[Tincanalley]

damp squib
noun

A firework that fails to go off, due to wetting.

Anything that doesn’t work properly, or fails to come up to expectations.

A damp squid is an unhappy squid. They like the depths where it’s positively soaking.

 

[JediSith]

If you got Pep, Klopp or even SAF in for 2 training sessions you arent going to achieve a lot.

Modern football is about systems and knowing what you are doing in a system.

You can't get that visceral almost automation response in 2 sessions.

Itll take time and I think Europa league and Cup matches will be perfect to take the training wheels off a bit.

This season we just need to engrain what the responsibilities are on each player, when to run, how to press, what to do in and out of possession. We arent going to see that in 2 training sessions.

Exactly. Anyone who expected a sudden change in style of play and for it to work probably also expects one day of boxing training to turn someone into a fighter.

Today, and coming matches, will expose who’s not good enough, who is, etc. we still need to see so many combinations eg Martinez, De Ligt , Yoro as the 3 cb. Ugarte and Mainoo as the two CM’s plus all the possibilities we have for the two 10 positions

 

[Glaswegian Red]

I’m not concerned. The guy is just in the door. Missed working with half the team as they were on international duty.

Played a lot of the second string and everyone was playing a new formation. Could have been much worse. Not a bad start given how much time he’s had.

 

[fanta cloud]

We need to play the following when fit (which will be never):

Onana

Yoro
De Ligt
Martinez

Dalot
Ugarte
Mainoo
Shaw

Fernandes
Amad

Hojlund/Garnacho


It's so ridiculously frustrating watching Rashford. Yes he scored, but he did nothing after it. Eriksen needs to go in January. Fernandes dropped back into CM where he's pointless. Amad is wasted as a RWB. Dalot can't play on the left.

Evans has been a great servant but today he was abysmal. Get rid in January too.

I hope Amorim drops Rashford. He really was dreadful and has zero pace anymore.

Amad is our only threatening attacker. Garnacho next with a humongous drop off to Hojlund, Rashford, Zirkzee and Antony. We are seriously dreadful in front of goal.

I'd love if we bought a new CM and CF in January and got rid of Eriksen, Rashford + other deadwood.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

So, firstly it’s almost impossible to glean anything of definitive value from a first outing like that. But….

1. The difference between first half and second half was huge. You could see his half time talk and adjustments had a really positive impact. That’s great to see.

2. Team needs the ability to pass out from the back and a more aggressive press from the back. The introduction of Shaw made a massive difference.

3. I thought Bruno and Amad were outstanding today. For Amad to play as well as he did, despite being a wingback, was just remarkable.

4. None of our forwards are really “it”. Fair to give Amorim time to work with them and see what happens. But I fully expect to see Mount make the team when fully fit, because the other options are quite poor.

5. Amad in an attacking position is a must. He’s our most dangerous player. But who plays RWB?

6. Lots of things for Amorim to work on, but I’m excited to see the results. We had something like 75% possession in the second half and the emergence of some patterns that were hugely encouraging, after just two training sessions.

7. I love what Amorim said after the game about not waiting to implement his system. He wants to take a risk and go with it from day one, and it’s that kind of powerful identity which will be so important to our future success.

There will be loads of line up changes I expect but I would love to see something like:

Onana

Yoro — De Ligt — Martinez

Antony — Mainoo — Ugarte — Mazroui

Amad — — Bruno

Garnacho
​

Or, Amad out wide right, and Mount in the middle. I think pace up front is important, and maybe that is any one of Garnacho, Rashford or Hojlund. If Amad moves in field, then what left footed, hard working, attack minded wide player do we have who could play that role? Really only Antony. His one big quality is that he works hard, and so is good on the press and is obviously attack minded.

I’m not a fan of the setup with two inverted wingers, as we saw today. What we really need is someone who can get to the byline and deliver quality balls into the box. Our only goal came from Amad doing just that, but it’s not his natural game.

I think a wing pairing of Malacia(LM)/Amad(RM) or Garnacho(LM)/Dalot(RM) would create a much better balance but that's something Amorim will have to play with and hope that he finds the best balance.

We could do with AV25.

 

[The Irish Connection]

Decent second half. With players coming back from internationals a good chunk of players weren’t ready to start. Ideally Rashford, Eriksen and Evans wouldn’t be starting.
I think today was as much an experiment than anything. Let’s hope Amorim will learn and implement the right changes for the next game.
Shaw was much better than Evans at lcb.
It’s clear we need Gyokeres, but we improved once Hojlund came on as he ran the channels, held it up better and stretched the game a bit more. He should have shot when he had the opportunity though.

 

[Tincanalley]

More and more I think football just isn't for me anymore. Was bored out my mind watching that.

Poor you. Bye now.

 

[Plant0x84]

The phrase is damp squib.

Keep reading the thread, you’ll get there eventually!

 

[Plant0x84]

More and more I think football just isn't for me anymore. Was bored out my mind watching that.

What more did you expect?

 

[Its all gone Shane Long]

It’s clear we need Gyokeres,

We need more than him, we need a midfield, preferably one that has a frank lampard scoring boots attached

 

[Tincanalley]

What doesn't change is more activity on post match threads when United don't win.

True. Most are trolls.

 

[justsomebloke]

A little bit anticlimactic? I didn't take it for granted it would go well, but somehow I didn't expect basically just more of the same drab mediocrity. Oh well, just the first game I suppose.

 

[justsomebloke]

We need to play the following when fit (which will be never):

Onana

Yoro
De Ligt
Martinez

Dalot
Ugarte
Mainoo
Shaw

Fernandes
Amad

Hojlund/Garnacho


It's so ridiculously frustrating watching Rashford. Yes he scored, but he did nothing after it. Eriksen needs to go in January. Fernandes dropped back into CM where he's pointless. Amad is wasted as a RWB. Dalot can't play on the left.

Evans has been a great servant but today he was abysmal. Get rid in January too.

I hope Amorim drops Rashford. He really was dreadful and has zero pace anymore.

Amad is our only threatening attacker. Garnacho next with a humongous drop off to Hojlund, Rashford, Zirkzee and Antony. We are seriously dreadful in front of goal.

I'd love if we bought a new CM and CF in January and got rid of Eriksen, Rashford + other deadwood.

I thought Bruno was excellent when he dropped back into CM. We were a much better team with him and Ugarte rather than Cas and Eriksen.

 

[noodlehair]

Evans is so off the pace it's embarrassing. He has no business being a PL defender. He marks space instead of players because he knows he can't trust his pace or strength, and then he gets caught out every time he has to turn because he can't move as quick as the opponent.

I know he's got history with the club and has been a good servant, amd its not his fault so i feel bad singling him out, but we shouldn't be a charity. He gets praised for performances our other defenders would be slaughtered for because he gets some kind of sympathy allowance. His legs have gone and he wasn't good enough in his first spell at the club when he could actually get about the pitch.

As long as we're lowering our standards to accommodate players, those lower standards are what we will get on the pitch.

Really hope Amorim draws a line under this. If you want to change the culture and mentality it has to apply to every player.

We're going to have this problem with a few players. Eriksen is another. Nothing against him at all but he doesn't keep up with the game anymore.

 

[peridigm]

I hope we've seen the last of Evans, Casemiro, and Eriksen. At least in any starting capacity.

We need to play the following when fit (which will be never):

Onana

Yoro
De Ligt
Martinez

Dalot
Ugarte
Mainoo
Shaw

Fernandes
Amad

Hojlund/Garnacho


It's so ridiculously frustrating watching Rashford. Yes he scored, but he did nothing after it. Eriksen needs to go in January. Fernandes dropped back into CM where he's pointless. Amad is wasted as a RWB. Dalot can't play on the left.

Evans has been a great servant but today he was abysmal. Get rid in January too.

I hope Amorim drops Rashford. He really was dreadful and has zero pace anymore.

Amad is our only threatening attacker. Garnacho next with a humongous drop off to Hojlund, Rashford, Zirkzee and Antony. We are seriously dreadful in front of goal.

I'd love if we bought a new CM and CF in January and got rid of Eriksen, Rashford + other deadwood.

I think your proposed lineup is worth a go sooner rather than later. I'd have Mazraoui over Dalot though.

 

[BehemothTerror]

Felt the biggest issue today was a lack of pace and energy in the middle. De Ligt, Evans, Casemiro, Eriksen have strengths but all of them together doesn't have have a lot of strength or speed in it. Think when Ugarte came on we definitely looked abit better in that regard.

 

[Theo88]

1. We didnt press. - or i didnt see us pressing in a meaningful way anyway. i was really looking forward to the trademark 5-man press Sporting deployed but i barely noticed any effort from our front 3 to initiate it. Maybe they didnt have an instruction to do so.
2. We dont seem to be able to break down the press. we got caught 5-6 times passing the ball all the way to Onana with no obvious options. That suggests lack of movement ? Our guys dont seem to be able to fully understand the formation and off the ball movement yet but that's probably sensible given how much time they had with RA.
3. I'm still not sure what position Bruno was meant to occupy
4. I admit i expected (or hoped) for more, but it would be silly to expect the team to respond to such a tactical change so soon. This is almost pre-season friendlies for them.
5. It's too early to judge Rash (everyone deserves some time with RA), but if this is the kind of performances we are getting from i cant see how he can retain a position in the starting 11. His passing is really dreadful.
6. Mazraoui was everywhere. really everywhere.

 

[oz insomniac]

Onana was very good again today.
Erickson and Casemiro just don’t have the legs to play often, although Casemiro adds more .
What on earth does Rashford do to get picked consistently, after that first 2 minutes didn’t feel like he put 8na shift at all.
Zirkzee seems more like a spelling test than a footballer, Hojlund at least is some sort of physical presence, and did score regularly until he came under the ETH spell

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

A game where the manager comes away with credit but the players don’t. He fixed the problems that needed fixing, made smart subs and his team played better after the half time talk. That’s really all he can influence when he’s only been working with them a wet weekend.

Squid wet or squib wet?

 

[The Purley King]

Not great by any stretch. But it’s the first game and things will take some time to bed in.
Casemiro, eriksen, rashford and zirkzee should have played themselves out of any future line up (hopefully)
Let’s see what Amorim does next as surely he must see what the rest if us see.

 

[stu_1992]

Oh well, not the fairly tale start we wanted. I won't pretend it's not a little deflating but it is what it is. We will hopefully get there once Amorim gets to spend some more time with the players. I never expected he would hwve transformed us in this game, but I was hoping a new manager bounce would be enough to get us a few wins to start.

Great stuff by Amad for our goal. Onana and Mazraoui were good as well I thought, but otherwise not too much else we can credit in that game. A bit of fortune for Ipswich with the deflection for their goal, but I don't think it can be argued that they didn't deserve anything.

 

[Aresma7]

Ideal result from one angle. Damps down the hype a tad. I thought the players tried. They are not used to his more attacking mentality, but that will come. I don’t think he should have commented on individual players. Great we got that early goal using his plan. It’s a little ray of hope. Onana was great today.

True, that early goal was some drilled stuff and probably fresh in mind from practice. After a while the players was using too much time in the decision making process to fully exploit the advantages the new system gives..

Feel like he named bruno and dalot as they are Portuguese and have a safe relation. Like he knows they won’t make a fuss about it.

 

[surf]

The team selection is always a headache after an international break, what with players coming back late or injured or not having trained with the team. I'm sure this wasn't Amorim's ideal starting XI. Onward and upwards. Am looking forward to how he integrates Yoro and Mainoo, which should be a big step forward.

 

[Frank Grimes]

I can't believe how negative it is here. Our lack of goal scoring was never going to be solved in 1 game.

There was some lovely play but ultimately it's good he sees how crap we are in front of goal and that this something we urgently need to address imho.

What minihte was that? Oh yea the second minute. It was shite no point saying otherwise.

 

[TwoSheds]

I reckon he'll make a bit of an example out of someone that played today and you won't see them for a while in favour of a younger player. Onana was incredible, Amad very good and then there was a few passable performances but overall it wasn't near the level for me.

 

[Frank Grimes]

What is the point of Zirkzee

I certainly don't Zirk it with him but who nose.

 

[RedRocket9908]

I certainly don't Zirk it with him but who nose.

Lets just wait and zee what Amorim does with him

 

[ValenciasDrilledCrosses]

Evans is so off the pace it's embarrassing. He has no business being a PL defender. He marks space instead of players because he knows he can't trust his pace or strength, and then he gets caught out every time he has to turn because he can't move as quick as the opponent.

I know he's got history with the club and has been a good servant, amd its not his fault so i feel bad singling him out, but we shouldn't be a charity. He gets praised for performances our other defenders would be slaughtered for because he gets some kind of sympathy allowance. His legs have gone and he wasn't good enough in his first spell at the club when he could actually get about the pitch.

As long as we're lowering our standards to accommodate players, those lower standards are what we will get on the pitch.

Really hope Amorim draws a line under this. If you want to change the culture and mentality it has to apply to every player.

We're going to have this problem with a few players. Eriksen is another. Nothing against him at all but he doesn't keep up with the game anymore.

He genuinely only played because of injury issues, if we have more than one other CB fit to start I doubt you'll see Evans play much again in the league. Shaw building up fitness after months out and Licha, Yoro, and Maguire all still out as well.

 

[r0663664]

It's very sad that we can't win with a dysfunction team. Rashford is non existent after the goal, it seems he doesn't has the pace anymore and doesn't have the IQ to stretch the defence. Hutchinson was running circle around Casemiro and Eriksen, it was so obvious that he will hurt us finding pocket of spaces in the final third. Garnacho is lacking of end product. He has many opportunities to create or score but did neither. I hope to see Mainoo and Ugarte partnership, Rashford dropped to the bench.l with Hoijund starting, Amad as one of the AM. Amorim, I hope he figures out soon.

 

[Glorio]

Just hoping for our collective sakes that Amad hasn't played himself out of the 10 position by doing such a great job as a wing back

 

[redshaw]

Worryingly we didn't look much better with Eriksen off plus the other subs.

After Eriksen's early shot that went wide while 1-0 up, I can only recall Amad's late solo effort, it was a good run and worth a try so well done to the lad as nothing else was going on all game apart from Onana keeping us in it.

 

[Herschel Krustofsky]

For those that haven’t, recommend watching Amorim’s pre and post-match interviews.

He clearly sets out his expectations at the start and explains some of the challenges after.

As with his previous interviews, he provides pretty clear, frank, honest explanations.

Listen

 

[Gazautd18]

Good couple of minutes
Needs to give Hojlund a start next match

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Very disjointed performance, we just cannot resist a half decent press at all. We get pushed into a corner then clip it long and lose the ball. Can see what he wants to do today which is a positive bit as others have said our squad is not good enough.

Disappointed with Garnacho today, he tried his best but playing in the middle looks wrong for him. You just don't get time in there and there were a few occasions he lost it when a good pass was on.

Zirkzee looked poor when he came on as well, really not sure he has what it takes.

 

[Tarrou]

considering they only had a couple of training sessions I thought the shape looked quite good

nothing perfect or anything but better than I expected

biggest issue he needs to sort is the front three obviously, I would guess if we make only one transfer in Jan it'll be that.. but a CM would be lovely, too

 

[Red00012]

We need to play the following when fit (which will be never):

Onana

Yoro
De Ligt
Martinez

Dalot
Ugarte
Mainoo
Shaw

Fernandes
Amad

Hojlund/Garnacho


It's so ridiculously frustrating watching Rashford. Yes he scored, but he did nothing after it. Eriksen needs to go in January. Fernandes dropped back into CM where he's pointless. Amad is wasted as a RWB. Dalot can't play on the left.

Evans has been a great servant but today he was abysmal. Get rid in January too.

I hope Amorim drops Rashford. He really was dreadful and has zero pace anymore.

Amad is our only threatening attacker. Garnacho next with a humongous drop off to Hojlund, Rashford, Zirkzee and Antony. We are seriously dreadful in front of goal.

I'd love if we bought a new CM and CF in January and got rid of Eriksen, Rashford + other deadwood.

You kind of forgot to select our best player this season

 

[Red_Orchestra]

Bring back Ruud's attacking football, we dont have the right player for this hoof ball system.

 

[croadyman]

We only had 5/16 players used that were able to have a full weeks training due to international break

 

[gaffs]

I thought the team selection was a head scratcher, especially Eriksen and Casemiro on midfield.

First time out with a 3421, which looked more like a 523 at times, was always go leave those two midfielders outnumbered in midfield.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

I thought Bruno made some amazing 'key passes' as the stats call them. I think he can really shine under the system once its gets going. Eriksen and Casemiro was always going to be problem but it feels like he had to do it. I hope Mainoo and Ugartre can get a run together soon.