Yeah it's been exciting to watch and I'm looking forward to slowly seeing the starting 11 getting nailed down in the next few weeks as people take their chances or not.
James has the kind of pace I've not seen since prime Valencia.
Manchester United vs Leeds (Wed 17th July, 12:00 UK time)
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James has the kind of pace I've not seen since prime Valencia.
He was good, looked more comfortable than he had in his previous games and more confident taking players on. He did great to win the penalty.
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We look much fitter and our pressing is more collective than individualism.
That's a good sign. We've also done better on counter attacks and 'breaking out'.
I still think we struggle playing out the back though. Still too many aimless hoofs for my liking.
We need a holding midfielder.
Jury's out on Fred if he can perform there.
That's a good sign. We've also done better on counter attacks and 'breaking out'.
I still think we struggle playing out the back though. Still too many aimless hoofs for my liking.
We need a holding midfielder.
Jury's out on Fred if he can perform there.
Too right, delighted to see the young lads given a chance and showing what they've got. Thought Pereira, Gomés, Chong, Greenwood & Rashford looked really good today. It will take time and patience, but in a few years time along with some decent investment we could have a proper exciting United team again.
We have loads of skilful, young, hard working attacking players. There are literally 5 or 6 who are genuinely exciting to watch even if they might not make it at the top level.
Then your heart feels with dread at the idea Lukaku might bother to run about a bit in a few training sessions and end up getting picked ahead of nearly all of them.
Then your heart feels with dread at the idea Lukaku might bother to run about a bit in a few training sessions and end up getting picked ahead of nearly all of them.
Haha those stewards must have been steaming!
If Lukaku isn't sold, he will play. No doubt about it. But I think Ole wants him to be more mobile, so weight loss will be key. The other factor is that he is on high wages. It would take a brave manager to bench a highly paid player.
And yet another factor is that Lukaku is EPL proven. We know he can score lots of goals against EPL opposition. The same cannot be said about the youngsters who did well against Leeds.
Agreed, it's so refreshing to see. Hopefully they'll keep it up and not get gassed after 30 minutes, like season.
Lukaku does not score against the top teams in the league. Maguire in and Lukaku out would strengthen the team. Ideally I would get a 28/30 year old replacement in on 80k a week. Greenwood will be the better player quite soon.
Watched the second half in full, the question is what does Lingard bring that assists the team. He appeared to run about, slow down the movement when receiving the ball, pass poorly and basically got in the way. Pereira. Gomes, Chong provided much more to the team, Martial also seemed to be outshone by the younger players movement, energy and contribution. Smalling and Jones were, what can you say, Smalling and Jones.
Great to see the energy and speed from the emerging talent, have to see if that continues against Pemier League standard opposition, that now becomes the big question.
Great to see the energy and speed from the emerging talent, have to see if that continues against Pemier League standard opposition, that now becomes the big question.
The Cleverley Effect. Bang average player who gets games for the biggest club in the country, so he gets picked by default. The second we sell Lingard, he'll never get picked for England again. City are about to sell Delph and further prove the theory.
Whose he replacing in those sides? He ain't getting passed Brooks or Fraser, no chance. Gylfi, no, Richarlison, no, Bernard, no. So there's Bournemouth and Everton out. Maddison, no, Tielemans, no, Gray? Maybe, that's his only chance.
Well we know Rashford can. The others you can debate how good they are or ready they are but it's been a while since we had a group of exciting young players so it's interesting to see how they'll be used.
The problem I have with Lukaku is he spent pretty much the whole of last season being shite. He wasn't fit enough, he didn't work hard enough, and now he doesn't even want to be here, so what chance is there of him being any better this season? He talks himself up like he's better than whichever club he plays for then proceeds to play like a drunk, sedated Emile Heskey.
Playing him at this point would be quite brave. Ole can lose games giving younger players and a preferred playing style a chance, and though he'll be under pressure, there'll be a degree of understanding and support. If he loses games picking Lukaku and having us fumble our attacking play around him, there will only be anger.
After last season and Lukaku's subsequent mouthing off I'll be angry the second he appears on a team sheet ahead of anyone at all. He isn't Ronaldo
Went to both games
Pretty obvious point, but Jones, Smalling, Rojo are huge liabilities. Both games they looked about 3 steps behind the game. Lindelof was class, bailly was ok. Wan-Bissaka was AWESOME! Is this what having a proper RB feels like? Dalot was struggling, but now i see him as nothing more than a back up so whatever. Young was pretty much invisible.
Midfield, matic is going to struggle this season. Mctominay already looks to have taken his position simply through being younger and more agile. Pogba had some sweet passes but you could tell he took both games as nothing more than a warm up session. Pereira was ok, gomes was ok, mata was ok, chong was ok, James was very good.
Fowards, rashford good at times, Greenwood good at times, lingard pretty average, martial pretty average
Pretty obvious point, but Jones, Smalling, Rojo are huge liabilities. Both games they looked about 3 steps behind the game. Lindelof was class, bailly was ok. Wan-Bissaka was AWESOME! Is this what having a proper RB feels like? Dalot was struggling, but now i see him as nothing more than a back up so whatever. Young was pretty much invisible.
Midfield, matic is going to struggle this season. Mctominay already looks to have taken his position simply through being younger and more agile. Pogba had some sweet passes but you could tell he took both games as nothing more than a warm up session. Pereira was ok, gomes was ok, mata was ok, chong was ok, James was very good.
Fowards, rashford good at times, Greenwood good at times, lingard pretty average, martial pretty average
Good to see the youngsters get minutes and do well. Pereira especially looked really sharp. Never sure what to make of Chong, has that uncanny knack of keeping the ball when it's bouncing off people's shins and he's getting tackled, seems a bit raw at the minute but there's definitely potential there.
Hard to judge us as a team based on friendlies which I stopped doing years ago. Leeds looked knackered from the off and most of their players were left home apparently.
Hard to judge us as a team based on friendlies which I stopped doing years ago. Leeds looked knackered from the off and most of their players were left home apparently.
This ^
The hate for Lingard on here is a bit too much I think. Yes he's a prat off the pitch (as i would be in my mid 20s earning tens of thousands a week) and yes he's not good enough to be a starter for you. But he is a great squad player to have and many teams, mine included would be happy to have him (and we were for a few months in 2014), he's scored some great goals for you lot including an FA Cup winner. But he has become one of the targets for all the ills at Utd like Jones or Young, weirdly players that have been proven to give their all for the badge again and again.
Well we're starting to see signs of the threat on the counter again which we had during that run last season before we ran out of steam. Can never judge too much in pre-season but hopefully we're as positive when it starts.
Lookit Ole filling out and getting sexier.
Much better game to watch than the one against Glory.
From watching the match, I do have concerns about our defence still, as at times it appeared far to easy for Leeds to get through us, and with a better striker likely scoring a few.
Gomes looked good whenever he got on the ball, but did have decent periods where he wasn't part of the game. Chong looked ok when he got on the ball, but felt that he often looked a bit out of place and likely still has a bit of development to do before he truly is at a first team level. I'm really glad Greenwood managed to get his goal at last, and hope it gives him confidence in front of goal at first team level now.
From watching the match, I do have concerns about our defence still, as at times it appeared far to easy for Leeds to get through us, and with a better striker likely scoring a few.
Gomes looked good whenever he got on the ball, but did have decent periods where he wasn't part of the game. Chong looked ok when he got on the ball, but felt that he often looked a bit out of place and likely still has a bit of development to do before he truly is at a first team level. I'm really glad Greenwood managed to get his goal at last, and hope it gives him confidence in front of goal at first team level now.
Both Perth and Leeds were rubbish. Leeds only turned up with 16 players and Bielsa arrived seperately. It's been two good run outs as far as fitness goes but I wouldn't draw too many conclusions from the games.
Defense is same story continue from back page. Need two good CBs in long term. But at least one desperately this year.
I think our fullback options are good with wan Bissaka a potentially top RB and if Shaw can carry on from last season and hopefully no injuries comes his way. Young and Dalot are adequate cover aswell. I agree that a top center back is still needed but there's not many out there that aren't already playing for one of the top sides and not for sale. It does look like we will sign Maguire and I do think he is a huge improvement on the CBs we have at the club.
I was impressed with Lindelof last season and is a player that will only improve with a consistent defense around him, something that we have not had in the slightest for years and that lack of defensive stability shows in almost every game we play especially last season. Our annual return to the inadequate pairing of Smalling and Jones and more recently the eternally injured Rojo and Bailly just can't continue if we want to progress at all this season. Every top team is built on a solid defense and until we have just that we can expect our defensive issues to continue.
Yep.. seems this way, and it's all about fitness and getting familiar with Ole's way of playing etc. I am not expecting much at all this season, as stated, if Rashford can hit 25, and two youngsters emerge, then I will take that.
I must say, that my heart sinks when I see those ssame old players.. Lindgard, Young, Martial, Smalling, Jones... who honestly, honestly thinks we can improve with those players. And you can see that they don't think they can improve. The club is too big for all of them. All of them.
The youngsters will bring an energy and freshness we need.. will also change the narrative around what the Manchester United team is..
Yep, Leeds were even worse than Perth, pre-season historically never gives a true indication of how the season is going to pan out. So I'll reserve judgment until Chelsea tbh..
They weren't that bad? they pressed us pretty hard and could have scored a few goals themselves.
For a friendly I thought it was a decent encounter. Much better than playing against 10 men behind the ball Perth.
Yea because Young, Rojo, Baily, Matic and the chuckle brothers are just clowns, Leeds were crap and it could have been about 6/7-0 had 'Rashy' and DJ not hit the post.. Definitely not a game to give us a true picture of the team! Inter Ya Nan on Saturday might be a better indication though!
The Perth stats for me are worthless. They kept playing it out from the back and they sucked big time. Any decent team would have stopped that after the first five minutes. However, it was good practice of a collective press up to a point. The leeds game was a so so performance but some good moments. We played at times with confidence but the flicks didn't always come off and hopefully we don't get punished for that during the season. We are short of goals still I feel and that's an issue. The new lads have shown promise however
Of course they'll be a harder test, as will Tottenham.
I'm not saying Leeds are brilliant but they gave us a decent match is all. Anyway better than getting stuffed by them!
True. First test comes on Saturday. On a side note I want to see Grenwood played in all three upcoming games. If he does well, play him against Chelsea.
Scrap during the game?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-utd-leeds-fans-involved-18335108
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/man-utd-leeds-fans-involved-18335108
Ohh I forgot about Spurs, now that will be a good level indicator for sure..
I hardly say we were worse the Perth we could very easily of gone in level had Leeds took their chances.
You’ve had over 10 days out there Leeds had 3 to get over the jet lag etc & you completely changed the team at half time so we’re much fresher, Leeds also having 6/7 first team players still at home.
Having said that you were far better but so you should be.
After all this years I'm still surprised by the fervorous belief that a player is better than others on merit of being called by the NT.
I was at work so couldn't watch but saw our goals, couple of bits of nice play in the build up
I know they all only played a maximum of 45 minutes each but how did our fitness look in general? Know it's not long enough stints for each of them to properly tell but does it at least look to be going in the right direction?
Comments generally positive about Pogba, I would like for him to stay and get the I'm going to turn up Pogba however unfortunately you're half waiting for him to down tools again if the going gets tough or that hes playing well because he wants to convince Real etc to sign him. I'd like to be proven wrong
I'm surprised Chong is allowed to play with his hair like that, I'd have thought they would make him tie it up/ put it in a headband etc for safety. Obviously minor point but surely it gets in his face and must be weird heading with less "feel"
I know they all only played a maximum of 45 minutes each but how did our fitness look in general? Know it's not long enough stints for each of them to properly tell but does it at least look to be going in the right direction?
Comments generally positive about Pogba, I would like for him to stay and get the I'm going to turn up Pogba however unfortunately you're half waiting for him to down tools again if the going gets tough or that hes playing well because he wants to convince Real etc to sign him. I'd like to be proven wrong
I'm surprised Chong is allowed to play with his hair like that, I'd have thought they would make him tie it up/ put it in a headband etc for safety. Obviously minor point but surely it gets in his face and must be weird heading with less "feel"
Also why didn't Lukaku play? Know it said De Gea was ill but I thought Ole said Lukaku would be ready for this?
I'd honestly be very happy to continue seeing Greenwood, Rashford, Gomes, Chong, Martial, Sanchez, Lingard tearing up the front line for one season without Lukaku. If we get Bruno Fernandez, lining up beside Pogba, McTominay, Fred, Matic... That's really a very good side in all fairness. And mostly home-grown. Would be amazing to reach top 4 with those. I don't think United's problems lay with the players so much as the manager and coaches. Fergie was always able to get a lot more out of the players than their ability and stature would suggest, punching "above their weight", if you will. I believe the board want to see a manager over-achieving for a limited period of time (such as: for 1 season, maybe 2), before fully backing him in the transfer market, instead of just trying to throw money at the problem. Throwing money at the problem rarely works without the correct approach and philosophy, I hope Ole has what it takes to instill that hard-working philosophy into this group of players. Because if he does, I think we're going to be able to bring in some amazing players in subsequent seasons.
I was wondering about this as well, but I prefer not to ask in case somebody, somewhere gets the idea that any United fan actually wants to see Donkaku in a United shirt ever again.
Haha very true I was concerned asking where he was made it sound like I wanted to see him, I don't
seeing the pictures he still looks bigger than I'd like to see but slightly slimmer maybe? We play Inter next hope they bring their negotiators.... I think he will suit the Italian league.
One thing I dont want is for us to wait it out then accept a lower bid than we should then be left with no time to replace him. I'd like to see more of Greenwood but we cant rely on him and Rashy. Not sure who we could get though?
They're all one-punchers, those Leeds fans. The big bald bloke looks like an elephant attacked by chihuahuas. Now he would stand a chance in real fight. The guy in white Leeds shirt is funny as feck, he must've amused the baldie. Why do wusses like that take part in 'fights'? They must know they look funny.