In reality it's both. Squad has a lot of weaknesses. AWB offers nothing in attack, meaning our attacks are crap. Ronaldo is passed it. Midfield is mid table.
It's a direct result of having a sub tier manager that's also recruited poorly.
How do we balance this Man Utd-team?
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
It's a direct result of having a sub tier manager that's also recruited poorly.
Trequarista10
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Not really. He's a very good LB who had a great run of form the end of last season and into the Euros, which led to some hyperbolic and partly humorous Shawberto Carlos talk.Shaw is the most overrated player in Europe
He's in poor form at the moment but we defend with 6 players instead of 7/8/9 like most normal teams which makes it harder for all our defenders. The 2nd goal today is a perfect example. Shaw has to cover in field, okay gets in a muddle with Maguire, but then Trent is overlapping completely unmarked. It's ridiculous. Any sides with wing backs or attacking full backs get complete freedom to reach the by line unmarked. We ask our full backs to perform a super human job. When they can pull it off against all odds, they look incredible. But it's unsustainable, not even prime Maldini could consistently mark both the RW and RB out of the game on his own.
jamesjimmybyrondean
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Our defense has been so bad since last season and the only solution Ole came up with since that time is to start two average players that can run around at the double pivot
KingCavani
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Not really. He's a very good LB who had a great run of form the end of last season and into the Euros, which led to some hyperbolic and partly humorous Shawberto Carlos talk.
He's in poor form at the moment but we defend with 6 players instead of 7/8/9 like most normal teams which makes it harder for all our defenders. The 2nd goal today is a perfect example. Shaw has to cover in field, okay gets in a muddle with Maguire, but then Trent is overlapping completely unmarked. It's ridiculous. Any sides with wing backs or attacking full backs get complete freedom to reach the by line unmarked. We ask our full backs to perform a super human job. When they can pull it off against all odds, they look incredible. But it's unsustainable, not even prime Maldini could consistently mark both the RW and RB out of the game on his own.
Buddy he’s absolutely terrible.Not really. He's a very good LB who had a great run of form the end of last season and into the Euros, which led to some hyperbolic and partly humorous Shawberto Carlos talk.
He's in poor form at the moment but we defend with 6 players instead of 7/8/9 like most normal teams which makes it harder for all our defenders. The 2nd goal today is a perfect example. Shaw has to cover in field, okay gets in a muddle with Maguire, but then Trent is overlapping completely unmarked. It's ridiculous. Any sides with wing backs or attacking full backs get complete freedom to reach the by line unmarked. We ask our full backs to perform a super human job. When they can pull it off against all odds, they look incredible. But it's unsustainable, not even prime Maldini could consistently mark both the RW and RB out of the game on his own.
This is one of the worst United performances I can remember.
VanHaal'sRedArmy
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Back four with this squad is a defensive sieve. Need a manager to implement three at the back, especially with the softness in midfield. 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 is the way forward. Bench Greenwood and Rashford, push Pogba out wide, play Ronaldo and Cavani up front.
Dr Pavel
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Ronaldo - Greenwood
Bruno
Pogba - Fred - McTominay
Shaw - Maguire - Varane - AWB
Pros:Bruno
Pogba - Fred - McTominay
Shaw - Maguire - Varane - AWB
Having 3 true midfielders to cover the centre and half spaces + Bruno to drop back when needed. Shore up against counter attacks. Having superiority in the middle will make us harder to play through.
Cons:
Wide attack depend heavily on full backs. Left side is ok. But right side would be non existance as AWB is shite. No other option but to buy.
Imo we should try Sancho as the #10. He's clearly not working as a winger.
Also with 3 true midfielders, VDB can be incorporated into the squad as 1 of the 3 without worrying about leaving us too lightweight.
padzilla
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Hire a manager who knows what he is doing would be a start.
TheGame
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He needs to ditch 4-2-3-1 as its not working. The midfield is just being bypassed with increased pressure then being put on the defence which they cannot handle. We shouldn't be this open. Better teams such as Liverpool will continue to punish us. We either need to move to a flat 4-3-3 or 3-5-2. It's baffling how lined up so open against Liverpool yesterday.
For the 4-3-3 which is the option I would favour, we need use 3 of Pogba, Matic, McTominay, Fred, VDB and possibly Lingard against weaker teams. The front 3 then should be made out of Bruno, Ronaldo, Rashford, Cavani, Greenwood and Sancho (not really sure Martial features anywhere). When Bruno is playing, it will be as a false 9 and he could possibly play in a 4-2-3-1 if we are playing against a weaker team or chasing a goal. The flat 3 should hopefully give us some stability in midfield which we currently don't have.
For 3-5-2, its a similar mix of the 3 front positions of the names mentioned above however only 2 midfielders will be able to play. To make it more progressive, McTominay could play as one of the CBs as he does for Scotland.
For both systems, we need to work on our fitness and pressing as this is a key element of winning games IMO.
Some brave decisions need to be taken on line ups and people being rotated and left out. I'm not sure whether Ole can make these changes but if he doesn't then we will continue to struggle as we are.
For the 4-3-3 which is the option I would favour, we need use 3 of Pogba, Matic, McTominay, Fred, VDB and possibly Lingard against weaker teams. The front 3 then should be made out of Bruno, Ronaldo, Rashford, Cavani, Greenwood and Sancho (not really sure Martial features anywhere). When Bruno is playing, it will be as a false 9 and he could possibly play in a 4-2-3-1 if we are playing against a weaker team or chasing a goal. The flat 3 should hopefully give us some stability in midfield which we currently don't have.
For 3-5-2, its a similar mix of the 3 front positions of the names mentioned above however only 2 midfielders will be able to play. To make it more progressive, McTominay could play as one of the CBs as he does for Scotland.
For both systems, we need to work on our fitness and pressing as this is a key element of winning games IMO.
Some brave decisions need to be taken on line ups and people being rotated and left out. I'm not sure whether Ole can make these changes but if he doesn't then we will continue to struggle as we are.
Relfy
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I agree with others, I think we need to go along the lines of a 4-3-1-2 or similar for the next few games at least. We need a stronger foundation even if it means one of our many attacking players is sacrificed. Fred and McT plus 1 in the middle, Bruno in the #10 and then 2 up top, ideally one of them being Rashford or Greenwood to add some pace - I think Ronaldo and Cavani would be too static and reduce our chances on the counter. We've the firepower on the bench if we need a goal.