[RedDevilCanuck]

We weren't great. Eriksen and Bruno are good players but with them we will always lose control of the midfield.

If you think we don't urgently need another midfielder you're dreaming.

 

[NLunited]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the way I see it:

- Centre Forward: Basically a striker, someone whose main role is scoring goals. Type (specialty) differs from those that dribble (Henry), pure finishers (Van Nistelrooy/Solksjaer), link up play (Martial), speed/finish combo (Rashford, Mane, Salah). Can do a job on the wing (if they dribble like Henry or have speed like Rashford, Mane, Salah) but 90% of them would be ineffective there (imagine Van Nistelrooy, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku as wingers).

- Support Striker: The Rooney position. Plays as a "striker" just behind the other striker and links up play between midfield, wings, and the other striker. Main job is also scoring goals but has extra role in assisting with link up whenever possible. Should have good passing/crossing range, and mobility.

- False 9: Attacking midfielder. Primary role is to link up play and open passing lanes between himself, midfield, and wings. Very good for a possession based team where most of the players' strengths are link up and quick passing to open up space for each other. Usually a CAM with great passing and very mobile. Can play on the wing/center midfield and be effective most of the time. Not necessary to be a clinical finisher as the goal scoring burden should be spread out between all 6 players (midfield+wingers+false 9) due to increased openings via quick passing.

I’m aware the term cf is used in the US instead of striker, but this is not the general use elsewhere.

A Striker is a player who leads his team in attack and shoulders the responsibility of goalscoring. He usually receives passes and finishes goalscoring opportunities.

The Center Forward is not restricted in the box and plays more of a free role. His primary function is to provide and finish goalscoring opportunities for the team.

A False 9 plays instead of a conventional striker, leaving the center backs without someone to cover.

While you can say a false nine is a cf, a cf definitely is not a striker or a cam.

 

[captaincantona]

We weren't great. Eriksen and Bruno are good players but with them we will always lose control of the midfield.

If you think we don't urgently need another midfielder you're dreaming.

I think that’s harsh on Eriksen. If we play without a 10 and with two 8s - Eriksen fits one of those 8 roles just fine. Bruno is the culprit when it comes to controlling games effectively. I would be interested to see him being dropped for Fred in bigger games: Casemiro with Fred and Eriksen ahead. For me Fernandes is a conundrum for any top side - often the main producer yet often the reason we concede too much possession instead of really dominating teams for 90 minutes. Better sides take Bournemouth’s chances last night. We need something more solid against city imo.

 

[MyBloodIsRed]

Bruno was off yesterday. Gave the ball away alot more than normal. Against stronger teams we'd be punished.

 

[mitchmouse]

Having seen Sky's 30-minute highlights, what is clear is that we were pretty much untroubled (can't see Bournemouth surviving) and that Martial showed once again that he isn't good enough to be our no.9.

The goals were nice and I think Garnacho did enough to get a start against Everton.

How good (or not) we are can't really be based on this game. The rest of the month will tell us much, much more. And for what it's worth, i don't expect to get more than one point out of the City and Arsenal games

 

[croadyman]

We weren't great. Eriksen and Bruno are good players but with them we will always lose control of the midfield.

If you think we don't urgently need another midfielder you're dreaming.

Definitely need a De Jong/Bellingham

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I’m aware the term cf is used in the US instead of striker, but this is not the general use elsewhere.

A Striker is a player who leads his team in attack and shoulders the responsibility of goalscoring. He usually receives passes and finishes goalscoring opportunities.

The Center Forward is not restricted in the box and plays more of a free role. His primary function is to provide and finish goalscoring opportunities for the team.

A False 9 plays instead of a conventional striker, leaving the center backs without someone to cover.

While you can say a false nine is a cf, a cf definitely is not a striker or a cam.

Can’t speak for the US but centre forward and striker are completely interchangeable terms in British/Irish football and always have been.

 

[NLunited]

Can’t speak for the US but centre forward and striker are completely interchangeable terms in British/Irish football and always have been.

Would you refer to Messi as a striker or a cf when he plays through the middle?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Would you refer to Messi as a striker or a cf when he plays through the middle?

Either/or. As I said, they’re interchangeable. Although he usually plays a false 9.

 

[SouthMancRed]

Centre forward was always the No 9, the guy who played in the centre of two wingers and whose job was to put the ball in the net. 8 and 10 were inside forwards, creators and also there to knock in the rebounds. More recently the name became striker, the person that strikes ie scores goals.

As the game evolved and scoring goals became old fashioned compared to not conceding them, the striker became more isolated and meant to hold the ball up while waiting for support to arrive or win fouls. Now actually striking has become a secondary requirement of a striker. The name should involve again to reflect the role, something like battering ram, main foul winner or chief collapser in a heap while holding face when brushed against.

 

[golden_blunder]

Just got back. Agree Bruno was well below par for the first 80 minutes. He keeps losing possession by trying flicks without knowing who is behind him. Surely the coaches should

Chuckle brothers? Laurel and Hardy more like.

Heh. That’s what I’ve taken to calling them. Awful partnership

 

[VivaJesperBlomqvist]

I don’t know what it is, but yesterday was one of my favourite performances in years.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Striker:

Centre Forward:

False nine:

 

[gerdm07]

We are a fun team to watch now! We were sometimes fun under Ole, rarely fun under LvG and Mou, and entirely forgetful under Moyes. Keep it up ETH!

I love our passing sequences, one-touch passing, flow and the team camaraderie. And I think we are going to continue to improve which is going to be fun to watch.

- Loved the reception Martinez got.
- I thought Shaw, Casemiro and Rashford stood out.
- AWB is looking better and I wonder if they are going to think about keeping him.
- Martial was better but he needs to score or at least put his chances on frame. All good strikers want to force saves.
- Well done DDG!

I'm already looking forward to the next match.

 

[Maticmaker]

Last ten minutes Bruno reminded us of why he is still in the team, up to that point his performance was poor.
Casemiro continues to impress, Shaw on the mark and Rashford looks like hes over whatever was the matter with him.
Marital was below par but made some good runs off the ball, felt desperately for DVB first start for ages then gets whacked and yet again another 'Roy of the Rovers' display from DeGea, there when needed.

 

[NLunited]

I don’t know what it is, but yesterday was one of my favourite performances in years.

Same here. They were just ruthless.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Just found out Martinez was given some sort of presentation before kick off for his World Cup win. Does anyone have a gif or video? Would love to see it.

 

[Doracle]

Quality knee slides from Casemiro and Shaw. Maybe Casemiro slightly edging it - 9/10 against 7/10?

 

[Stobzilla]

Quality knee slides from Casemiro and Shaw. Maybe Casemiro slightly edging it - 9/10 against 7/10?

Shaw struggled to stick the dismount and stumbled into his clenched fist pump towards the crowd. I would say 6/10.

 

[tenpoless]

Just found out Martinez was given some sort of presentation before kick off for his World Cup win. Does anyone have a gif or video? Would love to see it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/1uppHXu5BXA?feature=share

 

[Parma Dewol]

https://youtube.com/shorts/1uppHXu5BXA?feature=share

Brilliiant, thank you. Love the grin on his face. Even his teammates look on in awe.

 

[SAF is the GOAT]

Anyone remembers what is our missing game to complete ? and when it will be played ?

 

[mnesiac]

finally can look forward to the next game without a sense of dread. is it just me or does Bruno need a wee rest. no he doesn't look knackered, but a slight jaded.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Anyone remembers what is our missing game to complete ? and when it will be played ?

Crystal palace?

 

[Sunny Jim]

ETH not happy with the perfomance despite the win. I love our new manager

 

[justsomebloke]

We weren't great. Eriksen and Bruno are good players but with them we will always lose control of the midfield.

If you think we don't urgently need another midfielder you're dreaming.

Really? I think it's actually quite a while since that happened much. In fact, I'd say that is one of the most clearly improved areas this season.

 

[justsomebloke]

finally can look forward to the next game without a sense of dread. is it just me or does Bruno need a wee rest. no he doesn't look knackered, but a slight jaded.

It does look like it. But with Donny out, that'd mean Eriksen, who needs even more to have his game time managed. I suppose we could go with Fred as the No 10 and McTominay as the No 8, but somehow that doesn't leave me with a warm, soft glow when I think about it.

 

[IRN-BRUno]

From the BBC match report;
" To concede from a set-piece, after limiting United in the early exchanges, will frustrate O'Neil, as will a goal so close to his half-time team talk. "

Maybe he intended on giving his half-time team talk after 25 minutes

 

[Hughes35]

Definitely need a De Jong/Bellingham

Yea, it's clear to see why ETH was so desperate for De Jong in the summer.

Casemiro, De Jong + either Eriksen or Bruno could be brilliant.

 

[TheRedHearted]

Having seen Sky's 30-minute highlights, what is clear is that we were pretty much untroubled (can't see Bournemouth surviving) and that Martial showed once again that he isn't good enough to be our no.9.

The goals were nice and I think Garnacho did enough to get a start against Everton.

How good (or not) we are can't really be based on this game. The rest of the month will tell us much, much more. And for what it's worth, i don't expect to get more than one point out of the City and Arsenal games

How many minutes has martial had since back from injury? It’s weird how people are writing him off with such little fitness. He wasn’t giving the ball away, at all if I remember. Once he gets match fit he kicks it up a whole other level.

City we should line up like this
Rashford-Martial
—Bruno——-
-Eriksen-Casemiro
Malacia-Shaw-Martinez-Varane-Dalot

or maybe switch Antony for Martial, depends how many minutes martial gets in the cup games

 

[mitchmouse]

How many minutes has martial had since back from injury? It’s weird how people are writing him off with such little fitness. He wasn’t giving the ball away, at all if I remember. Once he gets match fit he kicks it up a whole other level.

City we should line up like this
Rashford-Martial
—Bruno——-
-Eriksen-Casemiro
Malacia-Shaw-Martinez-Varane-Dalot

or maybe switch Antony for Martial, depends how many minutes martial gets in the cup games

he really doesn't. never gone to score enough goals to be a No.9. he doesn't give the ball away much because he doesn't get involved enough, if you ask me. is anonymous far too often

As a matter of interest, why are you thinking of playing five at the back?

 

[TheRedHearted]

he really doesn't. never gone to score enough goals to be a No.9. he doesn't give the ball away much because he doesn't get involved enough, if you ask me. is anonymous far too often

As a matter of interest, why are you thinking of playing five at the back?

It’s the formation i wish we played them in the fall because we wouldn’t have gotten wiped like that.

for me Shaw and Dalot can push forward very effectively but also be immense cover for casemiro and Eriksen pushing forward.
Malacia Martinez and varane will have to deal with Haaland and the rest of them. Casemiro can break up the midfield but also distribute it well enough forward, same with Shaw. Garnacho would be the super sub and Bruno tasked with dropping deeper as he likes but also feeding the front two.

I know they aren’t unstoppable but to me the pragmatic approach is better considering we don’t have a number 9 that’s firing.
As for Martial I’d like to see the numbers because to me for his second game back it wasn’t a bad showing at all. I can’t find a website that gives his stats for that game.

 

[lex talionis]

Our finishing is substantially improved over what it had been earlier in the season. Chances like the one Casemiro took were wasted last season, but are getting finished now. There are always aspects of performances that can be improved, but the first order of business was protecting the back line and the second order of business was improving our finishing.

Casemiro has been instrumental to our improved defensive and offensive record this season and is, at least at this point, the leading club POY candidate. We're still only in January and there's lot of football yet to be played, but no one else comes close in importance to United right now than Casemiro, who has led us from a disastrous position in the table to now third and who has us in a position to feel confident about defeating our next opponent in the Europa League, Barcelona.

 

[NLunited]

Our finishing is substantially improved over what it had been earlier in the season. Chances like the one Casemiro took were wasted last season, but are getting finished now. There are always aspects of performances that can be improved, but the first order of business was protecting the back line and the second order of business was improving our finishing.

Casemiro has been instrumental to our improved defensive and offensive record this season and is, at least at this point, the leading club POY candidate. We're still only in January and there's lot of football yet to be played, but no one else comes close in importance to United right now than Casemiro, who has led us from a disastrous position in the table to now third and who has us in a position to feel confident about defeating our next opponent in the Europa League, Barcelona.

It probably will be Casemiro or Rashford, who is on fire.

 

[lex talionis]

It probably will be Casemiro or Rashford, who is on fire.

I'll go with that, but Casemiro edges it for me. So far...

 

[NLunited]

I'll go with that, but Casemiro edges it for me. So far...

Martinez might have a shout too.

 

[lex talionis]

Martinez might have a shout too.

Might indeed.

If we look at individual performances after the debacle of our first two matches, there's quite a few players who at least get a pat on the back for a job very well done. In no particular order, they are:

De Gea
Bruno
Varane
Casemiro
Martinez
Shaw
Rashford
Eriksen
Dalot

I hope that doesn't come across as rank homerism as I really do believe Shaw, for example, has been consistently outstanding once he took over from Malacia, who was pretty decent in his own right. Varane, magisterial. Martinez, outstanding. De Gea still isn't everyone's cup of tea on the caf but in all honesty he's been very good this season.

If I were asked to provide one name for the all prem XI as of right now the first name that leaps out is Casemiro. There's just no CDM in the PL who's in his class. But you probably could have a conversation about Varane and Martinez. I'd say De Gea too, although Allison supporters would scoff at that and perhaps with good reason. Shaw, perhaps. Probably not Bruno, Eriksen and Dalot although few would deny they've all had good seasons so far. Rashford has been great at times, but not consistently great.

A bit of a derail, but this is a good point in time, as we go into our first FA Cup match, to take an assessment of the squad player by player and the standout player really is Casemiro. And what he does, more than anyone else on the squad, is elevate everyone around him. In this respect, elevating everyone around him, he reminds me a former NBA player who retired about 30 years ago and is still one of the all-time greats, if not the obvious point guard in the all-time NBA starting 5 -- Magic Johnson.

 

[Ole'sattheWheel]

Shaw struggled to stick the dismount and stumbled into his clenched fist pump towards the crowd. I would say 6/10.

I agree. Shaw did a lot of great things in that game but his knee slide was awful.
Hopefully ETH has him working on it in training

 

[NLunited]

Might indeed.

If we look at individual performances after the debacle of our first two matches, there's quite a few players who at least get a pat on the back for a job very well done. In no particular order, they are:

De Gea
Bruno
Varane
Casemiro
Martinez
Shaw
Rashford
Eriksen
Dalot

I hope that doesn't come across as rank homerism as I really do believe Shaw, for example, has been consistently outstanding once he took over from Malacia, who was pretty decent in his own right. Varane, magisterial. Martinez, outstanding. De Gea still isn't everyone's cup of tea on the caf but in all honesty he's been very good this season.

If I were asked to provide one name for the all prem XI as of right now the first name that leaps out is Casemiro. There's just no CDM in the PL who's in his class. But you probably could have a conversation about Varane and Martinez. I'd say De Gea too, although Allison supporters would scoff at that and perhaps with good reason. Shaw, perhaps. Probably not Bruno, Eriksen and Dalot although few would deny they've all had good seasons so far. Rashford has been great at times, but not consistently great.

A bit of a derail, but this is a good point in time, as we go into our first FA Cup match, to take an assessment of the squad player by player and the standout player really is Casemiro. And what he does, more than anyone else on the squad, is elevate everyone around him. In this respect, elevating everyone around him, he reminds me a former NBA player who retired about 30 years ago and is still one of the all-time greats, if not the obvious point guard in the all-time NBA starting 5 -- Magic Johnson.

Quite right, Cashmere helps the players around him a lot, providing cover and decent offensive contributions as well. I was surprised how good he is, which you start to realize when you see him play every week.

He also brings a winning spirit plus aggression, which Martinez does as well.

For me, Casemiro, Martinez, Rashford and De Gea jump out. Varane has been good as well, but less noticeable.