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Don’t announce Ole
That was an absolutely shambolic performance from United from everyone except perhaps Luke Shaw. Fair play to Wolves, I hope they go on to win it, but we played into their hands.
Matic and Herrera were utterly atrocious, Martial and Lingard looked like players coming back from injury and Rashford looked knackered and a bit rubbish. Romero was also far from convincing on both goals.
But Ole has to blamed for this one, I have absolutely no idea what that was from United in terms of the shape of the team or the urgency of the football they were playing. Because of the strength of the team he put out, there was absolutely nothing available on the bench to change the game but did he know what to do to change it anyway?
One of the problems with the “announce Ole” campaign is that as a caretaker manager he always had a free hit. As soon as we assume he’s staying, the dynamic changes and pressure on him and the players increases and it’s no longer a free hit. Every defeat will ask new questions of him and he has to find the answers. Lose or draw with Watford next time out and it’s going to get pretty hairy.
This isn’t to say that Ole shouldn’t be the manager long term but he must start answering the doubts about his ability to change a game. We know he can rejuvenate a squad for 15 games but can he keep it going for a while half a season. We’ll always have Paris and he’s done wonders to give us a shot at top four but our hopes for that have been dented, we’ve got the hardest run in of any top six team and we’re out of the only trophy we had a realistic chance of winning. Maybe at the end ofthe season we should think about whether Ole should be given the reigns full time?
I hope he pulls a fantastic finish out of the bag though.
Ashley (weird day of sport) Metcalfe
Back in crisis mode
* Ah being the crisis club how i’ve not missed this .This was a Mourinho esque Utd performance Pogba and the rest of midfield was giving the ball away , Lindelof was misjudging the ball , And Lingard and Martial were virtually non-existent .In the end if our stated goal is to win back the premiership we will need consistency and right now these guys just seem to lack it.
* We all made a lot out of the 10 injuries and Pogba no such excuse now ,still missing Darmian and Valencia a are on their way , most of us wish Sanchez would do one and we aren’t too delighted Jones is back ,We only really missed Lukaku in this game which frankly it shows we need to get in the right players.
* A lot of that needs to happen on the right , Herrerra spent much of today covering for Dalot when he went forward, Not having Jose in charge , should mean we focus on getting someone in who can strecth the midfield .
* The defense had a nightmare for the goals , possibly a bad night and partlyh because as soon as we got the ball we gave it back to wolves ,It’s aright Matic saying we are desperate to stop city winning thee quadruple, but he simply doesn’t have the legs ,Mctominay has the energy if not the skill set the next central midfielder has to be an upgrade on both.
* As we are back in crisis mode Ole’s position is going to be under the microscope for the next two weeks all our eggs are now firmly in the basket of top 4 /winning old big ears .
The next 6 games in the premiership are going to determine where we end up, it may be a blessing that we are out if Wolves and Watford play weakened sides with the cup semi looming .
* I’m still very ,much in the give Ole camp until I’m quite sure this was just a great honeymoon if we manage to lose every game maybe we should look at our options ,and really they aren’t that great. Pochettino is just as likely to finish outside the top 4 ,Allegri is used to playing with an experienced bunch,Conte is just Jose part 2 , Blanc has been out for a while .
The best we could get is across the city and we will have to hope he gets bored soon and buggers off.
if we fall just short give him the opportunity to continue to get rid of those we don’t need and change the mentality a year out of the champions league might give us a chance to increase game time for the next generation.
If we do achieve our aim Ole’s at the wheel ……………..hopefully for a while.
Timi, MUFC
Cat among the pigeons
Zidane’s return to Real Madrid has really set the cat amongst the pigeons. I think MUFC has decided on Ole, but now with Pochettino probably being available in the summer, he might be back in the running to head to Manchester.
Across the Channel, PSG might decide to pick Pochettino up and put him in charge of their band of billionaires (I know the players aren’t, but it sounds better IMo)
Of course, if Allegri moves to United (which I highly doubt) Juve will need a new manager
Have never been this intrigued by the managerial merry go round
Ryan MUFC
Bitter about City
First off, great performance from Swansea. That second goal had some fantastic link up play and was really spectacular to watch. They defended resiliently and I had some hope they could hold on to the 2-1 lead, after an incredible strike from Bernando (although it was caused by Swansea switching off and failing to clear a ball right by the goal). The decision from Andre Marriner about 10 minites later to award that penalty to City absolutely ruined the game for me. Not only was it clearly not a penalty, it looked to me like Sterling took a dive. After some more unbelievable fortune, Aguero’s penalty comes back off the post to go back in off the goalies heel… So City has cheated their way to a victory and their quadruple dream remains alive. I can’t feel anything but terrible for Swansea fans and absolutely disgusted by Marriner’s decision. Also he missed what should have been a Swansea penalty when they were up 2-0… Hopefully karma will come for them later in the tournament, or even better, during the Prem or UCL.
Kameel, MUFC (game just ended and still very bitter)
…Swansea just put a whole host of Premier League teams to shame. That, Watford and Bournemouth (Amongst others) Managers and playing staff, is how to play City and make your supporters as proud as punch of their team.
Shame another brainless f*ckwit tainted it at the end, but maybe Ant CPFC can explain that as I struggled to understand his earlier comments last week?
Outstanding effort from Swansea. Unlucky not to either win or take it to extra time. Respect.
Mark MCFC
Same email, different day
Email sent to the Editor on 9th March after Sterlings hat-trick against Watford (with edits);
My interest in this title race FA Cup has largely vanished.
There’s no point bothering when you see decisions made the like of which we’ve seen for City’s first third goal. Is it not enough that this is the most expensively assembled team in the history of football? We now have to contend with offsides not applying.
The third has just gone in and I’m done.
Thanks for the no show.
Barry, LFC
P.s I had no idea there was an actual quadruple campaign. We all know every campaign needs a catchy hashtag, thankfully Ive come up with one #wemustdoeverythingwecantoensureManCitywinthequadruple
Chelsea benefitted from Garcia’s ghost goal
With regards to the mention of Luis Garcia’s ghost goal (in the article about previous all English Champions League ties), does anybody actually believe that Chelsea were hard done by in this instance?
It hardly needs explaining but, if the goal hadn’t been given, Liverpool would have been awarded a penalty and the goalkeeper would have been sent off. I assume that everybody actually knows this and it’s only Mourinho, and maybe Jason Cundy, who refuse to acknowledge that it was Chelsea who benefited from the goal being awarded.
Dan Whittle (still getting annoyed by words), Leamington Spa
Taking the shine off
In response to Dan, Brighton who’s enjoying United’s season whatever happens…
Full disclosure; I don’t have a horse in this race. But to ask whether an achievement is devalued, Dan just has to look at Manchester United’s Europa League run in 2017.
In the knockout stages, the run was: Saint Etienne, Rostov, Anderlecht, Celta Vigo and a very young Ajax team.
Compare this to Liverpool’s run the previous year: Augsburg, Manchester United, Dortmund, Villarreal, Sevilla.
Whilst I know Liverpool didn’t win the cup, if they had, would you have enjoyed United’s win less because of the massive discrepancy in quality of the opposition? I don’t think so.
So in summary, I don’t think City fans will or should give a damn. Sterling got a very soft pen (not sure he ‘dived’ but he looked at the linesman who then seemed to give it?) on Saturday and Agüero an offside winner. Does it devalue it? Maybe from an outsider’s view but I imagine most City fans will think ‘great, we got some luck, onto the semi final.’
The wonderful thing about supporting an elite club is that you do get the chance to win trophies. It’s not your fault if the draw is favourable.
Stu, Southampton
…As a Chelsea fan, I can tell you that the teams you beat en route to winning the European Cup does not spoil the experience.
In their 2012 UCL triumph, Chelsea didn’t play any “big teams” until the semi-final.
I can confirm I enjoyed the experience quite a bit. I hope that helps.
Gez Errico, Nottingham
Get my GOAT
So many of our esteemed readers are banging on about who the GOAT is. How does that matter so much?
Doesn’t your favourite player of all time matter more? And reasons why he is.
For what it’s worth, mine is John Barnes.
He joined my mighty red men when I was 6 years old and was an amazing player. Truly incredible. He is the epitome of why I fell in love with football. And he cemented my position as a Liverpool supporter despite my nagging yet awesome Spurs supporting father constantly trying to coerce me to support his club (good luck Spurs, RIP Dad).
I’m not even black but he was black at a time when black players had to just get on with it when people threw bananas at them. How did he and black players of that time do it? Quality. Barnes was and is absolute class.
Second favourite of all time is Carra. We all dream of a team of Carraghers!
MK (LFC) Manila, Philippines
…I never saw him play live, so I can’t make a call on whether Pele was the best player ever.
There seems to be a bit of animosity towards the idea in the mailbox on Friday afternoon, with someone ( possibly El Diego ) calling him a fraud.
I’m confused by it.
I’m not sure, but I don’t think Pele decided that Pele was the best ever.
Folks, when all time greats, managers & players alike are lining up to say he was the best they’ve ever seen – there must be something in it.
I mean, I’m happy to accept that he may not have been the best ever, there’ll always be rose tinted glasses, nostalgia and sentiment.
But if so many all time greats rate him as the best, then he must at least be in the conversation.
Unofficial goals aside his stats are still ridiculously impressive and he’s still Brazil’s leading scorer ( and will be until Neymar gets another 17 – although Neymar has already played more games than he did )
Anyway, is he the best ever – impossible to say, but he certainly isn’t a “ complete fraud “ by any stretch.
Doug, AFC, Belfast
Sentence of the day
Steven Chicken: “Sheffield United rallied late in the second half, with Basham rounding Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla (the former Real Madrid player who unbelievably is not just an ersatz Pro Evolution Soccer version of Iker Casillas) in injury time.”
Danny
