[prtk0811]

I think circulating the ball more intelligently demands individual quality as well as a coaching that is geared towards it. The less you have of one, the more you need of the other. The nature of our manager means that we need much more than Mata to make up for that deficit.

I think all 3 have the individual quality, but not the same itelligence and coaching for the big games, the philosophical education and venrabilities to play a certain way education is missing. We need someone like robben , we already have martial and rashford who can adapt.

It can change under mourinho, but with the right transfer policy.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Fellaini completely changed the game for us when he came on. He still has a big role to play if used correctly.

We were completely outplayed throughout most of it though, the score line flattered us greatly.

Lindelof is a worry, but I shall reserve judgment for now.

Mhiki looks utterly disinterested.

 

[Rood]

Football is not an individual sport.

They absolutely decimated us in the middle of the park. Kroos, Modric & Isco are on 2 steps above. Made Pogba look out of his depth.

Every attacker at RM has great dribbling and close control.

hardly a surprise when they have played together for so long - whereas our starting midfield have never played together before tonight, you dont get to that level overnight

 

[fredriti]

Although RM had a huge advantage in possession, they had 16 shots to Utd's 14 shots. Both teams had six shots on goal. I believe the shots and shots on goal are telling stats - not too much difference as one may think.

 

[Theonas]

I think all 3 have the individual quality, but not the same itelligence and coaching for the big games, the philosophical education and venrabilities to play a certain way education is missing. We need someone like robben , we already have martial and rashford who can adapt.

It can change under mourinho, but with the right transfer policy.

I don't think it is simply about the front three (I am assuming that's who you mean). Being able to circulate the ball and move in that way needs the entire team. This is why you hear managers increasingly blurring the line between defence and attack, they are all linked and it is unreasonable to treat them as separate entities. The reason for this in my view is that whereas there was a time where you can dominate teams through the sheer individual quality of your players, now most teams either have higher quality or more sophisticated organisation to negate that advantage. This has made dominating territory and possession more and more difficult. When having Mourinho, you have someone who isn't even interested in that, this alone makes it more difficult to compete in that regard. The more significant part is that from his point of view at least, he has no reason to be interested in that. If he gets 24 or 25 wins in the 28 games against the non top sides in the league, he IS going to compete for the title and you don't need to be particularly well coached offensively to outscore those teams.

 

[sammsky1]

hardly a surprise when they have played together for so long - whereas our starting midfield have never played together before tonight, you dont get to that level overnight

Valid and relavant observation!

I think the success of our mf all hinges on Pogba delivering on his promised potential. If he comes good, Matic and Herrera have the passion and experience to complement him.

 

[Theonas]

hardly a surprise when they have played together for so long - whereas our starting midfield have never played together before tonight, you dont get to that level overnight

That is a very good point that is usually missed by those calling for new signings right, left and centre. The improvement and cohesion that can only be developed through more familiarity is criminally underrated. Of course if a player is not good enough, they're simply not good enough but from a fan's point of view, we are more often than not unqualified to tell whether they can be potentially good enough.

 

[Sylar]

I honestly dont think we learnt anything new after this match.

-Mdrid are the best team in the world.
-Lingard should ot be starting for us
-We badly need a left back (like Marcelo)
-We need somebody who can cross the bloody ball to our own players
-Our best Cbs didnt play (imo three of them, maybe even four with Tuanzebe included).
-Fellaini is best used as a sub in an advanced position as a plan b or c.
-Our decision making in the final third needs to be better
-Were not clinical enough (even though Madrid were better than us, we still had a huge chance to equalise)

 

[AlecHDR]

I didn't get to watch the match live. I just watched the extended highlights and by the look of things, Madrid seemed to have dominated. I predicted a 3-0 loss so 2-1 is not too bad. Rashford shouldn't be missing chances like the one he missed today. I think it is worse than Lukaku's miss. He had so much time to adjust and choose his angle.

I don't think this is the perfect game to gauge our progress either way. They're currently the best team in Europe and we are currently nowhere near that level.

In a way, I am way more interested in how we do on Sunday. West Ham at home is exactly the type of game where we squandered most of our points last season.

 

[Theonas]

I honestly dont think we learnt anything new after this match.

-Mdrid are the best team in the world.
-Lingard should ot be starting for us
-We badly need a left back (like Marcelo)
-We need somebody who can cross the bloody ball to our own players
-Our best Cbs didnt play (imo three of them, maybe even four with Tuanzebe included).
-Fellaini is best used as a sub in an advanced position as a plan b or c.
-Our decision making in the final third needs to be better
-Were not clinical enough (even though Madrid were better than us, we still had a huge chance to equalise)

There is none. There might be one or two who look like they could develop to that level but there is no one currently at his level.

 

[Sylar]

There is none. There might be one or two who look like they could develop to that level but there is no one currently at his level.

Oh no doubt. More somebody who we could use in a role similar, whether its Shaw being fit, or even Danny Rose

 

[prtk0811]

I don't think it is simply about the front three (I am assuming that's who you mean). Being able to circulate the ball and move in that way needs the entire team. This is why you hear managers increasingly blurring the line between defence and attack, they are all linked and it is unreasonable to treat them as separate entities. The reason for this in my view is that whereas there was a time where you can dominate teams through the sheer individual quality of your players, now most teams either have higher quality or more sophisticated organisation to negate that advantage. This has made dominating territory and possession more and more difficult. When having Mourinho, you have someone who isn't even interested in that, this alone makes it more difficult to compete in that regard. The more significant part is that from his point of view at least, he has no reason to be interested in that. If he gets 24 or 25 wins in the 28 games against the non top sides in the league, he IS going to compete for the title and you don't need to be particularly well coached offensively to outscore those teams.

I would hate for mourinho to be SAF like in Europe.

But exactly opposite for the EPl where i think this Posession based approach is inconsistent against what mourinho is known for with reactive counter attacking football and deep defending as in bus parking. That's the reason wenger isstruggling all these years and so will klopp and pep who'll ultimately fall short against a consistent team who dont care about the posession but directness and counter attacking.

Some where in between the paradox mourinho has to evolve because it'll always be the hard way now since mourinho last won the ucl.

Zidane has been spot on for madrid same as pep with barcelona though.

 

[prtk0811]

There is none. There might be one or two who look like they could develop to that level but there is no one currently at his level.

Alaba is good.

I hope Mourinho pushes shaw to be next ashley cole atleast.

 

[Rood]

That is a very good point that is usually missed by those calling for new signings right, left and centre. The improvement and cohesion that can only be developed through more familiarity is criminally underrated. Of course if a player is not good enough, they're simply not good enough but from a fan's point of view, we are more often than not unqualified to tell whether they can be potentially good enough.

Exactly - you can buy whoever you want but time is always going to be a vital factor

This Madrid team have been together for years - look back 3/4 years and it was pretty much the same team under Jose

Meanwhile we have had a huge churn of players and will need time for everyone to be on the same wavelength

 

[prtk0811]

That is a very good point that is usually missed by those calling for new signings right, left and centre. The improvement and cohesion that can only be developed through more familiarity is criminally underrated. Of course if a player is not good enough, they're simply not good enough but from a fan's point of view, we are more often than not unqualified to tell whether they can be potentially good enough.

But by the time herrera and matic would be past their best and we'll have to find new midfeild for balance , or again be reactive in market having to pay huge fee and still with uncertainity.

Its important also to getthe best out of what we have in the current crop.

 

[sammsky1]

But by the time herrera and matic would be past their best and we'll have to find new midfeild for balance , or again be reactive in market having to pay huge fee and still with uncertainity.

Its important also to getthe best out of what we have in the current crop.

Just a couple of months?

 

[sully1]

Although RM had a huge advantage in possession, they had 16 shots to Utd's 14 shots. Both teams had six shots on goal. I believe the shots and shots on goal are telling stats - not too much difference as one may think.

Madrid hit 2 the post twice in the second half. we fluffed our chances.

Lukakus and Rashford chances were the difference between us and their players. These teams players our just too clinical our arent be it Burnley or against Madrid our players fluff their chances even when theres just a keeper to beat as tonight proved.

 

[Will Singh]

We bottled it, Pogba is like that one kid who is the best player in the park and never passes. For fecks sake this ain't the playground, this is a fecking team game she without a team you ain't shit no matter how good you are. Correct me if I'm wrong, around the begging of the game we countered them and Pogba had a school boy pass to put Mkhi through but he went for glory and all but fecked it up like when they scored there first and Pogba should have cleared it instead of trying to. E the hero which lead to a throwing and to there goal....!

RANT feckING OVER

 

[Tapori]

That is a very good point that is usually missed by those calling for new signings right, left and centre. The improvement and cohesion that can only be developed through more familiarity is criminally underrated. Of course if a player is not good enough, they're simply not good enough but from a fan's point of view, we are more often than not unqualified to tell whether they can be potentially good enough.

Agreed; people completely forget this isn't avideo game - Players need time to gel and the Real team have more cohesiveness for this reason.
if anything it makes the argument to stick with players through bad patches if you can see improvement.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Mourinho has built a defensively strong, physical side with some very talented young attacking players but the combined technical/tactical level of the midfield and defense is shockingly poor for one of the biggest clubs in the world. In this regard, I'm talking about passing ability, vision, and movement off the ball to receive passes. Playing against Madrid accentuates this contrast since they're so strong in these regards but its not like the issue is only there when playing them.

The biggest problem this creates is that you look totally inept if the other side has the courage to press you high up the pitch. Two things changed after the second Madrid goal - Zidane called off the dogs and they didn't press so aggressively and Mourinho put on Fellaini for Herrera, which allowed you to advance the ball quickly by bypassing midfield (he is truly excellent at winning long balls).

But unless you're going to play Fellaini from the beginning of matches, you can't expect both of those things to be true in general. Weak teams in the Premier League will still fear to press you, preferring to fall back and play for draws of course. But you're going to have a consistent problem against the stronger sides.

I'm fine with the game today and was impressed with Lukaku (even with the bad miss), Matic and some others, but I think this is a great post.

The technical ability and movement is what worries me and hopefully will improve over time.

 

[AshRK]

I'm not concerned with Juve, Atletico or Bayern. United looks a couple of levels below the elite despite spending hundreds of millions in the last 3-4 years.

Spending alone guarantees nothing. Real.madrid took 5 or 6 years before getting it right. City have been spending big and yet after almost 8 years they have just won 2 league title and a semi final appearance in ucl. We need to bring stability and slowly we are attaining that.

 

[MZX7]

Can we please wait for the end of the game to slate Fellaini from next time? One of our better players today. How many times does he have to give it his all before people stop blaming him for his selection by the manager?

 

[prtk0811]

The technical ability and movement is what worries me and hopefully will improve over time.

It will only improve with new players

 

[vivaronaldo]

we finished strong but lets be fair ,Madrid controlled the tempo of the game ...

matic will prove a great buy , someone to sit in front of the back 4 and protect ...allows pogba to get forward and break at speed

good signs , bring on the hammers

 

[prtk0811]

Spending alone guarantees nothing. Real.madrid took 5 or 6 years before getting it right. City have been spending big and yet after almost 8 years they have just won 2 league title and a semi final appearance in ucl. We need to bring stability and slowly we are attaining that.

Real madrid success is down the the Philosophy brought in by zidane with the right players

 

[Morpheus 7]

Some moaning fckrs in here, let's call it as it is. We aren't there yet, we know the bar that was set tonight. Man United were outclassed for most of the game but we came back near the end. We aren't clinical and you get punished against the top, they missed many chances on top. I'm optimistic going forward, Matic was excellent. Lukaku will have got a confident boost and we move on. Real are an outstanding team and we know where we need to be. No rawk, United know the level now. I'm hoping we learned from that. We'll destroy West aaaaammm, wait to you see.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Real madrid success is down the the Philosophy brought in by zidane with the right players

They won the Champions League a year before Zidane became manager

 

[prtk0811]

They won the Champions League a year before Zidane became manager

Anchelotti had more of less the same players and Posession based style, but the dominance is all due to zidane's work

 

[caid]

It was a bit uncomfortably familiar but I suppose i shouldn't be surprised. First competitive game.
I thought Lingaard was hopeless, thought that was possibly his worst performance for us. Just looked overawed and afraid to look for the ball. Left wing was a total black hole in the first half.
Few others didn't cover themselves in glory and Matic's use of the ball and play in general stood in stark contrast to them, especially when Real had us pinned back.
You could tell who the guy who won the league last season was.

I think Lindelof needs time to settle ... ideally in the reserves for a few weeks.
Smalling being kind of slow at moving the ball on didn't help matters, as good a defender as he is it devalues him, especially against a team like Real.

Real looked a class apart but then we already knew that didn't we.
Every one of their players were brilliant, they let us back into the match but you got the feeling they could turn it back on and get another goal if they needed to.

 

[Seij]

We went up against the best, most balanced squad in the world at this moment. This is the team that just won the CL two years in a row and are heavy favorites to win it again. Not only that, their players were all very used to playing together while our squad has gone through many changes recently.

Winning obviously would've been nice but they were very much favored to win this one so nothing to be surprised or too upset about.

We know the squad still needs work. I certainly hope the summer signings aren't over yet.

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

They won the Champions League a year before Zidane became manager

Technically they didn't(Zidane took over when Barcelona were the defending CL Champions), and that team isn't really the same as this one.

Zidane deserves plenty of credit for the work he's done with Real. He's improved them immensely.

 

[caid]

We went up against the best, most balanced squad in the world at this moment. This is the team that just won the CL two years in a row and are heavy favorites to win it again. Not only that, their players were all very used to playing together while our squad has gone through many changes recently.

Winning obviously would've been nice but they were very much favored to win this one so nothing to be surprised or too upset about.

We know the squad still needs work. I certainly hope the summer signings aren't over yet.

The manner of our play just disappointed me personally. First half was a clusterfeck but even the second half wasn't good enough really.
We need to do something with our left wing

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

The manner of our play just disappointed me personally. First half was a clusterfeck but even the second half wasn't good enough really.
We need to do something with our left wing

Doubt it'll change with Mourinho re: manner of play.

I just hope we get back to winning ways and then we can focus on the aesthetics of our play.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

There is none. There might be one or two who look like they could develop to that level but there is no one currently at his level.

He's a top 3 player in the world in my humble opinion. His champions league play last year was the best of anyone.

 

[haram]

Game proved why we need to keep Fellaini and why we needed to sign Perisic.

Caf decided both are shite though.

 

[Seij]

The manner of our play just disappointed me personally. First half was a clusterfeck but even the second half wasn't good enough really.
We need to do something with our left wing

Definitely agree about the left wing situation. We've been weak there since Giggs aged and moved to midfield and we have offered practically nothing from that side since Evra left. Everything goes through the right side.

Rather than a left winger (although that would be really nice) I really think a quality left back to support Martial should've been our top 3 priority this summer as Shaw is far too inconsistent (in both availability and performance) and Blind and Rojo (who is not even available until next year) have played there enough to show us they're nowhere near good enough in that position. Darmian is ok defensively but at this level, we need someone who can offer much more attacking threat and protect our left forward from being isolated.

 

[AshRK]

Real madrid success is down the the Philosophy brought in by zidane with the right players

Ronaldo, Ramos,kroos,modric,bale, marcelo, isco, benzema. None of them came under zidane. Nothing against zidane, but their team were bound to do well eventually.

And as again with my original 2 or 3 seasons won't solve the problem. It takes time to build the spine of the team. Just because we have spending insane amount for last 3 seasons doesn't mean we should be equal to real.

 

[meamth]

I love how fellaini fought for the team. Proper United player!

 

[Red Dreams]

they were the better team but we had chances. we need to put these away.
I expect us to have a very good season.
The title will be very close fought.
We need to make a solid start and we have the fixtures to do that.

 

[Shimo]

Not surprising that Madrid were a class above for good portions of the game. However, we showed some signs of troubling them. A few bright spots like Matic and Smalling performance but, not so much from Pogba - he needs to step up big time for us this season.

Overall not too fussed about the result except for one thing - 2-1 down and we don't risk bringing Martial to just go for it. Makes absolute no sense.