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The old Man Utd Thread

ThePixelbarks

By ThePixelbarks
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5R7

5R7

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, Liamness said:

 

Well if you're two goals up inside half an hour, you can do that. He clearly felt that if his team continued to push up and attack, it was more likely that we would equalise than they would score a third. You're literally criticising him for doing the most sensible thing given the situation.

no...i'm not, you LITERALLY haven't understood what i've wrote...i haven't criticised him, i have however criticised the absymal performance... I'm stated a fact, that fact is  that I was amused that they both went archtype and did what the other would do...that's it...not in depth deeper meaning...why is this difficult!? seriously... :?  

 

you want me to criticise thats easy, jose got it wrong, wrong players, wrong formation. shouldn't have picked two unfit players for the biggest game of the season so far, should have changed it earlier. That is m,e literally criticising what jose did...

 

 

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Bleeders

Bleeders

Posted
Posted

Poor first half cost us, one of those things. City were giving our players the run-around in the first half and we found it difficult with their movement. Wasn't until the second half when we brought Herrera and Rashford on it gave City problems and forced them to bring on a DM. Good game of football, it's early in the season so not the end of the world and the team will get better.

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Liamness

Liamness

Posted
Posted

Two in midfield, with Pogba playing deep, was pretty much suicide. It might work against lesser opponents, but in bigger games we have to match opponents in midfield. I do think we can take heart from the second half, but Mourinho's tactics from the start did leave us with a mountain to climb. I can only imagine he thought Lingard and Mkhitaryan would be better able to track back than Mata and Martial, but the areas they were patrolling weren't really where the threat was. The fact that it wasn't a straight swap, two attackers for an attacker and a midfielder, shows Mourinho knew it was not just an issue with the individual's performances but also the shape of the team.

 

I assume he knows he can't play this system with these players again in such crucial matches, so it'll be interesting to see what he does the next time a big game comes around. I just think this would all be a lot simpler if he was prepared to drop Rooney and play Pogba further forward. Maybe he's just aware that dropping the captain would be controversial, and given previous criticisms of his managerial style, he's trying to avoid that? Fellaini and Herrera seem to be in amazing form so I'd love to see them playing together with Pogba in a role that's more natural to him. Let's not forget that Schneiderlin and Carrick haven't made any appearances at all this season either, hardly the worst options if someone loses form / is injured.

 

@5R7 It read as snarky, you can see others took it the same way.

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Trigg

Trigg

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Liamness said:

Two in midfield, with Pogba playing deep, was pretty much suicide. It might work against lesser opponents, but in bigger games we have to match opponents in midfield. I do think we can take heart from the second half, but Mourinho's tactics from the start did leave us with a mountain to climb. I can only imagine he thought Lingard and Mkhitaryan would be better able to track back than Mata and Martial, but the areas they were patrolling weren't really where the threat was. The fact that it wasn't a straight swap, two attackers for an attacker and a midfielder, shows Mourinho knew it was not just an issue with the individual's performances but also the shape of the team.

 

I assume he knows he can't play this system with these players again in such crucial matches, so it'll be interesting to see what he does the next time a big game comes around. I just think this would all be a lot simpler if he was prepared to drop Rooney and play Pogba further forward. Maybe he's just aware that dropping the captain would be controversial, and given previous criticisms of his managerial style, he's trying to avoid that? Fellaini and Herrera seem to be in amazing form so I'd love to see them playing together with Pogba in a role that's more natural to him. Let's not forget that Schneiderlin and Carrick haven't made any appearances at all this season either, hardly the worst options if someone loses form / is injured.

 

@5R7 It read as snarky, you can see others took it the same way.

 

Starting Lingard and Mkhitaryan for their first league games of the season seemed an odd choice. Rashford coming off the back of a hattrick and Martial with his raw pace seemed like the more obvious choices for me. The 2 that started certainly didn't themselves any favours with that performance.

 

Yeah, totally set up wrong in the first half. Think we'll see something different when we play against one of the better teams again. The sooner we get the midfield balance right the sooner we see the best of Pogba. I don't think Pogba needs to play the furtherest forward, I don't that will get the best out of him either. He just needs to be given more freedom to go where he wants but with some balance in the team/midfield area for that to happen. Just isn't there with the current setup of Rooney in front of Fellaini and Pogba. 

 

It's early days and a learning experience but the second half was much better. Really gave it a go and were knackered at the end from trying. I'm not too disheartened with that. 

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Trigg

Trigg

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Nicky said:

he's been alright yeah, but he's technically not as good as herrera and the two times herreras played deep holding midfield, we've looked really strong

 

I rate Herrera very highly. I think he's an intelligent, energetic player with ability on the ball. I still think a midfield two of Herrera and Pogba is asking for trouble. Now Pogba and Herrera with someone else and I'm game for that!

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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yes, Herrera has looked good this season as well, but I don't think he's the long term answer to the defensive midfield problem. Fellaini probably isn't either - history tells us he's not going to keep this form up.

 

Incidentally, I would say he has been fantastic. He's winning the ball without fouling, looking assured in possession, not giving the ball away, and his positional play is suddenly much, much better.

 

I would play a 4-3-3 with Fellaini, Herrera and Pogba in midfield, with Pogba given licence to get forward, and Zlatan up top, with Rashford and Rooney behind him, nominally wide but told to roam, get on the ball, and make things happen. Most of the width would be provided by Shaw and Valencia, which is pretty much standard in modern football. This puts all our in-form players on the pitch at once. Rooney would be the most likely to lose his place, for Martial or Miki.

 

Every formation has flaws, of course, and the flaws here are a possible defensive vulnerability wide, so the wide players could potentially get caught having to track overlapping fullbacks all game and be neutralised going forward. Also Rooney as a wideish sort of inside forward is a risk if he decides to just play where he wants. His lack of pace going forward wouldn't matter as modern wingers don't beat the fullback anyway, they just wait for their own fullback to overlap. Rooney's quality delivery from those areas combined with Zlatan's heading could be a real weapon.

 

I'm very much aware that most people reading this will be shaking their heads thinking, "what is he on about?" It's all a bit of fun though isn't it? :)

Edited by feltmonkey
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feltmonkey

feltmonkey

Posted
Posted

Yeah, although Rashford is playing so well at the moment I reckon you could play him pretty much anywhere and he'd be amazing.

 

Dropping Rooney from that 11 would happen as soon as his form dips, but frankly he's well worth his place at the moment. He's playing pretty well, he's not having a negative effect on the team's shape, and he's created a few goals and a bunch of other chances. I'm not saying he's been stellar, but he's been a solid 7.5-8 out of ten in each game.

 

The players you mention have been really poor though. That's probably tough on Lingard, who played really well in the charity shield then really shit against City. Miki similarly hasn't had a chance yet, but he was so bad against City I'd have him coming off the bench for a few more matches. Martial has been strangely poor also. He's done nothing. Possibly sulking about losing the number 9 shirt.  Maybe Mata for Rooney?

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Trigg

Trigg

Posted
Posted

I find it hard to agree with your assessment of Rooney. I think his overall game has been below average for 2 years. If we're playing Zlatan then we need pace around him. Lingard, Mkhitaryan were poor but the latter would still be in my starting XI without a doubt. 

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5R7

5R7

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, VN1X said:

Can't believe we managed to not get completely destroyed so far. I'm sweating like a pig! :lol:

 

cold beer, that will help cool you down...and enough cold beers...you may not care about the result! lol

 

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MojoChin

MojoChin

Posted
Posted

Rojo really is a liability. I was putting some blame on Smalling for their goal as he was basically on the touchline which exposed Bailly 2 on 1, but it was mostly because Rojo doesn't have a clue. Smalling wasn't blameless in it though. (Ignoring the offside because there were still issues.) Don't think they really looked like scoring, neither did we mind, but having the full team back at Old Trafford should make mincemeat of that team.

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futureshock

futureshock

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, 5R7 said:

anyone watching this...refs a bit whistle happy, but the game is damn dull ...didn't carry on fro the second half the other day alas...still not sure about martial on the left wing!?

 

I thought the ref was awful because he only gave one yellow card. The foul count was 22-7, so it was clearly Feyenoord's plan to disrupt play as much as possible.

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