Sentences with phrase «side over the last few seasons»

Not exact matches

Jesse Lingard has emerged as an important player for United over the last two seasons, and as one of the few products of the youth academy still in the side he represents a lot for the Old Trafford side.

Neither side can defend, both can definitely attack, and Everton have been cultivating quite a nice line in inconveniencing City over the last few seasons.

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer for a variety of reasons, most importantly because over the years our once vaunted «beautiful» style of play has become a shadow of it's former self, only to be replaced by a less than stellar «plug and play» mentality where players play out of position and adjustments / substitutions are rarely forthcoming before the 75th minute... if you look at our current players, very few would make sense in the traditional Wengerian system... at present, we don't have the personnel to move the ball quickly from deep - lying position, efficient one touch midfielders that can make the necessary through balls or the disciplined and pacey forwards to stretch defences into wide positions, without the aid of the backs coming up into the final 3rd, so that we can attack the defensive lanes in the same clinical fashion we did years ago... on this current squad, we have only 1 central defender on staf, Mustafi, who seems to have any prowess in the offensive zone or who can even pass two zones through so that we can advance play quickly out of our own end (I have seen some inklings that suggest Holding might have some offensive qualities but too early to tell)... unfortunately Mustafi has a tendency to get himself in trouble when he gets overly aggressive on the ball... from our backs out wide, we've seen pace from the likes of Bellerin and Gibbs and the spirited albeit offensively stunted play of Monreal, but none of these players possess the skill - set required in the offensive zone for the new Wenger scheme which requires deft touches, timely runs to the baseline and consistent crossing, especially when Giroud was playing and his ratio of scored goals per clear chances was relatively low (better last year though)... obviously I like Bellerin's future prospects, as you can't teach pace, but I do worry that he regressed last season, which was obvious to Wenger because there was no way he would have used Ox as the right side wing - back so often knowing that Barcelona could come calling in the off - season, if he thought otherwise... as for our midfielders, not a single one, minus the more confident Xhaka I watched played for the Swiss national team a couple years ago, who truly makes sense under the traditional Wenger model... Ramsey holds onto the ball too long, gives the ball away cheaply far too often and abandons his defensive responsibilities on a regular basis (doesn't score enough recently to justify): that being said, I've always thought he does possess a little something special, unfortunately he thinks so too... Xhaka is a little too slow to ever boss the midfield and he tends to telegraph his one true strength, his long ball play: although I must admit he did get a bit better during some points in the latter part of last season... it always made me wonder why whenever he played with Coq Wenger always seemed to play Francis in a more advanced role on the pitch... as for Coq, he is way too reckless at the wrong times and has exhibited little offensive prowess yet finds himself in and around the box far too often... let's face it Wenger was ready to throw him in the trash heap when injuries forced him to use Francis and then he had the nerve to act like this was all part of a bigger Wenger constructed plan... he like Ramsey, Xhaka and Elneny don't offer the skills necessary to satisfy the quick transitory nature of our old offensive scheme or the stout defensive mindset needed to protect the defensive zone so that our offensive players can remain aggressive in the final third... on the front end, we have Ozil, a player of immense skill but stunted by his physical demeanor that tends to offend, the fact that he's been played out of position far too many times since arriving and that the players in front of him, minus Sanchez, make little to no sense considering what he has to offer (especially Giroud); just think about the quick counter-attack offence in Real or the space and protection he receives in the German National team's midfield, where teams couldn't afford to focus too heavily on one individual... this player was a passing «specialist» long before he arrived in North London, so only an arrogant or ignorant individual would try to reinvent the wheel and / or not surround such a talent with the necessary components... in regards to Ox, Walcott and Welbeck, although they all possess serious talents I see them in large part as headless chickens who are on the injury table too much, lack the necessary first - touch and / or lack the finishing flair to warrant their inclusion in a regular starting eleven; I would say that, of the 3, Ox showed the most upside once we went to a back 3, but even he became a bit too consumed by his pending contract talks before the season ended and that concerned me a bit... if I had to choose one of those 3 players to stay on it would be Ox due to his potential as a plausible alternative to Bellerin in that wing - back position should we continue to use that formation... in Sanchez, we get one of the most committed skill players we've seen on this squad for some years but that could all change soon, if it hasn't already of course... strangely enough, even he doesn't make sense given the constructs of the original Wenger offensive model because he holds onto the ball too long and he will give the ball up a little too often in the offensive zone... a fact that is largely forgotten due to his infectious energy and the fact that the numbers he has achieved seem to justify the means... finally, and in many ways most crucially, Giroud, there is nothing about this team or the offensive system that Wenger has traditionally employed that would even suggest such a player would make sense as a starter... too slow, too inefficient and way too easily dispossessed... once again, I think he has some special skills and, at times, has showed some world - class qualities but he's lack of mobility is an albatross around the necks of our offence... so when you ask who would be our best starting 11, I don't have a clue because of the 5 or 6 players that truly deserve a place in this side, 1 just arrived, 3 aren't under contract beyond 2018 and the other was just sold to Juve... man, this is theraputic because following this team is like an addiction to heroin without the benefits

of course no team wants to lose but I can guarantee you that the reaction by the Chelski fans after today's results are nowhere near what would have occurred if we shit the bed on opening day... the difference is they have tasted EPL success on more than one occasion recently, they have won the Champions League and they have done it with 3 different managers in the last 12 years with a similar, if not smaller, wage bill than us... in comparison, we have been experiencing our own personal Groundhog Day with nothing to show for it but a few silvery trinkets that would barely wet the appetite of a world - class club... so it's time for Wenger to stop gloating over our week one escape act and make some substantial moves before this window closes or I fear that things will take a horrible turn when the inevitable happens... living on a knife's edge is no way to go through a full season of football and regardless of what side of the argument you fall on, you could feel high levels of toxicity in the air and that was friggin week one... I would much rather someone tried their best and failed, than took half - measures and hoped for the best

I can only hope that this attempt is taken more seriously than the largely muted and clearly unsuccessful protests of late last season... although the plane writing escapade brought some much - needed attention to the matter, it failed to resonate with fence - sitters and those who had just recently fell off the Wenger truck... without a big enough showing of support the whole endeavor appeared relatively weak and poorly organized, especially to the major media outlets, whose involvement could have significantly changed what was to follow... but I get it, few wanted to turn on their club, let alone make a public display of their discord... problem is, they are preying on that vulnerability, in fact, their counting on you to keep your thoughts to yourself... who are you to tell these fat cats how to steal your money... they have worked long and hard to pull the wool over your eyes... they even went so far as to pay enormous sums of cash to your once beloved professor to be their corporate spokesmodel so that the whole thing would be more palatable... eventually the club made it appear as if this was simply a relatively small fringe group of highly radicalized supporters, which allowed the pro-Wenger element inside the club hierarchy to claim victory following the FA Cup win... unfortunately what has happened to this club can't be solved by FA Cups or a few players coming in, the very culture of this club needs to be changed and that starts at the top... in order to change the unhealthy and dysfunctional narrative that has absorbed this club we need to remove everyone who presently occupies a position of power... only then can we get back to the business of playing championship caliber football, which should always be the number one priority of this organization... on an important side note, one of the most devastating mistakes made in the final days of this hectic and poorly planned transfer window didn't have to do with the big name players like Sanchez or Lemar, but the fact that they failed to secure Jadon Sancho, who might even start for Dortmund this season... I think they might seriously regret this oversight... instead of spending so much time, energy and manpower pretending that they were desperately trying to make big moves, they once again lost the plot due to their all too familiar tunnel vision

Now I think there is still reasons to be cheerful, I agree Man C & Chelski have spent & bought some good players, we all understand that 5 of those teams might be in the CL proper which is a huge distraction for those 4 - 5 teams.Chelsea will not be able to field the same 13 - 14 players all season, as for Man C they were very frail at the back last season, add to that 2 flying wing backs and I'm not sure they will be any better this coming season.LFC will most probably have CL as well if they qualify and haven't exactly bought great players apart from Salah who could be a good aquasistion for them.Spuds have sold a good player & strengthened a rival & still not bought a single player yet, Man U have bought 2 good players & in Lukaku have a proven goal scorer in the PL but if they play the same dour way they did last season & with the added games the CL brings will they perform week in week out in the league??? As for Everton yes they have released a lot of players and also brought in a lot too to give better quality in the squad as they have Europa league the same as US the big difference is I think we will play squad players & youngsters maybe with a few senior players all the way up to the QF This tells me most of our rivals will pave the way for us to field pretty much the same side every weekend in the PL thus giving us an advantage over all the other 5 teams playing in the CL & Europa, just remember the League has been won in the last 2 seasons by teams NOT in Europe YES we are this season but I think Wenger will put all his eggs in the League basket and field an under strength side in all comps hence focusing on the League until we are no longer in the race.

The gap (if there is one) between City and Arsenal has closed significantly over the past few season during which we have beaten them in the league on numerous occasions, and would have won the match at the Etihad last season except for 2 off side goals.

This season, in a hard - going campaign in which no player has scored over five league goals, he continued to stand out for his electric running with the ball if not his goals and assists in a side that has fallen down the table and has often looked utterly dysfunctional at times over the last few months.

I believe that Tomas will come good and bring verve and quality to the side like a new signing more than any other player we've had out over the last few seasons.

The news comes as QPR continue negotiations with Mark Hughes about succeeding Neil Warnock as manager, with the hope that a new boss can reignite the fortunes of Taarabt, who has been on the fringes this term, having fired the R's to promotion from the Championship the season before.A deal with French money bags Paris Saint - Germain looked like going through in the summer, but Taarabt later blamed political differences for the transfer ultimately collapsing, leaving him frustrated at having to stay in England.The mercurial Moroccan has interest from a host of top European clubs, but his conduct in the last few months, including walking out of QPR's 1 - 0 win over Chelsea at half - time and consistently admitting he wants to leave, have left many questioning his attitude and professionalism.However, Qatari side Al - Sadd have not been put off, and made their move for Taarabt last week, only to pull out of a deal after being told it would take a whopping # 15 million to convince them to sell.That sort of figure also rules out Newcastle and Aston Villa as potential destinations, with the thought now that QPR will hang on to Taarabt until at least the summer, where they hope Taarabt could spark a bidding war, after being rejuvenated under a new manager and firing the club to Premier League safety.

Developing greatly over the last few seasons I fully believe that this side can go beyond what people think and can win La Liga within the next couple of seasons.

Over the last few days, the French side have been trying to renew the contract of Rabiot in order to loan him out to Ajax for the season.