Manchester United vs Perth Glory (Sat 13th July, 12:00 UK time)

Gapingrocket

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jun 19, 2016
Messages
25
Location
Manchester
Positives - James, Greenwood, Gomes, having a competent right back, Tuanzebe (although not much of a test), Garner goal

Negatives - Chong, matic, Rojo shooting from 45 yards, martial as a striker

Hard to judge overall, unspectacular performance sprinkled with exciting moments throughout.

My biggest takeaway was that we will need another striker in if lukaku goes, Martial is never ever a striker (despite his finishing ability), he is more likely to be overlapping a winger than in the box waiting for a cross. Don’t mind rashford as 1st choice, but 1 injury and we would be in trouble.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Bastian

Full Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
18,571
Supports
Mejbri
After re-watching the game a couple of observations:

We seem to want to play out from the back with one of the midfielders picking the ball up very deep. If we had been up against a better opposition some of our play would have spelled trouble as we repeatedly passed the ball into traffic - i.e. a midfielder with his back to play and an opposition attacker 2-3 yards off him. But since Perth had zero intensity, it was fine. Surely this means we will buy a midfielder capable of picking the ball up deep, someone with technical ability and the required mobility. Pogba dallies on the ball in those positions and creates trouble, Pereira and Fred have both made terrible mistakes there and never gave the impression they could handle it. And Matic is no spring chicken, though he's the best we've got there. Buying a centre back more comfortable on the ball won't single handedly solve this issue either, we need this functionality in our midfield.

Another issue is at left back. Shaw was already strapped around his thigh and then he picks up an injury. I've seen the point made that we tied all the old boys down to new deals because we'll need numbers in a high intensity style of play in the new season where we're bound to pick up more injuries. Well, I'm not sure that point holds for stockpiling 7 centre backs (when we've bought a new one) but there is no way in the world we should only have one left back, and a very injury prone one at that.

Otherwise, great to see the young players getting playing time and hopefully our decision making in the final third will become more nuanced with each passing game.
 

MrSingh2002

New Member
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
4,408
It's amazing what happens when you replace your worst players with good players.

Valencia/Sanchez being replaced by AWB and James was great to see even for 45 minutes each.

Standouts for me were James, Tuanzebe, AWB, Greenwood and Gomes.

Just solidified my opinion that Matic, Jones and Smalling should be sold now while we can to give opportunities to current players and force the club to sign replacements. Offer Jones and Smalling to Leicester in a cash plus offer for Maguire.
 

NinjaZombie

Punched the air when Liverpool beat City
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Messages
10,149
Underwhelming scoreline.

Remember when we used to trash teams in the Far East?
 

noodlehair

"It's like..."
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Messages
16,331
Location
Flagg
Handré1990 said:
Cheers! Yeah, the first game is always more training than a competitive match. You didn’t think Gomes was any good?
Click to expand...
He was ok but I think people are getting a bit carried away. He didn't do much in terms of end product. In general the second half team looked a lot better, but you had Mata, Gomez and Greenwood who are all more suited to playing in tight areas when teams sit back.

Don't think it was a game you can take too much from. I like Gomez as a player but it's easy to look skillful in games like this.
 

SadlerMUFC

Thinks for himself
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
5,757
Location
Niagara Falls, Canada
Bastian said:
After re-watching the game a couple of observations:

We seem to want to play out from the back with one of the midfielders picking the ball up very deep. If we had been up against a better opposition some of our play would have spelled trouble as we repeatedly passed the ball into traffic - i.e. a midfielder with his back to play and an opposition attacker 2-3 yards off him. But since Perth had zero intensity, it was fine. Surely this means we will buy a midfielder capable of picking the ball up deep, someone with technical ability and the required mobility. Pogba dallies on the ball in those positions and creates trouble, Pereira and Fred have both made terrible mistakes there and never gave the impression they could handle it. And Matic is no spring chicken, though he's the best we've got there. Buying a centre back more comfortable on the ball won't single handedly solve this issue either, we need this functionality in our midfield.

Another issue is at left back. Shaw was already strapped around his thigh and then he picks up an injury. I've seen the point made that we tied all the old boys down to new deals because we'll need numbers in a high intensity style of play in the new season where we're bound to pick up more injuries. Well, I'm not sure that point holds for stockpiling 7 centre backs (when we've bought a new one) but there is no way in the world we should only have one left back, and a very injury prone one at that.

Otherwise, great to see the young players getting playing time and hopefully our decision making in the final third will become more nuanced with each passing game.
Click to expand...
Passing the ball to a midfielder with a man 2-3 yards behind him is on purpose. The midfielder will then pass it right back to the central defender in hopes that the player who was marking the midfielder will then chase the defender and open up the midfielder for another return pass. Think of it like "dangling a carrot"...
 

Bastian

Full Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
18,571
Supports
Mejbri
SadlerMUFC said:
Passing the ball to a midfielder with a man 2-3 yards behind him is on purpose. The midfielder will then pass it right back to the central defender in hopes that the player who was marking the midfielder will then chase the defender and open up the midfielder for another return pass. Think of it like "dangling a carrot"...
Click to expand...
Sure, but when said midfielder takes the ball and looks to play it forward it's a whole different ball game. Also, when the scenario you described happens (which is not what I was referring to) it's not ideal if the defender receiving the ball is uncomfortable on the ball, which at least 2 if not 3 of our 6 centre backs are. But mainly, the point I was making is that a deep lying midfielder has to be technically able to turn quickly with the ball and mobile enough to not give harassing attackers the opportunity to cause him to panic.
 

SadlerMUFC

Thinks for himself
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
5,757
Location
Niagara Falls, Canada
Bastian said:
Sure, but when said midfielder takes the ball and looks to play it forward it's a whole different ball game. Also, when the scenario you described happens (which is not what I was referring to) it's not ideal if the defender receiving the ball is uncomfortable on the ball, which at least 2 if not 3 of our 6 centre backs are. But mainly, the point I was making is that a deep lying midfielder has to be technically able to turn quickly with the ball and mobile enough to not give harassing attackers the opportunity to cause him to panic.
Click to expand...
I think that perhaps you are underrating our players ability on the ball just a tad...
 

Bastian

Full Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2015
Messages
18,571
Supports
Mejbri
SadlerMUFC said:
I think that perhaps you are underrating our players ability on the ball just a tad...
Click to expand...
Perhaps. Confidence is a huge factor. At times last season there was almost none of it. We'll see how we progress as a team and individual players.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.