De Gea - 6
Nothing to do for the second successive game. Promising signs
Valencia - 6
Decent enough defensively. Pretty wasteful going forward.
Bailly & Jones - 7.5
Another good performance. Abraham was a real handful but they dealt with him well. This looks a pretty good partnership. Of course we are all awaiting Jones' next injury though.
Blind - 6.5
Solid
Matic - 7.5
Another really solid, assured performance. Was against this signing but he looks like he might be really important for us this season.
Pogba - 7
Wasn't up to much until the last 10 minutes, when he came alive. Before that I thought he struggled. Great finish for the goal though.
Mkhi - 5
Was hoping he would build on last week but he was pretty anonymous and poor in possession. Need some consistency from him.
Mata - 6.5
As usual his movement was good, but along with Mkhi he struggled to break down a tight Swansea defence.
Rashford - 6.5
Busy but pretty wasteful. Should have buried that chance. I also thought the crowd might have been getting to him a bit. He's normally cool as a cucumber but probably hasn't experienced being singled out like that before, and seemed to be getting a bit frustrated. Learning curve I guess.
Lukaku - 6.5
Took his goal well but anonymous otherwise. All round play leaves a lot to be desired.
Martial - 7.5. Needs to be starting now.
Fellaini - 6.
Herrera - n/a.
Ratings
posted on 19/8/17
B-L
You do know that Lukaku is a striker, yes?
He should be covering the least ground. I saw him make plenty of runs today.
posted on 19/8/17
comment by Bailly_Lindelof_ (U16290)
posted 3 minutes ago
Not sure what was wrong with Lukaku's work ethic today. Perhaps you can explain it to me, B_L
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I don't have the stats for today but against West Ham, he covered the least ground and made the least number of sprints out of the starting outfield players.
Granted its Sky Sports analysis, but after both games the pundits highlighted his lack of off the ball movement at times.
I'm not getting on Lukaku's back, I'm just saying he has areas he can improve to become a better player. He's only 24 so why not.
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Fair enough. I'd like to think at 24 he can improve his game. If he can get some good coaching more sprinting in particular would create space, so long as he doesn't spend too much time tracking back as Rooney used to (it's a mixed blessing, but we want Lukaku in and around the box) or pulling a hamstring. There's no-one else in the squad who is an out-and-out striker.
posted on 19/8/17
VC
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Think if you put Herrera in CM with Matic and Pogba we lose a lot of creativity
posted on 19/8/17
SLM
We have created more in two games once Mata has come off.
It is all about the right balance.
posted on 19/8/17
B-L
You do know that Lukaku is a striker, yes?
He should be covering the least ground. I saw him make plenty of runs today.
__________________
Says who? Surely a striker should be making as many if not more sprints than CBs and even CMs.
He's just a bit static in some attacks or a bit slow to make his move when we are in transition.
posted on 19/8/17
comment by -bloodred- (U1222)
posted 10 minutes ago
comment by Dunc (U11713)
posted 27 minutes ago
Mkhi - 5
Was hoping he would build on last week but he was pretty anonymous and poor in possession. Need some consistency from him.
Awful 2 assists again.... sell him
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*rolls eyes
What happened to you Dunc? Turned into such a melodramatic drama queen recently.
Regarding Mkhi, didn't actually notice his assist for Pogba's. Maybe deserves a bit higher on reflection. Still I thought he was poor for 80 mins. And him losing the ball was more to do with his decision making than anything.
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That's what happens though when you have a player who tries to create, he is always gonna give possession away more than someone who keeps it safe.
posted on 19/8/17
Our transition was very slow for 80 minutes today though.
posted on 19/8/17
I think that's down to swansea though vc, they worked hard and pressed us well today
posted on 19/8/17
comment by Dunc (U11713)
posted 1 hour, 36 minutes ago
Mkhi - 5
Was hoping he would build on last week but he was pretty anonymous and poor in possession. Need some consistency from him.
Awful 2 assists again.... sell him
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There's no denying he was poor for most of the game.
That doesn't mean anyone is advocating selling him; hell, I'd even keep picking him. But he was poor across the ninety minutes once again.
The OP's ratings are pretty sound. I'd bring Rashford and Pogba up a half mark maybe, but they're good marks.
posted on 20/8/17
And how many consecutive MOTM appearances does Matic need to rack up before Stretty elevates him from his "dross" category to his next up "world class" category?