[tjb]

There were some positives , but a lot of bad things.

Bruno is a good player. One of the things I was worried about with him was he would not have the strength and balance to keep up with play in the premier league as we saw with Mhikhi. He rode challenges and never seemed like the game was too fast for him which is the fear from players coming in from a new league. He is also not as erratic as some would have you believe in game, and was consistently picking out attackers ( who had consistently poor control). He was also a bit more reserved than he will be moving forward, but given that we had no real presence in midfield alongside Fred, I could see the need for that.

Shaw and Fred looked good today. Maguire was and has been outstanding over the last few weeks, if he had another defensive partner capable of actually defending, we would not concede many goals. Get Tuanzebe in there and test it.

AWB was average to poor in attack, but as usual solid defensively. We need to find a way to accomodate this as he will never be an offensive juggernaut but is so good defensively that it would be daft to abandon him. We need a right winger that can attack and alleviate AWB of too much attacking responsibility.

We have a real dearth of attacking quality in this side and have had this for a long time. Martial was horrible today. He did not make any runs, he constantly drifted out of position and his control of the ball was terrible, and has been terrible over the last month. For me, LVG's second season was soo bad due to the lack of penetration brought from the lack of runners in the side. That season, Martial was our no.9. When Rashford came into the side, LVG quickly pushed Martial out wide. I'm starting to sense his reasoning now.

Daniel James is a good option to have, but today showcased what he looks like when he is off form. It's not good enough to start for us, but he can be a useful option off the bench. Pereira was poor again, so poor that Bruno had to take his role deep in midfield. Then was so poor in attacking midfielder that we shifted him to the left hand side. With a front line containing Mata, Martial and James, and a midfield containing Pereira, it is little wonder as to how we were not able to create chances today. These are players ( bar Mata) that literally need to be guided on how to move the ball offensively. I do not think Fred is a good play either, he is average. But at least he can consistently replicate a 6/10 midfield performance which is good enough to be a squad player for any utd side. As for the rest of the Front 6 (bar Bruno), I really think they would struggle to play for a lower table side.
The good thing for us is that we have 3 players that would otherwise have started today. The bad news is that none of them would have played as a no.9, right winger or centre back.

 

[M16Red]

Still have problems with a low block, until we have a center forward who stays in box we we continue having problems..

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Are we physically the weakest side in the league? We were just bouncing off Wolves all afternoon. James, Pereira, Martial and Mata in particular. We were crossing the ball in, but for what? Look at the size of us compared to them. Who is going to win the physical battle?

City aren't a 'big' side either, but Aguero, Sterling, the Silvas are tough and can hold their own. Pereira and James are like children playing against men. They lose the ball so easily.

 

[Run_time_error]

Can't wait until we have a manager who has never won anything, can't wait till we lose 7-2 at home to Bayern , get knocked out of the League Cup by Colchester and win 6 league games out of 24 in 2019. Right.

Agree, I simply don't get this Poch lovefest. I don't see anyone else breaking his door down. Why should we?

 

[freddie the red]

Home to Watford??Really, that's just taking the you know what.

Forgotten home to Burnley, well I suppose it was over a week ago now

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Another tumescent, lifeless display of 'attacking' football - laid out by the man who 'gets the club' and knows what is expected of a Man United. Shocking performance, no doubt Ole will be happy with the point (he certainly managed the game like he was playing for the draw so job done) and will mention "lads", "the boys", "hard work" and "going again" after the game.

This club is settling comfortably into a midtable funk that will not shift until we upgrade our management and coaching staff. It's as simple as that. Teams like Sheff Utd play better attacking football and not a single one of their 11 would get into ours - don't give me this bullshit about Ole needing better players. The players need better coaching, it's as simple as that.

Said it before, we're going to be 10th in a few weeks and fans will still claim we're heading in the right direction.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Champions league final.
Finished above United, is it every season?
Play far better and cohesive football.
All with a team that spent 10% of what we've spent.

Spend €70million on Ndombele and hardly win a match and where is he now- sacked because he's not good enough for Spurs. Don't remember Spurs winning the league when we finished second.
So he has a worse record than Ole over the past year but you'd prefer that.

 

[Resch]

We should stop criticize the players as long as the manager has no clue. Wolves had a plan, tried to bring it on the pitch. We had nothing, no plan a no plan b. Just attacked and hoped to find a way to score.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Are we physically the weakest side in the league? We were just bouncing off Wolves all afternoon. James, Pereira, Martial and Mata in particular. We were crossing the ball in, but for what? Look at the size of us compared to them. Who is going to win the physical battle?

City aren't a 'big' side either, but Aguero, Sterling, the Silvas are tough and can hold their own. Pereira and James are like children playing against men. They lose the ball so easily.

Those three are definitely weak and in no shape to win a midfield battle. Maybe Jose was onto something when he preferred having big feckers like McTominay and Fellaini in his midfield.

 

[caid]

Frustrating game and frustrating team to play against. Hard to see where goals are going to come from when Martial isn't in the mood.

 

[Roboc7]

We coached and set up to play like we did midweek against handful of teams rest of the time (today being a great example) we are inept and predictable.

Looking at the next six league games I can only see us dropping further down the table, lose against Chelsea and it’s win the Europa or the sack for Ole.

 

[ash_86]

I am not so worried about our squad as I am by our management, OLe at the wheel? what feckin wheel, we are not a ship we are a football club managed by a former striker who was a great player and legend for the club. But he has not got a clue how to manage a club of our size and needs replacing as soon as possible.

You should be worried as players like Pereira and Lingard are not premier league quality. Unfortunate that we need to keep them playing week in week out due to long term injuries. Very difficult to build anything with them playing constantly.

 

[Kostov]

Our midfield is absolute shambles. Why haven't we bought an actual CDM is beyond me. Fred tries his best but he isn't one, and MAtic obviously can't do it anymore. All the opposition needs is a decent runner with the ball, and they take the ball from their box to ours unopposed, directly running at the CBs. Fred for all his effort is so easy to bypass its laughable.

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

Agree, I simply don't get this Poch lovefest. I don't see anyone else breaking his door down. Why should we?

No one is 'breaking his door down' because they'll have to pay millions. Unless they wait until the end of the season.

 

[sosolid4u09]

Spend €70million on Ndombele and hardly win a match and where is he now- sacked because he's not good enough for Spurs. Don't remember Spurs winning the league when we finished second.
So he has a worse record than Ole over the past year but you'd prefer that.

You honestly dont know sh** about football

 

[Im red2]

There are no outstanding managerial candidates other than Klopp and Pep - keep changing managers is not going to get us anywhere, it's like going back to square one every time.
Moyes is crap, LVG over the hill, Mourinho was only interested in Mourinho.
We're not going to suddenly magically transform into a title winning team - it even took SAF six and a half years and we played some really tumescent stuff at times till around 1991.

We may suffer a bit more but need a bit more time and patience and get our injured players back and a bit more investment.

Nagelsmann from Leipzig is a good manager with a clue.

 

[Ronaldo's ego]

Any team coming to Old Trafford are so comfortable and expect a result. Absolutely zero fear factor, we’re beyond being saved by big signings alone.

 

[bonothom]

Utter shit. Feel sorry for Bruno. He's got goals and assists coming out of his arse and that dipshit Norwegian has him playing deeper than Pereira.Pereira is shit!!, Bruno needs to be on the edge of the box, that's their box not our fecking box Solskjaer! Anyone still thinks this idiot should still be manager has to be having a laugh when he can't even see that the best position for our new signing is further up the field and not as a holding midfielder.

 

[Amadaeus]

Give Nuno this United team and I m sure he will be third place in the league. They play similar football to us, but Wolves seems more better organized and coached with lesser talent. Poor performance overall and we can produce much better football than that.

 

[2 man midfield]

More distressing than watching The Human Centipede. Just garbage.

At least they could string something together

 

[sparx99]

When I watch Utd I always try and ask this question: how are we trying to score goals? Are we using the players we have effectively?

With other top teams, you can generally see patterns of plays or very similar goals scored.

City for example score so many goals from a low cross from the byline. Sterling and Aguero score so many tap ins. There is also the regular goals from De Bruyne delivering quality crosses from the right hand channel.

Liverpool score so many goals from TAA and Robertson putting in quality delivery. They are also use the full backs to switch the play quickly allowing Mane and Salah to isolate a defender.

With Utd, we lack the passers that City have, we lack quality delivery from out wide, we lack the physicality to play direct. Our best attribute is the pace of the front three (when fit) but we've all seen how ineffective pace is against compact defenses.

So what can we do better with what we have for now? Because AWB and Shaw lack the quality crossing of TAA and Robertson wouldn't it make sense to tell them to overlap and pull the ball back low for midfield runners rather than trying to cross to Martial who is never going to score a header against a CB.

Dan James should be told to use his pace to get across his full back at the back post. There is no reason why he couldn't get some poacher's goals as Sterling does. Against a deep defence his movement off the ball is more important than in possession.

 

[vanderstar]

Boring, the match going fans are boring, the only thing i was looking forward to was a walk out but as usual utter bollocks, this shite would not happen at Liverpool.

So tired of reading this shit. Go follow Liverpol then ffs. Why should i have to read your whining?
Tought game vs a team that has had 10 days of. Meanwhile we have had our hands full. And people are throwing the team under the bus. Get out.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Still Ole is a better manager than Poch then?

I am prepared to give Ole more time but I don't rate Poch and don't see him suddenly transforming us which doesn't mean I think Ole is currently the best manager there is. In all the time I've been supporting United the most depressed I was , was in 1989, not even when we got relegated in 74. Guess who was manager then.

 

[OLLY ORANGE]

Ole we dominated the game. A delusional puppet
Terrible line up, poor formation, poor in game management and another anti climax after sides anove drop points and give us an opportunity.
How many points at home have we dropped when top four is calling for a win.

 

[Buster15]

Highlight of the match was Bruno putting on Wolves kit after realising he has joined the wrong premier League team.

Yes. I thought that was a bit bizarre to say the least.
That is not a criticism of his game as he is going to be a good player for us.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

You honestly dont know sh** about football

Yes Einstein, Poch is the answer, do you have a shrine in your bedroom

 

[EwanI Ted]

Problem‘s not hard to diagnose. Martial had a shocker, and of Mata, James and Andreas, only one of them should even have a squad number. None of them should be in the first team right now. No surprise we created next to nothing.

 

[redshaw]

Of course we drop points when Chelsea do.

Really disappointing to have lots of possession again and not be able to create. We have a huge issue in scoring goals even with Rashford in the team playing so well, without him it's desolate.

Hopefully Ighalo can be someone other players can work off.

 

[Schweinsteiger]

Yes. I thought that was a bit bizarre to say the least.
That is not a criticism of his game as he is going to be a good player for us.

wasnt too bizarre..the bloke he swapped with is his Portuguese mate also making his debut for wolves. Probably pre arranged

 

[Isotope]

Are we physically the weakest side in the league? We were just bouncing off Wolves all afternoon. James, Pereira, Martial and Mata in particular. We were crossing the ball in, but for what? Look at the size of us compared to them. Who is going to win the physical battle?

City aren't a 'big' side either, but Aguero, Sterling, the Silvas are tough and can hold their own. Pereira and James are like children playing against men. They lose the ball so easily.

Yeh. Rashford is the only one who is physically up to the battle, but he's alone thus he's targeted that result in injuries. Others are just weak and coward.

That's why I'm pretty happy we get a physical striker in Ighalo, as he certainly helps our weak attackers.

 

[sammsky1]

There are no outstanding managerial candidates other than Klopp and Pep - keep changing managers is not going to get us anywhere, it's like going back to square one every time.
Moyes is crap, LVG over the hill, Mourinho was only interested in Mourinho.
We're not going to suddenly magically transform into a title winning team - it even took SAF six and a half years and we played some really tumescent stuff at times till around 1991.
We may suffer a bit more but need a bit more time and patience and get our injured players back and a bit more investment.

Despite this being an indisputable fact, so many of our fanbase either don't get it or refuse to accept it. After the summer window, we all knew this season would be difficult, inconsistent and frustrating. And yet when that happens, some of our fans embarrass themselves with toys out of the pram. Its very frustrating.

The "Manchester United' we knew was wasted away by Moyes, LVG and Mourinho. We aren't that club anymore, it has to be rebuild and that will take as long if not more time than it took SAF all those years ago.

OGS may not be the right man, but I can't see anyone else coming in and magically compete at the 90point level required to win this league right now.

 

[TMDaines]

For the longest time you felt that as long as we managed to keep a clean sheet that we’d motor up the table, but now the problem is at the other end. We’ve now blanked in four of our last five league games. We’ve failed to score eight times now and only Bournemouth, Burnley, Norwich and Watford have done so more often.

Both full backs today offered so little. I can forgive AWB as his strength lays elsewhere and he should be tucking in and sweeping up counterattacks, but we need to build the team around that. AWB needs a winger ahead of him, putting Mata there is laughable. So surprised Shaw got the nod over Williams given how well he played against Wolves twice in recent weeks. Very odd.

The first-half formation made no sense and I was very happy to see it changed second half. James left, Mata right, Bruno 10 and Pereira in the double pivot played to nobody’s strengths. It was much better second half with Mata 10, James right, Bruno in the double pivot and Pereira left. It was a mistake not to sub Pereira off earlier though.

We’ve got to stop using James on the left. He is a winger; not everyone needs to cut inside. He needs want Traore had and clarity and simplicity in a defined role: stick right, go outside the full back and cross the ball. That’s it. For some reason we then repeated the mistake late on with Dalot inside left rather than being a right winger. Dalot has shown nothing to suggest that he would be better suited to this role, rather than sticking right and crossing the ball.

Martial will soon be benched for Ighalo, with the possible saving grace of playing Rashford’s left forward role until his return. He offers nothing in terms of working the defenders. No truly determined runs are made, aerial balls aren’t contested and little creativity is offered. He’s simply not good enough to play centre forward for a team aspiring to win trophies. There’s no more relaxing day in the PL for a centre back than against Martial. Sure, he might do something undefendable and get a goal, but he’s never going to force an error. There’s a partnership with Rashford there providing the dynamism, but in isolation there’s very little.

Bruno was alright. I hoped for more, but arguably Pogba, McT, Matic and Rashford were all missing from our midfield and attack today, with James, Pereira, Mata and Fred being a clear XI in comparison. They’d make anyone look mediocre.

We should probably give our defence some credit. That’s now three clean sheets in a row this month against Wolves and today’s was very much deserved. They need to maintain that consistency that this run of three clean sheets in all competitions has delivered.

Unfortunately, the fact that most of our disappointing results have come in the league means that a loss at Chelsea in two weeks ends our league season. A draw or a win keeps it alive. Chelsea are no better than we are but points on the board are so valuable in a sea of mediocrity. Either us or Spurs could catch them with any sort of form, but there’s nothing to believe either of us can find it right now. Sheffield United could spring a surprise, maybe Everton too, but Wolves showed no ambition today when a win was out there late on.

 

[e.cantona]

Did anyone mention we're missing our maybe three best players + inform Matic? Substitute attacking options in Lingard and what's his name, right back. Against a decent side.

 

[gerdm07]

That was a decent result considering the Wolves whole front line is better than ours. Jiminez > Martial, Traore > James and Diogo > Mata/Pereira. I would make a clean swap for any pair no questions asked. Such is the state of United football today.

Bruno is quality. When do Pogs and McTominay come back?

Just when I think Andreas is starting to play decent he reverts back to his poor form.

The good news is we are still within striking distance for 4th. I said this before, whichever team fighting for 4th puts together a good 6 or 7 match run will get the CL spot.

 

[Amerifan]

There were some positives , but a lot of bad things.

Bruno is a good player. One of the things I was worried about with him was he would not have the strength and balance to keep up with play in the premier league as we saw with Mhikhi. He rode challenges and never seemed like the game was too fast for him which is the fear from players coming in from a new league. He is also not as erratic as some would have you believe in game, and was consistently picking out attackers ( who had consistently poor control). He was also a bit more reserved than he will be moving forward, but given that we had no real presence in midfield alongside Fred, I could see the need for that.

Shaw and Fred looked good today. Maguire was and has been outstanding over the last few weeks, if he had another defensive partner capable of actually defending, we would not concede many goals. Get Tuanzebe in there and test it.

AWB was average to poor in attack, but as usual solid defensively. We need to find a way to accomodate this as he will never be an offensive juggernaut but is so good defensively that it would be daft to abandon him. We need a right winger that can attack and alleviate AWB of too much attacking responsibility.

We have a real dearth of attacking quality in this side and have had this for a long time. Martial was horrible today. He did not make any runs, he constantly drifted out of position and his control of the ball was terrible, and has been terrible over the last month. For me, LVG's second season was soo bad due to the lack of penetration brought from the lack of runners in the side. That season, Martial was our no.9. When Rashford came into the side, LVG quickly pushed Martial out wide. I'm starting to sense his reasoning now.

Daniel James is a good option to have, but today showcased what he looks like when he is off form. It's not good enough to start for us, but he can be a useful option off the bench. Pereira was poor again, so poor that Bruno had to take his role deep in midfield. Then was so poor in attacking midfielder that we shifted him to the left hand side. With a front line containing Mata, Martial and James, and a midfield containing Pereira, it is little wonder as to how we were not able to create chances today. These are players ( bar Mata) that literally need to be guided on how to move the ball offensively. I do not think Fred is a good play either, he is average. But at least he can consistently replicate a 6/10 midfield performance which is good enough to be a squad player for any utd side. As for the rest of the Front 6 (bar Bruno), I really think they would struggle to play for a lower table side.
The good thing for us is that we have 3 players that would otherwise have started today. The bad news is that none of them would have played as a no.9, right winger or centre back.

I missed the game, thank you for the thoughtful analysis. Nice to read after wading through the usual mindless whining drivel.

 

[Sultan]

Huff, and Puff team at the moment. Missing Pogba's finesse and Rashford's pace and energy and goals big time. Martial looks lost without Rashy. Wan Bissaka is pointless and clumsy beyond the half-way line. Pereira is another who looks way out of his depth.

 

[Carolina Red]

Amazed that Bruno can walk right into the team that soon after joining.

If you ever needed evidence that we don’t actually have a “system” of play that a new player needs to learn, there it was.

 

[Rightnr]

It's clear this team is not getting coached well or at all, really.

The double sub on 87 minutes displayed just how incompetent this guy is.

 

[Teja]

It's a strange one with Bruno, he seems happy to play the same role that Fred does. Didn't really shine at #10 and got pulled deeper.

Positives are that I thought he adapted very quickly to the pace of the game here, didn't get bullied off the ball. Showed flashes of what he can do and really should've got a goal.

 

[sideshow_bob]

Those saying you're not sure why Bruno was played so deep in the 6/8 position... Surely it's because we didn't have Pogba, Matic or McTom available. Had any one of these guys been available, pretty sure Old would have played Bruno in the 10