We finished 6th despite having a talented squad who finished second the season before because our heads weren’t in it.I don’t know what you mean
Really?Has he even steadied the ship?
He has this season to do so.Has he even steadied the ship?
You can't just disgard part of a match and say everything is fine. The full 90nminutes matter and we almost always have spells of being disastrousTweet
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We played them off the park after 4 minutes. Everyone having a head wobble needs to get it together. He doesn't even have his major signing up front in the side yet.
We're back to square one, because he should have done so last season.He has this season to do so.
Football is played by two sides.After we scored the 3rd goal, what’s going on?!
It’s so disappointed to see the players dropping the gears. They can’t keep possession against 10 men Forrest.
but, they did come back. Everyone seemed completely exhausted.
Did you completely miss us finising 3rd last season and winning a trophy?Has he even steadied the ship?
XG doesn't even show how a team dominatedYou can't just disgard part of a match and say everything is fine. The full 90nminutes matter and we almost always have spells of being disastrous
Chelsea and liverpool were absolutely dire last year, and there were a few blowout results. Can't just look at the carling cup and call it a day.Did you completely miss us finising 3rd last season and winning a trophy?
I mean, I'm not disagreeing with the last 15 mins. It was weird to get outplayed. Almost as of the players were like "we got 3 goals, game over." But, when we were piling on the pressure and pushing for the initiative we had full control and created many chances. Which resulted in us wrestling back the result with 3 goals.Yeah, slightly peculiar. We did relinquish initiative after going ahead though - partly due to Sancho not being able to hold the ball up, retain or move it on quickly enough, and defence settling into holding pattern without sufficient intensity. SAF or even most of the better managers in PL right now would have been setting us up to go for the throat, especially with a man advantage, at home, to lower-end side.
Do we look like a team that is stable?Really?
Comes from the DOF not picking the targets. A criticism I will always give this club for Murtough having no vision.I still ask the question why we haven't signed a midfielder who can 1) defend and 2) pass the ball. We will NEVER win anything with this midfield (even if Mount comes back).
Needs more time, apparently. I see that you wouldnt give him any more time?We're back to square one, because he should have done so last season.
In a league where Liverpool and Chelsea were poor, and a mickey mouse trophy. Bear in mind we nearly threw away top 4 to Liverpool after we won the cup and limped to 3rd place only because the teams below us messed up.Did you completely miss us finising 3rd last season and winning a trophy?
Your attempt at downplaying the win by saying that we would not have won without the penalty is absurd and clearly derives from your agenda against Ten Hag. We were dominating the game at that point and were creating chance after chance.Well what good was in that match other than coming back to win against relegation fodder as we ought to? We had no composure, we were all over the place, and they had better chances down to 10 men than with 11. What do you see that suggests ETH is the man for the job?
Good post as always Adnan. Don’t know if I’d agree with Mount being all that physical though. A stamina machine and workhorse for sure but still a bit lightweight and goes missing easily. Anyway I’d love to know the reasoning behind Rashford being the last line of defence. Seems like an oversight. Back in the day common sense dictated your fullbacks were the ones left back. Sometimes the old ways work best.The team showed great character to come back from 2-0 down and win the game. Two mistakes by Rashford in defensive transition and from Wan Bissaka when he turned his back on the ball, cost us two goals. But otherwise I thought we played good and played the majority of the game in the opponent's half, hence we scored 3 goals.
The issue ten Hag needs to address is that the team is lacking in athleticism in defensive transition. And add another midfielder who is comfortable operating as the first receiver. But whether the Glazers sanction funds for two more signings remains to be seen but that's what we need and its difficult to point out the profile of player that is required to raise the technical and athletic level of the team.
Jurgen Klopp's tactics are centred around a high level of physical and athletic capabilities. Without him signing those types of players his tactics wouldn't work in the EPL. Klopp's Liverpool have been successful because his teams have been able to control defensive transitions which has allowed his team to play in the opponent's half with a strong rest defense who are capable of containing opposition transitions in larger spaces. Hence the forwards can press more effectively due to the control the players behind give them out of possession.
Guardiola himself has realised that he needs to pay more attention to controlling defensive transitions and also being a bigger threat in transition himself. Hence the likes of Ake, Akanji etc were signed to control the defensive transition and Doku to be a threat in offensive transition.
Hojlund and Mount isn't bad to raise the level but we need more players.
Haha just random nonsense.Yeah, the pen, the first two of our goals. We were throwing caution to the wind and went all guns blazing, when teams like City and Arsenal would stay calm and trust their style of play. We don't even have that and can't control a game against 10 championship level players.
He's wasted 400 million and the team has clearly regressed and come out of pre-season unfit and unprepared. Would you give a manager time after that? He hasn't got a clue what we wants from this team.Needs more time, apparently. I see that you wouldnt give him any more time?
Not an argument, nor was what I said random nonsense, but continue to ignore ETH's issues.Haha just random nonsense.
League or CL. Anyone can win Carling Cup.We literally won a cup last year with this same midfield?
I agree. I'm struggling to celebrate today (don't kill me top reds) because it just seems like a paper over the cracks type of win. We're on for a long and disappointing season if we can't get our act togethe fastWe were desperately shite in the first 15 and last 20 minutes. Decent in the middle.
But this is Forest at Old Trafford. Same with Wolves. We keep playing like this it's going to be a very grim season.
At least last season we dominated these games at OT. If we cant even do that we'll struggle to hit 60 points let alone the 80 we should be aiming for.
He seems like an intelligent man who does know what he wants. He's already said the players ignore his instructions. But he has had £400m to buy his own players who will follow his instructions, so defense of him can only extend so farHe's wasted 400 million and the team has clearly regressed and come out of pre-season unfit and unprepared. Would you give a manager time after that? He hasn't got a clue what we wants from this team.
The prep is what is most concerning, the team are better than they are showing but the physical level is well below where they need to be for this stage of the season.He's wasted 400 million and the team has clearly regressed and come out of pre-season unfit and unprepared. Would you give a manager time after that? He hasn't got a clue what we wants from this team.
Of course it's nonsense. How you can criticize our first two goals is beyond me. Both well worked goals against fully set defenses.Not an argument, nor was what I said random nonsense, but continue to ignore ETH's issues.
Are they? Or is that an excuse when things go horribly wrong? He hasn't taken responsibility for his own mistskes, because it's very obvious the players are told to play this way. I also don't see a set style of play or patterns, but you go ahead and see what you want to see.He seems like an intelligent man who does know what he wants. He's already said the players ignore his instructions. But he has had £400m to buy his own players who will follow his instructions, so defense of him can only extend so far
Careful, you're not blaming the players and giving ETH criticism!The prep is what is most concerning, the team are better than they are showing but the physical level is well below where they need to be for this stage of the season.
That is on the coaching team as much as the individual players.
Where does this caf expectation of full 90 minutes of dominance come from? Hardly any games have one side dominating for full 90 minutes, and neither did we do during SAF era barring some games with amazing form.You can't just disgard part of a match and say everything is fine. The full 90nminutes matter and we almost always have spells of being disastrous
No it isn’tFootball is played by two sides.
Nottingham decided to attack. That's what happened.
Great post. I think your points here are a big reason for EtH sticking with Wan-Bissaka at RB. He's an absolute beast physically and I wouldn't be surprised if he's gotten a lot of 1 on 1 coaching to improve his technical abilities and movement. He's looking more and more comfortable on the ball.The team showed great character to come back from 2-0 down and win the game. Two mistakes by Rashford in defensive transition and from Wan Bissaka when he turned his back on the ball, cost us two goals. But otherwise I thought we played good and played the majority of the game in the opponent's half, hence we scored 3 goals.
The issue ten Hag needs to address is that the team is lacking in athleticism in defensive transition. And add another midfielder who is comfortable operating as the first receiver. But whether the Glazers sanction funds for two more signings remains to be seen but that's what we need and its difficult to point out the profile of player that is required to raise the technical and athletic level of the team.
Jurgen Klopp's tactics are centred around a high level of physical and athletic capabilities. Without him signing those types of players his tactics wouldn't work in the EPL. Klopp's Liverpool have been successful because his teams have been able to control defensive transitions which has allowed his team to play in the opponent's half with a strong rest defense who are capable of containing opposition transitions in larger spaces. Hence the forwards can press more effectively due to the control the players behind give them out of possession.
Guardiola himself has realised that he needs to pay more attention to controlling defensive transitions and also being a bigger threat in transition himself. Hence the likes of Ake, Akanji etc were signed to control the defensive transition and Doku to be a threat in offensive transition.
Hojlund and Mount isn't bad to raise the level but we need more players.
Agree with this. We still look open as feck for counters, can’t see out a game properly to save our lives, and are incredibly unthreatening going forward. Maybe Hojlund helps, but he continues to start Antony endlessly and our midfield looks like a disaster with Eriksen still being a better player than Mount.I agree. I'm struggling to celebrate today (don't kill me top reds) because it just seems like a paper over the cracks type of win. We're on for a long and disappointing season if we can't get our act togethe fast
What have the Romans ever do for us, other than...Well what good was in that match other than coming back to win against relegation fodder as we ought to? We had no composure, we were all over the place, and they had better chances down to 10 men than with 11. What do you see that suggests ETH is the man for the job?
There's nothing to suggest he's in the habit of lying, so I can only give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Also a number of these players have previous for downing tools and doing whatever they feel like. I'm inclined to trust Ten Hag and believe some of the players either aren't capable of doing what he asks or aren't willing to try to adapt their game. De Gea was one of those players who refused to change, and I'm sure there are a few others in this team. But again, Ten Hag isn't beyond criticism and he's had adequate resource to replace many of these players if he chose to so he's at fault either wayAre they? Or is that an excuse when things go horribly wrong? He hasn't taken responsibility for his own mistskes, because it's very obvious the players are told to play this way. I also don't see a set style of play or patterns, but you go ahead and see what you want to see.
I think there is always this desire to back the manager and, in the cases of guys like Van Gaal and Ten Hag, buy into the mythos that we create based on what we want and hope them to be. Leads to people looking to shift blame onto other parties and ignore potential concerns. We also see this with new signings though it tends to wear off faster.Careful, you're not blaming the players and giving ETH criticism!
It's not about 90 of dominance, it's about not completely falling apart for large parts of the match. Last season we'd only turn up for 45 minutes for most gamesWhere does this caf expectation of full 90 minutes of dominance come from? Hardly any games have one side dominating for full 90 minutes, and neither did we do during SAF era barring some games with amazing form.
