[Infra-red]

After that thrashing Pep could think two ways:

1. Rest the first team, they have a massive task on Tueday and they need to be fresh, we can win the league next weekend, feck united!

2. We’re out of the Champions league lets smash united and win the league Saturday and take our chances Tuesday!

I think he will opt for Option 1! Rest 5-6 players with Tuesdays task in mind.

Option 2. He knows they're probably out of the CL, he'll want the good news story of winning the league vs the local rivals to mitigate the disappointment/press reaction resulting from last night.

They'll play a strong side. We'll be looking to recreate Liverpool's second-half performance, sit deep, and keep them out/heap more misery on.

 

[Sylar]

Weve had a whole week to focus on this.
City will have had 3 days to focus on this (whilst still having their mind on the liverpool tie that went and coming up).

Would be shameful if we just sit back and pretty much go for a draw.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Option 2. He knows they're probably out of the CL, he'll want the good news story of winning the league vs the local rivals to mitigate the disappointment/press reaction resulting from last night.

They'll play a strong side. We'll be looking to recreate Liverpool's second-half performance, sit deep, and keep them out/heap more misery on.

Yeah we have to be precise and clinical with our counter-atracks. We're not going to beat City in a game of tiki-taka so we have to hurt them when we get the chance to break.

I'd play matic, mct and pogba in a three in midfield and go for a really fluid front three, with no Lukaku. Rashford could play as the 9 with two of Sánchez, Martial and Lingard around him.

That's not how we'll actually play, of course, Lukaku will definitely start. But this lineup would give us more chance of hurting City on the counter.

 

[Trizy]

-Sanchez-Lukaku-Rashford
--Pogba---Matic---Lingard

and press like feck. Get a goal and bring on Scotty and Martial on the hour mark and sit back and try hit them on the break.

 

[Adisa]

I keep telling everyone that suggests we should attack that they shouldn't bother.
Meanwhile, I'm upset at the thought that we're going to go there to defend our box.
I think I'm just trying to cope with the inevitable disappointment.

 

[BootsyCollins]

Lets go at them. Formation not so important as long as the attacking intent is there.
Hope to see the following players

DDG
Valencia Bailly Rojo Young
Matic Pogba McTominay
Lindgard Lukaku Sanchez

 

[Bastian]

A victory against City would decimate further the dynamic they've established this season. Liverpool put a huge dent in that image they've got last night, if they were to lose against us this weekend and then get knocked out by Liverpool in the 2nd leg, they'd end the season quite deflated even with the Prem in the bag. It would be great for next season.

Hoping for an absolutely determined and restless performance from the team, hunting in packs and playing with intensity throughout the game.

 

[Jeffthered]

-Sanchez-Lukaku-Rashford
--Pogba---Matic---Lingard

and press like feck. Get a goal and bring on Scotty and Martial on the hour mark and sit back and try hit them on the break.

I like this. Rashford has to start.. his treatment since the Liverpool game has been both bizarre and downright wrong. We haven't anything to lose, and City will be hurting like feck after last night. What better way for them to respond to the (few) critics that have said a few little things since last night.

Makes for an absolute belter of a match though. And I have a feeling we will win.

 

[crazylegz]

watching liverpool attack man city with a midfield of henderson, chamberlain and james milner! gives no excuses why mourinho shouldn't set the team up to go at man city's defence rather than cowardly parking the bus on saturday?

 

[Water Melon]

watching liverpool attack man city with a midfield of henderson, chamberlain and james milner! gives no excuses why mourinho shouldn't set the team up to go at man city's defence rather than cowardly parking the bus on saturday?

It is because he is a genius. Because if he dares to go at them, they will slaughter us, as if we somehow have much inferior players. If only our manager had CR7 or Messi or Neymar or another half a billion to catch up. Pool did it tremendously under Klopp, hopefully, Mou can get a win too.

 

[shabadu84]

Rashford was quite poor on the right vs Sevilla. Unfortunately, we can only seemingly accommodate one of Rashford, Sanchez, or Martial at one time and they all play best on the left. Mata plays well when he's on the right and Lingard plays well in the #10. It's our best balanced attack right now so I think this trying to shoe-horn them all in is a useless exercise. Mourinho finally seems to be catching on at least. I'd like Rashford to start but I'm sure it will be Sanchez again, who deserves it after the weekend tbf

 

[tomaldinho1]

-Sanchez-Lukaku-Rashford
--Pogba---Matic---Lingard

and press like feck. Get a goal and bring on Scotty and Martial on the hour mark and sit back and try hit them on the break.

I genuinely think Firmino was a big reason their back 4 struggled so much. He's like a false 9 mixed with a target man, it's a really weird combo and is mobile enough to run channels as well. Kompany/Otamendi are ok defenders (full respect to the beast Kompany used to be but he's defo not at the same level) but you can pull them around and neither is lightening fast.

I don't know if that's Lukaku's game and I feel the strengths of both Otamendi/Kompany are dealing with strikers like Lukakau as they're both strong, big and aerially good. If you take away the 'target man' type player and add someone agile & mobile, I think that'll cause them way more issues. Maybe Rashford at 9 :O

 

[Treble]

I don't have any gut feeling about this game. Too many unknowns: will we be too cautious again? Will they rest key players? It's anyone's guess. One thing is needed no matter what: hard work from start to finish. No ball watching in the middle of the park.

 

[Raees]

-Sanchez-Lukaku-Rashford
--Pogba---Matic---Lingard

and press like feck. Get a goal and bring on Scotty and Martial on the hour mark and sit back and try hit them on the break.

That same midfield got torn apart against Spurs.

 

[GeorgieBoy]

We should play the U16s. Give City an easy game so they're more ready to knock out Liverpool come Tuesday.

 

[Wilt]

Attack, park the bus, cheat, foul, dive, anything! ....just don't let City win.

 

[RedDevil@84]

After that thrashing Pep could think two ways:

1. Rest the first team, they have a massive task on Tueday and they need to be fresh, we can win the league next weekend, feck united!

2. We’re out of the Champions league lets smash united and win the league Saturday and take our chances Tuesday!

I think he will opt for Option 1! Rest 5-6 players with Tuesdays task in mind.

Option 2.
I think he rested Delph and Sterling so that he could win it on weekend. Regardless of what he says, he doesn't want to lose to Jose and also wants his team to win it in the derby.
His idea probably was to hold Pool to a scored draw or lose slightly (2-1) and then worry about it in return leg at home.
In between make sure they win against Utd.

 

[Jamie Shawcross]

Mourinho is stubborn. We all want us to attack attack attack, but Jose sets up to not lose against the tougher opponents, always. When we do win, its a scrape. First and foremost, Mourinho won't want city to win the title in front of us, so expect him to prioritise defence. This will shock nobody. I am going for 0-0

 

[Jamie Shawcross]

We are playing a wounded animal who will want nothing more than to bounce back against their bitterest rivals, on a day they can wrap up the title. We are going to be pinned in our defensive third for the majority of the game, its not going to be pretty.

 

[Canagel]

That same midfield got torn apart against Spurs.

I'm convinced it's no longer about the individuals. It's a coaching effort which is required to make sure these players are drilled and know what they're doing. Matic, Pogba and Lingard aren't worse than Henderson, Milner and Chamberlain. We are have some of the best individuals in the league but it means feck all if they aren't drilled together as cohesive unit.

 

[Raees]

I'm convinced it's no longer about the individuals. It's a coaching effort which is required to make sure these players are drilled and know what they're doing. Matic, Pogba and Lingard aren't worse than Henderson, Milner and Chamberlain. We are have some of the best individuals in the league but it means feck all if they aren't drilled together as cohesive unit.

It's not just about ability - look at the natural playing mentalities of all those players .. the Liverpool trio is naturally more defensive and disciplined in nature even without the coaching input. Even a defensive master like Jose will struggle to teach Lingard and Pogba to naturally take up good defensive positions throughout 90 minutes. Disaster waiting to happen IMO.

 

[SER19]

De gea

Valencia
Bailly
Rojo
Young

Matic
Herrera
Pogba

Lingard
Lukaku
Sanchez

 

[PieCrust]

Regardless of the lineup Pep puts out there, if Jose goes and parks the bus and just prays for moments of individual brilliance from our attackers (i.e., not having any attacking plan other than hoof it up to Lukaku and pray), we will lose. You can't concede possession to City the entire match and let them tiki-taka around the park. It's what they want and City is the best team in the league breaking down 10 defending players in a 30 yard area.

Jose can still play a defensive, counter-attacking approach, but he has to press City into errors and we have to have some sort of tactic to attack City's goal. The more we concede possession the more their confidence will grow into the match and it's just a time bombing ticking until they score.

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

Only 8 pages? What's going on here?

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Only 8 pages? What's going on here?

Pessimism

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

Regardless of the lineup Pep puts out there, if Jose goes and parks the bus and just prays for moments of individual brilliance from our attackers (i.e., not having any attacking plan other than hoof it up to Lukaku and pray), we will lose. You can't concede possession to City the entire match and let them tiki-taka around the park. It's what they want and City is the best team in the league breaking down 10 defending players in a 30 yard area.

Jose can still play a defensive, counter-attacking approach, but he has to press City into errors and we have to have some sort of tactic to attack City's goal. The more we concede possession the more their confidence will grow into the match and it's just a time bombing ticking until they score.

Ironically, if Mourinho wants to play the bus tactic, the only thing going for him is the fact that we are away. I can only imagine the crowd if we were at home and we started playing ultra-defensive.

But there really is no reason for him to defend in this game. It's been proven that pressing is the only way to put pressure on City, and we tend to look a little brittle when we park the bus, as we don't have 100% reliable defenders and DM's to do this effectively.

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

Pessimism

As long as it's pessimism and not realism. We can't let this happen tomorrow. Have to come out guns blazing.

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

Do you think Mou will skip Bailly again tomorrow? He had some theory about the guy not passing correctly for the tactics against Swansea. Don't quite get it.

Ideally we should play Bailly and Mike at the back, with current form in question. I don't know if we can just throw Bailly and Rojo back together. They're both just back from injury. Might be a risk.

 

[StonedhamsterZA]

I'm convinced it's no longer about the individuals. It's a coaching effort which is required to make sure these players are drilled and know what they're doing. Matic, Pogba and Lingard aren't worse than Henderson, Milner and Chamberlain. We are have some of the best individuals in the league but it means feck all if they aren't drilled together as cohesive unit.

Completely agree. Sadly, money can't buy cohesion, and we are proof of that.

 

[MV12]

We are going to have a go at them 100%.. we'll make it a much more physical game than they'll want.

Guys, I think there is zero chance that we'll just sit back and let them walk all over us!

Also, Pep will not put out his strongest team as he'll still believe they're in with a shout of still going though in the CL. Thus won't chance his best players, when in reality the game against us is purely a thing of bragging rights and not a whole lot more.

1-2 United WIN!!

 

[togg]

Only 8 pages? What's going on here?

I think people are putting off talking about it. I think most people, even the ones with optimistic bravado, wouldn't be surprised if we got well beaten. It's one of those games you just think 'oh get on with it and get it done'.....!

 

[mitchmouse]

Well, Liverpool have shown people how to take on City but I'm hearing rumours that Jose has hired a second bus for the day!

 

[ZAGREB RED]

If he wasn't already, Guardiola will surely be seriously thinking about resting some players for the Derby tomorrow, especially if Aguero doesn't look like making the second leg, doubt he will risk Jesus - Sane, De Bruyne and Kompany also possibly.
Even if United win, it's just a bloody nose for City, they need a monster of a performance and result against Liverpool next week.

 

[Jig1234]

Are we good at pressing?

It always seems half-assed. One or two players doing it. I don't think we defend well without the ball. I would be very surprised if we can do a Liverpool and press collectively as well as they did midweek.

 

[ice-bionic red]

Big game for Jose this. Time to make up for the Sevilla performance which was a sackable offence (for me)

 

[Treble]

Clever and intense pressing will be much needed, otherwise it will be like Everton who were ball watching and destroyed.

 

[fergieisold]

Are we good at pressing?

It always seems half-assed. One or two players doing it. I don't think we defend well without the ball. I would be very surprised if we can do a Liverpool and press collectively as well as they did midweek.

I think we've played a pressing game very well previously. Chelsea last year springs to mind - but it's so random when we do play it well, we can play shit for a couple of weeks against lesser teams and then go and beat a good team with organised pressing.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Even if we beat City, half our fan base will still moan about something.

 

[Greck]

Hate to say it but the kind of pressing that gets to City isn't the headless chicken tevez style, it's the systemic one where players identify and clog passing lanes before closing down the ball. Easier said than done, best to have worked on it season long.

 

[Smores]

Are we good at pressing?

It always seems half-assed. One or two players doing it. I don't think we defend well without the ball. I would be very surprised if we can do a Liverpool and press collectively as well as they did midweek.

We do have the players but it means dropping Lukaku and Martial. If we want to press from the front we'd be better going with Sanchez as a false 9 with Rashford and Lingard making the runs in behind.

Making that work for a one off game against tough opposition is a different ball game to Liverpool who do it every week.