[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Will we play in black or the grey/white/stadium disaster?

Grey stained kit.

 

[Duafc]

Grey stained kit.

Bummer.

 

[Mr Smith]

I expect us to play a fair bit of long ball in this game, the same way we did in the away game last season. Klopp's counter-pressing is about winning the ball high up the pitch in the oppositions half, so the best way to counter that is get the ball out of that zone as quickly as possible; its actually more of a defensive strategy than an attacking one in these circumstances. Hope everyone understands this, and we don't get a whole lot of moaning about long balls in the match-day thread...

 

[ManuMou]

Less than 24 hours !

I will take Gerrard own goal 1-0

 

[Camy89]

I expect us to play a fair bit of long ball in this game, the same way we did in the away game last season. Klopp's counter-pressing is about winning the ball high up the pitch in the oppositions half, so the best way to counter that is get the ball out of that zone as quickly as possible; its actually more of a defensive strategy than an attacking one in these circumstances. Hope everyone understands this, and we don't get a whole lot of moaning about long balls in the match-day thread...

Match day threads are full of wankers who moan about the colour of someone's boots, so you can be guaranteed that there'll be moaning about the long balls.

It's moan HQ. I enjoy nothing more than winding some the drama queens up.

 

[Mr Smith]

DDG vs Minolet In net there's no comparison;

Valencia vs Gomez Man versus boy
Bailly vs Matip Hard versus hardly worth the money
Jones vs Lovren Tough versus tepid
Young vs Moreno Smart rather than foolish

Herrera vs Henderson MUFC Player of the year versus England's most over-rated midfielder
Matic vs Can Matic can (and does); Can, cannot!
Mhki vs Wijnaldum Guile & fluid versus fast and fit - perhaps the closest of battles?

Lukaku vs Salah I've been impressed by Salah and his efforts, but who hasn't been impressed with Big Luk!
Mata vs Coutinho Mata will shut Coutinho down as he always does
Martial vs Firminho I think Martial gets the nod but whether him or Rashford, Firminho will be quieted.

On paper, even at Spamfield, I see this 2 nil United all day, regardless of which "system" Jose decides to go with.

I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but a man-to-man comparison is probably one of the worst ways of comparing a team. Firstly, very few of these are actually battles; a battle should refer to a player's direct opponent (thus, Jones should be compared to Firmino/Sturridge, Lukaku to Lovren or Matip, Salah to Young, Matic to Wijnaldum, etc.

Secondly, it completely ignores tactics. Liverpool's players are high energy and press relentlessly. As such, we're unlikely to see Matic (for example) play the way he has recently; he won't have time on the ball and will often be required to play it long. Mourinho certainly won't want him to dribble out of trouble the way he has in some recent games. As such, Lukaku in particular is likely to be quite isolated for large periods of the game, so a match-up between say, him and Lovren could be more about arial ability than other parts of each player's game (such as Lukaku's finishing or Lovren's positioning).

For example, we've seen Lukaku miss his fair share of chances this season. To his credit, he has never once let a miss faze him, and usually scores the next chance he gets. However, given the premise that Liverpool will dominate possession, while we will sit back and play long (we're unlikely to build attacks from our half as it plays to Liverpool's counter-pressing strengths), its possible Lukaku won't get more than one or two chances, and as such needs to be absolutely ruthless.

Similarly, the recent way we've used our fullbacks may not be as advantageous in this game. Recently, Valencia and Young have been able to fly forward, but given the pace in Liverpool's team (especially Salah), they will be required to have a lot more discipline. We may, as a result, have a width issue at times when going forward (a good way to fix this would be to play a back 3, which would give at least one wingback license to go forward when we have the ball in their half).

I don't mean for any of this to be an attack on you, and its certainly encouraging to see the ability and form of our players when compared to theirs. However, don't think for a second that has a great deal of bearing on this particular match. Particular features of Liverpool's team will nullify several features that have made our team so good in recent games. I still think we'll win, but this will be a hard-fought (and not necessarily pretty) game.

 

[Klopp_De_Klown]

DDG​

TonyV Bailly Jones Young

Herrera Matic​

Mata Mkhitaryan Rash

Lukaku
​

Hope everyone understands this, and we don't get a whole lot of moaning about long balls in the match-day thread...

Match day threads are full of wankers who moan about the colour of someone's boots, so you can be guaranteed that there'll be moaning about the long balls.

Didn't liverpool play more long balls than United in the last game. Where Klopp was bitching about long balls.

 

[Camy89]

DDG​

TonyV Bailly Jones Young

Herrera Matic​

Mata Mkhitaryan Rash

Lukaku
​

Didn't liverpool play more long balls than United in the last game. Where Klopp was bitching about long balls.

Sounds about right, but RAWK started going on about how their long balls are tactical rather than 'lumping it' balls. Some dressed up bullshit.

I don't mind the long balls at all, not when most of our players are about 185cm+. Mhki, Martial and Herrera are excused from this.

 

[Mr Smith]

Didn't liverpool play more long balls than United in the last game. Where Klopp was bitching about long balls.

They did, but that's beside the point. We will play long, both as a defensive tactic (to beat their high press) and as an attacking tactic (to get Lukaku and Martial/Rashford in behind).

 

[SER19]

Think it will be

De gea

Valencia
Jones
Bailly
Young

Matic
Herrera

Lingard
Mkhitaryan
Rashford

Lukaku

 

[Infordin]

Will you guys be disappointed in Mourinho if he parks the bus and gets a 0-0 draw?

 

[jymufc20]

Will you guys be disappointed in Mourinho if he parks the bus and gets a 0-0 draw?

Yes.

 

[Infordin]

OK then, since Pogba is obviously impervious to criticism on this forum:


There are a few half-hearted attempts to block some of those goals (#5 from Davis, #6 from Nasri/Zabaleta, #9 Southampton again) but on all of those, players are at least sticking a foot out to try and block.

Tell me one goal from that clip where anybody is defending as lazily as Pogba. He just starts playing walking football allowing Coutinho to step right across him with a free shooting path to goal and doesn't even attempt to block the shot.

Great player with extraordinary technical and physical ability but he's not perfect and there is improvement to be had in areas; defensively he could contribute a bit more focus and effort at times.

I don't believe that Pogba is lazy. I just don't think he has a clue defensively. He doesn't sense danger like Vidal does, for instance.

There's nothing wrong with that though; every player has their own strengths and weaknesses. Pogba has incredible technical and physical abilities which make him an immense force going forward. That's why he plays best when he has someone like Matic alongside him.

 

[Sammyjunn]

I wish Martial starts but have a feeling it's Rashford.

 

[Strachans Cigar]

It'll be scouse pressing & a Mourinho hoof fest until Liverpool inevitably tire. Then we'll kill them off, with superior options off the bench if necessary.

 

[Mr Smith]

I wish Martial starts but have a feeling it's Rashford.

Depends on the formation I feel. If we play 4-2-3-1, it will absolutely be Rashford. If we play 3-4-3, there's a good chance it'll be Martial (far less defensive responsibility).

 

[Joseunited]

For whatever reason I'm not at all nervous for the game. For the first time ever I actually feel like I'll just enjoy the game, it's an odd feeling.

Wait until you sober up.

 

[NoPace]

I don't expect Mata to start away at Anfield. I think that any of these 3 options is more likely:

1. Rashford on the right with Martial out left.
2. Lingard on the right or as the 10 with Mkhitaryan out right
3. 5 across the back

 

[Mcking]

Erm, so its D-Day huh?

 

[Sammyjunn]

Depends on the formation I feel. If we play 4-2-3-1, it will absolutely be Rashford. If we play 3-4-3, there's a good chance it'll be Martial (far less defensive responsibility).

But why? Martial would rip their defence to pieces.

 

[Santoryo]

Will you guys be disappointed in Mourinho if he parks the bus and gets a 0-0 draw?

Yes.

If we get 0-0 it'll only be acceptable if we tried, not one acquired through playing for a draw and stopping the opposition rather than just trying to win.

 

[carlosp]

Gary 27:40

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Will you guys be disappointed in Mourinho if he parks the bus and gets a 0-0 draw?

That would mean that our strikers wasted numerous chances on the counter against a weak Liverpool defence, so yes I would be bemoaning our lack of killer touch.

 

[ManuMou]

Any chance for Pogba to pop out later ?

 

[fredriti]

Game at 0430 here in 4K! Thought I could go to bed early but no way. Staying up. Going to my Manc friend’s house to watch and it may be snowing but wouldn’t miss it for the world. One does not watch this game alone.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

Any chance for Pogba to pop out later ?

you mean play ???

 

[dwd]

Really hope I am wrong but I think we are in for a shock today.

 

[ManuMou]

Confident. Excited. And of course nervous !

That's why we all watch soccer ! Bring it on ! Come on big Rom just fecking score it

 

[OohAahMartial]

This game is like no other. Been building up to this one for days, maybe due to the international break but it really does feel like a Cup Final. One which I expect us to win.

 

[ManuMou]

This game is like no other. Been building up to this one for days, maybe due to the international break but it really does feel like a Cup Final. One which I expect us to win.

Agree.

Our tactical mastermind has two weeks to prepare. Every details of the tactic matters in a very, very tight game like this. Hope he gets it right !

 

[roonster09]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[carlosp]

This game is like no other. Been building up to this one for days, maybe due to the international break but it really does feel like a Cup Final. One which I expect us to win.

Yeah, it's been building since last week. It's getting to a crescendo now. Really excited today. 3 and a half hours

 

[ManuMou]

Yeah, it's been building since last week. It's getting to a crescendo now. Really excited today. 3 and a half hours

If we lose the Caf will explode like no tomorrow

 

[SwansonsTache]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

If true it probably means 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.

 

[Jean claude van hire]

Oh shit here we go

 

[OohAahMartial]

Agree.

Our tactical mastermind has two weeks to prepare. Every details of the tactic matters in a very, very tight game like this. Hope he gets it right !

Klopp complained of only having two days to prepare but I reckon Jose has probably prepared since last season's game and certainly in great detail during the break. Will be fascinating to see how he sets the team up. He may even go 3 at the back or have a dedicated man marker or some unpredictable tactical variation-- I just hope we have an offensive period of the game, though I don't expect that at the start of it. Think we will start by pressing and fouling and playing keep ball, to frustrate and silence the crowd, and play counter. Then when we start to control the tempo to start taking the game to them around the 25th minute mark. Just hope we take our chances and remain focussed.

 

[KM]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Good choice. He'll be fresh too considering he hasn't played for 2 weeks.

 

[OohAahMartial]

Good choice. He'll be fresh too considering he hasn't played for 2 weeks.

This. Big boost to have when you consider how tired Countinho and Firminho must be. Martial might have a field day with this defense.

 

[barmyarmy]

Hopefully he has a blinder and we win it comfortably

 

[carlosp]

3 hours