[AltiUn]

Positives: Fred, Shaw, Greenwood and Pogba

Inbetween: Maguire, Henderson

Negatives: Wan-Bissaka, McTominay, Fernandes and Martial

Anonymous: Lindelof and Rashford

City weren't actually that good going forward, they relied on the space opening up on the counter when we were chasing a goal, their biggest threat was from set pieces. Their defence was excellent although it helps when Martial kills every attack with garbage first touches, sloppy passing and directionless dribbling and Rashford decides not to do, well, anything. If any one of Rashford, Martial or Bruno had shown up we could've won this game. McTominay's having an appalling season, he looks lost with the diamond, to be honest I don't like the diamond at all, we've been consistently outplayed whenever we play it and I'd rather we end this experiment with it once and for all.

Maguire had a strange game, typically missed some easy opportunities and made a mistake that lead to their opener but his defensive partner was anonymous, aside from that he was actually really solid defensively. I prefer the Bailly - Maguire combo out of all the defensive combinations I've seen us utilise this season. We played out well from the back quite well tonight. Henderson made some good saves but also looked nowhere near some of their shots.

Fred, Shaw and Pogba were the only starters who played with a bit of pride. I thought all 3 were good today, Shaw's having his best season in a United shirt. Greenwood looked lively when he came on.

Sometimes we play with 0 tempo, slow and lethargic passing not aided by static attackers. Like others have said, I don't think we were that bad until we got into the final 3rd but all 3 of our attackers had an off day today, we went toe-to-toe with them for the majority of the game. We need to see a big improvement against Watford, Burnley and Liverpool.

 

[cheeky_backheel]

Didnt like our formation, as it seemed unbalanced with everything going down the left and middle, but very little attacking down the right.

We didnt really stretch their defence and it made our attack very predictable.

Goals we conceded were cheap and could have been avoided.

 

[TheBreadTruck]

Some of you are so weird. If we played the limp ball-recycling that City did today everyone would be up in arms - KBD had a flash of brilliance in the first half and hit the post, apart from that what did they create? We had the better chances in the first 60 mins, and there was no need to change the players/system.

They scored a poor goal from a set piece, and only when we opened up did they start to get chances. I actually find their football dire, if Bruno managed to connect one of the 3 or 4 final balls he should have done we'd have been cruising.

Tough to take, but it was a very close game and 0-2 doesn't do it justice imo. We nullified them up until we went 4-0-6...

 

[horsechoker]

Stand back and stand by. Perhaps your prayers for less will be answered? I myself hope for glory this season.

Please tell me you're being sarcastic?

Tired of him serving up lutefisk when we could've had Argentinian barbeque

 

[Gordon S]

City are great at the moment, Pep was over the moon with their performance against Chelsea and he will definitely be again. They are so solid in defense, gave our attackers sweet feck all to work with all game. Frustrating to concede on set pieces yet again, and very scrappy jammy goals at that. They struggled to find openings and clear cut chances as well
Decent performance against a very strong team i would say overall.
Hopefully our first 11 gets some much needed rest against Watford.

 

[Siorac]

City just sat us down and showed us the difference between an actual elite side and a top 6 side on a great run of form.

Yep, exactly.

 

[Hugh Jass]

We probably have better players on the sheet than city, now anyway given the Covid, but they are a better team.

City work as a unit. I know we were undone by setpieces, but we rely on individual brilliance.

Our pressing was woeful as well.

I thought tonight would be the night, but i am still waiting for a united team to possesion wise dominate Guardiola. We could not do it when he was at Barca or Bayern either.

You have to admire city. Two touches and a pass. Whereas we take five touches, especially Pogba.

Ah well, no harm being out of this shitty cup anyway. Spurs will win it anyhow.

 

[padr81]

We are a physically very weak team.
City were hardly bothered by us, even when we were pushing forward.

Martial, Rashford, Bruno, Fred, Pogba are all very poor at challenging and winning any tackles.
They consistently fail to close down or properly press their opponents.
That’s if they even bother at all.

How many times did a City player just walk straight through Fred’s attempt to block or press and when he won the ball, it was immediately taken off him again.

The usual suspects will pile on our defence, McGuire in particular, when they were being left with no help from our midfield and forwards.

It not a one off against a top team. We’ve been like that against all sorts of opposition, even when we’ve managed to win a game.

Its a bit of a weird issue with you guys. Your players are massive in comparison to City but they never ever physically dominate us. Maguire from corners was the only time you seemed too physical. You have Pogba, McT, Lindelof, Maguire, AWB, Rashford etc.. all big strong lads but they never tend to push the Cancelo's etc.. around.

That said I wouldn't worry too much if I were you guys. First half you sat in and looked for counters, while we played triangles and looked toothless. It was on Shaw losing Stones on a set piece the game was won. Soon as you had to come out and play we sat in and the job was done. Had you scored first, it'd be City looking toothless while you could sit in and win on the break. Poor game by two conservative teams that the first goal was always gonna win.

 

[Hughie77]

We responded better than I expected after that Leipzig defeat, will need do the same again.

Be daft if we allow this to derail our league form.

We never really got going tonight, City benefiting from being more pragmatic defensively.

Agree.

 

[Suspicious Swelling]

Well beaten in the end by a team that didnt have a striker on the pitch...

In the grand scheme of things, whilst it would have been nice to get to a final and potentially win some silverwear, this was the least important competition that we are in out of the 4.

More worryingly for me is the fact our manager doesnt make any subsitutions at all, even when it is painfully obvious the gameplan isnt working. And when he does, he gives the poor sod that comes on less than 5 minutes to try and do anything. If he carries on like this and keeps playing more or less the same 11 twice every week we are going to drop off a cliff at some point in the not too distant future.

Hopefully this pretty bad performance and result won't impact the league form.

 

[Neo_Mufc]

A big reminder why we aren't good enough to win the league. I'm just going to enjoy the ride until it's over.

My aim for the season was to put in a fight for the league. If we can stay within 10 points of the winners that will be a successful season.

 

[yamo123x]

The better team won. We underperformed especially at the final third. Ruben Dias, what a beast!

very sloppy performance, maguire, what were you thinking when you saw the ball moving across you?

another frustration... we will bounce back

You obviously have never played the game. Watch the replays!
Watch rashford and pogba stand still and make no attempt to clear the ball, watch Lindelof do some kind of camp war dance with his back turned, no way should that ball have come through , maguire was unsighted and if he dangles a leg and it goes in his own net you’ll shoot him down for that too.

Maguire has his faults but was our stand out player today

 

[Tarrou]

sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say the better team won

I think we set-up well and had plenty of chances to get at them, but our final ball was shocking and we got undone by a set-piece

City have come into form at the perfect time, fair play

 

[MadDogg]

Did any channel show a replay of that potential handball penalty we had late on when Martial was trying to create space for himself? On first viewing I thought it hit the hand but it all happened so quickly it was hard to tell, and then they never showed a replay.

 

[Fts 74]

Two poor goals.

I didn't think we we're that bad except for Martial who was terrible.

Lost to the better team simple.

 

[United492]

Baffling performance - from the manager. I don't think the team itself did all that bad, we were simply up against a better team and tactics tonight and they were playing as instructed, but it was clear from the outset that we needed a higher line, but nothing changed. At least bring Bailly on at half time and push up, their only pacey player was Sterling, and I don't even think he had that much of an impact on the game overall.

Yet again Ole's game management has let him down. McT should have been off at half time and give VdB a chance. 4 minutes at the end is pathetic. Such a frustrating watch.

What happens if we buy anyone decent in the January transfer window - or subsequent windows - Ole clearly has his favourites so what's the point in buying anyone else, they won't play. Cavani has been good in the time he's played, but even he hasn't played that much (yes, I know he's currently banned).

 

[eire-red]

There were too many players out there trying to do it all themselves, whereas City played like a team with the bit between their teeth.

Set pieces again have done us. Serious work needs to be done to rectify it.

Not too bothered about the result, but it was more the limp performance that was really annoying to watch.

 

[clarkydaz]

go out there and express yourselves...and thats all ive got

edit: bring donny on last 3

 

[Hughie77]

Its a bit of a weird issue with you guys. Your players are massive in comparison to City but they never ever physically dominate us. Maguire from corners was the only time you seemed too physical. You have Pogba, McT, Lindelof, Maguire, AWB, Rashford etc.. all big strong lads but they never tend to push the Cancelo's etc.. around.

That said I wouldn't worry too much if I were you guys. First half you sat in and looked for counters, while we played triangles and looked toothless. It was on Shaw losing Stones on a set piece the game was won. Soon as you had to come out and play we sat in and the job was done. Had you scored first, it'd be City looking toothless while you could sit in and win on the break. Poor game by two conservative teams that the first goal was always gonna win.

Yes.

 

[Zlatan Ibrahomovic]

Pogba Shaw and Maguire Ok.

Bruno, Martial poor.

Rest bad.,

Also, what is Ole doing? Asleep on the bench. Id give him 0 IF i could.

 

[OLLY ORANGE]

Rashford is really going through a lacklustre patch. Whether he's carrying an injury or just tired. His general play and decision making has been really poor for a while.

 

[Judas]

Lindelof shouldn't have started, when its him and Maguire we just look far more nervous and messy at the back. Actually think Maguire played alright tonight, but him and Bailly together is clearly a better combo.

Also special mention to AWB who was dreadful.

 

[Buffalo Bills]

Wtf with the Donny sub at the death. Is Ole trying to completely demoralise the guy

 

[LUC1f3R]

Felt like it was more of shitty team performance than City out thought us tactically. Always felt they had more hunger in them.

But I don't understand why Ole is not making subs early. When it's so fecking obvious that Martial & Rashford were crap, why not try something early (say 60 min)????

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Its a bit of a weird issue with you guys. Your players are massive in comparison to City but they never ever physically dominate us. Maguire from corners was the only time you seemed too physical. You have Pogba, McT, Lindelof, Maguire, AWB, Rashford etc.. all big strong lads but they never tend to push the Cancelo's etc.. around.

That said I wouldn't worry too much if I were you guys. First half you sat in and looked for counters, while we played triangles and looked toothless. It was on Shaw losing Stones on a set piece the game was won. Soon as you had to come out and play we sat in and the job was done. Had you scored first, it'd be City looking toothless while you could sit in and win on the break. Poor game by two conservative teams that the first goal was always gonna win.

So weird to see a city fan making more sense than most knee jerkers here.

 

[Real Name]

As an Ole outter I'm quite happy, it's been a tough time recently but hopefully this is the beginning of the end for the Norwegian fraud and his lutefisk brand of football.

It's just a shame now that Poch is at PSG because we still had an opportunity to be saved.

You nearly got me there.

 

[dmode]

O welll... quite frustrating to see us loose to a better team today, the players must be gutted, we are nearly there and hopefully we'll be there against LFC.

 

[clarkydaz]

Some of you are so weird. If we played the limp ball-recycling that City did today everyone would be up in arms - KBD had a flash of brilliance in the first half and hit the post, apart from that what did they create? We had the better chances in the first 60 mins, and there was no need to change the players/system.

They scored a poor goal from a set piece, and only when we opened up did they start to get chances. I actually find their football dire, if Bruno managed to connect one of the 3 or 4 final balls he should have done we'd have been cruising.

what did we hit and create...at home?

 

[Cultured left ankle]

Few positives to take from that one. Maguire, Shaw and Fred were fine, but goodness it's clear Fernandes and Rashford need a break. Too many loose passes and touches made it impossible to get anything going up top.

City had the best players on the day - their 2 CBs were top notch, but we didn't make it difficult for them.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Feck me we were poor in that second half. We weren't great in the first either but we had our chances. The second was atrocious though. It really was. Absolutely tragic attempts at passing in the final third and desperate shots.

It looks like our players have bottled it on the big stage again. Mentally they seem to be freezing right now as soon as we reach a semi final. That needs to be addressed if we want to have nay hope of ending our trophy drought, now in its 4th year.

Conceded via set pieces again is infuriating. City can always beat us, they're good enough but we absolutely cannot be losing the match off 2 set pieces. We all knew it was a weakness coming into this game, and it's quite clearly nowhere close to being sorted.

I've no right to be this upset at what is *just* the league Cup, but that game really annoyed me. Poor showing by the team.

I think it is motivation as much as tactical. Pep can motivate his team better than Ole can motivate us.

Getting inside players heads is huge. Ferguson said he used read Vince Lombardi a lot, who spoke about how the best managers get inside players heads.

 

[NoMidfielders]

City too solid in defence for us, made our attack look not just average but poor although they didn’t help themselves at times. Maguire switching off for a set piece in an evenish big game is just classic us at the moment. Not that arsed about the league cup but we’ve put a lot of miles in the legs in the last 12 months to not make a single final.

 

[Conor]

We don't have a forward that will give a 6/10 performance at the very least, every game. They are either decent/great or absolutely crap. Zero consistency.

 

[Gazza]

City just sat us down and showed us the difference between an actual elite side and a top 6 side on a great run of form.

This. We have improved but we are not a great team yet.

 

[united for life]

You obviously have never played the game. Watch the replays!
Watch rashford and pogba stand still and make no attempt to clear the ball, watch Lindelof do some kind of camp war dance with his back turned, no way should that ball have come through , maguire was unsighted and if he dangles a leg and it goes in his own net you’ll shoot him down for that too.

Maguire has his faults but was our stand out player today

i played the game before and have cleared similar crosses

 

[choiboyx012]

The forwards were so damn weak. City defenders breathe on them and we turn the ball over. Needed cavani or even ighalo who have some hold-up play

 

[pratyush_utd]

Disappointed with type of goals conceded. Cavani should be first choice striker when he comes back.

 

[Giggsyking]

Outclassed by a better team and a better manager.

Can we talk about Ole's in game management???

I know if I talk now about Ole, thousands will just mouth bile at me, but feck it. There you can see the difference between a top manager and a non top manager. It does not matter how long he will manage us, he will never ever be as good as Pep. Even the time we won against them, they played better, in the end the quality of the manager will come good. How bad in-game management you have to do to feck it like tonight?

 

[ForeverRed1]

Dodgy defence. World class striker needed. Right wing needed. Left winger in left wing position. Stop squeezing pogba in squad by playing him on left.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

We need to grow a set of balls for the FA Cup, I don't think Ole realises that these players need to taste victory, if we keep crumbling in semi finals I dread to think how we'll cope with a title run in.

City players know what it's like to win, ours are struggling for belief

 

[kettledrumhamster]

Such an embarrassing lot, yous. It was about as even as a match as you could get and one team scored from two set pieces. Martial was poor, but how good was Sterling? Bruno off the pace but was de bruyne much better? Rashford looked tired but did you see Mahrez?!

Yeah we concede too many from set pieces but we've been that way for years, trying to take anything else out of that game is positive. The result is bad but by Christ by the sound of you lot you'd think we'd been destroyed. Absolute cry babies.