[AndyMUFC]

Enjoyed it. Probably the best 90 minutes of the season where the pressing and workrate was spot on.

That's clearly how he wants to play, it's just whether we can do it consistently, especially with that midfield setup.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Just a note to say Rashford had a huge grin on his face at the end of the match, congratulating McTominay on his goals. The narrative is that he's sulking and so on, but he clearly still cares. There was a social media picture of Garnacho celebrating the win, and they could have picked one of Rashford too. I think his efforts have been unacceptable lately, but he's not downing tools (I think).

 

[croadyman]

Best 90 min performance since Spurs last October,keep Rashford & Martial out of the starting lineup. Wouldn't be disappointed to see either of them sold in the summer.

 

[Pscholes18]

Great win....pressed very well....Bruno is a wasteful cnut, what a shite penalty kick.....Rashford acted like he was trying when he came on. Still doesn't deserve another start for a while. Utd should of scored more.....I am not sure what it is with the players at this club, they never make the extra pass for higher percentage chance at goal. Goal hogs the lot of them.

 

[simonhch]

Watched a replay of the game, which is a pretty good way to watch it if you want to be truly analytical and not get carried away by emotions (already knew the score) and letting them colour your recollections. So with that in mind, some points:

1. it was a good win, much needed for confidence, but despite popular sentiment, I wouldn’t call it a great performance. I’d call it a decent performance from the perspective of the effort put in by the players, the spirit shown, and the attacking intent and some of the patterns of play.

2. Chelsea were very poor yet we gave up a host of gilt edged chances to them. On another day, against a better team, we could’ve easily conceded three goals.

3. Luke Shaw is a very good player and fundamental to how we build up from the back. The switch bringing on Reguillon, helped us.

4. The midfield is still a mess. Breezed through far too many times. Amrabat looks below the quality required. A squad player at best.

5. McTominay gets a lot of plaudits for his two goals (should have scored two more), but his overall game wasn’t a great one. It was plucky and determined, but he has a lot of heavy touches, is unimaginative in possession, and he was caught out of position a lot today.

6. Maguire has come into some good form.

7. Dalot played well. He obviously needed a rest. Being able to rotate AWB and Dalot, who are about the same level, is a decent couple of options.

8. Garnacho is a very exciting player. He runs at people and takes risks. He looks dangerous. He’s also incredibly wasteful and makes some very poor decisions sometimes. These are things you’d expect at his age. He’s enjoying his football right now which is great to see; but he has a lot to refine in his game.

9. Fernandes works hard as always but needs a rest.

10. We don’t beat the first man from crosses anywhere near enough, it’s very poor.

11. Antony gives the team balance and work rate, retains possession well too. I’d like him to have a run in the team to build his confidence. This player is definitely not the write off he’s been made out to be.

12. Hojlund oozes quality but he badly needs a goal in the league. It’s just psychological at this point.

I think a lot of people are getting carried away by this performance. It was a marked improvement but there were a lot of alarming problems on display.

 

[BorisManUtd]

Did I read that correctly?

We did better as in 'not conceding as many chances as Chelsea did tonight'.

The Undrawables? Tie Fighters?

The Expendables

I like all the suggestions

 

[RedIke]

So many things from that game.

Finally got to see "Morrocon Amarbat" and man did he play well.

No coincidence that United looks great when Regulon plays.

Not sure how good Garnacho is, but as long as he's that aggressive, I'm fine with him trying 7 bicycle kicks every 30 minutes.

Shout out to Antony for two decent games in a row.

Also not a coincidence the team has played the best with Marcus sitting on the bench.

I'm back to square one with Onana. Every tike the ball is kicked in his direction I assume it will be a goal.

This must be how Newcastle felt on Saturday.

And lastly, I'm not sure how good the team is. Tonight was a wicked combo of a very good performance plus a team that was complete and utter shit. But I will take this attitude week on and week out.

 

[Red in STL]

Best 90 min performance since Spurs last October,keep Rashford & Martial out of the starting lineup. Wouldn't be disappointed to see either of them sold in the summer.

Martial isn't being sold

 

[croadyman]

Martial isn't being sold

Yeah nor Rashford and that's the problem,they are our version of what Aubameyang & Ozil were at Arsenal. Look at the difference in team spirit

 

[Ali Dia]

Best 90 min performance since Spurs last October,keep Rashford & Martial out of the starting lineup. Wouldn't be disappointed to see either of them sold in the summer.

At this point you can really only carry one of them on the pitch and even then starting either one of them puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to urgency and workrate

 

[Sgreddevil]

Great win....pressed very well....Bruno is a wasteful cnut, what a shite penalty kick.....Rashford acted like he was trying when he came on. Still doesn't deserve another start for a while. Utd should of scored more.....I am not sure what it is with the players at this club, they never make the extra pass for higher percentage chance at goal. Goal hogs the lot of them.

Yes. I was annoyed when Mctominay went for his third goal instead of squaring it to Hojlund for a simple tap in goal to seal the game. Kudos to him for scoring the 2 goals but team should always be priority than personal achievement. I won't blame him if we were at least 2 goals up. We were hanging on a thread and Chelsea nearly equalize at the end and snatch a draw.
In the past (bar Ronaldo), the players will always willingly pass to the other players who are in better position to score. This trait seems to be missing in our current players. Something that ETH needs to address. Unless you are CR7 or messi, you shouldn't take such risks.

 

[Sgreddevil]

What a vast difference when Rashford and Martial not playing. Almost all the starting players have the kind of drive that supporters like us want to see. We are definitely not final product yet and many areas to improve. Whenever the team plays with such drive and passion, they get more leeway even if they lose to a better team. Supporters are understanding and know that they had put in their best effort. The recent annoyances were due to lack of effort more than the actual result.
I was very impressed with Amrabat and Maguire. We finally see the real world cup Amrabat and Leicester Maguire that we thought we had brought in. Both of them made it very difficult for Chelsea to counterattack. They read the game well and able to break down their attack and recycle possession in quick succession. We do need to get rid of Lindelof soon. He was too weak and did not stick close to the attackers which resulted in their goal yesterday.

 

[cyril C]

Enjoyed it. Probably the best 90 minutes of the season where the pressing and workrate was spot on.

That's clearly how he wants to play, it's just whether we can do it consistently, especially with that midfield setup.

To achieve this work rate consistently throughout the entire season, you need players who don't mind running 10km per game, and you need to rotate.

 

[LDUred]

4. The midfield is still a mess. Breezed through far too many times. Amrabat looks below the quality required. A squad player at best.

Well, I thought he genuinely had a good game today. A few lapses here and there but he was generally at the heart of most of what we did well offensively and defensively.

I think we are going have to accept that as long as Ten Hag is there, we will be playing his single pivot, and that means we will be getting outnumbered in midfield. It's not Amrabat's fault that he has no support. However, today we had a functioning high press, which is something Martial and Rashford basically will not do. It made such a difference to the overall performance to have Antony and Hojlund instead of Martial and Rashford strolling around.

I get that he looks kind of clumsy in possession - I see that - but he generally uses the ball well despite the fact that it's not aesthetically pleasing.

And he performed a lot better today than Enzo or Caicedo. Chelsea fans were really getting on Caicedo's case for passing backwards.

 

[MinGin]

When we have 10 players can run, then we can play a good game

 

[Desert Eagle]

Missed the game but happy to hear we played well and won. Some momentum before the big Liverpool game is crucial.

 

[Get In Scholesy]

Just watched the match, I think the effort is the bare minimum we should expect as fans. Yes our midfield was breezed through at times but we have come to expect that given the personnel. However the intensity from the starting 11 could not have been doubted, that has to be a non negotiable moving forward.

Great 3 points.

Ps. Our finishing is shocking
If we were just slightly better at it we would be a few places up the table.

 

[Tincanalley]

Arsenal were called 'invincibles' because they went a whole season without a loss. If we finish the season with 0 draws, what's our nickname?

Schroedingers Testicles?

EDIT: (don’t bother)
Schrordingers Cravat?
The Tie-ers?
Feck-all or Nothing?
The Un-Levellers

 

[Florida Man]

I am glad I'm not a Chelsea fan

I’m gonna say this 2-1 of my Chelsea supporting friends

 

[GazTheLegend]

Chelsea are a really weird team in that I'd say they can beat ANYONE and they've got some fantastic players, their battering of spurs and performance Vs man City the last few weeks proves that, so this was a good win for us and an exceptional performance.

It's been an awful season but you do get the impression there's something to Ten Hag and I hope we stay with him. Is he the first manager we've had that's dropped a fully fit Rashford for form reasons only I wonder, can't remember any other manager doing it?

 

[Ayoba]

We really need our key Injured players back soon as we still looked a little suspect defensively. Martinez, casemiro and varane will hopefully help with that.

On the attacking side though I'm really worried about the striking situation. Hojlund is not ready yet, I feel we need to go for Toney in Jan but might be out of our budget.

 

[Berbasbullet]

Martial isn't being sold

Isn't his contract.up?

 

[The Purley King]

Forget the result for a minute. The attitude and desire was back!
Yes Chelsea were largely poor but for once I saw some effort from pretty much the whole team.
Far from the finished article but so much better in terms of application.
Happy to hold my hand up in wanting mctominay dropped. Not sure how we fit him in a functional midfield but I can’t deny he has a good knack of being in the right place at the right time.

 

[Garnacho's Shoelaces]

Forget the result for a minute. The attitude and desire was back!
Yes Chelsea were largely poor but for once I saw some effort from pretty much the whole team.
Far from the finished article but so much better in terms of application.
Happy to hold my hand up in wanting mctominay dropped. Not sure how we fit him in a functional midfield but I can’t deny he has a good knack of being in the right place at the right time.

We've never lacked this in open games like Chelsea at Old Trafford has been since Lampard. It suits our transition focused squad. Easy to appear determined in ideal circumstances. They soon gave up away at St James' Park though.

 

[Slevs]

How many times did we force Sanchez into a mistake while passing out the back? Gotta take those chances though
Very good game overall, very happy with the team. Should be more clinical and finish this game early on and not give them a chance to come back

 

[captain666]

That made a pleasant watch after months of half hearted dross .At least we had 10 outfield players showing some effort and commitment. Still nowhere near perfect but heading in the right direction,until he starts Rashford and Martial again!

 

[SambaBoy]

I'm not sure how much you can read into last night. Not many teams will come to OT and be as open as Chelsea, or if they do they'll have much more quality in attack to hurt us. Despite that, there was obviously a lot of positives to take especially with some individual performances.

One thing we need to do is getting into the habit of finishing chances. Last night was unacceptable in terms of being clinical and I don't think this is a season where we are going to create chance after chance so we need to get into a habit of players taking and even exceeding their xG.

Reguilon deserves a go for me, he has a lot of energy and is tenacious both ways, definitely a useful asset to have. Use Shaw as the LCB until Martinez is back. Shaw is a quality player and helps our build up so much.

 

[massey]

Yes. I was annoyed when Mctominay went for his third goal instead of squaring it to Hojlund for a simple tap in goal to seal the game. Kudos to him for scoring the 2 goals but team should always be priority than personal achievement. I won't blame him if we were at least 2 goals up. We were hanging on a thread and Chelsea nearly equalize at the end and snatch a draw.
In the past (bar Ronaldo), the players will always willingly pass to the other players who are in better position to score. This trait seems to be missing in our current players. Something that ETH needs to address. Unless you are CR7 or messi, you shouldn't take such risks.

Agreed was a decent performance but phases of play like this are what's hurting us the most it was a simple squared ball with two players waiting for a tap in it happens most times we are in and around the box players going for wild shots when a pass would make a better chance.

 

[justsomebloke]

Wow - that was unexpected. And welcome. Our first really solid performance of the season. Suddenly we were functioning as a team and looking like we had a game plan that actually worked. We dominated the first half, and controlled the second. 28 shots. xG north of 4. Terrific.

The only grating element was the central defence in the first half, who were looking uncomfortable, not in control and also not very able to contribute on the ball. But the half-time substitution largely fixed that. Not only did Shaw function much better than Lindelof, it also allowed Maguire - who had a pretty awful first half - to have a very solid second. That was a useful lesson there. Also, Reguilon did very well on the whole, although he's not very good at closing down the space on the left.

And for once, the midfield plan worked. McTominay was a constant threat coming into the box, while Amrabat managed to keep it together. The contrast between him and Mainoo is fascinating - they seem sort of on opposite ends of the scale in anticipation and timing. Mainoo gives the impression of being two seconds ahead of everyone else mentally. Amrabat rather gives the impression of being half a second behind, and is having to constantly super-apply himself to make up the difference, playing on the edge all of the time. Yesterday, he succeded brilliantly, and it looks great when he does. He doesn't have Mainoo's vision and calmness on the ball, but he does bring a physical element that Mainoo lacks and which is maybe needed in that role.

Also for once, our front four was active, dynamic and at times dominant. Garnacho MOTM for me, easily his best game in a United shirt - played the full 90, and was a constant threat not just in flashes.

 

[justsomebloke]

Our best XG since may 2023 (5.31) - also against Chelsea at home

Also the second highest xG recorded by any team in the PL this season, apparently.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Great win....pressed very well....Bruno is a wasteful cnut, what a shite penalty kick.....

88.4% pass completion, 5 key passes, won multiple balls, one incredible sliding tackle, was absolutely superb.

Bizarre post.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Rashford needs to have a think about himself and how he fits into the team.

he doesn't.

 

[Fitchett]

Good performance, with all ten outfield players putting in a real shift. Finishing was wasteful, as usual, but the crowd appreciated the effort put in by the players, which should always be an absolute minimum.

I really don't want to see Rashford or Martial on the team ever again. It was night and day performance last night without them, compared to Newcastle with them strolling around last Saturday.

 

[massiveissue]

Remember we play City, Liverpool and Bayern. These are the games where we will see what type of cloth these guys are cut from.

I know the game look decent, but Chelsea were absolutely terrible.

 

[SilentWitness]

You were good value for the win yesterday. A couple of shaky moments on the counter but enough to win comfortably against a really poor Chelsea side.

 

[Matt Varnish]

What a vast difference when Rashford and Martial not playing. Almost all the starting players have the kind of drive that supporters like us want to see. We are definitely not final product yet and many areas to improve. Whenever the team plays with such drive and passion, they get more leeway even if they lose to a better team. Supporters are understanding and know that they had put in their best effort. The recent annoyances were due to lack of effort more than the actual result.
I was very impressed with Amrabat and Maguire. We finally see the real world cup Amrabat and Leicester Maguire that we thought we had brought in. Both of them made it very difficult for Chelsea to counterattack. They read the game well and able to break down their attack and recycle possession in quick succession. We do need to get rid of Lindelof soon. He was too weak and did not stick close to the attackers which resulted in their goal yesterday.

What was also pleasing to see was the defence playing more as a unit, looking out for each other, when Maguire went on a foray down the wing, Dalot slotted in the hole to cover.
Both Dalot & Shaw put excellent shifts in really stretching Chelsea and giving us more attacking options.
If we could just get Antony to use his right foot now and again ...........

 

[Matt Varnish]

You were good value for the win yesterday. A couple of shaky moments on the counter but enough to win comfortably against a really poor Chelsea side.

Overall the defence did really well, there's an argument that it was a soft goal, maybe a more lean keeper could have got to it, Onana made up for it though by commanding his area at last and coming off his line.

 

[RomfordRed75]

Interesting in McTominays post match interview he said that they've been doing light training this week due to the amount of games.
Goes against the media rhetoric that Ten Hag just makes them run run run in training.

 

[Xire01]

It’s amazing how much a big win against a rival can help with my mood. I’ve missed this

 

[flameinthesun]

Not a fan of the counter attacks we gave up so easily, a few times Chelsea countered with more players than we had at the back but in general a very good possession and attacking performance.