As the title says, we have played better but we are still crap. I will elaborate.
Midfield- Groot, Matic and Pogba.
Groot has done well, but it has had nothing to do with his midfield play. He has basically had success playing as a third CB. Once he gets further forwards his limitations are obvious and there for all to see. Lack of any pace at all and no vision for a quick pass forwards.
Matic. Matic is very poor and has been for some time. Like Groot he has no second gear and he runs with the ball to close to his feet and keeps getting dispossessed. His lack of pace leads to why he got sent off.
Pogba. He has the talent, and unlike the other two he does have a second gear. He just keeps choosing not to use it. Time and time again on Saturday he lost possession and slowed down some of our counter attacks.
Up front- Sanchez. Lukaku and Lingard
Sanchez. Utter crap. Every defender in the league knows how to deal with him because he cuts in every time.
Lukaku. I feel sorry for him to be fair because we do not play to his strengths like the Belgians do, but he still needs to start winning these 50/50 balls from the defence and Dave.
Lingard. Making good runs and good movement is not enough if you are not doing anything productive.
Long way to go before I become less grumpy.
Better but still crap
posted on 17/9/18
Putting the inaccuracies of the sentence to one side I don't think he's ever going to live up to the Sanchez of two years ago.
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It certainly does not look so.
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Mourinho can be blamed for many things but his consistent giving away of the ball when under no pressure is real laziness, there were signs of this in his last 12 months at Arsenal.
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Indeed there was. I was not getting giddy at all over us signing him.
posted on 17/9/18
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 2 hours, 37 minutes ago
Ludicrous post
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He played the DM role to perfection really
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he did for the fiorst half. For the second he dropped further and further back and was essentially a third CB.
I would normally say 'no idea how you couldn't see that' but as it is you, then I know fully well why you can't.
Football just isn't your game mate.
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Then it also isn't the pundits, manager or players' game, as they all also clearly knew we weren't playing three CBs.
I'll give you a clue how to spot when we do play with 3 CBs.... they'll be in a line, with one moving to the right, one moving to the left and one staying in the middle.
You seemed to be confusing that with the team compacting when we were under the kosh.
posted on 17/9/18
Then it also isn't the pundits, manager or players' game, as they all also clearly knew we weren't playing three CBs.
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The pundit on our game (Danny Higginbotham) alluded to Fellaini dropping back a s a third CB on more than one occasion as did the two Robbies in their half time analysis.
They highlighted it very well actually.
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I'll give you a clue how to spot when we do play with 3 CBs
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Get over yourself, you are not know on here for having much of a clue about football.
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You seemed to be confusing that with the team compacting when we were under the kosh.
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Not at all. It is clear to me the difference between where Fellaini plays and where Matic plays in this position.
posted on 17/9/18
The pundit on our game (Danny Higginbotham) alluded to Fellaini dropping back a s a third CB on more than one occasion as did the two Robbies in their half time analysis.
They highlighted it very well actually.
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I guess that is why you are parroting it then... Try having your own opinion. Even more laughable if they were saying it at half time
PS- very, very funny your reaction to anyone daring to question you... Your place on the spectrum is well and truly cemented.
posted on 17/9/18
I guess that is why you are parroting it then
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As usual you guess wrong.
Maybe you should just shut up until you learn about football.
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Even more laughable if they were saying it at half time
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Laughable because it doesn't pander to your version of events.
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PS- very, very funny your reaction to anyone daring to question you.
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But not as funny as you making a right putz of yourself again.
posted on 17/9/18
Pogba. He has the talent, and unlike the other two he does have a second gear. He just keeps choosing not to use it. Time and time again on Saturday he lost possession and slowed down some of our counter attacks.
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I'm unsure whether this is the issue or it's the movement from our attackers that is the problem.
You watch him for France and there is no issue of him holding onto ball and slowing attacks down. Greizman and Mbappe make the runs and he finds them time and time again.
Contrast that with one particular moment on Saturday at 2-1. A counter-attack, Pogba has the ball in the centre. Lukaku to the right is marked, and Martial is jogging at a snail's pace down the left to support him. Pogba proceeds to go himself and loses the ball. It's quite typical of a United counter-attack nowadays - completely toothless. Easy to blame Pogba in that situation but there isn't much else he can do.
And speaking of Martial, his cameo on Saturday worried me a little. Looked completely shot of confidence, somewhat disinterested and if I'm honest slightly on the chubby side.
posted on 17/9/18
Contrast that with one particular moment on Saturday at 2-1. A counter-attack, Pogba has the ball in the centre. Lukaku to the right is marked, and Martial is jogging at a snail's pace down the left to support him.
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I remember that bit, but there was one moment earlier when Martial had made a run and Pogba ignored him and lost possession.
Maybe it is just me, but Martial and Pogba look like they never train together.
One of the things I often lay at Pogba is he doesn't always see what is going on over his left shoulder, which is generally where Sanchez or Martial are.
Especially for shorter balls. For long balls he sees it.
posted on 17/9/18
Fair.
But I really don't think he is the reason for our slow counter-attacks. As a team it's just something we don't seem to be able to do.
posted on 17/9/18
But I really don't think he is the reason for our slow counter-attacks.
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It isn't all down to him for sure.
Oh and I completely agree with this bit. Especially the disinterested bit.
'And speaking of Martial, his cameo on Saturday worried me a little. Looked completely shot of confidence, somewhat disinterested and if I'm honest slightly on the chubby side'.
posted on 17/9/18
The main issue for me is that we do set up for the counter a lot of the time but we're actually not very good at it. For me it's down to a couple if things
1. We're just not very good at finishing off the counter attack in terms if final ball/decision making.
2. This is just a hunch but I feel when we're countering that we seem to still be a bit too rigid in how we do it. I don't feel we fully commit to it and that could maybe be because we're thinking of the shape we're going to drop back into if we lose the ball.
Under Jose our better performances IMO came in his first season during that run we kept drawing games even when well on top. The 4123 formation seemed to work well with 2 AMs in front of the 'sitter'. Pretty similar to Saturday really but with a more progressive midfielder than Matic in the two in a more advanced midfield role.
To be fair Fellaini has played well these last two games but I'm hoping it was more a hourses for courses thing (which I accept) rather than a regular thing.
I'd actually quite likr to see us with a Herrera, Fred, Pogba three as I think that would offer a bit of bite and creativity in midfield.