[amolbhatia50k]

'

We lost to 2 set pieces and a solid defence. Again it showed our need for a specialist RW and CF because Pog Rash and Martial are all better coming off the left. Once we sort out the balance issue, we'll be beating City on a regular basis..

Anyhow, 6 Carling Cup finals for a £billion in expenditure isn't something to be too happy about imo. We want the big 3.. Big Ears, the FA Cup and the Premier League

I hope this isn't the sort of attitude our management has. To improve you have to acknowledge where you are behind the great sides, and we definitely are. Merely putting to down to set pieces etc when we were outplayed at home does nothing but blinker our perspective.

And we aren't even in big ears.

 

[The Oracle]

Mctominay was the biggest issue for me in the midfield yesterday. Thought Fred covered a lot of more ground and done a lot more of the dirty work.
To have two holding average midfielders again with only Fred being mildly creative is where we are falling short.
City cut through the middle all too easy countless times, all be it with not a lot of end product far two much with two holding midfielders on the pitch again.
Yes the attacking outlets wasn't happening with Bruno looking tired and Rashfords general play not being where it should.
Mctominay for me was just not up to speed not contributing enough attacking wise and not disrupting enough defensively to gain more control in the middle with another holding midfielder by his side.

The needless free-kick he gave away that City scored the opener from, was absolutely pathetic. Sterling was going nowhere and he fouled him. Really frustrating, and City's confidence shot through the roof once they got that first goal.

 

[Olecurls99]

Yeah there is a definite problem in getting past semi finals, know people will laugh but it's very similar to how Spurs lost a load of FA Cup ones

If we had drawn Brentford than nobody would be talking about a problem with semis. The fact is we've lost 2 semis to a slightly superior City team, we were unlucky against Seville and we weren't bothered against Chelsea because we had more important games to play.
I thought the game was on a knife edge last night and we lost because we defended poorly against a good set piece. We played pretty well other than that although our attackers were kept in check by a very good City defense. I've no problem losing a good game to a very good team. We just need to bounce back against Burnley now.

 

[Olecurls99]

Can't say I'm surprised. Being near the top of the league has been nice but it's evident that we aren't a great side and are being made to look better than we are due to the falling standards of the league. If Livepool or City perform at even 75/80 per cent of their level, they'll easily beat us to the title. And I think that'll happen. We don't play good enough football and individual brilliance here and there can only take you so far.

I don't think Villa's standards have fallen, or Southampton's for that matter. Liverpool were always going to have a lull after the past 2 seasons and City look like they'll have a better campaign. Spurs too.
I agree with you that we aren't a great side and we won't win the league but I think a lot of the answers are within the squad. I'm not sure why Bailly was dropped considering how well he was playing. I think he would have improved the performance tonight. I think Mctominay has been poor in his 3 games since Leeds and I'd like to see Donny being given a run in there beside Fred. I think he would provide enough cover and he'd progress the ball and keep it better. Watford is the perfect chance to give him a go as our number 8.

 

[londonredmaniac]

Bit of a reality check for us. The goals conceded were disappointing obviously, but I thought City were the better side.

We've had their number of late, so I was hoping we might sneak it, but when City are at it they are one of the best sides around.

It's the first set back in a while, so it's about how we react. I hope we rest alotmof the first 11 for Watford and go balls deep and get that much needed win at Burnley. Quite frankly that game feels huge in the context of our current run.

 

[Isotope]

...
In the end though, irritating as a City win is, I don't read too much into the game. It was a tight game where they did the right things in key moments and we didn't. I didn't see some huge gap between the teams. Let just hope the delayed final gives them a congestion headache in the run in and move on.

Hopefully the manager and players don't think the same way. It's like men against boys. We were chasing shadows all game. All of our attack was hoping for the best. None was as result of intricate play.

 

[londonredmaniac]

If we had drawn Brentford than nobody would be talking about a problem with semis. The fact is we've lost 2 semis to a slightly superior City team, we were unlucky against Seville and we weren't bothered against Chelsea because we had more important games to play.
I thought the game was on a knife edge last night and we lost because we defended poorly against a good set piece. We played pretty well other than that although our attackers were kept in check by a very good City defense. I've no problem losing a good game to a very good team. We just need to bounce back against Burnley now.

Pretty much.

 

[londonredmaniac]

It's like men against boys. We were chasing shadows all game.

That is incredibly harsh tbf.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

Having had time to reflect on the disappointment of last night my best summary is that the first half showed the progress we have made as a team. The second half showed how far we still have to go.

We went up against a top form City team and it was 50/50. I think on another day we could have taken a chance and the game may have ended up differently. This team isn't the finished article and so anyone expecting perfect results needs to understand that. We played with the required attitude throughout but City exposed our weaknesses and punished us well.

One special mention to Maguire, I know he could have done better on the goal, but that was otherwise his best game in a Utd shirt. He was everywhere in defence and played out like a proper ball playing CB, just a shame that Dias looked every bit as good if not better on the other end.

 

[Hughes35]

Didn't think we were terrible but we weren't great either. I actually thought Maguire was excellent, so surprised at some of the stick he's been getting.

Mctom, Rashford and Martial all went completely missing, Bruno was lively and gave his all (as always) but things just didn't quite come off for him.

Need to desperately bounce back against Burnley and at least give a good performance against Liverpool.

 

[Isotope]

That is incredibly harsh tbf.

That's what i saw. It didn't look like two top teams against each other. There's only one team that play like a top team.

 

[Pretzels81]

Let this be a lesson to those who believe we can actually win the 20-21 PL title: Top2-3 at best.

And then, it's up to fcking Ed to finally buy 2 or 3 TopTop players. Same old.

 

[christinaa]

We have to acknowledge that we're not good enough.
We're close but we do need a couple of class players who can make all the difference and a good example is Cavani who when played is still a danger man for defences.
We also have to be much better at defending set-pieces.

 

[Adam-Utd]

That's what i saw. There's only one team that play like a top team.

They won the midfield battle, Fernandinho / Gundogan / De Bruyne is just far better than our midfield.

Add that to a team that KNOWS how to keep the ball and are very patient, it just sucked the life out of us.

In the 2nd half at 1-0 down though we were much better, we had them pinned back for a while but we failed to make anything of it and that's the biggest issue. Our attack was just completely misfiring.

I think as you say it's a good reality check but at the same time we've performed a lot worse against City in the past, we just need to learn how to keep the ball better and use it more effectively.

My biggest issue with the team is we only seem to know how to play in full speed mode, everything is 1 or 2 touches and forwards whether we are ready or not, and often then end up losing the ball. Turning it over so often against a side like City is just suicidal.

In the times we did slow it down and played a bit more patiently we got through them a few times, so we just need to get that balance right.

As you say on the night I think City were worthy winners, but at the same time it's true they only won through 2 set pieces which is very frustrating considering they were mainly individual errors again from our defence.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Thats the weakest City team we've played in a while (twice actually) and we haven't looked like we could score against them. We've beaten far stronger versions of them.

Disappointing result and performance. We had a great chance to get to a final and win it but we didn't turn up. No matter which way you look at it, its a huge issue at the moment.

 

[The Hilton]

That's what i saw. It didn't look like two top teams against each other. There's only one team that play like a top team.

Strongly disagree, they created just as little as we did from open play, and scored from a couple of set pieces.

We played the same way we usually do against City under Ole, the main difference being that our attackers were far more wasteful with their numerous promising opportunities.

 

[Adamsk7]

Let this be a lesson to those who believe we can actually win the 20-21 PL title: Top2-3 at best.

And then, it's up to fcking Ed to finally buy 2 or 3 TopTop players. Same old.

I think we CAN still win it. We’re not the best team in the league (we’re probably third) but we’re seemingly getting quite consistent against the bottom half and our away form is title winning. We can’t let a one off game against a team who are objectively better than us ruin the good will behind the team. I have no doubts we will go top soon and then to be leading the race in the middle of January, regardless of whether we are the best team or not, you’ve gotta say we’re in with a shout!

 

[Giant Midget]

Don’t know why, but I just can’t be arsed to even care about this game. It’s the League Cup, might as well be a pre-season friendly in Asia. Especially in such a congested season where we could possibly challenge for the title if everything our way.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

The needless free-kick he gave away that City scored the opener from, was absolutely pathetic. Sterling was going nowhere and he fouled him. Really frustrating, and City's confidence shot through the roof once they got that first goal.

It's noticeable that City didn't give away free kicks in such dangerous positions while we seemed to. Even the corner for the second goal came from a dreadful attempt to find a pass while stuck by the corner flag.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I think we CAN still win it. We’re not the best team in the league (we’re probably third) but we’re seemingly getting quite consistent against the bottom half and our away form is title winning. We can’t let a one off game against a team who are objectively better than us ruin the good will behind the team. I have no doubts we will go top soon and then to be leading the race in the middle of January, regardless of whether we are the best team or not, you’ve gotta say we’re in with a shout!

We'll know far more when City go to Villa. Get something out of that game and they have to be favourites

 

[wolvored]

So no league title this season then?
Hopefully this result has put some context around expectations this season. Lots of cringeworthy threads on United’s “new found supremacy” and Ole’s genius

Yep. We are better than we were, but as I said before we have played 16 games and there is a long way to go before we can spout on about being champions. If Bruno gets injured or off form we will be fecked. Last night was the worst he has played since coming here and that affected the whole team.

 

[Longshanks]

There wasnt an awful lot in it, city edged it and managed the game well when they went ahead, the first goal was always gonna be vital disappointed with the manner of the first goal but also disappointed with 3 out of our front 4 last night thought pogba, bruno and martial were poor lots of sloppy play. Rashford was ok looked a threat.

We move on it is after all only the league cup, play the second string against Watford hopefully get through and then full speed ahead for Burnley and liverpool away.

 

[Zeno]

United were decent. Passing much better, brave moves and generally organised defensively. A good barometer of where we are without Bruno.

Because in fairness he was average at best last night. The guy needs a rest. He should not play against Watford or Burnley.

 

[The Urban Goose]

They won the midfield battle, Fernandinho / Gundogan / De Bruyne is just far better than our midfield.

Add that to a team that KNOWS how to keep the ball and are very patient, it just sucked the life out of us.

In the 2nd half at 1-0 down though we were much better, we had them pinned back for a while but we failed to make anything of it and that's the biggest issue. Our attack was just completely misfiring.

I think as you say it's a good reality check but at the same time we've performed a lot worse against City in the past, we just need to learn how to keep the ball better and use it more effectively.

My biggest issue with the team is we only seem to know how to play in full speed mode, everything is 1 or 2 touches and forwards whether we are ready or not, and often then end up losing the ball. Turning it over so often against a side like City is just suicidal.

In the times we did slow it down and played a bit more patiently we got through them a few times, so we just need to get that balance right.

As you say on the night I think City were worthy winners, but at the same time it's true they only won through 2 set pieces which is very frustrating considering they were mainly individual errors again from our defence.

Agreed.

We still have a lot of work to do, recruitment as much as anything - how many of our spine of Lindelof, Maguire, McT, Fred and Martial would get into that City side over their equivalents?

We need new top-level CB and DM, and Cavani back, to properly compete against the top teams.

 

[Havak]

City were the better team and deserved to advance. We played to a similar level as we played against Villa, Southampton (second half), Sheffield United, Wolves etc. The difference was we were up against a much better team so it wasn't enough.

If we would have got the win or a draw, everyone would have been giving better ratings and the mood would be great. It's a disappointing result for sure, but I thought we weren't that bad at all. It's an overreaction to enter doom and gloom right now. Win against Watford and Burnley, then we have another shot at a big team. Let's hope we can get this out of our system and get a result at Anfield.


Seen lots of fans calling out our defence, but if I had to pick a hole in our play of late I'd say that Rashford and Martial are still far too hit-and-miss. Offside, missing good chances, making the wrong decision... Far too often, this is the case in multiple matches in a row. It costs us. We need them to become more consistent, quickly. Rashford will likely keep playing, but I said it at the start of the season. Martial could end up being the one on the bench more often... Rashford, Cavani and Greenwood to be the front 3 eventually for a significant run of games.

I think Cavani and Greenwood will be more reliable at finishing.

 

[RoyH1]

Meaningless competition. Let's focus on the Prem.

 

[wolvored]

Can't say I'm surprised. Being near the top of the league has been nice but it's evident that we aren't a great side and are being made to look better than we are due to the falling standards of the league. If Livepool or City perform at even 75/80 per cent of their level, they'll easily beat us to the title. And I think that'll happen. We don't play good enough football and individual brilliance here and there can only take you so far.

Well said.

 

[MattofManchester]

Seen lots of fans calling out our defence

Quite justified, given they've been the weak point of this team all season.

 

[Falcow]

If we had drawn Brentford than nobody would be talking about a problem with semis. The fact is we've lost 2 semis to a slightly superior City team, we were unlucky against Seville and we weren't bothered against Chelsea because we had more important games to play.
I thought the game was on a knife edge last night and we lost because we defended poorly against a good set piece. We played pretty well other than that although our attackers were kept in check by a very good City defense. I've no problem losing a good game to a very good team. We just need to bounce back against Burnley now.

Excellent sensible post. If our final ball was better (I'm looking at you Bruno) we may have won the game.

The difference in the performances of DeBruyne and Bruno was the difference between the two sides.

You should be promoted.

 

[Havak]

Quite justified, given they've been the weak point of this team all season.

I think we've done a bit better in open play in particular than most would give us credit for (since the first month of the season or so obviously). I don't disagree with the criticism so to speak, but I think if Martial and Rashford had finished big chances at key moments in games, no one would be speaking about our defence as much as we would have won games or been on control far more.

 

[Gordon S]

Crazy how much the goals change the feelings on the entire game. They hardly gave Dean a scare all game apart from the two set pieces. The two teams were on their way to nullify eachother completely, just like the league game. We weren’t as sharp in attack as we needed to be but implying we got outclassed is ridiculous imo.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Crazy how much the goals change the feelings on the entire game. They hardly gave Dean a scare all game apart from the two set pieces. The two teams were on their way to nullify eachother completely, just like the league game. We weren’t as sharp in attack as we needed to be but implying we got outclassed is ridiculous imo.

Shows that we need to get better at nicking goals and defending set pieces.

We need to learn to beat these big teams 1-0.

 

[MattofManchester]

I think we've done a bit better in open play in particular than most would give us credit for (since the first month of the season or so obviously). I don't disagree with the criticism so to speak, but I think if Martial and Rashford had finished big chances at key moments in games, no one would be speaking about our defence as much as we would have won games or been on control far more.

Well, I disagree with idea we've been better. We looked shaky against Villa, looked shaky against Leicester and well we know much we were conceding before that.

The attack has been bailing us out in games, but it's concerning how poor the defence has been. We've conceded the most goals in the top 10 in the league, and we always look like we'll concede.

If we're a single goal ahead, you just think there's no safety at all.

 

[Steve Bruce]

This was a wake up call for those who think we're legitimate title contenders.

First thing, bringing in lindelof when Bailey has been playing well. Obvious mistake for a number of reasons.

1) I'm a firm believer that those who have the shirt & playing well keeps the shirt. Dropping Bailey to me sends out the message that Ole has his favourites & will put them in regardless of the performance of the person who's occupying the shirt

2) Pace - Maguire & Lindelof are too slow to be a title winning pair.

The knock on effect to this is, we as a team sit deep, we need two sitting defensive midfielders who rarely support the attack. Our full backs stay back to hold the CBs hands as they cannot cope with pace.

Also our front 3/4 are isolated & generally get fed scraps & the term that some hate, we then have to rely on individual brilliance rather than good patterns of play that result in goals.

3)Mctominey IS NOT A DM. He is box to box, he needs freedom to be allowed to go beyond Bruno but can't under the setup last night.

We now have a record vs typical top 6 of 0 wins, 3 draws & 3 losses. Obviously last night wasn't the PL but it still demonstrates that this ultra negative stall that Ole has been using as well as the 5 at the back doesn't work.

We need to put pressure on the opposition & not look to just counter attack in each game. We are too predictable in the big games.

 

[Crustanoid]

Thanks to all those writing sensible and measured posts about what was essentially a narrow defeat and the semifinals we have narrowly lost in the past year.

It’s getting rather wearing reading the onslaught of negative knee jerk posts from individuals who sit and wait for us to do badly so they can jump on the opportunity to slate the manager and players. You are not helping the cause. It’s incredible after the run and upward trajectory we have been on.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Luckily the players seem to be able to pick themselves up mentally after setbacks these days.

 

[Steve Bruce]

Thanks to all those writing sensible and measured posts about what was essentially a narrow defeat and the semifinals we have narrowly lost in the past year.

It’s getting rather wearing reading the onslaught of negative knee jerk posts from individuals who sit and wait for us to do badly so they can jump on the opportunity to slate the manager and players. You are not helping the cause. It’s incredible after the run and upward trajectory we have been on.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. Luckily the players seem to be able to pick themselves up mentally after setbacks these days.

I don't know what bracket you put my post in.

I have tried to put a bit of detail of what I think is wrong.

I am happy with our league position but it doesn't mean our team & manager is exempt from constructive criticism. I do still see issues with our team & with Ole (not to the point of wanting rid of him, I'd like him to rectify the issues himself rather than hit a reset button with a new manager)

We are still in a cracking position, let's hope our team dust themselves down & have renewed energy to start a new unbeaten run

 

[Siorac]

You need a target man striker akin to Kane or Calvert-Lewin

I mean, neither City nor Liverpool have one of those and they've been doing alright in recent years. We do need a better, more consistent, more reliable no. 9 than Martial but it doesn't have to be some target man.

 

[SilentWitness]

I mean, neither City nor Liverpool have one of those and they've been doing alright in recent years. We do need a better, more consistent, more reliable no. 9 than Martial but it doesn't have to be some target man.

They don’t use one because they don’t play the same style of football as you.

 

[Siorac]

They don’t use one because they don’t play the same style of football as you.

We also did OK with Cole/Yorke and Rooney/Tévez, as I recall

I'm just always wary of this 'target man' thing. Sure, if it's a Robert Lewandowski, then sign me up. The emphasis should be on 'top class number nine' as opposed to 'big physical target man who can be a nuisance in the air'. Should we turn down a young Agüero (sorry, can't think of an actual existing talent like that right now) in favour of a Calvert-Lewin simply because of the latter's physical profile? I think that would be madness. If, however, we can get Haaland - well I'm all for that.

 

[Bilbo]

Agree with @Crustanoid on this. Pleasantly surprised to see only a mild meltdown on here rather than the usual. To those people that are posting 'well, this proves that we are not a great team' - who said we were a great team? We aren't. This is a developing team.

As far as the game went I thought it once again proved that we are progressing. City were the better team, but I think people get carried away with the pretty passing patterns and think they dominated and we were outplayed but we weren't. They were easier on the eye of course, but we created a lot of....not chances, but chances to create a chance, and we just didn't have that quality on the night. Unfortunately last night our forward three had a nightmare and that is ultimately what lost us this game.

Cavani was a big loss for us. I think his experience of big matches would have seen him show some of the composure that the others failed to. Martial is doing little to convince anybody that he is a long term number 9 for us. We also need to be giving Donny more opportunities, and I'm curious to know why we are not.

Mentally though we still need that 'statement win'. We've beaten pretty much everybody now, but this semi-final thing does seem to be a 'thing' going by last nights game. We were trying to force it and that is usually down to nerves.

Last comment from me. I thought Maguire was - goal aside - absolutely outstanding last night.