[kouroux]

It's shocking how we never even sought to improve our full backs. They're just so average when going forward and Valencia is much much better at it than Darmian who is nonexistent, offensively speaking.

 

[GM K]

Martial is our best attacker. Still not amazing but he just brings a lot more life to that side.

He does bring a lot to the squad when he comes on but it has to be said that Rashford was really good today.

I will like to have both of them on the pitch. They can give the opposition headache.

 

[Ramshock]

True.

tram...trams are shite at corners too

 

[Son Of Sam]

What did people think, we'd win every game? Some people on here are absolute jokers.

We won't win every game but I'd rather reserve those for games where we weren't in the races - not a game like this where we outplayed Stoke but we were sloppy to drop points.

 

[AkaAkuma&]

We needed 2 attackers added to the squad from last season imo.

Lukaku was a replacement for Ibra, so I wanted 2 more, but really think 1 more was a must.

Griezmann not joining hurt a lot imo.

Thank you, have been saying this for ages, cannot only rely on Lukaku, should have got Griezmann who would have given us an extra edge.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

You need glasses then. Our game speed is much improved on last year

Generally I agree but there were times when we were far too slow when we won the ball back. I distinctly remember Matic winning it back in the second half, dallying and we were at walking pace before we knew it. Pogba and Herrera had poor games so I don't necessarily think the formation is a total dud but an off-colour midfield combined with a lack of impetus on the flanks led to stunted creativity and some horribly slow transitions.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Standard game for after the international break. Sloppy in defence and often in possession of the ball. Herrera didn't take his chance again and cannot remember the last good game he had. Jones has done well but this team is crying out for Rojo of last season to partner Bailly and an inform Shaw at LB.

 

[ManUtd1999]

I hate it when Jose went on defense mode on away game when we actually can win it. Not a lost but felt like one.

I don't think that the formation caused this result. It's just that our midfield didn't control the game, our defense made mistakes, Lukaku wasn't sharp enough and our substitutions haven't been as effective as in the first 3 games. Mourinho got the 3-man field right, in my view.

 

[Catt]

Terrible after the international break just like last year. Awful performance, no reason to change the system. Way too slow in the buildup. Only decent performance was from DDG. Choupo-Moting had the game of his life. Stoke's time wasting was a disgrace. Oh well, being good was fun while it lasted

We stopped being good?

 

[Mal donaghy]

Fecking hate Mark Hughes...

I hear you bro, like, sssssooooo much!!!

 

[Hugh Jass]

Not a bad result but not a good one either. Pity Lukaku couldn't keep that chance down, as difficult as it was. Should have seen the game out once we went ahead. But Stoke in Stoke is a difficult place to go. I think Jose was right to go with the formation he did at the start. We controlled the game in the first half and they were very lucky to go ahead.

I would have kept Rashford on and not brought on Mata. Not overly worried as I expected it to be a difficult game. You will see a different team on Tuesday.

 

[Ban]

Thank you, have been saying this for ages, cannot only rely on Lukaku, should have got Griezmann who would have given us an extra edge.

Well he decided to stay at Atletico. Maybe he'll join us in January and don't forget Ibra is coming back in few months.

 

[MZX7]

Stoke City played better football today. They created better, they defended better. Really, they were better than us. Never thought I'd be saying this. But for all our possession we rarely looked threatening whereas they almost looked threatening with every attack. Their attacks were swift while ours were labored and slow.

Lukaku got lucky today. Could've come off the game without scoring had that save from Butland not fallen back in his path. He should be scoring those first time.

 

[Ramshock]

Generally I agree but there were times when we were far too slow when we won the ball back. I distinctly remember Matic winning it back in the second half, dallying and we were at walking pace before we knew it. Pogba and Herrera had poor games so I don't necessarily think the formation is a total dud but an off-colour midfield combined with a lack of impetus on the flanks led to stunted creativity and some horribly slow transitions.

That can happen to anyone but we are much improved going forward, far from perfect as we needed a wide player, but will score more goals this season

 

[Kevin]

I coached for years I can tell when a team is more comfortable going forward and have more confidence on the ball.

Gee, how should I go about this without yet again stepping on people's toes.

All very well but as it shows on even the highest levels, all the training in the world and coaches still can get it wrong. As far as I'm concerned I disagree with your observation or more specifically, I feel drawing a definitive conclusion after such a small sample is wrong.

 

[groovyalbert]

Stoke were very good in the second half. We were way below the standard of our first 3 games but this is by no means a totally unexpected result, no matter what run of form you happen to be on - applies to all teams in the league.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Also wtf with us today with the short corners. We have scoring goals from corners and today most of our corners were short. Was this match a tribute to van gaal.

Yea, we should have just knocked them in. Think Jose got that wrong.

 

[Ban]

Stoke City played better football today. They created better, they defended better. Really, they were better than us. Never thought I'd be saying this. But for all our possession we rarely looked threatening whereas they almost looked threatening with every attack. Their attacks were swift while ours were labored and slow.

Lukaku got lucky today. Could've come off the game without scoring had that save from Butland not fallen back in his path. He should be scoring those first time.

Oh come on now. You're criticizing him for scoring. So what he got a deflection and scored. Imagine if he hasn't score the rebound...

 

[ManUtd1999]

BTW, check this one out:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Standard game for after the international break. Sloppy in defence and often in possession of the ball. Herrera didn't take his chance again and cannot remember the last good game he had. Jones has done well but this team is crying out for Rojo of last season to partner Bailly and an inform Shaw at LB.

Well it does go back to the EL final. Not too long ago or maybe it is for you? He has only played 5 minutes this season, so bound to be rusty. Pogba should have been better. The defence was sloppy. The strikers were wasteful. Maybe just not the game for three in midfield.

 

[Mal donaghy]

Why didn't ref stop play before their goal when pogba went down with head injury???
But seen fit to stop play with a minute to go when we we're attacking and a stoke player feigned a head injury!!
Sick of the inconsistencies.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Bailly at fault for their first goal, Jones for their second, and Lukaku missed a good chance with ten minutes remaining. You can't make these kind of individual mistakes away to Stoke in an overall mediocre performance.

 

[Blind]

Pathetic post.
What exactly did Mata do when he came on?? Few sideways passes and that's that.
Rojo? Wtf???

Off the top of my head Mata won a free kick in a great position and kept things ticking in the final third in his very limited time on the pitch, Pogba also looked more comfortable deeper. And Jones and Bailly were culpable for both goals and looked shaky all game, what's so difficult to grasp about wanting Rojo back in the squad when he was (imo) our best centre back last season.

 

[Adisa]

Doesn't wash with me. Our best attacker in the previous game didn't go on intl duty but was on the bench.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Klopp_De_Klown]

we are back to playing slow shit football...

We need to railroad teams. They exposed our pushed on fullbacks all day.

But its good to get a bit of a knock, hopefully this will remind them we are far from the finished article yet
and they will need to work a lot harder than this and more clever with and without the ball.

In fact feck them, we demand and deserve better than this

 

[MZX7]

Oh come on now. You're criticizing him for scoring. So what he got a deflection and scored. Imagine if he hasn't score the rebound...

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't scored on the rebound. Would've fit nicely with the rest of his shots today. Luckily, for him and for us, he did manage to score so good on him. But, really, you don't think he needs to improve? He could've scored 3 today. He has missed quite a few. Thankfully Mkhitaryan has been really good creating great chances for us.

 

[Ramshock]

Gee, how should I go about this without yet again stepping on people's toes.

All very well but as it shows on even the highest levels, all the training in the world and coaches still can get it wrong. As far as I'm concerned I disagree with your observation or more specifically, I feel drawing a definitive conclusion after such a small sample is wrong.

You are going about it from a mathematical POV which is entirely the wrong way to do it. You can tell from our game speed and how much more we get into attacking positions and the increase in chances created that we are better going forward. You also have to consider how many chances we didnt convert last season and we now have 3 regular scorers with Z10 still to return

 

[ValenciasDrilledCrosses]

Rashford after coming off a great intl break was way too selfish today. A few shots were justified but he can so easily lay off teammates and then takes too long on the ball. Stoke feck us again, although I'm sure they'll lie down for Hughsey's old team later in the season. Feels like a loss, some differences to last season in that we looked like we had the ability to score, but lots of similarities as well. Just a shite weekend in terms of results, City go top with us

We stopped being good?

Just a joke, onto Basel

 

[TimScoreboard]

Disappointing defending cost us a victory. Fundamental mistakes.

yea, it was poor, but Lukakus' miss could have made it irrelevant

 

[Ramshock]

we are back to playing slow shit football...

We need to railroad teams. They exposed our pushed on fullbacks all day.

But its good to get a bit of a knock, hopefully this will remind them we are far from the finished article yet
and they will need to work a lot harder than this and more clever with and without the ball.

In fact feck them, we demand and deserve better than this

feckin hell whats the fecking point

 

[Solo Toure]

I haven't watched the game yet, but were we really that bad?

 

[JohnnyKills]

Thank you, have been saying this for ages, cannot only rely on Lukaku, should have got Griezmann who would have given us an extra edge.

Don't think Griezmann wanted to come mate

 

[Mibabalou]

Individual mistakes by our centre-backs cost us for each of their two goals.

Bingo it sucks mostly because they've been so good but this is it.

 

[Ban]

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't scored on the rebound. Would've fit nicely with the rest of his shots today. Luckily, for him and for us, he did manage to score so good on him. But, really, you don't think he needs to improve? He could've scored 3 today. He has missed quite a few. Thankfully Mkhitaryan has been really good creating great chances for us.

No. I don't think he needs to improve. He did his job today, not to mention he already has 4 goals in the league. That chance at the end wasn't so easy to score.

He isn't to blame for today's result. Our defense is.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Bad day at the office, simple as that. We're gonna have these sort of games, unfortunately.

Bailly and Jones were very poor, Darmian is a complete non-entity of a player, Matic and Pogba had a serious off-day and our attackers weren't up to much either.

Onto the next one.

 

[Hojoon]

Average performance but conceding two goals by unforced errors from both CBs will make your life a lot difficult.

 

[bdspeedy]

F-ing International breaks. Most of our team were away. We had guys all over the world.
Were any Stoke players called up this break?

 

[NoLogo]

I haven't watched the game yet, but were we really that bad?

We certainly weren't at our best but the chances we allowed were due to individual mistakes today imo.

Only thing that worries be a bit is that our decision making in the final third today again looked rather poor.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

F-ing International breaks. Most of our team were away. We had guys all over the world.
Were any Stoke players called up this break?

Probably more than you would imagine.

 

[Leftback99]

Can't win every game but it's hard to see that we're any better than last season. First real test and we come up short.