Remember that 6 month period where Lars Ricken was going to be the greatest of all time?
Remember that 6 month period where Lars Ricken was going to be the greatest of all time?
My memory was that Jaap Stam was considered the 'missing piece' when he signed in the summer of '98, but my memory is not always perfect.
One thing United didn't really do in that period, despite all their title wins, was Bayern things up and get into a position where they could or did hoover up literally anyone good from rivals - they allowed Leeds, Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea to build up good sides around that time, the good Liverpool players were always out of reach, and Ferguson wasn't too adept in the foreign market until the next decade (and probably not even then). If Shearer had gone there it would have been a big step towards being in a Bayern situation.
Last edited by Jimmy Floyd; 12-12-2020 at 02:14 PM.
Getting Patrick Vieira instead of Juan Veron in 2001 could have done it as well, even if indirectly as Arsenal broke apart.
Semedogtfo with your bollocks pace and Barca stint.
Wolves in biiiig trouble depending on who they sign in January.
Mike Dean fucking loves a card.
He was having a celebration after giving out his 3000th card.Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry
Fucking chuffed with that.
As someone who knows how that area works. I'm not sure I could think of a more enjoyable way to win one of those.
Who would have thought that 87 year old Ivanovic is a bit crap?
Not sure of the logic of that. So because Alexander-Arnold is a better player than James Milner/Gini Wijnaldum (as I think most would agree), are you going to play the former at centre mid? You'd waste his crossing and switches of play. Right back isn't necessarily less important or influential than centre mid.
I think Beckham would be still great anywhere (not least because hardly any teams have set piece experts), but maybe best at right back.
The other thing is that players dictate formations as well as vice versa. How much of the lack of 4-4-2 is because crossing has got worse? It's low percentage and low xG blah blah, but I reckon Beckham in a 4-4-2 would still create loads of goals from crosses today.
Leicester won the league less than 5 years ago playing 4-4-fucking-2 with Marc Albrighton in the Beckham role. He'd be fine.
You think of David Beckham and crossing because he played where he played. Stick him in the middle, where he whacks fifteen a season in like a proto-Steven Gerrard, and he gets remembered for his passing and shooting.
I suspect this is due to Sky money for the most part. None of the rivals needed to sell to United and even if they had they'd have been able to attract suitable replacements, with a few exceptions.
Shearer to United is a fun what if though.
People wank themselves over Kalvin Phillips but think Beckham should play right back.
David Dein revealed that Roman Abramovich bid 50 million quid for Henry before Torres was even a twinkle in his eye. Dein says 'Fucks sake Roman, if you've got that much money why don't you just buy us' and Roman says 'I tried but HSBC said you weren't for sale'.
You get those United players today you have a midfield three of Roy Keane committing 'tactical fouls', Paul Scholes 'controlling the tempo', and David Beckham getting forward. Ryan Giggs cuts in off the right with crap percentages, Lee Sharpe does likewise on the left and all the Twitter fans hate him because he isn't as good, and they bought Stan Collymore instead of Andy Cole for his superior all-round game.
Beckham would be curling 30 a season into the top corner off the left wing.
We're playing the wank diamond again so expect City to be 3-0 up at half time. We'll change back to 4-3-3 and lose 4-2 or something.
Joelinton did barely anything in that match and still walks away with an assist. Hero.
It was a quality pass to be fair
I'm baffled by the discussion on Beckham. He was fucking brilliant. Unbelievable technique.
I can't believe Pogba starts this fucking game. It's embarrassing.
No one's saying he wasn't brilliant, just speculating on how modern managers would use him now that his old position is largely out of the game.
Fabien Barthez would be the undisputed best 'keeper in the world in this reality as well, even when he's throwing them in and SHITHOUSING on penalties.
While I agree with you, it is quite funny considering there's probably only 3-5 players in the league with better technique than Pogba.
I've already counted five fouls from McTominay including a completely reckless one and the referee still hasn't booked him. What do they need to do?
They might have been bookings last week, but we're in No Deal territory now you ponce.
Pogba and De Bruyne absolutely light years ahead of the other 20 in this (awful) game.
Has all the move talk made Pogba be arsed again?
He's offside.
Even if he wasn't offside it was a shambolic piece of officiating to give the penalty.
Jim, I will freely admit that I hate your 'rah rah' interpretation of the game but Hector Bellerin had his 5th or 6th foul throw of the year against Spurs and I was very much on the 'Put him in front of a firing squad' train.
It would have been a definite penalty. He's kicked him.
Can we just kick off the game by giving United a penalty kick but it only applies if it's a draw or something? It's ridiculous.
It's more the huge impact referees have on games with their arbitrary approaches - you have Mike Dean in the earlier game chucking cards around like there's no tomorrow, whereas in this game the guy's basically decided he isn't going to issue one unless he absolutely has to, which they often do in the designated 'big' games.
In neither case are the rules being properly applied.
Martin Tyler really needs to be put out to pasture.
He's way better than the modern breed who just read out stats and never shut up.
Nothing to do with his technique. All to do with his performance and his wanker agent.
I should know by this point that Manchester derbies are the fucking worst games
There's usually at least one good moment in them though.
United have at least served up the same brand of shite they always do. City have been absolutely atrocious and probably deserve to lose. Sterling looks like he doesn't care.
A few crap passes aside, Harry Maguire and Big Fat Luke Shaw probably had their best games in ages defending that small bit of space they get forced into by good teams.
The bad thing about fans coming back is the scousers once again rounding up the very few photogenic children in the region and sending them out with 'CAN I HAVE YOUR SHIRT' signs to scalp them later on Ebay.
4 minutes in and they aren’t seething yet. Disappointing.
I'll let Mendy off that one, it was caused by Thiago Silva being piss-weak against Calvert-Lewin.
Just to take the board's pulse for a second we all agree this Argentinian transgender player in the women's league is a joke right?
Swear you lose to Everton or Newcastle every season
We do, tinpot regional clubs like that get bang up for playing us at home. Sunderland used to be a major problem too.
Yeah but its the women's problem, not ours.
I see Chelsea are busy getting gubbed by the modern phenomenon of no-possession football, although not as badly as Dortmund did earlier.
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