Just got back from the game, and Im pretty happy with that display. The tempo was decent although we did struggle a bit toward the end of the game but that is to be expected first game back. The noise inside the ground was decent also, I was in upper East Stand and is was a fantastic atmosphere up there. With Lingard and hopefully Martial to come in, to add a bit of pace and more legs, this is something we can build on. Shout out to Pogba, fantastic performance, surprised he was captain but really took on the roll well.
PL W FA Premier League
Manchester United 2:1 Leicester City
Post-match discussion
Fri, 10 August 2018
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) was joined by comedian Ali Woods to look back at the best and worst moments of a rollercoaster season with the annual United Hour Awards.
Has Ten Hag been sacked yet? We're not sure and we hope not, but it's looking more likely as the days pass.
Who should replace him and why is it taking so long to make a decision?
I thought Darmian had a good game tbh. Agree though on Sanchez & Rashford...
His sublime first touch created the goal.
I thought the only bad players were Sanchez, Rashford, Darmian.
Mata did okay but prefer pace in the wide areas.
Everyone else had a good first game considering the total lack of pre season. Promising.
Well, I know next to nothing about Pereira, but if he starts firing, he’ll be like a new signing, which would obviously be great for United. But as I see it, cm was never really an issue for you.
As for Keita, I don’t know anything about him either. He’s looked good in pre season and I have great confidence in Klopp when it comes to signings, so I’m quite optimistic.
Didn't see the game but that's a huge three points.
Calms things down a bit and means the media have to look elsewhere for their club in crisis articles.
Calms things down a bit and means the media have to look elsewhere for their club in crisis articles.
We need to talk about Rashford, I don't think he is being coached properly.
He was missing tonight, we were playing with 9 men
and to all that say Sanchez deserves his place over Martial, here is another in a long swathes of performances that continue to prove otherwise - while the young Frenchman rots on the bench - Alexis runs a lot though so its ok.
He was missing tonight, we were playing with 9 men
and to all that say Sanchez deserves his place over Martial, here is another in a long swathes of performances that continue to prove otherwise - while the young Frenchman rots on the bench - Alexis runs a lot though so its ok.
Agree.
Something I’ve noticed with rashford is that he needs to time his runs more efficiently. He got caught offside several times his evening, and I have noticed him being offside more than average in his appearences last season. The lad has such blistering pace he can afford to give the defender a few yards surely.
Pereira was amazing at cm. Great close control and range of passing, also solid under pressure. He is like a new signing.
Mata and darmian contributed nothing from the right. We are going to suffer for not buying a RW. Mata was a bit better when he drifted centrally.
Baily was rash but got the job done today and had some magnificent tackles, if he stays fit he and lindelof can form a decent partnership back there.
What the hell is wrong with Sanchez, he had good touches but every time the ball came to him the attack seemed to break down. Maybe he needs to not be collecting the ball from deeper positions.
Well done to Shaw, if he can manage to stay fit he can make the LB his own.
All in all not a bad performance.
Mata and darmian contributed nothing from the right. We are going to suffer for not buying a RW. Mata was a bit better when he drifted centrally.
Baily was rash but got the job done today and had some magnificent tackles, if he stays fit he and lindelof can form a decent partnership back there.
What the hell is wrong with Sanchez, he had good touches but every time the ball came to him the attack seemed to break down. Maybe he needs to not be collecting the ball from deeper positions.
Well done to Shaw, if he can manage to stay fit he can make the LB his own.
All in all not a bad performance.
Folks need to get over the fact we're bang average. We play shit football, and when we get the ball, we can hardly string four or five passes together, unlike Leicester, who could actually pass the ball.
Are you fannies still trying to not enjoy our win
that Gray kid that plays for Leicester always looks a talent when I see him play. I feel like there’s hreat potential there, and that he could/would elevate his game at a bigger club and with better team mates
Are you kidding? If West Ham give Liverpool a game like Leicester did to us, how on earth can you stop watching??
We also love that you guys cant win anything. Now you have a manager that keeps losing finals.
Slightly drunk thoughts on the game:
Pogba was excellent, both going forward and defensively. Should retain the armband over Valencia.
Fred definitely looks like a welcome addition as the third member of the midfield.
The defense really missed Bailly last season.
Shaw was good, very glad he got a goal as well. We may be able to salvage a player from him yet. Young should not automatically replace him when he’s fit again.
Sanchez was underwhelming yet again. He should have had an assist that Lukaku messed up, but other than that, every attack seemed to break down when it got to him. There was that beautiful spread to mata near the end as well, but not much positives from him. We badly need him to find some form.
Pogba was excellent, both going forward and defensively. Should retain the armband over Valencia.
Fred definitely looks like a welcome addition as the third member of the midfield.
The defense really missed Bailly last season.
Shaw was good, very glad he got a goal as well. We may be able to salvage a player from him yet. Young should not automatically replace him when he’s fit again.
Sanchez was underwhelming yet again. He should have had an assist that Lukaku messed up, but other than that, every attack seemed to break down when it got to him. There was that beautiful spread to mata near the end as well, but not much positives from him. We badly need him to find some form.
We're guaranteed to be at least two points up on either Arsenal or City. 
How Liverpool fans can say that they're happy cos Mourinho is still here I understand completely.
That it's beautiful that our under-performing potential world-class left-back finally shows promise is beyond me! As if we'd be happy if Robertson or TTA play like shit for years and then show true class and score their first senior goal in a MOTM performance..
Thought we played well... Certain players pushed it..
Pogba was ridiculous...
Pogba was ridiculous...
First, I'll take it. I love it when United win. Today was a good day, especially in context.
Pogba, had four days of actual structural training, and came back in and grew into the game so fantastically. He was a monster. The other two CMs fit quite nicely. One seems a bit all action, while the other seemed cool and calm.
3 of the 4 defenders stood out quite nicely.
Marcus caught some heat, but he made some food runs and never received a good pass. Especially from Alexis.
I remember when he signed someone here had a go with me cuz i said Pogba was still the best outfield player in the squad. 7 months later, and Alexis who was world class at other places, is becoming a gigantic disaster. And i really hope he comes good.
Also, United won so this won't sound as bad. But Holy feck the refs seemed pretty shitty.
Pogba, had four days of actual structural training, and came back in and grew into the game so fantastically. He was a monster. The other two CMs fit quite nicely. One seems a bit all action, while the other seemed cool and calm.
3 of the 4 defenders stood out quite nicely.
Marcus caught some heat, but he made some food runs and never received a good pass. Especially from Alexis.
I remember when he signed someone here had a go with me cuz i said Pogba was still the best outfield player in the squad. 7 months later, and Alexis who was world class at other places, is becoming a gigantic disaster. And i really hope he comes good.
Also, United won so this won't sound as bad. But Holy feck the refs seemed pretty shitty.
I've been extremely negative on our direction under Jose, but I enjoyed the second half. Well, up until Leicester's goal anyway. Didn't watch the first half.
The bad:
- We clearly didn't set up to retain possession
- We didn't look a level above Leicester like we ought to
- With Bailly and Lindelof, we should be looking to play out the back more. De Gea's distribution isn't that good and his goal kicks too often give the ball back to the opponent.
The good:
- We moved the ball much faster and looked to attack most of the time we had the ball
- Some sharp quick passing (Shaw surprised me with his control on a few occasions)
- Some nice attacking play even if it didn't quite come off
- Tempo! So refreshing to see some tempo unlike the slow possession games we played against weak opposition last season
- Midfield looked much more creative than last season
Other thoughts:
- Sanchez showed class and sloppiness in equal measure. His second half performance wasn't that bad, he had good ideas but timing was just off. I think he would do better as a striker though, at this stage of his career. Dislike the resentment he gets on this forum.
- I enjoy Jamie Carragher's co-commentary more than Gary Neville's when it comes to United games
- Darmian looked alright, which is always a shock considering how he's talked about on here.
- I'm so glad our goal didn't come directly from a goal kick. Nice to have some build-up.
The bad:
- We clearly didn't set up to retain possession
- We didn't look a level above Leicester like we ought to
- With Bailly and Lindelof, we should be looking to play out the back more. De Gea's distribution isn't that good and his goal kicks too often give the ball back to the opponent.
The good:
- We moved the ball much faster and looked to attack most of the time we had the ball
- Some sharp quick passing (Shaw surprised me with his control on a few occasions)
- Some nice attacking play even if it didn't quite come off
- Tempo! So refreshing to see some tempo unlike the slow possession games we played against weak opposition last season
- Midfield looked much more creative than last season
Other thoughts:
- Sanchez showed class and sloppiness in equal measure. His second half performance wasn't that bad, he had good ideas but timing was just off. I think he would do better as a striker though, at this stage of his career. Dislike the resentment he gets on this forum.
- I enjoy Jamie Carragher's co-commentary more than Gary Neville's when it comes to United games
- Darmian looked alright, which is always a shock considering how he's talked about on here.
- I'm so glad our goal didn't come directly from a goal kick. Nice to have some build-up.
Pleased as it looks like Pereira will finally get a spot in the squad. He may not displace Matic when he comes back but he should get several weeks at DM(no idea how long Matic is out for).
Pogba looked gassed near end of first half. Was fantastic in 2nd. Did not have him starting but kudos to him and or Jose for making the decision. We could have easily drawn or lost if he didn't play.
DDG had a couple of DDG type saves but what a lapse for their goal. Why did he not dive and swat that ball away.
Nice to see Lukaku and Fellaini get some minutes. We don't play until next Sunday so a full week training should see Lukaku start.
Sanchez looked lost, like he was on a playground and no one was his friend but he was trying to fit in. He was not the only one misplacing 10 yard passes though.
Mata still runs like he's pulling a sled. How can anyone be so slow.
Pogba looked gassed near end of first half. Was fantastic in 2nd. Did not have him starting but kudos to him and or Jose for making the decision. We could have easily drawn or lost if he didn't play.
DDG had a couple of DDG type saves but what a lapse for their goal. Why did he not dive and swat that ball away.
Nice to see Lukaku and Fellaini get some minutes. We don't play until next Sunday so a full week training should see Lukaku start.
Sanchez looked lost, like he was on a playground and no one was his friend but he was trying to fit in. He was not the only one misplacing 10 yard passes though.
Mata still runs like he's pulling a sled. How can anyone be so slow.
This. I want to see the perfected form of our attack. It could be devastating for teams like City and Liverpool. Amazing to see how rapid our midfield now.
Thought Alexis struggled a bit to combine the play with pace. He wanted to run with great pace, but then struggled to control his passes at that kind of pace.
Well Mourinhos tits up season at Chelsea started with a 2-2 draw against Swansea and him bollicking his physio. No such dramas here and apart from conceding a late goal a decent start for United. Can't ask more than 3 points.
The central midfield trio today was a joy to watch. Fred has better than expected passing range and his tempo and urgency to move the ball forward fits well with Andreas and obviously Pogba.
There was a moment during the match when Jose had his back to the pitch and was talking to Carras and McKenna. It's a work in progress for the players and they put forth a really good attitude and effort required for the first match.
Performance was good but inconsistent and United looked gassed after 75 minutes. Lots to improve upon but the start everybody wanted.
There was a moment during the match when Jose had his back to the pitch and was talking to Carras and McKenna. It's a work in progress for the players and they put forth a really good attitude and effort required for the first match.
Performance was good but inconsistent and United looked gassed after 75 minutes. Lots to improve upon but the start everybody wanted.
I'm replying since you quoted my post. How about you stop dictating other people how they should feel about the game and act like everything is rosy and nice. You can either ignore a lot of people or skip the forum altogether if you can't stand the "negativity" on here. Nobody is stopping you from enjoying the win, least of all a few stranger posters in an internet forum.
Or trying creating a Let's enjoy the win thread and ask specifically not to post negative commets with a ban warning or something( Hmm..where else have we seen that ).
Regarding the game, it wasn't a horrendous performance, but it wasn't great either. We rely on pieces of individual flair and skill rather than team play. We take a lead and let the opposition dictate terms from then on. We retreat when they run at us with the ball with almost zero pressing. All of which we saw last season too. Hence, my post about how things haven't changed much by the look of it.
The bad ones.
Defensively Mata was shockingly bad, almost invincible. Darmian was alone until Fred helped him. In one part of first half when Marcus shifted with Mats we looked more solid. Our right hand side is a mess atm. Without a winger and a RB with speed and physicality we are vulnerable in defense.
Sánchez had a nightmare except his pass to Lukaku. All our forwards where below par, why didn’t we tried Martial on the left with Sánchez on the right?
Good.
Our centre backs. Shaw. Fred. Especially Luke, probably his most encouraging performance with us since his injury.
Very good.
Pog and Andreas.
As usual.
David. Except the goal where he was unlucky.?
Our possession game was underwhelming and our passing was sometimes sloppy.
Mou.
Whatever going on between him and Ed the clusterfeck Woodward must be sorted out. Jose must learn to be more diplomatic and show more positivity. Edward the idiot should be bitchslapped every evening for the rest of the season.
Last. Fellaini. Very good last ten minutes.
Defensively Mata was shockingly bad, almost invincible. Darmian was alone until Fred helped him. In one part of first half when Marcus shifted with Mats we looked more solid. Our right hand side is a mess atm. Without a winger and a RB with speed and physicality we are vulnerable in defense.
Sánchez had a nightmare except his pass to Lukaku. All our forwards where below par, why didn’t we tried Martial on the left with Sánchez on the right?
Good.
Our centre backs. Shaw. Fred. Especially Luke, probably his most encouraging performance with us since his injury.
Very good.
Pog and Andreas.
As usual.
David. Except the goal where he was unlucky.?
Our possession game was underwhelming and our passing was sometimes sloppy.
Mou.
Whatever going on between him and Ed the clusterfeck Woodward must be sorted out. Jose must learn to be more diplomatic and show more positivity. Edward the idiot should be bitchslapped every evening for the rest of the season.
Last. Fellaini. Very good last ten minutes.
I agree with the pacy and strong midfield comments, I love this setup for us and think our attackers will dramatically improve their chances with this style of midfield. Fred, Pereira and Pogba are a nice combination. Throw Ander Herrera in there and that'll be a hard working midfield that can close spaces defensively, putting pressure on the opponent. I feel Matic, McTominay and Fellaini slow things down too much and force us to just defend instead of win back the ball in an aggressive/attacking fashion.
So my bad, and good takaways.
Bad
Darmian and Mata shouldn't be responsible for a side of the field as neither are that good at defending.
McTominay and Fellaini change the entire complexion of the team when they enter the game.
We dropped off way too much after the PK and surrendered possession needlessly.
Good
I actually felt that despite the 30 minutes of defending we decided to do in the 1st half, it felt like we were the better team and when we turned it up in the 2nd half (but also including the first 10 min of the game) we looked like a nice squad.
Fred is going to fit nicely with Pogba
Pogba can boss a game like few others
Shaw had the game of his career. Scoring a goal but otherwise looking very good in attack, defense and possession. His decision making was good today.
Our CB pairing looked amazing today. I'm not going to lose my mind over it yet, but that was a great start.
Pereira gives us pace and energy in the 6 spot where Matic is a bit more lumbering. I like the pace, while not disliking Matic. I just like the quicker, more energetic engine room in the middle of the park.
Rashford made runs but just didn't get the right service today.
Mata has a world class touch and vision. He also is often a frustration for me as I mumble to myself throughout the game, wanting him to help close down spaces against the opposition's possession. He is still a defensive liability but on days like this, his vision was the difference.
I really love watching players like Pogba, Mata and Sanchez connect combinations with their vision and touch. It's so enjoyable to watch the opposition needlessly chase the ball. They often look 2 steps ahead when pinging the ball around.
I love him but Sanchez complains either to the ref or toward one of our players almost every single time there's a turnover or contact. He's a special player but that gets a little old.
Fun 2nd half to watch.
So my bad, and good takaways.
Bad
Darmian and Mata shouldn't be responsible for a side of the field as neither are that good at defending.
McTominay and Fellaini change the entire complexion of the team when they enter the game.
We dropped off way too much after the PK and surrendered possession needlessly.
Good
I actually felt that despite the 30 minutes of defending we decided to do in the 1st half, it felt like we were the better team and when we turned it up in the 2nd half (but also including the first 10 min of the game) we looked like a nice squad.
Fred is going to fit nicely with Pogba
Pogba can boss a game like few others
Shaw had the game of his career. Scoring a goal but otherwise looking very good in attack, defense and possession. His decision making was good today.
Our CB pairing looked amazing today. I'm not going to lose my mind over it yet, but that was a great start.
Pereira gives us pace and energy in the 6 spot where Matic is a bit more lumbering. I like the pace, while not disliking Matic. I just like the quicker, more energetic engine room in the middle of the park.
Rashford made runs but just didn't get the right service today.
Mata has a world class touch and vision. He also is often a frustration for me as I mumble to myself throughout the game, wanting him to help close down spaces against the opposition's possession. He is still a defensive liability but on days like this, his vision was the difference.
I really love watching players like Pogba, Mata and Sanchez connect combinations with their vision and touch. It's so enjoyable to watch the opposition needlessly chase the ball. They often look 2 steps ahead when pinging the ball around.
I love him but Sanchez complains either to the ref or toward one of our players almost every single time there's a turnover or contact. He's a special player but that gets a little old.
Fun 2nd half to watch.
Decent game, happy with 3 points. Well done Pogba, delighted for Shaw.
But I'm concerned about Sanchez. He needs to be one of our leading players but he was very off colour here. I was wondering if swapping his position with Shaw could have resulted in more goals because Sanchez seemed to willing to drop down to our goal line to defend but his attcking game lacked the bite. Would like to see what Martial can do. And Darmian was not that better than Valencia.
Overall, good start with a win.
But I'm concerned about Sanchez. He needs to be one of our leading players but he was very off colour here. I was wondering if swapping his position with Shaw could have resulted in more goals because Sanchez seemed to willing to drop down to our goal line to defend but his attcking game lacked the bite. Would like to see what Martial can do. And Darmian was not that better than Valencia.
Overall, good start with a win.
Awesome, thanks for the report. Glad you got to see the 3 points.
Only 9 pages...can you imagine how many with a loss??? It really shows you the state of this place.
So happy for Fred, Andres and Shaw. Pogba was amazing. Now I can sit back and enjoy the matches this weekend.
3 pts !!!!!!! - It's lifted my mood.
Soon as we scored that early penalty, after a few minutes we kept a little pressure on and I said to a friend, hope we keep going for it but, sure enough we fell back. I really hate that about us. Still, the second half was a lot better - had Sanchez not been so dire, we could have actually been a lot more threatening.
Players - really liked the look of Fred. Very good game by Pereira, Lindelof, Shaw, DDG, Baily, Pogback. Mata was decent but, goodness me, it's blatantly apparent that right side is going to be such a problem all year.
Hope Sanchez really bad game was just a one off for the season and not continuation of form from last season. Be interesting to see if he gets dropped or not if he continues to have 2/10 performances.
Soon as we scored that early penalty, after a few minutes we kept a little pressure on and I said to a friend, hope we keep going for it but, sure enough we fell back. I really hate that about us. Still, the second half was a lot better - had Sanchez not been so dire, we could have actually been a lot more threatening.
Players - really liked the look of Fred. Very good game by Pereira, Lindelof, Shaw, DDG, Baily, Pogback. Mata was decent but, goodness me, it's blatantly apparent that right side is going to be such a problem all year.
Hope Sanchez really bad game was just a one off for the season and not continuation of form from last season. Be interesting to see if he gets dropped or not if he continues to have 2/10 performances.
Fantastic result, some wonderful individual performances, great spirit as a team that Jose rightly pointed out, positives to look forward to. I still did not like how we sat back after the first goal. We couldn't have sustained possession for more than a few seconds. Alexis is very much a worry though. He looks a fading player, although he had an arguably good pre season. Overall, fingers crossed. Great positivity from Jose celebrating with the backroom staff and in the post match comments too.
I was skeptical before the start of the game with all the drama that preceded it. Couldn't wait for the game but was also dreading it. Enjoyed parts of the game and was delighted with the final result. We started the first half very well and came out all guns blazing. Nothing's better than getting an early goal at start the season to calm the nerves of everyone around. It was frustrating to see us sit back after the initial 10 minutes and give Leicester the initiative. Up until the 40th minute we continuously gave the ball away with sloppy passing and useless tricks and flicks that didn't come off. De Gea also had to make that great save from the Maddison shot during the period. Improved in the last 6 or 7 minutes to close the half.
We come out much better in the second half. Alexis who was atrocious and the main culprit of our sloppy play in the first half looked a little better. Mata came into the game more and Pogba made a few decent runs too. Overall second half was better than the first one even though we gave away a stupid goal. All in all a decent first outing given the injuries, new players in the XI & players playing with very little training.
Individuals:
- De Gea - Was awesome as usual. That save from the Maddison shot was brilliant. Can't remember much wrong with his performance besides one bad kick that gave the ball to the a Leicester player in a dangerous area. 7/10.
Darmian - He should be allowed to leave if Valencia and Dalot are fit by the end of the window. Gray gave him a torrid time. There were open spaces and opportunities for him to bomb forward but preferred to turn around and pass it to the closest midfielder. 4/10
- Bailly - He was good and helped recover the ball well from what could have been tricky situations a couple of times. Didn't see much wrong with the performance. He will be a top defender if we can weed out some of the erratic bits from his game and stay fit. 7/10.
Lindelof - Had a good outing. Still feel he gets turned around too easy. His famous ball playing skills leave much to be desired. Bailly had to bail him out a couple of times. Good, but unconvincing. 6/10.
Shaw - His best performance in a United shirt since before the leg break. Contributed in attack and was solid in defense. Besides one moment where he made a sloppy pass in the Leicester half when the team had committed forward, he was really good. Was chuffed when he scored. Hope Jose gives him an extended run and not bench him as soon as Young is available. 8/10.
Pereira - Seeing a young academy kid make his first start in 2 years and have such an huge impact is what following Manchester United is all about. What a performance! My MOTM. Didn't put a foot wrong. Usually when I have seen him before (first team, U-20 WC, at Valencia) he has had a mixed bag of amazing and terrible passes, but not yesterday. His passing was excellent, showed good vision, contributed in winning the ball back and looked so comfortable out there. He is ready. Hope to see a lot of him this season, both in place of Matic and with Matic & Pogba in a midfield three. 8/10.
Fred - Going to go contrarian here and say he didn't have a very good performance. There were a few good moments; the bad moments were twice and thrice that number. Tried too many tricks and flicks that didn't come off. Was a little too hyper and eager (which is to be expected given it was his first game for the club at OT). That kick-out is surely going to be looked at. Bit of meh performance for me. 5/10.
Pogba - Captain's performance from Pog. To come back to training on Monday and play 80 minutes in a competitive game on Friday night is nothing short of phenomenal. It was generally a good performance with a few sloppy moments. I have a feeling he is going to exceptional this season. Needs to be made the permanent captain. The encouraging words for Shaw in the post match presser were heartening. 7/10. Captaincy rating - 8/10.
Mata - Awful first half, very good in the second. Not ideally suited for a counter-attacking team. 5/10.
Alexis - He could be an exception player of us if can cut out the number of times he loses the ball in half. Must have been at least 30 instances where he lost the ball. Sloppy passes, bad touches, useless tricks, the list goes on. Very frustrating performance. Like Rooney on a bad day. 4/10.
Rashford - Once again showed that he is not suited to play as a striker in this system. Doesn't have the hold-up play to thrive. Needs to be played on the right or the left. 4/10.
All the subs came in and did their job.
Overall team performance - 6/10.
A few other observations:
- This team needs an attacker on Pogba's level to go up a notch. Someone who can constantly trouble the opposition with his quality and wow us. I thought Sanchez is going to be that player but so far he has disappointed. Need Martial or Rashford or both to step up big time.
- Eddy got his stupid briefing the day before and Jose has his word (Final?) yesterday. I hope that's the end of it and we get on with it from here on. No one needs to hear about the transfer market anymore.
We come out much better in the second half. Alexis who was atrocious and the main culprit of our sloppy play in the first half looked a little better. Mata came into the game more and Pogba made a few decent runs too. Overall second half was better than the first one even though we gave away a stupid goal. All in all a decent first outing given the injuries, new players in the XI & players playing with very little training.
Individuals:
- De Gea - Was awesome as usual. That save from the Maddison shot was brilliant. Can't remember much wrong with his performance besides one bad kick that gave the ball to the a Leicester player in a dangerous area. 7/10.
Darmian - He should be allowed to leave if Valencia and Dalot are fit by the end of the window. Gray gave him a torrid time. There were open spaces and opportunities for him to bomb forward but preferred to turn around and pass it to the closest midfielder. 4/10
- Bailly - He was good and helped recover the ball well from what could have been tricky situations a couple of times. Didn't see much wrong with the performance. He will be a top defender if we can weed out some of the erratic bits from his game and stay fit. 7/10.
Lindelof - Had a good outing. Still feel he gets turned around too easy. His famous ball playing skills leave much to be desired. Bailly had to bail him out a couple of times. Good, but unconvincing. 6/10.
Shaw - His best performance in a United shirt since before the leg break. Contributed in attack and was solid in defense. Besides one moment where he made a sloppy pass in the Leicester half when the team had committed forward, he was really good. Was chuffed when he scored. Hope Jose gives him an extended run and not bench him as soon as Young is available. 8/10.
Pereira - Seeing a young academy kid make his first start in 2 years and have such an huge impact is what following Manchester United is all about. What a performance! My MOTM. Didn't put a foot wrong. Usually when I have seen him before (first team, U-20 WC, at Valencia) he has had a mixed bag of amazing and terrible passes, but not yesterday. His passing was excellent, showed good vision, contributed in winning the ball back and looked so comfortable out there. He is ready. Hope to see a lot of him this season, both in place of Matic and with Matic & Pogba in a midfield three. 8/10.
Fred - Going to go contrarian here and say he didn't have a very good performance. There were a few good moments; the bad moments were twice and thrice that number. Tried too many tricks and flicks that didn't come off. Was a little too hyper and eager (which is to be expected given it was his first game for the club at OT). That kick-out is surely going to be looked at. Bit of meh performance for me. 5/10.
Pogba - Captain's performance from Pog. To come back to training on Monday and play 80 minutes in a competitive game on Friday night is nothing short of phenomenal. It was generally a good performance with a few sloppy moments. I have a feeling he is going to exceptional this season. Needs to be made the permanent captain. The encouraging words for Shaw in the post match presser were heartening. 7/10. Captaincy rating - 8/10.
Mata - Awful first half, very good in the second. Not ideally suited for a counter-attacking team. 5/10.
Alexis - He could be an exception player of us if can cut out the number of times he loses the ball in half. Must have been at least 30 instances where he lost the ball. Sloppy passes, bad touches, useless tricks, the list goes on. Very frustrating performance. Like Rooney on a bad day. 4/10.
Rashford - Once again showed that he is not suited to play as a striker in this system. Doesn't have the hold-up play to thrive. Needs to be played on the right or the left. 4/10.
All the subs came in and did their job.
Overall team performance - 6/10.
A few other observations:
- This team needs an attacker on Pogba's level to go up a notch. Someone who can constantly trouble the opposition with his quality and wow us. I thought Sanchez is going to be that player but so far he has disappointed. Need Martial or Rashford or both to step up big time.
- Eddy got his stupid briefing the day before and Jose has his word (Final?) yesterday. I hope that's the end of it and we get on with it from here on. No one needs to hear about the transfer market anymore.
Went to the pub to see it and glad we won. Performance wise mainly same as last year. If you didnt know it you would have thought we were the away side, especially 1st half. Pogba Shaw Bailly Lindelof Pereira played well Fred not far behind. Darmien and Sanchez had poor game. Sanchez may play better as a twin striker or behind the striker.
I thought Shaw was awful if not for the goal. He worked hard alright but his short passing was terrible, almost no understanding with Sanchez. What happened to all these friendlies?
On the other hand I thought Darmian was OK. Leicester City channeled all their attack on his side and he stood his ground. HIs assisting run was also OK. Not even up to Neville's standard but at least a decent backup to Valencia.
I thought I would let the adrenalin vanish - and get a good nights sleep before I tried to put my feelings in writing.
The immediate reaction was relief more than anything else. If we had failed to win that game, the negativity would have spread like wildfire, and rightly so. It was a game we HAD to win, and if we also manage to win away against Brighton - everything will look so much brighter ahead of that Spurs-game.
I still can't really see what football we are trying to play. But I will not criticize Mourinho too much for this at this stage of the season, seeing as we have a lot of players out, and the problems we have had over the summer due to the world cup. I do understand that Mourinho was scared of Leicesters 3 players up front who are all very quick, but to let Leicester dictate the play at Old Trafford ? That really isn't acceptable in my book. Having said that - I feel a lot of teams could struggle With Leicester this season. The combination Evans/Maguire probably will be a top-6 partnership in the P.L and Jamie Vardy will score a lot of goals again. They have one of the best goalkeepers in Schmeichel, and once they find a decent right-back - they look quite good.
Luke Shaw still don't look like the player he once was - but this at least was a step in the right direction. The goal was great (even if it was a case of poor control prior to the goal. But at one stage he almost gave away a goal With a horrible pass when we had moved 5-6 people up the pitch to counter - those we can't have. Bailly/Lindelöf both looked good - and it has almost come to the point where I don't start to shiver once I see the swedes name in the starting-11. That could easily be our preferred partnership this season.
Perreira impressed me - perhaps most of all by not giving the ball away cheaply which Pogba still does. Fred was ok, nothing more - but he almost cost us the game with that stupid kick and could now possibly get suspended for 3 matches in retrospect. I don't know for certain that the referee missed it - but I assume he did. I can't see Fred not getting sent off if the ref spotted it. Stupid by Fred.
Pogba was a colossus in the first 20-30 minutes. After that his lack of match-sharpness and training became pretty clear. He worked hard, had some good touches - but it was easy to see that he wasn't 100% fit to play.
Marcus Rashford concerns me perhaps more than anyone. I can understand that his touch isn't good with so little training after the World cup - but yesterday he didn't even seem quick. The few times balls were passed in his general direction, he didn't seem prepared at all. Unfortunately the worst performer on the pitch.
Overall I am of course not happy with our performance, but I understand that this was a special circumstance so the first 4-5 games it's all about picking up Points. If we do get a good start I expect the football to improve. It has to - otherwise Mourinho will be gone before the season is over.
The immediate reaction was relief more than anything else. If we had failed to win that game, the negativity would have spread like wildfire, and rightly so. It was a game we HAD to win, and if we also manage to win away against Brighton - everything will look so much brighter ahead of that Spurs-game.
I still can't really see what football we are trying to play. But I will not criticize Mourinho too much for this at this stage of the season, seeing as we have a lot of players out, and the problems we have had over the summer due to the world cup. I do understand that Mourinho was scared of Leicesters 3 players up front who are all very quick, but to let Leicester dictate the play at Old Trafford ? That really isn't acceptable in my book. Having said that - I feel a lot of teams could struggle With Leicester this season. The combination Evans/Maguire probably will be a top-6 partnership in the P.L and Jamie Vardy will score a lot of goals again. They have one of the best goalkeepers in Schmeichel, and once they find a decent right-back - they look quite good.
Luke Shaw still don't look like the player he once was - but this at least was a step in the right direction. The goal was great (even if it was a case of poor control prior to the goal. But at one stage he almost gave away a goal With a horrible pass when we had moved 5-6 people up the pitch to counter - those we can't have. Bailly/Lindelöf both looked good - and it has almost come to the point where I don't start to shiver once I see the swedes name in the starting-11. That could easily be our preferred partnership this season.
Perreira impressed me - perhaps most of all by not giving the ball away cheaply which Pogba still does. Fred was ok, nothing more - but he almost cost us the game with that stupid kick and could now possibly get suspended for 3 matches in retrospect. I don't know for certain that the referee missed it - but I assume he did. I can't see Fred not getting sent off if the ref spotted it. Stupid by Fred.
Pogba was a colossus in the first 20-30 minutes. After that his lack of match-sharpness and training became pretty clear. He worked hard, had some good touches - but it was easy to see that he wasn't 100% fit to play.
Marcus Rashford concerns me perhaps more than anyone. I can understand that his touch isn't good with so little training after the World cup - but yesterday he didn't even seem quick. The few times balls were passed in his general direction, he didn't seem prepared at all. Unfortunately the worst performer on the pitch.
Overall I am of course not happy with our performance, but I understand that this was a special circumstance so the first 4-5 games it's all about picking up Points. If we do get a good start I expect the football to improve. It has to - otherwise Mourinho will be gone before the season is over.
We started the game really well but allowed Leicester to take control. I'd like to see us press the oppo more when we don't have the ball because we caused a few errors on the odd occasion that we did press higher up the pitch.
I really like the look of the MF 3. Very dynamic with a lot of technical ability but I felt the front 3 let us down a bit. Sanchez was poor which was surprising given his excellent pre-season, Rashford looked lost and I'm fuming we didn't buy a right-sided attacker because we literally have no presence on that side of the pitch with Mata starting there.
I think this was a good insight into how difficult it's going to be to win the league. Leicester looked a good side when they were knocking it around and the newly promoted clubs seem to have spent well. There will literally be no easy games. I'm actually happier starting with a hard fought 2-1 win rather than the 4 nils of last season. I think they gave us a false sense of where we were at where as now I think we saw a true reflection of how tough the season will be.
All in all pleased to start with 3 points, we've some important players to come back and absolutely delighted for Luke Shaw!
I really like the look of the MF 3. Very dynamic with a lot of technical ability but I felt the front 3 let us down a bit. Sanchez was poor which was surprising given his excellent pre-season, Rashford looked lost and I'm fuming we didn't buy a right-sided attacker because we literally have no presence on that side of the pitch with Mata starting there.
I think this was a good insight into how difficult it's going to be to win the league. Leicester looked a good side when they were knocking it around and the newly promoted clubs seem to have spent well. There will literally be no easy games. I'm actually happier starting with a hard fought 2-1 win rather than the 4 nils of last season. I think they gave us a false sense of where we were at where as now I think we saw a true reflection of how tough the season will be.
All in all pleased to start with 3 points, we've some important players to come back and absolutely delighted for Luke Shaw!
Man of the Match
Runners-up
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20%
Luke Shaw
-
15%
Eric Bailly
-
14%
Andreas Pereira
-
4%
David de Gea
-
3%
Fred
-
1%
Victor Lindelof
-
1%
Juan Mata
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 733 ratings.
Score Predictions
720,71,160
- Man Utd win
- Leicester win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 27% Man Utd 2:0 Leicester
- 15% Man Utd 1:0 Leicester
- 14% Man Utd 2:1 Leicester
- 10% Man Utd 1:1 Leicester
- 8% Man Utd 3:0 Leicester
- 7% Man Utd 0:0 Leicester
- 6% Man Utd 3:1 Leicester
- 3% Man Utd 4:0 Leicester
- 2% Man Utd 1:2 Leicester
- 2% Man Utd 0:2 Leicester
- 1% Man Utd 0:1 Leicester
- 1% Man Utd 0:5 Leicester
- 1% Man Utd 5:0 Leicester
- 1% Man Utd 4:1 Leicester
- 1% Man Utd 1:3 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 5:1 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 4:2 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 2:2 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 5:5 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 3:2 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 1:5 Leicester
- 0% Man Utd 0:3 Leicester
Match Stats
- Man Utd
- Leicester
- Possession
- 46% 54%
- Shots
- 8 13
- Shots on Target
- 6 4
- Corners
- 2 5
- Fouls
- 11 8
Referee
Andre Marriner
Man Utd Lineup
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replaced by Marouane Fellaini
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replaced by Scott McTominay
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replaced by Romelu Lukaku
