CL D Champions League Group F

Atalanta 2:2 Manchester United

Post-match discussion


Tue, 02 November 2021

Bailly was immense, Ronaldo the hero.

A CL point on the road is not a bad thing, but we really needed three.

Varane going down in the first half did not help.

A few notes, though: Ole totally changed tactics when he subbed on Greenwood for Varane. That cannot be ignored. He put in Matic (defensive) for Pogba (largely ineffective) and Cavani (patient striker) for Rashford (pacy counter attacker) with 20 minutes to go. It's not like he wasn't making changes. The Sancho/van de Beek insertion gave us life, and led to the last goal, but I think that was due to timing and energy.

At this point, I'm Ole-agnostic. While he's not making any genius moves to totally change the game, I'm certain he's the not sole reason we're not getting better. In other words, sacking him is not going to save the season.
 
I have to wonder why some people watch football. We have people saying it was great entertainment because we scored 2 goals, which amounted to about 3 minutes of play. Do people just not care what happens in the other 87 minutes? If all you care about is goals, why do you even bother watching a game? You might as well just be a fan who watches highlights.

For people who watch games, they want to see more than 3/90 minutes being entertaining. The performances against Atalanta was terrible, and I don't even think we have the excuse of saying they were great. They were not great. They screwed up a multitude of opportunities to put the game to bed, and top teams will not give up those chances so readily.

Teams do not need to play scintillating football to dominated us. They barely even have to be good to go against us and have a chance of winning. I actually see a City hammering incoming; the writing is on wall like it was before the Liverpool game.
 
Bailly was immense, Ronaldo the hero.

A CL point on the road is not a bad thing, but we really needed three.

Varane going down in the first half did not help.

A few notes, though: Ole totally changed tactics when he subbed on Greenwood for Varane. That cannot be ignored. He put in Matic (defensive) for Pogba (largely ineffective) and Cavani (patient striker) for Rashford (pacy counter attacker) with 20 minutes to go. It's not like he wasn't making changes. The Sancho/van de Beek insertion gave us life, and led to the last goal, but I think that was due to timing and energy.

At this point, I'm Ole-agnostic. While he's not making any genius moves to totally change the game, I'm certain he's the not sole reason we're not getting better. In other words, sacking him is not going to save the season.
This pretty much.

Even match, deserved draw. We need to fix our defense though, that means what everyone is doing when we don't have the ball, not just our back 4/5, and stop losing the ball in bad positions. Now we need to get at least one point in Spain and win against YB at home to get out of the group. A must!

To expect away wins in Italy in the CL is just silly. SAF won 4 games in Italy in 13 tries...
 
Atalanta were good to be fair to them, I was okay with a point.

Anyone else absolutely love watching Eric Bailly defend?
If by love you mean adrenaline filled heart attack, then yes I love it.
 
At this point, I'm Ole-agnostic. While he's not making any genius moves to totally change the game, I'm certain he's the not sole reason we're not getting better. In other words, sacking him is not going to save the season.

He doesn't have to be the sole reason. If he's the biggest reason, that's enough to look for suitable replacements.

And if the manager of the team for the last 3 years (during which period we're the team with the biggest transfer expenditure in the EPL) is not by far the biggest reason why we're not getting better, then who is? I'm interested to hear who is more responsible than Ole for our football.
 
Yes, let’s celebrate being in first place in the group before we actually qualify for the next round knowing that there is a high chance we drop more points in our last 2 games. Definitely something to celebrate about so early. Falling standards are now acceptable because of posts like this.
Yeah! Why celebrate anything before we are holding a trophy at the end of the season? All the games before that should be watches in silence, without any joy or celebration along the way. We support the club because of the trophies, right? Not for the love of the game, the players, the club, the ups'n'downs or any stuff like that, right?
 
I remember how confident we were when we beat PSG and Leipzig in consecutive games last season. No one should be banking on qualifying just yet when we still have Villareal away. 3 more points to qualify and it’s likely we’ll make it more difficult than it should be.
 
Ok result against a very good side with a top coach, something a lot of people in this thread are forgetting.

Maguire, Pogba, McT, Rashford were awful.
 
I bloody hate Ole more with every game. We are so so bad. Worse than Moyes & Van Gaal yet?
I go back and forth on that. I don't wanna watch a team with bad fundamentals, but Van Gaal-ball was just keep-away, scoring was just something that occasionally happens while you keep the ball.

Were certainly more entertaining for the neutral than under either of those 2. But at least under LVG we could take pride in our ability to hold the ball. Now we're like a crippled snake, we can still bite but we're easily attacked. I can't really root for this travesty of a "team", I'm just waiting for something to change.

Were very talented, but we're not more than the sum of our parts, and that's what team sports are all about.
 
Imagine all of this just to draw Bayern Munich
We need to see what proper football looks like, this draw will only fool people into thinking were doing okay. Apparently 5-0 after 50 minutes isn't clear enough. Would have been 12-0 if they'd kept trying to score.
 
Bailly was immense, Ronaldo the hero.

A CL point on the road is not a bad thing, but we really needed three.

Varane going down in the first half did not help.

A few notes, though: Ole totally changed tactics when he subbed on Greenwood for Varane. That cannot be ignored. He put in Matic (defensive) for Pogba (largely ineffective) and Cavani (patient striker) for Rashford (pacy counter attacker) with 20 minutes to go. It's not like he wasn't making changes. The Sancho/van de Beek insertion gave us life, and led to the last goal, but I think that was due to timing and energy.

At this point, I'm Ole-agnostic. While he's not making any genius moves to totally change the game, I'm certain he's the not sole reason we're not getting better. In other words, sacking him is not going to save the season.
Nevermind changing games how about he tries to ensure we dont look like a complete shit show from the start.

Talk about ole not make genius moves is misplaced. He is lacking in basic competence
 
We need to see what proper football looks like, this draw will only fool people into thinking were doing okay. Apparently 5-0 after 50 minutes isn't clear enough. Would have been 12-0 if they'd kept trying to score.
We know it. We see it once or twice per game :lol:
 
Varane's injured though.

Lindelof and Bailly against City?
Actually, as crazy as it may sound, City is probably the best team to play that pair. They don't have strong, physical forwards that could bully Lindelof.
But we all know that if Harry is half fit he'll start ahead of any of the two.
 
Either Atalanta are a great team or we are dog shit. Over the two games they have outplayed us.
Villarreal will be a tougher game and Young Boys have already embarrassed us.
The idiot in charge had two games to get 1 point from 2 games in the group last season and managed to fk that up !
We could very much be looking at playing in the Europa after christmas (hopefully not).
 
Either Atalanta are a great team or we are dog shit. Over the two games they have outplayed us.
Villarreal will be a tougher game and Young Boys have already embarrassed us.
The idiot in charge had two games to get 1 point from 2 games in the group last season and managed to fk that up !
We could very much be looking at playing in the Europa after christmas (hopefully not).

Atalanta are a decent side but we should be beating them home and away, although 4pts isn't bad.

Young boys didn't embarrass us. With 11 men we were never losing that game.

Yes the season hasn't been great but let's not rewrite history.
 
Young boys didn't embarrass us. With 11 men we were never losing that game.

Yes the season hasn't been great but let's not rewrite history.

You're underplaying how shit the past few seasons have been then asking him to not rewrite history :lol:
 
Pogba is a disgrace to the shirt and has been ever since his return. His really good performances can be counted on the fingers of your hands while performances like this, sloppy, lazy, disrespectful, uncraring, have been the norm; like you say should never play for us again.

This has been my opinion for a few years, however so many people jump to his defence calling him World class. I can't stand the bloke strolling around the pitch and not chasing back when he loses the ball. It's should be an honour to play for the club and he and his scumbag agent have been disrespecting the club for years.
 
Atalanta are a decent side but we should be beating them home and away, although 4pts isn't bad.

Young boys didn't embarrass us. With 11 men we were never losing that game.

Yes the season hasn't been great but let's not rewrite history.

Young Boys didn't embarrass us? They beat us and outplayed us before we had a man sent off.

Atalanta are a decent side, but their strength is having a capable manager, our managers biggest asset is that he can smile...a lot
 
Young Boys didn't embarrass us? They beat us and outplayed us before we had a man sent off.

Atalanta are a decent side, but their strength is having a capable manager, our managers biggest asset is that he can smile...a lot

Of course any loss can be embarrassing if you're that way inclined I suppose. I felt there were mitigating factors there but
we certainly didn't respond well to going down to 10 men.

We were 1 nil up when AWB stomped on your man. It was a bit of a dull game but from my recollection we looked to be in control. I certainly wasn't worried about not winning the game as I felt we'd score again.

How did they 'beat us' before AWB went off?
 
Interesting and alarming how Gasperini easily rendered our attack impotent by identifying and man marking Bruno.

Yes, this was a central key to containing our potential to make chances.

'Man marking' is not often used these days, because it is so difficult to maintain effectively over the full 90 minutes and sometimes as soul destroying for the player doing the marking as it is for the person being man-marked, but when its done properly, on the right opposition player, as against Bruno (also remember Anders Herrera on Hazard) it can be devastating.

An old coach I knew use to call this tactic, the equivalent of a 'lock out' or a 'wedge under the door' simple concept, difficult to maintain, but devastating to the opposition when done properly.

Thankfully the marker wasn't tight enough to stop Bruno's back heel for the first goal
 
Of course any loss can be embarrassing if you're that way inclined I suppose. I felt there were mitigating factors there but
we certainly didn't respond well to going down to 10 men.

We were 1 nil up when AWB stomped on your man. It was a bit of a dull game but from my recollection we looked to be in control. I certainly wasn't worried about not winning the game as I felt we'd score again.

How did they 'beat us' before AWB went off?

Its embarrassing because nowadays no matter who beats us, we just bend over and accept it. When we have a manager who said you don't need to win trophies to be successful, shows how low our standards have become.

I didn't say they beat us before AWB went off, I said they beat us sorry if I confused you. Even before AWB went off they were the more aggressive and better team.

We have two games to go in this group, Villarreal which will be a tough game and the YB return, both will be a lot tougher than they should be and ill not be surprised if we dont win either.
 
Atalanta are a decent side but we should be beating them home and away, although 4pts isn't bad.

Young boys didn't embarrass us. With 11 men we were never losing that game.

Yes the season hasn't been great but let's not rewrite history.
It is bad because we didn’t deserve 4 points out the two games against Atalanta even though our bench is worth twice as much as their first team.
 
Young Boys didn't embarrass us? They beat us and outplayed us before we had a man sent off.

Atalanta are a decent side, but their strength is having a capable manager, our managers biggest asset is that he can smile...a lot

No they didn't. We comfortably were drawing with 10men for half a game then Lingard gave an insane backpass for them to steal a win in the last min.

We'll batter them at home. It's the next game that's no given at all.
 
Its embarrassing because nowadays no matter who beats us, we just bend over and accept it. When we have a manager who said you don't need to win trophies to be successful, shows how low our standards have become.

I didn't say they beat us before AWB went off, I said they beat us sorry if I confused you. Even before AWB went off they were the more aggressive and better team.

We have two games to go in this group, Villarreal which will be a tough game and the YB return, both will be a lot tougher than they should be and ill not be surprised if we dont win either.

Sorry but that's an extremely negative view which I can't agree with.

Young boys at OT will never hold any fear for me and I don't understand that mindset.

As for the Solskjaer trophy thing that's a misinterpretation.

The point he was actually making wasn't that trophies aren't important but that winning a trophy and specifically a cup can mask a lack of real progress and the league is where you really prove whether your back at the top or not.

"In the league position you see if there’s any progress for me, that’s always the bread and butter of the season that you see how capable you are of coping of ups and downs any cup competition can give you a trophy but sometimes it’s more of an ego thing from other managers and clubs to finally win something.

"But we need to see progress and if we perform well enough the trophies will end up at the club again. It’s not like a trophy will say that we’re back, no.

It’s the gradual progression of being in and around the top of the league and the consistency and the odd trophies. Sometimes a cup competition can hide the fact you’re still struggling a little bit."


EDIT: oh I see what you mean now on the beat us thing when I read it back.
 
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Of course any loss can be embarrassing if you're that way inclined I suppose. I felt there were mitigating factors there but
we certainly didn't respond well to going down to 10 men.

We were 1 nil up when AWB stomped on your man. It was a bit of a dull game but from my recollection we looked to be in control. I certainly wasn't worried about not winning the game as I felt we'd score again.

How did they 'beat us' before AWB went off?
That's a very depressing view. We should been through comfortably from that group. Instead, we need 2 wins from the last 2 matches.

We look clueless top to bottom. If you can't see that, it's very unfortunate.
 
It is bad because we didn’t deserve 4 points out the two games against Atalanta even though our bench is worth twice as much as their first team.

Surely you know what I meant.

The main point was we should be beating them home and away. I didn't think I had to spell out that we were poor. I assumed that was a given.

In that context 4 pts on the board isn't bad at all.
 

Man of the Match

Cristiano Ronaldo image Cristiano Ronaldo 69% of 391 votes

Runners-up

Player Ratings

5.6 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 355 ratings.

Score Predictions

149,47,56
  • Man Utd win
  • Atalanta win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 25% Atalanta 1:2 Man Utd
  • 15% Atalanta 0:2 Man Utd
  • 13% Atalanta 1:1 Man Utd
  • 8% Atalanta 2:1 Man Utd
  • 8% Atalanta 2:2 Man Utd
  • 6% Atalanta 1:3 Man Utd
  • 5% Atalanta 0:3 Man Utd
  • 3% Atalanta 0:1 Man Utd
  • 3% Atalanta 3:1 Man Utd
  • 3% Atalanta 2:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Atalanta 0:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Atalanta 5:0 Man Utd
  • 2% Atalanta 1:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Atalanta 4:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Atalanta 2:3 Man Utd
  • 1% Atalanta 0:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Atalanta 2:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Atalanta 3:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Atalanta 4:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Atalanta 5:1 Man Utd
  • 0% Atalanta 3:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Atalanta 0:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Atalanta 1:0 Man Utd
Compiled from 252 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Atalanta
  2. Man Utd
Possession
47% 53%
Shots
10 13
Shots on Target
4 4
Corners
5 1
Fouls
11 14

Referee

Slavko Vincic