We are an awfully coached team

[slyadams]

Doubt Ole would get a prem job if he was fired and that's saying a lot.

Quite, when your manager is not coveted by anyone it should tell you something.

 

[Amarsdd]

Quite, when your manager is not coveted by anyone it should tell you something.

How do you know? I think people here will be genuinely surprised by the level of managerial jobs he'll get after United if/when he leaves. People (fans) really like to overrate other managers in the league while highly highly underrating the job Ole has done here.

 

[anant]

I think it was more in hope than anything else. Most of us knew Mourinho was past it. Had he come straight after Fergie he'd have probably won the lot. But coming after LVG who has a totally different football philosophy was asking a lot. And it was also rather stupid of our management and evidence of why we need a proper Director of Football so that we don't have to dismantle our squad every time a new manager comes in who plays different. But ultimately, we wanted anyone but Louis so welcomed Mourinho with open arms just to take us away from the snoreball.

Not so sure about it. The frenzy on here when he was unveiled had people drooling. We were talking about him looking sharp and well rested and I think at the start of 2nd season, a lot of people genuinely thought we'd win the league or run City very close.

As far as the 2nd part of the argument is concerned, I agree and that's been one of the main reasons I'm not in favour of us jumping onto the next trending manager.

 

[Matriac]

How do you know? I think people here will be genuinely surprised by the level of managerial jobs he'll get after United if/when he leaves. People (fans) really like to overrate other managers in the league while highly highly underrating the job Ole has done here.

Exactly. We don't hear about anyone else showing interest because everyone knows that it's practically impossible to convince a manager to leave United for another club (unless the board fires them), so it's useless for them to even speculate. We never heard about anyone wanting to hire Moyes, LVG or Mou while they were still in the manager seat at Old Trafford.

PL Clubs approached Ole both before and after Cardiff. Now after managing United for such a long spell, showing his ability to build a squad, he would get even more offers. Might be a tougher sell for a Top 10 European club as his next gig if he doesn't win a trophy first, but I wouldn't bet any money against it either.

 

[sullydnl]

How do you know? I think people here will be genuinely surprised by the level of managerial jobs he'll get after United if/when he leaves. People (fans) really like to overrate other managers in the league while highly highly underrating the job Ole has done here.

Hypothetically speaking what level of job do you think Ole would get if he were to leave here at the end of this season?

 

[He'sRaldo]

We never heard about anyone wanting to hire Moyes, LVG or Mou while they were still in the manager seat at Old Trafford.

LVG was retiring the next year and Moyes only lasted a few months, so obviously they wouldn't have any rumours.

As for Jose, there were rumours of him to PSG, which basically caused that daft contract extension.

 

[NZT-One]

An actual coach remains so until he becomes a past-it big name.

I think everyone was excited when we got in LVG after that WC. A lot of our fans were rooting for our opposition during LVG's 2nd season so that we can bring in another top coach in Mourinho. It's now with 20/20 hindsight that we're saying they were both past it

No. People were excited because Moyes' days were gone and some people mentioned his time at Bayern where he supposedly layed some of the groundwork for the monster they became under Pep and Heynckes. I can't speak for anybody, but I know I didn't consider him as a current top manager. His display at the WC even confirmed that.

How do you know? I think people here will be genuinely surprised by the level of managerial jobs he'll get after United if/when he leaves. People (fans) really like to overrate other managers in the league while highly highly underrating the job Ole has done here.

I have to agree here. Oles good job at United hasn't been gone unnoticed by other clubs. If we (rightfully) credit Poch for his work at Tottenham, there is no other choice to credit Ole for his job as well. The extent míght be debatable but thats pretty subjective. I am sure, he will be able to land a job after United. But I am also pretty sure, none of the bigger teams would go for him, because I think, they also see some of the shortcomings and as long as there are candidates without, they won't go for Ole.

But, and that is a big thing in my eyes, the job that Ole has done for us, to reset us after LVG and Mourinho, establish a good mood around the club, calm everything down, stabilize results, do sensible recruiting - not all of that is what many teams are looking for when they think about the manager (and rightly so). It shouldn't be depending on the manager, if there is a long term plan behind recruiting and youth work. There shouldn't be the need for the manager to ensure most players find their environment comfortable to work with. These things should be a given in a modern top club. I am glad Ole did his part so we closed distance to some clubs that ran away in that regard. But as closer as we get to them, the more important other factors will be (ability to improve collective play, improve individuals, set a certain playstyle, react on observed strength and weaknesses). They should be the deciding factors if a manager should be given more time or not. We don't have to take one side between "Ole has done a great job" and "Ole needs to go". I'd say both can be true (not now obviously but maybe at some point in the future) so it doesn't make sense to argue which of those sides is the "right one".

Exactly. We don't hear about anyone else showing interest because everyone knows that it's practically impossible to convince a manager to leave United for another club (unless the board fires them), so it's useless for them to even speculate. We never heard about anyone wanting to hire Moyes, LVG or Mou while they were still in the manager seat at Old Trafford.

PL Clubs approached Ole both before and after Cardiff. Now after managing United for such a long spell, showing his ability to build a squad, he would get even more offers. Might be a tougher sell for a Top 10 European club as his next gig if he doesn't win a trophy first, but I wouldn't bet any money against it either.

I think, the bolded part applies to all top clubs, it isn't a United exclusive.

On the other side, I am pretty sure, none out of Chelsea, City, Liverpool, Bayern, Dortmund*, PSG, Madrid, Barcelona, Juve* will ever go for Ole. Nobody knows about the future and economic developments but I'd bet, none of them would take the risk. I'd say, not even if he manages to win the league this year (except we do it in spectacular fashion, which we are not really on the route for). So yeah, stating he couldn't even get a PL job is pretty naive, speculating he could go to another top club would belong in the same drawer though.

 

[Amarsdd]

Hypothetically speaking what level of job do you think Ole would get if he were to leave here at the end of this season?

I think clubs seeking stability will go for him asap esp clubs like Everton, West Ham who seem to go through crisis every couple of years but want to be in european places regularly. Aston Villa is another club I see going for him esp with what they are trying to achieve. He'd even be good for clubs like Arsenal, Spurs but their board would never touch him given the fan outrage that will bring.

And that's the big problem with Ole, his image. It has been dragged through the mud for now three years by the media whether it be its ABU or they project unreasonable expectations on a United manager without considering the context. If Ole was managing any other club with the same budget as he has had and doing the exact same job he has done at United, he'd be seen in a very different light than he is now. Just as a thought experiment, imagine Lampard at Chelsea finishing 3rd in his first season, 2nd in his second season and equal on points at the top right now and thought of as a title contender. The wanking over Lampard would be unbearable.

 

[NZT-One]

I think clubs seeking stability will go for him asap esp clubs like Everton, West Ham who seem to go through crisis every couple of years but want to be in european places regularly. Aston Villa is another club I see going for him esp with what they are trying to achieve. He'd even be good for clubs like Arsenal, Spurs but their board would never touch him given the fan outrage that will bring.

And that's the big problem with Ole, his image. It has been dragged through the mud for now three years by the media whether it be its ABU or they project unreasonable expectations on a United manager without considering the context. If Ole was managing any other club with the same budget as he has had and doing the exact same job he has done at United, he'd be seen in a very different light than he is now. Just as a thought experiment, imagine Lampard at Chelsea finishing 3rd in his first season, 2nd in his second season and equal on points at the top right now and thought of as a title contender. The wanking over Lampard would be unbearable.

I agree, that might be Oles big problem, but it certainly isn't the problem I tend to see around here. Sure, a fan favorite like Lampard will be perceived differently but lets not act as if his problem is bad PR. Of course there are a few individuals even here, who will harp about his CV, but the majority doesn't, they look at what he is doing and if they don't like aspects of what he is doing, they will express it.

On the rest of your post: I guess, Arsenal would also never touch him because of their fans, my thought was also Everton, think that could be a good fit. Ressources available but not overboard, Fans who expect to see good football and good results but are also aware that there fish in the pond who are bigger than them.

 

[anant]

No. People were excited because Moyes' days were gone and some people mentioned his time at Bayern where he supposedly layed some of the groundwork for the monster they became under Pep and Heynckes. I can't speak for anybody, but I know I didn't consider him as a current top manager. His display at the WC even confirmed that.

Nope. Search the posts around after the WC and you'd see what I am talking about

 

[Rilz]

Quite, when your manager is not coveted by anyone it should tell you something.

I'd argue that is looking at it the wrong way though.

Ole is or perhaps was, at the time of hiring the right fit for us

We needed someone who understood the club, its culture and its heritage. The argument that other clubs wouldnt want him comes up often, and probably does have some merit but at the same time he still has done a job for us that both LVG and Mourinho couldn't, in shaping a squad that is capable of challenging for the league and getting us into CL on the regular. I agree though, that whether he is the man to make the next step is up for debate.

 

[NZT-One]

Nope. Search the posts around after the WC and you'd see what I am talking about

I am sure you wouldn't you lie to me so fair enough. But you wrote "everyone was excited" and I can tell you, no that isn't the case. Not just because I wasn't excited but also because I know that there were quite a few skeptical people in the fan community I was on back then. Granted, might be connected with this being a German forum so most participants knew LVG from his time at Bayern, his antics, his stupid transfers of whack dutch players, his rigidness of play, his "the others are at fault" stuff.
The world cup performances of Netherlands weren't great iirc, weren' they? One very good match against Spain in the opener but then borefest after borefest. He achieved quite well with a subpar squad, I'll give him that but people knew back then, what coaches are able to do so you see me quite suprised that this place here were thinking he has been a great one at the time of arrival.

 

[anant]

I am sure you wouldn't you lie to me so fair enough. But you wrote "everyone was excited" and I can tell you, no that isn't the case. Not just because I wasn't excited but also because I know that there were quite a few skeptical people in the fan community I was on back then. Granted, might be connected with this being a German forum so most participants knew LVG from his time at Bayern, his antics, his stupid transfers of whack dutch players, his rigidness of play, his "the others are at fault" stuff.
The world cup performances of Netherlands weren't great iirc, weren' they? One very good match against Spain in the opener but then borefest after borefest. He achieved quite well with a subpar squad, I'll give him that but people knew back then, what coaches are able to do so you see me quite suprised that this place here were thinking he has been a great one at the time of arrival.

By everyone, I obviously mean majority here, not literally everyone.

As far as WC performances were concerned, people were high on the 5-1, the RVP-LVG bond, the sub before PKs and obviously they reached the semis when very few gave them a chance. Add to that, we had a top summer window (atleast that's what it looked then) where we signed Falcao and ADM in addition to Blind, Herrera and Shaw. So, the forum was pretty excited. If I remember correctly, we had a really good pre-season as well. But coming back to the original questions, while some had concerns, very few would have put him in the "past-it" bucket

 

[captaincantona]

Ole used 30 different players throughout last Premiership season - this was 5 more than City, and more than Chelsea and Liverpool.

He has also used 20 different players this season which is again more than City and only one less than Chelsea and Liverpool.

This myth of Ole not using his players needs to stop as it's inherently wrong.

Yes, Ole has his favourite starting players, every manager does, but he has shown that he can mix it up if required and when needed.

nice try...you know exactly what I’m getting at...when everyone is fit...it’s the same 11 with either Rashford or Pogba on the left. 20 players this season? Starting 11 v Leeds Varane, Sancho not available, bought Ronaldo so that’s 14 of your 20, Fred and McTominay not available...No Starts or significant minutes for squad players or giving young players minutes to integrate them into our setup...the rest are late substitutions. Your stats are as bad as pointing at the league last year and saying “but we finished second...we must have been good”. It’s no myth that Ole will play the same 11 week in week out if they are fit. You can’t seriously be arguing that point?

when he is forced to bring players in, its noticeable in our performance. If we were to Lose any one of Shaw, Maguire, Pogba, Bruno, Fred, McTominay...it’s hard to tell what iteration of ManUtd would show up because, IMO, it’s the type of players he chooses that dictate how we play as opposed to having a defined footballing identity that his players have to buy into. Both approaches get results but I would argue that it’s that consistency in terms of playing style that have allowed City, Pool, Barca over the years, Madrid, Bayern certainly- to steamroll seasons...even when a number of first team players are not available. Olehas shown no faith in his bench, the Carabao is now gone and so Where are the minutes coming from to ensure his squad is performing- A well coached team, that wins titles, needs a well functioning squad.

 

[Demaw]

We forget quickly our away form unbeaten. Don't forget that I remember Fergie having some ordinary results against ordinary opposition. We can't win every game 5-0. Ole has spots to still fill and needs more strengthening in positions we all know about. Ronnie, Varane and Sancho are amazing signings. He is trying to clear out players and has done that well already. He can't help we pay them too much and won't go.

 

[glazed]

Jose and LVG were both more prestigious coaches than Ole and they served up sh1t sandwiches. They had access to less good players though. But that wasn't the issue. The issue was that their style of play was outmoded.

The problem with Ole is not that he is a bad coach per se. He's kind of good to middling. The problem is that he also subscribes to a fairly simple and old fashioned setup which relies on really good players producing moments of magic for its added extra. So a balanced organised team of less good players can sometimes embarrass us. And as soon as our best players get gassed we look a bit vulnerable and start shipping points. That said we are still a top team and likely to finish in the top four. And at least his teams are fun to watch most of the time.

It's not really a coincidence that the best coaches in the premier league subscribe to a high press philosophy. It churns out results and is easy on the eye too when done right. We simply don't have the right players for that kind of play, so simply dumping Ole is not a solution in isolation. You'd have to get one of the rare managers who know how to do the high press well, or you end up like Arsenal and Arteta. And you'd have to rebuild or retrain the squad too.

 

[NZT-One]

By everyone, I obviously mean majority here, not literally everyone.

As far as WC performances were concerned, people were high on the 5-1, the RVP-LVG bond, the sub before PKs and obviously they reached the semis when very few gave them a chance. Add to that, we had a top summer window (atleast that's what it looked then) where we signed Falcao and ADM in addition to Blind, Herrera and Shaw. So, the forum was pretty excited. If I remember correctly, we had a really good pre-season as well. But coming back to the original questions, while some had concerns, very few would have put him in the "past-it" bucket

Yeah I remember that too. I think, all of these factors created a pretty happy place, I don't want to pretend that I wasn't excited about our season ahead. I also didn't want to depict myself as being in the know about LVG being past it, but I had my fair share of concerns, again mainly because of geographical closeness to Bayern and Bayern fans who were literally celebrating when he was axed. So all in all, interesting to hear, that the situation seemed to be more extatic than within the German fanbase of United (or at least the parts of it, represented by the Transfermarkt-Userforum).

 

[sullydnl]

There's a piece about Pep and Tuchel in the Independent that is too nauseatingly praise-filled to post (the phrase "football's chess grandmasters" is used in the title and it gets more sickly from there) but I thought these points were relevant from this thread's POV:

Spoiler

This is about more than the idiosyncrasies of two super-obsessive men, though. The fact they meet again in club football’s greatest fixture illustrates how this intense mindset has gradually taken over the elite end of the game. It isn’t quite revenge of the nerds, to use Tuchel’s own word, but it is a reflection of how a higher level of thinking generally leads to a higher level of performance. Some managers will inevitably beat them in any individual match - or even over a brief period of time - but if they can’t match them in preparing for every square metre of the pitch, the gaps only grow greater over time. Put simply, less is left to chance

.......

You might even call it the “NFL-isation” of football. The game is just so much more rigorously prepared than even a decade ago. Bill Shankly’s maxim is no longer true. Football is no longer a simple game complicated by idiots, but an increasingly complex game, enriched by “geniuses”. It naturally lends itself to those who obsess over every millimetre.

Much of this comes from the tactical evolution first sparked by Guardiola himself at Barcelona.

"I think, 10 years ago, Pep created a new idea of football," Reschke argues. "It was the main influence on football in the last 30 years. All of the intelligent young coaches - every one of them, Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel - is influenced by him. You can see it in England, too."

Guardiola's possession-pressing game was gradually complemented by advances in sports science and analytics. They caused a huge leap forward in team preparation. All of this combined to ensure football became infinitely more co-ordinated, from pressing to attacking.

For most of football’s modern history, defending was necessarily predictable and organised, while forward play was freeform in order to encourage creation. This is one other element that has been turned on its head by coaches like Guardiola.

Fabregas recently told the Wall Street Journal that he realised the true extent of this under Antonio Conte at Chelsea in 2016. “It was more like, ‘You have to do what I want you to do. You will do this, and we will repeat it over and over again, for months and months, until you get it right. And we will play like a mechanized robot thing. You can play with your eyes closed. The ball comes to you and you know what you have to do, because your teammate will be exactly at the right time at the right place".

Tuchel isn't identical, but he is along the same path. The German spent one Chelsea press conference speaking about how his approach is to put in place a structure that eventually puts players in the position to show “their creativity”. Almost everything is co-ordinated until the moment of decisiveness.

“It’s just to give possibility, and from the possibilities it is the free choice of the players,” Tuchel explained. This is what Guardiola has also taken on, as his own approach has evolved since Barcelona.

"Football has developed,” Reschke concurs. “It is now like American football, where you have special coaches. OK, not exactly the same, but closer and closer. Football is at a new level. A fantastic level. You need coaches who can read games, who can present teams with solutions. More coaches come up with special plans, so success becomes dependent on smaller details.”

This is why Tuchel starts screaming at players when they are a metre out of position. It can make the difference between, say, one-on-one defending working dependably and proving a disaster. This is the level now, where tactical approaches that push the limits require players to push the limits too.

......

It can be a little hard to square that kind of obsessiveness with another side of the game, where successful managers like Zinedine Zidane talk so vaguely about “enjoying the ball”.

“Football is played by humans so there are a lot of factors, but it is incredible that clubs like Juventus and Chelsea have just gone for former players like Andrea Pirlo or Frank Lampard,” one official who has worked at a top club argues. “Who knows if they are even up to it? The game has moved way beyond talking about mentality or experience. It’s much more sophisticated than ever before.”

Much of this becomes apparent on the training ground. That, to a far greater degree than ever before, is where games are really won and lost. That is the only place players can really learn and internalise the intricate approaches set out by coaches like Tuchel and Guardiola.....

“What we try to implement in training is the mix of respecting your zone," Tuchel explained in February, "and to have a structure and then the freedom for the creativity and the quality and the intuition of players. That is a constant mix.”

It is why Tuchel is constantly “demanding”, according to captain Cesar Azpilicueta. “Training is very specific,” Cesar Azpilicueta says. “His focus is on every action, when a player is out of position."

This is one area, nevertheless, where Tuchel is said to be more “relaxed” than Guardiola. The Catalan’s sessions are said to be innovative, but what really elevates them is the manic intensity.

One drill for example involves three players standing in a column, but all moving along rows at the same time while passing to each other. The idea is that the ball always keeps moving between them at the same pace. That’s fine when that pace is relatively relaxed. That is not what Guardiola demands.

There are common refrains that ring around the training ground. “No, no, no! Always fast, the ball never stops!”

One training ground source says "it would give you a headache". This is why people say Guardiola's intensity has a finite effect, and why many felt that was the case at City earlier this season. Players continue to buy in, however, when they continue to see spectacular results.
“Joshua Kimmich told me that, after one year of Pep, he would be nervous before every training session,” Reschke reveals. “He knows he has to be focused. There is no idle talk. When you train with Pep, everything is top level. He shows you how to pass, how to stand when you receive the pass… he just opens your door in football. The difference is the detail.”

Solskjaer is competing directly against obsessively detail orientated managers, so that's the context against which his side's coaching is being judged. I don't think we're badly coached but I also don't think we're as thoroughly coached as those other teams and it shows in our play.

 

[Revan]

Please name me a few top coaches that we should hire right now. Realistic ones not Peps or Klopps.

Conte and Zidane. Rodgers and Ten Hag if you want to get a bit more risky.

In the last 12 months Tuchel, Nagelsman, Allegri and Flick were all available. Pochettino too but I am not a big fan of him. We could have tried tempting Mancini or Luis Enrique.

Should I go on?

 

[rron10]

Conte and Zidane. Rodgers and Ten Hag if you want to get a bit more risky.

In the last 12 months Tuchel, Nagelsman, Allegri and Flick were all available. Pochettino too but I am not a big fan of him. We could have tried tempting Mancini or Luis Enrique.

Should I go on?

Do you really believe Zidane would play good football and win us trophies ? I never liked his “no style” football and I strongly believe he will not succeed in the PL.

Conte yes, he is a top manager with success in different leagues, clubs and circumstances, he might be the answer if we will be in search of a new manager.

Rodgers for me is a big no and I don’t rate him as a top manager.

 

[Champ]

nice try...you know exactly what I’m getting at...when everyone is fit...it’s the same 11 with either Rashford or Pogba on the left. 20 players this season? Starting 11 v Leeds Varane, Sancho not available, bought Ronaldo so that’s 14 of your 20, Fred and McTominay not available...No Starts or significant minutes for squad players or giving young players minutes to integrate them into our setup...the rest are late substitutions. Your stats are as bad as pointing at the league last year and saying “but we finished second...we must have been good”. It’s no myth that Ole will play the same 11 week in week out if they are fit. You can’t seriously be arguing that point?

when he is forced to bring players in, its noticeable in our performance. If we were to Lose any one of Shaw, Maguire, Pogba, Bruno, Fred, McTominay...it’s hard to tell what iteration of ManUtd would show up because, IMO, it’s the type of players he chooses that dictate how we play as opposed to having a defined footballing identity that his players have to buy into. Both approaches get results but I would argue that it’s that consistency in terms of playing style that have allowed City, Pool, Barca over the years, Madrid, Bayern certainly- to steamroll seasons...even when a number of first team players are not available. Olehas shown no faith in his bench, the Carabao is now gone and so Where are the minutes coming from to ensure his squad is performing- A well coached team, that wins titles, needs a well functioning squad.

Mate, just give it a rest.

The stats are there for all to see, Ole has used more players than Klopp last season and Pep, that's despite Liverpool's supposed injury crisis.

You are clutching at imaginary straws.

Liverpool's performances dropped off massively when they had to make changes, City less so due to the strength they have in depth.

 

[Revan]

Do you really believe Zidane would play good football and win us trophies ?

Do we play good football? No
Did Zidane's real played betetr football than us? Yes
Has Zidane shown that he can win big trophies? Yes
Has Ole shown it? No

Conte yes, he is a top manager with success in different leagues, clubs and circumstances, he might be the answer if we will be in search of a new manager.

Yup, he is a top manager.

Rodgers for me is a big no and I don’t rate him as a top manager.

I do not think he is great, but he is a better coach than Ole.

 

[Devil_forever]

Tim: Hoping I am wrong but United don't seem to have learned any lessons from last season. Often too easy to defend against and relying too much on moments of individual brilliance. Protection for the back four often non-existent.

That comment on the BBC sums us up perfectly. Anyone who thinks we're going to challenge for the title under Ole needs their heads checking. We'll fizzle out, we rely time and again on individual players to produce moments, which isn't going to happen every week. It's such a shame that this squad of players will be wasted.

 

[sullydnl]

Based on the last game and a bit, one thing I hope our coaches do immediately is get our players to stop taking stupid shots from distance instead of being patient actually building to high quality chances.

The amount of good chances we've had relative to the volume of shots we've taken over the last game and a half is poor.

 

[Ayoba]

What is this "coached" word you mention?? Never heard of it

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

It’s so so so obvious we’ll win nothing under him. The top reds on here don’t like it & I know we have to pacify them sometimes but feck, can we get a decent coach in & actually get somewhere with this unbelievable squad please?!

 

[Yorkeontop]

Based on the last game and a bit, one thing I hope our coaches do immediately is get our players to stop taking stupid shots from distance instead of being patient actually building to high quality chances.

I think there's a paradox in there somewhere.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Clear as day. We're longshot United. Incapable of creating a proper chance.

 

[Idxomer]

It's dumb and dumber football, a competition to see who's gonna make the next stupid pass or shot and every player is in it.

 

[pratyush_utd]

This half made me believe there is some truth in this. That was all over the place.

 

[Mr.Ridiculous__]

We play a very disorganised and individual silo type football compared to other top teams.

 

[soapythecat]

That first half shows how Ole and the coaching team simply don’t have what it takes. That team is laden with top quality yet look poor, week in, week out. It’s neither attractive or effective football but it will cost Ole his job this season.

 

[DRJosh]

I think this Villa game has officially convinced me that we need someone with more tactical nous to join the coaching team if Ole is going to remain as manager. I’ve been an Ole advocate for all this time, but we’ve now got a squad of absolute superstars and the lack of a proper set up is shocking.

We often bypass our midfield completely when attacking which means we are only good on the counter

 

[UnsungHero]

Thread title is misleading, I don't think there's any coaching going on at all...

 

[Dembeza]

The McFred combo always made sense to me until today.

Having to watch the Chelsea vs City game I have noticed how City are playing with KDB, Silva and Rodri a their CM.

KDB is playing high up, and Silva and Rodri seem to be sitting back. City are dominating the Midfield battle and Silva is holding his own against Rudiger.

I really don’t know know why we can not play with one defensive mid and a playmaker and still have Bruno operate as a number 10 or the furtherest CM.

I am getting sick of having to play McFred as if we can’t cope without playing with 2 CDMs.

 

[Ram1fy]

He seems to have lost the dressing room? Defense looks like they are not tactically prepared.

 

[Shane88]

Week after week after week of hoping a superstar bails us out while the brain trust acts their hearts out on the sidelines trying to pretend they know what they're doing.

 

[Garethw]

We are made to look average against 95% of the teams we play.

 

[E-mal]

The McFred combo always made sense to me until today.

Having to watch the Chelsea vs City game I have noticed how City are playing with KDB, Silva and Rodri a their CM.

KDB is playing high up, and Silva and Rodri seem to be sitting back. City are dominating the Midfield battle and Silva is holding his own against Rudiger.

I really don’t know know why we can not play with one defensive mid and a playmaker and still have Bruno operate as a number 10 or the furtherest CM.

I am getting sick of having to play McFred as if we can’t cope without playing with 2 CDMs.

Because City have Pep and we have Ole.
We are not good in possession. We have remained a transition team that rely on moments of quality from our superstars.

 

[OneUnited24]

I think this Villa game has officially convinced me that we need someone with more tactical nous to join the coaching team if Ole is going to remain as manager. I’ve been an Ole advocate for all this time, but we’ve now got a squad of absolute superstars and the lack of a proper set up is shocking.

We often bypass our midfield completely when attacking which means we are only good on the counter

I agree. I’ve thought for a while we need to bring some experienced coaches in. Bar phelan and that guy we got from Chelsea our coaches have been around since Jose. The one common thing has been how bad we are at holding onto the ball.

I imagine it would be hard to shake up the staff mid season but you can bring in people for new ideas.