No Ronaldo, no Maguire, no Coincidence

Pexbo

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No - Coincidence doesn’t play for us so save yourself a joke.

I really do think there’s a lot to be taken from that match and the biggest lesson is in the title. We had a proactive defence, communicating well, quick to press, quick in a tackle, quick to react in the box.

Up front the movement was good, pressuring was much better (still can be improved) and there was unpredictability in their play. None of this float the ball to Ronaldo business or get it to his feet at all costs. Three players who were stretching the defence wide, getting in behind and linking up well.

It’s worked, we’re going to get a good measure of ten Hag’s stones when we see if he continues with it.
 
It's not just them two, Shaw has had one good season in his entire United career, Fred and McTomminay can't play together, Pogba, Lingard and Bailly are gone, and we've got a manager that isn't afraid to drop certain players who have given up and won't run.
 
Don't forget Shaw. Malacia plays with so much more aggression and intensity. Maguire and Shaw at the back just jog around and spend forever on the ball, slow the game down and have absolutely no recovery pace. None of the 3 should be getting back in.
 
Shaw too. So chuffed for ETH tonight ... dropping those players for a game against Liverpool after that horrendous start to the season was a big call. Certainly took guts, I think many managers would have played it safe. Complete vindication for ETH, he got every single personnel decision right tonight. Couldn't have gone better for him, and we needed that.
 
Varane, Martinez are nailed on starters now. Strongest front three still debatable imo.
 
No Ole signings, no problem.

Varane doesn't count.
 
I'm not sure it's about ten Hag's metal. I think he's already shown with these decisions tonight and with his sub at half time that he can make the big calls.

The problem is we just don't have the depth not to use Maguire and Ronaldo often. Theres too much football. The managers hands are tied to some extent. He might land upon his favoured players, all managers do that but our squad is thin up front and in central defence.
 
People are acting like we won against prime Liverpool. The mighty Henderson, Milner and Elliot in midfield with a false 9 in firmino will scare most team to be honest.

I will wait to see how this team does against a team that isn't low in morale, doesn't have many injuries and are tough opponents before blowing my horn. The team dynamic today was ok, and I don't want to sound to negative, but I still seen better football played by Brighton this season. This result seemed like the type of performance we put in when we came in 2nd under Ole, which isn't really a bad thing.
 
crossy1686 said:
It's not just them two, Shaw has had one good season in his entire United career, Fred and McTomminay can't play together, Pogba, Lingard and Bailly are gone, and we've got a manager that isn't afraid to drop certain players who have given up and won't run.
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Also, we now have sancho martinez varane malacia eriksen, different mentality they have as they've not been through a 3 year rot
 
I said something similar in the match thread. No AWB, no Maguire, No Shaw. 3/4 of our back line changes and we suddenly look solid at the back. If those 3 start tonight, we don’t win that game.
 
Amadaeus said:
People are acting like we won against prime Liverpool. The mighty Henderson, Milner and Elliot in midfield with a false 9 in firmino will scare most team to be honest.

I will wait to see how this team does against a team that isn't low in morale, doesn't have many injuries and are tough opponents before blowing my horn. The team dynamic today was ok, and I don't want to sound to negative, but I still seen better football played by Brighton this season. This result seemed like the type of performance we put in when we came in 2nd under Ole, which isn't really a bad thing.
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Go cry with Pochettino in unemployment
 
It’s not just Maguire and Ronaldo. There’s no Shaw, no Lindelof, no AWB, no Pogba.

These players are all slow, and hate doing the ‘dirty work’ in a football game.
 
Don't forget about Shaw. He's been here since Van Gaal and has been a constant in all this mess the whole time. Delighted to see some competition for that LB spot finally.
 
Keep Shaw and Maguire on the bench, try a get some money for Ronaldo and sign striker depth in Jan. Cooking with gas once Casemiro gets integrated.
 
I don't get these digs at Ronaldo. He didnt play the first match and we got smashed, then in the second game he played and we got smashed again (not sure how you can fault him for us conceding 4 to Brentford). Its just such a lazy narrative when you consider there were numerous changes made to the side today (maguire, shaw, no McFred combo).
 
think the biggest lesson is we have a squad built to hit teams quickly in the transition & ETH has recognised that and results will follow, especially is games where opponents have the ball a lot.

challenge has always been for this team how we play when we have the ball. i think we will need to a good number of players to improve this aspect.
 
I agree there was more youth, dynamism and a more positive attitude. I think Ronaldo is exceptional but he's a passenger in a team that is pro active out of possession. If he's 25 years old it's not a problem but at this age and stage in his career Ronaldo needs to be put into a team that is already well polished not one that is in a transitional period to be built from the ground up.

Maguire just doesn't suit the approach of most modern managers unless he's accommodated tactically. Back 3 with two fullbacks and he's far better with less positional responsibility. If he plays a back four in a high line it's a disaster. No other word can be used to describe and even if United sits back his lack of mobility against a fairly nippy forward or winger is a cause for trouble.

It's not that Ronaldo or Maguire (more emphasis on the former) are particularly bad players it's just they are the wrong profile of players for this team. Its important for this United team to have a clear identity. If for example Solskjaer stuck to his strengths and just remained a counter attacking coach he'd likely have lasted far longer in his tenure.
 
Energy is the obvious point. Varane and Martinez and Malacia are just quicker off the mark, and the same goes with the forward line, although I still think it's very weak in terms of goals, even with Martial replacing Elanga.

I'm really happy with how the team played today from the point of view of effort and workrate, and there were some good quick passing at times too. I'm still a bit worried as to what happens when we play against smaller teams where we are the ones that are expected to dominate. Small steps though and I hope we can build on this.
 
bosnian_red said:
Because every post you have is essentially a complaint that our manager isn't Pochettino in some way.
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Not sure how you got that from that post. ETH was my second choice, I am happy with him, but I m not going to turn a blind eye to thing I see and try to patch it up with Elmer glue. I hope this intensity continues next game and we can also play a little more possession based football as well
 
Still convinced we can’t let Ronaldo go. No reliable goal scorer in the team besides him. But, after today’s performance, he can’t be an automatic starter. His attitude needs to improve and he needs to prove that he deserves to get back in the team.

Maguire and Shaw shouldn’t be getting anywhere near the starting 11 again.
 
Pexbo said:
No - Coincidence doesn’t play for us so save yourself a joke.

I really do think there’s a lot to be taken from that match and the biggest lesson is in the title. We had a proactive defence, communicating well, quick to press, quick in a tackle, quick to react in the box.

Up front the movement was good, pressuring was much better (still can be improved) and there was unpredictability in their play. None of this float the ball to Ronaldo business or get it to his feet at all costs. Three players who were stretching the defence wide, getting in behind and linking up well.

It’s worked, we’re going to get a good measure of ten Hag’s stones when we see if he continues with it.
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There's a massive amount of energy that just oozes out of the team tonight, and Martinez and Malacia being on the team was a big factor in that.
They dynamic front three was great. I've said it before, current Ronaldo held us back the way van Nistelrooy held us back in 2006. They were great goalscorers but way too static to play in the system the manager want them to play. Ironically, selling RvN was the catalyst that enabled Ronaldo to flourish.
 
Said in another thread - you have Martinez, Malacia, Casemiro coming in, and even those with lesser quality, the likes of Fred and Elanga, and suddenly we have a team of very fit fighters who you hope will influence those around them.

These players give you hope as you know they won't stroll around regardless of the opposition, which should hopefully result in some consistency. Obviously you need better quality on the ball than the likes of Elanga, and hopefully Antony comes and brings that fight + quality just like the other ETH signings.

If our players actually apply themselves, we should win most games, and this has been our biggest issue in my mind for the past couple of years.
 
Amadaeus said:
People are acting like we won against prime Liverpool. The mighty Henderson, Milner and Elliot in midfield with a false 9 in firmino will scare most team to be honest.

I will wait to see how this team does against a team that isn't low in morale, doesn't have many injuries and are tough opponents before blowing my horn. The team dynamic today was ok, and I don't want to sound to negative, but I still seen better football played by Brighton this season. This result seemed like the type of performance we put in when we came in 2nd under Ole, which isn't really a bad thing.
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I agree, that was a poor Liverpool side. Let's see what happens in the next few weeks.
 
Agree about the defence but no Ronaldo is the biggest difference for me. We looked so much more fluid up top with him out of the team, just like those games in early preseason.

Maybe this is the end for our dear old friend Cristiano :o
 
Maguire has no place in this team, especially not as a captain.
Ronaldo is not a starter, and I hope he goes.
Malacia gets thrown in and delivers an prime Evra performance. Shaw Will have a hard time to get a start from now on.
But this is what we need - competition for every position.

This should be our CB pairing from now on.
Varane - Martinez
Lindelöf - Martinez
Varane - Lindelöf
 
Vidyoyo said:
Agree about the defence but no Ronaldo is the biggest difference for me. We looked so much more fluid up top with him out of the team, just like those games in early preseason.

Maybe this is the end for our dear old friend Cristiano :o
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Exactly. Playing with Ronaldo is like playing with 10 men when you don't have the ball. And even with the ball, the attack becomes less fluid with him in it. And then there's the mentality side of it. He's a huge narcissist who only cares about himself so the whole thing becomes less enjoyable for his teammates. No surprise to see the Bruno stats with and without Ronaldo in the team. Although some of that is down to Bruno simply becoming less effective over the years, I think it's also down to Bruno not being able to be the talisman and express himself when Ronaldo is there to suck the oxygen out of others.
 
dan1509 said:
I don't get these digs at Ronaldo. He didnt play the first match and we got smashed, then in the second game he played and we got smashed again (not sure how you can fault him for us conceding 4 to Brentford). Its just such a lazy narrative when you consider there were numerous changes made to the side today (maguire, shaw, no McFred combo).
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This…I’m not going into the “Ronaldo sucks” mindset until we have a much larger sample size. Do people forget he was practically the only player trying last season?
 
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