Premier League Week 2 Discussion 20/21/22nd of August 2011

fcb wrote:Phil Jones has been spectacular.

Yeah looks like he will be well worth the 17m or whatever it was.

I don't understand 'Arry's subs either. Kranjar was invisible in the second half, but what is Pav going to contribute with?

Hudds is more logical because at the time Spurs needed a playmaker or more speed for countering.

We are going to get absolutely annihilated on Sunday

Kranjcar had an absolute Henderson tonight.

Anderson also looks like he's really stepped up this season. That run of goals at the end of last year seems to have given him much more confidence in attacking play & he's really looked strong in CM - particularly considering he's been playing alongside a newbie in Cleverley.

Thanks Modric is all I can say

Have to say, this is a bloody impressive 25 man squad. A good mix of ages throughout the squad, lots of tactical flexibility, great depth in terms of what positions each player can cover, and a variety of strengths and weaknesses (eg. look at the collection of 4 wingers - something for every occasion, and 3 of them can play on either flank).

Only question mark of course is at the keeper spot.


De Gea, Lindegaard, Kuszcak

Smalling, Rafael
Ferdinand, Evans
Vidic, Jones
Evra, Fabio

Anderson, Fletcher
Cleverley, Carrick, Giggs

Nani, Valencia
Young, Park

Rooney, Berbatov
Hernandez, Wellbeck, Owen

F*cking hell when is Owen ever going to play?

Jaimito el Crack wrote:F*cking hell when is Owen ever going to play?

I barely see proper use for Berbatov with Welbeck, Hernandez and Rooney fit. Owen's got no chance.

Think it's also fair to say to Blut in particular after the statement that young German players should avoid moving to England in particular- Smalling,Jones, Livermore, Walker, Cleverley,Welbeck showing it's hardly a league that hampers young talent

Do we have a view on Ferguson's cutaway collar? Does it serve to lessen the redness of his nose? How does it look in conjunction with his light grey suit and blue-burgundy repp tie?

Did Ferguson say that Welbeck's boisterousness in youth was a 'negro thing'?

Noah und der Bale wrote:Think it's also fair to say to Blut in particular after the statement that young German players should avoid moving to England in particular- Smalling,Jones, Livermore, Walker, Cleverley,Welbeck showing it's hardly a league that hampers young talent

They should avoid it due to the structure of your youth setup. The kids over here can play competitive football against real teams at an early age (the second teams of German clubs compete in the 'normal' league structure and can be promoted up to 3. Bundesliga - no reserve league here), which allows them to gain valuable experience and makes the crucial transition to the first team a whole lot easier, the biggest obstacle in most footballer careers.

It's great that Man United have so many home grown players in their ranks and they are rightfully praised for it. Still doesn't change anything about the structural drawbacks. I can't even count the number of young players who wasted their time in England. I guess the Dutch have a few tales to share in this regard, too.

There does see a new generation of younger english footballers coming through, with most positions covered to some extent, the one exception being a more defensively minded midfield.

I have a feeling though, that the "old guard" - especially certain central midfielders, without mentioning any names, will stick around for a bit longer than is necessary.

All depends on who will be Capello's successor. Wasted year till then though.

That said, i'm sure Otto would want England to stick with the battle hardened experienced players.

blutgraetsche wrote:All depends on who will be Capello's successor. Wasted year till then though.

'tis a bit, but at least Capello has improved a bit in giving chances to younger players since the world cup, most notably with emergence of Wilshere, but also given debuts to Carroll, Henderson, Gibbs, Welbeck, Cahill, Jarvis in the past year & people like Cleverley, Walker & Smalling been in squads.

But indeed the problem is he'll most likely go all cowardly & conservative again once we get to the tournament squad (should we qualify). If we had a longer-term manager they might use this tournament as a chance to give the next gen their first taste of major international tournament. Of the above, I only see Wilshere, Carroll & perhaps Smalling getting in a Capello tournament squad.

I'm more optimistic than that. The paucity of striking options makes me think that it will prove difficult to leave all of Wellbeck, Sturridge and Carrol out. Wellbeck is very versatile, always a bonus when trying to put together a squad.

Also, Fedinand appears to be a part time footballer these days. If Jones comes away having played the majority of the season, crucially in a man utd shirt, he could make the sqaud. He is incredibly young for a centre back though.

Imagine if Carroll had stayed at Newcastle, what a striker England would have.

assuming an unlikely full bill of health, I could see the Capello squad ending up something like:

Hart, Green, Carson
G.Johnson, Smalling, Lescott, Jagielka, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Baines
Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Parker, Wilshere, Young, Milner, A.Johnson, Downing
Rooney, Carroll, Bent

Small progression - certainly better than WC 2010 squad with likes of Carragher, Upson, SWP & Heskey - but still keeping in most of the established names (and likes of Crouch & Carrick are still making squads so could be there too). I'm just not convinced he has it in him to go with someone like Cleverley rather than Barry as backup, or dump likes of Lampard & Ferdinand for younger options.

debaser wrote:assuming an unlikely full bill of health, I could see the Capello squad ending up something like:

Hart, Green, Carson
G.Johnson, Smalling, Lescott, Jagielka, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Baines
Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Parker, Wilshere, Young, Milner, A.Johnson, Downing
Rooney, Carroll, Bent

Small progression - certainly better than WC 2010 squad with likes of Carragher, Upson, SWP & Heskey - but still keeping in most of the established names (and likes of Crouch & Carrick are still making squads so could be there too). I'm just not convinced he has it in him to go with someone like Cleverley rather than Barry as backup, or dump likes of Lampard & Ferdinand for younger options.

No Richards ?

Ferguson, It seems again has found a key ingredient to his squad, Balance if those young bucks can still keep playing with that confidence the gaffer will be looking at another good season. Nani gets over looked in this newer younger team him and Young are going to be menacing to play against this season. Spurs collapsed after Lennon made the wrong choice in front of goal and Van Der Vaart freaked out when he never got the pass, they all seemed to of dropped their heads. Harry has to work some magic right now to crush some negativity that could arise.

Sgoater1 wrote:

debaser wrote:assuming an unlikely full bill of health, I could see the Capello squad ending up something like:

Hart, Green, Carson
G.Johnson, Smalling, Lescott, Jagielka, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Baines
Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Parker, Wilshere, Young, Milner, A.Johnson, Downing
Rooney, Carroll, Bent

Small progression - certainly better than WC 2010 squad with likes of Carragher, Upson, SWP & Heskey - but still keeping in most of the established names (and likes of Crouch & Carrick are still making squads so could be there too). I'm just not convinced he has it in him to go with someone like Cleverley rather than Barry as backup, or dump likes of Lampard & Ferdinand for younger options.

No Richards ?

Yeah maybe, forgot him. Guess he'll be fighting Jagielka/Smalling for a spot..

Smalling will be an established England international within a year. The others will have to fight. If not, Capello has no friggin' clue.

Smalling plays Centre Back/Right Ar Haa England could start playing 3-5-2

You'll never give up, will ya?

Formations are nearly forgotten these days. Players and teams seem to be getting even more versatile. Barca and 433 for an example has looked so different at times.

Sgoater1 wrote:

debaser wrote:assuming an unlikely full bill of health, I could see the Capello squad ending up something like:

Hart, Green, Carson
G.Johnson, Smalling, Lescott, Jagielka, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Baines
Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Parker, Wilshere, Young, Milner, A.Johnson, Downing
Rooney, Carroll, Bent

Small progression - certainly better than WC 2010 squad with likes of Carragher, Upson, SWP & Heskey - but still keeping in most of the established names (and likes of Crouch & Carrick are still making squads so could be there too). I'm just not convinced he has it in him to go with someone like Cleverley rather than Barry as backup, or dump likes of Lampard & Ferdinand for younger options.

No Richards ?

Apparently no Spurs players good enough either. Sorry we lost at old Trafford. Like 18 of 19 visitors there did last year

Who should be in? Huddlestone and Lennon? They need to perform..Lennon seemed to go back to being braindead yesterday.

Walker not as good as or better than Johnson? He played most of last season for Villa and now our first choice right back so there's no argument he doesn't have experience.

Parker is 31 playing first division. Livermore was excellent yesterday in the holding role and no coincidence United only began to knock the ball around freely in midfield after he came off. Sure it's early, but how many dm alternatives are there? This kid is good, absolutely no question.

Lennon had an average game with his decision making, but he still flamed Evra a number of times. We re blessed with many alternatives in his position so yes, he needs to up his game for a place.

Huddlestone hasn't played enough.

Defoe - still in my opinion a much better all-round link up player than Bent but just hasn't scored enough last season, I predict he'll be back in the squad by Christmas, he's looked sharp this and with Adebayor I see a decent partnership.

But by all means happy for people to write us off for losing at old Trafford in our first game of the season

tottenham is as much toothless as in the end of last season

manutd had no control of the game, i dont think that cleverly-anderson is good enough to win something

nani-young pretty wasteful too, overall the bad passes from both teams where shocking

but it was a good game to watch