FA W FA Cup 3rd Round

Manchester United 1:0 Watford

Post-match discussion


Sat, 09 January 2021

lex talionis

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Job done while resting regular starters. I would like to have been fully entertained, but beyond going through we got to see who, among squad players, had what.

A 3-0 win would have been more satisfying, but Ole can take a bow after this one.
 

YouOnlyLiveTwice

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Almost full 2nd team and much needed rest for our important players. I'll definitely take that.

Bit unfortunate we couldn't keep our form in the start of the 1st half, but we got the job done.
 

justsomebloke

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When people call some of our backup players championship level they are right. Glad we got it done but our 2nd team is some drop from the 1st
So what's this I'm hearing from some quarters on this board that we've got the best depth in the league. We don't.
 

Achilles McCool

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Almost full 2nd team and much needed rest for our important players. I'll definitely take that.

Bit unfortunate we couldn't keep our form in the start of the 1st half, but we got the job done.
Completely agree!
From January til the end of the season, fans need to be less greedy (wanting a blowout vs. Championship cup opponents) and just be grateful for a win, some rest for players, and our name in the pot for the next round.
I think Ole did exactly what was needed today, full stop
 

Baneofthegame

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Glad we are through to the next round, we basically had no attack from the right hand side, don’t want to ever see James/Lingard/Mata together at the same time unless we are 4-0 up.
 

Eire Red United

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When people call some of our backup players championship level they are right. Glad we got it done but our 2nd team is some drop from the 1st
I’d disagree. Most of the players playing tonight could come in to our first team and do a decent job, but making mass changes is always going to see a drop off. Only McT from that team tonight makes our first xi.
 

432JuanMata

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I’d disagree. Most of the players playing tonight could come in to our first team and do a decent job, but making mass changes is always going to see a drop off. Only McT from that team tonight makes our first xi.
Yes but that is my point our backup players are a serious drop down from our first 11. This is why I feel we won’t win or even challenge for the league. You look at Coty bench and it’s riddled with top class players our are decent backups. Over the course of the season it is all about the overall squad not the first 11 and I feel the quality is nowhere near our challengers
 

MrBest

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into the next round
hopefully no major injuries
VDB looks worse than Andreas..He needs to start taking his chances against this lesser teams
Bring on Burnley
He (VDB) started off really well in the first 4 or 5 chances he got earlier in the season but recently he looks lost and low in confidence. He has not played much in the last month too, lacking match practice too. But you are right, he needs to show more now. He is 6th choice right now.
 

BestRed

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Atrocious again from McTominay, apart from the goal. It's a sign of where we are as a club that he gets to captain us even in this fixture.
He needs benching or played further up the pitch because he cannot pass or keep possession in the CDM role.
Thought he played very well tonight and deserved his motm. Kept the ball moving well more often than not and was strong defensively. Also great to see a homegrown player captain the team, he handled it well.
 

paulscholes18

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Kind of performance you expect with a 3 off Mata, Lingard and James. Nothing Greenwood could do unfortunately, wouldn’t have made a difference if we had Lewandowski or Kane instead of Mason, they would have look poor tonight as well.

VDB, Bailly & Tuanzebe looked good, Telles had a good 1st half but 2nd half he had to hold Maguire’s hand so that stopped him from going forward.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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Under Fergie we put many a second string side out early in Cup runs just to grind out a result. This was no different. After viewing the team selection how anyone expected a 6-0 thumping is beyond me. Job done. Bring on the next game.
I agree with this. What were people expecting from those players? We rested our players and we went through this match with a win without going extra time. That's job done.
 

cyril C

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So what's this I'm hearing from some quarters on this board that we've got the best depth in the league. We don't.
Compared with Spurs, Liverpool we are. Perhaps not as good as Arsenal and City, as their youngsters can perform. I was really disappointed with James and Williams, waste of space.
 

Tarrou

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got through with mostly the reserves which is great, hope Bailly is okay

I was so bored I started doing other stuff and barely watched it tbh
 

Doracle

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got through with mostly the reserves which is great, hope Bailly is okay

I was so bored I started doing other stuff and barely watched it tbh
Yes, somewhat unfortunate that it was the one player who started that most of the fan base would like to see in the first 11 v Liverpool who got injured. Hope he is ok.

A shame the match wasn’t better quality, as the first 15 minutes seemed promising. Sadly, we don’t have a very exciting second 11 currently - more functional guys who can do a job if we are really short. I’d like to have seen more from DVDB and Greenwood hasn’t seemed in form at all so far this season. Still, job done - onto bigger matches to come.
 

Josh 76

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Don't understand how fans want players, who have hardly played, come in and blow teams away.

Doesn't happen in the real world.
 

jeepers

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Not bothered with the performances, to be honest. Great and very important to get a win whilst resting most of the first eleven (Bruno, mainly).

I’m still not sure why we bought VdB.

Lingard’s a goner, although I’m sure it’s more because he’s rusty af. Why did Ole play him though? Could we have tried Mejbri or Galbraith instead, and pushed VdB higher up where Lingard played?

Depending on how Diallo takes to life at United, we could well see Dan James gone next season.

Shame Pallestri tested positive, would’ve liked to see him for 20-30 mins.
 

Marcus

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The perfect outcome. Rested first-team players and did enough to win. No complaints from me.
 

croadyman

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Our supporters really are insufferable at times. It’s a win and we have a chance to go top on Tuesday. What else do they fecking want?
Yeah Tuesday and Sunday are the important games whereas this was all about just giving our first team players a rest and using fringe players to get through to next round.
 

Crustanoid

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Our supporters really are insufferable at times. It’s a win and we have a chance to go top on Tuesday. What else do they fecking want?
Luckily they seem to be less in numbers than they were a few weeks ago. Hopefully the remaining stragglers will crawl back under their rocks if we go on a run again.
 

Olecurls99

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Poor watch, even more evidence how so many of these players are nowhere near the level.
Absolutely stinking game, especially 2nd half.

Was to be expected though, when you start a game with the likes of Lingard, James, a shockingly out of form Greenwood and a 50 year old Mata you're not going to look very good.

At least we won.
Glad we are through to the next round, we basically had no attack from the right hand side, don’t want to ever see James/Lingard/Mata together at the same time unless we are 4-0 up.
Good point. There hopeless together. They can all be useful at different stages though. Mata is still useful against packed defenses once he has somebody to put in and work off of. Lingard would be great for those games were we're up and need to hold onto the ball. James will just put in a shift like he did against Leeds but he won't offer much in terms of creativity. We definitely need another attacking player to provide competition for Rashford, Martial, Greenwood(Our Salah if given minutes and good coaching) and Cavani. One of the backups to leave, probably James on loan and get in Grealish. Humongous upgrade to the attack.
 

norm87cro

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Lets be frank Fergie rotaded all the time and grined out results. He was praised for it so Ole deserves some credit for yesterday.
 

Inigo Montoya

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Lets be frank Fergie rotaded all the time and grined out results. He was praised for it so Ole deserves some credit for yesterday.
He was praised when he won but castigated for drawing or winning 1-0. Exeter City had to go to replay. I was there at OT when the team was booed for the draw. Crawley town was a bore fest but we won 1-0.

It goes with the territory being Utd. Dull wins won’t be accepted readily no matter who’s in charge.

We got the job done and some fringe players got a run out which was vital. Let’s move in to Burnley
 

Feed Me

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It was really a nothing game and just what the doctor ordered after what feels like a raft of high intensity, must win matches.

Take the W, be happy we rested some first choice players and move on without the forensic analysis.
 

Roane

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I was actually pleasantly surprised by our start.

My biggest fear seeing the line up at the start was that the changes had little game time overall and some none at all together.

What I would have liked to see over the season was likes of DVB and even maybe Lingard getting regular minutes. Then in games like this where they start it would be less rustiness and more if an idea of playing together.

Listening to a few pro footballers the general consensus I am getting is that resting players isn't about not playing games, but it can be achieved by playing say 60 minutes and being subbed.

Happy with the win
 

Falcow

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We played like 6 or 7 of the players have had little or no first team game time for months. Which is exactly the case. As expected.
 

BFernandes

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A bit of a rancid performance, but that's what will happen when you field a majority of a team that hasn't played consistently and know they'll be back to being not needed in the next match.
 

sparx99

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So what's this I'm hearing from some quarters on this board that we've got the best depth in the league. We don't.
tbf depth shouldn’t really be measured by watching a team with eleven changes who haven’t had a game in weeks.

It’s more about how do we perform when Telles plays instead of Shaw. Or Mata instead of Greenwood. Our midfield rotation between Pogba, Matic, Fred and McTominay has largely done well over Christmas for example.
 

sparx99

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I think Greenwood needs to take advantage of being closed down so quickly by laying the ball off a bit more. It’s clear defenders are hyper focused on blocking his shots so it should be leaving gaps for the pass.
 

Inigo Montoya

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I think Greenwood needs to take advantage of being closed down so quickly by laying the ball off a bit more. It’s clear defenders are hyper focused on blocking his shots so it should be leaving gaps for the pass.
He badly needs a goal. Defenders are set up to bock the step over and shot now. Haven't even seen him get a shot on target since West Ham

Has to work on making space better, ghosting into positions. In short start being clever. When he runs deep his impact is completely nullified
 

Ladron de redcafe

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Surprised at how harsh some have been. A win with a heavily rotated team is something to be happy about. That's the job that was needed. Now, Solskjaer could go back to using the first team for the match against Burnley.
 

Player Ratings

5.7 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 184 ratings.

Score Predictions

180,8,4
  • Man Utd win
  • Watford win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 30% Man Utd 2:0 Watford
  • 26% Man Utd 3:0 Watford
  • 14% Man Utd 3:1 Watford
  • 8% Man Utd 2:1 Watford
  • 6% Man Utd 1:0 Watford
  • 4% Man Utd 4:0 Watford
  • 2% Man Utd 4:1 Watford
  • 2% Man Utd 4:2 Watford
  • 2% Man Utd 1:2 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 0:1 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 0:5 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 5:0 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 1:1 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 3:2 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 2:3 Watford
  • 1% Man Utd 3:3 Watford
Compiled from 192 predictions.
Show more results Score Predictions League Table

Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Watford
Possession
66% 34%
Shots
19 18
Shots on Target
7 3
Corners
4 8
Fouls
12 13