Manchester United Banter Archive November 05 2018

 

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05 Nov 2018 22:20:05
Well folks,
If we were guaranteed 1 win this week. Would you prefer an away win over Juve or an away win over City. A win in either competition would be a big statement. A loss in either would be a decent dent depending on other results.

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05 Nov 2018 22:28:03
Juventus, more chance of winning that than the Prem with some luck.

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05 Nov 2018 22:37:26
City. They've been destroying everyone in their sight and a win there would give us a massive confidence boost and a reminder to the other top 6 that we mean business and a big boost for top 4. If we don't beat juve it's no biggie, I expect us to come second there either way. Reckon we'll get past Valencia.

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06 Nov 2018 06:30:03
City. We could lose to Juve and still get through, and beating City would have a massive impact on the players.

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06 Nov 2018 08:23:41
City without question.

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06 Nov 2018 10:01:24
City - the league is more important.

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06 Nov 2018 13:55:53
City without question regardless of circumstance.

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06 Nov 2018 15:43:24
City most def!

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mbd              

05 Nov 2018 17:10:44
Id like to guage people's opinion on Smalling.
He is in awful form. I know that wint come as a surprise to most as its been that way for 5 of the last 6 years but last season he did ok.
The defence has been poor in terms of goals conceded. Yet everybody is delighted with shaws contribution.
Imo shaw is not a good natural defender but does give something to iur attack.
Perhaps the poor cbs are even more exposed when we allow the full backs push on but smalling has has been comfortably our worst player closely followed by matic in the last 5 games imo.

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05 Nov 2018 17:42:13
Agree 100%. Any contribution that Smalling makes is often the wrong side of the rules in my old fashioned understanding of them. He ball watches, man handles and consistently demonstrates his lack of footballing skill and nouse.

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05 Nov 2018 17:54:35
I think the fact that the wind completely befuddled him against Bournemouth says all you need to know.

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05 Nov 2018 18:20:27
I don't want this to mount to a defense of smalling we should have players better than him at CB.
But what do we do when we sign loads of players for that position since him and each manager who watches training and whose backside is on the line over results all come to the same conclusion which is he plays over all the options . There's always things like injuries but he keeps being seen as the preferred option by the various managers . Does it not say something about our recruitment of so many CBS since him for so much money and yet he's still selected.
Lots turn really quickly on smalling but he is what he is and it's not his fault all those other CBS in various managers eyes including this one can't dislodge him . If we had recruited better he wouldn't be an issue he wouldn't be playing.

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05 Nov 2018 18:20:36
Ken - I think Smalling's a decent squad player and good enough to cover for injuries but he shouldn't be first choice and we won't challenge whilst he is in my opinion.

Out of interest what CB combination would you play if everyone was fit?

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05 Nov 2018 18:25:12
I just thinking his positional sense is appalling. For me he never has been a top defender despite a purple patch here and there. We'd be much better off letting him go.

Bailly hasn't played well at all when called upon recently, I have no idea why that is because he showed so much in the early parts of his united career.

Rojo has had some injury issues recently and hasn't been included of late. I'm unsure of him also. We are in desperate need of a CB with composure and good positional sense to play on beside lindelof whom I feel will be a good CB.

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05 Nov 2018 19:01:47
Poor for the level we want and should be aiming for, wouldn’t even have him in a United squad, bottom half of the table player for me at best. His positional sense, distribution and decision making is very poor, he is lucky not to give a penalty away in each game with his shirt pulling and grabbing, time for him to move on for United’s and his sake.

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05 Nov 2018 19:23:26
Good post Slate I think you've hit the nail on the head there pal!

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05 Nov 2018 19:32:46
Yeah i agree to an extent slate.
I thought he did ok last season as i said but this season he has gone to pieces. But last season our back 4 was more rigid.
Like all our other cbs i think smalling needs a leader beside him to help his composure.
He has remained a cinstant for the last 5 years as you said. But we have had our worst run of league finishes for 30 years in those years apart from last season when we were solid at the back at the expense of attack.

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05 Nov 2018 20:11:50
Good post Ken and a very good debate. I've always said Smalling is poor and if we have defenders like him in the 1st team we won't win the title.

We desperately need to sign a top class experienced leader at the back and then we can play Baily or Lindelof who has been playing good recently with the new CB.

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05 Nov 2018 20:33:44
Should never have let Tuanzebe go on loan. He is doing very well at villa. I know he’s young and inexperienced but I’m sure he could have done a better job that the rest of our cbs perhaps barring lindelof. I know we need an experienced cb but until then I would have loved to have seen Tuanzebe given some playing time. Onto smalling, I agree he is simply not good enough. A mistake waiting to happen. But unfortunately he is the best of a painfully average bunch (Jones, Rojo) . I haven’t included bailly because I think he has a lot of potential. Unfortunately he is out of favour with Jose. One bad game and he’s out. Reeks of injustice when smalling is poor 4 games out of 5. There is more to the reason why he’s not playing. Perhaps Jose is giving him the shaw treatment. But he’s got to be given a run of games to improve his form and confidence.

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05 Nov 2018 20:46:29
Our defence has been porous for a long time, even in the last 1_2 years under Fergie and a common presence has been Smalling. It says two things to me, first he is a huge part and contributor to the problem but secondly and more worryingly even though we have spent more than 100m on defenders and also bought quite a few CBS our defensive problems seem the same and a regular in than defence is Smalling.

On just Smalling, of all the CBS we have he is the one that makes me the most afraid when watching us because of how uncomfortable he is with ball at his feet, he looks like a time bomb to me.

But this season, from whatever little I have actually watched, our main issue defensively has been lack of cohesion. We haven't defended as a team and when that happens Smalling is exposed a lot and then mistakes here there everywhere. For Smalling and even our other CBS to look decent they require a lot of protection from the whole team. When people were happy with Smalling's performances under LVG, we used to play with 2 DMs. So I think we need better CBS if we want to be playing expansive football otherwise guys like Stalling won't be giving us much security.

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05 Nov 2018 22:31:00
I agree deepandra that our defence has been poor for a long time and covered up by defensive style of play and DDG and let's be honest if not for DDG I’d hate to think some of our league positions. I feel the club isn’t struggling to move on players such as Smalling due to wages, poor buys from Jose tho I do think Lindelof would be good with a leader beside him, not an abundance of top Centre backs out there and those that are would also be attracting interest from clubs in a better position than us at present.

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05 Nov 2018 22:42:14
I agree Welsh without DDG I shudder to think. Here is a thought. And this is probably rubbish but does anybody think that maybe the reason why we haven’t ‘invested’ as heavily in our defence is because we have DDG? The fact that he is so damn good and saves us so many points has perhaps created a false view that our defence is ok. I mean statistically last season we were very solid. In reality we were still poor personnel wise. Did Woodward think that because we have DDG there was no point in ‘overspending’ on say Maguire or Alderweireld? Maybe you could argue that if De Gea was to leave we would be forced into investing properly in the defence because losing him in many ways is out while defence. He is simply incredible. Just something I thought about the other day and I am just playing devil’s advocate.

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06 Nov 2018 09:04:56
Smalling is our best centre back and the current player that thevusally suspects have turned on . It's like clockwork.

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06 Nov 2018 10:59:57
I remember a few on here saying we should throw Fosu-Mensah in, instead of those we currently have playing. Young lads having a nightmare on loan. And Tuanzebe is playing at Championship level. Who knows if he's up for playing regularly at this level. A lot of people claiming results are everything, yet want to throw a few more unproven youngsters in.

Smalling always has a mistake in him, but just before he gave the penalty away against Everton, I'd just turned to the young lad and said that he'd been playing really well.

Jose obviously rates him ahead of the rest, though it helps Smalling when all his competition are either injured or out of favour.

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06 Nov 2018 11:27:29
He might be our best because he is most experienced but h3 definitely isn't going to win u titles and atleast not when he is in the 1st team.

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06 Nov 2018 12:06:50
Lads we can't have a good debate about anyone anymore.

We are turning on him 😂😂

Like clockwork.

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06 Nov 2018 13:43:20
"Smalling is the best we have"
That about encompasses up all the problems we have.

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06 Nov 2018 13:57:39
Ignore that angel just a windup merchant.

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06 Nov 2018 20:48:12
Ah no Ken, sure it's good Craic. Hypocrites amuse me.

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07 Nov 2018 20:13:59
I'm told by those in the know that when Smalling arrived, they spent six months training him separately just to teach him how to pass a football. After six months, they couldn't hold him back from group training any more and so he had to be thrown in with the others, even though he still wasn't ready. So at least he's better than when her arrived!

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05 Nov 2018 14:19:17
Afternoon guys, quick question does anybody think it's time to try Matic at CB?

He appears to be struggling with the stamina and mobility required to play in midfield at the moment.

Smalling has been poor recently. When the ball is in the air he's probably our most commanding defender but he's terrible with the ball at his feet. He struggles against the more agile, mobile attackers and with upcoming away games against Juventus and City I fear the worse.

Matic has the physicality to play the position. He's an intelligent footballer and generally reads the game well. He's calm and assured in possession and he might just provide us with the composure we need to build from the back and get better possession of the football. I'm not saying he's the long term solution but at the moment he may just provide the solution to our defensive problems.

I think our slow starts recently have been exaggerated by our inability to keep possession of the ball early in games. Every goal kick goes long, we lack the courage, bravery and composure to take the ball in tight areas. We look to play the ball long too soon rather than building the play and we invariably surrender possession too easily. When this is combined with the fact that we drop very deep to compensate for our defensive fragilities it fills the opposition with confidence and encourages them to press us higher which causes us even more problems. It's no coincidence to me that we've been able to improve in the second half as the energy and intensity of the game drops which affords us more possession and enables Pogba to influence the game more easily.

I think Matic might just give us the composure we need to settle us down and play some football. I think Pereira could be used as a deep lying play maker and Herrera to add some bite and energy in midfield.

I think Lindelof, Matic and Pereria should be able to manipulate and keep the ball better allowing us to build from the back more readily.

I thought Sanchez looked much better upfront. His link up play, movement and mobility were an upgrade and he was instrumental in getting us back into the game. I hope he gets a run of games up front.

Whilst results have been better, our performances are still frustratingly erratic and until this improves I'm not convinced results will remain as encouraging over the medium to long term.

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05 Nov 2018 14:49:09
Think he should just play in mid mate, needs a rest. Will only see the best of him if he's fully fit and energised, we've badly overused him imo.

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05 Nov 2018 14:56:55
or we can play one the other many centre backs we have.

what is up with bailly. or rojo.

its shown with lindoff a run of games in the team.

sick of playing player out of position.

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05 Nov 2018 14:59:35
Matic is a very good player when he is on form. But unfortunately he has been woeful this season. As you both have alluded to, the guy looks knackered. He is reaching a point for me where he cannot play every week in the middle. He just doesn’t have the legs to get around the pitch especially where he is having to do double work covering pogba when he is out of position. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in a back 3 with lindelof and bailly either side. Has a good passing range and would be able to take the ball out of defence. This would then allow us to have a more dynamic midfield with more legs by playing pereira/ Herrera/ Fred. It would also allow us to play mata centrally instead of shifting him to the right. Matic wouldn’t work back 4 imo. Would get shown up against the likes of Aguero. I too hope to see Sanchez played centrally again. Thought he looked far more threatening and dangerous with his runs and movement. He will score plenty of given the time and a run as striker.

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05 Nov 2018 15:19:03
It was always relatively obvious that Matic would struggle this season. Historically he always starts well then taxes as the season progresses. His stamina over a season has always been poor. Therefore, in a season after he has had a reduced rest period due to international commitments it was always likely he was going to struggle.

I wouldn't play him at CB due to the lack of mobility be more likely to be exposed. If he is struggling with central midfielders then what is he going to do with mobile strikers and in cutting wingers?

I think he needs to be tested more. I'd like to see a midfield three of Herrera, Fred and Pogba.

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05 Nov 2018 15:41:23
He's been pretty terrible since the first month or two for me.

Just a body taking up room, occasionally intercepting and picking a good pass, but mostly hampering the speed of our play, losing his man and making other midfielders/ defenders over compensate for his lack of mobility and general poor awareness at times.

Aside from his height (which is irrelevant from an attacking point of view as we can't deliver, and defensively as we look a shambles whenever a ball comes in), I don't see what he brings better than Herrera or Pereira back there. I'd even have Fellaini over Matic and that is saying something.

£50m spent on a player way past his best (clearly Kante taking his place tricked whoever said 'go' on the deal, because Matic was declining rapidly at Chelsea irrespective) . It would be like us signing Fabregas in January because Jorginho plays now, but like Matic somebody will buy Fabregas and feel the pain - hopefully not us but I wouldn't be surprised.

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05 Nov 2018 17:17:09
I agree bolger that we don't want another player playing out of position.
Matic looks knackered to me. Take him out for a couple if weeks as he has done with lukaku.
Bailly has been awful when played anytime this season. I thought he was our potential long term no1 but i just see him jumping in and la king composure all the time.
Can he get himself together and up his game like shaw and martial and respond to the challenge? I don't know its up to him. I thought he was the warrior type but maybe he is a bit soft and easy going for jose.

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05 Nov 2018 17:41:02
I don't think he will be consistent in any position. Past it.

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05 Nov 2018 18:21:33
Badly in need of a rest.

I think he would also benefit with Herrera in beside him doing the majority of leg work. Looked a better player when Herrera was introduced.

But don't be fooled, he is a cracking footballer.

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05 Nov 2018 18:47:04
Shappy - I'm really not convinced by Fred I don't get what kind of player he is yet? Yes he has energy but he's not really a ball winner, his passing is erratic and he gets pushed off the ball too easily for my liking.

I was under the impression he was a bit like Kante but more creative. I was excited by what I'd read about him. I suppose if he was we'd have some player. Early days granted let's hope he improves and finds his role in the team.

Pogba is better with energy around him and pace ahead of him. We still haven't found the right combination to allow him to flourish. We need two tenacious, hard working, ball winners next to him and then pace, movement and mobility ahead for him.

For France he had Kante and Matuidi to do his running and win the ball with Greizman and Mbappi providing the pace and movement.

Football is about finding the correct balance and combinations and we just don't seem to have the right mix.

I suppose Fred does have the energy and Herrera brings an intensity that we definitely miss when he doesn't play maybe that trio could work?!

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05 Nov 2018 20:49:26
Round holes and square pegs come to find. But sometimes it does help slow the water leakage so who knows what happens if actually tried. But I think Matic needs a rest, he has been playing regularly for quite a few seasons and he is getting on a bit. If he still doesn't recover his form even after some rest then maybe we all have to accept that he's legs are going and we won't be seeing the best of him.

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Arsenal v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective

05 Nov 2018 14:21:49
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Arsenal v Liverpool - A Liverpool Perspective

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Huddersfield Town v Fulham Preview 5 November 2018

05 Nov 2018 11:04:24
{Ed's Note - Reid the Red has posted a new article entitled, Huddersfield Town v Fulham Preview 5 November 2018

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Review Of The Day 5th November 2018

05 Nov 2018 07:29:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Review Of The Day 5th November 2018

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05 Nov 2018 04:33:59
Just read that since last time United scored 5 in a premier league game, City have scored 5 or more in 28 games. It tells you all. I can't see us scoring such scoreline anytime near as well.

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05 Nov 2018 07:18:52
That is a crazy stat. Therein lies the problem. Been struggling to score goals since the day Fergie left.

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05 Nov 2018 11:06:08
when our 3rd highest goal scorer since jan 18 is snmalling on 3 that says it all.

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05 Nov 2018 11:08:21
Tbh park. Since the 6-1 humiliation from city, I can't remember a game we looked like scoring more than 5. can't imagine when will be the next time we score 5.

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05 Nov 2018 11:56:23
I don't think Jose would ever countenance such irresponsible behaviour. The would have parked the bus long before then, maybe even taken the wheels off, by substituting any one likely to score and bringing on dodgy defenders so that we enjoy a exciting football (played by the opposition of course) .
Us score 5? The very thought - Wash your mouth out.

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05 Nov 2018 12:26:18
We scored 5 twice in fergies last 4 seasons.

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05 Nov 2018 15:20:33
Didn't we score 5 under Moyes.

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05 Nov 2018 17:39:35
I meant chances of 5 under present regime! Don't cheat.

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