[pascell]

Are you ok?

Perfectly fine. He runs around a lot and looks busy, but fails to help us on the front foot and spring counter attacks. If we're to improve and challenge for major honours, we definitely need better.

 

[Still ill]

Ah, I'll take it. Our defence looked much better again. Much better. Wan Bissaka has gone from an absolute disaster to the guy I thought we signed in the space of a couple of weeks. Maguire excellent today, Lindelof playing as well as he has at ANY stage in his United career, Shaw solid again today. After Spurs, we'd have taken where we are now, no?
He needs to lose James and get Van de Beek involved as quickly as possible.

 

[Fluctuation0161]

This is all on Ole and his shit decisions today. Stupid lineup, gave both Mata and James 55 minutes. Diabolical decision to even let James go out for the second half. Then he fecked up again by moving Bruno to the right, completely taking him off the game and letting McTominay and Fred pass the ball around like if we were 3-0 up. Put Greenwood on way too late too, the kid created two chances out of nowhere and made more in 5 minutes than James has done the entire season.

Crazy how he can smile about this at the end. And what is the point of VDB? He's been great in every game that he's played and yet nowhere to be seen.

I've tend to agree. Not the worst result but frustrating.

 

[Okey]

Boy, that was a tough watch. Seemed like a lot of nothingness. We were scared to lose, they wanted a clean sheet. Those 2 factors have never made for an entertaining game. We need some bottom feeder to try beat up on next. Oh wait...

 

[simplyared]

Started a thread a few weeks back wondering why we bought van de Beek. Thread was locked!

 

[big rons sovereign]

Matterface is a Chelsea fan.

That explains it. The colossal bellend.

 

[gerdm07]

Cavani couldn't wait to a have a hearty chat with T Silva outside the field. Lindelof had to fist pump every Chelsea players, from goalkeeper to their bench players.

And the Manager looked like meeting his idol when he saw Lampard.

This against a side that humiliated them in SF last season. Impressive fighting mentality.

I think all players should fist pump or shake hands after every match. I like that in Lindelof, it shows respect and that's the right thing to do.

 

[ash_86]

First half both the teams were edgy and then when the game moved on we pinned them back and created quite a few chances to put them to sword. Ddg didn't have to make a save. Would've been great if we won but not the worst result.

 

[Majima]

One step forward, two steps back.

Amazing performance vs PSG midweek, back to parking the bus at home. I wanted to see us take the momentum into this game, attacking Chelsea. I understand we conceded 6 goals vs Spurs but being scared at home is not what we are about as a club.

When you put on the shirt, you're not allowed to play with fear, so to see us scared to commit numbers forward, or play with a fast tempo, is hugely disappointing.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Oles biggest failure has been an inability to rotate the squad. Everytime we win a game he tries to keep the same starting 11 until they're broken.

He won't improve on top 3 finishes with that attitude he shows. Our squad is better now so its not as though he cant rotate. He just doesn't have the guts to.

I agree, we have a very strong squad now so there's no excuses!

 

[Inigo Montoya]

A few days back he was a genius now we want him out again.

Brilliant set of fans we have

 

[mattsville]

That was a good perfomance, we were solid, committed, focused and played for each other, we would have but for some good saves by their keeper, we brought on Cavani and Pogba and pushed Pogba into an advanced position and later brought on Greenwood, people saying "this is on Ole" for not going for it, wtf? I don't get the hysteria as if we were entitled in this thread or others, like we are United with prime SAF in charge, we are still building and that is the 3rd game in a row where we looked very dominant and focused, yes James was underwhelming but Greenwood is coming back from an injury and Martial is suspended, relax there was nothing wrong with that performance bar sneaking a goal.

 

[Godfather]

A few days back he was a genius now we want him out again.

Brilliant set of fans we have

Story of Ole. Some good results. Many shocking ones (today was ok nothing more)

At the end of the day he obviously hasn't what it takes to make us winning trophies. Might take a few years until he'll be sacked though.

 

[MrSingh2002]

A few days back he was a genius now we want him out again.

Brilliant set of fans we have

Do you think playing the same midfield two 3 games in a row early in the season is a good call?

While Pogba, Matic and VdB were hardly used.

 

[AshRK]

It was a poor performance but no way did we park the bus. We were just poor attacking wise.

 

[yamo123x]

Dont like bashing players, but poor dan james, i feel sorry for him now, he is so short of quality and offers nothing, how can he start ahead of some of guys on bench?

Rashy is not a left sided player, looks better in the middle.

Mct was good,.AWB and Lindelof both v.good too

 

[Still ill]

You people are weird. We played pretty well today against one if our main opponents, had our chances to win didn't take them. Is every non-win a catastrophe these days?

 

[stu_1992]

A cautious game from both sides. No one ever looked like really winning. I suppose we had the better of the chances and attacking moments but jot enough. Would agree with those who sys the line up left a lot to be desired and perhaps also the wrong changes were made. A 0-0 against Chelsea is hardly a horrific result, but we need to pick up points soon to make sure others don't get too far ahead. I realize everyone is dropping points all over the shop, but that's only more reason to out together some wins and climb the table.

 

[dal]

If rashford takes his chance Ole would be praised, it’s fine margins.

It will even out, Pep drew to West Ham, pool lost by 6 goals too, it’s wide open.

We will be absolutely frightening soon.

Chill. We are just getting started.

 

[MiracleInMadrid]

Just finished watching the game without knowing the result on beforehand. That was a tough watch if I ever saw one.

Both teams either went in to the match without a clue on how to break down the opponent, or both teams didn't want to risk losing and therefore not commit themselves to be offensive enough to create chances.

We only just managed to create a couple of half chances, and a single big one to Rashford in the first half, to get away with a narrow win but didn't have the quality to take advantage of them. In all fairness, the result is fair as we too were very compact and didn't seem to have the tools to unlock Chelsea.

There were some good defensive performances from AWB and Lindelöf. Positive cameos from Pogba and Cavani. Put that is about it when it comes to things to build on from this match. We really missed Martial, who are the only player with good enough close control on the ball to get something from such a compact opponent.

Fred and Mctominay can be an effective partnership in matches where we expect the opponent to have the ball the majority of the time. In matches as today, where we had the ball more than Chelsea and had to break down a very compact team, they will never work. They both stay back and doesn't break the lines and get into channels. They make us so predictable when building play. We get to a ton of cross situations - why not take advantage of Mctominays height and power and get him in the box for those crosses. We cross the ball at players that are standing still in the box, and in the Prem, almost no defence will lose that battle.
In addition they are a bit of a liability when we have the ball most of the time. We then usually are high up the pitch, and they make too many errors and misplaced passes in those situation. Instead we need a player with a high percentage of completed passes, good close control, good passing range and quick thinking. Someone like Thiago springs to my mind as the perfect example. Both Fred and Mctominay are too clumsy on the ball, and too predictable and slow with the ball at their feet.
That being said, their defensive effect may make up for their lack of the above mentioned attributes. But to play them both at home against Chelsea, who we should expect to have the ball more than in their current form, is criminal to me and a big part of the reason why we didn't look dangerous in possession today.

And also. How would this match have ended with a fully packed Old Trafford? Could have been the factor that made one of the teams step up the pressure a bit, or made one of the teams more nervous and therefore more likely to make errors leading to a goal, that would have opened the match.

 

[Member 90887]

One step forward, two steps back.

Amazing performance vs PSG midweek, back to parking the bus at home. I wanted to see us take the momentum into this game, attacking Chelsea. I understand we conceded 6 goals vs Spurs but being scared at home is not what we are about as a club.

When you put on the shirt, you're not allowed to play with fear, so to see us scared to commit numbers forward, or play with a fast tempo, is hugely disappointing.

How the hell did we park the bus? Did people watch the game?

They were playing for the draw with 11 players behind the ball.

James does not have what it takes, we clearly missed Martial today, Greenwood as well, you could see that when he was on. And Cavani was too short for today's game.

We did what we could with what we had and even then, we were way better than them and should have won.

We will definitely be way better in the near future.

 

[ReallyUSA]

A few days back he was a genius now we want him out again.

Brilliant set of fans we have

Exactly.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

Underwhelming.

I'm not too disappointed by the result, as I had felt before the match that the result could go either way. Chelsea have a strong attack, and any mistake could have cost us. That said we're lucky to have got away with Maguire's brainfart.

I think the formation was wrong, and Dan James shouldn't have started. Playing the same formation and lineup we did in Paris, or as close as possible, would have been better. We needed two strikers upfront.

None of our players stood out for me. No one was terrible, but no one did anything remarkable. Chelsea too, apart from Mendy. Credit where it's due, he seems to be a beast in goal.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

Perfectly fine. He runs around a lot and looks busy, but fails to help us on the front foot and spring counter attacks. If we're to improve and challenge for major honours, we definitely need better.

That's not his job though, he's a mobile CDM. ie an engine who breaks up play, and he does that fantastically, as seen against pretty much all the big name opposition he's played against. His passing is shit, but its not his job to outlet to the attack, its his job when he wins possession to hand it over tidily to somebody who can initiate the attack. its his midfield partner that's the problem not fred.

 

[united_99]

Still not sure what is more annoying; Both teams’ ultra defensive set-up today or people here acting like Chelsea are a bottom level team against who we should easily be winning.
Also really tired off this home and away focus - it really doesn’t make a difference this season.

 

[Loon]

We struggle to break down defensive set-ups. Need to work on that and see if any of the wingers we bought can open up teams. Or someone .

 

[Hugh Jass]

He should not have moved Bruno out to the right. Not sure why he did that.

 

[Lyng]

I think this game shows two managers who are massively under scrutiny by fans and media. Both managers did not want to lose.
When thats the setup you get a very boring game.
That having been said we are very lucky that Maguire didnt cost us again this season with that clear penalty. Thankfully Lindelöf has found his best form again.
Its difficult though since we dont want to risk Axel getting injured right away. But it should be clear to everyone that our best defence is Tuanzebe and Lindelöf. And that pace from Axel which could drive us forward was certainly needed today.

 

[poleglass red]

Lindelof MOTM.

Holy fcuk.i give up when I read this

 

[NewGlory]

who needs sancho when you can start James in big games?

This. Not buying Sancho cost us dearly and now we have no chance of winning anything this year. We are going to struggle all year, hoping to make top 4 if things improve and we are lucky... and everybody else sucks again. That's about it. We could have been more than that.

Feck Woodward

 

[K_Ash]

He should not have moved Bruno out to the right. Not sure why he did that.

because OGS is just not good enough...we all know Bruno is as his most effective as a 10 with this tendencies to drift to the left.
OGS is just not good enough.

 

[Tincanalley]

An absolute head scratcher tactically. Last week was clearly a fluke.

Ole is mediocre. An aspirant. A fan of the man. Always the brightest boy in class. Lacks balls. Lacks genius. But not bad, Ole, not bad at all.

 

[NewGlory]

Lindelof MOTM.

Weirdly enough - 100%

 

[NewGlory]

because OGS is just not good enough...we all know Bruno is as his most effective as a 10 with this tendencies to drift to the left.
OGS is just not good enough.

Right, that's how he beat PSG in Paris, with a much weaker team. By being mediocre.

 

[jeff_goldblum]

We were unlucky not to win today. Both managers clearly went in to disrupt each others games and it largely worked, but we had the better of it. With a bit of fortune we'd have gotten the goal and this thread would have a different tone.

People can give out all they want about how we should have attacked more, but it was the sort of game where that was just as likely to go badly for us as it was to go well.

 

[Hugh Jass]

We were unlucky not to win today. Both managers clearly went in to disrupt each others games and it largely worked, but we had the better of it. With a bit of fortune we'd have gotten the goal and this thread would have a different tone.

People can give out all they want about how we should have attacked more, but it was the sort of game where that was just as likely to go badly for us as it was to go well.

This.

 

[tjb]

5 games in, tough start, after next week we would have played 3 of the top 5 in our opening 6 games, whilst clearly lacking fitness to start the season (not now, but everything pre-newcastle). We are still in touching distance of City and Liverpool despite these circumstances, a draw wasn't bad for either us or them.

 

[Hugh Jass]

5 games in, tough start, after next week we would have played 3 of the top 5 in our opening 6 games, whilst clearly lacking fitness to start the season (not now, but everything pre-newcastle). We are still in touching distance of City and Liverpool despite these circumstances, a draw wasn't bad for either us or them.

I agree. Could get worse though with everton and Arsenal coming up.

 

[Lash]

You people are weird. We played pretty well today against one if our main opponents, had our chances to win didn't take them. Is every non-win a catastrophe these days?

Pretty much. Everyone is looking for the gotcha moment, it's painful.

 

[BazzaBear]

Jesus Christ. I'm not saying the game was brilliant, but this thread is a train wreck.