[Fully Fledged]

Nobody told me there'd be days like these

Strange days indeed.

 

[Abusian]

A game that highlights our frankenstein's monster of a squad.

We've got Bruno and Garnacho wanting to play a fast transitional game, but Mainoo and Eriksen are too young and old respectively to run up and down the pitch all day long, they need a side that has control and dominates midfield to make the most of their clever passing angles.

We've got a striker that plays high and therefore needs penalty box service, but we've got an inverted winger on one side and a goalscorer on the other, so he gets none.

We've got CBs that can probably play a safety-first high line game ok, or can defend the penalty area deep, but we're doing neither of those things.

The full back situation is like deciding between wearing two left shoes or two right shoes.

We've got a keeper who loves to play fast long passes, but our entire frontline is dreadful at holding up the ball.

We can criticise the individual players for their form and we can acknowledge the glut of injuries that has made things worse. But this is such an incompatible group of players that, however we want to play football, half the team can't manage it.

The squad is not equipped to sit deep and play counter attack, not equipped to press high and transition from the front and not equipped to control the ball and dominate. Instead we switch between doing each of these badly, and doing nothing at all.

What a shambles. I don't care which manager we have next season, the team overseeing our recruitment is 100X more important.

Top post.
In your view, what would the timeline be for the new management team to develop a definitive style of play, and build the right squad for that style?

 

[Zed 101]

SSDD

 

[sebsheep]

Moral victory then!

 

[jesperjaap]

Got to wonder what the priority is this summer as even without the injuries, in terms of a quality first eleven we need a new rb, rcb, dm, winger as a minimum andprobably 5additional players for a good squad.
I also worry about our midfield as I dont think Mainoo and Fernandes work in a three man midfield regardless of the quality of anchor man we sign....Last seasons Casimiro doesnt glue that midfield together. It may justbe tactial tweeks needed and will get pilloried ashe is the oneplayer gives 100%, especially as he has been really good the last month after anotherseason of being average....but in terms of progression and balance I see a better midfield and team without Fernandes in it

 

[quadrant]

Top post.
In your view, what would the timeline be for the new management team to develop a definitive style of play, and build the right squad for that style?

Hard to say. Suffice it to say we need 7 or 8 players to make a controlled, possession based football style work, if that's the style we want.

Since no club has 100% success rate in the transfer market, we're probably looking at buying 12 or 13 players to get the 7 or 8 ones that work out. How long that takes depends on things like shifting existing players, FFP, and all that jazz. Plus I simply don't believe that Hojland, Garnacho, Rashford and Bruno is a frontline that would fit that style of play, so there's some difficult decisions to be made there too.

Overall, several seasons to be the finished article. But the style should be implemented next yr, even if some players struggle in it.

 

[Red in STL]

His goal was superb. The cheetah-level acceleration, staying on the feet despite the push, and managing to score a precise goal in the corner, despite being halfway through a fall - it took immense grit and a steel mentality. Much to admire with his goal.

He's not always been good, but today he showed top class, and I think he deserves a lot of credit, today.

Agreed but he won't get it though

 

[NZT-One]

A game that highlights our frankenstein's monster of a squad.

We've got Bruno and Garnacho wanting to play a fast transitional game, but Mainoo and Eriksen are too young and old respectively to run up and down the pitch all day long, they need a side that has control and dominates midfield to make the most of their clever passing angles.

We've got a striker that plays high and therefore needs penalty box service, but we've got an inverted winger on one side and a goalscorer on the other, so he gets none.

We've got CBs that can probably play a safety-first high line game ok, or can defend the penalty area deep, but we're doing neither of those things.

The full back situation is like deciding between wearing two left shoes or two right shoes.

We've got a keeper who loves to play fast long passes, but our entire frontline is dreadful at holding up the ball.

We can criticise the individual players for their form and we can acknowledge the glut of injuries that has made things worse. But this is such an incompatible group of players that, however we want to play football, half the team can't manage it.

The squad is not equipped to sit deep and play counter attack, not equipped to press high and transition from the front and not equipped to control the ball and dominate. Instead we switch between doing each of these badly, and doing nothing at all.

What a shambles. I don't care which manager we have next season, the team overseeing our recruitment is 100X more important.

Great post, couldn't agree more. Yet some people plan the squads future considering how useful players like McT or Maguire might be. It does my head in, lets get a working 1st team going, then think about the "options".

Mainoo was knackered, off the pace a bit and TBH had a poor game, Hojlund was not getting a sniff, McT coming on as a sub has worked for us before

Hmm, yeah might be that. I never see it with Mainoo though, the being knackered thing, I always think, he can do 90 minutes, even though I am glad that he is protected. Just don't get why it had to be McTom, should have been Amrabat, if anything. And while Hojlund wasn't great, it still helped to push them back, it felt as if Burnley pushed up quite a bit after those changes, it was the same thing on wednesday.

His goal was superb. The cheetah-level acceleration, staying on the feet despite the push, and managing to score a precise goal in the corner, despite being halfway through a fall - it took immense grit and a steel mentality. Much to admire with his goal.

He's not always been good, but today he showed top class, and I think he deserves a lot of credit, today.

I agree credit where credit is due, he really got it right this time. I wonder, what Bruno tried to do. In at least two of the slowmos, it looked as if Bruno tried to get onto the ball as well, almost tripping Antony himself.

I'll always struggle with the ratings on here. How has Bruno such a better rating than Eriksen and Amrabat? And how is Maguire better off in comparison to Onana ^^ Without his saves, we could have conceded 2 or 3 more, didn't we. Not that Maguire was bad or something. Well each to their own.

 

[Partridge]

Maybe you should watch the games before jumping to conclusions, next time?

It was actually an enjoyable game to watch. Way too basketball-type back-and-forth if we were still a powerhouse, but not boring at all and quite intense to watch. Considering the number of injuries, not much to blame the lads for, as a group.

As for the equalizer, legs-and-mentality-gone-Casemiro, midfielder playing a CB again, did shit the bed, bit what are you going to do about it... One of those things...

Where exactly did I "jump to conclusions" ? Please, point it out. We know this squad is schizophrenic in nature. Frustration is an opportune word given the seasons and shit we've had to put up with.

 

[Alemar]

This is unfeasible. For how much longer will we be in a position to tolerate this shit?

 

[Red in STL]

This is unfeasible. For how much longer will we be in a position to tolerate this shit?

You don't have to tolerate it, you are making a choice

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Fortunately for me, I didn't watch the game, so saves myself some mental frustration. Kept an eye on the score. Laughed at the Burnley equaliser. Moved on.

Good decision. Nothing we haven’t seen before, far too many times this season.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Post match interview

 

[LawCharltonBest]

There is absolutely nothing anyone can say to convince me in any way, shape or form that the Onana incident was a penalty!!

 

[arthurka]

There is absolutely nothing anyone can say to convince me in any way, shape or form that the Onana incident was a penalty!!

We are a easy club to feck with these days, our manager holds no authority nor does he command any respect.

 

[Alemar]

You don't have to tolerate it, you are making a choice

Sir Jim makes a choice, not me…

 

[Hester_manc]

Onana was the United player who passed the ball to Højlund the most times in the match. Højlund received 11 passes in the whole match - 4 of them were from Onana and 3 of them from Dalot. Why do we even play with a number 9 if the teammates don't bother to pass to him?

In any case, it's crazy that our goalkeeper and left back are the only 2 players who passed the ball to Højlund several times, while the offensive players didn't even try.

 

[NewGlory]

Where exactly did I "jump to conclusions" ? Please, point it out. We know this squad is schizophrenic in nature. Frustration is an opportune word given the seasons and shit we've had to put up with.

Well, it sounded like you thought we played like shit again, without watching the game. And I just pointed out that, having watched the game, it was far from our worst game especially considering that we were playing a washed-out midfielder as a center-back. We probably would had won the game if we had a proper center back instead of Casemiro, and many of our players played well, actually. So, that was my point, but I am glad if not watching the game saved you frustration and stress. Didn't mean like criticism

 

[astracrazy]

Another penalty......couldn't make it up. This team shits the bed at every opportunity

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Onana was the United player who passed the ball to Højlund the most times in the match. Højlund received 11 passes in the whole match - 4 of them were from Onana and 3 of them from Dalot. Why do we even play with a number 9 if the teammates don't bother to pass to him?

In any case, it's crazy that our goalkeeper and left back are the only 2 players who passed the ball to Højlund several times, while the offensive players didn't even try.

They’ve never had any problem passing to previous players in his position. So, do you think this is some deep seated personal animosity between all our attacking players and young Rasmus or maybe, just maybe, he needs to get a bit better at finding some space to receive a pass?

 

[simplyared]

They’ve never had any problem passing to previous players in his position. So, do you think this is some deep seated personal animosity between all our attacking players and young Rasmus or maybe, just maybe, he needs to get a bit better at finding some space to receive a pass?

Exactly this! He needs to take a look at Isak, for example and see how you find space as a striker. For some reason Höjlund always seems to have the opposing CB up his arse for 90 mins.

 

[Hester_manc]

They’ve never had any problem passing to previous players in his position. So, do you think this is some deep seated personal animosity between all our attacking players and young Rasmus or maybe, just maybe, he needs to get a bit better at finding some space to receive a pass?

This part has never been a problem for him anywhere else. So why now?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This part has never been a problem for him anywhere else. So why now?

Because he’s finding PL football a level above what he’s used to. Less time on the ball, less space, less protection by the referee.

 

[Bondi77]

I am getting LVG vibes now as our build up play is so slow the opposition has their defence set and when they get the ball we are all at sea in defence.

 

[Bastian]

Hard to say. Suffice it to say we need 7 or 8 players to make a controlled, possession based football style work, if that's the style we want.

Since no club has 100% success rate in the transfer market, we're probably looking at buying 12 or 13 players to get the 7 or 8 ones that work out. How long that takes depends on things like shifting existing players, FFP, and all that jazz. Plus I simply don't believe that Hojland, Garnacho, Rashford and Bruno is a frontline that would fit that style of play, so there's some difficult decisions to be made there too.

Overall, several seasons to be the finished article. But the style should be implemented next yr, even if some players struggle in it.

Yeah, will be interesting to see how committed INEOS are to getting this club forward. We've already had 10 years of owners happy with CL qualification. Now almost old Ratcliffe wants to build a legacy. It's very hard to see building blocks in this team for an elite side, outside of the youngsters in the first team and Martinez if he won't have perpetual injury issues now.

The outgoings will be hugely important this summer. If we really want to assemble a squad ready to challenge in 2-3 years, we'll treat the Europa as a non-priority, and rightly gut the squad. We'll retain players that we likely won't want to build with but who can do a decent job as squad players and have a good attitude. The opportunity is there to really go after a number of highly promising players to build a younger, hungrier and more energetic team.

It would have been interesting to see how a fully fit first XI would have evolved this season.

 

[r0663664]

I am most puzzled that a team worth a few hundred million pound is unable to pass the ball out from the back. Whether we go long or short, the ball comes right back within secs. Why???? How can this be possible? Doesn't Ten Hag drill them on how to pass out from the back??? Even Burnley were able to find space on the right and left wing whereas our players will misplaced a pass or lose the ball then our defence in under pressure. This isn't about players who are out injured, this is coaching and players knowing where the spaces are. I suspect Ten Hag is a mediocre manager who took over a good Ajax squad where the players already know what they are doing.

 

[ken11]

Yeah, Ten Hag should've forseen Casemiro attempting a ridiculous header back and Onana punching someone in the face. He should've drilled them in training the whole week leading up to this game specifically to prevent this from happening. Also the fact the players are made off glas is his fault.

Let's get Inzaghi, Tuchel, or Southgate and be in the same situation in 2 years time after a promising initial season!

Are you saying United were actually "dominant" today?

 

[erikcred]

Yeah, Ten Hag should've forseen Casemiro attempting a ridiculous header back and Onana punching someone in the face. He should've drilled them in training the whole week leading up to this game specifically to prevent this from happening. Also the fact the players are made off glas is his fault.

Let's get Inzaghi, Tuchel, or Southgate and be in the same situation in 2 years time after a promising initial season!

This has to be ETH's account.

 

[Ghirahim]

Another disappointing performance and another penalty.

 

[Escobar]

Onana was the United player who passed the ball to Højlund the most times in the match. Højlund received 11 passes in the whole match - 4 of them were from Onana and 3 of them from Dalot. Why do we even play with a number 9 if the teammates don't bother to pass to him?

In any case, it's crazy that our goalkeeper and left back are the only 2 players who passed the ball to Højlund several times, while the offensive players didn't even try.

Im not surprised and something is off big time. There was this positive spell when a scored a few goals in a row but other than that he feels like an alien

 

[kouroux]

Onana was the United player who passed the ball to Højlund the most times in the match. Højlund received 11 passes in the whole match - 4 of them were from Onana and 3 of them from Dalot. Why do we even play with a number 9 if the teammates don't bother to pass to him?

In any case, it's crazy that our goalkeeper and left back are the only 2 players who passed the ball to Højlund several times, while the offensive players didn't even try.

Not the first time we've noticed Hojlund's teammates are avoiding him. Wth is ETH doing correcting that ?

 

[Danish Wizard]

It disappoints me, that Erik didn't trust the young players on the bench.
Wan-Bissaka was horrible with the ball yesterday (again), so why not switch Dalot to right back and give Amass the last 15-20 minutes.
Why move players around and play without a natural striker, instead of giving Wheatley or even Forson the last 15-20 minutes.
He just doesn't trust them, but ends up playing some poor football. Come on man.

 

[Jeffthered]

His goal was superb. The cheetah-level acceleration, staying on the feet despite the push, and managing to score a precise goal in the corner, despite being halfway through a fall - it took immense grit and a steel mentality. Much to admire with his goal.

He's not always been good, but today he showed top class, and I think he deserves a lot of credit, today.

Your description of what was a decent goal, rather than great, is full of sympathy for Antony, rather than realism. Against a team with what maybe the worst ever defensive record (goals conceded).

Our expectations, as a fan base, needs to be high, respectful of our success and history.

Antony is living an incredible lifestyle whilst consistently delivering poor, v v poor performances. That's the reality.

 

[MiracleInMadrid]

Onana was the United player who passed the ball to Højlund the most times in the match. Højlund received 11 passes in the whole match - 4 of them were from Onana and 3 of them from Dalot. Why do we even play with a number 9 if the teammates don't bother to pass to him?

In any case, it's crazy that our goalkeeper and left back are the only 2 players who passed the ball to Højlund several times, while the offensive players didn't even try.

Would be interesting to see the corresponding passing stats from better teams at a similar level who play the same sort of football.

 

[Needham]

Would be interesting to see the corresponding passing stats from better teams at a similar level who play the same sort of football.

Only interesting in the sense that it may be interesting to cross-analyze the wing-directional flight patterns of jackdaws over the fens. I'd really rather have a bad dream.

 

[Red00012]

Just seen the stats from the game . It’s grim.

 

[Jim Beam]

A game that highlights our frankenstein's monster of a squad.

We've got Bruno and Garnacho wanting to play a fast transitional game, but Mainoo and Eriksen are too young and old respectively to run up and down the pitch all day long, they need a side that has control and dominates midfield to make the most of their clever passing angles.

We've got a striker that plays high and therefore needs penalty box service, but we've got an inverted winger on one side and a goalscorer on the other, so he gets none.

We've got CBs that can probably play a safety-first high line game ok, or can defend the penalty area deep, but we're doing neither of those things.

The full back situation is like deciding between wearing two left shoes or two right shoes.

We've got a keeper who loves to play fast long passes, but our entire frontline is dreadful at holding up the ball.

We can criticise the individual players for their form and we can acknowledge the glut of injuries that has made things worse. But this is such an incompatible group of players that, however we want to play football, half the team can't manage it.

The squad is not equipped to sit deep and play counter attack, not equipped to press high and transition from the front and not equipped to control the ball and dominate. Instead we switch between doing each of these badly, and doing nothing at all.

What a shambles. I don't care which manager we have next season, the team overseeing our recruitment is 100X more important.

Right on the money.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

They’ve never had any problem passing to previous players in his position. So, do you think this is some deep seated personal animosity between all our attacking players and young Rasmus or maybe, just maybe, he needs to get a bit better at finding some space to receive a pass?

We’ve struggled for seasons to find the number 9 not just Rasmus.

Can his runs and movement be better, of course they can, but the amount of times he pulls in to space or opens a gap for a pass that never comes is quite disheartening.

We are just not a very good team and have been poor for years at creating, opening, seeing space and then seeing the pass.

Partly down to this mish mash of a squad with so many conflicting elements and schools of thought.

But as per usual the truth lies somewhere in the middle where both he and the players around need to do better.

 

[Ludens the Red]

The full back situation is like deciding between wearing two left shoes or two right shoes.

Apt

 

[Red00012]

Apt

Or in Wan Bissaka’s situation no shoes at all