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2019-20 Performances


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Kostur

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One of the very few players since beginning of the season that isn't utter tosh and one that you can actually like.
 

Artorias

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Thank god for him because he's the only thing providing any joy in watching this United team at the minute. He's also shouldering far more responsibility than a 21 year old who's just joined the club should, which speaks of both his metality and that of his more senior teammates.
Thank God we did buy him.
 

groovyalbert

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Can't work out if he's a poor crosser, or if we have no threat in the box without Martial.

Talented guy though, very astute signing.
 

Devil may care

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He's really surprised me, better technically than I thought, and although he gets over excited at times in good positions, he also makes good runs and sees the one-two's really well, plus he's scored as many goals already as he did last season I think, and 2 of them have been worldies, his shooting off either foot is ferocious.
 

noodlehair

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I know he was a championship player last season, but he looks a pretty special talent to me.

I mean he just leaves players for dead every time they leave themselves exposed...but even if it's a standing start he just shifts the ball and then does something in one movement, so you can't deal with him by just nullifying his pace. He puts the ball into dangerous areas. His shooting is too good to just let him come inside. He sprints around like a maniac for the whole 90 minutes, demands the ball over and over. Seems to grow into games at times when you need players to take responsibility.

I mean it's been a long time since I've seen a United player destroy an opponent like that. He carried the whole team through that game. At half time someone said he was showing the rest of our players up, which I'm not sure is the right way of putting it but it was at a point where you almost feel the team need to look at how they've managed not to win when their team mate did that much to make it easier for them.

Not expecting him to be at or near that level every week but I genuinely had no idea he was capable of playing near that level in the first place.
 

#07

makes new threads with tweets in the OP
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Can't work out if he's a poor crosser, or if we have no threat in the box without Martial.

Talented guy though, very astute signing.
The likes of Van Persie and Chicharito would have relished a near post run today.

Preseason I was actually worried about James' crossing, as he kept hitting the first man. Today he (and Wan-Bissaka) were putting the ball into brilliant areas. Nobody was getting in there. Ole must've been dying in the dugout given his razor sharp instincts in the six yard area.
 
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noodlehair

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Can't work out if he's a poor crosser, or if we have no threat in the box without Martial.

Talented guy though, very astute signing.
He had at leeast two you could reaosnably expect someone to get on the end of. Another cleared as Matic was about to put it in, which again you could ask why no one else was there as it floated across the face of the goal before the defender got to it. One cut back into space which none of our players reacted to. One put on a plate for Rashford which he fecked up and was also needlessly stood offside for. One pulled back to Rashford which the defender barely manged to get a challenge in for

He had a couple of poor balls in but overall there was more than enough there to expect other players to make something of. On top of that a goal and another two decent shots on goal. At least one time Rashford should have played him in.

It's an awful lot of goal threat to come from one player in a single 90 minutes to be fair. I mean I'd struggle to think of the last example of one of our players doing that much in a game going forwards. Imagine if that was a new signing you kknew nothing about making their debut. You'd think we'd signed the next Ronaldo.

It is all a little blunt/unpolished but it's not like he's spooning crosses into the stands or losing the ball 50 times a game, or missing obvious passes.
 

noodlehair

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I mean I actuallly feel really sorry for him that we didn't win. If ever a player's performance deserved for them to be able to say they won their team the game...

It makes you wonder if he just has an extraordinary attitude and work rate or if he is just showing the level of work that we're missing in general and that other top teams have more of. I think it's probably somewhere between the two.
 

#07

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I mean I actuallly feel really sorry for him that we didn't win. If ever a player's performance deserved for them to be able to say they won their team the game...

It makes you wonder if he just has an extraordinary attitude of if he is just showwing the level of work that we're missing in general. I think it's probably somewhere between the two.
The kid clearly does have a really good attitude. However, its also the case that he is playing at the level you'd expect a United attacking player to. Whereas the rest of our forward line has been underperforming since Spring.

The fact of the matter is, and this is not to downplay the kid's performance cos I think he's doing amazingly well for a youngster signed from the Championship, what James did today should be standard practice for Man Utd: He beat his man, he put dangerous balls in the box and he had the quality to turn a half chance into a goal.

At City, at Liverpool, that's expected. If Salah is injured Shaqiri is expected to come into the team, beat players and score goals. For any side with ambition James' performance today would be praised but also expected. A failure to put in that kind of performance would have the white hankies out at Madrid or Barcelona.

The fact we no longer expect our players to do what James did today shows how far we've fallen. As a point for comparison, Nani used to do that a lot and a lot of our fans hated Nani and said he wasn't doing enough! Maybe our strikers didn't make runs across the box because they've forgotten what its like to get regular service from the wings? We've become so ordinary James stands out playing at a level Giggs and Kanchelskis used to every week.
 
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George Owen

LEAVE THE SFW THREAD ALONE!!1!
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Can't work out if he's a poor crosser, or if we have no threat in the box without Martial.

Talented guy though, very astute signing.
He put some good crosses, but we need aggressive players to attack the ball. We lack that.

Alexis is great at attacking the ball and winning headers inside the box. No one else in the club has that ability. Sad.
 

iHicksy

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I find it interesting that it's the new signings that try to make stuff happen and look like United players. It's like some kind of toxic mentality has effected many of the others and they believe their own hype and either don't realise the honour they have playing for United or their just desensitised to losing. Rashford appears to have become very selfish and a little petulant on the pitch in particular. Lingard, Pogba aren't far behind. But the likes of AWB, Maguire - amazing leadership. James and Greenwood really try to make things happen.
 

Eric's Seagull

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Played well today. Good goal. Deserved to be on the winning team, a week and a bit ago someone was still calling him dross from the Championship. I like his attitude and if he keeps it up I think he is going to do well here.
 

noodlehair

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The kid clearly does have a really good attitude. However, its also the case that he is playing at the level you'd expect a United attacking player to. Whereas the rest of our forward line has been underperforming since Spring.

The fact of the matter is, and this is not to downplay the kid's performance cos I think he's doing amazingly well for a youngster signed from the Championship, what James did today should be standard practice for Man Utd: He beat his man, he put dangerous balls in the box and he had the quality to turn a half chance into a goal.

At City, at Liverpool, that's expected. If Salah is injured Shaqiri is expected to come into the team, beat players and score goals. For any side with ambition James' performance today would be both praised but also expected. A failure to put in that kind of performance would have the white hankies out at Madrid or Barcelona.

The fact we no longer expect our players to do what James did today shows how far we've fallen. As a point for comparison, Nani used to do that a lot and a lot of our fans hated Nani and said he wasn't doing enough! Maybe our strikers didn't make runs across the box because they've forgotten what its like to get regular service from the wings? We've become so ordinary, James stands out playing at a level Giggs and Kanchelskis used to every week.
Well Nani is actually a fairly good comparison as I remember him having games like that where he'd give whoever he was up against an absolute nightmare...but he'd also have games where he would be genuinely infuriating, and did seem to be one of the targets for unfair criticism. That's part of being brave enough to try and be the player to create something over and over though. If you have an off day or don't have the ability required, you are the target of ridicule because the fans just see you losing the ball over and over. Nani had the ability but was very inconsistent.

It's the whole package we saw today though. The work rate and attitude to keep going, but also the bravery to take on the responsibility of being the player who keeps taking the ball and trying to make something happen...plus having the quality to be able to pull that off. It is what you'd expect from a top player but it's encouraging to see he has all of the ingredients there and can produce it when it's actually needed. I mean we're talking about someone we signed for peanuts from a championship side. You are right it's what's expected from a top player, but you wouldn't have had James down as being the one to show the rest of the team how it's done, so he's potentially a big bonus for me.
 

noodlehair

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I find it interesting that it's the new signings that try to make stuff happen and look like United players. It's like some kind of toxic mentality has effected many of the others and they believe their own hype and either don't realise the honour they have playing for United or their just desensitised to losing. Rashford appears to have become very selfish and a little petulant on the pitch in particular. Lingard, Pogba aren't far behind. But the likes of AWB, Maguire - amazing leadership. James and Greenwood really try to make things happen.
Rashford had an off day. Probably as bad as I've seen him play, and he has definitely become a little selfish for my liking...but generally he has one of the better attitudes of our players. Lingard just isn't good enough at football to be a player we rely on. Pogba, I mean it's been done to death, but we know what we get at this point. Either use him to his strengths or don't use him. Why we persist on playing him in a role we know he will not perform in I just have no idea.
 

#07

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Well Nani is actually a fairly good comparison as I remember him having games like that where he'd give whoever he was up against an absolute nightmare...but he'd also have games where he would be genuinely infuriating, and did seem to be one of the targets for unfair criticism. That's part of being brave enough to try and be the player to create something over and over though. If you have an off day or don't have the ability required, you are the target of ridicule because the fans just see you losing the ball over and over. Nani had the ability but was very inconsistent.

It's the whole package we saw today though. The work rate and attitude to keep going, but also the bravery to take on the responsibility of being the player who keeps taking the ball and trying to make something happen...plus having the quality to be able to pull that off. It is what you'd expect from a top player but it's encouraging to see he has all of the ingredients there and can produce it when it's actually needed. I mean we're talking about someone we signed for peanuts from a championship side. You are right it's what's expected from a top player, but you wouldn't have had James down as being the one to show the rest of the team how it's done, so he's potentially a big bonus for me.
Its more what you would expect at a top team, rather than a top player. Although I have hope that James will turn into that.

You are right, nobody expected a kid with one year of senior football at Swansea to be showing up our forwards. To me, the fact he is both pleases and pisses me off in equal measure. It just shows how indulgent we've become of mediocre forward play.
 

golden_blunder

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Wanted him as our punt before we were linked to him, delighted we signed him but even more at the start he has made. Surpassed my expectations.

Workrate is exceptional, perfect for a team that’s wanting to press from the front. Pace is unbelievable but his attitude is what’s going to drive him to the top.

Well done Dan James, keep it up
 

Leftback99

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He's been better than i expected. Basically a first choice starter already. It's not that surprising because our other attackers a have been massively overrated in the last few years.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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I’m genuinely unsure whether him being such a stand out attacking force for us is a good or bad thing.

Really impressive, imagine how he’d look coming into a fulling functioning attacking team.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Was very impressed by him today.

He carried our entire attack.

And he works extremely hard.
 

flappyjay

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Put in crosses that should have been tap ins. It's what Ole talked about when he said Martial and Rashford have to start scoring more tap ins. They have to learn to be ready for those types of crosses
 

SquishyMcSquish

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He's doing so much better than I expected from what I saw of him in the championship. Always looked dangerous but so rarely does it translate and it's so hard to tell who will.

Fair play to the lad, deserves all of this success. Inevitably he will have periods of bad form/inconsistency, but he's showing he absolutely can be a really good player at the top level.
 

red4ever 79

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Was impressed today. Looked dangerous, put in a few lovely crosses across the six yard box. If we had a decent striker we could have scored a few today. He scored a beautiful goal and is rapid. Just needs to compose himself a little sometimes and take a touch but that will come.
 

Megadrive Man

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I’m genuinely unsure whether him being such a stand out attacking force for us is a good or bad thing.

Really impressive, imagine how he’d look coming into a fulling functioning attacking team.
Its a bad thing!

He had some good moments today, but he looks miles away from being ready for a top 6 Premier League team! I must have watched a different game to some of you but I thought he was terrible in the second half today?
 

settembrini

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Good performance.

Incredibly annoying that we have bought yet another winger who is clearly much better on the left though!
 

dev1l

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Are Rashford and Martial idiots for trying to drag him away from celebrating?

On a different note, he played well today. Looks better on the left.
No they re not. The idiots were the ones slating him over here.
Rashford and Martial as far as I know didn't make a fuss out of it.
 

Eddy_JukeZ

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Hopefully we persist with him on the left.

Just makes it more maddening we didn't even pursue a right sided attacker.

Martial/Rashford/James all perform better on the left than right.
 

haram

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No they re not. The idiots were the ones slating him over here.
Rashford and Martial as far as I know didn't make a fuss out of it.
What do you want them to do? Tweet about how James should have ran straight back to the middle of the pitch? They clearly knew what James was doing was wrong.
 

dev1l

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What do you want them to do? Tweet about how James should have ran straight back to the middle of the pitch? They clearly knew what James was doing was wrong.
The problem is the fuss created out of nothing over here. You have to understand that a 21 year old scoring in.his third game for the club would be excited.
There s no need to make an unnecessary fuss...as has been the case over here
 
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