[DJ_21]

You are counting 2 against a league 1 team

Which he wouldn’t have score last year. That’s the difference. He couldn’t do anything last year. This year his confidence is slightly back. I’m not saying he’s been amazing and at the level he was 2 years ago but he’s certainly not playing like last year.

 

[lex talionis]

This is a Palace side that's in a false position, they'll improve no doubt. And going there has almost always been daunting. We had the crowd quiet for most of the match. It is so rare to see a game like this in the last decade, where United dominate almost from start to finish.

They had 3 great chances in the last quarter of the match after we'd spurned quite a few chances and quite a few rushed moments where we could have taken an extra pass to open them up. Apart from those chances it felt like I was only watching United in possession and nothing dull about it, just frustrating when we started to lose composure in possession in the last 15-20 minutes (which maybe coincided with Zirkzee coming off).

So, as the game wore on Palace grew in strength as we weakened. This happened against Brighton, another side we should have beaten, and it happened against Liverpool.

Palace are the easiest opponent we’ll be facing for a while.

 

[Hammondo]

Which he wouldn’t have score last year. That’s the difference. He couldn’t do anything last year. This year his confidence is slightly back. I’m not saying he’s been amazing and at the level he was 2 years ago but he’s certainly not playing like last year.

Come on, I think any pl football er would.

 

[Stobzilla]

Palace are the easiest opponent we’ll be facing for a while.

Twente should be plenty simple, I even think the way Spurs set up may play into our hands a little bit.

 

[Maticmaker]

A game we should won have comfortably ... by halftime.
A game we could have lost at the end, but for magnificent saves from Onana.
Our new players seem to be adjusting fairly well, but we still as a team seem to play only 'in the moments' and when we don't score in those 'moments', defeat is always one slip-up away.

We seem to be developing some 'pass and move' methods of getting us up the pitch as well as the wide movements, but in front of goal, we dither or choose the wrong option, or just 'lose our bottle.'
Of course, there is now no longer a McT to bring on to arrive late in the box and cause the necessary upsets.

2 steps forward and 1 step back seems to be our prevailing movement/direction at this moment.

 

[sglowrider]

Lucky enough that scoring goals is not an important part part of the game , well not according to many Utd fans anyway.

Agree. Goals are well overrated.

 

[DJ_21]

So, as the game wore on Palace grew in strength as we weakened. This happened against Brighton, another side we should have beaten, and it happened against Liverpool.

Palace are the easiest opponent we’ll be facing for a while.

I actually think spurs will be easier. The way they attack and leave spaces. They’ll play into our hands. Villa will be the toughest of the 3 though.

 

[Giggsy13]

We played well for about 50 to 60 mins but we were a brilliant save away from being sucker punched by palace. This has happened under ten Hag far too often. The players should be blamed for failing to finish their chances but ten hag did not adjust quick enough to the changes made by palace in the 2nd half.

 

[DJ_21]

A game we should won have comfortably ... by halftime.
A game we could have lost at the end, but for magnificent saves from Onana.
Our new players seem to be adjusting fairly well, but we still as a team seem to play only 'in the moments' and when we don't score in those 'moments', defeat is always one slip-up away.

We seem to be developing some 'pass and move' methods of getting us up the pitch as well as the wide movements, but in front of goal, we dither or choose the wrong option, or just 'lose our bottle.'
Of course, there is now no longer a McT to bring on to arrive late in the box and cause the necessary upsets.

2 steps forward and 1 step back seems to be our prevailing movement/direction at this moment.

Ye I thought we was playing 1-2 passes a bit to much around there box. We could have pulled the trigger a few times. We need to shoot more.

 

[Giggsy13]

So, as the game wore on Palace grew in strength as we weakened. This happened against Brighton, another side we should have beaten, and it happened against Liverpool.

Palace are the easiest opponent we’ll be facing for a while.

This is why I don’t see the positives from the game that many are seeing. It’s the same old and yes the players must do better, but ten Hag failed to adjust to palace’s tactical changes in the 2nd half fast enough. His post-game comments were also embarrassing.

 

[Banana Republic]

If the development process for our revamped squad is to bear fruit, as the season progresses, we need to at least keep in touch and within reach of the leading top 6.
We can’t afford to lose too much ground, otherwise a later surge will be all the harder to make serious inroads.

Dropping the 2 points at Palace isn’t too drastic atm, but it means a home win against Spurs is even more vital.
We are not likely to be favourites at Villa Park in 2 weeks time and there’s a few potential boobytrap fixtures in the next month or two after that.
Going into December, cut adrift in mid-table and with away games at Arsenal and City looming, could see our chances of a top 4 finish, gone before Christmas.

Sorting out our goal drought is now the biggest issue facing ETH.

 

[Tomtattoo]

Some fans may have (can’t speak for them all)… I haven’t, there’s still plenty of things that are nowhere near the standard/levels we should be aiming for … finishing chances (which means goals which usually means points), effort (especially late when we should be pushing for the win), subs (Rashford will be lucky to play next match, Bruno should have gone off)…

… but with some balance, there’s also the more stable defence (de Ligt and Maz look good buys and we didn’t overpay) and actually creating the chances in the first place. They’re both better.

So not a huge improvement but I think I can see some foundations.. just needs players and manager to (1) be more positive and (2) more consistent.

Well, there's one problem with this. Despite the injuries, defense wasn't the biggest issue last season. We conceded 58 goals which isn't good of course but remember, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham all conceded more and they all finished ahead of us on the table. Because they all scored 70+ or even 80+ goals compared to our 57 and -1 GD. So with 58 goals conceded we could have finished the season even on 4th place. The biggest issue was the scoring drought. In fact, 57 is a joke, especially compared to the 86 of Newcastle. And to be fair, this problem hasn't been solved at all. Maybe ten Hag trusted Rashford way to much, but signing Zirkzee isn't the solution. The guy simply isn't a prolific goal scorer and never was. And despite Rashford's double against a League One side (sorry if I don't give too much importance to that) I don't see any progress in his game this year. Totally clueless runs, poor finishes and sometimes he just disappears for long periods. So, the real problem isn't solved. That's why I predicted 6th place finish before the season, after 5 matches I think I was probably too optimistic.

 

[lex talionis]

This is why I don’t see the positives from the game that many are seeing. It’s the same old and yes the players must do better, but ten Hag failed to adjust to palace’s tactical changes in the 2nd half fast enough. His post-game comments were also embarrassing.

It’s probably fair to take a glass-is-half-full approach to how we performed yesterday, as at least we didn’t get mauled 4-0 by the same side last season, but we spent another what 200m to strengthen the squad since Palace mauled us 4-0. But another way to look at yesterday is that Palace were better managed during the game and in the last 30 minutes looked much likely to get the match winner.

The fixture list gets tougher from here and unless we can find another gear in attack we’ll be in serious trouble of struggling to qualify for the Europa League, as was the case last season.

 

[croadyman]

Could have used a Haaland up front. Would work well with this newfound style of play.

None of the leeching clowns at this club wanted to know when Ole suggested signing him

 

[RedorDead21]

If the development process for our revamped squad is to bear fruit, as the season progresses, we need to at least keep in touch and within reach of the leading top 6.
We can’t afford to lose too much ground, otherwise a later surge will be all the harder to make serious inroads.

Dropping the 2 points at Palace isn’t too drastic atm, but it means a home win against Spurs is even more vital.
We are not likely to be favourites at Villa Park in 2 weeks time and there’s a few potential boobytrap fixtures in the next month or two after that.
Going into December, cut adrift in mid-table and with away games at Arsenal and City looming, could see our chances of a top 4 finish, gone before Christmas.

Sorting out our goal drought is now the biggest issue facing ETH.

He’s reliant on getting goals without a top number 9. Pep abandoned that pretty quick. We had 4 top strikers when we were winning leagues. It’s pretty simple. Don’t have a top striker…don’t win enough games. Replace ETH and his replacement will spend the next 200m trying to fix that very problem. As we will in the coming windows with him.

 

[Ghirahim]

United should have been 3 up in the first half. Putting the ball into the back of the net a problem again?

 

[mitchmouse]

One of the best team performances for some time and the defence now looks harder to break down (except for the Saar moment). Both CB's were good again, but as I've been saying for months (and getting abuse from some here for): where are the goals going to come from?

We need an experienced No.9, a sort of Vardy character, or find a hidden gem somewhere. (failing that a recognised scoring midfielder like Florian Wirtz)

 

[mitchmouse]

I'm amazed people have made Onana MoM - he was (very) good and made two great saves but we dominated the game so how is he MoM?

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Lucky enough that scoring goals is not an important part part of the game , well not according to many Utd fans anyway.

"Scoring goals isn't that important" is the latest excuse coming off the conveyor belt of excuses.

 

[CasaStreets]

when Eriksen’s legs went I wish he came off for Ugarte and Bruno had come off for Rashford.

Would have finished with Mainoo and Ugarte behind Rashford-Amad-Garnacho, and Zirkzee ahead of them.

Never going to happen, but would like to see Bruno dropped so Amad can come central move often

 

[Giggsy13]

One of the best team performances for some time and the defence now looks harder to break down (except for the Saar moment). Both CB's were good again, but as I've been saying for months (and getting abuse from some here for): where are the goals going to come from?

We need an experienced No.9, a sort of Vardy character, or find a hidden gem somewhere. (failing that a recognised scoring midfielder like Florian Wirtz)

We drew 0-0. I suppose it’s great we didn’t get mauled 4 nil again but we palace back into the game and our manager failed to adjust.

 

[Buster15]

Good summary? Two sentences with a contradiction.

You don't have to write pages for a good summary and as far as I was concerned it identified the key issues.

If you don't agree that is up to you.

 

[Matt851]

One of the best team performances for some time and the defence now looks harder to break down (except for the Saar moment). Both CB's were good again, but as I've been saying for months (and getting abuse from some here for): where are the goals going to come from?

We need an experienced No.9, a sort of Vardy character, or find a hidden gem somewhere. (failing that a recognised scoring midfielder like Florian Wirtz)

We were good for the first half but faded in the second. We have often played well for one half of games but struggled to play consistently well across a game (under ten hag and ole). Only when we start to do this will we have made real progress

Palace are also in a pretty poor state at the moment which a good team would have taken advantage of

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Well, there's one problem with this. Despite the injuries, defense wasn't the biggest issue last season. We conceded 58 goals which isn't good of course but remember, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham all conceded more and they all finished ahead of us on the table. Because they all scored 70+ or even 80+ goals compared to our 57 and -1 GD. So with 58 goals conceded we could have finished the season even on 4th place. The biggest issue was the scoring drought. In fact, 57 is a joke, especially compared to the 86 of Newcastle. And to be fair, this problem hasn't been solved at all. Maybe ten Hag trusted Rashford way too much, but signing Zirkzee isn't the solution. The guy simply isn't a prolific goal scorer and never was. And despite Rashford's double against a League One side (sorry if I don't give too much importance to that) I don't see any progress in his game this year. Totally clueless runs, poor finishes and sometimes he just disappears for long periods. So, the real problem isn't solved. That's why I predicted 6th place finish before the season, after 5 matches I think I was probably too optimistic.

I didn’t say defence was the biggest problem… I said it was more stable?

And the improvement isn’t we’ve scored more, it’s that we create a lot more (and concede less chances)… carry on like that and sooner or later, the chances will be converted, as they should have been yesterday.

Zirkzee isn’t the direct answer but I think he will help indirectly through his passing.. assists or assists to the assists. He wasn’t bought as a true goal scorer, I see him as a different type of 10… someone who can make the final pass but also big enough to hold onto the ball under pressure (and maybe chip in with a dozen or so). An alternative to Bruno and we should have left Zirkzee on yesterday to see how he worked with Hojlund but also because he deserved to stay on more than Bruno - feels odd after how good he’s been for some years (carried us at times, especially Covid Bruno) but don’t see him as vital anymore. Hopefully he makes me eat my words.

I don’t see any improvement in Rashford either and I think he needs Berrada and Jim to sit him down and say “try harder or leave”… take it out of Ten Hags hands and stop morons like Jamie Redknapp/SKY making sh!t up. After his lazy sub cameo yesterday, I definitely wouldn’t play him in starting XI… rinse and repeat bench until he gets the message, or leaves. Get £50m and reinvest in the next upcoming 9 to share with Hojlund.

 

[Banana Republic]

Updating my post from yesterday……

Only 3 teams in the PL have scored fewer goals than us.
Palace - 4
Ipswich - 3
Southampton - 2

We’ve scored the same number (5 goals) as Everton and Wolves, who are at the very bottom of the table, in 19th and 20th places respectively.

Goals conceded isn’t that shoddy and if wasn’t for the free gift scoreline against Liverpool, would be even better, but without scoring goals, we are going to be nowhere near challenging for a top 4 spot. More likely, firmly entrenched in mid-table at best.

 

[trevor newnham]

Ok,we should have won. An inspired Henderson , the woodwork . Yup, on another day we win. I'd have taken Bruno off instead of Zirkzee - he is less selfish - but the signs are there. We are so negative on here. FFS let's get behind the team

 

[mitchmouse]

We were good for the first half but faded in the second. We have often played well for one half of games but struggled to play consistently well across a game (under ten hag and ole). Only when we start to do this will we have made real progress

Palace are also in a pretty poor state at the moment which a good team would have taken advantage of

Agreed about the one-half thing - been saying it for four years - but this was as close as we've come to being better. Arsenal, Liverpool and City (probably Chelsea too) will bury Palace

 

[mitchmouse]

We drew 0-0. I suppose it’s great we didn’t get mauled 4 nil again but we palace back into the game and our manager failed to adjust.

Like Ole, ETH had no Plan B, but this is still the best we've been for a while. Which shows how poor we've been

 

[Sandikan]

I don't think anyone can possibly think we have enough goals in this team.

Zirkzee is ok, can hold it, amble around and do a few nice touches, but I'm unsure how he really fits in when we have an actual striker fit. Join Mount on the bench to be first sub for the 3 behind the front man I suppose.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

Despite some really clever attacks this was a disappointing match. We can't close the deal when it matters.

Realized watching this match that I hate the tactic of lumping the ball from nearly halfway back to the keeper and "resetting". I hated the kind of football we were playing during LVG's reign because it was bloodless. The thrills were mitigated by patience, patience, boring pass after boring pass.

Taking the ball up through Mazraoui or Dalot or Licha, and then right at the point where they to turn on the flair, they instead face their own keeper and pump a 50 yard ball to Onana. And it all slows down. Comes to a dead stop.

I fecking hate it.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

I don't think anyone can possibly think we have enough goals in this team.

Zirkzee is ok, can hold it, amble around and do a few nice touches, but I'm unsure how he really fits in when we have an actual striker fit. Join Mount on the bench to be first sub for the 3 behind the front man I suppose.

Zirkzee is indeed a square peg for a round hole. He's a facilitator who can set up other players, but he can't finish a ham sandwich. He does not have a finisher's touch. So if he's in the side to feed to Højlund, who makes way for him? I think/shudder to think that Ten Hag still thinks we can play one midfielder by himself with Bruno and Zirkzee as the nominal other two, and will be overrun like the Battle of Rorke's Drift.

So imagine Mainoo and Mount + Bruno roaming = it doesnt' work. Mainoo and Mount + Zirkzee on the wing = means sacrificing Amad/Garnacho, doesn't work. Or do we go to a back 2, Mainoo + the ghost of Casemiro? I don't see where he fits in, and he sure as shooting ain't a finisher.

 

[Zumbi]

Zirkzee is indeed a square peg for a round hole. He's a facilitator who can set up other players, but he can't finish a ham sandwich. He does not have a finisher's touch. So if he's in the side to feed to Højlund, who makes way for him? I think/shudder to think that Ten Hag still thinks we can play one midfielder by himself with Bruno and Zirkzee as the nominal other two, and will be overrun like the Battle of Rorke's Drift.

So imagine Mainoo and Mount + Bruno roaming = it doesnt' work. Mainoo and Mount + Zirkzee on the wing = means sacrificing Amad/Garnacho, doesn't work. Or do we go to a back 2, Mainoo + the ghost of Casemiro? I don't see where he fits in, and he sure as shooting ain't a finisher.

Agreed. The squad building still seems very muddled and unbalanced.

 

[Matt851]

Agreed. The squad building still seems very muddled and unbalanced.

Zirkzees signing made sense if we already had a cf that could score a decent amount of goals but hojlund hasn't shown himself to be capable of that yet

 

[Highfather_24]

People thinking getting a "goalscorer" would fix our scoring issues, but Zirkzee facilitates play. Playing Garnacho Rashford Hojlund means there are people who can finish, but cant create. Zirkzee/Amad are necessary for that balance.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

People thinking getting a "goalscorer" would fix our scoring issues, but Zirkzee facilitates play. Playing Garnacho Rashford Hojlund means there are people who can finish, but cant create. Zirkzee/Amad are necessary for that balance.

Just drop Bruno and play all 4

 

[Parma Dewol]

Should have been three wins on the bounce, putting us two points behind Arsenal and four off the top.

Created more than enough to win this game. Opportunity to build genuine momentum missed. Instead we’ve stalled yet again and piled pressure on our next fixture.

 

[Snow]

You don't have to write pages for a good summary and as far as I was concerned it identified the key issues.

If you don't agree that is up to you.

The summary had contradicting statements and therefor untrue. Untrue statements aren't good.

 

[croadyman]

It’s probably fair to take a glass-is-half-full approach to how we performed yesterday, as at least we didn’t get mauled 4-0 by the same side last season, but we spent another what 200m to strengthen the squad since Palace mauled us 4-0. But another way to look at yesterday is that Palace were better managed during the game and in the last 30 minutes looked much likely to get the match winner.

The fixture list gets tougher from here and unless we can find another gear in attack we’ll be in serious trouble of struggling to qualify for the Europa League, as was the case last season.

Without doubt it's glass half empty, those two dropped points are going to be hugely costly. So sorry @Banana Republic it's definitely drastic drawing away at Palace when they haven't won a game.

 

[RedRocket9908]

I thought we were poor in this game and wasteful in possesion (with Bruno giving the ball away about 34 times) and barely threatened Hendersons goal, Palace had the better chances and would have won if not for Onana pulling off a great double save.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

I think we were really good in the first 60 mins and should have scored at least 2 to 3 goals. I believe if we had not made stupid subs, we would have still won the match. As a fan what disappoints me is ETH makes such basic errors which most of the fans know and can point out, but our manager is unable to predict. Our best goal scoring option right now is to start with Rashford, he is calm and finishes well and compared to Bruno, Garnacho, Amad and Zhirkee, he is most reliable. Plus Garnacho is always far better when he is subbed on against tired legs because he does not have the explosive pace and strength to take on the player on the outside.

Plus looking at the match, the most obvious sub was Rashford on for Garnacho. By taking off Amad, Eriksen and Zhirkee our football become too predictable and close technical ability in tight spaces and chance creation became non existent. Which was obvious considering we took off our best creators in a match where after every 10 mins Crystal Palace were becoming more defensive.

Hopefully he learns the lesson that if he wants to put on Hojlund, then Bruno should be taken off and Zhirkee and Amad should always remain in the team if we are chasing goals. Whereas they can be taken off if we are winning, then the likes of Bruno, Garnacho, Rashford and Hojlund comes in handy, who are deadly on counters, but against tight teams who are sitting on the box, with no space in behind the likes of Zhirkee, Eriksen and Amad will be more effective and likely create something.