goon wrote:

Arseblog played a clip of Hector saying 'how many times ref', it's the sort of thing we need to do often.

I'm not sure mentioning it pre-game is a good thing though, you might get into the referees head but you also potentially get it into the opposition to target him.

Anyway, pretty much every player who can run with the ball at pace gets fouled frequently, we just need to use it to our advantage and win them in the final third.

I think noise helps. 
So per the referee debate. I don't think referee's cheat but referees are human. They are prone to biases. Ferguson used to talk shit and intimidate them and I imagine that help. I honestly don't think any referee goes to work thinking I want to help United, but you bring your feelings into a game - a manager's comments, a team's reputation as divers or foulers, and these will affect you in a split second judgment. Where possible, VAR can help with some of this, but won't solve everything

Claudius wrote:
goon wrote:

Arseblog played a clip of Hector saying 'how many times ref', it's the sort of thing we need to do often.

I'm not sure mentioning it pre-game is a good thing though, you might get into the referees head but you also potentially get it into the opposition to target him.

Anyway, pretty much every player who can run with the ball at pace gets fouled frequently, we just need to use it to our advantage and win them in the final third.

I think noise helps. 
So per the referee debate. I don't think referee's cheat but referees are human. They are prone to biases. Ferguson used to talk shit and intimidate them and I imagine that help. I honestly don't think any referee goes to work thinking I want to help United, but you bring your feelings into a game - a manager's comments, a team's reputation as divers or foulers, and these will affect you in a split second judgment. Where possible, VAR can help with some of this, but won't solve everything

It works great in rubgy when the captain will ask to clarify a rule politely to highlight if a rules isn't being enforced.

Of course referees are human, but that's not an excuse for incompetence. English refs very literally do not know their place. They misunderstood their role, and they do it wilfully. Needs a revolution.

6 days later

Listening to Arseblog. Someone wrote in to ask if we should sell Saka to fund our rebuild. I laughed so hard I spat out my scotch. That guy owes me liquor.

If we continue to play this turgid football he will be picked off and have his head turned by bigger more ambitious clubs.

thank christ he re-signed. would've had a 60-70m asset walking out the door for nothing

He's crazy good. Already our best player at 19.

We better take advantage of his potential and build a proper team around him.

Could easily have had 3-4 more too. Scary to ponder what he'll look like with another 30 starts under his belt.

I don't really understand how he gets around players so easily and with so much success. He's not rapid or got an insane burst (no more so than Nelson), it's literally just through his ball control by the looks of it. Can you imagine when he's actually fully developed physically?

goon wrote:

I don't really understand how he gets around players so easily and with so much success. He's not rapid or got an insane burst (no more so than Nelson), it's literally just through his ball control by the looks of it. Can you imagine when he's actually fully developed physically?

That's the thing about him, on first viewing he won't look special immediately. No insane pace, no ridiculous tekkers skills. But the more you see him play the more you are convinced he is ridiculously good. Makes everything looks so simple and effective.

He changes direction like Mané. Takes the defender one way and then explodes the other way. His balance is so good that it is subtle compared to someone loke Adama Traore, but he's so hard to deal with because of it.

Saka is sound enough technically to play a bit, but above all his being as a footballer is about the importance of making the right decisions on the pitch. His brain, his perception of the game, is in the top 10 percent even among other elite players. I've said it before but I don't think a lot of people get how unusual that is, how much rarer it is than a perfect first touch.

There was an interesting contrast yesterday to Adel Taarabt who is made of Saka antiparticles: He's basically a jumped up futsal player who's barely literate as a footballer. I doubt there is a single skill he can't pull off if you let him play around with a ball in a park, but the bloke couldn't give you a match-winning performance if you held a gun to his family.

Klaus wrote:

Saka is sound enough technically to play a bit, but above all his being as a footballer is about the importance of making the right decisions on the pitch. His brain, his perception of the game, is in the top 10 percent even among other elite players. I've said it before but I don't think a lot of people get how unusual that is, how much rarer it is than a perfect first touch.

There was an interesting contrast yesterday to Adel Taarabt who is made of Saka antiparticles: He's basically a jumped up futsal player who's barely literate as a footballer. I doubt there is a single skill he can't pull off if you let him play around with a ball in a park, but the bloke couldn't give you a match-winning performance if you held a gun to his family.

Yep, Saka is a very clever player and his decision making is very quick too.

I was telling my nephew a while ago that it's pointless to do a countless number of stepovers and sort of defeats the purpose, you only need one or two to unbalance someone and then you make your move. You watch Saka and that's exactly what he does. There's no hesitation in his game, he see's the space and he drives into it.

That weight of pass for Auba's first, you can't teach that kind of stuff

goon wrote:

I was telling my nephew a while ago that it's pointless to do a countless number of stepovers and sort of defeats the purpose, you only need one or two to unbalance someone and then you make your move. You watch Saka and that's exactly what he does. There's no hesitation in his game, he see's the space and he drives into it.

And is young Nico listening to you?

goon wrote:

I don't really understand how he gets around players so easily and with so much success. He's not rapid or got an insane burst (no more so than Nelson), it's literally just through his ball control by the looks of it. Can you imagine when he's actually fully developed physically?

Deceptively explosive, especially with the ball, which is different. And his touches/strides while dribbling are always timed perfectly - good example was the overruled penalty he won last week in the away leg. Nelson's a completely different dribbler, more short steps and changes of direction, which is why you don't see him "leave" his man as much as you do Saka

Saka almost never needs to stand up his marker because he's usually already gone. Amazing skill to have.

Sorry to say it, but Jack was a fool in terms of how he managed his body on and off the field. You have to wonder who his advisers and role models were.

flobaba wrote:

Sorry to say it, but Jack was a fool in terms of how he managed his body on and off the field. You have to wonder who his advisers and role models were.

Probably Stevie Me like all the young English players from that generation

Watched game highlights again. Those Saka passes, especially the first one, are KDB quality. Just look at the precision placement and speed of the pass to Aubameyang on the first goal. Inch-perfect stuff

flobaba wrote:

Sorry to say it, but Jack was a fool in terms of how he managed his body on and off the field. You have to wonder who his advisers and role models were.

100%

I think if Jack came up through the ranks now he'd have been much better off, where technical quality and skill are appreciated a lot more than hard man, play through pain, dive into 50/50 tackles nonsense. 

Agree with this. He and Ramsey suffered for growing up in the Pulis era. We’d have less discussion about where they fit. They’d just play. And be protected.

Claudius wrote:

Watched game highlights again. Those Saka passes, especially the first one, are KDB quality. Just look at the precision placement and speed of the pass to Aubameyang on the first goal. Inch-perfect stuff

He seems to be adding different facets to his game with each passing week ffs. If he can learn to pass like that with consistency he'll be unstoppable. There was a pass he attempted to play to Auba that got intercepted in this game that just lacked a tiny bit more power and accuracy, and maybe could have been played fractionally earlier and I thought that's the sort of pass he'll play effortlessly in a couple of years.

By the time Euro '2020' comes around, using him at LWB will seem a ludicrous waste of talent.

This thread title is always reminding me of the good work we did tying him down. Can't imagine if we let him leave on a free.

Raul deserves some credit I think, or was it not him?

Clrnc wrote:

This thread title is always reminding me of the good work we did tying him down. Can't imagine if we let him leave on a free.

Raul deserves some credit I think, or was it not him?

At the time the contract was signed, the only people who commented were Arteta and Edu. Not sure if Raul was heavily involved. 

Not bad for a back up left back.

4 years later

Contract is up in 2027, important to get him and other key players extended asap.

Seen this story and the one about them starting to talk to Saliba. Seems now Berta is in there will be movement on deals.

    Qwiss if that is true (and I think it's very possible), then it underlined how mad it was to go so long without replacing Edu.