Premier League 2024/25 - Gameweek 18 - 26-27th December, 2024

[RandoEFC+]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Ten Hag signed some of the worst United players I’ve ever seen. A legend but lol, he’s not a good manager. Winning at Ajax is like winning at Celtic, you should be able to do it if you’ve got a few brain cells.

This isn't really a valid comparison haha. Ajax were 4 years without a title, Ten Hag came in and won three on the trot, and they haven't won the league again since he left. PSV and Feyenoord aren't jokers in that league.

Man Utd's problem is that most clubs run a sporting director model now and managers like Ten Hag come to the club and are expected to fix things that would fall under the remit of a director of football, head scout, youth development lead, etc. at most big, modern clubs, on top of being the actual first team coach. Add to that the fact you're taking over at a club that is multiple times the size of even the likes of Ajax or Sporting Lisbon and it's just impossible for anyone to succeed. 

If they'd actually followed through with the Ralf Rangnick consultancy plan and listened to him, they might have been able to build a decent framework within which a manager like Ten Hag or Amorim could actually succeed with the stuff they should be responsible for. 

You don't see managers at serious clubs having to come in and have power struggles with the likes of Ronaldo and Rashford anymore yet it still happens at Man Utd. It's ridiculous.

[OrangeKhrush]

I agree,  the Dutch league is very competitive,  its nothing like the Scottish League.   Last season Ajax finished way down in 5th nearly half the points that PSV had.  Ten Hag was thrown into a terrible situation at man united,  one Amorim has found himself in now to. 

[RandoEFC+]

A win is a win but I don't think Arsenal running the clock down at home to Ipswich will strike fear into Liverpool hearts.

[Gunnersaurus]

10 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

A win is a win but I don't think Arsenal running the clock down at home to Ipswich will strike fear into Liverpool hearts.

I don't think they did do that. They were attacking at the end. I was screaming at the TV what are you doing. 

[Dave]

8 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

A win is a win but I don't think Arsenal running the clock down at home to Ipswich will strike fear into Liverpool hearts.

They are the most insufferable team to watch live with Arteta's "marginal gains". All the time wasting and high fiving to get an "Atta boy!" from Arteta. The refs let them get away with it as they don't want to be called a disgrace from Lego Head and are well aware the other manager will handle themselves with decorum. Preferred them when we had to put up with AFTV.

[Gunnersaurus]

40 minutes ago, Dave said:

They are the most insufferable team to watch live with Arteta's "marginal gains". All the time wasting and high fiving to get an "Atta boy!" from Arteta. The refs let them get away with it as they don't want to be called a disgrace from Lego Head and are well aware the other manager will handle themselves with decorum. Preferred them when we had to put up with AFTV.

All teams waste time. Ipswich were wasting time today. Wasting a bit of time when you are 1.0 up with 90 minutes gone is fine even against a relegation contender is fine. We weren't doing it during the game. And like I said we were attacking at the end and had to many men forward when leading 1.0 

Edited 20 hours ago by Gunnersaurus

[Gunnersaurus]

On 26/12/2024 at 21:44, Dan said:

I've seen this exact game at Anfield at least four times.

You got man city next. 3 points guaranteed

[Dan+]

3 hours ago, Gunnersaurus said:

You got man city next. 3 points guaranteed

Levels to the game. We'll lose.

[Dave]

9 hours ago, Gunnersaurus said:

All teams waste time. Ipswich were wasting time today. Wasting a bit of time when you are 1.0 up with 90 minutes gone is fine even against a relegation contender is fine. We weren't doing it during the game. And like I said we were attacking at the end and had to many men forward when leading 1.0 

This was taken before the embarrassment that was the Liverpool game so your stats are more than likely worse now.

This also doesn't take in to account the amount of free kicks won, which i imagine you'll be high on. Calafiori in particular against us was a total embarrassment.

[Inverted]

It does sort of feel like Arteta is more obsessed with proving all of the old media cliches about Arsenal wrong than actually maximising their chances to win things.

When he played, Arsenal was soft, naive, weak and all the rest of it. They're definitely not that now, but the kind of uber-"pragmatism" he wants now is not necessarily the best way to win either.

Yesterday, sure they got a 1-0 win, 3 points, can't argue really. But - had that last-second Ipswich shot not been blocked by Havertz, you could easily end up with a 1-1. And you'd be asking why did Arsenal spend the last half hour running down the clock, rather than trying to kill the game off like any normal top side would at home against a relegation-level team.

[Stan]

10 hours ago, Gunnersaurus said:

You got man city next. 3 points guaranteed

Nothing is ever guaranteed with us. 

[6666]

It wasn't a great performance but it was a win. Won't be complaining as long as that's the case.