Players in their correct positions please?

[Peanut Butter]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

 

[SwSw]

We all are curious to know why.

Getting really fed up with Pogba's defensive work rate. Utterly disgusting. He jogs around like he isn't interested.

 

[arthurka]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

Still dont get why in form Martial was shipped out to the right ? That for me is just bad management..

 

[AltiUn]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

Thing is it's very hard to argue with Martial being shifted out of position, Sanchez is far too good not to be played in his best position. Biggest mystery is why we still haven't signed a proper right winger in about 5 years.

 

[SuperiorXI]

We all are curious to know why.

Getting really fed up with Pogba's defensive work rate. Utterly disgusting. He jogs around like he isn't interested.

Remember when we signed him? "I can do everything"

My arse.

 

[stepic]

Agree with all of that OP.

It’s ridiculous that Jose persists with it. I’ve been pro Jose all the way but playing 5 attackers is just mental. No logic. How does everyone see it but him?

 

[Damien]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

Alexis prefers to be on the left. I doubt we'll ever see Martial on the left, Lukaku at #9 and Alexis on the right from the start of a game.

I thought we were going to sign someone to sort out our problem area on the right. Instead we've added another number to the left. Alexis on the left will continue so we may as well sell Martial, bring in a proper right winger and have Rashford on the bench as backup.

 

[whatwha]

Agree on all points @Peanut Butter
Alexis is good enough to adapt to playing on the right.

 

[Dan_F]

I don’t have a huge problem with Martial playing on the right, as long as he’s given license to roam. Simple fact is we’ll never have a team with Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez and Martial all playing in their favoured position.

Hopefully Mourinho decides to put the balance of the team right instead of worrying about who is going to be dropped. McTomminay might not be as good as Lingard, but he’s certainly more suited to playing in a midfield three with Pogba and Matic.

Surely Mourinho has to try pushing Pogba further forward and sacrificing Lingard.

 

[kouroux]

I don’t have a huge problem with Martial playing on the right, as long as he’s given license to roam. Simple fact is we’ll never have a team with Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez and Martial all playing in their favoured position.

Hopefully Mourinho decides to put the balance of the team right instead of worrying about who is going to be dropped. McTomminay might not be as good as Lingard, but he’s certainly more suited to playing in a midfield three with Pogba and Matic.

Surely Mourinho has to try pushing Pogba further forward and sacrificing Lingard.

Don't forget Lingard. It adds to the whole confusion. Zero balance

 

[Ekeke]

Alexis used to play on the right for Chile didnt he? Think I remember that from the World Cup before he went to Barcelona

 

[Dan_F]

Don't forget Lingard. It adds to the whole confusion. Zero balance

Agreed. I just think he has to be the one sacrificed for now. He’s scored some brilliant goals, but clearly he’s not as good as Pogba, Sanchez or Martial.

 

[2mufc0]

Alexis used to play on the right for Chile didnt he? Think I remember that from the World Cup before he went to Barcelona

Played there for Barca most of the time. However since his Arsenal move played majority of the time on the left, centre also played some games on the right but not that many.

 

[kouroux]

Agreed. I just think he has to be the one sacrificed for now. He’s scored some brilliant goals, but clearly he’s not as good as Pogba, Sanchez or Martial.

Exactly. Play Pogba in his place and replace him with Herrera

 

[SwSw]

I don’t have a huge problem with Martial playing on the right, as long as he’s given license to roam. Simple fact is we’ll never have a team with Lukaku, Pogba, Sanchez and Martial all playing in their favoured position.

Hopefully Mourinho decides to put the balance of the team right instead of worrying about who is going to be dropped. McTomminay might not be as good as Lingard, but he’s certainly more suited to playing in a midfield three with Pogba and Matic.

Surely Mourinho has to try pushing Pogba further forward and sacrificing Lingard.

Balance is the right word to address what we are currently lacking.

For starters, our best crosser of the ball is Lukaku. We have two inverted forwards who can't cross and only do so at the last resort. Well, isn't that bad to play with inverted forwards since in modern day football, width is provided by the fullbacks. Well, our best attacking fullback, someone who actually makes a run and whips in a cross with his favorite foot is benched for away games. On the right, we have a fullback who is all engine and no finesse.

Now, let's move on to the midfield. Boggles my mind why Mourinho repeatedly persists with a pivot with Pogba. Is he trying to prove a point? If he favors the pivot, play McTominay and Matic. If he wants to play Pogba, drop Lingard and play a 3 man midfield. Pogba can take up the entire left flank since Sanchez loves to drift in field.

Work ethic. I'm sick and tired of players like Martial and Pogba only coming into life when the ball is at their feet. I mean, do they seriously think the opponent is just going to sit back and watch them play? Fight for the right to play ffs.

 

[Ekeke]

Played there for Barca most of the time. However since his Arsenal move played majority of the time on the left, centre also played some games on the right but not that many.

And when in form at Udinese he played as a left striker of a 2 up front.

 

[YouOnlyLiveTwice]

Sanchez is clearly our best attacker, but i question the idea of buying him and then shoehorning other players to fit him in. We needed/need a right winger, but it doesn't seem like we have gained one, we have simply bought a better player on the left, at the cost of maybe disrupting a team that was doing quite well.

 

[stevoc]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

You're not alone there mate.

I thought we were bringing Sanchez into play on the right. If he was brought into be another option on the left then im honestly not sure why we bothered.

 

[Jaybomb]

I’m not listening to this.

Martial cost us the game today with his three clear cut chances.

It had nothing to do with him playing on the right ffs. He’s just not good enough.

 

[el3mel]

Since we got Sanchez, Mourinho have been trying to push all our attacking players in one formation and this unbalanced the whole team and serves no one any good. There's no balanced formation that will see Pogba, Lingard, Sanchez, Martial and Lukaku, whatever we try some will play in unfavorable position and will unbalance the whole team. Weird he seems to acknowledge that when we were talking about playing Rashford and Martial together but now he's doing that obvious mistake. It's on him at the moment.

Time to think about putting a balanced system rather than gathering all top players on the pitch. This formation we tried against Spurs and Newcastle are never going to work.

 

[VeevaVee]

Wish everyone would shut up about Martial on the right. He was bang average on the left loads too.

 

[Random Task]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

1. Ashley is a competent leftback and has proven such throughout the season. Shaw was due a rest and based on his earlier form Young should have been a seemless replacement.

2. Jose relies on the Pogba-Matic duo as his defensive rock, the trouble is Lingard is not playing up to scratch at present. We need a new midfieler in the summer to play along side Matic, releasing Pogba in a more attacking role. This "Pogba playing deep" won't extend beyond this season.

3. No other reason other than to accommodate Sanchez, which is a little unfair considering how well Martial was playing down the left prior to Sanchez's arrival. The latter is equally effective down the right, yet Jose chooses to believe otherwise or perhaps he simply wishes to ease Sanchez transition from Arsenal by playing him in his most favoured role.

4. Shaw needs a rest.

5. In a 4-3-3? Maybe. Jose needs to make some quality additions to the midfield before he starts tinkering with the formation though. After Pogba and Matic we don't have any world class midfielders (in my honest opinion)

6. Absolutely what I would go with.

7. Young and Valencia converted to fullbacks before Jose took charge at United.

 

[mk7]

I seriously do not get the talk about any of our attacking players being played out of position. These are highly talented players, why should they not be able to play on either side of the wing? Should take no more than 1 game at most to become more versatile ...

Pogba on the other hand is a serious problem for us.

 

[M Bison]

Someone commented on Pogba and the midfield 3 thing in the match thread or his performance thread.

If Shelvey can manage in a 2, why can’t pogba?

I’d hardly say having Young at left back caused us the problem either, in essence I don’t agree with the thread, I just think certain players need to give a lot more and try a bit harder.

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Feels like we've been doing this sort of thing for years. Truly mind boggling.

 

[davidmichael]

I’ve been saying for ages that regardless of a few good games against weaker opposition Young should NEVER be a left back, I don’t get why Shaw isn’t first choice seeing as we’re constantly hearing or reading reports that we’re not in for a left back because of Shaw’s form ?

It’s a straight choice between Sanchez or Martial on the left unless Martial is playing as the central striker or him and Sanchez interchange between left and centre, Sanchez CAN play on the right but is world class on the left so should be first choice but Martial shouldn’t be shoehorned into the right sided role just so he plays as he clearly struggles on the right.

Pogba is pointless in a midfield two unless we literally see him stripped of all of his natural game and he basically just sits with Matic and plays similar to Carrick where his only attribute needed is passing albeit from very deep, if it’s a choice between 4-2-3-1 so Lingard can play or 4-3-3 so we get the best of Pogba who’s world class and our best player then surely we go 4-3-3 ?

 

[gerdm07]

Now before anyone has a go, I am usually optimistic when it comes to Jose and Utd but something that rears its head every single matchday needs to be addressed.

Why does Jose persist with:

A winger at left back
Pogba deep in a midfield two
Martial shifted out to the right

How difficult is it to simply play Shaw at left back, who is actually pretty decent there?

Pogba on the left of a midfield 3, with Matic and one of McTominay or Herrera slightly behind him.

Martial on the left, Lukaku as the number 9 and Sanchez as a right sided forward?

Why on earth does Jose persist with players out of positions or where he doesn't get the best out of them?!

It boggles the mind.

So by your thoughts everyone should play in their best position except for Sanchez, his best is on the left, who is also our best player. I'm not sure I understand this logic.

 

[ravi2]

You're not alone there mate.

I thought we were bringing Sanchez into play on the right. If he was brought into be another option on the left then im honestly not sure why we bothered.

I thought Sanchez was going to play RW as well, martial isn't as effective coming from the right.
Not sure what Jose is thinking here

 

[Random Task]

So by your thoughts everyone should play in their best position except for Sanchez, his best is on the left, who is also our best player. I'm not sure I understand this logic.

True Sanchez is most effective come off the left flank, then again so is Martial.

The former is equally proficient playing down the right while Martial clearly is not. Stands to reason that Jose plays Martial down the left and Sanchez down the right, no?

 

[redIndianDevil]

We all are curious to know why.

Getting really fed up with Pogba's defensive work rate. Utterly disgusting. He jogs around like he isn't interested.

What's with the constant moaning about defensive work rate these days, don't see the same criticism on our defenders not contributing enough to the attack like playing from the back instead of hoofing it away. Newcastle today never really threatened until their goal and that goal too came due to the sheer stupidity of a defender and our defenders inability to deal with a set piece. What we should be talking about after today's match is our inability to create good number of clear chances for our forwards not just two the entire match. Only in our team is a world class attacker expected to do the job of two people, our team is not set up for our best attackers and creative players to flourish.

 

[redIndianDevil]

True Sanchez is most effective come off the left flank, then again so is Martial.

The former is equally proficient playing down the right while Martial clearly is not. Stands to reason that Jose plays Martial down the left and Sanchez down the right, no?

At this point I'd event try Sanchez upfront like Arsenal did last season to good result. Lukaku hasn't been very good especially in the tight areas.

 

[SwSw]

What's with the constant moaning about defensive work rate these days, don't see the same criticism on our defenders not contributing enough to the attack like playing from the back instead of hoofing it away. Newcastle today never really threatened until their goal and that goal too came due to the sheer stupidity of a defender and our defenders inability to deal with a set piece. What we should be talking about after today's match is our inability to create good number of clear chances for our forwards not just two the entire match. Only in our team is a world class attacker expected to do the job of two people, our team is not set up for our best attackers and creative players to flourish.

You need a solid base before you can peak/flourish. I'm a firm believer of that.

How can we expect to create when our players looks disinterested when the ball is lost. Do you expect the opponent to just sit there and let us pass the ball around. Jonjo badly bossed our midfield of Pogba and Matic around. How pathetic is that?

We need to lock down the midfield before we can expect our attackers to flourish. The defenders are hoofing the ball up because our midfield is weak.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Wish everyone would shut up about Martial on the right. He was bang average on the left loads too.

Apart from the 3 match winning goals he got just before Sanchez signed?

 

[VeevaVee]

Apart from the 3 match winning goals he got just before Sanchez signed?

Yes, apart from 3 games

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Thing is it's very hard to argue with Martial being shifted out of position, Sanchez is far too good not to be played in his best position. Biggest mystery is why we still haven't signed a proper right winger in about 5 years.

It's easy to argue against. Alexis has been nothing great in his supposed favorite position. And he's a good enough footballer to do well on the right/in the middle and has a track record of that (unlike Martial).

 

[Z1L3]

We all are curious to know why.

Getting really fed up with Pogba's defensive work rate. Utterly disgusting. He jogs around like he isn't interested.

Agreed. As I said in a different thread: The big negative is Pogba; he is spoiled and unprofessional. And before people start with the whole debate of his favorite position, let me just remind you that he's not there for his own entertainment. He's paid a ton of money to play for the team and do what his manager tells him to do. And if that means holding position in the midfield and actually putting in a defensive effort, that he needs to shut up and do it. Alexis joined 3 games ago and he's fighting for the shirt like he grew up in the club. If the rest of the "stars" had is attitude, United would win the treble this season.

Still dont get why in form Martial was shipped out to the right ? That for me is just bad management..

He had 3 clear cut chances in that position today, and was involved in a bunch of other excellent attacks that fell apart in the last pass.

Look, you can go on and on about the players' positions, but the fact to the matter is that the team is filled with "stars" who aren't capable of executing simple passes and converting clear cut chances, yet we keep hearing about their favorite positions. Why didn't Martial score that 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper? Why do they keep missing the final pass? They need to close their twitter accounts and roll up their sleeves and play like Sanchez.

 

[Jericholyte2]

Thing is it's very hard to argue with Martial being shifted out of position, Sanchez is far too good not to be played in his best position. Biggest mystery is why we still haven't signed a proper right winger in about 5 years.

Problem with that is that with Martial, Limhard and Mata on the right, the all shift centrally, so why not have Martial on the left where he's been really effective recently and have Alexis (start) on the right with essentially a free role?

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Do you not mostly play 4-2-3-1 though? So you never gonna have 3 in the middle.

 

[Schmiznurf]

I wish Smalling would be played in his proper position too, Left Back at home.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Do you not mostly play 4-2-3-1 though? So you never gonna have 3 in the middle.

Yeah we do which is the problem right there, everyone can see that doesn’t work for us but our manager who persists with it every fecking match.