How could you possibly be content with this?

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But what top manager would come to the graveyard of reputations? And why is it that way? Because of the way the club is run. And that's because of the Glazers.

Even a better non-top manger like Poch would struggle without a defensive midfield.
My Lord, so every top manager needs a top class player in every position to look better than Aston Villa? Get. To. feck with these shite excuses.
 

GBBQ

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But what top manager would come to the graveyard of reputations? And why is it that way? Because of the way the club is run. And that's because of the Glazers.
Look at that squad. Plenty of managers would love to take a crack at managing this team. Pep Klopp and likely Tuchel are the ones we probably couldn’t get. Every other manager would look at our squad and finances with envy.
 

croadyman

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Look at that squad. Plenty of managers would love to take a crack at managing this team. Pep Klopp and likely Tuchel are the ones we probably couldn’t get. Every other manager would look at our squad and finances with envy.
Yeah you have to say any of them cope better with the two defensive injuries today
 

BusbyMalone

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What, the game where we had almost 65% possession and outshot the opponent 21/7 to 12/3? Some "ripping apart"....

It's becoming absurd, people see what they want to see. Reality doesn't enter into it.

Today - horrible, gut-wrenching, maddening result, not anywhere near as bad a performance. By any remotely reasonable definition, we completely dominated this game.
I watched the game. Don't throw stats at me. I saw how many times Newcastle waltzed through us. As did Wolves. It's an issue, and even today was an issue. The 4-1 scoreline was flattering to us. Never said we didn't deserve to win it.
 

GBBQ

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Yeah you have to say any of them cope better with the two defensive injuries today
Our attack was unscathed for 90 mins and yet we only managed 4 shots on target. Injuries happen but we have depth to cover. We were just clueless and it was nothing to do with injuries.
 

croadyman

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Our attack was unscathed for 90 mins and yet we only managed 4 shots on target. Injuries happen but we have depth to cover. We were just clueless and it was nothing to do with injuries.
Totally agree but can see the Ole supporters and himself coming up with that as a reason
 

siw2007

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Now we have the team, this is Ole’s chance to shake off the average manager jibes. Unfortunately for him, the performances have not been good enough to do that. Results haven’t been atrocious but they aren’t exactly anything to shout home about and now it’s 3 defeats in 4. Ole has done well to assemble the team he has and should be allowed to try and turn the recent form around, however if he can’t take advantage of the brimming talent in this team then someone else will.
 

rcoobc

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Forget the club, the fanbase needs to find some common ground.

A Lingard screamer to win the match is great and everyones delighted but we shouldnt need a late Lingard screamer to win the match in the first place.

Yes SAF sometimes lost matches against weaker teams and sometimes we had to dig deep to find the win, but often we had comfortable wins or we wouldnt be champions.

Things are moving in the right direction but sloppy mistakes set us back, especially in the Champions League.

Ole needs to get the best coaching staff in the world, not an old boys club. Unless those are the same then more power to him.
 

OrcaFat

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Now we have the team, this is Ole’s chance to shake off the average manager jibes. Unfortunately for him, the performances have not been good enough to do that. Results haven’t been atrocious but they aren’t exactly anything to shout home about and now it’s 3 defeats in 4. Ole has done well to assemble the team he has and should be allowed to try and turn the recent form around, however if he can’t take advantage of the brimming talent in this team then someone else will.
He will get us firing again, he always does.
 

sp_107

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But what top manager would come to the graveyard of reputations? And why is it that way? Because of the way the club is run. And that's because of the Glazers.

Even a better non-top manger like Poch would struggle without a defensive midfield.
It’s not Glazers choice isn’t it ? When they have granted 130M budget then it’s managers job on prioritising the targets ! We all know DM midfield was one of the mostpressing things

Who stopped them to sell Lingard for 20M and Martial for even 30 so not only we free up wage bills but we could have bought a DM like Bissouma for 30M

Whole Redcafe was screaming for either Touchameni or Bissouma so why can’t a manager at one of the biggest club can’t see it !!
 

croadyman

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It’s not Glazers choice isn’t it ? When they have granted 130M budget then it’s managers job on prioritising the targets ! We all know DM midfield was one of the mostpressing things

Who stopped them to sell Lingard for 20M and Martial for even 30 so not only we free up wage bills but we could have bought a DM like Bissouma for 30M

Whole Redcafe was screaming for either Touchameni or Bissouma so why can’t a manager at one of the biggest club can’t see it !!
Because he clearly has an very unhealthy obsession with McFred and won't let it go
 

siw2007

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He will get us firing again, he always does.
He does have a habit of bouncing back which is admirable, he can coax a win out of the team when he is under immense pressure. But I think he needs to bounce back quick, starting with Wednesday night. Last years group stage exit in the UCL was annoying but forgivable because of the competition we had, this year we have to get through.
 

SAFMUTD

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But what top manager would come to the graveyard of reputations? And why is it that way? Because of the way the club is run. And that's because of the Glazers.

Even a better non-top manger like Poch would struggle without a defensive midfield.
And so it has started, we have a world-class attack and defense but can't dominate lesser teams without a world-class midfield as well. Poor poor Ole.

Bunch of excuses, Ole's time is running out I said at the beginning of the season bringing that much quality players would be his doom. Just as Lampard, Ole operated better under the excuse of "he's not got enough quality" but with the current squad there's nowhere to hide and it'll cost him.
 

Rockets Redglare

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But what top manager would come to the graveyard of reputations? And why is it that way? Because of the way the club is run. And that's because of the Glazers.

Even a better non-top manger like Poch would struggle without a defensive midfield.
You see it with Klopp and Tuchel, the top coaches elevate the weaker players to a much higher level, whereas I feel the top players at United do well in spite of Ole.

We’re wasting a great squad on a below average manager and a bunch of tactically inept yes men in the dugout.
 

justsomebloke

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The issue is when you're looking at the games of the top teams in the league vs midtable and relegation candidates, they're always going to look dominant by the stats.

Liverpool lost about 6 home games in a row last season, and if you go back and look at the stats for them games you'll see they dominate most of them in terms of possession and shots taken. Do you think they played well in any of them games?

You cannot convince me we played well against Southampton, Wolves and Villa this season for example. If you don't bother watching the games and just look at some of the basic stats then you'd have fans making the case that we dominated in all of them.
I hope you are not implying that I haven't watched the games? I've not missed a United PL game in more than two years. And I am not basing my argument on stats. It's just that sometimes they are clear enough that they clearly contradict some interpretations, and I'm consistent enough in the value I ascribe to them as a measure that I think they count for more than writing "I watched the game, and I thought we were the better team".

I was in any case writing about the Newcastle game, where the post I was responding to claimed we were pretty much lucky not to lose. By any reasonable definition we dominated that game, and it would have been a travesty if we didn't win it. In other words, I was taking issue with what I consider to be an over the top negative reading of our performance in that game. The trouble is, I think a lot of people generally mainly watch the United games, and base their expectations not on what they've seen from teams like Newcastle against other opponents, but on some idea they have of what teams like Newcastle ought to be able to do against teams like United. In reality, you won't see many Newcastle games where Almiron and St. Maximin don't generate a good few decent attacks, as they did against us, albeit more rarely than they do against most other opponents. They still don't often win, because even if they overload the box defensively they're not very good at keeping the goals out until the whistle blows, and they didn't on this occasion either. Why people see that as a failure of control is really beyond me. It's what you'd expect.

I don't think we played well against Southampton (although certainly well enough to deserve to win the game, and easily could have), certainly not against Wolves (where we clearly deserved to lose). Today wasn't great either, it just wasn't the absolute shitshow some here make it out to be - and we were better than Villa.

A rather key point though is that "did we play well?", "did we dominate the game?" and "were we the best team?" are not identical questions with the same answer. Far too many people who think we didn't play as well as we should talk as if that automatically mean we were the inferior team.
 

sp_107

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Buy Vanbeek and put him in bench
Pay 250K a week to Marttial who is not worth it
Buy 74m right winger and don’t play him
Instead of cashing in 20M on Lingard why they kept him and paying 5M a year wages
what is Mata and Matic still doing at this club

—-Fine, they can keep all the above if they want but why not they bought a DM ? Even a 8 year kid knows UTD were in need for a DM as McFred is not the answer...Why can’t so called management can’t see that
 

Judas

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Times ticking, how people can put up with utter tumescent filth like today from a squad with that much talent is baffling.

Ole and his staff are running out of places to hide.
 

Nevilles.Wear.Prada

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Chill. Mckenna carrick Ole Fletcher they all learning the curves. They eventually become good. Who were we kidding when we signed Molde manager while klopps Tuchel and pep snapped up by rivals? Everytime there is a pressure to deliver we will crumble. Kinda expected this. Alot of you are late to the party. Now Tuchel is gone, eventually ole will get sacked and they will get either a manager who is passed it or a yes man. He will stink the place up, then the fans be like "oh experienced managers are shit as well". Then they will bring another legend. Fun times ahead. What can we do?
 

justsomebloke

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I watched the game. Don't throw stats at me. I saw how many times Newcastle waltzed through us. As did Wolves. It's an issue, and even today was an issue. The 4-1 scoreline was flattering to us. Never said we didn't deserve to win it.
Yeah , I watched that game too. Just like I've watched a few Newcastle games this season. They always produce attacks like that (usually a good deal more frequently than they managed against us), and with players as good on the break as St. Maximin and Almiron they generally will. They generally however also allow at least two goals, and fail to win. There was nothing there you wouldn't expect to see. And it's no good saying "don't throw stats at me", as if it doesn't matter that the stats clearly show that United vastly dominated the game. As should the eye test.

Wolves, we not only had much bigger problems, we would have deserved to lose and were lucky not to. Never said anything other, and that's got nothing to do with the Newcastle game. Stats support that too.
 

Smores

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These periods of bad form were exactly what needed to be avoided if Ole was to progress us this season. Right now its looking like we've not changed despite a fantastic squad at his disposal.

Has to step up this season or he'll be gone. I expect we'll beat Everton and some of our upcoming big games it's whether we'll end up back here in a couple of months wondering why we're playing shit again.
 

The Man Himself

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I thought alcohol will help soften the blow. Ended up feeling more depressed.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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These periods of bad form were exactly what needed to be avoided if Ole was to progress us this season. Right now its looking like we've not changed despite a fantastic squad at his disposal.

Has to step up this season or he'll be gone. I expect we'll beat Everton and some of our upcoming big games it's whether we'll end up back here in a couple of months wondering why we're playing shit again.
Doesn’t that basically sum up his entire tenure here?

good for a bit, shit for a bit, good for a bit, shit for a bit...

Doesn’t exactly breed optimism that we’ll challenge for the title.
 

stw2022

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Doesn’t that basically sum up his entire tenure here?

good for a bit, shit for a bit, good for a bit, shit for a bit...

Doesn’t exactly breed optimism that we’ll challenge for the title.

And always 'good for a bit' soon enough to convince the right people he's turned the corner and deserves a new contract.
 

OrcaFat

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He does have a habit of bouncing back which is admirable, he can coax a win out of the team when he is under immense pressure. But I think he needs to bounce back quick, starting with Wednesday night. Last years group stage exit in the UCL was annoying but forgivable because of the competition we had, this year we have to get through.
Agreed!
 

stw2022

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We're giving him the benefit of the doubt usually afforded to managers who are going through sticky patches who have achieved great things in the past to deserve the benefit of the doubt just because we associate him with past achievements.
 

Offsideagain

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It’s no use blaming the Glazers, they have coughed up the money for Ole to spend which is considerable. I dislike them as much as anyone because of the money they have taken out of the place, a billion pounds one report reckons. I’m afraid Ole just doesn’t seem to motivate the team. Apart from Greenwood and Ronaldo, they seem to expect everyone else to perform. This week Ole is blaming the officials, mind you he did so last too and was correct but we should be beating Villa at home for pities sake.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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And always 'good for a bit' soon enough to convince the right people he's turned the corner and deserves a new contract.
Pretty much. 3 steps forward 3 steps back. We’re actually going nowhere under him.

If he stays indefinitely, he’ll get top 4 (unless Spurs or Arsenal significantly strengthen) & continue to win nothing under the guise of “progress” despite having one of the best squads in world football at his disposal.

I don’t know why the standard of so many of our fans is so low. Under Fergie finishing a distant 2nd & trophyless was an absolute disaster, under Ole it’s celebrated.
 

RUCK4444

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Pretty much. 3 steps forward 3 steps back. We’re actually going nowhere under him.

If he stays indefinitely, he’ll get top 4 (unless Spurs or Arsenal significantly strengthen) & continue to win nothing under the guise of “progress” despite having one of the best squads in world football at his disposal.

I don’t know why the standard of so many of our fans is so low. Under Fergie finishing a distant 2nd & trophyless was an absolute disaster, under Ole it’s celebrated.
Celebrated by who? Literally nobody.

Seeing progress albeit without a trophy is still progress. You fully expected us to win the league last season then did you?
 

OrcaFat

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How do you put up with this awful quality of football we are serving up pretty much every week
I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s a bit ragged at the moment but it’s the age old problem of a quality vacuum in CM. It’s no coincidence that when McFred are fit and in form we look decent and if not we look disjointed. Trouble is McT and Fred are not good enough, by which I mean that anything but their top level leaves us thin and exposed. And of course it affects the whole team. But it could be worse, for sure.
 

OrcaFat

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I think a lot of people on here see it that way. Its you that is in the minority.
I don’t think so. A minority of posters posting often and loud can make it look that way. Impossible to say. But I certainly don’t agree we always look worse than the team we’re playing against, the idea is pretty ridiculous.
 

croadyman

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I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s a bit ragged at the moment but it’s the age old problem of a quality vacuum in CM. It’s no coincidence that when McFred are fit and in form we look decent and if not we look disjointed. Trouble is McT and Fred are not good enough, by which I mean that anything but their top level leaves us thin and exposed. And of course it affects the whole team. But it could be worse, for sure.
Blimey if this isn't that bad I am worried for you but entitled to your opinion of course
 

OrcaFat

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Blimey if this isn't that bad I am worried for you but entitled to your opinion of course
Hey, I fully understand the frustration when it’s not clicking (and it’s been a tough little run) but we’ve played some good stuff in amongst the bad. Just got to get some patience, rhythm and tempo back so we can turn the screw a bit more.

It’s not scintillating, I’ll give you that.
 

PoTMS

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The excuses are wearing thin.

He needs the players.

We've accumulated a squad full of world class players. How dare us even dream about possibly winning the title when you have players like Ronaldo, Varane, Rashford, Pogba, Bruno, Shaw, Maguire, Greenwood, Sancho?

It's the Glazers' fault. He hasn't been backed and needs more time and money.

He's had three years of continuous investment. It's his choice to ignore central midfield for three years. The Glazers' don't account for his repeated tactical incompetence.

How do you expect us to mount a title challenge when we've got to face three of the best managers in the world in Klopp, Tuchel and Pep.

Well, yeah that's exactly the point. We have fecking Solskjaer. That's like challenging with one hand behind your back. When midtable clubs are getting the most out of their players, why can our own coach not with top quality players.

I genuinely do not get why we extended his contract. Not a single Premier League club would touch him at the moment. We are just a banter club now alongside Barcelona and Arsenal and all of us will be winning feck all in the considerable future as we've seemed to accept mediocrity.
 
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BusbyMalone

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Yeah , I watched that game too. Just like I've watched a few Newcastle games this season. They always produce attacks like that (usually a good deal more frequently than they managed against us), and with players as good on the break as St. Maximin and Almiron they generally will. They generally however also allow at least two goals, and fail to win. There was nothing there you wouldn't expect to see. And it's no good saying "don't throw stats at me", as if it doesn't matter that the stats clearly show that United vastly dominated the game. As should the eye test.

Wolves, we not only had much bigger problems, we would have deserved to lose and were lucky not to. Never said anything other, and that's got nothing to do with the Newcastle game. Stats support that too.
It's got everything to do with the Wolves game because there's a pattern there. The midfield is obviously an issue, but so is the fact that we are easy to get at. I said don't throw stats at me because I was talking about the ease in which Newcastle waltzed through us. You bringing up how much possession we had is irrelevant to that point. That's why I said don't just throw stats around like they prove a point because you are arguing against something I never said. I didn't say that Newcastle dominated the game or that they deserved to win. And the 4-1 result was flattering.
 

Beans

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Forget the club, the fanbase needs to find some common ground.

A Lingard screamer to win the match is great and everyones delighted but we shouldnt need a late Lingard screamer to win the match in the first place.

Yes SAF sometimes lost matches against weaker teams and sometimes we had to dig deep to find the win, but often we had comfortable wins or we wouldnt be champions.

Things are moving in the right direction but sloppy mistakes set us back, especially in the Champions League.

Ole needs to get the best coaching staff in the world, not an old boys club. Unless those are the same then more power to him.
I'm not saying this to defend Ole per se, but the overall strength of the league now is miles different to the days of SAF. Pretty much every EPL team has full internationals these days, thanks to the financial success of the league. It used to be the 3 promoted teams were 18 automatic points and a chance to rotate, for example. Teams like West Ham and Villa were routinely dominated by the best teams, but look at how crowded the table was last season! It seemed that anyone could beat anyone, any day.

By which I mean to say that success now will look a little different to how it did under SAF, more disappointing results and lower point totals at the top.
 

Judas

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Even with that midfield pairing which is woeful, we should be doing better than what we see far too often. But there's just not a plan, we all know it.
 

Devil81

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Ole has me swinging like a pendulum.

If I say I've had enough we start doing well and I end up feeling stupid.

It does seem like we're now treading water, I'm seeing no progression.