*** Sunderland v Champions - Official Match Thread ***

[sidSmith]

the forum has gone very ugly in places, sad to see.

I'm sure it's all tongue in cheek knee jerk reactions, as usual. This season was always going to be a tough one after the way last season ended.

Out of interest, what positives are there from this season, so far?

[Redna]

the forum has gone very ugly in places, sad to see.

I'm sure it's all tongue in cheek knee jerk reactions, as usual. This season was always going to be a tough one after the way last season ended.

Out of interest, what positives are there from this season, so far?

I'll say Nasti is a real possitive this season. A real prospect at 19.

[Hazy2]

Having just got back, that was shite wtf is the point of having the ball for as long as we do, What happened to having a shot. For me he and the players are not on the same page. Something is wrong we have to much talent for this and the Reading performances to be accepted.

[sidSmith]

I'll say Nasti is a real possitive this season. A real prospect at 19.

Agreed. But that probably says as much about us as anything else. In another thread we're all saying that zaba is player of the season, so far. Wow. With all the talent we have on offer it's these 2 that are leading the way.

[City64]

Really fed up tonight , can now see our season drifting away through the total predictabilty of our play . Teams have worked us out and know how to defend against us , we have no width whatsoever to change things in the way we used AJ last season on occasions , his contribution probably won us 3 games last season . Scott Sinclair just seems a pointless bad signing ...... we are treading water right now the goals have dried up and it is easy to see why imho.
Getting rid of NDJ and AJ from a championship winning team on reflection now just seems totally bizarre and ridiculous as does buying Sinclair and Garcia.

Totally gutted and fed up !

[Blue_Manc]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

[Manc bluey]

United are out-scoring teams when our front 2 our miles better!!! I can't future it out!!!

[tikatakamcfc]

I wonder if Hart went out with AJ tonight to celebrate like he did with the rag lot the other week?

He is making too many stupid fuckign mistakes,I think RW has been impressive in training , Id drop HART and also drop that greedy little cunt Aguero for a while put wright in and play Dzeko from the off...fuck knows where Balo is,injured?holidays?headaches?

Mancini will probably carry on with plan A though as he hasnt got any other fuckign plan....fucking embarrassing it is.

Im not saying this directly to you, but... I've noticed here, specially during the match days, that "anyone, who is not in the squad at the moment, is better than the ones playing" - and the team needs exactly him and would play better if that certain player is here... and we miss exactly him.

Now you miss Balotelli? FFS.

We miss De Jong, when he doesnt play we miss Nasri, but when he plays we talk shit about him.. today Dzeko didnt play from the start and we missed him, but had Dzeko started the match 100% we would "miss Aguero"...

WTF is that... We dont miss anyone. The ones that we have are here, they are the best we have.
We need to change our game. Strategy.

For this whole time, I say we miss a better manager. Thats it.

[Ted Hughes]

Tbf to Sinclair & Garcia, exactly what could they have been reasonably expected to do, to influence the season to any great extent so far ?

If we signed Peter Crouch for instance, & lobbed balls into the box & he didn't head them, we could go " Crouch, you useless cunt, what more do you want, get on the end of them ? " but have Garcia & Sinclair really been that much of a loss to what they could have been ?

We took the decision to fatten the squad rather than go for a big signing which may not come off. It didn't work out as planned, but we have already put our money down on on Nasri, Dzeko & Balotelli.

That's where it has slipped up.

[Ted Hughes]

"Sometimes we take too many touches and we think, 'never mind, we can score next time,' but we can't be like that - in football it doesn't work like that. We have to be stronger in the penalty area."

There's the quote from Bob.

He sees what we see.

Can he fix it ?

[Im_Spartacus]

"Sometimes we take too many touches and we think, 'never mind, we can score next time,' but we can't be like that - in football it doesn't work like that. We have to be stronger in the penalty area."

There's the quote from Bob.

He sees what we see.

Can he fix it ?

Its a fucking bizarre thing to say though isnt it?

What does he want them to do? Is he saying that this fucking around the area isnt part of the plan, that the players have been doing this for 12 months without him sorting it! That he wants a more direct approach but the players cant or wont deliver it

I know on the pitch the responsibility lies with the players to carry out his instructions, but if they werent doing what he wanted in previous games, why would you continue to pick them?

[Hazy2]

"Sometimes we take too many touches and we think, 'never mind, we can score next time,' but we can't be like that - in football it doesn't work like that. We have to be stronger in the penalty area."

There's the quote from Bob.

He sees what we see.

Can he fix it ?

Its a fucking bizarre thing to say though isnt it?

What does he want them to do? Is he saying that this fucking around the area isnt part of the plan, that the players have been doing this for 12 months without him sorting it! That he wants a more direct approach but the players cant or wont deliver it

I know on the pitch the responsibility lies with the players to carry out his instructions, but if they werent doing what he wanted in previous games, why would you continue to pick them?

Balo back at Norwich. Plus another raft of changes, for me he is all over the shop with his tactics and selections, players look like new signings game to game. What is it they say the team picks itself, not with RM. He has become hard to read for all and sundry. Performances are crap.

[Ted Hughes]

"Sometimes we take too many touches and we think, 'never mind, we can score next time,' but we can't be like that - in football it doesn't work like that. We have to be stronger in the penalty area."

There's the quote from Bob.

He sees what we see.

Can he fix it ?

Its a fucking bizarre thing to say though isnt it?

What does he want them to do? Is he saying that this fucking around the area isnt part of the plan, that the players have been doing this for 12 months without him sorting it! That he wants a more direct approach but the players cant or wont deliver it

I know on the pitch the responsibility lies with the players to carry out his instructions, but if they werent doing what he wanted in previous games, why would you continue to pick them?

Balo back at Norwich. Plus another raft of changes, for me he is all over the shop with his tactics and selections, players look like new signings game to game. What is it they say the team picks itself, not with RM. He has become hard to read for all and sundry. Performances are crap.

In another quote somewhere, he specifically mentions that we have to shoot, & it all pretty much suggests that he has the exact same criticism of our play as we are talking about (apart from those of us who bizarrely say we've cured it because we won the league last season!).

So it all goes back to the same question I asked on the other thread; are we going to get this right at some point ? Have we not used enough time & money to get it right already ?

Bob has brought it out in the open now. Let's see what he does to fix it. That should give us the ultimate proof of his capabilities. If he sorts it out, then it will be obvious to everybody that he has the ability to influence the players. If he can't do that, he's not got what it takes; simple.

[sheblue]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

There's a lot if truth in this. What about dropping, sorry resting Sergio for a while?

[Ted Hughes]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

There's a lot if truth in this. What about dropping, sorry resting Sergio for a while?

That would be fine apart from the fact that Dzeko & Mario have not stepped up well enough when needed.

The signing of those two, plus Nasri, is what is biting us in the arse now. If all 3 were to play as good as their reputations, & be able to play together, in our team system, that 6 point gap would be nothing.

[tikatakamcfc]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

There's a lot if truth in this. What about dropping, sorry resting Sergio for a while?

That would be fine apart from the fact that Dzeko & Mario have not stepped up well enough when needed.

The signing of those two, plus Nasri, is what is biting us in the arse now. If all 3 were to play as good as their reputations, & be able to play together, in our team system, that 6 point gap would be nothing.

I would say that Dzeko rarely didnt step up when needed this season. In fact, it would be interesting to see the table without several of his late goals. At least from the bench. While when starting, neither him or Aguero were satisfying.

On the other hand, we knew well what kind of player Dzeko is. How could we expect him to be something different?
While Balotelli is another story. I dont want to even comment his signing for us.

[Ted Hughes]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

There's a lot if truth in this. What about dropping, sorry resting Sergio for a while?

That would be fine apart from the fact that Dzeko & Mario have not stepped up well enough when needed.

The signing of those two, plus Nasri, is what is biting us in the arse now. If all 3 were to play as good as their reputations, & be able to play together, in our team system, that 6 point gap would be nothing.

I would say that Dzeko rarely didnt step up when needed this season. In fact, it would be interesting to see the table without several of his late goals. At least from the bench. While when starting, neither him or Aguero were satisfying.

On the other hand, we knew well what kind of player Dzeko is. How could we expect him to be something different?
While Balotelli is another story. I dont want to even comment his signing for us.

Dzeko has been an utter waste of space in every game he has started. We were talking about someone starting in place of Aguero. Whenever anyone does, we are worse, not better. That shouldn't be the case, but it is.

[tikatakamcfc]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

There's a lot if truth in this. What about dropping, sorry resting Sergio for a while?

That would be fine apart from the fact that Dzeko & Mario have not stepped up well enough when needed.

The signing of those two, plus Nasri, is what is biting us in the arse now. If all 3 were to play as good as their reputations, & be able to play together, in our team system, that 6 point gap would be nothing.

I would say that Dzeko rarely didnt step up when needed this season. In fact, it would be interesting to see the table without several of his late goals. At least from the bench. While when starting, neither him or Aguero were satisfying.

On the other hand, we knew well what kind of player Dzeko is. How could we expect him to be something different?
While Balotelli is another story. I dont want to even comment his signing for us.

Dzeko has been an utter waste of space in every game he has started. We were talking about someone starting in place of Aguero. Whenever anyone does, we are worse, not better. That shouldn't be the case, but it is.

I agree with you. But I just have to correct you, he was not that bad in every game he started, there were exceptions..

He started 5 matches
- 3-1 vs QPR and he was OK
- 1-1 vs Arsenal, was replaced but one of the better side on that match
- 0-0 vs West ham - he was shite
- 0-0 vs Chelsea - he was shite as I remember also
- 1-1 vs Everton - he had an assist, but I cant remember that... was it a penalty

This looks rather bad.
But, maybe is enough to pull the plug on selfish cunt Aguero, at least for the time being. Im thinking about analysing Aguero's lineups, to see how he stands.
-

[Peter Doherty (AGAIG)]

The answer to our problem is buying a striker, one that isn't afraid to shoot, not one that is trying to walk it into the goal

Or alternatively, make Mario the central striker.

[carl_feedthegoat]

I wonder if Hart went out with AJ tonight to celebrate like he did with the rag lot the other week?

He is making too many stupid fuckign mistakes,I think RW has been impressive in training , Id drop HART and also drop that greedy little cunt Aguero for a while put wright in and play Dzeko from the off...fuck knows where Balo is,injured?holidays?headaches?

Mancini will probably carry on with plan A though as he hasnt got any other fuckign plan....fucking embarrassing it is.

Im not saying this directly to you, but... I've noticed here, specially during the match days, that "anyone, who is not in the squad at the moment, is better than the ones playing" - and the team needs exactly him and would play better if that certain player is here... and we miss exactly him.

Now you miss Balotelli? FFS.

We miss De Jong, when he doesnt play we miss Nasri, but when he plays we talk shit about him.. today Dzeko didnt play from the start and we missed him, but had Dzeko started the match 100% we would "miss Aguero"...

WTF is that... We dont miss anyone. The ones that we have are here, they are the best we have.
We need to change our game. Strategy.

For this whole time, I say we miss a better manager. Thats it.

Good points..especially the last part.