Danny

I liked him at Ajax. He’s been unlucky that the two clubs he’s played for since have been absolute shitshows, manager after manager. The first one brought him in and had no space in the team for him. But I do agree with @Mel81x in that he probably done really well at Ajax in part due to the quality around him. He’s still fairly young and whilst he’ll probably not go onto become a world class midfielder, theres no reason why he can’t go and do what someone like Mkhitaryan has done since leaving England.

Haha that shoe fits perfectly

Had a pretty good weekend personally. Put a dent in one car, tampered with another and broke someone's washing machine.

Arsenal, Dortmund, Bayern, City and Madrid should all be looking at qualification. I think Napoli and Real Sociedad are in great positions to deliver an upset against Barce and PSG respectively. It would be great to see both teams go far in this competition. Inter Milan versus Atletico is probably the tie of the round, Inter are in great form this season and have the experience of last season’s run behind them. Atleti aren’t doing as great in the league but if they win their game in hand they’re only 5 points off of Madrid and for most of this season they have been good. It’s a shame both teams have to play each other as I’d much prefer seeing Atleti play someone like City or Arsenal and get up to their usual shenanigans.

Not sure what more you want from Konsa for a foul, no intention of getting the ball, his thigh goes straight through Maupay and sends him to the ground. I get Mee not being given more, but Mcginn had his arms wrapped round Mee’s neck/shoulder pushing him back down to the ground. Martinez should have had two yellows too but thats by the by. Poor officiating aside, we should have won that early on with the chances we created and I think thats the most frustrating thing. Plus side to today is we played an in form Villa with a very weakened side and were the better team creating better chances 11vs11. Some really good squad building from the club considering we still have 6 guaranteed starters out of the team and a couple super subs not fit either. On to the next one, hopefully pick up some points and momentum in time for the return of players in the new year.

Yeah Frank was disappointed with some of our behaviour too. Glad to hear it tbh, not often you hear coaches taking responsibility in that way. Tbh we were only ever a stepping stone for Konsa but yeah with the Dean Smith link too, it’s a strange one.

Yeah it’s a weird one. No one knows what was said and a mess has been made out of all of it. Takes something to overshadow VAR lol

Honestly Watkins and Villa need to clear this up because the vagueness of this whole situation is completely killing his standing at the club. I don’t believe that a player ever owes his entire career to a club but Watkins would have struggled to find a club that would have given him the development time that we did. If it was just general stick then he’s overreacted and ruined his standing amongst fans who still love him, if it’s something much more serious then that needs to be explained because Villa are asking for a fan to be investigated yet no one will say what for. Just a confusing mess to add to what seemed to have become quite a chaotic game.

This reaction from Villa is so fucking stupid. If somebody has said something criminal to Watkins then openly state that. No one is none the wiser, fans near the part of the ground where the individual he shushed sits don’t know what’s happened and now Villa have released the world’s vaguest statement asking for a fan to be investigated. For what?? https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/1736445331867328877?s=20

Sounds like the ref has had a shocker and we should also have had a pen

Yeah I’m not arguing against the idea that they’ve not looked as assertive as in previous seasons. Personally I believe the reason they don’t dominate teams domestically in the way they used to is because they don’t have David Silva anymore. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that since he left, they’ve not looked like that 100+ point type of team. What I would say this season is that they started most of it without Grealish, Stones and De Bruyne which is like removing Salah, Trent and Van Dijk from your team and wondering why your standards aren’t so high. Then what you have is a period where players slowly start to come back but you’re not going to get back to those levels straight away. The game against Villa was a bit of an anomaly too as their first eleven was so depleted. I like Doku but he was never really meant to start this many games so soon. I think the biggest issue is no Gundogan and I think it’s a bit simplistic to assume that they replace him through Nunes or whoever it is they bring in. Ultimately Gundogan was a threat because of his mentality, not his position. I imagine at this point Pep has turned to Foden, Grealish and Haaland and said someone needs to step up and provide those crunch moments. We’ll have to wait and see who ends up doing that, but I don’t think the replacement for Gundogan is from the transfer market. I think the way Pep has brought players in, Kovacic and Nunes especially, theyre there to be creative more than they are match winners. One thing I definitely agree with you on is no one knows how this will turn out, I do think City have the capability to turn it on and walk the league but with that said, this season has to be the hardest season for them do that being post-treble, high turnover of squad, bigger inclusion of youth players, injuries to key players and a significant change in playing style.

I don’t understand the issue with Nunes? He’s a good player. I like Kovacic but he has struggled, still compared to Phillips if Pep is playing you it means you fit what hes after. I watched a video at the beginning of the season that essentially said that with Doku, Nunes and Kovacic he was moving away from the style he used last season of consistently high possession, pinning teams back and slowly threading it through to trying tk use space between defenders to allow for players like them and Foden, Bernardo, Grealish etc to make runs earlier and be more direct. It’s unfair to say those players have failed considering the injuries they’ve sustained to key players (Nunes included there) coupled with the fact that it’s pretty common for players to struggle at their first season with City. They literally have one less point this season compared to where they were last season, they are still due to have key players back and are notorious for going on a good run in the second half of the season. A lot is being made out of nothing here.

No studs up, just laces, easy yellow

This should be Villa's easiest 3 points of the season

Bryan Mbeuno out for 12 weeks….great

Thought about re-watching Utopia (which is now available to buy on Anazon) and found out Amazon also created an American version. I know it’s petty but words can’t describe the enjoyment I get when you find out that an American remake of a great show flops. Perfect.

It’s a shame PSG made it through over AC Milan but what a great result that is to send Newcastle out, fantastic.

If we receive the right price for him then I’d imagine we’d do it so that we don’t lose that price in the Summer. I think it’s very unlikely that we get rid of Toney this January, the ambition at the club has always been to compete as high up the Premier League as possible. An ambition we had in League One. So I think we most likely keep him, but the only thing that prevents that imo is an £80m+ for a man with one year left on his deal.

Most would have been around when they actually won the Intertoto Cup It’s a decent competition but let’s be honest no where near good enough to leave a spiritual home for. As owners once you make claims of stepping up a level to move into a new stadium you have to back that up. At this point they have to be looking at trying to break that top 6 because otherwise what is the point of moving stadium to just finish midtable at best?

Rumour mill starting back up again, a lot of talk about an Arsenal loan move. I think as a club we have firm aspirations of a European finish this season and when we have a fully firing front line we will be a problem for anyone in the division on our day. The only way Toney goes on loan imo is if we get offered it to go permanent at £80m+. Seen reports of £50m which is laughable.

I think they’ve got every right to demand more. They left Upton Park on the basis that they would be given more, I don’t really think winning the Intertoto Cup constitutes a reason for that and let’s not forget Moyes himself has led them into a relegation battle. His football is turgid and whilst it suited West Ham for a time, now they’re signing players like Lucas Paqueta they need to fully get the best out of them. I think someone like Graham Potter would be a great appointment and a step-up from Moyes.

I think United are in a real key season that will dictate how good or bad the next 3/4 years at the club will be. They need to make the decision about whether Ten Haag is the man for the job or not, they’re about to go into 6 months of games where they will have no real fixture congestion as they are out of all forms of Europe and will likely see key squad members return from injury. Personally I wouldn’t sign a player for Ten Haag and would ask him to make best use out of the current squad and see where that ends up come April/May. The reason being that so many players contracts end this year or next. 2024: Wan-Bissaka Evans Lindelof Martial 2025: Varane Maguire van de Beek Eriksen Within two seasons they will need to and want to bring in at least three centre backs, a right back, a couple midfielders and a centre forward. That potentially could be the spine of a future team signed between the coming Summer and the one following. So far Ten Haag’s transfers haven’t been anywhere near good enough and you have to question the quality of players he will bring in when those windows arrive. I think the next 6 months he needs to prove that not only is he capable of getting a tune out of this team, but that the 9 or so players that he has spent a generous sum of money on are actually capable of leading United into a future that means catching up with Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Because if he can’t, United cannot waste the next 4 windows signing mediocre players that will lead the club into another 3/5 year slump with players on high wages and the fans just waiting for their contracts to end. This is the position Arsenal found themselves in with Arteta, a bloated squad full of overpaid players who had no desire to win. Arsenal managed to send those players packing but more importantly bought diligently in transfer market and nearly every player they ended up signing contributed quite heavily to the upturn in form and Arsenal now being title challengers. It’s either that future for United or just carry on reliving the same old groundhog day they lived since Moyes took over.

Potter is Premier League certified, surely he doesn’t take a job in the Championship. Chelsea is a shit job for anyone to take and what he done at Brighton was great. If we lost Thomas Frank, which we are unlikely to do, Potter would be a man I’d happily have at the club.

Tbh I dont think the average Chelsea fan is connected to that sort of benefit, most are working class from working class parts of inner and greater London. But the chants are shit and most people join in cos they think its just banter, similar to the Chelsea rent boy chants really.

Watched Haney vs Prograis last night, a proper masterclass. Prograis nowhere near him. Haney looks like a generational talent, let’s hope they can get the Davis fight made.