[Buckie]

The only player we managed to sell this season is Pereira believe it or not. If we wanted to sell them both, you bet they would be going on loan again. We are incompetent at selling players.

I don't think it is you are incompetent at selling - it is incompetence at buying and then having poor players on very high wages. Same as it has been with Arsenal. Covid has only exacerbated the issue. While many of these players are good enough for other leagues/clubs, they can't or won't pay for mediocre players on high wages. And the players don't want to accept lower wages to move to other teams.

 

[saik]

It gladdens my heart seeing all this negativity after the result why? because this is the first game of the season and things will change for the better and EtH will see who he can keep and who he can get rid of, re-building a team doesn't happen quickly time is needed and the main thing now is to start sorting problems, if possible get players and simply have faith that Ten Hag knows what he is doing and that the board give him full support. You an expect the next game that there will be a large difference to the game today.

I hope Rashford and Bruno will improve because they showed it previously but McT and Fred aren't going to suddenly become amazing players. Fred had some decent games for us but he is nowhere near good enough to be a starter for us while McT is plain terrible and shouldn't be anywhere near our club.

 

[Bluelion7]

I can’t imagine that Ten Hag came in and said “oh no, Maguire’s solid. No need for replacement there.”

You seem tied to him because of his price tag and wages. Having the financial willingness to pull the plug on bad decisions and absorb the cost is crucial to being successful in the Premier league now.

 

[RuudTom83]

You could see as soon as Brighton had a spell of possession (which will happen in every football match) United began to revert to type and panic, became sloppy and once the goals went in it was full on Ole-ball.

If the starting 11 includes 9 players from last season then the outcome is not going to be drastically different.

 

[OrcaFat]

Over the course of 8 years, how many times is that?

See the problem is, at their best each player is ‘good enough’ to be in & around the squad but if they’re only good enough 2/3 times out of 10 then what’s the point. The bar that’s he’s one of the best in this squad on form is a low bar to set btw.

Yeah but I rate Shaw very highly and I usually disagree with a lot of the criticisms he gets.

 

[Denis79]

Sometimes maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.

My favorite quote from football.

 

[Blood Mage]

did you get an official warning? Or am I the only one?

Not yet but it's coming. Unless even the admin adopt doomer mentalities soon which might be possible.

 

[Himannv]

Don't worry, Arnie's on his way

Get the choppa!!

 

[Kinky Melinky]

You could see as soon as Brighton had a spell of possession (which will happen in every football match) United began to revert to type and panic, became sloppy and once the goals went in it was full on Ole-ball.

If the starting 11 includes 9 players from last season then the outcome is not going to be drastically different.

8 players from 2019/20

 

[Redderp]

Coaching disasterclass. Lost us the game with that horrible starting lineup. Eriksen as false 9 was baffling. Not only was he useless, but the rest of the team badly needed him deeper to dictate our passing. It’s the small things like passing the ball fast, not taking many touches and breaking the lines. McFred is absolutely horrible at it. They move the ball so slow, takes a million touches and just runs with it into traffic. It’s like watching the opposite of tiki taka. Our passing was borderline unwatchable in the first half. Bruno isn’t a deep lying playmaker either, he mostly likes to operate in the final third, so McFred gets even more exposed because they have to be the playmakers in the middle.

We had to go down 0-2 before someone realised that maybe it would be a good idea to get Eriksen deeper. I seriously don’t understand why he started as a false 9. We need a calming influence in the middle, so McTominay and Fred can relax. For those two the more simple they play the better. They play so much better when they know they don’t have to be the playmakers. We should have started with McFred + Eriksen in midfield.

Our defense looked shaky in the beginning, but played themselves into the game. Maguire and Martinez looked better as the game progressed. That high like still worries me a bit. Dalot have high highs and low lows. Like he goes from clown to genius, nothing in between. Shaw was the opposite. Just a really nothing day. Didn’t do anything bad, but also didn’t do anything good. You could barely tell he was playing.

Our forwards were complete ass. Missed all their chances, big or small didn’t matter to them. Created nothing and i don’t even think they managed to dribble past their opponent once. Funny enough but it was again the opposite, Rashford started best, but then became invisible later. Sancho was invisible, until like 20 minutes before the end. They look so scared, like they already know they can’t beat their man. Like they are afraid to run at the defense. Look at that Lampty dude from Brighton. He came on and immidiately ran at our defense.

Bruno doesn’t look like himself. He didn’t have the best preseason and it continue into the game against Brighton. He created less than he usually do and gave the ball away more than he usually do. Not a good game. We should have tried him as false 9 or on the left.

Ronaldo didn’t do anything when he came on. Anyone could have done what he did. Amad could honestly have done more, at least he will press the defense. It wasn’t that Ronaldo was bad, he just didn’t really do much.

But the main fail was EtH starting with Eriksen as false 9. It completely ruined the game for us. You play a normal team and we win this game. I think EtH should get flak for that. If any other manager had done that people would laugh at them. I honestly still can’t believe how dumb it was. He must have been drunk.

 

[OrcaFat]

Currently its like 1 season out if 8 so I will let you do the math.

He’s won our player of the year at least twice. He’s a good player.

 

[FatTails]

We need to acknowledge where we are as a club. We don’t need to, and can’t, close the gap to City in one transfer window, we need a few seasons to get a proper way of playing going and to make ourselves mainstays in the top 4.

We need players, in several positions, who are solid good consistent performers, rather than 1-2 superstars. Spurs understand this and so do Arsenal, buying players who most likely wouldn’t start for City or Liverpool, but will improve them as a team enough to not have obvious weaknesses and be strong contenders for the top 4.

It’s insane to me that Barca have brought in like double the number of players we have. And big names too.

 

[The Purley King]

I agree. Early days for ETH but I thought he should have changed that. Seeing so many calling for Eriksen in a deeper role... That would be madness, he is way too light weight for that. Him being capable on the ball doesn't mean he should play there all the time.

Fred has a role in a central 2 or 3 but mctominay shouldn’t be anywhere near the team.
Good football is played in triangles and our cms cannot or do not want to move 5 yards to make an easy pass for someone.
It’s not even that hard to do Brighton did it very well with players that cost 1/10th of ours.
If we don’t fix cm we will go nowhere and if FdJ stays in Barca and ETH doesn’t get anyone else as a result we are fecked.
Unless he shows some stones and starts Iqbal in there and he rises to the challenge

 

[DSG]

Its quite interesting to think looking at the players now. Ole managed to get two 20+ goals season from Rashford, one 20+ gola season from Martial, one and a half world class season from Bruno, one world class season from Shaw, one decent and one very good season from Maguire. All that with Fred and Scott in the midfield.

And Pogba, to be fair, but he played him on the left a fair bit. Yeah, the more we see of these players without Ole, the more we see that maybe he got the best out of them.

Jesus. What is wrong with us? I really fecking hate this collection of players, which is strange because individually, I don’t hate them.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Maguire - "We started the game pretty well, on the front foot" - What game is this? We were nearly 1-0 down after 10 seconds.

After another shit performance, Maguire is the last person I want to hear from. He is so blissfully unaware of how bad he is and seems to think the team's failings are someone else's fault. Just once I'd like to hear him say, "Well, I gave the ball away a ton, didn't mark my man, went to sleep a few times, was too static, and in general I wasn't good enough."

 

[BestRed]

Shocking performance all round bar one or two today, just shows the scale of the job ahead for the manager. But early days, the club better back him now and give him a fighting chance to sort this shit out.

 

[Ronaldo's Love Child]

Its days like this that the no swearing filter on the Caf should be removed to allow us to vent with as much disgust as the language allows.

Absolute joke.

I am going to test the boundaries.......flipping heck

 

[ayushreddevil9]

He’s won our player of the year at least twice. He’s a good player.

Which years?

 

[NewGlory]

You see, I don’t agree with that about Shaw. He’s one of our best players when in form.

Yes, but "when in form" is the critical point here. He hasn't been "in form" since pretty much Euros. So - you do agree with me, you are just nostalgic for his best days, that are long gone. I understand why, but we have to be pragmatic.

I agree that Luke Shaw was [one of] Europe's best left backs for a season, and since then he has been shite. It happens all the time in pro sports, you may have noticed. We can't just keep playing him for the sake of one good season he has had. Maybe you can agree with that, mate.

 

[DSG]

We need to acknowledge where we are as a club. We don’t need to, and can’t, close the gap to City in one transfer window, we need a few seasons to get a proper way of playing going and to make ourselves mainstays in the top 4.

We need players, in several positions, who are solid good consistent performers, rather than 1-2 superstars. Spurs understand this and so do Arsenal, buying players who most likely wouldn’t start for City or Liverpool, but will improve them as a team enough to not have obvious weaknesses and be strong contenders for the top 4.

It’s insane to me that Barca have brought in like double the number of players we have. And big names too.

This transfer window has been a shambles. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that the Glazers are responsible for this mess, the lack of leadership, the poor recruitment, etc.

I feel sick.

 

[RuudTom83]

8 players from 2019/20

Absolutely mental…even the pundits before todays gave we’re saying the players won’t be as bad as last season…

The players just get rewarded again and again for mediocrity.

 

[Jaonz]

First half combination of McFred was disgusting to watch. Much better second half when Erikson play deeper.

 

[Zlatanator]

Even after having a pre season, how are we this bad. I mean what did the manager brought to the table. My god this team just baffles me time and again.

 

[Jack-C20]

Was at the game so it’s all just sinking in. Firstly the atmosphere was brilliant. Got a bit down in the first half but it really picked up in the second.

Will have to rewatch the game if I can put myself through that but a few things stood out. McTominay was horrific. Holds the ball far too long and then puts himself under pressure so he has to rush to get the ball away. Fred wasn’t much better.

The lack of urgency was apparent. Our heads dropped in the first half and I could never see us getting a goal back if it wasn’t for half time.

Every header is basically us giving away possession as well. Do we not know roughly where our teammates are? It’s one of the weird things I look out for and I’m sure we’re one of the worst in the league. Also something must have been agreed behind the scenes that Rashford doesn’t go for aerial duels. He always anticipates the defender missing it which I’m yet to see.

Honestly can’t remember the goals so not sure who to blame but we can’t keep going behind like last year. It’s clear it takes us too long to recover. Hopefully with time we’ll start stronger and if we do go behind, we can learn how to respond better.

Martinez was promising and so was Eriksen. The second half in general was much better. It’s early on so I’m not panicking yet but we definitely need more signings. My last game before this was the thumping by Burnley so a slight improvement Still enjoyed myself and will be trying to go again this year. Just need to get front row seats. Not fun being tall.

 

[davidmichael]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Would kill to sign him...

Already a monster at 20 years old

Was ours if we wanted him but he’s a midfielder so we didn’t sign him as we don’t sign midfielders.

I don’t know why I’m actually surprised we lost seeing as we started with McTominay and Fred and yet another new centre back, is that 5 centre backs in 6 years we’ve now bought ?

Imagine being a new centre back in a new league and your protection in front of you is the McTominay and Fred pairing, you’d just fecking be full of utter despair and ask what you’d set yourself up for.

I’d honestly play either Garner or Zidane alongside Fred as that’d allow a deep lying playmaker to pass and pull strings whilst Fred could just buzz around the pitch pressing and not allowing the opposition time on the ball, Fred can’t be trusted as the passer and the fact he’s better than McTominay says all anyone needs to know about McTominay.

I swear we say this every year but we have so much dross in our squad and we’re only an injury or two away from being a mid table at best team. Dalot will NEVER be a PL level full back and Laird was better than him in pre season, Garner and Zidane were better than McTominay in pre season and why Garnacho didn’t get a proper run out when Rashford hid and didn’t run from the minute Brighton scored is beyond me.

 

[Zlatanator]

We were pushing for 20 mins or so in the second half and that's it, took the foot off the gas. How many times had we seen this movie

 

[moodyred]

I am critical of today's performance, but also mindful that even the best of managers will need time to succeed. I saw a very poor performance in the first half but the Manchester united of last season would potentially go on to lose by 4 or 5 goals. ETH did make adjustments which saw us playing better in the 2nd half. Hopefully he will find his best team and formation soon. Like everyone else, I hope that formation doesn't have macfred. Quite sick of that midfield combo.

 

[The holy trinity 68]

Unfortunately it will take time and is not an over night fix, give the manager time to sort the mess out and bring in his own team. I highly doubt most of this team will be here in 2 years time.

 

[Vicker]

Hi guys, first time writing my feeling here.
New season, new coach, same old United, disappointment at the end.

Hope after this game, Ten Hag will know
1. Maguire should not be the leader to the team or simply must be dropped.
2. McFred should never never never play together. McTominay is dragging the whole team down. If nothing can be fixed on him; he is going to get worse in my opinion.
3. Shaw and Dalot should not be on the starting 11 ever. Have no idea what they are doing on the field with their weak in offence and defence.
4. Rashford needs a better coach; both shooting and physical. Hope to see improvement from him with the new shooting coach.
5. No one is guarantee to be on the starting 11. No matter you are from the academy or on world class level or who you are.
6. FDJ or Ruiz or else who can play in the pivot and/or defence midfield is a MUST.

Also, Fernandes should clam down and keep things simple. His teammates are not all world class or having good skills; you cannot ask them too much every time.

Glad to see Eriksen on the field and played full 90 minutes. We cannot ask more from him since he already gave all what he has.
Also impressed by Martinez. The shot he made was very powerful and good.

On the other hand, shout out to Brighton's defence; the whole line was solid and well organised. It's hard to break their central defenders; they both are tall and strong physically.

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Yeah but I rate Shaw very highly and I usually disagree with a lot of the criticisms he gets.

At his ceiling I’d take Shaw over any LB, the trouble is we can’t romanticise his best form when we see it too rarely. In the modern game consistent output from fullbacks is key, in particular to a manager like EtH. I don’t think Shaw will be around much longer due to this.

 

[UDontMessWith24]

Maguire can’t play in this system with that midfield. There either needs to be midfielders that can dictate tempo and establish possession in the other team’s half, or a quicker center half. No point in even talking about our attackers until this is sorted.

 

[Kinky Melinky]

Absolutely mental…even the pundits before todays gave we’re saying the players won’t be as bad as last season…

The players just get rewarded again and again for mediocrity.

I just don't understand how or why United as a club are expecting different results with a near identical set of players. Or maybe they're not! Maybe it's pretty ok now at the club to shoot for mid table and always cry "work in progress." I know some of the supporters have gladly swallowed that horseshit. A work in progress would have been a significant clear out this Summer, but I just don't see any intention.

 

[ManRed]

We didn't strengthen any of our key areas ST, RW, RB or DM and ended up with worse squad than last season. Truly deserve this loss and wont be surprised if its our worst finish in the premier league this season. Oh wait Glazers might get their checkbooks out now and close some deals.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Hardly surprising. We are a worser team than last year and it shows. We may get slightly better, but not by much.
Unless one believes in magic or something

 

[abailey123]

The expectations of a United fan should always be ‘win the league’ so I don’t think our reaction is over zealous.

positives for me;
Centre half partnership - even the first goal the pair held their line, Maguire’s been caught be a toenail, they both looked comfortable on the ball and played some good passes

Negatives:
Dalot - is Wan Bissaka really worse in possession?

Fred and McTominay - Garner and Van de Beek must be rubbing their hands- both need replacing

Sancho - anonymous

A big week coming up - we’ve got to back the boss

 

[HaliRed]

Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that.

I would hope that the lack of forward options is what resulted in a McFred middle today. In ten Hag's system, the central midfielders need to show for a ball out of defense. As has been pointed out by many here, neither Fred or McT are good at that.

I don't have an issue with one of them playing with Eriksen or any other midfielders, but they can't both be in there.

All of our issues in that first half stemmed from that. The difference with an Eriksen/McT and then an Eriksen/Donny mid in the second half was huge. I think it was just too late by then as Eriksen had tired a bit without a proper preseason.

Lessons learned by EtH hopefully. Not a great start but I am not ready to give up on the season after 1 match.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

We're not ready for the season and it clearly showed. Brighton defended very deep & well and when your front 3 (wide players + Bruno) all play like shit you haven't got so any hope to win games against a well coached team like Brighton.

We need much more quality but not only that; we keep playing the liabilities and expect a different outcome. Who can say I'm shocked that Maguire played Wellbeck onside? Or Bruno wasted so many balls & chances? Or Shaw allowed the ooposition RW to shoot? Please drop the likes of Maguire, Bruno, Shaw, McTominay and sign some quality players.

We have enough quality to beat Brighton at home. Today is on the manager. Needs to improve the performances

 

[marcus agrippa]

You see, I don’t agree with that about Shaw. He’s one of our best players when in form.

Shaw was awful. There were times when we had possession with our CB's, he had acres of space in front of him, and instead of pushing forward to commit their wingbacks by opening up the possibility of a switch, he just hung around in line with Martinez marking space. I was like WTF?

Reminded me about the Jose quote: someone has to think for him. Or he is just too lazy.

ETH has to learn quick with this lot, and I'm betting a lot of them won't be starters for long if he is half the manager I think (hope!) he is.

 

[LordSpud]

Liverpool is gonna be a bloodbath again. I just wish our absolutely shite years had coincided with Everton or Spurs or someone at the top. Instead you have Liverpool and City fighting year in year out for it and now no-one will even predict we get Top 4. We wont get Top 4 by the way, we are best case scenario the 6th best team in the League.

 

[Dempsey19]

Sky sports have Martinez as the worst rated player.

Eh what.