Do we have better attacking players than Liverpool? We definitely have better midfield players but I don't think better attacking players.
The tempo of our play
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Was a disappointing result but they played alright. Our tempo wasn't good second half and that was disappointing that we didn't kick on once we got the second goal. I think Fellaini was a big miss because I think he'd have come on once we got that to give us more protection. Thankfully we don't have to wait long to the next game and hopefully we'll see a better tempo. That said, Lukaku should have won it for us near the end. Last season we would have lost I think so we can build on this. Perhaps it was a mistake taking off Rashford also.
Agreed, though completely understandable why we went with the 3, hell I would have done the same but as I saw the pattern of the game in the first half it didn't feel that we needed to have Herrera there (probably easier to say as he was fairly poor in the game anyway) I felt we missed Pogba having more possession deeper and starting moments and attacks from there which from my memory I have not noticed in his time here as I usually think his best role is slightly higher up the pitch but this season so far hes been brilliant with just him and Matic.
Lalana, Coutinho, Firmino, Mane and Salah
Rashford, Martial, Mkhitariyan, Mata, Lukaku (and Zlatan if you want to count him).
We edge it for sure IMO but somehow our players seem lost when trying to build momentum with the other team sitting back. On the other hand, teams like City look like they will score every time they make a sweeping move and that's a huge difference.
Pogba went deep plenty of times. However we just don't seem to have players who are adept at those quick one-twos. On the face of it we should be able to do it with the personnel we have but for some reason we don't see that on the pitch very often.
Pogba did play as a #10 but he was coming deep plenty of times to get the ball. It's just that he was off the boil yesterday. I would like to see him get the game by the scruff in such tough matches. That's the hallmark of a true midfield great and he really needs to learn and become more mature with possession. Feel sometimes he can move the ball quicker but his own ability on the ball kind of makes him a prisoner of trying to do everything by himself
It's managers and style of play. Mourinho has never played a high up tempo game.
His Madrid side did. I am not sure why we cannot as that is what we need to break down defenses which sit deep.
I find that comment madness. Mourinho has been here 2 summers now, spending close to £300m net according to Transfermrkt. That's no major achievement, the fact the side doesn't seem to fit together well is just bad buying. Pep is told he has to win it for spending at £325m net and rightly so, but Mourinho is in the same boat.
If he wins it it'll be a good achievement because it's a tough league; but if he doesn't challenge then it's very poor.
Players were waiting for something odd to happen they didn't create enough, there were no urgency. Jose should mark these mistakes and work on fixing them instead of blaming the national break or anything else. Everton game is huge now if we get back to winning ways then it's a positive sign unlike last season,but if not then my guess we will be fighting once more for only champions league place.
He had one of the best sides in Europe and still adopted a sit back and counter attack mentality. We're never going to play eye pleasing fast football. Mourinho will always be a defensive coach.
We had been really solid until yesterday but that was just individual mistakes.
I'm not sure we do edge it.
Being solid does not mean we have to be average going forward. Bayern are solid defensive but are excellent in attack as well. SAF's sides of old were rock solid at the back and exciting going forward. So it's not a case of one or the other.
That's your opinion and that's ok. In my eyes we have the better personnel.
Not for quick tempo play.
We don't have the players to play a fast tempo passing game compared to our rivals.
We have the same attacking players as last year and the same full backs, it's not going to dramatically change this season compared to last.
We have the same attacking players as last year and the same full backs, it's not going to dramatically change this season compared to last.
Why do you think so? You think Lalana is better than Mkhitariyan or Salah is better than Martial?
Yea it was one of my criticisms of us yesterday. Our tempo was not what we had seen so far this season. We are better, in my opinion anyway, when we run teams off the park.
Our tempo was fine in the two home games this season. Lets see how we play against Everton next.
I believe it was a tactical approach. We saw how well Stoke were organized and when defending they were with 5 at the back, sort of 5-4-1 - doubling on the wings and a line of 4 in midfield, which in my opinion left them with only 2 in central midfield. Mourinho is obsessed with the idea of having an extra person in midfield and I think that dictated his decision to go to 3 man midfield.
With regards the slow build-up, I feel the idea was to frustrate them with our sluggish linking in our half and draw them out of position thus opening space between the lines and making their back line move up, which actually opened some space to run in behind. We saw some really good runs from Rashford.
Had it not been for some awful defending, especially for the first goal, we would've been looking at a different scoreline.
I totally agree. And I was really confused at the decision to go with Darmian instead of Blind, who, even if it was against Bulgaria, had a really good game and was runner up for the man of the match award.
I don't really understand why we haven't gone about business like city and bring in 2 or 3 more players. I suspect we have a limit on our spendings as every time we are around the 150m mark.
We don't have a true right winger, our left backs aren't great (Blind is playing to the limit of his abilities, yet he still comes a touch short). Valencia is another issue - some say I'd rather practice one shot 10000 times than 10000 shots 1 time and I think that's the case with him. He is a one trick pony, whose trick is really good, however little by little teams are adjusting to his trick and some manage to nullify him. He is sound defensively and good going forward, but we need a bit more than that.
The problem yesterday was our midfield especially herrera and pogba. They refused to pass the ball quickly, pogba should sometimes release the ball quickly rather than taking an extra touch. Herrera also was very unlike herrera yesterday, hesitant in passing and keeping hold of the ball for too long. Also, all the sideways passing from our defenders was pathetic . Overall, I would like to put yesterday's performance a one off as most of our players looked lackluster.
I've never seen him play well as a 10 in his career. The moment we played him there I knew he'd be average compared to his best level. For me its actually Herrera who dissapointed me more. He was lost all game.