[Perrick Dubois]

Weird game. We set up wrong in my opinion, but Jose corrected it in the second half. Weird refereeing performance. Insane amounts of fannying from City players rewarded with endless streams of 50/50 free kicks. Otamendi must have went down with what looked like a career ending injury about 10 times. Nothing fell for us today. A stinger but we get back on the horse and go again. Everyone equally poor, everyone equally to blame. Just dust off and show character to get back to winning ways next time.

 

[Martin(6)Buchan]

Was happy with the line up, even though I thought rashford was unlucky not to start. At the end we were just not good enough, still work to be done.

 

[bosnian_red]

First half awful but probably should have been level at half with that Ibra chance. Second half good for the first 25 mins or so but then City calmed it down and took control again.

Biggest problem in that game was just way too sloppy throughout while City had the intensity and sharpness that we didnt. Deserved the win though you could say we were unlucky with some moments (should've had at least 1 pen). Ibra wasteful and lacked composure today. Too often striking first time when he can take a touch and make something happen

 

[Man-United]

Well done Oil FC.

 

[kps88]

Bit of a learning experience today for Mourinho which is strange to say.

I dunno, this is how his games usually go against Pep. A few more of these and we'll start seeing Jones in midfield.

Good thing is the head to head doesn't matter as much in England compared to Spain.

 

[okLaptop1]

Really big miscalculation to start Mhki and Lingard. With how much they gave the ball away I'm honestly surprised we weren't down 3-0 at the break, shocking displays from the pair.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Absolutely terrible first half, completely outplayed, both on and off the pitch (tactical showdown between Mourinho and Guardiola). Second half pretty even.

All in all a deserved loss, and a wake up call for those of us who were beginning to think that we are near the level we need to be to challenge the best teams. Based on today's evidence, City are comfortably better than us.

 

[JonDahl]

We lost, but we showed a fight I haven't seen from us in 4 years. We would have just let City boss the game at 2-0 a couple of years ago and not created anything. Lots of work to be done but we played well. Game was lost in the first half.

 

[Random Task]

Completely wrong tactics in the first half and not enough passion & energy. Better in the 2nd but we looked exhausted at the end. Saw that City outran us 1st half, was that true for the whole game? Defensively we just weren't compact enough which isn't something you normally say for a Mourinho team.

Miki and Lingard being unable to play a straightforward pass or hold on to the ball is what hurt us in that first half. Miki especially looked like a deer in headlights.

 

[Segment]

Thursday can't come quick enough

 

[Woodenlung]

Mourinho got his selection and tactics all wrong.

That's the hot take from right after full time. Rashford needed to start and Fellaini aint good enough. For all our height advantage City dominated us in the first half in a way I haven'ten't seen since Barca beat us in.thise Champions League finals.

 

[El Zoido]

City look amazing going forward but properly dodgy at the back. Can see them dropping some points they shouldn't this season, if you can get under their skin they totally lose their shape. Shame we were so poor today that we couldn't press the advantage when we were on top. We looked like a team that just came back off an international break. Not sure why we looked so off the pace compared to them.

 

[Kag]

I think they can go and replicate Arsenal's unbeaten season..They are that good...

No they won't. Their defence is shite.

 

[Rory 7]

Agenda alert.

As for the game, big error from JM, way too passive, can't let City settle into their stride like that with their playmakers. Once it went to 433 and we had faith in our game it was much better, hopefully JM will learn from this and we'll fly at teams.
Also, this game continued the pattern of lethargic first halfs and greater intensity expended in the second.

So you thought he played well then did you?

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Hopefully this shows Jose that, with the squad he's got, lying deep and defending isn't going to cut it - we have to attack to be dangerous.

 

[JTW95]

City have been far stronger in the first half in every game they've played this season so there's no reason to believe that. They always steamroll teams early on.

You can't help but wonder what could have been if Mkhitaryan and Lingard didn't give the ball away at every opportunity.

They were both determined to beat Claudio Bravo for worst player award.

 

[J-Stander]

Piss poor. City thoroughly deserved it. Blind, Lingard, Mkhitaryan were shocking.

 

[Riz]

Best team probably won, they were brilliant for the vast majority of the first half. The selection cost us with Mkhi and Lingard both looking very sluggish which may have been anticipated considering both have returned from injury.

Once that was fixed with the subs we went toe to toe with them and held our own. Very unlucky not to get penalty and red card which would have given us a massive chance to win but then City had a few close shave misses as well.

Was really great to see the spirit and fight in the second half which we haven't seen much if at all these past 3 years but unfortunately it's absolutely gutting to lose.

 

[JackXX]

Really bad in the first half and we paid for it. Not many good performances today.

 

[reelworld]

Zlatan should have scored with that last shot in the first half.
Bravo should be sent off for that tackle on Rooney. Anywhere outside the penalty box, it would have been a red.
4-3-3 is the way to go. Herrera was class when he came on

 

[Globule]

far too open and could easily have conceded 4 or more if City were more clinical on the counter. That would be a concern going forward, but then not many teams have the same kind of attacking talent as City.

I feel that, despite our pressure in the second half we failed to test Bravo enough. He was a weak link and we needed to do more to make his day uncomfortable.

Still, we went down fighting, which was more than we would have done in a similar position in the last couple of seasons. I just wish Mkhitaryan and Lingard showed something in the first half, because we were carrying too many passengers in that first half. But at least Mourinho took them off. It's easy to say it was an obvious decision, but how many times in the past few years have we noticed the players not performing then watched in disbelief as the manager failed to take them off. There's positives to be taken from this match, we just need to make sure we iron out the weaknesses, particularly how stupidly open we were at times.

 

[Theonas]

Mourinho was outwitted and got it wrong.

It took Guardiola seven minutes in the second half to make the kind of substitution Mourinho made at half time.

Better second half when we added an extra body in midfield, however.

He wasn't outwitted at all. That's the kind of game everybody expected. Pep's plans were obvious, I think he even said it outright yesterday. Nobody was surprised or outwitted. On another day, De Bruyne is wasteful and Blind is a couple of yards higher and Mourinho is hailed as a tactical genius. The point is the way Mourinho likes to play is always going to leave him vulnerable to good teams, he is reactive to them and therefore it's about them. If they are good, they win.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Hats off to City, played well especially those first 40 mins. Can't complain against the result.

Hate Clattenburg, gives Fellaini a yellow and then doesn't even give a FK when KDB does the exact same thing 30 secs later.

 

[DevilRed]

First half cost us the game. Gambling on two players who combined haven't played 90 mins was killer. They swamped our midfield and kdb had a field day.

Second half much better but we gassed. The likes of pogba just didn't have the energy. I also wish we would stop using fellaini. It just makes us play hoof ball all the time in panic situations.

Hard loss to swallow and probably could have sneaked a draw. Still it's only 3 points. Now we have to regroup and win the next one.

Blind exposed at the back. Pogba left him too open, but he is wasted in holding midfield. Rooney needs to be dropped. Pogba playing at the tip of a midfield 3 works much better.

Smalling back in the team?

 

[KirkDuyt]

Guardiola is a better trainer than Mourinho, especially from a tactical standpoint.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Great game to be fair. Can't remember seeing a game where the players could barely run by the 88th minute. I expected a cagey game with two teams terrified of losing, but it was wide open, blood and thunder. It got card-heavy in the 2nd half, and it had to, it was at boiling point.

We lost, and we were dominated for 40 minutes, but the positives were that Mourinho reacted and reacted well. Can't remember seeing such a good reaction tactically since Fergie.

Herrera was immense when he came on. Perhaps the beginning of a shift to 4-3-3? We had a non-existent midfield when it was 4-2-3-1. I don't think 4-2-3-1 gets the best out of Pogba either. He was more in the game in the 2nd half.

Pleased with that 2nd half performance, and I hope Mourinho has learned a lot from that 1st half.


Bailly and Blind are class, but both should have done better for the 1st and 2nd goal respectively. Bailly had to win that aerial ball, or he had to drop off. He did neither. Blind fell asleep, and the 2nd goal shouldn't have happened.



Oh well. Still fairly pleased, which is weird. More positive signs in that 2nd half than we saw for a lot of last season.

 

[RedElf]

Rooney was our best player by far today. He's still got a role to play. Great determination.

Did you not see the amount miss placed passes?

 

[Hed Zitin]

Our new signings didn't turn up. Tactically terrible from Jose in the first half.

Beaten by a better team. We really lack fluidity in comparison.

 

[rooney1905]

Overall I thought they edged it. First half really let us down. Mourinho made a mistake with Lingard in the first half. Mihk looked very off pace and not used to this type of battle. He will still come good. Rooney was decent overall at his current level of ability. Pogba really let us down today but he will improve. He needs to start moving the ball along. He loves to dribble in the middle of the park and that works in Serie A. Not in the EPL. We looked totally knackered at the end. Overall it was disappointing result but I think Herrera and Rashford made strong cases for 4-3-3.

 

[Red-Jeff]

Pogba v poor

Every time he picked up the ball they were kicking him, he wasn't great but it is tough to play well when the opposition are playing you like that.

They won fair and square, outplayed us the first half and made it theirs to lose. Was proud of how we came back at them in the second half though.

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.

 

[Alex Styles]

Decent game in the end, shows we can go toe to toe with them anyway.

Shocking start though, can't afford to make those selection mistakes at this level.

Do you actually hear yourself talking? We have the better players and we had a full squad today!!

 

[TJSF]

Mourinho in his usual self against Guardiola. Starting to be his dark horse.

 

[TheNewEra]

Absolutely terrible first half, completely outplayed, both on and off the pitch (tactical showdown between Mourinho and Guardiola). Second half pretty even.

All in all a deserved loss, and a wake up call for those of us who were beginning to think that we are near the level we need to be to challenge the best teams. Based on today's evidence, City are comfortably better than us.

Top 2-3 this season is the only thing United can ask for.

Short in a few areas, but I do think the game could have been 2-2 at half time, United could have won the game if they took their chances.

Peps teams will still lose against counter attacking teams and drop points, but City are favourites for the league.

 

[RedElf]

Can't believe the season is already over Congratulations to City. Time to start building for the 17/18 campaign.

Get lost.

 

[WR10]

Emotion and bias aside - it was a great game and the best team won. Mourinho learns quick but he always seems to get it wrong vs guardiola in the first game. Only us and Chelsea are going to give city a good game this season.

 

[Giant Midget]

I'd be tempted to say Martial - Ibra - Rashford from now on. We need pace to compensate how ponderous Ibrahimovic is.

 

[Ramshock]

Giving them that start before we turned up was criminal, but that second half exposed them and other sides might just have a way in against them. Fantastic game of football, I bet we don't see anything better than it for the rest of the season.

I agree that it exposed them but it is the 4th game of the season and they can and probably will improve.

Mourinho should know Peps tactics better than anyone else.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Also, great spectacle, very entertaining, which is a consolation of sorts, small as it may feel at the moment.

 

[Brophs]

Early days and we had some really poor performances so it's hard to know what conclusions to draw, but they certainly looked a very good side whereas we looked very disjointed. Pogba is already a massive issue. Playing him in a midfield two at the moment leaves you wide open, which doesn't look like it'll work against good sides.

Edit: would hope the long ball was specifically to counter City's passing and pressing

 

[mancan92]

We lost because mourinho showed too much respect to them in the first half. Once we took the game to them we were clearly the better team. They defended well though so fair play.

 

[Wumminator]

Bit shellshocked after that first goal.

For me best performers were Shaw, Rashford, Herrera and De Gea.

Miki was the worst player on the pitch. Oh well, give him time.

Pogba and Ibra didn't do anywhere near enough.