[Rob]

To me he seems like "If you can't be 1st the rest doesn't matter" type, he invests himself emotionally going into season to win the thing and it may be difficult for him to regroup a start thinking of 2nd or 3rd as some sort of achievement and his enthusiasm drops significantly, that's why he won so much in his career though. Just my opinion obviously.

Obviously I don’t know either, but Mourinho’s a winner and has been since his Porto days. I suspect that for a man like that, having managed the biggest clubs in the world and won all there is to win, it may be difficult finding the motivation to get in top 4 after losing the title in December. I’m probably wrong, but he did look uninterested.

 

[wolvored]

An ugly performance, that represents an ugly, arrogant, self-centred man. What is his issue with Pogba? Play the guy in a position where he can be most effective - and that IS NOT beside Matic in a midfield two. But his (Mourinho's) arrogance will get in the way. We are losing to a v v v poor Newcastle team, and he takes off Pogba, and replaces him with Carrick??? (who I love by the way, but that wasn't the change needed).

Pogba and Sanchez are our two most creative players. So we take one off.

This performance doesn't surprise many. This manager is taking us nowwhere. A Europa League and League Cup was a huge improvement on two year's of absolute dross. But we aren't close to being where we should be after two seasons as a squad, and the money spent (!!!!).

He clearly isn't inspiring these players, you can see it... we are two-thirds into the season, so there are trends that are clear to see. We are now fighting for second. Who would put money on us right now? And this has been coming... I fear for the club heading back to square one.. I fear for De Gea, and I fear for Pogba being here in September.

Mourinho is interested in the opinion of one man. I'm sick of his demeanour, and his constant focus on other managers, clubs, players etc.

The club need to start looking ahead, but with Ed Woodward in charge of recruitment, I am not feeling too hopeful...

Perhaps hes trying to force Pogba to leave? It hasnt worked out for mourinho the way we all wanted it to, and maybe selling Pogba might be something hes loking into. Just a thought.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

My girlfriend and I spent the weekend in Dublin for an early Valentines surprise and today we had a few drinks in a pub and some lunch while the football was on (I timed that well). She has never watched a football match in her life and she is totally uninterested in football but today she paid the game about 5 minutes worth of attention in total. I was obviously in a bad mood while the game was on and at the end, she asked me why the players are all playing individually and not playing as a team, not passing together in triangles and not attacking as a unit. Those were her exact words and that coming from her, after her first ever 5 minutes of football, really does highlight our problems. Let’s hope the guys getting paid millions can fix it.

 

[Rajma]

Obviously I don’t know either, but Mourinho’s a winner and has been since his Porto days. I suspect that for a man like that, having managed the biggest clubs in the world and won all there is to win, it may be difficult finding the motivation to get in top 4 after losing the title in December. I’m probably wrong, but he did look uninterested.

I agree and sort of understand him, players letting him down also doesn’t help.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

My girlfriend and I spent the weekend in Dublin for an early Valentines surprise and today we had a few drinks in a pub and some lunch while the football was on (I timed that well). She has never watched a football match in her life and she is totally uninterested in football but today she paid the game about 5 minutes worth of attention in total. I was obviously in a bad mood while the game was on and at the end, she asked me why the players are all playing individually and not playing as a team, not passing together in triangles and not attacking as a unit. Those were her exact words and that coming from her, after her first ever 5 minutes of football, really does highlight our problems. Let’s hope the guys getting paid millions can fix it.

Does she fancy managing us?

 

[Offside]

That was a disastrous result today. Just seen we are only 2 points ahead of Liverpool. They have 2 easy home games coming up and we have Chelsea and then Palace away. Woudln't surpirse me if we are quite a bit behind them after our game against them at Old Trafford. We are just in horrific form. Spurs are coming on strong as well. We could end up 4th/5th.

 

[NFM]

Remember all those years when fans were frustrated because Fergie kept saying 'there is no value in the market'. Well he was right.
Since he has left United have spent a small fortune to end up playing Newcastle with 7 out of 11 players who were at OT before he retired. Plus another one which didn't cost a transfer fee. That means only Martial, Lukaku and Mata were still on the pitch as a result of hundreds of millions of expenditure. And I'm pretty certain Fergie would not have bought any of those three either ( Mata is a good player, but far too slow and slight).
Its not the manager's fault that the general level of footballers is pretty unexceptional. That is why Messi and Ronaldo are the only names to win the top individual prizes year after year. However United's record of buying players actually required in the team since Fergie left is appalling.
It saddens me to read comments about players proud to wear United's colours, the likes of Lingard, Rashford, Valencia, Young, Jones, and yet praise players who have done nothing to justify their purchase like Pogba and Martial. Others like Mata, Rojo, Lukako appear to be limited, but give their best ( none would have passed the Fergie test of 'value'). Jury still out on Sanchez, early days, but his effort level is good.
United might be 'rich' but they can't go on like this.They have to sell Pogba and Martial this summer to Madrid or PSG to recoup £200m and then spend wisely on 2 central midfielders, a RW and at least one full back. And the purchases don't need to be 'big' names, but rather guys with hunger and above all maturity.
I honestly believe it would be good for United to miss out on top 4 again, and concentrate on building a solid team for the future rather than pandering to the latest 'name' that an agent dangles in front of Woodward.
By the way there is no young player ready to step up to the first team. The likes of O'Connor, Gomes and Chong are at least 2 years from making any sort of step up to the regular fringe of the first team. The 'reserves' are generally of a poor quality, its the u-18 group and below that have the potential.

 

[minoo-utd]

I'm really wondering what was wrong with Pogba today, he looked like he doesn't give a shit and when the cam caught him on the bench after he was substituted he looked like some sad man or having big troubles. His behavior today and his body language were very questionable, or is he just spoiled fecker?

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Does she fancy managing us?

I think she would make a good manager. I’ve been on the wrong end of her Fergie style hairdryer treatment a few times and it is intimidating

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I think she would make a good manager. I’ve been on the wrong end of her Fergie style hairdryer treatment a few times and it is intimidating

We'll send her in for the half-time team talks then.

 

[ijc]

Couldn't watch the game. Can anyone provide me an honest summary of the game? I'm more interested in the performance. Though I read some comments and I think we were absolutely horrible.

 

[Rob]

I agree and sort of understand him, players letting him down also doesn’t help.

I don’t watch United often enough to say if the players let him down or if he just doesn’t want it enough anymore.

It doesn’t look like he’s the guy that will make Pogba a top3 player in the world like we all thought he would become a few years back, though.

Of course, you could go on and win your next four games against us and Chelsea in particular, and I’m made to look like a fool

 

[Social Faux Pas]

Couldn't watch the game. Can anyone provide me an honest summary of the game? I'm more interested in the performance. Though I read some comments and I think we were absolutely horrible.

Newcastle started the game really well and put us under pressure early on. De gea made an excellent save from Shelvey (I believe) early on. After the first 15 minutes or so, we took control of the game and created a few chances; Martial missed a gilt-edged chance after being one-on-one with the keeper.

Second half we continued the momentum and created few more decent openings with Sanchez missing after going passed the keeper. Then, against the run of play, they scored from a free kick that we conceded after Smalling was booked for simulation. We tried to force the matter but didn't do enough except a double off the line save from a corner. I was so disappointed with the game that I didn't watch the last 5 minutes.

In all this, I have to say that through out the game, Newcastle showed more energy and out-battled us all over the pitch, especially in midfield. Jonjo Shelvey had a game of his life and their new keeper looked really assured.

For us our midfield was abysmal. Pogba was poor and looked off the pace through out the game. Sanchez was the only one who looked like doing something for us. Martial had couple of good chances and at least should have buried one of them. I don't think being on the right suits him.

Jose's tactics weren't right I felt and his substitutions were baffling.

 

[Zlatattack]

1. Mourinho is stubborn and is costing us points. This set of players are at thier most effective in a 433.

2. The players are a disgrace. It's not much to expect players earning hundreds of thousands a week to be tactically flexible. Either Pogba is too shit to adapt or he's deliberately under performing.

3. Lukaku always gets his goals in patches. He has a regular mid season slump. Fully expect him to be firing again by the end of March I reckon. Until then play Rashford or Martial up front.

4. Smalling and Jones will never be good enough for Manchester United. If we sold them only mid table clubs would be interested.

As a Manchester United fan this is embarrassing. It's like they're not even trying in parts. There is something significantly wrong. We've churned through players and managers but haven't been fluid since Fergie left.

 

[paulscholes18]

Can’t blame Jose for Martial missing his 1:1 or Sanchez rounding the keeper then inexplicably hesitating before shooting.
But he can be blamed for not learning his lesson 11 days ago away vs Tottenham by playing the same team, again shoehorning Martial to RW, why replace 2 off the back 4 that didn’t didn’t concede a shot on target with the 2 that couldn’t keep Spurs out for 11 seconds and why replace Scott McTominay who can play in a midfield two with Pogba who cannot, the one and only change he could’ve/ should’ve made was Pogba in for Mata or Lingard.
Palace Toyed with that Newcastle side a week ago for the best part of 1 hour only missing the finishing touch, yet we made them look like a top 6 side

 

[Zlatattack]

Remember all those years when fans were frustrated because Fergie kept saying 'there is no value in the market'. Well he was right.
Since he has left United have spent a small fortune to end up playing Newcastle with 7 out of 11 players who were at OT before he retired. Plus another one which didn't cost a transfer fee. That means only Martial, Lukaku and Mata were still on the pitch as a result of hundreds of millions of expenditure. And I'm pretty certain Fergie would not have bought any of those three either ( Mata is a good player, but far too slow and slight).
Its not the manager's fault that the general level of footballers is pretty unexceptional. That is why Messi and Ronaldo are the only names to win the top individual prizes year after year. However United's record of buying players actually required in the team since Fergie left is appalling.
It saddens me to read comments about players proud to wear United's colours, the likes of Lingard, Rashford, Valencia, Young, Jones, and yet praise players who have done nothing to justify their purchase like Pogba and Martial. Others like Mata, Rojo, Lukako appear to be limited, but give their best ( none would have passed the Fergie test of 'value'). Jury still out on Sanchez, early days, but his effort level is good.
United might be 'rich' but they can't go on like this.They have to sell Pogba and Martial this summer to Madrid or PSG to recoup £200m and then spend wisely on 2 central midfielders, a RW and at least one full back. And the purchases don't need to be 'big' names, but rather guys with hunger and above all maturity.
I honestly believe it would be good for United to miss out on top 4 again, and concentrate on building a solid team for the future rather than pandering to the latest 'name' that an agent dangles in front of Woodward.
By the way there is no young player ready to step up to the first team. The likes of O'Connor, Gomes and Chong are at least 2 years from making any sort of step up to the regular fringe of the first team. The 'reserves' are generally of a poor quality, its the u-18 group and below that have the potential.

Everyone else manages to find quality in the market. Kante Mane Salah Silva millions of others...

 

[nameischarles]

Embarrassing defeat, I just don't get how Mourinho is shoehorning players into positions and making themselves ineffective. I noticed the moment Martial was on the right, he was pacing around and stagnating his runs and trying out pretty flick passes that lead to nowhere.

Herrera or McTominay should have replaced Lingard while pushing Pogba forward, then switch Martial and Alexis but giving them the option to roam. But I know Mourinho is going to be stubborn about this and persist with the 4-2-3-1 and continue to shoehorn the players.

 

[davidmichael]

Today was just another example of 4-2-3-1 simply NOT being effective in either games against our rivals or away from home and if people like ourselves can see that then I don’t understand why our management doesn’t too.

Smalling and Jones as a pair much like 4-2-3-1 as a formation simply isn’t good enough against our rivals or away from home whilst regardless of a few good games against the weaker teams Young is NOT a left back and should NOT be starting over Shaw for any reason other than injury, if Shaw isn’t to be trusted as first choice then buy a quality specialist left back like Alex Sandro with Shaw as his back up.

Pogba can’t play in a midfield two because he simply isn’t disciplined enough to do so and it sees him stripped of basically every attribute he has, Matic ends up trying to do the job of two men so our defence is left unprotected whereas in a midfield three Pogba can roam safe in the knowledge that there’s two other midfielders covering.

Martial can’t play on the right and shouldn’t be, yes Sanchez is world class and should be first choice on the left but that doesn’t mean Martial is shoehorned on the right just to put him in the team. If Jose wants Martial to play then maybe rotate him with Sanchez or even Lukaku but he clearly can’t play on the right as we’ve seen in two of the last three games.

As for this never ending problem on the right side of the attack I’d rather we give Gribbin or Chong a go there rather than watching Martial or Rashford wasted there, what’s the worst that can happen ? Or we start using Lingard there instead of as a 10 because 4-3-3 simply NEEDS to be the way to go for us.

 

[Foxbatt]

The more the pundits keep harping about this the more stubborn Jose is going to be. His teams are normally difficult to beat and also are very structured. That means opposing teams cannot waltz through his teams yet everyone is waltzing through United. Either he wants to go somewhere else or he has lot it now.
How can a club of United's stature have only one CF? I mean he never gets subbed. United had 4 strikers who could waltz into any top team in the PL in 1999. The same when we had Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov. Now we have Lukaku who will not get into that team for sure.

 

[Acole9]

I felt confident going into the match, why shouldn't we have been. Newcastle were in the bottom three at the start of the day, their team is mostly made up of Championship level players and most of all they hadn't won in the league at St James' since October! A frustrating and disappointing match. I feel most sorry for the fans who travelled up there and paid a lot of money to go, apparently only four players clapped as they left the pitch, if that's true then that is a disgrace.

Although I was confident before hand when I saw the team and especially the defence it did leave me somewhat baffled. Smalling and Jones are more like dumb and dumber when they play together rather than dolly and daisy. I can't understand why they are so bad when they play together considering they've both been at United a long time now and they already knew each from the England under 21's prior to joining the club.

I don't dislike the 4-2-3-1 and whilst I think we should remain flexible in our approach, it's clear to see that some players just aren't comfortable in it. It does feel like square pegs in round holes, I can understand the arguments for players playing in their actual positions too. At the same time though, is Valencia going to play on the right wing these days? Unlikely, is Young going to play on the left wing? Hopefully not! I think I said it after the Spurs match that primarily we should either look at playing 4-3-3 or even a 3-5-2 before we play the 4-2-3-1.

 

[beergod]

To have fallen behind away from home 31 times since January 2014 and only come back to win once is such a fecking disgrace when you think of the money we've spent since then.

No wonder we've been also rans for the last 5 years.

It's amazing how all of our famed resilience disappeared when Fergie retired. He was an absolute wizard for how he managed to externally instill his mentality onto the squad.

Jose's solution is to buy mentally strong players and given enough time they affect those around them positively and moving on those that are weak. It's why he went all on on Sanchez and happily offloaded Mhkitaryan.

 

[desmondisback]

Tine for Mourinho to go...i have been saying this for weeks that his grasp of tactics and team selection is at best inept.

Got you beat . I've been saying it for months...nearly a year now. Jose die hards won't listen until it gets really bad though...

 

[Sassy Colin]

People having a go at Smalling

The free kick was given away almost on the half way line, should never have got to the stage of even being a threat on goal.

 

[edgar allan]

People having a go at Smalling

The free kick was given away almost on the half way line, should never have got to the stage of even being a threat on goal.

It was symptomatic of a very nervous game that he had.

 

[arthurka]

It was symptomatic of a very nervous game that he had.

Was it ? It might have something to do with our midfield having holes the size of a tankers and no one bothered tracking back. .

This ball traveled for 4 seconds before reaching a player that neither pogba or Matic bothered with marking and no player tracked the eþ run into our box . That said I am not defending smalling as he is as bad on the ball as any stoke player out there but blaming this on him just isnt right ..

 

[lewwoo]

I agree and sort of understand him, players letting him down also doesn’t help.

I dont understand him at all if that is his mentality. Alright the title is gone but they should be going all out for second place and showing they aren't far behind City. If he is giving up just because first place is beyond reach then its a disgrace. They are paid very well to play football. Thats their only job. I work 50 plus hours a week. I cant just give up half way through the year because things arent going my way.

 

[Barnslig]

Didnt we play 433 when we smashed Everton and played really, really good? I just don’t get this whole Pogba in a midfield two experiment Jose has got going on, for everyone and his fecking dog can see that it isn’t working, but his absolute refusal to change system is baffling.

Has the media pressure of having to field certain players all the time gotten to him, and now have to use a system to shoehorn them all in? Because we’re getting absolutely bossed in midfield and I feel bad for Matic who must be absolutely knackered as he’s playing the entire midfield alone. Why not use McTominay/Herrera (i know he was injured today) and drop/rotate one of Lingard/Martial/Lukaku. It honestly doesn’t feel like rocketscience. Maybe that’s why Pogba looked like he had hit the J one too many times tonight and were about to fecking cry, because the players have expressed their feelings to Jose and he simply doesn’t give a flying feck and does what he wants?

 

[Toddler]

Nobody knows. I was saying even in the summer when we got Pogba that if we sign him to play in a two, it won't work. Since then he keeps using him a 4-2-3-1. When we signed Sanchez I thought he must be signing him to play on the Right-wing, that's what we need, no sticks him on the left. Kills Martial confidence. Breaks what wasn't broken. The signing of Sanchez is starting to stink of nothing but opportunism.

Bigs up Luke Shaw and still drops him every away game for Young. Where is his big money signing Lindolof, he hasn't been perfect but I thought he was getting better and suddenly he's fallen off the face of the earth.

He is making this up as he goes along. He just assembled the team of Avengers upfront with a few duds in defence. The XI, the system the style of play is terrible. - I don't care about the missed chances we don't create enough of them today and we that's on him and his dire football.

Good post. One can only hope something changes. We are still second though but atm so very far away from playing good football, lets see after chelsea and liverpool where we stand. Interesting to see how people react if we fall from top 4.

Whooh.

 

[Davistiano]

My personal negative comment (sorry lads) on some of the players (and in general)

Smalling - absolutely unnecessary diving if you ask me (in fact, all divings are)
And he always looks scared of the ball showing from his body gesture, or maybe it is just me thinking that?

Jones - he has potential to be a great defender, but he needs more intelligent on the field and less reckless

Young - has good dribble skills, but sometimes has poor decision (hold onto the ball for too long etc) led to wasted opportunities
(Why not use SHAW?)

Matic - quiet achiever I would say, but definitely not feeling as sharp as when he first joined

Pogba - Great talent and potential, but mental strength is weak and over-confident at times overdoing things result in a bad outcome.
Gone missing in this match

Lukaku - I cannot remember how many times I see him not winning header when he is supposed to be a strong CF that can lay off headers for midfielders coming forward (In this match and in general).
Still lack confidence.


Like others have said before, no coherence at all in this team. I know I am no professional footballer and all I do is PES on PS4 and casual outdoor football with friends, but the way that United are passing the ball is pathetic. There is no urge to attack and overwhelm our opponents - which we have been doing for years back in the days: fast pace, direct pass, down the flank, quick counter.

I cannot count how many times I have literally faceplam-ed when watching United: what? why not pass to him or him? and instead, you do a back pass????

 

[NewGuy]

This must have been one of our worse performance this season. Could not see much fight in todays team !

 

[automaticflare]

Was it ? It might have something to do with our midfield having holes the size of a tankers and no one bothered tracking back. .

This ball traveled for 4 seconds before reaching a player that neither pogba or Matic bothered with marking and no player tracked the eþ run into our box . That said I am not defending smalling as he is as bad on the ball as any stoke player out there but blaming this on him just isnt right ..

Or it might also be the fact he is fooking retarded and can’t pass the ball to save his life . He was fecking crap all game

The goal was purely down to pogba mind but give over about Smalling being any use at all. Worst player on the pitch by a mile

 

[tomaldinho1]

On a serious note, what system are we playing at the moment with our midfield. I genuinely don't know where/what Pogba is supposed to be playing/doing and there are always massive holes in our central midfield.

 

[Class of 63]

Watching it for a third time now and think i've finally worked out(wrong formation excepted)what our main problem was yesterday, apart from Sanchez who is perpetual motion anyway our players looked as though they were playing for a Northern European team playing a World Cup finals match in searing heat, and at altitude conserving energy at every given opportunity.

The problem with that is Newcastle(and it can be bloody freezing there even in the Summer)in February ain't Mexico City in July

 

[Tapori]

Couldn't watch the game. Can anyone provide me an honest summary of the game? I'm more interested in the performance. Though I read some comments and I think we were absolutely horrible.

Typical "not our day."
missed 5+ Top chances. Watch them and tell me if we should have had no goals.
Pogba out of sorts
their GK had a blinder backs-to-the-wall Newcastle defending plus 1 mistake from us gives them a goal.
Over reaction on here

 

[GeorgeFord]

Extremely disappointing, but Mourinho’s record at St James Park is awful, so I’m not that surprised.

Part of me thinks that Martial & Sanchez bury their opportunities, we go on to win by a couple of goals and all is right in the world. The other part of me thinks that converting those two gilt-edged chances would just conceal the fact that our attack doesn’t create anywhere near enough of them. I can’t see this changing anytime soon, we’ll rely on Jesse, Martial & Sanchez to create a few random chances here and there so we’ll just have to be more clinical for the remainder of the season and sort out our attack (again!) in the Summer.

City, and Spurs all create a cadence of chances in every match they play. Spurs battered Arsenal on the weekend, should have won by 3 or 4 goals. And City are doing it every weekend.

Changes needed for the FA Cup match against Huddersfield. ‘Rest’ Pogba and start McTominay alongside Matic. Replace Young with Shaw and start Mata on the right. Marital left, Sanchez central, Jesse bench. We can't really do much about our centre-halves at this stage. Fosu-Mensah and Tuanzebe should be here and starting matches like these in the absence of Bailly, Blind and Rojo, but that's for another thread.

 

[GeorgeFord]

Can’t blame Jose for Martial missing his 1:1 or Sanchez rounding the keeper then inexplicably hesitating before shooting.
But he can be blamed for not learning his lesson 11 days ago away vs Tottenham by playing the same team, again shoehorning Martial to RW, why replace 2 off the back 4 that didn’t didn’t concede a shot on target with the 2 that couldn’t keep Spurs out for 11 seconds and why replace Scott McTominay who can play in a midfield two with Pogba who cannot, the one and only change he could’ve/ should’ve made was Pogba in for Mata or Lingard.
Palace Toyed with that Newcastle side a week ago for the best part of 1 hour only missing the finishing touch, yet we made them look like a top 6 side

Completely agree with this. Players had over a weeks rest too, with no mid-week match upcoming. I'd argue Mata, McTominay and Shaw should have started. Jesse is sadly over his purple patch, if needed he would have been a better option coming off the bench last night.

 

[eat_grass]

If only we could bottle up the effort the players showed in the last 25 minutes of the game, and spread that across the entire 90 minutes.

Benching players because of poor form is harsh, but benching players that show lack of effort should be mandatory. I think Pogba has to sit the next game out.

And Sanchez, what the feck?! You have to bury that shot.

 

[peridigm]

Completely agree with this. Players had over a weeks rest too, with no mid-week match upcoming. I'd argue Mata, McTominay and Shaw should have started. Jesse is sadly over his purple patch, if needed he would have been a better option coming off the bench last night.

We’ve been shit since returning from Dubai. Mid season trips should be off the menu.

 

[Class of 63]

We’ve been shit since returning from Dubai. Mid season trips should be off the menu.

6-4-0-2-10-3 since coming back, 4 of the goals coming at Yeovil Town, and 3 against Stoke City

 

[sglowrider]

My girlfriend and I spent the weekend in Dublin for an early Valentines surprise and today we had a few drinks in a pub and some lunch while the football was on (I timed that well). She has never watched a football match in her life and she is totally uninterested in football but today she paid the game about 5 minutes worth of attention in total. I was obviously in a bad mood while the game was on and at the end, she asked me why the players are all playing individually and not playing as a team, not passing together in triangles and not attacking as a unit. Those were her exact words and that coming from her, after her first ever 5 minutes of football, really does highlight our problems. Let’s hope the guys getting paid millions can fix it.

Christ! What do you guys talk about then?