First half peasants or come back Kings?

SAFMUTD

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Today was our 10th game comeback this season, no other team in the league is even close to us in that regard. We're also second half top scorers of the league this season.

We seem to be two completely different teams for one half to another, some even say this is some kind of strategy and that we take advantage of our superior fitness in the second half.

Do you consider this an strength or a weakness?

Does this proves the team's great fighting mentality and never backing down or is it a weakness and shows we are not consistent/focused enough at the start of games?
 
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TrueRed1999

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Today was our 10th game comeback this season, no other team in the league is even close to us in that regard. We're also second half top scorers of the league this season.

We seem to be two completely different teams for one half to another, some even say this is some kind of strategy and that we take advantage of our superior fitness in the second half.

Do you consider this an strength or a weakness?

Does this proves the team's great fighting mentality and never backing down or is it a weakness and shows we are not inconsistent/not focused enough at the start of games?
I would lean towards a strength but if we played with the same tenacity of that we do in the 2nd half in the 1st half we would be so much closer to City. We are getting there though.
 

Giggsy13

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Today was our 10th game comeback this season, no other team in the league is even close to us in that regard. We're also second half top scorers of the league this season.

We seem to be two completely different teams for one half to another, some even say this is some kind of strategy and that we take advantage of our superior fitness in the second half.

Do you consider this an strength or a weakness?

Does this proves the team's great fighting mentality and never backing down or is it a weakness and shows we are not inconsistent/not focused enough at the start of games?
10 wins and 1 draw from losing positions away from home. That shows the strength and character of this squad. However, we can’t sustain a title challenge playing like this in the long run, so our tactics and selections need to change. Our ability to come back shoes that we can blow away a lot of teams in the 1st half without having to resort to rallying everytime.
 

thepolice123

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We have an additional gear that we save for the second half. Could be tactics though.
 

thesheriffjw

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As good as it is, words need saying.

Its not a good thing to keep going behind. Soon it will catch up with utd and its their own doing, by not being pro active from the start.

Good but not great
 

SAFMUTD

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10 wins and 1 draw from losing positions away from home. That shows the strength and character of this squad. However, we can’t sustain a title challenge playing like this in the long run, so our tactics and selections need to change. Our ability to come back shoes that we can blow away a lot of teams in the 1st half without having to resort to rallying everytime.
I'd agree tactic would need to change, but it seems more of a motivation issue to me. Lots of the second half comebacks have been achieved without substitutes nor tactic changes at all.
 

el3mel

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Ultimately we need to improve the way we start games, but it proves that we're now capable of turning any game in our favors no matter what which is a big bonus.
 

The Original

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I think it shows that we start games in a dominant manner but are vulnerable at the back. This indicates that we need to either upgrade at CB or DM.

Once teams score against us they may cede the initiative and we currently have a team capable of wearing the opposition down.
 

SAFMUTD

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As good as it is, words need saying.

Its not a good thing to keep going behind. Soon it will catch up with utd and its their own doing, by not being pro active from the start.

Good but not great
I think we are all concerned by this, yes we feel confident we can turn it around but it only takes 1-2 bad results to crumble.
 

Random Task

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Does this proves the team's great fighting mentality and never backing down or is it a weakness and shows we are not inconsistent/not focused enough at the start of games?
It's likely a combination of both those things. A young team showing inconsistency is hardly surprising - a team under Ole showing fighting spirit even less so.

Ole learned his trade playing for a club that prided itself on never giving up, and has clearly indoctrinated that same mentality on to his squad of players.
 

always_hoping

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A clear strength, takes a lot of character and leadership to come back from a goal down to win. Ferguson sides was brilliant for doing that and never stopped believing in themselves as proved by the 1999 Champions league final.
 

SAFMUTD

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A clear strength, takes a lot of character and leadership to come back from a goal down to win. Ferguson sides was brilliant for doing that and never stopped believing in themselves as proved by the 1999 Champions league final.
I think if we were winning titles it would be something majestic, legendary come back Kings. But since we are not in that position yet it kind of feels as undisclosed potential. Like some have mentioned before it seems that if we played the first halfs the way we play the second halfs we would be up top.
 

charlenefan

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We're just a second half team, if we don't go behind in the first half it's normally 0-0 at the break
 

sullydnl

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10th comeback in the league but also the 15th time we've gone behind, I believe.

Not repeatedly putting ourselves in that position would be much more of a positive then repeatedly (but not always) dragging ourselves back when we do. We've gotta make things easier on ourselves.
 

Bobcat

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I would lean towards a strength but if we played with the same tenacity of that we do in the 2nd half in the 1st half we would be so much closer to City. We are getting there though.
Feel the same. Today as an example we were clearly the better team for the first 15, then Villa get the lead from an absolute worldie against the run of play.
 

Valencia Shin Crosses

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As good as it is, words need saying.

Its not a good thing to keep going behind. Soon it will catch up with utd and its their own doing, by not being pro active from the start.

Good but not great
We were very proactive today, their goal came from nothing after a sharp initial 20 minutes from us. People seem to not realize that even the best teams in football aren't constantly destroying the opposition for 90 minutes.
 

always_hoping

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I think if we were winning titles it would be something majestic, legendary come back Kings. But since we are not in that position yet it kind of feels as undisclosed potential. Like some have mentioned before it seems that if we played the first halfs the way we play the second halfs we would be up top.
I'd focus on the progress made and it's not just points and position in the table. Leadership, character & both aspects I would have questioned about this group of players before this season.
 

Abraxas

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It is clearly a consistent theme for very good reasons at this point.

The main thing I notice is we do struggle to get the ball from back to front effectively in the first half. We don't play our way out that convincingly and end up going backwards and sideways a lot. It usually ends up in us not creating very much and occasionally coming under pressure. Most teams have caught onto this weakness and press us well.

In the second half it feels like teams cannot keep that up indefinitely, and our fitness and power and pace that we have right through our team come into play. We get more space to play and as the spaces break open we also have counter opportunities.

I'm not sure what the solution is beyond getting a bit more control of the ball through midfield and defence, but it is not clear how possible it is with the current personnel as we are clearly not a possession orientated team in style or attributes.
 

Ludens the Red

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What I would say is once fans return. Teams at home in particular, who have been dropping these leads to us may not be so generous with a baying home crowd behind them. It’s great and all but it is in no way sustainable once crowds return.
 

Jonno

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For what it’s worth, we we’re the better team in both the 1st half and 2nd half. They scored a bit of a freak wondergoal yet we largely dominated albeit without scoring.

when we play like that I’m normally quite confident we’ll create enough to win.
 

Raveneye

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Remember how recently we were regarded as a counterattacking team unable to break down sides that sit back? When Pogba and Cavani are fit suddenly ceding the initiative to us becomes not so great an idea.
 

Mr. MUJAC

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Today was our 10th game comeback this season, no other team in the league is even close to us in that regard. We're also second half top scorers of the league this season.

We seem to be two completely different teams for one half to another, some even say this is some kind of strategy and that we take advantage of our superior fitness in the second half.

Do you consider this an strength or a weakness?

Does this proves the team's great fighting mentality and never backing down or is it a weakness and shows we are not consistent/focused enough at the start of games?
A game is 90 minutes long. Does it really matter when you score?

I think this whole thing of first half v second half is incredibly over-analysed.
 

andy0

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Can't keep taking this gamble, it won't always come off

There have also been some points complacently dropped in the last few minutes which shouldn't have been, like vs Everton
 
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Red_Aaron

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There is an element of our second halves making the first halves look worse though.

Today for instance we did little wrong, had some decent openings but then concede from a world class finish out of nothing.

Likewise spurs, we were on top, have a perfectly good goal ruled out then they score from there only decent opening.

We could've easily led both of those games on another day.

Not saying there isn't things to work on but I do think the narrative around us is somewhat taking on a life of its own at times.
 

jesperjaap

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Is definately both. Shows a strength of character and determination for sure.

Some of our second half performances have been excellent this season....but that certainly masks the fact and even helps us forget, so many first half showings have been absolutely woeful to the level of our overall form before Christmas.

It is odd the number of games, not even this season but for several now that we have started off brightly for 10-15mins, not scored and then its almost as if we run out of ideas or confidence and go to sleep for the rest of the half. The difference this year is we have often played well in the second half and been quite ruthless with our chances as well.
 

He'sRaldo

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Remember how recently we were regarded as a counterattacking team unable to break down sides that sit back? When Pogba and Cavani are fit suddenly ceding the initiative to us becomes not so great an idea.
Good point. You can feel the goals in the team nowadays as opposed to previously.
 

Borys

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I think we play very soft in defense, especially in first half the pressing is not aggressive enough, and we allow the opposition too much space and time on the ball.

That said, it certainly seems we've been rather unlucky with some goals conceded. xGA would confirm that. Luckily we've improved finishing in the second half of the season.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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Id take a guess and say in first half we try to play with elegance, control the game and be dominant. Then we concede and we throw it out the window and focus on scoring
 

owlo

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I feel our playing out from the back is horrific. Lindelof needs training on when to kick it out and when to pass as he just seems too blasé. Maguire is relatively poor. Henderson too. AWB is okayish, but Shaw is the only one who fills you with any confidence. This immediately puts us under pressure multiple times until we concede, at which point we feck around less.
 

MrSingh2002

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Oles lineups and tactics are usually shite so we only do well when the players go rogue and just play off the cuff attacking football.
 

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I reckon it has something to do with not handling the high press all too well. We have an insistence on playing out of the back and in the first half, opponents have a lot more energy to pin us back and capitalize on the mistakes. As the opposition energy starts to wane, out forwards come into the game more and the quality eventually wins out over 90 mins.
 

That'sHernandez

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It's better than when we would score and not be able to hold on to the lead because we could only play 60 minutes of football.
 

Rozay

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I must say that I wasn’t worried in the slightest at half time today.