[mitchmouse]

We weren't bad and defended pretty well but let's not lose perspective. Burnley were poor, very poor, and gifted us at least one of the goals (not as bad as Newcastle who give us three). We still didn't really create enough openings and again we missed half (possibly three-quarter!) chances. I was hoping Haaland would solve some of these but once again the club refused to pay the going rate (I'm, aware that rate was an agent's fee and maybe a fee if we sold him on, bu that's how it is today and the player was not hugely expensive in today's market. until we throw out those at the top - just what do all those directors do for their money? -- this will continue and we will remain mediocre, which is what we have become.) Positives: Williams and Lindelof were 10/10 for me, not for the first time in Victor's case). Maguire was very good and Young had his best game in years but we have moprhed into 1990s Liverpool and if we can't sing the likes of Haaland, what chance Sancho?

 

[Gator Nate]

What hasn't really been mentioned is Old actually using his squad.
He has a settled team yet isn't afraid to trust the lesser used players, like Matic, and thrust then in.

Ole gets high marks here as much for who he didn't put on the field as for who he did. Pogba would have been put out of commission by these thugs. For all the criticism Matic gets, he's a good player and this game suited him; he just doesn't fit what we're trying to do most of the time. Measured use of Greenwood when his abilities will suit; this wasn't one of those games. AWB has put in some great shifts and needs a break.

Fred was my MOTM, but only a hair's width behind was Williams. Fred keeps this whole unit moving. McTominay is slightly more replaceable than Fred right now, as we have no choice but to witness for the next month. Williams' development is a fine thing to see and Ole seems to be using him just enough.

Dan James - Just a tad behind Fred and Brandon for me, but got an assist drew two yellows (that second should have been a red) doing what he does best... I'll be shocked if he plays on Wednesday, hoping he's back next weekend.

Martial and Rashford - Solid performances from both.

Pereira - Some people keep asking why he keeps getting put on the field. Three answers - Effort, occasional effect, and consistently healthy. Outside of Fred, which MUFC midfielder gives all three things? His effort levels are cast from exactly the mold Ole is looking for, and he's getting better each week.

Matic - This game suited him and he made good on the opportunity. Unfortunately, out of 19 league opponents, this works against six or eight. Maybe. But today was one of those.

The back line - Much better cohesion, I think because Young pretty much only defended on the right, where AWB gets a bit too high (by design, it should be noted), and Williams is much faster on the left than Shaw or Young, so he could get back by the slower Burnley attack. Maguire and Lindelof didn't fold to the physicality of Burnley.

DeGea - Dave Saves - when he needs to - which wasn't often. I thought his distribution was markedly better than usual.

Lingard - Why Lingard? Well... he's healthy, and he puts in a shift. From where I sit, Ole has one job for Jesse - run at the defenders when they've gotten the ball back and force a bad pass. Every once in a while he does something offensively (not this game) but he is a threat that has to be accounted for.

Shaw - Got some worthwhile time in to solidify the defense in the last minutes.

My only criticism of the game was that one episode right in front of the Burnley goal where we had about three good opportunities for clear shots and only played hot potato until they lost it... I can only imagine Ole was screaming, "SHOOT! JUST SHOOT THE F***ING BALL!"

I love this current team. They may be extremely shite at times but theres something very endearing about the current crop

Agreed! This team definitely has personality and they are fun to watch.

 

[Sea-Cow]

DDG - I thought he'd saved it into the goal again at first. Good job for not actually doing that. I enjoyed the tactic of taking SO long to take goal kicks that when he started doing it to timewaste towards the end it was impossible to book him because he wasn't actually taking any longer than before

Young - Why does he always pointlessly pretend to have a back injury at some point in the first half?
Lindelof - Pretty sure I saw him win a header at one point.
Maguire - Actually managed to go the entire second half without even mildly annoying me...although it could have been that the pace of the game was so slow it was impossible for him to be slower. Still, the defending was good
Williams - He reminds me of the Da Silva twins. Fantastic and also terrifying at the same time.

Matic - He really wasn't that bad, although I'm not sure he moved more than about 3 inches for the whole game.
Fred - In the process of making Neville look like a massive idiot for constantly patronising him...although the main thing making Neville look an idiot as that he keeps saying idiotic things.
Pereira - Bizarre player. Spends entire games looking useless then randomly comes up with a pass or cross that it's basically impossible for anyone who's useless to do.

James - Apparently you're allowed to just hack his leg off when he's running clean through on goal now and it's not a red card and no one even acts like it should have been.
Martial - Goalscoring record is starting to look quite impressive. Overdue a haircut.
Rashford - Actually managed to beat a defender and score by falling over and then tackling himself into the goal

Subs:
- I'll be honest, I was slightly drunk and can't actually remember who the subs were. I think Shaw came on and booted the ball into someone at some point?

Burnley - I mean, they're basically Stoke except not as good at being Stoke as Stoke were.

Mike Dean - Burnley's MOTM by a mile. Can anyone explain that WIlliams booking for diving? The Burnley keeper literally did exactly the same thing about 30 seconds later and he just blew for a freekick without any hesitation. Ignored James being caught by a near knee high stud challenge when he was through on goal. Ignored Bardsley assaulting Martial on the edge of the box to stop him running through on goal, when he was already on a yellow card. Managed to award a freekick on the edge of our box to Burnley for Maguire running into the ball and then kicking it. Managed to award them another freekick which they nearly scored from for Lindelof having his shirt pulled.

I pretty much only come to the post-match thread to read your player ratings. So, thanks.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Nice professional performance. Was getting antsy getting close to halftime without a goal. Thought it could be "one of those games" but Martial scored and after that we continued to control the game.

 

[Sea-Cow]

The Burnley players kicked lumps out of us the entire game, the bastards. And the ref was terrible and got almost everything wrong.

However, I do think he got the B. Williams thing at the end correct! From the replays it looks like he is running past Barsdley but he hangs a foot back and intentionally kicks Barsdley to go over! It was clever from Williams and I am amazed that the ref actually got it right.

 

[cyril C]

So in a completely different situation something different might have happened?

I would say we played with the same performance as against Southampton, Wolves, Liverpool and Arsenal. OK put the last 2 aside, but failure to score additional goals to kill the game, and fail to defend solidly, cost us 2 points. They were not as terrible as against Bournemouth or Newcastle .

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

I wa

And the finishing was good?

I did say we had created plenty of chances (unlike some game when we did none). Problem is on final 3rd, so wasteful, that you would not get any counter-attack chance at 90+ min had the scoreline been 1-1. You just had to look at all those draw games that we suffered this season - if you fail to control the game, someone will punish you.

I was referring to you saying James, 'ran but could not pass'. How about the assist for the final goal?

 

[utdalltheway]

It’s nice to re-watch the game afterwards when the pressure is off.
Burnley were awful when they got near our goal and were cynical in fouling when we threatened to break. How James didn’t get injured, I don’t know.

We controlled the game for the most part and should have had 1 or 2 more but it was great to see the tenacity and the passing by us.