[tjb]

Just highlights what we all knew before.

Our midfield not having Casemiro or Eriksen is really affecting our build up. ETH has tried to cover this by dropping Bruno deeper, but that's not helping at all. Its just making our midfield more confused, whilst also making Bruno less effective. Sabitzer is average and has no influence, whilst Mctominay invites pressure and does not want to offer a passing route or provide passes.

Add this to our forward line being poor. Antony was actually quite good today, but unfortunately without a midfield able to hold possession or build up through the middle, everything came on a counter. Weghorst was ineffective up front, so even pumped balls didn't really have any effect.

Our pressing has also been heavily reduced. Again I think this is a consequence of changing shape. We are using more of a 433 lately, with Bruno not even being the highest 8. So our pressing shape has also changed, and this has been far less effective. Weghorst has also stopped pressing well, so our winning the ball back hasn't been great

 

[BusbyMalone]

How are they still knackered though? Just had weeks off. They are supposed to be world class athletes.

Club football had weeks off, but our players were still playing for their national teams. We've also played a LOT of games, and we haven't got the quality in the squad to rotate.

 

[croadyman]

We do really seem to have dropped our performance levels. Passing has never been the best but it’s gone to absolute tripe now and people just aren’t working as hard as they should be.

Our midfield probably does need a rebuild. McT, Fred ,Bruno and Donny none of them are comfortable on the ball or coming to collect the ball. Bruno and McT are like polar opposites, one refusing to pass it forward when it’s an easy and obvious pass to start an attack, Whilst the other needs an age to make a decent pass and often just punting balls forward attempting ridiculous passes when there are better options.

Won't improve until we get Eriksen back this season and buy a couple of midfielders who can keep it better in the summer

 

[glasgow 21]

Starting with Weghorst is like playing with 10 men.

Starting with Mctominay and it is down to 9 then. What was the stat at 70 mins? 25 touches? of the ball for a midfielder. Horrific. First time, as they have had time to refresh, Ten Hag got it all wrong today. How many managers is it going to take before someone realises McTominay will get you the sack.

 

[Pjisared]

Bizarre from ETH, a bit to clever for his own good.
Wout played for 60 mins, 60 minutes to long and then takes off our best outfield player in Antony and then takes off our two centre halfs. Firkin weird

 

[Devil77]

We look tired and out of ideas. The absence of Casemiro and the decline in form (fitness level) from Rashford make us toothless.

 

[Lights Out]

Back to hating football and dreading the weekends again.

What a clear out we need. Cowards.

 

[Catt]

Funny how every once in a while you get a reminder as to how much of a momentum game football essentially is.

We played like one of the best teams in the world some weeks ago.

Now, again, it looks like the players are spent, scared, and bereft of ideas.

If we look like this regularly without Casemiro (who hasn't been at his best either when he last was playing)... Well, that would be a concern.

Good post. The forum is very black/white, but it's important to keep some perspective

 

[Todd]

Embarrassing performance. This team is bang average without Casemiro. It's actually pretty concerning how only one player completely changes the capabilities of the team to this extent.

Bad feelings about this month. We've got too many fixtures and I think it's gonna cost us. Hanging on to top 4 is going to be a battle.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Couldn’t pass water

….but shat ourselves

 

[Al-T]

Truly dismal effort. No redeeming features in that performance at all

 

[Chicharo]

The better team won. Could've easily been 4-5 down
This was probably our worst match of the season, bar that humiliation at Anfield

 

[Barnslig]

Club football had weeks off, but our players were still playing for their national teams. We've also played a LOT of games, and we haven't got the quality in the squad to rotate.

Surely the players are mature enough to pull out of international football if they're so knackered they can't run, if not they deserve all the abuse they're getting now. I understand it's a long and weird season, but this level of effort is not acceptable, really.

 

[90 + 5min]

Lost midfield from the start. No balance whatsoever. Newcastle are tough place but this was not good.

 

[V.O.]

The best team won today. Could've easily been 4-5 down
This was probably our worst match of the season, bar that humiliation at Anfield

I'd argue the performance was just as bad. Finishing and luck were the difference.

 

[MadMike]

ETH’s subs were atrocious, bar the subbing of WW who shouldn’t even be starting. Why replace your two CBs with minutes left, what’s the point? And this experiment with WW needs to end yesterday. I give 0 fecks about his running and his fitness, the man can’t play football. He continues getting picked and criticism of ETH will start to mount because it’s glaringly obvious it’s costing us.

Also, if your 2 starting midfielders are unavailable, why not overload the midfield and play 4-3-3 away from home. Especially when we concede so many goals when we play away? Our form against good teams away has been very poor and ETH has found no solution or plan B so far this season.

 

[FireballXL5]

They could/should have got 7. Pathetic.

 

[Irwin99]

Very very disappointing. The case for Casemiro being our POTY increases as the midfield was just rancid without him.

Other than Varane and Martinez i didn't see much fight and the attack is so blunt. Antony was actually the best of a very bad bunch, with Wout, rashford and bruno/mctominay all bad. Sancho did nothing except give the ball away when he came on but Martial at least got some minutes I suppose.

Nice second goal to concede by the way. Stupid free kick giveaway from Shaw and Lindelof beaten

Still think we will finish in top 4 but that attack has to improve big time.

 

[Raoul]

Second class a


Martial is coming off the back of a long time off with injury but yeah, let's chuck him in to one of the most important games of the season straight away. Fred/McTominay is not a clear choice of one or the other, they are both as bad as each other. McTominay was also off the back of a good international break and earned his spot in the team.

That team was good enough on paper to beat Newcastle. The team was shockingly bad all over the pitch and second to every ball. That is on them. Not on ETH. Too many bluffers in that team that are letting him down and every other manager before him.

As it turned out, he was more effective than Weghorst when he came on, so there's goes that hypothesis.

McTominay was trash. How he played for Scotland is situationally irrelevant compared to what was required against Newcastle away.

This team was not up for it and it is fundamentally the manager's responsibility to ensure they are.

 

[Hoof the ball]

We've got a goal difference of 4! What?! Read that Newcastle have a goal difference of 22!

You can't have a +4 goal difference and expect to bank top four! Holy smokes, that's worse than Brighton, Spurs, Liverpool, Brentford and Newcastle. Clearly we've overperformed to be where we are, which is concerning going into the stretch.

 

[Pickle85]

Feck off Dan Burn. You won't be there the minute they start splashing the cash. You can love the club from the couch then.

 

[Woodzy]

Dan Burn bigging up the classic Newcastle/Manchester United rivalry here

 

[justsomebloke]

Hate to say it, but this is starting to look and feel a bit like a team that's hitting the wall.

Rashford and Shaw in particular seem to be on a downward trajectory lately. Bruno, up and down (today, definitely down). Without Casemiro and Eriksen, the midfield just doesn't have the quality. Weghorst and Sabitzer simply don't have much of an impact, and Sancho and Martial are not the sorts to come in and lift a struggling side.

Martinez and Varane and De Gea holding up well though.

 

[Idxomer]

Another day and we lose 7-0.

We got a bit lucky today.

 

[SouthMancRed]

Played in second gear all game. No urgency, no speed, no idea. Passing was awful yet again. Totally outplayed. Still trying to get my head round the first goal when they still tried to play out despite obviously being pinned in. If ever a 'sod this for a lark' boot up the perk from De Gea was needed it was then, but no and we basically got what we deserved. Can't believe just how terrible we were.

 

[KikiDaKats]

Fuming at him today

He is had a few of these games this season but we’ll just dust up and get ready for the next one. Else this will end up a rot.

 

[Moston Red]

Clinging onto top four. Who’d have thought it based on how we were playing earlier in the season. The cup win has taken the wind out of our sails.

 

[Garethw]

Ow how we miss Casemiro.

It’s not rocket science.

When Keane was suspended/injured Fergie’s teams didn’t capitulate.

This shit show cannot be blamed on the absence of one player.

ETH needs to sort this shit out if he’s going to have a long term future here.

 

[TwoSheds]

Shitshow. The players were pretty bad but I think the manager lost his head. Poor starting lineup, first subs too late and didn't address the fact we were losing the midfield battle handily, second set of subs was just batshit. Must have been trying to make some sort of point I suppose but I doubt that was the best way to do it.

 

[Isotope]

If the Glazers think they get away with only loaning players in a transfer window and rely on the manager to work magic. It's not happening. Put up consistently or shut up.

Glazers won't care. Sponsors are still coming in, and the stadium is always full house game after game.

 

[Roboc7]

I wouldn’t back us to beat anyone at the moment, was like watching a game from last season. Hard to see where goals are coming from but we desperately need to win these next two league games.

 

[siw2007]

Didn’t expect to come away from this one with a result. Best team won on the day, we were outplayed by a monstrous Newcastle performance.

No goals in 3 in the league is worrying but need to remember the context of the games. We need to hold our nerve in the race for top 4, with Liverpool losing yesterday, it wasn’t imperative that we beat Newcastle today but it does mean that Brentford on Wednesday is important along with our other home games from now until the end of the season.

 

[Barnslig]

My river cut out, any post-match comments from our bunch yet?

 

[Jacko21]

Shame we didn't read the script, because we could all see that coming. We knew they'd treat it like a cup final replay.

Fearful that we'll see these kind of the performances in the league between now and the end of the season. Hopefully the cups help to focus the minds.

 

[Bestofthebest]

We were far worse than I had predicted. Actually had us down for 2-1 loss. We appear to have no way to find a route to goal with any regularity. We can not pass to our own players and Newcastle swarmed all over us. This is a recurring theme but we appear to find a way to cope most of the time. Hope this is not going to be a theme until end of season. We need to let Sancho rest till end of season he looks like a little boy lost but so did most of the team today. A very disappointing performance by nearly very player.

 

[crossy1686]

There goes our CL position. Newcastle and Spurs to finish above us now

 

[aprian38]

It feels like our midfield is non-existent today. Without Casemiro, it's easy to dominating our midfield ...

 

[Nogbadthebad]

We just don't have the squad depth, Sabitzer would be fine as a fill in, but mctominay, for all the bravado, plays like a coward.

He hides when building from defence. You can watch any game, he positions himself so there are opposition players betwene him and the ball.

Its not a one off, he's been doing it for years. He is also not stupid, he knows exactly what he is doing.

I don't know what he is, but a midfielder he is not. He needs to play further forward really, but he is not good enough in that position for us either.

 

[Edwards6]

Terrible performance by the whole team, we're lucky it was only 2-0

 

[Compton22]

As it turned out, he was more effective than Weghorst when he came on, so there's goes that hypothesis.

McTominay was trash. How he played for Scotland is situationally irrelevant compared to what was required against Newcastle away.

This team was not up for it and it is fundamentally the manager's responsibility to ensure they are.

Yeah, so much more effective, that's why we finished the game with 0 goals

Yes, part of the managers remit is to make the players up for it. But these players have shown time and time again under loads of managers that they are not at the required level and not up for the fight. When they have a bad day or decide to down tools, that is on them. ETH has done really well to get the results out of this team that he has. But they're not good enough, and never will be.