Mourinho’s pragmatism is a positive not a negative…

Enter our forum, where the state of play at Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s reign is discussed, an Arsenal fan says Jack Wilshere should be played into fitness and Jose Mourinho’s pragmatic approach all feature…

 

Join in the debate here…

 

‘I’m really glad I went last night’

I’m really glad i went last night! although our furst half was diabolical and Ospina showing yet again why he will only ever be a number 2. The Koln fans were incredible, they put any away fans to shame. Infact i think only Dortmunds away mob can match them. Met a few of them outside the ground before and after and they were just brilliant, how i wish we could have a strong core in the emirates like that week in week out.

To the game, in first half rubbish only Giroud played well, Walcott – the less said the better. I understand its his first start for forever but he ewas truly awful.
Sanchez gave the ball away more than usual but scored a beauty.

Maitland miles – 1st half dog sh*t 2nd half (in his actual position) was very good for a young lad.
Holding – Terrible
Merts – terrible, didnt help Holding at all
Monreal – again showing how much a liability he is a CB
Bellerin – not a bad game
El Neny – get exactly what you expect with him
IWobi – wow simply awful

Im not gonna moan too much as we won 3-1 and i had a great time with Koln fans last night. Some of our squad need shifting and shifting fast. It was also great to see Jack Wilshere in an Arsenal shirt again.

AndyC

 

Time to revert to a back four?

I enjoyed the game, it really was a game of two halves. First half, I thought everyone was off the pace. Wenger changed things at half time and went to a back four and we looked a completely different team second half. I wonder whether it’s time to go back to four at the back permanently, we look far more balanced with an extra man in midfield.

I thought Wilshire looked really good and although only on for 7 minutes Reiss Nelson looked cofindent and a real prospect with 9 changes and the quality in the second half it shows we have a good squad.

fatmop

 

Wenger should play Wilshere into fitness 

Jack looks like he loves playing football and he has not had a run of games with us…he had a few with Bournemouth but it never worked out as he just did not fit inot the sytstem they played so he ended up in and out of the team…well thats what I saw from a distance as I only saw them on MOTD…

he will be away at the end of the season as he will not get the games that he needs and he will likely break down again what with all the stop start he is likely to get from our congested midfield persepctive in terms of numbers…but then I would happily play him until he was match fit or until he got injured again…some on here would probably have a heart attack at the thought of doing same…then again I would have tried to shift about 6 or 7 further players this summer…

as for the game…think we can see how good a deal it was getting Kolasinac in…like most players will make mistakes and will no doubt cost us goals over the length of his contract but the lad sure has enthusiasm and strength in abundance not to mention a mean left foot…if we do go back to a flat back four then we really need to look again at the centre of midfield…with Kolasinac and Bellerin we are going to need the 3rd centre mid to be a defensive shield which we just do not seem to have…

Gunjam74

 

‘Kolasinac is looking like a great piece of business’

Kolasinac is looking like a great piece of business, shame Wenger couldn’t find a central defender and a central midfielder too.

Free transfers like this are getting much harder to find though, clubs try not to let players run their contracts down even if it means signing them up with an agreement to sell if a club the player likes comes in.

killyboye

 

‘Gunners won’t be in Europe for a while after this season’

You better enjoy it while it lasts. The wonderful Europa league with it’s Thursday night football.

Of course it’s a great back door into the Champions League, but I don’t think the Gunners are going to win it like United did last year.
AC Milan are also in it and they’re a very good side this season. And of course we don’t know what teams are coming into it from the Champions League, although my bet is on Liverpool.

I think this is the last season Gunners fans will be able to watch their side in Europe for a while, because their team is in decline and who knows who will go or stay next summer, let alone be the manager.

adriansmooth

 

Arsenal game ‘will be harder than we think’

Sunday’s game will be harder than we think it should be. I still think we’ll come out on top. I like Christensen but my worry is that Arsenal will target the lad with Sanchez, which if they do, it will be a very quick learning curve for our young CB. Having said that, if he starts I’d be more than happy. I want to see our young players given a chance.

I think Conte will go with his tried & trusted back 3 for this game. With Cahill, Luiz, & Azplicueta. Moses will return & Alonso will start. I think he’ll start with Bakayoko & Kante in the middle. Mainly because in big games I’ve noticed Conte likes to be solid & lets be honest it doesn’t get more solid than Bakayoko & Kante. I definitely think Hazard starts, along with Morata. Then it’s a toss up for me between Pedro & Willian.

However, I wouldn’t be surprised in Fabregas starts a head of these two but for me is go with the pace of Willian or Pedro. Willian would probably sneak it in for me.

Chelsea_lee

 

Why play Sigurdsson on the wing?

You would think that when a club makes a record signing, the player that was acquired would be playing in his best position.

PSG would never play Neymar at left back and Manchester United would never play Paul Pogba in goal. Of course this is all just basic common sense. Not to Ronald Koeman though.

Everyone who has been watching the Premier league in recent seasons, will know that Gylfi Sigurdsson’s best position is behind the striker. Those who have watched the Iceland team will know that he can do a hell of a job in the center of the park as well.

It seems that Ronald Koeman hasn’t been watching a lot of football in the last few years, otherwise he would know that Gylfi didn’t have a very good time on the wing at Tottenham.

Everton have been ambitious in the transfer market but it will come to no avail if top players are played out of position.

adriansmooth

 

‘I’m in with Klopp for the long haul’

But I can’t believe the nonsense that is starting to brew on twitter and some other forums everytime we have a bad result. Klopp out? Really? C’mon! It’s ridiculous, were not going to win everygame even with a great defense!

Also, Clyne, Lallana, Coutinho missing were three of our best players last year…Any team that loses a player of Coutinhos quality is going to lose some quality. And I agree with podcaster on Anfield Index who said that since Lallana has been injured England have been rubbish without him. Two good players whose absence would affect any team.

Of course, we should have bought better defenders but no need to go to extremes. But really some people want Klopp gone because he hasn’t brought balance to the team already? I agree Klopp has made a big mistake not getting in a quality defender in but “Klopp out” comments are OTT.

Klopp is a great manager and has an excellent rapport with the players and I think Klopp will be able to turn it around. Let’s be honest if Klopp does get hounded out because some fans are impatient then expect most of the good players we have to follow him out the door because a lot of the players have joined Liverpool for Klopp just as they have for Liverpool.

I’m not saying I don’t get upset with Klopp and his wrong decisions, but I’m in it for the long haul, the rollercoaster ride. I’m pretty sure we will get the defense sorted soon. We have probably one of the best forwards in the Europe/world so let’s enjoy it and believe in Klopp’s ability. We had Uefa cup final in the first year, CL qualification last year, and hopefully better this year.

mwake

 

‘The Kop has Klopp’s back’…so far

I agree that Klopp is currently the best manager for us & he is trying to build something the thing is when you build something you build from the ground up.

Klopp has decided to do it the other way round which has opened him up for criticism. The question is does Klopp have the luxury of time to see his project threw?

Some silverware will buy him some extra time. We live in a world in which every fan can voice some sort of opinion on the internet.

The key is the stands & i cant see the fans who attend games turning on him any time soon so TT Twitter & whatever else doesnt really matter so long the KOP has KLOPPS back.

AK

 

‘Patience and a trophy needed at Liverpool’

F***ing silly. What do people expect? We got 4th last season. A lot more then some people expected. Turn it around?

Turn what around? We have list one game. A game we were very much in til the sending off. Just don’t get it. We need stability. We can’t keep sacking managers after a few years. We need a trophy and we need to cement our place in the top 4 for a few years.

We are in good shape. The window wasn’t good because in my view we need two centre backs never mind one but salah is an excellent addition. We have very good attacking options now. Couthino will come good but the worry is, he always takes ages to get to full fitness after a lay off.

We know what problems we have. Patience is needed big time.

Sean the Sailor

 

Everton ‘spanked’

Given that Everton were spanked by Atalanta last night, and they put out a fairly strong squad, this is a match we should be winning even without Pogba.

DDG
Valencia Bailly Jones Blind
Herrera (most likely will be Fellaini though) Matic
Miki Mata Martial
Lukaku (won’t celebrate unless he gets a hat-trick)

killyboye

 

United ‘should blow them away’

killyboye – Very generous of you to use the word ‘spanked’ my friend.

I saw the whole game and the toffee-men were utterly destroyed by an average up and coming Italian side celebrating their first connection with European games after 26 years.

I have never seen such a pathetic performance from an everton team in my time,[ with Rooney the leader].

Pogba or no Pogba, United should blow them away to the tune of another 4-0 win.

emmicallef

 

Mourinho will be chasing a clean sheet…

The 2-2 away at Stoke brought me back to reality..I reckon Mourinho will be more concerned about getting a clean sheet than risking an all attack team..he’ll probably start with Matic Herrera and Fellaini in the middle.

Going for a 2 early goals then closing shop with 20 mins to go
FT: 2-0 Lukaku and Herrera to score 🤘

libanski

 

Fellaini in line to start?

Can’t see Mourinho ever playing a midfield of Matic, Mata and Mkhitaryan. With Pogba out I’d love to see Matic and Herrera in the middle, Mkhitaryan ahead in the no. 10 position and Martial and Rashford on the wings.

Unfortunately I think even this is too attack minded for Mourinho. I think he also likes having one of Martial/Rashford on the bench to bring in as an impact sub.

I’m not going to predict how we’ll line up against Everton but wouldn’t be surprised to see one or both of Fellaini & Lingard start the game.

homerjay540

 

‘Being pragmatic means doing what works best’

Yeah I think Mourinho does have a pragmatic approach now, definitely. But let’s not forget that being pragmatic means doing what works best.

So his Inter Milan team worked in the same way Fergie’s teams worked (at the end of Fergie’s reign anyway). They soaked up the pressure from the big teams and then hit them with a sucker punch.

His Real Madrid team just swept everyone aside scoring the most goals and achieving the most ever points in a La Liga season. His Chelsea teams were a combination of the two.

At the moment it looks like we’re going to be a completely different outfit than we were last season because he’s identified the weakness, strengthened and is now making an assault on the title.

That’s pragmatism.

happyhurling