[Lebowski]

Ah yes playing in a match together and training together is the same thing.

He along with Martial are the main strikers, if we don't reply on them then whats the use of them?

Maybe you were expecting us to create 30 chances but pretty sure we created at least 7 good chances and Clutching of straws is strong with you.... how dare a striker make a clever run but no, no its the defender being rubbish. I wonder if that level of straw clutching is used for other teams.

So your problem isn't that we created less but we only scored one.....

As I said we created chances but couldn't finish and that had nothing to do with not having or not having a "functioning midfield and attack".

Easy now.

I can't work out what you're talking about clutching straws for, but we clearly disagree about the quality of our performance.

I thought we were pedestrian and lacked ideas, you presumably think the team played well but were just let down by Rashford's wasteful finishing.

You ask was I expecting us to create 30 chances. I was looking for us to be able to go up a gear to carve them open, and I was looking for our youngsters to look several levels above their players. I think we saw mostly the same lack of imagination and cutting edge that we have seen in most of our games against two banks of four.

 

[Matst1]

Finishing seems to be our biggest problem. But with this squad, I expected it. We certainly controlled the game. Astana had the ball for only 25% of the time and only managed 3 shots, none of which were on target. For our 75% of the game, we had 20 shots, 7 on target. Only one went in.

Was this a PL-level squad? Of course not. This is what we needed for the moment, and in more ways than just 3 points in the EL. But we did get those, too!

Here are some interesting passing stats:

Fred - 137 passes (!) - 93.4% success
Matic - 120 passes - 92.5%
Tuanzebe - 94 - 91.5%
Phil Jones - 66 - 97% (!)

Good place to knock off rust. Only two of our starters had started so far this year. I really felt that only Chong had a weak game - a bit too careless on the ball too often. But put that same lineup out there next week and I think they play much better, much tighter.

Kudos to Ole for putting that bunch out there at the right time. And his substitutions were appropriate and well-timed.

Excellent post, well said.

that Jones stat. He did do ok last night, he's just a bit too erratic.

 

[OldPop]

What was not good about Jones last night? I thought he did well considering he had little help from Rojo.

He fought well (as always) but was too slow and was stressed to make several bad interventions by opponents who are not very high ranked. But it's true that Rojo could have helped better in defense.

 

[cyril C]

What was not good about Jones last night? I thought he did well considering he had little help from Rojo.

Jones was Jones as usual. No awareness of any opponents around him, clumsy passing, but managed to savage his way out of any disaster.

 

[Florida Man]

Jones was Jones as usual. No awareness of any opponents around him, clumsy passing, but managed to savage his way out of any disaster.

You could put that down to not playing much until this match so he was a little rusty.

 

[Axle17]

Frustrating more than boring. The intent was there. You could see the players had clear direction, but they just couldn't put it all together.

Is it just me or does Rashford seriously have an attitude problem? Kid needs a reality check.

Our forward structure is too disjointed. At some stages our stikers werent even in a position to receive the ball. If Greenwood is our best finisher, then make him stay central and near the box.

 

[Tarrou]

I am indeed. I admit that traffic was bad and I got to the bar 20 minutes into the match, but from that moment onwards I thought he was fine. He had little help from his fullback but he won the ball early and helped keep them pinned in their own half.

Phil Jones is a good defender and if he could get over his bad luck with injuries he can be a dominant force. That might not be with United, but I am certain he still has it in him.

And white text -- no, I'm not his mom.

Did you see the bit where he got skinned by the slowest player of all time? Granted he got back and recovered but it was still quite calamitous.

 

[predator]

It's nice to see the younger lads play in what is a european competition but at the same time it was a ghastly reminder of how thin our squad is.

My expectations for this season are very low. I'm usually a half glass full type of fan but I'm certain we are going to struggle.

With the bigger picture in mind though, I am content to see Ole given time and backing from the board to revitalise the club.

 

[The Boy]

I co think you lot either massively over estimate how good your young players are or massively under estimate how good your senior players are.

Fred has taken a bit of pasting here - man of the match for me his passing was good and crisp, he was very unlucky not to score a stunning goal and he got an assist. I've seen calls for Rashford to go out on loan! He had chances and missed them, but they were generally saved rather than him just mucking it up, there were at least two great point blank saves from instinctive shots. Also some great moments from Rojo, Dalot and aprt from one moment which he sorted Jones as well.

There have been so many complaints here that Ole wasn't playing youth, well he is now and everyones underwhelmed! They're young and learnng, like Rashford. though I think for Chong. Gomes and Greenwood that was their first competitive start. Given that they were as good as you'd hope. Great goal, some lovely footwork from Gomes and even Chong got into good positions.

Youth played and played freely there were plenty of attacks - you played with your "c" squad and won, whats not to like

 

[predator]

I co think you lot either massively over estimate how good your young players are or massively under estimate how good your senior players are.

Fred has taken a bit of pasting here - man of the match for me his passing was good and crisp, he was very unlucky not to score a stunning goal and he got an assist. I've seen calls for Rashford to go out on loan! He had chances and missed them, but they were generally saved rather than him just mucking it up, there were at least two great point blank saves from instinctive shots. Also some great moments from Rojo, Dalot and aprt from one moment which he sorted Jones as well.

There have been so many complaints here that Ole wasn't playing youth, well he is now and everyones underwhelmed! They're young and learnng, like Rashford. though I think for Chong. Gomes and Greenwood that was their first competitive start. Given that they were as good as you'd hope. Great goal, some lovely footwork from Gomes and even Chong got into good positions.

Youth played and played freely there were plenty of attacks - you played with your "c" squad and won, whats not to like

It's not good enough. No matter how you look at it we struggled to comfortably beat a team, that is sitting 3rd in the Kazakhstan league, at home - even with mostly squad players.

 

[gerdm07]

It's not good enough. No matter how you look at it we struggled to comfortably beat a team, that is sitting 3rd in the Kazakhstan league, at home - even with mostly squad players.

In matches like these it usually hinges on when the first goal is scored. If scored in the first 30 minutes, the match usually ends in a rout. If scored after 70, then it usually ends 1-0 because the better team, us in this case, just keep possession to run the clock down. Saying we struggled is silly. We had good chances and just didn't put them away. That's football.

 

[cyril C]

You could put that down to not playing much until this match so he was a little rusty.

Apart from Rashford, which player has a few games under his belt? In terms of rusty, who can be worse than Rojo? Positional awareness is simply basic, excuse or not.

 

[Enigma_87]

Wouldn't put too much in it in terms of general play and performance. Good to see some of the young players getting some minutes. Astana were really poor, especially in attack, another day it would easily ended 4-0.

The positives are some of the young lads showing potential and the negatives are - Jones.