[Craig Ward]

I hope Ole ripped into his players after the game like they cost him his job because they have. Unless it was his tactics.

I'm pretty sure Ole's tactics didnt include:
"Yeah, leave no one back for corners. Dont worry if they're striker is on the half way line, leave him in 30 yards of space to have a free crack at goal"

You can critique formations/subs but the players have to take the blame for that surely. Shambolic from every player on that pitch tonight. Absolute shambles

 

[redshaw]

After looking solid for a few games, last night we went right back to those first few league games. The second goal was just as comical with our three defenders all caught out sprinting back.

If we're not losing the ball and conceding by trying to pass out from the back it's defenders bunched together in no mans land.

 

[Craig Ward]

Pretty much zapped any positivity I have for this season.

These bunch of players really confuse me. The same players blitzed a very good Leipzig side 5-0 and beat PSG away. On that performance, they all deserve to be in league two. That's genuinely the level they played at - some worse so.

We continue to make individual errors and what's worse when your entire team is making them - you have no chance. Absolutely no chance.

I'm a massive Ole fan and have only positive things to say about him and what he is trying to do - but he is working with a collective group of players who don't buy into what he's trying to teach them, he's doomed from the start really. The board cannot sell the players he doesn't want and they cant buy him the players he does want - so he's making do with a bunch of dis-jointed players who are happy putting half arsed performances in.

I don't see many players with a real desire to win and put 110% in EVERY game.

We chopped the team around, fair enough but we had enough quality to control and win that game easily. We deserved to lose by more. You expect your experienced and better players to lead the way and the rest to follow:
Maguire - probably a 2/10. He's a headless chicken.
Matic - Did he pass a ball to our team once? Shambolic.
Fernandes - Wow - disaster of a performance.
Mata - Experience is all well and good but useless if you cant run. Looked about 60 years old.

I'm starting to feel a sense of deja vu. I can see Ole getting fired and the next manager will perk us up, then ultimately fall into the same trap.

We have a rotten bunch of players and an inept board.

How can we expect success when the board and owners set us up to fail? they're only aim is revenue. They only are about top 4 / keeping the finances ticking.

Those clamouring for Ole out are morons. It does not matter who our manager is under this set up, with these players.

Remember when Ole took over? Pogba looked world class for a short period. Now look at him. He's a disgrace. Pogba done this with Jose too - showed glimpses but then reverted back to what he is now - a fraud of a footballer. It's not just Pogba - all of them are guilty of downing tools.

The players are simply not good enough.

They dont work hard enough, they dont apply themselves to the standard required and they dont care enough.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

what a load of garbage that was, the first goal was pure comedy, do these players get any coaching, we dont seem to have a formation or style of play, we can only play on the counter but if teams sit back against us we cant even do that, it really is piss poor, a good manager and decent coaches would do so much better.

Yes. If you are going to just leave one player back it has to be one of your quickest and you do not let him get a head start on you.

 

[Maticmaker]

It is clearly confidence that is the key, soon as we make a mistake/concede a 'soft' one, the whole team seems to fall apart.

Up to the point at which we left Demba Bar (Bar mind you!) on his own to score, we looked fluent, energized and 'up for it', there after we were scrappy, totally lacking in energy and looked like we were waiting for a hole to open up so we could all escape down it.

I thought the team Ole put out was capable of winning and winning easily, but then somebody 'blows in our ear' and we 'empty our bowels' (collectively).
The problem is that if players are so 'skittish' as to go to pieces at the first set back, then we really need more than just a few extra's!

 

[DomM]

I'm glad I missed this one to take my daughter skateboarding, much more satisfying.

 

[Flanders Devil]

That midfield. Jesus Christ. Matic wandering about paying no attention to BA for the first.
Matic Mata and VDB painfully slow, Bruno missing.
Tactics appeared to be pass it forward through the middle, and with martial or Bruno will flick it to skrtl.
Pogba came on and did the same.
Cavani is shit.

This was the thing that I noticed and got annoyed at the most. We’d literally play it to someone facing away from goal and they’d just flick it blind to no one. It was so bizarre.

 

[MrBest]

Anyone surprised with what we are seeing? As far as I am aware, it has been the same story for 2 years. Ole does well for 10 games and then awful for 20. No consistency, no style, no press, no tactics. Bruno, AWB, Maguire, DVB, Cavani plus few others have all been signed and initially looked like they could make a difference but have no. The root cause is 100% the board and how awful they have been but Ole is an awful manager from the evidence we have over the last few years. There really is not other solution other than restructuring the board, add in football knowledge to the board but that won't happen soon. Therefore, we need a new manager and this will always be the case going forward. If we did get Poch, he won't solve the mess, the rot and damp at this club. He will paper over the cracks with some good results and in 2 years time, we will all be blaming him. The circle is clear, it has happened several times now. I have just accepted this is where we are, we have no right to call this a big club anymore. All the players are overpaid, no passion, no energy, couldn't care less about the badge. I think Ole cares but he does no have the right leadership skills to take us where we need to be. He is too soft, too quiet, no animation. Its like he is playing football manager with this club. After 2 years i would expect him to have installed a style, formation and way of playing. I dont see it at all, yes he can tactically beat Pep Klopp etc here and there, but it is not consistent enough to be called a style of play. Im just really sad that my club is broken and yesterday was additional evidence to that.

 

[always_hoping]

Last night was very simliar to the 2-1 away defeat to Fenerbahce in 2016.

Jose Mourinho comments after that game

"Our problems started in our global attitude. They were playing the Champions League final, we were playing a summer friendly.

"They deserved to win, football is not just about quality, it is also about effort, commitments, playing the limits and giving everything.

"A team that concedes after two minutes is a team that is not ready, not mentally prepared, not focused, not concentrated."

 

[FrankDrebin]

We've had situations like this throughout each manager we've appointed. It's like a systematic stupidity that runs throughout the club.

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

 

[big rons sovereign]

This was the thing that I noticed and got annoyed at the most. We’d literally play it to someone facing away from goal and they’d just flick it blind to no one. It was so bizarre.

The same thing happened with lvg and Mourinho. I couldn't say about Moyes as I've erased the entire period from memory.

 

[Revaulx]

I'm glad I missed this one to take my daughter skateboarding, much more satisfying.

I was at my son’s band’s album launch. A night to remember; in a good way!

 

[Gator Nate]

This was the thing that I noticed and got annoyed at the most. We’d literally play it to someone facing away from goal and they’d just flick it blind to no one. It was so bizarre.

Over and over and over on repeat. I swear, Matic's favorite target was any clump of three opponents. Rashford's favorite target was whoever just sent him the ball. With a rocket one-touch, no less. And where was Tuanzebe on that corner? Why was Ba not accounted for? That's basic. Even my U15 team knows that every opponent is covered. We didn't have to tell them that 6 games into the season.

Only decent performance I saw was Shaw. And the one time his crossing target was aware, Martial sent the ball into the goal.

What I saw today was 8.5 players that couldn't be get motivated to play a serious game of football for 90 minutes (I don't see Henderson at fault for either goal, Shaw put in a shift, and Martial was on with Shaw for half a second), all at the same time. I won't go into Ole on this one - he put out a lineup that SHOULD have performed. They didn't. Too many garbage passes, not enough aggression into the box. This one, for my observations, came squarely down to a complete and utter lack of execution on the field.

One observation - Bruno and Donny tried too many times to occupy the same space. This was instinctual for both of them and one or the other would quickly move out of the other's way, but it kept happening. Coaches will have to sort that out quickly to make effective use of them simultaneously.

Credit to Istanbul Basaksehir for showing up ready to play.

 

[NFM]

Pretty much zapped any positivity I have for this season.

These bunch of players really confuse me. The same players blitzed a very good Leipzig side 5-0 and beat PSG away. On that performance, they all deserve to be in league two. That's genuinely the level they played at - some worse so.

We continue to make individual errors and what's worse when your entire team is making them - you have no chance. Absolutely no chance.

I'm a massive Ole fan and have only positive things to say about him and what he is trying to do - but he is working with a collective group of players who don't buy into what he's trying to teach them, he's doomed from the start really. The board cannot sell the players he doesn't want and they cant buy him the players he does want - so he's making do with a bunch of dis-jointed players who are happy putting half arsed performances in.

I don't see many players with a real desire to win and put 110% in EVERY game.

We chopped the team around, fair enough but we had enough quality to control and win that game easily. We deserved to lose by more. You expect your experienced and better players to lead the way and the rest to follow:
Maguire - probably a 2/10. He's a headless chicken.
Matic - Did he pass a ball to our team once? Shambolic.
Fernandes - Wow - disaster of a performance.
Mata - Experience is all well and good but useless if you cant run. Looked about 60 years old.

I'm starting to feel a sense of deja vu. I can see Ole getting fired and the next manager will perk us up, then ultimately fall into the same trap.

We have a rotten bunch of players and an inept board.

How can we expect success when the board and owners set us up to fail? they're only aim is revenue. They only are about top 4 / keeping the finances ticking.

Those clamouring for Ole out are morons. It does not matter who our manager is under this set up, with these players.

Remember when Ole took over? Pogba looked world class for a short period. Now look at him. He's a disgrace. Pogba done this with Jose too - showed glimpses but then reverted back to what he is now - a fraud of a footballer. It's not just Pogba - all of them are guilty of downing tools.

The players are simply not good enough.

They dont work hard enough, they dont apply themselves to the standard required and they dont care enough.

Spot on. Good teams have players who put in consistent 7/10 performances. Some in this lot rarely get to 7, some yo-yo between 8 and 3, most are 5/6 most of the time. I think Ole doesn't know what any of them will do from one match to the next. But neither did the last two managers or their training staff. Players who have been bought and played well to start, adopt the same mindset pretty quickly. There is something rotten in that dressing room.
There are some rotten 'eggs'. I will name, DeGea, Shaw, Matic, Pogba and Martial. DeGea has been pampered, Shaw is not good, Matic is finished, and our French duo are lazy buggers. Its no defence that some of these are 'talented' , they are no good for a team struggling for form. Clearly Maguire has been affected by his own stupidity in Greece, he needs dropping.
United's squad is not good enough to just shrug off missing these players, so it will be a hard season. But they have to go through this to have any chance of getting rid of the malaise.
Its no good the Board saying they spend money, they don't spend it on the right players for the right positions. As a club its about time some humility came into play, they should stop trying to spend fortunes on one or two 'names'.
Ole's United's win record as manager is 55%, Klopp's at Dortmund was 56% in an easier league ( its 60% at Liverpool). There are frankly some silly comments about his performance since he arrived as manager. I think he has earned more time IF he can make some hard decisions and really get the backing of the Board.

 

[oses14]

I was at my son’s band’s album launch. A night to remember; in a good way!

I had school and even though I have a computer with me in all my classes I couldn't check the score because my school doesn't give students internet. Kind of glad because I would of already be more triggered after the Algebra 2 test that I took.

 

[Wheato]

Just looking at our formation for the Demba Ba goal.

 

[USREDEVIL]

It's not though. As Dargonk pointed out, this is basic stuff. And we're getting it wrong time after time.

Sarcasm

 

[USREDEVIL]

Just looking at our formation for the Demba Ba goal.

Playing like flaccid cocks

 

[Hugh Jass]

 

[Fitchett]

Spot on. Good teams have players who put in consistent 7/10 performances. Some in this lot rarely get to 7, some yo-yo between 8 and 3, most are 5/6 most of the time. I think Ole doesn't know what any of them will do from one match to the next. But neither did the last two managers or their training staff. Players who have been bought and played well to start, adopt the same mindset pretty quickly. There is something rotten in that dressing room.
There are some rotten 'eggs'. I will name, DeGea, Shaw, Matic, Pogba and Martial. DeGea has been pampered, Shaw is not good, Matic is finished, and our French duo are lazy buggers. Its no defence that some of these are 'talented' , they are no good for a team struggling for form. Clearly Maguire has been affected by his own stupidity in Greece, he needs dropping.
United's squad is not good enough to just shrug off missing these players, so it will be a hard season. But they have to go through this to have any chance of getting rid of the malaise.
Its no good the Board saying they spend money, they don't spend it on the right players for the right positions. As a club its about time some humility came into play, they should stop trying to spend fortunes on one or two 'names'.
Ole's United's win record as manager is 55%, Klopp's at Dortmund was 56% in an easier league ( its 60% at Liverpool). There are frankly some silly comments about his performance since he arrived as manager. I think he has earned more time IF he can make some hard decisions and really get the backing of the Board.

I agree, there has to be a complacent clique in that dressing room. Most new signings start off well, the get dragged down to our level. I thought that the worst goal we have ever conceded in my 58 years of watching United was when De Gea kicked the ball against Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park last season. But that first goal last night beats that hands down, with the second goal a close contender.

I know that the real problem is the Glazers and Woodward, but ffs, we have a strong squad of well paid players, who really need to display some football intelligence and pride for the shirt. Saturday's team selection will be interesting.

 

[Foxbatt]

I agree, there has to be a complacent clique in that dressing room. Most new signings start off well, the get dragged down to our level. I thought that the worst goal we have ever conceded in my 58 years of watching United was when De Gea kicked the ball against Calvert-Lewin at Goodison Park last season. But that first goal last night beats that hands down, with the second goal a close contender.

I know that the real problem is the Glazers and Woodward, but ffs, we have a strong squad of well paid players, who really need to display some football intelligence and pride for the shirt. Saturday's team selection will be interesting.

Apparently there is a clique in the dressing room. I think Pogba is too influential there.

 

[devips]

There is a tactic which is tailormade to negate United: low block, not yielding any space to players, and counter attack at pace. It works everytime. I am sure Everton will adopt the same tactic saturday. And we will, once again, succumb.

 

[Foxbatt]

There is a tactic which is tailormade to negate United: low block, not yielding any space to players, and counter attack at pace. It works everytime. I am sure Everton will adopt the same tactic saturday. And we will, once again, succumb.

yes Ancelloti would be stupid to attack us openly. Just sit tight and let us flounder ourselves.

 

[Fitchett]

Apparently there is a clique in the dressing room. I think Pogba is too influential there.

So, if as NFM said, it's De Gea, Shaw, Matic, Pogba, Martial, that make up that clique, it's interesting that Ole brought in players to directly challenge them this year - Henderson, Telles, Van de Beek, Fernandes, Cavani. The trouble is that he needs to use all of them, with such a busy schedule of two games a week, and the club are notoriously poor at offloading players, who are surplus to requirements. But maybe Ole has taken the first steps to break up that clique.

 

[big rons sovereign]

yes Ancelloti would be stupid to attack us openly. Just sit tight and let us flounder ourselves.

Maybe having a shot once in a while might help. We've reverted back to the sideways/backwards game. What happened to pogba having a pop from 20 yards, or rashford cutting inside and trying?
Instead it's little flicks or turning round and playing it back into midfield.

 

[manunited1919]

There is a tactic which is tailormade to negate United: low block, not yielding any space to players, and counter attack at pace. It works everytime. I am sure Everton will adopt the same tactic saturday. And we will, once again, succumb.

Our defense is like the Titanic. Supposedly very strong, but deeply flawed. It can’t make a quick turn to save its ass.

 

[cyril C]

He never was. It was the brain child of Mata and Bruno to decide to take the short corner without telling any of our players. AWB should have never be hanging around there either. He hould have been running back and take him out of the equation from the short corner pass. He then made matters worse by 1. Not crossing. 2. Not passing to a team mate. 3, Decided to take on the opposing player trying to pull in a cross while all out defenders are in the opposing box including most of our midfield players and very conveniently forgetting that he is the last man in defence during corners.

There will always be mistake upfront, short or long corner. I thought there will always be a MF posting between the circle and the box, to pick up loose ball, but too forward to stop any long pass of course. Since both CB would be committed into the box, there should be someone not required, such as the fullback, tug along the half line to pick up any loose player. I always thought this is a standard setup in any corner take, so fault must be with AWB for committing to far forward, as well as where was Shaw.

 

[wolvored]

Anyone surprised with what we are seeing? As far as I am aware, it has been the same story for 2 years. Ole does well for 10 games and then awful for 20. No consistency, no style, no press, no tactics. Bruno, AWB, Maguire, DVB, Cavani plus few others have all been signed and initially looked like they could make a difference but have no. The root cause is 100% the board and how awful they have been but Ole is an awful manager from the evidence we have over the last few years. There really is not other solution other than restructuring the board, add in football knowledge to the board but that won't happen soon. Therefore, we need a new manager and this will always be the case going forward. If we did get Poch, he won't solve the mess, the rot and damp at this club. He will paper over the cracks with some good results and in 2 years time, we will all be blaming him. The circle is clear, it has happened several times now. I have just accepted this is where we are, we have no right to call this a big club anymore. All the players are overpaid, no passion, no energy, couldn't care less about the badge. I think Ole cares but he does no have the right leadership skills to take us where we need to be. He is too soft, too quiet, no animation. Its like he is playing football manager with this club. After 2 years i would expect him to have installed a style, formation and way of playing. I dont see it at all, yes he can tactically beat Pep Klopp etc here and there, but it is not consistent enough to be called a style of play. Im just really sad that my club is broken and yesterday was additional evidence to that.

Dont think hes ever beaten klopp

 

[DRJosh]

Still can't get over how Sir Alex's departure wasn't properly accounted or planned for with some strategic forward planning. The hiring of Moyes was questionable but since then we've showed glimpses of good form but nothing to suggest we are on our way back up as part of England's (forget Europe) elite.

I feel sorry for Ole. He is clearly out of his depth despite the occasional good result and a few positive stints. All his tactical changes seem like gambles rather that systematically thought out plans.

 

[Foxbatt]

Still can't get over how Sir Alex's departure wasn't properly accounted or planned for with some strategic forward planning. The hiring of Moyes was questionable but since then we've showed glimpses of good form but nothing to suggest we are on our way back up as part of England's (forget Europe) elite.

I feel sorry for Ole. He is clearly out of his depth despite the occasional good result and a few positive stints. All his tactical changes seem like gambles rather that systematically thought out plans.

It is because SAF had a rolling contract and it was left for him to decide. He didn't tell anyone including David Gill according to Gill. Moyes was supposed to come and keep the coaching staff and for him to just keep things rolling. Instead he came and decided as if the previous manager was sacked and changed the whole set up. He never realised that SAF was not sacked and he himself had never managed such a big club.

 

[Son]

I'm pretty sure Ole's tactics didnt include:
"Yeah, leave no one back for corners. Dont worry if they're striker is on the half way line, leave him in 30 yards of space to have a free crack at goal"

You can critique formations/subs but the players have to take the blame for that surely. Shambolic from every player on that pitch tonight. Absolute shambles

One thing we can blame Ole for is the tactics of not being able to score 5 past poor opponents.

The goals honestly shouldnt matter as we should have scored more than 2 against them. If you can’t break down poor sides after 2 years now it’s ridiculous.

He’s just not a good manager and has zero consistency. We need someone else to give us that base and essentially a fighting chance. This squad is capable of been a very good side with a few tweaks but we need consistency.

 

[Fitchett]

Spot on. Good teams have players who put in consistent 7/10 performances. Some in this lot rarely get to 7, some yo-yo between 8 and 3, most are 5/6 most of the time. I think Ole doesn't know what any of them will do from one match to the next. But neither did the last two managers or their training staff. Players who have been bought and played well to start, adopt the same mindset pretty quickly. There is something rotten in that dressing room.
There are some rotten 'eggs'. I will name, DeGea, Shaw, Matic, Pogba and Martial. DeGea has been pampered, Shaw is not good, Matic is finished, and our French duo are lazy buggers. Its no defence that some of these are 'talented' , they are no good for a team struggling for form. Clearly Maguire has been affected by his own stupidity in Greece, he needs dropping.
United's squad is not good enough to just shrug off missing these players, so it will be a hard season. But they have to go through this to have any chance of getting rid of the malaise.
Its no good the Board saying they spend money, they don't spend it on the right players for the right positions. As a club its about time some humility came into play, they should stop trying to spend fortunes on one or two 'names'.
Ole's United's win record as manager is 55%, Klopp's at Dortmund was 56% in an easier league ( its 60% at Liverpool). There are frankly some silly comments about his performance since he arrived as manager. I think he has earned more time IF he can make some hard decisions and really get the backing of the Board.

Significantly, none of those five were signed by Ole. Changing the manager again would achieve the usual initial "new manager bounce" before they return to type. None of those fit in with Ole's philosophy of pressing, hard work and fast transitional play. Imo Ole is being sabotaged by a group not willing to follow his and his coaches' vision of play. We are midway through a rebuild, which is hindered by the club's weakness in buying and selling players efficiently. The club needs to stand firm and support the manager, as Fergie implored us to do for Moyes (!) The club cannot allow a group of players to sabotage a manager by downing tools, when they take the money, but don't want to over exert themselves.

Henderson, Telles, Van de Beek, Fernandes and Cavani have all been brought in this year by Ole, as cover, to challenge or replace De Gea, Shaw, Matic, Pogba and Martial.

Imo, if any of those five are the rotten eggs, they need to be shipped out, a process which will take time. The Board need to make it clear that they will not allow a group of players to undermine the authority of a manager and his coaches, by backing the manager to the hilt and finishing his rebuild. Changing direction midstream has happened too much before and is partly responsible for the mess we are in now.

If the Board aren't satisfied with Ole's performance, they could strengthen his team by appointing an experienced coach. Fergie's teams performed much better when the likes of Kidd, McClaren, Queiroz and Meulensteen were there as coaches. Alternatively, bring in Pochettino as Head Coach and appoint Ole as Director of Football, for the two to work in tandem. Ole for the long term strategic development and Poch to get the best out of the team on the training ground and in matches.

Whatever happens, until we get rid of the rotten eggs and players who slow everything up, we will just be the game raisers we are now, and never be a consistently top team, as we were under Fergie.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Our defense is like the Titanic. Supposedly very strong, but deeply flawed. It can’t make a quick turn to save its ass.

That's... pretty much an accurate description. Don't forget expensive and flashy too.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Guys, you are being too harsh. Nothing wrong with the players.
It's the 3rd kit faults, we shouldn't have wear it.

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