[Stig]

today. Hopefully ten Hag sticks with this lineup.

I somehow think that there is absolutely no chance of that. I just don't think he's that sensible of a manager. We shall see.

 

[Stig]

Kind of disingenuous to class Garnacho and Mejbri as our own academy players when they were poached from other clubs academies very late in their developmental trajectory, and at least in Mejbri’s case, cost a pretty penny.

Would you include Giggs in that category ? Coming over from City when he was 14. It's a real question I'm not being snarky.

 

[always_hoping]

Switching off/lapses in concentration is what happens mostly on set pieces for a number of years for United. Bad habits die hard as they say

That poor defending on set pieces made it appear the first half performance was poor last night from United. In truth performance wise United was competitive against a side unbeaten for 10 games and had eyes towards going joint top with the win.

First half stats

Shots on goal
United 7 Villa 6

Shots on target
United 3 Villa 2

Possession
United 51% Villa 49%

Passes
United 212 Villa 205

Passing accuracy
United 81% Villa 77%

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Man, I forgot that feeling. Such a fun 2 half and the young players coming through along with old man Johnny.

Not sure I'll ever forget Hojlund's celebration. That is what it's all about.

I thought Rashford played well too, at least miles better than a month ago. Very happy for him.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

We are good at transitions against a high line.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

First half wasn’t bad but the intensity we went at them in the second half is what we need to see every game. Also the speed we moved the ball about in midfield with Mainoo and Erikson was great because they could keep it move it about and then they were finding Bruno who could then do the Bruno/Rashford special against a high line and it paid dividends. Not to say Erik and Mianoo didn’t hit a few great passes as well.

It was an improvement and a far better performance than what we have been producing recently but still lots of errors and opportunities not taken.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Would you include Giggs in that category ? Coming over from City when he was 14. It's a real question I'm not being snarky.

Yes and I realize its kind of splitting hairs here and maybe Garnacho is our academy player as he signed his first professional deal with us but we also don't consider Amad our academy player.

 

[Ghirahim]

It was a much improved second half performance. Everytime United got into the final third they looked like they were gunna score.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

He's not, I think. Varane is by far the best CB we have. But Evans is better than the industrial fridge called Harry. It's such a shame Martinez is out for so long, but I am surprised by Evans performances. He's been quite solid.

Varane is class but he can't play as much as we need him to play.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

First half wasn’t bad but the intensity we went at them in the second half is what we need to see every game. Also the speed we moved the ball about in midfield with Mainoo and Erikson was great because they could keep it move it about and then they were finding Bruno who could then do the Bruno/Rashford special against a high line and it paid dividends. Not to say Erik and Mianoo didn’t hit a few great passes as well.

It was an improvement and a far better performance than what we have been producing recently but still lots of errors and opportunities not taken.

Yeah, we weren't bad in the first half, just fell asleep twice and got punished both times. It wasn't like we were clinging on for dear life.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Whilst we were good yesterday,. especially in the second half, on reflection, we still look so disjointed off the ball, and has been pretty much the same all season.

When we made it 2-2, I think it was Bailey who had a chance pretty much straight away to put Villa ahead. The same thing happened when we made it 3-2 with McGinn having a fantastic chance.

We just seem so naive. Happened against Bayern, Arsenal, Galatasaray, Copenhagen from what I can remember. No doubt a few more games, too.

Something ten Hag needs to look at because it will continue to punish us.

 

[Nobby style]

Excellent second half, Garnacho is or should be our RW for now and Hojlund deserves backing.

Saw somewhere that Garnacho’s brother was saying it was the first time Alejandro had ever played right wing. Not even in youth sides had he played there.

 

[NLunited]

Saw somewhere that Garnacho’s brother was saying it was the first time Alejandro had ever played right wing. Not even in youth sides had he played there.

Really? He played there earlier this season.

 

[Red in STL]

Also forced into it by injuries and the final realisation that Amrabat is useless. I dont think we can give ETH that much credit. He also sold Elanga to buy Anthony, having not played him last season in favour of Weghorst, probably the most technically limited player ever to pull on the shirt. How's that looking?

No he didn't

 

[TwoSheds]

Saw somewhere that Garnacho’s brother was saying it was the first time Alejandro had ever played right wing. Not even in youth sides had he played there.

He definitely played there in the youth sides from time to time. More left wing or up front but for sure he had minutes on the right too.

 

[Jeffthered]

In my view it is completely obvious that on the contrary it solves a lot more problems than it creates. Which is why this view of Bruno is so fundamentally absurd, and this repetitive, hangup-based mantra so tiresome.

You have been following our season right? Our lack of quality, consistency... and how many games we have lost right?

I'm assuming you would say that this is despite Bruno's contribution rather than him being a fundamental part of our problems?

 

[Bondi77]

I somehow think that there is absolutely no chance of that. I just don't think he's that sensible of a manager. We shall see.

If Luke is fit then there is no chance of that as he walks back into the side.

 

[tomaldinho1]

We are good at transitions against a high line.

I feel like they dropped a bit second half and that’s when we got a bit more joy. The ultra high line caught us out every time in the first half.

 

[NewGlory]

But he didn’t say that, he said a poor Villa side which they clearly aren’t.

Also why is it always when we win the other team played poorly rather than us playing well?

It's bullshit

There was nothing poorer than usual about Villa against us. They played as well as they possibly can, United just outplayed them in the second half. As we should!

The caliber of players we have, when they don't down tools, there are very few clubs we should not be beating: City, Liverpool, Real Madrid. And even these teams, while objectively better than us, we could beat if our players do their best and they have a bad day

But fecking Villa is not a team that anybody should be surprised we beat, even if they play their best

 

[ForeverRed1]

Amazing what we can do when we show abit of fight…

 

[Stig]

If Luke is fit then there is no chance of that as he walks back into the side.

Good point.

 

[SirCactus]

Play like that every game FFS.

Fantastic attitude to come back. People will say Villa were poor but when we started playing what were they supposed to do.

But play like that every fecking game!!

Consistency is the key word now. There are talented players in the squad and the manager does have a plan. With Big Jim committing to the cause the future is bright. However we need to follow last night up with a win at Forest. We cannot allow a repeat of what happened after our brilliant draw at Anfield. Hojlund in the middle with Garnacho and Rashford on wings: we need to believe in that forward line and play the utd way - width and flair, not simply waiting to counter stronger teams like Liverpool. I think Bruno is not a suitable captain for our great club and I would like to see ETH being backed in January window.

 

[cyril C]

Switching off/lapses in concentration is what happens mostly on set pieces for a number of years for United. Bad habits die hard as they say

That poor defending on set pieces made it appear the first half performance was poor last night from United. In truth performance wise United was competitive against a side unbeaten for 10 games and had eyes towards going joint top with the win.

First half stats

Shots on goal
United 7 Villa 6

Shots on target
United 3 Villa 2

Possession
United 51% Villa 49%

To be fair, MU did take the front seat right from the beginning towards the end, it was poor defending on set piece alright, but our build up and momentum was more thankful to Villa's poor defending. They sat back but not as solid as Seville used to be, their counter-attack was almost non-existence. Questionable game management and allowed MU to get back into the game.

 

[Lost bear]

Play like you mean it.

And this time they did.

Let's hope it becomes a regular thing.

 

[justsomebloke]

You have been following our season right? Our lack of quality, consistency... and how many games we have lost right?

I'm assuming you would say that this is despite Bruno's contribution rather than him being a fundamental part of our problems?

I certainly would. And I've watched every minute of every PL game we've played.

 

[lysglimt]

What really annoys me is that we don't go at times like this more often - I am not saying it would work against City and Liverpool - but against 2/3 of the teams in the P.L - it would. And it would be much easier to accept a defeat if we lost due to the odd counter-attacks than if we allowed team to play around us because the intensity wasn't there.

When I watched the Villa-game yesterday to get a proper opinion on the game - we actually didn't play as bad as I thought the first time around. We were horribly sloppy in the final third - and on our own set-pieces. If we had improved our decision-making and accuracy in the final pass - we could have had 2-3 goals in the first half alone. Mainoo, Eriksen and Garnacho all failed with passes which should be routine for players of their skills. So our defending apart - it wasn't such a bad game - even before we turned the game around

 

[Pogue Mahone]

What really annoys me is that we don't go at times like this more often - I am not saying it would work against City and Liverpool - but against 2/3 of the teams in the P.L - it would. And it would be much easier to accept a defeat if we lost due to the odd counter-attacks than if we allowed team to play around us because the intensity wasn't there.

When I watched the Villa-game yesterday to get a proper opinion on the game - we actually didn't play as bad as I thought the first time around. We were horribly sloppy in the final third - and on our own set-pieces. If we had improved our decision-making and accuracy in the final pass - we could have had 2-3 goals in the first half alone. Mainoo, Eriksen and Garnacho all failed with passes which should be routine for players of their skills. So our defending apart - it wasn't such a bad game - even before we turned the game around

Yeah, the first half bad, second half good narrative that’s taken hold on here isn’t true at all. We had a bad 10 minute spell in the middle of an overall good performance.

 

[justsomebloke]

Yeah, the first half bad, second half good narrative that’s taken hold on here isn’t true at all. We had a bad 10 minute spell in the middle of an overall good performance.

Absolutely agree. The game throughout was all about our high press, and getting opportunities off Villa's high line. That was there in the first half too, we just did better with the opportunities in the second. Defensively, we didn't back up into our box as quickly and easily as we did against Liverpool.

 

[tomaldinho1]

What really annoys me is that we don't go at times like this more often - I am not saying it would work against City and Liverpool - but against 2/3 of the teams in the P.L - it would. And it would be much easier to accept a defeat if we lost due to the odd counter-attacks than if we allowed team to play around us because the intensity wasn't there.

When I watched the Villa-game yesterday to get a proper opinion on the game - we actually didn't play as bad as I thought the first time around. We were horribly sloppy in the final third - and on our own set-pieces. If we had improved our decision-making and accuracy in the final pass - we could have had 2-3 goals in the first half alone. Mainoo, Eriksen and Garnacho all failed with passes which should be routine for players of their skills. So our defending apart - it wasn't such a bad game - even before we turned the game around

A lot of games are actually like that this year. I’d say if you ignore some of the early shockers like Wolves (which I think is easily our worst game of the season), there have a been a lot of positives in the performances. We’re a team trying to transition towards something new and there will be more growing pains along the way.

 

[cyril C]

First half wasn’t bad but the intensity we went at them in the second half is what we need to see every game. Also the speed we moved the ball about in midfield with Mainoo and Erikson was great because they could keep it move it about and then they were finding Bruno who could then do the Bruno/Rashford special against a high line and it paid dividends. Not to say Erik and Mianoo didn’t hit a few great passes as well.

It was an improvement and a far better performance than what we have been producing recently but still lots of errors and opportunities not taken.

It was more about Villa losing from a winning position rather than we did something tactically genius to reverse our fortune. Apart from capitalising on 2x defensive error, Villa had been toothless on counter-attack, which was supposed to be their bread & butter. We were on front foot throughout 90min, fortunately the lads did not lose steam after conceding 2 goals and the offside goal, but result could have been different had Villa been more ruthless or we were toothless towards the 70th min...

But 1 thing worth mentioning, for a long time, Rashford started playing as a winger, creating threats on the side, instead of wasteful run into the box only to surrender the ball.

 

[gerdm07]

I just had a chance to watch.

- We played good football for about 60 minutes and included some of the best quick passing this season!
- Bruno and Rashford were much better than their average selves.
- If only we had a young Eriksen.
- I like Garnacho on the right. However, I wish he would try to get to the byline more and not just head inside 90% of the time. Get some good crosses in!
- Mainoo was good. Douglas Luiz was better and I just shake my head wondering why we can't find good midfielders like him.

Maybe this is the start of something...