This is the only goal scored against Liverpool when Lukaku and Matip have been on the pitch together.
Lukaku has had just 2 shots across those 3 games, 0 big chances, 0.28 xG + xA in total.
Of course this means very little. Small sample. And Lukaku is more than capable of sniffing out some chances and banging in some goals.
But it does quell some of the nervousness around facing a top forward on top of his game.
Plus I just wanted to share some of the fun Joel facts that he emails me every week and I put straight in the trash telling him I'm not interested in them.
Okay Joel, I shared them this week. Can you stop now?
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I'm still very proud of myself for highlighting this when he fight signed for us.
It comes from watching Enrico Chiesa as a kid whose first touch seemed to solely exist to make an angle and space to get a shot off with his second. So I am always watching a player's first touch
to see what their aim is. Are they just trying to get the ball under control. Do they tend to stop the ball dead then look up and make decisions (Can). Or are they being proactive. Is their first touch always with a greater purpose?
And this is the stuff Wenger describes as the
'foundations' for a player. Stuff that if it isn't in place by the time they are 14 then you aren't going to see much change in it. Because after that you need to add other things to their game before they turn pro - and then it is maintaining levels, fitness, tactical prep.
Anti-woke is about the most meaningless, vaguest, non-descript shit I have read. It is a trendy way to say you don't believe someone else should have the same human rights that you do but without making you sound like a person lacking empathy bordering on sociopathy.
It is like when the media report people as being anti-Antifa. Just cancel those anti's out the way you would in a maths problem mate, whatever you are left with is the right answer?
time at the club, anybody who remains knows how to build and coach a Level 3 United side. They are fantastic against a side that will come at them like Leeds or City - their records against such teams are great. But when they need to buildup attacks or break down a block those
tend to be the game they struggle. And I think there is always a hyper-focus on personnel here when in actuality it is both. We have seen from Rodgers at Swansea, Bielsa at Leeds, Setien at Betis... you CAN coach teams this way with whatever you have.
Players have absolutely fucking zero responsibility to save clubs from making shit decisions.
It is an employment contract. It was signed by both parties. If United aren't happy with it, find a process to avoid giving players contacts that will fuck you in the future.
This isn't a United thing though - it applies to all clubs.
I mentioned on a podcast recently with Mari that our internal 'rules' (regardless of how hard or flexible they are) are designed to protect us from having an aging, injured player on big wages that don't reflect their
value on the pitch to the club. If we aren't going to give Wijnaldum a long deal despite being probably the fittest and most robust player of his age with no injury problems in his entire career, then we probably see a game of who blinks first with Hendo in the future.