Watched the game on a shitty stream in a small window on my laptop screen as I had to do some work at the same time. Didn't realize how well he hit it until this morning, watching a replay from different angles. Brilliant goal.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 24
- Goals
- 6
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 2
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Needs to fill out, and learn to play with his back to goal(like Martial did). And needs to improve his heading ability(like Rooney did). If he can do these two things, he will become an elite RVP-esque CF.
Top goal from the kid, it just goes to show how good he really is playing with players the same age as him.
The threat of it still causes the opposition defence to sit a little deeper, opening space up for the 2 10s to play in-between the lines.
It sounds like you think he needs to be a completely different player to who he actually is...
Not sure why he needs to fill out...he has bulked up already and I don’t think he gets knocked off the ball too easily...his ball retention is better than any of our frontline and bulking up is not always a good thing. His change of pace and ability to go either way is not dependent on putting on muscle.
The back to goal thing, Martial is an odd example...he is quite shit with his back to goal...he can do it but not to any great effect. Arguably, the attempt to transition Martial to a more typical number 9 has undermined and taken away from the qualities he had, pace, close control, dribbling and finishing. (He can’t finish when he is facing the other way!) Mason is never gonna be a foil type striker and so I would think it’s more important he plays to his strengths and gets turned and running at defenders going left or right...
And as for heading, yes he needs to improve his heading but again, Rooney is an odd comparison, he wasn’t a prolific header of the ball and Rooney said himself he hated his season as an out and out 9 as he just didn’t get enough of the ball. I see Mason more in that mould. He adds more value on the ball with his control, ability to beat a man and the fact that he is one of the few genuine threats we have from distance (Bruno maybe).
He has been injured and benched in the last half a year. Just play the kid...he needs to play with clear instructions...RR talks about being proactive...In time...Greenwood will be a player that helps us dominate games from the front...He is a plan A player...let’s buy another guy to be plan B...back to goal...someone we can target with crosses.
What is wrong with his attitude?
He needs to get fitter pressing wise I think which is what rangnick meant rather than just strength
Agreed, I think our management will have him making those runs and his movement will improve. Ferdinand said after the game his playing style and movement reminds him of RVP, I agree with the playing style but the movement and knowing when to make those runs will take him to the next level.
I liked that RR was rather pushing him than just praising him. Plus, I have never seen him run and work so much
Deserves to be in the team over Sancho for me.
To be fair he did have Covid recently so it's not a surprise his stamina isn't quite at it's best.
He hasn't been great at doing the hard work though in the past, but stamina is something you gain with age.
He hasn't been great at doing the hard work though in the past, but stamina is something you gain with age.
Great goal. Looked good in the first half in other plays. I think RR will be great for him, Rashford and Sancho as off the ball they were all lacking. Ole's regime really neglected what is now a really important part of the game.
He just needs to actually start passing it to Ronaldo.Ronaldo and Greenwood up top
He was a cut above the rest, which has happened before when we have fielded an under-strength/youtful team (pre-season or one of the cups). He is quality on the ball and his workrate is improving. He is so damn exciting to watch and can't wait for his improvement under proper coaches.
Great talent, i really do not know his preferred foot. He is young and learning. Having the likes of Ronaldo and Cavani to train with will help him develop tactically and in terms of decision making.
the club, like what RR said yesterday, needs to develop him physically. He is still relatively weak. But no worries there, I remember Marcus when he started, developed well physically and so would mason.
doing well and deserves to start over rashford
the club, like what RR said yesterday, needs to develop him physically. He is still relatively weak. But no worries there, I remember Marcus when he started, developed well physically and so would mason.
doing well and deserves to start over rashford
You mean over Rashford
Do you not think it’s sometimes overstated how much training with superior players makes a young player better? Utd have consistently had a world class attacker in their squad, but it hasn’t meant that any young strikers have consistently over performed I don’t think. Welbeck had his pick of amazing attackers to learn from, Januzaj had Giggs, Jones, O’Shea, Evans etc had Ferdinand and Vidic. If you’re going to make it you make it despite the other players, not because of them.
Greenwood especially, looks like such an incredible natural talent. I think he’d be that way without Ronaldo or Cavani, and arguably he’d have played more in their absence.
Especially when pausing the video at the contact point, you can see how he stretch and shape his left leg and foot. A kind of volley play in tennis. It’s done in the fraction of second and in the air. Amazing. That’s natural talent.
agree. It won’t be them who’ll make him great. It’s his hard work and commitment. Their presence will help him learn. But it’ll up to him
I don't know it's more a question of if he got the right attitude to become what he talent wise could become. Don't know if there is anything wrong with his attitude. But for me he doesn't look all that interested in hard work on the pitch, passing the ball and such things. But he is such a talent that it sure would be a shame if his talent couldn't be fully materialised.
How is this myth still being peddled!It's as if they didn't watch the game last night. I'm sure he played the long ball over to Amad when he tried cutting it back to Lingard and then Greenwood himself hassled their defender, won the ball back and cut it back to Mata (right choice of pass).
Literally he had one game where he didn’t pass to Ronaldo and since then the myths have just continued.
Rashford is the one who needs dropping. Sancho was class in the last couple of games.
---------Ronaldo-----Greenwood
---------Sancho-----------Bruno
Which easily tilts into:
------Sancho--Ronaldo--Greenwood
It's not just a case of Rashford earning his place back. With Fred doing so well pressing high up, the line immediately behind becomes Fred----Bruno so you want Sancho peeling wide left and Greenwood starts ahead of Rashford on the right every day.
The most notable 4-2-2-2s all had such mechanics in place. E.g. Eder went wide left opening the space for Zico to operate in, Zico's slot was occupied by Falcao who's spot in turn was occupied by Junior.
Needs to be in team ahead of Rashford for next few games
It actually doesn't surprise me anymore what some say, I'm sure some adopt a 'say the first thing that comes to your mind' approach without thinking about it rationally.
Not read through all the comments so may already have been discussed. What to make of RR emphasis that Greenwood has a lot of physical development to get to the next level and to be considered for the first XI? He was asked to compare him to Halaand and first started with you should not compare two players and went on to speak about Halaand's physical ability as a 9 and that Greenwood is more 9 or 9.5 and has all the technical ability in the world along with being two-footed, has to develop physically for the next step. Way it came across to me is that it will be a little while before he is a regular starter for Ragnik.
Be interesting to see how Ragnik develops him from here on out
Be interesting to see how Ragnik develops him from here on out
100%. If he isn't in this positions himself putting in the work daily, he won't get better.
I've no idea why I said a front three. I was half cut I suppose
But yes, agree, good post. Agree with this all.
Imagine him and Haaland up front. Would be a deadly duo
I think he's just talking about his next evolution as a player and that's certainly his biggest obstacle now. It won't be long before he displaces Rashford though regardless if he continues working as hard as he did last night. He's just a far more talented player who brings much more to the table.
This has turned into a bit of a Rashford v Greenwood thread but here goes:
For me the biggest thing we lose by playing Greenwood instead of Rashford is the constant off the ball runs that Rashford makes. You need someone who makes those runs non stop to keep defenders on their feet and expand the pitch a little so our attacking mids get space.
I don't think Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood or Martial offer that. Greenwood wants to drop deep and have the ball at his feet, Ronaldo, Cavani want to just stand next to the CBs and make some clever little runs when the ball is around the box and Martial is Martial.
You can see Rashford sprint in so many situations - corners / counter attacks as soon as we force a turnover (Bruno -> Rashford ball on the counter got us many goals). Dealing with a mid block: No space in the middle of the pitch and opposition force us to go to our CBs. Lindelof -> Rashford ball in those situations is very effective.
For me Rashford sort of loses some effectiveness when we're dealing with a set defence. He's not that great in tight spaces and his dribbling ability is overhyped. Greenwood on the contrary comes to life in situations where we have 6-7 players around the opposition box and we're trying to force something. He can go left foot / right foot cross / shot etc.
For me the biggest thing we lose by playing Greenwood instead of Rashford is the constant off the ball runs that Rashford makes. You need someone who makes those runs non stop to keep defenders on their feet and expand the pitch a little so our attacking mids get space.
I don't think Ronaldo, Cavani, Greenwood or Martial offer that. Greenwood wants to drop deep and have the ball at his feet, Ronaldo, Cavani want to just stand next to the CBs and make some clever little runs when the ball is around the box and Martial is Martial.
You can see Rashford sprint in so many situations - corners / counter attacks as soon as we force a turnover (Bruno -> Rashford ball on the counter got us many goals). Dealing with a mid block: No space in the middle of the pitch and opposition force us to go to our CBs. Lindelof -> Rashford ball in those situations is very effective.
For me Rashford sort of loses some effectiveness when we're dealing with a set defence. He's not that great in tight spaces and his dribbling ability is overhyped. Greenwood on the contrary comes to life in situations where we have 6-7 players around the opposition box and we're trying to force something. He can go left foot / right foot cross / shot etc.
Agreed Rashford has miles better movement in behind but personally, that doesn't negate all of the other negatives. Poor decision making, poor vision, poor awareness and he gives the ball away a tonne. Greenwood excels in many of those same areas. If Ragnick can just work on his movement in behind then we are laughing and unfortunately, I don't see Rashford offering much else than a squad role.
------Cavani--Ronaldo
Bruno---------------Sancho
---------Fred----McT
This is our best front 6 atm.
Bruno---------------Sancho
---------Fred----McT
This is our best front 6 atm.
Yep, sort of agreed but I think you're being too critical of Rashford. He did produce better numbers in the league than Mane last season. I think he has an extremely valuable skillset and Rangnick will utilize him just fine.
Re: Greenwood, I guess there are different types of off the ball movements. He could def learn from Cavani the kinds of clever little runs he makes in the box instead of asking for the ball to feet all the time. I guess it's also because he started RW most of his career rather than an out and out CF he hasn't had a chance to develop that. I don't think we need to force him to do what Rashford does, ultimately they're different types of players and a team needs both types to succeed.
Love that Rangnick was quick to point out where he can improve. He has to keep his feet on the ground.
Ole would have been swooning over that display, calling him the greatest finisher ever and all that. I genuinely believe that his over the top praise to Rashford early on caused serious harm. Started comparing him to CR7 and low and behold he starts trying to do similar things and his work rate drops. Southgate even voiced his frustration at the things he was doing and it's easy to see why. Greenwood wont be allowed to get carried away and I think Ralf will be working closely with him as the talent is just exceptional - He can learn a lot from Cavani.
Ole would have been swooning over that display, calling him the greatest finisher ever and all that. I genuinely believe that his over the top praise to Rashford early on caused serious harm. Started comparing him to CR7 and low and behold he starts trying to do similar things and his work rate drops. Southgate even voiced his frustration at the things he was doing and it's easy to see why. Greenwood wont be allowed to get carried away and I think Ralf will be working closely with him as the talent is just exceptional - He can learn a lot from Cavani.
He's so gifted it's impossible to know what his best position will be eventually. Amazing player.
Yeah that Pippo Inzaghi was shit wasn't he?
Bottom line is his supposedly greatest strength would be either running at people (with his speed) or running in behind with his speed. Hes always offisde and doesnt run at full backs enough for me.
Inzaghi
Here is the big difference - Inzaghi was a goal scorer. Tap ins, scuffy goals, well placed goals. Rashford just belts the ball as hard as he can most of the time and very rarely finds himself in the 6 yard box
On topic - Greenwood is class. I almost feel like he needs to believe in himself more/be a bit arrogant. Looks so shy just waddling around at times. World class player in there in there for sure though
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