[Random Task]

Think not investing up front is hindering us as well. The fact we struggle to get that second goal to give us breathing space. I am enjoying us attacking more, but it is pointless if you do not have a clinical striker on the end of the line. Think we badly missed Martial who may have made a difference.

Our forward line without Martial looks particularly weak, I agree, but with a decent midfield behind them, one that is solid defensively and has enough creativity to cause problems for our opponents, our strikers would fare infinitely better, more confident even. Woody absolutely must set out to bring in new additions this winter, no matter the cost, to both our midfield and attack.

We're showing relegation form at present.

 

[It's B Rubble]

Stop your nonsense, we played poorly against an average 10 man Southampton. What do you expect people to say?

How bout protest the board like they do in Barcelona when they want Neymar back. The energy used up by crying adults on here can be better used in sending emails , writing to newspapers, phone ins, or organizing demonstrations to say enough is enough and we want our club back. Boycotting our sponsors is another. Crying like a pack of hungry kittens is cringe. Shut up and do something.

 

[Yorkeontop]

I posted further back about this. Rashford had two good chances on his left side. OK they're not on his right side but you'll never get everything you want. There were 3 crosses in the 6 yard box that would have been tap-ins for a seasoned centre forward. Then again, he's been playing out on the wing for ages, which has been ridiculous considering he is meant to be learning his trade as a striker.

I guess it's early in the season yet but I couldn't help sense he was interested in staking his claim for the CF position, like he's comfortable enough playing out wide and scoring from there.

 

[Stubble]

Letting Lukaku and Sanchez go with no experienced ST replacement (at least as a backup) is biting us in the ass already.
The Smalling decision will do as well in time.
Poor decisions sinking this club..

 

[BusbyMalone]

I agree with you about our lack of confidence.
Confidence is a highly complex issue. But there are two obvious causes.
Poor results - success breeds success.
Lack of belief in the leader. When things are not going well, it is important that you believe in the process and believe that if you continue with what you are doing things will turn around.
Q. Do our players really believe in Ole?

I think they LIKE Ole, but as for believing in him? Obvious answer would be to say i don't know, of course, but whatever they're doing in training in order to break down defences isn't working. Ultimately that's a coaching issue for me. I believe we have the players to break down ten man Southampton and Crystal Palace, so the question is why isn't that happening. And for me, you have to look at the manager and coaching. I'm not absolving the players of blame here, of course. Ole can't do much about individual mistakes.

 

[noodlehair]

I agree, the long and short of it is that we have lost one and drawn a game because a central defender can't jump and has no strength. How many more goals do we have to lose to sort this problem out. Let tuanzebe have a go and get the central defender on jumping exercises and playing with a bit of grunt.

It's even more basic than that. The ball for the goal comes in today. Maguire points at the Southampton player, Lindelof who is nearer to him, points at the Southampton player. Bissaka who is behind him, isn't even looking. Pogba who was in a position to pick him up has moved away completely. No one has responsibility because we have not even bothered to work out who's responsibility it is when a ball comes into our six yard box and there is ONE opposition player in the box.

When it's one player being weak and making a mistake, you can look at the player (or the manage if he keeps picking him). When it's all of them it is a coaching issue. It happens with every ball into our box. If the ball isn't straight at Maguire's head, it doesn't get dealt with, and whoever is in our box has a free go at it.

How long does it take to work on this enough for there to be an initial basic improvement. One training session? A conversation about who's job it is to do what? There is zero improvement from one game to the next. We are not even trying.

 

[APJRed]

Positives: AWB and Maguire look the part; Dan James is a grafter, has speed to burn and some skill which can be honed; Mata played well before tiring later on; some good skill displayed by Pogba in patches; Greenwood looked promising when he came on - such a shame his shot didn't go in.

Negatives: Maguire (money apart) must be wondering if he did the right thing leaving Leicester; Rashford largely ineffectual; Perreira frankly hopeless; McTominay very poor apart from one block; DDG again confirming he isn't invincible; Pogba losing the ball too often and giving off the vibe that he wants to be somewhere else (can we really blame him?); we're appalling at defending corners; we're appalling at taking corners; we show no guile or sophistication to break down a determined defence; squad looking very thin in proven ability and experience; an absence of coherent tactics.

My worry is that, the Chelsea result apart, we're starting 2019/20 the way we finished off last season. Wolves are a good side and there's no shame in drawing at Molineux but we should have comfortably beaten Palace and a Southampton side who were poor in open play and down to 10 men with ample time to go for a winner. Our form since the result last season at PSG is relegation material and I'm afraid that OGS doesn't have the experience or tactical nous to turn things round. I'm dreading the train wreck and OGS's haunted eyes as we slip down the table. I so hope to be proved wrong but OGS taking us back to where we belong is increasingly looking like a fairy tale.

 

[Stubble]

A number of different managers now and people still saying we have the players but its just down to poor attacking coaching.
Have all these managers failed to introduce adequate coaching despite some being successful at other clubs? At what point do we just say these players aren't good enough?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

The criticism can be overboard, I admit that. But Rashfords performance today warrants the criticism, he asked for astronomical wages, yet performs like he's just been promoted to the first team.

What has he actually improved since he came into the first team? People wanted Lukaku gone because he broke down our attacking play more often than not, Rashford did the exact same today. Because of this, we couldn't get the ball to stick up front and it ended up coming straight back at us, playing like that we will get found out most games, as we are now.

Lukaku broke moves down, Rashford at the moment does not have the composure to finish.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Our forward line without Martial looks particularly weak, I agree, but with a decent midfield behind them, one that is solid defensively and has enough creativity to cause problems for our opponents, our strikers would fare infinitely better, more confident even. Woody absolutely must set out to bring in new additions this winter, no matter the cost, to both our midfield and attack.

We're showing relegation form at present.

I agree Woodward has a lot to do with our situation. Think the midfield is costing us both attacking wise and defensively.

 

[minoo-utd]

This team killing us really. I feel so sick. I don't know but it seems no solutions.

 

[Buster15]

I think they LIKE Ole, but as for believing in him? Obvious answer would be to say i don't know, of course, but whatever they're doing in training in order to break down defences isn't working. Ultimately that's a coaching issue for me. I believe we have the players to break down ten man Southampton and Crystal Palace, so the question is why isn't that happening. And for me, you have to look at the manager and coaching. I'm not absolving the players of blame here, of course. Ole can't do much about individual mistakes.

A very fair and sensible assessment which I understood and fully agree with.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

This team killing us really. I feel so sick. I don't know but it seems no solutions.

Any billionaires out there in Egypt want to make an offer

 

[pascell]

Lukaku broke moves down, Rashford at the moment does not have the composure to finish.

Rashford also broke down a lot of play today with either running down blind alleys or heavy touches/poor passing. But I also agree that Rashford is lacking in composure and also his positioning, he should be attacking the near post when the ball is out wide and played into the box.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

A number of different managers now and people still saying we have the players but its just down to poor attacking coaching.
Have all these managers failed to introduce adequate coaching despite some being successful at other clubs? At what point do we just say these players aren't good enough?

Think the penny has dropped about some of the players. This a one hell of a rebuild job. It is if the board stick with Ole to carry on with it. If things go really bad then I cannot see how they can. If things pick up then he should be safe. He knows how we should be playing, he knows what type of players are needed, but just not too sure if he is a good enough coach to carry if off. Ed and Co really aren't helping him in his task either.

 

[minoo-utd]

Any billionaires out there in Egypt want to make an offer

yes maybe. But will the glazers sell!

 

[Guapa]

It’s not just the team,the club is going down the tubes under the guidance of the Glazers.We need to stop giving them any more of our money in anyway possible.That’s the only language they understand.Parasites.

 

[fps]

I guess it's early in the season yet but I couldn't help sense he was interested in staking his claim for the CF position, like he's comfortable enough playing out wide and scoring from there.

Someone needs to simplify things for him. Kinda like with Daniel James. Rashford's trying to be some kind of all-round striker. Mate, play CF and your job is to make runs, make things happen, and score goals. That's it.

 

[Zlatattack]

This will be the lowest Premier league finish in our history.

 

[royboy16]

Bad point,should be beating 10 men.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

A very fair and sensible assessment which I understood and fully agree with.

I like Ole. In the same way I love all the '99 legends but it doesn't mean to say they are ideal for the Utd job. The minute the caretaker role was confirmed I ,like a lot of others ,was pleased. The minute he was given the role full time, I was optimistic.

What I question is, what are they doing in coaching that still results in stupid errors, loss of possession etc?

Pep and Klopp's teams have an attention to detail that's worked and worked upon till it's second nature. There's no showboating, no room for selfishness. It's pure hard work, then it's hard work again.

Kenyan runners have a mantra which simply states, " train hard, win easy."

City are the embodiment of that. It's not all down to personnel. Of course they have a great squad but they do so much stuff that's annoyingly simple like pass quickly to a man that's in space, not go for worldies

 

[Inigo Montoya]

yes maybe. But will the glazers sell!

Not until they've milked this club dry

 

[simplyared]

Thought we were decent today tbh!

 

[freeurmind]

Is it too early to ask whether or not we should be putting all our eggs in the Europa League basket?

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It’s not just the team,the club is going down the tubes under the guidance of the Glazers.We need to stop giving them any more of our money in anyway possible.That’s the only language they understand.Parasites.

It's a great idea, but the fanbase is so widespread that someone, somewhere will line their pockets. The fans will turn up at OT out of loyalty to the team, even though the team is letting them down.

 

[jimmyb2000]

The red card today probably saved us from losing that game.

One common denominator in the last 6 years of this garbage - Ed Woodward......elementary my dear Watson

 

[Frank Grimes]

Is it too early to ask whether or not we should be putting all our eggs in the Europa League basket?

This team isn't capable of winning the Europa league either.

 

[jimmyb2000]

Is it too early to ask whether or not we should be putting all our eggs in the Europa League basket?

There is no chance of us winning the Europa League this year - but as long as Ole is culling the wheat from the chaff then I can accept the bigger picture.

 

[peridigm]

Same as before.

Same as it ever was.

 

[Esquire]

Well if you're struggling to break down a side you don't take off your creative player in Mata. That imo was very stupid and you dont therefore bring on a player who has the attacking ability of a potato in Lingard. Putting on Matic was ok because at that time we were being a bit overwhelmed in the middle so I could relate to that sub. But bringing off Mata and bringing on Lingard imo was not good. He also left the 3rd sub far too late.

As soon as Danso got sent off that was the point we should have brought on Greenwood. Alternatively, we'd have brought him on in replacement to Lingard and then we'd have had the option of either Chong or Lingard to throw on as the 3rd sub (i'd have gone with Chong myself).

Fair. I thought bringing off Mata was not a good move. Mata usually is a pretty good pro about these things but you can tell he was pissed as he was having a good game. Lingard is the luckiest player alive because any other period in the club’s history he’d pretty much be a sub at best.

I hadn’t thought about playing the youngsters but the others who have mentioned it here are right. If we are in transition then admit it FFS and just play the kids. It’s clear this season we won’t be competing on anything.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Fair. I thought bringing off Mata was not a good move. Mata usually is a pretty good pro about these things but you can tell he was pissed as he was having a good game. Lingard is the luckiest player alive because any other period in the club’s history he’d pretty much be a sub at best.

I hadn’t thought about playing the youngsters but the others who have mentioned it here are right. If we are in transition then admit it FFS and just play the kids. It’s clear this season we won’t be competing on anything.

The way he is persisting with some of the players looks like he is trying to prove to Ed how bad they are.

 

[RedSky]

Fair. I thought bringing off Mata was not a good move. Mata usually is a pretty good pro about these things but you can tell he was pissed as he was having a good game. Lingard is the luckiest player alive because any other period in the club’s history he’d pretty much be a sub at best.

I hadn’t thought about playing the youngsters but the others who have mentioned it here are right. If we are in transition then admit it FFS and just play the kids. It’s clear this season we won’t be competing on anything.

My thought process which i'm sure many will disagree with because they're impatient is that Ole has decided to give each of our senior players a shot at the first team before going down to choosing the youngsters. A way of allowing the seniors a chance of occupying a first choice spot, he's just steadily going through them all. It's possibly costing us points short term but it's understandable that he's trying to keep the squad dynamic happy. If tthe senior fecks up his chance then he has no option but blame his own performance while he gets replaced by a kid.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Installing Martial as our primary striker is looking like a better decision every week.

 

[tenpoless]

Everybody calm down. All We need is a Keane and a Cantona and all shall be good. This is a reminisence of the old days before We found our talismans and We also have the class of 2019, which should at least on par with the class of 92 if They fulfill their utmost potential.

pukes

 

[UnitedChampionsAgain]

Another soft headed goal conceded from a corner. I had hoped Maguire would make a difference in that department but nope. Brilliant goal from James, one of the few out there who looked like he wanted to win. Abysmal performance from most of the rest bar Bissaka. Too many lower league players in our squad who will only drag us down. It has to be time now for Gomez,Greenwood,Garner.

 

[Buster15]

I like Ole. In the same way I love all the '99 legends but it doesn't mean to say they are ideal for the Utd job. The minute the caretaker role was confirmed I ,like a lot of others ,was pleased. The minute he was given the role full time, I was optimistic.

What I question is, what are they doing in coaching that still results in stupid errors, loss of possession etc?

Pep and Klopp's teams have an attention to detail that's worked and worked upon till it's second nature. There's no showboating, no room for selfishness. It's pure hard work, then it's hard work again.

Kenyan runners have a mantra which simply states, " train hard, win easy."

City are the embodiment of that. It's not all down to personnel. Of course they have a great squad but they do so much stuff that's annoyingly simple like pass quickly to a man that's in space, not go for worldies

Exactly right.
I especially like your Kenyan runners analogy.
They train to run like a machine. Hard, fast and relentless such that the only person who can stop them winning is themselves.

Similarly. City and Liverpool train to operate as a team and in City case as a machine.
Each player knows exactly what their role is such that it becomes automatic and second nature.
That is where we are light years behind.
We simply don't perform as a team or like a machine.
Even without outstanding players you can still operate as a fully coordinated team.
So. Why are we still so bloody awful.

 

[vanderpants]

Thought we were decent today tbh!

How can anyone think that! Can't beat a 10 man Southampton, can't beat palace at home. It's a shambles but hey ho let's look through rose tinted Ole specs. Get ready for a mid table finish , even top 6 is way beyond this team

 

[Tonjo]

OGS doesn't know who are players not playing well and is not ruthless enough to change tactically.
Pereira has one of his worse performance and should be taken off earlier.
Pogba is not playing well in his holding position and should be moved up so that he won't put the team under constant pressure by frequently loosing the ball.
Bringing in Lingard is a mistake as Lingard is trying to get some glory by shooting even his team mate is in a better position.
"Sigh", United is going to struggle all season long.

 

[djembatheking]

Players gave their all but lacking in quality and no real fluency. Hopefully as the season goes on they will improve and not give up.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Exactly right.
I especially like your Kenyan runners analogy.
They train to run like a machine. Hard, fast and relentless such that the only person who can stop them winning is themselves.

Similarly. City and Liverpool train to operate as a team and in City case as a machine.
Each player knows exactly what their role is such that it becomes automatic and second nature.
That is where we are light years behind.
We simply don't perform as a team or like a machine.
Even without outstanding players you can still operate as a fully coordinated team.
So. Why are we still so bloody awful.

I'd like to think it's coming and sometimes it takes a few indifferent results to get there