Meatwad wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

What part of this United team has any European pedigree? I've never understood how this works. Is it the spirit of the club?

the club has pedigree. i've always felt like that's why things went against us sometimes in europe (thierry talked about it in that cska game in moscow back in the day). when UEFA doesn't have any respect for you, they cheat you. see robin van persie at the camp nou. arsenal, roma and psg are in the same boat. chelsea somehow overcame clear cheating to keep them down ... i guess that somehow was didier drogba.

Very true.

can you guys name all the times we were cheated in Europe. we keep talking about van Persie in the Nou Camp. I'd like to see more than a handful of examples to know that this is really a problem

That referee should have been investigated to be honest.

European refs are on average still better than their English counterparts. Every team gets shit calls against them even Barcelona were shafted out of the CL in both semi final legs when Inter won it in 2010.

Meatwads theory has some merit in that refs will hesitate to give big calls against the bigger team out of fear for their career as there are loads of ex players behind the scenes pulling strings, some even out of intimidation from the support. We have a ground that's a theatre 95% of the time and not a single voice in that old boys network, that's why we keep getting shafted especially in the league.

Fans have a tendancy to only look at the negatives. I mean there was one game against Barcelona where Song commited about 17 fouls after getting a yellow card and somehow managed to stay on the pitch. Even if most decisions in that game went against us, the outliers suggest it's not anything sinister with the referees looking to put us at a disadvantage at every opportunity. I don't believe in any big overarching conspiracy, I think these external factors work more in the subconscious. You'll naturally feel more pressure to get a decision correct for the big sides for the reasons mentioned above, the pressure to make a brave decision (like a last min pen call) may actually cause you to make the wrong one. I reckon that's why you see referees make the wrong call in a lot of VAR decisions. Ultimately self interest comes first and I can't imagine many refs want to look incompetent in front of a global audience.

Clrnc wrote:

OGS is the real deal unfortunately. I suspected it long enough since his brilliant start, but he has played enough tough teams in that run to be just pure luck. I seriously suspect Fergie is giving a lot of coaching tips behind the scenes as well, his style is far too similar. That team had no way in hell to get a result at Paris. If Wenger put out a similar team it will be 8-2.

It's too early to tell, OGS could just be another Di Matteo and play that match 9 times out of 10, PSG would not only have won but probably hammered United.

Having said that, OGS has done a really good job at lifting the mood and atmosphere around the club and getting those players to at least turn up to games. It gets overlooked over discussions about tactics and training but a big part is actually just getting the team to believe in you and trust your instructions, even if they're basic. There's no way that result would have happened if Mourinho was still around even though Mourinho is easily several times more experienced that OGS at this stage.

I posted Solskjaer's xG, for and against, in this thread yesterday. United are overperforming both to the same degree we did earlier this season. That is not a good sign for him. Sooner or later the law of averages will catch up.

Of course they can always secure CL and then make a bunch of first class signings this summer to make up for any expected drop in performances, but we'll see. The stats make it obvious that a dropoff is coming at some stage at least.

They are just a team unshackled after the Mourinho school of management was suffocating them. They are enjoying their football and expressing themselves more, playing without fear. Let's see if and when they start taking their friend Ole for granted. That's when his real test will begin. Stats aside, they are bound to have a dip, the best teams do. Let's see what he is made of then.

Klaus wrote:

I posted Solskjaer's xG, for and against, in this thread yesterday. United are overperforming both to the same degree we did earlier this season. That is not a good sign for him. Sooner or later the law of averages will catch up.

Of course they can always secure CL and then make a bunch of first class signings this summer to make up for any expected drop in performances, but we'll see. The stats make it obvious that a dropoff is coming at some stage at least.

Delete this shit. Don't need the United management seeing this.  
Your numbers were helpful and confirmed what we are seeing. I am hopeful they sign him, and he has to deal with player trading, and managing the team over an entire season without the benefit of saving them from a troll like Mourinho. 

Klaus wrote:

I posted Solskjaer's xG, for and against, in this thread yesterday. United are overperforming both to the same degree we did earlier this season. That is not a good sign for him. Sooner or later the law of averages will catch up.

Of course they can always secure CL and then make a bunch of first class signings this summer to make up for any expected drop in performances, but we'll see. The stats make it obvious that a dropoff is coming at some stage at least.

I bet if Fergie days had xG it would look similar. I always think it was luck and it would catch up to them but it didn't in the past.

Its almost like xG doesn't really correlate with reality when applied to teams.

It’s a nonsense statistic.

Mirth wrote:

Clrnc wrote:

OGS is the real deal unfortunately. I suspected it long enough since his brilliant start, but he has played enough tough teams in that run to be just pure luck. I seriously suspect Fergie is giving a lot of coaching tips behind the scenes as well, his style is far too similar. That team had no way in hell to get a result at Paris. If Wenger put out a similar team it will be 8-2.

It's too early to tell, OGS could just be another Di Matteo and play that match 9 times out of 10, PSG would not only have won but probably hammered United.

Having said that, OGS has done a really good job at lifting the mood and atmosphere around the club and getting those players to at least turn up to games. It gets overlooked over discussions about tactics and training but a big part is actually just getting the team to believe in you and trust your instructions, even if they're basic. There's no way that result would have happened if Mourinho was still around even though Mourinho is easily several times more experienced that OGS at this stage.

The whole side was clearly lifted by Mourinhos exit and United timed the change perfectly as it happened right as they hit and good run of fixtures. Since then they've been riding their wave of confidence. The big questions for OGS come when the confidence is broken. Just look at how we went unbeaten and then had a rocky Christmas period. Emery has managed to right the ship now, the question is can OGS do the same? He'll also be expected to raise the level of that team, they have invested serious money into that United side and scrambling a top 4 finish wont be good enough.

flobaba wrote:

It’s a nonsense statistic.

I get the feeling it has some particular use where it makes sense but its now being used for absolutely everything, all the time because its the hot new stat and its mostly meaningless.

Like look at this table and sort by xPTS. Its garbage. https://understat.com/league/EPL

It’s a helpful stat. People just don’t apply it correctly.

Qwiss! wrote:

flobaba wrote:

It’s a nonsense statistic.

look at this table and sort by xPTS. Its garbage. https://understat.com/league/EPL

The top six, by far the best clubs in the country, all perform better than xPTS. Maybe having the best strikers and the best goalkeepers help, and that it's not luck.

Could be, but if that's the case the stat gives you insight into the contribution of those strikers and goalkeepers, which means it's definitely not useless. Pretty much any stat is better than watching the game from the corner of your eye and then bleating nonsense about it on TV afterwards, which some are handsomely rewarded for.

Gurgen wrote:

Could be, but if that's the case the stat gives you insight into the contribution of those strikers and goalkeepers, which means it's definitely not useless. Pretty much any stat is better than watching the game from the corner of your eye and then bleating nonsense about it on TV afterwards, which some are handsomely rewarded for.

The level of ignorance people choose to be exposed to from so-called football pundits is amazing. I usually start my football games when the players exit the tunnel, and wrap up after the managers have been interviewed. Wrighty, Owen, Sounness and those other learned gents have nothing to offer me

Claudius wrote:

Gurgen wrote:

Could be, but if that's the case the stat gives you insight into the contribution of those strikers and goalkeepers, which means it's definitely not useless. Pretty much any stat is better than watching the game from the corner of your eye and then bleating nonsense about it on TV afterwards, which some are handsomely rewarded for.

The level of ignorance people choose to be exposed to from so-called football pundits is amazing. I usually start my football games when the players exit the tunnel, and wrap up after the managers have been interviewed. Wrighty, Owen, Sounness and those other learned gents have nothing to offer me

I watched the pundits after our win at the weekend for the first time in ages. They are idiots but it was funny watching them make excuses for United.

I actually watch most Arsenal games in what I think is Croatian there days. It takes a bit of getting used to be its nice not to influenced by anyone elses thoughts on the game, especially when it comes to decisions, etc