Serves Belgium right for hiring Martinez. He even alienated Nainggolan.
International Friendlies May/June
- Thread starter Samid
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Kompany out injured, not sure if he's actually injured or if he just got tired of chasing Gelson around. No idea where this Gelson has been in the past 4 months, been very good today.
If only his touch wasn't horrible...
Quaresma and his fecking tattoos, pretending to be a MS-13 member or something the absolute dope.
Benteke and Januzaj are pretty useless
He needs to stay late after training to practice shooting with both feet.
Norway one up in Iceland. Lagerback for president.
Hamid is shit
Very good friendly for us. No injuries and Fonte showing he can be trusted.
Belgium don't look convincing to me. As an England fan, I can't say i'm too worried. That said, they're probably saying the same about us too. 
Beto?
For starters the Confed cup was played in 352, whereas today Löw used a 4231, two very different approaches. Löw also didn't allow any continuity after half time, he made rather drastic changes every 5-10 minutes, I don't think you can rely on a lot of autmatisms under those circumstances, you rather have to improvise a lot, which isn't helped when the opposition takes the game more seriously than your team. It's not the enviroment where you can shine as a player.
Sane is a different story entirely btw. He never was a world beater, he looks great for City, because the role Guardiola wants him to play fits him like a glove and Pep's instructions give Sane a corridor for his decision making, which also helps him a lot, because imho that never was one of his strong suits. In the national team it is very different. Löw doesn't have the same roles as Guardiola, so if you take Sane's City performances as a benchmark, then it can only be about limiting disappointment rather than impressing for him.
Still puzzles me how this Icelandic team have reached 2 tournaments in a row. There is so little quality in their side - they are good at elbowing people though.
I think he's fine but he's our third keeper anyway. Doesn't really matter
Hardly ever lose at home.
Norway look like they're slowly coming back, got some decent young players for first time in 20 years.
Watching Ireland against USA, Declan rice played very well as defensive mid. Could be worth keeping an eye on him for United!
These games just before the World Cup are so pointless. Star players won't try hard enough due to the fear of injury and the ''B'' players who are given chances doesn't seem to believe they can win a place in the starting XI.
And we still have next weekend
And we still have next weekend
I don‘t understand the thing with Sane. Low is usually very good at helping players reaching their peak level. Ozil looks much more assured in a Germany kit. He made Gomez, Draxler and Schurrle, three players with limited technique and/or decision making, into very productive players in some tournaments. He even made Gotze look good while he was having his worst times at Bayern. The only player he could not get at his club level or beyond was Schmelzer, we know now that he needed the Klopp system to shine.
I don‘t know any german players who are good at club level and were absolutely useless at the national team. People joked about Podolski being in the team despite of bad performances, but Low did not make him play bad because he was already not good enough at Arsenal.
That is the part where I am scratching my head with Sane, Low doesn‘t make good players play bad usually. I believe his 4-2-3-1 is very flexible and not fixed on specific roles and he even adapted the 3-5-2 very successfully without any fuss. At the world cup, he used 4-3-3 and that worked liked a charm.
How did England play?
It's not a case of Löw making Sane look bad, but rather Sane being somewhat narrow with his qualities. Most coaches, including Löw play with inverse wingers and overlapping fullbacks. Guardiola's setup is entirely different, his fullbacks play a lot more centrally and it's Sane who gets to stay high and wide up the pitch to make himself available for switches of play: build up on one side, let the opponent's defense shift to that side then quickly switch it to the other where the wide player then only has one or two opponents around him and lots of space to dribble into (Tuchel used the same formula once to make Ginter look like an attacking machine, until teams started to play with 6 atb to deal with it) it's these 1v1s and 1v2s where Sane really excells. But to achieve a similar role Löw would change his whole approach (and asymmetrically at that, because we don't have a right footed dribbler) just to accomodate Sane, when he can simply play Draxler or even Reus in his place instead who both fit well with the status quo.
I also wouldn't say that Draxler has limited technique (far from it actually) and I don't recall Schürrle ever being a good starter for Germany, he played a very good role as an impact sub against tired legs, something which Sane should be very good at as well.
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Norway turning it around as Sørloth makes it 3-2.
Amazing goalkeeping.
Looks like Iceland will have to stick with the mediocre one they had during euro 2016.
What do you reckon folks, should we beat Nigeria?
Lagerbäck is a miracle worker. I hope we can keep up showing this kind of determination once it starts to count.
We are always bad in friendlies. 3rd loss in row.
So what you're saying is that you'll turn up in Russia? At least you guys manage to qualifie for tournaments. Norway's just chronically crap.
Hope so, we usually always turn up in games that matters and not in friendlies. Before Euros we also lost against Norway so maybe it’s a good sign!
Not anymore. This has the potential to be the best Norwegian side for 20 years. Elyounossi, Sørloth, Midtsjø, Svensson, Meling, Ajer, Dæhli, Ødegård, Berge, Fossum, Rosted, Zahid and Selnæs - we can basically Field a side of very good footballers born 1993 or later
I'd wait and see how we get along in the next qualifier. Hopefully we can improve and perhaps get to the next tournament.
That explanation regarding Sane's role not fitting into Low's plans is actually really good, thanks for that. Since Low is staying on as a NT coach until 2022, I would think we have to wait some more years until Sane becomes a starter in the team. I think he has the talent, he is the player with the most outrageous technical ability in the squad.
Yeah the parts in the sentence about Gomez, Draxler, Schurrle did not apply to everyone mentioned at the same time. I meant Gomez has bad technique, Draxler has bad decision making and Schurrle lacks in both. Still Schurrle was very good at a sub, that was what I intended to say there. Gomez was useful in 2012 and 2016 and Draxler had some productive spells since 2016. I like about Draxler that he always plays at least okay, sometimes good and never really bad in terms of being a hindrance to the team. His technique is good I guess and he is not afraid to go into dribblings and use some skills, which is a big plus when they come off because neither Ozil, Muller nor anyone from midfield takes risks like he does.
Draxler is now a reliable squad player for a big team and a big country, which is no bad achievement in itself. However, when he came onto the scene, I hoped he would explode into something great. I did not expect him to have this career progression to a good player because he was very talented and incredibly frustrating. Normally, these players become either world class or big disappointments (Ronaldo vs Quaresma) and he is neither, which is odd. Instead, he has become what I imagined Julian Brandt to become. Julian Brandt was a good player since he was 18. 4 years later, he is still a good player and in another 4 years, he will be a good player as well (playing for Bayern then
).@Peyroteo Santos does the man know how to not draw?
Seriously the Mario Rui sub with 92 minutes played, he just can't take Estoril and Estrela da Amadora out of his skin. I admire your loyalty to believe in this crap. I will come back later after we fail to beat any of the 3.
Get ready for your Queiroz aneurysma!!!
does the man know how to not draw? Seriously the Mario Rui sub with 92 minutes played, he just can't take Estoril and Estrela da Amadora out of his skin. I admire your loyalty to believe in this crap. I will come back later after we fail to beat any of the 3.
Get ready for your Queiroz aneurysma!!!
@Peyroteo Santos
Seriously the Mario Rui sub with 92 minutes played, he just can't take Estoril and Estrela da Amadora out of his skin. I admire your loyalty to believe in this crap. I will come back later after we fail to beat any of the 3.
Get ready for your Queiroz aneurysma!!!
Hard not to believe in him when we've directly qualified to 2 tournaments in a row and freaking won the only tournament he's managed, the results couldn't be better. I disagree with some things he does but if you're not going to stand behind him you wouldn't stand behind anyone. Portuguese fans and media are just too fast to want to change things, a lot of people wouldn't have even taken Fonte to the World Cup but I did argue that continuity was the best thing for the team and today Fonte proved me right, he's going to be a starter for the World Cup.
With that said, subbing off a winger for a leftback in the 92nd minute of a friendly to protect a draw is probably the most Fernando Santos thing I've ever seen
I wouldn't even be surprised if we didn't win a game in our group like you predict, his system means it's possible for us to be competitive against the best teams but it also means we'll have trouble breaking down Morocco and Iran. Today made me less scared for the first match against Spain, even if they're a lot better than Belgium.
Tbf you always defended Santos options, I never wanted him in the first place, its just the fact I don't remember a good game with a good attacking plan, the man is so tugão relegation mode, can't stand this untill 2020. Suprised with Fonte, to think a guy almost finished in China is going to start for us... but it is what it is.
Wait for his magic in Russia, he will teach the world who are the bus park masters!!!With that said, subbing off a winger for a leftback in the 92nd minute of a friendly to protect a draw is probably the most Fernando Santos thing I've ever seen
I am seeing a lot of praise and comparing this Belgium team with Spain, lets face it the only thing they have in common is some known names, the rest I even say we have more cohesion if not the same amount of talent. They remember me the so called golden generation we had in the 90's, nice players, sometimes good to watch, but not much competitive.
Would be funny if Portugal secures qualification to the round of 16 again by drawing all three games in the group stage. Can't see it though. Has anyone even qualified to the next round in the World Cup with just 3 points?
What is this all about? Sane isnt a world beater but Goretzka and Ruddy are? So what have they acheived in the game so far?
Not sure what any of this is all about. If Pep's system suits Sane and Germany's doesn't, then it's a not a slight or deficiency of the player especially given he's still young. Btw his best level for City would be excellent for Germany too rather than being 'not all that disappointing'.
I mean, I feel all weird now for defending a City player but you seem rather biased against/harsh on him.
I have no idea what you are talking about. Sane is a left winger, I explained why, due to tactical context, he can't reach his City level for Germany. Goretzka and Rudy are CMs, LW and CM are two very different positions that don't compete with each other and I never said those two were anywhere close to being world beaters.
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