[Android1974]

Mkhi underperformed last season based on his Dormund form, which most players new to this league do in their first season. Herrera doesn't strike me as someone who can be relied on creatively. He's more a terrier for me, who's main role is being a pain in the arse for the opposition. Not saying he isn't technical at all though, he's a good all round footballer.

I agree with that analysis, but Herrera stats show to my surprise he's more effective attacking than we think. And still, a whole season should count as more than just one game.

 

[Android1974]

Jose will be wary of Lorente's aerial strength so I can't see him going into this without Smalling. Think we'll switch to 3-5-2 for this.

_______________________De Gea___________________
_____________Bailly____Smalling___Jones__________
Valencia____Herrera_____Matic_____Pogba____Blind
_________________Lukaku____Rashford_____________

Llorente didn't play last game, seems he was injured, maybe he doesn't make it on time.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Llorente didn't play last game, seems he was injured, maybe he doesn't make it on time.

He's had a broken arm I think.

 

[Android1974]

I can see 3 at the back with Martial wide and Rashford to partner Lukaku. Just go for the throat and develop that killer mentality

So, Mourinho would go for the most attacking formation he ever played for United for an away game at Swansea, our second game of the Premier League?

 

[Catt]

Britton is 34 and tiny

We should really batter them.

Sorry for the edit but this made me laugh.

We should beat them in a comfortable manner. No Sigurdsson I imagine?

 

[SuperiorXI]

Gonna go with a 2-2 draw, I think Swansea will ask a lot of questions West Ham failed to.

 

[Unmutual]

Even at this early stage, I expect Mourinho to take no risks in an away game against a team that will be pumped up & playing their first home game of the season. I'd guess we'll have a 4-3-3 to make sure we boss the midfield, Herrera being the obvious choice for the extra man coming in.

I don't think you can drop Rashford after a strong performance, and I think you need a bit of craft against a team that will sit back for some spells in the game, so I'd guess Mata or Mkhi will get the nod. Probably extra Mkhi for the pace. But the good thing is at the weekend Martial, Mata, Mkhi and Rashford all played well and there are lots of combinations of them that would be similarly good. Obviously sticks with Lukaku up front.

The back is still a bit uncertain, but I guess if Mourinho thought Jones and Blind were worth a start at the weekend, I dont suppose he'll have changed his mind after that performance.

Rashford-Lukaku-Mkhi
Pogba-Matic-Herrera
Blind-Jones-Bailly-Valencia
DDG​

 

[cyberman]

@Android1974
It depends on how he sees a Sidurdsson less Swansea performing. Sqeezing up high is the way to go imo

 

[Dave46]

Yeah, he got 5 in 41 appearances last season! Just so you know, Herrera got 11.

He got 5 assists already if you count the preseason. I think, 15 assists would be the target for him this season, 13 more to go. And if he can score 10 league goals, then he would have a great season.

 

[Minimalist]

Yeah, he got 5 in 41 appearances last season! Just so you know, Herrera got 11.

I have a feeling Mourinho will pick his team based on many things, including the last (few) outings (as opposed to last season). Miki does have a rep for taking a season to get himself sorted.

 

[haram]

Gonna go with a 2-2 draw, I think Swansea will ask a lot of questions West Ham failed to.

What makes you say that?

Hope we smash 'em for 5+.

 

[SuperiorXI]

What makes you say that?

Hope we smash 'em for 5+.

I said we'd draw last match and we won 4 nil

 

[wr8_utd]

We don't really do well against Swansea so this won't be easy.

 

[Offside]

I really hope we keep the same XI. Tinkering with the team was a problem for us to get consistency in the league last year but we had to to juggle so many games. This year we need a settled XI and I think that team on Sunday can be it. I'd be ok if Lindleof came in for Jones but apart from that I don't see why we need to change it.

 

[Android1974]

We don't really do well against Swansea so this won't be easy.

We had quite an easy away win last season, but I suppose Clement wasn't there yet.

 

[Android1974]

He got 5 assists already if you count the preseason. I think, 15 assists would be the target for him this season, 13 more to go. And if he can score 10 league goals, then he would have a great season.

No, I don't really count assists in pre-season. All I was saying is the logic behind playing Mkhitaryan (in 4-2-3-1) instead of Herrera (in 4-3-3) shouldn't be based on assists.

 

[Dave46]

No, I don't really count assists in pre-season. All I was saying is the logic behind playing Mkhitaryan (in 4-2-3-1) instead of Herrera (in 4-3-3) shouldn't be based on assists.

I don't count either, just an example. And he had the most assists in BL his last year there. So he is not new to this.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

Same eleven again.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

Never been this pumped for our next game in so long

 

[Irrational.]

Is Routledge still playing for them? He always turns up against us. Even players like Gomis turn into beasts.

 

[AgentP]

I said we'd draw last match and we won 4 nil

Good man. Keep up with the jinxing

 

[AgentP]

And Herrera had the most assists last season. Mkhitaryan was good, but he's far from having an eye for assists (here).

To be fair, he didn't play till almost half the season was done. I don't think its fair to rate him by his first season since he usually takes time to adapt and despite that played a starring role in our Europa title. He seems to be at a different level now compared to last year based on his performances so far. Herrera will get his chance but not at the cost of Mkhi being dropped. I can see Mkhi playing most of the games when fit.

 

[Android1974]

To be fair, he didn't play till almost half the season was done. I don't think its fair to rate him by his first season since he usually takes time to adapt and despite that played a starring role in our Europa title. He seems to be at a different level now compared to last year based on his performances so far. Herrera will get his chance but not at the cost of Mkhi being dropped. I can see Mkhi playing most of the games when fit.

Yes, although one attacking player has to be dropped for 4-3-3, now it could probably be Mata.

 

[KirkDuyt]

United will batter them. I predicted 3-0 against West Ham, so I'll predict 4-0 now in which case logic dictates it will be 5-0 so, 5-0 it is.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Clement has just announced that Llorente will miss the game v United on Saturday.

They will obviously be missing Sigurdsson as well.

We really need to be winning this, no excuses.

 

[Brightonian]

People might be a little overconfident because we did so well in the Hammers game. Clement is a good reacter, he'll have seen what we were doing in our last game and he'll have ideas to disrupt it. Of course, he doesn't have many good tools for the job, especially without Sigurdsson, but still. I don't think we'll win this one 4-0. More likely a traditional Jose 2-0.

We shouldn't just do exactly the same thing, either. Keep it fresh. Drop either Miki or Mata for Herrera and push Pogba even higher up the pitch into a genuine #10 role. Or try Rashford on the right and Martial on the left at the same time - there's a romantic in me that loves the idea of that. fecking terrifying prospect for a back line to deal with Martial's dribbling, Rashford's pace and Lukaku's bullying all at the same time.

 

[Android1974]

People might be a little overconfident because we did so well in the Hammers game. Clement is a good reacter, he'll have seen what we were doing in our last game and he'll have ideas to disrupt it. Of course, he doesn't have many good tools for the job, especially without Sigurdsson, but still. I don't think we'll win this one 4-0. More likely a traditional Jose 2-0.

We shouldn't just do exactly the same thing, either. Keep it fresh. Drop either Miki or Mata for Herrera and push Pogba even higher up the pitch into a genuine #10 role. Or try Rashford on the right and Martial on the left at the same time - there's a romantic in me that loves the idea of that. fecking terrifying prospect for a back line to deal with Martial's dribbling, Rashford's pace and Lukaku's bullying all at the same time.

If we're going to play there in counterattack, though we shouldn't, it might do. Otherwise, relying on just Pogba to create play is dangerous.

 

[Brightonian]

If we're going to play there in counterattack, though we shouldn't, it might do. Otherwise, relying on just Pogba to create play is dangerous.

I don't really think of Martial as a counter-attacking player, particularly. His most devastating attacking actually comes when he's running at a fairly set defence and just beats it anyway.

Obviously Rashford is great on the counter, but he's also more than rounded enough to offer threat in other situations too. That shot he crashed off the upright against West Ham showed what he can do against sitting defensive lines.

 

[Parry Gallister]

They are missing two of their key players and biggest goal threats. I do like their new midfielder, don't think we'll be able to dominate from the centre like against West Ham, but on paper this should be a win.

 

[Android1974]

They are missing two of their key players and biggest goal threats. I do like their new midfielder, don't think we'll be able to dominate from the centre like against West Ham, but on paper this should be a win.

Even with three against three, if we add Herrera?

 

[Adam-Utd]

Let's not go there changing our game to suit them, we've done that enough last year.

4-2-3-1, play the same team against West ham and let's batter them.

 

[Mibabalou]

Change mata for Herrera and rashford for martial,433 keep the ball. Constrict them with the ball and let's grind this out!

2-0

 

[Android1974]

Change mata for Herrera and rashford for martial,433 keep the ball. Constrict them with the ball and let's grind this out!

2-0

I was thinking along the same lines, but I have trouble believing Mourinho will drop Rashford after his last game's performance.

 

[Grunge]

Same team except Martial in for Rashford please.

Not a bad idea to really make those two battle for the starting position.

No way Jose will be dropping Rashford after today.

You maybe right, but Martial does seem to be a bit more direct on the left side and took his goal so very well!

I'll go with the same team as today without changes. We can easily get 3 goals past them.

True enough, but our squad depth is stunning and I think Jose has so many options he will want to make some changes believing he can play almost any eleven against certain sides, like Swansea, and still win comfortably.

Only change I would make is drop Mata, move Mkhi into the middle and start Martial. He looks like a different animal right now. Intense and focused in his play.

That's a team that would win easily too ... question is, what does Jose want to see; an unchanged team every week only subbing for injury or the regular rotation of players keeping as many happy as possible before the really heavy workload comes? I think he'll make more than one change and one may well be to swap Mata out.

The only change I foresee is Fellaini coming in for Mata.

Nah, can't see it ... the big man will be Jose's go-to sub. He might start in the league cup or even early FA cup rounds but with the strength we have now, we want flair and creativity over brawn.

Hope we can take a 2-0 lead soon so Perreira can get a chance at least for the last 20 minutes.

Agreed, that would be nice for everyone concerned but I think the lead will need to be at least 3 before the young fella gets a chance. This might be a good match for him though I must say.

 

[Parry Gallister]

Even with three against three, if we add Herrera?

Yeah true, that would tilt that to us, but as per the discussion above, depends if we change shape or not. Would quite like to see a similar team to last-time out and win on our own terms, but it is an away game so the third midfielder might be a good shout and can always change it if we need a goal later.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Wouldnt be surprised if Jose went for a third MF and Herrera started ahead of Mata, with Jose aiming to switch it up depending on the score around the hour mark. But I'm sticking with the prediction of the same 11.

 

[Globule]

Should be a better test than West Ham, who didn't put up much of a fight. I was always confident of a win at OT against WH, so it'll be interesting to see how we perform in our first away game.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

You maybe right, but Martial does seem to be a bit more direct on the left side and took his goal so very well!

Did you see our first goal against West Ham? Nothing but directness from Rashford, followed by a superbly timed pass to Lukaku.

Thankfully we have two fantastic young players on our hands. Ideally, it'd be great if we can fit in both, but the both seem better either on the left or up top. You'd expect Lukaku yo always start providing he is fit, so that leaves the two fighting it out for the left position.

Rashford did everything the other day apart from score. Hit the post twice (I think) and made some very good runs. Like I said, Martial is a fantastic talent, but after Rashford's performance, I just couldn't see Mourinho dropping him.

Martial will get plenty of time. That said, if we get Perisic, it could see one of them with a lot less minutes.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Wouldn't expect Lukaku, Mkhitaryan, Rashford, and Martial to all be in the same lineup. They would lose the ball almost all the time. Mata will be in there or it'll be a midfield 3.

 

[dwd]

Looks like they're about to lose their best player before this match.