Boring, boring Man United

Wumminator

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Nope, Chelsea don't play exciting football. But lowering out expectations based on a sub par PL is a sure shot way to do feck all worth mentioning.
If you think the PL is subpar and believe that United are boring... which leagues are great and which teams are outplaying us?
 

amolbhatia50k

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If you think the PL is subpar and believe that United are boring... which leagues are great and which teams are outplaying us?
The top sides in the PL are a bit boring these days. But City and Livepool have played fanatastic football in recent years. Leeds still do. Leicester play very nice stuff for a club of their resources. Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal are subpar for their stature.

Not sure relevance 'outplaying' us has to do with anything? Nobody outplays Atletico Madrid. They certainly aren't entertaining.
 

Crashoutcassius

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I don't think it is boring over the course of his management, but the last few months have been a grind. I feel like all clubs are the same, bar perhaps city who have the depth to rotate that nobody else has. Chelsea are incredibly boring , pool have been through periods of grinding out results, spurs ... Obviously. Nobody in the league is very exciting, yes there are some exciting games because neither team can control the flow of the game like this United team are managing
 

Wumminator

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The top sides in the PL are a bit boring these days. Not sure relevance 'outplaying' us has to do with anything? Nobody outplays Atletico Madrid. They certainly aren't entertaining.
Outplaying in terms of entertainment.

The point I am making is that United are stronger and more entertaining than 99% of world football. We score more, have more shots and have more posession than most teams in the league.

THIS is what football is. If you think United are a completely boring side.. you don’t like football.
 

cyberman

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Teams sitting back against us in the out of date theory thst we struggle against low blocks makes the game look boring because we always seems to win withour having to do much. Which we dont to be fair. Our FBs push way up, we play Pogba behind Bruno and have one of the most prolific inside forwards in Europe on the left, its not on us. By every metric available we are not boring
 

pocco

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We had plenty of European away performances under Sir Alex similar to last night by the way, there was no issues then though.
Daft comparison. When Fergie was playing attacking football most of the time, putting in a "get the job done" performance was far more palatable. Not in the Europa League against Grenada. The problem is, this is our level of play practically every week. We don't even have the fun, exciting performances to stack up against games like last night, or both legs vs Milan, or the countless other toothless games this season.
 

Patchbeard

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I think there is a real disconnect between what constitutes entertaining football and what fans can expect. Fans expect Manchester United to surpass every other club in the world in their playing style significantly.
We currently are playing better and nicer football than every team in England bar one.
Not sure about nicer to be honest...

Lots of teams have played some nice stuff. Liverpool at the start, Leicester (especially when Maddison and Barnes weren't injured), Aston Villa (only when Grealish is fit), Everton (when Rodriguez was on form), Leeds, and even Southampton before their injuries have played some entertaining football this season. We've been better than all of the above no question, the table doesn't lie after 30 games. But we have had very few all round good entertaining performances for 90 mins (Leeds, Man City spring to mind), and we're only where we are by consistently saving ourselves with comebacks away from home after shooting ourselves in the foot early on.

In general I would say our home games have been dull (except Leeds) and away games have ended up being entertaining, if nail biting! So definitely not all round boring, boring Man Utd, but we are lucky that the rest of the big 6 have been even more inconsistent than we have this season.

It's a shame City pulled a mammoth winning streak out of their arse, it could have been like a good old fashioned swings and roundabouts title race from the 90s otherwise.
 

Champ

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What is exciting football?

Is it attacking at 100mph, scoring goals for fun, whilst shipping goals, every game a 5-4 or 4-3? If so then go watch Leeds implode very other game and sturggle to get out of anything other than midtable. Personally I find Leeds infuriating to watch, zero game management, naive defending and a general lack of balance.

Exciting football to me is watching a team play attractive attacking football whilst finding the balance between fluid attacking play and strong defence. Of which I think United are nearly there.
We attack well, despite the protestations of a select few on here, we are the second highest scorers in the league and have a very vibrant, youthful and pacey team. We look to have sorted our defence out, some very solid shut outs recently. We also play some very intricate passing passages of play and can counter at breakneck speed.

I think the issue isn't in whether we play exciting football, it lies more in the entitlement of some fans who are never actually happy no matter how we play.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Outplaying in terms of entertainment.

The point I am making is that United are stronger and more entertaining than 99% of world football. We score more, have more shots and have more posession than most teams in the league.

THIS is what football is. If you think United are a completely boring side.. you don’t like football.
Nobody cares about all of world football. With our wealth we are naturally compared to the richest clubs on the planet. And compared to our resources our football is bland and mechanical. THIS may be the football you like but liking/disliking THIS football doesn't equate to liking/disliking football itself.
 

Wumminator

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Not sure about nicer to be honest...

Lots of teams have played some nice stuff. Liverpool at the start, Leicester (especially when Maddison and Barnes weren't injured), Aston Villa (only when Grealish is fit), Everton (when Rodriguez was on form), Leeds, and even Southampton before their injuries have played some entertaining football this season. We've been better than all of the above no question, the table doesn't lie after 30 games. But we have had very few all round good entertaining performances for 90 mins (Leeds, Man City spring to mind), and we're only where we are by consistently saving ourselves with comebacks away from home after shooting ourselves in the foot early on.

In general I would say our home games have been dull (except Leeds) and away games have ended up being entertaining, if nail biting! So definitely not all round boring, boring Man Utd, but we are lucky that the rest of the big 6 have been even more inconsistent than we have this season.

It's a shame City pulled a mammoth winning streak out of their arse, it could have been like a good old fashioned swings and roundabouts title race from the 90s otherwise.
But you have just literally listed a load of teams that play “nice“ football at times apart from when injuries or bad form happens.

We have been consistently better and more pleasing to watch than Villa and Everton. But because we compare our every game with their highlights it doesn’t feel that way.
 

hubbuh

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Outplaying in terms of entertainment.

The point I am making is that United are stronger and more entertaining than 99% of world football. We score more, have more shots and have more posession than most teams in the league.

THIS is what football is. If you think United are a completely boring side.. you don’t like football.
That's a bit much. Keane and Gary Neville have both levelled accusations at United of being boring this season, so it's not as if scores of people have suddenly forgotten what 'proper' football is. 1 win in 8 against our domestic rivals isn't typical either (with 5 nil nil draws to boot).
 

rotherham_red

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We've been flat since February and I don't think it's a surprise that we have been considering we've pretty much played a game every three days since June last year.

Right now, it's a case of taking each game as it comes and getting the best results possible. The teams around us have a distinct advantage in not having to play multiple games per week and are better rested as a result. They also have the time to actually do training ground work, which we don't because the time in between games is focused on getting what little recuperation they can get as well as immediate preparations for the next game. We haven't really had that all season.

I still maintain Ole has done a great job to get us in the position we are in where Top 4 is almost assured way ahead of time, and far in the EL with a chance of winning it when you consider that the bulk of this squad is still comprised of players the previous manager didn't particularly rate or want, were borderline joke figures, or who were still in the academy when Ole first arrived. Let's also not forget that the previous manager had us 6th with most of these players, and all the main players he relied upon to get 2nd the previous season have all either been sold or sidelined.

Ole needs proper first team quality put into the squad, ASAP, and it should have happened last summer.
 

cyberman

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That's a bit much. Keane and Gary Neville have both levelled accusations at United of being boring this season, so it's not as if scores of people have suddenly forgotten what 'proper' football is. 1 win in 8 against our domestic rivals isn't typical either (with 5 nil nil draws to boot).
When have we actually been called boring though? In our epic combacks thats filled this season?
It seems like a recent criticism just because its something to beat the drum with since results are going our eay.
 

hubbuh

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When have we actually been called boring though? In our epic combacks thats filled this season?
It seems like a recent criticism just because its something to beat the drum with since results are going our eay.
Roy Keane after Chelsea, Gary Neville after Crystal Palace. It's definitely not just a recent thing. It was after a slew of bad results which effectively put us out of the title race.
 

pocco

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When have we actually been called boring though? In our epic combacks thats filled this season?
It seems like a recent criticism just because its something to beat the drum with since results are going our eay.
Epic comebacks is a but much. Generally we go 1 behind, probe away whilst looking out if ideas, grab a goal, probe away whilst looking out of ideas, grab a goal. It's not entertaining in the slightest, in fact more frustrating.

Take the game just at the weekend as an example, that could have easily been 1-1 if Pogba hadn't scuffed a volleyed shot into the ground to find Greenwood. That just felt like groundhog day that game. There's been loads like that this season.
 

KiD MoYeS

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Daft comparison. When Fergie was playing attacking football most of the time, putting in a "get the job done" performance was far more palatable. Not in the Europa League against Grenada. The problem is, this is our level of play practically every week. We don't even have the fun, exciting performances to stack up against games like last night, or both legs vs Milan, or the countless other toothless games this season.
Boohoo, United didn't go out an thrash the opposition playing like prime Barcelona. Every single team has struggled with intensity this season. United are still in transition and winning games and looking on course to improve on last season.
 

hubbuh

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Epic comebacks is a but much. Generally we go 1 behind, probe away whilst looking out if ideas, grab a goal, probe away whilst looking out of ideas, grab a goal. It's not entertaining in the slightest, in fact more frustrating.

Take the game just at the weekend as an example, that could have easily been 1-1 if Pogba hadn't scuffed a volleyed shot into the ground to find Greenwood. That just felt like groundhog day that game. There's been loads like that this season.
The Brighton game is the perfect case in point. I'd seriously worry about the tedium of someone's life if they watched that and thought 'Epic comeback!!!'. It was laborious to watch but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a good result. The two tend to go hand in hand with United these days.
 

Nick7

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We’ve been boring as feck all season and have had precious few complete performances for where we are.
 

hubbuh

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Boohoo, United didn't go out an thrash the opposition playing like prime Barcelona. Every single team has struggled with intensity this season. United are still in transition and winning games and looking on course to improve on last season.
The wider issue is that United has been in this state of flux since Fergie left. It's inevitable that it has taken its toll.
We’ve been boring as feck all season and have had precious few complete performances for where we are.
That first half against Everton was fantastic and was the most consistently probing and in control we've looked, in my opinion (in the league and against a good, well-organised side). It fell apart in the second half obviously but that first 45 is what I want to see more of. The full-backs were pushed much higher and we had Everton pinned back for the entirety of the half.
 

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I think there is a real disconnect between what constitutes entertaining football and what fans can expect. Fans expect Manchester United to surpass every other club in the world in their playing style significantly.
We currently are playing better and nicer football than every team in England bar one.
I would agree and I would also add it takes two to tango. We are incredibly entertaining if teams want to go punch-for-punch with us (see Leeds, Sociedad, City (A), Leipzig (H)) but they don’t...for obvious reasons.

How we can be expected to be entertaining when facing two banks of five most weeks is beyond me. Functional, sure, and of course we can get much better at comfortably beating these teams 2-0/3-0 like City have mastered. However, they are never going to be free-flowing “entertaining” games.
 

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Can't wait for games in roughly ten years time. Ninety minutes of booing the team in Old Trafford. Players and manager constantly getting abused on social media and nobody understanding why they're low on confidence. The clue is in the word - supporter.
 

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Epic comebacks is a but much. Generally we go 1 behind, probe away whilst looking out if ideas, grab a goal, probe away whilst looking out of ideas, grab a goal. It's not entertaining in the slightest, in fact more frustrating.

Take the game just at the weekend as an example, that could have easily been 1-1 if Pogba hadn't scuffed a volleyed shot into the ground to find Greenwood. That just felt like groundhog day that game. There's been loads like that this season.
But we take control after going a goal down. Its strange how thats being thrown into the boring pile. Our CL campaign alone was fecking ridculous!
Leeds, City, West Ham away, Southampton twice, Everton both times, hell 3 times since the cup game was a fun watch, Leicester, Villa, Liverpool fa cup, Socieadad away, Milan away, Spurs, City in the semis, Sheff Utd away, Palace, Brighton, Fulham.. All good games and im just rattling games off from memory.
It just seems like its plucked from mid air
 

Eugenius

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Wouldn't call us boring. But we definitely play well in moments rather than being a fluid team.
 

Smores

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People are going to be precious about it but it's hard to argue that we're not dull most of the time. Entertaining games are a rarity, we show so little flair.

It sometimes feels like with no fans in the stadium they've forgot anyone is actually watching.
 

Mindhunter

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Yes we are boring but so is everybody else. If you look at it objectively, we have been the most entertaining team to watch in the PL barring City. Here is why I think we are more boring than the :
  • We don’t have a sovereign wealth fund backing us
  • We lack the players to play the City style of football
  • Players are tired due to excessive football in a short period of time; they aren’t fresh enough to play a high intensity game all the time
  • Fans watch every minute of every game and hence we overanalyse; every team is boring for certain periods in the game
  • Against top 4 teams our focus is safety first due to our business model that requires us to get top 4 to be able to afford top players
  • Our strikers don’t finish well so many great chances go begging and we lose the opportunity to impose ourselves
  • Our midfielders barring Pogba aren’t great at retaining the ball and recycling it and so we look less in control of games
 

georgipep

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But we take control after going a goal down. Its strange how thats being thrown into the boring pile. Our CL campaign alone was fecking ridculous!
Leeds, City, West Ham away, Southampton twice, Everton both times, hell 3 times since the cup game was a fun watch, Leicester, Villa, Liverpool fa cup, Socieadad away, Milan away, Spurs, City in the semis, Sheff Utd away, Palace, Brighton, Fulham.. All good games and im just rattling games off from memory.
It just seems like its plucked from mid air
Or some people expect 3+ to nill wins with swagger like we have 6-7 top creative players available to rotate and choose from.
 

Zen86

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Entertainment is end to end football, two teams going fully at eachother, goals, skills, missed opportunities, penalties, red cards, players kicking off, managers arguing, last minute goals, high stakes football... drama. One team going super defensive and setting up not to lose does not make for an entertaining game. It takes two to tango.
 

Leftback99

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People clearly don't watch teams like Leicester every week if they think their football is exciting and it would look even worse if they were up against teams defending as deep as they do against us most weeks.
 

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Honestly no ones playing that great this season in terms of edge of your sit breathtaking football, everyones knackered. City are robot like, but its obviously far from entertaining most of the time.

I think when everyones had a rest, a proper pre-season it'll be fairer to judge. So I can't wait for the kick off of the 2023 season personally.
 

ivaldo

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It's a bit of a bad time to judge any team during this particular season no?

United have not delivered a season of boring games. People's memories are only as long as the last few games though which evident from much of what I see on here.
Pretty much this. It's a grueling season that followed on almost immediately from another gruelling season. Right now, the objective is to just get over the finishing line.
 

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People don't understand football when they make comments like, "City's possession football is boring". After more than ten fecking years, how can someone watch football on a weekly basis and not come to the conclusion that teams who pack players behind the ball are the reason for games being boring? City's football is only as interesting as the other team's desire to try to commit men forward.

If you play direct vs. a low block, it's boring.
If you play possession vs. a low block it's boring.
If you play counter-pressing vs. a low block, it's boring.

The common denominator is so obvious, but alas, one week passes and we'll be right back to. "Pep (or whichever manager of their persuasion) plays boring football".
 

OleBoiii

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If you play direct vs. a low block, it's boring.
If you play possession vs. a low block it's boring.
If you play counter-pressing vs. a low block, it's boring.
This is the truth. And it was no different under Fergie. 80% of games followed the same pattern and that pattern is quite similar regardless of coach: spend the majority of the time trying to break the opponent down. The game typically ends in a low-scoring victory to the stronger team on paper. The whole excitement lies in the fact that often enough(pretty much every round) at least 1 of the big teams will fail to win. And occasionally one of the big teams will absolutely destroy the opponent, which can also be fun to watch if it results in some nice goals.

This is pretty much the only solid argument for a European super league. When all teams are strong and there's no knockout stage, it's likely to lead to quite open games more often than not.
 

hubbuh

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Bingo.

Also, I'm convinced that if we won a PL or a CL a lot of people would stop using that word.
Obviously. It's a much easier pill to swallow not being entertaining if you win stuff. Not being entertaining (subjectively) and also not winning is going to cause a bit of disharmony. We didn't hire Mourinho for his glamorous football.

The issue is the Champions League this year looks completely wide open. The favourite to win it just lost 2-3 at home. There's no reason why we couldn't have gone all the way. With the FA Cup, we only had to beat Leicester and Southampton to reach the final. We've had ample opportunity to make a real good go of it this year but have failed to do so. It's disappointing.
 

hubbuh

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People don't understand football when they make comments like, "City's possession football is boring". After more than ten fecking years, how can someone watch football on a weekly basis and not come to the conclusion that teams who pack players behind the ball are the reason for games being boring? City's football is only as interesting as the other team's desire to try to commit men forward.

If you play direct vs. a low block, it's boring.
If you play possession vs. a low block it's boring.
If you play counter-pressing vs. a low block, it's boring.

The common denominator is so obvious, but alas, one week passes and we'll be right back to. "Pep (or whichever manager of their persuasion) plays boring football".
Whenever I watch City (which I tend not to do as a rule) they are usually probing and looking for openings. There is much more fluidity to their attacking play. By contrast we are much more dysfunctional and rely on our 'moments'. I'm not whacking it off to City before anyone takes umbrage I'd just like to see us attack and control games with more consistency.