What is our problem?

[Freak]

There are just far too many average players playing for us. And these players are the common factor since we've had the managerial merry go round with Moyes, LVG and now Jose.

I'm talking about players like:
Valencia (current version)
Jones
Smalling
Herrera
Mata
Fellaini
Rashford (very raw and brainless but somehow finds himself being a key member of the team)

I mean over the course of the season, these players have in some part formed the backbone of our first 11 at various points. It's just not good enough. When you add the likes of Rashford (current brainless version), Mkhi, and Lukaku (current shit version), then it's obvious why we are so shit. I mean apart from DDG, Pogba and Matic can we say the rest of them are top class players? I honestly cannot bring myself to say that about the rest.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

We have no real system/tactical or stylistic identity in attack that is our own. We rely on our front 3/4 doing 'something'. When it clicks we do well, when it doesn't we struggle. There's no system taking the team along on the same page. This is the biggest issue watching us these 5 years. We just go out and play. That's United.

When I watch Liverpool they have a specific style and follow it to a tee. It amost works, but doesn't quite. But given they spend nowhere near what we do that's fine. Same with City - you can see the imprint of their manager. I haven't seen any real imprint of any United manager since SAF. At least not onet that I've particularly liked.

 

[minoo-utd]

Huge clear out must be made and I mean huge I said before this game, we have like 7 8 players who should not be here in terms of quality, mentality and or age.

 

[matherto]

Being humiliated by City seems to have cause the players to give up trying quite as hard.

We know the title race has been over for ages so we’re not arsed.

Mou doesn’t look like he’s arsed either.

 

[AndyJ1985]

Huge clear out must be made and I mean huge I said before this game, we have like 7 8 players who should not be here in terms of quality, mentality and or age.

We say this every season. Unfortunately no matter who we clear out, we mostly replace them with more mediocre players. That is what has to stop from now on.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Our problem is that we have not chosen the right manager since SAF retired.We have also paid over the odds for overrated players but the main problem lies with the management.

 

[Crackers]

I think we are a few players short. I think we've been a little unlucky at times. We just need to get some stability back. And then improve the team. The transfer window could be important for us.

You hardly think 'yet another transfer window' will fix us completely? We have no plan other than buying expensive players, sticking them on a pitch and expecting them to perform magic and Hoof ball, as opposed to buying players for a particular brand of football.

 

[vangagal]

Today games showing what is wrong with United setup. Not enough movements in final third when our players had the ball. First half was a shitshow, Zlatan droping too deep but not had enough energy to burst forward when having the ball. It was to static at front and it was easy to defend against. Our passing game was too safe and not enough bravery to do something unpredictable. And the worse of the lot, we resort to crossing when things doesn't go right. It is nice and all if our crossing was good but it was bad. We dont have enough creativity at midfield, Pogba for all his good but he isn't a creative midfiled for me. At Juve he had Pirlo to do that job but here he has to do double job which is quite burden for him.

We miss someone like Carrick. Matic can do defensive cover but his forward pass not good enough today(Early at the season it was good though). We miss Carrick's forward pass to unleash the strikers. We dont do through ball enough today, our passing was too safe sometimes. And we need wide forward who can run with the ball through defenders. Martial will come in handy for game like today, someone with close control and dribbling who can take people. Our forwards not doing it enough.

 

[golden_blunder]

We really need a new face in the window to give a bit of life back into the squad.

 

[Freak]

We say this every season. Unfortunately no matter who we clear out, we mostly replace them with more mediocre players. That is what has to stop from now on.

To be fair to Jose, with the exception of Mkhi and maybe Lindelof his signings have been spot on. Pogba, Ibra, Bailly, Lukaku, Matic have been signings that have brought some quality into the side. He needs to have a big January window and a big summer window.

 

[NJM78]

Broken record time but our players are simply not good enough. There are also a few that are spineless and no leaders at all in the squad. Jose doesn’t help himself either.
I know a business has to be balanced and it is not FIFA but I would honestly buy 5 players to walk directly into first team and at least another couple for bench and then go from there. Worst squad for me in all my time supporting the club on the basis of the above reasons.
I will stick my neck out and say SAF would also struggle with this team and I think we will start to fall down the league in second half of season unless we buy well in January.

 

[Klean]

There are a few issues that still need to be sorted out with this team. Despite some of the overreaction on this forum after draws/losses, we are much closer than some people want to admit. The first glaring issue is that there is no link between the midfield and front 3. Today it was Ibra at the #10 who either looks like he came back too early from injury or might just be done at a top level. Last few games it had been Lindgard, who in fairness has performed well with goals and assists. The issue is he usually lays the ball off and spreads it wide. What we need is an Ozil type player who will look to play through balls in to Lukaku and is more of a pass first type player.

This leads me into my second point which is what to do with Lukaku. Lukaku for me has the same type of play as Chicarito when he played for us. Dangerous finisher with his feet and head, but really only useful around the box. Unless we are creating chances for him, he doesn't offer much; and that has been evident in games where teams sit deep and compress space. He doesn't offer enough in his interplay to be useful. A proper #10 would do wonders for Lukaku and the team. We will be past this rough patch in form soon.

 

[AndyJ1985]

To be fair to Jose, with the exception of Mkhi and maybe Lindelof his signings have been spot on. Pogba, Ibra, Bailly, Lukaku, Matic have been signings that have brought some quality into the side. He needs to have a big January window and a big summer window.

Not sure about Lukaku. Don't think anyone can look at him and say that's £75m well spent. Pogba, Bailly, and Matic are good signings, but considering Jose's entire spending is around £300m I honestly don't think we've got close to enough quality in return.

 

[CarwynWilliams23]

Broken record time but our players are simply not good enough. There are also a few that are spineless and no leaders at all in the squad. Jose doesn’t help himself either.
I know a business has to be balanced and it is not FIFA but I would honestly buy 5 players to walk directly into first team and at least another couple for bench and then go from there. Worst squad for me in all my time supporting the club on the basis of the above reasons.
I will stick my neck out and say SAF would also struggle with this team and I think we will start to fall down the league in second half of season unless we buy well in January.

Bull, SAF would be flying attacking wise with those options in attack. They are young, and Mou is clueless with improving young players. Hence the 500 million he wants to spend every summer, if he does not get it he sulks and uses the media to pressurise the board. Did it at Chelsea, and played players out of position to prove it to Roman. He is a child.

 

[AndyJ1985]

Bull, SAF would be flying attacking wise with those options in attack. They are young, and Mou is clueless with improving young players. Hence the 500 million he wants to spend every summer, if he does not get it he sulks and uses the media to pressurise the board. Did it at Chelsea, and played players out of position to prove it to Roman. He is a child.

Ferguson was an anomaly in football and we can't judge our players based on what he would be able to achieve with them.

 

[Castia]

Nobody looks like they care. Even Mourinho doesn't look interested.

Piss poor attitude for the last few weeks.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

I second most suggestions here. Here's one to add to this list:

Brains
We have accrued at United, a number of players who strike me as being quite stupid. Not just in footballing terms, but generally come across as being thick as shit. The following, stand out:

- Smalling
- Jones
- Rojo
- Fellaini
- Rashford
- Lukaku
- Lingard (not in a footballing sense, his off-the-ball movement proves he has a good footballing brain but as a bloke in general? different story)

When your starting 11 contains even a handful of stupid human beings, the chances of stupid mistakes being made increase. We have several first-team players who are not intelligent footballers in the slightest, a few of them in critical positions on the pitch where they're needed to make split-second, game influencing decisions.

 

[minoo-utd]

We say this every season. Unfortunately no matter who we clear out, we mostly replace them with more mediocre players. That is what has to stop from now on.

Then we should spend big on better players, it's so obvious we need reinforcement but above all we need fighters and consistent players.

 

[7even]

Before we start let’s take a deep breath. Hopefully I can separate my disappointment after a loss and try to be logic and rational in my judgment.

1. We don’t have enough quality in our defense. With injuries to Valencia and Bailly we look unbalanced and nervous. Shaw was more then ok against Burnley so let’s exclude him from criticism today.

2. Our midfield is hanging on brilliance from either Matic or Pogba. Against Burnley Pogba was almost non existent and without him we’re way to predictable. We desperately needs a proper playmaker who can dictate our tempo and passing quality. Right now we have nobody who can offer vertical killer passes like Scholes.

3. Offensively we are way to static. Lukaku isn’t mobile and intelligent enough to move into free spaces. He reacts slowly and his first touch isn’t good enough. Rashford blows hot and cold. In his last games mostly crap attempts to win the game by himself. Martial is our only real talent who can diliver on a permanent basis.

4. Our attitude sucks. It’s sad to see so many players with such a poor winning instinct. If honestly don’t know who to blame. I refuse to accept this is Mourinho, but maybe I’m wrong.....

5. We don’t play as a team. There is no connection betweens our lines. Our defense is about packing players on the right side of the ball. Or offense is about individual attempts to something different. Our build up is way way to slow. Our combinations are predictable. This must be on our manager. Sadly. It’s his job to make us look like a well drilled team, not like a bunch of lost nobody’s.

6. To many passengers. It’s hurts to say but Zlatan needs to step back. Blind and Darmian should be sold. Herrera should also think about his future. Sadly. Smalling is one of my favorites but o’boy maybe it’s time for him to change environment. Rojo needs to step up two levels. Atm we play him because of injuries. I hope he survive to next season b cause based on today’s form he’s awful. Fellaini needs to decide in or out. Holding the club to ransom is pathetic and counter productive. If we offer him £150/w + then he’s an idiot to not accept without hesitation. Isn’t about money then walk away without fuss.

7. Lingard is a proper United lad. Love him from top to bottom. Sometimes he’s frustrating but I’ll take that because of his attitude and passion. Matic is our only cool headed player. Thanks God we bought him. Mata is another great guy who deserves his place in the squad. Martial is our most talanted outfield player together with Pogba. Secure him another five years.

8. Mourinho. We can’t change manager every second season. Accept that. I’m as frustrated as anyone but right now we must hang on to his ideas a couple of more years. The alternative is worse both in short and middle term perspective. What the board can do is to give him order to play more attractive. In short attack more, defend less and accept that a club like United has an obligation at OT to try to dominate games. I don’t know if it’s possible to convince Jose about responsibility to entertain but the board has the power to change his work description. (Is that the right word?)

9. DDG. Way to passive in his own box. Best shot stopper in the world but apart from that.....

10. I wrote this in July. United players are nervous to do mistakes. The majority think defense first. To many don’t express themselves. Why is this? Lindelöf, Smalling, Herrera, Young, Mhiki, Rashford, Lukaku and probably some more players look like a deer in the spotlight at times. Nervous, lame, without confidence. Is it collective? Is it because of the demands? Is it because of our manager ? Demanding supporters... I clearly don’t know,

My advice would be to get a professional psychologist to work on players approach and confidence. Well spent money if you ask me.

Finally Jose Mourinho stop complain about lack of money, fixtures, weather or whatever. Doesn’t help. Shout up. Deliver to your ability. That’s all.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Nobody looks like they care. Even Mourinho doesn't look interested.

Piss poor attitude for the last few weeks.

Yeah, the attitude in general from the bench to the pitch is dismal.
I've said before, I just think Jose hates football nowadays. He doesn't enjoy any of this anymore. That's why I think he's keen on PSG - He knows the only way to ignite his passion again is to completely dominate somewhere again. I think he sees PSG as being an easy gig - they're probably 2-3 players away from winning the CL, 2-3 players Jose would be able to identify quite easily. He could win Ligue 1 with his eyes closed, easily. I think his ego needs massaging and he's realised OT is not the place to do so competing with a seemingly unstoppable arch-nemesis.

 

[AndyJ1985]

Then we should spend big on better players, it's so obvious we need reinforcement but above all we need fighters and consistent players.

We should be doing what Real Madrid, PSG, and CIty do with their hundreds of millions; buy world class players. No idea why we've wasted so much money on shite and average players in the last few years.

 

[NJM78]

Bull, SAF would be flying attacking wise with those options in attack. They are young, and Mou is clueless with improving young players. Hence the 500 million he wants to spend every summer, if he does not get it he sulks and uses the media to pressurise the board. Did it at Chelsea, and played players out of position to prove it to Roman. He is a child.

Nah. I will happily stick with what I said despite your arguments. I don’t particularly care about what Jose did at other clubs and I don’t recall his 500m demands each summer either but I believe Jose had a better squad at Chelsea and Real Madrid than what he has here. Inter debatable. I think he is actually overachieving right now and like I said he doesn’t help himself either.

 

[minoo-utd]

Nobody looks like they care. Even Mourinho doesn't look interested.

Piss poor attitude for the last few weeks.

If the manage doesn't care then he should be gone, if some players don't care then they have to feck off, we are care more than anyone at the club right now and it's really hurting my general mood. But surely the club, the board, the manager and the players will not feel the way we do. Is the solution in bringing an x United player to be manager? Someone who knows the club and the fans? Or it will be a risk? Is it money? Should we spend bigger and wiser? Really tired of this shit for fifth season now.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Its the attitude. Its like losing to City has made this group of players give up in everything.

 

[gulli_G]

Players are mentally weak and some are downright thick. When we went for it in the 2nd half we were better, but the damage was done, apart from some Lingard excellence, we were drab. We rely on individual brilliance to make a difference too much.

Regards to Mourinho his demeanour on the touchline is VanGaalEsque, he needs to show some passion.

 

[The Outsider]

There are a few issues that still need to be sorted out with this team. Despite some of the overreaction on this forum after draws/losses, we are much closer than some people want to admit. The first glaring issue is that there is no link between the midfield and front 3. Today it was Ibra at the #10 who either looks like he came back too early from injury or might just be done at a top level. Last few games it had been Lindgard, who in fairness has performed well with goals and assists. The issue is he usually lays the ball off and spreads it wide. What we need is an Ozil type player who will look to play through balls in to Lukaku and is more of a pass first type player.
Miki
This leads me into my second point which is what to do with Lukaku. Lukaku for me has the same type of play as Chicarito when he played for us. Dangerous finisher with his feet and head, but really only useful around the box. Unless we are creating chances for him, he doesn't offer much; and that has been evident in games where teams sit deep and compress space. He doesn't offer enough in his interplay to be useful. A proper #10 would do wonders for Lukaku and the team. We will be past this rough patch in form soon.

For me offensively you would be best with a front three of Lukaku, Martial and Miki-T with Mata behind to provide the through balls. Agree totally with you on Lukaku, who needs a through ball so he can outpace or overpower the last defender, he is not an all-round striker.

Rashford should be on the bench or loaned out he is being shoe-horned out on the right.

 

[golden_blunder]

I second most suggestions here. Here's one to add to this list:

Brains
We have accrued at United, a number of players who strike me as being quite stupid. Not just in footballing terms, but generally come across as being thick as shit. The following, stand out:

- Smalling
- Jones
- Rojo
- Fellaini
- Rashford
- Lukaku
- Lingard (not in a footballing sense, his off-the-ball movement proves he has a good footballing brain but as a bloke in general? different story)

When your starting 11 contains even a handful of stupid human beings, the chances of stupid mistakes being made increase. We have several first-team players who are not intelligent footballers in the slightest, a few of them in critical positions on the pitch where they're needed to make split-second, game influencing decisions.

Stupid post. There are many examples of thicko players being very good at football

 

[Klean]

For me offensively you would be best with a front three of Lukaku, Martial and Miki-T with Mata behind to provide the through balls. Agree totally with you on Lukaku, who needs a through ball so he can outpace or overpower the last defender, he is not an all-round striker.

Rashford should be on the bench or loaned out he is being shoe-horned out on the right.

I have said in some other threads that my dream signings for the summer are Ozil and Greizeman. I think that Greizeman would be fantastic playing as a second striker (think of Miki at the beginning of the season) playing almost along side the #10 in the half space. This would pin the full back back or create a huge gap that could be expoited with a simple through pass. Keeping the Full back pinned back would let Valencia have free roam on the right to Overlap and put crosses in at will.

I'm not sold on Mata. Great player technically but one poster said he is like a poacher #10. I agree with this, he is brilliant in some sides but I don't think he is a good fit for this. I like the rotation of Martial and Rashford, both offer something different in the LW position. But I agree Rashford should be a game changer off the bench right now.

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

Stupid post. There are many examples of thicko players being very good at football

And many examples of thick players not being very good, too.

 

[Nipower888]

I think our biggest problem is not having any structure in attack. Our plays seem like they just go out and play with no real movement and attack patterns. It feels like we just go out and just cross and cross with occasional play. We need direction in attack. Buy more players wont change that no matter who it is.

 

[golden_blunder]

And many examples of thick players not being very good, too.

It’s still nonsensical

 

[Member 5225]

And why on earth aren't we buying talented strong-minded youngsters like a lot of the top teams have been doing.
Some quality 22-23 year olds that are clearly cut-out to be superstars.

They're not THAT difficult to find (see what Monaco did last season and have done again, look at A.Madrid, Dortmund, even Barca do).

 

[gulli_G]

RashFord needs sometime on the bench like Martial last season. Lingard should be ahead of him.

 

[zing]

The problem is a manager who is past it and is still making signings for a style of football that reached its peak 10 years ago, and has been going downhill since. He thought he could make his tactic work with deadwood that was left by past managers, but that combined with some poor signings(Lukaku, not the kind of striker for a top class club anymore) is costing United.

United's problem is every manager is compounding the poor decisions that started with the last couple of years of Ferguson. Some have made it much worse than others but all have made the same mistake.

May not be a popular opinion, but everyone will be saying it in 3 years time. When the next manager comes in, the squad needs a lot of improvement.

 

[Garethw]

What’s wrong? We’ve appointmented the wrong manager three times in a row.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I think the main issue is that manager and most of starting team are only in their first or second season together. Young players are also inconsistent which is expected. This hurts our attack because Martial/Rashford are 22/20 yo and Lukaku (who is only 24) gets poor service by them. Our attack should get better over time as players get more experience playing together. United needs proper wingers or more forwards to compete with Lukaku for a spot.

On the positive note, not too long ago, Carrick used to be our best CM but thankfully we addressed that issue. Our depth in that area is amazing. Even if Fellaini leaves, we have enough youth to fill the depth.

 

[Offside]

I reckon we’ll never get back to the top as long as we keep getting defensive managers in. We should always be playing attacking football and the shite we have played this season just isn’t us. Results wise we have made good progress but the performances are rubbish.

Ever since Fergie retired we’ve had so many attacking flops here. All United fans care about fundamentally is playing good football and winning the league. Unless it’s a ridiculous imbalance like at Liverpool, the attacking players are the most important and every single one of them is underperforming.

Before the City game we weren’t even that far off yet everyone was moaning because their football was on a different planet.

For a club that has witnessed so much astonishing attacking football we will always have a problem when we aren’t even attempting to play it. It’s in our DNA.

 

[Bojan11]

I reckon we’ll never get back to the top as long as we keep getting defensive managers in. We should always be playing attacking football and the shite we have played this season just isn’t us. Results wise we have made good progress but the performances are rubbish.

Ever since Fergie retired we’ve had so many attacking flops here. All United fans care about fundamentally is playing good football and winning the league. Unless it’s a ridiculous imbalance like at Liverpool, the attacking players are the most important and every single one of them is underperforming.

Before the City game we weren’t even that far off yet everyone was moaning because their football was on a different planet.

For a club that has witnessed so much astonishing attacking football we will always have a problem when we aren’t even attempting to play it. It’s in our DNA.

Our attackers are not as good as people think they are. How many would get in the City, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool or Chelsea starting 11s? None.

This is my issue with Jose as he should have addressed that.

 

[Offside]

Our attackers are not as good as people think they are. How many would get in the City, Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool or Chelsea starting 11s? None.

This is my issue with Jose as he should have addressed that.

Well you say that but we only go on their form for us. Pogba came with the reputation as one of the worlds best and he just leaves a lot to be desired. Martial and Rashford could be as good as Sterling and Sane with the right manager. Mkhitaryan should be a class player as he previously has been. Our attack is underperforming massively.

 

[Josep Dowling]

No RW.

A striker who’s strength is crosses into the box. We don’t play like that.

A lack of pace in attacking.

Our two LW are not really wingers and can’t cross.

Paying mediocre players stupid salaries.

The transfer market means we can no longer bully Premier League clubs into to purchasing their best players.

Keeping hold of players who have shown over two years they are not good enough. Darmian, Blind, Fellaini, Herrera, Shaw.