Mails: Case made for Koeman at Arsenal

Mails: Case made for Koeman at Arsenal

If you have anything to say, you know what to do: Mail theeditor@football365.com

Is Mourinho now the naked emperor?
It seems weird, but reading the Daniel Storey article, it’s as if Mourinho as a manager has lost his charisma, and Manchester United as a club have lost their aura. When we have a club that can pay top dollar for any player on the planet, and same club to be struggling result-wise is quite a feat.

Mourinho is on a runt, and he needs to produce and show force. Either win beautifully or win ugly but win he must. It really is telling that an unknown defender has come out to say he is defending high ball because of Mourinho. If that’s not a mark of disrespect, I don’t know what disrespect is. Joel Matip, is not just disrespecting Manchester United, he is essentially calling out Jose Mourinho.

United simply have to win, but if they do so by playing some football, it will go some way in restoring a career. Loose to Liverpool and Mourinho as top-class manager may well and truly be done.
Dave (How did Bournemouth score six, a worldly mystery) Somewhere

How’s that coaching going, Jose?
So Jose is on the touchline to coach eh?

I’ll just take this opportunity to say he did some mighty fine coaching against Watford. And Feyenoord. And City. And Stoke.

Hope he coaches that well tonight.
Kris, LFC, Manchester

For the love of Koeman…
Watching Everton’s impressive draw away against City it was interesting how after the game plan that was so effective against City was the high press that Spurs and Celtic both used that to add Koeman decided against using a high press in combating City’s attack, and instead used a deep defensive line and hoping to strike on ther counter. while there was a element of luck to Everton’s draw, it was again another excellent decision by Koeman who is fast becoming one of the very best managers in the Premier League.

It was interesting to read a very good article (I think it was written by Miguel Delaney) on Arsenal and their inevitable decision of who to replace Wenger and with the lack of really top-class managers available in the next 12 month it’s not as obvious as many of the #Wengerout brigade would have you believe, but personslly I really think Koeman would be a brilliant appointment. Tactically flexible, ruthless and has a good eye for a good player. While he may not have the panache of a Klopp or Jose if he continues to build on Everton’s impressive start he will surely have a lot of the biggest clubs in the league after him.
David (Martin Stekelenberg the new Diego Alves) Burzio

New red card rule?
So what to do with this nonsense going round about the red card for Xhaka being correct? Some are saying there’s a new FA directive where fouling without intention of getting the ball should give you a red card. This is bizarre. Can the FA enact a rule which is no where near the FIFA rule books?

Also, are we rally to believe this rule has been applied throughout the season? Is anyone out there naive enough to think that mot fouls are accidental? Most fouls are deliberate, so this rule should mean every instance of shirt pulling gets you a red card. It most certainly does not.

So what if the 15th of October was a magic date, where for ever after all deliberate fouls are red cards. Surely Mourinho is now a spent force. His last title-winning team would’ve been down to seven men by half time of each game. Why didn’t pundits tell us then the rule needed amending to stop this sort of fouling? The received wisdom was they used fouling to good effect because they are clever. And will relegation strugglers ever get points off a big team if deliberate fouls are now red cards? I think the probable answer is that this new rule will barely be applied, and done so at random as it was on Saturday.
James Gooner

He did see it
Whatever you think about Arsene Wenger, the smirk he gave when the journalist said “it was right in front of you, you must have seen that one?” was majestic.

Also, ‘dark yellow’ is a much better word than professional foul. Please can this be changed immediately.
Rob A (grinding out results…champions…etc…) AFC

Peter G’s weekend thoughts
* Walter Mazzarri did his bit for Italian stereotypes by playing five at the back at Middlesbrough, one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league. To be fair, Watford had yet to keep a clean sheet in any competition this season, so you can see why. Mazzarri got what he came for despite only 36% possession, and got three points too when Jose Holebas/Cholevas smashed home one of only three shots Watford tried all game.

* Michael Oliver is on the way to being the best referee in the league. He’s assured, decisive, and gets a very large percentage of the big calls right. He handled the high-profile match at the Etihad superbly. It’s no surprise UEFA is now giving him Champions League assignments.

* F365 quite rightly slammed the PFMs who critiqued my compatriot Bob Bradley because he “wasn’t familiar with the Premier League”. But if he had been, he would have known you can’t play only two in the middle at the Emirates, especially if one is 34-year-old Leon Britton, and the other doesn’t happen to be named N’Golo Kanté. On the positive side, he unleashed Modou Barrow, something Francesco Guidolin wouldn’t or couldn’t do. And he almost got a draw in a game Arsenal could have won easily – but that’s just par for the course.

* The Southampton academy marches on. According to Wikipedia, Sam McQueen joined the club at the age of eight. Now 21, he looks like a future international lef- back. He even dives like a veteran.

* Burnley have had some very bad luck with referees lately, but their stats on the road are frightening. Total shots 19-70, shots on target 3-28 (and one of their three was a penalty kick). At home, more reasonable but still pretty poor: total shots 49-84, shots on target 12-22. That they’ve managed seven points out of this is quite a feat.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA (Fraser Forster wasn’t born, he was constructed)

Greg Tric’s weekend thoughts
* This might finally be the year that Sunderland goes down. I actually agree with Moyes that they weren’t that bad in the game but then they weren’t good either and they haven’t been good all season. I can already see Pickford at Everton, Lamine Kone at Crystal Palace, Khazri at Leicester to replace Mahrez, and Kirchhoff at West Brom (probably as an attacking midfielder).

* Glad that the annual Xhaka brainfart moment came this early in the season so he is likely to avoid getting another silly red card this season.

* As Sarah Winterburn highlighted, Eden Hazard revels in that free role behind Costa which he can use to roam to just about anywhere on the pitch. Conte needs to send a bottle of wine to Wenger for helping him make his mind up about having 3/5 at the back. They look rather good at the moment and still have the personnel to mount a serious title challenge.

* Staying with that Chelsea game, Leicester are slowly getting back to their usual middle table/ relegation battle obscurity. It is amazing how the loss of Kante has made the whole team look distinctly average. That and the forced exclusion of Okazaki from the starting line-up. Every game he misses shows just how valuable he was last season as the workhorse up front and the link-man from midfield.

* I am beginning to fear for Aitor Karanka’s job security.

* Guardiola said that he does not have time to take his players through penalty practice because “you can never simulate the matchday atmosphere and pressure” during a training session. I understand his point was that any player can miss a penalty during a pressure situation in a match but given that logic, why practice anything at all? Why practice passing, shooting, defending, positioning or anything at all since “you can never simulate the matchday atmosphere” in training?? Manchester City have missed more than enough penalties this season for it to be considered bad luck or something of the sort. Great saves by Stekelenburg but they were both taken towards the same side, same spot near the post and same comfortable height for a keeper.

* Former players, especially those tossed aside unceremoniously, more often than not come to haunt their former employers in future matches. What name should we apply to this law?
Greg Tric, Nairobi

Random thoughts and observations
1. Why does Gary Lineker throws his arms around every time he asks a question? It’s quite annoying.

2. Time was when managers would shake hands before a match. Now they seem to have a prolonged, touchy-feely love-in on the touchline. And it doesn’t seem to matter who they are. I get that Pep Guardiola and Ronald Koeman go back a bit but how come Tony Pulis and Mauricio Pochettino greet each other like old lovers?

3. Is it just me or are most throw-ins these days actually foul throws? I thought you had to release the ball when it was still behind your head but no-one ever seems to.

4. Wasn’t Dele Ali’s finish delicious?

5. Why is David Moyes still in a job?

That’ll do for now.
Matt Pitt
Ed’s weekend thoughts on Palace v West Ham
* There are two patterns to Crystal Palace versus West Ham United in recent years: someone gets sent off, and United always win. So well done to the Hammers.

I’m disappointed with the result, but having seen the last half-hour of the game, I didn’t think Palace played badly in their build-up, they just couldn’t find a way to equalise.

* United set themselves up in a 3-4-1-2, and Palace couldn’t cope. This was largely possible because Aaron Cresswell was available, and he gave them balance and width. Palace played their standard 4-2-3-1, but switched to 4-4-2 when chasing the game. However, in many ways being reduced to ten men played into United’s hands, as they simply had to sit back and watch the Eagles fail to break them down.

Alan Pardew told the BBC that he was “disappointed with a lot of aspects of the game”, saying he was forced to make changes at half-time because his side “weren’t playing with fluidity”. It’s hardly rocket surgery to deduce a team with Joe Ledley and Martin Kelly preferred to Yohan Cabaye and Zeki Fryers would prioritise defensive solidity over attacking flair. It made sense to go with Ledley and James McArthur in defensive midfield to neutralise Dimitri Payet, and expect Kelly to be better-equipped to deal with Michail Antonio, but when this doesn’t come off and you have to make two changes at half-time, it restricts your ability to change your style later on.

I realise all of this is said in hindsight, and United’s 3-4-1-2 could just as easily have backfired but this isn’t the first time during his tenure at Selhurst Park that Pardew has appeared to be caught out by the opposition’s tactics.

* I’m sure on another day the foul on Christian Benteke would have been given as a free-kick rather than a penalty. However, I can see why the referee thought it was. The law says that a foul starting outside the box and continuing inside will be punished with a penalty kick. Benteke was chasing a ball in the penalty area and his momentum, once clipped, took him inside.

Karma dealt United two good hands, in fact; not only did fortune favour them via Benteke’s ineptitude, but midway through the second half Palace should have had another spot kick – a strong shirt pull by Cresswell on Wilfried Zaha went unpunished.

* Last season, I described Dwight Gayle’s dismissal as being two offences individually worthy of yellow cards, but collectively a very soft red card Likewise, Cresswell’s red card seemed harsh as an overall punishment, but like Gayle, he was perceived to have committed two acts worthy of a booking – referees always take the name of a player they deem guilty of simulation, and do the same for a player fouling an opponent by grabbing the shirt. Combine this with a) getting away with a shirt pull minutes previously and b) having only just been booked, and it’s hard to have sympathy for the United left-back.

* Next up for Palace is Leicester City away, another game both teams will approach believing they can win it. I’d fancy City given our generosity when it comes to helping teams struggling for form.
Ed Quoththeraven

And now for Bournemouth v Hull
I’ll start with Hull. They were wretched, started badly with a frankly bizarre shirt and then seemed totally devoid of any plan or spirit. And as my mate pointed out after, their fans cheered them on throughout and didn’t even get applauded by players or manager for their (long) trip. Phelan didn’t even go onto the pitch at the end.

As for Bournemouth, you can only beat what is in front of you but I think they might play better and lose this season. I think Marshall made only one save (a Cook header); everything else went in.

Alan Shearer on MOTD picked up on Stanislas and Ibe. I can’t really argue with the former but I didn’t think Ibe was as effective as against WBA and Everton recently. Still he is undoubtedly winning over the fans.

Contractually we also have to talk about Wilshere. Some might wonder how in a 6-1 win the ‘number 10’ had no goals or assists. But he was excellent. Because he is so good on the ball he pulls defenders towards him, meaning there is more space for the others around him. As you wrote last week he might be playing in the wrong place for his England chances but the three-man midfield of him, Arter and Surman is definitely working for Bournemouth. Again, he had no defensive responsibility meaning Hull had to keep a man back with him when they did come forward.

To support this an observation which wasn’t picked up on the TV. I’ve written before about how the old-timers behind me don’t like ‘this tippy-tappy football’. I’ve already heard them say that if/when Howe leaves they’d like Allardyce as manager! On Saturday Bournemouth’s fourth goal followed a prolonged period of possession, during which on three separate occasions they grumbled ‘get it up the park’. Eventually Stanislas scored, everyone’s happy. MOTD showed only the last three passes, obviously they are time-constrained. But Wilshere was either on the ball, or making space for others, at least four times in the move. Currently it’s working out for the club, I really hope he thinks it’s working out for him as well.
Andy J, Bournemouth

Come in Harry…
So Sunderland now have two points from eight games – I think we all know what this means. As the PFM prophecy (the Proper-cy?) has fortold, this heralds the next coming of the PFM-Almighty. He will give us this day our daily top top player and deliver us from the evil of anything that isn’t 4-4-fackin’-2.

He’s probably already looking into cancelling Jermain Defoe’s contract, just so he can sign him again!
Michael, Basel

…So Sunderland are in the unenviable position of having two points from their first eight games?

Only one man for the job…
Brandon (Ellis, met Harry. Harry, this is Ellis), LFC

Silly dilly ding-dong
Missing: one bell.

If found please return to C. Ranieri, LCFC
Doug, Glasgow