Too many. Alternatively, he sometimes shoots it very hard straight at the goalkeeper. Having Højlund with all his flaws and Garnacho who is a poor finisher, as two out of three of our most attacking players is a big part of why we can't score goals and win games.
1 win in 16 against non-relegated teams.
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Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's fantastic win away against Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Europa League.
They also pick out the positives of United's 4-3 loss away at Brentford, and Nik reviews a day out at Old Trafford watching Manchester United Women qualify for the Champions League.
I'd argue we pretty consistently have looked competitive in our Premier League matches over the past few months.
I won't do everyone the disservice of cluttering this thread with the long-winded post I typed out earlier again but I'd say the only two matches from the start of March until now where we didn't look competitive were Newcastle and Brentford. And with Brentford, it really must be stressed that we were so far away from our strongest side that I don't think you can draw any meaningful conclusions from the match.
As I say, I typed out a game-by-game summary of all the league matches we've played since the start of March earlier in the thread - would genuinely be curious to hear which of those you don't agree with.
It's clear the squad can't cope with playing three games a week. We have too many injury prone players that can't play consecutive games, others that are too old and need to be managed or even just someone like Mainoo whose fitness isn't what it should be.
So that's the likes of Casemiro, Eriksen, Mainoo Shaw, Mount, Martinez and even Evans and Lindelof who can't play three games a week and then there's the likes of Yoro, de Ligt, Maguire and Amad who've picked up long term injuries and have had their minutes managed when they came back into the squad.
You can call it excuses but when your only players capable of playing three games a week are Bruno, Mazroui, Garnacho, Dalot, Onana and Hojlund then you're gonna have to accept results are gonna suffer after midweek games.
Oh goodie we now have a second thread where everyone can complain about Amorim 
I'm not just talking about clubs this season, talking about in general. Is it normal to lose every week because you're preparing for the Europa League? Even at clubs like West Ham and Everton that'd be deemed unacceptable.
Well in general it absolutely is normal for clubs to struggle more when they're in Europe, yes.
Newcastle came 4th 2 years ago and then 7th last year. Villa got Champions League last year and then were struggling this year, until they backed the manager in January and got him 3 or 4 signings that boosted the squad. They're still only currently 7th, although still right in the mix for Champions League qualification again.
We clearly don't have the squad to compete on multiple fronts. Out of your current squad, only 7 of them can play three times a week. And out of those 7 only 1 (Bruno) is definitely of the required quality while at least 2 (Onana and Hojlund) are a big part of the reason we've been so bad this season.
Is it a shock that a second string lost to Brentford, less than 3 days after our biggest game of the season?
Given how badly he’s done, I’d suggest he gets away with it quite easily in here.Oh goodie we now have a second thread where everyone can complain about Amorim
We are seen more of a scalp in the PL and we don’t have the fear factor anymore, less than we do in Europe. Everyone in the PL loves to beat us and they almost always give an extra 10% in performance. I genuinely think this is a major reason why we struggle. Plus, the PL is a much more physical league and everyone plays to their max level due to the money involved in the league and consequences of relegation. Therefore there are no easy games.
European teams are more technical and less tactical I find, save for a few like Atletico, Inter etc. We have more spaces to play. Playing in the PL is like playing against Stoke every week who always give 8/10.
We need to get stuck in more and win ugly or be a bit more nasty. Only way to get a foothold in the PL.
European teams are more technical and less tactical I find, save for a few like Atletico, Inter etc. We have more spaces to play. Playing in the PL is like playing against Stoke every week who always give 8/10.
We need to get stuck in more and win ugly or be a bit more nasty. Only way to get a foothold in the PL.
I'm not asking you if it's acceptable or not to struggle, nobody would be complaining if we were just struggling. This however is beyond struggling, it's form that could drag us into relegation if the teams below us weren't slightly worse. What I'm asking is if it's acceptable to lose games nearly every week for Manchester United, because we're preparing for the Europa League finals. You can come up with whatever excuse you want, but fundamentally a coach managing this club should be going much better with this squad in the PL.
When you put manager above club this is what you get
Amen. Been saying this for years. The last right bastard we had was Ibra and that was too short. Casemiro and Martinez do count for this but both have been out of the team a lot. This is a squad than play really good stuff if the oposition lets them but we always lose out in a slog
If we started next season in similar form then I'm sure Amorim would be gone sooner than later. But given context of what he came into, then I think he deserves to get pre season and a couple more of his own players in.
And you're crazy if you think people wouldn't be complaining if we were only struggling. There's been about 15 new pages in the Amorim thread since the match yesterday where we lost by 1 goal after making 8 changes.
It's not crazy at all. I'd say if he picked up even a couple of wins in our past five PL games there'd be a more positive outlook. How grim it must feel for the match going fans too, to be seeing what has been unprecedented form for months now. Anyone who says they seen it coming is outright lying.
I won’t give you the name of a manager, just an anecdote. I remember when Thatcher was no longer Prime Minister, everyone thought the only way was down. Do you remember who replaced her? That’s right. A certain Sir Winston Churchill, who went on to single handedly win The Great War (trademark).
I find it really strange that people miss the link between ETH's demise, and Amorim's poor form.
They are both incredibly stubborn in trying to implement systems that don't suit the squad, and aren't being demonstrated by any other team to significant success in the league.
When ETH kept it simple with a standard 4231 set up with traditional overlapping FBs in year 1, we had a great season.
It has all fallen apart when we have tried to implement weird systems.
As such, I truly believe Ruud would have had us challenging for Europe with this Squad, regardless of his Leicester fortunes.
They are both incredibly stubborn in trying to implement systems that don't suit the squad, and aren't being demonstrated by any other team to significant success in the league.
When ETH kept it simple with a standard 4231 set up with traditional overlapping FBs in year 1, we had a great season.
It has all fallen apart when we have tried to implement weird systems.
As such, I truly believe Ruud would have had us challenging for Europe with this Squad, regardless of his Leicester fortunes.
Not necessarily, no. However it stretches substantially further than just the Brentford game yesterday.
Very few of those results were shocks on the same basis. We just haven't had any luck go our way in the same way Ten Hag had to fluke 8th.
If West Ham beat us and Tottenham win… we go into 17th. I’m sorry but in what world did we ever see that happening?
It beggers belief with the players we have/money spent. Criminal.
It beggers belief with the players we have/money spent. Criminal.
Bollocks. It’s not unusual at all for a manager coming in during a season to be given more than six months to implement changes and see progress, and with summer transfer windows happening once a year and clubs always looking to reinforce during transfer windows, that means they usually get some new players.
If you feel the need to constantly straw man the argument, then maybe your argument isn’t a very good one.
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Any examples?
100%. If we could have a complete overhaul with Cunha, Cherki and Delap. We may score a lot more
This is nothing more than an article of faith though.
Nuno took over Forest in Dec 2023 when they were 17th in the league. They finished 17th at the end of that season, yet he was given the summer where they made some smart signings, and then results improved massively the following season.
You could say that about any manager coming in with a distinct style. I recall when Pep joined, he struggled. Of course, nowhere near as much as Amorim, but consider that Pep joined a team that was essentially being constructed for him, by his mates, over years. The same can't be said for Amorim. He has arrived and the squad amounts to a shit sandwich: a mix of players suiting different styles; and to add to that, they weren't coming off of a successful few years winning titles. On top of that, he has had to live inside of an extremely toxic environment created by INEOS and the Glazers. It's your choice if you don't think that excuses us from being where we are. I personally think it does and that he should be given time and resources to turn things around.
Yep, Nuno is a nice example. It worked well for him!
And still nowhere close to getting relegated, one step away from CL. Frankly, we should throw a massive parade if we get out with Europa League trophy from this shitpot of a season.
I've updated the OP with the results. Without relegated teams its now
Played 16
Won 1
Drew 5
Lost 10
Scored 12
Conceded 29
I would say in about 6 of the games we have reached a level close to acceptable for at least one half. It's so bad I really am struggling to find positives, and is actually worse than I even thought it was in terms of form, and any semblance of progress with a system
Played 16
Won 1
Drew 5
Lost 10
Scored 12
Conceded 29
I would say in about 6 of the games we have reached a level close to acceptable for at least one half. It's so bad I really am struggling to find positives, and is actually worse than I even thought it was in terms of form, and any semblance of progress with a system
I don’t think that’s too bad, not even 30 conceded!
How shit are those 6 teams that didn't beat us?
It's probably even more fortunate that you were not preparing the scouting report on our opponents
Funnily, three of them are Liverpool, Arsenal and City.
They can't say they didn't have warning signs with their managers
Without the results vs relegated teams, we are actually 17th out of 17.
Can’t wait til next season when we get told Leeds/Burnley/Sheff Utd/Bristol etc have better players than us.
Yeah, I think we're probably the worst team left in the Premier League. The Europa has been great and would be a fantastic end to a nightmare, but domestically, we are awful
Forest had 14 points from 17 when Nuno took over and he picked up 22 in 21 games, keeping them up despite a 4 point deduction (also a slightly better points average than their previous season). Of course; he’s then made dramatic further strides this season but I’m not sure what more would have been expected of him last season.
The very definition of a plastic fan
Do these marvelous scouts only prepare the scouting reports on our Spanish opponents? Maybe they are don't like english football and take a sabatical every weekend?It's probably even more fortunate that you were not preparing the scouting report on our opponents