I don't think enough people realize the magnitude of effort - both physical and mental - that has been asked of some key players since the break, and how well these players have delivered in return. I'd like to show a few numbers to debunk a few arguments that are being thrown about to criticize the players and the manager right now. I think we've been absolutely brilliant since the restart - arguably the best form we've shown post SAF. Given the profile and talent of some of the players we have, I firmly believe this is the most promising side we've seen since SAF - even better than the side that won the Europa League and came 2nd under Mourinho.
On fixture congestion, aka the 'games come thick and fast every season' argument:
In 2018/19, GW 30-39 spanned from 10th March through 12th May in which we played 12 games. That's 5.3 days per game.
In 2019/20, we restarted at GW 30 again on 20th June ending on GW 38 on 27th July in which we would have played 11 games. Thats 3.1 days per game.
We had 70% more time between games last season as compared to this one.
On squad fitness, aka the ' our players get knackered too easily' argument:
Minutes played by Man United players since restart:
For comparison, look at minutes by Chelsea players since restart:
Look at the number of minutes most of our players have had - in a row - during this run. We've hardly got the same quality of depth as Chelsea, and that means the likes of Rashford, Bruno and 18-year-old Greenwood are taking on far more responsibility that they should. Clubs with similarly bare squad depth are losing players left, right and centre - look at Bournemouth, Sheffield, Villa or even Leicester - our players have insane fitness as compared to these clubs, Ole has definitely improved our fitness else we would have lost more than just Shaw to injury.
On squad rotation, aka the 'Ole is an idiot for not rotating against the smaller clubs' argument:
Let's look at results when the squad players (players not part of our current stongest XI) started agains the same 'smaller' clubs in the reverse fixtures earlier this season:
Sheffield United (A) : James, Fred, Williams, Pereira, Phil Jones start : 3-3 Draw
Bournemouth (A): James, Fred, McTominay, Pereira start : 1-0 loss
Villa (H): James, Pereira, Fred, Mata, Williams start: 2-2 Draw
Southampton (A): Mata, Pereira, James, McTominay start: 1-1 Draw
Palace (H) : Lingard, James, McTominay start: 1-2 Loss
West Ham (A): Mata, James, Pereira, McTominary start: 2-0 loss.
3/18 points before restart and 14/18 points now. Do you blame Ole for sticking with a team that works and the starting XI's chemistry with each other over squad players who have massively let him down in the past? Looking at how well we've done now, isn't his decision vindicated? In fact the reason we're close to CL spots is because Ole made that call, I'd say. Our squad players are terrible compared to the other top 6 clubs. James, Ighalo and Williams are just not good enough to trust so many crucial minutes with. Even yesterday, if Bowen wasn't tearing Williams a new one and we had Shaw there instead, I'd be more confident of us getting all 3 points. Sure, Ole took a gamble by playing many key players in the FA cup, but who wouldn't if you saw the current Arsenal side in the final?
On form, aka the 'we are still not good enough' argument:
And here's our form table over the last 10 PL games.
Every single team drops points, but no one has dropped them less often than us since Bruno joined. In Gameweek 25, when Bruno made his PL debut against Wolves, we were in 7th - 6 points (-2GD) off Chelsea in 4th and 14 points (-21GD) off Leicester in 3rd. Our turnaround since them has been nothing short of remarkable.
On mentality, aka the 'players are too mentally weak' argument:
I agree. We've made ground, but we took our sweet time doing it, and we may still brick it in the Cup Final against Leicester. We look more nervous whenever we are favourites or have to capitalize on dropped points, and look like a different team than the one that works brilliantly as underdogs. But how is that a criticism, isn't that completely expected?
In our starting XI only De Gea and Matic know what it takes to win the Premier League. Greenwood is 18, Rashford for all his time here is still 22 (just like AWB), Martial was a side-character under Mourinho he's stil 24. In Shaw's absence, Williams is 19 and put through immense mental and physical pressure. Ole himself has not won anything as manager, and he's learning on the job. I'm not saying young players can't be winners, I'm saying they take a little time to mature into winners and leaders - and they're doing it far quicker under Ole than anyone else we've had. For instance, in the big games this season. Against Liverpool, City, Cheslea, Arsenal, Spurs and Leicester this season, we have 21/33 points with 6 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and GF/GA of 16/7. Not bad for a manager and a team still finding their feet, I'd say.
The current Liverpool team also lost a lot of key games before they won the CL/PL. When you have a young team, it takes time.
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Irrespective of the result on Sunday (I think we'll get a nervy draw and make it to CL), this is most promising side I've seen since SAF and we should believe in Ole and this team. Hopefully it'll have some very good additions in the coming couple of months as well. I hope these numbers answer some of the daft criticisms being levelled against the team.
On fixture congestion, aka the 'games come thick and fast every season' argument:
In 2018/19, GW 30-39 spanned from 10th March through 12th May in which we played 12 games. That's 5.3 days per game.
In 2019/20, we restarted at GW 30 again on 20th June ending on GW 38 on 27th July in which we would have played 11 games. Thats 3.1 days per game.
We had 70% more time between games last season as compared to this one.
On squad fitness, aka the ' our players get knackered too easily' argument:
Minutes played by Man United players since restart:
Maguire | Bruno | Rashford | Lindelof | AWB | Martial | Greenwood | Pogba | Matic | Shaw | Williams | McTominay | Fred | Ighalo | James | Rest | |
Spurs | 90 | 90 | 90 | 78 | 90 | 78 | 28 | 27 | 12 | 90 | 0 | 89 | 63 | 12 | 62 | Dalot |
Sheffield Utd | 90 | 74 | 74 | 90 | 90 | 74 | 74 | 74 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 10 | TFM |
Norwich | 120 | 120 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 57 | 42 | 42 | 120 | 57 | 78 | 78 | 120 | 0 | Mata |
Brighton | 90 | 64 | 78 | 90 | 90 | 78 | 90 | 64 | 90 | 64 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 12 | 12 | Lingard |
Bournemouth | 90 | 90 | 80 | 46 | 90 | 80 | 75 | 90 | 67 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 10 | 15 | Bailly |
Villa | 90 | 71 | 90 | 90 | 66 | 79 | 79 | 90 | 66 | 90 | 24 | 24 | 19 | 11 | 11 | |
Southampton | 90 | 84 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 84 | 63 | 90 | 75 | 15 | 10 | 27 | 0 | 10 | |
Palace | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 62 | 90 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Chelsea | 90 | 90 | 79 | 90 | 79 | 45 | 35 | 35 | 90 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 55 | 11 | 56 | |
West Ham | 90 | 90 | 85 | 90 | 45 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
Total Minutes | 930 | 863 | 813 | 754 | 730 | 728 | 674 | 665 | 664 | 619 | 302 | 300 | 265 | 197 | 176 | |
% of Total Possible | 100 | 92.79569892 | 87.41935484 | 81.07526882 | 78.49462366 | 78.27956989 | 72.47311828 | 71.50537634 | 71.39784946 | 66.55913978 | 32.47311828 | 32.25806452 | 28.49462366 | 21.1827957 | 18.92473118 |
For comparison, look at minutes by Chelsea players since restart:
Azpi | Willian | Rudiger | Pulisic | Zouma | Mount | Alonso | Giroud | James | Christensen | Barkley | Kante | Kovacic | Jorginho | Tammy | Rest | |
Villa | 90 | 90 | 90 | 35 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 5 | 90 | 35 | 90 | 55 | 0 | 10 | Pedro |
City | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 62 | 0 | 90 | 73 | 90 | 17 | 0 | 28 | CHO |
Leicester | 44 | 78 | 90 | 72 | 90 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 44 | 90 | 44 | 0 | 90 | Gilmour |
West Ham | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 37 | 90 | 27 | 0 | 90 | 63 | 90 | 53 | 0 | 63 | Emerson |
Watford | 90 | 76 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 76 | 0 | 76 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 14 | RLC |
Palace | 90 | 90 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 0 | 65 | 90 | 90 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 25 | |
Sheffield Utd | 90 | 90 | 45 | 66 | 90 | 45 | 45 | 34 | 75 | 45 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 90 | |
Norwich | 90 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 90 | 0 | 80 | 85 | 10 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 5 | |
Manchester Utd | 90 | 80 | 90 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 80 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 90 | 10 | |
Liverpool | 90 | 59 | 90 | 31 | 90 | 59 | 88 | 59 | 90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 90 | 31 | |
Total Minutes | 854 | 833 | 675 | 644 | 630 | 623 | 573 | 568 | 496 | 495 | 471 | 438 | 434 | 370 | 366 | |
% of Total Possible | 94.88888889 | 92.55555556 | 75 | 71.55555556 | 70 | 69.22222222 | 63.66666667 | 63.11111111 | 55.11111111 | 55 | 52.33333333 | 48.66666667 | 48.22222222 | 41.11111111 | 40.66666667 |
Look at the number of minutes most of our players have had - in a row - during this run. We've hardly got the same quality of depth as Chelsea, and that means the likes of Rashford, Bruno and 18-year-old Greenwood are taking on far more responsibility that they should. Clubs with similarly bare squad depth are losing players left, right and centre - look at Bournemouth, Sheffield, Villa or even Leicester - our players have insane fitness as compared to these clubs, Ole has definitely improved our fitness else we would have lost more than just Shaw to injury.
On squad rotation, aka the 'Ole is an idiot for not rotating against the smaller clubs' argument:
Let's look at results when the squad players (players not part of our current stongest XI) started agains the same 'smaller' clubs in the reverse fixtures earlier this season:
Sheffield United (A) : James, Fred, Williams, Pereira, Phil Jones start : 3-3 Draw
Bournemouth (A): James, Fred, McTominay, Pereira start : 1-0 loss
Villa (H): James, Pereira, Fred, Mata, Williams start: 2-2 Draw
Southampton (A): Mata, Pereira, James, McTominay start: 1-1 Draw
Palace (H) : Lingard, James, McTominay start: 1-2 Loss
West Ham (A): Mata, James, Pereira, McTominary start: 2-0 loss.
3/18 points before restart and 14/18 points now. Do you blame Ole for sticking with a team that works and the starting XI's chemistry with each other over squad players who have massively let him down in the past? Looking at how well we've done now, isn't his decision vindicated? In fact the reason we're close to CL spots is because Ole made that call, I'd say. Our squad players are terrible compared to the other top 6 clubs. James, Ighalo and Williams are just not good enough to trust so many crucial minutes with. Even yesterday, if Bowen wasn't tearing Williams a new one and we had Shaw there instead, I'd be more confident of us getting all 3 points. Sure, Ole took a gamble by playing many key players in the FA cup, but who wouldn't if you saw the current Arsenal side in the final?
On form, aka the 'we are still not good enough' argument:
And here's our form table over the last 10 PL games.
1 | Man Utd | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 16 | 22 | DWDWWWWDWD |
2 | Man City | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 29 | 6 | 23 | 21 | LWWLWLWWWW |
3 | Wolverhampton | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 20 | WdWWWLLWDW |
4 | Chelsea | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 19 | DWWWLWWLWL |
5 | Tottenham | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 18 | LDDWLWdWWW |
6 | Liverpool | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 17 | LWdWLWWDLW |
7 | Burnley | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 17 | dDLWWDWDDW |
8 | Arsenal | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 16 | WLLWWWDLWL |
9 | Southampton | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 15 | LLWLWWDDDW |
10 | West Ham | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 14 | WLLLWDLWWD |
Every single team drops points, but no one has dropped them less often than us since Bruno joined. In Gameweek 25, when Bruno made his PL debut against Wolves, we were in 7th - 6 points (-2GD) off Chelsea in 4th and 14 points (-21GD) off Leicester in 3rd. Our turnaround since them has been nothing short of remarkable.
On mentality, aka the 'players are too mentally weak' argument:
I agree. We've made ground, but we took our sweet time doing it, and we may still brick it in the Cup Final against Leicester. We look more nervous whenever we are favourites or have to capitalize on dropped points, and look like a different team than the one that works brilliantly as underdogs. But how is that a criticism, isn't that completely expected?
In our starting XI only De Gea and Matic know what it takes to win the Premier League. Greenwood is 18, Rashford for all his time here is still 22 (just like AWB), Martial was a side-character under Mourinho he's stil 24. In Shaw's absence, Williams is 19 and put through immense mental and physical pressure. Ole himself has not won anything as manager, and he's learning on the job. I'm not saying young players can't be winners, I'm saying they take a little time to mature into winners and leaders - and they're doing it far quicker under Ole than anyone else we've had. For instance, in the big games this season. Against Liverpool, City, Cheslea, Arsenal, Spurs and Leicester this season, we have 21/33 points with 6 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses and GF/GA of 16/7. Not bad for a manager and a team still finding their feet, I'd say.
The current Liverpool team also lost a lot of key games before they won the CL/PL. When you have a young team, it takes time.
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Irrespective of the result on Sunday (I think we'll get a nervy draw and make it to CL), this is most promising side I've seen since SAF and we should believe in Ole and this team. Hopefully it'll have some very good additions in the coming couple of months as well. I hope these numbers answer some of the daft criticisms being levelled against the team.