FA Premier League

Middlesbrough 1:3 Manchester United

Riverside Stadium

Kick-off
Sun, 19 March 2017 @ 12:00pm GMT
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Discussion Your Lineup Prediction

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    And people thought that we'd be challenging for the title this year. The state of that line up :lol:

    Our summer transfer ins and outs are going to need to be absolutely spot on.
     
    BlueCelery said:
    Swear the majority of this board was Championing 3 at the back very recently. :lol:
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    Three at the back is not a big issue. Three at the back with Smalling, Jones and Bailly is. Three at the back when Carrick is in midfield is another. If you want to play three at the back you need defenders who are good on the ball.

    Conte plays Azpi as a central defender, and he has been brilliant. If we play with three at the back Blind should be one of them.

    When you add Carrick to Smalling, Jones and Bailly it feels very defensive with very little penetration and movement down the middle. But hey, this is Mourinho for you.

    Conte would have played three at the back, but Blind or Carrick would have been one of the defenders. Lingard would probably play instead of Carrick in midfield. Martial/Mhiki instead of Lingard in attack.
     
    I hope Mkhitaryan and Martial are carrying knocks otherwise that is a depressingly negative team selection.

    Nothing justifies playing three at the back though.
     
    "But Jose needs to rotate!"

    *Makes 7 changes

    "Shit team, this is gonna suck."
     
    The_Midfielder said:
    3 at the back suits our team... We have 4 quality central defenders.. and all our wingers like to cut inside...
    hence with 3 at the back, we can have Valencia/Young as wing-backs and not worry about them being caught up..
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    Also this formation ie better suited v a long ball side and that's all Boro have.
    Saying all that, it's basically 4-3-3 with Jones behind Carrick and Fellaini. Too much is made of this
     
    Mourinho really likes 3-5-2. No idea why since we probably haven't had one good game with it, and we don't look any more stable defensively either.
     
    Mid table starting XI v a bottom of the table starting XI

    We should still win
     
    Vito Corleone said:
    I would just love to see Timbo in midfield ahead of Fellaini. Sometimes Mourinho just plays it too safe, I doubt we would lose a game purely because of TFM.
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    In a two man midfield, we would probably lose it. But as right wing-back, he could be fine.
     
    I can understand the general negativity, it's hardly an inspiring team. Strange thing is, today is absolutely massive given yesterday's results. A win and we're right back in it for top 4. Hopefully the players are bang up for it
     
    We have a hell of a lot of games coming up in quick succession so Mourinho has to use the squad. Not the greatest line up but "should" be a good enough team to beat Boro. Ferguson has done the same when he was manager, rotate the team in some games to keep everyone fresh.

    The injury to Pogba and Ibra's suspension obviously don't help matters either
     
    Stringer said:
    I hope Mkhitaryan and Martial are carrying knocks otherwise that is a depressingly negative team selection.

    Nothing justifies playing three at the back though.
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    Martial is just coming back from injury, there is a chance Mkhi picked something up against Rostov. If Boro' play like they did against City they will be thugs.
     
    Marcelinho87 said:
    I like the formation, I think it is obvious that he knows our forwards are lacking so can't trust us to go out and blow the opposition away so he is opting for the tight 1-0 wins.

    Risky but I see the reasoning.
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    It's horrific. We've scored 2 and conceded 2 in 3 games. Before that, we were scoring a bit more and have been solid at the back for months. I think we've conceded 10 goals in our 17 PL games.
     
    This could work but certain players need to step up.
    The front three need to be close to each other otherwise Rashford will become isolated.
    Our wbs need to actually have some product. Young and valencia have the fitness levels to get back and forth down the flanks but their product is abysmal.
     
    almost all our attacking flair is out or being managed due to multiple games and all this thread does is moan about three at the back. Yeah because all the easy games we've had with four at the back have been 10-0 thrashings right? Oh wait they've been 0-0 draws.

    Give me another 1-0 like rostov over a 30 shot on target 0-0 draw. We need points now, if we can't field our strongest 11 due to X/Y/Z, make it hard from them to score and then make our attacks count.
     
    Havak said:
    I was almost certain we'd play three at the back today given the lack of first-choice midfield players available and a plethora of fit defenders (complete reverse of previous seasons). The only real surprises for me are Rojo omitted despite being in his best form, and Mkhitaryan out for Lingard. I suspected Martial would be on the bench, at least we have two or three good options to come on this way.
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    Munching his way through a banana was a clear indication that Rojo was physically shattered. No surprise to see him on the bench today.
     
    I think Mourinho has reverted back to his old defensive 1-0 tactics for now because he's realised he needs more players in the summer to play the way he likes. Plus, with all the added matches and fatigue he probably wants us to force the opponent to a mistake we can counter too. Boro will sit back too and it will not be a fun watch.. (hope I'm wrong)
     
    Arsenal dropped points yesterday, Liverpool or City will later, this is going to be a classic example of 'one of those days'™ where we again fail to capitalise.
     
    Not a fan of three at the back, especially with the relatively immobile midfield of Carrick and Fellaini ahead of them.

    Gonna be a grind today, hopefully we can find a way to get the 3pts and be done with it.
     
    Curiously, fourfourtwo is displaying our front line as Mata-Lingard-Rashford.:confused:
     
    JustAFan said:
    It can't have anything to do with injuries and suspensions.
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    No, not when you look at the bench, there's no reason to play a 3rd CB when none of them can pass and only Rojo, the one suffering from fatigue, is actually comfortable in the system.
     
    WPMUFC said:
    almost all our attacking flair is out or being managed due to multiple games and all this thread does is moan about three at the back. Yeah because all the easy games we've had with four at the back have been 10-0 thrashings right? Oh wait they've been 0-0 draws.

    Give me another 1-0 like rostov over a 30 shot on target 0-0 draw. We need points now, if we can't field our strongest 11 due to X/Y/Z, make it hard from them to score and then make our attacks count.
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    You think we're more likely to turn a 0-0 to a one nil win by playing three at the back? Our problem is that we don't make our attacks count, and lining up to reduce our number of attacks is probably not going to help with our efficiency.
     
    Christ, what a depressing line up that is. There's quite a few in that line up that need a big game today. Fellaini and Lingard I'm mainly talking to you.
     
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Post-match discussion

Man of the Match

Jesse Lingard image Jesse Lingard 54% of 697 votes

Runners-up

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Player Ratings

6.2 Total Average Rating

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Compiled from 502 ratings.
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Score Predictions

309,41,103
  • Man Utd win
  • Middlesbrough win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 23% Middlesbrough 0:2 Man Utd
  • 20% Middlesbrough 0:1 Man Utd
  • 15% Middlesbrough 1:2 Man Utd
  • 13% Middlesbrough 1:1 Man Utd
  • 9% Middlesbrough 0:0 Man Utd
  • 5% Middlesbrough 0:3 Man Utd
  • 3% Middlesbrough 1:3 Man Utd
  • 3% Middlesbrough 1:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Middlesbrough 2:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Middlesbrough 2:1 Man Utd
  • 2% Middlesbrough 0:5 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 5:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 2:2 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 3:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 1:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 0:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Middlesbrough 3:1 Man Utd
  • 0% Middlesbrough 3:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Middlesbrough 2:4 Man Utd
  • 0% Middlesbrough 1:5 Man Utd
Compiled from 453 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Middlesbrough
  2. Man Utd
Possession
64% 36%
Shots
10 14
Shots on Target
3 6
Corners
8 3
Fouls
9 8

Referee

Jonathan Moss

Man Utd Lineup

Substitutes

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