[izec]

The defending was also horrific. Special mention to Bailly i think for the second goal, jesus christ.

 

[Backrow Singer]

Last time Sevilla took them out with ease. If United had attacked them, we‘d have won seems to be the current go to narrative, but i think it‘s not as simple as that. What especially Pogba showed with the ball at his feed was disgraceful stuff, Sanchez lost the ball time and again. I don‘t think Mourinho told them to sabotage the game like they both did.

A lot of knee–jeerking going on, it‘s a bad loss but we‘ll recover with Mourinho, we always do!

It’s not as simple as playing one way or the other though, you’ve got to be able to play different ways and adapt. There were opportunities to take the initiative and go at them tonight but we always had the two midfield players deep and the front three were all fixed and it was always going to be that way. Very predictable, no interchange, no movement, no intent when the chances arose.

When there is an opportunity, you’ve got to play football and swing some punches. Tonight we just didn’t.

 

[Salus Populi Suprema Lex]

Can talk tactics and selections all day but some of those players need to have a long hard look at themselves tonight. To show such little enthusiasm when playing for Manchester United is simply unacceptable, it’s embarrassing. With a bit of intent and a bit of spark we win that game but there was nothing tonight. They just floated around and watched them. If it was a fight United didn’t throw a punch.

Thought Mata should have started, Lingard and Rashford in the 11 worries me. Felaini was a nothing selection tonight, really what was the point? Sanchez was too isolated but good players find a way and he didn’t. The balance to the team was all wrong.

As I say though, we didn’t press them, there was no movement off the ball, no tempo to the passing. All slow, sideways, lethargic. It’s a bad night and as I say, I’m embarrassed and they all should be too. Pathetic.

You're right of course, the players must take their share of responsibility. The desire was absent, which is another factor which is occurring far too frequently. But why don't they seem fully motivated? I don't know, but something isn't right. Morale seems low, which is the manager's responsibility ultimately. I could be wrong but it seems the players aren't happy with what they're being instructed to do.

 

[SteveJ]

From the post-match conference:

What needs to change to bring the team up to the desired Champions League level? “Everything.” Would that cost even more money? “Everyone else spends money too. We are not the only team that invests money in players.”

 

[Giggs86]

Winning the Europa League to secure CL qualification only to serve the worst CL performance I've seen from United in a knockout stage. At 0-0 you have Smalling and Bailly passing the ball sideways back and forth until Young or Valencia hoofs if forward to Fellaini. That was fecking tragic, shambolic, embarrassing. Some individuals including Mourinho should be held accountable for that, because without accountability for today we might as well change our name to Arsenal.

What pisses me off is how relaxed and calm Mourinho was post match, had the "shit happens" attitude. Woody won't sack him after signing a new contract be if Mou have any decency he should really consider resigning after that.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Unacceptable. I gave Jose a huge amount of credit for the counter attacking opposition negating performance against Liverpool. But when it comes to making the play, playing cohesive attacking football and not relying only on individuals to do something, we are still disappointing and it has cost us again.

We had a good tempo today but no rythm. And nearly 2 seasons in, we should expect that rythm by now.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

From the post-match conference:

Always distancing himself from the result/performance. Is he part of the "everything"?

 

[Ducklegs]

He's the go-to scapegoat for people who don't really understand the game. And his recent GQ photo shoot in which his hair was fashioned to look like Mickey Mouse's ears doesn't help.

Of course, people “don’t understand The game” when they disagree with a point you’ve hung your hat on.

Ad hominem at its finest ladies and gentlemen.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

One of the most dispiriting, cowardly, soulless performances I've seen from a Utd team.

Feel sorry for Lukaku and Rashford.

Mourinho completely at fault.

Why for Rashford? Lukaku was good.

 

[izec]

I never was his biggest fan and yesterday was the day most people will be saying in a few years was the day they knew Jose isnt the special one anymore. Good manager, though boring and reactive, not good enough. Had a meltdown against Sevilla

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Our approach in the first leg was rubbish. Our desire to first and foremost aim to be solid costs us. We should have gone there looking to dominate and get an away goal. Then again, look at this supposed show of attacking football. There was no real cohesion. Hopeful football is what I'd call it. It was like mid table football but with good players.

 

[Canagel]

We got all the way through to the CL knockouts after all this time....and played only EL teams.

I feel really let down by this. What was the point of all the sacrifices to win the EL last season to then go out to Sevilla of all teams in the first knockout round? I really wanted to up against a proper European powerhouse like Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid and test ourselves against the elite. After all that's what the CL is all about. That's why I wasn't happy with our underwhelming group stage draw. We didn't face any of them.

 

[VeevaVee]

I feel really let down by this. What was the point of all the sacrifices to win the EL last season to then go out to Sevilla of all teams in the first knockout round? I really wanted to up against a proper European powerhouse like Madrid, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid and test ourselves against the elite. After all that's what the CL is all about. That's why I wasn't happy with our underwhelming group stage draw. We didn't face any of them.

Yeah. With the team and our approach, it felt like a group stage EL game. I would've liked someone like Juve at some point. A good, proper CL team, but you'd feel like we'd have a chance if we played like at the weekend. Then one of the real big dogs if we managed to get through that. Not to be.

 

[izec]

Our approach in the first leg was rubbish. Our desire to first and foremost aim to be solid costs us. We should have gone there looking to dominate and get an away goal. Then again, look at this supposed show of attacking football. There was no real cohesion. Hopeful football is what I'd call it. It was like mid table football but with good players.

I remember when we played West Brom and i read on here we are basically West Brom with a lot of money or an expensive West Brom

 

[Ekkie Thump]

Why for Rashford? Lukaku was good.

He wasn't afforded the opportunity to perform to the best of his abilities. I thought he had an excellent game on the left against Liverpool and did more than enough to remain there in this one. Instead he was shunted to a position he's never excelled at and an underperforming Sanchez stank the place up in his stead.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I remember when we played West Brom and i read on here we are basically West Brom with a lot of money or an expensive West Brom

While that's obviously far fetched, there's a point there that our football is very basic and small team-esque. Jose would argue that we score goals and dont let them in as would many, and that's fair. But there's a cohesion and fluidity in the very top teams that I just don't see with us which is my main doubt regarding Jose. I think we'll need it to catch City and Europe's elite.

 

[Class of 63]

Got what we, and the Manager deserved for the cowardice shown in the first leg, and for the children who mocked me for preferring a 2-2 over a 0-1 in the first leg(think about that for a minute)I wish you a pleasant evening.

 

[MarcusRashford]

Mourinho is terrible. No two ways about it, impossible to be harsh enough.

The better team won. Sevilla was a better team in both games, they looked to attack and play proper football, had more chances in both games, its only fair they advanced.
Our players are much better but our manager is horrible, the players are not playing anywhere near their potential and Mourinho has probably lost the team, too.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He wasn't afforded the opportunity to perform to the best of his abilities. I thought he had an excellent game on the left against Liverpool and did more than enough to remain there in this one. Instead he was shunted to a position he's never excelled at and an underperforming Sanchez stank the place up in his stead.

Fair enough. I use that logic when Martial plays on the right too. Then again I often feel none of our attackers really get the ideal platform, Lukaku aside. Sanchez is simply not doing enough when you consider he's supposed to be the superstar of this team. Martial on the left before his arrival and Rashford outperformed him there. No idea why he deserves to "own" that position.

 

[Ekkie Thump]

Got what we, and the Manager deserved for the cowardice shown in the first leg, and for the children who mocked me for preferring a 2-2 over a 0-1 in the first leg(think about that for a minute)I wish you a pleasant evening.

It's late and I'm tired so that's maybe the reason I don't understand why you'd want a 2-2 over a 0-1 in the first leg. What would have been the benefit?

 

[Ekkie Thump]

Fair enough. I use that logic when Martial plays on the right too. Then again I often feel none of our attackers really get the ideal platform, Lukaku aside. Sanchez is simply not doing enough when you consider he's supposed to be the superstar of this team. Martial on the left before his arrival and Rashford outperformed him there. No idea why he deserves to "own" that position.

Neither do I. It's been plain since the start of the season Mourinho required better attacking options on the right because neither Martial or Rashford are comfortable there. Sanchez then gets brought in to further congest competition on the left. Has he even been tried on the right?

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Disappointing climax to the season.

I don't really care much for the FA Cup to be honest after we won it 2 years ago. We needed to make noise in the CL or challenge for the title this season. We've done neither. So disheartening after all that money spent.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Neither do I. It's been plain since the start of the season Mourinho required better attacking options on the right because neither Martial or Rashford are comfortable there. Sanchez then gets brought in to further congest competition on the left. Has he even been tried on the right?

Nope. If this was the "plan" I'd rather have gotten someone else like Mahrez for the RW. The upside, for me, of developing Martial and Rashford is much bigger than Sanchez. As an AM or RW he can give us 2/3 years of good service. We don't need to build everything around him because of his name.

 

[Giggs86]

I feel really let down by this. What was the point of all the sacrifices to win the EL last season to then go out to Sevilla of all teams in the first knockout round? I really wanted to up against a proper European powerhouse like Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid and test ourselves against the elite. After all that's what the CL is all about. That's why I wasn't happy with our underwhelming group stage draw. We didn't face any of them.

The way we were outplayed by Sevilla in those two games doesn't really fill me with confidence playing Madrid or Barca. If Sevilla can school us, just think of what the likes of Madrid would do to us. We are not even close to be real contenders.

 

[Class of 63]

It's late and I'm tired so that's maybe the reason I don't understand why you'd want a 2-2 over a 0-1 in the first leg. What would have been the benefit?

The security of a second away goal, historically we make it hard for ourselves at Home so even if they'd gone 0-1 up yesterday they wouldn't have been in control of the tie, as it was once they'd scored they were.

 

[Tapori]

That's the first time I've seen him with such a big smile.

Not since the day he signed George Weah's cousin.
But scouse bias aside, he's right; Mourinho in this of all eras of football cannot bank on consistently "getting away," with ultra-cautious playing-the-percentages football.

Eventually he'll either adapt or he'll leave. Does he have it in him to change when he's wrong?

 

[Ekkie Thump]

The security of a second away goal, historically we make it hard for ourselves at Home so even if they'd gone 0-1 up yesterday they wouldn't have been in control of the tie, as it was once they'd scored they were.

I'm still confused. If it was 2-2 in the first leg and Sevilla scored at Old Trafford they'd be in front in the tie and Utd would need a goal not to go out. If it was 0-1 in the first leg then all Sevilla would have done is drawn level. If Utd failed to score in the second instance there would still be the fallback of extra time and penalties.

edit: in a 2-2 scenario Sevilla need to score only once to progress, in a 0-1 scenario they need to score twice or win on penalties.

 

[bosnian_red]

Looking at their 2nd goal again... That marking from the corner from Bailly/Matic was pitiful. Completely free header and then a scramble for Young and they had an easy tap in basically as the back post. Awful.

 

[Antisocial]

Worst. Birthday. Ever.

Mine was the day before (the 12th) - I feel your pain

 

[Class of 63]

I'm still confused. If it was 2-2 in the first leg and Sevilla scored at Old Trafford they'd be in front in the tie and Utd would need a goal not to go out. If it was 0-1 in the first leg then all Sevilla would have done is drawn level. If Utd failed to score in the second instance there would still be the fallback of extra time and penalties.

Don't know if you've been to Old Trafford on a big European night but it's the tension in the crowd, it's the best place on the planet when things are going well, but when the chips are down it's horrendous - you could hear the Sevilla fans all the way through the game, but the United fans only really got involved at 0-2 when the game was already up.

If it had been 2-2 in the first leg, and they had scored first you wouldn't have 70.000 United fans thinking we're doomed here, knowing we only needed one goal to go through 3-3 on aggregate, but once they scored last night the crowd knew(and it does get through to the players), there would be no extra-time and we had to score at least two, knowing that every goal they scored whilst we were chasing the game would then be worth two.

We played into their hands, but they played it brilliantly, once it got to 70+ minutes still at 0-0 I knew they'd go through.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

So let's talk about Fellaini then. What was up with his selection? Was Mctominay injured? Why did we change it from Liverpool with Mata on the right?

 

[Giggs86]

Don't know if you've been to Old Trafford on a big European night but it's the tension in the crowd, it's the best place on the planet when things are going well, but when the chips are down it's horrendous - you could hear the Sevilla fans all the way through the game, but the United fans only really got involved at 0-2 when the game was already up.

If it had been 2-2 in the first leg, and they had scored first you wouldn't have 70.000 United fans thinking we're doomed here, knowing we only needed one goal to go through 3-3 on aggregate, but once they scored last night the crowd knew(and it does get through to the players), there would be no extra-time and we had to score at least two, knowing that every goal they scored whilst we were chasing the game would then be worth two.

We played into their hands, but they played it brilliantly, once it got to 70+ minutes still at 0-0 I knew they'd go through.

This is why I hate coming home for the second leg after a scoreless draw away. The pressure is immense to score at least two, and if we don't score in the first half then the away team are clear favorites to go through. Every goal they score will require us to score two. I always want to see us going all out to secure at least one away goal in the first leg.

We had a similar scenario with Marseille back in 2011, round of 16, scoreless draw in the first leg. I was at Old Trafford for the second leg, we were cruising 2-0 and everything was fine until Brown score that own goal. From that moment Marseiile needed only one more goal to go through, Old Trafford was dead silent, you could hear only the away section. The atmosphere was toxic until the final whistle.

 

[beingshe7don]

Don't know if you've been to Old Trafford on a big European night but it's the tension in the crowd, it's the best place on the planet when things are going well, but when the chips are down it's horrendous - you could hear the Sevilla fans all the way through the game, but the United fans only really got involved at 0-2 when the game was already up.

If it had been 2-2 in the first leg, and they had scored first you wouldn't have 70.000 United fans thinking we're doomed here, knowing we only needed one goal to go through 3-3 on aggregate, but once they scored last night the crowd knew(and it does get through to the players), there would be no extra-time and we had to score at least two, knowing that every goal they scored whilst we were chasing the game would then be worth two.

We played into their hands, but they played it brilliantly, once it got to 70+ minutes still at 0-0 I knew they'd go through.

Dude... you can't possibly blame the crowd. Players earning on average 100k a week and playing for the biggest club in the world should NOT need motivation too begin with. As a player for Manchester United, it's their job to get the crowd going. The players need to bring the energy especially when they are playing at home. It's simple as that.

Mourinho and the players took this fixture way too lightly after beating Chelsea and Liverpool at home. They figured that this would be a a walk in the park.

1. Any Tom, Dick and Harry would have played McTominay in midfield with Matic since that's what won us the two big games.
2. Rashford who scored 2 beautiful goals from the LW gets moved to the RW to accommodate Sanchez. This is not the first time Jose has done that to accommodate Sanchez. He moved Martial from the LW to the RW which let to his drop in form.
3. Why the f&@% would you play Sanchez in any of the high profile games who has done absolute jack shit since he joined United.
4. It common sense Jose, when a formula works, you don't tinker with it. He could have easily played the same team in the same positions.

 

[RedDevil@84]

I don't really mind the first leg result. We had it in our team to defeat Sevilla at home. A clean win very very possible. But our team selection and subsequent tactics and manager's stubbornness to allow status quo to go for too long cost us. We looked like a team that was not coached for any tactic, leave alone defensive or offensive. Neither the attack had any flow, nor the defense looked promising.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

We didn't have a midfield today because only Matic wad playing there.

He didnt either. He was useless

 

[IRELANDUNITED]

As soon as I saw the starting 11 I worried, Fellaini and Matic in midfield screamed slow lacklustre play and f*ck all in terms of creativity. Also our most creative player, Mata, sitting on the bench only added to my worries. Its nothing short of disgraceful that after all the money we spent at least half our starting 11 aren't good enough. Serious work needs to be done in the summer but with the world cup on I'm not sure that will be easy. F*ck this, I'm going to sleep.

 

[NK86]

He didnt either. He was useless

What could he have done all alone against 3 skillful players? There was this moment in the first half when their keeper kicked it long and only Matic was there contesting the ball with the entire Sevilla midfield around him. Lingard and Fellaini were no where in the frame.

 

[Class of 63]

This is why I hate coming home for the second leg after a scoreless draw away. The pressure is immense to score at least two, and if we don't score in the first half then the away team are clear favorites to go through. Every goal they score will require us to score two. I always want to see us going all out to secure at least one away goal in the first leg.

We had a similar scenario with Marseille back in 2011, round of 16, scoreless draw in the first leg. I was at Old Trafford for the second leg, we were cruising 2-0 and everything was fine until Brown score that own goal. From that moment Marseiile needed only one more goal to go through, Old Trafford was dead silent, you could hear only the away section. The atmosphere was toxic until the final whistle.

I've said elsewhere on the forum and have thought for 30 odd years now, that UEFA should knock the away goals rule on the head as the team that plays away in the second leg has an unfair advantage, or they trial what they do in the English League Cup where the away goals rule only applies after extra-time, it's still not ideal, but a lot fairer

 

[Class of 63]

Dude... you can't possibly blame the crowd. Players earning on average 100k a week and playing for the biggest club in the world should NOT need motivation too begin with. As a player for Manchester United, it's their job to get the crowd going. The players need to bring the energy especially when they are playing at home. It's simple as that.

Mourinho and the players took this fixture way too lightly after beating Chelsea and Liverpool at home. They figured that this would be a a walk in the park.

1. Any Tom, Dick and Harry would have played McTominay in midfield with Matic since that's what won us the two big games.
2. Rashford who scored 2 beautiful goals from the LW gets moved to the RW to accommodate Sanchez. This is not the first time Jose has done that to accommodate Sanchez. He moved Martial from the LW to the RW which let to his drop in form.
3. Why the f&@% would you play Sanchez in any of the high profile games who has done absolute jack shit since he joined United.
4. It common sense Jose, when a formula works, you don't tinker with it. He could have easily played the same team in the same positions.

I'm not blaming the crowd, until 5 years ago, from the late 70's until then i'd have been part of that crowd, we just don't deal with collective tension well, never in my life time have, yet if we'd gone into the game 1-0, or 2-0 down from the first-leg it would have been rocking from the off, strange

1-4, ask the Manager

 

[Web of Bissaka]

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