I do not understand all this moaning about this game. It is just a friendly against a team in an advanced stage of its preparations. Those games are for the players to build their fitness but for marketing purposes big teams play against each other. It is only natural that we lose this game but one should not make anything of it...Just a friendly match. Personally, I cannot understand how we can play a friendly against City. That is ridiculous, those games cannot be friendlies...
Pre-season friendly Manchester United - Borussia Dortmund
- Thread starter the hea
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Gosh, Mourinho named Fellaini in the press-conference after the game as one of the fundamental players still missing! 
I think, like you said that it was inevitable that some would go into a meltdown.
That's worrying. Has he ever been fundamental?Gosh, Mourinho named Fellaini in the press-conference after the game as one of the fundamental players still missing!
Maybe he said fun and mental.Gosh, Mourinho named Fellaini in the press-conference after the game as one of the fundamental players still missing!
Or fun , dim and mentalMaybe he said fun and mental.
Wow, that was a womping. Don't think I'll watch it back.
Why are Dortmund so far ahead of us in pre season anyway? The Bundesliga starts 2 weeks later than PL.
Fans of opposing clubs taking the piss out of United for losing 4-1 in pre-season. It's a friendly in sweltering heat, weakened team and only United's second match. How clueless can some of these people be.
They started three days earlier. People are just exaggerating it to excuse the poor performance.
3 days earlier ?
They had their first match on 8th July
Their pre season started on July 3rd or 4th. And that first game was against some 5th or 6th league pub team
New manager, half a team missing, a team which never played together before and probably newer will in the future. Good enough excuses?
It doesnt matter who the opponent is. All of the players are by now already match fit - excluding the new signings.
Mourinho: "It's a process."
And didnt mention Rooney. Oh noes!!Gosh, Mourinho named Fellaini in the press-conference after the game as one of the fundamental players still missing!
the main thing is Jose seems not to be worried.
It doesnt matter..its the fitness that counts especially in those conditions. You lot willingly ignoring facts or what?
Of course he isnt, he knew BvB would be too strong. If preseason meant anything consistently then Moyes United woulda been bottom 7 and LVGs teams double or treble winners.
I was merely responding to your question, and delivered an answer why their first game could be so close to the start of the season.
Mods can we have a poll so we can find out who the posters are who think getting thumped in a friendly is the end of the world?
Yep, and I think what's most disappointing is the players who didn't step up even though their careers at the club are on the line. After being dropped for the FA Cup, Depay should have been raring to go today.
Exactly, they were physically fitter and that's why they pressed us so hard and we struggled to get anything going.
Who cares whether or not both teams were on equal footing? There are still plenty of unexplored factors like the impact of the missing players or the question of how much room to grow the squad has left in terms of tactics (given that Mourinho just joined them) and both of them can easily make or break a season.
too many on here tbh...and it was a bit embarresing to see some posts.
"We are in a transition!"
We are. People refuse to accept it.
I know all the reasons people have stated, but it could be a good thing to get our expectations down a bit. I still reckon getting back into the top 4 would be a good season.
Woah. After a pre season and this lowering expectation mentality draws out
.What Mourinho has been saying is: we will aim high and do our best. If that's not enough then, we will improve (similar to SAF's bounce back stance after bad season). The expectation is always to getting to win the title and trophies, not the bullshit learning the trade or process and 4th trophy. Yes, team is in transition, but transition meaning moving, and we should aim to move up, not sideway. Big teams have transition period, but their good coaches know full well they need to show the progression toward their goal and the transition should be quick. In transition year, usually big teams still aim to challenge for the title to see their limitation and ready to nick the trophy if their competitor slips. Top 4 trophy is what Spur, Arsenal, Liverpool... do, and unsurprisingly they can't win the league in very long time despite title favorites heavily underperformed and Leicester was able to pull off miracle like last season. This is not the 80s anymore.
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Eh, I don't think getting top four should ever be considered a good season for Man Utd, not unless there is a drastic change in fortunes.
Acceptable, at best, I'd even lean towards barely acceptable.
I don't think this game should be a reason to get down your expectations. I wouldn't make out a fitness difference as the main reason for todays result, rather you could clearly see a lack of cohesion and organization in the team. But given that Jose just joined 2 weeks ago, this doesn't come off as a surprise.
Given time and with the addition of your key players things should shape up nicely. Ibrahimovic and Pogba alone will make a massive difference compared to last year, and it's not like any of your competitors are without issues.
Guardiola and Conte will have to adjust to the league, Klopp doesn't have good enough personnel for a serious title challenge, Arsenal's gonna arse it as usual, and Tottenham will be happy to celebrate another best 70pts ever season.
In addition you can always let the EL slide, and focus on the league. I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be a serious if not the top contender for this season.
Oh well, but just a pre-season. Looking at the team, I'm not surprised we struggled - I like Blind, but there's no way him and Herrera and ever going to play in front of Jones and Bailly in the state they're in (one has barely played in a year, and the other is just settling into a new country and team - both obviously need all the game time they can get in preseason).
I do wish peoplr would stop talking about "rebuilding" and "dead wood" though - we're not rebuilding. We're adding a few players to a strong squad, and we've a new manager. It's just like every other managerial take-over.. We should stop dramatising it so much. And the squad may be big(?), but it's full of players in their prime years.. If Mourinho wants to trim it then fine, but we did spend most of last season complaining about a lack of depth..
Anyway, I'm not worried. There're too many good players in the squad for us not to be strong this year.
I do wish peoplr would stop talking about "rebuilding" and "dead wood" though - we're not rebuilding. We're adding a few players to a strong squad, and we've a new manager. It's just like every other managerial take-over.. We should stop dramatising it so much. And the squad may be big(?), but it's full of players in their prime years.. If Mourinho wants to trim it then fine, but we did spend most of last season complaining about a lack of depth..
Anyway, I'm not worried. There're too many good players in the squad for us not to be strong this year.
Rather lose 4-1 than win 4-1 because i don't want another amazing pre-season and the match was hopefully a good proof for Mourinho and the board that we must sign another CB.....pre-season or no pre-season but the performances of Jones and Rojo were a joke.
He is right; third or fourth might be the best we can do this season. It's not about lowering expectations, it's about dealing in realities. And I am not basing it on a result of a fitness exercise against BVB.
Van Gaal mismanaged and left this squad horrendously short. He sold quality players, and some of the replacements he brought in are simply not good enough. Depay, Rojo, Blind, Herrera - you don't win titles with these players as your regular starters in key positions. Besides Martial, there isn't one player in the squad from last year that is worthy of a starting position for Manchester United in attack. Carrick at 35 is still our best midfielder, and our best defender is Chris Smalling.
Jose has worked on addressing the deficiencies in this squad with the additions of Ibra, Mkhi and Bailly, but it would take more than one window to make this squad worthy of competing with Europe's best and winning titles domestically. Imo, this season would be about sorting the mess and building a solid foundation for future assault. Winning the title this season, would be a bonus, not the expectation.
Some managers like to play friendlies after a light morning training session in order to really push the fitness of their players in preseason. We looked leggy as feck. It wouldn't surprise me is Mourinho did something similar.
Had to assess this match beyond that Depay and Rojo based on touch, composure and awareness do not belong in this team.
I thought Jose is the god-like manager that many are craving for, who will immediately up a few levels for ManUtd? So now when things aren't going well, blame the ex manager? Good job guys, good job
It's his first proper game, a pre-season match, whilst not having our best players available, in weather conditions our players aren't accustomed to. Some of you lot acting like this game is a determinate to how our season is going to go. Jose himself said he doesn't care enough to study opposition teams during pre-season. These games are to build fitness, understanding and to give players a chance to show off their quality, not necessarily to win.
We're only two weeks in to pre season. They'll still be doing serious fitness work and permanently knackered - which is how they looked in Shanghai.