[westley]

It's painful to watch Young on the wings. He offered nothing in attack and defense as well.

 

[Enigma_87]

I don’t think people were moaning b/c Jose was defensive. People were moaning also b/c he was an utter ass and burned all bridges with management and players so he was toxic. So I don’t get what the point of your post is and the smugness behind it. Unless you are one of those Jose worshippers no matter what the problem was.

People were moaning before Jose was employed because of his defensive style.

Isn't it better to appoint a better coach and manager, rather to succumb to your suggestion of play counter attacking against the likes of Bournemouth and Norwich?

 

[UDontMessWith24]

Take our front three and number 10 from today and stack them up against their counterparts at Liverpool, City, Madrid (both), Barca, Inter, Juve, Bayern, Dortmund and PSG. Mind you I could have added a few more teams to that list but you don't have to delve too deep to figure out why we're not scoring. IMO Martial would thrive with two quality wide attackers next to him but the rest are either nowhere near the level we're aspiring to or better served playing super sub roles. James in particular would be excellent in that role.

 

[TRUERED89]

Genuine question, has Solskjaer ever come back from going behind in a match?

Yea once, Southampton at home in March..

 

[90 + 5min]

Shouldn't have lost this game. Absolutly in Control and should have won after 10 minutes. Shame realy. The same as it was with Southampton, Wolves, CP and Newcastle. We have to keep learning how to handle those teams. Despite the loss I see progress.

Ole did well, and his team responded good after his subs.

 

[El Zoido]

isn't that down to the manager and tactics?
I personally thought that at least today the desire what there, but the talent is solely lacking.

Worst start for man utd in 33 years. Ole breaking more records.

I doubt the tactics were to sit back and defend a 1-0 loss. These players are morons. Are they completely empty shells of human-like shapes that can’t do anything right without a manager pulling the strings? Can they not shoot unless Ole directs every facet of a shot? We’re in more trouble than I thought.

 

[Chicharito_]

I love how you go on Twitter and it's normally exploding after a loss like this but there's just nothing now, nobody cares 13 points from 33 we are exactly where we are supposed to be with this group of players.

 

[Esquire]

People were moaning before Jose was employed because of his defensive style.

Isn't it better to appoint a better coach and manager, rather to succumb to your suggestion of play counter attacking against the likes of Bournemouth and Norwich?

Mate, I readily admit I was one of those who cheered Jose when he came and jeered for his departure at the end because he was just toxic. That said, I don’t disagree with you about the performance of Ole but aside from him, I honestly believe that these players are just about where they are performance wise because that’s that level of quality.

 

[freeurmind]

We really need Pogba back ASAP.

 

[Lee565]

Back down to reality, said it last week that this would be the real test and once again we came up short, it's no surprise we did well over recent weeks against liverpool, Norwich and Chelsea, 3 teams that allowed us space and Ole can only use the tactic of us behaving as the inferior team that relies on playing on the counter.

 

[ex and]

Just as soon as you get slightly positive, this performance happens. We are rubbish, and have been since Sir Alex retired.

The question is do I cancel my MUFC TV subscription or...?

 

[Maticmaker]

Very disappointing performance all round. We started well, as we often do, then we make poor, some very poor decisions when bearing down on goal, the other side realises we are ''not at it' they start to gain confidence, do the simple things right and then that's it game over soon as they score. We could write this same script for four or five matches this season.

Andreas Pereira does not convince me at all. Fred was marginally better than he has been, but still half an hour too slow in virtually everything he does. Rashford and Martial only got within two or three metres of each other once or twice in each half. When Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams came on we looked a bit better, but it was all over bar the shouting at that stage. Feel really sorry for the travelling fans, all that way, drowned by the rain and treated to a rubbish performance as well.

 

[Judas]

It's painful to watch Young on the wings. He offered nothing in attack and defense as well.

Weird narrative. What he offered wasn't great, but he offered a million times more than AWB did in an attacking sense.

 

[Okey]

Main takeaway for me is we can't seem to come back from being behind. Big big worry. Rest of the game wasn't too bad really. Same fare we've become used to. Unlucky result if anything, but surely they have to work out a way to come back after conceding.

 

[Enigma_87]

Mate, I readily admit I was one of those who cheered Jose when he came and jeered for his departure at the end because he was just toxic. That said, I don’t disagree with you about the performance of Ole but aside from him, I honestly believe that these players are just about where they are performance wise because that’s that level of quality.

Nah, they can play better mate. Swap managers today and we would be looking much better.

Those players are not coached well and are not playing to their potential resulting in us being shite.

Of course I don't expect to challenge for honors straight away and is a long run, but performances like these are appalling.

 

[DoomSlayer]

This team is pathetic. A few consecutive wins and we revert straight back to the same old disinterested and almost arrogant style of football. Fecking bullshit, goes for the whole starting 11 today, apart from Dan James who never gives up.

 

[gerdm07]

There was an encouraging spell at the beginning where I started to feel (naively) that maybe we had turned a corner in our style of play. But of course, it all came crashing down. I think Martial, Rashford and James are keepers, but we need a clear upgrade on Pereira. I love McTominay, but his passing continues to be hit and miss. Fred was ok. AWB had a game to forget and Lindelof didn't exactly inspire confidence. As for Maguire, I think he's ok, but I'm struggling to see how he is much of an upgrade on Smalling. Where are the surging runs that we were promised?

And another thing that pisses me off is how there is no crispness to our passing. The number of times the likes of Lindelof plays a sideways pass behind the target is beyond count. For a team that rarely dribbles through teams, we don't look like work on our passing sharpness very much. Just uninspired dross (again.)

The passing has bothered me for a while. Too often the pass has the wrong pace, is to the wrong foot, or makes the receiver have to stretch to control. Good managers do not accept that in training. This is my biggest concern with OGS. If this doesn't improve, I might join the bandwagon to see him gone. Note, at this point I fully support Ole because the team shows promise once in a while and he bought 3 good players in the summer.

 

[Barnslig]

I love how you go on Twitter and it's normally exploding after a loss like this but there's just nothing now, nobody cares 13 points from 33 we are exactly where we are supposed to be with this group of players.

Yeah, broadcast here literally summed it up like this "United lost, next up Liverpool v Aston Villa" that was it. No one cares anymore, this is our level.

 

[Asger]

13 PTS from 33. It's nowhere near good enough.

Ole out and let's have a manager worthy of the job in charge. Not a sentimental decision. You have to earn these things.

Can the new manager get 10 new players with him tomorow?

 

[Barnslig]

Nah, they can play better mate. Swap managers today and we would be looking much better.

Those players are not coached well and are not playing to their potential resulting in us being shite.

Of course I don't expect to challenge for honors straight away and is a long run, but performances like these are appalling.

Players might not be coached like the City or Liverpool players are, but surely you'd need some players with brains as well? I mean these feckers have been playing football since they could barely walk and still they look clueless, what the feck are they doing during the week? Looking at clouds passing Carrington by? Time to put some responsibility on the only people who can actually make a change out there - the players.

EDIT: I've never played football at a professional level, but I've played esports and various lower level sports where coaches have been involved, and even though we've had coaches we've had to teach ourselves things, or study things ourselves. I get the fact that the overall strategy needs to be planned and coached, but it doesn't seem like any of these players are capable.

 

[steffyr2]

I don’t think people were moaning b/c Jose was defensive. People were moaning also b/c he was an utter ass and burned all bridges with management and players so he was toxic. So I don’t get what the point of your post is and the smugness behind it. Unless you are one of those Jose worshippers no matter what the problem was.

They were moaning because he was a defensive manager.
They were moaning because of what he said in press conferences.
They moaned because we only came in 2nd, and couldn't challenge with this extraordinary set of players (they thought at the time).
Oh, and they moaned because he said performances weren't good enough and when he didn't get the extra players needed to challenge. Rather than backing him so we'd get better players. So here we are. Except with an inexperienced, but cheerful, manager.

Presumably Ole's postmatch conference will be upbeat, and that's really all that matters. Right? Watching him now....yep, he's upbeat. All that matters.

 

[SAred]

False dawn 796 comes to an end. False dawn 797 will be the one honest.

 

[Fracture90]

Only time we played something that can be called good, was during the first 15 minutes when we were catching Bournemouth on the counter.

Now the fact that the only time were were creating something against a team that didn't score In their last 5 games, was on the counter, it really speaks volume.

 

[ghagua]

We have become Bournemouth's b***h last couple of years. Some easy points for them every season.

 

[Irwin99]

Thought both teams actually looked pretty decent in the first 30 minutes but it's so obvious that if a smaller team gets the first goal against us then we're not winning the game. It felt like game over as soon as they scored sadly.

Maguire's form has taken a real dive after a promising start and i'm not sure Lindelof is that much of an improvement on Daily Blind who is probably a better passer of the ball and a better tackler.

 

[Stookie]

Why did he change a winning formula from the back 3? It was starting to look half decent. I knew this was going to happen, it’s the hope that kills. Hope that you’ve turned the corner.

 

[Feed Me]

The part of this fan base that backs Ole is absolutely killing this club.

We have a shit manager, which is why we play shit football and get shit results.

Beyond sick of this nonsense now.

 

[bucky]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[freddie the red]

I just knew once we went behind that that was it. If it were City or Liverpool you could bet on them coming back to win.

Mate, by then (Cherries scoring), they would have been 2 or 3 up.

 

[Gator Nate]

I missed the first 20 mins. That said I don't think we were particularly poor. I would argue Bournemouth were worse.

However 2 things are clear to me:
1. Midfield including No.10 are woefully lacking in creativity.
2. This is not helped by a lack of coaching in attacking third.

Nothing we can do about it. This is our season. I bet you our final results will be W12 D13 L13. We will get 50 pts or so and end up 7-10th.

I'm middling on the whole game, but I agree with your assessment. On the whole, I think we just played ourselves.

Bournemouth's goal was a nice shot. I'll have to rewatch the play leading up to it, but I don't think it could have been stopped once it came to him. He pushed forward and struck as AWB was falling back a bit on momentum.

Fred wasn't as bad as some seem to believe (and some think he did great). I do think he should be fined for every shot he takes outside the goal area, and he should be fined for being out of position any time he's in the goal area, but he was all over the place defensively and made some good stops and passes out in our end.

McTominay was mostly anonymous. Without being there, it's hard to watch what's going on off the ball a lot of times - I'm not sure if they took him out of the game or if he was just having a bad day at the office.

Pereira was 2/3 of a player today. He did well until the vital cross was struck - mostly too hard. But he was not unique for that today.

The defensive line held up fairly well. but Bournemouth were pressing us a fair bit, much like Ole has us doing.

Martial is an enigma for me. Half the time, he's the aggressive player we want up top. He made defensive runs on the keeper and the backs to disrupt play, something we do more than most, but still not enough to my liking. But then there are times when he just doesn't give a frell and lets the ball go rather than chase it down and try to create something with it. A bit of a primadonna at times.

As for the others, just not enough polish today. I keep saying it - we can't finish.

What we lack right now is a talent-personality to replace Pereira in the midfield. Not Pogba. He's got the talent but not the personality. Frankly, there isn't a strong personality on the field right now, and I don't see any on the bench. We need one badly.

Williams and Greenwood were bright spots coming in, the former should have started, and the latter should have come in at 30 minutes.

 

[Barnslig]

There should be a "no one" option in the MOTM vote on this site for games like this when everyone on the pitch was simply trash.

 

[red woppit]

Don't understand why we play so slowly? The last 10 minutes when we started to push forward more, our passes, movement and general play was much quicker, and subsequently we created a couple of chances. We looked more vulnerable to counter attacks, but then the defence has to do it's main job and defend. AWB still has things to learn defensively, if Maguire or Lindelof had been in his position, then King wouldn't have scored. Thought Fred had his best game for United, McTominay, James and Rashford were pretty good, Lindelof still doesn't fill me with confidence, although he did ok. Martial is ok in and around the box, but not someone you can knock a pass to his feet and he will hold the ball up. Young was ok, but Williams looked quality when he came on, Lingard industrious, Greenwood did ok, unlucky with his chance, but if luck was with us, it would have gone in. Pereira I like, and, like Lingard, was industrious, and played a couple of great passes, but most of his defence splitting passes were picked off, good effort on goal, but his first effort was poor, he needs to improve on the final ball, and stamp his authority on the game, a Bruno Fernandez in that position would be great for us I believe.

 

[Esquire]

Nah, they can play better mate. Swap managers today and we would be looking much better.

Those players are not coached well and are not playing to their potential resulting in us being shite.

Of course I don't expect to challenge for honors straight away and is a long run, but performances like these are appalling.

Maybe, maybe not they would have won with Eddie at the helm. But I still think the table doesn’t lie and we are a mid-table team with a huge hole to fill in terms of talent across all areas of the pitch. I agree Ole is in trouble but don’t think Ed will get rid this early.

 

[freddie the red]

We manage to get all the least Brazilian Brazilians ever.

Anderson was pretty good at the Samba

 

[The Brown Bull]

Didn't see it.
Are we shit again?

 

[Toni's Left Foot]

What if Ole is clueless?

I can't muster a rigorous defence of Ole at this point.

The best I can come up with is what if it is Carrick, McKenna (inexperience) and Phelan (passé) who are clueless?

 

[Barnslig]

It's actually fecking depressing, we're almost 4 minutes in the Liverpool game and they've already shown more attacking promise than we did in 95 minutes.

 

[Enigma_87]

Players might not be coached like the City or Liverpool players are, but surely you'd need some players with brains as well? I mean these feckers have been playing football since they could barely walk and still they look clueless, what the feck are they doing during the week? Looking at clouds passing Carrington by? Time to put some responsibility on the only people who can actually make a change out there - the players.

EDIT: I've never played football at a professional level, but I've played esports and various lower level sports where coaches have been involved, and even though we've had coaches we've had to teach ourselves things, or study things ourselves. I get the fact that the overall strategy needs to be planned and coached, but it doesn't seem like any of these players are capable.

I have (played football) and the manager plays a huge role. Looking clueless is easy, especially when you follow certain instructions that aren't working.

Football has become very, very tactical game, put a clueless manager at helm and you will still be average, regardless of what top level players you bring.

 

[freddie the red]

Are you surprised? Every single time we look like we're kicking on these players will dissappoint. They simply are not very good.

Not surprised, just super pi$$ed at it all.

 

[Backrow Singer]

Expected, usual. Not a surprise. A pretty standard performance these days.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Like the first day back in the office after a brief vacation.

We started the game off well by pressing the hell out of them for 20-25 minutes. We won the second balls, we regained possession high on the pitch and we tried to exploit the spaces Bournemouth couldn't defend because they were between transitions. But no one can do that for 90 minutes. After Bournemouth weathered the initial storm, we were left with our usual issues: McT & Fred trying to get on the ball in our half and get us going and Pereira struggling to link the midfield with the attack. Yeah, good luck with that.

Credit to Howe too, he used his two strikers well. King harassing our CBs while Wilson was constantly looking to create overloads on our right side. Not only did they get a goal from this tactic, but they also achieved something even better. They pinned AWB down and, subsequently, forced James very deep. Which meant that James couldn't get on the ball in the spaces we would have preferred. Solskjaer tried to fix this by drawing McTominay more to the right flank but this achieved nothing more but to take away our numerical advantage in the midfield.

Bournemouth did a good job on both flanks and it's quite telling that the only time we managed to push our FBs in advanced positions was when Howe's men dropped very deep to create a compact low-block.

People will look at the number 10 role and in our midfield woes again and rightly so. But there is also one more concerning thing against sides who defend deep and don't allow us many spaces to exploit. The absence of a forward who will make the opposition centre-halves earn their weekly wages on the pitch is quite obvious. I don't mean to bash Martial, in case anyone's wondering. But there are times when the silky skills won't be working and when the tactics won't be as helpful as we could have hoped. On these occasions, you'll need intensity and physicality from your forwards. Winning scraps against the defenders, retaining possession high on the pitch and opening up spaces for others. Once the attacking play becomes us vs a settled defence, Martial's (and Rashford's) strengths seem to diminish. It's a tactical thing, something that we didn't bother to address and now we're paying the price for it. It's what destroyed LvG's second season too back in those days. Sadly, this can be solved only in the next transfer windows.