The way we start games.

[Djemba-Djemba]

When is the way we begin games going to be addressed by Ole and the coaching team?

It has been over a year now of us constantly starting games slowly , conceding first and then having to claw our way back into the game. Our record at coming back is pretty good but it's happening way way too often. The last 12 months in particular it's getting absurd how often we start badly or go behind. No other top teams seems to do this even half as much as us.

Tonight I don't even think we played that badly overall, but our usual shitty start led to us going behind again and this time we couldn't recover. We can't keep making things difficult for ourselves.

 

[GledTheRed]

Be nice to not concede a goal once in a while too.

 

[Isotope]

We want to show our "great mentality" by coming from behind so often.

 

[Judas]

It's not even an under Ole thing, I feel like we've had the problem for years and years. We more often than not start sleepy and only kick into gear once we have to. Why we don't just attack games I've no idea. So many matches could be simpler if we actually started as if we're behind, seeing as thats when we wakeup. It's a mentality issue that doesn't seem to be going away.

 

[georgipep]

I think it's more the opposition who go all out in the beginning with the hope to catch us and score. We tend to play first halves much more contained with the intent to preserve energy and hit the opponent in the second half.
https://kwestthoughts.substack.com/p/for-manchester-united-its-work-smarter

 

[Pogue Mahone]

When is the way we begin games going to be addressed by Ole and the coaching team?

It has been over a year now of us constantly starting games slowly , conceding first and then having to claw our way back into the game. Our record at coming back is pretty good but it's happening way way too often. The last 12 months in particular it's getting absurd how often we start badly or go behind. No other top teams seems to do this even half as much as us.

Tonight I don't even think we played that badly overall, but our usual shitty start led to us going behind again and this time we couldn't recover. We can't keep making things difficult for ourselves.

It seems to happen at least 4 games out of 5 and it isn’t sustainable. Commentators talk about conceding “waking us up”. How’s about fecking waking up before a fecking ball is kicked!

Mind you it’s also hard to know if we really do play better after conceding or if the opposition take their foot off the gas. Maybe if West Ham had kept pressing us as aggressively as they did in that opening spell we’d have shipped more goals? It felt that way at the time. I was expecting us to get absolutely smashed at that point in the game.

 

[11101]

I disagree that we start slowly. I think we start too quickly, we fly out of the gates in all out attack and leave tons of space open that it doesn't take long for our opponents to find and exploit.

In 4 of our first 6 games we've started by outshooting our opponents, only to lose momentum and concede first in 2 of those 4.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I disagree that we start slowly. I think we start too quickly, we fly out of the gates in all out attack and leave tons of space open that it doesn't take long for our opponents to find and exploit.

In 4 of our first 6 games we've started by outshooting our opponents, only to lose momentum and concede first in 2 of those 4.

Didn’t happen last night. We created nothing and couldn’t cope with West Ham’s high press.

 

[Lights Out]

I disagree that we start slowly. I think we start too quickly, we fly out of the gates in all out attack and leave tons of space open that it doesn't take long for our opponents to find and exploit.

In 4 of our first 6 games we've started by outshooting our opponents, only to lose momentum and concede first in 2 of those 4.

I think you watch a different Manchester United to me.

 

[11101]

Didn’t happen last night. We created nothing and couldn’t cope with West Ham’s high press.

Well last night wasn't really our usual team, but watch the next couple of first team games. We are very open and aggressive at the start and consequently leave a lot of space open.

 

[Denis79]

It seems to happen at least 4 games out of 5 and it isn’t sustainable. Commentators talk about conceding “waking us up”. How’s about fecking waking up before a fecking ball is kicked!

Mind you it’s also hard to know if we really do play better after conceding or if the opposition take their foot off the gas. Maybe if West Ham had kept pressing us as aggressively as they did in that opening spell we’d have shipped more goals? It felt that way at the time. I was expecting us to get absolutely smashed at that point in the game.

That's something I've never thought of. We do struggle a lot when teams press our ball-holders but at the same time we struggle against deep defences. We have the quality to be able to control many games from kick-off to end whistle, hopefully it will start showing soon.

 

[RUCK4444]

I think it’s a mentality thing. I mean Ole is aware of it, he’s mentioned it many times and he’s obviously not sending them out there to start slowly intentionally.

It’s a strange one and has definitely become a trait to our play.

If I have a critique of Ole and the coaching staff it’s that when that poor start is happening I feel we should be on the touch line giving them a verbal hammering to switch on, before we concede a goal, our reaction after conceding is always good and our record from losing positions is surely one of the best around. I think we can get onto the players more quickly.

 

[JJ12]

Will we ever keep a clean sheet

 

[Skills]

It feels like they get given a set of instructions that are shit. They go a goal down which forces them to improvise and do their own thing, and immediately start performing better because of it.

 

[largelyworried]

I’m not sure whether it’s a plan - start slow and build up - or what.. But when you saw Liverpool a couple of seasons ago just try and blitz teams in the first half hour, you can’t help but want the same at United.

Still, the result at the final whistle is what matters.

 

[Lentwood]

I think it's more to do with the opposition press being more effective early on in games.

As games progress, our superior ability to keep possession means less energy expended, and we start to pin the opposition back.

 

[Bastian]

What are all the trends under Ole? Starting games slowly. Finishing out seasons poorly. Having a mid-season dip. Starting seasons with poor performances. Missing anything here?

All of these things have been identified and pointed out by Ole or the players (as has the set piece defending and the laboured buildup), but it hasn't been much improved.

Can't help thinking he'd do himself a huge service by adding to his coaching staff some bona fide quality without necessarily moving people on and thereby acknowledge the failures of the past.

 

[Bilbo]

I think it's more to do with the opposition press being more effective early on in games.

As games progress, our superior ability to keep possession means less energy expended, and we start to pin the opposition back.

There could be an element of this. It felt to me last season that we were trying to control the flow of games to manage our own energy expenditure in an unusually fixture congested season. I'm not convinced that its something the staff are entirely happy with though or not actively trying to improve.

 

[The Uncle of All Uncles]

It's not just the opening 10-20 minutes that bother me, but have you seen the way Utd actually play right from the kick off? The ball always goes straight back to Maguire (or whoever is at centre-back) who then launches it long towards the left-wing whereupon it inevitably bounces off Shaw's head and goes out for a throw-in to the opposition.

And they do this in every single game. I mean, c'mon. What the hell kind of tactics are these?

 

[Borys]

We start games the way we train most likely. Playing more aggressive and faster doesn't seem something we feel comfortable with.

 

[croadyman]

What are all the trends under Ole? Starting games slowly. Finishing out seasons poorly. Having a mid-season dip. Starting seasons with poor performances. Missing anything here?

All of these things have been identified and pointed out by Ole or the players (as has the set piece defending and the laboured buildup), but it hasn't been much improved.

Can't help thinking he'd do himself a huge service by adding to his coaching staff some bona fide quality without necessarily moving people on and thereby acknowledge the failures of the past.

Hate to say it but Ole strikes me as someone who doesn't seem willing to admit he is getting things wrong

 

[Dominos]

If you look at the West Ham win last weekend, we came out passing the ball quickly, looking bright and up for it. What usually happens is we don't create chances even when we're playing with high intensity and West Ham scored before we showed any cutting edge in attack. The same thing happened against Villa, the first 20 minutes was our best spell of the game where we looked like we had it in us to score, but we just failed to create and score despite the intensity being good.

The Europa final against Villareal fits the bill too. Started off moving the ball quickly and dominating, but we didn't have a scooby on how to actually create a chance against a team with a low block. Eventually the intensity just fizzles out as we're not getting any reward for the high intensity and speed of passing, because they've still not created a clear chance at goal. Every game around 30 minutes in I ask myself "have we created a real chance yet?" and most of the time the answer is no.

Of course some games we start slowly, but I don't want to equate playing poorly with lack of intensity. I think there's plenty of games we do start with intensity but our lack of cohesion and understanding on how to create clear chances can quickly turn a bright start into a bad one.

 

[Offside]

The problem is obvious. Other teams have energy at the start of games and get at us. We have midfielders incompetent on the ball. Hence why we cannot start well. Only when the space opens up can we perform.