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What happens when we come up against decent opposition? | Errr

yumtum

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What impressed me against Cardiff was that Ole seen that we were starting to get overrun, and basically flooded the midfield, I know it was only Cardiff, but he had a plan to deal with it and acted on it accordingly.

We'll soon see how we perform against a top team in January.
 

Di Maria's angel

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I think our attack has the potential to dismantle most defences in this league. I know we ended up losing 0-3, but the game against Tottenham, for half an hour, illustrated this teams potential when they play in a positive manner.
 

kidbob

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The 5-3 away to Leicester under LVG still haunts me, I’d be concerned it’s the type of performance and result that this team has in it if it goes gung-ho against anyone with a bit of quality. It certainly freaked the feck out of Van Gaal, and it’s the type of thing Mourinho went way over-the-top to guard against.
Man we lost 5-0 to Newcastle under Fergie. Pep's Barca lost 2-0 to Hercules. What scares me is having a manager who believes that having a result like that means that he should give up on his ideas. All teams have bad days. The best managers realise them for what they are and then lift their players again. Against Liverpool last week was the worst Man United performance I have ever seen. We had alrady conceded defeat before kick off and even defending for our lives we were lucky not to lose 5-0. I'd rather lose 10-0 and attack than lose 5-0 playing like cowards.

Hopefully Ole is someone who doesn't let one result change his confidence in this team.

Side note: in GAA at under 16 I once lost a game by 1 point to a team (a team much worse than us than united are to City) and at the end of the year we beat them by 20 points in a final with both teams fielding the exact same players. Ergo any team can have an off day and lose to any team. The important thing is to keeping striving to attack. Pep didn't win the League in his first season with City but instilled an attacking attitude, Klopp has taken 3 years to get here. Yes they have added players but the attacking ethos has been in place since day one and defeats haven't changed that thinking. Hopefully Ole can get the attitude right and his successor can buy the players to finish the job.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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A 'better' push for 4th even if I think its beyond him and anyone else given the form of those above us. Even if we finish 6th thats ok if the football stays at a good level. The important thing is getting the structure of the club right with Ole in charge from youth and scouting to first team and I think he'll improve us there more so than league position!
What about we all need to stop creating this type of thread, just enjoy the football, don't think too much and only start mentioning 4th place in March or April if we really do in.
 

OldPop

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If you instead ask what happens when we fall back and focus on defense then we already know the answer, we lose to the teams that are top 6.

We also know that we have attack players who can give every defender problems, at least if they get good support from the midfield. It gives us the opportunity to win some of the games we would otherwise have lost.

We will certainly also lose some matches with more goals than we had if everyone focused on defense. But if points are more important than goals, I think the answer is given. We must dare to attack more.
 

2cents

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Man we lost 5-0 to Newcastle under Fergie.
Aye I remember, lost 6-3 at The Dell around the same time. It was panic stations all around, although we were Champions and went on to win the league again with ease.

I think the 6-1 against City did affect Fergie in a big way, when you consider how we started that season all guns blazing and then look at how we approached the title decider at the Etihad later on. It may be unrelated to the 6-1, but I’ve always felt that those couple of months at the start of 11/12 were the last time we saw Fergie’s United in full flow. As entertaining as 12/13 was at times, I don’t really recall a consistent, extended run of great form and blowing teams away.
 

el3mel

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Aye I remember, lost 6-3 at The Dell around the same time. It was panic stations all around, although we were Champions and went on to win the league again with ease.

I think the 6-1 against City did affect Fergie in a big way, when you consider how we started that season all guns blazing and then look at how we approached the title decider at the Etihad later on. It may be unrelated to the 6-1, but I’ve always felt that those couple of months at the start of 11/12 were the last time we saw Fergie’s United in full flow. As entertaining as 12/13 was at times, I don’t really recall a consistent, extended run of great form and blowing teams away.
Aye the start of this season was great, still remember it, 8-2 on Arsenal, 3-0 on Spurs and 5-0 on Bolton I think. Everyone was talking about how fast and aggressive we were and that we'll dominate the league. That 6-1 brought us down to earth and really the season was just .. full of problems I believe. Weird season.
 

redDNA

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Liverpool had the same problem before they bought VVD.

It is obvious that our defense is a big worry;but when a team is always on the front foot;the opposition will camp in their half defending thereby giving our defense little or nothing to do;we saw it yesterday against Cardiff;our defense played a high line.

The danger is when a team lumps balls over the line ;they can create a one vs one with DDG.Just like they did against Lindelof

The solution is to play defenders with pace and good recovery;and to train DDG to come of his line early enough to make clearances just like City and Liverpool.

If you give a defensive coach this city team;they will concede about the same number of goals as we have conceded or more;but their attacking and possession football masks their deficiencies;nothing masks a bad defense like attacking football;this is also true for that great Barca side.
 

Sylar

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I think we've been fooled long enough to think a lot of these players have no talent and have to try and contain other teams rather than impose themselves

When we attack we can score
When we try and park the bus we are simply not good enough and almost always concede

I reckon we play similar and keep up a high press with fullbacks pushing opposition wingers in the other direction
 

RedTiger

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The 5-3 away to Leicester under LVG still haunts me, I’d be concerned it’s the type of performance and result that this team has in it if it goes gung-ho against anyone with a bit of quality. It certainly freaked the feck out of Van Gaal, and it’s the type of thing Mourinho went way over-the-top to guard against.
Man, LVGs tenure would have been so so different if that Leicester game had gone out way. He just became shell-shocked.
 

RedorDead21

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What about we all need to stop creating this type of thread, just enjoy the football, don't think too much and only start mentioning 4th place in March or April if we really do in.
But then we might as well close redcafe? The whole point is to discuss? People only enjoy winning football. Ole will suffer and so will his legacy if we go backwards. Legends as big as him have all been sacked and abused because of a poor string of results.
 

VeevaVee

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Wait and see. Don't know why people need to throw things into the fray that don't need to be yet.
 

RedDevil@84

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Let us see if Ole can come up with a defensive plan for good teams. Else take the other route and try to outscore the opposition

And for the moment, I don't care. We scored 5. Doesn't matter if it was Cardiff.
 

Thepinhead

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For me it is quite simple. As Ole said himself. You can't win every game but no team should outwork a manchester united team.
 

OttoH

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It should be pretty open games if both teams get on there trying to run the game.
Then the risk/reward thing comes along. If we can get ahead, Things could be fun. But we could also get exploited…

I can see us having games against well organized teams where we dominate possession, but struggle to get good chances. And then we lose on a Counter.

And while Solskjær has lifted the mood, is he capable of the tactical chess game against Pochettini, Klopp or Guardiola?
 

charlenefan

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Jesus it was one game, let's wait and see if he can beat Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Reading before asking what happens when he plays a good side
 

kidbob

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Aye I remember, lost 6-3 at The Dell around the same time. It was panic stations all around, although we were Champions and went on to win the league again with ease.

I think the 6-1 against City did affect Fergie in a big way, when you consider how we started that season all guns blazing and then look at how we approached the title decider at the Etihad later on. It may be unrelated to the 6-1, but I’ve always felt that those couple of months at the start of 11/12 were the last time we saw Fergie’s United in full flow. As entertaining as 12/13 was at times, I don’t really recall a consistent, extended run of great form and blowing teams away.
Yeah mate the 6-1 rattled us but I'm sad it did especially considering the red card for Evans in that game. I still think a younger Fergie would have shaken it off but alas he was a bit more conservative then, understandingly. I still think LVG shouldn't have reacted the way he did to one result especially considering Rafa's bullshit red card (which if I remember rightly LVG stupidly never forgave Rafa for). The football under LVG was actually not bad until then. I guess I just want (and I'm sure the rest do) a manager who is committed to attack and any hiccups along the way won't change the believe to continue that way. I mean Pep isn't going to rip up his play book due to the Palace result.
 

kidbob

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Jesus it was one game, let's wait and see if he can beat Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Reading before asking what happens when he plays a good side
Agree but just want to point out that Bournemouth are a 'good' side compared to most of the League. Actually they should prove an interesting game for a new system.
 

DeGea

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When we come up against decent opposition, we might still win, but 4-3 or 3-2 rather than 5-1.

However if the opposition's defence is good, we might have a problem. Our defence is not great, let's be honest. I think we can all agree that. We still need to buy a world class centre half to compete. I do not think Smalling +/- Jones is consistently good enough when it really matters.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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But then we might as well close redcafe? The whole point is to discuss? People only enjoy winning football. Ole will suffer and so will his legacy if we go backwards. Legends as big as him have all been sacked and abused because of a poor string of results.
Questioning whether Ole’s system will work or no against top 6 opposition after just 1 game. And start talking about him being our long term manager. Are you telling me there are no other topic to discuss apart from those two?

You are acting like those media in Pochettino press conference who keep asking him about United’s job.
 

Ban

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Lets be patient. One game at a time. Who knows what will happen, but until we play someone decent we'll have a few lets say weaker games in which we'll see where we stand.
It's football, we could lose on Boxing day just as easy as we won yesterday.
It was all good vs Cardiff, but I just hope it wasn't yet another false dawn.
 

Mockney

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Look, we’re gonna lose a game or two under Ole. Even if he is some natural managerial genius (which he probably isn’t) he isn’t gonna be able to get us playing like this consistently every game, in half a season. It took Pep a year, Klopp and Poch two odd - The former two just scraping into the CL places in their first years, 16+ points off the top. It’d be silly to expect us to skip that step. Somewhere down the line we’ll be exposed, and if we play with such gay abandon against the likes of PSG, we could possibly get turned over.

However, all I really want from Ole is to prove there are the makings of an exciting attacking side in there, which I’m convinced there is, and which so far he’s doing. We still need a few players to get right back to the top, but hopefully this period can show we don’t need quite as many as some think. This squad finished 2nd under Mourinho, without ever putting in a performance like that, so it’s daft (and always was) to think it isn’t top 4 quality.

There’ll be teething problems, inevitably, but the benefit of this custodial interim thing, is that I reckon most fans will be pretty forgiving as long as we put on a show, and look like we’re going in the right direction.
 

hungrywing

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Liverpool had the same problem before they bought VVD.

It is obvious that our defense is a big worry;but when a team is always on the front foot;the opposition will camp in their half defending thereby giving our defense little or nothing to do;we saw it yesterday against Cardiff;our defense played a high line.

The danger is when a team lumps balls over the line ;they can create a one vs one with DDG.Just like they did against Lindelof

The solution is to play defenders with pace and good recovery;and to train DDG to come of his line early enough to make clearances just like City and Liverpool.

If you give a defensive coach this city team;they will concede about the same number of goals as we have conceded or more;but their attacking and possession football masks their deficiencies;nothing masks a bad defense like attacking football;this is also true for that great Barca side.
Yes, the staff will probably start from here.

Since the players haven't played this way, it'll probably take a fair bit of time to assess them and also to build up their confidence.

If you have the theoretically 'good-enough' defenders - which we already might have - the opposition ends up with low-percentage one v ones and worst case scenario the defender just puts the ball into touch so we can regroup and restart. Which we did a heck of a lot during the 'zombie football' years.
 

MikeKing

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I'd imagine that if we do go a couple of goals behind then we will go full gung ho and lose 6-4 instead of 0-2. Not necessarily a huge positive but it is something different
 

deafepl

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Look, we’re gonna lose a game or two under Ole. Even if he is some natural managerial genius (which he probably isn’t) he isn’t gonna be able to get us playing like this consistently every game, in half a season. It took Pep a year, Klopp and Poch two odd - The former two just scraping into the CL places in their first years, 16+ points off the top. It’d be silly to expect us to skip that step. Somewhere down the line we’ll be exposed, and if we play with such gay abandon against the likes of PSG, we could possibly get turned over.

However, all I really want from Ole is to prove there are the makings of an exciting attacking side in there, which I’m convinced there is, and which so far he’s doing. We still need a few players to get right back to the top, but hopefully this period can show we don’t need quite as many as some think. This squad finished 2nd under Mourinho, without ever putting in a performance like that, so it’s daft (and always was) to think it isn’t top 4 quality.

There’ll be teething problems, inevitably, but the benefit of this custodial interim thing, is that I reckon most fans will be pretty forgiving as long as we put on a show, and look like we’re going in the right direction.

Ole said himself that we need to improve more but the pattern of play that creates goal opportunities we have to practice especially with support from fullback which is one of his biggest weapon to attack and pressing as a units, Lindelof and Jones should stay wide with Matic stay back in line between them while fullback push higher. I'd say the way we play against Cardiff is so far away from his images and how he wants us to play because fullback hasn't threatened much, we're at between 40-50% perfect away from his ideal team but if we get used to the style of play under Ole and improving in the style of play over the course, we'll be playing better than we played against Cardiff before.
 

Sky1981

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No same tactics works against 20 teams in real life. We'll see a different aspect of ole in the next few games. How tactically good he is.

Our last match would be examined by all teams and analyzed for it's flaw. Our approach and our opponent approach will vary from game to game.
 

arthurka

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I will put money on it not being as dire as our performances vs City and Pool under Jose.
We will at least give it a go.
 

bosnian_red

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We'll adapt and play it smartly but still have a good go at it and always play for the win. It's embarrassing for Manchester United to park the bus in big games instead of taking it to the opposition.
 

#07

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Is this going to work against the rest of the top 6?

It has been pointed out that even Jose's United would have beaten Cardiff. Albeit we would probably have had to come back from behind. However, we couldn't beat Southampton.

Anyway, once we come up against a proper team, and Ole gets to see that this managing United lark is a bit tricky dicky, how will we fair?
We got smashed by Brighton and West Ham and had to stage mammoth comebacks against Newcastle and Southampton. What makes you think we win against Cardiff under Mou?

I am someone who was more Jose in than Jose out but we gotta face reality: the mood in the camp was such that there's no reason to believe Mou could coax an easy three points out of the lads on a cold night in South Wales.

In terms of how Ole's tactics will work against better teams it will depend on how well we press. Yes our tactics leave us open to quick transitions, especially in wide areas, but only if we don't close down fast. Ole says he won't accept anyone outworking us. Let's hold him to that.
 

Mockney

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Ole said himself that we need to improve more but the pattern of play that creates goal opportunities we have to practice especially with support from fullback which is one of his biggest weapon to attack and pressing as a units, Lindelof and Jones should stay wide with Matic stay back in line between them while fullback push higher. I'd say the way we play against Cardiff is so far away from his images and how he wants us to play because fullback hasn't threatened much, we're at between 40-50% perfect away from his ideal team but if we get used to the style of play under Ole and improving in the style of play over the course, we'll be playing better than we played against Cardiff before.
I don't even think the Cardiff result was really much Ole's doing at all, if I'm honest. At least not tactically. His appointment and the club-wide positive impact it had likely had more influence than anything he might've done on the training ground in the mere two days he was actually in charge.

It goes without saying that we're all getting well ahead of ourselves after one game, but even if you think this was merely the result of an unshackled team, reacting to the end of Jose's tyrannical reign, the reasoning is still sound, as it merely proves how intrinsically good this side can be with the right encouragement. Add into that a genuinely suitable manager (whether that be Ole, Poch, Zizou, or whomever) and there's more than enough reason to be optimistic...

Whatever happens, I still think it's important we hire a new, suitably experienced manager for the long term. Even if Ole wins the CL (which is highly unlikely, lets be honest) we don't want to go down the same road Chelsea did with Di Matteo, and end up back at square one. However alluring and populist it would be.

Ole doesn't need to instil a revolutionary new style or anything. He just needs to build up the confidence and release the potential of a side already good enough to have finished 2nd and reached the FA Cup final less than 6 months ago... So that our best players and our most promising youngsters can be convinced they have a future at a resurgent Man Utd, and subsequently that our next manager knows he's gonna take charge of a quality promising side.
 
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ash_86

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This


Maybe our tactics could be different. Need to wait and watch.
 

AgentP

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We'll worry about it when we get there. The Spurs away game will give us a good sense of how we will approach games against tougher opponents.