Yep, it is the reason we got beaten, played well but we waste so many good attacking positions, lots of long range shots and half chances but even the clear cut stuff, like Martial had, any proper CF has at least 2 goals in that match. The "fluid front 3" that we are employing is not firing, there is not enough football intelligence, technique or decision making for it to work, I think if Ighalo plays as a focal it would be much more effective, he is not brilliant but he is useful and has CF instincts, looking at Rashford's performance even at 1-1 I wanted him swapped with Ighalo to try something different, he clearly was doing nothing. Ole and the staff are aware, that is why they tried for haaland, just a concern we did not use Ighalo more when Rashford is playing so poor, I just don't get why we kept on Ighalo to not use him, the guy has hardly had a kick of a ball since the restart.
46 shots, 2 scored - both from penalties
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
I don't think we're lacking quality in our front three's finishing ability. The problem is that we're only dangerous through the middle, and this allows the opposition to defend extremely narrow against us. If our full backs were able to contribute offensively, the opposition would need to stretch their defence, and this would give our attackers the extra yard they need to deliver higher quality finishes.
As it is now, our attackers generally have two or three defenders on them when they want to finish.
As it is now, our attackers generally have two or three defenders on them when they want to finish.
2 games of poor finishing and you have the footballing troglodytes talking about having a PROPA NUMBER 9 again with some mouthbreathers even longing for the days of Lukaku leading the line as he scores the 4th and 5th goals in a game against Shakhtar Donetsk 
Martial and Greenwood are both clinical finishers, it's just been two freak games. Rashford is inconsistent but he's still decent enough.
For context, here's a compilation of Lewandowski's misses from this just this season. Even the best players in the world miss chances.
Martial and Greenwood are both clinical finishers, it's just been two freak games. Rashford is inconsistent but he's still decent enough.
For context, here's a compilation of Lewandowski's misses from this just this season. Even the best players in the world miss chances.
No, I wasn't, at all. I was pointing out it wasn't what was needed.
Oh, you're serious.
Have another
So explain how in the last two games he’s been through about 7 times and missed all of them?
He just had 2 poor games finishing?
2 games don't outweigh an entire season FYI.
that is what is known as statistical variance. You could say the last two games are outliers.
Agree doesnt make sense
So how many did Lewandowski score this season overall compared with Martial?2 games of poor finishing and you have the footballing troglodytes talking about having a PROPA NUMBER 9 again with some mouthbreathers even longing for the days of Lukaku leading the line as he scores the 4th and 5th goals in a game against Shakhtar Donetsk
Martial and Greenwood are both clinical finishers, it's just been two freak games. Rashford is inconsistent but he's still decent enough.
For context, here's a compilation of Lewandowski's misses from this just this season. Even the best players in the world miss chances.
He never said Martial scored more?
He said even the best strikers(in this case, the single best) miss chances.
No one scores 100% of their chances.
People on here love to rewrite Martial's or Rashford's entire season or profile after 1 poor game.
I‘d say fatigue plays a massive role. We lack quality backups for Martial, Rashford, Greenwood and Fernandes. In our glory days, we‘ve always had somebody on the bench who, while not as good as the starter, was good enough to start the odd game and able to be an impact sub.
Amazing, although worrying stat
Whether it was Chicharito or Solskjaer himself, Fergie always made sure we had some nice options from the bench who could come on and score a goal when our forwards had an unlucky day like Martial had yesterday.
I mean, Sevilla had exactly that type of player on the bench with Luuk de Jong. Not a world beater, but a natural #9 who has scored around 200 career goals and is good in the air, and he came on and won them the match. Tbh Ighalo could've maybe been that guy for us, no idea what happened yesterday.
I mean, Sevilla had exactly that type of player on the bench with Luuk de Jong. Not a world beater, but a natural #9 who has scored around 200 career goals and is good in the air, and he came on and won them the match. Tbh Ighalo could've maybe been that guy for us, no idea what happened yesterday.
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totally agree that we are missing an out and out finisher Martial is a scorer of great goals rather than a great goalscorer same could be said if Rashford. Greenwood is the mist likely candidate but we need someone in the short term with that ruthless streak not many out there .
Spurs need to rebuild so maybe an outrageous offer could get him if not Cavani 2 year deal would be good for me
Three young strikers all learning their trade in very tough, stressful games.
Part of the learning process which will make them better in the future.
Part of the learning process which will make them better in the future.
Of the 46 shots it was 21 shots was on target.
Looking back over Uniteds best results this season
4-0 v Chelsea from 5 shots on target
1-0 v Leicester from 5 shots on target (goal was a penalty)
2-1 v Spurs from 7 shots on target (winner was a penalty)
2-1 v City from 7 shots on target
2-0 v Chelsea from 3 shots on target
1-0 v City from 2 shots on target
2-1 v Chelsea from 3 shots on target
2-0 v City from 6 shots on target
2-0 v Leicester from 3 shots on target ( 1 goal a penalty)
Looking back over Uniteds best results this season
4-0 v Chelsea from 5 shots on target
1-0 v Leicester from 5 shots on target (goal was a penalty)
2-1 v Spurs from 7 shots on target (winner was a penalty)
2-1 v City from 7 shots on target
2-0 v Chelsea from 3 shots on target
1-0 v City from 2 shots on target
2-1 v Chelsea from 3 shots on target
2-0 v City from 6 shots on target
2-0 v Leicester from 3 shots on target ( 1 goal a penalty)
More than Martial and despite Lewandowski having his best ever season, he still missed loads of sitters. If you can find as many misses from Martial this season then by all means post them up.
Off course Lewandowski is at least ten times the forward that Martial is and to even suggest otherwise is a sign of delusion
1. Ole need to coach attacking coaching to pass the ball well as a system. We had superior players in most positions but we were not passing the ball well from defense to attack. Whenever Sevilla got the ball, their players know where to pass and their wide players were ready to receive the ball. All top Spanish and German teams are well drilled, not us.
2. We didnt had any good player to bring on from bench when we needed a goal. Buying Sancho who can play in both wide positions is mandatory. We could have subbed Rashford and won the game easily Or if we had started with Sancho, Rashford with his pace coming in at 70 mins would have teared down their defense.
3. Buying another top Forward is something we can do only by either selling Rashford and start Martial in left or Replace Martial. As both can play only in left and it will severely reduce mins of either players as only Greenwood can play in right. Bringing in Sancho who plays in both sides would not reduce too much mins to our current attacking three and complement in strengthening the team. So decision whether to buy a forward can wait for another year, unless a great opportunity arise.
2. We didnt had any good player to bring on from bench when we needed a goal. Buying Sancho who can play in both wide positions is mandatory. We could have subbed Rashford and won the game easily Or if we had started with Sancho, Rashford with his pace coming in at 70 mins would have teared down their defense.
3. Buying another top Forward is something we can do only by either selling Rashford and start Martial in left or Replace Martial. As both can play only in left and it will severely reduce mins of either players as only Greenwood can play in right. Bringing in Sancho who plays in both sides would not reduce too much mins to our current attacking three and complement in strengthening the team. So decision whether to buy a forward can wait for another year, unless a great opportunity arise.
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Reality is if we had Lukaku and not martial up top we probably wouldn't have carved open Seville and cop in the same way.2 games of poor finishing and you have the footballing troglodytes talking about having a PROPA NUMBER 9 again with some mouthbreathers even longing for the days of Lukaku leading the line as he scores the 4th and 5th goals in a game against Shakhtar Donetsk
Martial and Greenwood are both clinical finishers, it's just been two freak games. Rashford is inconsistent but he's still decent enough.
For context, here's a compilation of Lewandowski's misses from this just this season. Even the best players in the world miss chances.
Not worried about it. Creating chances is usually our biggest issue. Were normally clinical in front of goal. It would good to have more quality coming off the bench though. It will be important next season as well
The problem with United's attack.is inexperience and nervousness in critical situations and matches, also apart from Martial, both Rashford and Greenwood are not particularly good at one on one situations. They get nervous. Also, our attack is very one dimensional. They seem clueless in front of compact defences. That is why we need an experienced forward along with a right winger.
Zlatan missed lots of chances.
Main strikers can have off day. It happens. That's why good teams have someone on the bench who can come on and try to change the game. The problem in the last match was Ighalo was sent on the pitch to change the game at 92nd minute.
Another thing. Our midfield don't usually make runs in the box to create that threat. Pogba is tall and physically strong. He is good in the air as well (possibly better than all 3 strikers). Yet he seldom makes runs in the box. God knows what coaching instructions are. Bruno does it sometimes. Last match Fred tried the same. But that has to happened more often and should happen like they have a well trained plan.
Another thing. Our midfield don't usually make runs in the box to create that threat. Pogba is tall and physically strong. He is good in the air as well (possibly better than all 3 strikers). Yet he seldom makes runs in the box. God knows what coaching instructions are. Bruno does it sometimes. Last match Fred tried the same. But that has to happened more often and should happen like they have a well trained plan.
You’re unfairly mocking having a proper number 9. It’s not as important as it used to be back in the 80s and 90s when “oldin’ the bal up” was the most important thing in the game, but even having one on the bench can be very beneficial. Just ask PSG and Lyon! Choupo-Moting and Dembele are not better strikers than Lukaku and nowhere near Martial, but they’ve just got PSG and Lyon into the CL semis against better footballing sides than Sevilla. One chance late in the game falling to a striker with fresh legs can be all it takes.2 games of poor finishing and you have the footballing troglodytes talking about having a PROPA NUMBER 9 again with some mouthbreathers even longing for the days of Lukaku leading the line as he scores the 4th and 5th goals in a game against Shakhtar Donetsk
Martial and Greenwood are both clinical finishers, it's just been two freak games. Rashford is inconsistent but he's still decent enough.
For context, here's a compilation of Lewandowski's misses from this just this season. Even the best players in the world miss chances.
And no, Ighalo is not the answer as a bench pure number 9. I don’t care if he loves the club. I love the club as much or more, and I shouldn’t be on that hallowed OT turf. Lukaku would have been a good substitute 9 if his attitude and ego wasn’t so terribly big. Otherwise, I’d target Dembele or Zapata.
Pogba runs into the box all the time but the person on the ball usually ignores him. I find it annoying actually as he has good presence in the box and makes great runs.
Martial is usually a great finisher, but he was the main culprit for most of those misses chances. Christ how many chances did he need to score and ended up with nothing? Pogba and Bruno would have had 3 assists each themselves
I disagree with people blame on attackers being not clinical alone, the keeper has to be given massive credit here.
I think it’s because we lack variety to create chances. We are focusing too much creating our chances from through ball since our only creative players are from midfield Bruno & Pogba and unfortunately the keeper read all these that he knew he needed to come outside from his area to close down our attackers.
We don’t have the width to create chances either from wingers or attacking full backs. Which is why Ole is targeting wingers to give us more option to score goals. Ole has been saying he prefers his attackers to score tap in and top quality wingers will be able to dribble beat players, make good delivery to score tap in.
I think it’s because we lack variety to create chances. We are focusing too much creating our chances from through ball since our only creative players are from midfield Bruno & Pogba and unfortunately the keeper read all these that he knew he needed to come outside from his area to close down our attackers.
We don’t have the width to create chances either from wingers or attacking full backs. Which is why Ole is targeting wingers to give us more option to score goals. Ole has been saying he prefers his attackers to score tap in and top quality wingers will be able to dribble beat players, make good delivery to score tap in.
Much of it is down to Martial lacking sharpness in front of goal, he's had so many chances these two games. He's proven to be a good finisher so I'd write it down as a fluke. Also spectacular goalkeeping which we can't do much about.
Per WhoScored, in 2019/20 United has by far the highest out-of-the-box shot percentage (at 45%), and thus the lowest shot percentage in the box (at 55%) out of all the PL top six teams and the four EL semi-finalists.
So we either intentionally took shots of higher difficulty, or were forced to do so since we couldn't create high quality chances, and we reckoned the remedy to this is to simply take more shots. Maybe that's why we weren't able to convert our shots into goals after all.
| Team | Shot percentage in 6 yeards box | Shot percentage in 18 yards box | Shot percentage outside the box |
| Manchester United | 6% | 49% | 45% |
| Liverpool | 7% | 63% | 30% |
| Manchester City | 10% | 58% | 32% |
| Chelsea | 8% | 58% | 34% |
| Leicester | 9% | 54% | 37% |
| Tottenham | 7% | 53% | 40% |
| Inter | 8% | 56% | 36% |
| Sevilla | 9% | 62% | 30% |
| Shakhtar Donetsk | 8% | 51% | 41% |
So we either intentionally took shots of higher difficulty, or were forced to do so since we couldn't create high quality chances, and we reckoned the remedy to this is to simply take more shots. Maybe that's why we weren't able to convert our shots into goals after all.
That's indicting. He is as much responsible for this exist as the defenders. Let's hope he starts the season on fire.
Or we simply only have one option only to create chances. If we have wingers like Sancho we can provide another creativity from width, beat men and cross to create easy chances to score easy goals tap in. This is why we are looking for wingers.
One, two bad games and we'd need a new striker. And basically every other positions. This is not how football works guys. No striker in this world doesn't have bad days. And no team spend £100m after £100m for new strikers after one, two bad performances. Teams replace players only if they're too bad over a long period, or they have better option available. No one replace their player after one, two bad matches. Tell me which #9 supposedly better than Martial that we'd sign and for how much?
As someone has pointed out above Martial is definitely clinical enough. He has one of the best conversion rates in the world right now. This talk of a new #9 is ridiculous and totally out of reality.
We need a decent backup for him, that's all. So we could throw that one in on such days. Like SAF did with Ole, Sheringham and Chicharito. And we already have a really good one in Greenwood. Sign Sancho and all problems solved.
As someone has pointed out above Martial is definitely clinical enough. He has one of the best conversion rates in the world right now. This talk of a new #9 is ridiculous and totally out of reality.
We need a decent backup for him, that's all. So we could throw that one in on such days. Like SAF did with Ole, Sheringham and Chicharito. And we already have a really good one in Greenwood. Sign Sancho and all problems solved.
Are you trying to compare Lewandoski at 32 who is the best striker in the world playing for a team far more superior to Man Utd at the moment with Martial?
Are you kidding mate?
And he is not 10x better you agenda filled knee-jerk hater. He is a better striker at the moment yes, but no one is going to exchange them.
We are a counter attacking for the most part of this season and we are just about getting to build something that looks like a top team. Of course we will get there.
Our forwards have one of the best conversation rate in the league and Europe before the Germany tournament, it is only natural that it will even itself out with the half chances that we missed.
They are also not very experienced especially because of the age and how little they have been trusted in the past to be the main man.
Do we need another striker to support Martial? Perhaps yes.
Do we need another striker to replace him? Absolutely not. We had be throwing away last season development if we did that. Just when things are about coming together for him we do that, it had be symptomatic of our club.
The fans need to get off his back, every striker misses chances, he has the best conversation rate of most strikers and this is his full season playing as a striker at the top level with very obvious improvement as the season went on.
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Agenda filled knee-jerk fans mate.
They have been waiting with their swords for this moment since lock down.
Sadly this will not be put to bed, anytime we fail to win a game or he miss a chance they will come out with their spears untill they get their wish and we are back another few years of rebuild.
Bad finishing isn't bad luck.
Embarassing.
It shows a lack of ruthlessness and slight signs of complacency.
BS by the players.
It shows a lack of ruthlessness and slight signs of complacency.
BS by the players.
Our strikers really should be doing better. We are creating good chances, which is something we couldn't do before. Martial in particular is doing so much to create his chances (be it positioning or dribbling), but it all counts for nothing if he cant place it past the keeper.
I don't think its a huge issue, hopefully Martial continues his improvement and cuts the wastefulness out, and Rashford gets back to him best. A player like Sancho would add so much as he would give them easier chances too.
I don't think its a huge issue, hopefully Martial continues his improvement and cuts the wastefulness out, and Rashford gets back to him best. A player like Sancho would add so much as he would give them easier chances too.
This is basically the problem with Martial & Rashford in particular. They are often not as clinical as we need them to be. Greenwood had probably a harder chance against Sevilla as he needed such an excellent first touch and I'd say that was the only top drawer save made in that game despite all of our chances. From the chances we've created both Rashford & Martial should probably be scoring 25+ goals each this season, but they fell just short of that and we could argue it cost us a trophy or two (or at least a massive opportunity at them). It's not even that their stats are exactly bad (22 in 44 & 23 in 48 respectively, so basically 1 in 2), but much like Sterling & Salah, they miss a lot of chances. However, you have to praise them somewhat for getting into those positions time & time again to get the chance in the first place. Hopefully they can just keep getting better and becoming more clinical, but I feel like Greenwood will eventually become the no.9 if we don't sign one.
This is why we need the 4th forward (Sancho) and an attacking midfielder (Grealish). If we can sign these two players or similar, we have six very good attacking talents and can make changes to try and win games. I think it is much more unlikely that all six of them have an off day at the same time, but it's been proven that the current four best attacking players can and it's happened twice in a row really.
This is why we need the 4th forward (Sancho) and an attacking midfielder (Grealish). If we can sign these two players or similar, we have six very good attacking talents and can make changes to try and win games. I think it is much more unlikely that all six of them have an off day at the same time, but it's been proven that the current four best attacking players can and it's happened twice in a row really.