PL W FA Premier League

Manchester United 3:1 Southampton

Post-match discussion


Thu, 16 January 2025

My fecking word. Amad sheer class and that ball from Eriksen too was pure quality.

Zirkzee superb when he came on.

Yoro was a worry. But he’s young and will learn from it.
 
Performance very poor, but it's good to see a manager make good subs and pull the underperforming players.

Amad was brilliant. Zirkzee is making a number of us eat our words. The rest, bar onana and maybe de light, were all terrible.

Good won, but if we play like that on Sunday we will be handed our back sides like Yoro.
 
Poor performance, but the win sure takes the sting away.

Honestly, we struggled tactically today. Southampton put their three attackers on our three CBs and we couldn't pass through them. So we tried to go long, but Hojland couldn't keep the ball. Mazraoui sat insanely deep and we ended up a man short when we pressed, and with Yoro getting roasted for an hour, it made for a tough watch. We got frustrated, they get motivated by our struggles, and we were lucky to only be 1-0 down by the time Amad stepped up.

Zirkzee made a huge difference. Whatever his other shortcomings, he's certainly good at holding up the ball. Suddenly the long ball over their front line is on again, and we're getting runners from midfield alongside him. It meant they were turning and facing their own goal all of a sudden, with a problem to deal with. The game changed when he came on. Not even because he was particularly outstanding, but simply because it negated their tactical approach.

Still, at the end of they, this is going to be the story of the rest of the season in my opinion. Ups and downs, a bright performance, a flat performance, a good result here, a bad result there. At least today we go away happy with the three points and a memorable hat trick.
 
This issue is you need too many specialist players to implement it properly.

With attacking wing backs, any opposition winger can find too much space. So you need lateral centre backs, and we don't have that, except Shaw.

The wide players need to be proper wing backs, and the 10s have to be inside players, not wingers.

The problem is, we could get all these players, but then when Amorim leaves, we're stuck with a team in no way set up for the next guy. It's a mess all round.

Yep, its a massive commitment and with PSR and the state of our squad its a massive gamble. Amorim has to succeed or we could be in big trouble for a while. Can his system work in the PL though? Thats the question.
 
Amad is 2 levels ahead of any of our attcking players. Zirkzee, Eriksen De Ligt were immense. Maguire, Collyer good too. The rest was dire esp. Hojlund and Yoro.
 
I know I said "Just win, don't care about the performance" but my God that was poor for most part. Thought we'd struggle and win 2-1 but it wasn't struggling, it was being dominated in first half and even at the start of 2nd half.

Onana great, de Ligt as well (for most part), Amad MotM. Zirkzee and Collyer great cameos and Eriksen as well with his assist. Antony missed easy chance but still a 'not bad' cameo from him.

Huge 3 points for us and we're 10 points away from relegation places now. Honestly don't think we're finishing above 10th so current 12th place doesn't look bad. Could move down 1-2 places after Brighton but at least we won after whole month.
 
Very disappointed with that. So many problems in the team. Amad can't always bail them out.

Brighton are a lot better than Southampton so already fearing that one. Just seem better set up to play deep against dominant teams. But shit the bed at home to teams they are expected to dominate.

Maybe starting Zirkzee, Maguire and Dalot will help. But really we need transfers to fix major problems in the squad. Especially getting some players who are not scared in front of goal.
 
This issue is you need too many specialist players to implement it properly.

With attacking wing backs, any opposition winger can find too much space. So you need lateral centre backs, and we don't have that, except Shaw.

The wide players need to be proper wing backs, and the 10s have to be inside players, not wingers.

The problem is, we could get all these players, but then when Amorim leaves, we're stuck with a team in no way set up for the next guy. It's a mess all round.
Exactly.
 
Amad is 2 levels ahead of any of our attcking players. Zirkzee, Eriksen De Ligt were immense. Maguire, Collyer good too. The rest was dire esp. Hojlund and Yoro.
I think he's gonna be my favourite footballer for the next 10 years. I might even treat my podgy belly to an Amad shirt.

He's so intelligent he could be a world class footballer.
 
Typical of Utd lately. Turn up against City, Pool, Arsenal - all away from home. Start at OT against bottom team and we were not at the races for most of the game. I do like the way Amorim makes his subs though, they were game changers tonight. Amad is just pure class, so happy we’ve got him on a new contract. Not sure what’s going on with Mainoo though, looked really off his game tonight. Overall an expected win, but have to be so much better for the next game. Desperately need a genuine striker though imo.
 
How does a team that only managed 6 points out of 21 games in the league so far turn into prime Barcelona and make us look like a league 2 side.
 
Special shout out to Zirkzee he changed it
Did really well. Far more than hojlund, held the ball gave a few passes.
But we've seen it before, he's earned a start, will start and do nothing.
Antony seems to want to be up the pitch more. If he and zirkzee can get a bit of a partnership going and stay high, maybe we can create a few chances
 
How can we be so bad for so long? Credit to Amorim for changing it all up and getting the win, but the starters, with the exception of Amad and DeLigt, were atrocious.
 
This was pretty similar to our previous game against them, they were better there until Rashford scored. This time it was Amad to save us. They may even have had better chances this time around and got their goal deservedly. We've won both those games more on individual quality rather than any quality of play.

It's a win though and a great performance from Amad, Zirkzee also did well when coming on and should start next game.
 
1. Amad and his hat trick.
2. Zirkzee single-handedly establishing our attacking structure.
3. Onana 1St half De Godlike heroics.
4. Eriksen - such a great option as a lockpick against deep defences. That assist - of the highest quality.
5. Ruben’s ability to change the course of the game with whoever he has on the bench.
6. MDL - top class.
 
Tbh I had given up on this game. Thought it would end in a draw at max. And yes, the bar is low since our last manager was one of the worst in that discipline.
I didn’t think we played as badly as many are saying. Just that fans and maybe even the players expected to face a league 2 side instead of a relegation threatened PL side who’d obviously work hard and would fight for every inch.
 
Feels like a loss. We just aren't performing at the needed level, even against a team sitting on bottom.

Amad really got us out of jail, but the team is not doing enough.

I think it shows how much we need a player with Eriksens skills, but with legs on the pitch.
 
Wonder if Southampton would be up for an Antony-Sulemana swap.

That was unreal. Thought we could scrape a 1-1 if lucky. Still a bit surreal it was 3-1.
 
1. Amad and his hat trick.
2. Zirkzee single-handedly establishing our attacking structure.
3. Onana 1St half De Godlike heroics.
4. Eriksen - such a great option as a lockpick against deep defences. That assist - of the highest quality.
5. Ruben’s ability to change the course of the game with whoever he has on the bench.
6. MDL - top class.
Was just about to charge in to that post until I worked out what #6 was :lol:

He's been great the last 3 games.
 
1. Amad and his hat trick.
2. Zirkzee single-hardly establishing our attacking structure.
3. Onana 1St half De Godlike heroics.
4. Eriksen - such a great option as a lockpick against deep defences. That assist - of the highest quality.
5. Ruben’s ability to change the course of the game with whoever he has on the bench.
6. MDL - top class.
Your points are well taken. Good not no forget the bolded point 3
 
I love De Ligt's aggressive heading and tackles. Channelling his prime uninjured Phil Jones!
 
Poor performance, but the win sure takes the sting away.

Honestly, we struggled tactically today. Southampton put their three attackers on our three CBs and we couldn't pass through them. So we tried to go long, but Hojland couldn't keep the ball. Mazraoui sat insanely deep and we ended up a man short when we pressed, and with Yoro getting roasted for an hour, it made for a tough watch. We got frustrated, they get motivated by our struggles, and we were lucky to only be 1-0 down by the time Amad stepped up.

Zirkzee made a huge difference. Whatever his other shortcomings, he's certainly good at holding up the ball. Suddenly the long ball over their front line is on again, and we're getting runners from midfield alongside him. It meant they were turning and facing their own goal all of a sudden, with a problem to deal with. The game changed when he came on. Not even because he was particularly outstanding, but simply because it negated their tactical approach.

Still, at the end of they, this is going to be the story of the rest of the season in my opinion. Ups and downs, a bright performance, a flat performance, a good result here, a bad result there. At least today we go away happy with the three points and a memorable hat trick.
Good summary
 
Playing out of position just makes decent players look shite.

Pretty frustrating and grim viewing over all.
You mean unlike during all of ETH’s time when they all played in their natural positions and were brilliant?
Alternatively….we just have shite, unathletic, brainless players who are unbelievably earning a living by playing football at United.
 
ETH and his agent should be publicly flogged in Piccadilly gardens for assembling that squad for that amount of money
 
Good news is you'd hope that a proper left wing back, progressive passing midfielder to partner Ugarte and a top striker will really make a difference.

Also, Anthony missed an absolute sitter so we weren't awful for the entire match before Amads flurry.
 
Just as in the ten Hag era we can never just enjoy a game of football. Has to be dramatic, super shite or dull it seems. This was all three today.
 

Man of the Match

Provisional results
Amad Diallo image Amad Diallo 96% of 331 votes

Runners-up

Player Ratings

Provisional results
5.8 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 297 ratings.

Score Predictions

177,6,6
  • Man Utd win
  • Southampton win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 30% Man Utd 3:0 Southampton
  • 29% Man Utd 2:0 Southampton
  • 10% Man Utd 3:1 Southampton
  • 9% Man Utd 4:0 Southampton
  • 7% Man Utd 2:1 Southampton
  • 6% Man Utd 1:0 Southampton
  • 3% Man Utd 1:1 Southampton
  • 2% Man Utd 4:1 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 2:3 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 1:2 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 5:0 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 0:2 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 5:1 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 6:0 Southampton
  • 1% Man Utd 1:3 Southampton
Compiled from 189 predictions.
Show more results Score Predictions League Table

Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Southampton
Overall possession
58.7% 41.3%
Shots
23 13
Shots on target
9 5
Total touches in the box
48 18
Goalkeeper saves
5 6
Fouls
7 10
Corners
5 4

Referee

John Brooks