Sorry Arsenal…but can we have Welbz back?

Sorry Arsenal…but can we have Welbz back?

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

The Spurs crisis
Last night was equally depressing and scary, but I am choosing to treat the pain and resulting nameless dread I feel about Sunday’s NLD with comforting thoughts that Alderweireld and Kane are better players than Dier and Janssen, their presence makes us better and in turn the better personnel helps to raise the game of the many 7/10 players we are carrying.  All is not lost, yet.

Sissoko shouldn’t be any more than an impact sub until he has fully adapted. Yes, at 27 and costing that much money, you should be able to slot into any team, but this is not Harry Redknapp “run around a bit” management, this is a specific way of playing and it probably takes some time to get used to.  But then again, with Lamela under the weather and needed for the weekend, he kind of had to play; he just failed miserably and was made to look even worse by Eriksen, Alli and Son not being able to pass accurately and the defenders looking like rabbits on ice skates in headlights.

I don’t envy Poch at times like this when the games are coming this thick and fast and we already have our three best players either unavailable or struggling for fitness, but this is what transfer windows are for and this is why things currently look so bleak: after a few seasons of doing it right, we well and truly botched the last one!  The Sissoko signing should never have happened and I am sure 75% of spurs fans would have preferred to see Alex Pritchard/Clinton N’Jie/Nacer Chadli starting last night instead of him.

Mitchell was doing a great job and we somehow phucked it up; now that’s what I call spursy.
Oli Clark, Bahrain

Right, I’m going to just say what I think (and those who know me have heard this many a time).

First of all, we were awful, but this is not new. We have no width, we don’t create chances. I don’t really know what Sissoko is meant to do, but he doesn’t do much. Janssen is meant to be hot property but looks ruined (same happened with Lamela – although I’m still not convinced by him). Son tends to play well against the rubbish teams and then disappears when we need him most. Stating the obvious I’m sure.

Playing at Wembley may have a small impact on our form, but it is not the main reason. Having watched Spurs as a season ticket holder over nearly 15 years, I can definitely say that our poor passing, poor crossing, poor corner-taking, poor free-kick taking, poor throw-ins is not new to a Wednesday night against Europe’s elite. It happens week in, week out. I’ve written to you before and asked why, how on earth could these professionals not improve on these skills – what do they do all day in training?! Same applies for Lloris and his extremely poor distribution of the ball – so many chances to start an attack are wasted because he cant kick or throw the ball to his own team mates. The best competitors in sport are those that adapt and improve – our players are just not doing that and certainly not “best keeper in the world” Lloris. If he is injured or restricted then he and the team should find a different and better way. Similarly, I just dont understand why we were passing right across the back line, taking such risks, passing back to Lloris just so he can punt it out of play. Completely and utterly stupid.

If you want to go down the route of blaming Wembley, then next season we will be in deep trouble because we will be playing all our home league and cup games there. In my opinion, the atmosphere on the way was good, when you get in its good too – but with poor performances, the fans get nervous. And then comes the loss in atmosphere. The most disappointing thing though was seeing fans leaving with 15 minutes to go – the players surely see this, and it doesn’t help – but they’re not helping anyone when they make sloppy, risky decisions when all of them know better.

I dont want another Spurs shake-up – I think what Poch has done is great – but something has to change and they all have to improve significantly. Harry Kane needed a rest, but we would never have dropped him, so it’s good that he got injured as it forced Poch to find another team line-up. Maybe (and just #justsaying), but maybe it would be good if we get knocked out at the group stage as it would mean that the players actually learn the hard way.
Theo (Spurs, Cheshunt)

So the Mailbox seems to be awash with those writing off Spurs’ future on the back of a bad month. Understandable given how woeful that performance was last night. Credit must also go to Leverkusen too who basically did to us what we did to Man City what seems like an age ago, pressing high & not allowing us to settle on the ball. They just did it better than us.

I don’t think it’s all panic stations yet though, nor are the wheels falling off. There are a few reasons for this slump.

1. We’re missing our best players.

For the last month we’ve been missing, for varying periods of time, Harry Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Mousa Dembele, Erik Lamela and Danny Rose. These 5 have been some of our best players over the past year. Take 5 of the best out of any team at the top level, they’ll often look disjointed, un-co-ordinated and average, especially against quality opposition.

2. Wembley.

I’m not talking about the psychology of playing in front of 85,000+. That is the player’s problem. Poch is right not to lay the blame on the stadium. I’m talking about the pitch. It is bigger than WHL, when a Spurs player might have to close down a player 10m away at WHL, that player is 11m away at Wembley. That extra little bit of grass to cover gives the opposition that little bit more time to play their pass and so our high-pressing game is that much less successful, these small things make the difference. I can’t say I know how big Leverkusen’s pitch is and whether that is the reason why they out-pressed us in both games, but it is certainly different for us. It is a problem Poch needs to solve, I think the answer is probably to do with pace which is probably our weakest attribute as a squad.

There are also a few positives…

3. We’re still keeping it tight (on the scoresheet at least).

Lloris is world-class and we’re lucky to have him. Toby & Jan are a great pairing. Dier seems to have regressed a little bit but it’s far too soon to write him off in any of the roles he can play. Our full-backs were poor last night but one match is a blip, not a pattern.

4. Arsenal are on a high which (hopefully) means they’ll come crashing down with a thump(ing) this weekend. That’s their MO isn’t it?
Thom, Bristol-based Spur

Sissokwho?
Sissoko transfer fee £30m

Alexis Sanchez fee £31.7m

Sadio Mane fee £34m

Eden Hazard fee £32m

Henrikh Mkhitaryan fee £26

2 genuine world class players, a lightning bolt who can change a game in a second, Bundesliga player of the year who has unfortunately been Mourinho’d and Moussa Sissoko – a blundering central midfielder who has somehow convinced people he can play at right wing.

What characteristics are required to play on the wing? Generally speaking, without reading too much into it, you would like a skilful, quick & agile player with a good cross and an eye for goal. What is Sissoko other than a bloody battering ram with a big engine? He has scored 11 goals since moving to England in 124 appearances. He has spent the vast majority of that time licking his lips and fluttering his eyelashes at Arsene Wenger wanting a move. Having settled for Spurs, he is showing everyone exactly why it was insane to pay such huge money for a player who has shown over & over to have absolutely no commitment or drive to succeed in football.

Somehow, after watching him have a pretty good Euros, someone has bitten and forked over £30m to sign him, and even thrown him on the right wing. What happened? I thought Levi was as tight as a ducks arse? Why are Spurs linked with Isco every few weeks yet splash out on the exact player they don’t need? They are seriously lacking any creativity in the side, and by god Moussa is not someone who will provide that spark. Granted, he could easily saunter through a brick wall, but he couldn’t trap a ball if his life depended on it.
Ryan, Dundalk FC (Dundalk FC vs Zenit St Petersburg 6pm Kick-off. We are living in strange times)

 

Sitting on defence
Simon Banks, while some of the defense of Jose is over the top, so is plenty of your criticism.

So Conte has his Chelsea squad 10pts better off than last season. However didn’t Jose win the title with the same squad (minus all Conte invested) a season before?

As for City, they would have cruised to the title last season, if the board hadn’t thrown Pelegrini under the bus, by announcing Pep as manager mid season That promptly sent the players into holiday mode and cost them the title. They are just 1 point better than they were last season, so Pep isn’t performing miracles in the league.

And off course the most popular “Best defense in the league” argument. As a United fan, who watched the game, I can attest that the defense was terrible. It just had good stats, coz we had 60% possession, never tried anything inventive to breakdown the opposition, thereby making sure we never lose shape. The few times we attacked, we conceded on the break. United fan found most games last season more boring than the Pool vs United game which non United fans seem to have a lot more problems with than United fans.

You do have a point that Jose does tend to blame everyone else when his teams goes through a bad patch, which was one of the reasons fans were apprehensive about him. Yes your right he does have good players, however many of them have had their confidence destroyed for two years, as well as brainwashed into play the dull boring, risk free football by Van Gaal.

Finally even Klopp took a while to get Pool to play like he wanted, it didn’t happen overnight. Most United fans will give Jose time (I mean we gave the clueless Moyes & the dull Van Gaal time). What I find ironic is that opposition fans like Simon are now mad that United fans won’t turn on Mourinho & that United fans willing to accept a slightly defensive display at Anfield. Would be more productive worrying about your own team. Leave United to the United fans.
JB (Still believe this team will come good), MUFC

We need Welbz
Notwithstanding the wider structural and cultural malaise at Old Trafford, the increasingly and painfully plain effects of over a decade of underinvestment in the club and academy, and the wider problems with a club that seems to exist exclusively to make money for absentee owners and a coterie of noodle and tyre partners, United would (I think) be massively improved by a mobile, powerful and intelligent striker who would create space and opportunities for Mata, Rashford, Martial etc.

Can we have Danny Welbeck back in January? Rafael as well, if possible…
Chris MUFC

Stats
Given the statistical arguments going on and that I am actually a statistician (or was, I’m not sure anymore) I thought I’d wade in with what I can plainly see with my eyes from having watched every game Utd have played this season (and too many previous seasons that I’d care to admit).

While stats can be used to tell whatever story you want to, my eyes tell me that whether Utd are dominating possession or not, creating “chances” or not, the other team is always the one that looks most like scoring.
Jon, Joburg (Can we have the loser of the US election instead of Zuma please?)

Hartson
What to make of John “Johnny” Hartson eh?

Daniel Storey’s Winners & Losers today referenced Hartson’s quote about Oliver Burke.. the one where he says he was foolish to go to the Bundesliga and play for Leipzig, rather than play for Burnley, West Brom or Sunderland (NB its not “a Burnley, a Sunderland..”). He talks about the current state of German vs English teams in European competition.

Lets just expand that shall we… Red Bull Leipzig are the team of a large German city of over 500,000 people, which (after Googling) looks a pretty nice place to live. They have a passionate fanbase and currently sit second in the Bundesliga, unbeaten after 9 games and just 2 points behind leaders and titans, Bayern Munich.

Why would he go there when he could play for a struggling English club such as Burnley (14th), West Brom (16th) or Sunderland (bottom)? I won’t disparage the towns having never visited but I know where I’d prefer to play.

Britain is a laughing stock at the moment and its attitudes like Hartson’s that shed light on why.
Alay (Hoping the Supreme Court uphold the High Court’s ruling), N15 Gooner

Best ever individual performances?
The subject of the best individual performances of my life-time ironically involves Zizou in a converse way- Roy Keane’s tour-de-force against Juventus in the second leg of the 1999 Champions League semi final. The sheer will to win he displayed that night was not only outstanding but also arguably the most quitessential captain’s performance too.

These days looking at United’s poor imitation of a top quality midfield (despite Herrera’s valiant attempts to at least instill some drive in there) makes me pine for the good ould days of the fiery Corkman. Forever my favourite player.
Brian, Wexford

I’m going for a defender in a Jose Mourinho team, which is a dozen kinds of wrong, but I am.  April 2010, Inter Milan go to Spain to defend a 3-1 first leg lead against Barcelona.  For a 1-0 home win the game is pretty frantic.  Around the half hour mark, Barcelona are given their now traditional leg-up by the ref and Motta is sent off for owning hands.  What follows is the absolute Mourinho template for getting a result, Barcelona in front of a crowd that tradition dictates I must describe as baying throw everything at Inter and increasingly run out of ideas.  It’s intense, it’s fractious, it’s Jose at Barca being Jose.  For those of us who were not entirely sold on the concept of Barcelona being all that is good and holy it was a lot of fun.

In the middle of it all is Lucio.  Calm, composed, more focussed than I’d ever seen him previously and almost unbreachable.  No mazy runs, no overhead kicks in the opposition box for this is the Mourinho managed version of Lucio, and he was immense.  I expect you’ll get many replies extolling various feats of attacking and goal scoring excellence, and that’s much my preferred type of football, but sometimes you can watch a defender go about their business, and think ‘yes, I see now. This is good’.

Lucio won’t be heralded by many, I don’t expect we’ll see an Icons feature on him (because how could a Brazilian defender ever be an icon), but that night I witnessed a master of his craft perform it to the very highest standard.  I can’t think of another single game from a defender which has lived this long in my memory, so my vote goes to the slightly unlikely looking Lucio.
Jeremy Aves

1. Michael Essien, 2009 April at Anfield.. The preclude to the match was the whole Scholari season where we were tactically found out, lost a couple of home games and got humiliated at Old Trafford.. Hiddink takes over, results are turning over and we reach the Champions league semi final facing a foe we’ve faced commonly – Liverpool. Pool had just beat us 2-0 at Anfield a month or so back and were on a great run in the league and no one gave us a chance at Anfield. Especially after Torres scored an opener.. But what followed was one of the most complete dominant displays by Chelsea to win the game 3-1 and by half time we could’ve had half a dozen! All because of one man we called ‘the bull’ – Michael Essien. For the first time, Gerrard who had his best season, was marked in the game and nullified, thus stopping the supply to torres.. Essien single handedly dominated the midfield battle and won tackle after tackle, header after header and kept starting so many counter attacks that Drogba/Kalou failed to score.. It was one of the finest midfield displays i’ve ever seen!

2. Frank Lampard, 2006 at Barcelona… This was a time when Jose had black hair also.. A time when he was more joy in a press box than dour.. A time when there was a Machieavelliean mischief about his body language and he took England by storm.. But that was not the point.. At Barcelona, in a group game, we were a goal down early in the match.. We were not entirely dominated, but already played Barca twice in two seasons before winning the tie once and losing once (which was our last loss to them till date in an individual game).. Around 57 minutes, a free kick goes wide towards Barca corner, lamps goes wide, the only player, there is no danger right? He is parallel with the goalie (Valdes) and looks to cross the ball, only his eyes saw the far post and the most ridiculous of chips into the goal.. Not to forget the great game Lamps had that night when we drew 2-2 (and won 1-0 at the bridge).. Our foundation for being the team Barcelona hate to play was solidified that night at Camp Nou, thanks to the greatest player Chelsea ever had (arguably).
Aravind, Chelsea Fan.

At Cardiff City we used to sing the following to silver-fox club-legend Kevin McNaughton:

Kevin McNaughton, you are the love of my life,

Kevin McNaughton, I’d let you sh*g my wife,

Kevin McNaughton,

I want silver hair tooooo.

It was so popular that we even had Anthony Gerrard singing along on the pitch during a game one time!
Rich CCFC

The best individual performance, to my mind, was Paul McGrath for Ireland V Italy at USA 94.

Up against the great Roberto Baggio and Guiseppe Signori, Big Paul ruled the roost from start to finish.

The triple tackle / block knocked the heart right out of the Italians and it’s telling that Roberto Baresi’s reaction to the performance was to applaud.

Reading his book later and finding out that he had partial paralysis in one shoulder due to a virus in that game only elevates his performance.

You’ll have tons of emails about hat tricks, Ronaldinho at the Bernabeau, Ronaldo at Old Trafford,  David Beckham against Greece etc

But given the stage and the relative levels of the opposing teams, I think McGrath’s performance stands above them all.

Honourable mention to Lothar Matthaus in the 1999 Champs League Final – Utd didn’t have a sniff until he was subbed – awful awful decision. In fact, on that, what are people’s views on the worst ever substitutions they’ve seen?
Doug, AFC, Belfast

An XI of great performances
I would like to suggest an entire first XI made up of once off great individual performances in order to create the most beautiful game of football ever seen from defence through to attack.

We already have Zidane’s, so how about we throw Ronaldo’s hat trick for Real Madrid against Man Utd in 2003 in to the mix for attacking performance.

Still 9 places left to fill, any thoughts ?
Troy McClure, Gooner

Football chants
Very funny article on football chants. My personal fave is sung to the tune of “That’s Amore”.

When you’re sat in row zed,
And the ball hits your head,
That’s Zamora.

I think it was while he was at Fulham. Just genius.
Adonis Stevenson, AFC

My favourite Liverpool chants of moderately recent times:

An ode to Peter Crouch:
>He’s big
>He’s red
>His feet stick out the bed

When Wayne Rooney came off the bench a few years ago at Anfield:

>Who’s the scouser
>Who’s the scouser
>Who’s the scouser in the wig?
Alliteration Alan in Aberdeen (Your feature was too early – this feels like it should be a Friday mailbox thing)

Talking of chants…. I was at a Pompey game (when they were in the Prem) sporting long hair and a beard, sat in the front row of the upper tier where the ‘corporate’ seats were as I was taking a client who supported Portsmouth (basically trying to bribe him).

These seats overhang the Pompey fans below, I was watching my beloved Liverpool and they went close with a shot which I thought had gone in….I jumped up and cheered to which about 200 Pompey fans turned around and chanted….

“F*CK OFF JESUS, F*CK OFF JESUS”
Jimmy (Still go red even thinking about it) Spain

Fair
You might want to look up the difference between ‘infer‘ and ‘imply’.

Yes, I’m a boring pedant but it’s the written equivalent of when mouth-breathing ‘tards say ‘generally’ when they mean ‘genuinely’ or ‘literally’ when they mean ‘not even remotely literally’.

Phew, thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
Cheers, Jim (inferring that you’re implying something) Essex