Personally I tend to hope we get relegated cause I fancy Cardiff to ta few more points off Liverpool than us.
Champions League QF: Manchester United v Barcelona - Build Up Thread
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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.
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I feel this rarely works out that way. The teams that play more matches are sharper, more driven and outplay the ones with the extended break. Certainly with this United team full of spineless wimps that will use the extra days to lose focus.
Please no Young at fullback. I have a feeling he's gonna cost us a goal again. Play Dalot there and have Ander to cover him if he's in the right frame of mind to play. If not, Scott can also do a job in place of Ander
I think we can trust Herrera to play even if he's off, he's clearly a mentally strong player.
I'm still hoping for a lineup of:
----------Martial---Rashford-----------
-----Pogba--McTominay-Herrera-----
Shaw-Jones-Smalling-Lindelof-Young/Dalot
which will also look like this at times since Dalot/Young's job will basically be covering Alba:
----------Martial--Rashford------
Pogba-McTominay-Herrera-Dalot
Shaw-Jones-Smalling-Lindelof
and we surrender possession and try to beat them on the counter with speed in our front 2. Haven't seen the mobility needed from Matic to justify playing him and Fred looks a risk at the moment.
Worth nothing that Iborra's runs and size through the middle and Cazorla's long passing gave Barca trouble against Villareal, so maybe McTominay can do the Iborra job and Pogba can do Cazorla's, which we could probably best replicate with Herrera deeper, like this:
---------Martial---------Rashford-----
-------------Mctominay------------
Shaw----Pogba----Herrera---------Dalot/Young
------Jones-Smalling-Lindelof----------
with the idea being that Pogba will be on his best France midfielder behaviour rather than looking like a languid #10 type. A lot of mobility in that team at least, which feels like the move at home, since we likely need a win on the counter to have any real chance in the tie. We can always try to hang on for dear life at the Nou Camp.
We have to start throwing Dalot in the big games, he might make mistakes but he isn't going to learn much sat on the bench.
We are at home, so I think Dalot would be the much better option. Barcelona are much more defensive away, meaning Alba will be less of a threat. Our main area of concern is Messi who will be attacking our left back.
Our only chance of getting something out of the game is attacking them throughout.
I fear for those who will be spending most of the game in the Messi vs Ronaldo thread.
Reminds me of a recent post here wanting to see Messi score a couple at Old Trafford
Big decision for Ole. Does he go with Young and Matic, favoring their experience or give Dalot and Saucy McSauce starts due to their current performances? It is certainly not a straightforward decision, but I'd go with the latter as it would be a wild card that could work.
I do think we have a chance against Barca. There will be no motivation needed as its Barca. Our players would surely want to show that they have what it takes to perform at the top level. Feels like we are becoming a club with mid-table club mentality, always up for it against the big boys but when it comes "sure-win" oppositions, we are struggling to keep up with their work rate. We've done well against the bigger teams (spurs, arsenal, chelsea, liverpool, psg) ever since Ole took charge and even juve under Jose.
Us against barca would be like wolves against us. Talent wise, no doubt they are the more talented team, but im sure we'll see more heart and fight compared to recent performances. Talent wise, no doubt they are the more talented team.
Us against barca would be like wolves against us. Talent wise, no doubt they are the more talented team, but im sure we'll see more heart and fight compared to recent performances. Talent wise, no doubt they are the more talented team.
True enough
Hope we are wrong
I remember that post too
Reminds me of a recent post here wanting to see Messi score a couple at Old Trafford
, as if Messi raping us in 2 finals wasn't enough, now they want him to score goals at Old Trafford!If I see any of these spineless wimps laughing and joking on Instagram, if we get battered by Barca, I'm going to lose my fecking rag! Seeing Rojo and Romero laughing on the bench against Wolves, like they couldn't give less of a feck if they tried, really rubbed me the wrong way!
Having long rest isn't always ideal indeed.
It's Messi vs Matic that worries, he rarely ever takes on LBs anymore. It's in the middle that he does the most damage with his passing and runs
Truly terrified, I'd rather McT start all day! Suarez vs Smalling is a horrific thought also.
And it's not about dribbling past him, the one-twos, the dummies, the constant movement in that area will be tough to deal with if Matic isn't helped. We need Pogba to pull a truly selfless defensive performance for this one
Matic and Young worry me with the number of daft free kicks they concede around the box. Can probably add Smalling and Herrera to that list too. It's going to be a huge problem with Messi banging them in like penalties these days.
He has 51 of them too, we cannot give ANY dumb freekicks away, has any player scored 51 in their career? Even becks was no where near that? He scored 87 goals total for United so about 20 something freekicks iirc.
I think second leg we will see Dalot and Young both on the right. First leg Young will play at RB.
Like against Wolves? We are fecked then, but I hope I'm wrong!
Alba is a major threat.
I hope to see this team but don’t expect to see it
———————-De Gea—————————-
Young——lindelof———Smalling—-Shaw
———————-Scott——————————-
————Herrera———Pogba————
Lingard ——-rashford———Martial——-
———————-De Gea—————————-
Young——lindelof———Smalling—-Shaw
———————-Scott——————————-
————Herrera———Pogba————
Lingard ——-rashford———Martial——-
We need to score and hope they don't. That's all there is to it. If you start analysing it they will wipe the floor with us. Don't anyone say like psg, as Barça are a much more better team and won't have their main strikers missing
These European nights are special and I hope that in getting the more difficult draw our players don't get complacent. Frankly, I think that's what's done them in since beating PSG. If we were facing, say, Porto, it's quite possible that they showed up half asleep. Let's hope they're as scared of Messi as we are .
I remember that now. It's hard seeing the players act as though it doesn't mean the same to them as it does us fans. It didn't used to be that way...I don't know if it's a post Sir Alex effect or a millennial generation thing .
Also, was Mata sleeping on the bench? It seemed that way to me .
Sorry I shouldn't laugh but I just did, out loud!
Can you go and do the halftime talk and sort them out for us you sound angrier than I can see Ole getting
I can see them deeming this a game that's worthy to put in the effort into. Yes obviously they should put effort into every game but that aside I think they will. Unfortunately if Barca score which no doubt they will, I can see the usual falling apart happening giving Barca even more opportunities.
We need to keep the scoreline to as few goals for them as possible at OT then try and get the away goal at the Nou Camp, if we can take a lead there, even better.
Pogba is either going to be completely interested and fantastic or go missing.
I doubt he'll play, but I think Mata is perfect for this game. Play him at 10, he won't be overawed by Barca's pressing in the centre, Martial and Rashford/Lukaku(think he could give Barca's CBs real problems) up top ahead of him.. We'll need Pogba and Herrera to put in a good shift, and I think they will, given the importance of the match.
I'm not very confident going into this, but it's certainly not an impossible tie.
I'm not very confident going into this, but it's certainly not an impossible tie.
I watch Barca's evening games almost regularly because of Messi and they really aren't that special if you put him aside. obviously, that may sound stupid because we know he WILL play and we know how good he is, but there are quite a few things they struggle with and fortunately, we have players capable of hurting them.
first of all, they aren't that good defensively compared to last year and even then, while having Umtiti fit and in form, they conceded 3 against Roma away and 1 on Camp Nou and also against Chelsea away. even the teams you would consider average manage to put 2 or 3 behind them these days. it doesn't matter if it's Atletico they're playing against, or Valencia, or Sevilla, or Betis etc. they simply concede every time so there's really no excuse if we can't do the same as those teams.
obviously they're on another level technically but seem rather slow in midfield and there's basically no physical player there - at least not the one that could handle Pogba if he 'turns up'. even Lyon had no trouble getting to their half untill Messi killed the tie. if there's anything current United side don't lack, it's pace. when I see what some other, less known players are doing to them and then look at Pogba, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku... I can't help but feel confident any of those players can and will do some damage to them. they aren't really capable of hiding the ball completely from opponent like they used to be so I'm sure we'll get our chances.
another thing, Dembele is injured and they play Atletico today, so it's yet another game they can't afford to rest Suarez, Messi and others. as it's the only big game left for Atletico to play, they surely won't make it easy for them, especially when their win would mean it's only 5 points again between them.
of course, with all that in mind they are still better side, but the pessimism here is as if they're coming to play Getafe. we won't contain them and they'll score, but they also won't contain us, that I am certain of. it will most likely be high scoring game, with both team scoring at least 2 in my opinion.
first of all, they aren't that good defensively compared to last year and even then, while having Umtiti fit and in form, they conceded 3 against Roma away and 1 on Camp Nou and also against Chelsea away. even the teams you would consider average manage to put 2 or 3 behind them these days. it doesn't matter if it's Atletico they're playing against, or Valencia, or Sevilla, or Betis etc. they simply concede every time so there's really no excuse if we can't do the same as those teams.
obviously they're on another level technically but seem rather slow in midfield and there's basically no physical player there - at least not the one that could handle Pogba if he 'turns up'. even Lyon had no trouble getting to their half untill Messi killed the tie. if there's anything current United side don't lack, it's pace. when I see what some other, less known players are doing to them and then look at Pogba, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku... I can't help but feel confident any of those players can and will do some damage to them. they aren't really capable of hiding the ball completely from opponent like they used to be so I'm sure we'll get our chances.
another thing, Dembele is injured and they play Atletico today, so it's yet another game they can't afford to rest Suarez, Messi and others. as it's the only big game left for Atletico to play, they surely won't make it easy for them, especially when their win would mean it's only 5 points again between them.
of course, with all that in mind they are still better side, but the pessimism here is as if they're coming to play Getafe. we won't contain them and they'll score, but they also won't contain us, that I am certain of. it will most likely be high scoring game, with both team scoring at least 2 in my opinion.
Yep they were lucky not to be beaten by Chelsea 1st game last year. hit two woodworks . We will get our chances most certainly but if Lukaku, Lingard are wasteful as normal it doesn't matter.
I'm starting to think Lukaku on the right wing is the way to go. He's too wasteful to play in our centre. J Alba can be caught out when he goes forward so maybe he can do us a favour to receive diagonals over the ttop and simply wait for a footrace. We won't be dominating the ball so I don't see any need for lingard, mata and all the players that cuts inside and congests the midfield. This game is suited for direct players like Andreas, Lukaku (RW) etc ..
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Ole at the Barca vs Atletico game
Going by the looks on Ole and Shorts face, they know we're getting ripped to shreds by Barca.
If Barca play the team they are playing today, I'd say we have a chance. No one in their midfield is gonna track runners through the middle of the park. We are gonna be out possessed and outclassed in the middle but that's a given anyway, Fred and Pogba through the middle could cause Barca problems.
They are insanely resistant to pressing. I can see us pressing them mad in the first 20 minutes trying to ‘win the ball high and counter’ and then sink back into our shell. That will leave us chasing shadows and watching Barca play keep ball for the next 70 minutes with the inevitable Suarez and Messi goals going in at the 65th and 75th minute. 2-0.
Good try. Ole comes out and says the first 20 minutes were great but we didn’t play well for 70. Truth is the players switch off after the 20 minutes because they desert the hopeless press and aimlessly hope on a rashford/lukaku/pogba counter with the occasional razzle dazzle of an Ashley Young 19%-success-NFL-punt. They know we don’t have the quality to actually press the whole game and take a lions share of possession against good teams.
We then talk about trying again next year with better signings. Ed and the board promise good signings. Shareholders are happy. We make mediocre signings. We try to convince ourselves again that this ‘fred’ lad is going to be world class - and now we’re buzzed about preseason. Optimism = +++ share price = Ed and Glazers happy grin.
Rinse and repeat. Does this sound familiar?
Good try. Ole comes out and says the first 20 minutes were great but we didn’t play well for 70. Truth is the players switch off after the 20 minutes because they desert the hopeless press and aimlessly hope on a rashford/lukaku/pogba counter with the occasional razzle dazzle of an Ashley Young 19%-success-NFL-punt. They know we don’t have the quality to actually press the whole game and take a lions share of possession against good teams.
We then talk about trying again next year with better signings. Ed and the board promise good signings. Shareholders are happy. We make mediocre signings. We try to convince ourselves again that this ‘fred’ lad is going to be world class - and now we’re buzzed about preseason. Optimism = +++ share price = Ed and Glazers happy grin.
Rinse and repeat. Does this sound familiar?
Really love videos like these. Lasha, adita rathod and MUFC quality videos are worth looking out for. Got some great vids.
If I was Ole and Mike, I'd be going home happy tonight, there is a glaring weakness through the middle of the pitch for Barca, even in attack they rely a lot on individual moments of quality. They are a far cry from the Barca teams of a few years ago. But of course it's one thing recognising a weakness and another being able to take advantage of it.
True
We did better v PSG than Sevilla
Underdog status might help and boy are we underdogs
I would go with 3 at the back in this one, with smailing, Jones and Lindelof centre backs. Matic and Herrera holding in midfield and Pogba much more advanced to start or join in counter attacks. With Rashford and lukaku up top. They leave a lot of space in behind their midfield. But I know lingard will be there somewhere despite only scoring 1 goal this calender year. We have to nullify the threat of Messi and Suarez