How can a team of professional sportsmen paid circa £200k a fecking week appear lethargic and unfit ? Why can’t professional footballers who cost tens of millions string two passes together? Why can’t PL overpaid prima donnas run into spaces for each other rather than stand like wooden statues when in possession? Yet the main reason Citeh won was the shocking team selection - Pereira ? Lingard ? Darmian? Fred ? Ffs, beaten before a ball kicked in anger. Still, should please those who like Liverpool to suffer more than United to win because of past leagues won ffs !!
PL L FA Premier League
Manchester United 0:2 Manchester City
Post-match discussion
Wed, 24 April 2019
It’s funny how Guardiola always insists he never talks about cheating, tactical free kicks and influencing the referee, yet his teams always do it so much. He must be great at insinuating.
I agree, if DeGea is struggling then Romero should come in; Romero has been fantastic in the matches he has played and giving him a run will give Ole a chance to see how he steps up.
I watched the match again and both the City goals could have been prevented if we just did what City always does -- that is to commit tactical fouls.
Ole complained about City fouling and some tabloids calling City "dirty" and yet if he had just instructed his players to also foul tactically then City wouldn't have scored.
Ole complained about City fouling and some tabloids calling City "dirty" and yet if he had just instructed his players to also foul tactically then City wouldn't have scored.
I don't give a damn about Guardiola, I just don't want to ever see him celebrating like that again at Old Trafford, his joy at winning on our turf and putting his team in pole position for the title should be the only stimulus required to ensure we regroup, rebuild and resurge asap!
Couldn't help but laugh at this.
I want United to win every game by playing good football, not by resorting to dubious tactics; Im not criticising City, they play fabulous football, but their cynicism and "professionalism" remind me of Leeds United in the 60s & 70 and I never want Manchester United to play like that or be thought of in that way.
Sometimes we have to take the loss for a win in the bigger picture. Liverpool cannot win the league now and we can still make the top 4 if we can manage a win against Chelsea at OT. I doubt we'll look any better than we did today but we have to try and finish the chances we get. In the last 8 matches, we have consistently missed our chances and failed to capitalize on the mistakes made by the opponents. We aren't sharp in our passing and my biggest worry is, we cannot bring the ball from back to front and create a play that disturbs and moves the shape of our opponents. We need to build from the back and for that, we need a few good players who can carry the ball and beat players.
and then do what with it after winning it back?
De Gea has to be dropped, still dont understand why Dalot didn't play considering we were playing with wing backs which would have accommodated his strengths and weaknesses, instead we got another fine display of Young hoffing it down the sidelines.
No more Lingard please, it's all well and good he works his socks off but he is bang average in quality.
Rashford should be dropped, he's still young and he's going through a really bad patch of form, continuing to keep him in the team as our striker at this point is poor management from Solskjear.
I would like to see us keep 3 at the back for the next game and use Mata as a second striker behind Sanchez up front, all the other striking combinations have failed lately so why not allow these two players the chance to play in their best position's and they also have the experience to manage the intense pressure the club is currently under, lets not forget it was Mata and Sanchez then that saved Mourinho's bacon when it was looking like his final game had we not won against Newcastle, it's a shame Mourinho didn't show faith in the two afterwards for doing him such a favour, it would be unfair to throw someone like Greenwood into this mess.
No more Lingard please, it's all well and good he works his socks off but he is bang average in quality.
Rashford should be dropped, he's still young and he's going through a really bad patch of form, continuing to keep him in the team as our striker at this point is poor management from Solskjear.
I would like to see us keep 3 at the back for the next game and use Mata as a second striker behind Sanchez up front, all the other striking combinations have failed lately so why not allow these two players the chance to play in their best position's and they also have the experience to manage the intense pressure the club is currently under, lets not forget it was Mata and Sanchez then that saved Mourinho's bacon when it was looking like his final game had we not won against Newcastle, it's a shame Mourinho didn't show faith in the two afterwards for doing him such a favour, it would be unfair to throw someone like Greenwood into this mess.
It sounds like an exaggeration but these scenes happen almost every week. In the second goal against Everton we had 3 defenders in that way, so Sigurdsson had an open corridor to shoot.
Couldn't help but laugh at this.
Against Watford I even wrote a post with pics to show how useless these guys are at reading basic situations in the game. We were playing with the diamond and two forwards, and those defending were hypnotized looking at the ball. The ball is released seconds later to the player coming from behind on the right side and still nobody realizes, so he had the chance to shoot without opposition. Then we have Shaw man marking the other guy while the rest are keeping the line, pure comedy.
https://i.imgur.com/7DioHQO.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pMhGkal.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ViqVJNj.png
https://i.imgur.com/5QwZRkz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/NqSzzh6.jpg
I think this team haven't developed in the last 6 years any kind of ability to defend deep. With LVG it was masked by our long spells on the ball, but we weren't too reliable when we were pushed back. I think Mourinho tried it more than anyone but he wasn't capable, even with 10 men sitting behind the ball we depended on De Gea doing wonders and their strikers missing open chances.
The way I see it we're missing a lot of leadership and communication at the back, starting from the keeper and followed by the centerbacks. They're decent players individually for me, I don't think neither of them is particularly bad and De Gea in normal conditions is top class under the posts, but working as a unit they're a mess.
We're lacking more commanding players in my opinion to anticipate and identify dangerous situations, and fix them just in a pair of seconds. The defensive block looked fine to me while we pressed high under Ole for some time, but once we gassed off after 60-70 minutes all the cracks appeared again, and mainly after the injuries around march we're seeing again the same ghosts from the past.
Thank god!
It's cluster F defending caused by no leadership or communication.
I doubt you would find defending like that even in the lower leagues.
I doubt you would find defending like that even in the lower leagues.
Good first half. Shit second half. I can see a lot of blaming happening on the pitch. Players slapping their thighs. Players running into one another. Indecisiveness. Too ponderous on the ball. Devoid of any confidence. We're not in the best of spots.
I was hoping (but not expecting) we could get a draw last night and at half time, still had hope in my heart.
However in the second half Pep simply moved both Silva's to play about 10 yards further up the pitch and because we didn't have one defensive midfielder, instead having five in a row at the back, we got overrun. Such was the space in front of our back five that Aguero started to make his runs on goal, from five/ten yards outside the penalty box, one quick 'one-two' and he was through our last line of defence.
Having five at the back helped us in the first half to be on level terms at the break, arguably we could have been in front on chances made, but once Pep made the tactical change and we didn't respond, it was just a question of how many City would get. Surely either we push one of the back four forward to make a 442, or sacrifice Pereira for Matic, who would have used his 'nous' (if not his legs) to stifle the runs on goal? At 2-0 it is arguable City eased up, job done.
Ole needs to manage from the sideline's more or get players who can 'game manage' on the pitch, but hard running and extra fitness will not be enough against the top teams.
However in the second half Pep simply moved both Silva's to play about 10 yards further up the pitch and because we didn't have one defensive midfielder, instead having five in a row at the back, we got overrun. Such was the space in front of our back five that Aguero started to make his runs on goal, from five/ten yards outside the penalty box, one quick 'one-two' and he was through our last line of defence.
Having five at the back helped us in the first half to be on level terms at the break, arguably we could have been in front on chances made, but once Pep made the tactical change and we didn't respond, it was just a question of how many City would get. Surely either we push one of the back four forward to make a 442, or sacrifice Pereira for Matic, who would have used his 'nous' (if not his legs) to stifle the runs on goal? At 2-0 it is arguable City eased up, job done.
Ole needs to manage from the sideline's more or get players who can 'game manage' on the pitch, but hard running and extra fitness will not be enough against the top teams.
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Combination of lack of leadership at the back + players having low to no footballing intelligence leads to the majority of the goals we've conceded of late, its just not good enough at this level, it then becomes annoying as feck when you look at what some of these muppets are being paid.
Bloody hell!!! Who is our defense coach?
DeGea needs a game off to reset, and Chelsea is as good as any. Romero has been great and can do the job. DeGea also needs to play the last two "easy" games to help that reset. Unless the contract talks are over, in which case, bin him, Romero is the guy and be ready to bring Henderson back in after next year.
I don't think there's a defensive coach in the staff, nor I think the main problem is directly related with them either. This is the fourth managerial appointment in a row where we're still clueless at the back. The problem exist with everyone but the difference between managers is how they deal with it.
Van Gaal defended by keeping the ball for long periods to avoid those situations, and Mourinho tried to mask the problem by commiting more people behind the ball, so the probability of leaving open spaces got reduced. Ole pushed our lines higher initially and we pressed a lot, which gave a lot of confidence to our defenders especially Lindelof, who emerged out of nothing like a dominant defender.
The problem is that the physical condition of the team wasn't good enough apparently, so he had to change the plan and set the lines deeper, so we are now a bit in the middle of nowhere. Solskjaer always leaves players up front to have the option to counter-attack, so we're more exposed at the back than under Jose. But the "defensive quality" from the team is the same and it won't change without adding proper personnel I think.
Even if he aims to press high there's a lot of moments when we're pushed back and there's no remedy but remaining compact and well organized, so if he wants to succeed here this seems to be a good point to start from.
A CB that can lead the line would be amazing. Very rare to find but that's a must if we need a stable defense. The other option was to get a commanding Keeper but we know DDG can't do that. Also i think Mike Phelen used to organize defense in his previous clubs(Burnley or whatever).
I don't think there's a defensive coach in the staff, nor I think the main problem is directly related with them either. This is the fourth managerial appointment in a row where we're still clueless at the back. The problem exist with everyone but the difference between managers is how they deal with it.
Van Gaal defended by keeping the ball for long periods to avoid those situations, and Mourinho tried to mask the problem by commiting more people behind the ball, so the probability of leaving open spaces got reduced. Ole pushed our lines higher initially and we pressed a lot, which gave a lot of confidence to our defenders especially Lindelof, who emerged out of nothing like a dominant defender.
The problem is that the physical condition of the team wasn't good enough apparently, so he had to change the plan and set the lines deeper, so we are now a bit in the middle of nowhere. Solskjaer always leaves players up front to have the option to counter-attack, so we're more exposed at the back than under Jose. But the "defensive quality" from the team is the same and it won't change without adding proper personnel I think.
Even if he aims to press high there's a lot of moments when we're pushed back and there's no remedy but remaining compact and well organized, so if he wants to succeed here this seems to be a good point to start from.
It's all about leadership and communication but none of our Defenders want to do it or not seem capable of doing it.
Having had LVG and Jose the previous years, what's the excuse for it? Or rather, being a professional footballer all your life, what's the excuse for it?
To tell the truth I don't know how the staff organize themselves, so maybe Phelan is working on defence while the rest focus on different things. My guess is they all work together on every matter but the truth is I don't know.
As you said it would be a massive step forward to find commanding defenders but it doesn't seem easy. It would be a miracle also if just in one summer they found all the tools we need right now in every line, so I think it's going to take time to rebuild the team properly and develop a solid basis. But it would be a sin at this point if they didn't attempt to find these profiles at least.
on the contrary, Fellaini chased back and was good defenseively at set pieces. he was poor going forward
To be fair the ref did bottle it not going up into the stands to book de bruyne
It was a good 1st half, and we could not keep up the pace of closing down, there fitter, there used to the way they play, we've been so stagnant for the last 4 seasons or so, players cannot keep the intense running.
Pool do it as do other top European clubs, we can for 45 that has been shown, with right players, city, have the intensity continuity , with quality on the ball, it's not rushed it's calculated because there used to playing that way.
That's were we need to be, we had the possession in 1st half without the quality to threaten there goal with any purpose.
Accusations needed a really intense pre season, with getting around the pitch with quality.
You could see , sterling, the 2 silvas along with Fernandino who were always behind the ball as quick as they could out of possession. Then with it Quality passes ie 2nd goal, on counter although DDG knows he should have stopped it.
Hoping for a better pre season with at least 4 coming in . We wait and see.
Pool do it as do other top European clubs, we can for 45 that has been shown, with right players, city, have the intensity continuity , with quality on the ball, it's not rushed it's calculated because there used to playing that way.
That's were we need to be, we had the possession in 1st half without the quality to threaten there goal with any purpose.
Accusations needed a really intense pre season, with getting around the pitch with quality.
You could see , sterling, the 2 silvas along with Fernandino who were always behind the ball as quick as they could out of possession. Then with it Quality passes ie 2nd goal, on counter although DDG knows he should have stopped it.
Hoping for a better pre season with at least 4 coming in . We wait and see.
Agüero run messed up their shape. 2 defenders man marking Agüero. They were in shape but 2 players followed Agüero. Shouldn't be happening, should always keep your defensive shape no matter what. 2 players following 1 player leaves big holes.
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Ha ha, yep, well spotted. Zinchenko had borrowed his hair!
Man of the Match
Runners-up
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18%
Paul Pogba
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13%
Marcus Rashford
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9%
Matteo Darmian
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8%
Luke Shaw
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7%
Fred
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4%
Chris Smalling
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3%
Ashley Young
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3%
David de Gea
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3%
Andreas Pereira
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2%
Jesse Lingard
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1%
Alexis Sanchez
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 353 ratings.
Score Predictions
89,374,51
- Man Utd win
- Man City win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 16% Man Utd 0:5 Man City
- 14% Man Utd 0:3 Man City
- 13% Man Utd 1:3 Man City
- 10% Man Utd 0:2 Man City
- 9% Man Utd 2:1 Man City
- 7% Man Utd 0:4 Man City
- 5% Man Utd 1:2 Man City
- 4% Man Utd 1:1 Man City
- 4% Man Utd 1:0 Man City
- 3% Man Utd 2:2 Man City
- 3% Man Utd 0:1 Man City
- 3% Man Utd 1:4 Man City
- 2% Man Utd 0:0 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 5:0 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 3:2 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 1:5 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 2:0 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 2:4 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 3:1 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 2:5 Man City
- 1% Man Utd 3:0 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 5:5 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 4:3 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 2:3 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 4:5 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 5:1 Man City
- 0% Man Utd 5:4 Man City
Match Stats
- Man Utd
- Man City
- Possession
- 37% 63%
- Shots
- 12 8
- Shots on Target
- 1 5
- Corners
- 1 1
- Fouls
- 10 10
Referee
Andre Marriner
Man Utd Lineup
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-
-
-
-
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replaced by Alexis Sanchez
-
-
replaced by Anthony Martial
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replaced by Romelu Lukaku
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