So that’s two games in a row

I'd quite like to see Fred against Arsenal with Herrera dropping back. Matic plays a lot of games so he could do with the break. Arsenal are also pretty open at home so Fred, if he plays well, could be a key player with his willingness to carry the ball and play the ball forward.

comment by merrysupersteve - Jose'd he wouldn't be our Special One? (U1132)
posted 53 minutes ago

Sorry, I'm not going with the narrative. I named those games because I thought we were no better in those games than we were under Jose, performance wise, nor effort wise.

Never worry though, I was wrong and we've actually been playing well and it's not at all similar to under Jose
==============

So performance wise we've not only won all of those games, but looked a much bigger threat going forwards and have scored more goals, more consistently, than previously. I'm not sure on the specific chance-making stats, but I'd be willing to bet we've made a lot more chances under Ole than Mourinho.

Effort-wise we've gone from being the team that runs the least to being in and around the top 5.

None of your two main claims are supportable.

Yes, we didn't see the game out yesterday as comfortably as we might. I thought Rashford was excellent, but towards the end of the game made some poor choices (attempting to dribble or shoot rather than retain possession). Some of the players looked very leggy by the end (understandable given the extra running the players are now doing), and I didn't think Ole's subs were quite right.

But to say the players are 'lazy', repeatedly, is I'm afraid... lazy (and again, not supported by any of the evidence).

Fred hasn't had a good start by any means, but he's shown flashes that suggest he could become a good player for us. This time last year Lindelof looked like a bit of a liability and now he's (deservedly) considered our best CB by many. Hopefully Fred can progress over time too

Fred doesn't seem to have a understanding with the others in the side. He presses too high up and likes to make runs forwards. With our DM being slow and our defence a shambles, that does leave our team exposed.

comment by merrysupersteve - Jose'd he wouldn't be our Special One? (U1132)
posted 2 hours, 39 minutes ago
But would you agree that we made a comfortable situation a debacle yesterday, and that is something that is more a mental (lazy imo) than anything? The lack of fitness is unforgivable imo, but again, I'd put that on the players as much, of not moreso, than the coaches. There aren't children and should be well aware of what it takes to be fit. It's literally their job
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This is booollocks, to be honest. If your training sessions and the way you play in matches doesn’t condition your squad to play at a high intensity of course it’s the fault of the coaches.

Pochettino went into Spurs and started doing double training sessions. Had his team playing at a high intensity in each game. And it took a while for his team to see the fruits of their labour when it came to the condition of the squad.

I said to TRS last week that the fitness of this team will start to show up in games and we’ll keep seeing drop offs late in games, and people will start to criticise the coach and the players for this and how we will start to see out games.

Only took a week to prove my point.

I've been criticising the players for a long time in terms of doing the bare minimum, under multiple managers. Feel free to give yourself a pat on the back but if we'd produced the string of performances that we've produced under Ole in 2019, I wonder if it would just be due to tiredness?

As for the claims that our running stats are in the top 5 in the league since Ole came in, I'd like to see stats to back that up. And I know from watching our last 5 games that we aren't creating any more chances than under Jose. Statistics would back that up I'm sure. Again feel free to provide a link

comment by merrysupersteve - Jose'd he wouldn't be our Special One? (U1132)
posted 23 minutes ago

I've been criticising the players for a long time in terms of doing the bare minimum, under multiple managers. Feel free to give yourself a pat on the back but if we'd produced the string of performances that we've produced under Ole in 2019, I wonder if it would just be due to tiredness?

As for the claims that our running stats are in the top 5 in the league since Ole came in, I'd like to see stats to back that up. And I know from watching our last 5 games that we aren't creating any more chances than under Jose. Statistics would back that up I'm sure. Again feel free to provide a link
=============

Ok...

1) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6544183/How-stats-Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-improved-Manchester-United.html

2) https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/manchester-united-firsts-under-ole-gunnar-solskjaer/

(This has some individual player stats which are quite telling)

3) Distance covered under Mourinho: https://www.premierleague.com/news/510837

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-news-stats-arsenal-15495673

4) "Consider the tracking data that shows the distance covered by the players and the number of high-intensity sprints that they make. It has been startlingly low all season under Mourinho.

United were outrun by their opponents in 16 of their first 17 Premier League games this season with the only exception being the 160 extra metres that they covered against Fulham. This was very different. By half-time, United had outrun Cardiff by more than two kilometres. By the final whistle, the gulf was more than five kilometres. Astonishing.

As for sprints, United had made fewer of those than their opponents in 15 of the previous 17 games this season. This time they made 119 sprints to Cardiff's 99. Again, it is a difference that tells a tale."

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11589528/manchester-united-thrash-cardiff-in-ole-gunnar-solskjaer8217s-first-game

comment by merrysupersteve - Jose'd he wouldn't be our Special One? (U1132)
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
I've been criticising the players for a long time in terms of doing the bare minimum, under multiple managers. Feel free to give yourself a pat on the back but if we'd produced the string of performances that we've produced under Ole in 2019, I wonder if it would just be due to tiredness?

As for the claims that our running stats are in the top 5 in the league since Ole came in, I'd like to see stats to back that up. And I know from watching our last 5 games that we aren't creating any more chances than under Jose. Statistics would back that up I'm sure. Again feel free to provide a link
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you ok??? You needed statistics to show you we are attacking more effectively??

You have a issues. Serious ones.

No need to get personal lad. But yes, I think statistics would back up what I have seen - that we haven't played at all well since the turn of the year. Have you watched the games? Have you enjoyed our football? Which has been your favourite? There are obviously plenty of highlights from recent games....

Even when I did ask for links, the ones that were provided were to the first 3 games, against the 3 most out of form teams in the league and before the 5 games we've played in 2019...

comment by merrysupersteve - Jose'd he wouldn't be our Special One? (U1132)
posted 2 hours, 47 minutes ago

No need to get personal lad. But yes, I think statistics would back up what I have seen - that we haven't played at all well since the turn of the year. Have you watched the games? Have you enjoyed our football? Which has been your favourite? There are obviously plenty of highlights from recent games....

Even when I did ask for links, the ones that were provided were to the first 3 games, against the 3 most out of form teams in the league and before the 5 games we've played in 2019...
===============

Only because with a 5-10 minute search, I'm unable to actually find any relevant data on the most recent games. I'm sure it's available somewhere, but I couldn't find it unfortunately.

If you think we've been no better in the last 3 games I can't help you. The first half against Spurs was a top performance (and we had a couple of excellent chances in the second half, too), and we look much more threatening and meaningful going forward. There's some frailty in defence, and clearly some fatigue later on in games, but personally I've much preferred watching us since Ole took over, including the last few games.

Highlights would be the Spurs first half definitely, some of the play in the first half against Brighton (the link up and finish for Rashford's goal was excellent) and the general manner of our attacking play.

We aren't going to stick 4 past the opposition every weekend. Football doesn't work like that. Sometimes we're going to grind past a team 2-0 or 2-1. That happened plenty under Fergie. It happened constantly under Mourinho.

So far under Ole we've seen some brilliant attacking stuff with plenty of goals, and we've seen some good stuff against stubborn teams where we've still done more than enough to win the games that weeks before we would have drawn or lost.