The old Man Utd Thread

[5R7]

this ref is a fucking joke, cant stand italian reffing.,

[feltmonkey]

Well we're fucked now. That was a lovely goal, to be fair. 

[5R7]

wtf is baily doing there, all he had to do was keep running!

 

good greif, two players go off, and the team falls apart!

[Liamness]

Ah. That is probably the tie. PSG have looked the better side (the enforced subs haven't helped) and the scoreline is now reflecting that.

 

We're a bit fucked now as we absolutely have to push for a goal, but they have an Mbappe. Every single time we lose the ball in attack, something could happen.

[feltmonkey]

Those injuries killed us. Sanchez isn't willing to do the work, and Mata doesn't have the legs. We were pressing high and defending from the front but now we're giving them all the time they need. 

[spork]

Just now, feltmonkey said:

Those injuries killed us. Sanchez isn't willing to do the work, and Mata doesn't have the legs. We were pressing high and defending from the front but now we're giving them all the time they need. 

 

Just wait til Big Rom comes on for Rashford!

[Nicky]

@spork its not christmas

[5R7]

im surprised it wasnt big rom for lingard

[Liamness]

This has been the most entertaining period of the game by miles, for what it's worth. Us throwing everything at it, them countering, probably great for the neutrals. First half was a bit drab, and lacking in quality moments.

[spork]

I really hope someone wants to take Sanchez off us in the summer. 

[Liamness]

We're spending a lot of time in their final third, but you get the sense this isn't exactly an uncomfortable position for PSG - they can stay deep, conserve energy, and invite us on so we can be hit on the break. They seem happy enough soaking up the pressure really.

[feltmonkey]

Young sent off for...  some reason. 

 

Nope, it's Pogba. Fair enough, it was a bad challenge, born of frustration. 

[Nicky]

okay so it was bad contact but Alves was coming totaly from his blindside and got hit

 

 

[5R7]

So, ref decides now he ain't gonna bottle it... And there goes the 2nd leg anyway...

[JPL]

What a way to implode. We've been poor from the off and it's just gone from bad to worse. I wouldn't have been bothered if we'd have actually given them a game, but we're playing like Mourinho is still managing.

[Liamness]

@Nicky

 

Pogba was trying to get his body in the way though - he knew Alves was there. Strange time for the ref to show his first second yellow, in any case - he's had other, more obvious opportunities to do so.

[JPL]

What a total let down. Very poor.

[Liamness]

I am not sure we should be surprised - even with a few players out, PSG are a much better side. Tuchel has turned them from a collection of individuals into a team. Sure, without the injuries and a few better bits of decision making on the pitch, we could've given them more of a game, but we were absolutely not favourites here.

 

I feel like Solsjkaer's audition for the job starts in earnest now - can he pick the players up and avoid any more "reality checks" against Chelsea and Liverpool? His achievements so far cannot be simply explained away by the players being demob happy after Mourinho's departure, but he has relied somewhat on sustaining a wave of positivity around the club.

[JPL]

Just now, Liamness said:

I am not sure we should be surprised - even with a few players out, PSG are a much better side. Tuchel has turned them from a collection of individuals into a team.

 

I feel like Solsjkaer's audition for the job starts in earnest now - can he pick the players up and avoid any more "reality checks" against Chelsea and Liverpool? His achievements so far cannot be simply explained away by the players being demob happy after Mourinho's departure, but he has relied somewhat on sustaining a wave of positivity around the club.

I'm not bothered about the loss, it's more the total capitulation in the second half. We started the game ok, but seemed to give up after the first 20 minutes. The injuries obviously didn't help, but it was such a weird performance. Nobody seemed up for it.

 

I agree about Solskaer's audition starting now. It's massively important he picks these players up. We were never going to win the Champions League anyway, but at least we're going in the right direction. The players need to see that now.

[Loik V credern]

Easy to forget experience really matters at this level. Psg's defence were very strong, United didn't penetrate at any point. Only towards the end did United get in and around the box crossing hopeful balls to no one. Silva is one of the best defenders in the world, and as the commenators like to remind us, Alves and Di Maria have played an awful lot of matches in the champions league. 

 

Pogba was mostly peripheral and undisciplined. Shouldn't be relying on Herrera to be scoring a screamer from 20 yards though he at least took up positions and had a go. 

 

Is there any player in the last 20 years who has fallen so much relative to their best form as much as Sanchez? He used to be a mixture of Hazard and Aguero, now he's like an ageing Rooney. 

[DC Lemon]

Playing with ten men would be better than having Sanchez on the pitch to pass the ball to.

[The Fox]

Sanchez was pretty crap in his last season at Arsenal too, so much like when Torres went to Chelsea, you could definitely see the signs that a steep decline was possible.

[Shoes]

He's too busy noncing his dogs.

[feltmonkey]

2 hours ago, The Fox said:

Sanchez was pretty crap in his last season at Arsenal too, so much like when Torres went to Chelsea, you could definitely see the signs that a steep decline was possible.

 

That's the thing, isn't it? Everyone assumed that he was crap because he was sulking and trying to engineer a move, then we assumed he was crap because of Mourinho, now we have to face the possibility that he's just crap these days. Torres is a good comparison. 

[Oh Danny Boy]

Torres had injuries for a couple of seasons prior plus just wasn’t the right fit for a slow ponderous Chelsea side. The best of Torres was seen when Liverpool played fast counter attacking play with Gerrard just behind slipping in balls quick and early from midfield so he can make his darting runs off the last defender. Torres and Chelsea was just a bizarre fit, Lampard isn’t that player and the team wasn’t going to drastically  change to accommodate how Torres plays, neither is Torres Drogba 2.0. It stunk of Abramovich playing billionaires championship manager.

 

Everyone thought it was a bad move at the start and it wasn’t long till Torres felt the same, he never looked the same person in a blue shirt. I’d say at least we got £50m for him but we blew most of it on Carroll... 

[dizogg]

Most on Carroll and the rest on Suarez, who turned out to be half decent.

[Liamness]

So given Martial and Lingard are out for a couple of weeks each, how should we line up for the next few games? That's two of Ole's preferred front three out, and I think we have to play with pace up top, trying to get the ball forward quickly, which probably rules out keeping the same shape but bringing in Suarez and Lukaku. I'm thinking something like this:

 

       Rashford     Lukaku

             Pogba

         Fred      Herrera

             Matic

Shaw                      Dalot
       Lindelof   Bailly

             De Gea

 

We lined up in a similarish way against Arsenal, with two very wide forwards. Lukaku did well playing wide right, although hard to tell how many times that can qualify as a "surprise". Could also sacrifice a midfielder and play with a back three, allowing the fullbacks to concentrate more on attacking. Maybe a good option against Liverpool. I think crowding the midfield will be more important against Chelsea though.

[spork]

I have a feeling for the most part he might stick with the 433 as he's mentioned both Gomes and Chong being involved (Greenwood is out with an injury) and I don't think they would really fit in a narrow 442. 

 

I think if we were going to play with 2 up front we'd go with 3 center backs so the full backs could push up more to provide width. Pretty sure we've seen it a couple of times with ole during games so far. 

 

Bit of a shame both Martial and Lingard have got injured at the same time with Chelsea and Liverpool. Having to play Lukaku, Sanchez and Mata totally changes how we play and not in a good way! 

[JPL]

On 15/02/2019 at 22:30, Liamness said:

So given Martial and Lingard are out for a couple of weeks each, how should we line up for the next few games? That's two of Ole's preferred front three out, and I think we have to play with pace up top, trying to get the ball forward quickly, which probably rules out keeping the same shape but bringing in Suarez and Lukaku. I'm thinking something like this:

 

       Rashford     Lukaku

             Pogba

         Fred      Herrera

             Matic

Shaw                      Dalot
       Lindelof   Bailly

             De Gea

 

We lined up in a similarish way against Arsenal, with two very wide forwards. Lukaku did well playing wide right, although hard to tell how many times that can qualify as a "surprise". Could also sacrifice a midfielder and play with a back three, allowing the fullbacks to concentrate more on attacking. Maybe a good option against Liverpool. I think crowding the midfield will be more important against Chelsea though.

If only we could bring him in!

[Liamness]

Hmm.  Insert generic south american footballer here.