Manchester United vs Lens (Sat 5th August, 12:45 UK time)

always_hoping said:
Man United the better side in that half, some really pleasing football on the eye. Lots of good chances created simply not clinical with those chances once again. Mount miss was something else.

Lens goal via lapse in concentration from Dalot, some finish in fairness and apart from that United defended well.

So tomorrow will be Uniteds 2nd string team in action in Dublin?
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This. I am glad we seem to be watching the same game. Not sure what the others are watching.

We are keeping possession but fast movements/attacks. The finishing is lacking but that's not news considering that the solution to that problem isn't on the pitch.
 
Carl said:
We still just look like a counter attacking team. We look clueless when we're trying to create chances any other way.
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We’re a transition team at our most dangerous when the ball is turned over. ETH has admitted that’s what he wants to create. The best transitional team in the world and pressing monsters. We’re trying to emulate Liverpool not City. The general profile of this team isn’t going to change compared to last season - we want to get even better at the things we were good at and improve the things we were not so good at. We’re always going to turn the ball over because we’re very high risk in possession.
 
Oh and.. let's all blame the keeper for the goal for being in the correct position while his team mate fecked up a simple pass in a stupid place.

Finish was world class too tbf
 
DWelbz19 said:
The new no.7 is the weak link in the midfield three. It’s a really weird one. We all saw that a buildup phase midfielder was what we lack and the manager decided that he’d prefer another attacking midfielder instead…
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Yep real weird one. If I were to be generous, maybe he realised there was no one available who would fit that profile so decided to just bypass that role and go for two attacking midfielders instead with Eriksen and Mainoo in reserve.
 
evil_geko said:
How is Onana concerning ffs. Just don't say the goal was his fault, I really hope you don't think that. People thinking that being his fault would be the actual concerning thing about our fans.
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Agreed. Casemiro has been good too. Not concerned about him in the slightest. Disappointed with the performance of our back line, especially with the ball. We have been overly conservative imo. That being said, I’m not at all concerned about them. They will round into form.
 
Camy89 said:
Defensively awful and very shaky. DM seems non existent.

Bruno and Garnacho have been great. Garnacho dominating that left side. Right side has been very tame, Antony done nothing.

Mount missed an open goal from about 3yds.

Onana was lobbed from the centre circle after Dalot had a stroke.

Overall, not great.
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Cheers, a 433 set up or 4231 with Mount next to Casemiro?
 
jderbyshire said:
Don't tell me RedCafe is moaning about a preseason friendly performance???
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It’s a week away from the start of the season and we’ve looked horrific in that half despite having pretty much our first choice team. At this stage of pre season you’d expect to see performances at least improve but we haven’t and that’s a concern.
 
Underwhelming and boring so far largely. What’s actually changed since last season? Fundamentally? Just hope we switch on nest week.
 
Dalot not good enough. Weak link.

Need Amarabat in, midfield too open like last season. We won't get away with Mount ,Bruno and Casemiro midfield in the the big games.

Need the new CF available quickly. Rashford offers nothing in that role. Not great with his back to play.

I know only pre season but I'm sure Ten Hag not treating it as just a friendly game. Week away from 1st game and looks like some if them are still on holidays.
 
FrankDrebin said:
Either Mount or Bruno must come back deeper to give Casemiro a outlet. This is quite amateur-ish in how we've set up in midfield.
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That midfield trio is not fit for purpose, given the way ETH (presumably) wants to play.

Fitting Bruno in a functional midfield is already a big task, now has gotta fit another similar player there in Mount.
 
How is no one angry that Atalanta played Hojlund in a preseason game when we were deep in negotiations with them. Now he has an injury and we are being told he'll be up running in "weeks" and fans lap it up as they go. We might start the season toothless again. Dreadful!
 
Mount's not an upgrade on anyone and we still can't pass it out from the back for shit. Antony is far from being good enough. Rashford's struggling as a striker. Definitely need a new RB. Not looking good at all.
 
So how have we been? I hear it's Mount being useless again and can't say I'm surprised.
 
Bruno, Garnacho and Casemiro have been excellent imo. However, I can't really say the same about anyone else. Rashford's barely been involved at all, and we've created nothing for him. The midfield is a big problem, even with 2 of the 3 playing well. Sorry, but I don't buy this single pivot shape, I think we're going to concede a lot with it. Mount has been particularly high up the pitch today, moreso than the previous games and it's leaving massive gaps in the centre for Lens to exploit. If we do that in the Premier League we will be torn apart by most teams on the counter. We've looked fragile in the centre in every pre-season game now, not just this one.

The defence has been ok. I'd like to see Shaw getting more involved in the attack. I don't blame Onana, it was a great finish, it happens when you play a sweeper keeper. The best chances we've had to score both fell to Mount, I'd like to see Antony and Rashford getting into these positions because they've been pretty anonymous. I'm quite concerned about the striker situation going into the start of the season (especially with Hojlund being injured for the start of the season). Rashford had a poor end to the season and he's looked awful in pre-season. If he isn't scoring, I don't know who is for us (maybe Garnacho can make the step up here). I think Bruno will need to have an incredible season for us.

Not going to pretend that this has been a good pre-season. What I've seen from our rivals' pre-seasons makes it look like they're all stronger this season, and I'm not convinced we've improved. Hoping the Wolves game will offer more encouragement.
 
Nonameisknown said:
How is no one angry that Atalanta played Hojlund in a preseason game when we were deep in negotiations with them. Now he has an injury and we are being told he'll be up running in "weeks" and fans lap it up as they go. We might start the season toothless again. Dreadful!
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He'd lack fitness if they didn't play him and people would be whining he had no preseason. It's just bad luck.
 
It’s a bit concerning that we’ve looked half arsed in every game except the arsenal one, you’d expect to see some passages of play that they’re working on, and at least a goal here or there, it all looks a bit random to me??
 
Mount will be fine but Ten Hag will probably find his best position after weeks of tinkering.
 
We are still over-reacting to pre-season games. If we win we are world beaters we lose and we're relegation material. They've made mistakes - last 4 goals in fact are down to individual mistakes. That happens in pre-season in any sport. I shall be more concerned if they are making the same mistakes when the season starts. If anything I'm more concerned about not taking the many chances that are being created.
 
We will be alright but there are some problem still in the club. They major thing is this playing form behind stupidity. Football is about defending correct and attacking correct. It is been so since it was invented and it will be so hundred years from now. Stop trying to make things difficult. Just pass and move. This about having a goalkeeper who can play with his feet is just nonsens.
 
We really weren't that bad. The right side is just pretty much dead, and we still can't sort out our finishing.

I wonder if we should experiment with Garnacho on the right?
 
Hopefully we’ll score 1 goal in the second half. Don’t read into the friendlies too much.
 
It's a shame that we're behind but that was a lovely finish from them. Dalot is playing himself out of the first XI. Our build up has been poor from defense to midfield. But when we do get the ball past the halfway line we've made some nice interchanges. We're still deadly in transition but our two best attackers play in the same position so we're not getting the maximum out of them. Some tweaks need to be made.
 
El Jefe said:
You must have loved our attack last season and in preseason so far...?
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There’s plenty of quality there and I’m not given over to completely soiling myself in preseason. But to be fair to you, I’m clearly in the minority in here
 
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