How can that happen?

Silverman · Jan 28, 2021

- We were playing the team at the bottom of the table with a measly 5pts to their name.
- We were at home.
- They have only scored 2 goals one other time this season. (Also against us)
- Prior to this game, they had two goalscorers in the league. (Now they have four)
- Their goalkeeper didn't have to make one good save.
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

I have no problem losing a game of football. It happens. However, the manner of the defeat was disgraceful imo.

We were all on a high the last number of weeks and it looks like we've been brought down to reality.

Nickosaur · Jan 28, 2021

It's the beauty of the Premier League.

Cee90 · Jan 28, 2021

Football isn’t always logical I guess.

I am still shocked at how poor we were last night, disgraceful performance all round.

bsCallout · Jan 28, 2021

Stop it. It hurts.

Needham · Jan 28, 2021

Muscle memory. There was a time not so long ago when he we had performances like that kept in reserve in our back pockets. All those playing last night have been culpable and will be again.

Flanders Devil · Jan 28, 2021

It shouldn’t happen, but it can. That’s the EPL, and the fine margins of professional sport. Nothing is ever a given. And actually I don’t think the players seemed visibly complacent, even if some of the supporters were.

They were just more up for it, and as you said deserved their win.

Anyway I think it’s not all doom and gloom ... it’s easy to over react to a loss like this. But I think it will be more about how we react and respond to a set back like this. I really think there will be many twists and turns still to come this season for all of the teams in contention. It will come down to who can go on the longest winning runs and keep their loosing spells short, and possibly more than any season keep their best players fit and healthy.

onetwo3oclock4oclockrock · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

No, I don't think so. 16-5 in shots, 7-2 in corners, 76-24 in possession. And their 1st goal should have been disallowed.
Very poor game from us, but we were the better team.

Zlatattack · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
- We were playing the team at the bottom of the table with a measly 5pts to their name.
- We were at home.
- They have only scored 2 goals one other time this season. (Also against us)
- Prior to this game, they had two goalscorers in the league. (Now they have four)
- Their goalkeeper didn't have to make one good save.
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

I have no problem losing a game of football. It happens. However, the manner of the defeat was disgraceful imo.

We were all on a high the last number of weeks and it looks like we've been brought down to reality.

Complacency.

romufc · Jan 28, 2021

As fans, if you can ask such a question, it says it all. It filters down to the players, bottom line is we were unprofessional last night and deserved what we got.

The players need to look at themselves in the mirror if they want to win trophies.

Crashoutcassius · Jan 28, 2021

Villa out 7 past Liverpool. It is a wierd season

Damien · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
- We were playing the team at the bottom of the table with a measly 5pts to their name.
- We were at home.
- They have only scored 2 goals one other time this season. (Also against us)
- Prior to this game, they had two goalscorers in the league. (Now they have four)
- Their goalkeeper didn't have to make one good save.
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

I have no problem losing a game of football. It happens. However, the manner of the defeat was disgraceful imo.

We were all on a high the last number of weeks and it looks like we've been brought down to reality.

Our home record has been shocking this season.

It happens. Villa put 7 past Liverpool, Burnley beat Liverpool at home (when their record had been unbeaten for years). On Tuesday all the home teams lost. Weird season.

Utd heap · Jan 28, 2021

Reminded me of the annual Burnley at home performance.

With a few hints of Man Utd 2-3 Blackburn under Fergie.

Chabon · Jan 28, 2021

Anyone else remember when we won nine games in a row and then drew 0-0 with (then) worst team in league history Sunderland? Amusingly the draw relegated them.

Grande · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
- We were playing the team at the bottom of the table with a measly 5pts to their name.
- We were at home.
- They have only scored 2 goals one other time this season. (Also against us)
- Prior to this game, they had two goalscorers in the league. (Now they have four)
- Their goalkeeper didn't have to make one good save.
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

I have no problem losing a game of football. It happens. However, the manner of the defeat was disgraceful imo.

We were all on a high the last number of weeks and it looks like we've been brought down to reality.

The definition of knee jerk:

10w 3d 0l = on a high
1 l = reality

The definition of twisting the truth:

Rightful goals United 2-1 or 1-1
Not particularily lucky goals United 1-0
Expected goals United 0.99 - 0.69
Shots United 16-5
Shots on goal United 4-3
Decent chances United 5-2
Possession United 76% - 24%
Passes close to opponents goal United 11-3
Corner kicks United 7-2
Expected points: United 1.57 - 1.03

I’d say it takes a particularily blind Blades-supporter or negativistic Man Utd-supporter to conclude that Sheffield United deserved the win more.

Hugh Jass · Jan 28, 2021

Horrible really. It was not like we had twenty shots on goal and SU got lucky. We were abysmal.

Bulldog United · Jan 28, 2021

Suffering a shock defeat can happen to anyone, but losing the way we lost last night was absolutely unacceptable.

groovyalbert · Jan 28, 2021

As horrible a performance as it was, I'm amazed by the lack of inquest into the 2 decisions regarding their first goal and our disallowed one.

Happy for them both to be given as a foul, or allowed to stand. I cannot work out how one can be given and the other not.

Had that decision been the other way round (us benefitting), then it would have been all over the place. But it's a result everyone bar Utd fans wanted, so it's allowed to slide.

Annihilate Now! · Jan 28, 2021

groovyalbert said:
As horrible a performance as it was, I'm amazed by the lack of inquest into the 2 decisions regarding their first goal and our disallowed one.

Happy for them both to be given as a foul, or allowed to stand. I cannot work out how one can be given and the other not.

Had that decision been the other way round (us benefitting), then it would have been all over the place. But it's a result everyone bar Utd fans wanted, so it's allowed to slide.

You could ague its because we shouldn't need a decision like that to go for us to win the game, but they need to have that sort of luck to beat us. Not that that's an excuse, but yeah.

red woppit · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
- We were playing the team at the bottom of the table with a measly 5pts to their name.
- We were at home.
- They have only scored 2 goals one other time this season. (Also against us)
- Prior to this game, they had two goalscorers in the league. (Now they have four)
- Their goalkeeper didn't have to make one good save.
- Worst part is Sheff Utd deserved to win.

I have no problem losing a game of football. It happens. However, the manner of the defeat was disgraceful imo.

We were all on a high the last number of weeks and it looks like we've been brought down to reality.

I don't agree that Sheffield United 'deserved to win', that is something that it impossible to quantify. We had all the positive stats, apart from one, which is the one that counts.
There is nothing disgraceful about losing, even to a team who are bottom, they set out their stall, to defend deep, and it worked. Our forward players are not really pulling up trees at the moment, and we were unable to create many openings, and gifted them two goals, that happens in football. No team has a divine right to win, and even when we were dominating the league in the 1990's and 2000's, we had games where it just didn't gel, or flow. That is football.

Silverman · Jan 28, 2021

Grande said:
The definition of knee jerk:

10w 3d 0l = on a high
1 l = reality

The definition of twisting the truth:

Rightful goals United 2-1 or 1-1
Not particularily lucky goals United 1-0
Expected goals United 0.99 - 0.69
Shots United 16-5
Shots on goal United 4-3
Decent chances United 5-2
Possession United 76% - 24%
Passes close to opponents goal United 11-3
Corner kicks United 7-2
Expected points: United 1.57 - 1.03

I’d say it takes a particularily blind Blades-supporter or negativistic Man Utd-supporter to conclude that Sheffield United deserved the win more.

Those stats mean feck all imo. I would agree if Ramsdale had to actually do something but he literally didn't. I can remember a Greenwood shot and Fernandes free kick that were both straight at him. Otherwise we were hopeless attacking.
Possession and corners mean feck all.

I say Sheffield United deserved to win because they worked hard where we just took it for granted. Plain and simple.

Joseunited · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
Those stats mean feck all imo. I would agree if Ramsdale had to actually do something but he literally didn't. I can remember a Greenwood shot and Fernandes free kick that were both straight at him. Otherwise we were hopeless attacking.
Possession and corners mean feck all.

I say Sheffield United deserved to win because they worked hard where we just took it for granted. Plain and simple.

They worked really hard for the second goal.

2 man midfield · Jan 28, 2021

We didn't look arsed all night. Bruno was trying but it wasn't happening for him. The difference was he was putting in the effort and tracking back, even if his forward passes weren't coming off. You have to do the basics right as a minimum requirement. Even if your talent is having an off day, you can control how hard you work and not be outfought. What was it Ole said the other day? "99% effort is 100% failure"? Well I wish he'd tell the lads that because there were times last night I genuinely wondered if they knew we were losing.

It can't be tiredness, it has to be complacency. Some of our players were walking through the game at times. Martial gave the ball away and walked back towards our goal - not just once either, again and again. I was fuming watching that, so imagine what Ole said to him after the game. I wouldn't be surprised if he's dropped for a few weeks as punishment. You can't do that at this level.

Silverman · Jan 28, 2021

Joseunited said:
They worked really hard for the second goal.

I would say they did. They were defending for their lives all game but managed to make it up the pitch to get into that position.
Not always easy when you're playing a 5-4-1 defensive formation.

Silverman · Jan 28, 2021

2 man midfield said:
We didn't look arsed all night. Bruno was trying but it wasn't happening for him. The difference was he was putting in the effort and tracking back, even if his forward passes weren't coming off. You have to do the basics right as a minimum requirement. Even if your talent is having an off day, you can control how hard you work and not be outfought. What was it Ole said the other day? "99% effort is 100% failure"? Well I wish he'd tell the lads that because there were times last night I genuinely wondered if they knew we were losing.

It can't be tiredness, it has to be complacency. Some of our players were walking through the game at times. Martial gave the ball away and walked back towards our goal - not just once either, again and again. I was fuming watching that, so imagine what Ole said to him after the game. I wouldn't be surprised if he's dropped for a few weeks as punishment. You can't do that at this level.

Nail on the head. Its the lack of effort work rate that is our biggest problem atm imo.

Shane88 · Jan 28, 2021

They were also missing 9 players, let's not forget.

So it was Sheffield United reserves we lost to.

red4ever 79 · Jan 28, 2021

Over confidence, lack of application, failure to start the game well.

Spaghetti · Jan 28, 2021

Can’t win every game. With 2 games a week for the past few months there will be the odd blip.

Have you ever had an accumulator bet just picking the favourite teams the win? Does it ever win? (The answer is no).

Going so long without a league defeat is more surprising than the defeat itself.

It hurts a bit that it was against bottom of the league, but hopefully we can recover.

OleBoiii · Jan 28, 2021

They definitely did not deserve to win.

Like someone else wrote: it's the beauty of the PL. Upsets happen fairly regularly. Hardly a week goes by without a top team dropping points to a significantly weaker team.

Rood · Jan 28, 2021

Although form and stats suggests this was an easy win for us, the reality is that this kind of things happens all the time for various reasons:

- big win 'hangover'
- complacency
- game raising relegation fodder
- rotated defence

Also 2 big ref decisions went against us plus the xG still suggests we should have won or at least drawn so I don't agree that they deserved to win

czemuch · Jan 28, 2021

Playing Matić - Pogba behind Bruno is always asking for trouble - sometimes u will get away with this, sometimes not, both are slow so team always will struggle to recover the ball, and Bruno is very bad in positional attacks, he often makes risky and bad passes and he losses possesion very often, so even in theory such midfield simply can't work.
ATM Luke shaw also is a player who gives us like 50% of the attack power/positional play, so we might struggle every time he is off.

Grande · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
Those stats mean feck all imo. I would agree if Ramsdale had to actually do something but he literally didn't. I can remember a Greenwood shot and Fernandes free kick that were both straight at him. Otherwise we were hopeless attacking.
Possession and corners mean feck all.

I say Sheffield United deserved to win because they worked hard where we just took it for granted. Plain and simple.

You probably have another definition of ‘deserve to win’ than me. I adhere to the traditional variet y of the team who plays best, creates the most chances, would have won if not for luck/accidents or scored the most legitimate goals desrves to win.

There’s something to be said for your definition that the team who shows the most effort deserves to win, not least that it may enable my own team of eager and untalented tenth level players to finally reach a CL final on merit of effort, even if we scored fifty goals less than Barca in the semis as ‘goals’ would mean feck all compared to effort. Unfortunqtely, I don’t think many would agree.

BenitoSTARR · Jan 28, 2021

DatIrishFella · Jan 28, 2021

Upsets and crazy results are going to happen for sure, but everyone on the pitch was a disgrace.

We need an actual captain in the team. Maguire doesnt strike me as captain material. His head drops when shit hits the fan just like the rest of the team.

Silverman · Jan 28, 2021

Grande said:
You probably have another definition of ‘deserve to win’ than me. I adhere to the traditional variet y of the team who plays best, creates the most chances, would have won if not for luck/accidents or scored the most legitimate goals desrves to win.

There’s something to be said for your definition that the team who shows the most effort deserves to win, not least that it may enable my own team of eager and untalented tenth level players to finally reach a CL final on merit of effort, even if we scored fifty goals less than Barca in the semis as ‘goals’ would mean feck all compared to effort. Unfortunqtely, I don’t think many would agree.

I'm talking about two premier league teams with one working their socks off and getting the win while the other carries a number of passengers.
I don't know what you're on about.

Cheimoon · Jan 28, 2021

Nickosaur said:
It's the beauty of the Premier League.

Flanders Devil said:
It shouldn’t happen, but it can. That’s the EPL, and the fine margins of professional sport. Nothing is ever a given. And actually I don’t think the players seemed visibly complacent, even if some of the supporters were.

They were just more up for it, and as you said deserved their win.

Anyway I think it’s not all doom and gloom ... it’s easy to over react to a loss like this. But I think it will be more about how we react and respond to a set back like this. I really think there will be many twists and turns still to come this season for all of the teams in contention. It will come down to who can go on the longest winning runs and keep their loosing spells short, and possibly more than any season keep their best players fit and healthy.

As an aside, and maybe @Nickosaur was being sarcastic, but I'm curious how yesterday's result would be typical of the EPL? I didn't see the match, but from what I've read, United were apathetic and Sheffield worked hard, and hence Sheffield managed a win. As far as I can tell, that happens the same way in all other leagues if a top team that's not superhuman has a day off. (With 'not superhuman', I mean that they're not running away with the league. Top teams that are running away with it tend to still win on their off-days.)

Ronaldo's ego · Jan 28, 2021

In sport anything can happen on a given day. The disappointing part is Sheffield Utd didn’t pull off some miracle performance, more that we were absolutely disgraceful.

croadyman · Jan 28, 2021

DatIrishFella said:
Upsets and crazy results are going to happen for sure, but everyone on the pitch was a disgrace.

We need an actual captain in the team. Maguire doesnt strike me as captain material. His head drops when shit hits the fan just like the rest of the team.

Yeah guy has absolutely zero leadership whatsoever

GledTheRed · Jan 28, 2021

Arrogance on our part in thinking it was a formality beating SU reserves.

Bestofthebest · Jan 28, 2021

Too many players at the club think they have no real competition for places ( and they are right ) Therefore you can expect more of the same in the next few months. The likes of Martial, Lindelof, Maguire and a few others are just going through the motions at present. The forwards especially are in easy street with only Cavani a threat and he cannot play every game. Poor squads rarely win anything!!!

Grande · Jan 28, 2021

Silverman said:
I'm talking about two premier league teams with one working their socks off and getting the win while the other carries a number of passengers.
I don't know what you're on about.

That’s becoming pretty clear.

How can that happen?

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