[Foxbatt]

The streaker was good running with his back to goal.

Was he able to control the ball(s) better than any of our players?

 

[Foxbatt]

Did the Granada team actually cost only 8 million euros?

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Played a negative cynical team that spent the entire match kicking the shit out of us with a ref who refused to do anything about it.

Difficult in those circumstances to produce a high quality attacking performance, especially as the team looks knackered.

Very good result though.

 

[Trex]

It somewhat feels like we don't have the right elements but are cruising waiting for next season improve our parts. Something is really wrong in how we operate in our front 5. Never really been a fan of a 4231, looks like a tshirt in which the midfield has too much to do as they are so high up the pitch. Works well if you have the right midfielders, but can be terrible without them. Unlike with Fergie in which our wingers supported the midfield, this genuinely feels like we only have two men operating in the middle...which allows us to go countless games without the majority of our front 6 actually getting involved, whereas that should be the case sometimes only for the striker.

Exactly, the gap between the front four and the deep lying midfielders, my biggest frustration with our current set up. The thing is neither Rashford nor James wants to play in that space because there isn't much room to run with the ball there, you have to be a grealish, Hazard, B Silva type ball carrier. Bruno isn't a ball carrier either so would rather just move up and hope the deeper players get it forward somehow. This is why I would like to see more of Diallo and even Pellistri because they seem tohave that skillset. Or just get Sancho he is great at doing so. It would improve our fluidity massively

 

[tjb]

Exactly, the gap between the front four and the deep lying midfielders, my biggest frustration with our current set up. The thing is neither Rashford nor James wants to play in that space because there isn't much room to run with the ball there, you have to be a grealish, Hazard, B Silva type ball carrier. Bruno isn't a ball carrier either so would rather just move up and hope the deeper players get it forward somehow. This is why I would like to see more of Diallo and even Pellistri because they seem tohave that skillset. Or just get Sancho he is great at doing so. It would improve our fluidity massively

I'd push Bruno back in the short term, the only problem is Matic seems to be the only one who can play as a lone 6, and he's too slow to cover the ground required.
Sancho is the right buy, we need some actual creativity off the right flank. AWB is never going to be a greeting attacking full back, but he is strong defensively and we should start using that. Getting sancho would ease that pressure. I've never been a fan of foraging wing backs, why sign a defender to do an attackers job. It works for certain teams that have world class attacking full backs, but that is really rare. I feel like teams just copied without actually having the right systems and players or styles to accommodate that. Like you said, our wingers aren't intricate when they come inside and are too close to the flanks without creating proper overloads on the outside.

 

[Tarrou]

2 shots on target says it all against a shit championship quality team.

they are top half of La Liga

 

[Dargonk]

Good base going into the second leg now

 

[JakeC]

they are top half of La Liga

No point taking sense to some.

 

[gerdm07]

Wan Bissaka easily the best player on the pitch. Lindelof, Rashford and De Gea did fairly well, most of the rest were incredibly underwhelming although I did love Maguire selling Granada's defenders the dream when he went forward.

Thought Greenwood and Shaw were very poor and James doesn't believe he's as good as the guys around him, which is true of course but doesn't matter, you should still believe in your ability if you want to play for Man Utd. If you're in a better position than your teammates just take the ball and have a dip.

AWB was not the best player. He made some really dumb passes putting players under pressure and caused turnovers. And on at least 2 throw-ins he gave the ball away.

I thought Greenwood was the most technical player on the pitch. The only problem was when he dribbled at defenders.

Job done. We needed the 2 goal cushion because Shaw and Maguire are out the next match.

Lovely goal from Rashford, sometimes his touch his sublime. It does look like he is playing with a lot of pain though.

 

[FatTails]

Good game, no complaints, and 2-0 away is a great result. I had hoped the Rashford would get a rest today but unfortunately that didn’t happen. Hope he can go again on Sunday!

 

[Isotope]

Good game, and very fortunate we won. It's amusing that a La Liga team plays more direct than an EPL team.

 

[cyril C]

Played a negative cynical team that spent the entire match kicking the shit out of us with a ref who refused to do anything about it.

Difficult in those circumstances to produce a high quality attacking performance, especially as the team looks knackered.

Very good result though.

And worse, when our players response, everyone of them got a yellow.

 

[cyril C]

AWB was not the best player. He made some really dumb passes putting players under pressure and caused turnovers. And on at least 2 throw-ins he gave the ball away.

I thought Greenwood was the most technical player on the pitch. The only problem was when he dribbled at defenders.

Job done. We needed the 2 goal cushion because Shaw and Maguire are out the next match.

Lovely goal from Rashford, sometimes his touch his sublime. It does look like he is playing with a lot of pain though.

Plus McTom

 

[Galactic]

Terrible refereeing. But I guess he realised it eventually by not hesitating to give that penalty.

I’ll take that. Thank you very much.

 

[Shimo]

Christ the tone of this thread is beyond moronic. I've been on this site almost 20 years but it really is getting strangled to death by the idiots now. Mods - save this forum before it disappears up its own arse

2-0 away win in the quarter finals. Completely professional and mature performance. Couldn't have asked for much more.

This a thousand times over.

 

[Sea-Cow]

No, diving is nowhere near 'as dirty as a team can play'. Kicking the living shit out of the opponent, for one, is far dirtier. Or a constant stream of niggly 'tactical' fouls.

Those didn't directly lead to a huge away goal though did they? Bruno conned the ref into awarding a penalty, and with away goals being so heavily weighted in these knockout ties, I would say that is pretty dirty.

But whatever, maybe I went a tad overboard by saying its as dirty as a team can play. Maybe that was a bit kneejerk. But it was still cheating!

 

[Sea-Cow]

Did Bruno give himself a black eye?

Accidental contact to the face can leave a mark. My two year old hit me in the face the other day and I had a nice red mark for an hour or two. But it didn't cause me to scream and roll around on the ground. And again, thats not me saying how super tough I am, I am not tough at all and never have been. I am the complete opposite of tough.

Maybe there is a replay of the incident out there that I haven't seen, but in my opinion that was nothing. He conned the ref into awarding a penalty for some accidental contact. I would like to think that every single poster on here would be furious if that was given against us.

 

[Sea-Cow]

And the evidence on his face? You could see that on your potato stream could you?

Sigh... I guess man.

Ok ok you lot have convinced me. Because there was a mark on his face, Bruno was obviously the victim of a horrible assault and I hope the police will investigate the offender. Bruno is in fact a warrior and should look into a post playing career as a boxer. He can obviously withstand punishment in a manner only ever previously seen in Homer Simpson against Drederick Tatum.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Happy with the result. 2 away goals and clean sheet. We are one foot onto semi final, just need the other foot. People are moaning about not playing well but that's because they force us to play that way. Granada's tactic was basically to kill our rhyme by committing those nasty tackles so it was never going to be easy and smooth. And it's not like Granada was that good either, we fully deserve the win. Well done lads.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Wow they are a bunch of dirty cnuts.

 

[always_hoping]

they are top half of La Liga

And it was 3 on target. Current La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid beat Granada away 2-1 recently and had 4 shots on target.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Job more or less done.

Slowish tempo but by far the better team. Games like this really make you feel the lack of spectators.

 

[el3mel]

And it was 3 on target. Current La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid beat Granada away 2-1 recently and had 4 shots on target.

I mean, Ateltico play a shit football any way, regardless from them being LA Liga leaders or not. Them having few shots on targets in any game doesn't surprise me.

 

[The Boy]

Tedious game, but a very professional job, from a neutral point of view, they never looked like threatening you properly. You did exactly enough to come through the tie successfully, a classic covid season tired/energy saving game!

 

[GazTheLegend]

Look, I appreciate you have taken the time to explore my posting history and I also appreciate your little passive aggressive approach to 'showing me up' but I can see how I come across with my posts... -

...Now you can try and spin as much as you want but this is not how we used to play under Fergie. We were exciting against some of the dead teams and would be practical if the oppposition was on or above our footballing level. In any case, we were fearless, risk-taking and aggressive in our approach. OGS and this current era doesn't have to be like the Fergie one but please don't compare it to SAF because that's just an insult.

I've chosen to highlight the two points you've made in part because the revisionism we have when it comes to the past bothers me, and in part because this -insane- and strange obsession with how bad things are at our club is pervasive and insidious but for what it's worth you are DEFINITELY not alone in your thinking, I know season ticket holders who are every bit as negative, so don't feel like I'm trying to pick you apart personally, you were just the nearest example.

But there's a few retorts to all that. For instance:

• I remember going out of the UEFA cup - and CL - to some absolutely shit teams. Rotor Volgograd, Torpedo Moscow, Galatassary (though the referee was bribed in that one, we didn't play well), Deportivo la Coruna. We were fearless, we took risks, and we got knocked the feck out on the regular.
• Alex Ferguson would have killed to have a 2-0 win away in any European -quarter final- and he regularly set up defensively to -draw- games. He had a lot of 0-0 draws away from home. That wasn't a bad thing in and of itself but it usually meant we had problems with away goals.
• We really aren't that bad. That strange obsession the caf has with how bad our players are - Marcus Rashford is 23 years old, man. We put four past sociedad, and 9 past Southampton. You don't have to go far to find examples of our exciting football. Wasn't long ago we smashed City.
• Our team is YOUNG, our manager is young relatively, and apparently every single player and the manager are improving. It's hard to think big picture as a fan when all you remember is the last performance but the pieces all seem to be there (Bruno, Rashford, Henderson, AWB, Shaw are premier League winning level players In my opinion), and I've got faith we'll find the next pieces in the puzzle to find that next level.

Happy clapping is a problem but I prefer it infinitely to toxic negativity.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Our football is so slow, with everybody taking way too many touches. Sidewards, backwards and no movement off the ball.
Good result but I cannot see us challenging for PL or CL with that style of play.

 

[always_hoping]

I mean, Ateltico play a shit football any way, regardless from them being LA Liga leaders or not. Them having few shots on targets in any game doesn't surprise me.

Maybe so but this was my post before the game and its how the matched more or less played out.

In Granadas most recent home wins against Sociedad (1-0) and Napoli (2-0) they had only 32 and 38% possession and restricted both to just 1 shot on target.

Another low block team to break down and will need to be clinical on whatever chances are created.

 

[arnie_ni]

Decided not to watch last night and spend time with the wife. Think it's the first time ever I've made the decision not to watch a game when I could.

From the threads, it seems I made a good choice?

 

[Trex]

I'd push Bruno back in the short term, the only problem is Matic seems to be the only one who can play as a lone 6, and he's too slow to cover the ground required.
Sancho is the right buy, we need some actual creativity off the right flank. AWB is never going to be a greeting attacking full back, but he is strong defensively and we should start using that. Getting sancho would ease that pressure. I've never been a fan of foraging wing backs, why sign a defender to do an attackers job. It works for certain teams that have world class attacking full backs, but that is really rare. I feel like teams just copied without actually having the right systems and players or styles to accommodate that. Like you said, our wingers aren't intricate when they come inside and are too close to the flanks without creating proper overloads on the outside.

Yea I agree, I feel some of our structural problems can only resolved in the transfer market, like getting a proper DM and getting a winger who influence the build up play and ball progression more so than Rashford, James or Greenwood can. In a dream world I'll get Sancho and Ndidi.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Maybe so but this was my post before the game and its how the matched more or less played out.

So basically our kryptonite. Makes it a job well done. Second leg should be a formality as they’ll have to go against type and try to chase the game.

 

[pacifictheme]

Our football is so slow, with everybody taking way too many touches. Sidewards, backwards and no movement off the ball.
Good result but I cannot see us challenging for PL or CL with that style of play.

My mum is a city fan so my dad watches a lot of their matches and says they are like it too. Maybe it's just the lack of fans has taken the intensity out of the game. Seems to be like slightly competitive friendlies half the time.

 

[TrueRed1999]

Granada 0:1 Man Utd - Rashford (31')

Granada 0:2 Man Utd - Bruno (90' pen)

Wasn't an exciting game however we got the job done. Amazing how majority of their team would have been banned from the next game if they had received a yellow in that game. Not saying anything very coincidental how it was majority of our players booked

 

[Lastwolf]

Did the Granada team actually cost only 8 million euros?

I looked into it, yes pretty much, if you only count the starting 11.

Quite a few end of contract free transfers, youth products and like 5 loanee's if you include the subs used it goes way past that, Luis Suarez cost them 7.5mil Euro on his own. Still remarkable results on a shoe string (by modern standards) budget.

 

[Tom Cato]

This same team beat out Napoli in the round of 16.

Funny thing is that we have a habit of making nearly every team seem very pedestrian. Granada had nothing and this game was never in Jeopardy. West Ham are on the run of their lives and they looked poor at Old Trafford. Same with Manchester City at Ethiad, Milan, Everton, Real Sociedad, etc.

The interesting common factor all these matches had, is that the other team played poorly. Peculiar how that happens every time. Isn't it? Yes? This is your verdict week in and week out Redcaf.

 

[Giggsyking]

What a shitty football team. They do not deserve to play football because they were never interested in it.

 

[Bilbo]

This same team beat out Napoli in the round of 16.

Funny thing is that we have a habit of making nearly every team seem very pedestrian. Granada had nothing and this game was never in Jeopardy. West Ham are on the run of their lives and they looked poor at Old Trafford. Same with Manchester City at Ethiad, Milan, Everton, Real Sociedad, etc.

The interesting common factor all these matches had, is that the other team played poorly. Peculiar how that happens every time. Isn't it? Yes? This is your verdict week in and week out Redcaf.

Good post. Its underestimated just how good we have become at strangling matches and playing them on our terms. Imagine what a couple of additional attacking options will give us if we can land them this summer

 

[Counterfactual]

Decided not to watch last night and spend time with the wife. Think it's the first time ever I've made the decision not to watch a game when I could.

From the threads, it seems I made a good choice?

Well, that all depends...

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Solid perfromance away from home. The offense really needs to start firing, though.

 

[wolvored]

You're a championship quality Man Utd fan to be fair.

Maybe I am, but you are a blind supporter if you think that was a good performance to record 2 shots on target against one of the weakest teams we have faced in European competition.

 

[mitchmouse]

Another lifeless, drab performance - once again i Bruno doesn't shine, neither do we as a team. In fact, the performance was summed up by his pretty awful penalty (I reckon I'd have stopped it having got a hand to it).

There were some good performances - I know lots of people here don't like Lindelof but I think he had another top-class game. Not just that pass for the goal but his all-round positioning and reading of the game is very good and, for me, better than Maguire's. As for the pass, maybe we'd be better off doing that more often rather than the tippy tappy playing out from the back which so often gets us into trouble.

Other than that, good take and goal from Rashford (although I agree with Scholesy that his second and third touches almost undid the brilliant first touch. Pogba was anonymous in another game where he should be bossing the midfield and Greenwood and Cavani both looked lost: I still reckon a lot of their problems is the midfield not exactly shining at getting the ball to them.

Should be a formality to go through now but I'm still not convinced we are the favourites - and winning the trophy is far from certain