Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

TheDoc

TheDoc wrote: »

In fairness not qualifying from this group in first would have been pathetic. It’s a pretty rubbish group.

It’s been navigated well though and not taken lightly but I think minimum expectation should be walking that group at this point no?

Should have walked the group 2 years ago (PSV, Wolfsburg and CSKA) and were knocked out so Im happy we have 12 from 12 this time around.

bangkok

paulbok wrote: »

Chelsea looking very ordinary, don't seem to be able to handle anyone running at pace at them

And yet we wont start our 2 quickest players this weekend martial and rashford

Jayop

bangkok wrote: »

And yet we wont start our 2 quickest players this weekend martial and rashford

I don't think they are our fastest players.

TheDoc

Jayop wrote: »

Minimum and maximum given it's the absolute most you can do too.

You know what I mean haha

bangkok

bangkok wrote: »

And yet we wont start our 2 quickest players this weekend martial and rashford

Your like a bloody tabloid, one will start as one as they have all season. Also how many goals and assists does the substitution (of martial for rashford or visa versa) have this season

S.M.B.

TheDoc wrote: »

In fairness not qualifying from this group in first would have been pathetic. It’s a pretty rubbish group.

It’s been navigated well though and not taken lightly but I think minimum expectation should be walking that group at this point no?

The last time we were placed in a group with Benfica and Basel we failed to get out of it and it was probably even weaker than this year's group.

As I said earlier, maximum points after 4 games is a very good achievement and should not be downplayed.

If results go against city tomorrow they will find themselves having to travel to Donetsk a few days before the Derby in need of a result while we hopefully send out a B team against Moscow.

Jayop

I'm really struggling to come up with a line up for the Chelsea game. We went 352 the last time we played them but the personnel just isn't there.

I'm going for...

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DeGea
Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Young

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Matic, McTominey

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Herrera (man marking)

---

Martial Lukaku Rashford

adox

TheDoc wrote: »

Yeah I don’t get his constant 4-2-3-1 formation. To me it’s a bit too safe having two midfielders playing from deep.

Surely 3-5-2 or 4-3-3 is obvious, being its when we’ve played some of of best stuff under Mourinho.

Rashford and Martial flanking Lukaku seems so obvious at this stage. Can even have Mata or Mhiki in alongside Herrera and Matic. I’d say Mhiki for his dribbling and pace from midfield.

But this 4-2-3-1 formation is becoming draining. Come to believe it’s not even a real formation that has any offensive pattern the more I see it and read some pieces on tactics.

I’m really hoping this is a little blip early that we turn around Xmas to click and start really ramping up. This is starting to feel like last season performance wise after such a positive start to the season.

Chelsea in a bad way and things not right there. Hopefully we go with the right attitude and mindset into that game to take advantage.

Wishful thinking on my part, but players prefer playing on the front foot and believing they are the ****. Team needs a pick me up. That wasn’t the best reaction from the weekend result.

All in all though, cl group breezed. That’s brilliant going

For me the 4-2-3-1, or the no 10 formation if anything isn’t defensive enough. It leaves us too open. I think three midfielders makes us more balanced,more solid and therefore not only more solid defensively but gives us a better platform offensively.

I wouldn’t have Mata or Miki anywhere near that midfield. It causing a hell of a lot more problems than it’s solving. Again I come back to the players that we have signed and we need three in there all the time for me. Matic, Pogba and one other. Pogba being the furthest forward of the three but not playing as a traditional ten. Our midfield gets killed when we try to play two(by playing two I include t when Miki or Mata play as a ten or as the most advanced of the three).

Matas days are numbered in this team imo. He’s just doesn’t fit in this team anywhere. We need to get away from the idea of him or even Blind in the team as they are too slow. He’s our best option when playing a ten but I just don’t see a ten being a viable option for this team or group of players.

bangkok

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Your like a bloody tabloid, one will start as one as they have all season. Also how many goals and assists does the substitution (of martial for rashford or visa versa) have this season

But why not start both? Mkhitarayan is starting and has been awful. Why not start 2 of our brightest players

Jayop

bangkok wrote: »

But why not start both? Mkhitarayan is starting and has been awful. Why not start 2 of our brightest players

Because teh tactic of playing one and then bringing the other on fresh to go up against the same full back has been working.

bangkok

Jayop wrote: »

Because teh tactic of playing one and then bringing the other on fresh to go up against the same full back has been working.

I would give rashford a start on the right of lukaku and martial on the left. Really attack teams with pace. Cant keep leaving one on the bench when other players are starting and not doing the business.

MagicIRL

It is absolutely, 100%, no surprise that United performances have dipped since Pogba got injured.

People are quick to point the finger at him when he plays but you take him out and everything is just that little more rough around the edges. The team is still winning, for the most part, but the real lush attacking dynamic play is missing and that's because Pogba is missing.

Rekop dog

MagicIRL wrote: »

It is absolutely, 100%, no surprise that United performances have dipped since Pogba got injured.

People are quick to point the finger at him when he plays but you take him out and everything is just that little more rough around the edges. The team is still winning, for the most part, but the real lush attacking dynamic play is missing and that's because Pogba is missing.

It was missing for a large amount of last season when he was there.

Words like 'terrible' and 'pathetic' have long lost all meaning in this thread.

That was a grey evening, there was some good and some bad, no one needs to be sold and no one needs to be touted for the Ballon D'or either.

-Martial had a great game up until about 10 minutes before he went off, some really good dribbles from him and he worked well at the back. His penalty was poor in fairness, as was his final composure at times.

-Our CM did get bypassed a bit too often early on in the game, but I still think Matic had a fine performance and McTominay looked very composed once he settled into the game. No matter what pairing we put out though, I still think three is the way to go for most games. Mata off for Herrera was a good substitution.

-Bailly had a turbulent, nervy game. He was lucky that the ref chose not to award a stonewall penalty early on. Still though, he made some decent tackles and interceptions, plus this was his first game back in the team.

We often accuse the ABUs and 'neutrals' for misrepresenting our style of play or the events of our matches, but I think we're guilty of that ourselves in here sometimes too. Sure, there still are concerns overall in the team, it's still a work in progress, but there was nothing genuinely terrible about tonight's performance.

Premier League titles and a recent enough Champions League win for us featured plenty of home wins in the mould of tonight's.

Vertigo100

Rekop dog wrote: »

It was missing for a large amount of last season when he was there.

Didn’t have matic to free him up then. Of course you knew that but don’t let that stop you.

Rekop dog

Rekop dog wrote: »

It was missing for a large amount of last season when he was there.

He's been consistently excellent since February 2017 right up until his latest injury

To expand this season we've since added further to the squad with matic and Lukaku this season
Pogba was arguably our best player at the start of the season again up until his injury

But I have a feeling you know this and just choose ignore it

VW 1

No bailly and including mctominay is a mistake imo.

He looked tidy tonight but he made his first CL start.

Would prefer to see Valencia and young as wing backs and bailly in with jones and smalling for a 3-5-2/3-4-3.

With lukaku not being in glittering goal scoring form I think it really helped him at times having a player within 10-15 yards of him vs spurs to pick up knockdown and help with holding it up.

The important thing tonight given the personnel changes was the three points and no injuries.

Against chelsea would like to see

Dave
Bailly smalling jones
Valencia herrera matic young
Rashford lukaku martial

bucketybuck

bangkok wrote: »

But why not start both? Mkhitarayan is starting and has been awful. Why not start 2 of our brightest players

Because they are two young and inconsistent players that offer pretty much exactly the same thing?

S.M.B.

I'd like to see more of us playing 3 at the back but I was very concerned with our inability to play the ball out of defence at the weekend. It resulted in us hitting the ball long far too often and frequently conceding possession and the initiative. I'm not sure if this is a result of the current personnel and maybe Lindelof is someone who could settle in and help improve on this. Or maybe José is more than happy to play in this manner and would never accept the risk that comes with being a bit more adventurous when turning defence into attack.

jayo26

VW 1 wrote: »

No bailly and including mctominay is a mistake imo.

He looked tidy tonight but he made his first CL start.

Would prefer to see Valencia and young as wing backs and bailly in with jones and smalling for a 3-5-2/3-4-3.

With lukaku not being in glittering goal scoring form I think it really helped him at times having a player within 10-15 yards of him vs spurs to pick up knockdown and help with holding it up.

The important thing tonight given the personnel changes was the three points and no injuries.

Against chelsea would like to see

Dave
Bailly smalling jones
Valencia herrera matic young
Rashford lukaku martial

You really paid attention to the game tonight.

J. Marston

https://twitter.com/JDNalton/status/925470958613385228

Sunday; Launch long ball > Lukaku passes to Martial/Rashford > Profit.

Giggsy11

Rekop dog wrote: »

It was missing for a large amount of last season when he was there.

It wasn't but then again it's not surprising absolute nonsense from Liverpool fans who pretend to support someone else for lols.

Giggsy11

First half was poor, Benfica were all over us without creating much but second half we controlled the game. Overall decent performance and almost guaranteed to top the group.

Lukaku wasn't clinical infront of goal but his overall game was impressive when he started to drift to right wing. He isn't that good with his back to the goal, his strength is how he played yesterday. Taking the ball at right wing and counter attack. Shame he didn't score but impressed with his game.

Matic and Martial played well, Smalling looked like our best CB again. He is back to his Mike best.

beno619

MagicIRL wrote: »

It is absolutely, 100%, no surprise that United performances have dipped since Pogba got injured.

People are quick to point the finger at him when he plays but you take him out and everything is just that little more rough around the edges. The team is still winning, for the most part, but the real lush attacking dynamic play is missing and that's because Pogba is missing.

Meh.

The squad of available players should still be performing far far better than it has.
Herrera looked sharper last night it would be nice to see a fully firing team minus Pogba and then judge how reliant we actually are on him.

Giggsy11

beno619 wrote: »

Meh.

The squad of available players should still be performing far far better than it has.
Herrera looked sharper last night it would be nice to see a fully firing team minus Pogba and then judge how reliant we actually are on him.

Or maybe team is not fully firing because we lack a midfielder who can carry the ball forward.

VW 1

Jayop wrote:

DeGea Valencia, Jones, Smalling, Young Matic, McTominey Herrera (man marking) Martial Lukaku Rashford

I was replying to the above post from the other jayo which set out the team he wants to see on Sunday, not sure where the quote went as it was there before I slightly edited my post last night.

I paid quite close attention to last night's game though, thanks.

deaddonkey15

J. Marston wrote: »

https://twitter.com/JDNalton/status/925470958613385228

Sunday; Launch long ball > Lukaku passes to Martial/Rashford > Profit.

That's comical. All 3 of them drawn to the attacker yet doing nothing. You'd be furious if your defenders did that in a game of Fifa. We'll make them looklike world beaters on Sunday.

pjohnson

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

That's comical. All 3 of them drawn to the attacker yet doing nothing. You'd be furious if your defenders did that in a game of Fifa. We'll make them looklike world beaters on Sunday.

Thats the spirit! And people moaned about Mourinho having a pop at our "fans"

Cookiemunster

J. Marston wrote: »

https://twitter.com/JDNalton/status/925470958613385228

Sunday; Launch long ball > Lukaku passes to Martial/Rashford > Profit.

https://twitter.com/AlexShawESPN/status/925645769452945408

I'd gladly take a draw on Sunday.

adox

bucketybuck wrote: »

Because they are two young and inconsistent players that offer pretty much exactly the same thing?

I`d play the two of them either side of Lukakau because they are currently the best options we have for the the way I think the team should set up.

We need pace from both flanks, players that can run with the ball. The days of sticking Mata out wide etc should be forgotten.

bangkok

would love to see us go to chelsea and have a real go at them. let them worry about us and start both rashford and martial

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de gea

---

valencia

---

bailly

---

jones

---

young

---

herrera

---

matic



lingard

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martial

---

rashford

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lukaku

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paulbok

J. Marston wrote: »

https://twitter.com/JDNalton/status/925470958613385228

Sunday; Launch long ball > Lukaku passes to Martial/Rashford > Profit.

Cookiemunster wrote: »

https://twitter.com/AlexShawESPN/status/925645769452945408

I'd gladly take a draw on Sunday.

If there was ever a time to take the game to Chelsea, it's this weekend. Their back line definitely has issues with players running at pace at them.

Cookiemunster

paulbok wrote: »

If there was ever a time to take the game to Chelsea, it's this weekend. Their back line definitely has issues with players running at pace at them.

They're a different team with Kante, who's due back this weekend.

Lord TSC

I feel if we are inevitably going to set up negatively, as we always do against big teams away from home, I can absolutely see the benefits of having both Martial and Rashford playing, trying to add pace to the counter attack. Likewise, Lingard.

Mata and Mkhi don't seem capable of doing the counter attack game at the moment.

Mind, the other side is that it's been brilliant keeping one of the two young lads fresh to cause havoc at the 70th minute. The factoid that popped up the other day about scoring a high percentage of our goals after the 80th minute comes down to keeping Rashford or Martial off the field till then and hen letting them run at the tired players.

beno619

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Or maybe team is not fully firing because we lack a midfielder who can carry the ball forward.

Not sure why your ignoring a valid point.

Our midfield hasn't been playing to its potential and found wanting weve just been crap.

Regardless of how you feel about Pogba theres no way you can honestly say weve seen the best of how this team can perform without him.

I also disagree with a post above that says Pogba has been playing well since Feb 2017 our league form was dire and Pogba was involved in a number of awful midfield performances at the back end of last season.

Cookiemunster

beno619 wrote: »

Not sure why your ignoring a valid point.

Our midfield hasn't been playing to its potential and found wanting weve just been crap.

Regardless of how you feel about Pogba theres no way you can honestly say weve seen the best of how this team can perform without him.

I also disagree with a post above that says Pogba has been playing well since Feb 2017 our league form was dire and Pogba was involved in a number of awful midfield performances at the back end of last season.

Pogba is not the only one out. Felliani isn't there. Carrick isn't there. Herrera's been rubbish and last night we had a 20 year only making his first CL start. The midfield is never going to perform to it's potential with so many players missing or off form.

Also what last season proved is that our performances were far worse when Pogba wasn't there, than when he was.

Jayop

I see Steve Mcmanamon was blabbering this morning on the Marca that Liverpool are the only top English club through Klopp to give young English players a chance.

Like how the **** is a moron like that paid for his opinions? He's the worst.

StringerBell

paulbok wrote: »

If there was ever a time to take the game to Chelsea, it's this weekend. Their back line definitely has issues with players running at pace at them.

Said the same before the Liverpool game I'd imagine?

Trigger

J. Marston wrote: »

https://twitter.com/JDNalton/status/925470958613385228

Sunday; Launch long ball > Lukaku passes to Martial/Rashford > Profit.

Jaysus that’s like watching under 7 match were they all chase the ball

StringerBell

astradave wrote: »

Jaysus that’s like watching under 7 match were they all chase the ball

Watched the match after the United one with my father in law, who is a huge Chelsea fan. Enjoyed it

beno619

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Pogba is not the only one out. Felliani isn't there. Carrick isn't there. Herrera's been rubbish and last night we had a 20 year only making his first CL start. The midfield is never going to perform to it's potential with so many players missing or off form.

Also what last season proved is that our performances were far worse when Pogba wasn't there, than when he was.

Not sure what point your trying to make, im aware the midfield has been poor. I just dont buy the Pogba magic bullet and think we haven't seen the best from our alternatives.

Pogba's injuries last season coincided with players like Valencia being injured and a mini injury crisis where we had 5 CB's on the pitch.

I still dont think weve ever seen what a fully firing squad looks like minus Pogba.

Trigger

StringerBell wrote: »

Watched the match after the United one with my father in law, who is a huge Chelsea fan. Enjoyed it

Mine is a Spurs fan so thoroughly enjoyed watching on Saturday with him

SlickRic

José isn't going to take the game to Chelsea, unless he changes the habits of a lifetime. It's just how he is. It's pointless for some to wish he's something he isn't. Just accept it. It's how he wins trophies, so go with it.

He'll set up tight, inviting Chelsea on, and try to play direct on the break. Kanté (if he plays) will make a difference because he is adept at snuffing out that counter, and Chelsea could be right back on top of Utd.

Bottom line is José will look for a 0-0 and maybe nick something. Sure Liverpool were in worse form than Chelsea when ye played them, and ye kept it tight at all costs. It's what José does.

StringerBell

SlickRic wrote: »

José isn't going to take the game to Chelsea, unless he changes the habits of a lifetime. It's just how he is. It's pointless for some to wish he's something he isn't. Just accept it. It's how he wins trophies, so go with it.

He'll set up tight, inviting Chelsea on, and try to play direct on the break. Kanté (if he plays) will make a difference because he is adept at snuffing out that counter, and Chelsea could be right back on top of Utd.

Bottom line is José will look for a 0-0 and maybe nick something. Sure Liverpool were in worse form than Chelsea when ye played them, and ye kept it tight at all costs. It's what José does.

This is it, and expecting anything else from him is setting yourself up for a fall.

Mitch Connor

Look at the away game in the league last season as a pointer to how we will play, imo.

I expect:

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DDG

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Bailly-Smalling-Jones
Valencia

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Young
Lingard-Herrera-Matic-Rashford

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Lukaku

Lingard and Rashford positions will be defensive and try to counter with pace bringing the ball forward to link with lukaku.

bangkok

SlickRic wrote: »

José isn't going to take the game to Chelsea, unless he changes the habits of a lifetime. It's just how he is. It's pointless for some to wish he's something he isn't. Just accept it. It's how he wins trophies, so go with it.

He'll set up tight, inviting Chelsea on, and try to play direct on the break. Kanté (if he plays) will make a difference because he is adept at snuffing out that counter, and Chelsea could be right back on top of Utd.

Bottom line is José will look for a 0-0 and maybe nick something. Sure Liverpool were in worse form than Chelsea when ye played them, and ye kept it tight at all costs. It's what José does.

but the problem is city are already 5 points clear with a superior goal difference. If we want to win the title we have to go to places like chelsea and get all 3 points, failure to do so and city will be potentially 7 or 8 points clear this weekend as Arsenal wont be stopping them

SlickRic

bangkok wrote: »

but the problem is city are already 5 points clear with a superior goal difference. If we want to win the title we have to go to places like chelsea and get all 3 points, failure to do so and city will be potentially 7 or 8 points clear this weekend as Arsenal wont be stopping them

You don't HAVE to go to Chelsea and get 3 points to win the title.

And also, José believes your best chance of beating a big team away from home is keep it tight, not lose it, and try to nick it.

beakerjoe

SlickRic wrote: »

You don't HAVE to go to Chelsea and get 3 points to win the title.

And also, José believes your best chance of beating a big team away from home is keep it tight, not lose it, and try to nick it.

Spot on,

City are not unstoppable. Sure they looked great at this stage last year and fell part in Nov/Dec. The Winter peroid will be a test for them.

Chelsea need to win and Jose will play the same tactics against Chelsea that he did with Pool in the hope that Chelsea blink.

bangkok

SlickRic wrote: »

You don't HAVE to go to Chelsea and get 3 points to win the title.

And also, José believes your best chance of beating a big team away from home is keep it tight, not lose it, and try to nick it.

Of course not, but if our attitude is to go to the likes of liverpool chelsea etc and play for draws and citys is to go and win, we wont be winning the league

beakerjoe

bangkok wrote: »

Of course not, but if our attitude is to go to the likes of liverpool chelsea etc and play for draws and citys is to go and win, we wont be winning the league

We arent playing for draws, its a defensive tactic, just because it didnt work against Pool doesnt mean it wont work against Chelsea. Pool didnt take any rioskes at home against us.

City have only played Chelsea and Pool so far out of the big teams. City themselves werent playing open expansive football in either game (in the case of the pool game they did once pool went down to 10 men).

Asrsenal are finding their feet now and capable of causing City problems.