Man Utd 2-1 Man City - Saturday 14th January, 2023

[CaaC (John)+]

5 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

Stopping the ball coming to him is how you stopped him, it's the only way. if our midfield plays crap he doesn't get any service, if we are playing well he will rip you a new arse hole like he did at the Etihad

Keep K De Bruyne quiet (if you can lol) and stop him from giving Haaland service then you are on a winner, I would have De Bryyne in my team any day, that guy is world-class.

[Stan]

9 hours ago, Redcanuck said:

That's one ex refs opinion, I have seen others from ex refs who say according to the rule the right decision was made.

Rashford didn't touch the ball, he didn't try to shoot, he never interfered with any City defender trying to get to the ball and he didn’t block Ederson's sight lines.

Hmm, this is the bit I find contentious. 

He runs towards the ball, meaning the defender also does so at speed. It's a through ball which he runs on to, before clearly getting a call from Fernandes to leave it (which he was quick to spot knowing Rashford was off). The defenders have reacted to Rashford about to get the ball. I think he did interfere, even if he didn't touch the ball. 

[CaaC (John)+]

10 hours ago, Redcanuck said:

That's one ex refs opinion, I have seen others from ex refs who say according to the rule the right decision was made.

Rashford didn't touch the ball, he didn't try to shoot, he never interfered with any City defender trying to get to the ball and he didn’t block Ederson's sight lines.

Let's be honest buddy, with the current laws of the game he was offside, and being honest again from what I saw he did touch the ball, but I am not going to moan about it, and if it was the other way around and it was City who was awarded a goal like that me and you would be kicking up all mighty shit and @Happy Blue would have been creaming his pants with laughter. 

[MUFC]

38 minutes ago, CaaC (John) said:

Let's be honest buddy, with the current laws of the game he was offside, and being honest again from what I saw he did touch the ball, but I am not going to moan about it, and if it was the other way around and it was City who was awarded a goal like that me and you would be kicking up all mighty shit and @Happy Blue would have been creaming his pants with laughter. 

 

[Devil]

8 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

I don't care what anybody says (City supporters mainly) Agüero shits all over him as a striker, you could keep Agüero quiet for a spell but that guy would always pop up and score goals out of the blue, a bit like United's Ruud van Nistelrooy from his playing days.

Aguero was brilliant, like you say he would pop up with something of his own creation he really was a talented player. Haaland is a monster but as an all round footballer Aguero was on a different page all together.

It's hard to believe we're looking at negatives for a player who's scored over 20 goals in less than half a season but that's because we're not talking about a normal team. City we're winning stuff without him, playing in a different way. Maybe long term he isn't the correct fit for City. 

Pep might even come to that conclusion eventually.

[Stan]

Or City will perhaps change/adjust the way they play so that they get the best out of Haaland and the team collectively. 

Haaland will continue to come good. A player who scores 20+ goals in half a season doesn't just go off the boil. It's more the system Pep employs as opposed to any shortcoming of Haaland. I'm guessing the World Cup break didn't help the momentum, which is the case for several clubs anyway. 

[Happy Blue]

This Haaland thing is stupid, we are scoring goals we wouldn't normally score, he makes us much stronger, get the ball to him and he will score, he's more clinical then Aguero, there is enough players around him to do everything else, his job is to put the ball in the net and he's the best in the business and he has made lots of goals on his own by rag dolling defenders or getting on the end of crosses he had no right to get on the end of, that assist for Foden in the derby was world class, the boy can play too

 

 

[Redcanuck]

7 hours ago, Stan said:

Hmm, this is the bit I find contentious. 

He runs towards the ball, meaning the defender also does so at speed. It's a through ball which he runs on to, before clearly getting a call from Fernandes to leave it (which he was quick to spot knowing Rashford was off). The defenders have reacted to Rashford about to get the ball. I think he did interfere, even if he didn't touch the ball. 

The Premier League with the rule changes they have made the last few years and the introduction of VAR are trying to limit, as much as possible, the subjectivity involved in making certain decisions.

You can assume that the defender on Rashford was running at full speed to the ball.  You can assume the other City defenders reacted to Rashford seeming to be about to take a shot, and you can assume Ederson attention was on Rashford and Fernandes's shot caught him by surprise, but they are all subjective opinions.

Now I believe Rashford was offside and interfering with the play and the goal should not have counted.  However, if you believe in VAR and limiting subjectivity in the decision making, which I don't,  than the right decision was made. 

We can't assume what the City players were thinking and what made them react like they did, you can only look at the facts.  Rashford didn't touch the ball so he's not offside, he didn't stop the City players from getting to the ball and he's not blocking Ederson's sight lines, so he's not interfering.

It's a poor decision and one that goes against the spirit of the game, but unfortunately it's were the game is going as they reduce the human element from the game.

[Dr. Gonzo]

16 hours ago, CaaC (John) said:

I don't care what anybody says (City supporters mainly) Agüero shits all over him as a striker, you could keep Agüero quiet for a spell but that guy would always pop up and score goals out of the blue, a bit like United's Ruud van Nistelrooy from his playing days.

I don't think that's a controversial opinion at all. Aguero's statistically one of the best strikers the premier league has ever seen.

[Dr. Gonzo]

7 hours ago, Happy Blue said:

This Haaland thing is stupid, we are scoring goals we wouldn't normally score, he makes us much stronger, get the ball to him and he will score, he's more clinical then Aguero, there is enough players around him to do everything else, his job is to put the ball in the net and he's the best in the business and he has made lots of goals on his own by rag dolling defenders or getting on the end of crosses he had no right to get on the end of, that assist for Foden in the derby was world class, the boy can play too

 

 

You just seem more one dimensional with him, imo. Which I think a strength of the City side under Pep has always been there's goals available from pretty much all over the fucking pitch.

Or maybe Pep's just finding it hard to care about being as good as normal now that we're shit so his rivalry with Klopp isn't really relevant this season 

[Happy Blue]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

You just seem more one dimensional with him, imo. Which I think a strength of the City side under Pep has always been there's goals available from pretty much all over the fucking pitch.

Or maybe Pep's just finding it hard to care about being as good as normal now that we're shit so his rivalry with Klopp isn't really relevant this season 

We was one dimensional without him, tippy tappy the ball into the net which we struggled to do with some teams, no we have another option and more was to win games. the problem is with De Bruyne, Foden and the rest of the creative players being off form, they are not getting the ball to Haaland

[Gunnersaurus]

The goal was offside. But the top teams get more decisions go for them. They've done studies and home teams and top teams get more decisions go their way. City will end up with more points than  they should at the end of the season, so will man utd and so will arsenal. 

[MUFC]

On 17/01/2023 at 18:48, Dr. Gonzo said:

You just seem more one dimensional with him, imo. Which I think a strength of the City side under Pep has always been there's goals available from pretty much all over the fucking pitch.

Or maybe Pep's just finding it hard to care about being as good as normal now that we're shit so his rivalry with Klopp isn't really relevant this season 

 

[Carnivore Chris]

On 17/01/2023 at 10:44, Devil said:

Aguero was brilliant, like you say he would pop up with something of his own creation he really was a talented player. Haaland is a monster but as an all round footballer Aguero was on a different page all together.

It's hard to believe we're looking at negatives for a player who's scored over 20 goals in less than half a season but that's because we're not talking about a normal team. City we're winning stuff without him, playing in a different way. Maybe long term he isn't the correct fit for City. 

Pep might even come to that conclusion eventually.

Thierry Henry will take some beating in terms of the Prem.

People are too obsessed with how many a player scores these days, but it's about how they play overall and what they can do with a football, along with the quality of goals they score for me. Henry was a different class in his prime.

Haaland is a great player in his own right though and if you use him to his strengths, he could score in almost every game he plays. City are still adapting to his game and he's technically still adapting to a new league and team.