KentVillan

I think this is a bit pedantic. Formations are fluid, and they depend on who's playing in each spot. Cash in for Bailey, and Konsa moving over to Cash's spot is basically a back 3 with wing backs in terms of personnel, and then they take different shapes depending on where the ball is. But you're right, we often settled into a 4-4-2 shape. With a manager like Emery, the formation is constantly shifting in line with how he's drilled the players to react to different game situations. It's impossible to just say 3-2-2-2 or 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 because it can be all of these at different points in the game. Konsa was the one for me who really showed how much of an impact Emery has had on our players' tactical understanding.

I think the best penalty taker in the side should take them, and we shouldn’t worry about individual player stats. There have been quite a few great strikers in the Premier League who didn’t take pens (Andy Cole springs to mind).

Delighted for him. Touch still looks a bit heavy, but he has enthusiasm, pace, great in the air… very good option off the bench. Cult hero status incoming

Nearly a photocopy of the Wesley goal a few seasons back

Eating humble pie Been superb today

Agree, this is a problem with any type of institution. Their number one priority is the protection of the institution itself and the leadership of the institution in particular. Doctors are no less guilty of this kind of behaviour in other settings. The only way to stop it is independent checks and balances. It’s clear that as soon as the police, who had no skin in the game, got involved, that all of that fell away. Whistleblowing in the NHS has always been a dangerous game. It is discouraged and punished for obvious reasons. In this case, though, you have to think the senior management genuinely thought the doctors were wrong, rather than trying to actively cover up a murder… and then confirmation bias set in as every complaint from the doctors reinforced their perceptions of hysteria / witch hunt / bullying. If they really did suspect there might be a case, and still swept it under the carpet, then yes they are surely guilty of a serious crime.

He was a bit unreconstructed, but his interview with George Michael after he had been destroyed in the media and forced to come out publicly sticks in my mind. You could tell Parky was a bit uncomfortable with some of the details, but he let George shine.

The weird thing is Man Utd specifically - not the Sky 6 in general - seem to benefit from an enormous number of obviously incorrect decisions. Why is that? Do we have a generation of referees who grew up when Man Utd were dominant, and there’s more of an aura around the club and the stadium? Is it that referees prefer to err on the side of not pissing off Man Utd fans? Or is it (seems unlikely to me tbh, but you never know) outright corruption?

Watkins didn’t have a lot of service. When he did have service, he played pretty well. Don’t see any need to worry about him.

Great managers have bad games. Especially first game of season. Emery will be fine. I understand some of the panic about certain players and about the injury situation, but people turning on Emery have lost the plot. His record speaks for itself.

The high line isn’t the problem. It just needs a settled back four and better positional discipline from the midfielders in front of it. A bad game against a very good Newcastle doesn’t suddenly mean we need to abandon a tactic which has served us well.

Good thing with Mings is he seems the type who will find productive things to do while he’s injured. Won’t go off the rails, will do all the rehab properly. Probably see him popping up as a pundit over the next year. It’s a nasty injury but I think he can come back from it and still have another few years of a top flight career.

£35m is not a big transfer fee nowadays. We obviously disagree on that. The rest of your post is a non sequitur, I don’t think I made any of those points. Was just replying to someone saying a £35m player should be arriving here and shooting out the lights immediately. Clearly we need him to improve us (like any signing), the question is does he improve us from day one or does it take a few months? My guess is he will look very good in some games and make some big mistakes in a disjointed defence when we’re up against tougher opposition. And that the latter will improve over time as the squad gels.

Fair enough, didn’t see that. That kind of criticism is unfair.

Not really what’s happened, though. People are worried about what he can do without Mings next to him.

Expecting a £35m signing from a foreign league who doesn‘t speak English and is coming off the bench to replace a seriously injured player … to immediately get up to speed. That’s delusional. It’s really not a big fee these days, the Champions League sides are buying squad players for this money. For the expectations being imposed on him, yes, £35m is nothing.

£35m is nothing nowadays

Yes and the mistake was a bit unlucky, he actually did all the right things positionally and then just screwed up the execution in a key moment. It happens.

Came here to post same thing. I like Konsa, but he’s 25 now and as a centre back he needs to start developing that leadership and team perspective as he grows into a senior pro. With Mings gone, he now has a big test. It’s an opportunity for him to mature as a player.

Pau is slow to get back from the corner which is why Almiron is unmarked, and why Martinez decides to rush out. You could blame Konsa and Kamara too for not spotting the problem and covering, but think blame all round there. On second viewing, Martinez actually did the right thing there, as mad as it looked. Was let down by the players in front of him.

Absolutely no worries about Emery working out what to do, but he’s facing a genuine injury crisis atm, and having to integrate new players. It may be that we start the season fairly mediocre and then kick on as the squad gels. Mings out means we’re basically rebuilding the back line.

I agree that Luiz is a better player (certainly atm anyway), but I do think Kamara has typically been much, much better than what we saw today, and he’s still only 23, which is very young for his position. He’ll grow into the season IMO, and that was a particularly tough fixture today.

Neutrals watching the game all seemed impressed with him too. A big upgrade on what we had. Could be a special player for us.

I don’t think you can read anything into today’s performance. He’s clearly very very good on the ball, that was obvious, but the defensive qualities will require him to form an understanding with the rest of the back line, to learn how to impose himself vocally, etc - all of that will take time.

Good analysis. Not sure if Philogene was definitely the answer (maybe better to keep him out of the firing line in a very tough away fixture at this stage in his career) but think you’re right the injuries had a ripple effect on several performances.