[CS@SG]

It's rare to see AV argue so fiercely with the referee, during Herrera's dismissal. I like this side of AV.

 

[GiddyUp]

More positives then negatives tonight. Semifinals are rivals for a top four so if we keep the pace one may slip up due to fa cup focus. An all out assault on the Europa League as this may be the easiest path to a Champions League spot so less high pressure games to prepare for and A realization that we may not get back to where we are with Young/Smalling/Darmian and to some extent Fellaini and Lingard. It's games like these where squad players need to give their all and impress. Although they all did ok tonight and fought hard there was no invention or signs that they deserve a place at this club.
Paul Pogba, needs to be left out on Thursday and a sharp word in his ear from the club hierarchy. He needs to realize that he is the face of this club, record signing big balls in you're face world class talent. Not lingards wingman while dabbing around a room on camera. I've no doubt he will be awesome for us but he is not a youth player anymore, it's time to deliver and take this shit seriously.

 

[AN17]

Hererra should have been more careful. He usually gets away with those kind of snidey fouls, but to do it when Oliver seemingly just issued a collective warning, was daft. And harsh or not, Herrera gave Oliver a decision to make by commiting the foul, debatable for harshness but certainly not wrong. If it was Luiz, Matic and Kante at it against Mkhi or Pogba and Oliver sends one of them off, I wonder many would feel bad dor Chelsea.


Regarding the tactics, I was pleasantly surprised with the way we started. We barely gave them a look in, and was pressing with a lot of intent. Didn't look to me like we were parking the bus till the dismissal. From that point onwards, barring a major miracle, there was only one outcome and that's what happened.

Man to man, Chelsea were clearly superior to us. They were fresher and on a terrific run of form. With the injuries, suspensions and not so geat form that we were in, it was impossible for Jose to " take the attack to the oppo" or " go all guns blazing playing attacking free flowing football cuz we're Man Utd" like some fans wanted.

I can live with this defeat considering the circumstances. Happy with how our players took up the challenge.

We have a lot of work to do on and off the pitch before we can really start challenging on various fronts next season.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Are Chelsea players a bunch of sissies? Kept falling dramatically for every shoulder to shoulder touch and to the slightest of challenge.

 

[ice-bionic red]

Not too disappointed as I prioritise the Europa league over the FA cup this season.

 

[XdanielredX]

Starting to dislike Pogba, his off the field shit is really starting to take over his life, if you don't want to knuckle down and play football and only want to promote your brand and hairstyles etc then feck off.

We weren't even that bad till the ref ruined the game.

If only Pogba had Ronaldo's professional mentality.

 

[Gopher Brown]

You wouldn't have said this had Rashford finished that golden chance.

Correct, had we scored our only shot on target I would have mentioned that. What is your point?

 

[Gopher Brown]

Starting to dislike Pogba, his off the field shit is really starting to take over his life, if you don't want to knuckle down and play football and only want to promote your brand and hairstyles etc then feck off.

We weren't even that bad till the ref ruined the game.

If only Pogba had Ronaldo's professional mentality.

Other than a new haircut every few days, what is he doing that annoys you so?

The problem is he's not performing at a good enough level.

 

[XdanielredX]

Other than a new haircut every few days, what is he doing that annoys you so?

The problem is he's not performing at a good enough level.

You just answered your own question.

He's not performing on the pitch and yet all you see out of his camp is new pics with celebrities, at Basketball games, new haircuts, new clothes and shoes with his brand all over them.

How about showing you're looking to improve what you're not performing well at, like Ronaldos dedication, public image and perception in regards to work ethic and dedication is very important too and it's not just my patience whos is wearing thin especially with all the boasting and no performances

 

[AltiUn]

Can't wait to play them at OT, their fans need to know how poor they are.

 

[wolvored]

Lot of debate on Herrera, but hardly a mention of Rojo's stamp on Hazard and likely 3 match ban as a result of video evidence...

Yes how stupid is he, just a week after Mings as well.

 

[wolvored]

More positives then negatives tonight. Semifinals are rivals for a top four so if we keep the pace one may slip up due to fa cup focus. An all out assault on the Europa League as this may be the easiest path to a Champions League spot so less high pressure games to prepare for and A realization that we may not get back to where we are with Young/Smalling/Darmian and to some extent Fellaini and Lingard. It's games like these where squad players need to give their all and impress. Although they all did ok tonight and fought hard there was no invention or signs that they deserve a place at this club.
Paul Pogba, needs to be left out on Thursday and a sharp word in his ear from the club hierarchy. He needs to realize that he is the face of this club, record signing big balls in you're face world class talent. Not lingards wingman while dabbing around a room on camera. I've no doubt he will be awesome for us but he is not a youth player anymore, it's time to deliver and take this shit seriously.

Its only one game so dont think that will happen. The finals played at the end of the season.

 

[montpelier]

Still look short in MF for me. Herrera is not a deep MF / DM, doesn't have the discipline.

Defence does OK overall but individually I don't really totally trust any of them.

 

[Tribec]

Whilst the collective opinion seems to be to have a dig at Pogba, I'm not 100% sure what he could have done more last night. At 11 v 11 he was doing well enough as the team was in nullifying the best team in the country, and also part of a team that was pushing them back. The sending off changed the game, we lost the man inbetween the midfield and the forward, against a very strong Chelsea midfield we were never going to dominate or even wrestle control back for a period of time. Yes, he may have done better for the goal, but that was it.

Jose sent the team out with a plan, one that was working with everyone on the pitch and even with 10 men we stifled a potent Chelsea attack. I'm not sure if even with Zlatan in the side last night we'd have posed a threat, with the tactics we played Rashford for me would have been the right choice if everyone was available anyway. Lots of chasing and pace on the break, it was a shame that Miki was sacrificed as it left him so isolated.

As a team they did really well, impressed by the effort and discipline to the tactics, it wasn't pretty and even with 11 v 11 it wouldn't have been much prettier, but it was effective and a huge positive to move on with.

 

[wolvored]

Using this game as a model, it shows we definitely need a proper winger maybe two like Hazard and Willian. Miki could then play behind the striker. Add a Kante like DM, and I think we could skip the rest of the spending for a season. Its finding and signing these players thats the hard bit though obviously.

 

[shield]

We did not show much attacking intent. But people need to appreciate how good a defensive performance that was.

Down to 10 men, against the best counter-attacking side in the premier league, we would have been battered had we tried to attack. We were finding it hard to contain them with 10 men and we needed extreme concentration to avoid conceding another goal. And the defence worked really well. They were limited to shots from range and even though they looked threatening at times, they could not do much.

Chelsea were playing well and were doing the classic 'move the ball from side to side' strategy. They have more technically gifted players than us so they were doing this very well. Hazard, Willian, Costa, Matic and Kante are very good at moving the ball. But even then, they could not create much.

Valencia was excellent and so was Rojo. Rashford was very good too and he created that 1 on 1 so nicely. Great vision and pass from Rojo too, to find Rashford for that one.

So, now the problem areas. The midfield was literally missing. They need to improve their ball retention abilities big time. Pogba was really struggling. Everything he did somehow looked wrong to me. Misplaced passes, poor positioning, poor awareness, lack of intensity. It was infuriating watching him do this with our defenders desperately hoping for somebody to just hold on to the ball and give them some relief. He was again expected to be the main outlet and it was not working. I mean, if we had subbed him off instead of Mikhi, we might have nicked a goal. He actually managed to look worse than Fellaini. After that foul on Kante, he looked almost close to tears

Both him and Fellaini were just providing their height to win headers. That was all. They were just not able to get any passing movement going. I mean, I am not asking them to pass the ball and score a goal for us. I just wanted them to retain the ball intelligently, move it among themselves and win a foul, or at least keep possession for some time to allow the defence to recover and organize themselves.

If we can just sort out this midfield issue, we will be a much more threatening side. We need to buy atleast two more midfielders in the summer.

 

[AgentP]

Immediately after the match last night, I was feeling that we had been robbed by the ref. But having slept over it, I feel the result is totally fair. We were targeting Hazard and didn't want to give him space. But Hazard was just too quick with his feet and too clever for this plan to work. So we resorted to deliberately committing fouls against him which is against the true spirit of the game. We got what we deserved in the end. Though the referee might have been a bit harsh in getting his card out, it is to the benefit of the game and EPL especially if players like Hazard are protected better.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

This is when we miss a proper captain. Smalling should have warned the one player on a booking what Oliver had said, for all his faults I think Rooney would have done. Just tell him to cool it for a bit. Someone else could have taken a booking. This is the lack of leadership in the team at it's most obvious.

 

[sashiko]

.....
....committing fouls against him which is against the true spirit of the game
....We got what we deserved in the end.

One problem - diving is also against the spirit.
The other - we got it in the beginning, not in the end. If it was in the end, we wouldn't be so mad))

 

[DomesticTadpole]

So basically Michael Oliver was going to book anyone who went near Hazard no matter if it was a foul or not, surely that would be incompetence?

 

[Ixion]

The redcard was a joke, there was barely any contact. You can't book the next person to foul a player to punish the entire team, that's not how it works.

 

[Schmiznurf]

Lot of debate on Herrera, but hardly a mention of Rojo's stamp on Hazard and likely 3 match ban as a result of video evidence...

It wasn't a stamp, Rojo jumped, Hazard rolled, Rojo tried to adjust and fell because of it. If the foot connected Hazard would have made a meal of it.

 

[marukomu]

Whatever. Move on.

 

[Treble_Winning]

Immediately after the match last night, I was feeling that we had been robbed by the ref. But having slept over it, I feel the result is totally fair. We were targeting Hazard and didn't want to give him space. But Hazard was just too quick with his feet and too clever for this plan to work. So we resorted to deliberately committing fouls against him which is against the true spirit of the game. We got what we deserved in the end. Though the referee might have been a bit harsh in getting his card out, it is to the benefit of the game and EPL especially if players like Hazard are protected better.

You're kidding, right?

Why should "players like Hazard" deserve special protection from referees?

How does that benefit the game? To encourage more diving? The guy is a talented player but he displays completely no ethics or sportsmanship and that is why he will never considered truly world class. I would never want Hazard at United, we don't need cheats in our team. Grade A asshole. He should have been given a yellow for diving.

Why do players like him deserve extra protection? Why not just let players like Herrera play their game?

 

[Treble_Winning]

This is when we miss a proper captain. Smalling should have warned the one player on a booking what Oliver had said, for all his faults I think Rooney would have done. Just tell him to cool it for a bit. Someone else could have taken a booking. This is the lack of leadership in the team at it's most obvious.

I think this is missing the point. Why should Smalling have to warn anyone? Is Smalling expected to tell his team mates "guys, go easy on Hazard, stop fouling him, let him dribble through us?"

That's total insanity. The real point here is why did the ref make a decision to book the next person who fouled Hazard? Every single booking (or any decision) must be considered on its own merits, as an independent case. Refs are supposed to be impartial.

Do you think there would be acceptance if a judge said "I've made up my mind, the next person who gets caught speeding will get a 5 year jail term cos I've had enough?"

If that isn't acceptable then what Oliver did is equally not acceptable. He has violated the spirit of what being a ref is about. Total disgrace to his profession and his country. He wanted the game to be played in his way, instead of calling it fairly down the middle.

 

[Red Ryan]

What annoyed me was the way we didn't go for it, what difference would losing 5-2 have made to losing 1-0? Goal difference is not a factor in the cup it was a game we had to win on the night and instead we played like a lower league team happy to escape with avoiding a hiding.

 

[RedDevil@84]

What annoyed me was the way we didn't go for it, what difference would losing 5-2 have made to losing 1-0? Goal difference is not a factor in the cup it was a game we had to win on the night and instead we played like a lower league team happy to escape with avoiding a hiding.

Players mentally pissed off for several days.
Media talks about it endlessly for days together throwing stats and ridiculous comparisons.
Pressure on players/manager. Media write obituaries etc.

Besides, being in all cups is not desirable choice for us, given that EL might be the only way we are taking the CL spot

 

[Pogue Mahone]

This is when we miss a proper captain. Smalling should have warned the one player on a booking what Oliver had said, for all his faults I think Rooney would have done. Just tell him to cool it for a bit. Someone else could have taken a booking. This is the lack of leadership in the team at it's most obvious.

Please stop trying to blame anyone other than Herrera for his idiotic behaviour. It's not remotely plausible and it's only making you look silly.

 

[chicha14]

Am I missing something or did Mourinho say in his post match interview that Pogba was our best player? This is not a Pogba bashing post, but does he really think so? He wasn't our worst player IMO, but definitely not our best player. Rojo was easily our best and most consistent player throughout the 90 minutes.

Is there a reason why Mourinho defends him so much? Does he just do it to save his face in the eyes of the media? Behind closed doors does he open up to Pogba and tell him that he needs to step up or does he tell him he is performing well and he needs to carry on?

 

[12oskell]

It wasn't a stamp, Rojo jumped, Hazard rolled, Rojo tried to adjust and fell because of it. If the foot connected Hazard would have made a meal of it.

This!

 

[MadMike]

What annoyed me was the way we didn't go for it, what difference would losing 5-2 have made to losing 1-0? Goal difference is not a factor in the cup it was a game we had to win on the night and instead we played like a lower league team happy to escape with avoiding a hiding.

How exactly do you go for it when you don't have the ball?

It was 11v10. 75-25 possession. We were missing almost our entire strike force. Our team had played 12 more games than Chelsea going into this one.

You wanna know what the difference is between a 1-0 loss and a 5-1? Ask Arsenal. Morale loss, humiliation by the press, way WAY more criticism and pressure from the fans.

Mou kept it tight trying to nick one goal. If Rash has scored it might have been different. It was the right call given the circumstances.

 

[AgentP]

You're kidding, right?

Why should "players like Hazard" deserve special protection from referees?

How does that benefit the game? To encourage more diving? The guy is a talented player but he displays completely no ethics or sportsmanship and that is why he will never considered truly world class. I would never want Hazard at United, we don't need cheats in our team. Grade A asshole. He should have been given a yellow for diving.

Why do players like him deserve extra protection? Why not just let players like Herrera play their game?

I'm not talking about diving here. I am not even sure whether that was a dive as I haven't seen the video again after the game. My point is that teams should not be allowed to target a player and keep committing deliberate fouls against him like we did. If you can't handle a player, it doesn't mean you should hack him down. When I say players like Hazard, I mean players who get you off your seat with brilliant individual ability and skill like Messi, Neymar, etc. The officials in La Liga protect these players from such negative tactics. How many times was Ronaldo fouled when he played for us? This doesn't mean that the referee should not be fair. But when it comes to incidents like yesterday where a player is getting repeatedly fouled, he should be offered a little bit of protection.

Why would you not want the best player in the league? I'm sure if he was playing for us instead, you would be praising him now instead of calling him a cheat. In my opinion,he has been more important to Chelsea's success this season than Kante.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

I hope this will galvanise the team rather than spiralling into feeling sorry for themselves

It's good fuel for a stirring end to the season if used in the right way

 

[AgentP]

I hope this will galvanise the team rather than spiralling into feeling sorry for themselves

It's good fuel for a stirring end to the season if used in the right way

We'll find out in 2 days. The most important game of our season atm.

 

[BonkersIam]

Before the sending off, Utd had created 2 chances (both off target and early on) and had 40% possession. Whilst Chelsea with their 60% had 6 efforts with 2 on target.
The match was already drifting away from Utd especially with Chelsea exploiting the space when Utd ventured forward.
After the sending off, Utd closed ranks and just sat deep making it as difficult as possible for Chelsea to find a way through as most teams do when facing superior opposition......sometimes works and in a way it did for Utd but for the long range shot that went in

 

[Ixion]

Before the sending off, Utd had created 2 chances (both off target and early on) and had 40% possession. Whilst Chelsea with their 60% had 6 efforts with 2 on target.
The match was already drifting away from Utd

That is a bit simplistic, they had a spell of pressure with a few shots in the 5 minutes before the sending off but you can't draw a conclusion how the rest of the game would go from that. We were fine for the first 20 minutes but most teams especially at home will have spells of pressure.

 

[Robertd0803]

Idiotic from Herrera, he has been lucky to get away with niggly fouls constantly and it was always going to go against him at some point. Id much rather him get sent off for smashing Hazard in to the ground instead of 2 stupid yellows for nothing fouls.

Mourinho saying Pogba was the best player on the pitch is the manager defending his player, while probably giving him a harsh word or 2 in private. At least that's how it seems to me.

Rashford should have scored-again we just aren't clinical enough yet again.

Rojo/Valencia/Young were fantastic in attitude and application I thought.

 

[MadMike]

Mourinho saying Pogba was the best player on the pitch is the manager defending his player, while probably giving him a harsh word or 2 in private. At least that's how it seems to me.

I think so. I hope so.

Rashford should have scored-again we just aren't clinical enough yet again.

It was a good save by Curtois. It was a good hit, on target and going away from the keeper but he stretched a leg and stopped it.

 

[Robertd0803]

I think so. I hope so.



It was a good save by Curtois. It was a good hit, on target and going away from the keeper but he stretched a leg and stopped it.

It was a very good save, when I saw it I was thinking ''how the **** has he saved that''

 

[Zlatattack]

Calm down people. We played with 10 men for most of that game, against the team that is going to be champions this season. They had a whole weeks rest too and the better side on paper. We would have won had it been 11 vs 11, Chelsea were being frustrated.

People need a reality check, always so negative. Just go back and read the thread before the match, you all expected a whooping, and we come away losing 1-0 with 10 men after a hard fought match and you complain.

People seem to think we were the Harlem globe trotters under Fergie, we weren't it only happened with the teams that won the CL, the rest had as many good and bad days as anyone else.

If you expect performances like that of Bayern, Barca and Real Madrid then we need to have galactico squads like them too.