[Wednesday at Stoke]

Tactically we were OK: Villa is very strong on set pieces and trying to exploit players with less ball control, no surprises there.
But we controlled the game overall despite using players with little senior experience. Not gonna lie: we controlled but we didn't play well, we were a bit disjointed when in possession and we still defend too much man-marking oriented, which makes our defenders life a bit more complicated.

Our set piece coach is going to get Ten Hag sacked unless he’s replaced soon. We have been diabolical all season.

 

[Betson]

Our set piece coach is going to get Ten Hag sacked unless he’s replaced soon. We have been diabolical all season.

Set pieces are a long running issue even before ETH took over and he has done nothing to improve things in that regard.

I think Rangnicks point about a lot of our players been physically very weak has a lot to do with how shambolic we are at set pieces.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Our pressing was excellent and organised in the second half which made a big difference. Players were arriving late to their men in the first half and it made it too easy for them to move it down the pitch, but once we got coordinated it worked much better.

Onana dodgy as feck on that first goal again though. And we never seem to put anyone at the back post on corners and we were caught out again.

 

[TwoSheds]

Set pieces are a long running issue even before ETH took over and he has done nothing to improve things in that regard.

I think Rangnicks point about a lot of our players been physically very weak has a lot to do with how shambolic we are at set pieces.

Those 2 goals yesterday were nothing to do with weakness and everything to do with focus. Ref had a chat with 2 players and our minds started wandering like 4 year olds with ADHD.

Rangnick can feck off, if I never hear that guys name again it will be too soon.

 

[André Dominguez]

Our set piece coach is going to get Ten Hag sacked unless he’s replaced soon. We have been diabolical all season.

Set pieces quality specialists are rare and expensive and usually taken, is easier sad than done, unfortunatelly.

 

[noodlehair]

It was a great performances from 2-0 down onwards. What I don't like is that it takes being 2-0 down inside half hour for it to happen. If Villa didn't get the second so quick we'd have carried on serving up garbage and moping around.

Either our players had to be shamed into putting a shift in by the crowd reaction, or it had to reach a point where the fear of humiliation outweighed the fear of trying before they could perform. It needs to happen from the off in games before it is any kind of "turning point"

We did it against Chelsea again when it had reached a point where the players left themselves nowhere to hide. This is the first even tiny spell in any game since where we've seen it. That actually winds me up more than the shite in between, because it shows we shouldn't be serving up that shite in the first place.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

That was very enjoyable.

I was watching it with my brother-in-law (Christmas family thing) who is a pretty insufferable person at times, and who is a self-proclaimed expert on everything under the sun, including football. He was lecturing me on how shite United are, how shite ETH is, how shite Garnacho is and especially how shite Højlund is.

To be clear, I don't consider this to be anything more meaningful than a personal victory for me over my twat of a brother-in-law.

But it still tasted sweet.

 

[redmanx]

Fans' morale is at an all time low, fans want him to get sacked, results are not going his way, the media are destroying him, every game could be his last game as United manager, HUGE pressure, yet he has the balls to put his trust in Mainoo (18), Garnacho (19) and Hojlund (20) and stick with them, even when they don't perform (bar Mainoo).

When we needed to shut shop and play out the game the team needed to stay diciplined and focused. Ten Hag trusted his young subs Gore (19), Mejbri (20) and Kambwala (19) to keep the formation's form and carry out his instructions. He could have easily put on a more experienced player like Reguilón. Yet he didn't.

Ten Hag has had a horrendous injury list to cope with plus the abyssmal form of so many players that its no wonder we are where we are, but he must take some of the blame, especially in regard to some of those players he bought who have simply failed to perform. We need to clear out the dross and wasters and those past their prime or who were never good enough in the first place; Antony, De Beek, Martial, Casemiro, Varane, Lindelof, Dalot, McTominay, Sancho, should all be dismissed, and others like Rashford and Maguire given one last shot at redeeming their United careers or allowed to leave also. Young players like Garnacho, Mainoo, Hojlund and Kwambala should be given more and more starts and others in the academy brought along too. We only need and want players who are genuinally proud to wear the United shirt and who will fight every second of every game for it, the club and the supporters; the days of signing so called "stars" like Pogba or splashing out absurd money on "potentials" like Martial and Sancho or paying silly money for players past their prime, Casemiro, Varane etc must end.

 

[Buster15]

I’ll tell you what was a real Christmas miracle last night. Neither the equalising nor the winning goal involved any possibility of VAR getting involved. So both those goals could be properly enjoyed in the moment. A rare treat.

That is a good point. Var has definitely changed the spontaneous enjoyment that is the best thing about watching a football match.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Set pieces are a long running issue even before ETH took over and he has done nothing to improve things in that regard.

I think Rangnicks point about a lot of our players been physically very weak has a lot to do with how shambolic we are at set pieces.

Set pieces quality specialists are rare and expensive and usually taken, is easier sad than done, unfortunatelly.

Aren't we retaining the same coach Ole brought in before his final season? This is one thing Brailsford and his 2% philosophy can pick as a low hanging fruit right away.

 

[satish_united]

An exciting game finally!!!

I honestly had missed this feeling of us attacking teams like a pack of wolves.

The game really demonstrated importance of a player like Eriksen to this team. Also, for anyone who says the team isn't playing for ETH, they need to take a good look at the spirit of the team yesterday. Even the young Manoo was pumping up the crowd.

Need more consistency and hopefully our forwards will start to deliver regularly, which will take the pressure off defensive and Midfield.

Let's stick to Garnancho on the right and rashford on the left.

 

[Buster15]

Set pieces are a long running issue even before ETH took over and he has done nothing to improve things in that regard.

I think Rangnicks point about a lot of our players been physically very weak has a lot to do with how shambolic we are at set pieces.

True. We don't seem to attack the ball, either offensive or defensive. We seem to be rooted to the ground and happy to watch the other players attack the ball.

 

[Drifter]

I really enjoyed that. This is the best football I have seen them play in years. It was a throwback to SAF days. We need the momentum going into the Forest game.

 

[NLunited]

Also forced into it by injuries and the final realisation that Amrabat is useless. I dont think we can give ETH that much credit. He also sold Elanga to buy Anthony, having not played him last season in favour of Weghorst, probably the most technically limited player ever to pull on the shirt. How's that looking?

Pathetic post, Amrabat was injured, Weghorst was an emergency loan player, Elanga was showing nothing for us.

How desperate you are. You aren’t a MU supporter, try detractor.

Ten Hag managed the game very well yesterday. He made an adjustment in half time to improve our press and it helped make the difference.

 

[NLunited]

Set pieces quality specialists are rare and expensive and usually taken, is easier sad than done, unfortunatelly.

It is not rocket science. We also need players to have focus, they switched off for both goals. Varane especially.

 

[Guapa]

Great result,good performance but let's not kid ourselves Villa cut their own throats sticking with that high line.Let's see if we can do it again against a more compact side.

 

[pacifictheme]

That was very enjoyable.

I was watching it with my brother-in-law (Christmas family thing) who is a pretty insufferable person at times, and who is a self-proclaimed expert on everything under the sun, including football. He was lecturing me on how shite United are, how shite ETH is, how shite Garnacho is and especially how shite Højlund is.

To be clear, I don't consider this to be anything more meaningful than a personal victory for me over my twat of a brother-in-law.

But it still tasted sweet.

 

[OleTheGreat]

I have been sick in the last few month and Man Utd football really made me anxious but in the last few games although we haven't had good results, I can see the players charged up and I see a lot of interplay. I see that since Mainoo has comeback, our midfield has looked better. We pass forward more and when players see a pass, they just go for it instead of taking multiple touches and losing the ball or going backwards and recycling within the back 4. Regardless of who plays, I see a lot of that Ajax style football now. Erik Ten Hag has finally understood why we wanted him. It's not to play the Man Utd way, there isn't as such. Our way is to never back down and keep going for the win until the final whistle. Attacking football. Erik Ten Hag is the perfect coach for that, we need to counter press and go forward with 1-2 touches, interplay and reach the forward players quickly and that's what we've been doing lately. I'm lovin' it specially because all our players have gone a level or two up and it is great to see that. I don't expect a lot from them this season, we might still lose a few games but I want them to keep going like this and then provide Erik Ten Hag with one proper 36 alongside Mainoo and a Striker who is great with his back to goal and in the box. We'll be cooking next season!!!

 

[Danillaco]

Evans and Eriksen were immense. When we sold Evans, I was convinced he was still our best CB, and here is back after 7 years away and still our best CB. Eriksen's creativity has been missing for awhile, but I think he was instrumental today. Hopefully ten Hag sticks with this lineup.

He's not, I think. Varane is by far the best CB we have. But Evans is better than the industrial fridge called Harry. It's such a shame Martinez is out for so long, but I am surprised by Evans performances. He's been quite solid.

 

[TwoSheds]

Great result,good performance but let's not kid ourselves Villa cut their own throats sticking with that high line.Let's see if we can do it again against a more compact side.

That's how they've played all season, it's how they beat City for example. Ok they didn't play very well but we employed the right tactics against them and battled and pressed really well, we beat what was in front of us and did it well in the end.

 

[André Dominguez]

It is not rocket science. We also need players to have focus, they switched off for both goals. Varane especially.

It is very niche tbh, because it is a very micro management training type. You have to drill players so they can correctly decide when to do zonal marking and when to do mixed marking when defending. And you also need to drill them to adjust the zonal marking according to opposition positioning, etc.
Mixed marking must be deployed in case the opponent overload an area with tall players, etc.

But this is not easy to turn into an automatic pattern, players will move all the time on set pieces in order to create more unpredictability.

Offensive set pieces are "easier" to prepare, you mainly focus on opponent's bad habits and try to repeatably exploit them.

 

[RedUnited86]

I didn't manage to catch the game, so can someone fill me in on what changed in the second half?

Was it a shift in tactics that got us back into the game or a change in mentality? Were we winning more tackles, first to second balls, more aggressive etc?

 

[Hester_manc]

Kind of disingenuous to class Garnacho and Mejbri as our own academy players when they were poached from other clubs academies very late in their developmental trajectory, and at least in Mejbri’s case, cost a pretty penny.

Not my rules who is seen as academy player, and who is not

 

[Hughie77]

I've watched the whole game today. The 1st half was OK. Set pieces all game defending wasn't very good , 2 of those we concede from.
2nd Half imo it was much much better more tempo winning tackles winning ball on half way line passing direct running direct crossing the ball more, Eriksen and Mainoo were very good.

45 mins I'd like to see more of .. Garnacho on right a Rashford on left was better . Antony needs to stay as back up now and stick with that formation. Hojlund was in game more. Shaw at left back and Licha back in and a few more in CM it should get better ?

 

[Hughie77]

That's how they've played all season, it's how they beat City for example. Ok they didn't play very well but we employed the right tactics against them and battled and pressed really well, we beat what was in front of us and did it well in the end.

Villa play that high line , like spurs and its because of VAR , like Garnacho goal ruled out, without VAR team will not play that high as mostly the close ones flag stays down.. this is another way VAR has also impacted on the way football is played.. team need to work this out stay on side goals will come ..

 

[djembatheking]

Enjoyed that last night, love a comeback.

 

[Lynty]

That was very enjoyable.

I was watching it with my brother-in-law (Christmas family thing) who is a pretty insufferable person at times, and who is a self-proclaimed expert on everything under the sun, including football. He was lecturing me on how shite United are, how shite ETH is, how shite Garnacho is and especially how shite Højlund is.

To be clear, I don't consider this to be anything more meaningful than a personal victory for me over my twat of a brother-in-law.

But it still tasted sweet.

Brilliant.

 

[Snow]

Kind of disingenuous to class Garnacho and Mejbri as our own academy players when they were poached from other clubs academies very late in their developmental trajectory, and at least in Mejbri’s case, cost a pretty penny.

Don't think joining at 16 is too late to count. At 16 you basically become full time as your mandatory schooling finishes. It's around the age that you stop growing. 16-20 are the most crucial years. Up until 14 it barely matters where you grow up as long as you have decent, learned coaches.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

I've given him some stick but Rashford showed he is a different level to most of our wingers when he gets his act together, he has ridiculously low lows, but the ability to have highs that players like Antony can never get close to.

Rashford on the left, Garnacho on the right, seems the logical way to go for now.

 

[r0663664]

I was pissed that we went 0-2 down. Both were soft goals from set pieces, we were so easily expose by a ball into the box. I had a feeling that we will turn it around as we were quite close to scoring except for the final pass. Once the 2nd half, it really looks like the United of old where we went all out to score more than our opponent. I really hope this is a turning point of our season. Let’s pick up as many points as possible from now on. Hopefully, it will get us to top 4. Frankly speaking, this season everyone is dropping points. I can see us beating Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs playing like this.

 

[NLunited]

I didn't manage to catch the game, so can someone fill me in on what changed in the second half?

Was it a shift in tactics that got us back into the game or a change in mentality? Were we winning more tackles, first to second balls, more aggressive etc?

It was both. Ten Hag made a tweak to the pressing set up and we were more agressive.

 

[calodo2003]

That was very enjoyable.

I was watching it with my brother-in-law (Christmas family thing) who is a pretty insufferable person at times, and who is a self-proclaimed expert on everything under the sun, including football. He was lecturing me on how shite United are, how shite ETH is, how shite Garnacho is and especially how shite Højlund is.

To be clear, I don't consider this to be anything more meaningful than a personal victory for me over my twat of a brother-in-law.

But it still tasted sweet.

Happy for you.

It's the little things that can taste the sweetest.

 

[fps]

I’d assumed we’d lost and truly didn’t know we’d won til 5 minutes ago. Great news for Hojlund pleased for him he’s done nothing but keep his head down and keep working since he joined.

 

[Maticmaker]

The fact we came from a 0-2 down position to win is perhaps a turning point, we gave two woeful goals away from set pieces during a five-ten minute wobble and then gathered for the storm.
The fact that Rasmus scored his first PL goal as well, might just signal a change of fortune.... yet again!
Villa were no push-over, so reason to be optimistic, at least until the next match.
OT was 'rocking' last night, lets have more

 

[lysglimt]

Evans, Mainoo, Rashford, Garnacho, Kambwala, Gore, McTominay and Hannibal

When did we last have 8 players in a match, who all at some stage have been involved in our youth-system ?

 

[bosskeano]

Big reason for that is they were actually made to work when they defended on a relatively consistent basis as we actually sustained possession in the final third for the first time in a long time.

all of that ties together as you can sustain possession higher up the pitch and make the other team have to work off the ball if you are consistent with your press and counter press to win balls higher up the pitch

look at all the top teams in the PL and they defend higher up the pitch ....second half we started doing that and made it harder for them to play out so we were able to keep/win the ball in our attacking third

that said...still at times we were a bit too wide open thru the middle for them to find a free player and break the lines. perfect example is with the McGinn chance right after we scored

 

[bosskeano]

Evans, Mainoo, Rashford, Garnacho, Kambwala, Gore, McTominay and Hannibal

When did we last have 8 players in a match, who all at some stage have been involved in our youth-system ?

hell probably not since that lot was brought in from the Class of '92

 

[TheReligion]

Kind of disingenuous to class Garnacho and Mejbri as our own academy players when they were poached from other clubs academies very late in their developmental trajectory, and at least in Mejbri’s case, cost a pretty penny.

Wouldn’t say so. Both are classed as home grown as per the definition.

 

[Craig Ward]

Given how poor we were first half, it really was a special result to get the win.

Got to give credit where it is due. We picked it up and played well to get that win.

The first half was such a frustrating watch though, such poor application and attitude. Fernandes and Rashford acting like spoilt brats throwing they're arms up in the air at everything. For all they're brilliance, they're mentally so weak and pathetic to watch - especially Fernandes.

Landed for Hojlund - hope he goes on a run now. The guy has worked his socks off and fed off scraps, deserved a goal.

Who'd have thought Johnny Evans was going to be our most important signing of the summer though!?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Not my rules who is seen as academy player, and who is not

Honest question, who gets credit for Gerard Pique?