[Marcus]

That penalty was ridiculous.

 

[MDFC Manager]

Feck this ref and VAR. Sociedad are a nothing team that did nothing all game. Absolutely screwed us out of getting anything. Bunch of cnuts and cowards.

Performance wasn’t great, but this is why this is our second string. We deserved at least a point if it wasn’t for these incompetent fecktards.

Things I have learnt:

Ronaldo is finished
Casemiro looks like Schweinsteiger Mk II which was our main concern this summer
Maguire and Lindelof still not good enough to start for us
We missed Rashford’s pace running in behind

Plus, Eriksen is so important now, it's crazy. We have to add a similar player to the squad in January

 

[croadyman]

That penalty was ridiculous.

Yeah absolutely mental that he wouldn't go and look at the screen,however we didn't deserve anything more than a point.

 

[Yakuza_devils]

Relax guys, our focus is to beat Crystal Palace on Sunday. Today's game players were not going 100% for fear of fatigue or injury. EL is not as important as PL.

SAF used to play kids in unimportant cups.

 

[little.triangles]

Don't care about the result since I can't be bothered about the Europa League - it really is such an uninspiring tournament, including that hideously plain matchball. EtH should and will use the competition to see who in this squad should be shipped out next season - Maguire, Ronaldo, and possibly Fred are hot on the list right now.

Not worried about Antony or Sancho - they already won us points this season. Let EtH do his work on them for the first 11.

Casemiro is no Schweinsteiger, that's a ridiculous notion. He is not injury prone, and he is playing in a new team and a new system and he will come good. The knee jerking is getting insane.

 

[Nicoseth]

Serious question, was Maguire that bad or are we all just scarred? I thought he played OK, but only could see about 3/4 of the match.

I honestly think he was pretty awful again. Looked shaky and sluggish when called into action. Seemed to lose a lot fo aerial battles too. Lindelof was worse though. Weak in the middle of defense and exposed for pace on the outside when he moved to right back.

 

[OpenIntrovert]

Goodness me, you would have thought we lost 8-0 against Real Sociedad based on most of the comments.

Considering that some of the players have not started games for a long time, the difference in match fitness was bound to show. No surprise that Maguire, Lindelof, Casemiro and Ronaldo were not as fluid as they should be.

As for Ronaldo, he did ok but was trying too hard when it came to the goal scoring opportunities. He just needs to be more composed and he will be fine. I dont think he has completely lost his pace, its more like he is tiring out quite fast due to the gruelling training. He will be fine once he gets more games under his belt.

As for the others, especially Casemiro, they will adapt once they get more games. The signs are there, just need more time.

 

[DJ_21]

Serious question, was Maguire that bad or are we all just scarred? I thought he played OK, but only could see about 3/4 of the match.

Don’t think he was bad as he usually is, don’t think the result helps, We bring him and Ronaldo back into the team and we lose

 

[Member 125398]

Serious question, was Maguire that bad or are we all just scarred? I thought he played OK, but only could see about 3/4 of the match.

He was one of the better players but the drop in quality in our passing out was noticable.

 

[tjb]

Goodness me, you would have thought we lost 8-0 against Real Sociedad based on most of the comments.

Considering that some of the players have not started games for a long time, the difference in match fitness was bound to show. No surprise that Maguire, Lindelof, Casemiro and Ronaldo were not as fluid as they should be.

As for Ronaldo, he did ok but was trying too hard when it came to the goal scoring opportunities. He just needs to be more composed and he will be fine. I dont think he has completely lost his pace, its more like he is tiring out quite fast due to the gruelling training. He will be fine once he gets more games under his belt.

As for the others, especially Casemiro, they will adapt once they get more games. The signs are there, just need more time.

After rewatching the game, there were a few things I noticed:

1. We were actually really good at making sure the game was played in their half, particular in the first half. Even when they had possession, it was within their own half, something the possession stats don't really say.

2. Ronaldo has lost more than a step now. What's bad about this is that his movement, quickness and sharpness were all major facets of his game.

3. We really missed the intensity from our Centre Halfs.

Everything else was pretty irrelevant. They didn't deserve to win, but we didn't create as much chances as we should have either.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Same is true for Lindelof and Ronaldo, but the hive mind isn't fixated on them like it is Maguire.

Lindelof has one appearance this season. Ronaldo didn’t start the Brighton game. Maguire is the only player to start all of our defeats, without starting in a victory.

 

[fps]

Don't care about the result since I can't be bothered about the Europa League - it really is such an uninspiring tournament, including that hideously plain matchball. EtH should and will use the competition to see who in this squad should be shipped out next season - Maguire, Ronaldo, and possibly Fred are hot on the list right now.

Not worried about Antony or Sancho - they already won us points this season. Let EtH do his work on them for the first 11.

Casemiro is no Schweinsteiger, that's a ridiculous notion. He is not injury prone, and he is playing in a new team and a new system and he will come good. The knee jerking is getting insane.

Yes the Europa League is a depressing proposition for all. And clearly shows how a European Super League - this is the championship in the thing - would be the death of football.

 

[newgiz]

Not too bothered yet, considering we are early into the tournament. We should still make it through to the next stage with 3 wins and a draw.

I don't particularly share the opinion that this tournament is a throwaway as it offers a CL berth on winning it. Our league is extremely competitive and there's absolutely no guarantee that we will make it into top 4.

So we will do well to take a pragmatic approach and make sure that we secure qualification to the next round. A deep run in the EL is not a bad thing.

 

[Kopral Jono]

We played well enough to win and the last year version of Ronaldo would have made sure of that being the case. Most worryingly, though, I'm getting Schweinsteiger vibes from Casemiro.

 

[AdamColeBebe]

Good. Sooner we're eliminated the better. Waste of time and energy.

 

[pascell]

Good. Sooner we're eliminated the better. Waste of time and energy.

It most definitely isn't a waste of time and energy, it's our most realistic chance of CL football next season.

 

[Drizzle]

We should still make it through to the next stage with 3 wins and a draw

Not sure about that, second place in the group has to play off against a 3rd place CL team to qualify for the next round.

 

[NewGlory]

We played well enough to win and the last year version of Ronaldo would have made sure of that being the case. Most worryingly, though, I'm getting Schweinsteiger vibes from Casemiro.

I am not ready to write off Casemiro. Ronaldo was horrible. I think most people wanting him to stay were hoping he would be at least as good as last year (in which he had a lot of problems but was at least scoring). He is nothing like last year. He is completely and utterly useless. A finished pensioner. It sucks and is a huge problem for us.

 

[Boondog]

Relax guys, our focus is to beat Crystal Palace on Sunday. Today's game players were not going 100% for fear of fatigue or injury. EL is not as important as PL.

SAF used to play kids in unimportant cups.

Only thing that scares me about Palace is they're a bunch of diving cnuts. I don't want to be in another game like this one vs them where they pull off some BS set piece goal on another shitty call. Hoping for breathing room.

 

[Rake]

After seeing the replay, I was quite relaxed that VAR will overrule it. Terrible decision by the ref and the VAR team.

Ronaldo is turning into De Gea and just tries to get rid of the ball as soon as it comes to him. Fred was hopeless, Antony had a bad game, Elanga was Elanga and the subs didn't have the biggest of impacts. Maguire and Lindelof didn't do themselves any favors either. We could clearly see why Varane + Martinez are starting.

Overall, it was a game that we should have won or drawn. EtH will not be happy.

 

[bimalos]

You can see Manchester United is slowly improving and even scored one goal by c.ronloado it is offside. Hope it is the news beginning.

 

[Real Name]

Still cant believe that pen was given and ref didnt check the VAR about it.

 

[Denis79]

Not bothered to be honest. It's the Europa League and we already know our squad is thin in quality.

 

[Josh 76]

Not sure about that, second place in the group has to play off against a 3rd place CL team to qualify for the next round.

Could face the scousers !

 

[Josh 76]

It most definitely isn't a waste of time and energy, it's our most realistic chance of CL football next season.

With all our top 4 rivals in Europe, it may be not!

 

[Member 117152]

Really liked Casemiro’s off the ball movement and interceptions. On the ball he needs to pick passes better but that will come.

I wish our forwards would commit defenders. Ronaldo for all his faults doesn’t get any service from the wingers and Ronaldo isn’t dribbling past anyone now. Apart from Elanga they just passed sideways all night and wouldn’t take risks.

 

[crossy1686]

Has that ref been arrested yet?

 

[Krits]

If Bruno would have started instead of Fred, we would have won this game in the first half. I was a fan of Fred early last season, but since then he has been way too inconsistent and when he is having a bad game he is a massive liability. Similar to Rashford. We can’t have players whose lows are so low. At least Rashford at his best can be devastating.

 

[christinaa]

Why are Italian referee's all like that?!
PRIMADONNAS !!

 

[aeh1991]

Jesus this community.. One game and already writing off Casemiro?? Let him settle in. Wouldn't be surprised if the same of you will hype him up in a few weeks.

I expect him, Ronaldo and Sancho to find form soon to show what they are (still) capable of. Some guys here need some patience pills.

 

[mitchmouse]

We looked totally disjointed as if some of the players had never met. Very much back to the start of the season/last season. I know the atmosphere in the ground was subdued and weird for obvious reasons, but very few of our players were British and footballers learn to block out "distractions", although I guess this distraction is much more unusual than most.

What worried me is they started playing it out from the back again and only Sociedad's lack of a very high press meant we didn't get into trouble. Ronaldo was one of the few how a least looked "busy" although you could tell that time really is catching up with him...

As for the penalty, once again the tech works fine but either the guy watching it either went for a piss or doesn't know the rules

 

[wolvored]

If we play our first team, the team that beat Arsenal, we can beat them at their ground. We can still win this group!

 

[IRN-BRUno]

Farcical decision for the penalty, 0-0 would have been what both sides deserved. Everything just looked flat which was perhaps understandable given the strange circumstance and quieter atmosphere.

Makes it tough to win the group and avoid the play-off now, likely that we're going to need 5 wins from 5.

 

[fergiewherearethou]

My take on the game:

- The penalty shouldn't be given
- Defense was OK
- Midfield was too defensive minded with no creativity or movement. Fred was just bad.
- Attack was shy and lacked energy. Ronaldo is not fit.

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

From what I saw, CR7 is done at the top level.

The legs have gone, pace, instinct and it's seems confidence (probably due to zero UCL teams being interested in him).

Had a chance to hit a first time shot in the second half and took a couple of poor touches then dived.

Playing with him is like playing with ten men. Last year he still had a bit more about him but think a year in the PL has aged him and sped up his decline.

 

[James35]

We have made our chance of winning group a lot more difficult now. Hopefully whoever falls out of the CL is shite as in Europe against technical teams who park it, I still have zero faith we win many games. Same goes for the league, counter attack seems our only real strong point to go with now.

This season was always going to be tough and I for one haven’t got carried away by the four wins on the bounce. Still think we will finish 6th so reliant on EL to get us CL in my opinion.

It’s still plainly obvious some of our players really aren’t up to it. Lindelof and Maguire just give the opposition confidence. Fred as the advanced forward is shambolic. Ronaldo looks like he is now going through pre season. Hopefully the break in football will give Martial time to get back fit as we need him. Martinez though, what a breath of fresh air- definite fan favourite and future captain for me.

 

[Xtrmntr]

Serious question, was Maguire that bad or are we all just scarred? I thought he played OK, but only could see about 3/4 of the match.

He didn't have a terrible game, but the slight tension when he had something to do was obvious. Scarred by his performances last season is a good way of putting it

 

[groovyalbert]

Will there be any explanation as to why the penalty was given? Because, I genuinely don't think I understand the rules of football anymore.

 

[spiriticon]

I think it was a strange atmosphere last night with the Queen's passing.

I wouldn't try to analyse the game and performances too much.

 

[Sultan]

Plus, Eriksen is so important now, it's crazy. We have to add a similar player to the squad in January

Yes. It will be tough without his guile and passing if he gets an injury.