[Scanny]

Think we have to look at switching things around a bit. In my opinion we look completely unbalanced on the left side, with right footed players playing at LWB. We are such a different side when Shaw plays there, but we all know how often he will be available. Given he’s playing awfully at LCB anyway, would it be the worst idea to try Martinez at LWB ? He’s left footed and generally pretty comfortable on the ball. I’d try that with Yoro, De Ligt and Maguire at the back. That would give us a bit more strength in the air from set pieces too.

I’m not averse to this idea. Worth a go anyway.

 

[redmanx]

We could very well get relegated. If you don't believe it, you're not believing what's unfolding in front of your very eyes.

Relegation is a very distinct possibility. Many said we were too big to be relegated in the old First Division in 73/74, but we were and, arguably, with a team at least as good as we currently have. in 72/73 we finished 18th and our worst finish since 73/74 is 13th in 89/90. I have a feeling finishing 13th this season is the best we can possibly hope for, but I fear it will be worse. Relegation is not out of the question by a long shot.

 

[Crackers]

agree with you... but I felt sick agreeing with him!

He's infuriating at times but he's a fantastic pundit. I'm willing to ignore his annoying side as he's rarely biased with United I don't think

 

[BorisManUtd]

Another bad result. Started watching the game around 30th minute and feel like we were better from that point until the end. It was largely thanks to Mainoo coming on for Zirkzee probably, which just shows how bad a decision was to start Casemiro-Eriksen midfield pair. We had to score from chances we had late in first half or early in 2nd to have a chance of taking a result

3rd loss in a row in league. That last happened in December 2015. Wonder what was the last time we lost 4 in a row. Probably like 89-90 season.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

This has been Man Utd for the last 10 years.

Replace Lindelof, Shaw, Mount, Casemiro, Eriksen, Maguire, Onana, Rashford, Hojlund before replacing the manager,

This is my big worry that yet again it will be the manager and not the players who suffer the consequencies. We need so many players it is scary. A LWB, somebody, anybody who can put the ball in the net. Apart from that just replace the majority of the team.

 

[BorisManUtd]

It’ll probably sound like an excuse but (other than Amorim starting Casemiro-Eriksen without Mainoo) what didn’t help was Ugarte and Bruno not being available. Newcastle’s midfield is strong and they’re in very good form atm so they were always more likely to win.

 

[DJ_21]

Another game we haven’t scored in. We just can’t score. Even at OT.

 

[Amsterdam Devil]

Maybe Ashworth wasn’t that dumb that he wanted a coach with premier league experience. Although I still think and hope all will be well with Amorim in the long term.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

Anyone who's ever read any of my posts will know I try and focus on the positives. I prefer the "if you cant find something nice to say, dont say anything atall" approach. But... Waking up to read that Amorim is talking about relegation this morning has set me off. Surely his stance should be "this is Manchester united we DONT DO RELEGATION BATTLES"!!! Then he should roll his sleeves up and get everyone to knuckle down and work their socks off until things start to improve.

So... rant mode engaged... EVERYONE knew that starting Case and Erikson together in midfield was a mistake. Two great players, but both passed their prime, and who clearly need energy along side them. So how come the manager didnt know this?? Its astonishing. We have a chat group and, as soon as we saw the team, we all agreed that we'd get overrun. Then he corrects things by bringing Mainoo on, but in doing destroys any confidence that Zirkzee still had. We could, and probably should have come in at HT 2-2, but confidence was shot by then, which makes players tense up and chances get wasted.

Look at how Ruud set us up and gave players freedom to express themselves. Its not rocket science and we DO have the players to win football matches. I'm praying Amorim is big enough to see this and adjust to restore some belief and get some points on the board, then by all means, 3-4-3 his head off next season when he's had the chance to bring some of his own players in.

rant mode stopped.... happy new year everyone !!

 

[justsomebloke]

I know what you're saying, he's not 'the problem'. Unfortunately neither is he the solution any more. He used to be good enough to carry us. That ship has sailed.

He's still good enough to be part of the solution.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Has much as I dislike Jamie Carragher he did a great analysis job of putting the blame on Amorim for his selections.

He was also brutal in his analysis of Martinez.

The stream I was watching had Lee Dixon co-commentating. He sounded like the angriest man in the stadium, when he's usually quite dry, so it was a bit out of character. You'd think a City man would be reveling in United's failure but he was furious with our defending.

 

[Westerkerk]

Anyone who's ever read any of my posts will know I try and focus on the positives. I prefer the "if you cant find something nice to say, dont say anything atall" approach. But... Waking up to read that Amorim is talking about relegation this morning has set me off. Surely his stance should be "this is Manchester united we DONT DO RELEGATION BATTLES"!!! Then he should roll his sleeves up and get everyone to knuckle down and work their socks off until things start to improve.

So... rant mode engaged... EVERYONE knew that starting Case and Erikson together in midfield was a mistake. Two great players, but both passed their prime, and who clearly need energy along side them. So how come the manager didnt know this?? Its astonishing. We have a chat group and, as soon as we saw the team, we all agreed that we'd get overrun. Then he corrects things by bringing Mainoo on, but in doing destroys any confidence that Zirkzee still had. We could, and probably should have come in at HT 2-2, but confidence was shot by then, which makes players tense up and chances get wasted.

Look at how Ruud set us up and gave players freedom to express themselves. Its not rocket science and we DO have the players to win football matches. I'm praying Amorim is big enough to see this and adjust to restore some belief and get some points on the board, then by all means, 3-4-3 his head off next season when he's had the chance to bring some of his own players in.

rant mode stopped.... happy new year everyone !!

Letting the players express themselves? Like they've been expressing themselves for the last few years?

How Ruud set us up was irrelevant, if even noticeable beyond what ETH was doing. The new manager bounce came and left with him, because his tenure was never going to be long term and this bunch of coddled players got to feel all warm and fuzzy about it before Amorim came in and they realised they may actually have to put some hard graft in to improve.

It only achieves so much and leads to a lack of consistency, which has a knock on effect because there is no system, there is no structure, there is no dynamism. Someone else mentioned it in another thread, doing that only leads to Manchester United becoming Moments FC - this club is bigger than that. Having no defined system means it is impossible to buy the correct players in the future, and we end up with players who don't suit a particular system any time we try to implement one.

We all know a reset needs to happen for both the club and the playing side. You cannot reset anything by making the same mistakes over and over.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Switched over to the darts when we went 2-0 down. Just didn’t see this team having the stomach to stage a comeback. Worst performance since the Spurs home loss earlier this season.

 

[Buster15]

It’ll probably sound like an excuse but (other than Amorim starting Casemiro-Eriksen without Mainoo) what didn’t help was Ugarte and Bruno not being available. Newcastle’s midfield is strong and they’re in very good form atm so they were always more likely to win.

Yes. But the coach knew Ugarte and Bruno were unavailable and for some reason though that Eriksen and Casemiro would work.
Eddie Howe tactics worked because he played on United weaknesses.
The effect was to isolate ZZ and RH and overload the midfield.

And too late, after the damage was largely done, Amorim realised his mistake and brought on Mainoo who did pretty well.

Try that against Liverpool and I dread to think what the outcome could be.

 

[dpansheth]

The stream I was watching had Lee Dixon co-commentating. He sounded like the angriest man in the stadium, when he's usually quite dry, so it was a bit out of character. You'd think a City man would be reveling in United's failure but he was furious with our defending.

Dixon was actually disgusted with CBs, Maguire and Martinez. “Have some professional pride” along those lines.

 

[JBG]

Players I genuinely don't want to see start for us for the rest of the season, unless injuries on preferred players or we play shit team we can rotate against:

Zirkzee, Casemiro, Martinez, Malacia, Maguire, Eriksen and to a certain extent Antony.. players like Onana, Dalot and even Højlund should also be on this list, but we sadly don't have better options. I say certain extent for Antony because he might be the only winger we have that can play RWB to a competent effect that isn't Amad. Mazraoui should play RCB going forward.

 

[BorisManUtd]

Yes. But the coach knew Ugarte and Bruno were unavailable and for some reason though that Eriksen and Casemiro would work.
Eddie Howe tactics worked because he played on United weaknesses.
The effect was to isolate ZZ and RH and overload the midfield.

And too late, after the damage was largely done, Amorim realised his mistake and brought on Mainoo who did pretty well.

Try that against Liverpool and I dread to think what the outcome could be.

Absolutely agree. He made a mistake with that midfield and we lost the game within first 20 minutes. Can’t score even if players’ lives depended on it so being 2-0 down was game over as it showed.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Dixon was actually disgusted with CBs, Maguire and Martinez. “Have some professional pride” along those lines.

Mazraoui too. There was a chance where they had a runner at the back post and Maz didn't even try to track him. Dixon was spitting feathers.

 

[Ayoba]

Anyone who's ever read any of my posts will know I try and focus on the positives. I prefer the "if you cant find something nice to say, dont say anything atall" approach. But... Waking up to read that Amorim is talking about relegation this morning has set me off. Surely his stance should be "this is Manchester united we DONT DO RELEGATION BATTLES"!!! Then he should roll his sleeves up and get everyone to knuckle down and work their socks off until things start to improve.

So... rant mode engaged... EVERYONE knew that starting Case and Erikson together in midfield was a mistake. Two great players, but both passed their prime, and who clearly need energy along side them. So how come the manager didnt know this?? Its astonishing. We have a chat group and, as soon as we saw the team, we all agreed that we'd get overrun. Then he corrects things by bringing Mainoo on, but in doing destroys any confidence that Zirkzee still had. We could, and probably should have come in at HT 2-2, but confidence was shot by then, which makes players tense up and chances get wasted.

Look at how Ruud set us up and gave players freedom to express themselves. Its not rocket science and we DO have the players to win football matches. I'm praying Amorim is big enough to see this and adjust to restore some belief and get some points on the board, then by all means, 3-4-3 his head off next season when he's had the chance to bring some of his own players in.

rant mode stopped.... happy new year everyone !!

He wont. He was adamant about this in his presser yesterday, its his plan or nothing else, even if it means getting the sack.

I seem to remember a ETH coming out with the same line - "we stick to the plan" after every loss.

 

[Stig]

3% Joshua Zirkzee For Man of The Match.

Who one earth voted for Zirkee as Man of The Match.

If you did, please can you explain what you saw to think he was our Man of The Match.

 

[Maticmaker]

It’ll probably sound like an excuse but (other than Amorim starting Casemiro-Eriksen without Mainoo) what didn’t help was Ugarte and Bruno not being available. Newcastle’s midfield is strong and they’re in very good form atm so they were always more likely to win.

Agree with all the above, don't know what Ruben was thinking; had Mainoo not come on when he did, we were looking at a 0-5 thrashing...minimum.

I understand the manager's intention to try different formations, but clearly nobody had told him of Newcastle's midfield strength and how in-form they are just now.

After first 20 minutes was almost tempted to try hiding under my seat in the Sir Bobby Charlton stand, but my wife ... bless her, kept making me sit up and take it like a man!!

Ugarte and Bruno both missed through bans, but a number of players also went 'missing in action'.... not looking good for Ruben.

 

[HankHill]

Actually, i think its not that bad. At least as an option to keep out opponents guessing. Also adding some stability with Mainoo in 10, and 2 dm’s in CM.
We’ve hardly scored (have we at all?) with full backs at wb, and leaking like a sift either way.

It's just about all I can think of that could have us looking better.

I think we've only managed to score with at least one attacking player in a wing-back position.

 

[Crackers]

3% Joshua Zirkzee For Man of The Match.

Who one earth voted for Zirkee as Man of The Match.

If you did, please can you explain what you saw to think he was our Man of The Match.

Some people just want to watch Redcafe burn

 

[redmanx]

Horrible, just horrible.

 

[Shabby as she goes]

Anyone who's ever read any of my posts will know I try and focus on the positives. I prefer the "if you cant find something nice to say, dont say anything atall" approach. But... Waking up to read that Amorim is talking about relegation this morning has set me off. Surely his stance should be "this is Manchester united we DONT DO RELEGATION BATTLES"!!! Then he should roll his sleeves up and get everyone to knuckle down and work their socks off until things start to improve.

So... rant mode engaged... EVERYONE knew that starting Case and Erikson together in midfield was a mistake. Two great players, but both passed their prime, and who clearly need energy along side them. So how come the manager didnt know this?? Its astonishing. We have a chat group and, as soon as we saw the team, we all agreed that we'd get overrun. Then he corrects things by bringing Mainoo on, but in doing destroys any confidence that Zirkzee still had. We could, and probably should have come in at HT 2-2, but confidence was shot by then, which makes players tense up and chances get wasted.

Look at how Ruud set us up and gave players freedom to express themselves. Its not rocket science and we DO have the players to win football matches. I'm praying Amorim is big enough to see this and adjust to restore some belief and get some points on the board, then by all means, 3-4-3 his head off next season when he's had the chance to bring some of his own players in.

rant mode stopped.... happy new year everyone !!

The midfield was was just naive, indeed. He’s making the exact same mistakes EtH made. The only thing to hope for is that Amorim will be less stubborn and will actually learn from his mistakes.

I also have not too much faith in his system but if he can only bring in a LWB this window (and preferably a 9 and a CM) things may already look different.
We’re only a few weeks in and at this stage he’d still be allowed to say “trust the process “

 

[Red00012]

We could very well get relegated. If you don't believe it, you're not believing what's unfolding in front of your very eyes.

There’s no chance we are getting relegated , there’s more chance of us winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe to be honest

 

[Bestofthebest]

There’s no chance we are getting relegated , there’s more chance of us winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe to be honest

I’ll have a bottle of whatever you are drinking if it makes you think that!!!

 

[Red00012]

I’ll have a bottle of whatever you are drinking if it makes you think that!!!

It’s unlikely but a lot more likely than us getting relegated !

 

[LordSpud]

Where's the Liverpool Vs United match day thread? Or are they too scared to make it

 

[BorisManUtd]

There’s no chance we are getting relegated , there’s more chance of us winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe to be honest

We need 18 more points out of 19 games. Won 22 in first 18 games. Lately lost 5 in league which will be 6 after Sunday. Can’t score while conceding 2/3 goals a game.

4 teams that were in 14th this time of year got relegated over the years. There’s a chance we get relegated.

 

[Crackers]

The midfield was was just naive, indeed. He’s making the exact same mistakes EtH made. The only thing to hope for is that Amorim will be less stubborn and will actually learn from his mistakes.

I also have not too much faith in his system but if he can only bring in a LWB this window (and preferably a 9 and a CM) things may already look different.
We’re only a few weeks in and at this stage he’d still be allowed to say “trust the process “

"trust the process" will end up like LVGs "my filloshophy". That phrase still winds me up

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Every fan knows that Eriksen Casemiro midfield doesn’t work so why doesn’t the manager? Is there something in the air at Carrington? Why does every manager make the same over and over again?

 

[Crackers]

Every fan knows that Eriksen Casemiro midfield doesn’t work so why doesn’t the manager? Is there something in the air at Carrington? Why does every manager make the same over and over again?

The alternative was probably Casemiro/Eriksen -Mainoo. He probably wanted to give Mainoo a break, he's still young and playing too much will hinder his development.

With Ugarte out he hasn't many alternative. Maybe Maz, but that's risky

 

[Red00012]

Every fan knows that Eriksen Casemiro midfield doesn’t work so why doesn’t the manager? Is there something in the air at Carrington? Why does every manager make the same over and over again?

He had 2 options Eriksen or Mainoo he went with Eriksen because maybe he felt Mainoo needed a break and was out of form . It didn’t work I’m not sure why the confusion over it .

 

[Maticmaker]

Where's the Liverpool Vs United match day thread? Or are they too scared to make it

What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over

 

[justsomebloke]

Not been the same player after his injuries.

Absolutely true.

 

[sunama]

Where's the Liverpool Vs United match day thread? Or are they too scared to make it

Haha. I noticed that too.
Perhaps the mods are worried about the negativity that that thread will create.

 

[justsomebloke]

Haha. I noticed that too.
Perhaps the mods are worried about the negativity that that thread will create.

Like that can be bottled.