[Icemav]

[QUOTE="soralapio, post: 24763683, For the love of Jesus, Ole: next game start Fred and McTominay in midfield with Pogba as the number 10.[/QUOTE]

I cant believe Ole had that option and didnt go with it. It might not work but a bit of simple deduction tells you that it would provide a fairly balanced midfield and get our most dangerous attacking threat back up the field.

I hate thinking I know more than the manager.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Very impressed with Guezdouzi

Agreed, he looks like he'll be a great player.

 

[ravi2]

Another game where:

Lingard is anonymous to be the point that it looks like we're playing with 10 men.
Rashford is being a petulant child.
James is looking our most dangerous player.
Perreira playing good but not Man Utd started material (good squad player)
Pogba playing for like 15 minutes each half
McTominay playing well
Young is past it, can't fault him for trying.
Please don't play Tuanzebe at full back again.

Ed really fecked up not getting in another attacker and RW this summer, because of that Perreira and Lingard are starters and both do feck all in every game I watch them in.

 

[Che Guevara]

haha, they are actually giving the ref and VAR credit for today's game in MNF

VAR ref missed two possible penalties for United for handball.

 

[Abhinav]

I know some people will overreact but on the whole, we played ok, definitely had chances to win, but so did they. People won’t admit it but there is a real lack of quality in the side that won’t be fixed by any tactical master plan. Perreira and Lingard are not good enough but when you look at alternatives, there aren’t many. Its basically Mata, Fred and a couple of teenagers.
Pogba is played deeper in the hope of injecting creativity, but with him, you get both the good and the bad - moments of wc quality and a lot of lethargic play. You can play him further forward but more often than not he tends to disappear when played as a AM.
Rashford right now is not really playing as a confident striker. Snatches at chances, doesn’t make the right runs, get frustrated in the centre and drifts out on the wing.
I think we will see more such frustrating results this season and will have to bear the pain. Hopefully Martial comes back soon and then we can invest in a CAM, a RW, 2 CMs in the next couple of windows.

Really impressed with Dan James, turning out to be a cracking player.

 

[Devil may care]

I thought we played better than we have in the last few games and we were the team that went for it at 1-1 while Arsenal looked happy with a point. It was what it was, a clash between 2 teams going for 6th place rather than top 4, I thought our energy and endeavour were good but we lack quality in the final 3rd which should be news to nobody.

 

[Slevs]

Ed really fecked up not getting in another attacker and RW this summer, because of that Perreira and Lingard are starters and both do feck all in every game I watch them in.

Thing is, the non-signing were dominating the headlines and all social media platforms. It's not like this was a hidden risk that was unidentified.

 

[RedB4ndiT]

We're a mid-table side and I think this is a fair result for us.

 

[JazzG]

My god the quality of that game was shocking, I know we are shit but your lot look even worse. Both managers will be happy with the point while both set of fans will be wondering what the feck has happened to our clubs, our reserved 20 years ago would have had a better game FFS!

 

[Okey]

No lack of effort. Just a lack of quality really. It'll probably take a couple more transfer windows to get a team capable of challenging at the top. When we started crashing last season I said I couldn't judge Ole till we get a proper team, only to end up with a weaker one this term! He's definitely no great manager but no one is working any miracles with this squad as it is. Simply not good enough. We'll be back to the top though. These dark days won't last forever...

 

[AndyMUFC]

Bit of an overreaction based on the season as a whole rather than that isolated game. Two very average sides admittedly, we really struggled to create anything again first half but second half was a lot more promising as we got on the front foot and played with a bit of tempo.

Pereira, Lingard and James behind Rashford is never an attack that is going to create bags of chances under any manager so the sooner we upgrade on that the better. Would like to see Pogba further forward for definite because there's no point having Lingard there.

Think James and McTominay played well and along with Wan Bissaka, Maguire and Tuanzebe there is at least a bit of youthful promise there.

 

[Amerifan]

Is it only me that thought that we did well tonight. Unfortunately, the subs offered nothing and one mistake from axel cost us the win.

Too many of these happening now, and we need to find a way to cut those out. Rashford just doesn't look like he is comfortable playing at 10. Needs to go back out wide, and we need Martial back!

Agree with this. We played with more energy and urgency than in recent games. Some really nice individual efforts as well. 80% of the time we look like a top 4 side. It’s the other 20% individual errors and uncertainty on what to do in the final third that kills us. Hopefully that’ll improve as the season wears on.

 

[ravi2]

Thing is, the non-signing were dominating the headlines and all social media platforms. It's not like this was a hidden risk that was unidentified.

Thank you Ed Woodward.

 

[tonnas]

We gifted them a point...still 9/21points is atrocious.

 

[Still ill]

I think if we, as fans, just forget about our league position this year, it'll make it easier to see the positives. Because there are positives. McTominay, James, Tuanzabe, Greenwood all guaranteed or at least viable starters now. DeGea situation settled. Harry and Wan Bissaka looking good. Clear out well underway. We're clearly better defensively. We're shite going forward but there are reasons for that. I'll stay with Ole for the moment.

 

[mancave bear]

I know some people will overreact but on the whole, we played ok, definitely had chances to win, but so did they. People won’t admit it but there is a real lack of quality in the side that won’t be fixed by any tactical master plan. Perreira and Lingard are not good enough but when you look at alternatives, there aren’t many. Its basically Mata, Fred and a couple of teenagers.
Pogba is played deeper in the hope of injecting creativity, but with him, you get both the good and the bad - moments of wc quality and a lot of lethargic play. You can play him further forward but more often than not he tends to disappear when played as a AM.
Rashford right now is not really playing as a confident striker. Snatches at chances, doesn’t make the right runs, get frustrated in the centre and drifts out on the wing.
I think we will see more such frustrating results this season and will have to bear the pain. Hopefully Martial comes back soon and then we can invest in a CAM, a RW, 2 CMs in the next couple of windows.

Really impressed with Dan James, turning out to be a cracking player.

Well spoken : )

 

[BaneIsPain]

Starting lingard should be sackable offense.9 points out of 7 games is simply poor form

 

[Camy89]

Played some really baffling stuff tonight.

Lineup: 1. How does Lingard consistently get starts? What does he offer? Throughout his time on the pitch he does nothing, literally picking easy passes out wide. That’s literally it.

2. Same with Pereira, he is simply piss poor. He’s been given ample opportunity to do his thing, but it appears he doesn’t have one. Bang average.


Style: What style? Did you see tonight? Time and time again we had lines of players just waiting for the ball. Just waiting. Nobody dropping back to try and bridge the gap between midfield and attack. When no one drops back? There it is! Long ball over the top which inevitably results in a turnover of possession.

These guys don’t look like they can play football, let alone with each other. We are scraping by on brief glimpses of quality which rapidly evaporate later in the game.

Our passing was shocking at times. It’s beyond me what goes through the minds of these players, there are some in particular that make infuriatingly stupid and telegraphed mistakes (Young).

Pogba tonight, I thought anyway, was one of the better players, he actually had the ability and foresight to ping a pass accurately into space.

Overall we are really pretty shit, but what makes it more unbearable is watching the mistakes and shite play these guys produce every game. I wouldn’t mind if we actually produced some brilliant passages of play but the style (or lack thereof) is just soul destroying.

I’m rapidly losing faith in Ole and this team. I’ve already lost faith in the feckwits in the upper echelons of the club - they don’t know their arse from their elbow.

 

[Beans]

This is why people overreact when they claim we aren't top 4 level. If we aren't, then neither are Chelsea who are awful defensively, neither are Spurs who Arsenal outplayed, neither are Arsenal, etc. City and Liverpool are the 2 outstanding teams in the league, then theres a big chunk of teams who are about the same with differing strengths.

It's kinda funny, because in the world of basketball, people typically talk about how good the top teams are, not how they're all weak. Same with players, there's much less focus on what they can't or didn't do.

 

[Lee565]

Why did Solskjear bother signing a defensive fullback for 40 million and a ball playing centre back that is good but not great defensively for 80 million when we cant play out from the back, we cant keep clean sheets and we cant score more than 1 goal in a match and a lot has to do with having a non-existent threat down the right side.

 

[Jonno]

Solskjaer doesn’t seem to have any energy or passion on match day does he.

His press conferences are incredibly flat, he doesn’t seem concerned about dropping points, he doesn’t seem to get to the touch line to urge his team on.

His urgency is unbelievable, he seems content with us sitting 10th in the league. It’s the little things that add up.

I’m all for the long term project but I can’t really come to terms with us being so content with 10th!

 

[bosnian_red]

Why did Solskjear bother signing a defensive fullback for 40 million and a ball playing centre back that is good but not great defensively for 80 million when we cant play out from the back, we cant keep clean sheets and we cant score more than 1 goal in a match and a lot has to do with having a non-existent threat down the right side.

We had no right back, no center back, no holding mid, no right wing and no experienced striker without Lukaku. It was just too much to do at once. Yeah we needed to strengthen in attack, but we desperately needed it at the back as well.

 

[glazed]

I tried to watch the game but ended up fiddling with my phone. LVG was boring. Jose was tumescent. Ole is just incoherent. I have no idea what his game plan is supposed to be, never mind if it's working.

The sooner the Glazers sell to someone who wants to win stuff, the better

 

[Jonno]

This is why people overreact when they claim we aren't top 4 level. If we aren't, then neither are Chelsea who are awful defensively, neither are Spurs who Arsenal outplayed, neither are Arsenal, etc. City and Liverpool are the 2 outstanding teams in the league, then theres a big chunk of teams who are about the same with differing strengths.

Spurs and Leicester are on course for top 4 and United are miles away.

 

[Jonno]

We are shit. No getting over this.

I dont blame Ole, I blame the club.

As poor as the club have been in recent years at recruitment, Roy Hodgson could produce better football than this.

It’s naively nice, tame, unstructured football. It mirrors Ole’s nice, friendly, unproven persona.

 

[Lee565]

We had no right back, no center back, no holding mid, no right wing and no experienced striker without Lukaku. It was just too much to do at once. Yeah we needed to strengthen in attack, but we desperately needed it at the back as well.

Did we really need to prioritise the defence over attack, I'm seeing teams with worse back 4's than ours higher up the table, we could have signed the likes of trippier or meunier for 20-25 million and they at least are good going forward as well.

 

[bosnian_red]

Spurs and Leicester are on course for top 4 and United are miles away.

We're 2 points off spurs who have looked atrocious and a few weeks ago beat Leicester who barely threatened us... it's been 7 games. Yeah we aren't great, but this constant overrating of the others around us does my head in. Spurs have been shite for like 10 months now. Arsenal are shite as they showed today. Chelsea are beyond useless defensively. Leicester are nicely balanced but and have a shot but they won't stay consistent because that's not their level to stay consistent.

 

[peridigm]

I tried to watch the game but ended up fiddling with my phone. LVG was boring. Jose was tumescent. Ole is just incoherent. I have no idea what his game plan is supposed to be, never mind if it's working.

The sooner the Glazers sell to someone who wants to win stuff, the better

Had to work so I watched a recording... on fast forward. I think I'll do the same for the remainder of the season. 5 pts from 15 is bottom half of the bottom half form.

 

[bosnian_red]

Did we really need to prioritise the defence over attack, I'm seeing teams with worse back 4's than ours higher up the table, we could have signed the likes of trippier or meunier for 20-25 million and they at least are good going forward as well.

Yes, we absolutely needed to. Just because our midfield has no balance and the attack is kids doesn't mean that using Young/Dalot as first choice right back and the chuckle brothers as CBs would've been a good idea. We made good signings in the summer, it just wasn't enough. We needed:

• Center back
• Right back
• Holding midfielder
• Right winger
• Creative midfielder
• Experienced Striker
• Depth winger

We signed a CB, RB and a depth winger, but still have 3/4 starting 11 spots lacking, so of course we're gonna be shit when we have Pereira and Lingard playing together every week in our front 4. We only got half of what we needed basically, and that's why we're struggling.

 

[acnumber9]

We're 2 points off spurs who have looked atrocious and a few weeks ago beat Leicester who barely threatened us... it's been 7 games. Yeah we aren't great, but this constant overrating of the others around us does my head in. Spurs have been shite for like 10 months now. Arsenal are shite as they showed today. Chelsea are beyond useless defensively. Leicester are nicely balanced but and have a shot but they won't stay consistent because that's not their level to stay consistent.

Yep. Nobody from 3rd-8th is particularly good with very little between them. Kane and Son will probably lift Spurs above the rest but none of them are particularly good teams currently. That includes Leicester who are being made out to be better than they are just because they’re Leicester.

 

[Luke1995]

Solskjaer's full focus should be in winning the Europa League. Forget the PL...

 

[WR10]

It’s crazy because this is the hardest working group of players we have had in the past 7 years. They really go full throttle. The sad truth is that they just so so so bang average. Their skills are mediocre at best. It’s like a Ford Focus being floored full throttle.

I play in a Sunday league and I used to watch the premier league and be blown away by how players do things so casually. Watching United makes me feel way too familiar. The way Perreira, Lingard and Young move around and play with the ball make me feel that a few of us from the team can sub in for them.


I’ve never felt that watching United in my life

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

We had no right back, no center back, no holding mid, no right wing and no experienced striker without Lukaku. It was just too much to do at once. Yeah we needed to strengthen in attack, but we desperately needed it at the back as well.

OgS was talking from his permanent appointment onwards about how he was able to see the squad & knew what it needed.

I can’t claim to know transfer negotiating. I’m sure that deals to buy players for £10s of millions take time but this whole, “it hasn’t been done so it can’t be done” in regards to buying ‘alot’ of players is the kind of rhetoric the club rely on to stop the pressure coming on.

Parts of a football clubs role [Woodward, OgS, Scouts etc.] is to be identifying players that improve the squad. These negotiations should not be taking place strictly from July 1 or January 1 onwards.

City sign 2/3 players a summer year by default & their squad is miles ahead. As with all walks of life if you’re not as good as your competition you must work harder, so to expect us to ‘work’ twice as hard as the clubs above us in the transfer window should be a given.

Signing every player we wanted may be impossible but after finishing 6th & with [apparently] lofty expectations, our work on transfers [in & out] should be farther advanced than it is.

 

[Trophy Room]

I was at the game. Just a sad state of affairs. This is not going to change for at least a decade.

 

[AltiUn]

I can't believe we somehow made our squad even weaker than it was last year.

 

[pcaming]

Ed really fecked up not getting in another attacker and RW this summer, because of that Perreira and Lingard are starters and both do feck all in every game I watch them in.

It's not really his decision to sign/not sign players in those positions though. The entire committee failed this transfer window.

 

[bosnian_red]

OgS was talking from his permanent appointment onwards about how he was able to see the squad & knew what it needed.

I can’t claim to know transfer negotiating. I’m sure that deals to buy players for £10s of millions take time but this whole, “it hasn’t been done so it can’t be done” in regards to buying ‘alot’ of players is the kind of rhetoric the club rely on to stop the pressure coming on.

Parts of a football clubs role [Woodward, OgS, Scouts etc.] is to be identifying players that improve the squad. These negotiations should not be taking place strictly from July 1 or January 1 onwards.

City sign 2/3 players a summer year by default & their squad is miles ahead. As with all walks of life if you’re not as good as your competition you must work harder, so to expect us to ‘work’ twice as hard as the clubs above us in the transfer window should be a given.

Signing every player we wanted may be impossible but after finishing 6th & with [apparently] lofty expectations, our work on transfers [in & out] should be farther advanced than it is.

Agree for sure. I'm saying I don't think Ole is to blame for that, as it's a theme we see every transfer window. It's Woodward and the owners. We all knew we wanted to sign Wan Bissaka and Maguire for ages. Why did it take over a month to finalize Wan Bissaka and the last week of the window to sign Maguire? That's 100% down to Woodward being inept. How many times did Ole over the summer say stuff about multiple players being looked at, until he probably realized just how useless Woodward is. We make every little signing look like the most complicated thing in the world when it really shouldn't be that hard. Plenty of clubs manage multiple signings, they should be identified long before the summer starts and negotiations should be well under way. Yet it seemingly hasn't been that way. None of us can say for sure what goes on, but I'm pretty confident in saying that I doubt Ole told Woodward to wait til the last week of the window to sign Maguire and to ignore the attack and midfield.

 

[Zexstream]

The club is responsible for shit football?

Yes, they employed Ole. Its obvious he is out of his depth.

 

[momo83]

I’m the odd one out. Honestly just happy to see an entertaining second half. Granted Arsenal make it easy for teams to attack them, and yes the fact that we had 16 shots and 12 of those were outside of the box shows how limited we are. But it was end to end...

I’d equate it to watching a great B movie, full of plot holes, cheesy dialogue, crap acting, but still entertaining for an hour and a half.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Agree for sure. I'm saying I don't think Ole is to blame for that, as it's a theme we see every transfer window. It's Woodward and the owners. We all knew we wanted to sign Wan Bissaka and Maguire for ages. Why did it take over a month to finalize Wan Bissaka and the last week of the window to sign Maguire? That's 100% down to Woodward being inept. How many times did Ole over the summer say stuff about multiple players being looked at, until he probably realized just how useless Woodward is. We make every little signing look like the most complicated thing in the world when it really shouldn't be that hard. Plenty of clubs manage multiple signings, they should be identified long before the summer starts and negotiations should be well under way. Yet it seemingly hasn't been that way. None of us can say for sure what goes on, but I'm pretty confident in saying that I doubt Ole told Woodward to wait til the last week of the window to sign Maguire and to ignore the attack and midfield.

This is part of the issue I have with OgS. I do not expect a Jose type meltdown, that’s counter productive & not his style but less than 2 months ago we sell 2 attackers & he’s preaching how it’s the class of 92 all over again. A few horrendous performances later & apparently the players we want weren’t available in the Summer but we’ll go for them again in the notoriously more difficult January window.

It’s a fine line to walk & you don’t want to undermine your squad but when the fans are expecting top4 to be greeted by this product because OgS was talking lofty, only to then be told a few games in - actually the squad I was happy with isn’t the squad I wanted; we have every right to be a little . . . aggrieved.

Woodward is inept, we all know this but OgS is complicit by now partaking in the charade.

If OgS has anything about him he’d leave if circumstances are as bad as most assume. If I have Fellaini & Herrera leave with no replacement over 2 windows then I have to leave. He won’t leave of course, it’s his dream job but by not doing the ‘right thing’ [imo] I have to judge him as I do the rest of the regime.