KentVillan

“They have more DNA in common with CRABS than with you or me”

I think in fairness we watch every single set piece in match play, and while we’re not noticeably *awful* at them, we’re hardly the stand out team in the league. By the sounds of that interview, Gerrard was (correctly) delegating that to his set piece coach, so something wasn’t quite working. Anyway as @Tomaszksays, there’s value in just getting the simply / obvious / basic stuff right, so the good thing is they’ve spotted the problem eventually. Just a bit surprised it was a big revelation for a guy who supposedly spends all his time analysing this stuff. I don’t think we need to know the ins and outs of what he says to the players to have an opinion on it. One thing I did wonder is if the whole argument between Luiz and Buendia before the Digne free kick was a deliberate distraction (like Ashley Young taking the ball for Ings’s penalty). If so, very clever, and fair play to him.

I disagree a bit re Gerrard. Yes he could articulate his point a bit more politely, but his job (and our Premier League status!) was on the line and our set piece coach was making fans scratch their heads, too. Surely if that’s all you look at day in, day out, you can see that the walls are closer in the games than they are in training, and adjust for it? Bit surprised it took so long tbh!

Could argue that Kante pretty much did a Maradona at Leicester. Especially as he’s gone on to win another league title, Champions League and World Cup. It takes time to really appreciate the greatness of players. Also, I’d say players from the big nations tend to be slightly overrated and those from weaker nations underrated because of lack of World Cup action. Best, Dalglish, Hagi, Litmanen, Keane, Giggs, Bale, Ibrahimovic, now Haaland would likely all have international honours if they were French or Brazilian. Maybe chuck Luis Suarez into that mix as well.

I think if we look at career longevity and overall achievements, it has to be Messi/Cristiano Ronaldo, and you can take your pick from those two really. If we’re talking ability at their prime (eg over a 2 or 3 year period) then it opens up a lot more players. Maradona, Zidane, Ronaldo 9 and Ronaldinho were mesmerising at their peaks. I think there’s a good argument for Ronaldo 9 being the most complete attacking player ever. Also there’s a bias towards attacking players whenever people do these GOAT lists. Players like Beckenbauer, Matthaus, Gullit, Rijkaard, Sergio Ramos, Busquets, etc don’t really get enough credit for the enormous value they brought to any side in their primes.

Yeah I meant as in being negative behind someone’s back rather than talking nonsense. I fully agree with them!

It’s 34:30 into the 26 October episode if you want to listen. Antonio’s “grapevine” is most likely Bailey, as they play together for Jamaica, and were with each other a few weeks before Gerrard was sacked. I think Callum Wilson knows Mings and Targett. No surprise really to hear that… Mings, Targett, Sanson, Luiz, Buendia, Watkins, Bailey, Ings are all players who might have been talking shit about Gerrard - and probably frustrated that their chances of going to the World Cup have gone down the drain.

Agree, he deserves to be there, and likely would have been if Emery had joined us just a little bit earlier. Feel sorry for him. Missing out on a big chance to win a World Cup.

He’s still playing as a DM. Just a bit more licence to roam now, and double pivot, so we see more of his all round game. Main thing that’s changed is a competent coach and benching McGinn.

Should be on that plane. Think a few of our players are good enough to be at the WC tbh, but will miss out because of Gerrard and Purslow. Nice one!

I don’t think Smith froze Sanson out btw. He generally liked to take his time to integrate new players into the team, and Sanson kept getting injured as that was happening. The issue with Gerrard was something personal. What might help with Unai is he’s managed in France before, so assume he speaks a little bit of French, and is more used to handling a squad with players from all over the world. (I think this is one of the reasons foreign coaches have started to dominate the PL - it helps if you’ve travelled about a bit, managed in different leagues, and speak a couple of languages.) Plus Sanson has a few French speakers around him now in Kamara, Digne, Guilbert, Konsa (Congolese father), which must help him feel more settled. Anyway, keen to see what he can do. I don’t think he’s the second coming, but he’s clearly good enough to deserve more game time this season, and he’s a nice composed midfielder with a great engine.

Cristiano Ronaldo. He's done. And he's a word removed

There are several better ball players (Stones, White, etc), but in terms of old fashioned CB duties, I think Mings is right up there, and this whole “mistake prone” thing is just par for the course in that position. People seem to think it’s unique to Mings, when you could do an embarrassing blooper reel of just about any CB.

In theory as a CAM, but the attacking 4 were very fluid - think Buendia, Bailey and Ramsey were all covering similar areas at different points in the game

I think you have to have that mix of players in your side, some who play it safe, and some who are constantly trying to make things happen. Emi is definitely the latter (like Bailey), and when it doesn’t work, it can look a bit shit. But there’s a lot of creativity there, and I think Don Unai will persevere with him. Also, he is excellent at pressing and tracking back, which gives him a bit more credit in the bank to have the odd dodgy game on the ball. I really liked the way he celebrated Ramsey’s goal. Think he’ll have some superb games this season.

Ref did everything he could for his friends in Manchester, but Unai’s charisma was too strong today UTFV

There were rumours of a bot farm in Small Heath, although unlikely they have enough staff to do this kind of damage Going back to Unai. I do feel a bit sorry for him with his English. It's actually pretty good, and he gets his point across, but now it's a "thing" you know it'll be the first thing he gets hammered for when we have a bad spell.

How‘s that ever stopped anyone

He could still get in the England squad if he wanted. Great player. Was gutted when he left. Saw a stat the other day that he has more Champions League assists than each of: Modric, Henry, Raul, Figo, Beckham, Deco & Ronaldinho.

This is why VT is undefeated for quality content, you just don’t get this level of analysis anywhere else

Elon doing great

Lee Hendrie has done a “Pub Talk” podcast with Alan Brazil and Ray Parlour (you can find it on Spotify etc). Sounds like an awful setup with those two pissheads, but actually a very good interview.

Jack is a very talented footballer who is I think just a bit too thick and a bit too old now to be playing for a master tactician like Pep who micromanages every aspect of the game and gives all his players detailed instructions. He’s definitely good enough to play for a top side, but unless he really turns things around in the next few months, I can’t see it being City. The thing that’s really noticeable about him at City is that he is half a beat off the pace when they press, and doesn’t make the quick moves into space that the other attackers make. So because of that, he gets a lot less of the ball than he wants, and he just ends up looking a bit lost. When he does get the ball, he’s fine.

Off at half time. Really not working out for him, is it

Hahaha excellent