Positivity after City

There’s nothing to be positive about after yesterday, but we should all be able to concede that City are easily the top club in the world at the moment. They played to their peak ability.

The moaners have a strong case, but it’s best we just chalk this one up to being beaten by the superior side.
 
lex talionis said:
There’s nothing to be positive about after yesterday, but we should all be able to concede that City are easily the top club in the world at the moment. They played to their peak ability.

The moaners have a strong case, but it’s best we just chalk this one up to being beaten by the superior side.
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we’re not conceding that city are the best, we’re conceding that the investment and running of city has skewed the current game.

getting haalands on the cheap is t going to last forever. I’m looking forward to the return of normality
 
OpenIntrovert said:
People who dont want to feel positive can go to the other threads to rant. Let the ones who believe post here.

There are certainly positives in this loss. We tried to make a come back and did not completely give up, which tells you that the team still has the mentality to compete. The loss is probably due to the players' fatigue from international duties or lack of necessary fitness to play ETH's game, which might have come from the lack of matches during the queen's funeral.

Defeats always give you the best answers to success and ETH has characteristically built his success from early failures. I am sure that the following games will see a more adaptive team.
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Thanks for these words...we just have to be positive. In a way, I felt proud of the players in the second half. When the first goal and then martial goals went in and the mood of the players. There is a belief somewhere among the players that " we cant allow shitty embarrass us, we are going to give them a fight till the final whistle." I remember similar game under SAF when we lost 6:1 at old Trafford ( it was a Sunday too). We lost but I went home knowing that we will bounce back, we will not get worst and we will put up a better performance and a better fight when they come to old Trafford. ETH is learning, the players are learning and that will make a difference at the end of the season and not just a game. Glory glory manutd
 
Sky1981 said:
This is why we're in this mess post SAF.

Hey it's not so bad, it could have been worse mentality
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SAF lost to same city 6:1 ( or was it 6:2) I only remember Fletcher goal.
The team is growing and I think we now have a manager who is both a winner and a tactician. We will get there and soon, we will be praying to be playing city every weekends. We will get there this time.
 
Figgins said:
we’re not conceding that city are the best, we’re conceding that the investment and running of city has skewed the current game.

getting haalands on the cheap is t going to last forever. I’m looking forward to the return of normality
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We have spent as much as City. They've just spent it wisely. We have only ourselves to blame.

6-3 isn't the end of the world. We should be realistic about where we are compared to City/Pool/Arsenal. If we get top 4 in ETH's first season, I'm happy.
 
nakpodiareuben said:
SAF lost to same city 6:1 ( or was it 6:2) I only remember Fletcher goal.
The team is growing and I think we now have a manager who is both a winner and a tactician. We will get there and soon, we will be praying to be playing city every weekends. We will get there this time.
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It was 6-1 at home but we had Evans sent off at 0-2 or something like that. That season we finished level with City only to be losing the league on GD. We weren't that great but we were far far better than we are now.
 
bringbackbebe said:
We have spent as much as City. They've just spent it wisely. We have only ourselves to blame.

6-3 isn't the end of the world. We should be realistic about where we are compared to City/Pool/Arsenal. If we get top 4 in ETH's first season, I'm happy.
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Wasn't that because we don't accept anything as consolation? and try to attack City even if it leads us to being demolished?

Compared to the mentality now is day and night
 
We were beaten 6-2 by Spurs last season, sometimes these freakish score lines reflect a failure in tactics rather than player ability. I still believe there’s a bit of a communication barrier especially as we needed to immediately draft a number of new signings into the first team.
 
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Which one of you is on Talksport right now going on about we won the second half, heads would have dropped in the past, beat Arsenal and Liverpool...
 
Not necessarily positives to take away but there are always good lessons to take away from games like this and its important that the team and the fans don't get too down. Yes we have been crap as a club for years but its important to not lump the failures of other managers and woodward on EtH and instead view it in the context of EtH only being here 4/5 months. I remember Jose's madrid getting smacked by pep in the first game against Barca I think, it happens.

In terms of lessons:
- The team does seem to be stuck between 2 philosophys, sitting back to counter and then wanting to be aggressive and press. It seems we are kind of stuck in the middle where we are not really actively pressing high but at the same time trying not to defend too deeply. Which I think is partly a tactical choice by EtH to press in the middle third. At the end of the day if you compare city's high press to united's, its like second nature to them and with united we clearly are a few steps behind as we can see with the front 4 constantly checking to see if they are in the right positions etc. So it'll take time.
- I do fear for Rashford and Sancho, they don't seem to have that fire that you can see in Bruno and Antony where those two are happy to battle and have a more intense play style. Sancho and Rashford on the other hand are very passive in games which is not conducive to a high pressing front line. I fear we can only afford to play 1 of them in the front line. This may also extend to Martial who also is not an intense player but he has been injured so I want to see more of him in the 9 role.
- All we have to do is look at the recruitment of pep at city to understand how hard it is to get the right players in to play a high pressing possession style of football. Pep has gone through so many cbs, fbs even attackers in order to find the right players for his style and unlike an Ajax united don't produce players who are taught to play a possession game. So whilst we have splashed a lotttttt of money, the other side is that its really difficult to find the right players who physically and mentally can play this style. I think we have recruited well in getting in Martinez and Malacia who are perfect for the style. Eriksen as well is a good fit if played in the 10. But the reality is we still need a striker, winger, another centremid, gk, possibly a right back. So yeah we still have a long way to go.
 
Look, at some point Klopp will leave Liverpool, Pep will leave City, Haaland will go off to La Liga and the Glazers will sell this club... hows that for some positivity?
 
Every other team that has the play at the Etihad this season bar maybe 1 or 2 exceptions will feel exactly the way you all do right now.

Haaland is an absolute freak and as I've mentioned before their absolute cherry of a player. They are the best team on the planet - by some margin. To be honest if they don't win the CL this season it's got to be a fail. That team is so fecking loaded with PROVEN talent it's disgusting.

Really not looking forward to when we play there, or even at home against them at all.

I think there is positives for United to take away from the game and those are you now know where you stand against the best team, which in turn should give ETH some valuable insight into what needs to be done with your own roster to compete. I don't see ETH as a manager that will not adapt so I'd be surprised if City ever beat you in the same fashion as what they did today again whilst he is manager. Another positive albeit you were beat was the goals towards the end to make it 6-3. At the end of the day the score is the score. It could have been 6-0.

Here's to seeing much improvement for both of our sides. Also I feel for Everton next because I think United will have had a rocket up their arse this week and will dispatch of them easily. Good luck guys.
 
The positivity is it means nothing really. Congrats on financially doping your way to the top and getting to spend all the money you needed on the structure, training ground, staff, manager, multiple players in every position and then finally reaching this point and adding a freak of nature up front. No matter how good they play a lot of people still don't care about them because it's synthetic. It's basically the "well done he's 13" meme in PL form.
 
1) We never really made a huge fk up. Sure we played them onside - Shaw. Lost a man for a goal etc but it was not glaringly obvious give away a goal scenarios like in the past. It was mistakes down to pressure and good play by City
2) Yeah City slowed down and subbed players etc but it seemed like we kept at it. We didnt totally down tools like in the past.
3) I think tactical naivety made us look worse than we are. Sure City are miles ahead of us but I dont think we are that sht. When Real play prime Barca they dont go toe to toe with them. They defend and hit on the counter. McTominay and Eriksen was a mistake. Something we hopefully learn from.
 
The one month break really stopped our momentum. This game was a one off and we were off the pace. The goal now is to get Casemiro integrated into the starting 11. Enough is enough with McT, he is a squad player at best.
 
LordSpud said:
Look, at some point Klopp will leave Liverpool, Pep will leave City, Haaland will go off to La Liga and the Glazers will sell this club... hows that for some positivity?
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My worry is that the Glazers do sell the club but to even worse owners. We could end up with owners who take money out but don’t even spend on transfers.

I thought Boris Johnson couldn’t get worse, but now look…
 
Solius said:
The positivity is it means nothing really. Congrats on financially doping your way to the top and getting to spend all the money you needed on the structure, training ground, staff, manager, multiple players in every position and then finally reaching this point and adding a freak of nature up front. No matter how good they play a lot of people still don't care about them because it's synthetic. It's basically the "well done he's 13" meme in PL form.
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This is wishful thinking.

I reckon results and games like this convert a significant amount of kids around the country towards Man City. They're a far more likeable team, play the best football and destroy their biggest rivals.

Plus on top of that, they've now got the biggest star in the league (ignoring Ronaldo's fading star). In 20 years time, people won't give a shit about the financial doping but they will remember games like and players like Haaland.
 
Giggsy13 said:
The one month break really stopped our momentum. This game was a one off and we were off the pace. The goal now is to get Casemiro integrated into the starting 11. Enough is enough with McT, he is a squad player at best.
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That’s the biggest bummer. We could have gone into this game with 6 wins and 2 losses. Bloody Queen!
 
Skills said:
This is wishful thinking.

I reckon results and games like this convert a significant amount of kids around the country towards Man City. They're a far more likeable team, play the best football and destroy their biggest rivals.

Plus on top of that, they've now got the biggest star in the league (ignoring Ronaldo's fading star). In 20 years time, people won't give a shit about the financial doping but they will remember games like and players like Haaland.
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Yeah this a bigger issue. Kids are very player focused as well. I can imagine them getting loads more kids following now that they have an iconic player like Haaland. Every kid will want to be like him.
 
The only positivity is that we don't have to play there again this season.
But to be honest I'm not as negative as most of the people on this forum today. City just highlighted the issues that have already been identified:
- why press with forwards if we are spreaded because of low defensive line (if the opponent can by-pass the first line then we're in trouble)
- Rashford is not a striker
- playing Bruno means we're effectively playing 2 man midfield, and whoever we play there might not be enough for any decent opponents
Those issues can easily be adressed now.

Honestly, we're past the worst period playing City, Liverpool and in-form Arsenal. Now we should focus on progress and changing tactical approach instead of going with what we're used to.
 
Skills said:
This is wishful thinking.

I reckon results and games like this convert a significant amount of kids around the country towards Man City. They're a far more likeable team, play the best football and destroy their biggest rivals.

Plus on top of that, they've now got the biggest star in the league (ignoring Ronaldo's fading star). In 20 years time, people won't give a shit about the financial doping but they will remember games like and players like Haaland.
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Maybe we see it differently then but for me the amazing thing about supporting Utd (when we were good) was the fight and how tight and dramatic some games were. There was rarely a huge gap between us and other teams, to the extent there is now. 90+ points is becoming the norm. Watching a team just steamroller everyone else in the league does not make the sport fun.
 
Solius said:
Maybe we see it differently then but for me the amazing thing about supporting Utd (when we were good) was the fight and how tight and dramatic some games were. There was rarely a huge gap between us and other teams, to the extent there is now. 90+ points is becoming the norm. Watching a team just steamroller everyone else in the league does not make the sport fun.
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I'm sure it adds to the drama and the story for some - but City have their own with the Aguero moment, the final day title win last season etc. But i don't think it means anything in the grand scheme of things - Madrid are the world's most popular club for a reason. Casual fans like to be associated with winning teams that entertain them.
 
I am positive we are a long way off challenging for a title. We are a long way off City.
I am also positive that we will improve .
 
Skills said:
I'm sure it adds to the drama and the story for some - but City have their own with the Aguero moment, the final day title win last season etc. But i don't think it means anything in the grand scheme of things - Madrid are the world's most popular club for a reason. Casual fans like to be associated with winning teams that entertain them.
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All their success has an asterisk against it as far as I'm concerned.
 
Solius said:
All their success has an asterisk against it as far as I'm concerned.
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For you, yes - a fan of their biggest rival. For a 10 year old growing up following city it means nothing.
 
I think the players got overwhelmed by the start City had, on the other hand I don’t think a team in the World would have been able to cope with that yesterday. That midfield of theirs and Haaland on top of that.. Even a PSG, Bayern or a Madrid would have probably been slaughtered. You can’t compare the 2 sides as we’re still a team in transition and are light years behind in terms of development.
I also think it’s becoming a little artificial the way some clubs have endless resources whilst not been any where near the biggest in terms of support.
Positives? Martial and Antony were the only crumbs and City really did raise the bar, the quality was even much better than when Liverpool gave us a hiding last season. That’s the best domestic performance I’ve ever seen against us by quite a bit. Don’t poo poo the fact we actually scored 3 goals and limited the damage in terms of score line.
 
Skills said:
For you, yes - a fan of their biggest rival. For a 10 year old growing up following city it means nothing.
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Obviously. I think more than you think just shrug at it all though. I don't feel this way about Liverpool, who I find to be a much bigger and worthy rival. They at least did things the right way.
 
I thought Antony’s second half performance is worthy of positivity. It’s a little annoying that he didn’t attempt to play that way in the first half and was way too conservative, but when the shackles were off, he went a few city players for hot dogs. He has that left foot curling finish in him and we saw how good his reverse ball can be. Think we have a star in him, he’s made 2 PL performances and had stand out moments that other players in that position haven’t given us in a long long time.
 
No positives, only an opportunity to lay down a marker with a dominant reaction against Everton. We have a trip away at Omonoia to content with first, hardly ideal preparation but it's the price we pay for the shambles of last season.
 
not sure there are many positives necessarily from this but at least they kept going at 4-0 down until the end. Most of us also kept making the point up to now that there will be bumps in the road this season as the team gel together and get used to ETH system. We should also as supporters just have to hold up our hands and swallow the fact at this moment how good this City side are, they are miles ahead of anything else in not only the EPL but the world.
 
The only shame for me is the fact it’s the defence that are getting all the stick where for me it was our attackers that were the biggest culprits.

I felt like Rashford, Sancho and Eriksen to an extent completely bottled it in that crucial first half period. They were so sloppy with the ball and ruining very good counter attack opportunities.

The goal scoring all started from Sancho completely messing up a very dangerous counter attack where we had a 3 v 2 situation. Instead of playing the ball, he tried to do the wrong thing and take it on himself before getting tackled by Akanji. At that point we were caught out of position and they scored the opener 20 seconds later.

We had a number of opportunities like that where we had the chance to drive at them but sloppy build up and hold up just threw our defence under a bus.
 
Oh Positives!!!
Well.
- We did win the second half 2-3, how's about that for positivity? :)
- Once Antony slipped his double markers, he delivered, following his goal against Arsenal, proves he can do it in the 'big games' (and boy do we need big game players) definite positive!
- Also, thank goodness we don't play City every week (another positive)
- Maybe ETH 's subs at the end are suggesting he's looking at building some sort of Brazilian spine, Casemiro/Fred/Antony (not sure if positive or not, but let's go with it for now)
-Luke Shaw looked a lot more comfortable when he came on, stopped a lot (if not all) the 'marauding' by City down their right in the second half, (semi-positive?)
- Tony Martial got a couple, (even if City were in second gear by then) it should help him build his confidence (must be a positive...yes?)
 
They put 6 past us, they might put 7/8 past the scousers who we actually beat.
 
Can see ETH's work coming to fruition even in a massacre like yesterday. I was impressed with some of our build up, which was far more patient and precise than the past few years, although many deep runs from midfield were missed, either through a lack of confidence or vision from those in possession, so still plenty to work on.

We were way too open for the type of game and came up against City on one of their best days, it was tough to watch but we won't face that very often.
 
Two positive observations

1. Antony
2. Players were loyal to ETH’s principals: playing out from behind and setting a high press line when City was playing out from behind, including man to man on the midfield.

ETH wants us United to play a certain style, and he doesn’t abandon his principles even if it turns out catastrophic. He probably think that’s needed in order to develop and get results in the longer run, and I don’t necessarily disagree. ETH is on line with most supporters - who have been talking about pressing up front and playing out from behind as the receipt to dominate matches.

Yesterday was a crazy demonstration by City. The gap in quality was shockingly big. I finally lost all hope about United getting back in the good company of great teams within 3y. 80% of our players aren’t good enough and never will be good enough to play for City, PSG, Barca or RM and we don’t have one single world class player like example Haaland, Modric, Mbappe, Messi, Benzema, Neymar, KDB, LEW ++
 
I'm a big fan of ten Hag and fully support him here, I want him to succeed. Before I saw the line ups though I said I would play Casemiro and McT or even put Fred in there. I'd have dropped Bruno and played Eriksen in his position (I'm really not a Bruno fan). Don't know how big a difference it would have made but I just wanted more steel in the midfield. I might even have put more numbers in the middle and played Bruno as a false 9 I could just about live with him there, or played 2 up front rather than 3...but then who am I hahah
 
Not much to say other than it's going to be a long road back to the top. Micro analysing each game is pointless at the moment. We're still miles off having a full squad of players capable of playing the way Ten Hag demands, not to mention shipping out mentally weak and lazy players. I've accepted there will be many ups and downs this season, and even next season, but am hopeful if we stick with the plan and support Ten Hag we'll eventually see significant improvement.
 
AndySmith1990 said:
Not much to say other than it's going to be a long road back to the top. Micro analysing each game is pointless at the moment. We're still miles off having a full squad of players capable of playing the way Ten Hag demands, not to mention shipping out mentally weak and lazy players. I've accepted there will be many ups and downs this season, and even next season, but am hopeful if we stick with the plan and support Ten Hag we'll eventually see significant improvement.
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Really poor team selection, but ETH deserves time. We seem to have lost sight of the bigger picture. Our team cost more than City's and we pay them more... Let that sink in. Nothing changes with Glazers at the helm
 
We were always going to lose yesterday, and whilst the manner of the defeat is embarrassing, I think it will help in the long run as it will show ETH that whilst certain players can do a job for now against the lesser teams, they will need replacing eventually if we are to get back to the top.

Another positive is that whilst City look nailed on for the title and Arsenal are going very well, all of the other big three clubs don't look anything special at all. As bad as we've been at times this season we are still two points clear of Liverpool and they play Arsenal and City next! I am confident we will be eight points clear of them come the 16th of October!
 
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