[Minimalist]

Probably would take that before the match.

Forwards and midfielders were pretty dire as a unit. That midfield of Fellaini, Carrick and Herrera was slow as feck and couldn't pass for shit. Herrera and Carrick especially were poor I thought. Miki had a mare I thought. Rashford did well on occasion but him and Martial barely got the service they needed.

Fellaini played well I thought up to the red card. Certainly our best overall midfielder. Idiotic though and pretty awful losing of his head.

 

[VanGaalEra]

The back four were immense tonight. Not many people rate Blind or Darmian but they've done well when called upon this season.

 

[Mihai]

NOw we have a gif for city similar to the one for Crystanbul

 

[Catt]

He was barely involved against Chelsea either.

He must be bored.

 

[Ban]

Oh don't get cheeky now.
In any case, I would take this 0-0 defensive display anyday now having been through the embarassment of losing to City on Munich anniversary. Hell, this 0-0 would have won us the league in that Aguero QPR season too. Pleased with today's game. It's a good result.

I wasn't cheeky.
agree on everything.
Good result, onwards and upwards.

 

[Zlatattack]

Exactly this. The problem here is that we could have easily snatched a goal here or at Anfield and people would be talking about being a tactical master-class which would distract from the utter wrongness of such approach when you have the most expensive team in the land. This was the type of performance that even if we were winning the league, we should be criticising.

Why do you think the price paid for players has anything to do with the quality of the football played? Liverpool paid £30 million for Andy feckin Carroll. Do you seriously think the people at Liverpool thought they'd signed the English Drogba? No they did not. They paid that much because;
1. They needed a striker sharpish
2. They assumed he might they thought he might live up to his potential and become an above average English striker of premier league quality.
3. They assumed they'd sell the finished product for a lot more because capable English players are rare and help the brand in English teams. It was a business move.
4. Newcastle knew this too and bent them over a barrel.

We pay sky high prices and sky high wages because at first glance we seem a club in decline. Our only hope of changing that in today's market is having the best players. Players of that calibre cost a lot of money and are rare to find. So when you come across them they cost a lot to buy.

Big name players will also promote the brand and preserve a sense of prestige, which brings in the big advertising money and keeps the share prices high. Our transfer policy is as much business as it is football. The cost of the team is irrelevant.

 

[EyeInTheSky]

They never make the runs , even if they do fellani would never find them and pass safe

Your right, Their game is ball to feet and dribble not getting in behind with through balls

 

[Mihai]

He must be bored.

Probably till next year when we play in CL

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Mikhi and Martial were the worst players today and it had nothing to do with where they played.

Good post though. Almost zero attacking threat.

Ridiculous.... Martial putbin a defensive shift even organising his defensive partners. Did you not witness how far back those two were having to play? Then Martial when he did get forward had the beating of Zabaleta and Kompany. Problem was the defensive tactics.

 

[Rado_N]

What a bunch of fecking inbreds

 

[minoo-utd]

Is it just me or did anyone else think the ref was decent today? Sure the final Fellaini was unfortunate but you could see how the ref could think it's fellaini's fault.

Yes I agree It's Fellainis fault. The ref could have easily gave them a pen too.

 

[GM K]

Tonight proved that Paul Pogba doesn't get the credits he deserves.

 

[Hercules]

For all those thinking a point is bad at Etihad, if Fergie got a point there in 2012, there'd not have been the 'Aguerooooooooo' moment ever.

 

[Zlaatan]

We restricted city to long range pot shots.
Aguero had the only proper chance when he hit the post.

Herrera had an equally good chance for us.

The offside disallowed goal came after we went down to ten men.

United fans who didn't like that performance would be raving about it had we stolen a 0-1 win and played exactly the same.

I doubt it. There's quite a lot of us that actually wants to see good attacking football along with getting the wins. Tonight was one of the most depressing performances I've seen for a very long time, and that wouldn't change even if say Herrera would've buried that header in the end of the first half.

 

[GM K]

Ridiculous.... Martial putbin a defensive shift even organising his defensive partners. Did you not witness how far back those two were having to play? Then Martial when he did get forward had the beating of Zabaleta and Kompany. Problem was the defensive tactics.

Totally disagree. He lost the ball several times. His second half was pathetic.

 

[Dec9003]

Good point away from home which leaves top four still in our hands. I'd have taken four points against Chelsea at home and city away at the start of the season and is still take it now.
As for the match itself, we didn't play brillaintly but I think given all the injuries we had it's understandable to go for the draw.
Fellaini proper had a heads gone which I think may see him gone in the summer.

 

[Irrational.]

Is this the BlueMoon contingent?

Missed the game and judging by the responses here and Fellaini's sending off it looks like a decent point for us.

Was DDG ever properly tested in the 90 minutes?

 

[minoo-utd]

So, how many fit and available senior players do we have now at CM?
Just carrick and Ander? With Carrick basically out for the weekend game (as he can't play 2 within a week), wonder who'd play alongside Ander. A debutant?

Rooney or Blind.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Is this the BlueMoon contingent?

Missed the game and judging by the responses here and Fellaini's sending off it looks like a decent point for us.

Was DDG ever properly tested in the 90 minutes?

No but everything he needed to do he did very well

 

[Theonas]

Why do you think the price paid for players has anything to do with the quality of the football played? Liverpool paid £30 million for Andy feckin Carroll. Do you seriously think the people at Liverpool thought they'd signed the English Drogba? No they did not. They paid that much because;
1. They needed a striker sharpish
2. They assumed he might they thought he might live up to his potential and become an above average English striker of premier league quality.
3. They assumed they'd sell the finished product for a lot more because capable English players are rare and help the brand in English teams. It was a business move.
4. Newcastle knew this too and bent them over a barrel.

We pay sky high prices and sky high wages because at first glance we seem a club in decline. Our only hope of changing that in today's market is having the best players. Players of that calibre cost a lot of money and are rare to find. So when you come across them they cost a lot to buy.

Big name players will also promote the brand and preserve a sense of prestige, which brings in the big advertising money and keeps the share prices high. Our transfer policy is as much business as it is football. The cost of the team is irrelevant.

I am not sure if this a serious post. The financial resources of a club do not help improve the fortunes of the team? Are you seriously arguing that regardless of how many good players you have, it does not have anything to do with how well you should be able to play? Maybe you are going that money does not mean good players? In which case, I'd agree that maybe not necessarily but certainly better than a mid table team, no?

In any case, I kind of agree with you in a funny way. You shouldn't need that much money or world class players to play with some balls. We have seen plenty of teams over time with so much less quality, status and resources who went out and actually had a more pro active approach. So yes I shouldn't have even brought up that financial position, even though it is relevant. I should have just focused on the embarrassment that we call ourselves on par if not higher than Liverpool and Man City and yet we play them the way Sunderland did. That alone is an embarrassment.

 

[Catt]

I'm always imagining Guardiola having to turn the lights on and of like 20 times. Not that there's anything wrong with that though.

 

[Rado_N]

Is this the BlueMoon contingent?

Missed the game and judging by the responses here and Fellaini's sending off it looks like a decent point for us.

Was DDG ever properly tested in the 90 minutes?

Not particularly, mostly extremely soft efforts from range. One decent diving save but it was caught rather than punched/parried away which shows it was reasonably comfortable for him.

 

[The Mitcher]

I don't think we were lucky, and if they were really so good how did they fail to beat us on an off day?

 

[Stability]

My point is that that's a very valid excuse. The game would've been so much different had we had at least Rojo and Pogba in the lineup. The way we set up today, playing deep and hoping for a Marcus counter was mainly because we lacked Rojo's strength and pace at the back and Pogba to control the midfield.

Not quite sure how your first comment was particularly relevant to it being a valid excuse, but this is a much more reasonable comment.

Do you think you'd have come & attack with Pogba + Rojo in the team? I don't think it'd would've made the slightest difference to the game plan, I think perhaps you'd have had more success with Pogba's passing range, but I believe you'd have set out the same. Like I'm saying, and I think you're agreeing, it was a tactical decision by the manager - you certainly could have tried to play to win with the players available as we did at Old Trafford, but it's high risk high reward, not something Jose usually does away at a rival.

 

[GaryLifo]

I doubt it. There's quite a lot of us that actually wants to see good attacking football along with getting the wins. Tonight was one of the most depressing performances I've seen for a very long time, and that wouldn't change even if say Herrera would've buried that header in the end of the first half.

Then I'd say you need to be patient. Jose is building a team and making sure he gets the defensive side right first. The attacking side we've seen glimpses of this season but the finishing has been bad.

He'll add some more quality in the summer and the draws will become wins.

I've been a united fan for 35 years and I'm telling you I am starting to get excited about the potential in the team again after three horrible seasons under two horrible managers

 

[Son Of Sam]

Tonight proved that Paul Pogba doesn't get the credits he deserves.

Tonight proved Mata doesn't get the credits he deserves.

Rashford must have made about a 2000 runs behind the City defence today and not once was there a player with the composure and the quality to thread a through-pass to our centre forward.

Carrick has lost everything that made him a beast. He couldn't find Rashford once when in possession. With Mata in that midfield today, he would have unzipped that City defence to create clear cut chances.

 

[dogwithabone]

Superb performance with a patched up team. Lacked a bit in attack but everywhere else we were great.

No complaints from me, a hard earned and valuable point.

 

[MattyB1986]

Couldn't do much today when Mourinho setup the team for a defensive strategy. Rashford didn't even get a chance as a result, while Pogba's absence was really keenly felt when we needed someone with a good range of creative passing whenever we got the ball to link from defence through midfield to then attack.
Fellaini's silly rush of blood also betrayed a disciplined performance from him before that.

The game could've swung had Herrera not missed his free header. Again, Mkhitaryan and Martial kept giving the ball away, with the former largely anonymous. Overall I feel we have to accept a draw because Mourinho's tactics showed he was clearly not interested in winning this game.

 

[TheReligion]

I don't think we were lucky, and if they were really so good how did they fail to beat us on an off day?

It's like talking to a brick wall with some of this lot. They didn't create much. If roles were reversed and we were at OT the Caf would be livid at how poor we were going forward.

They had lots of possession (which we allowed them to have I might had) and did nothing. Aguero had 9 shots and most went into row bastard Z.

 

[minoo-utd]

We need to add some real qualities to this Jose's side and then we can judge, Fellaini, Darmian, Jones all must be gone, Rooney and Carrick might leave as well we cant have such a CM IMO we need a CB to partner Bailly and Or Rojo, A L.B if Shaw is out of Jose's mind, a good partner ship with Pog into the MF with Herrera too, instead of Fellaini of course, and an attacker.

 

[TheReligion]

Superb performance with a patched up team. Lacked a bit in attack but everywhere else we were great.

No complaints from me, a hard earned and valuable point.

People like you restore my faith in this place!

 

[Lay]

There's never a looker in the stands at English games. That was basically my only thought after the game.

 

[ravi2]

Will take it

Shocking lack of ambition going forward for most of the game. Passing was awful

Defended outstandingly and showed a lot of resilience particularly down to 10

Blind was excellent. No idea why many don't rate him

I agree with all of this.
Also with all the injuries it isn't the worst result in the world. I felt we were lucky to come away with a point in the end.

We really need a proper RW and Fellaini shouldn't be starting a game of this magnitude for us. I trust Jose in correcting these deficiencies in the off season.

 

[Dominos]

We restricted city to long range pot shots.
Aguero had the only proper chance when he hit the post.

Herrera had an equally good chance for us.

The offside disallowed goal came after we went down to ten men.

United fans who didn't like that performance would be raving about it had we stolen a 0-1 win and played exactly the same.

I certainly wouldn't.

I've no problem with us not having the majority of the possession, playing defensively, playing on the counter.

What I do have problem with is professional footballers who can't string 2 passes together. That was an absolute pathetic performance, although you can't fault the defending.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Brilliant defensive display. Utterly awful with possession. We need to add 2 midfielders to this current squad who can keep the ball in tight spaces and under pressure.

 

[Catt]

I don't think we were lucky, and if they were really so good how did they fail to beat us on an off day?

They weren't good.

 

[TsuWave]

It makes perfect sense if you had thought about what you wrote.

Yes and we have had 3 managers under Woodwards watch all bringing in their own and moving players on so it's not the same thing.

So what is your argument is meaningless

you said "the money spent was on players out injured which makes my post pointless". that doesn't make sense because one, we had a bunch of our recent buys there, and two, my whole point is that we need to buy "smarter" as in value for money, and better players.

same thing as what? what are you talking about? a revolving door of managers have def affected the way our squad is shaped but it still does not fully account for the top heavy squad, and even then, its a "decent" first team and just a bunch of average to poor players to fill in when they are out.

Then, don't post like a spoilt child.

you took criticism of the state of our squad and extrapolated it into me only being content with a WC back up team, and i'm the one posting like a spoilt child? this is not getting anywhere and its staining the thread. godspeed sir/madam.

 

[Janson]

Totally disagree. He lost the ball several times. His second half was pathetic.

Exactly, both Mikhi and Martial got the ball in good positions to start a counter but always loosing the ball.

 

[BIGbadBOO4]

Lampard describing it as a headbutt? Seriously why are they cabbaged brained footballers allowed an opinion when they just subjectively overplay or underplay everything according their biased beliefs. Yes it was stupid but no mention of Kunt Ageruo deserving an Oscar.

 

[Luffy]

We needed a win to gate-crash that top-four party, with City and Liverpool barely able to keep awake, both fighting the urge to gradually slump into that moth-ridden, but cosy divan out on the curb called the Europa League. Alas it was not to be, and the pessimist (or in this case, realist) in me just can't see us getting in.

With key players out, we were never going to go swashbuckling our way through this game. I expected a tight defense, with us looking for every single opportunity to counter-attack. Didn't quite work out like that. A less than assured defense begat panic, which begat lack of confidence in our own attacking prowess, which begat tension, which begs the question: who did we miss more today?

For Pogba would have stabilized that midfield which made Yaya look like Xavi. And Rojo would have kept Aguero in check, and Zlatan would have... done something Zlatanesque I guess. To be honest though, I shouldn't be too disappointed with this result. We were unfortunate not to have scored through Herrera's nod, but very much fortunate to have not conceded.

I saw someone politely ask the referee to piss off in the match thread, and realised how unfair a demand that was on Martin Atkinson. Surely the guy couldn't be expected to produce anything yellow during this game. But he eventually did, and boy did the flood gates become ever so slightly ajar then.

In a game that has been dubbed as a tactical chess match between two of the finest minds in the business, the real masterstroke came from a surprising source when Maroune Fellaini astutely sacrificed himself to bring forth the wrath of TFM. Take that Pep!

All in all I am not sure how I feel about the draw. Sure, considering the circumstances in which we got the result we should take it and run, but it would have been swell to usurp them of their 4th place. That said, I reckon we could tentatively count on Liverpool to balls it all up again now that JK has uttered the magic word "slip" after the Palace game. Oh, well roll on Swansea.