[Sandikan]

That’s it, bye ole

Being unlucky not to beat Pool at home?

 

[spiriticon]

No it didn't. We were already getting battered with Rashford on the field. At no point in the second half did we push Liverpool back. The possession stats were 75 to 25 for Christ sakes.

Blaming Martial for the goal or anything at all is downright absurd. Just be happy we're having our players back and stop the absurdity.

Not blaming Martial for anything. He was on for a whole 9 minutes straight from injury. I didn't expect him to do wonders.

I was more sad with the lack of Rashford for those 9 minutes because he and James gave their defence something to think about.

 

[Majima]

I for one don't have much problem with defensive tactics in big game as long as they're actually done right. I think we did it right today but fecked it up unfortunately.

Neither do i, i'm well aware of our limitations but we've seen it too many times now for it to be a 'just a mistake'. We've seen the team is just not good enough to carry it out for a whole match. We always crack eventually.

 

[Majima]

Being unlucky not to beat Pool at home?

If it happens every single time we try it, we can't really call it unlucky can we?

 

[fps]

No surprise that its Rojo.. All he had to do was stick with Lallana, but nah.. for some weird reasons he goes into no-mans land where is he completetly useless. Sad, since he played a good game.

Eh, it was Tuanzebe against Arsenal, Rojo here. Rojo's barely played for what seems like years, bit of rust.

 

[Sandikan]

Fingers crossed? Whoever plays will not matter, these players won't be 100% fit and almost all of our other options are out of form and underperforming. We will be chasing shadows all game and it will be just another embarrassment at OT.

Wrong.

 

[Sandikan]

If I was - as a full-blooded realist - I would certainly be trying to make some proactive, realistic changes to this sideshow.

You think we can win this? Just wow. We cannot even beat teams like Newcastle right now, stop believing in Santa Claus and try a bit of realism for once. I'm assuming you're an adult.

Just avoided that tonking eh?

 

[Sandikan]

If it happens every single time we try it, we can't really call it unlucky can we?

You're talking like we haven't beaten them for 20 years at home.

Last 2 years we've had an injury crisis, and come into it in woeful form, and still not even lost! Today could easily have been a win.

 

[Nr.7]

What subs did you want?

Any.

I understand Ole though, I always substitute a striker for striker around the 85th minute on football manager and 90% of the time it works. He must be baffled it didn’t work in real life.

 

[ExoduS]

If someone offered us this before the game we would take it. Naive goal but we cant really claim that we deserved the win. Disappointing at the end but promising at the same time. Honestly we need two players to change things around. Clinical finisher and great midfielder.

 

[Nicoseth]

Really? Tell me about all the chances we made?

Tell me about all the Liverpool chances. We played the best team in Europe and apart from one lapse would have won the game. We play like that against lesser teams we'll make more chances and score more goals.

 

[el3mel]

Neither do i, i'm well aware of our limitations but we've seen it too many times now for it to be a 'just a mistake'. We've seen the team is just not good enough to carry it out for a whole match. We always crack eventually.

It's unacceptable for other matches but today was fine for me.

I'm not sure this will change anything anyway. We just raised our game a little bit against them and I can see us returning to our routine very quickly in the upcoming matches.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Tell me about all the Liverpool chances. We played the best team in Europe and apart from one lapse would have won the game. We play like that against lesser teams we'll make more chances and score more goals.

Jesus, our standards as fans have dropped.

 

[christinaa]

That’s fine. Have you got evidence of opponents achieving regular success in targeting both full backs? I just don’t see it

It's a pity you didn't see it but maybe you saw it this afternoon.

 

[Sayros]

No blame - just an astute observation.

Astute would be appropriate if Liverpool weren't dominating the midfield even before Martial came in, and Rashford didn't change any of that either. The lone man up front is not going to get much going if the midfield is gassed and the defense under pressure. The ball was just nowhere near him for 95% of his time on the field.

 

[Majima]

You're talking like we haven't beaten them for 20 years at home.

Last 2 years we've had an injury crisis, and come into it in woeful form, and still not even lost! Today could easily have been a win.

But i'm not just talking about today's match. Over the past few years, we've seen that without fail, every single time we attempt to just hold on and defend, it backfires on us.

Today, we tried to hold on from before the 60th minute with time-wasting etc. Ole never even made his 1st change until after the 80th min. Taking everything into account, we weren't unlucky to concede under those circumstances, there was only one team attempting to play football out there that 2nd half, it was inevitable if you ask me.

Liverpool were there for the taking today. We had a good first half, but then tossed it out of the window with the 2nd half so that's very frustrating to me.

 

[fps]

No blame - just an astute observation.

Nothing astute about it, he had nothing to do with the goal conceded. Also, I hope you're not describing your own post/view as astute, it's like calling yourself clever, someone else needs to do it!

 

[Im red2]

We have ended the run of Liverpool with the worst team I can remember us ever having so happy time.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Wrong.

Come on, you can't be telling me you expected that performance? I'm very happy with it, though the fact we drew is a bit frustrating, it's still something to build on. Would be over the moon if Ole turned it around, unlike other parts of our fanbase, I love the guy and have never abused him for not doing well as it is fashionable these days.

 

[Dans]

Nothing astute about it, he had nothing to do with the goal conceded. Also, I hope you're not describing your own post/view as astute, it's like calling yourself clever, someone else needs to do it!

Why are you relating my post to the goal?

It was a simple observation, and an astute one at that.

 

[Buster15]

We know wer'e not special but I hardly got the feeling we were up against a team like Pep's Barca.
After all the hype Liverpool were just as every bit 'meh' as us in some ways.

Yes. They looked surprisingly average today.
To be honest I never really thought that we were in trouble apart from the awful defensive error.

 

[UncleBob]

But i'm not just talking about today's match. Over the past few years, we've seen that without fail, every single time we attempt to just hold on and defend, it backfires on us.

Today, we tried to hold on from before the 60th minute with time-wasting etc. Ole never even made his 1st change until after the 80th min. Taking everything into account, we weren't unlucky to concede under those circumstances, there was only one team attempting to play football out there that 2nd half, it was inevitable if you ask me.

Liverpool were there for the taking today. We had a good first half, but then tossed it out of the window with the 2nd half so that's very frustrating to me.

 

[UncleBob]

Any.

I understand Ole though, I always substitute a striker for striker around the 85th minute on football manager and 90% of the time it works. He must be baffled it didn’t work in real life.

Our bench consisted of Romero, Brandon Williams, Phil Jones, James Garner, Juan Mata, Mason Greenwood and Martial.

Not really any ideal subs there.

 

[Dans]

Astute would be appropriate if Liverpool weren't dominating the midfield even before Martial came in, and Rashford didn't change any of that either. The lone man up front is not going to get much going if the midfield is gassed and the defense under pressure. The ball was just nowhere near him for 95% of his time on the field.

He jogged around as he always does and didn't even attempt to pressure any opponent. I am not saying that it led to the goal (I think I have now explained that 3 times), merely that as usual, he doesn't work hard and when we are one up with ten minutes to go, I expect the subbed on striker to work his bollox off.

 

[Sandikan]

Come on, you can't be telling me you expected that performance? I'm very happy with it, though the fact we drew is a bit frustrating, it's still something to build on. Would be over the moon if Ole turned it around, unlike other parts of our fanbase, I love the guy and have never abused him for not doing well as it is fashionable these days.

Just teasing.
I don't think anything bar blind faith and football being a "funny old game" was in our favour today.

Although when I saw De Gea in, and Salah out I got a bit more interested.

Ole still has it all to do of course. He needs to just keep the pressure down until he an urgently get more bodies and more quality in, plus have very good luck in the big players staying fit.

 

[Buster15]

Positive performances from Rashford, James,AWB and Maguire. So-so from McTom and Fred. Everyone else poor.

Fred...Did he actually pass the ball to another United player.
I thought Andreas was better.

 

[Sandikan]

Our bench consisted of Romero, Brandon Williams, Phil Jones, James Garner, Juan Mata, Mason Greenwood and Martial.

Not really any ideal subs there.

Totally.
And when you factor in Martial being semi fit, that has to have a shot at being right up there with our worst ever Premier league bench

 

[Sandikan]

Fred...Did he actually pass the ball to another United player.
I thought Andreas was better.

Pereria had a good game, but still has it all to prove, as we can't get away with a sort of defensive right winger in most games!

 

[Buster15]

Pereria had a good game, but still has it all to prove, as we can't get away with a sort of defensive right winger in most games!

That is right. He is quite average and not really a Manchester United player. But he was ok today.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Fred...Did he actually pass the ball to another United player.
I thought Andreas was better.

Forget about Andrea.
Yeah he had a good-ish performance. Showed abit more composure tonight and a few decent passes.

 

[Majima]

Everyone loves smilies with quotes taken out of context. You definitely contributed a lot there.

If you don't think Liverpool weren't there for the taking today based on what we saw in the first half then go ahead, please enlighten me.

 

[FrankDrebin]

Can we expect the same sort of commitment in other games now ?
Time will tell I guess.

 

[UncleBob]

Everyone loves smilies with quotes taken out of context. You definitely contributed a lot there.

If you don't think Liverpool weren't there for the taking today based on what we saw in the first half then go ahead, please enlighten me.

Before this match, in the 19/20 season, they averaged 0,75 goals against them and 2.5 goals for them per match. We averaged 1,125 goals for us and 1 goals against.

Since 1st of jan 2019 they've won 21 out of 26 matches, only 1 loss. The notion that they were there for the taking, based on glimpses in the first half, is somewhere between naive and stupid, more towards stupid.

We couldn't keep control of the ball, which has very little to do with our tactics, Liverpool are simply a much better side, there was nothing wrong, whatsoever, with the decision to sit back and attempt to hit them on the counter.

 

[PickledRed]

It's a pity you didn't see it but maybe you saw it this afternoon.

I saw United’s shape restrict the full backs attacking prowess. Very well done. I didn’t see either full back repeatedly exposed in any real sense, which was the point you were suggesting, I believe. United created few actual good chances - the goal came from a counter following a foul in the midfield area not a FB issue in terms of them being targeted.

Have you got more substantial data using a larger sample rather than a single match that didn’t, in actual fact, support your original point? Especially for Robertson - never read anywhere else that he should be targeted defensively.

 

[Nicoseth]

Jesus, our standards as fans have dropped.

You're not wrong.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

I never seen the game so can’t really comment our performance although the media are saying we did not too bad considering our form going into this game and the form
Liverpool were in.

No one, including myself, gave us a hope in hell of getting at least a draw in this game. I was expecting a very comfortable Liverpool win and was genuinely surprised when I found out what the score was. Credit where it’s due, I guess.

I said before the game that if I was offered a draw, I’d take it as I couldn’t see anything other than a Liverpool win.

 

[Sayros]

He jogged around as he always does and didn't even attempt to pressure any opponent. I am not saying that it led to the goal (I think I have now explained that 3 times), merely that as usual, he doesn't work hard and when we are one up with ten minutes to go, I expect the subbed on striker to work his bollox off.

You don't have to explain it didn't lead to the goal, that was understood. You're implying the team lost intensity when he came on, and I'm telling you that they had already lost that intensity about 15 minutes or more prior to when he came on and Rashford did nothing to change that. He is isolated there to be up front and lead any counters, United couldn't even chase the ball, let alone lead to a counter and Rashford wasn't doing much chasing around the back four, just like Martial didn't either. But again, this thread proves that there are some who will use anything to bash Martial, even when he played 10 minutes isolated up front in his first game back in over a month.

 

[Dans]

You don't have to explain it didn't lead to the goal, that was understood. You're implying the team lost intensity when he came on, and I'm telling you that they had already lost that intensity about 15 minutes or more prior to when he came on and Rashford did nothing to change that. He is isolated there to be up front and lead any counters, United couldn't even chase the ball, let alone lead to a counter and Rashford wasn't doing much chasing around the back four, just like Martial didn't either. But again, this thread proves that there are some who will use anything to bash Martial, even when he played 10 minutes isolated up front in his first game back in over a month.

I want implying the team lost intensity at all. I am saying he, Anthony Martial, put in a piss poor effort, as is too often the case. Stop looking for a bigger agenda. He's lazy, basta.

 

[Random Task]

It's unacceptable for other matches but today was fine for me.

I'm not sure this will change anything anyway. We just raised our game a little bit against them and I can see us returning to our routine very quickly in the upcoming matches.

What does that tell you about our squad?

 

[Random Task]

Everyone loves smilies with quotes taken out of context. You definitely contributed a lot there.

If you don't think Liverpool weren't there for the taking today based on what we saw in the first half then go ahead, please enlighten me.

If you mean to say we could have won the game had we shown more attacking intent in the second half, well, that's debateable isn't it. We could have stepped out a little more, sure, but we would have left gaps in behind for Liverpool to exploit. There was a couple of occasions in the first half where Firminho and Mane took advantage of poor defending from Lindelof and could have scored. The threat was always there.

Defending deep and playing on the counter has worked well for us in this fixture in recent years. It very nearly worked again today - I guess it did to an extent.