The "OK Calm Down Everyone, We'll Be Fine" Thread

always_hoping

Full Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2013
Messages
7,949
Location
Constans Hiberniae
I'm calm and will be at least half way into this season when new signings settling in and injury list easing before I'll give any judgement.

Right now is a very sticky patch where mostly everything has gone wrong not to mention the unwanted off the field nonsense. Burnley the focus now and I'll gladly take a scrappy United win there.
 

Zlatan 7

We've got bush!
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
11,965
Yep I was annoyed at him which I said in that post. The #1 issue last weekend for just how easily Brighton found it against us was the system being garbage. It was a system we've never used before. Hopefully it's a system we don't use again. Given we reverted away from it right away and saw a much more normal level (before the heads collectively dropped and created issues more from personnel (injuries) or mentality), I'm ok with it. I don't know if he is ultimately going to be good enough to have us actually reach that top tier, but we have a long way yet he can take us, so long as he doesn't have shit shows like last weekend (happens to everyone, Klopp, Pep, Sir Alex.. just prove they are rare occurrences).
They are not really rare occurrences though, we often get outplayed. We show nothing going forward, wide open defence.

im onboard for the ride and hopefully we’ll go on a run and get some results and ten hag wins us some decent trophies in time but you really can’t blame people for doubting how it’s going. It happens to even the most positive of us (you)
 

Sarni

nice guy, unassuming, objective United fan.
Joined
Jan 21, 2004
Messages
58,064
Location
Krakow
I think many are deluding themselves thinking we would be substantially better without injuries. We look inept going forward and the only player we are getting back from injury is Mount who has hardly been amazing when he played. Antony won’t be back for a while and Sancho doesn’t bring anything anyway.

In defense we are getting players back eventually but how much will that help when our midfield can be cut through at will, with ease, I’m not sure.

We still face the same issue we faced all of last season, each time we face a good team away from home we look inept, and we have started to look inept at home and also not do well against lesser teams as well on top of that.
 

RedOrange

Full Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
1,127
Yep we should have 6 first team midfielders who have both good physicality and good ball retention. One or the other is not enough. And some of the midfielders we have have neither...

And the fact we've signed 4 CM's to still have a terrible midfield is just unforgiveable for anyone involved in the decision making.
I'd say the issue right now is less the overall quality of the group and more that half of them are injured.
 

Falconhoof

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 26, 2023
Messages
19
  • Burnley away
  • Palace home (cup)
  • Palace home
  • Galatasaray home
  • Brentford home
  • Sheffield Utd Away
  • Kobenhavn home
  • City home
Agree. Genuinely think we will go on a great run up until that City game and look a completely different team. I was briefly concerned with the Brighton game, but fine after today. Clubs go through shit runs, especially show when you combine off the pitch issues with an injury crisis & a shit run of fixtures. We've had all of those in this period. With Amrabat and Mount returning this weekend I think and Varane shortly, the midfield will look rejuvenated, we can rotate our center backs a bit, and in general we'll be fine. Especially with the bounce back mentality that I think we'll show now. Wouldn't surprise me if we win them all before City and then give them a good game.
They are genuinely tough 50/50 games for us. Only in our glorious past would I look at these as a good run of fixtures. We shall see....
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
7,049
Location
Manchester
You don't always need an elite player. Sometimes you just need a player who plays the role you need. Amrabat for what it's worth is a very good one, but both him and Mount will provide a huge difference. Eriksen is a complete 0 off the ball. That's not a huge deal, we know he isn't too useful there but he can still provide a lot of use as part of the squad. The issue happens when everyone else is injured and then you gotta play Bayern away right after he started vs Brighton.
We've already seen Mount in the team and we're forgetting how bad it looked.

Our most defensively solid midfield would probably be Casemiro-Amrabat-Mount, but we'd lose creativity, and no way is Bruno ever getting dropped anyway.

Given how most of our signings turn out to be duds I'm not holding my breath that Amrabat will transform us, even though I like the signing.
 

Ibrahimorich

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 27, 2018
Messages
675
These things take time. You can see we start every game well. We've had a lot of terrible luck with injuries, disallowed goals and unprecedented off the field turmoil. I think we'll come good eventually.
 

the_cliff

Full Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
5,707
Yep we should have 6 first team midfielders who have both good physicality and good ball retention. One or the other is not enough. And some of the midfielders we have have neither...

And the fact we've signed 4 CM's to still have a terrible midfield is just unforgiveable for anyone involved in the decision making.
To be fair with this point I'm sure Eriksen was just supposed to be a stop gap free signing. So we've signed Casemiro, Amrabat and Mount. 1 of them hasn't started yet, 1 of them has played 3 games and the other was probably our best player last season.
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
7,049
Location
Manchester
I'd say the issue right now is less the overall quality of the group and more that half of them are injured.
Disagree. Our first choice midfield going into the season was exactly what we planned it to be - Casemiro-Mount-Bruno - and it was dreadful. We know Mctominay is poor, and we know Eriksen lacks any sort of physicality to play in tough games. There's a real lack of quality in terms of physicality and ball retention all over. It seems pretty evident Casemiro is on a significant physical decline, although not everyone is willing to accept it yet.

It leaves us with all our hopes resting on Amrabat to transform the entire team into one that can keep the ball and protect the defence properly.
 

Scandi Red

Hates Music.
Joined
Sep 25, 2022
Messages
4,872
You could almost write a script of how events will transpire in the timeline of every United manager.

I swear every single time it follows the same pattern, including the threads that are made on here.

After a promising first season we're now into the inevitable shit second season.
This is only true for Van Gaal. And the difference was honestly minor.

Moyes got less than one season. Mourinho and Ole did better in their second season.
 

RedOrange

Full Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
1,127
Disagree. Our first choice midfield going into the season was exactly what we planned it to be - Casemiro-Mount-Bruno - and it was dreadful. We know Mctominay is poor, and we know Eriksen lacks any sort of physicality to play in tough games. There's a real lack of quality in terms of physicality and ball retention.
You're writing Mount off after 2 matches, which is way too early. He's got the skills and work rate to do well in a midfield role in the main tactic this season and he's a huge upgrade on Eriksen in that regard.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,296
Location
Canada
They are not really rare occurrences though, we often get outplayed. We show nothing going forward, wide open defence.

im onboard for the ride and hopefully we’ll go on a run and get some results and ten hag wins us some decent trophies in time but you really can’t blame people for doubting how it’s going. It happens to even the most positive of us (you)
Oh it's fine to have doubts and all that. The season is early though with a shit ton of external distractions which will always be hard. Also the injury crisis. Last season was very positive. I'm confident we'll get back on the positive train soon.

In terms of often being outplayed... yeah it's happened in some big away games and while I think a lot of it was mentalities to collapse so spectacularly, there were also minor tactical tweaks required. But also we didn't have the personnel to really make those tweaks. I could accept it last season, ridiculous fixture congestion that nobody else had to our degree, straight up lacking in certain positions which makes it much more difficult to play the way we wanted to, lack of legs in midfield... the midfield legs are very much evident still, when Eriksen plays in there. We brought in 2 guys who are a million times better at the defensive side of the game than either Bruno or Eriksen, and they should return on the weekend. Our mentality is shot, and it needs rebuilding and luckily we got a nice run coming.

I fully expect to see a completely different side when we play City in 5 weeks or so from now. Hopefully the injuries only ease and we don't have a situation where the 2 remaining fullbacks go down, but this is a key period now IMO. If Amrabat and Mount return and we don't get new injuries, then it's up to Ten Hag to prove he can get it clicking, and then have a good game vs City. The big games are key, but at this point we have to rebuild confidence in the easier games which helps. But it's the most important run in Ten Hags time here. If he can show he can get us playing well the next run of games leading up to city, and then tops it off with a good performance there, then I'll be very comfortable with him. Obviously if there is a further injury crisis then there are reasonable excuses. But if players come back and we still play like shit in the next run and get played off the park by City, then I'll probably give up on him.
 

tomaldinho1

Full Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2015
Messages
18,339
We played against one of the best teams in the world, with 12 first team players out. Had a dodgy penalty against us and an error by the GK that literally gave them a goal. A team that brought on Coman and Muller off the bench when we had people in here begging for Hannibal to come on. The pre game thread was full of people predicting 4-0s 5-0s etc.

We lose 4-3.

And everyone here goes ape shit.

I see the same people that were predicting 4-0s to Bayern losing it in the post match thread and ETH thread. This has become a joke of a community.
Every now and then I see a post like this and I tell myself there are a few normal people left on the caf. Then I go into a match day thread and realise the human race is devolving.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,296
Location
Canada
We've already seen Mount in the team and we're forgetting how bad it looked.

Our most defensively solid midfield would probably be Casemiro-Amrabat-Mount, but we'd lose creativity, and no way is Bruno ever getting dropped anyway.

Given how most of our signings turn out to be duds I'm not holding my breath that Amrabat will transform us, even though I like the signing.
It was 2 games - the first 2 games of the season (first game of the season is always wonky). We dominated away to Spurs in the first half, didn't score sitters and didn't have a clear pen called while they created virtually nothing in that half before a ricochet led to a clear chance for them. But also... it was literally the start of Mounts career here. Give him time.

Though also like you say, Amrabat is the big one. I could see it being a case of Amrabat being the guy for tougher games, Mount coming in for easier games where we press aggressively and high up and can deal with less cover chasing back, and just a general rotation to keep fitness throughout the season. Goes out the window with injuries.
 

Lentwood

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
6,931
Location
West Didsbury, Manchester
I can see plenty of promise in what we're trying to do, but it might have to get worse before it gets better.

ETH is trying to change the entire culture, strategy and tactical approach of an absolute behemoth of a football club. It's going to take time - and unfortunately, 'time' doesn't mean '6 months' or two Summer windows. It might mean sticking with one manager for 3 or 4 seasons before we see genuine progress.
 

Irwin99

Full Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
9,664
Mostly agree, although the Burnley game feels massive. Beat them and I think we can go on a run, lose and the pressure keeps on building. Getting the players back and sorting the formation out into something consistent will be really important. Worth noting our hardest group game in the champions league (away to Bayern) is out of the way now too.

We're putting a huge amount of faith in Amrabat to solve the midfield issue though and Hojlund's start has been good but I still really worry about the goals in this team. Yes you can say we scored 3 against Bayern but the first half and that early chance was far more representative of how we mess up easy chances.
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
7,049
Location
Manchester
You're writing Mount off after 2 matches, which is way too early. He's got the skills and work rate to do well in a midfield role in the main tactic this season and he's a huge upgrade on Eriksen in that regard.
It's possible but I doubt it.

Mount's consistently a player who has a very low number of touches and low number of passes. Him being anonymous comes as no surprise to anyone who's watched him. And now we need him to become a player who everything goes through, our main go-to man in midfield when we want to get out foot on the ball and play. I just don't see it, he should be our highest volume passer given his position in the team and he's regularly going to be one of our lowest volume passers, because that's just who he is.
 

Zlatan 7

We've got bush!
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
11,965
Oh it's fine to have doubts and all that. The season is early though with a shit ton of external distractions which will always be hard. Also the injury crisis. Last season was very positive. I'm confident we'll get back on the positive train soon.

In terms of often being outplayed... yeah it's happened in some big away games and while I think a lot of it was mentalities to collapse so spectacularly, there were also minor tactical tweaks required. But also we didn't have the personnel to really make those tweaks. I could accept it last season, ridiculous fixture congestion that nobody else had to our degree, straight up lacking in certain positions which makes it much more difficult to play the way we wanted to, lack of legs in midfield... the midfield legs are very much evident still, when Eriksen plays in there. We brought in 2 guys who are a million times better at the defensive side of the game than either Bruno or Eriksen, and they should return on the weekend. Our mentality is shot, and it needs rebuilding and luckily we got a nice run coming.

I fully expect to see a completely different side when we play City in 5 weeks or so from now. Hopefully the injuries only ease and we don't have a situation where the 2 remaining fullbacks go down, but this is a key period now IMO. If Amrabat and Mount return and we don't get new injuries, then it's up to Ten Hag to prove he can get it clicking, and then have a good game vs City. The big games are key, but at this point we have to rebuild confidence in the easier games which helps. But it's the most important run in Ten Hags time here. If he can show he can get us playing well the next run of games leading up to city, and then tops it off with a good performance there, then I'll be very comfortable with him. Obviously if there is a further injury crisis then there are reasonable excuses. But if players come back and we still play like shit in the next run and get played off the park by City, then I'll probably give up on him.
Agree with almost all of that, toward the end of last season I excused our shit play as we had such a congested fixture list and were still somehow getting the results we needed, and even though we had an easy run to the carling cup win it was still nice to get under his belt, I got absolutely hounded for saying last year was an ok season instead of an amazing one but the football from March onwards was mostly a hard watch.

here’s to hoping the new midfield signings and defenders returning from injury can get us playing some decent controlling football that is good to watch and not just scraping through. We may just click and become formidable just as much as losing a few more and collapsing at the moment but we need to stick with him and just hope.
 

Lentwood

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
6,931
Location
West Didsbury, Manchester
Every now and then I see a post like this and I tell myself there are a few normal people left on the caf. Then I go into a match day thread and realise the human race is devolving.
The problem is that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and the good posters can't communicate with each other because every thread is highjacked with pages and pages of whingeing.

And...on that note, "good" doesn't mean "people who have the same opinions as me", it means people who construct useful, insightful and thoughtful posts.

By all means moan and/or have a different opinion but it's exhausting trying to have serious discussions in amongst a horde of folk who seem to have the patience and reasoning capacity of a toddler
 

RedOrange

Full Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
1,127
It's possible but I doubt it.

Mount's consistently a player who has a very low number of touches and low number of passes. Him being anonymous comes as no surprise to anyone who's watched him. And now we need him to become a player who everything goes through, our main go-to man in midfield when we want to get out foot on the ball and play. I just don't see it, he should be our highest volume passer given his position in the team and he's regularly going to be one of our lowest volume passers, because that's just who he is.
What? What are you basing this on?
 

RedOrange

Full Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
1,127
The problem is that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and the good posters can't communicate with each other because every thread is highjacked with pages and pages of whingeing.

And...on that note, "good" doesn't mean "people who have the same opinions as me", it means people who construct useful, insightful and thoughtful posts.

By all means moan and/or have a different opinion but it's exhausting trying to have serious discussions in amongst a horde of folk who seem to have the patience and reasoning capacity of a toddler
I've just started following people who consistently post well and ignoring awful one-liner white noise posters. So far I've followed about 6 posters and ignored close to 300.
 

JB7

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Messages
8,877
Mostly agree, although the Burnley game feels massive. Beat them and I think we can go on a run, lose and the pressure keeps on building. Getting the players back and sorting the formation out into something consistent will be really important. Worth noting our hardest group game in the champions league (away to Bayern) is out of the way now too.

We're putting a huge amount of faith in Amrabat to solve the midfield issue though and Hojlund's start has been good but I still really worry about the goals in this team. Yes you can say we scored 3 against Bayern but the first half and that early chance was far more representative of how we mess up easy chances.
Agree with you. Burnley is a big game but it proceeds a favourable run of the fixture so if we can go on a run, get Varane, Amrabat, Mount back in the squad, Antony too if he can sort things out his side, things will look somewhat brighter. Like you say, the most difficult group game is now out of the way (and if we're going to lose a game, it may as well be the one I've elected to sit out).

In terms of the simple chances, again, something I agree with you on but I do think that particular early chance was one of those situations where the number of players out really hurts you. We've got Pellestri in that position who rarely scores goals, more often than not a more regular first teamer coming onto that ball like Antony, Sancho, Rashford, Garnacho and even Amad potentially due to being a left footer, doesn't give the defender the chance to get ahead of them. But we are where we are due to the situations throughout the squad.
 

ScholesyTheWise

Full Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2022
Messages
1,115
ETH is not as bad as the latest results show. That he's having a really bad period is undeniable.
I think that this manager + players don't have enough in them -
also at full potential - to finish more than 5th in the current PL, even if we "recover", which will mean different things to different posters.

I tend to think he's a good coach based on things I've seen, indeed mostly last season.
We don't need a good coach. We need an absolutely brilliant one + tons of other stuff to be fixed for us to get competitive once more.
I'm not for sacking him. other managers won't do much better if at all.

Pep would, Klopp would, they're the only two safe bets in world football.
And even they would have needed time to shape a team as they please. And they wouldn't have been able to do so with our owners and seemingly still incapable people who hold key positions within the club.

as for ETH, if this keeps snowballing he'll be sacked in a couple of months.
 

Jack-C20

Full Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2016
Messages
2,908
All things considered I’m feeling a lot better than I thought I would when we went two goals behind. Still does my head in that we keep fecking up in the most basic ways though.

It honestly feels like a Liverpool fan has been granted a wish and they wished for us to keep getting crapped on in the weirdest ways. Every time we look positive we’ll concede a freak goal. Every time we pull one back, we’ll go and throw it away with a lapse in concentration. The amount of injuries we have at the minute as well.

Above all though, we’re still suffering from not taking our chances. If we can get some momentum, score some goals first, control games more and keep the shots towards Onana at a minimum I think we’ll be alright. This slow start looks like it’s heaped the pressure on everyone. The team should be able to perform under pressure but that’s something we’ve been suffering with for years.

Burnley is a big game. Really hope we turn up for it mentally.
 

Lentwood

Full Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
6,931
Location
West Didsbury, Manchester
I've just started following people who consistently post well and ignoring awful one-liner white noise posters. So far I've followed about 6 posters and ignored close to 300.
Good idea, might do similar.

As an aside, I feel many United fans would benefit from taking a break from social media and/or sports media in general.

To be fair, we talk about the pressure associated with playing for United - to a degree, there's also a certain amount of 'pressure' on our fanbase.

United stories sell newspapers, clicks, airtime and engagement - and we all know negative news stories outperform positive news stories.

As soon as we hit a bump in the road, the media pile-on, and I feel many football fans generally are not equipped to deal with it. Ours have an even harder time because we're bombarded with it. That leads to the kind of anger and impatience we see manifested in the comments on here.

So, simple answer is...turn it off. Don't listen to TalkSport, don't click about on Sky Sports or BBC Sport websites, don't get involved in online arguments in the comments section of Paddy Powers' latest social media post and don't partake in 'hilarious' banter with colleagues at work.

Honestly, once you stop engaging with all that nonsense, you suddenly find you're not furious all the time - and that applies to many things really, not just football. Could equally be talking about Politics or anything widely reported on/discussed online.
 

The Hilton

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
4,271
I don't agree with your analysis of the Brighton match @bosnian_red, I thought it was close and was decided by poor tracking of runners and poor decision making in the final third, particularly by Rashford, rather than tactics, but that's probably another conversation.

As for the sentiment in your post though, I wholeheartedly agree and I think if people look beyond the losses and scorelines, there are some promising signs.

One if the biggest is that we've become really good at winning the ball in dangerous areas - we're top of the league for high turnovers. Unfortunately we're bottom for high turnovers leading to a goal, which means we're either panicking, or aren't sure how to take advantage of those situations, but that's something that can be drilled and will come with experience.

On top of that, the players actually seem to be set up pretty well for the pressing system we're trying to play, but we're often being undone by individual mistakes and some lazy tracking. The former can be overcome with experience and drilling, the latter will hopefully improve when we get some of our more athletic and game players back from injury.

Another of our issues is that heads go down when we concede, and our system suffers for it. Hopefully once the above pans out and we start actually benefiting from turnovers and preventing the easy goals the players will gain more faith in it and themselves, which will allow us to respond to setbacks better.

Every match we've had apart from Wolves has seen us at least match our opposition, and even in the Wolves match we won the ball high so many times we really should have punished them and made it a different match. Once we start doing that consistently, our full 90 performances and results will improve dramatically.
 

Dominos

Full Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2009
Messages
7,049
Location
Manchester
What? What are you basing this on?
I'm basing it on the fact that Casemiro's ball retention isn't very good, and Bruno's ball retention isn't very good. What this team needs, is someone who makes a high volume of passes, at a very high accuracy. Mount doesn't provide that.
 

Ubik

Nothing happens until something moves!
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
19,077
I'm basing it on the fact that Casemiro's ball retention isn't very good, and Bruno's ball retention isn't very good. What this team needs, is someone who makes a high volume of passes, at a very high accuracy. Mount doesn't provide that.
My feeling is he's going to be used on the right, given our terrible options there and the desperate need to shore up the defensive area (which, all fingers crossed, Amrabat can provide).

Burnley is definitely a biggie though, bogey team for us back into the Fergie years and Kompany will have them turned into game-raising bellends against us.
 

tenpoless

No 6-pack, just 2Pac
Joined
Oct 20, 2014
Messages
16,498
Location
Ole's ipad
Supports
4-4-2 classic
"Calm down" only works for scousers with stache. I am outraged.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,296
Location
Canada
I'm basing it on the fact that Casemiro's ball retention isn't very good, and Bruno's ball retention isn't very good. What this team needs, is someone who makes a high volume of passes, at a very high accuracy. Mount doesn't provide that.
Yeah Mount can be beneficial in a lot of ways but he won't provide that. That's what I'm hoping Amrabat brings. It's what he builds his game on.
  • 94th percentile in pass completion percentage
  • 91st in passes completed
  • 90th for passes into the final third
  • 85 for progressive passes
  • 85th percentile for touches
  • 94th for touches in middle third
  • 80th percentile for carries
  • 95th percentile for successful take on %
  • 90th percentile for miscontrols and 85th for dispossessed
Basically all the analytics (which watching him supports) point to him being a player who loves getting on the ball in deep areas, is press resistant and doesn't lose the ball cheaply, can progress the ball through the first lines of pressure and into attackers feet, can move with the ball to evade pressure, keeps play moving along and doesn't just lump it around carelessly, and just values possession. It's what we lack, and that's what he is. Of course, you never know how they'll adapt to a tougher league and the pressure at United, but at least Ten Hag highlighted the need we needed very clearly and brought in the exact type of player we need to address it.
 

CloneMC16

Full Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Messages
4,630
I'm not so sure about that. Our current midfield is a trainwreck. Maybe it improves when we get our injured players back, but that is mostly hopeful thinking. We haven't seen Amrabat play for us. This is a player that didn't seem to be attracting attention from other elite clubs. I will wait and see, though. Mount is being asked to play a position he never did for Chelsea. Mainoo is a kid. I have major concerns that Casemiro is finished. People are hoping that he'll be fine with a more energetic midfielder next to him. I think that is more copium than closer to what will actually happen. Eriksen is making things worse, but Casemiro is making horrible decisions on his own. I think the main issue with the team is the midfield. They can barely keep the ball and don't track any runners. It's killing us. It makes it worse, because ETH has signed multiple midfielders and it's still a massive problem area.

We have one winger currently fighting off domestic violence accusations and another that thinks he's bigger than the manager and can't be arsed to even try. Two of our most expensive signings. The backups are all kids. If we get anything good out of them, it's a major bonus. We also have a tonne of problems in the final third of the pitch. We're extremely reliant on Rashford beating multiple players and making something happen. We don't really play like a team. Hopefully Rashford and Hojlund can start working well together, though. It's still early days.

Varane and AWB had very impressive starts to the season and are now injured. Varane being massively injury prone since arriving is a huge problem for us. His backups are absolutely awful. Shaw also picks up multiple injuries a season and is out for a while. Hopefully Reguilon continues to play well in his absence, but we have no cover at fullback now. Dalot and Reguilon have to stay fit.

We have to get some results over the next couple months. The only bad fixture we have is City at home. That is up until the end of November. If we fail to do so, ETH won't last the season. I do think we have had some bad luck. VAR hasn't gone our way and we've had a lot of injuries. We've started well in the last couple games and let in a stupid goal to ruin the work. The team is still lacking fight when we go behind, which is concerning to me.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,296
Location
Canada
I'm not so sure about that. Our current midfield is a trainwreck. Maybe it improves when we get our injured players back, but that is mostly hopeful thinking. We haven't seen Amrabat play for us. This is a player that didn't seem to be attracting attention from other elite clubs. I will wait and see, though. Mount is being asked to play a position he never did for Chelsea. Mainoo is a kid. I have major concerns that Casemiro is finished. People are hoping that he'll be fine with a more energetic midfielder next to him. I think that is more copium than closer to what will actually happen. Eriksen is making things worse, but Casemiro is making horrible decisions on his own. I think the main issue with the team is the midfield. They can barely keep the ball and don't track any runners. It's killing us. It makes it worse, because ETH has signed multiple midfielders and it's still a massive problem area.

We have one winger currently fighting off domestic violence accusations and another that thinks he's bigger than the manager and can't be arsed to even try. Two of our most expensive signings. The backups are all kids. If we get anything good out of them, it's a major bonus. We also have a tonne of problems in the final third of the pitch. We're extremely reliant on Rashford beating multiple players and making something happen. We don't really play like a team. Hopefully Rashford and Hojlund can start working well together, though. It's still early days.

Varane and AWB had very impressive starts to the season and are now injured. Varane being massively injury prone since arriving is a huge problem for us. His backups are absolutely awful. Shaw also picks up multiple injuries a season and is out for a while. Hopefully Reguilon continues to play well in his absence, but we have no cover at fullback now. Dalot and Reguilon have to stay fit.

We have to get some results over the next couple months. The only bad fixture we have is City at home. That is up until the end of November. If we fail to do so, ETH won't last the season. I do think we have had some bad luck. VAR hasn't gone our way and we've had a lot of injuries. We've started well in the last couple games and let in a stupid goal to ruin the work. The team is still lacking fight when we go behind, which is concerning to me.
You can't say it's wishful thinking that our returning players will improve our midfield. Of course it will. It's 3 younger, fitter, more energetic players who suit the modern game more than Eriksen does in terms of playing in deeper areas. Not only that, but a problem these past 3 games has been just not being able to sub anyone out. Injured players returning literally addresses that. Even if you assume they will be shit (they won't be), it is a big plus just having availability. Ten Hag has signed multiple players in this position yes. It is still a problem because these "multiple players signed" haven't played. No wonder it is "still" a problem? What do you expect it to be solved by having the new signings injured?
 

CloneMC16

Full Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Messages
4,630
You can't say it's wishful thinking that our returning players will improve our midfield. Of course it will. It's 3 younger, fitter, more energetic players who suit the modern game more than Eriksen does in terms of playing in deeper areas. Not only that, but a problem these past 3 games has been just not being able to sub anyone out. Injured players returning literally addresses that. Even if you assume they will be shit (they won't be), it is a big plus just having availability. Ten Hag has signed multiple players in this position yes. It is still a problem because these "multiple players signed" haven't played. No wonder it is "still" a problem? What do you expect it to be solved by having the new signings injured?
I think it's still a problem, because I'm not sure the players we have brought in are the correct players. I don't understand Mount at all. We've signed a #10 to play #8. Similar to what we have done with Eriksen. Amrabat is the one I'm looking at and thinking (hoping) he will be the solution. That is mostly based on his impressive stats, but I ask why did it seem like no other club wanted him? I have hope for Mainoo, but he's only 18.
 

bosnian_red

Worst scout to ever exist
Joined
Aug 13, 2011
Messages
58,296
Location
Canada
I think it's still a problem, because I'm not sure the players we have brought in are the correct players. I don't understand Mount at all. We've signed a #10 to play #8. Similar to what we have done with Eriksen. Amrabat is the one I'm looking at and thinking (hoping) he will be the solution. That is mostly based on his impressive stats, but I ask why did it seem like no other club wanted him? I have hope for Mainoo, but he's only 18.
He only wanted to come to United apparently and turned down others. Maybe the agents told them right off the bat he wasn't interested. Not everyone needs a player like him, we shouldn't say that is a reason for not going for a player.

With Mount, he's a good age and has a lot of good characteristics, but yeah not a clear role for him. I'd love to see him on the right tbh. I want to see this tried out in the next few games:

Hojlund
Rashford Bruno Mount
Amrabat Casemiro
Reguilon Martinez Lindelof Dalot
Onana​

Lots of creativity in the team, has pace with Rashford and Hojlund, tons of work rate and energy throughout, Reguillon overlapping to provide tons of width on the left, Dalot providing width on the right, Mount got player of the season in a not too dissimilar role for Chelsea in those half spaces, quality pressing from everyone apart from Rashford (one player can be carried from this perspective, it's when it's more than 1 where it is a problem), Amrabat easing the burden off Casemiro... Eriksen can come in to rotate in easier games or as a sub, same with Mainoo. Garnacho can be an impact sub or just start some games from the left with Rashford right and drop one of the 4 mids/adjust who plays where.
 

Lost bear

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 10, 2019
Messages
1,310
These things take time. You can see we start every game well. We've had a lot of terrible luck with injuries, disallowed goals and unprecedented off the field turmoil. I think we'll come good eventually.
I agree with you and OP. The ranting of dismal possibilities as if the ranter is possessed of second sight is becoming really tiresome. I suppose it’s understandable to a point given the post- SAF debacle, but it is so unproductive and contributes only to the tides of misery swirling around the club. I just hope the players never go near the match day thread, as it will destroy any shred of confidence they have left. I too think we’ll be ok.
 

redshaw

Full Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2015
Messages
9,799
We seem to be slowly limbering up.

There's a lot to come once we get settled.
 

RedRonaldo

Wishes to be oppressed.
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Messages
18,996
I don’t think we are that bad. We almost beat Arsenal and Bayern if luck is on our side.
 

wolvored

Full Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2016
Messages
10,002
You could almost write a script of how events will transpire in the timeline of every United manager.

I swear every single time it follows the same pattern, including the threads that are made on here.

After a promising first season we're now into the inevitable shit second season. We're at the stage where fans are dividing and taking sides for or against the manager. In 2-3 months it'll be a ~90% majority in the against camp. A couple months later he'll be sacked

Reckon Carrick will come in as caretaker this time and end up getting the full time gig to become our Ole 2.0
Sooner have McKenna