United's Attack...

[Hercules]

Is it the real problem? We have failed to score for the 1st time this season but we are leaking goals at the other end. We had a run of 1-0s with an attack of Ronaldo, Rooney, Berba, Tevez, Nani under SAF, that won us the 2008/09 title, we added only James in the attack but added Maguire and AWB to stop the goals conceded.

Why are we just blaming the attack?

 

[Lee565]

Other teams in the league above us are conceding just as many goals but still able to outscore the opposition or come from behind, we currently look 100% screwed if the opposition can score just one goal as we barely look like scoring a goal let alone 2 in a game.

 

[Red_toad]

Is it the real problem? We have failed to score for the 1st time this season but we are leaking goals at the other end. We had a run of 1-0s with an attack of Ronaldo, Rooney, Berba, Tevez, Nani under SAF, that won us the 2008/09 title, we added only James in the attack but added Maguire and AWB to stop the goals conceded.

Why are we just blaming the attack?

We play with no right winger, 1 striker and 2 players who struggle to support the striker in support of him. Tactics and the personnel are wrong.
We’re a tad buggered now as our 3 strikers are all injured or ill.
Ole certainly has dug himself a hole. I really hope he can find some answers. I’d start with Mata and the pereira being benched, neither offer anything to the attack nor the midfield. I certainly think we need at least 2 players in the winter transfer window.

 

[el3mel]

The league has changed than before. We're not scoring enough goals to win games. Bar the Chelsea game, we didn't manage more than 1 goal a game in any other match. 9 times out of 10 you'll lose points thanks to that. Teams now are more aggressive and you can't simply nick a goal and defend it, and the 2 teams leading the league (Pool and City) are scoring loads.

 

[The Cat]

We have an attack?

 

[RedDevilzFox]

Anyone else feels Rashford cannot run with his head up and ball at his feet? Not a good sign if you want to be a striker.

Noticed it several times balls gets left behind or he fumbles whenever he has space to run with the ball.

 

[Eric7C]

Is it the real problem? We have failed to score for the 1st time this season but we are leaking goals at the other end. We had a run of 1-0s with an attack of Ronaldo, Rooney, Berba, Tevez, Nani under SAF, that won us the 2008/09 title, we added only James in the attack but added Maguire and AWB to stop the goals conceded.

Why are we just blaming the attack?

We are blaming the midfield too. No defense works in isolation, it takes a team. Even a Mourinho knows that.

 

[Will Singh]

What's that then?

 

[Untd55]

The attack is incredibly weak, so it is a major area of concern. I think it should have taken priority over the defence myself, since that is where the entertainment comes from. I would prefer to watch a great attacking team with a leaky defence than vice versa, which is what we are seeing now. Even then, our defence is not amazing.

If you look at the total goals across our first-team front three for last season, they only scored 24 goals between them in their leagues. (Martial: 10, Rashford: 10, James: 4). There are no proven goalscorers in this team, neither are they creative.

There is no cohesion between the players; it is like they are a bunch of strangers most of the time. The structure of our attack is poor, there is no fluidity - it is like watching a crap stream, there is also no interchanging. It is all too predictable and easy to defend against, which is why we make no chances.

It is worsened by our midfield which is devoid of creativity. McTominay, Matic, Lingard are almost allergic to creating chances. Pogba is the main player who can create anything, followed by Fred being the second most likely. The issue is that Pogba will only be at his best if the rest of the midifeld dominates possession, since Pogba is not good at that side of the game. The rest of that midfield is verging on useless so that affects creativity.

So, no, it is not just the attack that is the problem.

 

[Khalifa711]

It's both light and lacking quality/experience. That's not the only problem though, I feel there is too much pressure put on the likes of Rsshford and Martial which makes it hard for them but they will have to step up if they want to stay here.
Were at a strange point with our attack unfortunately, we've got young talented players with PL experience, some young players without PL experience, youth players and experienced players who are finished at PL level, basically not a good mix and on top of that were not playing to the strength of the squad. Matic DM was a joke same with Mata at #10. We need to look at the squad and get the best out of them, we played Pereira and james on the wings, we shouldn't be playing with winger who put the ball in the box when we don't have a target forward and a 5ft 7" player in behind. I can understand that was the only option we had today but hopefully when we get the full squad back things will improve.
I'd like to see us play with wide forwards, #10 and 2 holding CM

...................Rashford
Martial..............................Mason
....................James

..........Garner...........Scott

Having Martial and Greenwood there to score goals will take the pressure off Rashford and james at #10 will scare defenders, Garner looks to play the ball forward quickly and Scott's a grafter. The likes of Gomes and Chong on the bench add something different.

We could just put it down to transition which we are doing but why then spend £80M on Maguire when we could have just put Tuanzebe alongside Lindelof.

It's a bit of a mess in all honesty.

 

[Hercules]

It's both light and lacking quality/experience. That's not the only problem though, I feel there is too much pressure put on the likes of Rsshford and Martial which makes it hard for them but they will have to step up if they want to stay here.
Were at a strange point with our attack unfortunately, we've got young talented players with PL experience, some young players without PL experience, youth players and experienced players who are finished at PL level, basically not a good mix and on top of that were not playing to the strength of the squad. Matic DM was a joke same with Mata at #10. We need to look at the squad and get the best out of them, we played Pereira and james on the wings, we shouldn't be playing with winger who put the ball in the box when we don't have a target forward and a 5ft 7" player in behind. I can understand that was the only option we had today but hopefully when we get the full squad back things will improve.
I'd like to see us play with wide forwards, #10 and 2 holding CM

...................Rashford
Martial..............................Mason
....................James

..........Garner...........Scott

Having Martial and Greenwood there to score goals will take the pressure off Rashford and james at #10 will scare defenders, Garner looks to play the ball forward quickly and Scott's a grafter. The likes of Gomes and Chong on the bench add something different.

We could just put it down to transition which we are doing but why then spend £80M on Maguire when we could have just put Tuanzebe alongside Lindelof.

It's a bit of a mess in all honesty.

Why take pressure off Rashford? He is leading the line, in the absence of Martial...he has been shit 3 games running. I don't even remember his touches, he scored goals when Martial was on the pitch. Home grown, good talent but nowhere near what we have been aspiring to... it's all to Ole, if you have youth, play them. Rashford has been a liability since he came on the scene, that was 4 feckin years ago.

 

[passing-wind]

The impetus lies on the coaching. You can put Sancho and Salah of either side of our wings but if the team cannot accommodate the movement to create space they will look as useless as our lot do. It's not so much that "players are crap this isn't working change them". That's a football manager / FIFA solution. We need an attacking system which gives the players the platform to create chances and score more goals. Not rely on individual momentary brilliance. Which is why the only way we will succeed under Ole is a robustness filled defence winning 1-0 slender leads throughout a period of 38 games in the league.

 

[AneRu]

Is it the real problem? We have failed to score for the 1st time this season but we are leaking goals at the other end. We had a run of 1-0s with an attack of Ronaldo, Rooney, Berba, Tevez, Nani under SAF, that won us the 2008/09 title, we added only James in the attack but added Maguire and AWB to stop the goals conceded.

Why are we just blaming the attack?

A team like United should be scoring more than one goal per match, we didn't look like scoring all through the first half and have scored just one goal per match after the Chelsea statistical outlier.

 

[red4ever 79]

We need some serious viagra up top as we are impotent as hell

 

[VorZakone]

We need some serious viagra up top as we are impotent as hell

@LouisVanGaal

 

[RussellWilson]

West Ham have better attacking options than us. Seriously.

 

[Raw]

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I mean this just says it all really. Our attack has been shite for years, I am just desperate to see quality attacking football over a whole season and not just in short bursts.

 

[VorZakone]

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I mean this just says it all really. Our attack has been shite for years, I am just desperate to see quality attacking football over a whole season and not just in short bursts.

Is that stat really true? No one scored a hattrick?

 

[Godfather]

Of course it is the real problem and it was for years now. Been saying all summer long that this team is nowhere near good enough with that attack.

 

[Raw]

Is that stat really true? No one scored a hattrick?

It's true. Last Premier League hattrick was RVP against Villa to win the title.

Even in all competitions our only hattricks after Fergie retired were Rooney v Brugge and Ibra v St Etienne.

 

[Casanova85]

Martial's injury is not helping at all but this is easily the most clueless Man Utd up front in PL history.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

xGA is still the lowest in the league and we’re joint 2nd lowest goals conceded. Chance creation and finishing is still the big problem here.

 

[Ballist1x]

You cant play premier league football with Mata and Matic in the same team.

As top draw players they are both done and this was clear a year or two ago.

I have zero idea why we bought either of them in the twilight of their careers. Other than short termism at its finest.

 

[Hercules]

But the question is, we didn't strengthen the attack, we made changes in the back 4. We were scoring a goal per game till today, atleast. Why all doom n gloom with the attack? It's a young team, will find it's feet. I have a concern with our defence, 2 goals today, Leicester had chances, Chelsea hit the woodwork twice, why?

 

[Aouer-United]

Regardless of what Simon Stone said about Ole not getting a replacement, I think Ole made the right decision, there is not many better ST for backup assuming Ole see Martial as the first choice. I'd guess Ole would want Lukaku to stay but Lukaku is not type of person who would be happy to rot on the bench every week and be ready whenever we need him in case of injury/suspension or rest.

Being too reactive and just want to sign player no matter who they are, how they can be good, it's don't matter if their attitude and mentally is shit will always set us backward than going in the right direction. We were too reactive for Lukaku because there wasn't a better ST in the market at the time, we just had to buy him because we felt we have to? This is kind of decision the board would make years ago, they'd be singing Dybala who is more interested in earning a lot of money and being the poster boy of the club.

Right now, what we need is the player like Evra who can give everything for us and believe in us trying to get back to the top and wanted to help us to win trophies. As long as they have the right mentality and attitude like this combining with great talents, they would be great.

Let's not throw out after 6 games and always stick to the plan for the long term. Our defense improved from the last season, can we do the same thing in attacking and midfield? Rome wasn't built in one day but we'll get there within a few years if everything went in the right direction as planned.

 

[Renegade]

This was projected in the summer when Lukaku and Sánchez were allowed to leave without being replaced.

The foresight was shocking and here we are. In crisis in September. A long season ahead guys.

 

[bosnian_red]

But the question is, we didn't strengthen the attack, we made changes in the back 4. We were scoring a goal per game till today, atleast. Why all doom n gloom with the attack? It's a young team, will find it's feet. I have a concern with our defence, 2 goals today, Leicester had chances, Chelsea hit the woodwork twice, why?

Leicester had no chances? West Ham scored from a half chance and a free kick. Wolves scored a screamer. Chelsea hit the woodwork from half chances. Our defence has been good. Teams will concede even with a good defence if they offer no attacking threat or can't control the game enough in midfield. Our actual defence has been very good though.

 

[bosnian_red]

xGA is still the lowest in the league and we’re joint 2nd lowest goals conceded. Chance creation and finishing is still the big problem here.

To add on, when we offer no attacking threat ourselves, opposing teams will gain more confidence and end up creating more and eventually get something.

 

[Bestietom]

What attack. what midfield.

 

[TMDaines]

It's true. Last Premier League hattrick was RVP against Villa to win the title.

Even in all competitions our only hattricks after Fergie retired were Rooney v Brugge and Ibra v St Etienne.

Last “often score six” was the 8-2 against Arsenal.

 

[Infra-red]

United have an attack?

 

[Bojan11]

I think next summer it surely has to be a new front three and midfielder.

I think a good attack can carry a crap team.

 

[Infra-red]

I think next summer it surely has to be a new front three and midfielder.

I think a good attack can carry a crap team.

I'm sure Woodward and the Board will have other ideas.

 

[The Irish Connection]

You cant play premier league football with Mata and Matic in the same team.

As top draw players they are both done and this was clear a year or two ago.

I have zero idea why we bought either of them in the twilight of their careers. Other than short termism at its finest.

Have said it since we signed him, Mata was never a United (Fergie) signing. Matic would have been better if we signed him 3/4 years earlier.
I feel the board have pushed managers towards less suitable players to save money.

 

[Copa Mundial]

Our defence is not the problem, our creativity on the other hand is!

 

[The Irish Connection]

Leicester had no chances? West Ham scored from a half chance and a free kick. Wolves scored a screamer. Chelsea hit the woodwork from half chances. Our defence has been good. Teams will concede even with a good defence if they offer no attacking threat or can't control the game enough in midfield. Our actual defence has been very good though.

This is fair I think. Today we defended well for half an hour, we cut out a few threatening moves from them in that time and it was crying out for us to stamp the authority and get a goal (rashfords chance), Liverpool did that for most of last season, but the longer it went on, west ham gained confidence and the game turned in their favour.
Once you get a goal up against us now you get even more confidence because you can stay more compact and know that we are blunt in attack.

 

[Adam-Utd]

It’s always been the problem.

We’ve never been able to ourscore or outplay opponents, that’s why our defending is always looked upon even more with a microscope.

Our defending isn’t bad at all. If we could score more then 1 goal regularly we’d win more games than not.

At the end of the day if you’re going to play Matic, mata and pereira in the same team - you’re not winning feck all.

 

[El Zoido]

It puts pressure on the defence if you can’t score. If we score two goals in the first half then West Ham would probably get nothing from the game, but they would have known they only needed one good chance & one goal to win the game. It creates a different kind of pressure on the back line. Defense occurs all over the pitch and not just the back four, no back four in history is so good they can keep clean sheets with no midfield. Our midfield gets totally bypassed, teams just flood it and we have no answers.

 

[Michael T]

It's hard to say much after a match like that.

Injuries such as Pogba'a are highlighting a paucity in creative quality

I suppose we've kind of sorted our defence, and long term too.

The simple fact is, we're two creative midfielders, a striker and right-winger short of any manager winning anything with this team, let alone Ole; even if Pogba stays.

If the Glazers get him Sancho and Maddison, in January we're top four and half way there, If not, season's over. I know what I'm betting my money on!

Rant over. I wonder if the injury to Radford will mean we get to see Greenwood get a great chance to break into the team big-time...

 

[bosnian_red]

This is fair I think. Today we defended well for half an hour, we cut out a few threatening moves from them in that time and it was crying out for us to stamp the authority and get a goal (rashfords chance), Liverpool did that for most of last season, but the longer it went on, west ham gained confidence and the game turned in their favour.
Once you get a goal up against us now you get even more confidence because you can stay more compact and know that we are blunt in attack.

We defended well the whole game though. They had 2 half chances in the whole game and nothing else. That just happens in football, especially away to a decent side. Not a single problem today was down to the defence. As you say, eventually they get confidence and if they take their chance, it's very hard for us to turn it around especially without martial/pogba and Rashford not being fit.