[buckooo1978]

don't blame Ole

he's got to give players a chance - the vast majority of people on here have raved about Periera, Lukaku had 2 assists in his last game, Mata can be quality and we are playing Burnley who were absolutely smashed by City

We gifted them 2 goals in reality with awful mistakes and marking

Ole will have learned much about the players and team I feel

- Pogba is by far our best user of the ball - we are reliant on him, Rashford and Martial

- if Martial and Rashford are out/injured we are likely to have games we struggle

- Young has insufficient quality - if he could pass/cross well it would make a huge impact ....he wasted so much tonight

- Shaw isn't creative enough

- Pereira has wasted another opportunity- maybe his last

- what does Ole think of Fred given his omission for Pereira

- Sanchez is wasteful and looks half the player Lingard is - Jesse came on and his running was crucial in opening spaces and winning the penalty

- Lukaku isn't sharp enough to play at 9 for this team...we seem to drop a level when he's there

- Mata lacked a bit of composure - was disappointed as this was his big strength

-Lindelof was a leader again - why not use Bailly again though

overall if Ole is to stay he will need to be ruthless and there's a number of key positions we need to address

 

[Deleted member 101472]

Trying to put my finger on something to blame for not getting 3 points and the first thing is Rashfords sitter. Stick that away, 1-0 and the Burnley game plan is gone, they’d play right into our hands.

Pereira has been given enough opportunity in my eyes. I think the only people who defend him are the ones who edit all his stats to 99 and then play offline fifa against the computer on semi pro difficulty level. He’s just not that good at any particular aspect of the game.

 

[BrianMcClair'sBarnet]

Ole has to rotate players.The unfortunate thing with him and us is we have to rotate with a fair amount of dross.

 

[bosnian_red]

Was just one of those days. Encouraging thing is we never stopped and got the draw from what looked impossible, and you know if we played another few minutes like we shouldve we wouldve got the winner. Cant win em all, performance had plenty to be happy about imo.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Bad lineup from Solskjaer, very naive. Only Matic played well tbh the rest were all over the shop. Lingard did well when he came on. Big 2 points dropped and top 4 is going to be very difficult from here.

 

[Catt]

Are you in the market for some Heat'on then Katie?

No, mearly my long term plan to beat Burnley at home next season.

 

[Macern]

Trying to put my finger on something to blame for not getting 3 points and the first thing is Rashfords sitter. Stick that away, 1-0 and the Burnley game plan is gone, they’d play right into our hands.

Pereira has been given enough opportunity in my eyes. I think the only people who defend him are the ones who edit all his stats to 99 and then play offline fifa against the computer on semi pro difficulty level. He’s just not that good at any particular aspect of the game.

Agreed. He proved today that he isn’t good enough. We crossed way too much today and it was never going to work. Too slow on the ball as well. Matic is playing like a zombie sometimes. Wish we played with Herrera and the energy he provides.

 

[Okey]

Phew! And breathe... Strange game. Starting line up and an off day from Rashford nearly cost us there. Would have been a travesty to lose that game after dominating it all. Pereira sadly isn't good enough. Upgrade him in the summer and wish him well. Burnley defended well, credit to them and Heaton did his usual OT Yashin impression. But that comeback...that's my United. Never know when we're beaten. The spirit of Fergie is well and truly alive again!

 

[MrBest]

Bad lineup from Solskjaer, very naive. Only Matic played well tbh the rest were all over the shop. Lingard did well when he came on. Big 2 points dropped and top 4 is going to be very difficult from here.

Relax, 14 games to go and if chelsea win the gap is just 5 points. Anything can happen, lets see how Spurs do too. No Kane Ali Son and Erikson for at least a month. Yeah we have a big few games left but we cannot win them all and some players needed a break. Ole is fairly giving everyone a chance and some have not grabbed it with both hands. 4th should still be the minimum, Arsenal also have City next! We beat Fulham and we are 5th.

 

[DelBanco]

Can’t deny that Burnley deserved this draw, they looked very organised and tried to punish us for every mistake.

We were dreadful for the most of the match and within 75 minuters I didn’t have the feeling that we would score.

Pereira, Mata and Rashford were the worst on the pitch, I didn’t mention Young because he did what he always does and I don’t expect more from him.

 

[Cockney Phil]

The bubble hasn’t burst but it was a close run thing. I think we believed Burnley would defend, selected a sloppy squad and the tempo was just too slow. Too many mistakes on and off the ball, lethargic movement, sloppy passes and players looking like strangers. Shaw did not have a good game partly because he had little support up front. Pogba was too deep and it’s hard to know why against their midfield. Lukaku brought nothing to the game and was back to what he was before Arsenal - pretty useless. Lindelhof and Jones looked like they were strangers at times. De Gea had an off day, a real one off. Mata was movement and aggression, he was the best of our attackers. Rashford looked tired, almost jaded. Young kept going, as did Matic but they also looked tired. Andreas had a run, I don’t blame him for the goal, he received a sloppy pass.

Ole’s response was maybe not the right one, probably expecting an earlier response by our players. Jesse was as good a sub as the subs against Arsenal. Sanchez is not a game changing sub and brought nothing when our backs were against the wall. The difference with his Arsenal days is a bit of a tragedy. But, he doesn’t cut it for me and today showed why he and Lukaku do not fit our ‘new’ playing style. Andreas was given a run but there was nothing tonight to suggest he can replace Ander long term. Funnily enough Fella might have been a better option against Burnley. The best moment was the return of squeaky bum time game recovery and saving the point. The players played for Ole - now we can see the difference with the previous managers - seems the obvious choice to move forward. Mata MoTM.

 

[Okey]

We're playing well. Just lacking enough quality. The difference between struggling with a defensive Burnley and smashing them 5 nil like Citeh. 2 full backs that can deliver a final ball, a top quality centre back to play with Lindelof and a right winger and our first team will be right up there with the best. Add a good quality bench and we can truly compete on all fronts. Not far from getting there...

 

[GM K]

I actually think we learned way more about this side tonight than in the last 8 games. Mata, Lukaku and Pierrera were shocking tonight, and a major upgrade is needed. Delighted with the point, and the character we showed.

Sadly we ran into that Premiership combo that is opposition keeper playing out of his skin and shite team raising their game.

I thought Mata and Lukaku played well. I thought we would have been better if Rashford was subbed rather than Lukaku. Rashford seemed a bit off today.

 

[RooneyLegend]

We've got our club back from a mentally perspective, now it's time to get the quality back. I hope Ole is honest with himself and realises some of these players aren't the sort we should be moving forward with.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

I don't understand players slating Ole for that lineup. We have games coming up thick and fast, and he has to rotate at some point. The changes weren't major either - Pereira for Herrera and Lukaku/Mata for Martial/Lingard. A youth academy product everyone wanted to see, our 90m striker and the only genuine number 10 in our squad.

It is not his fault that Pereira was abysmal, or that Lukaku is not a top 6 striker, or that Young cannot cross, or that Rashford decided to serve up a stinker tonight. Nor was it his fault that Sanchez continues to be shit, or that Moss is a cnut of a referee.

I think he's learned a lot about his squad tonight, and found out that many of them are not up to the mark. Despite knowing that, he no choice but to keep giving them chances, especially over the coming month.

 

[Guoan]

The last time we won 8 in a row in all competitions was January 2017. I just hope that our league season doesn't peter out like it did then - it would be pretty sad given the way we've played our way back into contention. We must consider this two points dropped and look to put together another winning run starting at the weekend.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

The bubble hasn’t burst but it was a close run thing. I think we believed Burnley would defend, selected a sloppy squad and the tempo was just too slow. Too many mistakes on and off the ball, lethargic movement, sloppy passes and players looking like strangers. Shaw did not have a good game partly because he had little support up front. Pogba was too deep and it’s hard to know why against their midfield. Lukaku brought nothing to the game and was back to what he was before Arsenal - pretty useless. Lindelhof and Jones looked like they were strangers at times. De Gea had an off day, a real one off. Mata was movement and aggression, he was the best of our attackers. Rashford looked tired, almost jaded. Young kept going, as did Matic but they also looked tired. Andreas had a run, I don’t blame him for the goal, he received a sloppy pass.

Stopped reading at the bolded part.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

We were shocking in our final third creativity for 75 minutes.

The initial team selection screamed out problems before the game and I said before this was the first time I felt we wouldn’t win.

Pereira is naive at 23 and not cut out for United. Too many mistakes and no plus side today from him. Mata tried to find space but with him in the side you lose runners which create space to attack so he’s a wasted entity as he creates the problem he’s there to solve.

I felt Lukaku did nothing to suggest he should be our starting striker. He doesn’t stretch play enough and centre backs know if they are up for a physical battle they’ll get the better of him. With Rashford up top they have to be careful about diving in as he’ll burn them for pace.

Ultimately it shows that what our side is truly lacking is some pacey substitutes. Lingard is pretty quick but Sanchez no longer stretches teams so we don’t have that extra zip at the end of the match.

Without Martial and Rashford teams can sit back and block passes as there is very little incision in our play without them moving in behind.

 

[AgentSquirrel]

We're playing well. Just lacking enough quality. The difference between struggling with a defensive Burnley and smashing them 5 nil like Citeh. 2 full backs that can deliver a final ball, a top quality centre back to play with Lindelof and a right winger and our first team will be right up there with the best. Add a good quality bench and we can truly compete on all fronts. Not far from getting there...

I mean, the biggest difference between smashing them like City would be them fielding a second string lineup today too, like they did on Saturday.

 

[David Haberger]

Funny how everybody seems to think Lukaku is the problem. Pereira was awful as was Rashford. Lukaku created and was a constant threat to Burnley but hey Rashford is the Golden Boy.
We won't win anything with this guy as our main Striker. He simply isn't consistent enough. What an awful performance of some players. Bad things aside Lindelof has finally found his place in the prem and looks like he is only getting better.
Matic still has it and Pogba looks somewhat consistent. Go all out with Martial, Lukaku, Lingard with Marcus from the bench and we are looking at a solid attack. I don't think Pereira is going to make a comeback.

 

[Verminator]

Credit to Heaton. He Degea'ed us tonight.
How is Pickford ahead of him for England?

 

[AltiUn]

Lukaku or Mata, not both. Taking our two best pressers out of the team was a mistake. OGS should've told them at half time to stop fecking crossing it, it was completely ineffectual and we're twice the team when we play it on the ground. Can't win them all and I sincerely hope this is a minor blip.

 

[Red Dreams]

This match showed the huge drop in quality when our normal first 11 are not played.

 

[Jeffthered]

Our 4 best players under Ole have been Rashford, Pogba, Lingard and Martial.

Tonight, Rashford and Pogba were off their game, whilst the other two were absent from the first XI. Starting only two of them should have been enough, but that's just how it goes sometimes.

I thought Lukaku and Mata were decent. In terms of our attack, we mostly did the right things and looked dangerous despite making mistakes.

The problem was that in midfield Pogba was a one-man-show. He played at about a six out of ten for most of the match. That's more than excusable, but when there's nobody else offering creativity, it becomes a big issue to have all of our eggs in one basket.

I think the lesson is that our midfield creativity needs to be addressed as a priority. It's madness to rely on only one man alone for an entire season.

Everyone should be allowed off-days, but the squad's imbalanced composition means that Pogba isn't.

Really? You only seem to watch a team going forward. Matic, Lindeholf and Herrera have been critical to recent performance levels, far more than Martial (??) and Lindgard. All some think about on here are fast-front-three players. It's odd, and lacks insight. That's useful when playing a counter-attacking game... but when you are having more possession, invariably at home, and team's are organised and defend v well, then you need more than just people who can run fast.

We need clever, more astute players across our squad. Players like (not saying we buy them... but just giving examples...) Ozil, Modric, Kroos... Silva.. up top, a Hazard., a fit and in-form Sanchez in fact!

You know who would be amazing for us now? A Zlatan. Not for every game. But that quality, experience, that presence.. it would add value to a team who are improving and find some consistency.

Just a note on Ashley Young. His quality isn't the best.. but he defends very well, and is probably our most vocal player. Ole highlighted his importance during the week.

This isn't fantasy football.

Interesting that Ole mentioned post-match, that the game tempo, was too slow. Everyone waits for Pogs'.. if he plays slow, for whatever reason, not being on his game, fatigue, whatever.. then we we do not have anyone else to lead and set our game-tempo. I have mentioned this before. We need other players to step up to this mantle, or we get someone else in and give Pogba some support, because how we play all (and literally, all...) seems to hinge on his form.

I would love Ozil on loan. Right now.

 

[moodyred]

I can't stand Sean Dyche. He says he hates diving in the sport, like who doesn't, but apparently it's OK to time-cheat. Every fecking time we play them, they'll waste time instead of engaging in a game of football. Why do they bother staying in the PL if you don't want to play?

Can't blame Burnley for that. Any team would have done it. Fair play to them. They defended well.

 

[GaryLifo]

I knew that people would overreact if we dropped a couple of points somewhere.

Everyone wanted backa United that played on the front foot and could keep going until the final whistle.

You've got it now. However, it comes with risks as we saw tonight. No way we deserved to be even 1-0 down let alone 2 down but that's football. The key thing was the way we then took the game to them and had them on the rack. Even better, we got the point we deserved as a minimum for the way we played.

Better performances and an attacking United people said, even if it meant dropping points at times. And here we are with people still not happy

 

[Jacob]

That Rashford sitter could've changed the face of the game

 

[meamth]

Blimey. Rashford is no Van Persie, not many forwards in Europe are. Rashford has been outstanding recently, outstanding. You can't have this reactive approach to our players, it's not a helpful.

It's an "if", I'm a big supporter of Rashford.

It's not that I don't like him, but it's an criticism for him to improve. He lacks that first touch shooting, and he needs to massively improve that.

 

[norm87cro]

Ffs. There we're always gonna be games like this. Even when Fergie was manager. Burnley we're never gonna attack us so we had to dig deep. Unlucky for us they got the break from our mistake. We could have won this game 1 or 2 0 but the whole game had a feel to it that it was going to go down to margins IMO. And I tought their second was offside as well.

 

[Schmeichel=God]

Just got out of work and saw the score. Crazy!

Were we just dogshit for 85 mins then turned it on at the last second?

It wasn't Mourinho bad but the first half was a little slow. We created some decent openings but end product was poor. Rashford a little overconfident and therefore missing an almost sitter. If we go 1-0 up you know Burnley are fkd.

And so begins the second half. 'Suicide pass' from Jones, straight to the feet of Pereira who has only a two seconds but in reality should do a hell of a lot better. 0-1 down.

From that point we struggle to create, Burnley loving life, pressing hard, defending with ease, as we labour without idea. Well, idea was cross cross cross a la that game under Moyes. We carried on doing that for 15 minutes after Lukaku rightfully went off.

Finally the guys started playing through the centre getting bodies in and around the box. Shaw & Young were mostly watching on from the touchline. It resulted in a free kick chance, a near penalty, an actual penalty, and a goal as everyone went forward.

Moss had the last laugh with disgraceful refereeing allowing Burnley to beat us up all over the pitch, giving all sorts of fouls their way...leading to Mata of all people absolutely fking losing it (by his standards), and blowing for FT early despite all manners of time wasting and the goal in added time.

Unfortunately the change in personnel was our undoing. Then again what other upcoming game could Ole rotate in? He also needs to see what these players can and can't do. Burnley were resolute and lucky AF. But our defending for the second goal was poor. Young was massively wasteful. We crossed forever and it never worked.

Things for Ole to work. Ultimately another day that highlights the real need for consideration of the futures of certain players: Pereira, Lukaku, Young, Sanchez, Mata.

 

[meninred]

Well this is the premiere league and you cannot have holiday every time. Defeats and losses will teach Ole a lot rather than a lucky win and ultimately make our team better.Also Some of the teams are fighting for their lives.

 

[Okey]

I mean, the biggest difference between smashing them like City would be them fielding a second string lineup today too, like they did on Saturday.

Erm...it was 5 nil in the league too I believe. Back in October when they were scrounging for points. Definitely wasn't a second string line up then. You wouldn't rule out same score line if it was Citeh today would you? I know it's not an exact science (Newcastle beat Citeh today). Just saying that with better quality we probably win that easily today, like a club of our stature would be expected to.

 

[Sultan]

Most disappointed I've been all season. This includes City and Liverpool results. I see that as a positive because of expectation Ole has brought to the club. Unfortunately, Pereira made a mistake and Rashford had a bad game. Just didn't click today and felt like we were back to LvG/Jose times.

Scousers gaining an advantage with City losing made the evening worse.

 

[Sultan]

I mean, the biggest difference between smashing them like City would be them fielding a second string lineup today too, like they did on Saturday.

Sports is an exact science. City lost to Newcastle today.

 

[Cockney Phil]

This match showed the huge drop in quality when our normal first 11 are not played.

Several regulars had an off day, that happens, but your point raises the question of how many changes need to be made to make the team better. I would guess at least 5.

 

[bond19821982]

Sugar coat all you want but it was bad and Ole has to take the blame. Aimless crossing reminded me of Fulham match . No idea why he took Lukaku off when he could have been handy later. Also should have put Dalot on for one of the FBs.

If he has fitness concerns, we should probably sacrifice FA cup and focus on league.


Anyways bad day at office , move on. Top 4 is going to be extremely tough now .

 

[Snow]

Most disappointed I've been all season. This includes City and Liverpool results. I see that as a positive because of expectation Ole has brought to the club. Unfortunately, Pereira made a mistake and Rashford had a bad game. Just didn't click today and felt like we were back to LvG/Jose times.

Scousers gaining an advantage with City losing made the evening worse.

Sums up my feelings as well. Overall the performance wasn't too bad. One of those games where the opposition flukes more than one goal and gets a result except we at least managed to come back this time unlike say Huddersfield last season.

I didn't particularly agree with taking Lukaku off. He was alright in the first half and given the way we were playing, putting in crosses and trying to win the 2nd ball he would have been a bigger asset than Rashford who had his avenues cut off almost all game and had a tough time to deal with their defenders physically.

 

[GaryLifo]

Ffs. There we're always gonna be games like this. Even when Fergie was manager. Burnley we're never gonna attack us so we had to dig deep. Unlucky for us they got the break from our mistake. We could have won this game 1 or 2 0 but the whole game had a feel to it that it was going to go down to margins IMO. And I tought their second was offside as well.

Their second was as offside as the one given against Mata in the first half.

 

[AJ10]

I knew that people would overreact if we dropped a couple of points somewhere.

Everyone wanted backa United that played on the front foot and could keep going until the final whistle.

You've got it now. However, it comes with risks as we saw tonight. No way we deserved to be even 1-0 down let alone 2 down but that's football. The key thing was the way we then took the game to them and had them on the rack. Even better, we got the point we deserved as a minimum for the way we played.

Better performances and an attacking United people said, even if it meant dropping points at times. And here we are with people still not happy

Some people moaned about not rotating and now they're moaning about rotating. We football fans will never be happy even if we win every single game season after season, I'm sure then we'll complain about winning too much.

We were never going to win every game, sadly it had to be these cnuts where we dropped points but we kept on going regardless the scoreline which was fergie like. Happy with the comeback but would have been nice to smash these game raising cnuts.

 

[PSingh]

don't blame Ole

he's got to give players a chance - the vast majority of people on here have raved about Periera, Lukaku had 2 assists in his last game, Mata can be quality and we are playing Burnley who were absolutely smashed by City

We gifted them 2 goals in reality with awful mistakes and marking

Ole will have learned much about the players and team I feel

- Pogba is by far our best user of the ball - we are reliant on him, Rashford and Martial

- if Martial and Rashford are out/injured we are likely to have games we struggle

- Young has insufficient quality - if he could pass/cross well it would make a huge impact ....he wasted so much tonight

- Shaw isn't creative enough

- Pereira has wasted another opportunity- maybe his last

- what does Ole think of Fred given his omission for Pereira

- Sanchez is wasteful and looks half the player Lingard is - Jesse came on and his running was crucial in opening spaces and winning the penalty

- Lukaku isn't sharp enough to play at 9 for this team...we seem to drop a level when he's there

- Mata lacked a bit of composure - was disappointed as this was his big strength

-Lindelof was a leader again - why not use Bailly again though

overall if Ole is to stay he will need to be ruthless and there's a number of key positions we need to address

Fair points apart from your comment on Shaw, I thought he was one of our better players tonight, certainly better than what Young served up on the other side of the pitch.

Spot on about Lukaku, he lacks intensity and we seem to drop a level when he’s the main striker. Rashford looked restricted when playing out wide, would’ve liked to see him float and swap positions, like Martial has been doing.

 

[arthurka]

We were lucky again and that’s carried us for too many games.

Look at the Spurs game, who was man of the match?

Not sure if you are joking...
We could also say we got unlucky tonight. We played well enough to get 3 points. Should have won it really, a bit like Spurs.. But the rest of the games I find we have played mostly very good..
Great comeback and great spirit. That feckup from Pereira just changed the match so much..

It just bothers me so much watching our fullbacks put in cross after cross aimed at absolutely nothing..