[Teja]

Good game, I'd say. Of course, City were nowhere near their best but then neither were we (Yoro, Højlund, Shaw and most of our main players not being quite match fit). We should've won during the 90 minutes and were a bit unlucky — when was the last time we could've said that?

I'm a bit disappointed that we haven't seen at least a little bit of Zirkzee and Amass should've been on the bench. Still, with De Ligt and Mazraoui coming in as well as, hopefully, another midfielder I'm actually moderately excited about the season. Let's see how long that lasts

Overall Bruno was great, Amad & Garnacho were very good. Licha was a bit rusty but had some great moments.

I think Zirkzee for Mount would've won it for us instead of McTominay. But yeah optimistic about the season. The squad depth is good - maybe too much in some attacking positions. Very few square pegs round holes right now and no Pogba needs a DM nonsense we have to put up with for the first XI.

Only concern is depth at DM. If we can pull off Ugarte, I'll be going into the season very confident of top four.

 

[Nori-]

So disappointed we lost, i'll get over it tomorrow but really encouraged by the performance.

With some of the new signings coming in, if we keep playing like that, top 4 will be the least we will achieve this season.

 

[Teja]

It's probably missing the Amad cross to Mount and McTominay miss during the set piece and probably a couple of other situations. Still, better xG than City is great progress!

 

[NZT-One]

I think, the team will be really disappointed as we fought well and deserved something from the game. Not sure though, whether I like some of the talk of us being "fantastic" and "played opponent off the park"... Bigging a performance like this up will only lead to a higher falling down once it (inevitably) happens. City didn't play their best team, there weren't many missing for us. City still looked more organized than us - but had no answer to our transitions with their personel. But apparently the match wasn't important enough for Pep to have adjust their setup.
Other teams won't give us that much space to hit the ball into - Amad was really nice to see, he might be a catalysator for something different but it is early days and todays game didn't show much about what changed from last season. Some of the players are different which will make the team look as playing a bit different but not sure about deeper changes.

Apparently all hope is on new players to have an effect and hopefully they will. But I didn't like it from earlier coaches and I don't like it now: we can't just expect the team to evolve only by adding additional players. We have to improve the existing players as well. And in this department, there isn't much to be optimistic about.

 

[SteveCoppellFan]

Stop taking Amad off whilst leaving Rashford on.

Garnacho and Amad vrs Fulham please.

 

[BigBebe]

Slightly baffled as to how we ended up with Pellistri playing at right back.

Surely, one of Amass / Shaw were fit enough to be included so that they could give us 20 mins at the end and let Dalot go back to RB?

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Thought on the whole we had the better chances and should have won here but since it's the community shield I'm not too bothered tbh.

 

[DLE]

Promising. Makes me optimistic.
Baffled to see Sancho after all that went on last season. But I also don’t know what is going on inside OT.

 

[noodlehair]

Only so much you can take from a friendly game but apart from the wasteful finishing it was all positive really. Had a good shape, looked tactically organised and played really good football at times

I'll give the frankly crazy fullback ideas a by since its technically pre season.

Our pre season games last year mirrored the mess we saw in the first two league games so hopefully it is a positive sign.

 

[Mainoonited]

Same old midfield, no left back, same attack.

 

[Shiva87]

I think, the team will be really disappointed as we fought well and deserved something from the game. Not sure though, whether I like some of the talk of us being "fantastic" and "played opponent off the park"... Bigging a performance like this up will only lead to a higher falling down once it (inevitably) happens. City didn't play their best team, there weren't many missing for us. City still looked more organized than us - but had no answer to our transitions with their personel. But apparently the match wasn't important enough for Pep to have adjust their setup.
Other teams won't give us that much space to hit the ball into - Amad was really nice to see, he might be a catalysator for something different but it is early days and todays game didn't show much about what changed from last season. Some of the players are different which will make the team look as playing a bit different but not sure about deeper changes.

Apparently all hope is on new players to have an effect and hopefully they will. But I didn't like it from earlier coaches and I don't like it now: we can't just expect the team to evolve only by adding additional players. We have to improve the existing players as well. And in this department, there isn't much to be optimistic about.

I don’t think that’s fair. There were many missing for us as well.

here is the list: Hoijland, Zirkzee, Garnacho (from starting XI), Antony (but that one is as good as not being there because he is a starter for us that makes us worse), Shaw and now De Ligt, Yoro and Mazraoui.

So that’s 8 players of which at least 4 would be starting every week (and the other 4 would be their back ups)

 

[bosnian_red]

Only so much you can take from a friendly game but apart from the wasteful finishing it was all positive really. Had a good shape, looked tactically organised and played really good football at times

I'll give the frankly crazy fullback ideas a by since its technically pre season.

Our pre season games last year mirrored the mess we saw in the first two league games so hopefully it is a positive sign.

And to add we had to feck around at fullback given we only had Dalot. At some point this season you'd expect Shaw, Malacia, Mazraoui all to be added to today... Probably. At least 1 of them.

 

[GazTheLegend]

To start well, we need momentum. I don't think losing the first cup of the season ever counts as good momentum.

If anything, it sets a bad mood for our start.

That's being a bit dramatic.

 

[GledTheRed]

Better team as we were against Liverpool.

Need to start taking out chances.

Knew Sancho would miss.

 

[Buster15]

Played ok. Hope to see a striker instead of mount against Fulham though. Even if it's rashford with garnacho out left

Are you serious. Rashford instead of Garnacho.
Rashford looks like he is on strike instead of being a striker.

 

[Gloccamora]

We were better than them. Rashford had to put one of those chances away though.

 

[RedRocket9908]

And to add we had to feck around at fullback given we only had Dalot. At some point this season you'd expect Shaw, Malacia, Mazraoui all to be added to today... Probably. At least 1 of them.

What reason was given for Harry Armass not playing?

 

[Greyfog]

Erik cooking something special this season. Let him cook I say.

 

[bosnian_red]

What reason was given for Harry Armass not playing?

Probably he's 17 and a year away from actually being part of the squad

 

[johannes_fd]

Good game. Getting cautiously optimistic.

Even if City played their 3rd string midfield.

 

[Red in STL]

Are you serious. Rashford instead of Garnacho.
Rashford looks like he is on strike instead of being a striker.

Rashford isn't a striker, he's a left wide forward, the only real thing wrong with him today was his finishing, and we do know he is capable of finishing, I mean he even won a header and created a chance for McT who fluffed it completely

 

[gerdm07]

We definitely out played them after the first 30 minutes and should have won. I hope this means ETH is developing an identity for his team.

Nothing really to look forward to, however, if we don't get a DM and a possession midfielder. Casemiro can't be the main guy for the whole season.

 

[The Purley King]

The big chances we gave up were mostly our defensive mistakes whereas the big chances we created were due to some really good forward play.
Nice to see that, if we can iron out the brain farts at the back.
Deserved to win and I thought Collyer did well when he came on.
Casemiro had good moments but still gets dribbled past way too easily.
Optimistic for Fulham which will probably mean we have a mare!

 

[3KDré]

Thought we played well, good start to the season. Actually gives me a bit more hope than I had. But we can't play like that always. If we consistently sustain pressure high up the pitch throughout the season, I'm happy.

 

[golden_blunder]

Some nice patterns of play at times. We were definitely better when injecting pace into our passes and moving better. I thought we were the better team overall

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

While the result is disappointing, the focus today was on delivering a convincing performance, and in that regard, I felt that's what we did.

I’m particularly pleased with our tactical setup. Whether we maintain this compactness throughout the season remains to be seen, but ten Hag has clearly built on the foundation we established at the end of last season. Our off-the-ball shape in a 4-4-2 was solid.

City managed just one shot on target, and unfortunately, it found the back of the net. However, this is a massive improvement from last season when we were conceding shots from all angles.

Looking ahead, if we can sharpen up our finishing, there's every reason to be optimistic about a successful season.

Amad, Casemiro, Bruno and Garnacho, when he came on, were standouts for me.

 

[Strachan8]

Played some of the sweetest and most intricate attacking football in a long time. Amad, Bruno and Casimero interplay was a joy to watch.

Would have been good to see Pellistri step up to take the pen instead of Evans after his defensive error. He is 22 and has twenty something caps for Uruguay. Would have shown he has the belief necessary to be a Utd player.

 

[DevilRed]

Good performance and if we had a proper striker + right back we would/should have won it comfortably. The misses by Rashford/McTominay are fecking criminal.

ETH really does seem to have cracked peps tactics.

 

[glazed]

We looked decent at times. But we all know Casemiro will be knackered by September and Rashford is still not got it as a finisher (even if he's not far off.) Hopefully both are fixable.

But the fast transition ideas seem to be bedding in at least. If Bruno has a bad day it seems to fall apart though.

 

[thisisnottaken1]

Good performance and if we had a proper striker + right back we would/should have won it comfortably. The misses by Rashford/McTominay are fecking criminal.

ETH really does seem to have cracked peps tactics.

Exactly. If Højlund had been fit we would have won.

 

[Jeffthered]

Should have posted this here:

• There's much to take from today's performance. We grew into the game, it was like the Cup Final in many ways.. first 20 I was concerned, we couldn't get the ball.. but City ran out of ideas, and our forwards started to have an impact. Amad made a clear difference and big statement. He changed the way we played, his confidence, composure, spontaneity and constant danger, helped the whole team. Dalot, Casimero, Bruno.. all of their games were positively influenced by him. Amad was key for getting us a foothold in this game, he played v v well.
  
  Bruno got better, highlighting City's midfield immaturity.. Evans and Maguire managed an isolated Haaland. City were pretty shabby, and Garnacho's arrival just showed our superiority (in this game). But, when you can bring on KDB, Silva.. and that Savinho looked v tidy, it can always have an impact.
  
  But a very good run out.A few questions: Can they take that form into the season? Can we afford to play like this every game..? Because I just don't see many goals in this system, because it is very specfic. That worries me. Rashford brings an element of experience, but I would play him as No 9, and tell him to get on with it. Garnacho, Amad.. they give good energy, very positive, but are still v young so we manage their expectations.
  
  Not sure whether Mount can play in same starting XI as Bruno, just cannot see it. And you have Zirkzee to fit in.
  
  Mainoo, Casimero and SMT is also a bit of a concern.. they will play against better, more experienced, powerful players and I don't know whether we will be able to cope, similar to last season.

 

[RedRocket9908]

Probably he's 17 and a year away from actually being part of the squad

It was confirmed that him, Wheatley, and Collyer are all promoted to the first team squad for this season.

 

[stevoc]

That goal was on Licha, who's not a LB, and Pellistri, who's not a RB.
We should've scored the second goal...

He wasn't playing at LB when it was conceded.

 

[JediSith]

We played some beautiful football. Rashford, once again could be a problem , not talking about the goal he missed

 

[Gazautd18]

Still made some brainless decisions
Still need multiple chances to score.
Played well but to be expected considering the team City had

 

[TheLord]

A glorified friendly. Nobody cares. There should be no takeaways after preseason friendlies like these.

 

[SSSSnake]

Can we all agree Rashford is trash and needs to feck off?

 

[RPT_Reddevil]

Some criminal misses, but some really positive signs of the things to come. Really optimistic about this season.

 

[croadyman]

Any idea why Martinez or McTominay didn't take the fourth penalty instead of Sancho?

 

[Red Company]

Some criminal misses, but some really positive signs of the things to come. Really optimistic about this season.

That miss from Rashford was shocking..

While I was watching that miss, I got immediate flashbacks of Mainoo being in an identical position in the FA cup final and he scored.. Rashford wasn’t even on target to begin with, let alone score.. that for me is unacceptable considering the wages he’s on and the skill set he’s supposed to showcase