Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2017

Tylerdurex

Lord TSC wrote: »

I had wanted to see Martial and Rashford play at the same time, on either wing.

But having seen it twice now, I do worry it's not viable. Nature of two strikers on the wings but it lacks creativity.

Works for psg

bucketybuck

S.M.B. wrote: »

I don't think you can berate mata for having such little influence on the game when he barely had a touch of the ball. Would Mhki have done any better?

Honestly, yes I absolutely would blame Mata for not having a touch of the ball, against Brighton, at Old Trafford. Who else would I blame? Is there some reason he can't go out there and get on the ball himself?

This is Mata to a tee as far as I'm concerned, there is always another excuse for being a passenger. And I don't know what Mhki has to do with it, he has been as much of a passenger to date as Mata has.

I said it when Pogba was out, that we had a bigger problem than that in the shape of an attacking quartet that we really can't rely on to perform consistently. First it was not having a solid defensive base in midfield, we got Matic. Then it was Pogba being missing and stifling our creativity, now Pogba is back, and still the likes of Martial, Mata, Mhki aren't coming up with the goods. I once said I'd like to see them stand up and be counted when things aren't going right for us, but now we can't even get them playing when everything is set up perfectly for them.

This isn't a meltdown, it just pointing out that it isn't good enough. So ok, we got Matic, Pogba, and a new and more mobile striker, whats next? Lets go get two proper full backs and see if that works, see if that will finally light a fire under the likes of Martial and Mata.

bucketybuck

Lord TSC wrote: »

I had wanted to see Martial and Rashford play at the same time, on either wing.

But having seen it twice now, I do worry it's not viable. Nature of two strikers on the wings but it lacks creativity.

It lacks two players with consistent performances, which isn't really something we can afford.

Donnielighto

Lithium93_ wrote: »

12 years gone today.

Wasted a liver

jayo26

Donnielighto wrote: »

Wasted a liver

You wasted time..

he was what he was.. he wasnt perfect but he was our hero he didn't hide from what he was I don't think.

pjohnson

Yes a full back would have totally improved our performance yesterday :pac:

Liam O

When the ball is bypassing Mata how can he be to blame? I thought at the start of the season that both Jose and Pep had realised that wing play was dated and the way to beat the teams sitting deep was to have high full backs and load the middle with attackers. I don't believe that's the case at United anymore really. Pogba's creativity has been carrying the team for a while now. Mata made a few good runs today but the ball would always wind up out wide. Young has done alright the last few games but the key is having full backs get to the byline and putting in quality crosses or smart balls. Young and Valencia don't do that so it's bad cross after bad cross. They weren't good enough to be the guys providing 5 years ago, not good enough now.

Lord TSC

bucketybuck wrote: »

It lacks two players with consistent performances, which isn't really something we can afford.

Yeah, that's fair.

I love Mata but he's four years at the club now, and I've come to accept we can't rely on him to carve open teams on even a 50/50 basis. As likeable as he is, he's not shown enough to be considered a #10 for us, and I think he needs to be replaced asap.

Martial has moments of magic, as has Rashford, but are as prone to having anonymous games as having great ones, we can deal with one of them doing that, but having them both do it in the same game is a disaster.

We're in an annoying place where there still needs to be rebuilding done. The squad Jose came in to have so many weaknesses, and I'm happy with how he's replaced some characters and who he's brought in. But we still need another number 10, still need that RW threat, and the full backs need to be significantly upgraded too.

That's not. Hit on Val or Young who are busting their guts. But for the amount of time and space they get, the delivery of the ball is just not up to scratch at all.

Al Capwned

bangkok wrote: »

25/11/15

man utd 0-0 psv :P

I cant believe someone actually bothered to research this ffs.

Donnielighto wrote: »

Wasted a liver

Jaysus, I hope you dont ever have any issues in your life. Must be great being so bloody perfect that you can judge someone like that. :mad:

pjohnson

Liam O wrote: »

When the ball is bypassing Mata how can he be to blame? I thought at the start of the season that both Jose and Pep had realised that wing play was dated and the way to beat the teams sitting deep was to have high full backs and load the middle with attackers. I don't believe that's the case at United anymore really. Pogba's creativity has been carrying the team for a while now. Mata made a few good runs today but the ball would always wind up out wide. Young has done alright the last few games but the key is having full backs get to the byline and putting in quality crosses or smart balls. Young and Valencia don't do that so it's bad cross after bad cross. They weren't good enough to be the guys providing 5 years ago, not good enough now.

Exactly. Mata wasnt used. Just firing in crosses at the best (Duffy) and 6th best (Dunk) headers in the league. If we actually used Mata and kept the ball on the ground and central the pace of Martial/Rashford cutting in towards the goal. Try to split Bruno-Duffy or Dunk-Bong. They are fairly slow so could easily be exposed that way. They are beasts in the air but we kept swinging it at their heads.

adox

When you get the ball wide properly against a packed defence you turn them and also stretch the defence out leaving space and opportunities. Crossing the ball in per say to the likes of Duffy when they are facing the play, they will eat them up all day of course. Get them turned and facing their own goal or even side on movingly backwards and they are exposed.

Getting the balling wide doesn’t automatically mean putting in an airial cross either.

When a team plays so defensively and packs the middle it’s extremely hard to play your way through it. You are leaving them to defend as they’ve been drilled. Comfortable facing the ball, in their shape etc.

Too often yesterday we played the ball out to a wide player but didn’t really play what I would call wide. More or ten than not the player cut inside or payed it back to a deeper player and the ball was crossed form the wrong position. Too deep and easy enough to defend.

That’s not to say we don’t have the problem of having some brutal crossers of the ball in the team but playing it wide doesn’t necessarily mean crossing.

bangkok

Al Capwned wrote: »

I cant believe someone actually bothered to research this ffs.


Jaysus, I hope you dont ever have any issues in your life. Must be great being so bloody perfect that you can judge someone like that. :mad:

lol... a quick google of 25/11/16 man utd... no results

change the 6 to a 5.........25/11/15 man utd 0-0 psv

all that "research" took me less than 10 seconds

Al Capwned

Indeed. But why would you bother your hole? Just to prove an anonymous someone wrong on a meaningless comment on the internet?
Say you're some craic.

jayo26

Al Capwned wrote: »

Indeed. But why would you bother your hole? Just to prove an anonymous someone wrong on a meaningless comment on the internet?
Say you're some craic.

He did it as a bit of fun not to prove him wrong hence the humorous face on the original post ....

I'd say your some craic yourself.

DM_7

Liam O wrote: »

When the ball is bypassing Mata how can he be to blame? I thought at the start of the season that both Jose and Pep had realised that wing play was dated and the way to beat the teams sitting deep was to have high full backs and load the middle with attackers. I don't believe that's the case at United anymore really. Pogba's creativity has been carrying the team for a while now. Mata made a few good runs today but the ball would always wind up out wide. Young has done alright the last few games but the key is having full backs get to the byline and putting in quality crosses or smart balls. Young and Valencia don't do that so it's bad cross after bad cross. They weren't good enough to be the guys providing 5 years ago, not good enough now.

The reason we see full backs with bad crosses is because they are coming up against well set defences.

The modern trend of using full backs as wide players has grown for more than one reason but has killed incisive wing play. Use of full backs like this has made it much easier for a defence to sit deep, protect the centre and let the ball go wide where full backs are coming onto the ball and putting in balls far easier to defend against.

If teams actaully had quality wide players they could stretch a premier league defence much more. Adox has described well how to get at the Duffy and Donks.

SAF is a perfect example of how a manager can set up his team differantly domestically to Europe.

Just because a trend of using forwards to have to come inside and full backs to provide width exists it does not make it best for the Premier League.

StringerBell

Nobody even mention it cuz it's the hope that kills ya!

Headshot

ban who ever says it

Quandary

I expect Huddersfield will hold on until around the 70th minute. City will get the equaliser and Huddersfield will crumble. Final score probably 1-3 to City.

Spurs put 4 past them at this ground already this season.

No hope here, not from this guy, no sir!

S.M.B.

Has anyone ever carried out some statistical analysis about the differences between "not mentioning it but actually may as well be mentioning it" versus actually just mentioning it?

Quandary

S.M.B. wrote: »

Has anyone ever carried out some statistical analysis about the differences between "not mentioning it but actually may as well be mentioning it" versus actually just mentioning it?

It's best not attempting to apply logic to it. Jinxing, reverse jinxing etc, it goes beyond rational thought.

Billy86

Well done lads, solid efforts all around.

Quandry, when you go to bed tonight just remember it's all your f***ing fault! :mad:

Quandary

Lithium93_

Quandary wrote: »

I expect Huddersfield will hold on until around the 70th minute. City will get the equaliser and Huddersfield will crumble. Final score probably 1-3 to City.

Spurs put 4 past them at this ground already this season.

No hope here, not from this guy, no sir!

jayo26

Clowns yez all are

Lithium93_

Think of possibly every United supporter who has you know who in their Fantasy Premier League teams..

Quiet conflicting. Disgust and joy wrapped in one.

J. Marston

Gonna stop checking City's results altogether. They win every single week. Last dropped points was 21st August.

Twats.

deaddonkey15

J. Marston wrote: »

Gonna stop checking City's results altogether. They win every single week. Last dropped points was 21st August.

Twats.

They're gone ahead now against Huddersfield. They're too good at the moment.

jayo26

They get disgustingly good luck all the time in close games like that.

Donnielighto

Al Capwned wrote: »

I cant believe someone actually bothered to research this ffs.


Jaysus, I hope you dont ever have any issues in your life. Must be great being so bloody perfect that you can judge someone like that. :mad:

It could have gone to someone else we don't have a surplus as far as I know, open to correction.

limnam

I'm not watching it so I'm not sure why I was so convinced they were going to hold on.

Would have made for a really good weekend for us.

Donnielighto

limnam wrote: »

I'm not watching it so I'm not sure why I was so convinced they were going to hold on.

Would have made for a really good weekend for us.

Hope, we all had it apart from quandary

bennyineire

Just accept that you haven't a snowballs chance in hell of winning the League this season, then you won't have to worry about Man City games

J. Marston

jayo26 wrote: »

They get disgustingly good luck all the time in close games like that.

No more than us. Did you see our goal yesterday? Constant pressure pays off.

They're just on another level to everyone else now.

jayo26

J. Marston wrote: »

No more than us. Did you see our goal yesterday? Constant pressure pays off.

They're just on another level to everyone else now.

Oh I don't deny that at all they just always seem to get it I don't mean it in a bitter way city deserve the luck they are playing really well and have been the better team all season.

bangkok

am i in the Man City thread? thought we werent allowed to talk about them here

jayo26

bangkok wrote: »

am i in the Man City thread? thought we werent allowed to talk about them here

No just your not.

Rayne Wooney

The league is over, expecting us to claw back 9 points, but not even that, expecting this group of players to then play consistently well enough to hold top spot for the rest of the season is deluded.

Only once in the last 8 seasons has the team top at this point thrown away the league. Bar us signing Griezmann, Kroos and Ozil on the 1st of January the fat lady is already singing.

The only interest remaining for this season is how far we can make it in the CL, being optimistic the semis could be possible.

J. Marston

Our 2 games before the City game are away to Watford and Arsenal while City have 2 home games against Southampton and West Ham.

Probably looking a 10+ point gap going into that match. Just to depress everyone a little.

Cantona's Collars

J. Marston wrote: »

Our 2 games before the City game are away to Watford and Arsenal while City have 2 home games against Southampton and West Ham.

Probably looking a 10+ point gap going into that match. Just to depress everyone a little.

Moyes to set West Ham up in a tactical masterclass and outwit Pep.

StringerBell

That true? The team top in the 3rd week of November has won the league 7 of the last 8 seasons?

Tylerdurex

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

The league is over, expecting us to claw back 9 points, but not even that, expecting this group of players to then play consistently well enough to hold top spot for the rest of the season is deluded.

Only once in the last 8 seasons has the team top at this point thrown away the league. Bar us signing Griezmann, Kroos and Ozil on the 1st of January the fat lady is already singing.

The only interest remaining for this season is how far we can make it in the CL, being optimistic the semis could be possible.

If Juventus can get to the final so can we

bucketybuck

Rayne Wooney wrote: »

The league is over, expecting us to claw back 9 points, but not even that, expecting this group of players to then play consistently well enough to hold top spot for the rest of the season is deluded.

Yeah, I don't much care what City do, I don't think United are good enough to win it regardless. That was my thought pre-season as well, a solid 2nd or 3rd place will have met my expectation.

I do think the CL is there for the taking though, if Jose finds the balls to try and win against some so-called big teams.

deaddonkey15

J. Marston wrote: »

Our 2 games before the City game are away to Watford and Arsenal while City have 2 home games against Southampton and West Ham.

Probably looking a 10+ point gap going into that match. Just to depress everyone a little.

I doubt that gap will be any smaller at the end of that match either.

Rayne Wooney

StringerBell wrote: »

That true? The team top in the 3rd week of November has won the league 7 of the last 8 seasons?

Twitter doesn’t lie, although it said most points so when I checked there were some joint tops.

16/17
1. Chelsea 34 (C)

15/16
1. City 29
2. Leicester 29 (C)

14/15
1. Chelsea 36 (C)

13/14
1. Arsenal 35
3. City 28 (C)

12/13
1. United 33(C)

11/12
1. City 38 (C)

10/11
1. Chelsea 28
2. United 28 (C)

9/10
1. Chelsea 36 (C)

S.M.B.

bucketybuck wrote: »

Yeah, I don't much care what City do, I don't think United are good enough to win it regardless. That was my thought pre-season as well, a solid 2nd or 3rd place will have met my expectation.

I do think the CL is there for the taking though, if Jose finds the balls to try and win against some so-called big teams.

Same. If we were to somehow match our points tally from our last title winning season then we'd have exceeded my expectations. I believe we are only a single point behind where we were that season.

Not much we can do if city continue this record breaking form.

Lord TSC

Really couldn't car either less about City in the overall scheme of things.

Focus on the matches in front of us, try to win every game we can. If City do better, so be it. Shouldn't change our attitudes going into every game.

Rossi IRL

Valencia beating Barca 1-0 with 20 mins to go.

Pereira is on the bench so he might come on soon.

It's on Sky 403

Kondogbia is a tank in midfield

Edit: 10 to go and Pereira is on

limnam

Rossi IRL wrote: »

Valencia beating Barca 1-0 with 20 mins to go.

Pereira is on the bench so he might come on soon.

It's on Sky 403

Kondogbia is a tank in midfield

Edit: 10 to go and Pereira is on

He's on now, some finish there from barca

Ah, hadn't seen you edited the post

rekluse

AidoEirE wrote: »

Thats harsh on Lukaku as the dip on form happened around the same time as Pogba's injury. When your main creative threat is out it makes his job harder. He's no angel, he has missed some sitters but he doesnt give up. Not sure how we'd be much better with Morata, suppose we'll never know. Lukaku will cone good yet, as long as he's there when the chances come to him.

Edit: 8 goals with 12 games in the league played isnt a horrible return

Hectic at work so ain't had a chance to reply properly to this. Lukaku is a decent striker and he is doing a job,but he doesn't have the class of Morata, Lukaku is all brute and brawn, it can utilitzed effectively against the lower echelons of the premier league, but when you need that bit of class and technique to unlock an elite team in the latter stages of the champions league or league run in I wouldn't be banking on him.United should be aiming for better, I know who I would rather a champions league qt or sf anyways. That saying, Lukaku is one of the least of our problems at the moment. There are a few more pressing issues at the moment. When your best player is Ashley Young 400 odd million in the last few years you have to be left scratching your head!

Cantona's Collars

Just saw on the Sky app in the paper roundup that Lukaku might miss the derby cos of a ban. Dunno what that is about.