[Nik70]

We should reward Martial, with his goal and assist, by starting him. Rashford isnt struggling for confidence. So rotating him wont have an effect. But if you dont reward Martial with a start after a good cameo, then his confidence levels wont go up.

I agree. That was my thinking in the lineup prediction. Not convinced it would happen though.

 

[Scorpy]

I'm extremely optimistic about this game, which only means one thing - we'll play like shite and lose.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Should have too much for them. United to win by 2 clear goals minimum.

 

[red_devil83]

Agree with the "reward Martial" brigade. Or at least give him and Rashford a half each

 

[Devil may care]

We shouldn't need the extra CM against Swansea, they are poor and just lost their best player, if the team is as confident as is being touted then we should go there and impose our game on them.

 

[ManuMou]

With Matic and Lukaku significantly changing the attacking dynamics of our game, regardless of the formation we play, I believe Jose would set up more offensively than last season.

Formation is just one part of the system, ie it can be set up offensively/defensively for a 4-3-3.

Regardless of us playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, we should go all out and attack. Specifically, in a 4-3-3, Pogba-Herrera should have more freedom to join the attack.

So I think the key things to watch, not just in this game, but also in the upcoming matches......

1. Matic & Lukaku changing the dynamics of our attack
2. With the new dynamics, Jose could set up more offensively than last season
3. The 2 factors above to positively affect the performance and confidence of our players, especially our main attackers of Martial/Rashford/Mkhi/Mata and Pogba. Last season, I think the underperformance of our attackers was not only on the individual level, but also partly because Jose set up defensively, hence negatively affecting their performance and confidence, making our attack very predictable, congested in the middle without much width, etc......
4. A more consistent starting XI than last season. This would help build up our team chemistry, which is a very important factor that often "ignored" by most people here
5. Build up momentum, for both performance and confidence level, especially in the upcoming easy fixtures until October

(Some of the main factors that Barca and Real have had huge success of late include consistent starting XI, momentum/team chemistry, etc....ie their core players have been playing together for the past few years. It's not just about Messi/Neymar/Ronaldo/bale.)

 

[Android1974]

Away from home, so it will be a tough one.

Last season it was the other way around.

 

[Jaybomb]

No excuses now. We should be hammering them without Sigurdsson.

 

[Canagel]

Same team as Sunday but start Martial instead of Rashford. I can see us tearing them apart if we show the same desire and work rate as the last game. Swansea always raise their game when playing us for some reason. Who can forget our struggles against them when Gary Monk was there? They have lost Sigurdsson so that at least makes the job easier. Going for a 3-0 United.

 

[pacifictheme]

Same team for me. No one should be dropped.

 

[stygg]

Same team as Sunday but start Martial instead of Rashford. I can see us tearing them apart if we show the same desire and work rate as the last game. Swansea always raise their game when playing us for some reason. Who can forget our struggles against them when Gary Monk was there? They have lost Sigurdsson so that at least makes the job easier. Going for a 3-0 United.

Normally, I would agree with you but after that second half by Rashford he deserves to start this one.

 

[pocco]

No excuses now. We should be hammering them without Sigurdsson.

It's Gylfi Sigurdsson. We should hammer them even if he did play.

 

[Roosney]

I usually don't care or put too much thought into predicting the XI but now it's kind of intriguing.
I guess Martial will get a start but what I find most interesting is the midfield. Will Mou stick to what worked fantastically on Sunday which could mean Herrera is out of the starting XI for a while.

 

[theyneverlearn]

I don't undersand the notion of adding an extra CM, just because we are away from home. As soon as we do that, we are hampering our attacking options, which will play into Swansea's hands.

I would keep 2 CM's and potentially bring in Martial for either Mata or Miki; keep the pressure on them, and make them think, not the other way round.

 

[Brinky]

Have managed to score some tickets in the Swansea end for this, can't wait!

 

[TsuWave]

last week was so good i've been counting the hours for this one. hopefully another great performance

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Surprised by people saying it will be difficult and we might struggle just because it's away from home. Swansea are far worse than West Ham so we should be picking a similarly attacking team to least weekend playing with confidence. I was nervous before the last game but I'm bullish now and think we will hammer home our second victory 3-0.

 

[lysglimt]

If we have serious plans of fighting for the title, we can't drop points against Swansea. It's that simple really. When I look at most teams I look at something and I can identify that as a threat, I have a hard time identifying a threat in this Swansea-side. If 6-7 of our players have a relatively good match, we will win.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

They also almost battered us at OT later in the season, so…

No, they didn't.

 

[TwoSheds]

I don't undersand the notion of adding an extra CM, just because we are away from home. As soon as we do that, we are hampering our attacking options, which will play into Swansea's hands.

I would keep 2 CM's and potentially bring in Martial for either Mata or Miki; keep the pressure on them, and make them think, not the other way round.

Agreed. I'd drop Mata to let Mkhi and Martial build confidence.

 

[nemanja15]

Not true, we didn't play 4-2-3-1 there last season, we played 4-3-3 with a midfield of Fellaini-Carrick-Pogba.

Specially with Herrera, one of our best players last season and who supposedly refused Barcelona, Mourinho must be tactful.

Tweet

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I'm pretty certain we didn't. Mata was started on the right with licence to drift centrally, Rooney was off the left (I remember him making a couple of excellent runs in this channel second half) and Pogba had a free role in front of Carrick and Fellaini. He was the furthest forward on the average touch map behind Ibra.

 

[Canagel]

Normally, I would agree with you but after that second half by Rashford he deserves to start this one.

Rashford does really well in the second half usually because there is more space to counter and if we're leading the game I would bring him on for Martial. I would start Martial because I feel that he is more of a confidence player and he should be rewarded for his cameo last week. Either way it will require good management from Mourinho this season.

 

[whatwha]

Not expecting a big win. I just hope we play our own game, perform with energy and impose ourselves on them.

Not sure an extra man in midfield is really needed here.

Our away form last season was pretty damn good, let's pick that up again.

 

[JustinC00]

They also almost battered us at OT later in the season, so…

Nope.

Possession: 55 to 45 for us
Shots 12 to 12
Shots on 6 to 4 for us

This was with no Ibra or Pogba


So no clue where you got the notion "they almost battered us"

Now Southampton last week pretty much battered them. Had 60% possession and 30 shots to Swansea's 4.

 

[Android1974]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

I'm pretty certain we didn't. Mata was started on the right with licence to drift centrally, Rooney was off the left (I remember him making a couple of excellent runs in this channel second half) and Pogba had a free role in front of Carrick and Fellaini. He was the furthest forward on the average touch map behind Ibra.

Believe what you want to believe. And does this direction of passes spells Pogba as #10 to you?

 

[Android1974]

Nope.

Possession: 55 to 45 for us
Shots 12 to 12
Shots on 6 to 4 for us

This was with no Ibra or Pogba


So no clue where you got the notion "they almost battered us"

Now Southampton last week pretty much battered them. Had 60% possession and 30 shots to Swansea's 4.

Stats… Did you even saw the game? We were lucky not to lose, our team was in shambles. If Swansea are even with us at OT, then they battered us… By the way, here's what Paul Clement just said about that game: “We had a very good game against Manchester United away from home at the end of last season.”

 

[JustinC00]

Stats… Did you even saw the game? We were lucky not to lose, our team was in shambles. If Swansea are even with us at OT, then they battered us…

It's see, not saw.

Stats? Stats tell the game. There was no "battering" from either side.


We were lucky not to lose? They needed a foul in the 80th minute to get a FK to pull level. If anyone was lucky it was Swansea getting that FK.

Also what part of Ibra and Pogba didn't play that game didn't you understand? Our two best players were out. Yet when they played in the earlier fixture in the season at Swansea both scored and we won 3-1. Which that was a game that could be considered a battering.

 

[Android1974]

It's see, not saw.

Stats? Stats tell the game. There was no "battering" from either side.


We were lucky not to lose? They needed a foul in the 80th minute to get a FK to pull level. If anyone was lucky it was Swansea getting that FK.

Also what part of Ibra and Pogba didn't play that game didn't you understand? Our two best players were out. Yet when they played in the earlier fixture in the season at Swansea both scored and we won 3-1. Which that was a game that could be considered a battering.

But did you saw it or not? Our team was depleted, I just said that. But it was one of our worst games of the season, and had nothing to do with the away game, when Clement wasn't even their coach. People are expecting an easy game, that's why something that was tabu last season (midfield two) becomes the only way we can play now. Hopefully, Mourinho isn't that overconfident and starts Herrera, who by the way had the same amount of assists last season than Mata and Mkhitaryan combined.

 

[Zlatattack]

DDG
Valencia Bailly Jones Blind
Matic Pogba
Rashford Miki Martial
Lukaku

No need to sit back. Go at them, hit them hard, we should roll them over!

 

[unitedforeveral]

i don't think Mourinho will start Martial again as Rashford has been a bomb wherever he plays. In fact i feel he's too good to ignore or put on the bench.

De Gea
Valencia- Bailly- Jones-Darmian
Matic
Herrera- Pogba
Mkhitaryan-Lukaku-Rashford
Subs- Martial, Fellaini & Lingard. I hope this formation works the charm. I've been waiting for around 3 years now to see United get back up there with the best teams. We can improve immensely this campaign and i think we should be able to challenge for the league from the get go and also at least reach the last 4 in the Champions League. I know for sure that everybody in the club wants that and i'm happy to see this.

 

[nemanja15]

Believe what you want to believe. And does this direction of passes spells Pogba as #10 to you?

The one here is different; I guess there's a slight inherent contrast between influence and touch spots. Whichever formation it is, the maps don't exactly paint a clear picture of exactly what system was played, to be fair. Not as an outright orthodox 10 no, but with Mata not exactly hugging the touchline when he plays off the right and drifting inside/centrally, I'm not surprised Pogba picked up the ball more on the left side of centre and distributed more left to right.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football...-manchester-united-premier-league-live-score/

Anyhow - I think we're in a much better place now than we were then.

 

[santeria13]

It is very important we go out and put a similar performance to that against West Ham. We cannot let any doubt creep in and swansea are a side we should be putting away with ease, home or away.

 

[villain]

Win by at least 2 clear goals and a clean sheet.

 

[tomaldinho1]

On paper a demolition job, in reality I think it will be tough - they will have seen us at the weekend and the bus will be in 'park' with the handbrake on from kick off.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

On paper a demolition job, in reality I think it will be tough - they will have seen us at the weekend and the bus will be in 'park' with the handbrake on from kick off.

Could be now they have lost their best midfielder and still don't have their main striker.

 

[AgentP]

We'll win this comfortably, I'm pretty confident. They have just sold their best player. I can see a repeat of last year's score. It was 3-1 to us, right?

 

[Adisa]

Another good news for us Llorente will miss match against us.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40939330

That's huge. The guy is a monster in the air.

 

[WoodysWallet]

That's huge. The guy is a monster in the air.

Great news for us. They'll be extremely toothless without Llorente and Sigurdsson.

 

[Grunge]

I could see a bit of rotation, with Herrera being brought in. If he does it will most likely be due to a system change rather than as a replacement for Pogba or Matic.

Yeah, I think this will be Jose's angle. Don't mess wih that Pogba - Matic combination and perhaps more importantly be sure to give them playing time together to build a strong foundation and also find ways to give Herrera & Mata and maybe even Pereirra plenty of chances to see how they best fit in and what system best suits them all. I think we'll see a lot less of players in positions they're not best suited this season which, as Jose has said many times, is because he prefers specialist wherever possible.

As someone else said, Jose will still need to be tactful but it appears from the outside anyway, that he's got the whole squad on board and has plenty of competitions to give them all games.

At the risk of getting ahead of myself things are shaping up even better than I could have hoped for at this point but it's still early days and there'll be plenty of tough games to come.

 

[el3mel]

Swansea will do nothing except sitting as deep as possible and defending. It's time for us to see how our squad will deal with this.

There's no need for 3 midfielders in this game. We should stick with 4-2-3-1 to press them as much as possible.