[Bowlcut11]

He's not a good attacker, may be decent in most games, but will never be good. That's ok as long as he is great defensively which he is. Ole made a fantastic tactical change with his off the ball formation by pushing Wan Bissaka closer to the defenders rather than frequently joining the attack. The problem we faced came from James being so ineffective from that flank. He seemed off the pace physically ( one of the reasons he started this game).

We have something really good in Pogba and Fernandes, but we need to do something about spreading play away from the centre. Our flanks are far too ineffective, and this really comes as a result of our failures from the right flank. The middle is too cramped and we don't have a player in that area who can hold up the ball ( unless Ighalo plays). Bruno's one twos and constant searching and bailing out teammates from problems still requires a bit of room.

I agree 100% with the fact he isn't a great attacker but he does the job on most occasions as you say and he's rock solid defensively. Just needs that final cross/ball to be the whole package.

I feel like we need a 'thinker' or somebody with some ingenuity on the right wing (hopefully Sancho) to provide the spark that Rashford gives on the left. James is not suited to a team who sits back as he really only has that burst of speed unfortunately.

You're also right that we need someone to hold up the ball. Martial is good but he doesn't have all the attributes to be a complete number nine.

 

[Foxbatt]

People are blaming him for James pick mostly. Truth is, he was clearly used to give us options on the counter. The problem with this was that Ole did not anticipate Jose sitting deep. Their goal came from errors, ironically from us pressing well and pushing up our defensive line. For the most part, we played well. But we have serious issues breaking teams down. This has been a problem for all our managers since Fergie. I believe the problem has to do with our complete lack attacking quality on the right flank. Poor AWB has to shoulder the attacking load because we have no player in our squad that can attack/willing to attack from the right. Forcing our team to try and find intricate ways to break teams down from the centre as even the left flank becomes congested.

Honestly if any manager thinks that Jose is going to get his team to come out and attack and play an open game is rather naive to put it politely. Odion starting the game as the CF with Martial and Rashford along side would have been much better. We also need to put a balanced team and with Scott, Fred and Bruno in midfield it is not a balanced team. Also we need to drop Lindelof if we are going to play against quick strikers.

 

[tjb]

I thought James was selected for the press but then we didn't press, and to hope to play counter against Jose is a little strange as even in home games he's often cautious. The right side is an issue for sure and has been for a long time now, but also the fact we don't get a lot of attacking threat from our fullbacks makes it easier for teams to squeeze us. We'll see over the next 8 games if Pogba and Bruno together can remedy this issue as most teams are going to sit deep against us I feel

Thing is, we were away from home against Spurs, a team that has been better than us for a few years ( somehow Jose makes them seem so terrible, like what he did with us). In hindsight, typical Mourinho.

 

[MikeeMike]

Everybody looked off and rusty, Pogba was an obvious class above.

Most sensible summary of the game so far. Everyone scapegoating DDG as everyone forgets poor finishing. Scuffed shot at the end would have been tucked away in the past. Has Keane really said the things stated on BBC . Firstly “We’re” trying to get into top four? He is not “we” involved anymore.

 

[Canucantona20]

Martial and Rashford should of scored. That was the game there

 

[yan man utd]

1-1 away at Spurs is a good result any way you look at it, so no complaints there.

‘Away’
Sorry but there were no fans in the stadium - this is basically like a match on neutral grounds. Why we set up without 1 or 2 of our best players is beyond me. Spurs must have gained extra motivation after seeing our starting line up.
Bailly ahead of Lindelof for a start, then obviously Pogba has to start ahead of mctominay or Fred - just play Matic who is highly experienced in the DM role and let Pogba and Fernandes get on with it. James might have had a better game if the midfield was better, but we did look better with Greenwood on.
This game was there for the taking ... and I’m surprised and disappointed that after 3 months of thinking /preparation we didn’t live up to expectations. We have better players than Spurs and as for Mourinho... well this was a great chance to show we have moved onwards and upwards. Disappointed

 

[Strelok]

Poor but quite entertaining match. Ole was a bit bad tactically imo. He started the match with a setup ideally to counter. However we played straight well into the Jose's plan and attacked a lot. Even my cat know what Jose is and how he'd play. Huge possession but very few actual chances. Our right wing basically didn't exist. Of course it didn't work. The lads were rusty so brainfarts were expected. No problem for me.

Spurs had played well. They sit back and invited us to attack. Then countered. Typical Jose style. Some may think we're much stronger than them but imo it's not true. After 1-1, if we're that stronger we should be able to push them back. But we didn't, despite the fact we had 4 subs and they had 1-2.

Ah and ref was terrible.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I'm annoyed with that. We were kept at arm's length by a dogged Spurs side, struggling to produce anything in the final third, then we dick ourselves with a comedy goal that would have youth coaches tearing their hair...

We have pretensions of going far with this team but that lacklustre attacking play and those disgraceful defensive lapses are not good enough,

 

[The Brown Bull]

It's after 3AM and I'm still seething.
Sack Solskjaer before it's too late.
Joke defending by Shaw, Maguire and DDG for the goal.
Lackadaisical approach for most of the game against a sh1te Spurs team.
Rashford way off form should have been off at ht.
Pogba should have started.
James not up to it.
Get the ffffing lead out and sign Sancho and a no 9.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Need to add, Moss is a woefully bad ref.

 

[Tarrou]

It's after 3AM and I'm still seething.
Sack Solskjaer before it's too late.
Joke defending by Shaw, Maguire and DDG for the goal.
Lackadaisical approach for most of the game against a sh1te Spurs team.
Rashford way off form should have been off at ht.
Pogba should have started.
James not up to it.
Get the ffffing lead out and sign Sancho and a no 9.

What did Shaw do wrong with the goal?

 

[The Brown Bull]

What did Shaw do wrong with the goal?

Watch it again.

 

[The Brown Bull]

What did Shaw do wrong with the goal?

In my opinion Maguire is mostly to blame then DDG.

 

[macheda14]

We were slightly sluggish (understandably), but honestly it’s a Jose game. Some days he gets a result and it’s ‘defensive genius’ other days they lose and ‘he’s lost it’. It sucks because we will probably be 5 points behind chelsea, but in a normal world, 1 point away to Jose isn’t terrible. That’s exactly what he plays for.

 

[Tarrou]

Watch it again.

I did but I don’t see anything, but maybe the highlights didn’t go back far enough

Maguire and DDG were both shocking

 

[r0663664]

Premeditated substitution from Ole. Come on, this is not a friendly to get players game time for fitness. You make tactical substitution anytime during the game hoping to grab a win. I just can’t stand how Ole manages a team irregardless it is Utd or any other club. Something must be very wrong with this guy.

 

[croadyman]

I’ll take the draw, definitely could’ve won though. Come on David, the feck was that attempt at a save.

Has saved us so many times in the past but these mistakes are becoming far too common

 

[croadyman]

Toughest game out of the way.
Shouldnt have conceded. Should have won.

Pog + Bruno can play together.

Iĺl take the positives and move on..

Will Chelsea give us many more chances to close the gap though

 

[Skeezix]

We could have won this game. I'm disappointed, in the sense that Ole made the changes a little late. He should have made that at half time considering Fred and Bruno were too rusty and not moving the ball forward unlike Bruno ; and that James is useless against defensive teams.

But I'm not "Van Gal or Mourinho - frustrated" where there is no semblance or hope of breaking down defensive teams.

Combined with the water - break which killed our momentum at crucial periods of the game.

And Dave's clanger/lapses of concentration which seems be more frequent at the tail end of the season (like last year). This need sorted ASAP. It is costing us points in our CL qualification chase.

I'm hoping that Ole will be more perceptive of the opponent's possible game plan.
He should have foreseen that Mourinho is Mourinho and would park the bus. The team selection/ game plan would have been good for Pochettino's Tottenham, not Mourinho's Tottenham.

Drop Scott and Fred against Defensive teams - let Matic sit deep and let Pogba and Bruno run riot.
Also Greenwood or Mata for James who comes in as a sub if we happen to break down the parked buses and lead.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to our next games despite the draw; De Gea instead of Lloris in the Tottenham goal, and we would have won. We had the better chances and moments.

 

[edcunited1878]

Watch it again.

Shaw tried to head the ball towards Rashford who didn't win the second ball. Fred could have fouled Berjwin, but did what he could to funnel him towards Maguire who got everything wrong in defending the player knowing there's space behind him. Ole was right in the fact that United were a little slow in the first half and it wasn't just some of the build up play, it was committing to the loose ball, trying to win the 2nd or 3rd ball, etc. That's the match sharpness that was missing at times, which is understandable, but that's the difference between a draw and a win sometimes.

As said, Maguire was at fault then DDG. The player and ball never gets past you, it's one or the other, not both.

 

[edcunited1878]

Will Chelsea give us many more chances to close the gap though

Chelsea will have their moments of struggle, starting with City after Villa. I don't expect Chelsea to beat City, maybe a draw at best because their defense is not good.

United, as I mentioned before today's match, didn't have to win against Spurs. They needed a result. But the must win has to be against Sheffield without their first choice keeper and I was proven right.

Everyone's pretty disappointed about the result because United's performance dictated 3 points and conceded a poor goal from two clear mistakes. But today's performance was good overall considering the time off, opponent, and how many players can only improve for United.

 

[AltiUn]

Has saved us so many times in the past but these mistakes are becoming far too common

Because of his history and what he gave to us at his best I wanted to support him, but at this point I am feeling quite insecure about his keeping ability and what it could potentially cost us in the race for top 4.

 

[TheReligion]

Form out of the window and a Tottenham team more at full strength than prior to lockdown. We were always going to be placed at a disadvantage in that regard along with our players having to work around their lack of fitness and sharpness. Defensively that was clear.

Overall the draw was the least we deserved and a fully fit team in its stride brushes spurs aside easily in my opinion. Their goal was a mistake and we missed some chances we would have normally put away with Rashford having his first game in 6 months it's understandable.

Plenty of positives to take from the second half especially from Bruno and Pogba who will be a real handful for any team in Europe.

Don't see the doom and gloom tbh. If anything we showed we are still heading in the right direction and still far better off than Spurs are moving forward.

 

[nickyboy1981]

I thought we were the better team last night. We were well on top before and mostly after their goal, awful goal to give away but given how great we had been defensively before Covid, I can't understand the massive over reaction from some people, you would think Spurs were bottom of the league and hadn't just got all their best players back, not to mention they have a manager who set up to avoid losing against us at all costs.

Bruno was great today and unlucky on a couple of occasions, Rashford should have scored but it was his first game back in months, Martial was poor.

I don't think there is an issue in not starting Pogba, we were in a great run of form before the season ceased, why should he walk straight back into the team after such a lengthy delay? He looked good when he came on though and hopefully he starts next game. I would have taken McT off instead of Fred, I do like McT but he don't half give the ball away a lot at times.

I still don't think we are that far away, someone who can put a decent ball in from the right, someone decent with a bit of pace to cover for Maguires complete lack thereof (maybe bailly for now?), oh and a 30 goal + striker please

 

[amolbhatia50k]

That's a game we should be winning if we are to overtake Chelsea. Spurs are bang average and we should have pounced. Disappointing result.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Imagine not starting Pogba and Greenwood. Would be hilarious if it wasn’t infuriating. We’ve had months to plan for this game and that’s what we came up with.

Yeah, Pogba clearly has to play. He's too good a player to leave on the bench. And Greenwood gets in easily James who is too limited as a starter.

 

[kafta]

We dominated spurs, should have won the game. Conceded a very silly goal and didnt take our chances.

I was happy with a lot of what we did well to be honest. The same weaknesses are still costing us, but i feel confident this team is going to get much better. I know Chelsea will drop points, we need to make sure we dont let that go to waste.

 

[steve.crowford]

It is only necessary to switch to the working scheme 3-4-1-2, to planting 4-2-3-1 in the performance of Ole is a circus.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Matic has to start. He has the ability to bring the ball out through dribbling or a penetrative pass at a much faster speed. And he was a clear difference maker as soon as he was on the pitch. As much as Fred has done well this season, he always has a mistake in him and needs that cover of another midfielder behind him.

 

[Member 113277]

The least United deserved out of that was a draw. Disappointed United didn't win and especially as such a poor goal was conceded

What odds on that penalty getting overturned if it was Liverpool?

100%.

Dier clearly didn't make contact with Bruno, as soon as it was referred it was going to be overturned. It was a clear refereeing error.

TBH, I think we've done well out of VAR this season, the decisions have overturned some bad ref calls - for and against us.

The commentator last night quipped that it was amazing how many penalties Utd win - with VAR, the reponse is easy, they are forced by quality attacking play (like Pogba).

 

[Member 113277]

Bruno is a a gem. Man of the match easily.
How lucky we are to get him after all the dithering the season before in whether to get him or not. Recruitment have a word.
His demeanour and attitude is just whst the club needs.
Best signing we've made for ages.

Agreed. It's early days, but I liked the way he posed a threat that Spurs had to address, giving Pogba a little more time and space. With the two of them on the field, there was always the chance of a decisive piece of play to steal a goal.

They didn't seem to get in each other's way, either, being different styles of player.

Pogba's through ball for Rashford was just perfection.

 

[Member 113277]

Yeah ive never seen such a biased coverage.

Makes a change for us! Normally the narrative is against us. Gary Neville did try to be balanced, but he's red to the core and can't really maintain it for long. He did say that Spurs were the better team in the first half (which was on the money), though.

 

[predator]

I think we could've and should've won last night but Ole didn't play his cards right. Pogba shouldve been introduced earlier and james should've been taken off as soon as it was clear what Tottenham were aiming to do (sit back and counter).

I don't want to be too negative because the game lacked tempo from both sides and looked like a friendly but with different selections and substitutes we would've got 3 points.

 

[Member 113277]

I'm not even a big fan of Matic but we defo look more solid in midfield when he plays.

He's a proven, high class, player . Only problem with him is age.

 

[Woodzy]

Happy with that. A point in what is arguably our trickiest remaining PL fixture is not bad at all.

Saying that, for some reason over the 3 month break I’d convinced myself we were good for top 4, but looking at the table now I forgot how tight it is actually going to be.

Maybe I was just more convinced 5th would be enough back then.

 

[Thiagoal]

People really need to chill out! Take this result in the context of being the most difficult game left for us and the fact Chelsea are very average and will drop many points in the run in!

 

[Member 113277]

Yep, it was a soft one.

I don't agree. The rules state a direct free kick will be awarded if a player " impedes an opponent with contact".

Dier took hold of Pobga's arm and clearly impeded his run.

Watch the clip from about 1:55 - it's an open and shut penalty. Unlike David Luis, on Weds, no disciplinary action was taken and that seemed appropriate.

 

[Pavl3n]

Man, this forum is a total doom and gloom even with the clear progress that Ole has achieved.
Looking at the ratings and seeing Baily with a 5.3 for 7/8 minutes of playing time, just underlines the lack of football knowledge throughout the posters.

Yet, I keep coming back here to read discussions about football games and players. What's wrong with me?

 

[theklr]

Comfortably the better team even before the changes. Was rusty, especially when conceding the goal, but its understandable. Think we still have a chance at top 4, top 5 should be manageble .

 

[Raees]