[Berbasbullet]

Maybe they were influenced by the commentator? The guy on the stream I was watching made a huge deal out of every United mistake and kept talking up Charlton’s performance. I can remember one shot on target from them? The easily saved free kick. We scored three, could easily have scored double that. It was a very comfortable win.

Interesting as I watched without commentary.

 

[Red in STL]

Maybe they were influenced by the commentator? The guy on the stream I was watching made a huge deal out of every United mistake and kept talking up Charlton’s performance. I can remember one shot on target from them? The easily saved free kick. We scored three, could easily have scored double that. It was a very comfortable win.

I wouldn't say comfortable, there were a few last ditch blocks and tackles even if Heaton didn't have much to do, United made it a bit harder than it should have been in the 2nd half

 

[Rightnr]

Routine with mostly 2nd, even 3rd choice players. Shame Dalot might be out

 

[Bertie Wooster]

Pleased with the result.

Some decent individual performances by the sounds of it. That first 60 minutes, though, went pretty much as I'd have expected with the starting XI. In that there was a clear lack of creativity and a finisher selected, and so really wasn't surprised that Charlton were still in it after an hour and that we had to turn to the bench to find the creativity / goals.

Would always prefer us to rotate in moderation in games like these - rest a few key players, but pick enough creativity / attacking threat to get a comfortable win without even needing to turn to those players in need of a rest. Instead we usually seem to make huge amount of changes and invariably struggle to break them down until having to turn to the first teamers off the bench.

In this game, for instance, I definitely wanted Eriksen to start in a game where we were bound to dominate possession. Rather than saving him for City, in a game that we're likely to be ball chasing a lot more.

But hey ho, that's just my preference. Not really much to complain about after a 3-0 QF victory and a debut start for Kobbie Mainoo, a player I've really enjoyed watching in the youth teams.

 

[SirScholes]

It’s embarrassing the difference in class between casemiro vs Mctom and Fred
Moves the ball so fast

I do wonder why managers don’t field a strong 11, get out of sight and then bring on the youngsters.
Always invites pressure doing it the other way round

pellestri looked very lively. Would like to see more of him

 

[macheda14]

It’s embarrassing the difference in class between casemiro vs Mctom and Fred
Moves the ball so fast

I do wonder why managers don’t field a strong 11, get out of sight and then bring on the youngsters.
Always invites pressure doing it the other way round

pellestri looked very lively. Would like to see more of him

The hope that you won’t need to tire out the strongest 11 when we have City on the weekend. Not the craziest idea.

 

[SirScholes]

The hope that you won’t need to tire out the strongest 11 when we have City on the weekend. Not the craziest idea.

Not sure playing 45 against Charlton and getting a comfortable lead is a crazy idea either
Very easily could of went to pens

 

[OrcaFat]

Casemiro changed the entire game when he came on. Just an unbelievably good player. Was pinging passes around like prime Scholes. Ridiculous

Yes. I think he is even better than I thought.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not sure playing 45 against Charlton and getting a comfortable lead is a crazy idea either
Very easily could of went to pens

We only had to play Casemiro et al for 30 minutes tonight. So this approach was better. If we’d converted one or two of our very good chances they could have had the whole evening off.

 

[JinnerJamie]

The anti-Maguire brigade are out in force I see

You do realize that in the first half virtually all of Garnacho's runs came from Maguire passes

Not sure why you're quoting me dude I didn't mention him, I thought Maguire was decent in the parts of the game I saw.

 

[Shimo]

Not sure playing 45 against Charlton and getting a comfortable lead is a crazy idea either
Very easily could of went to pens

ETH keeps saying it's about the squad and if you look at our run coming up, this was the one game he could heavily rotate. And also look what happened to Dalot, an injury to a key player and question becomes why he played them when there are options on the bench.

 

[Messier1994]

On a serious note, I liked Maguire’s game and really disliked McTominay’s game. Here is why.

In ETHs system it’s essential for a CB to be really mobile, break the lines, find opening passes, long crosses. This is Maguire’s biggest weakness because he is very very stationary, Today he played like ETH wants. Did he do it well? He tried. And it’s an absolute must. Everyone — must — buy in.

McTominay on the other hand just is not trying. He isn’t focused enough. It’s not good enough. Casemiro is the target for his role. He plays a League One team. There is room to recover from mistakes. Does he try to get open? Does he try to get more distance in his passing game? Not even remotely. He doesn’t know what to do when he gets the ball, isn’t aware of the surroundings.

This surprised me. I think ETH likes the notion of having him on the bench. 5-10 minutes to go, get defending against set pieces, he can cover a bigger area. Loyal team player. ETH will never accept a CM playing like this. He always goes on that if you are a player on his team, you must always try to play the right way, because if his teams try to be something they are not built for and not prepared for — it will go really bad. ETH has been here for more than 6 months now. Everyone won’t be were ETH prefers them to be, but there should of course be progress in key areas.

But it’s not even an exaggeration that Casemiro could have had 8 pints and still dominated that midfield tonight. When McT is overwhelmed by his responsibilities with the ball against a team like this — it exposes years of poor training and himself and his trainers taking short cuts. With both him and AWB, that lack of focus on their surroundings and lack of real purpose with their passing really stands out. I wonder if any of them have a future with this team.

 

[Red in STL]

Not sure why you're quoting me dude I didn't mention him, I thought Maguire was decent in the parts of the game I saw.

It was a quote in a bunch of quote that you quoted, got mixed up - my bad

 

[pogbasformerbarber]

Not sure playing 45 against Charlton and getting a comfortable lead is a crazy idea either
Very easily could of went to pens

I think ETH played it perfectly. You start the back up squad and if they handle business you never need the first choice players and they get a solid rest...but if it's a little squeaky you bring them on for 30min. The inverse is a lethargic first choice squad that sees CA hold their own for 90 min and then youre really in a pickle. Not that its even a question anymore but ETH is insanely competent...

 

[pogbasformerbarber]

On a serious note, I liked Maguire’s game and really disliked McTominay’s game. Here is why.

In ETHs system it’s essential for a CB to be really mobile, break the lines, find opening passes, long crosses. This is Maguire’s biggest weakness because he is very very stationary, Today he played like ETH wants. Did he do it well? He tried. And it’s an absolute must. Everyone — must — buy in.

McTominay on the other hand just is not trying. He isn’t focused enough. It’s not good enough. Casemiro is the target for his role. He plays a League One team. There is room to recover from mistakes. Does he try to get open? Does he try to get more distance in his passing game? Not even remotely. He doesn’t know what to do when he gets the ball, isn’t aware of the surroundings.

This surprised me. I think ETH likes the notion of having him on the bench. 5-10 minutes to go, get defending against set pieces, he can cover a bigger area. Loyal team player.

But it’s not even an exaggeration that Casemiro could have had 8 pints and still dominated that midfield tonight. When McT is overwhelmed by his responsibilities with the ball against a team like this — it exposes years of poor training and himself and his trainers taking short cuts.

Spot on

 

[Red in STL]

It’s embarrassing the difference in class between casemiro vs Mctom and Fred
Moves the ball so fast

I do wonder why managers don’t field a strong 11, get out of sight and then bring on the youngsters.
Always invites pressure doing it the other way round

pellestri looked very lively. Would like to see more of him

Then the youngsters don't know how to handle the pressure, not if they come on when the game is already won - today was a good mix of experience and little experience

 

[AlPistacho]

Was Maguire bad? He was our lowest rated player on Google rating (don’t know how it works)

 

[Robertd0803]

Get in there.

Lovely goal from Antony and Rashfords scoring form is fantastic.

Delighted to see Mainoo and Pellistri making their debuts and not looking out of place at all.

 

[Red in STL]

Was Maguire bad? He was our lowest rated player on Google rating (don’t know how it works)

No he wasn't bad at all

 

[Blood Mage]

Casemiro really highlights how bad McTominay and Fred are. We need to sign more midfielders of similar class to him over the next couple of years if we want to win trophies.

 

[Red in STL]

Casemiro really highlights how bad McTominay and Fred are. We need to sign more midfielders of similar class to him over the next couple of years if we want to win trophies.

Maybe McTominay but Fred was resonably good given he was basically our only midfielder until the subs came on

 

[tjb]

Sancho would be doing very well to get on at LW ahead of Rashford and Garnacho especially when we don't have a viable back-up to Antony on the right.

My bad, I meant Rashford

 

[foolsgold]

No he wasn't bad at all

Maguire played about 5 or 6 long cross field passes to Garnacho that created opportunities for him to run at the defence. He was solid enough at the back, never had to do anything particularly difficult.

He's still being judged for performances last season and in August. It's unfair, he's been fine when he's played since he came back from the World Cup.

 

[Red in STL]

Maguire played about 5 or 6 long cross field passes to Garnacho that created opportunities for him to run at the defence. He was solid enough at the back, never had to do anything particularly difficult.

He's still being judged for performances last season and in August. It's unfair, he's been fine when he's played since he came back from the World Cup.

Totally agree

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Was Maguire bad? He was our lowest rated player on Google rating (don’t know how it works)

He actually played quite well. Two or three textbook clumsy moments though. Which left a bad impression.

 

[Withnail]

My bad, I meant Rashford

Ahhh ok makes sense

 

[Messier1994]

ETH keeps saying it's about the squad and if you look at our run coming up, this was the one game he could heavily rotate. And also look what happened to Dalot, an injury to a key player and question becomes why he played them when there are options on the bench.

Amen. It’s the same with Elanga staying on for Antony. We might have to count on Antony playing 270+ minutes in the coming 10 days or whatever. Making it 360 minutes in 11 days is pushing it.

This is why I don’t like the trashing of the academy players. They should never be thrashed from my point of view. When did we start to really call out and go after kids? The kids should always be supported at United. Saw people starting to go after Mainoo — ‘I thought Donny could be invisible, but Mainoo is taking it to a new level’. What the feck, he is 17 y/o and didn’t stand out in a good or bad way.

The Academy players are — at times — there to take pressure of the other players. People pay good money to watch this team, it’s football, everyone are entitled to their opinion. But it’s one thing when there is some 80m late 20s player feeling sorry for himself on the pitch not putting in the work or whatever, and another thing when it’s a teenager asked to fill in.

And I of course get the notion that perhaps Pellestri should play more than Elanga. But at the same time, these guys aren’t available for the reserve team on Friday night. They can’t sit on the bench for 5 months and then all of a sudden come in and fill a role. A kid which will be used — must also regularly be used. Otherwise you will get less than nothing. It’s not easy for ETH to regularly find time for either Elanga or Pellestri. I can definitely understand why he will not want to go with either player every other week, then none of them will be in game form if they are needed.

People are really going after Elanga. I don’t get it. At any given time, we will have youth players coming in to fill roles when needed. These guys will be at different stages of their development path. It’s one thing to come in and do well for a couple of months — like Elanga did — and another to do it regularly. Many if not most of the youth we see will not be able to do it consistently. That is the big challenge. It is very likely that Elanga will not be a career United player. Right now, he is also obviously low on confidence. Probably for that very reason. What is the big deal? He isn’t a 80m signing. He is a youth player thrown into the deep end of the pool because we have no alternatives. These kids should always be supported at United.

And the PellestrI-should-play-instead excuse for hating on Elanga does not hold up. Is Pellestri better if we got a lead with 5 to go against Liverpool or Arsenal? Does he track back as well? Does he have 90 minutes in him following an elite LB up and down the pitch? Was he there from the start of the season? And you can’t go with one for three weeks and then the other for three weeks getting 5-10 minutes only here and there. Then you have nobody outside the starting XI in game form.

 

[Pavl3n]

Not the best performance but we barely gave them a sniff. Hopefully Dalot going off was to make sure he doesn't aggravate his latest injury. Apart from Garnacho and Antony's goal we didn't create much from other areas in the first 60 minutes. Understandable as Elanga is not a 9 and Mainoo was in his debut. McTominay was rather poor so Fred was kind of on his own yet we still dominated. Second half they came strong and ETH had to reinforce a team that probably played together for the first time. After the triple change we looked way better and class above. Pellisrri with a great cameo, but I wouldn't read too much into that as he came against a tired mid League One side.
Maguire didn't look reassuring either in my opinion, so I hope we go back to Varane-Martinez CB pair for the games that really matter.

 

[davidmichael]

Heaton showed he’s good enough to be De Gea’s back up and should have been all season instead of Dubravka who was a waste of a loan and an accident waiting to happen, Maguire looked good again and when playing simple is actually a good centre back as a squad option.

I think AWB looks a different player under ETH and whilst rightly behind Dalot he’s now made us solid at right back and then there’s Laird as third choice so we’ve got a bit of depth there now if all three progress further under ETH’s coaching.

Was another example of McTominay taking one step forward then one step back as at the start of the season he was good and keeping Casemiro out of the team and now he’s back to his average at best self again, I really thought he’d progress and be a good squad option but he’s behind Fred again now who’s looked decent since Casemiro coming in.

It’s clear Elanga will never be more than back up and he’s there right now as we’re short on bodies, I don’t want to see Rashford burnt out so I’d rather we play Elanga in games like today rather than Rashford through the middle to give Martial a rest BUT Elanga is NEVER going to be good enough.

Thought Garnacho was the best player on the pitch whilst Pellestri really surprised me, I can see ETH definitely using Pellestri more as back up to Antony especially whilst Sancho is out. Rashford is in the goal scoring form of his life and I can see him getting at least 25 this season, think that’s 15 already ?

 

[SirScholes]

We only had to play Casemiro et al for 30 minutes tonight. So this approach was better. If we’d converted one or two of our very good chances they could have had the whole evening off.

Hindsight is wonderful
Easily could of been a banana skin 1-0 going into last 90

 

[Ramshock]

I guess you've not been watching Garnacho in the first team for a while now or unaware how poor Sancho has been often and the amount of fair criticism Sancho and Antony have faced outside of the odd goal they've scored

Was talking about Pellistri.

 

[croadyman]

Want to hear from all the crybabies when ETH brought Casemiro and Rashford on?

I am happy he bought them on but just wanted him to leave it another ten mins

 

[AlPistacho]

He actually played quite well. Two or three textbook clumsy moments though. Which left a bad impression.

For context our highest rated players were Martinex 4.2, Garnacho 4.2 , & Antony 4.4

Elanga also scored lowest 3.3 same as Harry. Trying to figure if the Google ranking are credible.

 

[Cee90]

I’m convinced there’s a good player in Pellistri, I really hope we haven’t given up on him and give him more chances in the first team.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Job done. They stayed in the game a bit too long, and the second half was a lot sloppier than the first where I thought we were really dominant but it was a good night's work with the amount of changes and Rashford got to keep his incredible form up.

 

[032Devil]

Hopefully the lesson of the match.

Antony is the manager's purchase. He will always be the first choice even at Pellistri's expense. Pellistri was good for Argentina too during the World Cup.

 

[always_hoping]

Busy busy schedule ahead.

Sat 14th Man City (H)
Wed 18th Palace (A)
Sun 22nd Arsenal (A)
23rd/24th League cup semi final 1st leg
28th Jan Reading (H)
Jan 31st/Feb 1st League cup semi final 2nd leg
Feb 4th Palace (H)

 

[Edgio]

On a serious note, I liked Maguire’s game and really disliked McTominay’s game. Here is why.

In ETHs system it’s essential for a CB to be really mobile, break the lines, find opening passes, long crosses. This is Maguire’s biggest weakness because he is very very stationary, Today he played like ETH wants. Did he do it well? He tried. And it’s an absolute must. Everyone — must — buy in.

McTominay on the other hand just is not trying. He isn’t focused enough. It’s not good enough. Casemiro is the target for his role. He plays a League One team. There is room to recover from mistakes. Does he try to get open? Does he try to get more distance in his passing game? Not even remotely. He doesn’t know what to do when he gets the ball, isn’t aware of the surroundings.

This surprised me. I think ETH likes the notion of having him on the bench. 5-10 minutes to go, get defending against set pieces, he can cover a bigger area. Loyal team player. ETH will never accept a CM playing like this. He always goes on that if you are a player on his team, you must always try to play the right way, because if his teams try to be something they are not built for and not prepared for — it will go really bad. ETH has been here for more than 6 months now. Everyone won’t be were ETH prefers them to be, but there should of course be progress in key areas.

But it’s not even an exaggeration that Casemiro could have had 8 pints and still dominated that midfield tonight. When McT is overwhelmed by his responsibilities with the ball against a team like this — it exposes years of poor training and himself and his trainers taking short cuts. With both him and AWB, that lack of focus on their surroundings and lack of real purpose with their passing really stands out. I wonder if any of them have a future with this team.

He wasn't good tonight but McTominay has already shown he can play a lot better than this against much better opposition.

He's not the sexiest or most consistent of players but he serves a function within the squad.

 

[Red in STL]

Antony is the manager's purchase. He will always be the first choice even at Pellistri's expense. Pellistri was good for Argentina too during the World Cup.

Really, that's odd given he's Uruguayan!

 

[Reginathan Spektor]

Charlton fan here, on the coach back now. My voice is gone from all that! Thought I'd furnish you with a few thoughts. And I'll start with a little perspective on us.

We're mid-table League One. Dean Holden has only just come in as manager; we have had half a dozen injuries to starters recently; and fielded a third choice keeper (well- at the time, it's his shirt to lose now), fifth string CB (Ness) who was on loan in non league a few weeks ago, a striker in his first full season, a loanee in his first full season (though Rak-Sakyi is clearly destined for bright things), and a winger we signed after he was released by a team in the league below (Blackett-Taylor).

There's no certainty off the pitch with trust broken between the fans and the owner, and rumours of another dodgy takeover. We have had inconsistency in playing style, a lack of defined transfer policy, and huge questions over funding. We lose 8m a year and like all clubs below the Prem, it is unsustainable. Our two clubs are a world away.

Yet I think we gave a massive account of ourselves. We aren't anywhere near as good, yet we set up with a 4-3-3 and gave you a little to think about. We defended stoutly and resistance was only properly broken in the dying embers. Our players played their hearts out. Did you get out of second gear? Perhaps not, but we forced errors.

It is a MASSIVE compliment for EtH to have brought on starters to make sure.

Which brings me on to your performance. My respect for EtH has increased immensely. He didn't disrespect the game and managed it well. Garnacho impressed me but he won't get that space in the Prem, surely. I filed a missing person's report for Elanga I'm afraid. Your debutant was quiet but don't judge him yet. Number 12 can't take a set piece and looked very disinterested. McSauce was average at best; Fred was far too good for us. Dalot I won't judge, AWB seemed not all there in terms of mentality. (Of course we booed him btw. He's ex-Palace. And while we have a Palace loanee, he's in a red shirt - don't understand how a few of you on the match thread misunderstood how rivalries work!)

Maguire was solid, despite being mugged off once or twice - but Charlton aren't some pub league team, and we CAN do things well. (Thought our persistence in countering properly rather than hoofing clear is testament to that.) Martinez had to think about things a few times but clearly is a capable defender, if short. Leaburn kept asking the right questions. Heaton had very little to do. Who have I missed? Oh, Antony - took a man worth twice (three times? four times?) what our club is worth to open the scoring, with an admittedly lovely goal. Shame he refuses to use his right peg.

I was disappointed with Casemiro's attitude - going for a goal from his own half at 1-0 up and some uncharacteristic sloppiness. And that marvellous assist wouldn't be talked about if the offside was given (have looked since but can't find a definitive angle; it was very close).

I think 3-0 was harsh on us, but maybe not flattering to you, if that makes sense. You expected us to truly shut up shop but we opened up more than expected (yes we were a goal down and therefore had to), and that surprised your players imho. But respect again to EtH for the right setup.

---

Finally, one absolutely lovely touch I'd like to thank Utd for was the "RIP Seb Lewis" on the screens at one point.

Seb attended 1,076 consecutive games and was truly the best of us, as Charlton fans go. We lost him to Covid, and we know he'd have loved it tonight. And that acknowledgement was very touching for all of us there.