[Judas]

Expected us to go out when the draw was made, which really says it with a home draw to bloody Fulham. Same old shite.

 

[Cwall22]

Will any negative mention of Amorim in this thread be censored?

Why are people being negative towards Amorim?

The players this club have signed post Ferguson have been crap, the managers get the sack just because you can't sack the players. The same players that got Ten Hag sacked are the same ones not performing now.

Watching the game today, the U15s I coach do more pressing than these lot they let other teams play round them with ease, then in possession they are off misplacing more passes than I've ever seen. They are not on the same page at all. I cant see what the manager, any manager can do with these players. You cannot make them want it. Keane called them bluffers and I can see exactly why now.

I've defended Hojlund and Zirkzee but I have absolutely no confidence in them at all. Took about 80 mins for Zirkzee to even win a header, then he was a bit better in extra time but they should be nothing more than back up to a top striker.

 

[JoseM4]

I'm like a broken record on this but Amorim needs to adapt quickly or he shouldn't see the end of the season.

1. INEOS chased Ashworth for a long while then gave him the boot when things didn’t go well. Will Amorim get the same treatment?

2. Onana never catches the ball and quickly gets the ball to our attackers. He plays like we’re winning 2-0 as he always slows down the game.

 

[JoseM4]

Lindelof shouldn’t be getting any minutes, far too passive for this system. Crap penalty to cap off a poor performance. Give all his minutes to Heaven, who bailed him out and looked much better.

Where were Garnacho and Mazraoui hiding when Amorim came up with the list of PK takers?

 

[wolvored]

The only good part with this resullt is Amorim gets more training with them, to play shit the next game.
Hojlund needs dropping. Obi looks loads better already.

 

[wolvored]

1. INEOS chased Ashworth for a long while then gave him the boot when things didn’t go well. Will Amorim get the same treatment?

2. Onana never catches the ball and quickly gets the ball to our attackers. He plays like we’re winning 2-0 as he always slows down the game.

Yes its so annoying and one of the many reasons we need a new goalie

 

[Herschel Krustofsky]

Our squad isn’t bad technically, and neither is our manager.

Our squad does lack the physicality needed to earn the right to play in the PL and also lacks confidence.

It’s not a great combo.

I suspect Amorim underestimated how much physically he could get out of the squad. I’m not sure that much can be done to improve their physicality outside replacing players with the necessary profile.

If the club can get the right profile players then Amorim may stand a chance. I believe this would be the same for a lot of other managers.

Interesting that the Amorim out crowd aren’t coming up with a credible alternative.

 

[lex talionis]

This was not a great Fulham side. My God our squad is horrible.

 

[FerociousCorgis]

Where were Garnacho and Mazraoui hiding when Amorim came up with the list of PK takers?

Had forgotten about garnacho. How the hell is lindelof taking one before him

 

[Shane88]

Our squad isn’t bad technically

Of course it is. Do you watch other teams and how they zip they ball about, how comfortable and effortless their touches are.

We are abysmal technically.

 

[MyDevil]

Damn. I thought he will put another goalkeeper there for penalty shootout. Thought that was the plan to have 2 GK on the bench.

 

[croadyman]

Not gonna criticise Lindelof and Zirkzee for stepping up after scoring in recent shoot outs

 

[Velvet Revolver]

I have never in my 28 years of watching football seen a team this bad in so many different aspects of the game.
Tactically - Bad
Positioning- Bad
Decision making - Bad
Basics - Bad
Playing as a team - Bad

I am surprised we are in the PL with such horrendous performances day in and day out.

 

[Judas]

For all of Garnacho's over confidence, inability to pass the ball and thinking he's the main man, for him to not step up for a pen, even with his age, says a lot.

 

[massey]

Bottle job tactics as usual.

 

[1988]

It's annoying how I have a feeling those 30 minutes of overtime will affect our chances on thursday. Also quite annoyed that Amorim in quite a few matches haven't picked a full squad. We had two empty seats on the bench yesterday.

 

[croadyman]

More of the same. We are regressing each match the manager stays around.

So you want Ruben out then

 

[Tincanalley]

Bruno was great. Maguire and de Ligt were good. Maz decent. Fair play to Heaven . Pity something didn’t go in for Chido. I feel for Lindelof and Zirkzee, stuff can happen in a shootout. This season is a holding pattern. Recruitment in summer essential.

 

[distant_red]

My mood dips whenever something about the club pops up online now. Think I’ll go back to just watching highlights for awhile.

 

[justsomebloke]

Had forgotten about garnacho. How the hell is lindelof taking one before him

Why the hell would Garnacho be taking penalties? Because of his consistent precision shooting?

 

[Gopher Brown]

Why the hell would Garnacho be taking penalties? Because of his consistent precision shooting?

Maybe because a forward would be working on their shooting technique more than a centre back in training?

Although, judging by his finishing, that’s very debatable

 

[Lyng]

Gotta admit I am not expecting anything anymore other than dissapointment. It doesnt matter who our manager or players are. We are not going to be United of old as long as the Glazers and Ineos are here.

 

[Irishman]

They milked their cow to death. Nothing but a rotting shell of its former self. Football Authorities in England must be so proud of their skullduggery. This is no accident at how far we have fallen. Any other big clubs fans wouldn't have tolerated it. We have and will continue to do so.

 

[KStandBarmyArmy1993]

Had forgotten about garnacho. How the hell is lindelof taking one before him

Lindelof has taken them before in bigger matches than that and normally taken them well.

The one in the 2023 semi final was an outstanding penalty.

 

[justsomebloke]

Maybe because a forward would be working on their shooting technique more than a centre back in training?

Although, judging by his finishing, that’s very debatable

Indeed it is. Personally I'm happy he's not taking penalties, and I would have been surprised if he was picked.

 

[Reds Under The Bed]

When it comes to Jim Ratcliffe's connection to the Glazers, the phrase useful idiot comes to mind.

 

[KStandBarmyArmy1993]

They milked their cow to death. Nothing but a rotting shell of its former self. Football Authorities in England must be so proud of their skullduggery. This is no accident at how far we have fallen. Any other big clubs fans wouldn't have tolerated it. We have and will continue to do so.

Nonsense. No big club in England would have done more than what we have to try and get them out. Even in most of Europe, the takeover wouldn't have been allowed to happen legally so would have been taken out of the hands of the fans anyway.

Granted, most ultras in Europe would have been kicking off outside the training ground but, in Manchester, that would have resulted in a load of people getting visits from GMP and a nice criminal record.

That aside, what more do you want us to do?
We had a game called off.
We had large scale protests.
We even had fans form their own club.
There was effigies of them in the ground when they took over.

 

[Lentwood]

There's no point talking about a 'system' when the fundamental truth is we massively lack the required physical attributes for anything but a low-block.

We looked marginally more of an attacking threat in the few minutes that Dorgu has been on the pitch - not because he's the World's greatest LB but because he's a good enough athlete to get up and down, which this system requires.

Eriksen, Fernandes, Maguire and De Ligt are fundamentally not athletic enough. Neither are the likes of Casemiro or Martinez.

I think in-time, De Ligt will move into the middle CB position and we'll get a much quicker LCB.

Dalot and Mazraoui can't play wing back. I'm not entirely sure why, to be completely honest! Both should have the attributes but just seem unable to grasp it...maybe on Mazraoui's part it might also be a lack of physicality. Not sure whether he's a world class athlete or not.

Zirzkee is also too slow and Hojlund is too weak / not good enough. What all of this lack of athleticism leads to in practicality is the disjointed setup you see on the pitch. Players can't get close enough to the opposition when defending but crucially, they can't get close enough to each other when attacking.

 

[stevoc]

the poster you're replying too is right in my opinion. we are in dire financial straight and Case, Lindelof are happy with their millions on the bench, Shaw and mount same but getting their wee fecking massages to earn it. Shaw made 8M since his last appearance. I know regular fans like myself are in cuckoo land and naive but where is the token toward the club? think of the credibility either would have to do some sort of financial token back to the club. .Sows the lot of them milking us the best they can while they are giving staff soup and rolls like some sort of derisory drop in homeless set up. Greed

 

[Craig Ward]

Where were Garnacho and Mazraoui hiding when Amorim came up with the list of PK takers?

Lindelof has a history of being in the first 5 for pens. I wasn't surprised to see him take one at all. I'd never have confidence in Maz for a pen! Garnacho doesnt exactly inspire confidence in front of goal either

 

[Craig Ward]

Another painful viewing experience.

The worst thing is it's not even a shock. I, like many other's fully expect an absolute shocker of a performance every single game.

I have zero faith in the bulk of these players playing this formation. I'm not seeing any patterns of play, i'm not seeing structure, i'm not seeing movement. I'm just seeing as looking lost, unmotivated and reacting to situations rather than anticipating them.

Due to our wing backs being absolutely useless going forward, we are essentially playing a back 5. The wide CB's and WB's often look like they're unsure who to pick up, so they sorta just linger about in space marking no one. When there is movement - we're so static and flat footed we can't keep track of even the most basic movement.

The fact we insist on this set up is starting to really bug me. We rotate the CB's every single game, there's no signs of even the marginal improvement to the formation from the bulk of players, it's also so evident to me that we are playing players in the wrong position.

Dalot cannot play wing back. He just can't. Awful wing back
Bruno cannot be a holding midfielder. I admire his workrate and all that but he is a creative player. He's not suited to a deep role.

Onana. Isn't he supposed to be an elite ball playing GK? He takes an age on the ball and hits hit high and long every single time. Without fail. Often into space and to no one.

Coupled the formation not working, players out of position, we also have so many players who have hit a brick wall in terms of confidence. Hojlund is the fall guy - we batter and berate him for not being good enough, but honestly he's so young and raw he's got no chance. The service we give him is nowhere near good enough - we just do not attack or get the ball in the right areas. Garnacho for all his running intent it seems nothing is working for him - another victim of the formation.

Casemiro and Eriksen are a hard watch at the moment too - just jogging around doing the very bare minimum.

Our style of play is so slow too - the passing is always very laboured, slow, predictable. There's very little forward movement to be fair - but that's cos we play so deep - essentially 5 defenders and 2 holder's. How on earth we can be so open and passive with the volume of players we have deep is a mystery but honestly we must be a dream to play against.

Another game we have been outplayed, outfought and deserved to be on the losing side.

I dont think there's much to be positive about, although I though Zirkzee put a shift in. He's got great ball control. De Ligt had some good moments too. The rest? Shambolic as ever

 

[Matt851]

Our best players bar Bruno were the centre backs, and is unsurprising because we play a back 5 so the centre backs are the only ones this system suits

 

[Andrei Kanspellthis]

I support Amorim 100% but needing a goal and watching a flat back 5 with 1 body in mid field is going to take some time getting use to.

This is my main issue with the formation - not sure I've ever seen it as an advantage other than in Liverpool game when the three centre backs, playing with more intensity, stepped in and stepped up to stop transitional attacks. With the three playing flat, we always, always look outnumbered in midfield, with few options, forcing us to progress via wingbacks playing out of their usual positions.

Seen some improvement in fits and starts from Zirkzee, absolutely none in Hojland. Garnacho could benefit from some training to refine his one-on-one finishes

 

[SteveCoppellFan]

This United squad is littered with players who are unwilling to pass the ball forward or take any kind of risk whatsoever.

I'm sure they pass the ball forward for fun on the training ground but once they cross that white line on a match day they just bottle it big time.

There is very little a manager can do with players like that.

 

[Zed 101]

If we get a decent offer for Garna in the summer he needs to go, just so wasteful, no end product yet again

Chido has to start in front of Hojlund for now, he was finding better space, providing better link up and actually had/ created a couple of good chances, I still think that Hojlund has a quality and could be a player but right now he needs to sit it out, maybe come on as a sub with less pressure on him.

I actually thought we played ok today, I think we have been better since the 2nd half vs Everton we are just lacking any sort of quality in attack other than Bruno.

DeLigt has been shaky recently but today he looked back to his best absolutely stonking.

 

[Mmm-Qatarian]

My exceedingly unpopular take here is that we actually weren't that crap yesterday, or at least in the second half and in extra time we weren't.

Of course, going out of the FA Cup to Fulham at home is massively disappointing. With that said, that was the first game in a while where I'd say that more of our players played well than badly. There were some moments of genuine quality in transition, and aside from a goal conceded that has become far too typical for this United side the defensive performance was resolute too.

There's a mountain to climb before this team is even close to where it should be but that was the first game in a long time where I saw some encouraging signs.

 

[GaryLifo]

When Amad got injured, that was our most confident fearless goal threat removed from the team.

He was the only one who could run at players and make them play in the back foot. It's a modern curse of this club that we lose to bad injuries every season the player that was making the biggest difference. Think back to the Europa league final when Maguire was injured (and yes, he really was that good in that season), or in ten Hag's first season with Martinez breaking his foot.

 

[GaryLifo]

My exceedingly unpopular take here is that we actually weren't that crap yesterday, or at least in the second half and in extra time we weren't.

Of course, going out of the FA Cup to Fulham at home is massively disappointing. With that said, that was the first game in a while where I'd say that more of our players played well than badly. There were some moments of genuine quality in transition, and aside from a goal conceded that has become far too typical for this United side the defensive performance was resolute too.

There's a mountain to climb before this team is even close to where it should be but that was the first game in a long time where I saw some encouraging signs.

I completely agree with you. We were the better of two poor looking teams for the majority of the game, and in flashes I can see exactly how it might look with more physically blessed players in key positions.

I still maintain that it is in midfield that we must invest most heavily. We need two strong and athletic midfielders who can carry the ball forward. I watched Brighton yesterday and they seemed to have found exactly this yet again for good transfer fees.

 

[AB_89]

This was not a great Fulham side. My God our squad is horrible.

Why is this suddenly being said after Fulham beat us on penalties? Yes, they didn't play particularly well for part of the first half, however this is a Fulham side that is doing really well in the league. They are sitting 1 point behind Brighton and Bournemouth who are being heaped with praise at the moment.

This season they have beaten Newcastle twice, Nottingham Forest twice, Chelsea, Brighton and drawn with Arsenal and Liverpool.

They are a solid, well organised and well coached team. Yes, Fulham are a team we should be beating however they are not a poor side.

 

[Buster15]

I completely agree with you. We were the better of two poor looking teams for the majority of the game, and in flashes I can see exactly how it might look with more physically blessed players in key positions.

I still maintain that it is in midfield that we must invest most heavily. We need two strong and athletic midfielders who can carry the ball forward. I watched Brighton yesterday and they seemed to have found exactly this yet again for good transfer fees.

Spot on.
Yes we are in dire need of significantly better forwards.
But the engine room of any good side is midfield.
We saw yesterday flashes of Casemiro passing efficiently rather than our normal long range passes that are at best 50/50 and usually leave the player completely isolated.

Edit.
Unless you have a strong midfield you have no chance of exerting any control.