[Yagami]

Don't worry. He has been a bundle of joy all through this thread.

Hey, this was my only post in this thread, but yes, I am very pessimistic when it comes to United. Well, not just United, but I digress.

Of course, I hope it's just my general pessimism getting the better of me, but the fact that a poor Stoke side carved through us on multiple occasions yesterday did worry me. It wasn't all doom and gloom as our attack looked promising, but I just wanted to vent after a frustrating result.

 

[Raees]

Diff between us and City is that Aguero and De Bruyne would of buried those two clear chances Ibra and Pogba had early in the first half. These games, are what will win you the title....no excuses. Why Ibra went near post I'll never know...Pogbas chance was a bit more difficult but ffs for 90 mil you better be putting those in the back of the net.

Both went near post despite having an easy opportunity for side foot curler in far right. Really poor decision making.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

A draw at home against Stoke is of course nothing to be happy about.

I think we cannot blame Mourinho at all. His start Formation is more or less what most of us have been asking for. I would have started Martial instead of Lingard who is just not good enough for the first 11 in my books but beside that we have played very well in the first half. Everybody stating we are back at where LvG left us has not watched the whole game.

Pogba and Herrera looked fine for the most part. The Goal by Martial was excellent and I hope his form keeps improving.
With Mkhitaryan we have another big weapon.
The Goal was stupid but this is something that can happen to each Team.

Our biggest Problem was clearly the lack of ability to bury all those chances.

 

[PaulRich]

We need to find the killer instinct, that's all. We created 24 shots yesterday; we just about managed that in the first 10 games last season in total. We look far better and more entertaining than we have for a while. We'll get there.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Both went near post despite having an easy opportunity for side foot curler in far right. Really poor decision making.

The far post was the obvious choice. Ibra tried to give him the eyes and slot it near post instead. Something Rooney is very good at. The keeper didn't buy it and made a brilliant save. It wasn't a terrible miss by any means. Don't know why people are so worked up about it.

 

[jojose]

We need to find the killer instinct, that's all. We created 24 shots yesterday; we just about managed that in the first 10 games last season in total. We look far better and more entertaining than we have for a while. We'll get there.

Stop being so sensible!

I agree with this and with Jose. They never troubled us. We should have been 4 up. We conceded a shocker of a goal. Its frustrating but that's football.

We paid the money for Pogba to make the difference and despite him not absolutely flying yet, it is him that is at the heart of all things good for us going forward. Great ball for Zlatan who should have scored, brilliant to see midfield runners getting in the box and getting shots / headers off. He could have easily had two goals and an assist yesterday.

I made the point after Leicester that I think Lingards out to in run will be productive but he needs to alternate it and not look for it every time.

It was a frustrating result made more frustrating by the fact I haven't seen us create so many chances in open play for about 6 years! And obviously because of other results this weekend

 

[sincher]

We should have won the game but we hardly hammered them.

 

[M Bison]

That's a ridiculous point though?

As you said we will be 9 games in...... there are 38 games in a season.

I honestly don't think it is a ridiculous point, if we fail to get results from the next 2 games, we'll be way off the pace so early in the season and it'll be extremely difficult to recover from. For me it's simple.

 

[Raees]

The far post was the obvious choice. Ibra tried to give him the eyes and slot it near post instead. Something Rooney is very good at. The keeper didn't buy it and made a brilliant save. It wasn't a terrible miss by any means. Don't know why people are so worked up about it.

No doubt that particular move is effective and goodness knows what right we have to criticize a world class striker than Zlatan but even taking that aside.. it really was an absolute gimme to side foot it into opposite corner from where he was - no need to be clever with that finish.

End of the day due to his arguable lack of mobility, we are keeping him in the team purely because of his leadership and goal scoring ability. Therefore makes sense to be harsh with him in relation to finishing chances.

 

[Galactico]

A lot of positives today and a few negatives. I am convinced that we would have won the game without Pogba in the starting line-up today. He did well to get into good positions but his finishing was horrendous. Zlatan perhaps should have scored too but, to his credit, he did manage to hit the target multiple times, worked the keeper, made an assist for Lingard (again great save) I thought the attacking line up had a good game and I can't remember a game with this many chances for a long time.

Herrera has cemented his position for me, but I would like to see him partner Carrick and try leaving Pogba out for a game or have one of Mata/Pogba in the No.10 position.

Bailly was immense at the back. Even when he lost the ball during one of our attacks he sprinted back and made a very clever tackle to win back possession.

We seem to be very exposed on the right wing with opposing teams playing in behind our defence and running to the bi-line before cutting back. We look likely to concede with this move in every game.

Not sure what happened to DDG with the goal but I think we should get into the habit of bringing Carrick on to add more control to the game once we go into the lead and have 15-20 mins left to defend it.

 

[XdanielredX]

I honestly don't think it is a ridiculous point, if we fail to get results from the next 2 games, we'll be way off the pace so early in the season and it'll be extremely difficult to recover from. For me it's simple.

So, and this is also assuming every team above us take maximum points from their next 2 fixtures, say we lose our next 2 fixtures. That leaves us 11 points behind, sure that's a decent tally, not denying it and not denying a swing the opposite way will be hard, but there will literally be 29 games left..... that's 87 points to play for........... 87. People just need to chiiillllllll.

Plenty of positives from our recent play other than a few very near misses/world class saves denying us what 99% of people on here based on our performance would be calling a routine win.

 

[mark_a]

It's all about our finishing. Last week we won 4-1, with 3 set piece goals and 1 from normal play but we had several other really good chances (chances you have to say that teams at the moment like City or Liverpool might well have scored) and could have got 7 or 8. Yesterday Zlatan missed that chance you feel he'd score 9 out of 10 times. Then Pogba misses a gilt edged chance to score. If either of those 2 had gone in, the game would have been very different.

The flipside to this is that we can only afford our poor ability to score by having a watertight defence, which we just don't have.

It's obvious but we need to be scoring, putting games to bed, killing them off. The dynamics of a game are totally different when a team is 2 goals down and having it all to do.

Obvious stuff for me, but I spent the 10 to 15 mins after leaving the ground in the company of some fans who seemed really, really negative about stuff. I'm not averse to the odd post-match knee-jerk over-reaction, but I do think that it's a bit much.

 

[walkinhop]

How come the ones upfront can't score and take the game away from Stoke?

huh?

 

[Ixion]

There really is no need for doom & gloom or a big inquest. We played well except for the start of the second half, created a lot of chances and our keeper made a silly mistake he normally wouldn't. We played well and created chances against Leciester and now Stoke, baby steps but we're improving.

 

[shaky]

At the moment, I'd rather see us playing well and not winning than playing dull rubbish like last season and nicking 3 points thanks to Dave having another MOTM performance and us scoring with our only shot on target.

 

[Galactico]

At the moment, I'd rather see us playing well and not winning than playing dull rubbish like last season and nicking 3 points thanks to Dave having another MOTM performance and us scoring with our only shot on target.

Exactly this. I actually enjoyed the game and although it felt like a loss, I was happy to watch the replay again on MUTV knowing that I wouldn't fall asleep doing so.

 

[OJKernow]

Really, really frustrating outcome.

However, having had the chance to sleep on it, this is one of those results that happens. We created a lot of chances, if it wasn't for a combination of poor finishing, and their keeper having a blinder we would have been out of sight. Added to that they never troubled us it was a crazy result, but over the course of a season, these do happen.

It wouldn't feel so bad if it wasn't for the relatively recent run of poor results.

There were promising signs, we will get there. Also, point gained on City after their result

 

[Escobar]

We should have won the game but we hardly hammered them.

That's true. Especially in the 2nd half we were not so good anymore. Despite our missed chances, Stoke also had 2 where they should have scored

 

[Jaxdan]

Again, it's not like we didn't hit the targer or kept hitting it straight at the keeper. We placed the shots well and with power. Their keeper kept pulling saves after save. That is not poor finishing. It is good keeping and I feel some on here cannot wrap their head around the fact that you just have bad days sometimes.

I watched the replay of the game again later, and yes, with a cooler head I can agree, to an extent. But Pogba missed 3 golden chances where he didn't put it on frame and didn't make the keeper work. There were more, but I did see more positive with a cooler head. We should have won 4-0 easily, but it is what it is and yes it does happen. Just hard to accept at home, against the last place (though better than they've shown) club, and heading into another international break.

 

[sugar_kane]

a 1-1 draw with Stoke under LVG would have had me weeping with boredom. I was at least entertained throughout this game despite the incredibly frustrating ending.

 

[NK86]

I watched the replay of the game again later, and yes, with a cooler head I can agree, to an extent. But Pogba missed 3 golden chances where he didn't put it on frame and didn't make the keeper work. There were more, but I did see more positive with a cooler head. We should have won 4-0 easily, but it is what it is and yes it does happen. Just hard to accept at home, against the last place (though better than they've shown) club, and heading into another international break.

Yes, Pogba should have buried at least one of those chances with his ability, no doubt. However, despite those misses we should have cruised to a win had it not been an inspired performance from their keeper. Zlatan was excellent and on another day he might have had a hattrick but some here are actually saying he was poor, which is something who has watched the game won't actually say.

 

[marlowe78]

I'm not exactly a big fan of LVG, but for those of you saying that it looks a lot better than last season, are you aware that we won this fixture 3-0 last time?

We still look bang average

We still don't score

We still throw away points to shit teams that we should trounce

We still spend millions on players who underachieve

Nothing has changed

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

At the moment, I'd rather see us playing well and not winning than playing dull rubbish like last season and nicking 3 points thanks to Dave having another MOTM performance and us scoring with our only shot on target.

Totally agree. I am gutted but thought we played pretty well and I enjoyed the style.

 

[clarkydaz]

I'm not exactly a big fan of LVG, but for those of you saying that it looks a lot better than last season, are you aware that we won this fixture 3-0 last time?

We still look bang average

We still don't score

We still throw away points to shit teams that we should trounce

We still spend millions on players who underachieve

Nothing has changed

we were beaten by Leicester last year, and put 4 past them last week. And?

 

[United Pro]

I really think we should be playing a 433 formation with Carrick as a CDM. He gives us a better control of the game, with his quicker passing. It also allows Pogba to play his more favoured LCM position and not worry about his defensive duties as much.

 

[legball]

We could have won the game, or should have won it, but I think we didn't really put them under enough pressure. I still think there's something lacking in this United side, maybe a few things actually. The kind of hunger and organization typical of a Mourinho team is lacking, the players seem to think they can win it on talent alone, it's not enough, we don't work hard enough as a team. It's the reason I fear a trip to Liverpool, they're going to work their socks off, Spurs did it against City yesterday, can we match their hardwork and industry? I don't know, I'll like us to be able to do that atleast.

 

[NinjaZombie]

Man looking back at the goal, how fortuitous was that?

A needless throw in given away, followed by a brain fart tackle by Herrera and then a deflected shot that forced a rare mistake by De Gea. And then, after all that, the last ditch tackle by Bailly, instead of going out for a corner, squirted out to deflect to the frame of the goal into Allen's path.

We should have buried the game before that, but damn if that wasn't a shitty goal to concede.

 

[roonster09]

 

[sunama]

...but there will literally be 29 games left..... that's 87 points to play for........... 87. People just need to chiiillllllll.

Who is more likely to score more points in those 29 remaining games: MCFC or us?
IMO, MCFC will open up the gap further.

Lets get realistic: we are now competing for 4th place, so lets look at LFC. They are currently 3 points ahead of us.
The question is: can we outscore LFC by 4 or more points, in those remaining 29 games? I'm not sure.

 

[sunama]

For all the stick which Ibra gets, he was involved in virtually every attack we made.
He was either shooting at goal or creating an opportunity for a team-mate.

 

[ghagua]

A little worried that when a team wants to attack us, they can usually just open up our defense without any issues, there is virtually no protection from the midfielders. Also, Lingard is great at getting into scoring positions, but he leaves the entire right side to Valencia to attack by himself. He should be helping Valencia and trying to create some scoring chances from the right as well.

 

[BlakeUtd]

I can't believe we didn't win this game. This draw gives me the the same feeling I got when we couldnt beat west ham to get into top four. Before anyone brings out the pitch fork, I know its still early in the season and city's loss was great for us in the bigger picture. But we really need to be winning such games. These are the kind of results that doomed LVG

 

[Reddevilboy]

We just dropped points against the bottom of the table team. No point sugar-coating it. I'm actually starting to get worried we might not even make top 4 this season, never mind winning the league.

 

[shaggy]

We just dropped points against the bottom of the table team. No point sugar-coating it. I'm actually starting to get worried we might not even make top 4 this season, never mind winning the league.

We now have to get 4 points out of Pool and Chelsea away. Anything less and we're already looking at a dangerous points deficit so early in the season.

 

[Leftback99]

It wasn't as good as some are making out. 3 good chances (Ibra, Pogba, Lingard) wasted by poor finishing in the first 30 minutes before 40 minutes of next to nothing happening. Not good enough.

 

[Catt]

Who is more likely to score more points in those 29 remaining games: MCFC or us?
IMO, MCFC will open up the gap further.

Lets get realistic: we are now competing for 4th place, so lets look at LFC. They are currently 3 points ahead of us.
The question is: can we outscore LFC by 4 or more points, in those remaining 29 games? I'm not sure.

Weren't you just a little while back praising Mourinho and saying now with a good manager everything will be fine?
Please correct me if I'm wrong but you seem to have gone the other way rather quickly?

 

[buckooo1978]

crazy match

I'd agree it's our best performance albeit against a poor side...another day we bang in 5 comfortably

my only gripe was from the start of the second half it took us about 15 mins to get going but the subs helped us get our momentum back

looking forward to Anfield

 

[Reddevilboy]

We now have to get 4 points out of Pool and Chelsea away. Anything less and we're already looking at a dangerous points deficit so early in the season.

Basically means we cannot afford to lose which I don't think its possible because I can see Liverpool hammering us.

 

[shaggy]

Basically means we cannot afford to lose which I don't think its possible because I can see Liverpool hammering us.

We shall see. I believe it is a defining moment in ours and Mourinho's future though, for good or bad.

 

[mitchmouse]

Just how bad does it have to get before poor Michael Carrick is given a chance? I have no idea why Jose would send on Memphis ahead of a dead goat let alone ahead of a guy who can actually pass to guys wearing the same colour shirt. It was a bit like a Hail Mary pass in American football to bring on Memphis - had he brought on Carrick after, say 60-70 mins, we might have opened them up more in the second half. That said, we should have been out of sight by half time but after the break we were predictable and slow. We are still missing a world-class creative midfielder and I do worry about Valencia at full back. My feeling is as it was in the sumemr: we are nowhere good enough to win the title: Arsenal and City, plus probably Spurs, would have stuffed Stoke and will do when they meet