AVB being out of position is as a result of him always having to cover Lindeloff who in turn has to cover Maguire when he is one on one against a player. The truth is lindeloff needs to be replaced with ANOTHER 80 million defender, preferably one with pace to provide balance or get a stay at home defensive midfielder who turns to a central defender when defending.
As Everyone said, we had 4 positions of need. RW, LB, CB, DM. NONE has been filled. Because of that, we cannot even let James go on loan and see if he can find a spark, the team is overcompensating in almost every position.
Also Pogba is becoming Marmite and I am not a fan, maybe others are. You can afford carelessness in attack, You can't at the heart of Midfield. He needs to get his act together, He is meant to be WORLD CLASS.
In the next 5 games we will finally get our legs and grind out results, maybe VDB steps up and the noises quiet down but lets not forget we are quietly having the worst transfer window ever which for United is very hard to do.
The fitness issue is the one which is irritating me the most at the moment. We are off the pace and looked finished after 70 minutes vs Brighton. Hopefully this is because of the lack of pre-season, but we looked short physically after lockdown.
Our passing will improve as fitness improves (hopefully). However, VDB should have been in instead of Pogba as he looks way off it.
Also Pogba is becoming Marmite
i like marmite.
we are quietly having the worst transfer window ever
summer 2009 says hi.
I dont think any utd fan has said pogba is world class in his entire 4 year stay. He is poor. he plays well 2 times in 10 games and never loses his place.
Lindelöf is horrendous.
Agree with most of that VC. Would like to see Pogba benched for VDB. I also like to see McT given a few games at DM alongside those two.
The passing was shockingly bad against Brighton it would be interesting to see the pass completion rates for each player.
Pogba did appear to struggle more than most and it got to a stage where his looked visibly frustrated that nothing was going right for him. I was glad as much for his sake when ole hooked him. He could do with a rest in the upcoming cup game.
VC is right about the quick passing because the rare times it was done on Saturday we cut through Brighton like butter
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
The other thing I missed out on and will touch.
We see Ole fixated on his screen while the game is going on just like we used to see LVG scribbling in hos note book.
But what we don't see and didn't with LVG either are tactical improvements on what has gone before.
For example how did he not see the same player have five pops at goal, all good scoring chances, from pretty much an identical position of being un marked and not be able to do anything about it.
I can only assume he was watching another game.
Robbie Mustoe said on NBC Sports before the kick off v Palace that OGS has been badly let down by the Manchester United Board.
I agree with this. After reaching 3rd the squad should have seen at a minimum four new signings come in that were better options than what we already had for the squad. We got one with no others in sight with one week to go in the window.
-/
In the case we waste the whole summer going after sancho and losing out, is that the club, or is it ole’s call? Perhaps he has been let down, but we should have moved on from sancho ages ago.
AVB being out of position is as a result of him always having to cover Lindeloff who in turn has to cover Maguire when he is one on one against a player.
-----------------------
Dont buy this. He was caught out the same way at least 3 times when we had 3 CBs on the pitch, when there was absolutely no reason for him to be as narrow as he was.
I just really don't think he is a very good defender.
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
.....................
This isn't the case. Time and time again there were options on, especially from Martial and Greenwood.
We either held on to the ball to long and players became offside, (Rashers) or we tried a ridiculous through ball that was easily intercepted.
For all we hear of Maguire and Lindelof lacking pace I can't remember many occasions where we've been caught out because of it. That suggests to me we defend quite deep which in turn leaves gaps between the midfield and defence or attack and midfield.
We could really do with one pacy CB and push up the pitch a bit more if we're looking to dominate teams now rather than sit and counter.
I agree with the passing it was poor all round for the most part. Even the simple stuff was poor. We just need to be quicker and sharper in that department. When we do get it right though we go through teams quite easily and that is pretty frustrating.
I'd play Pogba this midweek if possible to try and get him up to speed. Play him further forward so he doesn't have as much defensive responsibility. A diamond with Fred, McT and VDB would do to give them all game time.
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 minutes ago
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to see Matic/McT holding, VDB a bit further forwards, then Bruno playing the no.10 role. If the DM keeps it simple and gets the ball to VDB, I think that he would have the intelligence and movement to get attacks moving.
comment by Ole-dirty-baztard (U19119)
posted 28 seconds ago
Robbie Mustoe said on NBC Sports before the kick off v Palace that OGS has been badly let down by the Manchester United Board.
I agree with this. After reaching 3rd the squad should have seen at a minimum four new signings come in that were better options than what we already had for the squad. We got one with no others in sight with one week to go in the window.
-/
In the case we waste the whole summer going after sancho and losing out, is that the club, or is it ole’s call? Perhaps he has been let down, but we should have moved on from sancho ages ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Baz as it's not the first time weve seen transfer windows like this I dont see how ole could take any blame should the sancho deal not happen
It's a shame Pogba isn't left sided as then we could play him on the right and he could cut in and create from there.
comment by Elvis: King of Cult (U7425)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 minutes ago
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to see Matic/McT holding, VDB a bit further forwards, then Bruno playing the no.10 role. If the DM keeps it simple and gets the ball to VDB, I think that he would have the intelligence and movement to get attacks moving.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He seems intelligent and full of ideas in and around the box. I'm unsure how those risks translate to the centre of the park but it'd be worth a go.
comment by Roy's Keane (U11635)
posted 11 minutes ago
The passing was shockingly bad against Brighton it would be interesting to see the pass completion rates for each player.
Pogba did appear to struggle more than most and it got to a stage where his looked visibly frustrated that nothing was going right for him. I was glad as much for his sake when ole hooked him. He could do with a rest in the upcoming cup game.
VC is right about the quick passing because the rare times it was done on Saturday we cut through Brighton like butter
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pass completion rates were good, if not spectacular, at 84%. We’ve averaged across our two games 85.6%, which puts us 6th in the league.
It isn’t completing passes that’s an issue, it’s how quickly we’ve been releasing the ball. The players aren’t physically or mentally up to speed yet; movement is sluggish, players aren’t finding space, and those in possession are dawdling. All of that will improve in the weeks to come, guaranteed.
We were second to every second ball on Saturday. That tells a story in itself. Brighton made 14 interceptions, which is incredibly high, and completed 20 dribbles to our 13. We just aren’t at the races yet.
VC I think you're right about most of these things. I'd only qualify your points insofar as I think all of these real shortcomings and weaknesses are amplified by the temporary deficit in fitness / sharpness versus the teams we're facing. We've seen these issues before, but when the team was on song they were much more marginal problems that didn't crop up all that often. Lindelof had good games or had games with the odd lapse that didn't cost us.
Obviously there's room for improvement in personnel and collective execution though.
On 4-2-3-1 I tend to agree. I've never liked the formation and I don't think it will ever enable Pogba to be a consistent star in the team. And obviously you're right about the lack of recruitment this window.
As for Lindelof, I’ll just add that according to whoscored.com he:
- made as many interceptions as anyone else on the pitch (3)
- made as many blocks as anyone else on the pitch (1)
- made a game high number of clearances (8)
- completed 89.1% of his passes
- didn’t lose possession once, and
- committed zero fouls
I would give Pogba a rest, and we can see how VDB does, and Pogba can come back in better shape.
Lindelof has had some very strong games, but makes point costing howlers. It's frustrating, because there is a good CB in there.
His game against Saints (2-2) was the perfect example... He had a fantastic game, he was everywhere... positioning superb, was strong and vocal in the box and passed his way out on several occasions... then a last minute brain fart led to their equaliser.
On 4-2-3-1 I tend to agree. I've never liked the formation and I don't think it will ever enable Pogba to be a consistent star in the team.
.................
it doesn't help either defensively or offensively. In that good run of results after the lock down we looked good when Pogba was pushed forward from the two. Whether by design or him doing that himself.
Pogba should not be one of our players who is collecting a ball from the defence around our penalty area.
Which brings me onto the point I did forget to put in the OP.
Playing out from the back.
You do not have to play out from the back all the time. It invites pressure you don't need especially late in games if you are hanging on.
It is better to lose possession down the other end of the field than it is your end. Going long is not a bad thing. Liverpool and Leicester do it to great success.
A well balanced article, good read.
Regarding the passing, I am glad you pointed this out, our passing is diabolical. The manager here must take blame because look at what the Leeds manager is doing with inferior players. I don't want to turn this into Ole in or out, however, put simply, this manager for me has taken us as far as he can go. He has been with these players now long enough for us to see his style of play, to date I don't know what our style of play is.
Agree with every point in the OP. I foresee an absolutely catastrophic season.
Unforgivable that we haven't strengthened. We were barely good enough for top four last time out.
Our defence is an absolute shambles.
On a positive note, we will certainly have some exciting games because our front four can score against anyone. However, the back four plus Pogba and Matic/Fred/McSauce in a two is absolute trash.
Lack of signings suggests to me that the board are taking advantage of having a Yes Man at the helm.
The Formation 4-2-3-1. I hate it, we can't play it, we don't have the right personnel to play it, so stop persevering with it.
—————
Agree with that, not sure why Ole keeps persisting with this formation, it doesn’t make us defensively solid, it limits one of our attacking midfielders to a defensive role which doesn’t suit him, and we don’t have good enough attacking fullbacks or wingers to stretch oppositions.
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My Take So Far
Page 1 of 6
6
posted on 28/9/20
AVB being out of position is as a result of him always having to cover Lindeloff who in turn has to cover Maguire when he is one on one against a player. The truth is lindeloff needs to be replaced with ANOTHER 80 million defender, preferably one with pace to provide balance or get a stay at home defensive midfielder who turns to a central defender when defending.
As Everyone said, we had 4 positions of need. RW, LB, CB, DM. NONE has been filled. Because of that, we cannot even let James go on loan and see if he can find a spark, the team is overcompensating in almost every position.
Also Pogba is becoming Marmite and I am not a fan, maybe others are. You can afford carelessness in attack, You can't at the heart of Midfield. He needs to get his act together, He is meant to be WORLD CLASS.
In the next 5 games we will finally get our legs and grind out results, maybe VDB steps up and the noises quiet down but lets not forget we are quietly having the worst transfer window ever which for United is very hard to do.
posted on 28/9/20
The fitness issue is the one which is irritating me the most at the moment. We are off the pace and looked finished after 70 minutes vs Brighton. Hopefully this is because of the lack of pre-season, but we looked short physically after lockdown.
Our passing will improve as fitness improves (hopefully). However, VDB should have been in instead of Pogba as he looks way off it.
posted on 28/9/20
Also Pogba is becoming Marmite
i like marmite.
we are quietly having the worst transfer window ever
summer 2009 says hi.
posted on 28/9/20
I dont think any utd fan has said pogba is world class in his entire 4 year stay. He is poor. he plays well 2 times in 10 games and never loses his place.
Lindelöf is horrendous.
posted on 28/9/20
Agree with most of that VC. Would like to see Pogba benched for VDB. I also like to see McT given a few games at DM alongside those two.
posted on 28/9/20
The passing was shockingly bad against Brighton it would be interesting to see the pass completion rates for each player.
Pogba did appear to struggle more than most and it got to a stage where his looked visibly frustrated that nothing was going right for him. I was glad as much for his sake when ole hooked him. He could do with a rest in the upcoming cup game.
VC is right about the quick passing because the rare times it was done on Saturday we cut through Brighton like butter
posted on 28/9/20
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
posted on 28/9/20
The other thing I missed out on and will touch.
We see Ole fixated on his screen while the game is going on just like we used to see LVG scribbling in hos note book.
But what we don't see and didn't with LVG either are tactical improvements on what has gone before.
For example how did he not see the same player have five pops at goal, all good scoring chances, from pretty much an identical position of being un marked and not be able to do anything about it.
I can only assume he was watching another game.
posted on 28/9/20
Robbie Mustoe said on NBC Sports before the kick off v Palace that OGS has been badly let down by the Manchester United Board.
I agree with this. After reaching 3rd the squad should have seen at a minimum four new signings come in that were better options than what we already had for the squad. We got one with no others in sight with one week to go in the window.
-/
In the case we waste the whole summer going after sancho and losing out, is that the club, or is it ole’s call? Perhaps he has been let down, but we should have moved on from sancho ages ago.
posted on 28/9/20
AVB being out of position is as a result of him always having to cover Lindeloff who in turn has to cover Maguire when he is one on one against a player.
-----------------------
Dont buy this. He was caught out the same way at least 3 times when we had 3 CBs on the pitch, when there was absolutely no reason for him to be as narrow as he was.
I just really don't think he is a very good defender.
posted on 28/9/20
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
.....................
This isn't the case. Time and time again there were options on, especially from Martial and Greenwood.
We either held on to the ball to long and players became offside, (Rashers) or we tried a ridiculous through ball that was easily intercepted.
posted on 28/9/20
For all we hear of Maguire and Lindelof lacking pace I can't remember many occasions where we've been caught out because of it. That suggests to me we defend quite deep which in turn leaves gaps between the midfield and defence or attack and midfield.
We could really do with one pacy CB and push up the pitch a bit more if we're looking to dominate teams now rather than sit and counter.
I agree with the passing it was poor all round for the most part. Even the simple stuff was poor. We just need to be quicker and sharper in that department. When we do get it right though we go through teams quite easily and that is pretty frustrating.
I'd play Pogba this midweek if possible to try and get him up to speed. Play him further forward so he doesn't have as much defensive responsibility. A diamond with Fred, McT and VDB would do to give them all game time.
posted on 28/9/20
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 minutes ago
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to see Matic/McT holding, VDB a bit further forwards, then Bruno playing the no.10 role. If the DM keeps it simple and gets the ball to VDB, I think that he would have the intelligence and movement to get attacks moving.
posted on 28/9/20
comment by Ole-dirty-baztard (U19119)
posted 28 seconds ago
Robbie Mustoe said on NBC Sports before the kick off v Palace that OGS has been badly let down by the Manchester United Board.
I agree with this. After reaching 3rd the squad should have seen at a minimum four new signings come in that were better options than what we already had for the squad. We got one with no others in sight with one week to go in the window.
-/
In the case we waste the whole summer going after sancho and losing out, is that the club, or is it ole’s call? Perhaps he has been let down, but we should have moved on from sancho ages ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Baz as it's not the first time weve seen transfer windows like this I dont see how ole could take any blame should the sancho deal not happen
posted on 28/9/20
It's a shame Pogba isn't left sided as then we could play him on the right and he could cut in and create from there.
posted on 28/9/20
comment by Elvis: King of Cult (U7425)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Busby (U19985)
posted 2 minutes ago
Think the movement is a bigger issue than the passing. The defence and CM are too often left with no options to pass to.
The gap between defence/midfield and midfield/attack is too big.
Maybe the fitness is linked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I'd like to see Matic/McT holding, VDB a bit further forwards, then Bruno playing the no.10 role. If the DM keeps it simple and gets the ball to VDB, I think that he would have the intelligence and movement to get attacks moving.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
He seems intelligent and full of ideas in and around the box. I'm unsure how those risks translate to the centre of the park but it'd be worth a go.
posted on 28/9/20
comment by Roy's Keane (U11635)
posted 11 minutes ago
The passing was shockingly bad against Brighton it would be interesting to see the pass completion rates for each player.
Pogba did appear to struggle more than most and it got to a stage where his looked visibly frustrated that nothing was going right for him. I was glad as much for his sake when ole hooked him. He could do with a rest in the upcoming cup game.
VC is right about the quick passing because the rare times it was done on Saturday we cut through Brighton like butter
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pass completion rates were good, if not spectacular, at 84%. We’ve averaged across our two games 85.6%, which puts us 6th in the league.
It isn’t completing passes that’s an issue, it’s how quickly we’ve been releasing the ball. The players aren’t physically or mentally up to speed yet; movement is sluggish, players aren’t finding space, and those in possession are dawdling. All of that will improve in the weeks to come, guaranteed.
We were second to every second ball on Saturday. That tells a story in itself. Brighton made 14 interceptions, which is incredibly high, and completed 20 dribbles to our 13. We just aren’t at the races yet.
posted on 28/9/20
VC I think you're right about most of these things. I'd only qualify your points insofar as I think all of these real shortcomings and weaknesses are amplified by the temporary deficit in fitness / sharpness versus the teams we're facing. We've seen these issues before, but when the team was on song they were much more marginal problems that didn't crop up all that often. Lindelof had good games or had games with the odd lapse that didn't cost us.
Obviously there's room for improvement in personnel and collective execution though.
On 4-2-3-1 I tend to agree. I've never liked the formation and I don't think it will ever enable Pogba to be a consistent star in the team. And obviously you're right about the lack of recruitment this window.
posted on 28/9/20
As for Lindelof, I’ll just add that according to whoscored.com he:
- made as many interceptions as anyone else on the pitch (3)
- made as many blocks as anyone else on the pitch (1)
- made a game high number of clearances (8)
- completed 89.1% of his passes
- didn’t lose possession once, and
- committed zero fouls
posted on 28/9/20
I would give Pogba a rest, and we can see how VDB does, and Pogba can come back in better shape.
posted on 28/9/20
Lindelof has had some very strong games, but makes point costing howlers. It's frustrating, because there is a good CB in there.
His game against Saints (2-2) was the perfect example... He had a fantastic game, he was everywhere... positioning superb, was strong and vocal in the box and passed his way out on several occasions... then a last minute brain fart led to their equaliser.
posted on 28/9/20
On 4-2-3-1 I tend to agree. I've never liked the formation and I don't think it will ever enable Pogba to be a consistent star in the team.
.................
it doesn't help either defensively or offensively. In that good run of results after the lock down we looked good when Pogba was pushed forward from the two. Whether by design or him doing that himself.
Pogba should not be one of our players who is collecting a ball from the defence around our penalty area.
Which brings me onto the point I did forget to put in the OP.
Playing out from the back.
You do not have to play out from the back all the time. It invites pressure you don't need especially late in games if you are hanging on.
It is better to lose possession down the other end of the field than it is your end. Going long is not a bad thing. Liverpool and Leicester do it to great success.
posted on 28/9/20
A well balanced article, good read.
Regarding the passing, I am glad you pointed this out, our passing is diabolical. The manager here must take blame because look at what the Leeds manager is doing with inferior players. I don't want to turn this into Ole in or out, however, put simply, this manager for me has taken us as far as he can go. He has been with these players now long enough for us to see his style of play, to date I don't know what our style of play is.
posted on 28/9/20
Agree with every point in the OP. I foresee an absolutely catastrophic season.
Unforgivable that we haven't strengthened. We were barely good enough for top four last time out.
Our defence is an absolute shambles.
On a positive note, we will certainly have some exciting games because our front four can score against anyone. However, the back four plus Pogba and Matic/Fred/McSauce in a two is absolute trash.
Lack of signings suggests to me that the board are taking advantage of having a Yes Man at the helm.
posted on 28/9/20
The Formation 4-2-3-1. I hate it, we can't play it, we don't have the right personnel to play it, so stop persevering with it.
—————
Agree with that, not sure why Ole keeps persisting with this formation, it doesn’t make us defensively solid, it limits one of our attacking midfielders to a defensive role which doesn’t suit him, and we don’t have good enough attacking fullbacks or wingers to stretch oppositions.
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