Fulham 1:2 Manchester United

Should’ve had two more goals and a penalty. Bruno hits the post and goes in, and one of the Cavani Headers finds its mark. The foul on Fred in the first few minutes was definitely a penalty.

I like that this team performs under adversity. Was I nervous at the end? Yes. But we showed a lot of character.

RedDevil@84 said:

Huh what? What were the club authorities doing? Thought such stuff are planned well in advance.

Click to expand...

There’s a Pandemic mate.

I often disagree with many here on the MoM but today is just astonishing. To me, scoring the winning goal doesn't make you man of the match! Pogba's strike was magnificent but he should have been bossing a midfield of hardly-heard-of Fulham players and he didn't. Not even close. He was good and his attitude has improved massively but maybe some people need to watch United from above or through a tactics-style camera: Cavani was everywhere, making runs, closing down their midfielders and scored an equaliser by being in a position that none of our other forward would have been in. It was about the only thing I've ever agreed with tosspot Jenas on... but ho hum!

Bruno wasn't brilliant either and that's why I think we didn't score more but we did look more steely at the back. Bailly was a bit lucky at times but Rio tore into the two CBs, blaming them for the Fulham goal; I rather thing AWB's positioning was more the problem (not for the first time). Didn't think too much of DDG's effort to stop it although it was a good strike. I think Lindelof might have read the danger had he been playing (I now lots here don't rate him).

Meanwhile, up front Martial was even more ineffectual than usual (not easy) and Greenwood looks to have lost his love and desire of the game. If all those who were below par fin form again, Cavani will score more goals for us.

Clearly, we did enough to win and they didn't trouble DDG much, despite BT's attempts to tell us Fulham were close to scoring an equaliser more than once. Just a shame we didn't put them away earlier.

We were decent at times and deserved the win. In the second half I think we should have brought on a Mata and/or Van der Beek for Martial/Greenwood.

3 points and another unbeaten away match is of course fantastic but that we are struggling so much against Fulham (Yes i know they have had good results in the last weeks against other top sides) is just not good enough........i mean i don't expect amazing performances from us whether it is against Liverpool or Fulham but that we can not even get a calm performance against clubs like Fulham is a serious problem.

feck yeah, haven't been able to watch any of the games lately. I think I might see if this little good luck charm can go further!

Not a great performance but a good win. Beautiful goal from Pogba and all the players worked their nuts off which is all you can ask for.

Ole really has the players giving their all which makes a nice change after the last 7 years.

just would have liked to have seen more control in those last 10 mins

We were fortunate last night that Bailly deflection trickled wide.... a more quality team probably would have scored given how we regressed in terms of composure/positioning.

Mentality is something we need to work on. The way we finished the game last night... the first 30 mins at Anfield.... we could really do with improving upon this if we are to challenge

Real Name said:

It's nice to see we're braking positive records now.

Click to expand...

I’d be surprised if we didn’t already have that record, probably just extending it.

Inigo Montoya said:

On the right? He’s not a winger. His best position is in the type of pocket that Bruno plays

Click to expand...

You bring him inside and Pogba goes to the right.

12OunceEpilogue said:

I like Ole's post-match comments of late; he's happy to identify aspects he isn't happy with rather than getting carried away with the good results.

Click to expand...

I liked he mentioned the Hollywood balls and was obviously not happy with them doing it as it was giving possession away unnecessarily. He also brought up about us being half asleep at the start.

Alek M said:

Pogba worked his tail off today. Motm, even without the goal.

Bruno needs a rest

Shaw was useless. Not a single quality delivery. He is not as good as he thinks he is. Decent performance against Liverpool and he thinks he is Cafu now. Dude keep it simple and make one assist. Just one.

Fred helped a lot in midfield with his energy.

Cavaniiii is what we need. Martial is not.

I wish Ole played Greenwood instead. Oh wait.

De Gea should have saved that.

We had a chance to score 3rd from Cavaniiii. Unlucky. Small pitch tight spaces but we still found two goals.

When are we gonna score from a corner.

Click to expand...

What?! His crosses is what lead to Martial and Maguire having free headers, among others. He was very good.

Robbie Boy said:

Anyone who thought this was going to be a stroll was kidding themselves. These are the tough games where grinding out results is so important. The wins against these and Burnley were huge and in another season we come out with 2 points and not 6. We have a fighting spirit and a winning mentality about us now and it's great to see.

The last 15 were far too nervy, though. We easily could have conceded and it had shades of Southampton last season about it. We need to be stronger when seeing out games or it'll come back to bite us.

Click to expand...

That always surprises me, just because a team is down the wrong end of table doesn't mean they will be a pushover. A lot of them are only losing games by the odd goal. The only team I would seriously fancy my chances against at the moment are Newcastle.

MrBest said:

First and foremost, great 3 points, that is all that matters.

I do think Ole is riding his luck at the moment. We cannot seem to kill a game, really late subs, he keeps his favourites on the pitch and some of the players forms are a real worry.

This game was well suited to Donny, small pitch, tight spaces, he has the ability to carve open with a smart pass. I really cannot wait until he gets a fair run in this team.

Considering all of the above, it is amazing that we can now pointlessly complain after a game, despite winning. What a difference 3 months has made.

Click to expand...

That is the only big gripe I have with Ole, he has to be more decisive with his subs.

Not quite sure what people were expecting last night. Fulham haven't been blown away by anyone since September, and have recently had really good performances against Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. It was always going to be a tough game, we got the job done.

It was also the first time under Parker they have taken the lead in the game and not taken 3 points.

Fred should have got a penalty. He was tackled in the penalty box. Not sure why VAR didn't ask the referee to review his decision.

Yakuza_devils said:

Fred should have got a penalty. He was tackled in the penalty box. Not sure why VAR didn't ask the referee to review his decision.

Click to expand...

Just watched a replay, not sure it was a clear cut penalty.

One of those ones had the ball been on the other foot and a penalty been awarded against us we probably would have been blowing up.

Ole needs to start making changes sooner, we need to bring on fresh legs whilst we are ahead and in control of the game to avoid total exhaustion and panic in the last few minutes of games and then make subs with 85+ minutes on the clock to try and solidify the result

Great win and a big 3 points nevertheless, rest a few this weekend in the cup and pick up again next week against Sheffield.
Onwards and upwards!

Pure Ole era: 3 points but not a good performance; if (when) the luck runs out, we will drop 7 points out of the next 12.

Still at the top, but fecking City is back to 2017-19 form.

Waiting until the 84th(?) minute to make a change was borderline kamikaze. Fred was getting overrun in midfield by himself for a solid 10 minutes before the change was made. We won, got the 3 points so are obviously able to look back and laugh now, but I'd love to know the rationale behind leaving it quite so late to make a change. Great win in the end!

mitchmouse said:

I often disagree with many here on the MoM but today is just astonishing. To me, scoring the winning goal doesn't make you man of the match! Pogba's strike was magnificent but he should have been bossing a midfield of hardly-heard-of Fulham players and he didn't. Not even close. He was good and his attitude has improved massively but maybe some people need to watch United from above or through a tactics-style camera: Cavani was everywhere, making runs, closing down their midfielders and scored an equaliser by being in a position that none of our other forward would have been in.

Click to expand...

Agree with this. I went with Cavani too. If he wasn't on the pitch I don't think we win that match. I've been massively impressed by his hunger. He has nothing to prove but its clear that he still wants this badly.

Fulham are getting it together a bit now, so last nights game was never going to be the pushover some thought, especially when Leicester and City both leap-frogged us in the league.

We 'ground out' a win, being unbelievably sloppy again in the early stages, but again recovered ourselves; isn't it a delight to see a CF like Cavani who is always ready to gamble in the box and puts in quite a shift outside it as well?
AWB is worrying me a bit, excellent tackler, but some of his positional play, awareness etc. is becoming woeful. Going forward he is improving, but is still a bit wooden/staid in his approach play.

Shaw's improvements continue.

For me Pogba wasn't always at his best (goal strike excepted) but he seems to be always at it' now, instead of going off sulking somewhere when his dragged backs and half turns don't work, could he be developing a whole match work ethic?

A few little glimpses of Bruno's exceptional skills, but he still looks a bit-leggy and his passing accuracy is suffering.

Fred as tenacious as ever; but always looks like a free kick/a card away when he mistimes his tackles, especially chasing back. He can do 'straight on' tackles not so bad, but heart in my mouth when he starts chasing opponents, he just doesn't look right and almost inevitably
tackles with the wrong foot.

Anthony Martial... dear me he is having a torrid time, we know he can be breath-taking and incisive, but at the moment he should be starting from the bench.

Apart from first fifteen mins and last five minutes our defence looked to be in charge and one of these days Harry Maguires going to get one of his headers from corners right 'on the money', hope its Sunday.

Still 'top of the Hill'

Yakuza_devils said:

Fred should have got a penalty. He was tackled in the penalty box. Not sure why VAR didn't ask the referee to review his decision.

Click to expand...

Klopp, that's why.

Yakuza_devils said:

Fred should have got a penalty. He was tackled in the penalty box. Not sure why VAR didn't ask the referee to review his decision.

Click to expand...

Because var was kevin friend

Bwuk said:

Very stressful to say the least.

How on earth are Fulham so low down the table!

Click to expand...

They can't score.

Never quite sure what the Fred issues are? Yes I seen him trying to hit the forwards and the balls not coming off. What do want, him playing sideways? Also seen him set up chances for both Martial and Rashford in the last games. Pogs and Bruno played well but they were extremely wasteful. Also could have had two assists for Bruno yet still contributed to both goals.
I think if we bought him based on these performances, people would stop using the previous as their point of reference. Pogs was MOTM but couldn't have been without Fred doing a lot of his duty work.....

Tom Cato said:

I hate that we don't give DvB minutes.

Click to expand...

If the price of DvB getting splinters from the bench is us being in the title fight I’m all for buying DvB more bandages.

I’m not really worried about catering to VDB’s hurt feelings. He’ll eventually get his chances but it’s clear that as of now, Bruno and Pogba occupy his place in the starting 11.

Giggsy13 said:

I’m not really worried about catering to VDB’s hurt feelings. He’ll eventually get his chances but it’s clear that as of now, Bruno and Pogba occupy his place in the starting 11.

Click to expand...

Absolutely. In my opinion, giving game time to Diallo is more important than to VDB

The amount of times we've came from behind to win games shows incredible character. We definitely need to sort the defence out, though.

Fred is like a terrier on the field - remember towards the end of the game when he doggedly fought for the ball on the left and eventually forced a foul out of Tete (I think). I don’t mind him giving the ball away in forward minded passes - it’s an area where we need either of him and Mctominay to improve on.

Decent performance and good result against a good team who generally don’t lose these days. They’d be on 6 draws in a row had they not gone down to 10 against Chelsea remember, including points against Pool and Spurs, and a remarkable win away at Leicester prior to that. They are a good side who’d be mid-table if they had a better striker than Cavaleiro.

So yeah, good win, and always good to grind it out. Rest players in the cup now. Need to beat Sheff Utd at home.

OhGee said:

Fred is like a terrier on the field - remember towards the end of the game when he doggedly fought for the ball on the left and eventually forced a foul out of Tete (I think). I don’t mind him giving the ball away in forward minded passes - it’s an area where we need either of him and Mctominay to improve on.

Click to expand...

Actually that’s the one thing that being centre mid player really does need to improve on
They a high passing % to make up for the creative players having low % otherwise we’d never sustain pressure

Riz said:

I’d be surprised if we didn’t already have that record, probably just extending it.

Click to expand...

Unbeaten in 17 games away can't be a league record? Arsenal went a whole season without losing, which means a minimum of 19.

UnrelatedPsuedo said:

There’s a Pandemic mate.

Click to expand...

Which is why the club needs to be ready with things earlier. Unless there were sudden restrictions that were imposed or something.

RedDevil@84 said:

Which is why the club needs to be ready with things earlier. Unless there were sudden restrictions that were imposed or something.

Click to expand...

There’s a restriction in a lot of things. The club has shown its hand in investing in young talent but it’s all a bit slower at present.

RedDevil@84 said:

Which is why the club needs to be ready with things earlier. Unless there were sudden restrictions that were imposed or something.

Click to expand...

Let’s not pretend that we know the intricate details of the preparations that the club undertakes and what can be improved upon.

Massive win!

As always, we tend to make it much more difficult than it needs to be.

We were sloppy in midfield, possession just gifted away on times. Out of position defensively (AWB i'm looking at you) and didnt create enough.

But to battle back and grind out a win is massive, it's a real plus of this team at the moment. We're nowhere near at our best or fluid enough in attack and we keep grinding out draws and wins. The biggest difference in us now to a year ago - is player workrate. We're not perfect and I think individually there are a few who need to work harder, but collectively the team spirit and desire to win is there. Whats frustrating for me is, we seem to always start sloppy and claw it back.

Positives:
Maguire was good
Cavani was good
Gametime for Greenwood
Bailly getting better with every game
Fred immense with his workrate.

Negatives:
AWB - atrocious. Constantly out of position and putting us in trouble.
Martial - So lazy and casual on and off the ball. Really poor again
Pogba - top class finish but pretty dire bar that. Outworked and outplayed all game. Sloppy performance, the goal masks it a little. But credit for a sweet strike.
Bruno - Utterly dreadful use of the ball
Ole - could have made subs a lot earlier, and the one's he did we're poor. Do

Great battling spirit to get the win and we march on to the next game.

In a way last night was probably my favourite game of the season so far. A win was so important after the City and Leicester results, then to go a goal down and drag it back was great to watch.

Some brilliant performances on the pitch and everyone battling to get the 3 points to take us back to the top!

RedDevil@84 said:

Which is why the club needs to be ready with things earlier. Unless there were sudden restrictions that were imposed or something.

Click to expand...

Other clubs have had full blown Covid outbreaks and you’re complaining about us not having access to training facilities.

It sounds like we handled it well. We won the match. It’s honestly not worth trying to bash the club.

Just support the team. It’s actually far easier than inventing reasons not to.