We are an awfully coached team

meamth

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And how many times have we seen this in Oles 2 years. It's true when teams have a go at us we can transition quickly but against teams that sit back (the majority?) we struggle .
It's always there in every game. The combination of Shaw>Rashford>Martial is always there.
 

Zlaatan

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I didn't ask you anything, those were general comments but ok.

Here is a question to you though, if you sign an unproven coach as a gamble, how long do you need to give them before you roll the dice again assuming they're giving middling results, but not maybe what you'd hoped for yet? 2 years, 3? More?
That obviously depends on a whole lot of things, you can get middling results and still see an improvement in style of play and understanding between all 20+ players in the squad no matter if they're playing WBA or Bayern which would make it easy to hand out more time to the manager. Klopp obviosuly wasn't unproven when he got to Liverpool but he's a good example of a manager that didn't immediately blow the doors off when it came to points but showed big improvements on the pitch, and while it might be unfair to compare Ole to him it's hard to see those improvements for United over the past two years other than the fact that we have better players now.

If I was in charge of United I'd give Ole this season to prove that he deserves more time which means a top 4 finish, a decent run in the CL and a more cohesive style of play week in and week out. The big dips in form not only over the season as a whole but within each game as well needs ironing out.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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Personally there's no way I can look at our entire coaching staff credentials and our results and performances under them and think "Yes, this is the best we can do"
 

roseguy64

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I guess I'm working on the assumption that Ole has told the defence where he wants them to hold their line, so not blaming Maguire for that or saying it's naïve. That particular ball is just something I've seen him caught out with numerous times.
On our line when out of possession, you're right re where it should be to facilitate the press and that's why it's so strange we bought Maguire because the two scenarios we have are:
  • We lose possession - the back line doesn't drop off but stays high to give the best chance of a successful press (Liverpool/City/Soton/Leeds) all do this. When it works it's great, when it doesn't it's disastrous (Villa vs Liverpool, Spurs vs Soton for example) but the risk can be alleviated by having at least one rapid CB and/or a sweeper keeper. We have neither.
  • We lose possession and the defensive line drops off to account for it's lack of pace. This makes an organised press very difficult but is lower risk.
I personally think until Henderson starts or we find a faster CB, we can't afford to stay high like the aforementioned teams do. There is a personnel issue with both the players and the staff at the club when it comes to pressing. Maguire/Lindelof is very exploitable with DDG behind them in a high line but that alone would be workable as Southampton have two relatively slow CBs as well. The issue is that we shouldn't even be talking about pressing until we find a coach (whether manager or a 1st team coach) who is an expert on coaching an organised press. That's what we lack first and foremost and is why teams with vastly inferior players are so much better drilled than us when it comes to pressing as a unit.
Henderson is a sweeper keeper?
 

roseguy64

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Not the finished article but definitely more natural at it than DDG. We can only really use his Sheffield stats and they play differently to us but he's confident with the ball at feet.
Interesting data on it mid way through this article: Dean Henderson 19/20 - scout report - EPL Analysis
The stats there show he's better at it than De Gea but not enough so that he could be called a sweeper keeper.
 

tomaldinho1

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The stats there show he's better at it than De Gea but not enough so that he could be called a sweeper keeper.
Why would his stats be up there with Ederson or the like when he's playing for Sheffield United?
 

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we seem to fluctuate from looking really well coached to absolutely clueless on a weekly basis
 

lysglimt

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The way I see it - if we are an awfully coached team - that makes you wonder how awful players Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and City have - since they are not all a lot of points ahead of us.
 

zenith

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We are not awfully coached at all but we clearly still have a problem. Perhaps we are better at beating a high press but still very bad against low block teams.

Maybe the reason behind that is the double pivot. It's a high energy 2 man midfield which does not have much creativity and in order to play a 2 creative players together we would need one DM who is good enough to replace a double pivot.
 

meamth

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The way I see it - if we are an awfully coached team - that makes you wonder how awful players Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and City have - since they are not all a lot of points ahead of us.
Or some fans couldn't see player forms means better performances instead of what they're doing daily. Bad form, play like shit, it's that easy to understand.

The football we played under Ole is always evident in each games, it's the execution is lacking, consistently.
 

kerryman

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Or some fans couldn't see player forms means better performances instead of what they're doing daily. Bad form, play like shit, it's that easy to understand.

The football we played under Ole is always evident in each games, it's the execution is lacking, consistently.
As poor as we've been at times this season, if we win our game in hand we're only two points off the top after 10 games! Crazy, it's wide open this year.
 

Leftback99

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Can any coaching experts explain which teams looked well coached this weekend? Some of the favourites here under Rodgers, Ancelotti and Arteta certainly didn't.
 

Flexdegea

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Apparently Klopp can get performances of his team no matter who he starts with, but he drew a game as well on Saturday.


Maybe football is not as clear cut as people think. They talk about consistency, we've won 3 on the bounce now and ain't far of the top spot.


Been pretty consistent across comps since January. Bad start to season in league no doubt about it. But have turned it right around.

I feel like people have an unrealistic outlook to the team where they think we should literally be winning every game with total domination on the pitch. Doesnt work like that. Pretty much every match we play we dominate the major stats. But get we ain't performed at all even if we win.
 

Adnan

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The question is who is coaching our team? And it seems like Kieran McKenna is the one that's doing the actual coaching on the training ground with Carrick learning on the job at one of the biggest clubs in the world which I find troubling.
 

OrcaFat

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The question is who is coaching our team? And it seems like Kieran McKenna is the one that's doing the actual coaching on the training ground with Carrick learning on the job at one of the biggest clubs in the world which I find troubling.
I agree with this.

I don’t see coaching as the root of any problems we supposedly have, and disagree we are poorly coached. But ideally you’d have a bit more experience in the coaching team. Problem with that is that many of the best coaches of the past are now managers (often pretty shite managers at that) so wouldn’t take a subservient role.
 

Bondi77

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Can any coaching experts explain which teams looked well coached this weekend? Some of the favourites here under Rodgers, Ancelotti and Arteta certainly didn't.
The thing that makes me laugh is our previous two coaches would have been regarded as great coaches at club and European level and we gave them a shed load of cash to spend and yet the football was dire.
Don’t know about you guys but I would watch a Ole coached Utd any day of the week over those two clowns.
 

youngrell

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The question is who is coaching our team? And it seems like Kieran McKenna is the one that's doing the actual coaching on the training ground with Carrick learning on the job at one of the biggest clubs in the world which I find troubling.
On the face of it, I agree, that type of set up is troubling. But I have no concerns over Carrick, he has been highly praised by all of Ole, Jose and LvG for his coaching among many of the players, of which most recently Bruno give a glowing assessment.
 

justsomebloke

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We are not awfully coached at all but we clearly still have a problem. Perhaps we are better at beating a high press but still very bad against low block teams.

Maybe the reason behind that is the double pivot. It's a high energy 2 man midfield which does not have much creativity and in order to play a 2 creative players together we would need one DM who is good enough to replace a double pivot.
That's simply not correct. Our record since Bruno arrived, before which we were essentially a different team, does not indicate a systemic problem against low block teams. In that period we've won about 2/3 of our games against teams who play that way, and frequently by large scores. We've not been as consistent with that this year as were post-January last year, but it would probably be wise to make allowances for the fact that the opening of this season has been full of struggles in all kinds of ways before jumping to conclusions.

Frankly I'm getting really annoyed by that narrative, because it's so obviously contradicted by the record. Especially Jonathan Wilson at the Guardian, who seems to think this is still the team he was watching in January 2019, completely reliant on the counterattack.

United's scoring this season has been balanced - pretty much equally divided between penalty/set piece goals, counterattack goals and goals from established play.
 

Adnan

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On the face of it, I agree, that type of set up is troubling. But I have no concerns over Carrick, he has been highly praised by all of Ole, Jose and LvG for his coaching among many of the players, of which most recently Bruno give a glowing assessment.
Has Carrick been praised for his coaching? Can you kindly link me to the quotes please?
 

youngrell

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Has Carrick been praised for his coaching? Can you kindly link me to the quotes please?
Oh god, now you're asking! I'd have to have a good think to remember when the manager quotes were but the Bruno praise was a couple of weeks back on the United podcast.
 

Adnan

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Oh god, now you're asking! I'd have to have a good think to remember when the manager quotes were but the Bruno praise was a couple of weeks back on the United podcast.
No worries mate it's not that important. But thanks for the response regardless
 

Nou_Camp99

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Awfully coached team with just 1 less point than Liverpool since Bruno joined. And they have played 1 more game than us too.

Maybe our fans are just spoiled brats who don't know what they want eh? Maybe it's that.
 

MadDogg

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We seem to have a fairly good over-riding tactical set-up, which is highlighted by how often we don't just beat good teams but comfortably beat them. It hasn't just been counter-attacks either. Obviously we have some days where it really doesn't work, but more often than not we do seem to have things set up well and it's the players simply not playing well.

What we do poorly, and have ever since Ferigie's last team ended, is off-the-ball movement and interplay between players. Watch just about any other top team (or hell, even half the 'lesser' teams in the league) and their movement is far better than ours in terms of players constantly making themselves available. When a player gets the ball they almost always have at least one good option to make a quick pass to, who will in turn have at least one good option to pass to, and so on. Often three or more good options at once, which just makes things much easier for them and allows them to play through teams much better than we can.

I think that's another reason we tend to look much better with Fred than without. It's not just his defensive work rate, he's also comfortably better than any of our other central midfielders at making himself available to receive the pass and keep the ball moving. Obviously VDB looks like he's also going to be a huge help in that aspect, so the two of them together is definitely promising if they are able to be solid enough defensively. We've already seen some nice interplay between them. Bruno obviously is good as well. But none of our forwards, with the possible exception of Cavani now, are good at it. Matic and Pogba are both poor at it. Our fullbacks are poor at it. If it were just one or two you can blame the players, but when it's the majority of the team and has been that way for long enough that players have come, gone and been replaced it really does seem to be a huge issue with the coaching.
 
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Eleven-Eighteen

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This thread is a perfect sample of the Caf's knee-jerk ism

It's almost hilarious how posters' opinions differ after unexpected wins and unexpected losses
 

The Boy

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Has Carrick been praised for his coaching? Can you kindly link me to the quotes please?
A 10 second google search

Fred:
“I have a good relationship with the manager and the coaches. I speak to the coach [Mike Phelan] every day. And to Michael [Carrick] and Kieran [McKenna].
Michael played in my position – he knows what he is saying. They are always encouraging me and I feel the support of fans, too. And I thank them for that.”
https://www.squawka.com/en/fred-pra...idfielder Fred has,of sync with his teammates.

Bruno
"I’m learning a lot from him and he’s one of the people I like to listen to, because he was a big player, he won a lot of trophies for the club and for me you have to learn from these players."
https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...news/bruno-fernandes-man-utd-carrick-19283303

Fred said last week it would be “impossible” to have guidance from anyone better than former England midfielder Carrick. “He has helped me a lot in this process of adaptation and transition,” Fred told Brazilian outlet Trivela. “After training we always do a little work, sometimes finishing, sometimes passing. He is a guy who understands the game, who lived it. He knows about the difficulties, the shortcuts, and he tries to show me everything there is.”
A source explains: “If Michael says, ‘I want you to play a ball there,’ and all of a sudden he threads a pass between two defenders who are a yard apart, as a player you’d be impressed. They will rise to that. They don’t want their coach to be a better player than them.”
https://theathletic.co.uk/1777811/2020/04/28/michael-carrick-kieran-mckenna-manchester-united/
 

Gabagoo

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We're starting to improve. If I were Ole, though, I'd be tempted to replace the some of the coaching staff.

I don't think that we play aggressive enough on the counter, or complex enough whilst in possession, so we're still in this meek middle ground. We're getting better but it could be sped along.
 

Adnan

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Rossa

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The way I see it - if we are an awfully coached team - that makes you wonder how awful players Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool and City have - since they are not all a lot of points ahead of us.
Reminds me of the times where Liverpool had a better manager than United (Ferguson!), a better goalie, a better defense, clearly a better midfield (they had the mighty Gerrard, and we only had the little man Scholes), and of course better attackers. Still, Liverpool struggled to finish top six and United went on to regularly win the league.

As you probably are also aware of, Norwegian pundits are extremely negative towards United. When we won against Leipzig, the focus was on United struggling to play out from the back in the first half, not how they decimated Leipzig all things considered. We are often told that United are poorly coached and are awfully inconsistent. However, since February, aren't United one of the most consistent performers? Especially if you take away that horrendous start to the season, where Solskjær admitted they were not ready for the league because of no pre-season. It is a shame then, that United supporters seem blind to this and jump on the band wagon. Yes, there are issues with the team, but what team in the league are not having issues this season?

As for injuries, we had Martial, Shaw, McTominay and Pogba out against Southampton. It's not like we are without injuries either.
 

romufc

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Awfully coached team with just 1 less point than Liverpool since Bruno joined. And they have played 1 more game than us too.

Maybe our fans are just spoiled brats who don't know what they want eh? Maybe it's that.
The problem with part of the fan base is they look at twitter and make judgements on players without watching them.

We concede a goal, someone will post a picture of Maguire and say.. £80m and can't head a ball and fans will say oh he is shit he playing crap.

People make judgements on players after Palace and Spurs and think that is gospel.

Look at hoe many people talk about AWB's lack of passing, last 3/4 games he has been passing very well

Fred loses the ball too much? No, watch the last few games and you will see he is brilliant.
 

RedIan

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We have been the best coached under LVG
We had a clear pattern of play and every player had a job and knew what job it was. Should of not been sacked after winning the FA cup.
You have got to be joking. LVG football was the worst football ive watched in my life and ie been going to Old Trafford in the 1970,s when Tommy Doc was manager. (I was 12)
I sat in the stands shaking my head and yawning at LVG boring tactics. Some games i just wanted to get up and leave It was so boring, players passing sideways then back sideways then back.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... that not man uniteds way and never will be. I celebrated when he got the boot.
 

Smores

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This thread is a perfect sample of the Caf's knee-jerk ism

It's almost hilarious how posters' opinions differ after unexpected wins and unexpected losses
It's ridiculous because good or bad results the issues with our play still remains. Until they're fixed we'll struggle for the consistency we need.

Anyone who watches football games outside of our own can see that certain other teams are incredibly well coached even with lesser players. They deliver consistency in play between games.

This place used to be mainly discussing tactics and coaching. Now it's seen as an attack on the manager so people throw a hissy at it being mentioned.
 

Bilbo

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Once a feeling, or an opinion, is set in someone's mind it takes quite a long time for that feeling to go away. We don't struggle to create chances against defensive opponents. We aren't particularly inconsistent, and we rarely adopt a counter-attacking style unless we are playing opponents where that's the best way to beat them. There will be outliers of course because that's football, but they are certainly not the norm. We obviously aren't an awfully coached team either. Some of these things still get mentioned all the time though, even by known journalists. Its lazy.
 

big rons sovereign

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You have got to be joking. LVG football was the worst football ive watched in my life and ie been going to Old Trafford in the 1970,s when Tommy Doc was manager. (I was 12)
I sat in the stands shaking my head and yawning at LVG boring tactics. Some games i just wanted to get up and leave It was so boring, players passing sideways then back sideways then back.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.... that not man uniteds way and never will be. I celebrated when he got the boot.
The 0-0s against city and psv spring to mind.
Especially the psv, the only thing I remember about that game is ending up on a tram full of psv fans after the game. At first I was a little worried but it became apparent that everybody was struggling to stay awake.
 

Smores

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Once a feeling, or an opinion, is set in someone's mind it takes quite a long time for that feeling to go away. We don't struggle to create chances against defensive opponents. We aren't particularly inconsistent, and we rarely adopt a counter-attacking style unless we are playing opponents where that's the best way to beat them. There will be outliers of course because that's football, but they are certainly not the norm. We obviously aren't an awfully coached team either. Some of these things still get mentioned all the time though, even by known journalists. Its lazy.
How are we not inconsistent this season? :lol:

We're 9th in shots on target and 9th in goals scored, in a good few games we've only had 2 or 3 on target where the opponent has setup defensive.

We've also got the most goals from counter attacks in the league.

Stats aren't everything but they certainly don't support your opinion.
 

Leftback99

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It's ridiculous because good or bad results the issues with our play still remains. Until they're fixed we'll struggle for the consistency we need.

Anyone who watches football games outside of our own can see that certain other teams are incredibly well coached even with lesser players. They deliver consistency in play between games.

This place used to be mainly discussing tactics and coaching. Now it's seen as an attack on the manager so people throw a hissy at it being mentioned.
Which teams apart from City should I go back and watch from the weekend to see 'incredible' coaching in action?
 

Nou_Camp99

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How are we not inconsistent this season? :lol:

We're 9th in shots on target and 9th in goals scored, in a good few games we've only had 2 or 3 on target where the opponent has setup defensive.

We've also got the most goals from counter attacks in the league.

Stats aren't everything but they certainly don't support your opinion.
Let's take it back further till end of January. We've got the most pts per game of all 20 PL clubs.

We started the season awfully because of the schedule which was totally unfair on us (and on City too) and all you moany gits blamed it on Ole.

Since we've caught up fitness wise our results have picked up significantly. So much so that's we're now 5pts off top with a game in hand. Stop moaning and support the manager. He's doing a good job.
 

justsomebloke

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As you probably are also aware of, Norwegian pundits are extremely negative towards United. When we won against Leipzig, the focus was on United struggling to play out from the back in the first half, not how they decimated Leipzig all things considered. We are often told that United are poorly coached and are awfully inconsistent. However, since February, aren't United one of the most consistent performers? Especially if you take away that horrendous start to the season, where Solskjær admitted they were not ready for the league because of no pre-season. It is a shame then, that United supporters seem blind to this and jump on the band wagon. Yes, there are issues with the team, but what team in the league are not having issues this season?
Er, I really don't think that's true. As I remember it, the coverage after RBL was all about how that was a huge triumph. They're just being newspapers, which means they will always build up the drama whenever Ole's job security is low, but they also build up the achievements because Ole is after all Norwegian. The TV commentary is reasonable and balanced, in my view.

Also, if someone commented on how they struggled to play out from the back in the first half (the expert commentators on TV did that, true enough), they were spot on in my view.
 

Jonno

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Let's take it back further till end of January. We've got the most pts per game of all 20 PL clubs.

We started the season awfully because of the schedule which was totally unfair on us (and on City too) and all you moany gits blamed it on Ole.

Since we've caught up fitness wise our results have picked up significantly. So much so that's we're now 5pts off top with a game in hand. Stop moaning and support the manager. He's doing a good job.
Agree.

City started with a wobble, so did we. So did lots of clubs. Lets not forget that just about all the sports science experts, pundits, players, managers who have gone on record to say that no pre-season could decimate the fitness of finely tuned athletes that have trained all their lives for 9 month seasons and to have lengthy pre-seasons, friendly matches, etc. Reading into specific stats about shots on target etc means absolutely nothing. What matters is we finished 3rd last season, if we win our game in hand we're joint 3rd in the league. 1 point from the knock out stages of the CL.

I think some people expect us to have 30 points from 30.