Manchester United problems, Red cards everywhere and England squad

Greetings people and welcome to a Bank Holiday Strike, I normally would do a review of all the games from the weekend but I have decided to change the format a little bit.


First place to start is Manchester United who must get the David De Gea situation sorted sooner rather than later. He is clearly better than Sergio Romero who isn't a bad shot stopper but his kicking skills are poor and I don't think the defence trust him, he was at fault for both of the Swansea goals so they either need to sell De Gea to Real Madrid or play him. Another thing with Man United is they have spent an awful lot of money over the past 2 seasons, over £350 million and can any United fan honestly say they have made much improvement? A few years ago, teams feared United and were beaten before the first whistle but these days, the fear factor has gone from Old Trafford. Manchester United have always been known for having top class strikers such as Van Nistlerooy, Cole, Sheringham and later Van Persie but now it is hard to say who the best striker at United is and they have problems because if your losing a game and your secret weapon is Maroaune Felliani then I am afraid you have issues. As for the transfer window, United have been linked to every possible player in world football but have yet to really get a massive name in and the money being mentioned is crazy, £100 million for Gareth Bale, £60 million for Thomas Muller who are unrealistic targets and now they have been linked to QPR forward, Charlie Austin who isn't a bad player and will score goals but Louis Van Gaal must know they need a forward because Wayne Rooney isn't going to score 20 goals a season anymore. Louis Van Gaal is under massive pressure this year to win something because the money they have spent will not be good enough just to finish in the top 4.

There were a lot of red cards at the weekend and some were harsh but I think the Referees called most of them correct. Alexsander Mitrovic was sent off for Newcastle after a stamp on Francis Coquelin which may have looked harsh at first but having seen it on a replay, it is a dangerous tackle and I think Andre Marriner had a brilliant game and could have produced more than the one red. At Anfield there were 2 red cards for Philippe Coutinho and Mark Noble which the first one for Coutinho was a second yellow card for a tackle where if he didn't lunge in he probably wouldn't have gone but I do wonder why players make tackles like that. I thought Mark Noble's sending off was very harsh as he has clearly won the ball, sure he may have clipped the player but it wasn't a high or out of control. Stoke City finished the game with 9 men against West Brom after Ibrahim Afellay and Charlie Adam both saw red in the first half hour. Afellay was a silly boy for raising his hand but so did Craig Gardner so in my opinion both should have gone. Charlie Adam has previous for stamping so maybe his reputation worked against him. Steven Whittaker also red for Norwich for 2 yellow card offences but what really annoyed me was the reaction of Dusan Tadic who done that imaginary yellow card signal and I absolutely hate that, yes it probably was a booking but that is a bit classless from a player had a very good game.

The England was announced for the upcoming games against San Marino and Switzerland and there are some players who I am struggling to understand how they are in and some I think should be there. I am pleased to see Jamie Vardy there because he is scoring goals and I would start him against San Marino, Fabien Delph is a strange one for me as I don't think he has played much for Man City since his move and if your not playing for your club how can you get picked for your country? Very pleased to see Jonjo Shelvey in the team because I think he is a very good player and he is underrated. Another player who is scoring goals is Callum Wilson for Bournemouth, who has scored more Premier League goals than Rooney, Kane and Walcott put together. I don't buy into this, it's to soon rubbish, if your scoring goals then surely you deserve a chance and what I have seen of Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and Harry Kane so far this season, I think Wilson could do a job. Kieran Gibbs is a player I like BUT he can't nail a first team spot at Arsenal so again how do you get in the England team? Ryan Mason is another one for me, he is an ok player but I am not convinced. I think the England team should be based on form and I don't care how many goals Wayne Rooney has scored for England or the record to become the top scorer, he isn't scoring goals for his club. We are playing San Marino so why not pick some fresh faces to have ago, we have some cracking youngsters and if they cannot beat a team like San Marino then we may as well just give up. Tommy Elphick is a young English defender who could do a job, even Ryan Shawcross who has been once again over looked could do a half decent job. We all want England to succeed but Roy Hodgson picks the same players over and over again, I am surprised Andros Townsend didn't get a call up. Crystal Palace are second in the league and they have a few English boys who have been playing well like Scott Dann and Joel Ward who have been in great form. Jason Puncheon is another one and if anyone thinks he couldn't do a better job than Ryan Mason then I have no words for you.

Well that shall do for now and I will be back on Wednesday for a Transfer Special!