Keeps It tidy
Hates Messi
I thought that was the best the midfield and defense has looked this season. I hope that is the midfield/defensive set up and personnel we use against Sevilla.
...the bare minimum surely for even a sunday league team? Does Mourinho deserve credit for having a plan?a team that looked like it had a plan
Rojo needs more than one solid game against one of the worst strikers in the league to secure his place.I thought that was the best the midfield and defense has looked this season. I hope that is the midfield/defensive set up and personnel we use against Sevilla.
I was going to say have Bailly swap with Rojo.Rojo needs more than one solid game against one of the worst strikers in the league to secure his place.
And Valencia/Young with Lindelof. Feels like Bailly has barely played this season, Utd need him to prove that he can sustain the great impression he made last year.I was going to say have Bailly swap with Rojo.
Mata played really well today. That’s very harsh on this occasion.Captains performance from pogba tonight Mata is such a waste of a space in that team.
Comfortable win in the end.
We struggled to break them down though. It was some good goals from a distance that gave us the points and also should we be honest Everton had a very poor midfield.If 4-3-3 was the solution, what happened at Stoke and Basel? The difference is not so much the formation, it was the insistence on the slick short passing.
Lol. Of course you can do what you want. Nobody's forcing you to stop listening to those doom-and-gloom'ers.Well thanks for your suggestion, but I'll do what I want thank you. My eyes and brain can easily interpret what is happening and the point I was making is that we were toothless in the first half and many others said similar. In fact there was very few people happy with the way the game was going by half time. Our game plan in the first half was pretty much non existent and it was similar to the last few games in which we created very few clear cut chances. So if you're asking if I enjoy a team that plays that way, then no is your answer. I enjoyed the feck out of the team in the second half though, a team that looked like it had a plan and took the game to the opposition. That is Manchester United. Not that first half shite we have seen in the prior 3 games.
My feelings also. He’s honestly so frustrating.What's more impressive (I mean, negatively impressive) about Mourinho's comments on the way we played today was the fact we only played this way – with the slick short passing, or “more dynamic and freedom” – because of the players missing, meaning Lukaku and Ibrahimović.
Saddest thing about that article is that Henry wasn't even particularly critical. He literally just said Lingard picked the wrong option (which he did). It was Sounness who spent the whole of half time whining...and I'm pretty sure at this point he's just a robot repeating the same sentences over and over.How shameless is this?
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/898867/Manchester-United-news-Jesse-Lingard-Everton
They managed to chop a great win into negative headlines for us.
Its impressive
Sometimes people allow frustration to cloud what really transpired. Can’t blame them though.At last.Someone who shares my sentiments.
Reading posts here you will think we have been absolutely rubbish.
Ah okay, I will be sure to be super accurate and precise next time I use the word ‘couple’.You said last couple of games. Our last couple of games were Burnley and Southampton. We played ok v Burnley but were absolutely dire v Southampton, hence my response.
You could also say we made them poor because we controlled things.I missed the game earlier but reading the comments on here I expected to see a great performance.
After watching the full 90mins I think it was as much Everton being poor as anything else. But we got the three points and player confidence will increase now. Which IMO has been our biggest problem post City game.
Don't think we struggled to break them down. Quite the opposite infact. We started slowly but even in the first half we were getting in around good areas. Come the second we were dissecting them at will.We struggled to break them down though. It was some good goals from a distance that gave us the points and also should we be honest Everton had a very poor midfield.
We get a better balance with 4-3-3 though although it will not help us break teams down.
For an away performance at Goodison that performance was dominant. We also did very well not to let Everton build momentum when they pushed us for a spell before Jesse's goal.I missed the game earlier but reading the comments on here I expected to see a great performance.
After watching the full 90mins I think it was as much Everton being poor as anything else. But we got the three points and player confidence will increase now. Which IMO has been our biggest problem post City game.
We only crossed the ball 5 times tonight. The last few games we are averaging around 30 crosses. No Lukaku so the crosses go down and all the players are passing and moving. Lukaku comes back and I'm afraid we will resort back to crossing. Personally, I like what I saw in the second half today (not so much the first half) and I would much rather see us play more like that...I think with Pogba, Lingard, Martial, Shaw all getting into good passing positions in the box this suits Lukaku
do think he will struggle a little with the nice intricate passing at times but with the service he would have gotten tonight I think he would have been licking his lips
the answer is simple really though - work on it in training - because we spent 75 million on Lukaku it doesn't mean he has to start every game though
With Lukaku we tend to whip the ball to the big man every time, getting predictable at least and forgetting other aspects of the game at worst. Perhaps MK is also at fault, he was supposed to be the man who can flip and pass, offering something different to Lukaku, but he turns AWOL as you know. For us to fire at all cylinders we need to see a) Lukaku learning to make short pass / flick for teammates (and shooting without spending 30s to compute) b) someone to replace MK c) Rashford learns to play short pass / movement. Then our 9-10 attacking / MF players can make life difficult for every team.We only crossed the ball 5 times tonight. The last few games we are averaging around 30 crosses. No Lukaku so the crosses go down and all the players are passing and moving. Lukaku comes back and I'm afraid we will resort back to crossing. Personally, I like what I saw in the second half today (not so much the first half) and I would much rather see us play more like that...
It's not a conclusion drawn after a solitary performance, neither it's about formations. It's how best to utilize a player's skills and talents. Pogba is an attacking player, not a central midfielder. An attacking role has different responsibilities. The onus is on creating and scoring goals and generally create havoc in the attacking third of the pitch. That is where Pogba shines and does his best work. He is strong, can play intricate one-two's, has good dribbling ability, has excellent vision for a pass and can score goals.What happened at half time, did Jose just tell the players to "try harder" and then they did? Utterly baffling how we just came out and clearly started putting more effort in.
Lots of people will no doubt clamber to ridiulous conclusions about formations now, but the main difference today was that in the second half our players were prepared to force the issue and actually play football, rather than just half arsedly run around like idiots. In the first half, with the same formation, they half arsedly ran around like idiots. Few teams will offer as little in return as Everton did too.
Lingard keeps scoring really goood goals. It's getting to the point now where it can't just be some weird fluke.
- Also, concerning that Jose was saying the other day he needs to rest Lukaku but can't. I mean, I get that he's a key player, but clearly if you NEED to rest him, you can. Jose would rather stick a clearly unfit Zlatan up top (and then, for some reason, keep Lukaku in the team anyway), than just play Martial there from time to time, who is probably good enough himself to get 20+ goals a season if he was played up top regularly. He does it because he is forced into it, which suggests a basic lack of understanding of what his own players can and can't do.
In my opinion the last thing we need is someone to replace MickyT. I hate the 4-2-3-1 formation with us. It makes Pogba play too deep. The only way I would want a #10 is if it's a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Other than that, I would much rather see us play a 4-3-3. But we need a better option than Fellaini or Herrara on the right side of midfieldWith Lukaku we tend to whip the ball to the big man every time, getting predictable at least and forgetting other aspects of the game at worst. Perhaps MK is also at fault, he was supposed to be the man who can flip and pass, offering something different to Lukaku, but he turns AWOL as you know. For us to fire at all cylinders we need to see a) Lukaku learning to make short pass / flick for teammates (and shooting without spending 30s to compute) b) someone to replace MK c) Rashford learns to play short pass / movement. Then our 9-10 attacking / MF players can make life difficult for every team.
Not since Tom Cleverley was in his pomp, nah, Paul Scholes got 20 in the 02/03 season but can't remember anybody else, and i'm going back to the mid 70'sSaid in another thread but Lingard is undroppable at the moment.
He is busy but makes intelligent runs and links things together. Also a great finisher. If he keeps up this form he may hit 20 goals as a midfielder. When was the last time a Utd player did that? Genuine question btw.
First half was average at best but 2nd half we were dominant and it could have been 3 or 4. Am 75% happy again but still not completely happy with the approach.
Plenty of others have criticised him, in this thread and others. I happen to believe that both him and Ibrahimovich are too static and our general all round play suffers as a result. If he (they) come back in and we play with the same verve then I will happily stand corrected. Until then....Stop with this Lukaku nonsense
What’s wrong with you? Why would you play a midfield 3 at home to teams that are gonna sit back? So that matic and Herrera can pass the ball amongst themselves with 9 in front of them? Mourinho isn’t the one who needs to use his brains.If Mourinho has half a brain he will do the following:
1- Play a midfield of 3 with more freedom for Pgoba to drive forward.
2- Play Lingard only on the flanks (whenever he plays).
3- Give Martial or Rashford a run of games as No.9 instead of Lukaku.
Big Sam has always been kind to usYou wonder if they were expecting a lot more from Everton, who after the first Big Sam glow have gone back to being not very good. Second half they upped their game as they realised they definitely had the beating of them.
Martial did nicely as a 9 in this game. Why is it laughable to play him ahead of out-of-form Lukaku? What has Lukaku done in the last 10 games he started as a 9, aside from providing assists to the other teams?Martial isn’t a 9. To play him ahead of lukaku as a 9 is laughable really
Except we've played Pogba in this role before and he's been just as hit and miss as when he's played in central midfield.It's not a conclusion drawn after a solitary performance, neither it's about formations. It's how best to utilize a player's skills and talents. Pogba is an attacking player, not a central midfielder. An attacking role has different responsibilities. The onus is on creating and scoring goals and generally create havoc in the attacking third of the pitch. That is where Pogba shines and does his best work. He is strong, can play intricate one-two's, has good dribbling ability, has excellent vision for a pass and can score goals.
A box to box central midfield role requires a different skill set. It's not all about pinging 70 yard passes to the wings. There is a reason players like Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Zidane, Iniesta etc. excelled in attacking roles. They all had/have the ability to ping those passes but they did their best work when freed of the defensive responsibilities. I am sure Mata, Coutinho or Eriksen can play in central midfield and look good in certain games, which won't mean that they are central midfielders either. It's the same nonsense that have people think that Rooney can play in a deeper role or when they thought Gerrard could easily excel in the Pirlo role because he can hit a sweet pass.
Andre Marriner