PL W FA Premier League

Manchester United 2:1 Manchester City

Post-match discussion


Sat, 14 January 2023

Who would have thought the first two defeats would have been the best thing to have happened to us. Exactly what we needed to test the new manager, give him the opportunity to drop a few players, and build from the the ashes.
 
AWB and Shaw deserve a lot of credit for their performances. Some really clever touches from AWB, good positioning, showed for the ball, kept that side (Foden?) quiet. Shaw as a CB has been like getting a free player. Malacia is t as good as Shaw when Shaw is motivated - obviously - but he’s good enough to do a job on the Oilers. Shaw, though, nullified the Yeti, threw himself into the thick of it, was immense.

Eriksen’s passing at times was breathtaking. Not sure why he was rated low. His ability to get the ball and immediately launch an attack through a wicked pass is almost unparalleled in the league, and he did it a few times against City. I think the Rashy 1 on 1 with the keeper was one, and Bruno’s shot wide was from an Eriksen pass. He’s great a threading through traffic.

Also a shout out for Garnacho, not exactly unsung, but on the second goal any of our other left sided attackers would have played the ball back to Fred after it bounced off a defender on the first cross (and Fred was livid), but Garnacho’s instinct is to take them on. That’s what led to the cross for the goal. Garnacho didn’t defer to the senior player, which also means he’s confident in his own ability.

Casemiro was a monster. Usually we have 1 or 2 players who become fan favorites, who rally the fans and bleed for the shirt, Casemiro is definitely one, and we’ve also got Licha Martinez. Two hell raisers.

We were the better team and deserved it. Credit to the manager and the players. ETH is the real deal.
 
This game also shows we need a ball playing goalkeeper. DDG improves a lot for the aspect of sweeping. But, we just can’t build up from back with him.
 



This is a great detailed analysis of the game which answered 2 questions I have:
1. Why was City so threatening in the second half?
Because KDB dragged Fred out of his position, Mahrez and Walker attacked the space he left.

2. What happened after City scored?
United took more risks with pressing and dribbling, especially AWB who kept the balls from 3 City players and gave the team the belief that we are good enough to break City press, as we struggled to keep possession since the start of second half.

 
Still cant believe how good AWB was. He played like a prime Cafu out there.
 
This game also shows we need a ball playing goalkeeper. DDG improves a lot for the aspect of sweeping. But, we just can’t build up from back with him.
He has improved a lot. He is so good on the line, that we should keep him.
 
Still cant believe how good AWB was. He played like a prime Cafu out there.

We genuinly have two very good options on right back now. And two players who alot of us had written of. Testiment to the coaches we have now and Ten Hag.
 
We genuinly have two very good options on right back now. And two players who alot of us had written of. Testiment to the coaches we have now and Ten Hag.
Absolutely, AWB is like a man reborn and Dalot brought his career back on track, not so long ago he was on loan and far away from heart and mind.
 
I still can't believe we won this. We're making progress - that is undeniable - I look forward to the day when we will have more than 30% of the ball against a City team, though. Still, a fantastic win and a big step forward for United under Ten Hag. The positive impact he has had on individuals like Rashford as well as the team as a whole, is a testament to what good coaching can achieve, even in a short space of time.
 
We're making progress - that is undeniable - I look forward to the day when we will have more than 30% of the ball against a City team, though.
The period under LvG taught us how pointless posession stats were.
 
It's the evolution of the team, first time playing City in years where we went into the game not hoping to maybe sneak a point or avoid a hammering, but genuinely expecting a win. We still aren't a 90 min team against the top sides yet, but it's a work in progress. We saw against Chelsea, first half hour we were excellent, didn't take our chances, then allowed Chelsea back into the game. Same v City, looked very good 1st half, didn't take our big chance then allowed City to dominate for a period just after half. Great team spirit, great tactics as well. That period after half where City were on top, we pushed antony out wide and brought Garnacho on and we turned the tide in our favour.
 
It's the evolution of the team, first time playing City in years where we went into the game not hoping to maybe sneak a point or avoid a hammering, but genuinely expecting a win. We still aren't a 90 min team against the top sides yet, but it's a work in progress. We saw against Chelsea, first half hour we were excellent, didn't take our chances, then allowed Chelsea back into the game. Same v City, looked very good 1st half, didn't take our big chance then allowed City to dominate for a period just after half. Great team spirit, great tactics as well. That period after half where City were on top, we pushed antony out wide and brought Garnacho on and we turned the tide in our favour.
Not sure that’s anything to do with us being a 90 minute team. Not sure what that is. Pep changed things. ETH couldn’t have known what he was doing and it took 15minutes and a goal for him to counteract it.

After the game, Pep called out the man marking from Utd and how it made things difficult for them. We had them under control first half. Second half, Marhrez, De Bruyne and Haaland in particular went wandering to try drag their markers with them. It ruined our shape. Plus with no Martial, their CBS seemed much less worried.

ETH said after the game he was just about to change things when they scored. He will learn from that and be more immediate in future against top sides I reckon. It was clear that city had changed things and were on top.

But City were not a “90 minute” side against us yesterday. For large portions they were clueless and getting frustrated while we were calm and efficient.

We will never be a Pep-like 90 minutes with the ball against a top rival imo. It’s not really what we are about. But who knows what ETH has in store.
 
The period under LvG taught us how pointless posession stats were.

Possession is of course secondary to goals and winning the game. I would much rather win 1-0 and have 5% of the ball than lose 1-0 and have 95%. But I enjoy seeing United dominate opponents and ultimately you cannot score if you don't have the ball - I'd like to see us look after it a little better. I'm sure it will come - this is still a work in progress and Ten Hag has already made enormous strides.
 
AWB and Shaw deserve a lot of credit for their performances. Some really clever touches from AWB, good positioning, showed for the ball, kept that side (Foden?) quiet. Shaw as a CB has been like getting a free player. Malacia is t as good as Shaw when Shaw is motivated - obviously - but he’s good enough to do a job on the Oilers. Shaw, though, nullified the Yeti, threw himself into the thick of it, was immense.

Eriksen’s passing at times was breathtaking. Not sure why he was rated low. His ability to get the ball and immediately launch an attack through a wicked pass is almost unparalleled in the league, and he did it a few times against City. I think the Rashy 1 on 1 with the keeper was one, and Bruno’s shot wide was from an Eriksen pass. He’s great a threading through traffic.

Also a shout out for Garnacho, not exactly unsung, but on the second goal any of our other left sided attackers would have played the ball back to Fred after it bounced off a defender on the first cross (and Fred was livid), but Garnacho’s instinct is to take them on. That’s what led to the cross for the goal. Garnacho didn’t defer to the senior player, which also means he’s confident in his own ability.

Casemiro was a monster. Usually we have 1 or 2 players who become fan favorites, who rally the fans and bleed for the shirt, Casemiro is definitely one, and we’ve also got Licha Martinez. Two hell raisers.

We were the better team and deserved it. Credit to the manager and the players. ETH is the real deal.

Agree with most of that, although Erikson was not at his best. When City brought Grealish on, he kept on cutting into midfield and running with it, and Erikson didn't have the legs to track or stop him, this was one of the reasons why City had that 15 minute spell of control. Ten Hag said he was about to sub Erikson before City scored. But when he did, the game swung back our way. I think he may need a bit of a rest. 3 games a week, 4 competitions, a world cup thrown in. Has to take its toll on these players. Especially Erikson, from where he was. He is still quality though. We just have to know when to use and when to rest these players.
 
2. What happened after City scored?
United took more risks with pressing and dribbling, especially AWB who kept the balls from 3 City players and gave the team the belief that we are good enough to break City press, as we struggled to keep possession since the start of second half.
Trophies to be kept in very small boxes on the mantle now.
 
5 green circles. When is the last time we saw 5 green circles?

edit: in the league.
 
One very pleasing aspect was the fullbacks willingness to take the ball and at time drive with it …AWB in particular…it’s that type of running that gets city through so many tight midfields. Great to see those elements of confidence coming into the team.
 
I wonder if this will be looked back on as a “smash and grab” against the run of play, in the same way a lot of people seem to see our win over Arsenal?

Well, according to Jonathan Wilson, on the guardian football podcast, our win was mostly down to it being in really 'windy' in the first half, which made it hard for City to get their passing game going...

So yeah, it's going to be downplayed by a lot of knobheads.
 
I wonder if this will be looked back on as a “smash and grab” against the run of play, in the same way a lot of people seem to see our win over Arsenal?

Ignorant fukks like Souness might see this as a smash and grab, but in truth United had the advantage of play in the first half and only yielded one shot on goal -- which went in for a goal -- before we found our feet again and claimed the fully deserved victory.

For me what's more telling that percentage of possession is good chance creation. We created more good chances than City did. And we finished on two of those good chances. A few other good chances were well defended, so credit to City for that, but apart from Grealish's goal City had no other good chances to speak of. Even the block on Haaland's chance in the first half was a speculative and and can't be counted as a good chance.

Just a final thought. We deserved the win, but City were in a funk going into the match and had a bad day at the office. True, we had a lot to do with their bad day, but this was not the version of City that was flying high earlier this season, let alone last season.
 
Ignorant fukks like Souness might see this as a smash and grab, but in truth United had the advantage of play in the first half and only yielded one shot on goal -- which went in for a goal -- before we found our feet again and claimed the fully deserved victory.

For me what's more telling that percentage of possession is good chance creation. We created more good chances than City did. And we finished on two of those good chances. A few other good chances were well defended, so credit to City for that, but apart from Grealish's goal City had no other good chances to speak of. Even the block on Haaland's chance in the first half was a speculative and and can't be counted as a good chance.

Just a final thought. We deserved the win, but City were in a funk going into the match and had a bad day at the office. True, we had a lot to do with their bad day, but this was not the version of City that was flying high earlier this season, let alone last season.

Ive read somewhere xG was in our favor. 2.something vs 0.6
 
Trophies to be kept in very small boxes on the mantle now.
English is my second language, so I'm not sure but I suspect you mocked my praise for AWB was over the top. It's an opinion, I think I'm right, you think you're right. I don't care about that. I just want to know if my interpretation of your opinion is right. I want to learn so please let me know.

Back to AWB, if you hate him, you probably like this (or not, I'm not sure). This is the sequence led to the equalizer. Casemiro passed the ball poorly here. It bounced and traveled slowly. He then took a big risk, leaving his position, going up the field to give AWB a passing option. If the spider-man lost the ball, another older spider-man, De Gea, would've get gangbanged by those blue villains. Fortunately, with his flailing legs, he trapped the ball and run past two City players and picked out Casemiro. Sometimes, you just need to believe you can do it. Because we all can see that AWB is quite clumsy, his first is poor, he dribbles as if he were drunk, which hilariously makes him unpredictable.

 
English is my second language, so I'm not sure but I suspect you mocked my praise for AWB was over the top. It's an opinion, I think I'm right, you think you're right. I don't care about that. I just want to know if my interpretation of your opinion is right. I want to learn so please let me know.

Back to AWB, if you hate him, you probably like this (or not, I'm not sure). This is the sequence led to the equalizer. Casemiro passed the ball poorly here. It bounced and traveled slowly. He then took a big risk, leaving his position, going up the field to give AWB a passing option. If the spider-man lost the ball, another older spider-man, De Gea, would've get gangbanged by those blue villains. Fortunately, with his flailing legs, he trapped the ball and run past two City players and picked out Casemiro. Sometimes, you just need to believe you can do it. Because we all can see that AWB is quite clumsy, his first is poor, he dribbles as if he were drunk, which hilariously makes him unpredictable.


You misunderstood my joke, then. I do like AWB, I love his defense, and I was not mocking you by any stretch. Actually, I may think he's better than you seem to think he is. But I was playing off your statement, "especially AWB who kept the balls from 3 City players". I was making a joke from it, not mocking you.
 
You misunderstood my joke, then. I do like AWB, I love his defense, and I was not mocking you by any stretch. Actually, I may think he's better than you seem to think he is. But I was playing off your statement, "especially AWB who kept the balls from 3 City players". I was making a joke from it, not mocking you.
Ah, ok, all's good. I thought you meant he was so good, just give him some trophies already. Thanks for clarifying it.
 
I'm sure I read somewhere he was born in Madrid as well, it all just screams a mirror image of a young Ronaldo so far - we at most get a couple of years out of him, then RM come calling and he's off.
Hopefully like you say senior players like Varane, Casemiro, Bruno etc can help here.
The fact he idolises Ronaldo as well isn't overly helpful.

I'm not sure what we can do to try and make us seem the "sexy" option.

We just need to keep getting better. We may well be the bigger draw in a couple years time. And there's Vinicius Junior over there already. Not like he would get more game time, or adulation at the Bernabeu.
 
This is a great detailed analysis of the game which answered 2 questions I have:
1. Why was City so threatening in the second half?
Because KDB dragged Fred out of his position, Mahrez and Walker attacked the space he left.

I disagree. The main reason was when Martial left. We had no one who could hold the ball up and wait for the rushes from Rashford. Fred man marked KDB no mkatter where he was. If KDB dragged him then Malaccia and Eriksen should have covered the right flank
 
Fred had a great game, but I’m a little surprised he got MOTM here. A flip of the coin between Marcus and Bruno for me. Of our front three, Marcus alone created havoc for the City back line. Bruno was a bit erratic, but had moments of brilliance. Not far behind them is Casemiro, who was outstanding, as usual.
 
We genuinly have two very good options on right back now. And two players who alot of us had written of. Testiment to the coaches we have now and Ten Hag.

A key point. I know nothing about ETH’s coaches, but it’s clear they’ve done a brilliant job coaching individual players, while ETH has the squad playing collectively much better than any United manager since Ferguson.
 
Fred had a great game, but I’m a little surprised he got MOTM here. A flip of the coin between Marcus and Bruno for me. Of our front three, Marcus alone created havoc for the City back line. Bruno was a bit erratic, but had moments of brilliance. Not far behind them is Casemiro, who was outstanding, as usual.

What about our defenders. City had 1 shot on target?
 
Ignorant fukks like Souness might see this as a smash and grab, but in truth United had the advantage of play in the first half and only yielded one shot on goal -- which went in for a goal -- before we found our feet again and claimed the fully deserved victory.

For me what's more telling that percentage of possession is good chance creation. We created more good chances than City did. And we finished on two of those good chances. A few other good chances were well defended, so credit to City for that, but apart from Grealish's goal City had no other good chances to speak of. Even the block on Haaland's chance in the first half was a speculative and and can't be counted as a good chance.

Just a final thought. We deserved the win, but City were in a funk going into the match and had a bad day at the office. True, we had a lot to do with their bad day, but this was not the version of City that was flying high earlier this season, let alone last season.
It’s really annoying when people call our win Vs City “counter attacking” as if it’s anything like how we beat City under Ole, or even Liverpool under ETH.

Like you said we dominated the first half, started poorly in the second half which was not part of the plan and ETH acknowledged we need to address. City scored with their first shot on target.

It’s very clear we are no longer a team intentionally sits deep. We try to win the ball as high as possible and counter press. We’ve not mastered doing it as high as Liverpool did or City do, but usually we win the ball back in the CM area and you can see our forwards do try to press.
 
AWB and Shaw deserve a lot of credit for their performances. Some really clever touches from AWB, good positioning, showed for the ball, kept that side (Foden?) quiet. Shaw as a CB has been like getting a free player. Malacia is t as good as Shaw when Shaw is motivated - obviously - but he’s good enough to do a job on the Oilers. Shaw, though, nullified the Yeti, threw himself into the thick of it, was immense.

Eriksen’s passing at times was breathtaking. Not sure why he was rated low. His ability to get the ball and immediately launch an attack through a wicked pass is almost unparalleled in the league, and he did it a few times against City. I think the Rashy 1 on 1 with the keeper was one, and Bruno’s shot wide was from an Eriksen pass. He’s great a threading through traffic.

Also a shout out for Garnacho, not exactly unsung, but on the second goal any of our other left sided attackers would have played the ball back to Fred after it bounced off a defender on the first cross (and Fred was livid), but Garnacho’s instinct is to take them on. That’s what led to the cross for the goal. Garnacho didn’t defer to the senior player, which also means he’s confident in his own ability.

Casemiro was a monster. Usually we have 1 or 2 players who become fan favorites, who rally the fans and bleed for the shirt, Casemiro is definitely one, and we’ve also got Licha Martinez. Two hell raisers.

We were the better team and deserved it. Credit to the manager and the players. ETH is the real deal.
 

Player Ratings

7.1 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 386 ratings.

Score Predictions

117,64,60
  • Man Utd win
  • Man City win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 29% Man Utd 2:1 Man City
  • 14% Man Utd 2:2 Man City
  • 9% Man Utd 1:1 Man City
  • 8% Man Utd 1:2 Man City
  • 7% Man Utd 1:3 Man City
  • 5% Man Utd 3:2 Man City
  • 5% Man Utd 1:0 Man City
  • 5% Man Utd 3:1 Man City
  • 4% Man Utd 0:2 Man City
  • 3% Man Utd 2:0 Man City
  • 2% Man Utd 0:0 Man City
  • 2% Man Utd 0:3 Man City
  • 2% Man Utd 1:4 Man City
  • 1% Man Utd 0:5 Man City
  • 1% Man Utd 2:4 Man City
  • 1% Man Utd 3:0 Man City
  • 0% Man Utd 4:2 Man City
  • 0% Man Utd 5:0 Man City
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 Man City
  • 0% Man Utd 2:3 Man City
  • 0% Man Utd 0:4 Man City
Compiled from 241 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Man City
Possession
30% 70%
Shots
8 5
Shots on Target
4 1
Corners
1 2
Fouls
15 5

Referee

Stuart Attwell