Ronald Koeman discussion

[bring the ghost on]

What a manager.

 

[ianefc]

No doubt it was a great block mate, but he should have buried it. Thank God it wasn't Sanchez, but that's the luck we (and Koeman) need right now.

Right up for Monday night now.

Fact is, we were the better team tonight. Couple that with the fact that this is a top team.

He's rightly been an easy target.

Tonight he deserves credit as do the players.

 

[Gladystweet]

Ron can have a pay rise and a red crimbo tree after tonight.

 

[dholliday]

Ian Wright just made the point: that it's easier for players to get up for big games like this, implying it's up to the manager to get his players up for the non-glamorous games too.


I actually half-fancy us now vs RS and then who knows? Koeman just needs to keep up that intensity.

 

[Neiziro]

If we see that kind of fight, gut and determination in the derby, we will win it.

 

[ianefc]

@Brennan liked my post.

 

[Toffeeslam]

If we play with intensity we can still beat anyone in this league.

That's the standard that we need to play for remainder of this season

 

[riddick]

100% blunt and honest here. I don't think he's a great manager. Certainly absolutely NOT a man manager.



But I don't care if he sees out the rest of the year if he can continue his 'I only beat the big teams' and we beat Liverpool Monday.


Please, Ron you unlikable tyke, prove me wrong!

 

[Jonte]

Not sure Koeman had much to do with the result to be honest. The players stepped up when it mattered. Would have been so easy for their heads to have dropped after Arrsenal's goal in the first fifteen, especially when they'd had a quiet start and the ground was deathly quiet.

I'm really pleased for them.

 

[TheCount]

Think his management of Barkley has been great. He's our best player by a mile when on form

 

[brieverton]

What a massive win.

As many of my learned friends here have said, we have a poor squad but nowhere near as poor as that "run" we were on.

We are never as bad as 1 win in 10, not with players like Lukaku, Gueye, Coleman, and Barkley.

They have to be up for it all the time and always put in a shift. One true thing about this squad is that we don't have the luxury of winning at 70% intensity. It's RK's job to sort this and he and we got a reaction tonight.

Onto the RS and enough of the inferiority complex. Tonight we beat a side infinitely better than they are, having gone into it with confidence shot to pieces.

Win this and we can start looking forward to a strong 2nd half of the season and getting some good signings in January.

And well done boys tonight, credit where it's at long last and finally due.

 

[Thomasc]

Only a blip v Chelsea against the teams above us. To be fair they would have beaten any side that night, they were very good.

Spurs 1-1
Man U 1-1
City 1-1
Arsenal 2-1

 

[BlueToff]

Just shows, that's what playing with intensity does for you.

He has made mistakes, but that is what he is aiming for - that aggression and intensity.

The possession play - the domination, as Stubbsy put it - will come, with better players (what the window is for) and more consistency.

But the fundamentals need to come first. We need to be proactive. For once, we took the initiative after getting ourselves back into the game, and never took our foot off the pedal.

 

[Blue Cheese]

Much better today, hope he can finally get the message across that effort gets you support.

 

[Amw79]

Thought his comment was interesting that first 20 we were nervous and always wanting to play the ball backwards. This hints at why there's so much long ball in recent months. He's trying to encourage forward balls instead of sideways and backwards (sound familiar Roberto?) but nervous players with no confidence and lack of movement ahead of them have been resorting to playing it long.

Tonight the players stepped up the aggression and work rate, and the crowd responded...so the players responded again. And this against one of the best teams in the league. Great night.