[justboy68]

Arteta shows what a coach with real potential looks like. He studied under Guardiola and you can actually see what he's trying to implement. Meanwhile we're sitting around and waiting for time to magically do something and turn us good? Time only pays off if you are actually working towards something. We'll continue to win one, lose one and finish where we deserve.

 

[meninred]

We made arsenal look good.I dont think Arteta did anything special.

 

[reddevil702]

How can anyone watch this and still wonder why players like Halaand choose to go elsewhere.

 

[Foxbatt]

We made arsenal look good.I dont think Arteta did anything special.

Well he got his tactics right in overloading our right side and then switching to the left where Ozil had too much space. Then he got them to take the near post flick where he again got it right. These things are practiced on the training pitch. Now at this level you do not need months to get it right. Just one day at practice. Now I do not know what would have happened if our coaching staff has seen that and realised that was happening and stopped it by getting Lingard to cover Xhaka. Or denied Ozil the space on the left. For sure they would not have scored the first goal the way they scored. Or if we had practiced defending against the near post flick at corners.

 

[gerdm07]

You know what. All goals are due to a mistake by the defending side. So are you saying that we should not practice defending against near post flicks? I am sure we do not because we also never take a near post flick corner. Actually any decent team does practice against all kinds of corners. The far post corner, the near post corner, the far post corner headed back to the centre or the near post etc.

The first goal was also the same. Xhaka had gone to the left and no one marked him let alone nleither Lingard or James even went to him. As soon as Xhaka went there Ole or someone else in the coaching set up should be on the touch line screaming to get to Xhaka.

re.
I'm sure we absolutely practice corners and that's where instruction is given. You don't yell across the field to change the setup or make sure someone is covered. I just don't see how that would work especially when you don't really know the setup until a few seconds before the kick. You know, people are moving around. These are professionals, not 10 year olds

You know what. All goals are due to a mistake by the defending side. So are you saying that we should not practice defending against near post flicks? I am sure we do not because we also never take a near post flick corner. Actually any decent team does practice against all kinds of corners. The far post corner, the near post corner, the far post corner headed back to the centre or the near post etc.

The first goal was also the same. Xhaka had gone to the left and no one marked him let alone neither Lingard or James even went to him. As soon as Xhaka went there Ole or someone else in the coaching set up should be on the touch line screaming to get to Xhaka.

You really think we don't practice corners? Sure.

No one (Rashford) followed the near post run a second before the kick was taken and it looks like Lingard's positioning should have been closer to the goal line.

Sometimes an attacker beats the defender to a spot and the kick is perfectly placed. In those case all you can do is hope the corner is not directed well.

 

[cyril C]

Disgraceful. Only Fred and Martial can walk off the pitch not completely ashamed of their performance. Ole is a coward. Starting Matic, Shaw and worst of all Lingard was a complete joke. Lost to the shittest, cnutiest team in the league. Will be hearing about Pepe's performance for years from Arsenal fans. Just feck everything

Not trying to defend Ole at all. But what choice does Ole had other than Matic? McTom was bench because of poor performance? Pogba was rested because of heavy (party) schedule? I thought Shaw was a natural choice but the 2 rested fullbacks had too much party time apparently.

 

[Strelok]

We conceded because Ole could not see the tactics of Arsenal. We never seem to practice and near post corners in either attacking or defending. The fact that Arsenal loaded the left side before the first goal and Ole should have been on the bench screaming at Lingard to mark Xhaka. Yet he did nothing just sitting in his seat.

I don't defend Ole but we lost mainly because our mid was too weak and a terrible mistake from Maguire in the 1st goal imo. Lingard was just invisible and useless as usual, Matic was no good in helping the left side. Fred got all the kicks in the 1st half whenever he got near the ball. They knew if they could nullify Fred then we'd actively have no midfield.

I've no idea why but our players seem so gashed last match, everyone looked so knackered except Martial and Fred. And in the 2nd goal no one bothered to mark Lacazette. He was free to run to the ball without anyone marking him.

Regarding Ole, his fault was the decision to play Matic on the left where Shaw is much weaker in defence than AWB and start Lingard imo. Should play Fred on the left to cover Shaw and Matic on the right where AWB is much more solid defensively.

 

[lewwoo]

We are the new liverpool. Lets just accept it. Going to be another decade at least.

 

[Flanders Devil]

As much as our defensive naivety cost us, our biggest problem is creating and taking chances.

And this wasn’t just today against an open arsenal team, even the win v Burnley we lacked real cutting edge and creativity. We scored one from a defensive back pass gone wrong and the other was in the 94th minute when they’d committed the whole team upfield. There were very little good chances created by our play makers in 180mins of football. That’s what I’m most worried about.

 

[Banana Republic]

I’ve been teetering on the edge of cancelling my Sky Sports and BT Sport subs, but the recent upturn and winning results had me hoping more was to come.
Even though I missed the Spurs and City games ‘cos we were away on holiday.
After this Arsenal match I’m decided. Both will get chopped today.

Unlike many of you guys, I’m an old git and have been supporting Utd all my life, from before the first time I was taken to OT at age 5, in 1960.
The worst periods of supporting the team in my living memory, were the early 70’s, before we got relegated to Div 2 and the mid to late 80’s..
This situation is right down there with those dark, depressing days IMHO.
I’ve now got that same feeling of there being no hope.
It’s going to take years to come back from this period in Utd’s history.

One or possibly 2 mediocre signings in January wont make any significant change to this squad and if Pogba is to be sold, I find it hard to believe any club will be coughing up the expected £100 million plus that the club expect to see. We’ll be lucky to get back what we paid for him.
Raiola might be shit stirring with his comments, but it could be enough to put one or two potential signings off coming to OT.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

We haven't had a squad since we finished second. Told certain people it was not on the manager. They refused to believe.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Arteta shows what a coach with real potential looks like. He studied under Guardiola and you can actually see what he's trying to implement. Meanwhile we're sitting around and waiting for time to magically do something and turn us good? Time only pays off if you are actually working towards something. We'll continue to win one, lose one and finish where we deserve.

The emphasis on time has to be the biggest logical fallacies used consistently on the caf. As if every manager given a certain amount of time becomes SAF, Guardiola or Mourinho regardless of progress, talent etc.

I've often seen people say 'you can't judge him until he's had so and so..'. Well you obviously can. Managers of Brighton, Newcastle etc all have objectives to meet. Why should a Manchester United manager not be accountable unless he gets two more midfielders? It's absurd. Nobody in the real world actually operates in this manner.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Oof, THIS has been said by Ole about Pogba's injury. Subtext...?

"Three or four weeks maybe, I don't know. He's been advised to have an operation by his people and he'll probably do that."

Who is running this team exactly.

 

[Godfather]

We haven't had a squad since we finished second. Told certain people it was not on the manager. They refused to believe.

No style of football, no pull in the transfer market, no proper in game management, all things that ARE up to the manager. Shit squad or not Ole isn't doing well enough with the resources he has

 

[Godfather]

Who is running this team exactly.

It's a joke.

 

[MackRobinson]

I’m sorry I wasn’t aware the only two options are Ole and Mourinho.

Bad joke

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

No style of football, no pull in the transfer market, no proper in game management, all things that ARE up to the manager. Shit squad or not Ole isn't doing well enough with the resources he has

What resources are these exactly?

This is another classic Charles X argument. Some of you forget nothing and learn nothing. it's the same lie you pushed under a JM and those before him.

 

[Godfather]

What resources are these exactly?

This is another classic Charles X argument. Some of you forget nothing and learn nothing. it's the same lie you pushed under a JM and those before him.

We just spanked out 80 millions on an underwhelming centre back in the summer instead of focusing on our most pressing need. A proper CM.

Plus look at our player material and tell me we shouldn't have done better than we have. Not talking about Arse now as they had better players available but in general.

And all of you in the Ole in brigade always ignore the main arguments against him. What is his style of play? Is it any different than what we saw under Mou? Counter attacks is not a proper strategy most of the time. Especially not against deep sitting sides.

He won't succeed here. Not now and not with a better squad. He just isn't a good manager. Yes our squad needs proper investment. Nobody denies that and nobody expects him to win the league with the players he has. But a proper manager would get us playing better football.

 

[The Urban Goose]

Players such as Rashford, flourishing in counter-attacking environments, immediately look hapless when finding themselves against a deep shape that won't allow for wide space to run into.

It's my belief that Martial is the only forward currently in the first team who can be effective against deep sides. At least he can dribble in small spaces and force the issue. Both James and Rashford are entirely dependent on the space allowed to them.

I think it's fairly common consensus that Rashford is as you describe; he's like a playstation player - either does everything himself or nothing at all. He's done well this year with his scoring but there's a hell of a long way for him to go before he'll be the "finished product".

He's like Andy Cole of Newcastle era (scores goals but very limited team interplay), he now needs to work on his all-round game.

 

[manichester]

The club mentality from the top is money, and this filters down from the top to the bottom.

 

[Sultan]

I think it's fairly common consensus that Rashford is as you describe; he's like a playstation player - either does everything himself or nothing at all. He's done well this year with his scoring but there's a hell of a long way for him to go before he'll be the "finished product".

He's like Andy Cole of Newcastle era (scores goals but very limited team interplay), he now needs to work on his all-round game.

Difficult to assess by watching strikers on TV. You miss the runs and the space they are making due to TV cameras mainly focusing on, and following the ball. RvP and Rio talked about this after the game. Strikers not receiving the ball was the issue.

I'm not sure the strikers could have done much more than making runs and be available to receive passes from either the defence of midfield. Our problem is lack of creativity and not the quality of our attackers. I would say the front 3 is the only part of the team which is functioning properly.

 

[The Urban Goose]

Difficult to assess by watching strikers on TV. You miss the runs and the space they are making due to TV cameras mainly focusing on, and following the ball. RvP and Rio talked about this after the game. Strikers not receiving the ball was the issue.

I'm not sure the strikers could have done much more than making runs and be available to receive passes from either the defence of midfield. Our problem is lack of creativity and not the quality of our attackers. I would say the front 3 is the only part of the team which is functioning properly.

Completely agree about TV, but it's clear there is a general lack of movement during attacking phases.

Ian Wright actually said something interesting last night though (yes, I know), that as a striker it's very demoralising if you're pressing but you look behind at the midfield and no-one else is bothering. At that point you might as well not bother and save energy. This was in the context of Martial starting brightly but then drifting through the first half.

The decision to play Lingard last night was baffling.

 

[mattunited1978]

Maguire and Lindelof were shocking, absolute rubbish.

 

[Craig Ward]

We were always going to have an inconsistent season - with injuries also this result doesnt surprise me. it just confirms the need to rebuild the entire squad.

Ole talks about changing the mentality and culture of the club a lot - he's saying this for a reason. We have so few players who potentially have the kind of mindset needed to be a success here.

Ole needs another few transfer windows to get players out and players in.

It was a very poor performance against arsenal. We weren't at it and deserved to lose. No positives out of the game from me, just one to accept and forget and move on.

If we dont sign a couple of midfielders soon we can expect much of the same.

 

[M16Red]

We haven't had a squad since we finished second. Told certain people it was not on the manager. They refused to believe.

The squad is so thin, whatever is going on with Pogba needs sorting - personally I think he's a waste of space as person and self-motivated. As a player he is our most creative, I think Ole was hoping he'd play this game and the "virus" has struck.

There is still three players in that starting lineup that wouldn't bother me if they left.

Where is Garner? The U23 haven't played since the 16th. We all know Lingard isn't good enough, Ramazani is bang on form and I not joking in current form id prefer him to Lingard.

Terrible performance from Lingard.

 

[crossy1686]

Doesn’t matter who the manager is.
Teams are still going to target Shaw, Lingard still isn’t going to get an assist or a goal and our midfield still isn’t going to find the runs of our strikers.
If we can’t even be first in the tackle either then yesterday is what happens also.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

We were always going to have an inconsistent season - with injuries also this result doesnt surprise me. it just confirms the need to rebuild the entire squad.

Ole talks about changing the mentality and culture of the club a lot - he's saying this for a reason. We have so few players who potentially have the kind of mindset needed to be a success here.

Ole needs another few transfer windows to get players out and players in.

It was a very poor performance against arsenal. We weren't at it and deserved to lose. No positives out of the game from me, just one to accept and forget and move on.

If we dont sign a couple of midfielders soon we can expect much of the same.

Ironic, because Ole CLEARLY doesn't have the mindset to be a success either.

His post match comments after losses are a disgrace.

 

[fps]

See it now sorry.

Also saw a couple of things on Twitter about it now too.

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

A month seems optimistic though.

Any player can get injured. But from an outsider’s perspective surely they have mishandled the injury if Pogba has now tried twice to come back and not been able to last a match without a huge recovery period.

 

[fps]

Doesn’t matter who the manager is.
Teams are still going to target Shaw, Lingard still isn’t going to get an assist or a goal and our midfield still isn’t going to find the runs of our strikers.
If we can’t even be first in the tackle either then yesterday is what happens also.

On paper Arsenal had a better team than us, in my opinion, yesterday. I’m confused by people suggesting they didn’t although I’m happy to discuss it.

 

[Clanrickard]

Why when Kolasinc was booked in the 3rd minute did James not run and run at him. Kokasinac is physical and would be a good bet for a 2nd yellow. Bad game management to me.

 

[Sultan]

I think Ole should have gone with 2 wingers yesterday after the first-half performance. Ole just changed the personnel. Greenwood should have played with Martial down the middle and James kept on - due to lack of midfielders and any creativity down the middle I think that should be the thinking and process going forward.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

We haven't had a squad since we finished second. Told certain people it was not on the manager. They refused to believe.

Alot of it is though.

He chose to start Lingard and Shaw. He got tactically outclassed by a rookie manager. He refused to make any changes when we were 1-0 down and completely on the ropes. He still never made any changes at half time. He chose to look like a complete laughing stock in terms of Paul Pogba not playing.

 

[Sultan]

Why when Kolasinc was booked in the 3rd minute did James not run and run at him. Kokasinac is physical and would be a good bet for a 2nd yellow. Bad game management to me.

He should have had a second. Unfortunately, the team weren't able to get James into the game such was the intensity and pressing from Arsenal.

 

[AnotherDayIsToday]

Manchester united is now a disaster.
They need to buy a bunch of players, it is a pain to watch this team.

The need to drop 2 levels down then the less shit players will be picked up buy other clubs and the others have to drop 75% in salary and will disappear by themselves.

When everything is cleaned up, they can start the rebuild!

Something has to be done.

 

[RedAlways78]

Spurs and Chelsea have been terrible. Top 4 is up for the taking. Then we produce a performance like that!

 

[RedPed]

Robin van Persie called out Ole last night for probably the main thing that's pissing me off about him right now. Whenever we lose or put in a bad performance, Ole still feels the need to be jovial and upbeat. No manager should be smiling after a defeat. I don't know what he's like in the changing room but I want to see some fire and passion when we lose.

You can't defend the indefensible. His post match comments were just pure BS. We were shocking against Arsenal....and we have Wolves, City and Liverpool this month. Great!

 

[Bestietom]

As Rio and van Persie pointed out. Our forwards were making the runs, but no one had the skill or courage to try the pass. We need top midfielders ASAP.

 

[EireRed_GS]

Im not too sure how many 2/10 performances i can take from Lingard. Really. hes had soo many this season so far. In any other team, anyone that consistently plays utter garbage is dropped and never starts games.... yet here we are starting him once again (this time because he once scored a goal at the emirates and had a little dance). Was anyone truly expecting anything different from the usual because of that?? He adds nothing to the team, creates zero. Should consider himself lucky to make the bench

Shaw is another player i think is done at United. Williams looks much better when on.

Maguire pretty shocking, but i know he is better than that. he generally puts in a decent shift.

 

[mitchmouse]

Ole and Maguire's post-match interviews just made me cringe. same old nonsense about sometimes being outplayed and/or we have to regroup and go again. Utter bollocks. We were so mediocre. barely worked their keeper (for about the 15th time this season), little creativity and almost no movement up front - certainly no clever movement. Awful. truly awful in the 1st half. Sorry but the players aren't good enough, the manager isn't good enough and the coaching/training appears non-existant

 

[mitchmouse]

As Rio and van Persie pointed out. Our forwards were making the runs, but no one had the skill or courage to try the pass. We need top midfielders ASAP.

not very clever runs... watch what Leicester do, let alone City and Liverpool