I realise I've said above we need to keep the ball better and then advocate McT and Fred in midfield. They're not ideal but I think, at present, they probably offer the best balance. Probably says something that about the midfield recruitment but there you go!
diafol seems to be in a remarkably sanguine mood, must have taken his morning after pill
We've been poor in all three away games this season now. A big improvement needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
I think your squad is too big and too unbalanced to keep everyone happy. Early days of course bit mentioned this as soon as you signed Ronaldo. Once Rashord is back that problem increases and that's before we talk about midfield combinations that actually work. Someone big needs to be benched but who?
West Ham suddenly becomes a bigger game and they're hard to beat.
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
You say in the article we need to keep the ball better and then you advocate McT and Fred in midfield. In any case, a big improvement is needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
I have never had an original thought.
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's the thing. He's often criticised got for waiting too long to make substitutions, with some justification. But on the flip side, the later you bring fresh players on, the better the chance of them taking advantage of tiring opposition legs.
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 6 minutes ago
diafol seems to be in a remarkably sanguine mood, must have taken his morning after pill
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There's no point being too annoyed as we've always got this kind of result in us so it wasn't totally unexpected.
Robbing mentions Rashford above. I think we missed him last night when we went down to 10. His pace and directness would have caused them problems IMO.
As for the away record perhaps the away crowds are making a bit of a difference as we're not looking as assured. On the other hand the crowd at OT I believe has helped so we may see a bit of balancing out of that I think. Regarding that away record I'd rather win one game and lose one game away than keep the record drawing two. Unless the defeat is against one of our rivals of course.
comment by Pun (U21588)
posted 1 minute ago
You say in the article we need to keep the ball better and then you advocate McT and Fred in midfield. In any case, a big improvement is needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
I have never had an original thought.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 29 seconds ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't agree, totally anyway. United do have too many attacking players, but when you see the quality United have up front, you can't really complain.
In defence, at last they have a top centre back in Varane. Maguire is solid enough to partner Varane and build a strong partnership. And players like Lindelof as cover are good pros, so United are well served here and in defence in general.
In midfield you lack a midfield enforcer. I said on another thread that an ageing Matic is key for you - he is the one who balances out a team with so much attacking talent and flair. You don't buy Pogba and limit his game, and Fred is not disciplined enough and lacks the talent to play as a holding player. I think you should have invested in a player like Rice or Neves before spending all that money on Sancho. United's problem last season wasn't scoring goals, it was keeping shape and stopping teams getting at the keeper.
I do believe that Solskjaer tactically is not good enough. A draw last night wouldn't have been an awful result in the grand scheme of things. You lost a player but could still have controlled the match but his tactical and personnel changes were pretty awful. Lingard was not the player to bring on, not for the bad pass which was just unlucky, but because he's very lightweight in a game where you are a player down away from home. And why change to a back 3? Has it ever worked for you? Can your players play it? It gave the wrong message to the players on the pitch. You have enough quality to beat Young Boys even with ten men just by controlling that midfield. Who on earth sacrifices midfield superiority in that type of game?
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 22 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes but that's jusy your mistaken opinion to have your 83rd dig at Ole. Meanwhile Barca go from strength to strength
McFred at weekend please.
Pogs on the left, Bruno where he wants, Greenwood right, Ronnie central.
I would have preferred Cavani last night, he works harder
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub... Taking off Beekers to move to 3 at the back was the big risk and led to a lot of confusion... It didn;t pay off and Ole takes the blame for that.
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub...
------
I don't think putting an Inter player on for Sancho was a good sub
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
The other group game was a draw, so it's not the end of the world, but my concern outside of last night is that I'm guessing he uses this formation so that we can get compact when we don't have the ball, and we just don't.
Two of Greenwood, Sancho or Rashford plus Bruno works in the midfield as they'll run to find space and create overloads, but that leaves the Pogba question and playing him as one of the double sixes (but with who?).
I wonder if it's time for a rethink and a move to an explicit 433, we don't seem smart enough to play the way we're trying to with lots of formation changes in the transitions. I dunno, might just be kneejerking after a disappointing evening.
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub... Taking off Beekers to move to 3 at the back was the big risk and led to a lot of confusion... It didn;t pay off and Ole takes the blame for that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I really don't understand that move. We basically just conceded the midfield. It gave YBB the initiative for sure. The Dalot sub made sense and I'd have kept it like that until someone tired.
comment by Pun (U21588)
posted 10 minutes ago
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub...
------
I don't think putting an Inter player on for Sancho was a good sub
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was close... begins with a D and much maligned on here.
comment by The Post Nearly Man (U1270)
posted 7 minutes ago
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, hindsight is 20/20... Add in a bunch of rabid "fans" who haven't had the chance to cry for a few months and you get the "it's all the PE teacher's fault" narrative.
Thankfully, 95% of our fans can see more than just black and white and know that there were mistakes from the manager/staff and players.
comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I really don't understand that move. We basically just conceded the midfield. It gave YBB the initiative for sure. The Dalot sub made sense and I'd have kept it like that until someone tired.
----------------------------------------------------------------------This is totally what I believe. You are in control of a football match which you can control even with 10 men - DON'T concede midfield!
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 13 seconds ago
comment by The Post Nearly Man (U1270)
posted 7 minutes ago
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, hindsight is 20/20... Add in a bunch of rabid "fans" who haven't had the chance to cry for a few months and you get the "it's all the PE teacher's fault" narrative.
Thankfully, 95% of our fans can see more than just black and white and know that there were mistakes from the manager/staff and players.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the result, these are the threads I actually quite enjoy on here, when you get sensible discussion and even some welcome input from knowledgeable supporters of other clubs
Very fair article this.
Totally agree about the reality check required in light of the Ronaldo signing.
We have to face the cold hard fact that we have already seen the best of Ronaldo shirt sales and isn't going to get any better. How many shirts can each fan buy? We need to be focusing on other players because the fans won't have upto date shirts with their name on the back. We could look at letting Pogba go for free and then buy him back for £90m? Then we'd make £90m in shirt sales on the first day he returns. We cannot just rely on one player.
comment by RB&W - Always a Legacy (U21434)
posted 11 minutes ago
Very fair article this.
Totally agree about the reality check required in light of the Ronaldo signing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I always try to be fair. My view is that if we can praise or criticise the players we can do the same with the manager.
I'd love Ole to succeed and I think he's already done some good stuff at United but I do want more now from him. I don't think that's unreasonable. It comes with the territory of being United manager.
Hopefully in December I'll be looking back and seeing last night's result as a blip with us safely into the last 16 of the CL.
Sign in if you want to comment
Morning after
Page 1 of 2
posted on 15/9/21
I realise I've said above we need to keep the ball better and then advocate McT and Fred in midfield. They're not ideal but I think, at present, they probably offer the best balance. Probably says something that about the midfield recruitment but there you go!
posted on 15/9/21
diafol seems to be in a remarkably sanguine mood, must have taken his morning after pill
posted on 15/9/21
We've been poor in all three away games this season now. A big improvement needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
posted on 15/9/21
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
posted on 15/9/21
I think your squad is too big and too unbalanced to keep everyone happy. Early days of course bit mentioned this as soon as you signed Ronaldo. Once Rashord is back that problem increases and that's before we talk about midfield combinations that actually work. Someone big needs to be benched but who?
West Ham suddenly becomes a bigger game and they're hard to beat.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
posted on 15/9/21
You say in the article we need to keep the ball better and then you advocate McT and Fred in midfield. In any case, a big improvement is needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
I have never had an original thought.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's the thing. He's often criticised got for waiting too long to make substitutions, with some justification. But on the flip side, the later you bring fresh players on, the better the chance of them taking advantage of tiring opposition legs.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 6 minutes ago
diafol seems to be in a remarkably sanguine mood, must have taken his morning after pill
----------------------------------------------------------------------
There's no point being too annoyed as we've always got this kind of result in us so it wasn't totally unexpected.
Robbing mentions Rashford above. I think we missed him last night when we went down to 10. His pace and directness would have caused them problems IMO.
As for the away record perhaps the away crowds are making a bit of a difference as we're not looking as assured. On the other hand the crowd at OT I believe has helped so we may see a bit of balancing out of that I think. Regarding that away record I'd rather win one game and lose one game away than keep the record drawing two. Unless the defeat is against one of our rivals of course.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Pun (U21588)
posted 1 minute ago
You say in the article we need to keep the ball better and then you advocate McT and Fred in midfield. In any case, a big improvement is needed Sunday or we will be losing that unbeaten away record.
I have never had an original thought.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 29 seconds ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 1 minute ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yep, he messed up yesterday.
though someone posted some stats the other day that showed that in the pl his substitutions have hade a bigger impact - goals scored, points gained etc - than any other manager.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't agree, totally anyway. United do have too many attacking players, but when you see the quality United have up front, you can't really complain.
In defence, at last they have a top centre back in Varane. Maguire is solid enough to partner Varane and build a strong partnership. And players like Lindelof as cover are good pros, so United are well served here and in defence in general.
In midfield you lack a midfield enforcer. I said on another thread that an ageing Matic is key for you - he is the one who balances out a team with so much attacking talent and flair. You don't buy Pogba and limit his game, and Fred is not disciplined enough and lacks the talent to play as a holding player. I think you should have invested in a player like Rice or Neves before spending all that money on Sancho. United's problem last season wasn't scoring goals, it was keeping shape and stopping teams getting at the keeper.
I do believe that Solskjaer tactically is not good enough. A draw last night wouldn't have been an awful result in the grand scheme of things. You lost a player but could still have controlled the match but his tactical and personnel changes were pretty awful. Lingard was not the player to bring on, not for the bad pass which was just unlucky, but because he's very lightweight in a game where you are a player down away from home. And why change to a back 3? Has it ever worked for you? Can your players play it? It gave the wrong message to the players on the pitch. You have enough quality to beat Young Boys even with ten men just by controlling that midfield. Who on earth sacrifices midfield superiority in that type of game?
posted on 15/9/21
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 22 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes but that's jusy your mistaken opinion to have your 83rd dig at Ole. Meanwhile Barca go from strength to strength
posted on 15/9/21
McFred at weekend please.
Pogs on the left, Bruno where he wants, Greenwood right, Ronnie central.
I would have preferred Cavani last night, he works harder
posted on 15/9/21
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub... Taking off Beekers to move to 3 at the back was the big risk and led to a lot of confusion... It didn;t pay off and Ole takes the blame for that.
posted on 15/9/21
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub...
------
I don't think putting an Inter player on for Sancho was a good sub
posted on 15/9/21
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
The other group game was a draw, so it's not the end of the world, but my concern outside of last night is that I'm guessing he uses this formation so that we can get compact when we don't have the ball, and we just don't.
Two of Greenwood, Sancho or Rashford plus Bruno works in the midfield as they'll run to find space and create overloads, but that leaves the Pogba question and playing him as one of the double sixes (but with who?).
I wonder if it's time for a rethink and a move to an explicit 433, we don't seem smart enough to play the way we're trying to with lots of formation changes in the transitions. I dunno, might just be kneejerking after a disappointing evening.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
Oles subs were abysmal and cost you the match. Dont get all the love Ole keeps getting, in his 3rd or 4th season he should not make these mistakes. Tactically he hasnt improved much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub... Taking off Beekers to move to 3 at the back was the big risk and led to a lot of confusion... It didn;t pay off and Ole takes the blame for that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I really don't understand that move. We basically just conceded the midfield. It gave YBB the initiative for sure. The Dalot sub made sense and I'd have kept it like that until someone tired.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Pun (U21588)
posted 10 minutes ago
Darmian for Sancho was a good sub...
------
I don't think putting an Inter player on for Sancho was a good sub
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was close... begins with a D and much maligned on here.
posted on 15/9/21
posted on 15/9/21
comment by The Post Nearly Man (U1270)
posted 7 minutes ago
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, hindsight is 20/20... Add in a bunch of rabid "fans" who haven't had the chance to cry for a few months and you get the "it's all the PE teacher's fault" narrative.
Thankfully, 95% of our fans can see more than just black and white and know that there were mistakes from the manager/staff and players.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Diafol Coch 77 (U2462)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 8 minutes ago
comment by One Love - Admin 3 (U1250)
posted 2 minutes ago
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I really don't understand that move. We basically just conceded the midfield. It gave YBB the initiative for sure. The Dalot sub made sense and I'd have kept it like that until someone tired.
----------------------------------------------------------------------This is totally what I believe. You are in control of a football match which you can control even with 10 men - DON'T concede midfield!
posted on 15/9/21
comment by Ji Sung Park's Cousin - A Beekers Dozen (U2958)
posted 13 seconds ago
comment by The Post Nearly Man (U1270)
posted 7 minutes ago
It was all a bit of a mess yesterday and decisions made look horribly wrong in retrospect (and everyone's been over them ad infinitum)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Yep, hindsight is 20/20... Add in a bunch of rabid "fans" who haven't had the chance to cry for a few months and you get the "it's all the PE teacher's fault" narrative.
Thankfully, 95% of our fans can see more than just black and white and know that there were mistakes from the manager/staff and players.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite the result, these are the threads I actually quite enjoy on here, when you get sensible discussion and even some welcome input from knowledgeable supporters of other clubs
posted on 15/9/21
Very fair article this.
Totally agree about the reality check required in light of the Ronaldo signing.
posted on 15/9/21
We have to face the cold hard fact that we have already seen the best of Ronaldo shirt sales and isn't going to get any better. How many shirts can each fan buy? We need to be focusing on other players because the fans won't have upto date shirts with their name on the back. We could look at letting Pogba go for free and then buy him back for £90m? Then we'd make £90m in shirt sales on the first day he returns. We cannot just rely on one player.
posted on 15/9/21
comment by RB&W - Always a Legacy (U21434)
posted 11 minutes ago
Very fair article this.
Totally agree about the reality check required in light of the Ronaldo signing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I always try to be fair. My view is that if we can praise or criticise the players we can do the same with the manager.
I'd love Ole to succeed and I think he's already done some good stuff at United but I do want more now from him. I don't think that's unreasonable. It comes with the territory of being United manager.
Hopefully in December I'll be looking back and seeing last night's result as a blip with us safely into the last 16 of the CL.
Page 1 of 2