[haram]

Don't buy that. There should still be a structure and a fluency to the play even without one magic individual. If we looked good but were struggling alone for a final ball that would be one thing but what is our style of play? Hit the channels, play off breaks, press and play in transition. It is scrappy, relying on moments of individuality rather than any level of coherence.

I hear a lot of people cry about City and the money they have spent(As if Utd have been in any way paupers in recent years) but forgot them. Are we seeing enough based on the resources Utd have, is a team developing, a style of play we can move forward with or are we just waiting to throw another few hundred million at it?

We have to play through Herrera and Mkhi. That's the problem. Herrera is a problem.

 

[UnitedBoy]

It was if there was zero input or practice in attacking. All the focus was on defending and shutting out the opponent with this poxy 5212. It doesnt suit our attackers what so ever.

 

[prtk0811]

Mou is by far the biggest knob. Conte doesn't have to shake his hand. He's being taking snipes at them since last season.

Top managers have personnel rivalry , it's not a big deal.

 

[Sigma]

Ive always said its very simple to work out. Name a player, any player, and just ask yourself 'Are they good enough to play at xxxxx or would xxxxx buy them from United?' So in this case lets say xxxxx is Real Madrid but you can choose any top side you like...so here goes

Lingard?...no
Mikh? ... no
Valencia?.....no
Jones?...no
Smalling?....no
Young?....no

And yet we see them as first team regulars in one way or another.

We're about £300million in signings behind most major clubs. Its easy to get emotionally attached and defend the team and trust me, i love United and always will. But im not blinkered or blinded enough by loyalty to defend something I know just isnt good enough at the moment.
We can get there, but we wont with these players. Simple as that.

Real Madrid have 20 points from 10 games. We have 23 from 11.

 

[M4YON]

We're better than last season.

Stil not good enough no decent LB, no decent CB to partner Bailly with Jones, Lindelof and Smallimg all making mistakes and absolutely no outlet for our right wing needs addressing in January if possible.

 

[TMDaines]

Ridiculous, we won the league with Ruud. He is actually an example that you can win the league if you got the proper tactics and team

We won one league and two cups, and were also-rans in Europe during those years. During Ferguson’s Premier League years, these were his most fallow.

 

[moonunderthewater]

Looked at least we had a go. They were never safe and we were always in with a shout. Rather have a go and lose, than defend like mad and draw. We had a few big chances and if we'd scored one, this thread would look very different. Unlucky Jose, good try. PS Conte, disgraceful behaviour

 

[TRA007]

The result is not that much of a worry as City will eventually drop points and we will most probably drub the lower teams. Its the style of play that is a big worry. Its one thing to miss creativity, but another to miss intent. Our players apart from the left wingers almost always pass slowly, recieve the ball slowly, turn like a snail and than take too much time to make a decision. Hell most of the players take two to three touches to control the ball more often than not.If Mou wanted to address this, he has had these players for over 500 days now. Instead he has been drilling defensive solidarity and tactical discipline.
I would much rather watch the team pass quickly and show intent to lose than to play at the pace of 60 year olds and win.
For me we were, are and should be an identity based club rather than a result based one.

 

[PK007]

I know you're upset, we all are after that garbage.

But think of what you're saying. It doesn't make sense.

We spent probably the 2nd highest of any team this summer. If that's not competing like a huge club what is?

We're still 2nd in the league. How are we average?

Yes we could do with a rethink in the big aways, hopefully it'll get better once our best player comes back. That can only help!

We're definitely not quite there though, Jose himself says he needs a third summer window.
Left back, "Big" attacking quality player being the 2 essential next steps.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. But do me a favour and keep my post and read it back at the end of the season because I guarantee a lot of it will make sense when we finish 5th...drop out the FA Cup...drop out the CL.
We'll always look comfortable enough against the little clubs. But you dont win anything unless you can compete with the top clubs and right nkw weve drawn to an average Liverpool....weve beaten Spurs...and lost to an (by their own managers words) averave Chelsea.
We havent even come up against City yet..or Barca..or PSG...or Real. I hate saying it but i know we just arent good enough at the moment but im not depressed. I know we can turn it around but its always hard as a fan because ive always said the fans see it before the manager does.

 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Cut the doom and gloom, bunch of drama queens. It seems that some of you expect a Brazil'86 type of football. It's not gonna happen. Not with Mourinho, not with this team, and never at the big games. Jesus, not even SAF managed to do that.

Anyway:

First Half: we played ok.
Second Half: we played like shit. No passes, no shoots, no cohesion, nothing. Just a bunch of people trying to do something and failling.

I can take the first half type of football because it shows something, some kind of strategy that can do us good in those kind of games. Do I want that forever? Of course not, but its way better than the crazy shitfest of the second half.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Poor. Once again an indifferent first half followed by an utter cowpat of a second. Minutes 45-65 we were woeful, devoid of any notion of using the ball in any way and once we'd deservedly conceded it felt like game over, there was so little threat from us.

We find it impossible to compete, let alone have any control, in the middle of park. Mkhi has been beyond abysmal for weeks now, it's as close to playing with 10 men as you can get without a red card.

Our much-lauded defence looked jittery in my view. The amount of times we were left making last ditch tackles (which to be fair Bailly in particular did well for us) was indicative of a lack of authority and the continual slicing of the ball back to Chelsea signified a serious lack of composure.

If we'd have snatched a point at the end from a hoof up to Fellaini, who at least gave us something to aim at, it would have been hilarious daylight robbery. Desperate stuff all round today.

 

[NotBrendanRodgers honest]

Why are you guys soooo angry and upset lol? You are 2nd, only 8 pts behind with 27 games left. You guys are crazy if you think city will keep this up all season

 

[NinjaFletch]

I am not really sure that United won league before and after Ruud was here is any way related to the fact that when Ruud scored lots of goals we won a league title. There are many other problems with the squad when he was here. Him being a goalscorer isn't one

We won 3 in a row before he arrived, 1 in 5 years whilst he played for us, and 3 in a row after he left.

Correlation is not causation, but there's at least an argument that we were better off without him.

 

[Addled]

feck me but Sky are a real bunch of sensationalists. Have you had a chance to shake hands with Jose?
None of your fecking business. I am here to win the match every thing else is incidental. I cannot believe the way these wankers go on - apologies if you picked up inappropriate language on our microphones!!!! What?? FUK OFF
Making stories where they don’t exist.
BTW we were rubbish today. Jose should be more interested in that than in Sky’s idiot agenda. (End of rant - except for the wankstain Carragher and his stupid accent that makes him sound like a moron)

 

[iam_kramer]

We've been crap in most of the games bookended by these international breaks. Hopefully next stage is kinder to us!

 

[Kant-ona]

We should stop travel to the bridge in the future.

 

[M4YON]

Ive always said its very simple to work out. Name a player, any player, and just ask yourself 'Are they good enough to play at xxxxx or would xxxxx buy them from United?' So in this case lets say xxxxx is Real Madrid but you can choose any top side you like...so here goes

Lingard?...no
Mikh? ... no
Valencia?.....no
Jones?...no
Smalling?....no
Young?....no

And yet we see them as first team regulars in one way or another.

We're about £300million in signings behind most major clubs. Its easy to get emotionally attached and defend the team and trust me, i love United and always will. But im not blinkered or blinded enough by loyalty to defend something I know just isnt good enough at the moment.
We can get there, but we wont with these players. Simple as that.

Disagree with Mhkitaryan butnthe rest im with you on.

The issue is LVG wasted 300 million on a lot of average players so yes we need to spend 300 million on improving our team but be prepared for the 'buying the league' comments from rival fans and pundits to constantly focus on how much we've spent on out team in the last few years.

 

[No11]

Looked at least we had a go. They were never safe and we were always in with a shout. Rather have a go and lose, than defend like mad and draw. We had a few big chances and if we'd scored one, this thread would look very different. Unlucky Jose, good try. PS Conte, disgraceful behaviour

Why?

 

[RuudTom83]

Never easy at the Bridge and the game could have easily finished 1-1.

The current tread is to bash every single thing United as if they should be going away to Chelsea and playing them off the park.

 

[minoo-utd]

Next we should play Rashford, Martial and Lukaku together, there must be an attacking football, this Mourinho shit can't continue we have to pick our selves up, Mkhitaryan must be sold as soon as possible, we need to replace Valencia he is so damn limited.
I think we can finish second but it makes no difference right? 5th season without the premier league.

 

[Peanut Butter]

Why are you guys soooo angry and upset lol? You are 2nd, only 8 pts behind with 27 games left. You guys are crazy if you think city will keep this up all season

It's Redcafe after a loss. It's always like this.

 

[Rista]

What I've learned from this thread is that we should sack Mourinho and hire Pochettino, although Mou was the man a week ago, that Lukaku needs to go and we will struggle to finish 4th. That seems reasonable.

 

[r3idy]

Never thought I would say this but thank **** the international break has come. Lots of people are calling Jose out on recent performances but to be fair some of the players have been bang average. The issue Utd have is the midfield. As much as Matic has been brought in to do a job, he is not one for unlocking a defence or controlling the rhythm of the game. Shit midfield means that Bang Average defenders like Smalling get exposed even more. He panics if he has to come or drop off. The ball bounces off his head more times than he assertively plays it out. Herrera is a shadow of what he was last year and Mikhi goes missing more often than not. Just shows how much we need Pogba back in the team and dare I say it Zlatan. That is something that Jose cannot fix as we have nothing to come on and fix it with.

Out of all the Chelsea teams that there has been in recent years, this is the most spineless. Not strong anywhere on the pitch and today we should have bullied them off the park and give them a good turning over. They were there for the taking but alas we have very little creativity in the center of the field and often left chasing shadows.

 

[iam_kramer]

Don't look at City's next fixtures if you don't want to fall into a depression.

 

[Darkhorsez]

First half was fairly decent and acceptable. Second half -a different story. What we got to not forget is there is always 2 sides to a game. Chelsea players came out a lot more pumped and up for it. We seem to lack energy and lose the 50-50 balls. Sooner we get Pogba and some creativity back the better. From an attaching change option in all honesty we don’t have much so not sure why we are blaming Mou? His subs were ok and th change in our shape was ok too. Obviously upset with the performance and result but we will get there even though it seems to be taking longer than everyone expected or should expect.
On a different note, what the heck is wrong with Conte? So classless from him at the end. Mou shaking hands with Chelsea staff while Conte heads out onto the pitch staring like a psycho! WTF! I really can’t stand him.

 

[RedIke]

This place is so stupid after any result that doesn't end with United winning by 3+ goals.

Loss at the Bridge, 2nd place, only November. Lol fecking hell.

I felt like the first international break killed all of Uniteds momentum. I feel now like this international break couldn't come at a better time.

 

[Addled]

Conte post match: "It's not important (to shake Jose's hand). You have to earn respect on the pitch, not off the pitch."

He's a bit of a knob, isn't he?

feck it you have dragged me in. What did he say that is wrong? Remember Jose is the “finger in the eye off the pitch”man. I don’t remember Conte doing too much wrong. He won today so our guy has no reason to criticize. Concentrate on winning matches not the other stuff that means feck all in the grand scheme of things. Don’t rise to Sky’s bullshit agenda.

 

[buckooo1978]

it's hard to imagine a Jose side going away to one of the top 6 and dominating

Chelsea just looked more up for it than us and had extra quality in midfield and attack

frustrating but predictable - we need a couple of tier one attacking players we can rely on

 

[Lord_Emz]

Shet game! It was so awful, Chelsea looked great. We should have done an anfield, of course, but mourinho just won't do it!

 

[Stookie]

Can anyone explain to me what our game plan was today? In possession It seemed as though it was pass it around in defence for a while and then hoof it up front to the man who can’t hold a ball up. Then when that didn’t work hoof it out to the wings where Rashford seemed to have 3 men on him all the time. And then out to the other wing as Chelsea won back possession. United seemed to offer nothing today. As someone said earlier, the result flattered us.

 

[reelworld]

We won 3 in a row before he arrived, 1 in 5 years whilst he played for us, and 3 in a row after he left.

Correlation is not causation, but there's at least an argument that we were better off without him.

Different teams and different players around him. Ruud United was old and in transition. The United team that won the league? He had Giggs-Scholes-Solskjaer behind him. That's pace, trickery, creativity and goalscoring supporting him. He also had Veron who would be our most creative player by a mile if he was in this team.
My point is, United had problems, but having a goalscorer like Lukaku isn't one. The most pressing issues is with Mourinho tactics and the fact that the players who supposedly provides him with chances are in incredibly shit form or just not good enough

 

[Kostur]

Was there a post-match interview with Jose somewhere here?

 

[groovyalbert]

Mkhitaryan with the 2.8 average rating

He wasn't great, but come on...

 

[Jeffthered]

The fact that we are consistently discussing how inept our attacking unit / strategy / whatever is, confirms where we are as a team. I am now beginning to worry, because I can't see Mourinho getting much more out of these players, and many of them just aren't good enough. Mata, Miki, Lindgaard, Martial... these guys going to win you a Premiership title?

We look awful going forward. Lukaku is beginning to struggle, and that's a huge concern. Rashford is tired and probably overplayed.

Carrick, Pogba, Ibra will make a big difference.. but we need a sense of vibrancy, imagination, creativity... just better 'quality' in the opponents half. Lukaku not having a kick in the Chelsea box today is a disgrace. How is that acceptable at Manchester United?

We need to freshen things up in Jan... even just to see where it takes us. Some players should go.

 

[groovyalbert]

Going back to the summer, you can see why Jose wanted a ball-carrying winger able to cross. Our transition from defence to attack the last month or so has been tumescent.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Typical Stamford Bridge performance. Start very well. Get to half time level, go to sleep for 10-15 mins to give away a poor lead, act drunk with shock for another 20 mins, pour forward, miss a great chance and lose.

 

[redIndianDevil]

Every time we play horrible I sing the same song, we just don't look like a team at all. Absolutely disjointed, our players are not aware of where their teammates are, it's not a personnel fault IMO, the blame should fall squarely on our manager's shoulders. You see City, Spurs, Chelsea, even Liverpool you get the feeling that their players are executing things or trying to execute things that they train, our players on the other hand have no fecking clue when they are pressed.

Take today's game, for about 80 minutes we looked absolutely pathetic, could not match their midfield, could not hold onto possession, last 10 minutes we look like we dominated them, but we did not. We looked like dominating because they conceded the midfield, they stopped pressing, suddenly we were comfortable on the ball, we looked like grilling them. The last 10 minutes is what we look like against the 15 PL clubs, they give us space and our players are comfortable and Young, Rashford or some one pulls something out of the bag, couple of matches we had last minutes flurries to pad our goals scored stats. The moment the opposition starts to press, our midfielders crap themselves and begin to hoof it out to safety.

Our already average unintelligent passing suffers by our players taking too long to pick out who to make the pass too, Matic today lost possession about 2-3 times because he is searching for his teammates to make the pass to(after receiving the ball), players of other big teams instinctively know where their teammates are going to be. This again comes from coaching. Ander Herrera used to be part of Bilbao team who outplayed us at Old Trafford, surely he is capable of passing well? Why does he look like a bang average clogger now?

It looks like the only training exercise our team does is on defence. How can any player try and attack when you are constantly looking over your shoulders and checking up on the defence. It looks like we are sacrificing a lot in attack to make our defence work. That IMO is not right. The balance between attack and defence is not there.

The fact that Fellaini has become our savior shows how far low our passing has gotten to. This results only approach Mourinho takes will only work as long as we win titles, looks like we are already out of the running for the big one. We can't even dream about CL. I don't Mourinho can convince match going fans with shite football and no trophies.

 

[minoo-utd]

Disagree with Mhkitaryan butnthe rest im with you on.

The issue is LVG wasted 300 million on a lot of average players so yes we need to spend 300 million on improving our team but be prepared for the 'buying the league' comments from rival fans and pundits to constantly focus on how much we've spent on out team in the last few years.

Do we really care what the pundits or rival fans say if we win the league, for God sakes we are desperate to challenge for the title and win it by any means.

 

[ExoduS]

I am very disappointed by the performance tonight. Extreme lack of leadership on the field and no identity in the attack. Few good moments but overall we were dominated and fair result would have been 3-0 Chelsea. Mourinho is a coach that has been very well read by almost all top coaches.Season started well, but all I am seeing is major decline in a last month. Only positive that I see is the hope that things turn around once Pogba comes back as clearly Herrera Matic partnership isn't working out.

 

[Kevin]

Was there a post-match interview with Jose somewhere here?

http://metro.co.uk/2017/11/05/jose-...fellaini-following-defeat-to-chelsea-7055616/