[An Irish Red]

They're showing highlights of the Bravo challenge on Rooney and it's unanimous - it should've been a pen and sending off. Clattenburg bottled it.

It was as clear as day. We'd have been level and up against ten men for half an hour. In a season of small margins that could be crucial come the end of the season.

 

[Reggie74]

Disappointing. We gave possession away too cheaply. City were everywhere and did it without Aguero. Thankfully it's only early in the season and I look forward to Smalling coming back into the side.

 

[Alex Styles]

Do we have the better players? KDB and Silva were a cut above any of ours today.

De Gea > Bravo
Bailly and Blind >= Stones and Ottamendi
Shaw > Kolarov
Valencia > Sagna
Pogba > Silva
Fellaini - Fernando (don't know)
Mikhi (should be) > Sterling
Lingard < De Bruyne (yes agreed better that everyone today)
Zlatan > Nolito
Rooney > Ibeanacho

 

[United22]

Biggest concerns that we take from this game is that we haven't yet worked out how to utilise our players in the best way. Pogba is not a CDM and Mkhi struggles as a right winger in our system. Ibra and Rooney up front is too stale of a combination and it feels like we need a winger

 

[RedDevil-85]

Starting line up today was shocking.
Micky and Lingard doesnt have matchfitness,they never should have started the game.
Rashford starting on the bench is another mindfeck for me,our most in form player should be on the pitch from the start.
Pogba was a disappointment throughout the game.

City were the better team and deserved the victory.
We need to step up and work much harder.

 

[Ash_G]

Jose's post match interview was interesting. He basically criticised some players for being below par. Thing is..he's right.

Didn't see the interview but presume he didn't say they got the set up wrong in the first half? Because that contributed as much, if not more than the players given the boost it gave City. It was just so open, whilst brave we simply don't have the players to go like for like in that fashion given their combination of pace and ability on the ball.

Players did under perform though. Then again it was definitely a risk playing Lingard and arguably Mik given the limited game time he's had.

 

[ClosetDevil]

I thought José was meant to be a master tactician? Got it terribly wrong here.

I knew we made a mistake going for him instead of Pep.

 

[OohAahMartial]

This is on Jose. He set the team totally wrong. You cannot concede the possession while at the same time not protecting the defense, and you cannot counter attack efficiently with two slow players in attack. And well, starting two unfit players was stupid.

Typically, I wouldn't mind this much, but Guardiola is arguably the most consistent manager ever, so playing catch up against them will be very difficult.

Agree with this analysis. Shocking from Mourinho. He made up for it by making two substitutions at half time, which did remedy things but was too late by then even. We need Rashford up front, so that we can effectively counter. If that means Ibra as 10 then fine. Or we just play 4-3-3, as Pogba so deep makes him as ineffectual as he was in the Euros.

While it was good to see effort and pressure applied towards the end, it was unintelligent hoofball to Fellaini and Zlatan or Moyesque crosses. No guile as someone else mentioned - nor width for that matter.

 

[JeffBoomTetris]

If that was more than a cramp for KdB City will be in a bit of trouble, he was their best player by a large margin.

He wasn't their best player by a large margin. He was poor against us last time he was fielded against Rojo.

He was brilliant today but a lot of it was down to having like minded players around him. Silva was just as good today. Nolito also caused trouble. And then there's no Agüero who is their best player. City will go a long way

 

[Offside]

At the end of the day, Man City had players more used to the pace of the Premier League. Rooney and Zlatan for me is just not a viable option in big games.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Lessons learnt early on in the season. We got completely destroyed first half and the starting lineup just didn't work. Fellaini and Pogba just aren't disciplined enough to shield a back four and Lingard/Mkitarayan were obviously picked to track back but did nothing but give the ball away. Definitely better playing 4-3-3 in these big games in the future.

 

[Jazz]

He did mention that it's his fault as he's the manager but he made it known that some players let themselves and the team down.

Hope he didn't name the players... too early in the season for that

 

[ZDwyr]

Frustrating game. We got it wrong for the start of the match. Lingard should not have played at all. Stupid decision. Mkhitaryan was also a bad choice (in hindsight though). Pogba and Fellaini were overrun badly. I actually thought Fellaini did well considering Pogba wasn't really holding that well. Good adjustments at half-time but when Pep countered them we struggled to do anything of much note.

Blind and Bailly were poor. Bailly improved towards the end but he was at fault for a goal. Smalling is still our best CB despite what many think. Good cameo from Herrera. I think 4-3- should be something we persist with, especially against good teams.

 

[Rozay]

Totally outclassed, but our manager never gave us a chance playing 2 midfielders against that side.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I agree for the most part especially about Mourinho's trend for setting up negatively in big games but tell me how else we could've coped apart from sitting deep, winning the air duels and counter? At least that was the plan but our players couldn't put into action. Pep's team are horrible to play against, with how they press in numbers and their quality on the ball can make any team look 2nd rate. Just remember Rome and Wembley, playing against teams who press has been our achilles heel for sometime now.

I could fault Jose for not putting another body in midfield so as to stop Silva and KDB from playing so freely but our players really let us down. There was no aggression in our play, we are a big physical side why were their midgets able to contest so many aerial duels? Nevermind win the 1st ball as well as 2nd ball. Players just couldn't string few passes in a row without giving away possession that's why they starting hoofing it up to Ibra and Fellaini.

This is precisely the point. This excuse of "having no other option" works against Messi, Iniesta and Xavi, but there's not much between United and City's squads. So if we need to suffer when we play them, that's a concession in itself that Jose is struggling to match Pep, and that the latter is just better at these things which Mourinho needs to defend against rather than take head on. Why can't we take them on? When LVG beat them 4-2 at home, we didn't play like underdogs. So why does Mourinho have to do it? Especially when you consider we've added top players to our team.

 

[C3Pique]

Rooney, Fellaini and Pogba will be fine against weaker teams but they don't have the discipline to play as a 3 against better teams. Which means sacrificing Rooney to the wing in big games. Thing is I would rather have Rashford, Martial or on form Mkhitaryan out wide against the top teams.

Rooney was far from the worst player on our team today but he unbalances the team against teams who will attack us. Question is does Mourinho have the balls to drop Rooney against the better sides?

 

[The_Order]

Lost the game in the first 40 minutes.

We were out-run, out-jumped, lost every 50/50. We looked so shook of the occasion. But I think what was telling most of all was the gap in quality of the players in the midfield. Pogba was surrounded by Rooney, Fellaini and Lingard. Their City counterparts were faster and smarter. That is where we lost the game.

And perhaps the most disappointing thing of all is that we didn't make our height advantage count, instead we played into Pep's hand and tried to beat him in a ground war.

 

[lem8sh]

De Gea > Bravo
Bailly and Blind >= Stones and Ottamendi
Shaw > Kolarov
Valencia > Sagna
Pogba > Silva
Fellaini - Fernando (don't know)
Mikhi (should be) > Sterling
Lingard < De Bruyne (yes agreed better that everyone today)
Zlatan > Nolito
Rooney > Ibeanacho

That's not how it works. It's about which manager gets the best out of his players in a system that suits. Case in point - Leicester last season.

 

[Mani]

I don't see anything wrong with the Jose's tactics, its the players that let him down especially Lingard/Mkhitaryan, he was expecting lot from these two especially there defensive duties and Mkhi couldn't hold on to the ball and he's was too slow to react.

 

[ha_rooney]

"What Claudio today did it was one of the best performance I ever seen...." Pep

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Hope he didn't name the players... too early in the season for that

Obviously he was referring to Mkhitarian and Lingard.

 

[The Hungry Surgeon]

Bit of a sickener to lose that, considering the opponent and the fact is was a very exciting game. I feel drained after watching that second half! They were worth their win overall though.

We paid the price for a sluggish start with silly defensive errors handing them a 2 goal lead early on. Always gonna be an uphill battle after that

At least we gave it a real go in the second half and showed some fight, on another day we may have nicked a draw at the end. Rashford made an impact when he came on, and Herrera was very good.

Jose has to sort out our slow starts in matches.

 

[Ruffian]

Enthralling game. Pogba and Sane disappointing, De Bruyne fantastic. Your fighting qualities in the second half were probably worthy of a draw as City lost much of their attacking fluency. Good to see both sides putting in maximum effort without it getting nasty.

Pep's commitment to passing it around at the back was nearly very costly. It looks like it'll be a dangerous strategy in the Premier League, especially against sides like Liverpool and Spurs.

 

[Phil]

De Gea: Good
Valencia: Defensively good, not very strong going forward. It is what it is.
Blind and Bailly: Both made bad mistakes but improved immeasurably second half.
Shaw: Decent
Fellaini: Can't play in a 2. He does what he does. I don't like the way we boot the ball up to him
Pogba: I wish he would just get on the more. He was disappointing.
Lingard: Bad - ball control was terrible
Mkhitaryan: Bad - ball control was terrible
Rooney: He's not good. We saw a proper 10/10 number 10 performance today, it wasn't our guy.
Ibrahimovic: Weirdly off with his shooting for most of the chances. Looked pissed.
Rashford: Can he just play every game?
Herrera: I like him. He's solid.
Martial: Didnt really get much time

Mourinho: Disappointed with his decisions, glad he rectified them quickly. Still, why can't we play properly? Less long balls.

City were very good in the first half, worrying that they'll improve.

 

[Croftona7]

Surprised at how poor Mkhitaryan was today, I know he's had a knock and hasn't played a lot just yet, but his touch and pass was so off today.

Pogba was all over the place as discussed in the post match analysis, would like to see him break into a sprint at least once a game.

Didn't think Bravos tackle on Rooney was a yellow let alone a red as some are saying. Clutching at straws perhaps.

For some reason in recent seasons City are better at OT and we're better at their place, they deserved the win today overall, hard to say differently.

Rashford needs to start as of the next game, the kids the real deal.

 

[#07]

This a 100 percent. People are saying we got it tactically wrong in the first half. Thats only part of it. We should have played a 4-3-3 like you say, yes, but in the first half City wanted it more. They had a more will within them. I mean Jesse Lingarrd couldn't even control the ball is so shitting it.

Yup. Lingard was bricking it, which is bizarre given he played pretty well at Wastelands only a few months ago. He wasn't the only one either. Blind was all over the place first half. Looked like he'd never played in a big game before. You'd never think Mhki had played in a Bayern vs Dortmund game based on his wide eyed stage fright.

I don't even think City wanted it more, they were just less scared about the game. I'm sure ours wanted it just as bad but they were petrified. City just went about their business. Some of our lads treated the football like a hot coal every time it was near their feet. They were panicky to the point of ridiculousness.

 

[Jazz]

When Martial came on should have put him on the left and Rashford on the right. Kinda crazy to put them in positions that negate their strengths.. bloody gutted for fecks sake

 

[Manny]

Jose's post match interview was interesting. He basically criticised some players for being below par. Thing is..he's right.

I don't think it helped that he kept playing the occasion down in the lead up. I hope he wasn't doing that behind the scenes. The only players that looked amped for it were Herrera, Valencia and Rooney.

 

[justboy68]

I thought José was meant to be a master tactician? Got it terribly wrong here.

I knew we made a mistake going for him instead of Pep.

Yeah we should have gone for Messi too. Also brought in Pele from 1958.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Hopefully today will be the end of the Pogba - Fellaini experiment. Paul needs to be allowed to focus more on going forward, not having to cover Fellaini (who wasn't bad today) and protecting the midfield. I'd love to see the energy of Ander Herrera alongside Paul but that would leave us a little bit to exposed to surely a Schneiderlin - Pogba duo is the answer?

If it was the answer he would have brought Morgan on instead of Ander. He didn't. I still think a three man midfield would be better. Morgan would get more time. Ander with Pogba and Morgan/Carrick/Fellaini. Then it might gradually squeeze Rooney out of the team once and for all.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Jose let us down. Going with 2 midfielders in the beginning(with one being incompetent on the ball) meant the passing from the bacl was extremely difficult from the offset. Hard to blame the players when a manager gets it as wrong as Jose did in the first half. They just couldn't see their passing options so the passing became incredibly sloppy. What I don't understand is why Jose deserted using 3 man midfields since he left Inter.

 

[Tompo]

Way better feeling watching Mourinho's United than the previous two managers already. At least they look like they are trying to win the game.

Disappointed but optimistic.

 

[Massive Spanner]

De Gea > Bravo
Bailly and Blind >= Stones and Ottamendi
Shaw > Kolarov
Valencia > Sagna
Pogba > Silva
Fellaini - Fernando (don't know)
Mikhi (should be) > Sterling
Lingard < De Bruyne (yes agreed better that everyone today)
Zlatan > Nolito
Rooney > Ibeanacho

That's ridiculously biased. Give me Nacho over Rooney any day.

 

[PitchFork]

The sooner Rooney admits to himself that Fergie was right that his physique will catch up with him and his career at the top will be short, the better it will be for everyone. I feel like Rooney is defiantly persisting only to prove Fergie wrong. Which is pretty selfish. If he really cared about the club and the team then he should look in the mirror and admit that it's time to start winding down. Get a bike and play golf. All good captains know when their time is up. G Neville being one good example.

 

[JeffBoomTetris]

That spanish winger nolito is such a cnut.

Well can you blame him or any City players? They were relentless today. Too bad our players in the 1st half like Mkhi and Lingard instead of being cnuts were just pussying out of challenges

 

[RedElf]

Clattenburg was turd

Bravo gets away with studs up lunge on Rooney

Both have faces I want to slap.

 

[Jazz]

If it was the answer he would have brought Morgan on instead of Ander. He didn't. I still think a three man midfield would be better. Morgan would get more time. Ander with Pogba and Morgan/Carrick/Fellaini. Then it might gradually squeeze Rooney out of the team once and for all.

Would be surprised if that happened. He was shifted all over the place today just because Jose wouldn't take him off. That makes me think, him and Ibra have to play at all cost. A big problem for us when them two should not be playing together to the detriment of the team.

 

[donkeyfish]

Pretty disappointed, but at least we improved in the second half.

I think this is the second game in a row where we start playing in the second half.

Not happy with the CBs. They didn´t cope well with being under pressure in the first half. Both performed better in the second I think, winning more 50/50s. Not sure why, or if Smalling would´ve been an improvement.

It wasn´t easy for them though, since we lost the ball so easily. Nightmare flashback to some of the Barca games those first 30.

Still, some positives to take from the game. Think this team can become pretty good. My feeling is that our defensive shape, or pressing game, is pretty important. We look dominant when its working, lost when its not.

Of course some players having crap days are unfortunate, not so easy as a new manager perhaps to have a "read" on all your players.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

To be fair City's set up was miles away from what it is now under Pep.

Pep's favoured line up is essentially suicidal. Nolito, De Bruyne, Silva and Sterling in a 4 behind the striker, with only Fernandinho covering the very mediocre defensive unit. A quality counter attacking side would shred them to pieces, which is obviously what Jose was thinking today, he just called the team selection totally wrong on the wings, favouring work rate (and i think he's wrong totally about Lingard having better work rate than Rashford) over quality.

And if Jose is his equal, so should ours be.

 

[PlayerOne]

Mourinho takes most of the blame, was shocked at how we set up in the first-half, we just let them play how they want. Very poor management and some of the players forgetting how to play football didn't help, not sure what got into Lingard and Micki, they were beyond awful.

A lot better second-half though, a lot of people have been calling for 4-3-3 and you can see why. Our players are way more suited to it and I hope we stick with it, but then what happens with Rooney?

Hopefully Jose and the players learn from this and move forward. I'm actually not that down, we got trashed first half and we still could have nicked a draw, which says a lot about the team.

Very hopeful for this season