[Zoo]

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

So the old news was false or we are rushing him back anyway?
I think even if he is alright we should save him for the two games after that one.

 

[A-man]

That millenial xG bullshit never won us games, clean sheets and small number of goals conceeded is generally something that always made teams in premiership(and any other league) stand out ahead of other teams that struggled. Whenever we had crisis under Fergie we would get back in form by winning games 1-0, it's even something that teams like Liverpool are fond of. Even Guardiola's team won so many tight games by one goal from a set piece by keeping it tight in defence. That is the main reason why Leicester is second place ahead of City who have struggled because of poor defending/defensive injury crisis.

If you don't think that keeping clean sheets and not giving away stupid goals is important then we have nothing to discuss here. Because our two defenders cost us 5 points just in first two games of the season against fecking Wolves and Crystal Palace just because they were slow and couldn't win a fecking header. How about checking xg from those games, I reckon it would still go in their favour despite costing us 5 points from just two games?

We have 7 draws in league this season, and only one of those draws was 0-0, do you understand why I am mentioning clean sheets now? We conceeded 3 goals against Sheffield, we conceeded 2 goals against Aston Villa at Old Trafford, we conceeded 2 goals against Crystal Palace at home, and you call that good defence?

I understand the concept and it could be one way to win games by 1-0. And of course clean sheets are great. But if we look at the top 6 teams this is how many 1-0 victories they have so far:

Liverpool 2
Leicester 0
Man City 0
Chelsea 1
Man United 1
Tottenham 0

 

[Mainoldo]

Let the man rest. This is why he is broken. We have 6 CB’s. Where are they?

 

[bond19821982]

So we loan out one of our best CBs and then loan in someone who is way inferior to that guy. All of these shit when we have about 6 CBs in the Squad.

Things are getting better !

 

[MyDevil]

He should have been rested in some of the games during the festive period. Poor management by Ole.

 

[ivaldo]

So we loan out one of our best CBs and then loan in someone who is way inferior to that guy. All of these shit when we have about 6 CBs in the Squad.

Things are getting better !

It's like you and everyone else have forgotten the shite served up by Smalling for the past 8 years at the club.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Let the man rest. This is why he is broken. We have 6 CB’s. Where are they?

Jones, Rojo, Bailly & Tuanzebe are all very injury prone. Lindelof is fit, and Smalling is chilling in Rome.

 

[11101]

What the feck is our medical department doing? We're down to our last fit players in both defence and midfield now, and we don't seem to have a clue when any of the injured ones will return. Every season it's the same.

 

[Mainoldo]

What the feck is our medical department doing? We're down to our last fit players in both defence and midfield now, and we don't seem to have a clue when any of the injured ones will return. Every season it's the same.

All this running they’ve been doing probably. But like Klopp’sLiverpool it will benefit us in the future.

 

[romufc]

He should have been rested in some of the games during the festive period. Poor management by Ole.

The exact same will happen to Rashford.

Why did we need to play Maguire Vs Colchester ?

 

[Tel074]

Maguire was obviously injured at Wolves and we played him the full 90 mins the same with Pogba against Rochdale he played 90 mins when only back from injury. Unbelievable decisions

 

[Nou_Camp99]

We're very close to the entire season being a write off now. WIthout Mctominnay, Pogba n Maguire for at least the next 4 weeks we will be very lucky to still be in the top 4 race by start of Feb and we will most likely be out of the league cup.

Season is going to come down to the Europa League. Always was going to as well. Can't see us winning that either tbh. There are better teams left in it than us.

 

[Can7onA]

It's like you and everyone else have forgotten the shite served up by Smalling for the past 8 years at the club.

Indeed!

 

[Stadjer]

Maguire was obviously injured at Wolves and we played him the full 90 mins the same with Pogba against Rochdale he played 90 mins when only back from injury. Unbelievable decisions

Not smart but not unbelievable. Ole is under massive pressure and he wants to keep his job. To keep his job he needs to win and that is more likely to happen with a injured Pogba or injured Maguire than it happening with a fully fit Lingard or 'fully fit' Phil Jones.

It is not smart but i can see why Ole did it. Eventhough he shouldnt have done it.

 

[A-man]

Rotating is about taking risks, including finding the odd match in which you can rest your best centerhalf and use someone like Jones if you have too.

I really blame Ole for losing Smalling. He made the wrong choice in making Lindelof Maguire's partner and was too eager to make Tuanzebe third choice, which left Smalling as number four and pushed him out.

Granted, Smalling isn't world class, but he'd probably be our second best centerhalf and give us far better choices than the ones we have.

It is easy to look back now when all the injuries are here and say he did wrong. But Ole obviously had a plan how he wanted to play football, and he did not believe Smalling could fit that plan. He told Smalling he was not first choice, which Smalling seemed fine with, but when also Tuanzebe came ahead of him in order, he did not want to stay. Ole's plan was probably to develop Tuanzebe through the relatively easy cup matches during the start of the season, to make him ready for rotating the starting CBs during the hectic schedule in December and then have a CB ready for PL. As it is now his strategy has not been successful, as Ole has not developed Tuanzebe at all, he has not rotated key players, and not implemented the type of football he wanted (I assume).

I am not going to say it is poor luck with all the injuries as some come from wreckless play, some seem to come from poor physique, and some from not rotating players. When we talk about Smalling he has also been out two times for injuries this season so who knows if he would be available if he played as many as the CBs in United (United had 12 games since 1st of Dec while Roma only played 6 in the same period. Maguire played 11 of those, and Lindelof 10). But of course now when we can look back and learned that Tuanzebe was injured a lot, it would have been ideal to rotate Maguire, Smalling and Lindelof.

 

[MetoTTT]

Not smart but not unbelievable. Ole is under massive pressure and he wants to keep his job. To keep his job he needs to win and that is more likely to happen with a injured Pogba or injured Maguire than it happening with a fully fit Lingard or 'fully fit' Phil Jones.

It is not smart but i can see why Ole did it. Eventhough he shouldnt have done it.

If so he had to put some pressure on the board and sign the players needed in the summer and deliver a top 4 at least. He kept his mouth shut and said he was happy with the team. He has to deal with it now. It was a write off season since August.

 

[Bestietom]

This has been reported by Manchester Evening news today.

Ashley Young and Harry Maguire arrive for Manchester United training
The Man Utd squad have reported for training at their Aon Training Complex in Carrington before this weekend's game against Norwich.

Harry Maguire was among the Manchester United players to have arrived for training today (Thursday) as he looks to recover from injury.
The United defender missed Tuesday night's Manchester derby with a suspected hip injury, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to provide an update on his squad's fitness ahead of this weekend's home game against Norwich.
Ashley Young was also among the United players pictured by MEN photographers turning up at the club's Carrington training ground. The 34-year-old club captain has been the subject of a transfer enquiry from Inter Milan, with his United contract expiring in the summer. Latest suggestions have claimed United have offered Young a new contract, but he may still move to Serie A either in this January transfer window or in the summer.
United's 3-1 defeat to City in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg has piled the pressure on Solskjaer and the squad. United have not yet won a game in 2020 and have only scored one goal.
Their attentions will now turn to this weekend's Premier League clash with Norwich. United's league form remains inconsistent, though they convincingly beat the Canaries in the reverse fixture at Carrow Road earlier in the campaign.
Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay were not pictured by photographers. The two midfielders are sidelined with injury at the moment, with Pogba having undergone surgery on an ankle problem and McTominay recovering from a knee ligament injury sustained against Newcastle on Boxing Day.

Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah, the two defenders who are both back in training after long-term injuries, were pictured at Carrington.

 

[Amir]

It is easy to look back now when all the injuries are here and say he did wrong. But Ole obviously had a plan how he wanted to play football, and he did not believe Smalling could fit that plan. He told Smalling he was not first choice, which Smalling seemed fine with, but when also Tuanzebe came ahead of him in order, he did not want to stay. Ole's plan was probably to develop Tuanzebe through the relatively easy cup matches during the start of the season, to make him ready for rotating the starting CBs during the hectic schedule in December and then have a CB ready for PL. As it is now his strategy has not been successful, as Ole has not developed Tuanzebe at all, he has not rotated key players, and not implemented the type of football he wanted (I assume).

Hindsight is indeed easy, but I said the same when Smalling went on loan. Ole could have at least started him on the bench in the first few matches of the season rather than send him to the stands. That would have given Smalling a chance and still wouldn't have prevented Ole from using Tuanzebe in cup matches, etc. It was just too drastic.

As for Ole's plan, Smalling is a very good defender. Yes, he's not great with the ball at his feet, but you don't need two CBs who excel at that.

 

[Sandikan]

Hindsight is indeed easy, but I said the same when Smalling went on loan. Ole could have at least started him on the bench in the first few matches of the season rather than send him to the stands. That would have given Smalling a chance and still wouldn't have prevented Ole from using Tuanzebe in cup matches, etc. It was just too drastic.

As for Ole's plan, Smalling is a very good defender. Yes, he's not great with the ball at his feet, but you don't need two CBs who excel at that.

This has been done to death. Smalling didn't want to stay without being a regular.
Whereas Jones is just happy to still be here.

Hence shipping Smalling, when he's clearly better than Jones who we kept!

I'd probably want to leave too, if someone thought Lindelöf was better than me!

 

[Irrational.]

He should have been rested in some of the games during the festive period. Poor management by Ole.

Just have a look at some of the unnecessary games where he was played for the full 90 minutes, starting with the most recent:

Wolves FA Cup (Full 90 minutes - didn't bring him off after noticing he was injured)
Colchester Carabao Cup (Full 90 minutes)
Alkmaar Europa League (we had already qualified - full 90 minutes)

Ole's squad rotation/ game management is utterly brainless.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Just have a look at some of the unnecessary games where he was played for the full 90 minutes, starting with the most recent:

Wolves FA Cup (Full 90 minutes - didn't bring him off after noticing he was injured)
Colchester Carabao Cup (Full 90 minutes)
Alkmaar Europa League (we had already qualified - full 90 minutes)

Ole's squad rotation/ game management is utterly brainless.

Yeah agree there. No reason to play him against Colchester and Alkmaar.

 

[mu4c_20le]

He was absolutely fine until Wolves. If Tuabzebe wasnt injured he would've played instead.

 

[kouroux]

This has been done to death. Smalling didn't want to stay without being a regular.
Whereas Jones is just happy to still be here.

Hence shipping Smalling, when he's clearly better than Jones who we kept!

I'd probably want to leave too, if someone thought Lindelöf was better than me!

Our club is too nice, as soon as a player wants to leave, he gets his wishes. Our interest should always trump his

 

[Gopher Brown]

I’m surprised we’ve never tried Matic at centre back, we have a time honoured tradition of midfielders at centre back. He can’t run any more, but he can sort of pass and he’s tall. I suppose he’s needed in midfield at the moment though.

God I love being a United fan these days...

 

[manunited1919]

Another player that arrives from a club half decent that turns to shit when they play here.

Half decent? The glass was half full. Turns to shit? In Maguire’s case he still has some good attributes, but he was never a world beater. We now see all the defects he always had and were called out at the time we bought him. But the glass is now half empty.

 

[Sandikan]

Our club is too nice, as soon as a player wants to leave, he gets his wishes. Our interest should always trump his

We hold our ground with the top players. De Gea and Pogba have clearly wanted to leave, and we certainly haven't let anyone rinse us there.
Although we have put them on outrageous level contracts!

 

[Sunny Jim]

I’m surprised we’ve never tried Matic at centre back, we have a time honoured tradition of midfielders at centre back. He can’t run any more, but he can sort of pass and he’s tall. I suppose he’s needed in midfield at the moment though.

God I love being a United fan these days...

Not a bad idea.

 

[Amir]

This has been done to death. Smalling didn't want to stay without being a regular.

For me, the fact he didn't start the season alongside Lindelof was silly enough. Having said that, do you honestly think that had Smalling started the season as third choice, he would have left without fighting for his place? There's a huge difference between starting a match on the bench to being sent to the stands with Tuanzebe ahead of you.

 

[Jibbs]

I had said somewhere here at the start of season, Tuanzebe instead of Smalling should be out on loan with Villa. I also said somewhere that, if a good offer comes, Lindelof should be sold, it was the time de Ligt rumors were rife. De Gea should not have been awarded a new contract and sold, same is with Pogba.

Now we are in a situation where we are not even certain of who would play at CB. I think United should proactively look for a CM, see if Barca is willing to sell Umititi around 20,25 m. If not him, I think we were linked with Mohammed Salisu of Valladolid for around 10,15m. He will be a good addition too, looks like a quality defender.

 

[DoomSlayer]

I had said somewhere here at the start of season, Tuanzebe instead of Smalling should be out on loan with Villa. I also said somewhere that, if a good offer comes, Lindelof should be sold, it was the time de Ligt rumors were rife. De Gea should not have been awarded a new contract and sold, same is with Pogba.

Now we are in a situation where we are not even certain of who would play at CB. I think United should proactively look for a CM, see if Barca is willing to sell Umititi around 20,25 m. If not hi, I think we were linked with Mohammed Salisu of Valladolid for around 10,15m. He will be a good addition too, looks like a quality defender.

We have Duncan Edwards Mk 2 a.k.a Multi-Face man himself.

 

[Oldyella]

This has been done to death. Smalling didn't want to stay without being a regular.

Not so sure about that, he has always stayed and fought for his place in the past. I think he knew he wasnt just not going to be a regular, he had no shot of forcing his way into the team no matter how he performed.

I'd probably want to leave too, if someone thought Lindelöf was better than me!

Agreed!

 

[fps]

I’d sure rather have Smalling as back-up than any of the others. And I’m not of the opinion Smalling should ever have been anything but a squad option.

 

[Zoo]

 

[Dargonk]

Might be some good news on the injury then. Hopefully he just misses one more game and then is available

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

I don't trust Jones & Lindelof to handle Pukki. At home we are likely to maintain possession but with midfield we got & Jones's ball playing skills, I am not confident. Sad even though this is actually Norwich the worst team in the league. The last time we underestimated this relegation battle team we suffered against Watford & Villa. I'm going to remain hopeful that Maguire to be fit for this game, need him.

 

[Isotope]

It is easy to look back now when all the injuries are here and say he did wrong. But Ole obviously had a plan how he wanted to play football, and he did not believe Smalling could fit that plan. He told Smalling he was not first choice, which Smalling seemed fine with, but when also Tuanzebe came ahead of him in order, he did not want to stay. Ole's plan was probably to develop Tuanzebe through the relatively easy cup matches during the start of the season, to make him ready for rotating the starting CBs during the hectic schedule in December and then have a CB ready for PL. As it is now his strategy has not been successful, as Ole has not developed Tuanzebe at all, he has not rotated key players, and not implemented the type of football he wanted (I assume).

I am not going to say it is poor luck with all the injuries as some come from wreckless play, some seem to come from poor physique, and some from not rotating players. When we talk about Smalling he has also been out two times for injuries this season so who knows if he would be available if he played as many as the CBs in United (United had 12 games since 1st of Dec while Roma only played 6 in the same period. Maguire played 11 of those, and Lindelof 10). But of course now when we can look back and learned that Tuanzebe was injured a lot, it would have been ideal to rotate Maguire, Smalling and Lindelof.

How did you know that?

 

[romufc]

I had said somewhere here at the start of season, Tuanzebe instead of Smalling should be out on loan with Villa. I also said somewhere that, if a good offer comes, Lindelof should be sold, it was the time de Ligt rumors were rife. De Gea should not have been awarded a new contract and sold, same is with Pogba.

Now we are in a situation where we are not even certain of who would play at CB. I think United should proactively look for a CM, see if Barca is willing to sell Umititi around 20,25 m. If not him, I think we were linked with Mohammed Salisu of Valladolid for around 10,15m. He will be a good addition too, looks like a quality defender.

Are you just saying things without looking into it?

Villa in the summer were quite clear that they will not sign a loan player without a option to buy and after pre season Ole thought he was ready to make the step into the first team.
He has been unlucky with injuries.

Why would we want Umtiti? how often have you watched him? He has an ongoing knee issue, 4 knee injuries in the last 2 years.

Who says the other CB's you mention will adapt to the PL straight away?

 

[Jibbs]

Are you just saying things without looking into it?

Villa in the summer were quite clear that they will not sign a loan player without a option to buy and after pre season Ole thought he was ready to make the step into the first team.
He has been unlucky with injuries.

Why would we want Umtiti? how often have you watched him? He has an ongoing knee issue, 4 knee injuries in the last 2 years.

Who says the other CB's you mention will adapt to the PL straight away?

Villa is not the only team where he could have gone. Secondly It is this extremely poor management by Ole and board that we need to sign or get on loan a defender even though we have sent our own very capable defender on loan. Umititi or anyone is just a name, you can replace him with Koulibaly if you like.
Under Ole, we are not going up, we needed to overhaul the squad wholly and in short span, gradual changes only work when the the team is on upward trajectory. If we fail to reach Champions League this year again, it will get even more difficult to attract better players, and with our abysmal scouting system, we can't expect to find some hidden gems.

That's why it was so important to sell Pogba and de Gea last year, it would have raised around 150 to 200 m, which we could have reinvested in overall improvement of the squad.

 

[romufc]

Villa is not the only team where he could have gone. Secondly It is this extremely poor management by Ole and board that we need to sign or get on loan a defender even though we have sent our own very capable defender on loan. Umititi or anyone is just a name, you can replace him with Koulibaly if you like.
Under Ole, we are not going up, we needed to overhaul the squad wholly and in short span, gradual changes only work when the the team is on upward trajectory. If we fail to reach Champions League this year again, it will get even more difficult to attract better players, and with our abysmal scouting system, we can't expect to find some hidden gems.

That's why it was so important to sell Pogba and de Gea last year, it would have raised around 150 to 200 m, which we could have reinvested in overall improvement of the squad.

How is it poor management by the squad? Ole thought Tuanzebe is good enough, majority of the caf does too. We started with Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Rojo, Jones. It is unlucky they are all injured at the same time, no one expects so many injuries at once.

Again, you are not getting this are you? Koulibaly would have cost £100m and his form has been off this season as well.

Was there any actual offers for DDG or Pogba over the summer? there is also rumours about the implications of selling Pogba and not replacing him with Addidas.