Chelsea 1:0 Manchester United

Ban · Mar 10, 2017

Orc said:
Christ, most of you are acting like you're Sunderland and we're Barcelona. This'll be a very close, hard fought match. My guess is very low scoring.

No blow out like some of you are predicting.

At last someone talking sense. What a depressing thread.

Cantona_Forever · Mar 10, 2017

Shane88 said:
Chelsea strike first...

Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date

Link to original article?

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
The midfield would be disastrous. Herrera and Pogba in a two against any of the big sides leaves us exposed and neither of the wide players offer any creativity. Unless we put 9 or 10 men behind the ball it'd fail spectacularly.

Their midfield is likely Kante and Matic, great defensively but nothing to really threaten us from an attacking standpoint. So where are Kante and Matic going to expose us?

CM · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
Their midfield is likely Kante and Matic, great defensively but nothing to really threaten us from an attacking standpoint. So where are Kante and Matic going to expose us?

Pedro and Hazard play more like inside forwards at times, if they come inside they'd have a field day.

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
Pedro and Hazard play more like inside forwards at times, if they come inside they'd have a field day.

So we'd play a compact back line and that's why you put 2 water carriers like Lingard and Young on the wings to track their WB's.

Giggs86 · Mar 10, 2017

Ban said:
What exactly is the difference between EL and UEFA cup except the group stage?
And as I said it's a way to get CL.

You had much stronger competition in the UEFA. Especially when only the league champions qualified to the CL and the 2nd-3rd-4th teams were playing in the UEFA cup.

Today you basically have mid-table teams or worse competing in the EL (with a few exceptions, say United and Roma).

Of course I'd be glad if we win in, it's just that I don't find any glory in that except as a step to a CL spot. On the other hand, while many have devalued the FA Cup, I still see it as a major trophy.

Zoo · Mar 10, 2017

Carrick must start.

CM · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
So we'd play a compact back line and that's why you put 2 water carriers like Lingard and Young on the wings to track their WB's.

It's an incredibly risky strategy. Everyone keeps complaining about the quality of the defence and that just places all the emphasis on defending. We have enough trouble scoring as it is so I really wouldn't fancy our chances in such a defensive setup.

Gerardo Islas · Mar 10, 2017

My lineup if we play with 3 CB's:

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
It's an incredibly risky strategy. Everyone keeps complaining about the quality of the defence and that just places all the emphasis on defending. We have enough trouble scoring as it is so I really wouldn't fancy our chances in such a defensive setup.

And yet it still leaves us with an extra body up the field to counter with, as opposed to leaving Rashford on his own.

CM · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
And yet it still leaves us with an extra body up the field to counter with, as opposed to leaving Rashford on his own.

No it doesn't.

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
No it doesn't.

My god, these are the most frustrating types of responses on message boards. Elementary. Why not just explain yourself?

The way I see it, Rashford and Mhki would be able to stay further up the field when we defend as we've played more defensive wingers. Please, just say what you mean instead of answering like an 8 year old.

CM · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
My god, these are the most frustrating types of responses on message boards. Elementary. Why not just explain yourself?

The way I see it, Rashford and Mhki would be able to stay further up the field when we defend as we've played more defensive wingers. Please, just say what you mean instead of answering like an 8 year old.

Because it simply doesn't make sense that we'd have an extra body to counter with if you're setting up with 9 men parked behind the ball. If Rashford's only support in attack is Mkhitaryan he would be far more isolated than if we just played our natural game and committed players on the counter attack.

I also whole-heartedly disagree with the idea of playing two 'water carriers' out wide to neutralise the supposed threat of their wing-backs. Obviously the system is working well for them but those players aren't nearly good enough to be showing them that much respect. We should be setting up with the intention of having our wingers cause their wing-backs problems and not vice-versa.

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
Because it simply doesn't make sense that we'd have an extra body to counter with if you're setting up with 9 men parked behind the ball. If Rashford's only support in attack is Mkhitaryan he would be far more isolated than if we just played our natural game and committed players on the counter attack.

I also whole-heartedly disagree with the idea of playing two 'water carriers' out wide to neutralise the supposed threat of their wing-backs. Obviously the system is working well for them but those players aren't nearly good enough to be showing them that much respect. We should be setting up with the intention of having our wingers cause their wing-backs problems and not vice-versa.

Mhki is the only player in our team that has shown any sort of inclination for countering, so leave him further up with Rashford instead of just isolating Rashford while Mata, Martial, etc. are pushed back by their WBs.

There is no "supposed" threat from their wing backs. It is a real, actual threat and they expose teams regularly by overloading those wide areas so you have to take that into account and if you don't they will embarrass you for being so stubborn.

Siorac · Mar 10, 2017

Orc said:
Christ, most of you are acting like you're Sunderland and we're Barcelona. This'll be a very close, hard fought match. My guess is very low scoring.

No blow out like some of you are predicting.

Can't you think of a reason why some of us think it's going to be a battering? Because there's a fairly obvious one.

CM · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
Mhki is the only player in our team that has shown any sort of inclination for countering, so leave him further up with Rashford instead of just isolating Rashford while Mata, Martial, etc. are pushed back by their WBs.

There is no "supposed" threat from their wing backs. It is a real, actual threat and they expose teams regularly by overloading those wide areas so you have to take that into account and if you don't they will embarrass you for being so stubborn.

Why not look to expose the flaws of their system instead of playing an uber defensive style designed to combat what they can throw at us though? If that fails and they score early, what is the plan b?

If we were always worried about stopping the opposition instead of actually playing ourselves we'd be much further down the table and probably wouldn't have got this far in the competition.

Orc · Mar 10, 2017

Siorac said:
Can't you think of a reason why some of us think it's going to be a battering? Because there's a fairly obvious one.

With what's at stake and with José Mourinho in charge for you I just can't imagine him allowing you to get battered. He's probably been desperate since our last meeting to avenge the result.

Think you guys have every chance to beat us in a knockout cup game.

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

CM10 said:
Why not look to expose the flaws of their system instead of playing an uber defensive style designed to combat what they can throw at us though? If that fails and they score early, what is the plan b?

If we were always worried about stopping the opposition instead of actually playing ourselves we'd be much further down the table and probably wouldn't have got this far in the competition.

The flaws in their system can be exposed in wide areas, hence having Lingard and Young stay wide, and then bringing Valencia or Shaw up the field which has to pull Hazard/Pedro at least a little further back. They aren't going to be beat through the middle, which is what our normal gameplan is - or any plan that involves Mata/Mhki/Martial in wide areas as they always want to come inside.

Paul the Wolf · Mar 10, 2017

I've no idea what the team selection will be, but I doubt we'll play with 3 at the back vs Chelsea

PlayerOne · Mar 10, 2017

Orc said:
With what's at stake and with José Mourinho in charge for you I just can't imagine him allowing you to get battered. He's probably been desperate since our last meeting to avenge the result.

Think you guys have every chance to beat us in a knockout cup game.

We definitely have a good chance, depending on which United side show up. We have been poor in most of the big games and you have the home advantage. Our record there is rubbish

Hugh Jass · Mar 10, 2017

Gerardo Islas said:
My lineup if we play with 3 CB's:

I would switch the positions of Rojo and Bailly, but i like that team.

[/QUOTE]

Sandikan · Mar 10, 2017

Paul the Wolf said:
I've no idea what the team selection will be, but I doubt we'll play with 3 at the back vs Chelsea

It's incredibly unlikely isn't it.
You don't switch to a formation you've used once all season, with key players rotated, in a game away at the league leaders!

Sandikan · Mar 10, 2017

Siorac said:
Can't you think of a reason why some of us think it's going to be a battering? Because there's a fairly obvious one.

What would that be? That we lost 4-0 to them about 6months ago, when they were in top form, and we weren't? Helped by a first minute goal that completely ruined our gameplan?

We haven't lost in the league since then, and have only lost by more than 1 goal twice all season.
And even In that other example, the Watford game, the ref allowed a foul before they scored one of their goals, and they then wrapped up a 2 goal margin while we were pushing for an equaliser.

We're not getting smashed on Monday. It won't be pretty, and we might be awful, but we won't get smashed

MadMike · Mar 10, 2017

Philadelphian said:
Valencia - Bailly - Rojo - Shaw
Lingard - Herrera - Pogba - Young
Mhki - Rashford

Young was the toughest decision because we desperately need to play wide players who can cross against their back line, but we don't actually have anyone capable of that on the left side, so I've gone for the best all around cover.

I'm not sure why people bash this?

Chelsea overload the wings with Alonso and Moses on top of Hazard and Pedro. But unless they play with fabregas they rarely carry any threat down the middle. Kante and Matic are not goal threats from open play.

4-4-2 would nullify their wing play and 2 fast strikers will find gaps in that Chelsea defence.

I'm with you @Philadelphian, agree with the analysis in your next post. The only question mark is how much has the team trained with 4-4-2. If they haven't then it's a bit risqué to try it. Finally I would put Mkhi on the right and Martial up front with Rashford.

Philadelphian · Mar 10, 2017

MadMike said:
I'm not sure why people bash this?

Chelsea overload the wings with Alonso and Moses on top of Hazard and Pedro. But unless they play with fabregas they rarely carry any threat down the middle. Kante and Matic are not goal threats from open play.

4-4-2 would nullify their wing play and 2 fast strikers will find gaps in that Chelsea defence.

I'm with you @Philadelphian, agree with the analysis in your next post. The only question mark is how much has the team trained with 4-4-2. If they haven't then it's a bit risqué to try it. Finally I would put Mkhi on the right and Martial up front with Rashford.

Fabregas in place of Matic would throw a wrench in it, but only in the sense of who/how Pogba and Herrera mark their middle 2. If Young was left footed I would like it even more but oh well. And I'd like to have Martial on too, so I can see Mhki on the right making Alonso play a lot more conservatively. I just think it would possibly limit Mhki's opportunities by too much being out there.

Rashford on the right and Mhki up with Martial would be interesting if Rashford would do that job. That's just wishful on my part because I don't know that Rashford would actually be up for that, but his speed would be enticing.

Gerald G · Mar 10, 2017

De Gea
Bailly--Smalling--Rojo
Valencia--Herrera--Pogba--Shaw
Mkhitaryan--Rashford--Martial

subs: Romero, Blind, Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, Lingard, Rooney

Give this a go but I think Mkhi will be rested and Lingard will start.

Lawman · Mar 10, 2017

Gerald G said:
De Gea
Bailly--Smalling--Rojo
Valencia--Herrera--Pogba--Shaw
Mkhitaryan--Rashford--Martial

subs: Romero, Blind, Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, Lingard, Rooney

Give this a go but I think Mkhi will be rested and Lingard will start.

Would be suicide to match their formation imo. Play to our strengths and give it a go!

TheMagicFoolBus · Mar 10, 2017

No offense, but I think if United go with an unfamiliar 3 at the back system it'll be a catastrophe. It's not an easy system to master and requires extensive time on the training pitch to learn where everyone should be, teams that have tried to match Chelsea with 3 at the back have generally done pretty poorly unless they've tried solely to nullify with no attacking intent whatsoever (i.e. West Brom). Everton got absolutely obliterated in what was the most one-sided match in the league this season (5-0, one off target shot for Everton) as they tried to go with 3 at the back.

I do think there is something to what has been proposed earlier in the thread by @Philadelphian-Chelsea's attacking patterns this season have mostly come from wide. Chelsea attack with five players and defend with five players typically, but the five who attack are the front 3 and the wing backs, which is very odd and creates difficult and unfamiliar overloads for opposing teams to deal with. Meanwhile, the centre is typically very secure since the side defends with the two central midfielders and the back 3. If the two potential wide men of United can diligently track the wing backs, then Chelsea could very well struggle. I do think though that United would be very vulnerable to Hazard dropping between the lines-there isn't really a player who could track him without disrupting the shape of the team significantly. I would say though that the 3-4-3 is largely designed to shut down counterattacks-Chelsea haven't given up a single counterattack goal since the change to 3-4-3, but at the same time no one has really played a 4-4-2 where they leave two dedicated attackers up the pitch together and that may allow for some opportunities.

The other concern for United would be if Conte persists with Fabregas-he's a wrinkle that changes the whole equation. Recently Chelsea have been attacking more aggressively with Fabregas through the middle as well as you'd expect, and he's looked fantastic, showing no signs of his typical late season dip in form. It may be yet another item to add to the list of Conte masterstrokes-saving Fabregas' legs for the run-in when teams tend to play more defensively as points are at a premium is brilliant.

Silverman · Mar 10, 2017

Highly doubt United will be playing with three at the back.

Grunge · Mar 10, 2017

Giggs86 said:
The idea of winning a trophy as a mean to qualify for another competition is something I find a bit small time. I'd much rather win the FA Cup than Europe's second tier competition. And I still believe we will qualify for the CL naturally by securing top four finish.

But that's exactly why they made the change and now include a much coveted CL spot for winning the damned thing! the goal was to promote the competition from a "small time" to something of real value, and it's done just that!
Just think how much more important the FA cup would be if the winner got a CL spot (and only the top 3 qualified otherwise) As it is the financial reward for each round of the FA cup has seriously negated it's historic value (unfortunately)

Sereques said:
There is nothing small time about qualifying for Champions league. We will be fools to go FA Cup and sacrifice Europa League. Get your shit together ffs.

Yeah, this

Philadelphian said:
Would be perfect time to test the formation even more. Sure, it'd be great to beat Chelsea at the bridge, but wouldn't be awful if our schedule opened up just a bit either. Also would be happy to see Jose tinkering with something he might need to consider next season in the league again.

I'm not so sure "perfect" would be my description. Playing a relatively new system against the best team in the league at the moment and risking another hammering is not the mood I want the players in for the next match against Rostov.

MullerUtd said:
Am I the only one who doesn't really care about this game? My mind is already looking forward the second leg against Rostov next week. The Europa League is all that matters to us now.

shield said:
Not concerned about the result. The match is not that important for us. We ended our FA cup drought last year so not winning it again is fine.

I'd like to think every game is important. Yes, some might be more so than others but the FA cup is worth winning every year you can.

shield said:
However, it is a match against a top side and we have been very poor against quality opposition through out the season. This match gives us an opportunity to judge how good we really are and I hope the players are up for it.

And exactly why Mourinho will take it seriously and field our best available 11 in an attempt to beat the odds, which are it must be said, stacked heavily against us for a change ... love being the under-dog.

Ban · Mar 10, 2017

Siorac said:
Can't you think of a reason why some of us think it's going to be a battering? Because there's a fairly obvious one.

It won't be a battering... Don't panic.

Bepi · Mar 10, 2017

Orc said:
With what's at stake and with José Mourinho in charge for you I just can't imagine him allowing you to get battered. He's probably been desperate since our last meeting to avenge the result.

Think you guys have every chance to beat us in a knockout cup game.

stop pretending it's a match, they would be really stupid to play hard with vital game vs rostov a few days later... surely you lose and it's a banana but you really need to slip on ice to lose

LuisNaniencia · Mar 10, 2017

Gerardo Islas said:
My lineup if we play with 3 CB's:

Valencia and pre injury Shaw are the perfect wing backs for this formation.

SuperiorXI · Mar 10, 2017

Bepi said:
stop pretending it's a match, they would be really stupid to play hard with vital game vs rostov a few days later... surely you lose and it's a banana but you really need to slip on ice to lose

I hope our players don't share the same weak mentality on display here.

paulscholes18 · Mar 10, 2017

DDG
Valencia Bailly Rojo Blind
Herrera Carrick Pogba
Mkhitaryan Rashford Martial

worldinmotion66 · Mar 10, 2017

minoo-utd · Mar 10, 2017

This game will show what exactly is our level, playing against the league leaders at their best on their ground after they have beaten us 4 0, it's not about the FA cup it's about who we are exactly under Mourinho, this is a big game if we beat them we gonna have a good run IMO.

redsunited · Mar 11, 2017

Start with 532. Carrick can recover ball and start the counter attack. Pace of wingback is essential. Mourinho wont play Shaw, Hence would prefer Young over Blind. Hopefully Rojo is playing in LCB and not LWB. If we are a goal behind then change to attacking formation 3412 by replacing Martial for Carrick.

Theonas · Mar 11, 2017

minoo-utd said:
This game will show what exactly is our level, playing against the league leaders at their best on their ground after they have beaten us 4 0, it's not about the FA cup it's about who we are exactly under Mourinho, this is a big game if we beat them we gonna have a good run IMO.

This is a very good point. I find myself flip flopping on my view on our current team and I really think one of the reasons is how we barely played anybody big since we lost to them earlier this season. We played Spurs and Liverpool at home and you couldn't really tell much from us on both occasions. This is as tough as it gets this year for us and it is vital to see just what our level is. Of course the winning or losing won't tell us that but the performance we put out there and our approach to the game will answer a couple of questions about this team.

Sereques · Mar 11, 2017

Giggs86 said:
Why sacrifice? I just say that I value the FA Cup more. No need to sacrifice anything, we should be aiming to win every game.
I just personally can't see the glory in the EL, considering the level of the opposition. Maybe I'll get some excitement if we get to the semis, pretty much like the Leauge Cup.

You are very strange, you don't see the glory in winning against so called "low level opposition" so we can pit ourselves against very high level opponents next season but you do rather we focus on the chance of beating Tottenham at Wembley?

FA Cup Quarter-final

Chelsea 1:0 Manchester United

Stamford Bridge

Closed

New Member

New Member

New Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

New Member

New Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Pretended to be a United fan for two years

New Member

Full Member

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid

Shave Dass

aka sex on the beach

aka sex on the beach

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Correctly predicted Portugal to win Euro 2016

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Sky Sports called my bluff

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

Man of the Match

Runners-up

Player Ratings

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Score Predictions

Detailed Results

Match Stats

Referee

Man Utd Lineup

Substitutes