The Barclays Premier League Thread 2014/2015

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Makes things very interesting in the race for third.

[Sam]

We went on a decent run with four at the back and then for some reason Van Gaal reverted back to 3-5-2, which saw us do so shit at the start of the season, and unsurprisingly we've been shit again and only picked up 6 points from the last 15. It's really not good enough.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Sam

[Ant]

At least LVG will have another 20 years to put it right

[brenchill]

We went on a decent run with four at the back and then for some reason Van Gaal reverted back to 3-5-2, which saw us do so shit at the start of the season, and unsurprisingly we've been shit again and only picked up 6 points from the last 15. It's really not good enough.

But 3-5-2 is his philosophy.

[The Lusophone]

We went on a decent run with four at the back and then for some reason Van Gaal reverted back to 3-5-2, which saw us do so shit at the start of the season, and unsurprisingly we've been shit again and only picked up 6 points from the last 15. It's really not good enough.

I'm pretty sure we changed back when everyone got injured again. No excuse now though, with only Young allegedly injured.

[Nerf]

How on earth are we only five points off 4th? Things are gonna get really interesting when Sturridge comes back.

[Ant]

Why is Valencia getting ahead of Rafael in the wing back role on the right? You'd think Rafael would be born for that role

[brenchill]

How on earth are we only five points off 4th? Things are gonna get really interesting when Sturridge comes back.

Liverpool have been shit, and they are 5 points off 4th.

Villa have been absolutely dire/dreadful/shit/wank, and are only 10 points off Liverpool.

What the fuck is going on this season?

[peteypirahna]

One win separates the entire bottom six right now.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Why is Valencia getting ahead of Rafael in the wing back role on the right? You'd think Rafael would be born for that role

Been injured and is injured again. That's pretty much what's been holding him back for a few seasons now.

[FLiam]

Does anyone else think van Gaal is trying to hard?

He tends to spend most of his time second guessing himself, trying too many different tactics, meanwhile the opposition plays their best team and wins.

[Matt]

Not really. Their team isn't good enough. Rooney and RVP blow hot and cold, falcao looks far from the player he was, Di Maria and DeGea are world class, Blind seems pretty handy and Herrera has definitely shown glimpses of being quality but neither of the latter two have played regularly enough (at least recently)... The rest are varying degrees of average to pish.

[Sam]

Does anyone else think van Gaal is trying to hard?

He tends to spend most of his time second guessing himself, trying too many different tactics, meanwhile the opposition plays their best team and wins.

This is true. Instead of being a tactical mastermind and playing 3-5-2 yesterday and playing Blind, Rooney, Valencia and Di Maria all out of position he could have limited it to just Valencia by playing a 4-4-2 diamond with Rooney alongside Van Persie.

I genuinely have no idea why Rooney was played in midfield and Di Maria as a striker yesterday. I guess another problem has been shoehorning van persie into the side all the time at the expense of sticking Rooney up top.

We have got the players to finish top four this season so it's a case of tactics weakening us at the moment. Di maria, blind, Herrera, Falcao, Rojo and Shaw are much better options than what we had last year

[TCO]

Luke Shaw still looks like a shell of himself from last year. I don't know if it's fitness, form, confidence or the system but he definitely doesn't look right.

[Baddar]

If nothing else, yesterday should serve as another reminder that we need defenders. Aside from the early Clyne shot, all they really had was the goal. To lose a game after conceding just a couple of chances is not good enough.

[TCO]

If Moyes had inherited this team rather than the woeful squad he got, I reckon he'd be doing a much better job than LVG. He at least wouldn't be shoehorning 3-5-2 and half his team out of position.

[stokeriño]

If nothing else, yesterday should serve as another reminder that we need defenders. Aside from the early Clyne shot, all they really had was the goal. To lose a game after conceding just a couple of chances is not good enough.

It reflects better on the defence than losing a game after conceding a tonne of chances though...surely...

[Baddar]

But then you have the whole "would these players play under Moyes?" thing. No one really knows.

I like Moyes, and was never part of the Moyes Out brigade. He didn't get a fair crack. Made some stupid tactical decisions, but so do most managers.

He was ridiculed last season for being shit, and now he's actually not that bad seeing as his record is comparable to LVG's. We're 4th in the league, and despite our attacking options, it's a position that's just about right when you look at our defence. There's no leader between all of them in the entire back line.

[Baddar]

If nothing else, yesterday should serve as another reminder that we need defenders. Aside from the early Clyne shot, all they really had was the goal. To lose a game after conceding just a couple of chances is not good enough.

It reflects better on the defence than losing a game after conceding a tonne of chances though...surely...

Most of the time, yes, but Southampton sat back for the majority of the game. When teams put any kind of pressure on our defence, we shit the bed. See: Leicester.

[Dynamite]

Luke Shaw still looks like a shell of himself from last year. I don't know if it's fitness, form, confidence or the system but he definitely doesn't look right.

It's the system mostly, I think. He's not the greatest going forward but is very good defensively. Playing as a wingback requires him to get forward a lot more and be our primary threat down the left, which isn't his strength. He had to cut back quite often yesterday because he didn't have an option in front of him and taking it past a winger and full back is just too much for him to do all by himself. I think he'd look a lot better in a back four but so would everybody in the team.