EL L Europa League Semi-Final

Sevilla 2:1 Manchester United

Post-match discussion


Sun, 16 August 2020

Ceteris

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Aug 10, 2020
Messages
603
Last night city brought on mahrez and silva, they could have brought on foden, bernado silva.

Who did we have to bring on?
Look past the first team and its dead wood
 

K_Ash

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
976
Should have won that game jn fairness. Fred and Pogba were class in the middle. Bruno was very good too. Martial apart from his finishing, and Greenwood were decent as well.
That Fred, Pogba, Bruno looked really good in 2 games
There is life without Matic then?!
 

youngrell

Full Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2016
Messages
3,626
Location
South Wales
I didn’t say it was bad. Save that for Rashford.

It was average and he did things any competent midfielder can do. He’s done the minimum you’d expect. What I don’t see is this ‘fantastic’ performance. What did he do that was World Class then? He’s a fraud.
We should get some more of these competent midfielders.

 

mazhar13

Kermit Inc. 2022
Scout
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
37,191
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
I'll be honest, there were moments where I thought that we'd have been better off with a more creative right winger. The positions where Greenwood picked up the ball would have been positions where a creative player like Sancho or Douglas Costa could have done more. I'm thinking that a creative winger would take 2-3 touches before putting quick cross in or playing a quick pass vs. Greenwood who took double that number of touches before playing a short pass out to someone else.
 

AltiUn

likes playing with swords after fantasies
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
23,742
I'm going to make an unpopular post to cut through the inevitable bullshit. A couple of years ago Sevilla played us off the park, today we lost to them but no one who knows anything about football can say we deserved to lose. The progress is very very clear. For 15 minutes they looked like they didn't belong on the same pitch as us and they are a very decent team. For the first time since Fergie we have made clear progress and actually look like a proper side at times. We all know we are 3 or 4 players short and hopefully we get them in, our sub options for instance are horrible. The fact is that the progress made and the signings under Ole have been mostly positive and I think it's honestly the first time in ages to be positive about the future of the club.

I was terrified before tonight that we were going to be given another footballing lesson by a technical Spanish side but the reality is that we've lost a game that we were more than comfortable in and were clearly the better side. Painful yes, but the bigger picture is that we have plenty of reason for optimism. Let's hope the right signings are brought in and progress even further. It's a marathon not a sprint.
Really good post. It's nice to see people take the positives out of a game like tonight. Very excited to see what the future holds for this team.
 

Orange Tree

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
2,127
I'm frustrated by this game. Not because we are losing EL, but because it feels like an outlook to the coming season.

Our bench is rubbish and I'd argue it's part of Solskjaer's fault as he barely rotated after the break. Those bench players didn't get enough play time.
How many minutes have Mata, McTominay, and Ighalo had after the break?

His method is vindicated by getting third in the league, I guess. But players now look gassed, forms have been dropping since Southampton.
Stretch it to one whole season, and I don't have much confident that next season will be better.
 

okLaptop1

Full Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2013
Messages
4,594
Supports
Minnesota Vikings
After 60 minutes, I knew we weren't going to win. Missing chance after chance like we did early in the second half was just begging for this kind of result. I'm happy we didn't bottle the performance entirely, but man do we need squad depth and improved finishing across the board. And better attack fullbacks of course.
 

Fluctuation0161

Full Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
8,186
Location
Manchester
Brandon Williams does not have the quality currently to be a reliable left back. Consistently allows them in to cross. I know he's young, but he needs significant improvement.
Agree. Give him time as a squad player. Shouldn't be anywhere near starting semi finals.
 

Berbasbullet

Too Boring For A Funny Tagline
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
20,481
Also the fussy referee can get in the bin, not that he’s the reason we lost.
 

Banana Republic

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Dec 16, 2018
Messages
1,433
A game we should of won, but Ole’s blind belief we should be carrying a passenger, in Rashford, hoping he’ll come good, was his first big mistake.
Nethertheless we should have won, but for poor finishing, the Seville keeper and the dithering, three, four, five or more passes around the edge of the box, allowing the Seville defence to snuff our attacks out.
The icing on the cake was Ole not making any changes and bringing on some fresh legs with 20 minutes to go. Seville had already brought on fresh attacking players and our boys were looking tired and becoming far too sloppy.
Moan about the lack of squad depth and quality all you like, but the alternative isn’t watching the team die on their feet. Neither is is screaming “ sign Sancho!” ( who isn’t coming anyway) as if that would solve the problem.
Like loads of others who’ve said the same already, it was criminal to leave it to the 86th minute to make the first substitutions, when it was far too late.
Sorry guys, Ole blew this one and there’s no excuse for carrying Rashford at the moment.
 

Inigo Montoya

Leave Wayne Rooney alone!!
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
38,543
I cannot understand how VAR could not have overturned Sevillas first goal given it was meant to be our throw. You would think that it would be obvious.
We win some VAR decisions and lose others.
Doesn’t take away the shocking defending
 

Gandalf Greyhame

If in doubt, follow your nose!
Scout
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
7,464
Location
Red Card for Casemiro!
After young prospects, the best squad options are those first teamers who find themselves on the bench when better players are signed ahead of them. We need to make Lindelof and Shaw squad options sooner rather than later, and we need Greenwood coming off the bench as an impact sub. Rashford hasn't looked good the last few games, but he's had a long season and people forget he's just 22 as well, just coming off a serious injury that's perhaps still playing on his mind.

I think we will see progress on the Sancho situation pretty soon.
 

mazhar13

Kermit Inc. 2022
Scout
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
37,191
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
We lost against Chelsea in rather similar fashion; stupid goals when there didn’t appear to be a threat. It’s encouraging that we’ve improved attack wise but worrying that our defence appears solid then stops concentrating for a few seconds. Remember what SAF said that goals can come off someone’’s bum. A lot of potential there but lacking something
Interestingly, all but one of goals vs. both Chelsea and Sevilla came from weak defending by our full backs (majority of which were via Brandon Williams). Wan-Bissaka made one critical defensive error against Reguilon, but Brandon Williams has been a defensive weak point for us in terms of stopping crosses. This is an area where he definitely needs to improve (and has time for improvement, too).
 

SwedishFish

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
1,129
So you think just because Matic is a DM, he couldn't help our attack? Hah..

We just wanted to beat Sevilla. Who were on the Sevilla bench that we could use? But their manager wasn't afraid of making much much earlier changes. And it worked.
Yes I agree, making changes early on is great, I'm not arguing with that. Rashford could've gone earlier for Mata 100 percent. That's Oles fault. But the rest?

James? What exactly does he offer to this team?
Fosu Mensah? Is he better at all than a poor Williams?


The bottom line is we desperately need edge and players that do more than just make up the numbers in attack. When one or more of our players up front are having a bad day we have feck all on the bench that is worthwhile bringing on.

Surely you understand this?
 

mazhar13

Kermit Inc. 2022
Scout
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
37,191
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
James? What exactly does he offer to this team?
Fosu Mensah? Is he better at all than a poor Williams?
The main argument for both is freshness. Neither Munir nor de Jong were better than Ocampos or En-Nesyri, but Munir assisted Luuk in Sevilla's 2nd goal. Freshness makes a big difference in one-off occasions like these, particularly in hot weather.
 

Inigo Montoya

Leave Wayne Rooney alone!!
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
38,543
After young prospects, the best squad options are those first teamers who find themselves on the bench when better players are signed ahead of them. We need to make Lindelof and Shaw squad options sooner rather than later, and we need Greenwood coming off the bench as an impact sub. Rashford hasn't looked good the last few games, but he's had a long season and people forget he's just 22 as well, just coming off a serious injury that's perhaps still playing on his mind.

I think we will see progress on the Sancho situation pretty soon.
Shaw an option? He’s the best left sided defender in the club. If anything move Williams to the right where his energy can be an alternative to AWB and buy a good young LB like Lewis
 

12oskell

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jan 25, 2017
Messages
66
I’m surprised about the amount of people defending Ole for not making changes sooner. (Something of a common theme with Ole). You can’t just keep picking the same 11 people each week and for 90 mins hoping to get something. When things aren’t going well you need to adjust and try a different approach. I don’t buy that crap about no options. Fresh legs much sooner at minimum would of helped the team, with a fair few looking gassed. The other team made changes with hardly amazing players and those players helped in getting the winning goal.
 

Cathy Ferguson

Full Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2010
Messages
3,965
Lost our concentration in both penalty areas. Woeful defending for their goals not least by AWB. Poor finishing upfront, Rashford out of form and no substitutes to change the game like Sevilla had. A poor season 4/10 but we are making progress. We must buy quality in the transfer window.
 

Hark Muse

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
108
Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
After three semi final defeats and (an albeit creditable) third place league finish, we can’t even call ourselves the nearly men.

We’re the nearly, nearly men.

Just like Lindelof is nearly, nearly a decent defender.

I’m morbidly obese and have a club foot but I’d say I’m a better player than him.

I really didn’t expect to be this pissed off!
 

Gandalf Greyhame

If in doubt, follow your nose!
Scout
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
7,464
Location
Red Card for Casemiro!
Shaw an option? He’s the best left sided defender in the club. If anything move Williams to the right where his energy can be an alternative to AWB and buy a good young LB like Lewis
He is the best left fullback at the club and he's had a great season - he's also very consistent in the amount of time he misses due to injury. You want your defence to be naturally fit, and hence a left back who's potentially good enough to make even Shaw a squad option.
 

peridigm

Full Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
13,953
True, worrying that our finishing is so bad.
I was not able to watch most of the match. Listening on radio up to about the 75th minute. From the sounds of it their keeper made a lot of great saves early on in the 2nd half. When I did start watching it was much the same from Rashford and Martial dribbling into defenders shins hoping for a stroke of brilliance that never comes far too often.

This squad is in the early stages of a rebuild. I'm sure we'll hear the Ole out and probably Pogba wants to leave for many more weeks. We need more depth in attack. That is why Ole did not make subs until late. He probably figures the starters have a better chance than the bench options most of the time and I don't blame him. James is not a game changer. Ighalo is not a game changer. Mata can be once in a while but never consistent enough to be relied upon every time we need a goal like Greenwood was early in the season. Need better defenders. We're too reliant on the same players after many cockups this season That was criminal defending by Lindelof. Williams as a backup for Shaw is okay once in a while but he's very young and playing him out of necessity for several weeks is always going to end badly. More sad times ahead I fear as we need to bring in 2-3 players this window but with pricing not seeming to be affected due to covid, can't see it happening unless we can purge more players.
 

SwedishFish

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
1,129
The main argument for both is freshness. Neither Munir nor de Jong were better than Ocampos or En-Nesyri, but Munir assisted Luuk in Sevilla's 2nd goal. Freshness makes a big difference in one-off occasions like these, particularly in hot weather.
Freshness? We're chasing a goal at 1-1, they might not be better but Dan James has 0 goals and 0 assists in 2020.

It can make a difference, but that's provided you have the right type of players. Not buying that.
 

Berbasbullet

Too Boring For A Funny Tagline
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
20,481
I was not able to watch most of the match. Listening on radio up to about the 75th minute. From the sounds of it their keeper made a lot of great saves early on in the 2nd half. When I did start watching it was much the same from Rashford and Martial dribbling into defenders shins hoping for a stroke of brilliance that never comes far too often.

This squad is in the early stages of a rebuild. I'm sure we'll hear the Ole out and probably Pogba wants to leave for many more weeks. We need more depth in attack. That is why Ole did not make subs until late. He probably figures the starters have a better chance than the bench options most of the time and I don't blame him. James is not a game changer. Ighalo is not a game changer. Mata can be once in a while but never consistent enough to be relied upon every time we need a goal like Greenwood was early in the season. Need better defenders. We're too reliant on the same players after many cockups this season That was criminal defending by Lindelof. Williams as a backup for Shaw is okay once in a while but he's very young and playing him out of necessity for several weeks is always going to end badly. More sad times ahead I fear as we need to bring in 2-3 players this window but with pricing not seeming to be affected due to covid, can't see it happening unless we can purge more players.
Yeah that’s fair, I agree about the dribbling towards the end we were just running at them hoping for a ricochet, dunno why were trying to walk it in.
 

Isotope

Ten Years a Cafite
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
23,745
Yes I agree, making changes early on is great, I'm not arguing with that. Rashford could've gone earlier for Mata 100 percent. That's Oles fault. But the rest?

James? What exactly does he offer to this team?
Fosu Mensah? Is he better at all than a poor Williams?


The bottom line is we desperately need edge and players that do more than just make up the numbers in attack. When one or more of our players up front are having a bad day we have feck all on the bench that is worthwhile bringing on.

Surely you understand this?
Agreed we need better players. Every team in the world need better players. But good manager needs to utilize and improve of what he has first. What's the point of only making subs at 87th?

You can't convince me that Ole has used his bench players as good as they can be.

Haven't it crossed your mind that Ole did this as point scoring, just like Jose did on his last summer US tour? I know it did cross my mind. I'm still supporting Ole, but I don't think this is a wise move to do, on the last competition he had opportunity to get a real trophy. Not that Top 4 'trophy'.
 
Last edited:

mazhar13

Kermit Inc. 2022
Scout
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
37,191
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada
Freshness? We're chasing a goal at 1-1, they might not be better but Dan James has 0 goals and 0 assists in 2020.

It can make a difference, but that's provided you have the right type of players. Not buying that.
Dan James has barely played in 2020. Despite not necessarily offering much on paper compared to Rashford, his energy would have worried Sevilla's right side. Rashford was static on and off the ball, and he was easy to contain for the most part. There were a couple of moments where he went past 1-2 players, but beyond that, he'd give the ball away for the most part and rarely get into goalscoring positions. On a hot day like this, I didn't expect Rashford to offer much more. Dan James, however, could have made more runs past the defensive line rather than waiting for the ball to come to his feet. Dragging away Jesus Navas/Kounde would have made more space for Martial & Bruno to do more damage.

Alternatively, we could have brought on Ighalo to add more of a presence in the box and move Martial to the left wing.
 

SwedishFish

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2017
Messages
1,129
Agreed we need better players. Every team in the world need better players. But good manager needs to utilize and improve of what he has first. What's the point of only making subs at 87th? That's just stupid.
Yes making subs at 87th minute is stupid. I fully don't understand why Rashford was on the pitch for that long. What we have is simply just not good enough still though sadly.
 

Topgun1

Lewandowski lover
Newbie
Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
321
Supports
Arsenal
I'm always surprised at how Rashford and in particular Martial never cease to disappoint with their finishing. It's just appalling. United need better strikers ASAP. These guys should be on the bench. That's all.
 

Silverman

Full Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2013
Messages
6,499
- Should have won.
- Badly need some new signings all over the pitch to strengthen the squad as a whole.
- Couldn't care less about the Europa League so not really bothered about the loss.
 

Josep Dowling

Full Member
Joined
Aug 17, 2014
Messages
7,687
Disappointed because we had the chances to win. Also frustrated because whilst they are a good team they are not a great team. With the money we have spent you have to beat Sevilla, simple as that. You can make excuses about progress but Manchester United have to beat Sevilla.

Our £90m CM should win us game like that. Our £50m RB should be able to provide some form of attacking threat. Williams was poor tonight but he’s a youngster from our youth team. The big signings don’t get us across the line in these big games except Zlatan in recent seasons.
 

Coops73

Full Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
3,353
Best team on the night for me but why the feck did Ole take till the 80th odd minute to make a change? And then 1 of those changes is Dan James which to me totally showed where we’re at.

We need to spend and spend on the right players, be that Sancho or whoever but the Glazers need to back Oles plan/vision 100% or we’ll end up like them cnuts on Merseyside.

it’s already been 7 years.
 

Player Ratings

5.3 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 299 ratings.

Score Predictions

186,52,23
  • Man Utd win
  • Sevilla win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 35% Sevilla 1:2 Man Utd
  • 11% Sevilla 0:2 Man Utd
  • 10% Sevilla 2:1 Man Utd
  • 10% Sevilla 0:1 Man Utd
  • 9% Sevilla 1:3 Man Utd
  • 7% Sevilla 1:1 Man Utd
  • 4% Sevilla 2:0 Man Utd
  • 3% Sevilla 1:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Sevilla 2:3 Man Utd
  • 2% Sevilla 0:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Sevilla 0:3 Man Utd
  • 1% Sevilla 3:1 Man Utd
  • 1% Sevilla 2:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Sevilla 0:4 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 5:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 3:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 3:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 0:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 4:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Sevilla 2:2 Man Utd
Compiled from 261 predictions.
Show more results Score Predictions League Table

Match Stats

  1. Sevilla
  2. Man Utd
Possession
53% 47%
Shots
9 20
Shots on Target
3 7
Corners
3 4
Fouls
13 17

Referee

Dr. Felix Brych