[Zimkid]

I am not a fan of Matteo Darmian. He gives nothing going forward. Had more than 90 percent back passes. He just wouldn't attack through the wing. I would have preferred Blind for this match.

 

[The Brown Bull]

The overeactions in here are comical. Stoke played really well in parts, we played OK but with a couple of defensive errors that cost us. Take the medicine and move on, we don't lose the league away at Soke.

Absolutely! Its always interesting reading the match day threads on here too.The despair expressed by some when things aint going our way is baffling to me.I would hate to find myself in a trench with some of the Jessica types who populate these threads.Maybe I should say 'polute".
Stoke can be tough opposition in Stoke, especially when they score first and some of our lads are slightly off form.We still got a draw.Onwards!

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

How did Mourinho make people fall in love with the scum of the earth?

what does this even mean?

 

[marlowe78]

We pretty much lost this game on defending. Both goals were totally avoidable. Lukaku did miss a chance to win it towards the end but we should've seen out the game after going 2-1 up.

The change in formation didn't seem to work at all. In the first half, Stoke were getting all kinds of space when they moved into our half and on quick counters, Jese was a constant threat to slip in behind. I would've kept the 4231 to make us more compact. Fellaini IMO could've played an important part in this game with his aerial presence and perhaps Jose would've used him if he were available. I don't think Herrera was that bad but I just don't think it was the game to play him in.

Otherwise, I can't really think of anyone who had a really good game. I guess Lukaku was okay because he scored. Pogba was mostly average and Mkhitaryan was actually bad with his passing before he had his moment in creating that assist. Miki has been like a faster version of Mata - doing little until finally popping up and creating a big moment.

Our backline - what can you say about it? Bailly might've had his worst game for us. Failed to mark the attacker for their first goal and was also very careless with the ball in dangerous areas. Phil Jones - why does this guy still play for us and how has he survived all of the player purges that have taken place at United over the past few seasons? Enough already. Valencia - so much of our play went through him in the first half with Stoke clogging the middle and the outcome was predetermined. Darmian - nice tackle and run to create the second goal, but failed to stop the cross on their first and just an overall poor player.

I would be less annoyed by a draw if not for the fact that we haven't won a league game there in almost 5 years. Stoke, to be fair, are a much improved side from last year and can play some nice football but this is another September where our players returned from international break and looked poor. All of the other top sides except for Liverpool (who played City) won their games handily, so why are we looking so out of sync? I think Jose has a little bit of explaining on that.

Anyhow, it's a point and let's put in a better match on Tuesday.

 

[r0663664]

I think we should have won the game. Here are some observations:

• Corners - why did we insists on taking short corner? I think we score when we deliver 1st corner into the box, we also almost score at the end of normal. Why did Jose give such instruction? Is our squad one of the tallest in EPL? I am puzzled
• FB - our fb's crossing is really poor. Darmain is zero threat moving and also defensively troubled by pacey winger/fb. Valencia crossing has been poor
• Pressing - Team like Stoke has so much time on the ball in the 2nd half, I am just not sure why Pogba, Herrera and Miki is not pressing. I see Stoke will long spell with the ball in the 2nd half and we have no ability to win back the ball. I think it is a team effort but right now, I don't see any. I think it start with Pogba as I know Herrera and Miki can press but if Pogba is not then there is always a man free

I hope Jose can address the pressing bit. As FB cannot be address until the transfer window open.

 

[Twisted Nerve]

Can we now stop with this "we're gonna win the league" bollocks ?

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Still annoyed we didn't win this game...

Which is I guess an improvement on last season, where I would often simply be happy that the game was over.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Came to conclusion that inclusion of Herrera was a mistake. Overkill in midfield. Herrera tried to do what Matic is better at. Additionality - Stoke were happy to sit back and counter, we didn't need extra man in midfield. We looked better since the double change.

We dropped two points because Jose tried to fix something that wasn't broken.

 

[Lentwood]

We weren't going to win the league before this game so the fact that we drew makes no real difference to my opinion on our final league position.

I thought that it was mainly the media who were whipping up the "Utd are going to win the league" ferver but looks like some of our fans bought it.

Please, please calm down. We finished 6th last year and have signed 2 1/2 players. It's not enough. Jose said it would take minimum three Summer windows and I totally agree. We still have to many players who have a tendency to chuck a 5/10 performance in once or twice a month.

Why don't I like people to get carried away? Because it creates unnecessary pressure, expectation and ultimately disappointment. If we finish 3rd now we will have some fans whingeing and calling for Jose's head but that would actually be a massive improvement and a stepping stone going into next year. That's not to say we shouldn't have expectations - but they should be realistic

 

[Sunny Jim]

a great display from ex-united player fletcher yesterday

Yep, Fltech was quality. IMHO their MOTM

 

[Treble]

We weren't going to win the league before this game so the fact that we drew makes no real difference to my opinion on our final league position.

I thought that it was mainly the media who were whipping up the "Utd are going to win the league" ferver but looks like some of our fans bought it.

Please, please calm down. We finished 6th last year and have signed 2 1/2 players. It's not enough. Jose said it would take minimum three Summer windows and I totally agree. We still have to many players who have a tendency to chuck a 5/10 performance in once or twice a month.

Why don't I like people to get carried away? Because it creates unnecessary pressure, expectation and ultimately disappointment. If we finish 3rd now we will have some fans whingeing and calling for Jose's head but that would actually be a massive improvement and a stepping stone going into next year. That's not to say we shouldn't have expectations - but they should be realistic

Probably true but Jose himself tends to struggle in his 3rd season at big clubs. So he has do defy history.

 

[Bestietom]

That's where they keep the drawing board, presumably.

Ha sorry I meant Drawing board @Still ill ..

 

[reelworld]

Can we now stop with this "we're gonna win the league" bollocks ?

We're gonna win the league

 

[trevor newnham]

last week we were magic, this week we were tragic. It happens. Jones has been compared to Bobby Moore for a couple of games. Allof a sudden he's Patrick Moore. That happens too. We have to be realistic. We are going to get games where we play well, but that dont make us barcelona, and sometimes we are going to play badly, but that doesn't mean we will get relegated. Take the rough with the smooth, guys, move on.

 

[sunama]

The overeactions in here are comical. Stoke played really well in parts, we played OK but with a couple of defensive errors that cost us. Take the medicine and move on, we don't lose the league away at Soke.

It's not an over-reaction.
Last season we saw a pattern of results, whereby we drew against teams, in the middle or bottom half of the table. This forced us into 6th place.
The same thing seems to have happened 2 days ago and some fans are wondering if we are about to see a continuation of the pattern we saw last season, which saw us finish in 6th.
Had last season not happened, a draw against Stoke would've been an "okay" result, but because of last season, it is a big deal.

 

[sunama]

Can we now stop with this "we're gonna win the league" bollocks ?

You are right.
We must win the league!

 

[glazed]

Because he didn't score the 2 goals

details

 

[Rusholme Ruffian]

Can we now stop with this "we're gonna win the league" bollocks ?

why, cos we drew away at Stoke?!

I've got no idea whether we're going to win the league or not, but deciding that we're definitely not on the back of a tough away game near the start of the season is comical.

 

[horsechoker]

We're gonna win the league

bollocks

 

[Android1974]

Bailly can't be trusted after internationals, he always loses concentration. And maybe the same should be said about Jones, when playing dangerous aerial threats, he should be dropped. Perhaps Smalling should have started.

Mourinho was too scared to feature the same 4-2-3-1 that got us so well in the first three games. He just thought it was too risky, but the game showed otherwise, Stoke were more dangerous while sitting back precisely because we posed no danger of penetration. Mkhitaryan alone without Mata gets drowned in opposition midfield-backline.

 

[eggwithsideburns]

I watched this match in Gran Canaria and funnily enough Jese Rodriguez was on my flight home to manchester last night.