Slot sack a ‘matter of time’ with Alonso available as ‘jealous’ Keane needs to ‘shut up’ about Man Utd | OneFootball

‘Jealous’ Roy Keane and other Manchester United legends are slammed in the Mailbox, while Arne Slot will be ‘gone’ from Liverpool soon.

There are also takes on Viktor Gyokeres, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace…

Slot on the brink…

The recent unbeaten run whilst largely unremarkable is proof that the earlier losing streak was entirely Slot’s fault. We kept on losing because of his insistence of playing Dom at Right Back and now we keep drawing games because he wont even give the fringe players a chance.

Playing with 5 midfielders hardly made us more solid and it seems it was a deliberate move just to keep Chiesa on the bench. Salah and Isak have been out for virtually a month and yet Chiesa barely got a chance. Utilizing the whole squad is a big weakness of Slot and if his recent comments about Ramsay are anything to go by then he is unlikely to change.

Liverpool have been patient with him but with Champions League Qualification no longer straightforward and Xabi Alonso now available, it seems only a matter of time before he is gone. Philip Correa

Time for Keane and Neville to ‘shut up’…

What a win for Man United and Michael Carrick! Hardly any of us saw it coming – least of all the two “experts” Roy Keane and Gary Neville.

Maybe it’s time to see them for what they are – formerly great players, yes, but also undoubted failures as managers, and now nothing more than talking heads clinging to relevance. An audiobook version of The Sun.

Perhaps it’s time they do us all a favour and shut up!

Within seconds of calling Carrick a failure, the socials were alight – click, click, Keano cooked.

Rage as currency. It’s not new, of course. Others before him used it to draw attention. He knows the role, and he plays it expertly to keep his bank account replenished.

Still, there’s something quietly sad about a man squaring up to the club that gave him the best years of his life.

That rage also needs to be seen in the context of Sky’s later segment, The Box – fans sealed away, unaware of the result until the end. Stupid. Unnecessary. Almost certainly short-lived. Keane, suddenly sheepish, delivers the news to a room full of performative, over-exuberant reactions.

No wonder he rails against a game that has moved on without him. Why he masks his jealousy as anger. A game where thoughtful analysis is as much of a requirement as character and passion.

This week, Carrick and his staff will quietly plan for Arsenal. Keane and “Gaz” will slink back to the studio, offering solutions to problems they never quite solved themselves.

A reminder, then: it is not the critic who counts. Darren

‘Optimistic’ Badwolf

Best performance since the FA Cup final (and probably better than that), and another robbed goal. Licha keeping Haaland in his pocket in spite of nonsense from Scholes, Butt, Neville and a very bitter Keane about his size? Foden being talked up before the match only to be subbed at half time for invisibility? You love to see it.

So far, since switching back to sense, we’ve conceded 6 shots on target over three games, while having a total xG for of 6.13 and against of 1.93.

So, you’re telling me that 4 at the back, wingers with overlapping fullbacks and Mainoo in midfield does work?

Like I said earlier in the week, I feel optimistic, even if I’m not getting carried away. Badwolf (Is Dorgu the new Bale?)

2 goals 1 off the crossbar 1 off the post 3 ruled out for narrow offsides 0 conceded

Dominated City. And Martinez dominated Haaland (cc Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes). The defining image for me was the “toddler” beating “the machine” in the air.

There’s no trophy, but champions league football is on the line. 16 games to go. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but if today is anything to go by, we’re in with a real shot of top 4. ~SM

Michael Carrick. Round Pegs in Round Holes.

Need I say more? Prince MNC. Muskoka, Canada

Coach vs manager for Man Utd

I can barely type straight I’m so excited about the result (”i’m bustin’ Jerry, I’m bustin'”), but as I gradually come back down to earth I do see some clouds on the horizon which has nothing to do with if Carrick is successful or not…

MUFC are not going to get an elite manager, not because they won’t pay the money (which entirely feasible) but because an elite manager will want to… Manage! If we look at the most recent elite English Premier League Managers (EMs) they may once have been coaches but their success was as managers. They were involved in all aspects and probably had the final say on all transfers. History will reveal all but I seriously doubt any of them were forced to take a player they didn’t want. Having such power meant they sometimes chose doozies (Oberton, Bebe, etc) but it was THEIR vision, THEIR will and THEIR force of personality that drove their respective clubs, and dare I say it, imprinted THEIR DNA into the clubs.

Does MUFC seriously think Zidane or Tuchel or Enrique is going to listen to… Wilcox… tell them what players the club will buy or what formation to play? The “Manager is only a Coach” model works for the mid-tier clubs because they recruit coaches and, to put it bluntly, cannot afford or attract a Klopp or Zidane. Conversely the elite clubs have struggled when they have hired coaches (or coaches who wannabe managers) whose personality did not match the size of the club (Hodgeson, Pellegrini, Moyes, Solksjaer).

If MUFC, or indeed any other elite club wants that ephemeral DNA, they are going to hire Managers that have it, not corporate Coaches. Adidasmufc (Am I to seriously believe we would NOT hire Enrique because he doesn’t have EPL experience?)

Donnarumma and referee were Man City’s ‘best players’ vs Man Utd

In all honesty, I would have taken a draw with city before the game, but after their keeper and their referee being their two best players I think we should have won by more. Only by 1 more maybe, still not seen any proper reason for mounts goal to be ruled out, in game replays showed everyone onside.

And when people whinge about dalot should have been sent off…maybe so, but they slowed it down and showed multiple replays. None of that when we heard casemiro go down and scream… odd how that works when you own the league.

Still not convinced its arsenal’s. Anthony. Dublin

The Premier League is ‘terrible’

We are shite and apparently the 4th best team in England. Man City are horrendous and the 2nd best team in England. Today both looked awful, despite a £1bn spent combined by both in the last 12 months

This league is honestly terrible quality this season. Maybe last season too. Minty, LFC

Martinelli ‘finds his level’

I did try to tell y’all Martinelli had found his level last week in the cup. Still definitely better than Gyokeres though. RHT/TS x (Stevie Me slating Slot after Burnley to try to land the assistant gig with Alonso is as subtle as a Salah tantrum)

Stewie’s Gyokeres ‘experiment’

I have an experiment I would genuinely like to test out with the north London Islington Republican MAGA Cult. A brief walk from the Emirates stadium is a green space called Highbury Fields. Now. I believe that a sociological experiment needs to be carried out to test the mental faculties of Dear Leader El Fraudo’s dedicated troupe of Kool-aid guzzlers.

Go to Highbury fields and search for the freshest dog turd. Next, stick that dog turd in a red “14” jersey and tell El Fraudo’s fanclub that the turd is in fact, “generational”. Stick that turd on the Emirates pitch for 14 matches against the Top 14 PL sides. And…wait. Those of us with eyes and functioning respiratory systems, would clearly be able to detect that the turd does not move one iota as the match takes place around it, that it does not manage any shots on goal, that it cannot keep up with play (its static) and that the turd’s stat line at the end of every single match, is the expected “Zero” across the board.

Those of us who haven’t drunk the kool-aid would clearly not only see the turd’s total stasis, but we would be able to smell it, too. But the Emirates Kool-aid clique? Why, the problem is Your understanding of football, and your refusal to see that actually, the turd “isn’t getting the service”. That might be true you see – mainly, because the turd couldn’t possibly ever receive the service if it cannot move, or control the football!

Anyhow. F*** knows what my point was here, but the same experiment works almost as well with an ashtray. Weird. Stewie Griffin (Unai Emery has a chance to write the funniest Series Finale yet, in this neverending 22-season slapstick Comedy series!)

An edited past mail on Arsenal

My letter from after the Arsenal-Liverpool game but with relevant edits:

Oh dear. It was almost predictable that as soon as Arsenal had the chance to open a substantial gap at the top of the table, they would draw the game and never look like scoring. That’s two games against a “finished” Liverpool team and Arsenal haven’t scored in either. Ultimately, this is what will cost them the league. Arteta plays it too safe at crunch moments – Liverpool of last season, Man City of seasons gone by would have seized that opportunity and taken a eight nine-point lead. Arsenal won’t lose many games (they’re capable of remaining unbeaten for the rest of the season) but ultimately they’ll draw too many. The Martinelli/Bradley incident is linked to what I’ve just written because if Arsenal had done their job properly there wouldn’t have been a desperate rush from Martinelli to get the ball back to re-start play. Matthew, Belfast

Pre-West Ham mail on Frank sack…

Some talk that if we don’t beat West Ham today, Thomas Frank will be sacked. #frankout is trending.

Firstly, I think we will beat the Hammers. But if we don’t, we must not fire Frank. We are still in the CL. We are not out of sight of Europe, considering we are barely halfway through the season. Injuries to Kulu, Maddison, Solanke and others are not his fault, although questions need to be asked of.the medical and physio departments.

But most importantly, he’s had months in the job. It’s unreasonable to expect transformation in half a season. We were 17th last year.

Problems in football take time to be fixed, and Spurs have many problems. We must keep the faith and give Frank time. Kind regards, Sam

Oh Palace…

So….has there ever been a worst week to be a supporter of a particular club: – suffer the worst ever FA Cup defeat – you manager announces he’s leaving at end of the season which means for the next 4months no one gives a sh*t – your captain and arguably your best player leaves for the equivalent of 25% of Antony or $10m less than Gannon-Doak