Mails: Guessing Klopp’s plans for Man United

Mails: Guessing Klopp’s plans for Man United

Keep those thoughts coming to theeditor@football365.com…

Some Liverpool vs Man United thoughts
Praise be Darwin the internationals are behind us! There are some tasty appetizers over the weekend before the main dish of United’s visit to Anfield on Monday night. Liverpool, while hardly suffering from an injury crisis, have plenty of doubts over their starting XI. In goal I’d expect Klopp to stick with uber-mensch Karius while Lovren and Clyne are both expected to be fully recovered. Ragnar could fill in for Lovren if needed, but the right back cover is slightly trickier. With Flanagan kicking his heels on the Burnley bench, Klopp would either have to call up the youngster Conor Randall or shift Milner across and recall Moreno.

Up front, expect three of Coutinho, Firmino, Mane and Sturridge to start. If Klopp deems the Brazilians match-ready following their mammoth trips it wouldn’t surprise me if Sturridge started on the bench to allow a high-pressing, interchangeable front 3. It’s in midfield where things start getting interesting: With Lallana and Wijnaldum huge doubts Klopp will be looking for deputies to slot in alongside Henderson. Can is the obvious pick but then Klopp must decide between (i) bringing in Lucas thus allowing Henderson to push further forward; (ii) 20 year old Marko Grujic-a raw but talented player; (iii) Milner shifting from left back (highly doubtful as this would expose Moreno to Mata/Valencia) or (iv) drop Coutinho back to fill Lallana’s role. The latter would require some balls from Klopp but does fit in with the kind of front-foot football he is so partial to. F*ck it Jurgen, go for it!

As for United, Mourinho has some big calls of his own: Does Rooney start? Will it be Herrera, Pogba and Fellaini in midfield? Does Rashford start? While I wouldn’t want to put money on United’s starting line-up I do expect a typical Mourinho performance i.e. sit back and try hit Liverpool on the counter.

As a Liverpool fan I’m dreading every single set piece in our own half. For the longest time we’ve been vulnerable to them and the thought of Fellaini, Pogba, Zlatan, Bailly and Smalling striding into our box at every opportunity has me sh*tting bricks already!

I cannot wait for Monday night! A Liverpool win will further fan the flames of optimism around the club and create a 6 point gap to United. A United victory will banish the bitter taste of the defeat in the Manchester Derby (somewhat) and provide some much needed momentum.
Osric the Brave (it’s going to be 0-0, isn’t it?), Cape Town

And the regular ‘games to watch’ feature
West Bromwich Albion – Tottenham. In its own way, as big a test for Spurs as Manchester City. Coming off an international break, will their press have the requisite energy? In both meetings last season they took the lead against the Pulisers, only to be pegged back both times. In this particular fixture they managed only nine shots, their next-to-lowest total of the year. If everyone’s ready, the false nine seems a logical call again, given West Brom’s big defenders. Claudio Yacob will be a key performer for the Baggies: if Spurs can give him the runaround, the home side will be in trouble. Nacer Chadli figures to come up against Victor Wanyama, two players very much in form.
Stat: from open play, Salomon Rondon has as many shots and more goals than Sergio Aguero.

Chelsea – Leicester City. The Foxes look like your basic mid-table team this year: wins over Swansea and Burnley, losses to Manchester United, Liverpool, and (the outlier) Hull. Since Leicester play with two strikers, Chelsea will most likely go 3-4-3 again. So the midfield matchup of Kanté/Matic vs. Drinkwater/Amartey should be a highlight, and Riyad Mahrez will probably come up against Gary Cahill. The right side of Leicester’s defense is the weaker, so it’s time for Eden Hazard to look like he cares again, and we’ll see more of how Marcos Alonso fares in an attacking role. Marc Albrighton has been ordinary lately, so will we see Demarai Gray from the start?
Stat: Islam Slimani has won 100% of his aerial duels in the box, but only 27.2% outside.

Stoke City – Sunderland. With the Potters’ revival against Manchester United, you’d make them a clear favorite here. But look at the numbers: Sunderland have scored more goals and allowed fewer. In attack, the striker void at Stoke makes it harder for them to get shots in good positions, and finish them once they do. On defence, Sunderland play more conservatively, and so are less porous. That said, Lee Grant and Bruno Martins Indi may change things significantly at the back for Stoke. On the other side, fans and press are both hoping David Moyes will play three at the back. If he watched Tunisia-Guinea last weekend, he’ll be tempted to put Wahbi Khazri in the number ten role and keep him there.
Stat: Stoke have allowed six set-piece goals in seven games, but Sunderland have yet to score on a set piece.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA (great mailboxes over the international break)

Goalkeeping: All about positioning
Good email from Rob on goalkeeping and something I think I can back up.

Schmeichel was my hero as a kid and so naturally I played as a goalkeeper. I used to watch videos of him the night before and morning of a game and tried my best to play like him. I became pretty good and was number 1 for my school, city, my county and was scouted by Cardiff City until I decided to quit because I got bored (idiot).

One summer aged 15 I went on a Manchester United goalkeeper coaching course and out of 40-50 goalkeepers I was 1 of only 5 picked to play across two games. In training the other keepers looked like world beaters who were flying to the top corner at ease, for some reason I could never do it in training and undoubtedly felt like the weakest there. Yet when it came to the games I was the only one who kept a clean sheet and did so quite comfortably, the others all conceded a few goals each.

The difference is I was always in the right position, always talking and directing the defence (if Schmeichel did it, so did I) and quick to sniff out danger. There’s so much more to goalkeeping than making good saves, I remember someone on here once said Neuer doesn’t make spectacular saves because he’s so fast at moving his feet he doesn’t have to dive. Look at Gomes, David James and Mignolet – kick it in the top corner and they’ll probably save it, kick it at them and they’ll drop it in the net.
Silvio (wouldn’t have made it anyway, I’m mentally weak and only 5 foot 10) Dante

Some English football myths
As a side point to the PFM debate, there seems to be a number of lazy (and frankly incorrect) stereotypes around England and English players.

– English players are apparently technically deficient – This may have been true 20 years ago, but 20 years of academies, Premier League, foreign coaches, etc. means that you would classify very few England players as lacking skill (even the much maligned Rooney), and others such as Sterling, Sturridge, Barkley, Wilshire, Lallana, are as skillful as any other international grouping.

– If in doubt we should play 4-4-2 and lump the ball up to a big fella – it’s unclear when we got stuck in this particular PFM rut, but the successful English teams of the past 20 years have not played like this. Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho, etc have always played a more nuanced game…and more to the point, so have the players – I can’t believe Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes, or the current players have any familiarity with this style of play. Lampard, for instance, played his whole career in a midfield 3.

– English tactics/players/teams have always been neanderthal knuckle draggers – It seems to be forgotten, but England dominated Europe from the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s. Liverpool alone won far more, and over a far longer period than the current Barca side.These English teams defended from the front, pressed hard, retained possession at the back, counter-attacked at speed, and basically swarmed all over the top European sides from other countries – managers like Paisley, Clough, and Sir Bobby used tactics that would be very familiar to Guardiola and Klopp. Apart from scoring goals, I still remember watching Ian Rush fervently tackling back all the time at Liverpool. The intensity of the English game that we love has it’s roots in this period.

So the next time, the PFM’s pipe up about how we can’t match the foreign’s skills or that the tactics don’t suit English players or conditions, let’s take a leaf out of Big Sam’s playbook…and laugh in their face…
Matthew (ITFC)

Managers using quotes as inspiration
I recently read the Top 20 quotes from Jurgen Klopp and realised that maybe some of the better managers have a great knack for managing expectations from the players perspective. Rather than over inflate or misplace confidence, keeping feet grounded and being able to reduce any fear is such a good way to galvanise players – basically, its top (top) man management skills. It’s great to see his quotes about the youth setup at Liverpool too – with salary caps for 17 year olds and a commitment to development that’s almost a first at the club. It could pay hefty dividends!

But his quote of Bayern’s bazookas versus a the bow & arrows of Dortmund reminded me of a couple of anecdotes…

Now this may be completely wrongly attributed and correct me if so, but I think it was after a particularly dire first half for Manchester United and they were losing 1-0. The players were fearing the hairdryer treatment but Alex Ferguson came in and just said “cor it’s f**king freezing out there”. Instantly defusing any negative feelings in the changing room, he said to the players they all knew they could do better and off they went to turn it around and win the game.

The second story is from my own ‘career’. My old man managed a few local clubs in his time with some success and once I was old enough to play the adult game he wanted to give me a run out at the end of the season. Now there’s me – a wiry 16 year old kid, nervous as hell and there’s a squad of grown up men, seasoned and grizzly. In the pre-match pep talk, my dad says; “we’ve a new player for a run out this week. He’s my son, and if he’s half as good as me then he’s twice as good as you lot”. And within that any nerves I’d had were gone – the gaffer had faith in me!

As it goes it was too late to register any new players so I didn’t get on and they still won the game anyway…
Adam, LFC (maybe Danny Murphy was right about Jose wanting the Liverpool job…)

The only acceptable half-and-half scarf user
As the half & half scarf debate rages on, I hope to get my sixpence in, as I genuinely feel I’m the only market for whom it’s ok to purchase, if not wear a half half scarf. And even then I take a whole load of sh**.

I’m a Manchester/Trafford lad, 3rd generation United fan, who having striven to carve a career for myself in a footballing back office capacity, after an ill fated stint in print press in London, landed myself a dream job in football… Albeit on the other, blue side of town.

While I’m delighted to be working for City as it’s a fantastic place to work on so many levels, plus I hear Utd are a bit of a pain to work for, my passion for United will forever be undiminished, despite the best efforts of Glazer, Rooney, Moyes/LvG et al, forever fuelled by memories of Cantona, fast attacking football (I did say memories) and the fact it’s just in the blood and family.

However though, equally I have respect and affection for City, both as my employer but also as a club who sincerely invest in the local society and football community (they’ve practically reshaped East Manchester), and as a team with an intrinsically Mancunian identity – LFC they are not…

So anyhow, on my way to working the derby at the Etihad last year, I thought why not? As a United fan who works for City, how best can I show my undying love for Man Utd, as well as my pride at working for a top team, brand and employer in Man City?.. Yeah, you guessed it, with a half and half scarf.

Purchased, I proudly wrapped it round my neck, thinking it would be a good source of bants and an expression of my dual interests, I walked through the press entrance un-harassed and into my seat in the press box, only to find myself sitting next to… Mr Henry Winter.

Now while appearing to get the cold shoulder from Henry, it wasn’t down to the scarf as I received a polite hello when he sat down, with no comment passed on my newly purchased and proudly displayed 50/50 scarf. And proudly displayed it remained, until the City content manager saw it, and told me to ‘Get that sh** off from round my neck!’

Now my scarf sits in my house on the bottom of the banister of my stairs, acting as a reminder to house guests, that while I work for City, I’ll always be a red. Needless to say, didn’t make eye contact with the content guys, when Rashford stuck it through Demichelis’ legs and under Joe Hart.

They’re making up for that now of course.
Danger Mouse7

Kinda missing the point on scarves
I can’t help but feel the liked of Graham, LFC are missing the point of Mr Chicken’s article. Of course as a Liverpool fan you are not going to want a scarf with the Man Utd badge on it, but others visiting the ground to watch the game will. Not everyone going to every game is a fan of either team, some people are just going to be entertained, to say they’ve been to Anfield or seen two of the biggest teams in the world play. For them a half and half scarf is a great memento.

I’m a Liverpool fan, there is no way on earth I would buy a Liverpool/Utd half and half scarf, but one day I hope to be lucky enough to take a trip to Buenos Aires and watch a Superclasico game. If outside the ground there was someone selling River/Boca scarves, I would certainly consider buying one as a memento of a once in a lifetime trip. Okay, I’d stuff it under my coat or hide it in a bag, but I’d buy it all the same.

As the article mentioned, some people like to take in games by teams that they don’t support, they go to be entertained not just to support one team or the other. You may hate that. You may sit at Anfield every other week and moan about the daytrippers. But while you’re ruining your day moaning about others, they’re having an amazing time maybe even enjoying their once in a lifetime experience. I know which I’d rather be.
Martin (Warrington)

A new game, because it’s Friday
Since there hasn’t been a Mailbox game in a while (perhaps two or three days?), I’d like to propose one based on my abhorrence of modern clickbait media (and my appreciation of your excellent Mediawatch).

It goes thus. Pick a story (any story) on F365 and reimagine it in as tabloidy a way possible. This would obviously involve some (very loose) rules, for example completely ignoring context and generally manufacturing your own fictitious scenarios from otherwise mundane situations.

To give you an example I present this – an ‘alternative’ take on Wenger backing the ‘outstanding’ Southgate: Wenger: ‘Inexperienced and indecisive’ Southgate ‘not competent enough to lead England’

Arsene Wenger SLAMMED England’s new manager the day after our brave lions laboured to a draw against unfancied Solvenia, and suggested dropping Rooney cost three precious points.

“We’re in a job where you are questioned, especially when you have less experience. He has to show that the decisions he makes are the right ones” said the Premier League’s elder statesman, who lamented the result against a team that ranks 67th in the world.

In a thinly veiled slight on England’s interim boss, Wenger appeared to put himself forward for the role, musing “What is most important to me is the competence of the person. That is the difficulty in England, there’s always the demand for the big names.”
Red Paul