Manchester United Banter Archive April 14 2019

 

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14 Apr 2019 20:47:54
Best not to dwell on yesterdays performance the most positive thing I can say is job done.

In many ways we are still suffering from an unbalanced squad where players have been recruited without an understanding of where they will fit into the team and without knowing or understanding our preferred style or system.

Without wanting to sound like a broken record if we are to enjoy any success either on the field or in the transfer market Ole must impose his identity on the team.

When he took over he quickly identified his preferred 11 and formation. For the first time in years we knew our best team and it brought success. The football was better (not perfect), players started to form relationships and partnerships and we had reason to be optimistic. Injury derailed this plan and threw it into chaos. We now have different systems every week with players being asked to perform several different roles often within the same 90 minutes. Whilst some degree of tactical flexibility is useful players perform at their best when they understand their role and know what's expected of them. They benefit from playing the same system and knowing their team mates. At the moment we've reverted back into a bunch of individuals playing their own game rather than a cohesive team where everyone understands their job.

I think it's fair to say that none of us could reliably name the team for Tuesday let alone guess the tactics or formation. Will it be 3 at the back, 442, 442 (diamond), 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 who knows?!

When it comes to the summer recruitment how do we know which players to target if we don't even know what style or formation we want to play?

I would have liked Ole to stick to the 4-3-3 which brought him his early success. To continue to demand his players work hard and press the ball. Move the ball quickly and play without fear. If he'd have stuck to his principles we'd have a better understanding of what was required in the summer. His tinkering and square pens in round holes approach has contributed to a lack of form, disjointed, disorganised and uninspiring recent performances.

I agree we need a CB, RB and probably another CM but in my opinion the priority position must be RW. We just don't have anybody that can play that position effectively on a consistent basis. Lingard has done ok on occasions but he often drifts inside which leaves us without width. I accept a better full back might go some way to alleviating this problem but Lingard constantly drifting inside often leaves us vulnerable defensively as well.

Surely we want our FB to build up a relationship with our wide men, providing overlapping runs and freeing up space inside. Lingard is often so far detached that the full back is totally isolated often left without a passing option. We must be able to attack down both sides of the pitch and if we had someone on the right this would free up space for Martial and Pogba coming through the centre.

I think Ole has been guilty of trying to be a little bit too clever and manipulating his tactics and formation too often. He has fallen into the trap of setting up his team according to the opposition rather than building on his early success and principles.

For the record I think Ole deserved the job but I want to know what type of football we can expect next season. I went to see us work harder, press the ball higher and play on the front foot. I want to see us impose our own style on the opposition and watch a team rather than a collection of individuals. I think Ole has fallen into the trap like his predecessors of chasing results rather than performances. He's now walking a dangerous line believing that the ends justify the means. Yesterday wasn't good enough despite the result. Look after the performances and the results will look after themselves over the course of a season.

Come on Ole give us what we want. We need to see progress and an identity returning to our play. Prioritise the performances and the results will look after themselves. Don't lose your way like those before you.

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14 Apr 2019 20:57:25
Spot on DLIB.

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14 Apr 2019 21:06:23
To be fair to ole and the players dlib since the Liverpool game there was lots of injuries. he has not been able to call on his preferred 11 once since then.
So what do you get?
Some positives in the emergence of dalot fred and mctom in particular.
The negatives are the chopping and changing leads to disjointed performances and players playing rash and jessie when not 100% fit.
The.

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14 Apr 2019 21:09:19
Pressed send early.
The other negative is we have to rely on depth of squad and we got exposed in midfield and wide areas in particular.

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14 Apr 2019 23:20:05
Good post dlib and I couldn't agree more about your point about attacking from both sides . Martial cops lots of stick, to be honest even though I still like him he deserves a lot of his stick, while the right sided attackers get a bit of a pass as it's more just accepted we are pants down the right . I hope Sanchez duznt get better in people's eyes by not playing and simply on the fact martial has had a poor game, Sanchez has been truly awful .
On pogba another who frustrates but of the midfield options we have it's a pretty bland bunch attacking wise without him .
We have it in us to be able to beat pretty much anyone in a one off game, the flip side is we also look well capable of losing to teams we would hope not to.

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15 Apr 2019 06:13:03
Good post DLIB.
Injuries are starting to take a toll on the squad.
We have not fielded a same starting 11 for the past 10 games.

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Formula 1: China Talking Points

14 Apr 2019 16:10:50
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Formula 1: China Talking Points

Believable0 Unbelievable0

14 Apr 2019 18:50:25
Man! Whoever is responsible for the strat calls on that Ferrari team really needs to think about what they decide. They were all over the place.

Ed: Don't know much about the technical side of things, but just explain one thing, Mercedes weren't the quickest on the straights, but were very very strong around the corners and it was vice versa for Ferrari. Is this part of the setup that they choose for a circuit or is it purely based on what the car is capable of. Coz, if it is the latter, then basically, any and every circuit that has fast corners are going to be Ferrari's downfall. Is there no way that they can change that?

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{Ed001's Note - it is about the car, Mercs have more downforce. Red Bull have traditionally won titles through being much better on the corners. Only thing Ferrari can do is develop their aero to bring them level. Fast corners are not so much of an issue as slow corners, as you gain more time in them by being faster than you do in the faster ones.}

15 Apr 2019 08:45:54
I don't know if it is still true, but did teams earn tokens that they could use for development? I'm not too sure where I read that, was probably years ago.

Yeah, by corners I meant the ones taking the toll on the tyres. Just a quick question again, does better downforce lead to lesser tyre wear?

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{Ed001's Note - it wasn't earning tokens, they started the season with an amount of tokens they could use for development. As recently as last season (if I remember right) that was still in play. Basically if they wanted to upgrade the engine, they had to use a token to bring a new version in.

More downforce makes a significant improvement to tyre wear because sliding is the main reason tyres wear out. When you have more downforce, you slide less. However driving style is more of a key, as a driver who runs on the ragged edge throwing the back end out looks more exciting, but he is sliding the car and so wears the tyres out. Or having a heavier foot and accelerating too hard will spin the wheels creating more tyre wear. So it is not the only factor but yes it should lead to less tyre wear.}

14 Apr 2019 14:36:27
Do any of the Ed's know if we, or anyone else ..........................

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{Ed002's Note - WRONG PAGE.}

14 Apr 2019 14:56:27
Apology's Ed, which page should I use?, there isn't a Bournemouth page.

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{Ed002's Note - Try the main Football page - or perhaps the Spurs or Arsenbal page.}

14 Apr 2019 15:40:40
Found the info I wanted, thanks Ed. Disappointed we aren't looking at him.

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{Ed002's Note - The club has preferred AM targets.}

14 Apr 2019 10:59:01
don’t know if you’ve been asked on any of the other pages, but i’d like to hear the ed’s opinions on what’s happening in the Fai at the moment.

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{Ed002's Note - Aside from the issuette about Delaney's loan I am not aware of anything "going on" - and it is nothing to do with MU.}

14 Apr 2019 13:51:10
i know it’s nothing to do with United, and there’s far more than just the loan. He was getting the organisation to pay for stays in hotels with Pillow menus, using the Fai credit card to buy clothing, exactly the same thing he claimed the previous chief did. I mean, does this happen anywhere else in the world?

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{Ed002's Note - Yes.}

14 Apr 2019 14:09:03
thanks for clearing that up Ed.

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14 Apr 2019 10:51:19
Just wanted to say it was heartening to see Sean Cox enjoying the match at Anfield on the pics Friday night. With all the rivalry and too often hatred in the game I thought was great to see the man so happy. Speedy recovery Sean.

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14 Apr 2019 12:11:41
Well said. 👍👍👍.

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14 Apr 2019 16:25:08
Here here. Was great to see the video of him giving the thumbs up. I wish him and his family all the best in his recovery.

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14 Apr 2019 17:18:14
Agree Darren. His wife was on the late late show with aldrige and macateer and said he was making steady progress. Wonderful news .

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14 Apr 2019 09:53:44
Interesting stat, Pogba's first penalty yesterday was our first shot on target in 3 hours of football. Imagine the reaction to Mourinho if he was still manager. I've said I hope Ole does well and I would give him time, but we are no better now than under Jose. We don't attack with any intensity, and don't get numbers forward. One example yesterday Martial ran with the ball to the edge of the box, he looked up, Rashford was at the edge of the box, Lukaku out to the right, and every body else further back, hense within 3 passes we were back at half way. Imagine Stirling in that position, he would look up and see 5 or 6 players in and around the box. I hope Ole is strong enough to ditch the lazy players and build a more dynamic team.

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14 Apr 2019 12:09:18
Inhope.
The football is no better than it was under jose because we still have all the same players. But the results are so much better because the players are motivated and are obviously trying harder.
There is a void in quality. But they are muddling through as supporters its all we can ask until as you say we have a significant coolest clearout.

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14 Apr 2019 12:47:08
I’m glad your on this site ken as you do all the work I would feel obliged to do if you weren’t.

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14 Apr 2019 12:57:32
I accept its the same players Ken, but can these players not be told to get forward in numbers to help the attack, Jose was criticized for his defensive tactics, but Ole still has more behind the ball than in support. I expect more adventure from Ole, but i'm not seeing it.

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14 Apr 2019 13:57:55
Theres a clear distinction pre and post that 1-0 win at spurs. Before that ole was just a man to come in and put smiles on faces and play entertaining football with no pressure to get results.

You could seen back then we were pressing higher, full backs were playing very high and we were taking a lot more risks.

After that 1-0 win at spurs and the possibility of finishing in the top 4 not being so bleak, everything has become resulted oriented and the style reflects that. We have sat back and countered in pretty much every game as we did under jose.

Only hope is with a full pre season under his belt ole and the team revert back to the pre spurs style of pressing high and taking risks on the ball.

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14 Apr 2019 15:39:35
Sandwiched in between two UCL games with Barcelona and with the suspension and injuries the game yesterday was always a potential banana skin.

Rojo coming in to play left back was always going to be less adventurous than Shaw.

We lined up in effectively a 4-1-4-1 with Fred holding, Pogba, Mata, Jesse and Lingard supporting Lukaku. This was not a defensive line up. Nor do I believe the players were told to go out and sit behind the ball or not support.

When you lack control in a game or the other team is threatening to score with a counter it forces players back. They came to old Trafford and played well yesterday in a game where Pogba and Martial and others failed to stamp any authority on the game. Lots of nearly attacks, with no real chances created.

This team is not going to play champagne football week in week out. 3 points, no injuries and big game on Tuesday. Move on to the next one.

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14 Apr 2019 17:37:15
Dodgy
On the money, looking at the bigger picture .

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14 Apr 2019 22:57:33
Interesting that the match of the day analysis showed the number of times we had large numbers in the box and that meant we were left a bit open which led to a very exciting end to end game that could have gone either way.

We have created plenty of chances just not been clinical. Strange how people see what they want to see rather than what actually happens.

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Premier League Match Previews for 14 and 15 April 2019

14 Apr 2019 09:20:34
{Ed's Note - Reid the Red has posted a new article entitled, Premier League Match Previews for 14 and 15 April 2019

Believable0 Unbelievable0

Review Of The Day 14th April 2019

14 Apr 2019 07:29:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 14th April 2019

Believable1 Unbelievable0

14 Apr 2019 00:55:29
3 points and move on.
Id take 5 more awful wins like that.
No shortage of effort and determination and it helps no end.
We got a few breaks today and that helps too.
Very disjointed and that was to be expected with rojo jones jones and mata hardly having played recently.
We got a few rested for tue too so that helps.
An honest appraisal from ole too .
The goals Jane dried up so have the chances and ole is right it can't get any worse . Sooner or later rash lukaku martial or even sanchez will find the goals to tget us over the line.

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14 Apr 2019 04:15:46
Mostly agree Ken that it was scrappy.
I was particularly disappointed with Mata and Rojos for the game. Mata gave away more than a few times and Rojos was just sad 🤦‍♂️. DDG also didn’t play that great but had a fantastic save. Hope this is not due to his contract negotiation. That wouldn’t be professional.
I thought Smalling did very very well Jones did great too. Hopefully they find their teamwork again. We really need to beef up our defense next season.
I also thought Lukaku did well but unfortunately no goals from him. Rash was a fresh attack air when he came on. Martial was not up to par and Pogba was average. Would’ve been nice to see some magic from Pogba. Challenging times ahead and we need to be steel willed and push on.
I am not greatly positive for the season ending and I hope we will be set up for the next season with some key purchases. I feel we don’t need big names but more importantly players who will fit into what we want to achieve.
Lastly for me a win is a win and 3 pts is 3 pts. Scrappy as it is I’d take all the scrappy wins for the rest of the season including CL 🤣. For now we are where we are but we can do something about next season soon.

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14 Apr 2019 06:35:58
Not pretty but sandwiched between 2 barce games who cares 3 points is 3 points . That's 38 points from our last 16 games, I don't think any 1 has won more since ole come in .
Just need a couple of results to go our way.

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14 Apr 2019 08:03:22
It will Jred it will. Have faith. We’ve come a long way with good hope after 3 different managers. Hopefully we won’t be disappointed hereon. Whoever it is, I’ll support the appointed manager.

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14 Apr 2019 09:35:33
Happy with the win but the last little period has showed just how far behind we are, lazy, unfit and lacking in real quality is what I’d say. Ole wants to play a pressing game with quick counterattack and when you’ve lazy players like Pogba and Martial in your team it won’t work. There are a lot that just aren’t good enough for this club. Jones, Young, Rojo, Bailly, Pogba, Mata, Martial, to name a few, Sanchez another, Pogba has quality but only shows glimpses, same for Martial, we need more consistency than that, it shows how much work there is to do this summer in a summer we HAVE to get it right. Maybe martial will learn this.
We need to go away from the galactico style of recruitment, big fees and big wages and go back to buying up top English talent and players that at least will work hard, who are fit and understand the club ethos.
That said, wins a win this time of year and with city and Chelsea to come we have some tough games but it will be close. Ironically the scousers could do us a favour today.

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