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Manchester United 1:0 West Bromwich Albion

Post-match discussion


Sat, 21 November 2020

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Just saw the penalty and its ridicilous. This poxy rule that favours the tanker over the keeper needs to stop. How is a keeper supose to make a save on such a big goal? It's not futsal ffs. And let's not forget we were on the wrong side of that rule against Crystal Palace this season when Ddg made a similar save to the Wba keeper. Happy we won though.
You have to play to rules governing your game, though and Johnstone didn't - he transgressed again on the 2nd attempt (similar to De Gea v Brighton) and I held my breath until I could see the ref wasn't going to order a second retake.
 

Buster15

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Cavani in his brief moments looks like a proper 9

Martial needs to learn from him in terms of movement and guile up there.

We need much more from most of the squad.

Cavani should start the next game. He's ready
Yep. Go along with all that.
If we are being honest, it was a pretty awful team performance. So lacking in confidence.
And yet again, it was difficult to see what the game plan was. The result does matter of course. But we were quite fortunate, and that against a poor West Bromwich side.
 

Tibs

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Only positive is that we won

Shit play, Martial needs to switch on, despite having 2 Defensive midfielders on, WBA still had some good chances, thankfully DDG saved us.

Donny needs to play more - another poor game from Tony/Rashford and Cavani needs to be starting.

Rather James than Mata purely for pace, no beef with Mata

Telles decent debut
 

buckooo1978

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Yep. Go along with all that.
If we are being honest, it was a pretty awful team performance. So lacking in confidence.
And yet again, it was difficult to see what the game plan was. The result does matter of course. But we were quite fortunate, and that against a poor West Bromwich side.
in terms of the game plan it was odd

in the first half we were playing really really quickly and really really direct. This seemed to be the tactic perhaps designed to prevent West Brom getting settled and organised in defence. It was a tactic that didn't serve us well and we saw countless times the ball was flying off a United player trying to flick it more out of hope that expectation.

There was only one moment of class in that first half when it was fired into Bruno and he cushioned it into Martial who should have finished. There was also the fantastic Bruno pass Mata tried to cushion to Martial. apart from that it was messy though and we lacked any control.

The pace we were playing meant we were losing the ball frequently and Mata in particular struggled with the pace of the game.

When we went one up and particularly when McTominay/Cavani came on we seemed to be passing the ball a bit more and controlling the game. Without any concrete stats I'd say the lions share of the chances we created were after that Bruno goal.

I can kinda see the logic of trying to play direct against a team who might slip into the low block we struggle with but we seem to lack the passers in midfield and defence as well as the intelligent running up front at times - that certainly changed when Cavani came on
 

Offside

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We scored 27 goals at home under van Gaal in his last season! We lost more games away than we won. It was a complete shitshow.
We’ve scored once from open play in 5 home games and we’ve conceded 10 goals, winning only once. It’s much more of a shit show at the moment at home. Away we are much better than we were under LVG.
 

drunkmonkmeth

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We struggled vs the worst team in the league and besides possession they probably deserved a result.
 

Plymouth Red

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We’ve scored once from open play in 5 home games and we’ve conceded 10 goals, winning only once. It’s much more of a shit show at the moment at home. Away we are much better than we were under LVG.
These statistics from Squawka sum up our problem this season.

Man Utd forwards have converted just 7.7% of all shots attempted in the league this season, the lowest conversion-rate among all Premier League teams this season.



Man Utd forwards this season: Marcus Rashford 19 shots, 2 goals (10.5%) Anthony Martial 8 shots, 0 goals (0% Mason Greenwood 7 shots, 0 goals (0%) Edinson Cavani 5 shots, 1 goal (20%)

To compound the problem, the goals for contribution from the midfield (Bruno excluded) and defence is much worse now than we were used to seeing.

Ironic when you consider where our manager played on the pitch.
 

hubbuh

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We’ve scored once from open play in 5 home games and we’ve conceded 10 goals, winning only once. It’s much more of a shit show at the moment at home. Away we are much better than we were under LVG.
We've only played 5 home games in the league so far, we've also beaten RB Leipzig 5 nil. The argument about goals from open play doesn't really mean much, rule changes mean penalities are now a huge part of the game whether we like it or not.

Edit: that's not to say it's good enough, it's absolutely fecking not. I think I'm just scarred from the LvG and Moyes days and refuse to believe it could ever get that bad again. For me we aren't there yet.
 
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mitchmouse

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No one can truly believe we've improved since Jose left. We are moved not a jot forward sine Ole got the job full time and we are now no better than the day after SAF left. If anyone here rally thinks we create enough, or have threatening goal scorers, they are living in cloud cuckoo land.

Time and time again we face the same sort of opposition and time and time again we play the same way. If Ole thinks we need two holding midfielders against he likes of WBA then either both are not good enough or the defence/keeper isn't. And just what is the point of buying Donny and not paying him - little woner the likes of Bellingham and Haaland don't want to come to the club.

As for "ole understanding the DNA of the club", I don't think he can spell DNA. The greatest criticism of this side is we are so boring to watch. And it's telling that Jose is (seemingly) getting it right at Spurs (on top of succeeding everywhere else he's been except at Old Trafford)

Of course, the players don't help him much and the only positive from yesterday is we didn't give a stupid goal away. trying to find a MoM was pretty much impossible.

One think I couldn't understand was the numpties wondering why the ref changed his mind about the WBA penalty: at first look it seemed Bruno had caught him but you could see clearly on VAR that he dragged the ball back - and as he did so the attacker lost his balance. It was only as he was going down that there was a "clash of shins" . Only Scholesy seemed to have any doubt... that said, I though our penalty might have been pulled back for a possible foul on (I think) Gallagher.
 

Maticmaker

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Cavani in his brief moments looks like a proper 9

Martial needs to learn from him in terms of movement and guile up there.
Cavani showed more movement in his first ten/fifteen minutes on the pitch than Martial had done all the match to that point.
The difference is in style of play when going for goal, Cavani is a proper 9, he moves and runs and expects to receive the ball in and around the box, where as Martial preferably wants to carry the ball into the box himself, he can look very awkward trying to take the ball at certain angles. Hope he learns from Cavani.
 

Gabagoo

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Once again, stupid formation and team selection. Why don't we try something different?

Overall it was not a terrible performance and we deserved to win.

But really, we should expect so much better. I know I do, whether we win, lose or draw.
 

Nicoseth

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I am pretty concerned about the way we're playing right now. I don't expect us to smash everyone 5-0, but the team seems flat, lacking passion and some players look like they can't be bothered. if that's an indication of their feelings towards playing for the shirt or the manager then that's a bigger concern than one bad performance here and there. Time will tell.
 

Crustanoid

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We’ve broken our duck in the home vs WBA fixture which is more important than anything and the 3 points withstanding means Ole needs some credit for getting this over the line.

If this was Liverpool last years some people would be misty eyed and saying this is the type of result / performance that wins you titles
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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Watching the end-game briefly seeing Cavani left, Martial central and Rashford on the right was a trip.
 

gerdm07

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I just had a chance to watch and I thought we looked good in the 1st half. Lots of one-touch passing, good movement, and good chances. When your best chances fall with Martial and Rashford you just never know what you will get and that hurt us. It should have been 2-0 at the half and then we cruise to victory.

The 2nd half was very dire. We got the goal and didn't really try to get a second and used the least amount of energy to secure the win.

Cavani should start as striker. Martial is resorting to his play from recent years where he thinks he is best player on the pitch and wants to show it by giving the least effort. "See how good I am and I'm not really trying." A perfect example is the last corner and short pass to Martial. He didn't even try to shield the ball while stretching out his legs. Instead he stood up straight thinking he could use some trickery to keep the ball. He lost it and we went back on defense.
 

Mr PG

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If I was Woodward, Ole starting both Matic and Fred (especially Matic) over VDB for 80 minutes is a sackable offense. Almost cost us the game.
 

Giggsy13

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Ole’s selections against West Brom can be simply described as cowardly. Fred and Matic should never be starting together in games against bottom half opposition.

VDB, Bruno and Fred should be given a run of games and it could be our best midfield combination especially in games where opposing teams are going to sit back and defend. This idea that VDB is only a no.10 had been debunked on so many occasions, and the fact Ole can’t see that really shows how clueless he is.
 

UnrelatedPsuedo

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I just had a chance to watch and I thought we looked good in the 1st half. Lots of one-touch passing, good movement, and good chances. When your best chances fall with Martial and Rashford you just never know what you will get and that hurt us. It should have been 2-0 at the half and then we cruise to victory.

The 2nd half was very dire. We got the goal and didn't really try to get a second and used the least amount of energy to secure the win.

Cavani should start as striker. Martial is resorting to his play from recent years where he thinks he is best player on the pitch and wants to show it by giving the least effort. "See how good I am and I'm not really trying." A perfect example is the last corner and short pass to Martial. He didn't even try to shield the ball while stretching out his legs. Instead he stood up straight thinking he could use some trickery to keep the ball. He lost it and we went back on defense.
Agree for the most part.

Whack Cavani in the middle to start every game. Two of Greenwood, Martial and Rashford to fill out the front three.

Get VdB or Pogba in the team as often as possible with Bruno playing at least the first hour of every game. Take him off after 70 if we’re comfortable to keep him fit. If not, problems.

Everything behind that is kind of overworked/underwhelming -healthy. Not top level, but healthy enough to support the goal threats.

If AWB is a lock, Telles has to play ahead of Shaw.

Pick any two centre halves. If Maguire isn’t there, Matic must play in the midfield three.

We are not a very good side. But we can be a workable team for the season. We’re better than Leicester. Behind Spurs, City, Chelsea, Liverpool. It’s going to be a scrappy unpredictable season.

Mata, James, Lingard, are all tarnished luxuries that should provide relief, not input.

Only controversial... sell De Gea. Play Henderson. We will never healthily manage that switch of starting keeper. Romero would stay as a challenging deputy to Henderson. De Gea won’t.
 

RedDevil@84

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Shite football, worse than we ever were under Moyes or LvG.
Huge revisionism or forgetting the past.
It was a horror show under LVG with all the passing we did. No one even trying to shoot. The likes of Bruno would have been benched permanently
 

drunkmonkmeth

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We've only played 5 home games in the league so far, we've also beaten RB Leipzig 5 nil. The argument about goals from open play doesn't really mean much, rule changes mean penalities are now a huge part of the game whether we like it or not.

Edit: that's not to say it's good enough, it's absolutely fecking not. I think I'm just scarred from the LvG and Moyes days and refuse to believe it could ever get that bad again. For me we aren't there yet.
What? We are way worse now than we were under lvg and even moyes.
 

Isotope

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We’ve broken our duck in the home vs WBA fixture which is more important than anything and the 3 points withstanding means Ole needs some credit for getting this over the line.

If this was Liverpool last years some people would be misty eyed and saying this is the type of result / performance that wins you titles
Well, if you're top of the League with record breaking points, this type of winning doesn't really matter, does it?

Unfortunately, we're standing as equal to the top, as to the relegation zone.
 

DRJosh

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We’ve broken our duck in the home vs WBA fixture which is more important than anything and the 3 points withstanding means Ole needs some credit for getting this over the line.

If this was Liverpool last years some people would be misty eyed and saying this is the type of result / performance that wins you titles
I see your point but we've not produced any noteworthy performances in the last few games. There is zero consistency and our manager (despite his all round positivity) doesn't seem to imbue confidence that he knows what he is doing.

As brutal as this sounds, I feel there is a higher tendency for players (especially at top clubs like ours) to turn up and do well if they know such performances will earn validation from an experienced coach/manager who have decent track records in football and/or football coaching (not necessarily a serial cup/league winner but a well defined and recognised brand of football).

Ole scored us 'that goal' and he is a brilliant super-sub. But his managerial record is woeful. I wonder if motivation is an issue for the players.

Having said that, Mourinho is on the other end of the spectrum when his reputation tends to engulf most aspects of the club and then it becomes toxic.

Surely there is a happy balance somewhere? Pochettino?
 

McTerminator

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This is just complete nonsense.
completely agree with you mate. The drama from some of the fans on here is laughable.

During LVG we begged for someone to come and loosen the reigns a little and let our boys play.

towards the end under Jose we begged for someone, anyone to come and change the mindset so we didn’t sit back all game or at best after we went 1-0 up. Many on here said proudly they’d rather be relegated playing better football than suffer further under Jose.

Ole came in and whatever you think about his style, we do attack in games, the players do play with some freedom and he has brought youth through. All of that and in his only full season he got us top 4 too.

Now these fans want Ole gone, but instead of just saying they believe Potch or Alegri will get us winning titles they spout nonsense about the football under Ole being the worst it’s been since SAF. FAR FAR FROM IT.

I mean for goodness sake both Jose and LVG would probably have benched Bruno for giving the ball away and anyone with half a brain knows he’s our best player and that’s simply a side effect of being that creative midfield sort!

Trust the process or don’t, it doesn’t matter. Just don’t spout complete rubbish to try and support your view.
 
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croadyman

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I am glad that Rio had a pop at Utd for still playing 2 holding mids against teams who we should get the majority of the ball against.
 

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Score Predictions

224,7,16
  • Man Utd win
  • West Brom win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 32% Man Utd 3:0 West Brom
  • 23% Man Utd 2:0 West Brom
  • 12% Man Utd 4:0 West Brom
  • 9% Man Utd 3:1 West Brom
  • 5% Man Utd 1:0 West Brom
  • 4% Man Utd 2:1 West Brom
  • 4% Man Utd 1:1 West Brom
  • 3% Man Utd 5:0 West Brom
  • 2% Man Utd 0:0 West Brom
  • 1% Man Utd 4:1 West Brom
  • 1% Man Utd 1:2 West Brom
  • 1% Man Utd 4:2 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 5:3 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 1:3 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 0:2 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 0:5 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 4:4 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 2:2 West Brom
  • 0% Man Utd 5:1 West Brom
Compiled from 247 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. West Brom
Possession
64% 36%
Shots
17 7
Shots on Target
7 2
Corners
8 2
Fouls
12 17

Referee

David Coote