Rashford came off in minute 60, which was not long after his goal to definitely finish the tie. Bruno came off in minute 68 so I will give you that.
Tell me, who would you play instead? Garnacho, Martial, Eriksen injured, Antony ill. Sabitzer came back from injury.
Why not? McT and Sancho could have started instead of Bruno and Rashford. I mean when else if not after a 4-1 first leg win against Betis?
I think he just has to go for it now, at this stage of the season. He has no alternative really - thanks to Martial and Eriksen being fecked. On paper yes, he could have rested them yesterday, but it would have signalled to Betis that we thought we had the job done and weren't taking them seriously. Then imagine if we'd conceded in the first 20 mins or so - it would have been game on. I don't see that he can really afford to risk chucking either the Europa or Prem at this stage. I expect a full strength team against Fulham too as the players will get a bit of a break due to the internationals.
We have done that before with players, overpaying them while they don‘t even make the squad now. It is wrong. Most of all it is premature.
Today has generally been a good day.
An extended contract is his bonus, it will also be a disincentive for him to be poached by someone else offering higher wages
Because he is potentially one of the best managers in the world.
The Dutch player thing is overblown. We bought Malacia for a tiny fee and Weghorst because he was the best striker available for basically nothing. Frenkie De Jong is a world class player and a regular starter at one of the biggest clubs in the world, going for him was fine and he moved on in time to get Casemiro. The only other Dutch player in the squad is Van de Beek and he wasn't bought by ETH.
How do you know? We're top 3 (despite being fecked over by refs on a regular basis), have won the Carabao, and are still in the FA Cup and EL. Seems to me he's rotated the squad just fine so far. If we collapse at the tail end of the season then maybe that criticism will be fair but seems odd now.
Have always felt like SJR missed the trick with this one. He had the chance to top nine two foundation by creating his own sixty nine foundation. The effect should have been massive and he will get all the attention.
Next year we'll know how good he is cos he's learned about his players and the PL, so he'll know exactly what the squad needs.
I think you're being a little naive here - just looking at the minutes count. Betis are a pretty decent team and if we'd started with Rashford and Bruno and they'd scored early then it would have been a pretty stressful and mentally demanding game. Starting them both made us far more of a threat on the counter and allowed us to be more professional in getting the job done.
It's still too reactionary United are still within the season. Worst case scenario and the team finish outside top 4 with a domestic cup win does that count as a successful season. I believe ETH is a world class manager but the club are jumping the gun yet again.
Yes it does count as a successful season and would have even with out the cup, United actually look and play like a team now, that is a massive improvement on recent years, there's still a way to go but the path forward is clear.
There are two contradictory statements in this sentence.
We don't have a proper striker and haven't been able to play a settled midfield for a long time. If we didn't create chances then I'd be concerned, but we look dangerous every game, at least in spells.
Well, I could understand it if it was any other post-Ferguson manager but I believe in ETH to manage the squad and guide us through. We've bounced back well since Liverpool with what surely would've been 4 straight wins had it not been for a dodgy ref vs Southampton.
I don't disagree with you, it's a good strategy for this game specifically. It's bad though in the long run. ETH will have to hope that Rashford and Bruno in particular don't burn out before the end of the season, they've had next to no rest.
It’s not a criticism it’s based on friends who are Ajax fans who rave over ETH but say is only weakness is squad rotation, I happen to think at a United he will rotate more when he has his squad not inherited players from other regimes.
Based on what I see so far this season he seems to be the type of manager that wants an optimal squad (not necessarily the best squad) even against smaller teams in lesser competitions. That's why when the gap between his first and second option is so big, he'd rather play the first option from the start. I don't know how it was at AJAX, maybe they had the same problem given their resources. That's why the club need to make sure to add depth in the next transfer window, not just adding bodies.
He'll rotate more next year when he's signed a few more players and the younger players are further along in their development.
Exactly - I completely agree. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt over Anthony atm. I actually don't mind the fact that in his initial window he largely went for players that he knew their character and could trust - it was exactly what we needed, and that new culture needed to be instilled ASAP. In a way I'd have been more concerned if he'd got carried away with suddenly having tens of millions to spend and went after galactico types without the certainty of knowing how they would play together and their character (like some of our previous managers would have done). It gives me confidence that if new owners come in and give him a massive transfer budget he will be looking for the right profile of player for the team and club in general rather than signing superstars and then trying to work out how they will play together.
Feck sake what an insane season. 65 game season if all goes well with no full week rest for half of it
