played better than all our front 4 yesterday , your opinion rubbish
It's not that we were fast before he came so he slowed it down. If anything I think we were better when he came on.
I would rather see Lukaku benched for Zlatan over playing Lukaku on the wing to play both, just bizarre stuff from Mou. It's still very early with Zlatan just coming back and very little time to work with Lukaku but it's not a good sign IMO that Lukaku has been pushed out wide twice now. Lets see what happens when Z is fit to go for 90 minutes.
Oh yeah, we had cracking control yesterdayfor the first 60+ minutes and at Basel @Giggsyking.
At Basel we were getting played off the park for the entire second half, Zlatan came on with 16 left to play, and if you think we were in control at any point yesterday you're losing your marbles.
Posts like this can surely only come from people who have something against Zlatan as a player, as watching these past few games I have no fecking idea how these posters have been pleased with our performances up until his introduction, we've been absolutely shite.
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Lukaku, Rashford and Martial are the ones that will decide that. All of them need to play a shit load better than the last two games in order to not get moved around.
That one two pass with Pogba shows the level of quick flicks and passes needed to unlock team that park the buses at OT. Lukaku works well playing on the run to stretch the defence of the opponents but doesnt really have the creativity and movement like Ibra in tight spaces.
I like Zlatan but he is obviously not ready to play yet and I'm not sure his presence helps Lukaku. At the moment, I'm not sure that they can play well together. We look disjointed with him and much less solid defensively.
Is anything helping Lukaku at present @Jojo <3 Mou? He’s been shite when Zlatan isn’t anywhere near the pitch.
Bizarre to lay any of the blame at anyone but the player himself.
You make a valid point!
What's wrong with him?
Our transitions have slowed to a snails pace, doesn’t suit him at all.
Funnily enough loads blamed Zlatan for our ”slowness” last season so it just highlights what bullshit that was.
All strikers, fast or slow want the ball to get to them sooner. Our defenders are hugely responsible imo.
I have noticed that all/most of our players tend to hold on to the ball too long. We are so slow. Teams have the time to reorganize. And when we do try to move faster the pass is always misplaced.
Tactics or poor players?
Bit of both I think but personel is the biggest issue. It’s no surprise we ”tend” to play better football with a centre back two from Bailly, Rojo, Jones. We played so deep yesterday so the tactical plan must have been fast transitions.
However all too often, when we do manage to get the ball forward fast, to Mata, Lukaka, Martial, Rashford, or Miki, they lose it, which is the biggest difference between us and City. When City get that ball forward, it stays within the team. Rarely do they turn over possession like we do in those moments.
Created this account a while ago to pretty much write one thing. Seems its still relevant, so here it goes:
Zlatan doesnt slow down play, and he is definitely not static either. Its somewhat the opposite - he thrives when the game is fast, especially with regards to his teammates. The frustrating games we have all seen where the ball seems glued to Zlatan and everyone just kind of lurks around him highlights what he is not very good at: slow, static games, teammates without hunger and confidence. This has been evident in every team he has played. It has worked very well when he has running, hungry players around him, very bad when he doesnt.
Its a very characteristic milisecond: he stops to pick out the next game changing play. When he has teammates responding to this they will get the hint, run, and an unreasonable amount of times actually find themselves with the ball after an "impossible" play. If no one gets the hint and Zlatan has a perfect day, he might dribble or shoot his way to a goal himself.
Thats the Zlatan we love. However, most games he is not a perfect one man show. And those regular days, when no one wants the ball he just stands there, waiting. This is the frustrating Zlatan you have all seen. He got better at handling it at Barcelona (had to, because they where so often slow), but definitely not good. Too many times he just stands there until someone takes the ball from him.
If he plays the number 10 role for a while, he might adapt even more, but I cant see him ever getting good at dealing with static or hesitant teammates.
So I suppose Im not saying its not a problem, I just saw so many posts that seemed to look at this from a strange perspective.
Zlatan doesnt slow down play, and he is definitely not static either. Its somewhat the opposite - he thrives when the game is fast, especially with regards to his teammates. The frustrating games we have all seen where the ball seems glued to Zlatan and everyone just kind of lurks around him highlights what he is not very good at: slow, static games, teammates without hunger and confidence. This has been evident in every team he has played. It has worked very well when he has running, hungry players around him, very bad when he doesnt.
Its a very characteristic milisecond: he stops to pick out the next game changing play. When he has teammates responding to this they will get the hint, run, and an unreasonable amount of times actually find themselves with the ball after an "impossible" play. If no one gets the hint and Zlatan has a perfect day, he might dribble or shoot his way to a goal himself.
Thats the Zlatan we love. However, most games he is not a perfect one man show. And those regular days, when no one wants the ball he just stands there, waiting. This is the frustrating Zlatan you have all seen. He got better at handling it at Barcelona (had to, because they where so often slow), but definitely not good. Too many times he just stands there until someone takes the ball from him.
If he plays the number 10 role for a while, he might adapt even more, but I cant see him ever getting good at dealing with static or hesitant teammates.
So I suppose Im not saying its not a problem, I just saw so many posts that seemed to look at this from a strange perspective.
This is the kinda game where Z would be immense. Get him on asap .)
He's not getting on, is he?
Rusty in his few moments. Had a giggle at Lukaku posting it wide for him.
Why?He's not getting on, is he?
Your opinion is rubbish actually. He did the same today and was useless.
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