Andersonson
Full Member
Ole outsmarted Nagelsmann.
Perfect 2nd half
Perfect 2nd half
Yeah, Fred motm for me too. He’s just an engine, such stamina and pressing ability.I was happy at 2-0. Now I can't wipe the smile off my face.
Fred was my MOTM, because of his contributions over 90 minutes.
My only criticism of the first half is that passes weren't crisp enough.
Outside of that, RBL were very tough in the first half, brought the fight to us, pressed like crazy... and Ole's lineup held up just fine. The opposition had the ball, but they couldn't do anything with it.
Lovely goals, all. Pogba to Greenwood... sweet. Loved that Martial took and made the pen. And Rashford's hat trick was wonderful.
Ole nailed it tonight, and he has the squad depth, finally, to keep this up.
Has to be really. Hat trick in 16 minutes. I said Fred motm but really it has to be rashford.Rashford 10/10 for me, I very rarely give a 10 to a player, great performance.
Yea Fred was brilliant. I think we have to start Pogba where we started him tonight, in the sort of free MF, with two defensive MFs to shield the back four. When Pogba plays in MF two he is not as good and gets caught out in possession.I was happy at 2-0. Now I can't wipe the smile off my face.
Fred was my MOTM, because of his contributions over 90 minutes.
My only criticism of the first half is that passes weren't crisp enough.
Outside of that, RBL were very tough in the first half, brought the fight to us, pressed like crazy... and Ole's lineup held up just fine. The opposition had the ball, but they couldn't do anything with it.
Lovely goals, all. Pogba to Greenwood... sweet. Loved that Martial took and made the pen. And Rashford's hat trick was wonderful.
Ole nailed it tonight, and he has the squad depth, finally, to keep this up.
Yes... Yet people have been hounding us over our summer transfers...its already paying off.The difference in having the option of bringing on actual quality off the bench is beautiful.
Good post, totally agree.Loved almost everything thing about the game. From the solidity in the first half to the wave after wave of attacks in the second.
What i will say is this....that 2 up front benefits all of our forwards. We aren't a team that has the marauding full backs of most european teams, and to be honest i've never been a big fan of them because of how exposed they leave the defence...having one is fine, but two just seems disastrous. For me personally, i've always felt that only really good possession teams can actually dominate with that tactic, and those teams either have to have world class attacking fullbacks that can keep possession ( which is rare) or having midfielders that can consistently outpass other teams...which can only be done by having specific managers and players that can make that happen ( which is even rarer.
The Diamond that we played today allowed both Shaw and AWB play like full backs as opposed to wing back, showing their defensive skills while keeping Leipzig at bay. Pogba, Fred and VDB were the ones responsible for overlapping, and when Fernandes and Rashford came in, the advantage of that direct attacking freedom was showcased. Last season, we proved that we had the capacity at the end of the season to dominate teams with possession, but I feel this direct attacking approach that we used in this game, with the solidity provided by our covering midfielders is the best approach for us to take
Harsh to say this, but Martial should really be worried. The switch to a two puts him up against both Greenwood and Cavani. Cavani may be a temporary rival, but Greenwood in a forward role that allows him to central without needed to hold up as much is really dangerous, especially as he would now be directly supplied by Fernandes and Pogba/VDB rather than bringing it from the right on his own or depending on the right pass from AWB. Before the year is out, he might find himself on the bench if he doesn't assert himself quickly enough. I still thought he had a good performance and is a good player. However, Rashford can produce THAT performance whilst also being the pride of England and Greenwood is our future....he really can't afford to miss games.- Pogba: he is playing much better when he is not in the double pivot, on his familiar left side. He lost possession when he plays in the middle but that doesn't happen whenever he plays on the left. His defensive work and his supports to attack look " natural" too. Happy for him as he is quality.
- Martial is obviously not having a good form and his decisions sometimes are not good. But there is no doubt that everytime when he suddenly starts running with the ball, he causes trouble and you can feel the defenders scared. Trust to get into form and make better decisions.
- Shaw looked tired, needs a rest before he got injured.
- I believe Ole and staffs have prepared really hard for this period about formations, who play and so far it works. I hope they realize now the importance of workrate and legs needed from the midfielders. Matic for all his experience must be used probably to get effectiveness.
- The formations used through this match are perfect. When we playing 4231 late in the match with Fred McT, Bruno Martial Rashford and Cavani, that is a good balanced formation too.
- We worried about the workrate from RBL, but today seeing our players (especially Fred) chased, harassed and ran endlessly even the last seconds makes me happy.
- Last but not least is the concentration and believe the team have right now. You can see we are not panic, the players look confident (especially Lindelof). There is self believe in the whole team. They look calm and patience.
I usually hate rule changes in the game, but would anyone support a “foul count” on players similar to basketball? 5 or 6 fouls from an individual player then he “fouls out”? Not like a red card; it would just force that player out of the game/substituted...Also: tactical fouling is ruining football at this point. It's the single thing I want changed in the modern game, because these high press teams know that they can gamble relentlessly to win the ball back because if they miss then another player will hack the attacker down and give the team time to fall back into their shape. It's such a glaring exploit that doesn't get punished because refs don't want to get their cards out so often, and it gives teams that do this such an advantage to dominate the game from.
This will sound weird, I'm not sure I like VDB as a 10 for us. He's far too uninvolved in the game. We usually play with the 3 on top that stay mostly forward, adding another person who is not a playmaker to the front 4 puts the midfield under pressure.De Gea - excellent. Save from Konate header was superb. And why do we allow players to head from a point blank range? Konate was heading from 2 meters
Bissaka - tremendous defending. Nothing went past him. Still not very efficient going forward, though
Lindelof and Maguire - both didn’t have much to do. Most of the opposition attacks where handled by fullbacks of by Fred
Shaw - good defensively, made a good cross which must have been an assist. Still, Telles’ delivery is much better
Matic - player rather well, but got yellow carded.
Fred - 10/10 performance. If only his passing was better. Still, today’s Fred is essentially a prime Ngolo Kante
Pogba - made a lot of defensive work today. Fabulous assist for Greenwood, but got tired in the end and rightly substituted. Getting fitter gradually which is fine
VDB - not the best of games. He was...well, he was OK. But when Bruno came for him,the game changed immediately.
Greenwood - one chance, one shot, one goal. Efficiency. Rightly subbed as he got tired after not playing for a while.
Martial - had a stinker in the first half. Excellent in the second - earned and scored a penalty, made an assist to Sir Marcus, also had more chances to score
Bruno - fantastic cameo.World class assists, a few more chances created, real playmaker.
Rashford - arise, Sir Marcus.
McTominay - provided energy, decent cameo.
Cavani - not bad, he even scored (But offside). Had only 10 minutes, though.
Tuanzebe - strange substitution. I love Axel, but why to play him as a RB?
It would be tough to enforce because there are way more players in football, but I do think VAR could be used to identify "tactical fouls" and alert the ref to give a card if one is found. Wouldn't even have to stop play like you might when judging goal decisions.I usually hate rule changes in the game, but would anyone support a “foul count” on players similar to basketball? 5 or 6 fouls from an individual player then he “fouls out”? Not like a red card; it would just force that player out of the game/substituted...
I’m just brainstorming.
Back to the match: brilliant by the team and Ole. I’ll remember this match for a long, long time!
Ole in the locker room speaking to Marcus: “Nice hat trick as a sub! I pulled that off myself against Forest, but I managed four”
I agree with this. I got myself caught up so much in the Sancho saga that I was annoyed at our signings, but when you see what we've got on the bench now it really is frightening. Especially when you compare it to the days (not so long ago), when our bench would be Mata, Rojo, Jones, and 4 youth team players.Squad depth is immense. To be able to bring on Rashford, Cavani and Fernandes whilst winning against the Bundesliga leaders is incredible.
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Good points!It would be tough to enforce because there are way more players in football, but I do think VAR could be used to identify "tactical fouls" and alert the ref to give a card if one is found. Wouldn't even have to stop play like you might when judging goal decisions.
Fernandinho would be useless if he couldn't just rake attackers in their own half 10 times a game.
Honestly I’d forgotten he existed.Lingard can't even make the squad with 10 subs, I love it.
No no Arsenal at the weekend is our first true test.Erm, can we get carried away now? Asking for a friend...
Yay!!Lingard can't even make the squad with 10 subs, I love it.
Post of the eveningImagine losing to a team, and then they sub in Bruno, Rashford and Cavani.
Or Pele. Or Maradona. Or Cruyff.You never saw George Best play. And my dad would say Duncan Edwards.
He’s injured isint he? We can enjoy tonight without basing some of our players.Lingard can't even make the squad with 10 subs, I love it.
We'll fecking twat madrid based on our forms this week. And with big harry around ramos cant even save them with a robbery.Bring on Ole's next First Real Test™
Matej Jug