[Cait Sith]

PSG were there for the taking and there wasn't much in it in the first half, if anything United had the slight upper hand. That PSG lineup was nowhere near an elite team. Marquinhos, a CB, playing in midfield. Washed up Alves on the wing and Di Maria who peaked 5 years ago on the other wing, completely past it 40 year old goalkeeper who drops every ball directed at him plus a couple more mediocre players like Draxler and Bernat with Verratti returning from many weeks injured and not even fully fit.

This was more on the manager. Bringing good vibes and telling the players to go out and enjoy the game brings you only so far.

 

[Zlatan 7]

PSG were there for the taking and there wasn't much in it in the first half, if anything United had the slight upper hand. That PSG lineup was nowhere near an elite team. Marquinhos, a CB, playing in midfield. Washed up Alves on the wing and Di Maria who peaked 5 years ago on the other wing, completely past it 40 year old goalkeeper who drops every ball directed at him plus a couple more mediocre players like Draxler and Bernat with Verratti returning from many weeks injured and not even fully fit.

This was more on the manager. Bringing good vibes and telling the players to go out and enjoy the game brings you only so far.

You start saying we were having the better of them in first half so surely that would be On the manager too?

At half time our two counter attacking options were injured and we had to replace them with players carrying sand in their boots. What could Ole have done? Put Lukaku in the wing? Move rashford? He was limited in what we could bring that second half.

Bit selective if you if good first half is because of players, bad second half because of manager.

 

[shabz]

Found it really hard to cope with the movement of PSG last night, they kept the ball well in the second half and off the ball were popping up in space all over the field. I dont think we were taught a lesson like Barca 2011, but we were shown where we are on the European landscape. Once we lost our first choice attackers we were definitely out of ideas and with no one to release the pressure it became very difficult for the team to make something substantial happen as we were always tracking back. Hopefully we take the lessons from this bounce back over the next couple weeks because we still have a hell of a run of games coming.

 

[NFM]

I was surprised by both:

- the atmosphere on RedCafe in the last years with a great tendency to be overly pessimistic/gloomy about the future and the ability of the team/club to improve and have better results while United is simply the wealthiest club in the world and one of the top 5 most iconic clubs in the world

- your very recent overconfidence "United will win 3-0" in the sense that PSG had been capable to beat Liverpool at home and lost away there because (1) Verratti was injured and (2) PSG was so overconfident at Anfield that they had forgotten the fundamentals (all the players have to defend and contribute to the pressing). That said, your optimism was very understandable given (1) your recent performances since Ole took over the club and (2) the injuries at PSG (3) the poor quality of the French league (only Lyon and Monaco in a previous life know some stuff about football)

Regarding the game, my understanding is:

- United players were unconsciously overly confident like fans given the context exposed above...while PSG players had to work harder than ever because they couldn't rely on magic Neymar

- United was more tired than PSG, which is explained by (1) a PSG side who is already domestic champions since several months (2) you team under pressure in the last months made an impressive come back recently (3) some PSG players who are mentally and/or physically fresh and didn't play so much this season for diverse reasons like Draxler, Dani Alves (4) in the last games, several starters at PSG were on the bench to rest while your players were at 100%. Conclusion: you started the game very well but rapidly decline in terms of work-rate. Also, England is generally disappointing at the Internationale tournaments for very different reasons, one of these being the lack of a winter break IMO

- Without Neymar and Cavani, that PSG team was more possession-based than ever. Neymar always takes risks and Cavani is a player to finish chances not to contribute to the possession. In this context, Di Maria and Draxler are on the pitch and the team might be viewed as a kind of 3-6-1. Also, PSG is happy to rely on a deep-lying playmaker like Verratti while a player like Xabi Alonso instead of Matic would have been wonderful in another life.

- On the the other hand, you team is more suited to counter-attack. Martial (like M'bappé generally) is a striker deployed on the wing, same for Lingard in a certain sense (say he's a forward). If your players are tired or injured, you need a plan B and some players to calm down.

- You have only one clear leader (Pogba) while the ideal would have been at least to have 2 great leaders. Tactically, the priority of Tuchel was to neutralize and Marquinhos did the job, discovering a new role this season and improving very quickly. Against Liverpool away, Marquinhos suffered. You are overly reliant on Paul.

- PSG is more experienced (1) PSG played against Real Madrid/Barcelona several times in the last seasons (2) For example, Di Maria scored more goals in Champions League than your starting 11 on aggregate (3) Thiago Silva & Verratti joined the club in 2012, Marquinhos 2013, Kimpembe part of the squad since 2014. So, the PSG team has a solid shared experience.

- Di Maria made the game of his life. He doesn't play with the same appetite/hunger every week and even with the national squad. He seemed to be more excited to play against United than France in a World Cup...

All in all, the issue is not your defence but the lack of another leader on the pitch to support Pogba: in other words, Pogba can't do everything alone.

I hope you will:

- Take Rabiot next summer to give Ole more options: a gamble I would take without hesitation
- Take a player with superior passing skills (advanced or deep-lying playmaker). Mata and Herrera have to be upgraded.
- Take a super star if available on the market

You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

Excellent analysis. Ole has brought back positivity, but Mourinho wasn't an idiot, he knew United's midfield remains inadequate for these sort of matches. Most of the new investment needs to go into this area, a team can only change its direction and tactics in a game such as this if it has the quality of midfield players able to perform to a high technical and physical standard. United currently have one of these, they need two more.

 

[AJ10]

That was a massive reality check.

I have to agree, this was definitely a reality check for anyone who thought we had the squad to go up against PSG even without neymar/cavani.

We have massive holes in our squad/first 11 and anyone who thought we'd beat PSG or any top team with our squad needs a reality check. We did ok in the first half with lack of final ball but once lingard and martial went off psg had no danger from our slow subs and they were able to bomb forward without problem.

 

[Tom Cato]

This game was completely open at halftime. Completely.

Losing two extremely important cogs before the 2nd half obviously casued a huge issue. And displayed a problem with the squad most of us know exists already.

The quality of the bench is not good enough. This is not Oles fault, its the fault of previous managers who have not bought the right players up until this point.

I absolutely love Juan Mata as a person, he's probably the nicest guy in football and deserves all the accolades he can possibly get. But I am not sure that he should be a part of the teams future, he seems a bit too slow on the touch to play fast football. Maybe, maybe not. But something feels lacking.

Alexis Sanches is quickly turning into a curious case of Fernando Torres. You buy a player thats been playing lights out, only to play with the blinders down and the car parked in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. There is such a quality player in there, its frustrating that he cant put it together. Nevermind his bloated salary, for both the player and the club the sitaution must be absolutely horrendous. We're fighting for top4, have 2 KEY players injured now, and our assumed go-to star, is playing the worst football of his life. Somehow i dont think the stress of knowing that he MUST perform NOW is helping.

Ashley young is a meh guy, he does his job, but nothing spectacular. I would be very hyped for an offensive upgrade on the back.

I am absolutely baffled, that after a very inevitable loss, people are questioning the manager? I read that he got outcoached, that we should look for alterantives, and all types of doom and gloom. Like, really? What are the alternatives on this bench?

PSG came here with a injured squad. Their injured squad played our injured squad in the 2nd half and we lost 2-0. Im not even upset we lost. It was going to happen. I would rather it be in a cup competition than in the league. The odds of us winning the CL this year was always less than microscopic considering the depth of the squad.

De Gea, Bailly, Lindelöf, Shaw, Pogba, Herrera, Matic, Rashford, Martial, Lingard, Lukaku.

These are the guys that should be part of a Man United championship team. Upgrade the rest. Strengthen the bench, and go again in 2019-2020

 

[Ainu]

You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

We need more than that to realistically compete at Champions League level. 2-3 excellent transfers would give us a chance in the title race, but not more than that in my opinion. It's one step at a time. And if we keep messing up our transfers like we have been doing in recent times, it's going to take a hell of a lot more steps to get anywhere.

 

[beedoubleyou]

Hopefully you're OK and nothing serious happened.

Thanks all! Got jumped by two lads, kids really, walking through Hulme. The went for my phone, I grabbed the guy and threw him off his bike, I went down with him though. I got him held down but his mate got off his moped and kicked me in the head a few times until the other one got away. Couple of nasty cuts in my head which have been glued together and just a few aches and bruises today.

I'm fine. Need to replace the phone I bought on Saturday with a new one. Regret not having that insurance now.... Ah well, £500 for 3 days use!!

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I was surprised by both:

- the atmosphere on RedCafe in the last years with a great tendency to be overly pessimistic/gloomy about the future and the ability of the team/club to improve and have better results while United is simply the wealthiest club in the world and one of the top 5 most iconic clubs in the world

- your very recent overconfidence "United will win 3-0" in the sense that PSG had been capable to beat Liverpool at home and lost away there because (1) Verratti was injured and (2) PSG was so overconfident at Anfield that they had forgotten the fundamentals (all the players have to defend and contribute to the pressing). That said, your optimism was very understandable given (1) your recent performances since Ole took over the club and (2) the injuries at PSG (3) the poor quality of the French league (only Lyon and Monaco in a previous life know some stuff about football)

Regarding the game, my understanding is:

- United players were unconsciously overly confident like fans given the context exposed above...while PSG players had to work harder than ever because they couldn't rely on magic Neymar

- United was more tired than PSG, which is explained by (1) a PSG side who is already domestic champions since several months (2) you team under pressure in the last months made an impressive come back recently (3) some PSG players who are mentally and/or physically fresh and didn't play so much this season for diverse reasons like Draxler, Dani Alves (4) in the last games, several starters at PSG were on the bench to rest while your players were at 100%. Conclusion: you started the game very well but rapidly decline in terms of work-rate. Also, England is generally disappointing at the Internationale tournaments for very different reasons, one of these being the lack of a winter break IMO

- Without Neymar and Cavani, that PSG team was more possession-based than ever. Neymar always takes risks and Cavani is a player to finish chances not to contribute to the possession. In this context, Di Maria and Draxler are on the pitch and the team might be viewed as a kind of 3-6-1. Also, PSG is happy to rely on a deep-lying playmaker like Verratti while a player like Xabi Alonso instead of Matic would have been wonderful in another life.

- On the the other hand, you team is more suited to counter-attack. Martial (like M'bappé generally) is a striker deployed on the wing, same for Lingard in a certain sense (say he's a forward). If your players are tired or injured, you need a plan B and some players to calm down.

- You have only one clear leader (Pogba) while the ideal would have been at least to have 2 great leaders. Tactically, the priority of Tuchel was to neutralize and Marquinhos did the job, discovering a new role this season and improving very quickly. Against Liverpool away, Marquinhos suffered. You are overly reliant on Paul.

- PSG is more experienced (1) PSG played against Real Madrid/Barcelona several times in the last seasons (2) For example, Di Maria scored more goals in Champions League than your starting 11 on aggregate (3) Thiago Silva & Verratti joined the club in 2012, Marquinhos 2013, Kimpembe part of the squad since 2014. So, the PSG team has a solid shared experience.

- Di Maria made the game of his life. He doesn't play with the same appetite/hunger every week and even with the national squad. He seemed to be more excited to play against United than France in a World Cup...

All in all, the issue is not your defence but the lack of another leader on the pitch to support Pogba: in other words, Pogba can't do everything alone.

I hope you will:

- Take Rabiot next summer to give Ole more options: a gamble I would take without hesitation
- Take a player with superior passing skills (advanced or deep-lying playmaker). Mata and Herrera have to be upgraded.
- Take a super star if available on the market

You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

What a nice balanced post.

 

[glazed]

Even as a casual observer, people know that the right side is our weakest side....
Pep, Klopp, Pochettino and Zidane would also have no response to the events that happened...

I can see that might be true. I just don't know that it IS true. I suspect Jose would have parked the bus and tried to nick a goal, and that might have worked. Honestly I would rather have lost.

 

[crossy1686]

I can see that might be true. I just don't know that it IS true. I suspect Jose would have parked the bus and tried to nick a goal, and that might have worked. Honestly I would rather have lost.

Very true and me too. It would have been brutal but I did think he may have got something from that game.

 

[PepsiCola]

We will win 3-1 in Paris.

 

[glazed]

Very true and me too. It would have been brutal but I did think he may have got something from that game.

It did occur to me that Lukaku down the right might have been an interesting wild card. But truly I also doubt anything would have worked. They were just better.

 

[crossy1686]

It did occur to me that Lukaku down the right might have been an interesting wild card. But truly I also doubt anything would have worked. They were just better.

Think Mata was brought on for quick feet and better ball retention but they were just better.

 

[noodlehair]

De Gea - How close does a corner have to be to him before he'll actually come out to claim it? Not a massive criticism considering, but seeing as our defenders seem to think they're playing dodgeball whenever a cross comes into our box, it would be helpful if De Gea could come out to claim a ball from time to time without accidentally punching one of them in the face

Young - Full of character and effort. So much so that there is no room left for things like composure and awareness
Lindelof - Did ok. Suffered from not being able to run as fast as Mbappe/Usain Bolt/a ballistic missile
Bailly - Did ok again, but tiny mistakes or weaknesses get punished against teams of this quality
Shaw - Seemed to take half a second too long to do everything and you could tell he'd never played in a game like this before.

Herrera - I don't get him. In games where we need him to press or hold his position he goes and sits in with the centrebacks. Last night when he needed to drop off he spent the entire second half chasing shadows around like a derranged lunatic.
Matic - Looked decent but spent the game doing nothing in particular
Pogba - Wasn't in the game enough. Should have dropped back really to get his team in the game more but doesn't seem to see it as his responsibility. Presumably had his name drawn out in the pre-game red card raffle in the referees room

Martial - Looked nervous
Lingard - Does everything faster than his footballing ability will allow him to
Rashford - Got fouled a lot. Needs to get better at diving in European games. He goes down but doesn't do the dramatic arm waving/mid-air body spin move. Needs some coaching from Herrera.

Mata - What happened here? Someone at some point in time decided to play Mata as a right winger in a game and for some reason based on that it has become his position, even though he is possibly the least suited attacking player in the world to play on the right wing.
Sanchez - At fault for everything that happened...including when I spilt part of my drink
Lukaku - Came on

PSG manager - Disappointingly, coverage of him behaving like a weirdo was occasionally interrupted to show segments of the actual game.

Ref - Yet another CL knockout game where one of the biggest influencer's on the outcome is the referee rather than a player. I can understand making mistakes but CL referees constantly change their own interpretation of the rules throughout the course of a game. Where do they find these people?

 

[Gator Nate]

Difference in them missing players, they have top players to come in. We had a snail, a nice snail, but still a snail and a money grabbing busted flush.

Great analogy!

Anyone saying, "Ole didn't have an answer," is correct, but not tactically. He has NOTHING else in the toolbox with this roster. What amazes me is how there is such a consensus on the lack of quality personnel, but any time Ole deploys anyone, the fault is not with the player but with him. This puzzle has too many pieces that don't fit and it's not the fault of the person now tasked with putting it together.

We also lacked execution - the passing was horrendous, off target, too weak, or too strong. At the end of the night, we only had two fewer shots than PSG. I think most of those were Herrera kicking it straight into a crowded PSG defense.

Prior to losing our front line, we were still 0-0. Tuchel's superior tactics produced nothing until two of our top players were out of the action, and De Gea wasn't exactly under attack all night.

 

[Irwin99]

I was surprised by both:


- United was more tired than PSG, which is explained by (1) a PSG side who is already domestic champions since several months (2) you team under pressure in the last months made an impressive come back recently (3) some PSG players who are mentally and/or physically fresh and didn't play so much this season for diverse reasons like Draxler, Dani Alves (4) in the last games, several starters at PSG were on the bench to rest while your players were at 100%. Conclusion: you started the game very well but rapidly decline in terms of work-rate. Also, England is generally disappointing at the Internationale tournaments for very different reasons, one of these being the lack of a winter break IMO

- Without Neymar and Cavani, that PSG team was more possession-based than ever. Neymar always takes risks and Cavani is a player to finish chances not to contribute to the possession. In this context, Di Maria and Draxler are on the pitch and the team might be viewed as a kind of 3-6-1. Also, PSG is happy to rely on a deep-lying playmaker like Verratti while a player like Xabi Alonso instead of Matic would have been wonderful in another life.



You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

Great point about the energy levels. Was really noticeable in the second half where we looked knackered at times. Very worrying considering we have some massive games coming up.

The game in the second half mirrored the situation of United vs Juve at OT this season. We were toyed with at times because they kept the ball so much better. A good metronome midfielder would help us a lot. Matic and Herrera have good strengths but ideally we should have a different type of midfielder in there with Pogba

 

[DomesticTadpole]

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-united-old-trafford-psg-15823831

Send them the bloody bill.

 

[crossy1686]

I severely dislike PSG today more than I did before this tie. Not even because they beat us, it's the way they've handled themselves in the media afterwards mostly.

 

[pocco]

I am absolutely baffled, that after a very inevitable loss, people are questioning the manager? I read that he got outcoached, that we should look for alterantives, and all types of doom and gloom. Like, really? What are the alternatives on this bench?

The general pattern of our play against the bigger teams so far has been 1st half we concede possession and hit on the break. Generally taking advantage of the slow defenders Spurs and Arsenal had. In the second half, they seemed to have new game plans, which completely nullified us for the most part. Think we grabbed another against Arsenal in the second half (Martial? My memory is bad), but they definitely had the better of it.

Last night, the same happened except we pressed when they had the ball deep, dropped back as they advanced, then looked to counter. Tuchel managed to end this after about 20 minutes, after which point we were practically sat back as we have done under Jose. That is why people think Ole got out-thought last night, especially as he didn't alter anything and seemed to just wait for the inevitable to happen.

 

[ash_86]

I was surprised by both:

- the atmosphere on RedCafe in the last years with a great tendency to be overly pessimistic/gloomy about the future and the ability of the team/club to improve and have better results while United is simply the wealthiest club in the world and one of the top 5 most iconic clubs in the world

- your very recent overconfidence "United will win 3-0" in the sense that PSG had been capable to beat Liverpool at home and lost away there because (1) Verratti was injured and (2) PSG was so overconfident at Anfield that they had forgotten the fundamentals (all the players have to defend and contribute to the pressing). That said, your optimism was very understandable given (1) your recent performances since Ole took over the club and (2) the injuries at PSG (3) the poor quality of the French league (only Lyon and Monaco in a previous life know some stuff about football)

Regarding the game, my understanding is:

- United players were unconsciously overly confident like fans given the context exposed above...while PSG players had to work harder than ever because they couldn't rely on magic Neymar

- United was more tired than PSG, which is explained by (1) a PSG side who is already domestic champions since several months (2) you team under pressure in the last months made an impressive come back recently (3) some PSG players who are mentally and/or physically fresh and didn't play so much this season for diverse reasons like Draxler, Dani Alves (4) in the last games, several starters at PSG were on the bench to rest while your players were at 100%. Conclusion: you started the game very well but rapidly decline in terms of work-rate. Also, England is generally disappointing at the Internationale tournaments for very different reasons, one of these being the lack of a winter break IMO

- Without Neymar and Cavani, that PSG team was more possession-based than ever. Neymar always takes risks and Cavani is a player to finish chances not to contribute to the possession. In this context, Di Maria and Draxler are on the pitch and the team might be viewed as a kind of 3-6-1. Also, PSG is happy to rely on a deep-lying playmaker like Verratti while a player like Xabi Alonso instead of Matic would have been wonderful in another life.

- On the the other hand, you team is more suited to counter-attack. Martial (like M'bappé generally) is a striker deployed on the wing, same for Lingard in a certain sense (say he's a forward). If your players are tired or injured, you need a plan B and some players to calm down.

- You have only one clear leader (Pogba) while the ideal would have been at least to have 2 great leaders. Tactically, the priority of Tuchel was to neutralize and Marquinhos did the job, discovering a new role this season and improving very quickly. Against Liverpool away, Marquinhos suffered. You are overly reliant on Paul.

- PSG is more experienced (1) PSG played against Real Madrid/Barcelona several times in the last seasons (2) For example, Di Maria scored more goals in Champions League than your starting 11 on aggregate (3) Thiago Silva & Verratti joined the club in 2012, Marquinhos 2013, Kimpembe part of the squad since 2014. So, the PSG team has a solid shared experience.

- Di Maria made the game of his life. He doesn't play with the same appetite/hunger every week and even with the national squad. He seemed to be more excited to play against United than France in a World Cup...

All in all, the issue is not your defence but the lack of another leader on the pitch to support Pogba: in other words, Pogba can't do everything alone.

I hope you will:

- Take Rabiot next summer to give Ole more options: a gamble I would take without hesitation
- Take a player with superior passing skills (advanced or deep-lying playmaker). Mata and Herrera have to be upgraded.
- Take a super star if available on the market

You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

So much sense, thank you.

 

[simplyared]

Think we lost this game in all departments tbh. Strange as it may seen after all the choppin and changin with our CB's I reckon our best pairing is Jones and Smalling. Sanchez was absolutely shocking and looks like he's just collecting his pay check every week. Our fullbacks are just not up to scratch. So many times the final ball into the box didn't find the right address. That ball from Shaw to Pogba was just shit and it got Pogba sent off. I'd fine Shaw a weeks wages for that! We were even beaten on the touchline. Yes Ole's living the dream but he came down to earth with a bang last night and met his superior. Seeing coaches like Tuchel on the sideline constantly engaged with his players, giving instructions and emotionally involved with what's going on, impresses me somehow. Nothing wrong with a coach with temperament. Just feel Ole's is lacking in that dept tbh.

 

[captaincantona]

Haven’t logged in in years but really wanted to post on last nights match and our progress in general. I don’t think anything happened that we weren’t already aware of.

Up until Martial pulled up, the match was pretty even. The Lingard/Rashford break with the ball played in behind Martial -on another day, could have paid off, Shaw’s pull back, Pogba s burst forward early in the game. All of PSGs chances were offside. So think about it...last season and in this seasons group phase we struggled big time to match mediocre opposition consistently. Last night we played a team who are well into their own building process with great experience and considered to be genuine contenders to win the whole thing. With our first choice 11, we did not look out of our depth or pinned back like we have previously against Juventus or liverpool or City. We were competitive. We have come a long long way.

The most telling thing was Ole’s comments about us playing with Sanchez and Mata. Talking about combinations and finding a different way to play without Martial and Lingard. Truth is, Oles success is based on speed up top and quick breaks. So our back ups (Sanchez, Mata, Lukaku) don’t fit this system. City don’t find a different way to play - they have backups that buy into Peps philosophy and slot into the existing roles. Same with Liverpool, Barcelona, Dortmund, Napoli of last season under Sarri, Juventus and last nights opponents.

So there is no great panic in my opinion. Ole had taken us from struggling to get results against ordinary and semi decent teams to dominating those teams comprehensively and winning, in most cases well-as we should expect to if we want to be considered one of Europe’s top sides again.

However, no genius or magician can make Mata into a Pacey outside right that can lead a counter attack or Lukaku into an intricate center forward capable of speed of thought required to interchange with the other front 3. Ole has done everything he could up to this point with this squad of players. They will improve and sharpen with more exposure to this type of football. What is inescapable is the need for top class competition for our front three and midfield three for that matter.

In short, our first choice 11 went toe to toe with one of the top 5 teams in Europe, had a lot of the ball and posed questions. Even in recent ‘impressive’ wins over Juventus, Liverpool and City, we sat back and got lucky with set pieces and route one.

All is good and we are finally back on the right track, competing with teams on our own terms instead of sitting back and reacting. I’m the happiest I’ve been in years.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Paul Hirst‏ @hirstclass




UEFA charges against MUFC and PSG here. Case to be heard on Feb 28.

6:50 AM - 13 Feb 2019

 

[painkilebg25.7]

We will win 3-1 in Paris.

I would like to believe that but this french team are so talented, i'm sad, so sad.

 

[Giggsyking]

PSG a nothing club.

 

[Escobar]

Still not good enough. The quality in the final third is still not there and we miss a clear game plan to unlock tight defences.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

Injuries were unfortunate but let’s be honest, Martial and Lingard were poor anyway. Passing was sloppy, runs weren’t being spotted and we just seemed behind the eight ball. We started the game at full strength, they came into the match missing two key players.

Most important thing now is to not this this affect our season going forward, this was a bonus competition this season and if we’re not careful it can get ugly in the next few games

 

[painkilebg25.7]

PSG a nothing club.

They build a team with money, UEFA should not allow that, this is cheat code.

 

[DSG]

Horrible subs by Ole.

I have no idea why so much of our game flowed through Young/Herrera in right flank when we had Pogba on left? Shaw was abysmal.

Sanchez and Mata should never be on pitch on same time. In fact both should never be on pitch ever again.

PSG was man-marking Pogba with Marquinhos. Pogba was not an option, and getting fouled constantly. PSG was terrified of Rashford and Pogba. Notice they had both Thiago Silva and Kimpembe near Rashford, tight, and would foul before allowing him to turn to counter.

The antidote to that was to push Martial and Lingard wide and break with them. The injuries to both really killed our chances to win.

Frankly, I thought we played them even in the first half until Martial and Lingard got hurt. You could argue we had the better chances. The media is making it seem like Ole got schooled tactically, but I disagree. He just didn’t have options on the bench to continue to execute his game plan. Mata cannot play like Lingard and Sanchez is a shell of his former self. Maybe bring Lukaku on instead of Mata, and revert to a 4-4-2 with Rashford up top with Lukaku. If Marquinhos is going to man mark Pogba, push him out to the left?

Tough loss. Awful refereeing. Qatar bribed their way into hosting the World Cup. What’s one measly referee?

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

PSG was man-marking Pogba with Marquinhos. Pogba was not an option, and getting fouled constantly. PSG was terrified of Rashford and Pogba. Notice they had both Thiago Silva and Kimpembe near Rashford, tight, and would foul before allowing him to turn to counter.

The antidote to that was to push Martial and Lingard wide and break with them. The injuries to both really killed our chances to win.

Frankly, I thought we played them even in the first half until Martial and Lingard got hurt. You could argue we had the better chances. The media is making it seem like Ole got schooled tactically, but I disagree. He just didn’t have options on the bench to continue to execute his game plan. Mata cannot play like Lingard and Sanchez is a shell of his former self. Maybe bring Lukaku on instead of Mata, and revert to a 4-4-2 with Rashford up top with Lukaku. If Marquinhos is going to man mark Pogba, push him out to the left?

Tough loss. Awful refereeing. Qatar bribed their way into hosting the World Cup. What’s one measly referee?

Great post, username needs improvement.

 

[RedTiger]

Great post, username needs improvement.

Are you talking to yourself again?

 

[OldPop]

De Gea - How close does a corner have to be to him before he'll actually come out to claim it? Not a massive criticism considering, but seeing as our defenders seem to think they're playing dodgeball whenever a cross comes into our box, it would be helpful if De Gea could come out to claim a ball from time to time without accidentally punching one of them in the face
...
Ref - Yet another CL knockout game where one of the biggest influencer's on the outcome is the referee rather than a player. I can understand making mistakes but CL referees constantly change their own interpretation of the rules throughout the course of a game. Where do they find these people?

I agree with most things but maybe not everything. Anyway, it's very fun to read your analyzes, please continue with them.

 

[trix]

I thought we played a good first half but the final ball was lacking. When Lindgard and Martial got injured I wanted Ole to sub in a midfielder to try to gain some control over the central areas, the Mata and Sanchez subs killed us. Even having Dalot on the wing instead of either of those would have been a better option and would have.

I was however impressed to see us press PSG in the first half and at one point we had 5 players parked outside their box when Buffon had the ball so we are moving in the right direction but serious investment needed in the summer if we want to compete at this level.

 

[Loon]

Hoping against hope here, but this lot delivered one of the most spectacular chokes in CL history. Admittedly, it was Barcelona, but I wonder if we got an early goal...?

 

[SapperBRed75]

Until Lingard and Martial went down injured we were absolutely fine. Two subs at half time knocked us down and a goal from a player who should have been off killed us. PSG are not that good.

They were better than us on the night, but otherwise I pretty much agree with this. Inconsistent officiating was a major factor. We didn't have the bench for a viable Plan B or to replace the quality that went off (resume Plan A). Mbappe is rapid and his instincts are great, although Bailly had 3-4 yards on him for the second goal and should have cut out the cross. The leg was over by then anyway; maybe we could've salvaged the Round of 16 going to Paris a goal down. Dissapointing, despite us all knowing that delivering in Europe was too much this season.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

PSG was man-marking Pogba with Marquinhos. Pogba was not an option, and getting fouled constantly. PSG was terrified of Rashford and Pogba. Notice they had both Thiago Silva and Kimpembe near Rashford, tight, and would foul before allowing him to turn to counter.

The antidote to that was to push Martial and Lingard wide and break with them. The injuries to both really killed our chances to win.

Frankly, I thought we played them even in the first half until Martial and Lingard got hurt. You could argue we had the better chances. The media is making it seem like Ole got schooled tactically, but I disagree. He just didn’t have options on the bench to continue to execute his game plan. Mata cannot play like Lingard and Sanchez is a shell of his former self. Maybe bring Lukaku on instead of Mata, and revert to a 4-4-2 with Rashford up top with Lukaku. If Marquinhos is going to man mark Pogba, push him out to the left?

Tough loss. Awful refereeing. Qatar bribed their way into hosting the World Cup. What’s one measly referee?

Teams looking to mark Pogba should be a easily anticipated obvious tactic and there should have at least been a plan to handle that. Shaw needs to up his support that flank. If Young and Herrera can have that much time on the ball, surely Shaw could have done better. Shaw-Pogba-Martial was probably the only functioning part of the team under Mou, but we seem to be losing that now.

Sometimes negative tactics and parking the bus are necessary if you don't have the options for a proper open game. With Sanchez and Mata we could neither attack, not hold possession and beef up defence. It should be the standard, but as a exception we should have ground out a draw here.

 

[OldPop]

I was surprised by both:

- the atmosphere on RedCafe in the last years with a great tendency to be overly pessimistic/gloomy about the future and the ability of the team/club to improve and have better results while United is simply the wealthiest club in the world and one of the top 5 most iconic clubs in the world
...
You don't need to buy 25 players, keep Ole and just take 2-3 guys next summer and you will be in a position to compete with Barcelona, Real Madrid & co

I join those who have already praised your analysis, it contains many wise observations and reasonable conclusions. Pretty impressive work you put there.

 

[DSG]

Teams looking to mark Pogba should be a easily anticipated obvious tactic and there should have at least been a plan to handle that. Shaw needs to up his support that flank. If Young and Herrera can have that much time on the ball, surely Shaw could have done better. Shaw-Pogba-Martial was probably the only functioning part of the team under Mou, but we seem to be losing that now.

Sometimes negative tactics and parking the bus are necessary if you don't have the options for a proper open game. With Sanchez and Mata we could neither attack, not hold possession and beef up defence. It should be the standard, but as a exception we should have ground out a draw here.

I think we are being a bit harsh on Ole. Maybe he did miss a bit in his substitutions this match, but he is somewhat limited by his personnel. If Kimpembe gets sent off in the first half, which he surely deserved (how is the foul on Shaw not even whistled, much less a second yellow), we are all talking about how brilliant his game plan was. Plan A was the right plan, and it was working IMHO, but it’s hard when two of your four key attackers get injured.

Man-marking rarely happens at this level. I think the staff was understandably surprised. Pushing Pogba out to the wing in a midfield 4 would have forced Tuchel to either push Marquinhos out to mark Pogba, or pull Alves up to mark him leaving space in behind.

I disagree that Shaw was a problem, or that one game defines our left side attack. Martial was poor, missing Lingard’s pass that was slightly behind him, but I’m not going to let that change my opinion of his overall ability.

I believe that even Sir Alex Ferguson, the greatest manager ever, made a tactical mistake on occasion. Let’s not condemn OGS for a loss that, frankly, we all thought was the most likely outcome when we saw the draw. Throw in a bribed referee and it was never going to happen.

 

[Giggsyking]

Just one question. Why didn't the ref send Kimpembe off? It would have been a completely different game.