06 Nov 2021 08:14:01
Derby Day, the day I started supporting United. Today is intriguing, because City are not in great form and we are awfully organised. I suspect more fear than usual in Ole so expect a 532 formation with Ron and Rashford up front. Ole has previously tried Rashford on the left running down the side of their right CB.

We have been told that it is only the players at fault by all Ole's mates in the press for so long, so it was a surprise when Rio actually said it as it is on Wednesday, "what formation are they playing? They were in disarray". Denial cannot last much longer.

I would love to see us come out and show some organisation pride and power yet can't see it. Disarray today will bring another hammering, yet ultra defensive like at Spurs may mean it is tighter than expected, especially with them being out of form. My expectation is a 2.1 loss with Ole telling us after, it is an improvement, a step towards where we are going, our DNA is strong, despite City winning leagues that is just for players egos. I am not sure I have seen a United team so poorly managed going into a derby game, maybe City will be as lenient as Liverpool were on us for the last 40mins, it's called pity.

1.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 09:04:13
I have no idea which way this will go today. It could be a nervy win, a boring stalemate or a total humbling. I wouldn't be surprised with us winning 1-0 or 2-1, but I wouldn't be shocked if we lost 8-0 (which should have been the scoreline against Liverpool had they not taken pity on us) . To be honest Liverpool's pity hurts more than them thumping us.

If we lose badly then I feel that will be the end of Ole. Although I am concerned that the seem to have no plan for that. Looks like if the club do decide to sack Ole then they will wing it when it comes to appointing his successor.

Whether we win or lose later I'm going dark. I suppose with over 150k words written that won't be a bad thing ?
It's my wife's birthday party day and we have a full day planned. Initially I was a little frustrated that it fell on derby day, yet in hindsight it appears that fate might be smiling on me.

I hope everyone enjoys the match and fingers crossed for a big win.

2.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 09:08:41
It could be an emperors clothes moment for Ole although I suspect there is much left that will surprise us. I suspect a City win by at least 3 goals as the thing an unorganised outfit like ours cannot contain is movement off the ball, something city are the masters at. And they will not take pity like Liverpool did.

The only reason I want Ole to last till the end of the season is that it gives this inept board some time to get their act together in looking for a new manager and building the structure to support him. Pipe dreams, I know.

Ten Haag remains the most obvious candidate to get the most out of this squad. Changing managers this year may mean we can steer clear of Southgate as well which won’t be a bad thing. Plus it gives the new manager 2 years to build his style of play and get rid of Ole’s underperforming favourites - at which point I suspect both Klopp and Pep will be gone or in their last season. Unfortunately that is the only time i see us competing again.

3.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 09:37:41
The defence is a puzzler, last season they were pretty good, we add Varane and it should have improved. Yet at times this year it looks shambolic, like they have never played together before.

4.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 09:58:11
Shappy

Enjoy your wife’s birthday! I think the club may be waiting for Poch to be available, hence why they are sticking with the temp for now. You can almost see PSG licking their lips at getting a top French manager in Zidane. The club seem unable to see the damage they are doing with Ole. Last week the press said Spurs were the laughing stock, they are not now, maybe that is the destiny for us.

Ryans

Ten Haag would struggle with the infrastructure of Ole supporting underperformers around him at OT. It needs a transplant of Overmars VDS and Ten Haag, ditching our also rans to have a chance.

5.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 10:51:53
Just a guess but I reckon City will press high and hard like they did against Chelsea. Utd won't be able to handle it and will give the ball away in dangerous areas or boot it aimlessly down the pitch straight back to City. 3-0 to City.

6.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 11:24:03
I think we will be overrun and if they had a decent striker would lose heavily. However, they spurn so many chances so perhaps a ‘respectable’ loss.

I think we have fallen off a cliff. We have struggled all year and when we played a proper team we were spanked. Despite me grumbling at some posts, Spurs were shocking so that told us nothing other than we can break quickly. I suspect Ole will not be here by Christmas because we will have suffered a few more spankings by then.

Sad, but the evidence so far this year is we are completely lost.

7.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 12:13:06
Agree AJH. Redman, any manager will struggle to compete at the top end without a proper structure- not only Ten Hag. And in VDS we have someone who knows the “United DNA” and is experienced in the role we desperately need. Such opportunities don’t come along very often and we need to make the most of it. The manager is a transient role to a certain extent but appointing the right structure - doF and the chief exec etc. are fundamental to the future of the club. Just look at Chelsea, Mancity, PSG and even Leicester.

8.) 06 Nov 2021
06 Nov 2021 14:32:00
That was a joke of a match.
Ole is humiliating our club. We were not setup to win.
City toyed with us the whole game.
Absolutely embarrassing.

Why are the decision makers not acting on this rot?