Rickie Lambert > Luke Shaw.
I see Louis has been complaining about scheduling at the World Cup and how it favours the big teams. If Louis thinks he’s been blackguarded in this tournament wait until he sees the scurrilous scheduling and undermining at every level from the authorities that he will face in his new job next season as Sir Alex has I’m sure informed him
No way can this backfire!The United way.
The plundering of Southampton really sums up all that’s wrong with the EPL and the soccer model. Southampton have always been a model provincial club with a terrific youth policy developing the likes of Alan Shearer, Matthew Le Tissier, Mick Shannon, Terry Paine, Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade- Chamberlin to name but a few over the years. After a very credible 8th place finish last season, we are now seeing the stripping bare of the latest batch of home grown talent Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana by the elite super franchises not to mention their highly rate manager Mauricio Pochettino[/URL]. No doubt the likes of Jay Rodriguez, [URL=‘http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Schneiderlin’]Morgan Schneiderlin and Dejan Lovern will also be plundered by the vultures as was Ricky Lambert. The bank balance will swell in the short term but it will no doubt end in relegation next season or the season after and a perpetuation of the all too familiar cycle.
What article did you copy and paste that from? Did you not realise that some of the names were hyperlinked you clown
Just making sure I stay on the right side of the spelling police with those tricky johnny foreigner names.
Its Mick Channon then, just for future reference.
Let’s hope they don’t make the same mistakes they made with David Moyes and Big Louis is instructed in no uncertain terms what this ‘United way’ is. It would seem according to David McKechnie’s piece in the Paper of Record yesterday that Louis is getting plenty of experience at the World Cup as to what its like dealing with a fickle, impatient and ungrateful public. The Netherlands may be winning but seemingly they are not doing so the Dutch way.
Irish Times - Sat, Jun, 28, 2014
You might expect that, with three wins out of three, 10 goals scored, a 5-1 win over the world champions, and a route to the semi-finals more navigable than anyone dreamed possible, Louis van Gaal would have to battle his way to training every day through garlands of praise.
In fact, the Netherlands[/URL] will play [URL=‘http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_organisation=Mexico&article=true’]Mexico[/URL] in [URL=‘http://www.irishtimes.com/search/search-7.1213540?tag_location=Fortaleza&article=true’]Fortaleza tomorrow facing more questions about their style of play, and its relationship to traditional Dutch values, than seems fair.
Figuratively speaking, Dutch commentators have been throwing their pencils across the room, like Eamon Dunphy literally did in 1990.
The question is whether Van Gaal’s team have been too counter-attacking, too unwilling to keep the ball in their new 5-3-2 system. In De Telegraaf, columnist Valentijn Driessen suggests criticism by former Belgium international and PSV forward Marc Degryse about lack of movement in the Dutch team and frequent long balls is galling: “If even the Belgians are concerned about negative Dutch football then we really have something to think about,” he writes a little snidely. Driessen warns of what might happen if Holland come up against opponents who “want to play football just as little as Oranje have so far in the tournament”. Might we find out tomorrow?
Former Denmark manager Morten Olsen – an ex-Ajax coach and a lifelong admirer of Dutch football – critically uses the term reactievoetbal (reaction football), saying that “Holland have always tried to keep the ball, but this has now changed”.
In Spain’s El Pais newspaper, former Argentina international and football philosopher Jorge Valdano is crueller, calling Van Gaal’s approach a “betrayal” of attacking football: “I prefer a brave fool than the intelligence of Van Gaal.”
Johann Cruyff, who has history with Van Gaal, has been critical too: “The results are there – now for the football.” The word in widespread circulation is poldercatenaccio – low-lying Dutch land meets Italian catenaccio.
Van Gaal has bristled at the questions about style, characteristically turning them back on his critics when he can. “Could you give me a definition of attacking football? That’s my question to you,” he spat at one journalist after the Chile game. “I’m asking you, if you have such a clever question . . . If you’re going to ask me questions, I’m going to ask you questions.”
Savvy Van Gaal Famous pragmatists, the Dutch historically insist that their football marries beauty to practicality. What they seek are elegant solutions. Van Gaal’s trouble is that, with a group of players arguably incapable of providing
elegance and pragmatism, he has decided that winning has to take precedence. He now looks only for solutions. The 5-3-2 system was chosen ahead of traditional 4-3-3, after all, as a late response to the injury to key midfielder Kevin Strootman. And in the process Van Gaal has inarguably maximised his attacking talents, and Arjen Robben’s in particular, by allowing space for them to run into.
“You have to evaluate a strategy that will help you win, and this is the proof in the pudding,” said Van Gaal after the Chile victory. “We’re not giving away games . . . we’re winning.”
But Van Gaal’s problem is cultural. In a brilliant interview with David Winner in theBlizzard, Dennis Bergkamp once encapsulated this Dutch hunger for an elegant solution by describing his preference for the lob: “People always said of me ‘but he only scores nice goals, he doesn’t score ugly ones’. But I gave myself a rule. When I played in Holland, with Ajax, I always tried to lob the goalkeeper. People said, ‘Oh, you’re trying to make a nice goal, a beautiful goal.’ But I said, ‘Listen, if the goalie is a little bit off his line, how much space do you have on his left or right? It’s not a lot. And how much space do you have above him? There is more.
“It’s a question of mathematics . . . So that’s why I often did that. You can say it’s not really effective. But I say it is.”
One of the main reasons why the Netherlands victory over Spain was so enjoyed back home was because of Van Persie’s extraordinary first-half header. In its practical beauty, its incredible technique married to the deeply pragmatic decision to lob the goalkeeper with the header, it was perhaps the perfect Dutch goal.
Van Persie’s comments afterwards were remarkably similar to Bergkamp’s: “I love good football, nice football but it has to mean something. It has to bring me somewhere. And that’s what happened with this goal.”
Inspirational header The country’s imagination was captured. People all over the Netherlands took photographs of themselves in the goalscorer’s superman pose. Even Van Persie’s 93-year-old grandfather, Wim Race from Prinsenbeek, splayed himself on the sitting-room rug.
Can the Dutch find an elegant solution in Fortaleza? You would think they might find a solution. Van Persie is back from suspension and the players, who continue to be allowed the freedom of mixing with their families during the tournament, look focused. Especially in defence, the weakest and most inexperienced part of Van Gaal’s team, which the 5-3-2 system counteracted brilliantly against Chile.
Mexico have been knocked out in the last 16 in the last five World Cups, but their haul of seven points from Group A illustrates how the tournament’s most charismatic and lowest-paid manager – Miguel Herrera’s salary is $210,000 (€154,000), compared with Fabio Capello’s $11 million – knows how to bring the best from his players. Holding midfielder Jose Juan Vazquez will miss this game through suspension, with the likelihood that the veteran Carlos Salcido will take his place.
The battle could be won and lost out wide, which both sides like to exploit. You also feel that whoever gets ahead may stay there. For Van Gaal and the Netherlands, another win would be a virtue in itself.
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He’s lost all his power
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He’s lost all his power[/QUOTE]
I was going to say he’ll probably turn to shit now, but that happened last summer.
Such clever word play on his t-shirt. Untitled indeed.
No surprise in the news that Evra is off to Juventus more than likely.
Hopefully Woodward uses it to start talks to take in one of their midfielders - reports earlier today suggested that they need to sell one of them.
The most important deal of the summer has been completed. 750 Million pound kit deal from Adidas for 10 years. In Woodward we trust.
Have mufc not just changed kit?
Indeed. It was the last Nike Kit. This deal is from the 2015/16 season.
Thats a mugging off for the supporters
Yeah 750m invested in the club is a right mugging off indeed considering:
- The Chevrolet jersey is only on sale
- This was well flagged
- Most teams change every year now.