Maybe it\u2019s the ugly thing<\/strong>
There seems a high correlation between\u00a0pithy Bruno-bashing emails and the ability to write articulate, coherent sentences. Not sure what one can infer from that.<\/p>\nThere are many reasons to think that Bruno leaving for a huge fee makes sense for United, particularly given the financial constraints. I was firmly in the camp that given his age and the lack of clear role in the system that it probably was the right time. But he stays, that\u2019s fine too.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019ll not have is this irrational bashing of a player based on perception rather than reality. The reality is, over the last 5 seasons he is not just the outright greatest chance creator in all of Europe (source: statmuse) he leads second place by almost 30% more chances. He is 13th in goals\u00a0+ assists and is the only non striker\/winger in the top 25. No one in Europe is more productive than Bruno at creating chances.<\/p>\n
Even in a season without a striker worthy of the title in a fully dysfunctional United team when compared to midfielders he is in the 97-99th percentile in Shots, Assists, Exp Goals, Exp Assists and Shot Creating Actions. 98th in progressive passses. His defensive actions are far more in line with a decent central midfielder than one tasked with creating. He runs more than almost anyone else. He has more tackles and blocks than plenty of defensive midfielders.<\/p>\n
He is terrible at running with the ball, can\u2019t fend off strong challenges when he receives it in dangerous positions and is probably the last person who should be receiving a pass in traffic but he does a whole lot of football a whole lot better than just about every other player in the world.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: if you think Bruno is your problem, then you should probably think about other things.
Ryan, Bermuda<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
More on Bruno\u2026<\/strong>
Jamo, I can sort of see what you mean about Bruno not being liked because he\u2019s not \u201chandsome\u201d, but you lost all credibility when you used Cole Palmer as a counter example! I mean Cole Palmer?? God bless him, he\u2019s very good at football, but he\u2019s a British version of Cletus from Simpsons!<\/p>\nPersonally I\u2019ll never forgive Fernandes for winning a penalty by standing on Konsa\u2019s ankle, nothing to do with his admittedly rat-like face.
Oli, AVFC<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Ange\u2026<\/strong>
The contrast between ManU\u2019s mistaken retention of Erik Ten Hag and Spurs\u2019 sacking of Ange Postecoglou is obvious, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s apt.<\/p>\nManchester United is used to winning cups (indeed, they\u2019d won the Carabao and FA Cups in the seasons before his sacking). Spurs, on the other hand, hadn\u2019t won anything is almost two decades; that Europa League win was far, far more impactful than United\u2019s FA Cup and a far better justification for retaining Big Ange. In short,\u00a0 ManU made the wrong call after the FA Cup, but it doesn\u2019t follow that Spurs made the right one.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not positive that Spurs have made a mistake. That will depend on the replacement they secure and the reactions along the squad, some of which seem negative indeed. But it sure would have been interesting to watch Ange and Spurs next season. I\u2019ll miss that weirdo.<\/p>\n
Also, I\u2019m still troubled by the quiet transfer front at NUFC. I\u2019d expected us to have at least Mbeumo wrapped up by now. And while the club is no doubt wise to protect its wage structure, he would\u2019ve been prefect for us. 18 year-old Antonio Cordero looks promising, but isn\u2019t yet a first-team contributor, and that transfer has probably been quietly agreed weeks or months ago. It\u2019s already starting to feel like last summer.
Chris C, Toon Army DC<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
That settles that\u2026<\/strong>
Turns out Levy also thought Spurs season was less successful than Arsenal\u2019s. Thanks for moving so swiftly to shut up that nonsense Danny boy!<\/p>\nTrophies are great, but we need to stop trying to pretend that winning ones that Arsenal have played too well over consecutive seasons to compete for should be seen as a greater level of success! A few lucky games to win a trophy don\u2019t mask a season of underperforming \u2013 it\u2019s like nobody learnt anything from Man Utd and Ten Hag.
James (Gooner exiled in the North East)<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Spurs can\u2019t win, except they did<\/strong>
As soon as spurs won the Europa I realised this was a dream for football editors and rival fans.<\/p>\nKeep Ange and we\u2019re a banter club, accepting mediocrity and a manager out of his depth because we beat a bunch of pub teams to win a second tier trophy.\u00a0 Sack Ange, and we\u2019re a banter club who wins a major trophy and immediately sacks the manager.\u00a0 Perfect.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing \u2013 I don\u2019t care.\u00a0 We did win a major trophy, we are in the champions league, we do have a young squad that can compete with some sensible additions and a more tactically astute manager, and we avoided the ETH trap of keeping the wrong guy for (understandable) emotional reasons.\u00a0 Sonny came out and said that Ange \u2018changed the trajectory of the club\u2019 and by winning something that may well be true, and he\u2019ll always be remembered fondly but this really is the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n
Now of course Daniel Levy is fully capable of clutching defeat from the jaws of victory by signing a another bunch of 18 year olds, but if we buy a proper 6 and at least one top notch forward plus a couple of depth pieces this really is an attractive squad to work with over the next few years.\u00a0 If I was Frank or Poch I\u2019d jump at the chance.
Phil, London<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026Ange was a good coach for Tottenham who sacrificed the league for a cup win(you know deep down arsenal fans wish arteta could do this). Tottenham did not lose those games because they were inferior to their opponents,you could see they gave up on the league and were\u00a0 focusing on their cup performance. There was little interest in playing in the league.<\/p>\n
It was probably painful for their fans to experience such defeats in the league but most\u00a0 fans would prefer an actual cup rather than a perennial 2nd place finish whose only reward is the repugnant feeling of what would have been if things were different.<\/p>\n
Even though there were legitimate reasons for Tottenham\u2019s actions, they have lost a good coach and they will only realize this when they appoint their next coach who doesn\u2019t win them trophies (of any kind).
Jamo<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A-Team<\/strong>
Manuel Almunia<\/p>\nTrentsfer AA \u2013 Toby Alderweireld Azpilicueta \u2013 Marcos Alonso<\/p>\n
Arshavin \u2013 Xabi Alonso Marcos Asencio<\/p>\n
Julian Alvarez \u2013 Arguero \u2013 Nic Anelka \u2013<\/p>\n
Pretty tasty team, albeit brazil in nature lol (more attack than defence)
Gab YNWA (PS my toenails grew another 2 mm, which is more progress than can be said for lfc\u2019s transfer dealings)<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
An M-XI that makes you go mmm\u2026<\/strong>
Mamardashvili<\/p>\nMaicon,\u00a0Marquinhos, Murillo,\u00a0Maldini<\/p>\n
Modric, Mac Allister, Matthaus<\/p>\n
Maradona,\u00a0Messi,\u00a0Mbapp
Jo (I\u2019d have had\u00a0Gabriel Magalhaes but there are too many pedants here) Kent<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Z-Team<\/strong>
Here\u2019s my Z team, I\u2019m playing 442 but with a controversial \u2018one half per keeper\u2019 approach. (Just cause I couldn\u2019t leave one of them out.)<\/p>\nGK: Zoff\/ Zubizaretta.<\/p>\n
DEF: Zanetti, Ze Roberto, Ze Maria, Zambrotta.<\/p>\n
MID: Zico, Zubimendi, Zinedine Zidane.<\/p>\n
FWD: Zaha, Zola.
Hartley MCFC Somerset<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
V-Team<\/strong>
If I can get away with another. The V team.<\/p>\nVan der Sar,<\/p>\n
Van Bronkhorst\/ Van Dyjk\/ Vidic\/ Van der Ven.<\/p>\n
Viera\/ Valderrama\/ Vidal (Ernesto).<\/p>\n
Van Basten\/ Van Nistelrooy\/ Vardy.
Hartley MCFC Somerset<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only real asterisk in football<\/strong>
Totally agree with Badwolfs comments on Saturday.<\/p>\nThe only real asterisk in football is after the phrase \u201czero tolerance of discrimination\u201d.<\/p>\n
Football quite gladly welcomes gender inequality, homophobia, racism, transphobia and others. Statistically every starting 11 should have 1 gay player. Maybe it does, but no one feels safe enough to admit it.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t want to support British values, you can take a suspension. It should be a condition of professional registration.
Alex, South London<\/strong><\/p>\nREAD NEXT:\u00a0The 20 most expensive defenders ever: star Man Utd rejected then signed in top ten twice<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England fans were so unimpressed by the drab win over Andorra that only two people bothered to write…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[1612,748,873,393,163,4884,225,23163,98,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-167457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-ange-postecoglou","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-bruno-fernandes","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-front-page","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-home-page","15":"tag-mailbox","16":"tag-manchester-united","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114647508158132739","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}