Manchester United Banter Archive October 07 2018

07 Oct 2018 12:06:20
What a rollercoaster of emotions watching the game yesterday.

Just glad that there was some fight in the second half and we kept the pressure up on Newcastle.

We are far from having turned our season around and what does Jose do in our next game after the break. Assuming he is still at the club.

My thoughts on the team from yesterday's game are;

1) Bailly is finished at Utd. Sad to say that as I have liked him but he can't be trusted and is a bit out of control when on the pitch.

2) Sanchez has to play in a free role. He needs to be our No.10 with freedom to pop up where he likes. He will also help out our midfield with his energy and work ethic when we don't have the ball.

3) Pogba must play in a 2 man central midfield. His work rate and involvement in the game increases dramatically when he plays in this system. He did it for France in the World Cup and so he can do it for us. The issue is who plays alongside him. Matic was woeful yesterday. Herrera could do it and I don't know enough about Fred yet.

4) As with Bailly I have the same view about Jones. Thus Lindelof will have to play alongside Smalling for now until the time comes when we can obtain a world class centre half. Better to have some consistency in defence and start moving in the right direction.

The team personnel seem to change by 2/3 at every game at the moment which really is not very helpful.

Jose's post match interview was bizarre to me he could of just talked about the great effort and response of the players in the 2nd half and that this is the fight and application that he wants to see. He had a chance to speak and galvanise the team but he spoke nonsense to me.

07 Oct 2018 12:16:25
Totally agree about Jose should have used this to galvanise the team it’s us against the world. Instead he still undermined players rash and Mctominay, he just cannot go a game with digging out his own players.

07 Oct 2018 12:46:42
Until we have players like Smalling, Jones, Pogba and to some extent Sanchez we will struggle to win anything.

07 Oct 2018 13:50:25
Did any of you listen to Peter Schmeichel on Jose's post match interview. He seemed to think that it was the best Jose interview for a long long time. But what does he know about our great club, correct?

07 Oct 2018 14:53:17
He didn't undermine Rashford or Mctominay, what he said about them was the truth, both didn't deserve to be the team sheet last night.

07 Oct 2018 14:52:24
Bailly is not finished in my eyes but he has regressed this season, he has made a lot of mistakes, he plays as the right sided cb and is the type of defender that takes a risk. This is something he cannot afford to do with wingers playing as full backs, Valencia and young. Bailly would work in a 3 in my opinion.

Sanchez hasn't performed all season, comes on for the last 20 mins, fair enough scores a vital goal but now you think switching him to 10 will solve everything. I'm sorry but you have no mention of Juan Mata who changed everything when he came on yesterday. If anyone should be given a free role it is Mata in my opinion and he will set Sanchez free mark my words and other players.

We cannot play a 2 in defence because no pairing of 2 defender's are good enough and then Jose deems he has to play both Fellaini and Matic to babysit them. I also don't think we can play a 2 in defence because then we have to play either Valencia or young at full backs rather than wing backs. They are both shocking positionally in defence and make our questionable cbs look worse.
After yesterday possibly play a 3 with Matic dropping back, he adds nothing to our cm, in fact he detracts from it atm. It worked with Carrick before as a stop gap measure, why not. LINDELOF IS KAK, FELLAINI IS HIS BABYSITTER.

Pogba on paper played in a 2 man midfield for France in the wc but in reality played in a 3 with Matuidi regularly tucking in supporting for the left, Anthony Martial is not going to provide that same support. Pogba does not work in a standard 2 man midfield where he has to do a lot of defensive duties, this has been proven over and over again.

Your right about the team changes, we need more consistency in selection, city, pool, Arsenal, Chelsea, spuds all know their first 11, we have no idea.

Joses right about the manhunt, press are out to get him, tabloid rags he's made a fool out are trying to ruin him at every opportunity making up stories. He's right about the players not being able to deal with the pressure too. Lukaku came out and said it afterwards too, afraid to make a mistake.

07 Oct 2018 15:27:52
Id play 3 at the back attacking (2 wing backs) so maybe 1 cb sitting with matic just in front as usually teams setup with 1 striker and 4 with matic being a CB when defending.
I wouldn't have matic anywhere near the final 3rd now, he slows everything down.

play 2 in cm (pog and Fellaini/ herrera/ fred) then just go all out rotation up top with sanchez martial lukaku +1 (mata rashford) constantly rotating.

07 Oct 2018 16:19:20
Think some people are playing FIFA 19 with the Utd formation.

We need stability otherwise the players will remain lost and struggling for form.

Utd had the 2nd best defensive record last season but now we must change to a back 3 with wing backs. The personnel at the back have not changed in fact Shaw is an addition.

Yes the style of play was such that we were a defensive team with the midfield providing a wall in front of the back 4. I like a back 3 but now will not be the time to take on that change it should of been used throughout all of pre-season and all the games so far. Can’t believe people are putting Matic or Fellaini in the defence. Matic is poor at present and both these players have very little pace. With either of them at the back we will suffer more embarrassment when they are out of position.

I missed mentioning Mata previously which was wrong as he was excellent yesterday and he should get more game time either down the right or in the middle.

We have to try and get more out of Sanchez and making him play down the wing rigidly is not bringing out the best in him. In full flow he is a game changer, like Pogba. So do we just play him out on the wing and get 50% of what he has. Hazard has a free role at Chelsea so why not the same from Sanchez.

If Martial or Rashford play out wide then they have to do the dirty work going back towards our goal as well as going forward. If they don’t then they must keep the bench warm. Time to take on the responsibility and learn the game.

07 Oct 2018 16:57:05
Hoggy. I agree shaw has been an additition and is playing really well but because he goes forward it has exposed the cbs . Better cbs would be able to cope. Young rarely went forward last season.

07 Oct 2018 17:15:48
Ken, Shaw can defend and so can go forward and then get back into position.

Young got the wrong side of a Newcastle player in the 1st half and gave away a free kick just outside the box. He then handled the ball from the free kick which could of been a penalty. Young was also at fault, along with Bailly, for the 2nd goal a player can’t be allowed space in the box to turn one way and then the other with the ball and slot it in. I don’t blame Young as he is not a full back by trade.

However we can’t state that we are leaking goals because of Shaw when you see the performances of Jones, Bailly and Lindelof this season.
That really is nonsense.

The full backs of City and Liverpool are like wingers but they do also defend.

07 Oct 2018 18:42:08
Hoggy that's not what i said at all.
I said the difference between this and last season is that we have 1 attacking full back and because of that our cbs have been exposed because they can't cope. Not that we are leaking goals because of shaw. The cbs should be able to cope but they cant. The cbs looked better last season because neither full back left space. Read the post and don't be so quick to misinterpret what i wrote.

07 Oct 2018 19:11:55
Ken, Shaw defends better than the other full backs that we currently have, that’s the point I am making.

His attacking threat has nothing to do with our bad defensive performances.

07 Oct 2018 19:39:44
As I said above I actually think it's the other fb that's the problem not Shaw. While Shaw attacking more he can also defend.
However both Valencia and young are horrible positionally in defense. I regularly see valencia make so many basic mistakes that an actual fb shouldn't. Ditto young yesterday. As hoggy says though you c ant really blame either given that neither are actual full backs.
How on earth have we not had an actual proper full back since Evra until this season in Shaw. Was Rafael out last actual fb?

07 Oct 2018 21:44:49
Exactly shaw attacking and defending is what we all want to see. We also need that from the right hand side. But in order for that to be succesful we need better cbs and a more dynamic midfield.

07 Oct 2018 22:00:18
Bailly as a RB?

07 Oct 2018 10:11:53
{Ed's Note - Reid the Red has posted a new article entitled, Premier League Matches Preview 7 October 2018

07 Oct 2018 08:28:41
Well that second half was a nice turn up for the books.

Obviously the first half went pretty much how most games have gone this season, Newcastle were just pretty clinical and still missed a few. We just drift through matches like a lost soul.

Our plan second half was to attack and although it was all 'off the cuff' as the commentator said, it was still enough to come back and beat a demoralised Newcastle. It makes me wonder how good we could really be if the manager just said 'go and beat them' and stopped focusing on trying to out-think the opposition when we are far superior.

I think with poor teams like Newcastle the manager should rely on our natural quality and stop with the 'tactics'. Against top class opposition maybe Jose is suited, but 90% of our games are against teams we should beat. So maybe give him a break those weeks and let the lads plays without his shackles and bizarre decision making. Bring him back for the big dogs?!

Maybe Sanchez was his 'Robins moment', but I am very interested to see how we start the next game. For all the plaudits Jose is taking for the turnaround, he has to be held accountable for the fiasco of that first half - what was going on in a routine home tie against relegation fodder?!

LVG had a few of these false dawns that kept him in the role for another few weeks to our ultimate misfortune. Hopefully Jose does change his spots and learn from this, but that is hope rather than expectation.

Glad to see some heart, some edge of the seat drama and a quality fightback, life in the old squad yet. If Jose isn't removed, then please let this be this spark that changes everything, brings everyone together and we approach each game like we are 2-0 down against one of the worst teams in the league at home.

07 Oct 2018 09:18:09
The problem is that the next game is Chelsea away which we are likely to lose anyway, if we go there and try and attack we will get hammered so I guess it depends what people want.

I have a feeling this might not be a turning point but he must be given the chance to show that it is now and prove that the players are behind him, imagine we go and win at Chelsea, who knows what the season holds then.

07 Oct 2018 11:13:01
I don’t mind losing as long as we go down fighting. Have a go, take the game to them. Not going to happen is it?

07 Oct 2018 06:37:19
If its true that the board have asked 'no plan'zidane to wait before thinking of going anywhere else then surely the snake in the grass is good old ed deadwood, no matter what you may think of jose, the club has always been held in the highest regard at board level, if true, then it shows they can't make a definitive decision which shows lack of leadership, and that by texting jose with the dreaded vote of confidence before the game it shows they haven't the cahoonas to face him and a lack of decency as well, ed woodward is whom the decision will be made with, so he's a disgrace to the good name of the club and all that entails, and as for leaking it to the press, that's just as low, woodward needs to be binned whatever happens, if the good name of the club is sulied, everyone suffers, GET HIM GONE.

07 Oct 2018 08:53:34
Ive said all along that Woodward has issues with Jose and all he wants is Jose gone. Closed the chequebook when Jose needed it, probably saving it for ZZ? Woodward is cancerous to our club and more be gone. NOW!

07 Oct 2018 09:26:14
I don't think Woodward leaked anything. In fact Ed02 said Mou was never getting sacked this week so don't think there was anything to leak.

07 Oct 2018 10:47:10
The report that Zidane has been asked to wait is in the same paper that ran the Jose getting sacked yesterday story

For me, if it was true, it just demonstrates clearly the paucity of strategy and planning. Zidane is a nice name, an attractive name for a football club trying to sell its brand, but a poor choice on a football basis for a Premier league club looking to solve significant issues and rebuild. It’s a nice name that might entice some fans who think he is the one to take all the pain away but don’t look deeper. However, as far as I am aware, he doesn’t yet speak English, plus his management did not result in dominance in his own league but won cup competitions with one of the best players ever and walked away at a time when a rebuild was going to be needed. Zidane would be the wrong choice in my opinion, possibly worse than LvG. The sacking of our manager would be wrong at this time, but to even consider Zidane as the best option, even if we failed to get the top four next spring, would highlight exactly the problem at our club. The same problem that thought we had good enough centre halves. The major problems are above Mourinho.

07 Oct 2018 11:14:05
Red Man, I completely agree but you and I both know that just the name Zidane will get Woodward drooling.