[DomesticTadpole]

It's all about scoring the first goal. Once the opposition score, they start defending even deeper and we will have to score 2 before they start pushing forward. Conceding these silly goals (penalty and own goal) is only making it even more difficult for us.

It is a good point, but it is not just the first goal it is making sure we add to it. How many points have we lost from not pushing home our advantage?

 

[Escobar]

We bottled it once more. Also we didn't have the right attitude, we lacked fighting spirit and grit. We were shit, static and as usual unable to take our chances

 

[Man-United]

Mark Hughes: "When you get to 94, 95 minutes, I am scratching my head in terms of the referee and where he got the five minutes from."

Mark Hughes, clueless.

 

[manichester]

We struggle around the opponents penalty area making poor decisions and poor quality of passing and crossing.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

Just watched highlights on MOTD. What the feck Clattenburg?! That Shawcross handball was ridiculous, he basically caught the ball.

 

[Theatre of Screams]

Just watched highlights on MOTD. What the feck Clattenburg?! That Shawcross handball was ridiculous, he basically caught the ball.

And when he completely took out Rashford on the edge of the box after a 1-2 with Zlatan. Blatant.

The strange thing is he gave one in our favour that was almost identical earlier on in the game.

Still, Twattenburg aside we should have won that game and would have made major ground on all 3 of our rivals above us.

 

[LuisNaniencia]

And when he completely took out Rashford on the edge of the box after a 1-2 with Zlatan. Blatant.

The strange thing is he gave one in our favour that was almost identical earlier on in the game.

Still, Twattenburg aside we should have won that game and would have made major ground on all 3 of our rivals above us.

Yeah they didn't even show the Rashford body check but I saw the gif on here. Crazy.

But yeah, if we took half our chances we would have destroyed them anyway.

 

[Theatre of Screams]

We bottled it once more. Also we didn't have the right attitude, we lacked fighting spirit and grit. We were shit, static and as usual unable to take our chances

If it's one thing you can't throw at us this season, or particularly since the start of this unbeaten run, it's the team lacking fighting spirit and grit. Without it we wouldn't have broken down West Ham, scored 2 quick goals against 'Boro, scored a winner against Palace, salvaged a draw against Liverpool and secured a point yesterday.

You can accuse the team of being completely off the ball in front of goal, but not question the spirit and grit.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Shooting lessons are in order

 

[TMDaines]

Well, we definitely deserved to win this one. Pretty cleae at this point that dropped points against midtable sides are a result of poor finishing rather than lack of creativity.

 

[Catt]

We're all gonna die.

not Zlatan

 

[Catt]

Really can't stand Mark Hughes.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Really can't stand Mark Hughes.

Same here. He always seems ready to have a moan right from kick off.

 

[Godfather]

We didn't work their keeper enough to win. We arguably deserved to win in our home game against them but yesterday, not so much.

When you look at the chance Mata completely fecked up that argument doesn't really stand though. We've reached the stage where we aren't even hitting the target for easy chances (Mata and Mkhi today) or do not take the shot when it is clearly on (Zlatan). We really should have won by the chances we created. It's just that our decision making and finishing lets us down badly.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

When you look at the chance Mata completely fecked up that argument doesn't really stand though. We've reached the stage where we aren't even hitting the target for easy chances (Mata and Mkhi today) or do not take the shot when it is clearly on (Zlatan). We really should have won by the chances we created. It's just that our decision making and finishing let's us down badly.

True but I find it hard to took about deserved wins unless their keeper plays out of his skin. We definitely did enough to beat Burnley at OT but don't think yesterday's game was the same.

 

[Needham]

Pogba was better 2nd half but there were at least two clear occasions when Rashford was successfully making an overlapping run past their right back that would have put him on goal and Pogba failed to spot/opted not to give it and with no better option. Wound me up.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

True but I find it hard to took about deserved wins unless their keeper plays out of his skin. We definitely did enough to beat Burnley at OT but don't think yesterday's game was the same.

Don't you think City should have won yesterday as well. Their two goals came from goalkeeping errors, but that first half they absolutely had Spurs on the ropes, but couldn't hit the target, then they should definitely have had a penalty before Spurs equalised.

 

[Godfather]

True but I find it hard to took about deserved wins unless their keeper plays out of his skin. We definitely did enough to beat Burnley at OT but don't think yesterday's game was the same.

Burnley was absurd. Although Stoke's keeper made a great save after Pogba's half volley yesterday (was more luck than anything else mind).

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Burnley was absurd. Although Stoke's keeper made a great save after Pogba's half volley yesterday (was more luck than anything else mind).

Yup. A foot either side and that's a goal. Then we had to hit the fecking woodwork. Yet again. Even the goal against Liverpool came via the post. We're very fine margins away from having a good few more points.

 

[Ixion]

Mark Hughes: "When you get to 94, 95 minutes, I am scratching my head in terms of the referee and where he got the five minutes from."

Mark Hughes, clueless.

In general though he's right, all too often you see when the bigger teams need a goal 4, 5, 6 minutes gets added and you're not really sure where it came from.

 

[The red panther]

Burnley was absurd. Although Stoke's keeper made a great save after Pogba's half volley yesterday (was more luck than anything else mind).

It was a bad kick from Pogba, he kicked it straight at the keeper, it was the only possibility that could have been saved. If he had aimed it anywhere else beside straight on the keeper that ball would have been unstopable.

Mata waisting his chance was worse , that was the biggest in the entire match. Very poor from him especially after causing that own goal.

Lingard was unlucky hitting the crossbar

And yes 2 clear handballs in the box that weren't given by Twattenburg, should have been 2 times penalty without discussion. And a clear foul on Rashford at the border of the box not given either.

Very frustrating game. Just glad Rooney rescued a point because I just couldn't stand that Stoke crowd celebrating an undeserved result from a rotten performance like that.

 

[SuperiorXI]

We could be 7 points away from second place if Tottenham win versus City

And if Arsenal win their game tommrow versus Burnely we will be 4 points of 4th place.

Stop sugar coatting it, our point total is the same quality as our finishing in front of goal, terrible !

I'm not sugar coating anything, it's a fact that there's currently the same points difference between 6th and 2nd than there is 6th and 7th. It's noticeable that the top 6 have been far ahead of the rest. We just happen to sit at the bottom of the list, but there's only a few points in it thanks to our impressive form.

The draws we suffered early on in the season (and vs Stoke to be fair) have been our true undoing.

 

[Ixion]

It was a bad kick from Pogba, he kicked it straight at the keeper, it was the only possibility that could have been saved. If he had aimed it anywhere else beside straight on the keeper that ball would have been unstopable

I know what you're saying but that is quite a harsh way to describe it! It wasn't 'bad', it was a very good effort from Pogba to even get it on target. I think with shots like that most players are just focusing on getting a good contact and not where to place it.

 

[red_john]

Not taking our good chances cost us once again. It's very difficult when the other team scores the 1st goal and then sit back and defend all game. I wouldn't say more shooting practice would solve the problem as its all down to what happens on the day and if luck is on our side. Very frustrating to watch when you know teams above have dropped points.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

In general though he's right, all too often you see when the bigger teams need a goal 4, 5, 6 minutes gets added and you're not really sure where it came from.

Agreed. Was pleasantly surprised, but had no idea where 5 mins came from. 3 minutes is easy to explain. Some time wasting, but not much. Don't recall any injuries or stoppages, and no goal celebrations.

 

[Cpt Negative]

In general though he's right, all too often you see when the bigger teams need a goal 4, 5, 6 minutes gets added and you're not really sure where it came from.

When your keeper gets booked for time wasting at 60 minutes... that tends to be where it comes from

 

[mitchmouse]

Having just watched the full 90 minutes on Sky, it's clear some old problems persist. We start so damn slowly it's ridiculous and we don't have enough pac eup front. Zlatan is brilliant but not quick, FRashford is quick but has a long way to go until he becomes Zlatan. To me, Lingaard is a reasonable quick headless chicken. Oh to have a pacy plyer who can do things at pace. All that said, it took almos 75 minutes for the home team to have a shot on target of their own (by the way, I do wonder what would have happened if DDG had used his hands for their goal); in fact, they didn't even put over a cross: De Gea must have been frozen solid long before the end. One again, Miki was disappointing and he and Herrera were fairly uneffective compared with the past two months. Rashford had a pretty good game as did Jones (Smalling did not) and Valencia played worthy of a guy given a new contract. I suppose I'm wasting my breath hoping that Rooney's goal will quieten his critics; it was top class. Al the pundits agree he is a class act, Bobby Charlton says he is a class act, Jose says he is a class act. But the haters know best...

 

[Siorac]

I still don't understand why people can't see we're a small team, and against a huge, physical side like Stoke, need tall CDM's.

We're not a small team. We have, on average, the 4th tallest squad in the Premier League. Stoke are actually behind us in this.

 

[Fitchett]

Really can't stand Mark Hughes.

I used to love him as a player for us, but he really p*sses me off as a manager, never stops moaning and talking cr*p.

 

[Fitchett]

Mark Hughes: "When you get to 94, 95 minutes, I am scratching my head in terms of the referee and where he got the five minutes from."

Mark Hughes, clueless.

Obviously learned from Michael Owen's late winner in the 4-3 over City in 2009, that both sides are allowed to try to win a game in stoppage time. not just us.

 

[Fitchett]

In general though he's right, all too often you see when the bigger teams need a goal 4, 5, 6 minutes gets added and you're not really sure where it came from.

When the smaller teams have spent the best part of 90 minutes time wasting, to hang on for a point, it's crystal clear to see where the additional time comes from. If anything, the refs don't add enough on, particularly when there's time wasting, substitutions or goals scored in stoppage time.

 

[Escobar]

If it's one thing you can't throw at us this season, or particularly since the start of this unbeaten run, it's the team lacking fighting spirit and grit. Without it we wouldn't have broken down West Ham, scored 2 quick goals against 'Boro, scored a winner against Palace, salvaged a draw against Liverpool and secured a point yesterday.

You can accuse the team of being completely off the ball in front of goal, but not question the spirit and grit.

But thats the point. We have it only when things are not going well and we need to save our backs in the last 10 mins. Before that, or especially in the first 20 mins, we're usually too casual and dont fight hard enough. And that's exactly what happened yesterday as well

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Simply we are just too slow in everything we do, we improved as soon as Rashford came on and I jetted the pace and width we were crying out for, I think it was a poorly selected team.

 

[Lentwood]

I can't believe the number of whingers who have come out of the woodwork. Do people really think we are going to win every game? I said before the game I would take a good performance and a point and I am totally fine with a draw away at Stoke

The matches we should be kicking ourselves over are the games where we have dropped points at home

 

[JustAFan]

Pogba was better 2nd half but there were at least two clear occasions when Rashford was successfully making an overlapping run past their right back that would have put him on goal and Pogba failed to spot/opted not to give it and with no better option. Wound me up.

Pogba seems to be having trouble deciding not just what to do but when to do it. He needs to quicken his decision making.

 

[The red panther]

I can't believe the number of whingers who have come out of the woodwork. Do people really think we are going to win every game? I said before the game I would take a good performance and a point and I am totally fine with a draw away at Stoke

The matches we should be kicking ourselves over are the games where we have dropped points at home

On paper a point away versus Stoke isn't a bad thing but given the circumstances we should have always won his and this is not 1 game in isolation, last week was similar, a must win game for us where we just shoot ourself in the foot and hand Liverpool the points on a golden platter.

Fact is Liverpool dropped points, Tottenham and City have dropped points and if we had won this game and the one from last week we would have been 4th in the league and we'd have recovered our deficit. But we didn't and 6th place is still our spot.

People have all the right to be massively disappointed. This is the most expensive squad out of the history of the PL with an absolute sucess coach in charge of it, we need to be doing better than 6th place. It is not acceptable. If we were say Everton, Souton or West Ham United than we would be doing allright but we are Manchester United, we should be competitng with Chelsea for that title not hoping all teams above us fall to pieces so our chances for top 4 stay alive.

 

[Lentwood]

On paper a point away versus Stoke isn't a bad thing but given the circumstances we should have always won his and this is not 1 game in isolation, last week was similar, a must win game for us where we just shoot ourself in the foot and hand Liverpool the points on a golden platter.

Fact is Liverpool dropped points, Tottenham and City have dropped points and if we had won this game and the one from last week we would have been 4th in the league and we'd have recovered our deficit. But we didn't and 6th place is still our spot.

People have all the right to be massively disappointed. This is the most expensive squad out of the history of the PL with an absolute sucess coach in charge of it, we need to be doing better than 6th place. It is not acceptable. If we were say Everton, Souton or West Ham United than we would be doing allright but we are Manchester United, we should be competitng with Chelsea for that title not hoping all teams above us fall to pieces so our chances for top 4 stay alive.

You can divide the season into two. Before Christmas where Jose clearly did not know his best team, it took time to assert his style of play and we had various issues with new signings settling in. During this period we had something like 20 points from 14 games which is not good enough for top 4. After Christmas our form has been title-winning form. That bodes well for next season.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Finally got to see the full match.

Just seemed a lack of sparkle.
Mkhi tried a few surges
All a bit too central again and we need some shooting practice.

Unfortunate deflection for their goal, otherwise little danger to us.
No outstanding performers and no real poor performers.
Excellent free kick from Rooney for the equaliser and just give him MOM just for getting us a point and congrats on the 250.

 

[Android1974]

We should not start both Mata and Mkhi on the wing. We need one of Martial or Rashford to run at the full backs.

A player-maker (Mkhitaryan or Mata) on the wing with the attacking full-back (Valencia or Young), and a extreme-forward (Martial or Rashford) where we have a defensive full-back (Blind or Darmian).

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

We just need someone who has a knack for scoring, there are a few out there we just need to get one of them. On paper the team is full of goals miki and martial are both usually good In front of goal but it just seems to not be happening for them.

Mata is being singled out for being gash which is fair enough but usually he's got a good eye for goal.