[honirelandboy]

He needs to drop Bruno or play him on the right of a front three and implement a high pressing 4-3-3 system. Yesterday I would have playing Scott Casemeiro and Mainoo in midfield three with Rashford Anthony Garnacho up top. Casemeiro doesn’t have the legs with just him and Mainoo there. Especially with Lindelof at left back.

In the summer though 2 center mids are badly needed to play alongside Mainoo and a replacement for Rashford. Rashford is actually a disgrace. There is no way in hell Pep or Klopp would give Bruno a free role in their team. He’d be part of a midfield three and if he can’t hack it be shown the door. Bruno could possibly play the Firminho role as well as a false nine.

 

[Pughnichi]

£90m RW on the bench, £37m RW on the bench, £75m RW out on loan and we end up starting a youngster in that position. Just about sums up the mismanagement of the club.

Embarrassing for the club when you see it like this

 

[2 man midfield]

£90m RW on the bench, £37m RW on the bench, £75m RW out on loan and we end up starting a youngster in that position. Just about sums up the mismanagement of the club.

And another out on loan because he’s a sex offender. The right wing really is cursed.

 

[Pughnichi]

What would we have done with our 2 best defenders and our top goal scorer.

A lot better is the answer. The point being that the ManUtd squad should more than be able to compete against Fulham’s squad players. Alas..they dominated us yday…for 90 mins. We only looked dangerous for 8 mins after we equalised.

 

[Maticmaker]

It's going to take a lot longer than Sir Jim imagines to turn things around, based on yesterdays showing.
We are totally exposed with a midfield two even when Casemiro is on form and especially with no one up top to rattle the oppositions confidence. Throwing a young lad into that role against a very efficient and well drilled team, not such a good idea ETH? Why not try McT there he upsets opponents and has a healthy habit of coming late into the box and scoring.
Fulham not the greatest squad, but they all knew what they had to do and all put in a shift and the manager used his subs exceptionally well. Fulham deserved the points.
A shout for Maguire, he is still painful to watch trying to get out from the back, but when he is allowed to wander up front he certainly upsets the opposition.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Didn’t watch the game nor seen the highlights. Don’t think I’ll bother.

 

[Lee565]

Why is tem hag so reluctant to try mctominay as a striker when he was happy using tadic as a false 9 at ajax?

He completely screwed up our attack yesterday, rashford is not a striker and his best output comes from the left wing and garnacho has been more productive from the right wing this season.

 

[Shark]

Yesterday sucked the last but of little optimism out of me, and I think I'll opt out how until the necessary changes are hopefully made at the end of the season. Fulham coming to Old Trafford and playing us off the pitch at times pretty much summed up the season under this manager.

 

[justsomebloke]

He needs to drop Bruno or play him on the right of a front three and implement a high pressing 4-3-3 system. Yesterday I would have playing Scott Casemeiro and Mainoo in midfield three with Rashford Anthony Garnacho up top. Casemeiro doesn’t have the legs with just him and Mainoo there. Especially with Lindelof at left back.

In the summer though 2 center mids are badly needed to play alongside Mainoo and a replacement for Rashford. Rashford is actually a disgrace. There is no way in hell Pep or Klopp would give Bruno a free role in their team. He’d be part of a midfield three and if he can’t hack it be shown the door. Bruno could possibly play the Firminho role as well as a false nine.

He tried that (well, minus Casemiro) yesterday. And it was the worst period of the game, where we lost all control and Fulham scored their first. So no thanks.

 

[Hughes35]

Why is tem hag so reluctant to try mctominay as a striker when he was happy using tadic as a false 9 at ajax?

He completely screwed up our attack yesterday, rashford is not a striker and his best output comes from the left wing and garnacho has been more productive from the right wing this season.

Yea, that's what I'd have done too. Just brought in Mctom for Hojlund and Anthony for Shaw.

Poor choices from ETH.

 

[mitchmouse]

The only positive from this is we weren't quite as awful as at Newcastle and Forest! When will ETH learn to drop layers who don't even look like they want to play (Rashford) and others whose top speed appears to be a that of a snail in reverse (Maguire)?

 

[mitchmouse]

How the hell have caf members seen Maguire as MoM? To slow to even foul a player for the Fulham winner...

 

[Lentwood]

How the hell have caf members seen Maguire as MoM? To slow to even foul a player for the Fulham winner...

He didn't foul him because he was on a yellow. Eriksen should have taken that foul all day long.

 

[mitchmouse]

He didn't foul him because he was on a yellow. Eriksen should have taken that foul all day long.

there were less than 90 seconds left - even we can deal with a free kick from just inside our own half with only 10 men (well, 9, considering Rashford appeared to be partying in Belfast at the time)

 

[justsomebloke]

Yea, that's what I'd have done too. Just brought in Mctom for Hojlund and Anthony for Shaw.

Poor choices from ETH.

Those would have been very poor choices in my view. To play Antony at left back would have been beyond absurd.

As for McTominay, in my view he shouldn't start games, certainly not as an attacker. He makes us poorer and less functional as a team because of his limitations. He's okay to come on as a high-impact sub in a lot of cases, but that's it.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Those would have been very poor choices in my view. To play Antony at left back would have been beyond absurd.

As for McTominay, in my view he shouldn't start games, certainly not as an attacker. He makes us poorer and less functional as a team because of his limitations. He's okay to come on as a high-impact sub in a lot of cases, but that's it.

Maybe not Antony for Lindelof (though genuinely he couldn't be any worse at Left Back) - but there are definitely better options then starting Lindelof at Left-Back (who genuinely doesn't look like a professional footballer when he plays there).

And I don't see how putting McT up front would make us function LESS as a team then Rashford up front? especially as a) he's not in midfield and b) Rashford is on the left where he is obviously much better/

 

[pacifictheme]

He tried that (well, minus Casemiro) yesterday. And it was the worst period of the game, where we lost all control and Fulham scored their first. So no thanks.

Yep. People can moan about Bruno all they want and he's far from perfect but feck me were we bad when he was stuck on the right, we clearly rely on him a lot centrally to make things happen. Took ten hag way too long to change things again when it was clear it wasn't working.

 

[Hughes35]

Those would have been very poor choices in my view. To play Antony at left back would have been beyond absurd.

As for McTominay, in my view he shouldn't start games, certainly not as an attacker. He makes us poorer and less functional as a team because of his limitations. He's okay to come on as a high-impact sub in a lot of cases, but that's it.

Worse than Rashford up front and Lindelof LB?

 

[justsomebloke]

Worse than Rashford up front and Lindelof LB?

Maybe not Antony for Lindelof (though genuinely he couldn't be any worse at Left Back) - but there are definitely better options then starting Lindelof at Left-Back (who genuinely doesn't look like a professional footballer when he plays there).

And I don't see how putting McT up front would make us function LESS as a team then Rashford up front? especially as a) he's not in midfield and b) Rashford is on the left where he is obviously much better/

Well, who? I'm not very comfortable with Lindelof at LB either, mainly due to his limited pace and lack of defensive directness stylistically. But in truth he did fairly well against Fulham, and it's hard to see that we have a better option as long as he keeps up that level of performance.

McT, as a striker he might have less impact on our overall game than he does at CM or as a no 10, but there's really not much to go on to assume he'd handle that position well?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Well, who? I'm not very comfortable with Lindelof at LB either, mainly due to his limited pace and lack of defensive directness stylistically. But in truth he did fairly well against Fulham, and it's hard to see that we have a better option as long as he keeps up that level of performance.

McT, as a striker he might have less impact on our overall game than he does at CM or as a no 10, but there's really not much to go on to assume he'd handle that position well?

No he didn't, he was absolutely feckin' awful. Amrabat was better at left back and he was really bad there too (he had one game at least where he looked sort of OK).

I am 100% certain Jonny Evans would be a better left back (because A. he has two good feet and B. He has a brain and C. he's not a giant wimp)

And there isn't much to go on to know if McT would play well up top (apart from the fact that he can finish well) - but we don't know for sure. What we all absolutely knew was that Rashford would be terrible up front, and by moving him there you've taken him out of his LW position where he'd been doing a lot better of late. So he basically hamstrung us twice by moving him up front.

 

[Melville Red]

Lindelhoff at leftbback is a disaster waiting to happen, surely we have a young lad in the under 21’s who could be given a chance?
Look at Liverpool and their kids yesterday, god I hate to use them as an example but I do wish ETH would stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, oh and ffs drop Rashford preferably from at least 100foot or The Fergie stand roof, whIch ever is the higher.

 

[justsomebloke]

No he didn't, he was absolutely feckin' awful. Amrabat was better at left back and he was really bad there too (he had one game at least where he looked sort of OK).

I am 100% certain Jonny Evans would be a better left back (because A. he has two good feet and B. He has a brain and C. he's not a giant wimp)

And there isn't much to go on to know if McT would play well up top (apart from the fact that he can finish well) - but we don't know for sure. What we all absolutely knew was that Rashford would be terrible up front, and by moving him there you've taken him out of his LW position where he'd been doing a lot better of late. So he basically hamstrung us twice by moving him up front.

He was not awful. He had good defensive control down his flank, and made several strong - and key - defensive interventions. He was arguably our best defender, at least if you don't consider Maguire's goal. He didn't contribute much on the ball, but that was absolutely a more than adequate performance.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Lindelhoff at leftbback is a disaster waiting to happen, surely we have a young lad in the under 21’s who could be given a chance?
Look at Liverpool and their kids yesterday, god I hate to use them as an example but I do wish ETH would stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, oh and ffs drop Rashford preferably from at least 100foot or The Fergie stand roof, whIch ever is the higher.

If he was going to play Lindelof, just don't get why he didn't keep him at RB and play Dalot where he has been playing him, LB. He messed about with the team too much. Fixing things that didn't need fixing.

 

[GaryLifo]

Everything I'm about to say comes from someone who has previously felt we need to keep the manager no matter what.

I've changed my mind finally after watching the Fulham game and then the Liverpool v Chelsea game yesterday.

If a Manchester United manager cannot set up a team to dominate a match against a very mediocre opposition, missing 2-3 of their best players after spending 400 million, then he is not the man for the gig.

I see no little to no basic control when we have the ball. We constantly, and I mean constantly, give the ball away within 2-3 passes in the opponent's half. The high press is dysfunctional and lacking any co-ordination such that teams find it laughably easy to just pass through us. Even worse, the players we have committed to the press are now way up the pitch jogging back slowly as highly average journeyman Premier league players run 40 yards unchallenged towards our goal.

How can a coach of ETH's experience not be able to set us up to first and foremost be really hard to break down? That's how transition is supposed to work. Let the opponents commit players forward then use your speed on the break to score (something we can actually do quite well).

If we go out the cup in mid-week, and we probably will let's be honest, there is no reason to keep Ten Hag for the rest of the season. The main reason is that Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern are definitely shopping for top managers already and I reckon Chelsea and Madrid will be too before long. We need to be in the mix now so that managers know the united job is going to be filled.

So, sorry Ten Hag, I really thought you were going to be the one, and thanks for the League cup win, but you are done for me now.

 

[justsomebloke]

If he was going to play Lindelof, just don't get why he didn't keep him at RB and play Dalot where he has been playing him, LB. He messed about with the team too much. Fixing things that didn't need fixing.

That would have been to mess more, not less, with the team. RB is decidedly Dalot's preferred position, he's been starting there for a long time and has generally been doing well. so doing it that way would mess with both FB positions instead of just one of them.

 

[redmanx]

Well, we won 4 Prem matches on the bounce, and I get the impression that some of our players think thats some sort of achievment! Where was the energy, the urgency, the press, the teamwork....we had it for 4 games, then its all gone! Yes at 1 - 0 down with about 15 minutes to play they actually started to look as if they wanted to be there and started playing, but what our players cannot get into their skulls is that football matches last for a minimum of 90 minutes! We either start slow, not at all, give away leads, concede stupid goals, all because the numb nuts cant seem to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time! City, Liverpool and Arsenal must be licking their lips in anticipation of an easy day and a big win. Forget the Champions League next season, we'll be lucky to finish 6th the way we're going, and 7th or 8th is a distinct possibility.

 

[lex talionis]

The question that matters is this: Did we deserve victory?

We did not.

 

[justsomebloke]

Well, we won 4 Prem matches on the bounce, and I get the impression that some of our players think thats some sort of achievment! Where was the energy, the urgency, the press, the teamwork....we had it for 4 games, then its all gone! Yes at 1 - 0 down with about 15 minutes to play they actually started to look as if they wanted to be there and started playing, but what our players cannot get into their skulls is that football matches last for a minimum of 90 minutes! We either start slow, not at all, give away leads, concede stupid goals, all because the numb nuts cant seem to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time! City, Liverpool and Arsenal must be licking their lips in anticipation of an easy day and a big win. Forget the Champions League next season, we'll be lucky to finish 6th the way we're going, and 7th or 8th is a distinct possibility.

Simple. The improvement we had was built on a different lineup. Without two pieces as key as Shaw and Højlund, this is how good we are.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

He was not awful. He had good defensive control down his flank, and made several strong - and key - defensive interventions. He was arguably our best defender, at least if you don't consider Maguire's goal. He didn't contribute much on the ball, but that was absolutely a more than adequate performance.

Well you're in the minority in that opinion - on the Caf match ratings he's the lowest rated defender and our 5th worst player.

He was dogshit, a non-entity going forward/on the ball and an absolute liability in defence. First half there man turned him easier then you'd turn a 2 year old and hit the post, then there was that weak defending for the goal, and his positioning/effort for the 2nd goal was embarrassing... and thats just 3 incidents off the top of my head.

Honestly, I can't get my head around anyone thinking Lindelof was not awful against Fulham.

 

[justsomebloke]

Well you're in the minority in that opinion - on the Caf match ratings he's the lowest rated defender and our 5th worst player.

He was dogshit, a non-entity going forward/on the ball and an absolute liability in defence. First half there man turned him easier then you'd turn a 2 year old and hit the post, then there was that weak defending for the goal, and his positioning/effort for the 2nd goal was embarrassing... and thats just 3 incidents off the top of my head.

Honestly, I can't get my head around anyone thinking Lindelof was not awful against Fulham.

For what it's worth, the commentators on Norwegian TV thought he was United's best player on the night, so I'm not entirely alone. Not that they're always spot on (or that I would go that far), but then neither is the Caf ratings, to put it mildly.

It's not easy to go adequately through specific situations from memory without sitting down to re-watch the whole game. But there were several situations where he did well taking out his man in the box, preventing or restricting dangerous situations. For instance, interfering enough with Muniz (I think it was) when he was played through on the right but fluffed his shot. The first situation you mention above, that was to my mind much more a terrific move by Muniz than a mistake by Lindelof - I doubt Martinez or anyone else would have done any better. The weak defending for the goal he was no more culpable than at least two others, and if I'm singling out anyone there it's Varane. I don't really see your point for the second Fulham goal, he wasn't involved in that situation at all. Perhaps that is your point, but this was a ball-loss high up in the pitch while we were pressing for a winner, and it's hardly automatically a grave positional error for a LB to be caught forward in that situation. He's not the one who loses the ball I think, it's Eriksen and Maguire who fail to stop the ball carrier, Maguire and Amad who can't make it back on time and Dalot and Varane who can't control the resulting 3 on 2.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

For what it's worth, the commentators on Norwegian TV thought he was United's best player on the night, so I'm not entirely alone. Not that they're always spot on (or that I would go that far), but then neither is the Caf ratings, to put it mildly.

It's not easy to go adequately through specific situations from memory without sitting down to re-watch the whole game. But there were several situations where he did well taking out his man in the box, preventing or restricting dangerous situations. For instance, interfering enough with Muniz (I think it was) when he was played through on the right but fluffed his shot. The first situation you mention above, that was to my mind much more a terrific move by Muniz than a mistake by Lindelof - I doubt Martinez or anyone else would have done any better. The weak defending for the goal he was no more culpable than at least two others, and if I'm singling out anyone there it's Varane. I don't really see your point for the second Fulham goal, he wasn't involved in that situation at all. Perhaps that is your point, but this was a ball-loss high up in the pitch while we were pressing for a winner, and it's hardly automatically a grave positional error for a LB to be caught forward in that situation. He's not the one who loses the ball I think, it's Eriksen and Maguire who fail to stop the ball carrier, Maguire and Amad who can't make it back on time and Dalot and Varane who can't control the resulting 3 on 2.

If you look at his position from the initial throw-in, he's in no-mans land. He is just standing doing nothing, then continues to stand and do nothing... doesn't even look to get back. Clichy and Carra highlighted it on MNF last night.

 

[Pughnichi]

How the hell have caf members seen Maguire as MoM? To slow to even foul a player for the Fulham winner...

A performance isn’t defined by 30 seconds.

honestly, he wasn’t great…the rest of them were just bloody awful. Maguire was decent at best…and at least looked like he was trying to compete.

 

[justsomebloke]

If you look at his position from the initial throw-in, he's in no-mans land. He is just standing doing nothing, then continues to stand and do nothing... doesn't even look to get back. Clichy and Carra highlighted it on MNF last night.

Hm, I'll have to find a different highlight package. Can't say I noticed at the time.

 

[honirelandboy]

He tried that (well, minus Casemiro) yesterday. And it was the worst period of the game, where we lost all control and Fulham scored their first. So no thanks.

Our best performance of the season was when Bruno wasn’t playing and we played a 4-3-3 against palace why I was saying to get rid of Bruno in the AM role and put him out right wing or as false 9. Im so fecking sick of this 4-2-3-1 and Bruno giving a free role.

 

[Craig Ward]

Yea, that's what I'd have done too. Just brought in Mctom for Hojlund and Anthony for Shaw.

Poor choices from ETH.

So play one of the most technically inept central midfield players we have as a striker? A position he cannot play

And also play a right winger, known (albeit rarely shown it here) for trickery and attacking prowess at LB?

Sure that would have worked out well.

Listen, Rashford might not be the answer, but he HAS played as a central striker for us and has done well there. We have literally no striker bar Hojlund and Rashford, so he was always going to play there.

For RW, I totally get trying Forson. Anthony is in shocking form, for some reason he seems reluctant to play Amad from the off so he had little other options. If we win the game, everyone's banging on about how great the decisions were.

Cant win them all.

But ETH is playing around with very limited options with injuries and abysmal form from 80% of his squad. Literally the man is screwed whatever he decides

Plays Antony - people complain he's favouring him over others and he's awful.
Doesn't play Antony - people complain we have a 90mil winger on the bench.

 

[justsomebloke]

Our best performance of the season was when Bruno wasn’t playing and we played a 4-3-3 against palace why I was saying to get rid of Bruno in the AM role and put him out right wing or as false 9. Im so fecking sick of this 4-2-3-1 and Bruno giving a free role.

That was against a second-string Palace squad who barely tried to attack, at home in the League Cup. Means little to nothing.

 

[mitchmouse]

A performance isn’t defined by 30 seconds.

honestly, he wasn’t great…the rest of them were just bloody awful. Maguire was decent at best…and at least looked like he was trying to compete.

well seems to me that he got MoM for less than 30 seconds: scoring the goal! I felt he was slow throughout and dived in too often when could have held off and jockeyed - then held of when a tackle was needed. but agree that he did look to be trying