Cristiano Ronaldo is missing more games than he ever has done in his career. Lionel Messi is picking up more injuries than he ever has done in his career. Ladies and gentlemen, it is slowly coming to an end. Stop the bickering, stop the debates. Just enjoy these final years…
Brazil knocking England out from the World Cup with Neymar, Vini, Richarlison, Antony and co. playing street football to close the game out would be poetic.
At 23-years old, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 31 goals in a single Premier League campaign. Fast forward 12 years and a 35-year old Cristiano Ronaldo, with 1,000+ games worth of wear and tear, has scored 30 goals in a single Serie A campaign.
Incredible longevity.
I always hear players from possession teams criticising the opposition for doing ‘nothing’. One day, one of them needs to hit back with, “Spain did nothing. Just pass, pass, pass. No runs, no bravery. Just cowards. Playing defence with the ball. No risks. Safe. They bored us.”
🎙 Rodri: "Morocco offered absolutely nothing. Without disrespecting them. In the game, they did nothing. They just waited for the counters. They stayed behind and tried to counter us!"
#ESP
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#MAR
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#FIFAWorldCup
Zidane: “I want Hazard, Jovic and Mendy.”
Perez: “Say no more.”
Mourinho: “I want Alderweireld.”
Woodward: “Well slow your horses, mate, let's discuss this now - what about a Smalling extension?”
There was a lot of talk pre-season by rival fans saying Ten Hag was a good coach but not *as* elite as others.
Make no mistake, he’s an elite, tier 1 coach — one of the world’s best and it’s only going to get better next season.
10.69km — Christian Eriksen has averaged more distance covered per 90 minutes than any other Manchester United player in the Premier League this season.
9 of our 11 opponents so far are currently in the top 11 in the league. We’ve possibly had the hardest schedule from any team so far on that basis. To be 5th on 20 points, a point off 4th and three points off 3rd, with a very favourable run coming up is really encouraging.
Look at Manchester City.
They had D. Silva. They bought B. Silva.
They had Sterling. They bought Mahrez.
They had De Bruyne. They bought Gündoğan.
They had Stones. They buy Laporte.
They had Fernandinho. They buy Rodri.
They had Walker. They buy Cancelo.
Elite recruitment.
73.2% — Erik ten Hag’s win percentage this season is currently the highest in Manchester United’s entire history dating back to our first competitive season in senior football as Newton Heath LYR FC in 1883.
Solskjær was tactically brave, man. He left his CFs up the pitch for counters. Then, instead of bringing on a defender when we were defending deep he fought fire with fire and brought Pogba on and WENT WITH A DIAMOND. Man, that was something else.
I am rewatching the game and noticed one thing in particular. Martial made Van Dijk defend very differently to how he usually does. He was making Van Dijk bite with every small dart, shake, drop, etc. Van Dijk’s composure wasn’t seen much especially after our second goal.
Anthony Martial in 2019/20
⚽ 22 goals
🎯 8 assists
🥅 104 minutes per goal contribution
Marcus Rashford in 2019/20
⚽ 22 goals
🎯 8 assists
🥅 100 minutes per goal contribution
A fantastic duo!
Imagine facing Pogba, Donny, Martial and Greenwood for 60-65 minutes and then Bruno, Rashford and Cavani come off the bench.
Fantastic offensive depth.
Martial was racially abused on social media by fans after a game. Pogba’s just been religiously abused by fans for posting about his religion. Yet, both of them just want to get fit and play for the club even if they do end up leaving in the summer.
Leave your toxicity.
Look at just how fast Daniel James is here. With a 93% passing accuracy, 2 key passes and 1 big chance created, the birthday boy's display deserves a lot of praise👏👏
I think the most impressive thing about Pogba's performances in the last 1½ months is that he's played as a RCM, LCM, RM, AM and LM and yet performed to a very high standard both offensively and defensively in almost every game.
That's exceptional quality.
I also cannot emphasise how much work I would put in as a scout or analyst (performance or data) for United if they ever gave me a chance. It’s a ridiculous long shot of course but hey, I won’t get there if I don’t try!
I hope someone at
@ManUtd
is looking at Giorgio Scalvini from Atalanta. 18-year old defender, 6'4", excellent both physically and technically, already very press-resistant, a good passer on top and his contract expires at the end of this season.
THREAD:
Today, Erik ten Hag praised Donny van de Beek’s movement and positioning as the no. 10 whilst also mentioning how he should improve.
I had a look at his performance and noticed a major problem — players not passing to him despite ETH’s praise.
Here’s an analysis:
“Complete player.”
– Xavi, 2009
“Underrated player in England.”
– Wenger, 2013
“Could play for Spain.”
– Alonso, 2015
“Can coach during the game.”
– Van Gaal, 2015
“One of the best holding midfielders I've ever seen in my life by far.”
– Guardiola, 2017
Incredible…
The total match length of Porto 2-2 Sporting was 105 minutes but the ball was in play for just 43 minutes (41%). The second half alone was 56 minutes long but the ball was in play for just 21 minutes (38%) and there were 18 fouls in that half alone.
Odion Ighalo appreciation tweet!
He came off the bench to do a job and some of his hold-up play was amazing AND it was that very hold-up play that led to the sequence for the goal.
MY STRIKER!
🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬
The most amazing thing about Luke is that he played a full season in 13/14 and then didn't play another full season until 18/19, breaking his leg in 15/16. He missed out on *a lot* of development between 19 and 24 yet is still one of the best LBs in the game at 27.
Thinking Out Loud:
If we do get Ten Hag then fans need to be patient. Guardiola, a GOAT coach, even with a huge budget at City, inherited a good team and yet it took him multiple signings and tactical iterations before winning the league. Our process will be slower of course.
There are four main GK skills:
1. shot-stopping
2. ball-playing
3. commanding the area
4. sweeping
Each goal, in that order, demonstrated DDG’s weaknesses in all four skills.
There is no metric to categorise what the player did because he did not touch the ball. He is not credited with an assist though he, in truth, created the goal. Two points:
• creativity is from on AND OFF ball activity
• statistics only go so far
Fred vs Liverpool:
96 touches
83% pass accuracy
59 passes completed
— 23 forward passes
13 recoveries
4 interceptions
3 tackles won
3 dribbles completed
2 chances created
He was our best player today and has consistently been fantastic this season.
Since the World Cup, with injuries and suspensions, we’ve won 15 from 19 games, scored 43 goals, conceded just 13, put up 10 clean sheets, are nearing an 80-point pace in the league and have, most importantly, won our first trophy under Erik ten Hag.
Musiala, Bellingham, Pedri and Camavinga are four 19-year old midfielders with elite-tier talent and who are already impacting games at the highest level in massive ways.
I don’t remember the last time we had a situation like that.
Donny van de Beek made three recoveries in just 14 minutes and completed 12/12 passes along with creating one chance and 1/1 take-on.
He is such an efficient footballer.
Under David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho we scored five goals in a single game just twice in 302 games. Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær we have managed it nine times in just 144 games — five coming this season alone:
9-0
6-0
6-2
6-2
5-0
5-0
5-0
5-1
5-2
The first 23 minutes quite clearly demonstrate why Varane and Lindelöf are ahead of Maguire in this team.
Slow decisions, inviting pressure, diving into challenges (multiple times already) are all against how ETH wants to play.
He needs to adjust.
In their first seasons, Guardiola lost 0-4 away to EVE (7th) and 2-4 away to LEI (12th) whilst Klopp lost 0-3 away to Watford (13th).
It is not nice to lose like this and there is a lot of work to do but, as annoying as it sounds, losing badly is often part of the process.
Do you want a crazy stat?
Fred covered 10,568m tonight which was more than anyone else. However, Donny van de Beek covered 10,060m in just 70 minutes!
143.7m per minute – Donny
117.4m per minute – Fred
INSANE!
With Pogba returning it would be foolish for Solskjær to drop Fred for him. Rather, he should accept the fact that Lingard, Pereira and Mata are not good enough to occupy the no. 10 spot and insert Pogba into that position.
Jaap Stam for Manchester United:
🏆 × 3 Premier League
🏆 × 1 Champions League
🏆 × 1 FA Cup
🏆 × 1 Intercontinental Cup
🏅 × 3 PFA TOTY
🏅 × 2 UEFA Defender of the Year
🏅 × 1 ESM TOTY
🏅 × 1 PL Overseas Team of the Decade
He was with us for just three seasons and did that!
Vieira was fouled and the co-commentator on Sky said he'll have to get used to that in the PL as if to say it's rough and FV wouldn't have faced that elsewhere. He has no idea FV was fouled 2.97 times per 90 last season in Portugal and only Zaha (3.29) in the PL was fouled more.
The Varane interview is amazing. The best pure defender we've had at the club for probably a decade. Incredible professional. A leader. Experienced. He's such a valuable player to have in the squad, and it's no surprise Erik has consistently mentioned him in post-game interviews.
Incredible Stat:
In the Premier League, Champions League and Europa League this season, Bruno Fernandes has either scored, assisted, shot or created a chance every 14 touches of the ball!
55.4% — Kepa Arrizabalaga has the worst save percentage of any keeper in the Premier League.
127th — Out of 132 keepers from Europe's top seven leagues Kepa ranks 127th in save percentage.
£72m
If Conte, Pochettino or Allegri came in, played a 3-5-2 and essentially nullified Liverpool for 96 minutes aside from one goal (via bad defending) it would have been seen as a “masterclass”.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær deserves massive credit today for his tactics and decisions.
The Glazers won the Super Bowl (NFL) last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now Kroenke has just won it this year with the Los Angeles Rams.
Yet, compare the state of Manchester United and Arsenal respectively with them.
THREAD:
Manchester United have signed 22-year old winger Antony from Ajax. He reunites with the coach that took him from an excellent talent to an excellent player.
This thread will cover:
— profile
— strengths
— weaknesses
— how he’ll impact the team
— discussion of his fee
Bruno Fernandes is an alpha midfielder as he brings everyone onto his wavelength and works at his own pace. Here, he is guiding James to make forward runs and he did likewise with AWB. In the first half he was guiding our press, too.
I don’t look at my DMs much but it’s always funny to see people abusing me for being Muslim, speaking Arabic, telling me “this isn’t why I followed you”. Khalas, unfollow and follow someone else. I won’t change who I am, alhamdulillah.
Last season, I questioned Rashy’s mentality due to the report he wanted to leave. Yesterday, a Discord member said, “Imagine how bad the environment must’ve been that Rashford of all people wanted to leave Manchester United?” I was wrong — that’s the right perspective.
Fans were at 100% after four wins (inc. Liverpool/Arsenal) and now they’re back at 0% after one loss against arguably the best team in the world. If your whole perspective changes like a pendulum due to wins and losses then you really need to reconsider your thought processes.
I am just putting this out there:
If any football team or player wants a scout/researcher/personal analyst, I am available.
I can scout/analyse what you require, use in-depth data, and write a report tailored to your satisfaction.
Please DM me if interested.
There's still some way to go but what we're currently seeing from him is why I wrote the 20-page scouting report on Amad back in 2020.
Beautiful footballer. 🌹
Since his debut, Christian Eriksen has excelled for Ajax (2009-13) Tottenham (2013-20), Inter (2020-21), Brentford (2021/22) and now us (2022-present)—five very different environments—which speaks volumes about how well he understands the game (i.e. cognition).
Reminder:
Solskjær has bought Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James for a net spend of £116.3m which is excellent business regardless of how it is being spun by certain sections of the media.
We have a 10-2-2 record in our last 14 games with a goal record of 24:13 and six of our conceded goals came from just one game, with seven clean sheets overall.
This run includes games against MNC, ARS, LIV, CHE, TOT, NEW and RS.
Improvement both offensively and defensively.
THREAD:
Donny van de Beek didn't have a SINGLE TOUCH on the ball yesterday—literally NONE—and yet he was a major reason why Mason Greenwood scored the winner. How?
Movement.
If Manchester United draw or win against Burnley in their game in hand they will go TOP of the Premier League.
The last time they were top of the league after 17 games was in the 2012/13 season.
Raphaël Varane today:
67 touches
51 passes completed (91%)
8/8 duels won (100%)
— 5/5 aerial
— 3/3 ground
5/5 long passes completed (100%)
3/3 tackles won (100%)
3 clearances made
He was dominant both on and off the ball.
I have watched our game from last night. The trio at the back—Varane, Martínez and Casemiro—are so important for this team. We didn’t play that well but their awareness of danger, communication, decision making and then just world class quality dealt with so much threat.
Bruno Fernandes on the penalty given against him:
“I don’t want to make comments or they’ll say I’m being disrespectful. They (the referees) are always right.” 😂
Tonight, Ashley Young lost possession a total of 32 times and attempted 11 crosses with 0 meeting their target. No player on the pitch lost possession more or had a worse crossing rate than him.
Kylian Mbappé just scored this goal. There have been a growing number of football fans fallaciously claiming that Mbappé is “just a goalscorer”. He is one of Europe's best providers and goalscorers whilst possessing immense dribbling prowess.
I’d feel aggrieved as Varane or Lindelöf if I was dropped for Maguire right now. They’re both playing well and building chemistry together. Let them continue based on meritocracy.
Fred vs Man City
✓ most duel engagement (22)
✓ most duel wins – joint (11)
✓ most recoveries (8)
✓ most tackles attempted (6)
✓ most tackles won (4)
✓ most chances created (3)
✓ most crosses attempted (3)
✓ most crosses completed (2)
It is time we recognise his quality.
“Bruno got an assist for that?!”
Yes. In fact, Bruno's touch is the only reason why the chance was created. He changes the trajectory of the ball whilst Lewis was in prime position to clear the initial trajectory from Matic's pass. Lewis can't adapt in time and a goal occurs.
Update — Most Nutmegs in Europe's Big Five Leagues (and per 50 touches):
18 – Rashford (0.62)
14 – Neymar (0.83)
14 – Sancho (0.48)
13 – Mbappé (0.53)
It is the most important stat in football and Rashford has a lead.
Marcus Rashford will miss England’s upcoming Euro qualifiers after picking up a knock in
#MUFC
’s FA Cup win against Fulham yesterday. Mason Mount & Nick Pope have also withdrawn from the squad. Fraser Forster has been brought in but the FA says no further replacements are planned