[OverratedOpinion]

He did ok but some of his passes were really poor though

Yeah you came to talk about a preconceived notion about a player rather than his actual performance.

Waste of time.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Casemiro was very good and should have had a beautiful assist.

Yeah I thought that was very much similar to a 22-23 Case game. Praying it's not a one off and this is his level all season.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Yeah I thought that was very much similar to a 22-23 Case game. Praying it's not a one off and this is his level all season.

TBF he played the way he did when he wasn't asked to be the only man in midfield. There is a pretty consistent thread with Casemiro.

Play him in a formation that allows any chance of him (or any midfielder that isn't 2017 Kante) doing well and he usually will.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

Good games for Mazraoui and Maguire.
We could have won this game 3-0, but just as easily could have lost.

It's early days, lack of fitness, new players to bed in.

I expect us to look better with a proper striker playing the full 90, but still, we're a long way off the top of the league.

A very long season ahead. I don't expect us to turn into something great anytime soon.

We have some exciting talent in this team. Hopefully it bears fruit in 2026 or something.

 

[stu_1992]

Decent game from us. A bit of a slow start but we really grew into the game but we really should have been 1 or 2-0 up at half time. The finishing was my only real frustration from that half.

Second half started okay, but it really felt like we saw the openness of last season once we made a few subs and changed the shape a bit. So that led to a frustrating and sometimes nervy period. Thankfully we managed it and then we got the reward with the big moment for Zirkzee. Delighted for him. Can't ask for a better start. Aside from the goal, there was a couple of examples of decent link up play top so he's encouraging.

Man of the match for me was Mazourai to be honest. He looked very good on the ball and had some big defensive actions. Was very impressed with him today

 

[December_16]

Good games for Mazraoui and Maguire.
We could have won this game 3-0, but just as easily could have lost.

It's early days, lack of fitness, new players to bed in.

I expect us to look better with a proper striker playing the full 90, but still, we're a long way off the top of the league.

A very long season ahead. I don't expect us to turn into something great anytime soon.

We have some exciting talent in this team. Hopefully it bears fruit in 2026 or something.

We couldn’t really have lost, as Fulham created next to no goalscoring chance. Yes they messed up final passes that could’ve been dangerous, but as we saw with Garnacho’s miss, a goal is not a goal until it’s in the net, no matter how easy.

On the other hand, Leno was huge for them, we could’ve scored another 2-3 goals on another day. Just glad it wasn’t 0-0 league opener.

 

[Dazzmondo]

Casemiro needs to be gone asap.

Bruno needs to learn how to put those chances away!

Casemiro was one of our best players today

 

[Will Singh]

Zirkzee is a breath of fresh air

 

[Sanchez7]

Just watching Marco Silva's interview - he said that Fulham got too emotional in the last 15 mins and lost their structure. He is 100% right imo, we reverted to playing ping-pong football as desperation set in and a better team would have punished us in a similar manner to last season.

I don't know how Brighton's new manager plays, but they won't make these mistakes as they are much more composed and have beaten us 4 times in the last 5 in the league.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

We couldn’t really have lost, as Fulham created next to no goalscoring chance. Yes they messed up final passes that could’ve been dangerous, but as we saw with Garnacho’s miss, a goal is not a goal until it’s in the net, no matter how easy.

On the other hand, Leno was huge for them, we could’ve scored another 2-3 goals on another day. Just glad it wasn’t 0-0 league opener.

Well yeah, bad wording on my end. I should have written that it wouldn't have surprised me one bit had we lost that, conceding one from a corner or what have you.

we still were the better team overall.

 

[Mystry]

Optimist in me thinks its first game back nerves where there is the cloud of last season hanging over the team and the manager. Even so, we were no where near as open and conceding chances for most of the match like last season. We also probably created more chances than we would have last season and it was poor finishing that let us down. We got 3 points, our new signing scored, Mazraoui looked great and Maguire looked really good too.

Then the other side is a lot of last seasons failings started to show against an average Fulham side that lost its best player. I don't hold out much hope for Rashford rediscovering form this season. He was heavily involved but I still thought he slowed down our play a lot and went back a lot. Bruno needs a boot up the arse or a rest.

 

[sparx99]

One thing that comes to mind watching today is that we actually look like a team that is developing. Last season it was almost impossible to see progress whereas we do seem to have noticeable improvements now.

There were several passing moves in the community shield (particularly where Amad squared it) and today when Bruno should have scored that we weren’t able to produce last season.

Early days but I do see reasons for optimism at last.

 

[Melville Red]

A good opening game, quite entertaining and the game deserved more than one goal.
A great finish by Zirkzee and I was also impressed with Harry.
Very happy with the win, but and there’s always a but we do not need Rashford on the pitch.

 

[MF1138]

We had some poor individual errors that could have cost us rather than any issues with the basic set up. Would have been nice to take our chances and put a bit of a shine on it. But maybe the late winner will be more of a boost, particularly when it was well deserved.

 

[Jack-C20]

Maguire man of the match for me. Mazraoui looked very composed especially as it was his debut. Martinez very composed. Onana didn’t have much to do. Mainoo brightest of the midfield but I liked their work rate. We definitely look more composed defensively which is a huge positive. Still struggling to finish chances as usual though.

 

[Castia]

Awkward at times but we could have scored 3-4 goals tonight comfortably

Not bad for the first game of the season

 

[ChorleySam]

Starting the season with a win and a clean sheet is all I could have wished for. Solid performance from Mazraoui, Bruno off the boil finishing wise but any other day would have been 3-0. Just glad it's on a day we ended up winning 1-0. One game at a time.

 

[The Purley King]

It was still good enough though, if the pass is that poor then what was the finish?

It wasn’t at all.
Had garnacho got that on target the keeper would have saved it, he’d made massive strides in coming across.
That pass was never on in that situation.

 

[December_16]

Well yeah, bad wording on my end. I should have written that it wouldn't have surprised me one bit had we lost that, conceding one from a corner or what have you.

we still were the better team overall.

All good, I agree! Not unlike us to concede some soft goal off of corners or some unlucky deflections. Martinez’s clearance made my heart skip a beat. Glad we got the 3 points.

 

[sparx99]

Optimist in me thinks its first game back nerves where there is the cloud of last season hanging over the team and the manager. Even so, we were no where near as open and conceding chances for most of the match like last season. We also probably created more chances than we would have last season and it was poor finishing that let us down. We got 3 points, our new signing scored, Mazraoui looked great and Maguire looked really good too.

Then the other side is a lot of last seasons failings started to show against an average Fulham side that lost its best player. I don't hold out much hope for Rashford rediscovering form this season. He was heavily involved but I still thought he slowed down our play a lot and went back a lot. Bruno needs a boot up the arse or a rest.

We seemed to get more open after subs but also chasing victory. That’s what I would want us to do so no problem with going for it.

 

[Sied]

 

[lysglimt]

I would not want to be Tom Cairney when the Fulham-manager sees that goal in a replay. His defensive job against Bruno was what cost them the goal. I just don't understand how he can let Bruno slip past him down there with nowhere to go. And by being there and losing the ball - he leaves a huge gap in central midfield where Zirkzee have all the time in the world to advance

 

[al tuna]

Thought Maguire had a terrific match. Rashford was frustrating to say the least. Thrilled for Zirkzee, have had silent optimism he'd do well. He's a towering player out there, was very impressed with him. Casemiro was a pleasant surprise. Mazraoui did very well.

First match, some good and some bad. Definitely need some type of midfield reinforcement before the window closes. Sometimes ugly, grinding wins are good for morale, but it certainly shouldn't have been that tough.

 

[redmanx]

Casemiro was one of our best players today

Casemiro has always been a class act and tonight he was excellent...but can he keep it up? Nobody expects him to put him performances like this all season, but last season many of his performances dropped below an acceptable level.

 

[gerdm07]

It was still good enough though, if the pass is that poor then what was the finish?

IMO Garnacho was expecting it to his other foot and in front of him. So when Rashford misplaced it Garnacho was leaning the wrong way so he couldn't adjust. Maybe Garnacho could have done better but he didn't expect such a poor ball from Rashford.

 

[JediSith]

Rashford is crap.
Bruno is great but not a modern day number 10 on two occasions he ignored the through ball or the player making the run to side of him.

Other than that good win. Casemiro was much better than last season , but we can’t rely on him for the entire season.

The new signings were great. RB MOTM most likely.

 

[noodlehair]

Fulham are a decent side and overall I thought we were slightly the better team and had some solid if not spectacular performers. It was nice to watch a game where it didn't feel like the other team had about 50,000 shots on goal. Much better than 95% of last season. However the first 20 and most of the last 20 minutes were...not good.

- Maguire MOTM imo. Some of Martinez's meanness seemed to rub off on him

- Casemiro in looking much more like Casemiro when he's not left to play in midfield entirely on his own and cover the ground of 3 people shocker. It will of course take half a season of this before some caf members stop talking about him as if he died of old age in 1994.

- Too lazy to spell his name but the new fullback was decent. He looked aggressive. He is definitely a better fullback than any of the players we pretended were fullbacks last year. For a debut in a tough game very impressive.

- Martinez cancelling Traore a few minutes after getting cooked by him was amusing, as was him informing Carragher that he "sent Traore to the gym" after the game.

- One thing we should try is not aiming all of our shots directly at the opposition goalkeeper.

- Another thing to try is not doing this thing where we leave 1 defender back and then get one of our forwards to try a take on vs half the opposition team while our other 8 outfield players are all in the opposition box. I am not a football coach but this just seems to fall firmly under the category of "completely insane/what in the actual f*ck are you idiots doing?"

Neville relentless talking of the shite watch:
- Wanting Martinez to "step off" Traore more when he had already given himself about a 4 yards of room. Presumably Neville thinks Martinez should have stepped off so much that he was no longer on the pitch so it would automatically be a goal kick if Traore ran past him.
- Muttering "shocking" because Onana dared to play an 80 yard pass off the pitch, in a half where various midfielders constantly made a mess of much easier passes.
- Constant bemoaning Fulham being the better team until a stat came up showing the last 4 shots on goal were from United, then, without a hint of shame, changing his tune mid sentence to United being the better team.
- Needless and bafflingly constant use of the word "interference" in post match analysis, which was basically him saying that he wants to see "interference" over and over.
- Awarding of MOTM to Zirkzee after a game in which multiple defenders performed extremely well including one making their debut in the league.

Smith Row - Kept in tact his status of being the most highly rated player I have never actually seen play.

 

[Reiver]

If we hadn't got a winner I would have come on here and had a right moan but its the first game of the season and we won, so I think I should be a bit more positive.
Well done to Zirkzee, good debut from him. Casemiro and Maguire were also good. We were the better team for large stretches of the match, something you couldn't often say last season.
If he's fit then Zirkzee needs to start as the 4-6-0 is terrible and we'll achieve bugger all with it.

 

[DavelinaJolie]

A strange game really. Some good spells of play and ended up being a lot more stressful than needed (could have scored 4). Thought Maguire and Mazrouai were very good, Onana looked sharp mostly.

Still not convinced by the midfield.

 

[The Irish Connection]

Our attackers are going to drive Ruud to drink

How many years is this going on for?
Anyway, we look a bit more solid in midfield.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Casemiro was one of our best players today

His shooting though

 

[DJ_21]

How many years is this going on for?
Anyway, we look a bit more solid in midfield.

Still need Ugarte. He’d improve us so much. Midfield still looks weak when we’re getting attacked on.

 

[Mickson]

Fulham are a decent side and overall I thought we were slightly the better team and had some solid if not spectacular performers. It was nice to watch a game where it didn't feel like the other team had about 50,000 shots on goal. Much better than 95% of last season. However the first 20 and most of the last 20 minutes were...not good.

- Maguire MOTM imo. Some of Martinez's meanness seemed to rub off on him

- Casemiro in looking much more like Casemiro when he's not left to play in midfield entirely on his own and cover the ground of 3 people shocker. It will of course take half a season of this before some caf members stop talking about him as if he died of old age in 1994.

- Too lazy to spell his name but the new fullback was decent. He looked aggressive. He is definitely a better fullback than any of the players we pretended were fullbacks last year. For a debut in a tough game very impressive.

- Martinez cancelling Traore a few minutes after getting cooked by him was amusing, as was him informing Carragher that he "sent Traore to the gym" after the game.

- One thing we should try is not aiming all of our shots directly at the opposition goalkeeper.

- Another thing to try is not doing this thing where we leave 1 defender back and then get one of our forwards to try a take on vs half the opposition team while our other 8 outfield players are all in the opposition box. I am not a football coach but this just seems to fall firmly under the category of "completely insane/what in the actual f*ck are you idiots doing?"

Neville relentless talking of the shite watch:
- Wanting Martinez to "step off" Traore more when he had already given himself about a 4 yards of room. Presumably Neville thinks Martinez should have stepped off so much that he was no longer on the pitch so it would automatically be a goal kick if Traore ran past him.
- Muttering "shocking" because Onana dared to play an 80 yard pass off the pitch, in a half where various midfielders constantly made a mess of much easier passes.
- Constant bemoaning Fulham being the better team until a stat came up showing the last 4 shots on goal were from United, then, without a hint of shame, changing his tune mid sentence to United being the better team.
- Needless and bafflingly constant use of the word "interference" in post match analysis, which was basically him saying that he wants to see "interference" over and over.
- Awarding of MOTM to Zirkzee after a game in which multiple defenders performed extremely well including one making their debut in the league.

Smith Row - Kept in tact his status of being the most highly rated player I have never actually seen play.

They may be a decent side in general but they were very poor tonight. United did ok though.

 

[DJ_21]

Casemiro needs to be gone asap.

Bruno needs to learn how to put those chances away!

Casemiro was one of the better players today. Think we still need Ugarte but you can’t really blame Casemiro for anything today.

 

[flameinthesun]

Just watching Marco Silva's interview - he said that Fulham got too emotional in the last 15 mins and lost their structure. He is 100% right imo, we reverted to playing ping-pong football as desperation set in and a better team would have punished us in a similar manner to last season.

I don't know how Brighton's new manager plays, but they won't make these mistakes as they are much more composed and have beaten us 4 times in the last 5 in the league.

I think one of the issues with our team is that we get too emotional. You could see it in Garnacho especially who was just rushing everything. The control we displayed prior to the changes and for a good portion of the first half is what we have to build on. Pinning them back in their half. The problem with our players especially last season was that it seemed like we'd lose our heads and panic a bit. But I think that will come if we start winning more and can start to feel comfortable and confident in the tactics.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

- Casemiro in looking much more like Casemiro when he's not left to play in midfield entirely on his own and cover the ground of 3 people shocker. It will of course take half a season of this before some caf members stop talking about him as if he died of old age in 1994.

Exactly this.

 

[NewGlory]

Absolutely fecking loved Zirkzee. Want to see way more of him, and De Ligt of course. Mazraoui looked good as well

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Casemiro needs to be gone asap.

kin ell

 

[AndyMUFC]

We deserved the win and definitely looked better than last season in the first half. Pressed well, played with intensity and should've been winning. Amad and Mount suit that type of football.

Second half wasn't great and became more of the familiar basketball match as it went on, but Zirkzee proved to be the difference.

I'm reasonably encouraged overall. We're still not very clinical in front of goal so hopefully Hojlund and Zirkzee can solve that and the midfield balance is definitely still off so we could definitely do with a 6. Sort those two things out and we might be alright.

 

[Tincanalley]

Plan A - BF as a False Nine, Mount in the attacking midfield. Interesting. Needs time but has lots of promise. Plan B - McT, AG and ZZ. Unplayable.