GWT: PL Matchweek 1

[Cassano]

Nobody would give a **** about Pulisic if he wasn't American

Faxx, Reiss Nelson had more goals than him last year in Bundesliga.

 

[S E P H]

There was something about the United/Chelsea game that just felt off, it was like I was watching two liable defensive clubs battling it out for fifth place. I am not saying that's where they will finish, but just because United won like four to nil doesn't mean they got the top three locked up (considering how flashy they looked). Neither will that make Chelsea finish in 11th even though I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Solskjaer looks like he has some Wenger in him and I don't mean it in a good way as well. Since he played forward he seems like the manager who will throw bodies up front regardless of the recklessness it will bring on the counter-attack. They got exposed for it last year and were fortunate that the opponent they were facing has the experience of a toddler. Like who leaves Kante on the bench in a ground as tough as United's is? Wan Bissaka is a fantastic signing though, he does nothing special, but is very solid at both ends of the pitch.

Chelsea, relied on Hazard to make too many plays and goalscoring opportunities for them. They have way too many complimentary players and I've said this in the past once you take Eden out of the equation. You lot think Pedro, Barkley, and Kovacic will be able to consistently create goal scoring chances for Giroud and Abraham? Besides Jorginho and Pulisic ability to make plays, there's going to be a world of hurt which is going to be exacerbated by brainlessness of Zouma and Azpilicueta.

Don't get me wrong that I fancied Zouma as the next line of great centrebacks, but damn he has ever been a disappointment since he came from France. He's the prototypical all brawn no brains type of player and they'll be in bad shape if he plays like today throughout the season. Also, for the all the hype I had to hear about Chelsea's youth...man they were bad. Mount in particular looked like he didn't belong either in the EPL or first-tier Championship.

Nobody would give a **** about Pulisic if he wasn't American

He's a solid player, so lets not try to take anything away from him, but holy **** this times a trillion. It was NBC agenda, but Rebecca Lowe kept asking the panel how well he played and it's hilarious to hear after every five minutes or so. They even had NBC notifications during the Arsenal game that he was "starting" on the bench.

 

[Blender]

Faxx, Reiss Nelson had more goals than him last year in Bundesliga.

Reiss Nelson plays exclusively as a striker, doesn't he? Pulisic played as a winger with Dortmund mostly, and has played as an attacking midfielder.

 

[robertmac43]

He's the prototypical all brawn no brains type of player and they'll be in a world of hurt if he plays like today throughout the season

All I was thinking about was how Auba-Laca-Pepe would absolutely destroy him. Probably the same way Chelsea fans have felt in the past about about Hazard coming up against Mustafi

 

[robertmac43]

Reiss Nelson plays exclusively as a striker, doesn't he? Pulisic played as a winger with Dortmund mostly, and has played as an attacking midfielder.

Nelson also primarily plays out wide.

 

[AB13]

Reiss Nelson plays exclusively as a striker, doesn't he? Pulisic played as a winger with Dortmund mostly, and has played as an attacking midfielder.

Nelson is a winger, although he was a shadow striker at times at Hoffenheim. He had the second best goals per minute ratio in the Bundesliga.

 

[Cassano]

Reiss Nelson plays exclusively as a striker, doesn't he? Pulisic played as a winger with Dortmund mostly, and has played as an attacking midfielder.

No he plays on either wing interchangeably

 

[bluesfan94]

United's is no better tbh, and ours is very clearly not first choice whereas there's seems to be pretty close to it.

Didn’t age well.

 

[Blender]

There was something about the United/Chelsea game that just felt off, it was like I was watching two liable defensive clubs battling it out for fifth place. I am not saying that's where they will finish, but just because United won like four to nil doesn't mean they got the top three locked up (considering how flashy they looked). Neither will that make Chelsea finish in 11th even though I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Solskjaer looks like he has some Wenger in him and I don't mean it in a good way as well. Since he played forward he seems like the manager who will throw bodies up front regardless of the recklessness it will bring on the counter-attack. They got exposed for it last year and were fortunate that the opponent they were facing has the experience of a toddler. Like who leaves Kante on the bench in a ground as tough as United's is? Wan Bissaka is a fantastic signing though, he does nothing special, but is very solid at both ends of the pitch.

Chelsea, relied on Hazard to make too many plays and goalscoring opportunities for them. They have way too many complimentary players and I've said this in the past once you take Eden out of the equation. You lot think Pedro, Barkley, and Kovacic will be able to consistently create goal scoring chances for Giroud and Abraham? Besides Jorginho and Pulisic ability to make plays, there's going to be a world of hurt which is going to be exacerbated by brainlessness of Zouma and Azpilicueta.

Don't get me wrong that I fancied Zouma as the next line of great centrebacks, but damn he has ever been a disappointment since he came from France. He's the prototypical all brawn no brains type of player and they'll be in bad shape if he plays like today throughout the season. Also, for the all the hype I had to hear about Chelsea's youth...man they were bad. Mount in particular looked like he didn't belong either in the EPL or first-tier Championship.

Kante isn't fit and was just getting some game time in today before he can start.

Jorginho having an ability to make plays is outlandish. David Luiz made way more plays from deep last year than Jorginho did. Kovacic is definitely better at getting the ball forward than Jorginho is, not even a question.

Zouma was awful today, they need Rudiger back ASAP and will probably try James and Tomori at some point as well.

 

[S E P H]

Jorginho having an ability to make plays is outlandish.

Jorginho before being bought was analytically one of the best passers in Serie A, sure majority of them are short passes between teammates but I think you're undervaluing his talent.

 

[Blender]

Jorginho before being bought was analytically one of the best passers in Serie A, sure majority of them are short passes between teammates but I think you're undervaluing his talent.

No, I really don't think I am. He's excellent at making short passes and keeping possession, but he did very little to move the ball forward last year and that continued today, and he's horrendous at defending. He gets pressured a lot more in England than he did in Italy, and can't handle it at all. Hopefully RLC is back soon and replaces him in the lineup.

 

[Cassano]

Jorginho before being bought was analytically one of the best passers in Serie A, sure majority of them are short passes between teammates but I think you're undervaluing his talent.

He is a megatstar in Italy where they have 30 seconds more on the ball.

 

[Live in the Now]

He is a megatstar in Italy where they have 30 seconds more on the ball.

It's not that. It's that he is clearly not the primary catalyst in a team's attacking play. It is also that the forwards were much better at Napoli and for that matter so were the defenders. The overall passing play at his last club was much better because Napoli specifically bought players who would complement each other. There is no such strategy at Chelsea, and therefore no strong Jorginho.

 

[AB13]

Jorginho before being bought was analytically one of the best passers in Serie A, sure majority of them are short passes between teammates but I think you're undervaluing his talent.

Many passing statistics are not really relevant. Passing percentage mostly show how hard your passes are to complete, for instance, Elneny had the highest passing percentage at Arsenal last season but that was more due to him playing simple sideways passes than him being a good passer. Amount of passes is mostly to due with how much of a ball a player has, sure it is a good attribute to be avaliable for a pass but being able to do that is not something that makes you a great player.

 

[Stray Wasp]

Newcastle looked lost without Shelvey.

St. Maxim has nice skills, but made some questionable decisions. Still gonna be a good signing I reckon.

Shelvey was injured, apparently. A pity that Bruce didn't try introducing Saint-Maximin at that juncture, given that his introduction was manifestly planned for the second half anyway. As it was, introducing Vernon Anita II meant he had to sacrifice Longstaff to bring on ASM, which meant a midfield clogged up with people wanting to push forward getting in each other's way, and a shambolic final quarter to the game.

A pity Muto, who'd shown signs of life in preseason, went unused too.

 

[Stray Wasp]

When I die, I beg of you to write my eulogy.

Thank you, although I'm past forty already, and the past history of the Wasp family's men suggests by 2050 my innings will be over.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Y'all underrated Jorginho last year and continue to do so. If not for shitty finishing, he would've had like 7 assists last year IIRC, and I thought he played well in the first half today.

Didn’t age well.

.

The result of the match doesn't really change the contents of my post, and I stand by it. Looking at the XIs, I still don't think theirs is better, and it remains true that we were missing five players who would be ahead on the depth chart of some who played today (Pulisic, Kante, Rudiger, Loftus-Cheek, and Hudson-Odoi). The balance of play today wasn't a 4-0, and I remain confident about the season and how we'll do relative to them.

 

[Elliman]

United wins 4-0 against Chelsea and everyone still knocking them lol. Salty crowd. I love it. Keep it up lads.

I thought Wan-Bisska was fantastic. Maguire was solid. Pogba and Martial were bossing it. McTominay was the player I was was most excited about. Great performance from him today. Rashford solid as well. Pereira I’m still iffy on. Shaw was ok. Lindelof was solid. de Gea looked like his old self again. I didn’t rate Lingards performance today. Thought he was poor to be honest. I think United have better options. United played the youngest team in the EPL this round. Well done.

If all were healthy and firing on all cylinders I think i’d drop Lingard and Pereira.

Replace them with Greenwood (yes I know he’s only 17!) and or Mata / James.

I was reading earlier United can still sell players to clubs outside the EPL! Is this true?

I was reading about the below potential deals


Sanchez on load to Roma for 1 or 2 seasons.
Darmian to a handful of Italian clubs named
Rojo and Fred were also named as potential players to leave United soon.

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

United wins 4-0 against Chelsea and everyone still knocking them lol. Salty crowd. I love it. Keep it up lads.

I thought Wan-Bisska was fantastic. Maguire was solid. Pogba and Martial were bossing it. McTominay was the player I was was most excited about. Great performance from him today. Rashford solid as well. Pereira I’m still iffy on. Shaw was ok. Lindelof was solid. de Gea looked like his old self again. I didn’t rate Lingards performance today. Thought he was poor to be honest. I think United have better options. United played the youngest team in the EPL this round. Well done.

If all were healthy and firing on all cylinders I think i’d drop Lingard and Pereira.

Replace them with Greenwood (yes I know he’s only 17!) and or Mata / James.

I was reading earlier United can still sell players to clubs outside the EPL! Is this true?

I was reading about the below potential deals


Sanchez on load to Roma for 1 or 2 seasons.
Darmian to a handful of Italian clubs named
Rojo and Fred were also named as potential players to leave United soon.

Wan-Bissaka was lights out, what a good debut for him. I was always really impressed watching him with Palace, and I'm happy for y'all that he hasn't skipped a beat.

 

[Ceremony]

The definitive Newcastle United preview for 2019/20 (and for pretty much every season between now and Mike Ashley's death, as long as you change the relevant names. Apart from the various seasons when Ashley will cause Newcastle to be relegated to the Championship. Unless he succeeds in his subconscious desire to put Newcastle in the third tier).

Even before Steve Bruce was officially vomited forth as Head Apologist of Newcastle United, the dishonesty kicked in. Certain Newcastle fans, we were told, weren’t willing to give him a chance because once upon a time he’d managed budding League One stalwarts sunderland. This creates a neat circularity. When Bruce was sacked by the Wearsiders (so long ago that they were a struggling Premier League club), he tried to tell the world the mackems hated him because he was a Geordie.

Here we must confront the basic question of a manger’s role. It itsn’t to achieve results. It isn’t to play with a recognisable style. It isn’t to improve players. It’s to keep drawing a paycheck as long as possible. To that end, it’s a mistake to worry about failing. The cardinal error is not to have someone else to blame when you do fail, so that another club employs you soon afterward.

As with Sam Allardyce and Alan Pardew, so with Bruce – he bleats his excuses, when the reality is sunderland and Newcastle fans despise him because there’s no reason not to. Tactical nous? Well, when he returned to the EPL with Hull in 2013, pro-Bruce journalists were trumpeting that he’d learned as a manager because he was playing three at the back. In fact, a three-man defence was being used by hacks like John Gregory as early as 1996. Ability to improve players? There’s no especial evidence of this beyond the ‘even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day’ rule. Recognisable style? That I’ll grant you, with the regrettable caveat that it’s a style every fan dreads their team adopting – not much possessional structure, just pass the ball out wide, put in crosses, and hope every other coach in the league can’t teach their defence where to stand.

These are the qualities that led sunderland to thirteenth place in 2009-10, despite record signing Darren Bent’s 24 goals, coupled with the signing of Lorik Cana and the emergence of Jordan Henderson to strengthen their midfield. Yet sunderland ended up conceding more goals than they had the season before, when Roy Keane had been ineptly replaced by Ricky Spragia.

The next season, Bruce took Onuoha and Welbeck on loan from the Manchester clubs. Asamoah Gyan arrived for yet another transfer record. Bruce had sunderland in seventh when Darren Bent demanded a transfer. Bent joined Villa, Stephane Sessegnon was signed, and the mackems dropped to tenth, a mere three-point improvement on the season before. They’d conceded the exact same number of goals as that campaign, and their final 14 games brought only two clean sheets. In the first 13 games of the next season, sunderland managed 12 points, at which Bruce was booted out the door. But not before he’d splurged £12 million on Connor Wickham.

During Bruce’s tenure, sunderland’s wage bill never dropped below 77% of the club’s turnover. He couldn’t complain about lack of investment. He’d suffered a humiliating 5-1 defeat in the Tyne-Wear derby, which he blamed on sunderland fielding a lot of young players who lacked experience of intense atmospheres. These players, however, were almost to a man his signings. And he himself had appeared in pre-game press conferences oozing a complacent certainty his team would win. After the game, this transformed into hilarious, maiden-aunt indignation that NUFC's PA announcer had played 'Daydream Believer' at the final whistle, so that the Geordies could change the lyrics to insult Bruce. Come the return, Bruce said, failing spectacularly to learn his lesson, he'd choose a record to play when sunderland won. Bruce so successfully motivated his team for that game they only avoided a 1-0 defeat thanks to an injury-time fluke.

How shrewd of Newcastle United to engage this man to develop under-25 year olds with no experience in the EPL into stars.

As it happens, I think Newcastle might give a decent account of themselves today. But even if they don’t, Bruce won’t lack sympathy from his media mates, and the least molehill will be presented as a mountain of achievement. Bruce is ‘decent’, a ‘good man’ we’re told. It’s also been said that prior to gaining the job Bruce had a good relationship with Mike Ashley. Media reports suggest some of the players find his approach to man-management more palatable than that of Benitez.

Consider Ashley’s other footballing allies: Joe Kinnear – a Walter Mitty figure, Alan Pardew – a rather slippery individual, and Dennis Wise – a convicted criminal. Is it to Bruce’s credit that he should feature in this company? It’s an obscure point, but something a lot of Geordies find irritating about Bruce is his accent. He talks like a working class lad putting on his ‘posh voice’. He seems to be someone who builds good relationships with everyone. Is that a sign of decency, or a creep who knows who to network better than to do the job he's paid for?

Nor do fans of a certain age forget 20 October 1996. Newcastle United hammered Manchester United 5-0. And, believe it or not younger readers, in those days the Fallen Empire were the best team in the country. Steve Bruce was a studio guest. He’d left Old Trafford in the summer of 1995 to join Birmingham City. So what do you think was his reaction to his boyhood team, the team of his father, thumping his old employers? Why, he had a face like his cat had been steamrolled. At that moment, Steve Bruce’s true loyalties were revealed. Confirmation came in 2004 when he received a misguided offer to replace Bobby Robson as manager. The man who’d walked out on Crystal Palace to manage Birmingham less than three years before meekly submitted to the Bluenoses’ insistence he honour his contract, then spent the years after 2006 (when his leading Birmingham to an embarrassing, avoidable relegation shredded his reputation and hopes of the Man United job), turning the maudlin sentiment about NUFC up to eleven.

Then there’s Bruce’s strange career as a novelist. He wrote three books, respectably named Striker!, Sweeper! and Defender! that have been derided by the few who read them. Now, a footballer who loves literature deserves to be treated generously. As a general rule, so do authors. But what are we to make of the fact Bruce’s hero is a football manager named Steve Barnes? It’s impossible to read Dan Brown without feeling he wishes he were Robert Langdon, but to pretty much make yourself the hero of your own novel and make the most dilatory effort to conceal it from the world suggests and extraordinary mixture of vanity and foolishness.

The contrast between Bruce’s and Benitez’s personalities here is unavoidable, because Benitez, prickly or not, has the winners medals, where Bruce has to settle for one lost cup final and a pair of tenth place finishes. Oh, and those two relegations as well as the lost playoff final in 2018 against a Fulham team reduced to ten men for much of the second half. Ashley complained no matter what he offered Benitez, Rafa always wanted more. He might want to check the transfer churn at Bruce’s previous clubs – that fabled likeability doesn’t appear to build working relationships with players that endure.

Another irony is that NUFC likes to operate with small squads, where Bruce’s back catalogue is one of big squads that he needs to use in full, because wherever he goes an injury crisis follows. Could it be that his training comprises too much of matey jokes, and too little 21st century conditioning?
The truly depressing thing about this upcoming season is that Newcastle United fans will be treated to either failure, or failure presented as success. Even with Ashley depressing the club’s commercial potential, NUFC had the eighth-highest turnover in the 2017/18 campaign. But £30 million-plus of that went into Ashley’s pocket rather than Benitez’s transfer budget. The model is to plough the bare minimum into the team, and keep back £30 million to cover the financial shortfall of another relegation. And Bruce is the perfect man for this model – so low are expectations that 17th place will be that much easier to portray as a positive. Bruce’s CV is poor enough that he’ll be chuffed. His mates will boost him, as will the xenophobes who are glad to see the back of Benitez at all, let alone his replacement by a Proper Football Man.

The best-case scenario goes as follows:

Bruce doesn’t meddle with Benitez’s foundation too much, so the defence is relatively solid.
Joelinton, Saint-Maximin and Almiron between them manage to replace the 23 goals of Perez and Rondon.
Longstaff continues to develop.

If the above happens, two from Everton, Leicester, Watford and West Ham disappoint, then Bruce may finish as high as ninth. It will be said Ashley is vindicated. The fat, ugly, dirty-looking man will grin. But next summer laurels will be sat on. Then stagnation will set in, and the steady drop down the table will start. And before you know it, NUFC will be in the Championship again, and Ashley will be doing another self-pitying speech in front of someone who calls themselves a journalist, but is in fact a traitor to their profession.

The worst case scenario is so obvious it doesn’t need airing again.

What I took from this post is that you seem to have read a Dan Brown novel, very disappointing

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

All I was thinking about was how Auba-Laca-Pepe would absolutely destroy him. Probably the same way Chelsea fans have felt in the past about about Hazard coming up against Mustafi

Luckily we don't play Arsenal until December, by which point Rudiger will be back. Zouma was reaaaaallly bad today, but he was damn good for Everton last season. He really is a "what could have been" for me, though, because he was developing incredibly before he did his knee in and missed a year.

 

[Gecklund]

United wins 4-0 against Chelsea and everyone still knocking them lol. Salty crowd. I love it. Keep it up lads.

I thought Wan-Bisska was fantastic. Maguire was solid. Pogba and Martial were bossing it. McTominay was the player I was was most excited about. Great performance from him today. Rashford solid as well. Pereira I’m still iffy on. Shaw was ok. Lindelof was solid. de Gea looked like his old self again. I didn’t rate Lingards performance today. Thought he was poor to be honest. I think United have better options. United played the youngest team in the EPL this round. Well done.

If all were healthy and firing on all cylinders I think i’d drop Lingard and Pereira.

Replace them with Greenwood (yes I know he’s only 17!) and or Mata / James.

I was reading earlier United can still sell players to clubs outside the EPL! Is this true?

I was reading about the below potential deals


Sanchez on load to Roma for 1 or 2 seasons.
Darmian to a handful of Italian clubs named
Rojo and Fred were also named as potential players to leave United soon.

I’d drop Lingard but keep Pereira in there.

 

[Blender]

Yikes, even worse than I thought.

 

[John Pedro]

Solid and unimpressive win by Arsenal. Mkhitaryan is such a polarizing player, had some great runs and a nice long pass to Auba but also misplayed a lot of short passes that killed some promising plays. Willock and Nelson were okay. Guendouzi was pretty good, just need to be a bit quicker passing the ball. Pepé had nice touches as did Ceballos.

Nice to see Martinelli at just 18y getting some minutes, I was expecting him to be with the u23 squad. David Luiz and Sokratis could form a very solid CB duo, DL long passing could be a valuable asset with the pace of Auba and Pepe playing wide plus Lacazette hold up play.

Promising start.

 

[Elliman]

Yes he is. Mkhitaryan definitely over Sanchez in that transfer swap. Can’t see it changing anytime soon either unless Alexis suddenly starts playing like the player he is capable of. Such a shame.