[Sandikan]

Actually wanted us to lose today. Yes, really. This merely delays the inevitable. Ole out.

Cracking 6th post...8 years on from joining

 

[Sandikan]

I think City will play in our hands again . It helps that they have no strikers.

Yep. With 5 defenders we'll definitely stop their zero strikers.

 

[bosnian_red]

There was no 3-4-3 today. Where have you seen that? Against the ball it was sometimes a 6-3-1 with McTom joining the backline and Cavani joining the midfield. Obviously the players have to find some sort of groove in that new formation and obviously no formations is defensive or offensive just because but lets not go overboard today. The players played just like they always do just that we have a third CB in there. The fullbacks played like fullbacks, not like Wingbacks or LM/RM. McTom was deployed a bit behind Fred and Bruno most of the time too.

3-4-3...

A 3-4-1-2 is essentially a 3-4-3 but the 3 just being a different shape. The actual formation of it doesn't matter all that much. Bruno definitely wasn't on par with Fred and McTominay in terms of defensive responsibility or how deep they played. He was far closed to the front 2, making it an attacking 3. He played as a 10 - just behind 2 strikers. It wasn't a midfield 3 where the midfield is a distance away from the attackers - it was pretty clear IMO that if you look at it in groups, Bruno was part of the attacking group as he always is. The fullbacks definitely played more like wing backs, or at least yeah like they usually do but we were more balanced as it just doesn't work in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

I'm not saying it'll always work or that Ole is even capable of coaching it properly. He probably isn't. I would love Conte to come in and coach them properly in a 3-4-3/3-4-1-2, rotate our front 3 grouping between the 6 quality attackers we have and get some consistency. But it's also Ole's best chance at making us somewhat consistent and grinding out results and keeping him in the job for at least until the end of the season.

 

[Robertd0803]

Get in there.

Much needed result regardless of whats going to happen with Ole especially considering City and Liverpool dropped points unexpectedly. Spurs being utter wank probably helped but you can only beat whats in front of you on the day.

Can see the 3-5-2 staying.

 

[yeti]

Mctominay was an absolute beast today.

 

[hurricane thunderclap]

Picking Maguire and two touch Fred was either stupid or Ole has alzheimer's.
Spurs are awful which means you would expect to beat them and thankfully we did.
Cavani just glides like he could lead the 300.
Disappointed that Donny didn't come on for Fred .

 

[Mr Anderson]

Fantastic win and a good performance. As good as we were, Spurs were completely horrendous. They played into our hands. Where we always fall short is the teams who defend low against us. Sacrificing the ball and countering will not work in those scenarios

 

[steve.crowford]

Watching this game reminded me of that very old and overused joke where a couple is having their divorce proceedings and arguing over custody of their kid, and the kid doesn't want to go to either of them because they both beat him. He says, "I'll go with Tottenham Hotspurs because they don't beat anyone."

 

[DRJosh]

What does Donny need to do to get a game?

 

[largelyworried]

An ok performance in general terms against a truly shite Spurs team (surely Nuno is gone soon) but is probably as good as we’ve looked this season, which tells its own story.

Three good goals probably keeps Ole in a job for a good while, maybe the season. Even narrow defeats in the coming weeks probably enough to see him through. Can’t pretend I’m not conflicted about that, since I think that writes off the season. Hope I’m wrong. At least I can enjoy the goals, which were all great.

Three at the back is a viable system but the way we played it is quite defensive. Which obviously is the point, but it felt like a decision of last resort aimed at getting at least one clean sheet, than a long term switch that could offer some better overall balance. Our xG was 1.35, which showed that we were clinical rather than creating buckets. Will wait and see how our overall balance pans out.

 

[FreakyJim]

Good performance, enjoyed the game.

The thing is, we've seen this countless of times - a one off reaction and then reverting to the shite they serve time and time again. Let's see. Next to 0 hope for actual corner turn though.

One thing I 100% agreed was Rashford and Greenwood being benched. They have to learn, the hard way if necessary, that you can't just wait for the ball and shoot. You have to work hard off the ball. Rashford, I'm not really sure he'll ever make the next step but there's still time for Greenwood.

Also I'm worried Sancho won't be given the time to adapt to the PL with Ole now having "found" this miraculous 5-2-3 system.

 

[Redfrog]

Yep. With 5 defenders we'll definitely stop their zero strikers.

and we can hope, with our strikers, to score from half a chance

 

[Sultan]

Simply Reunited

 

[NZT-One]

A 3-4-1-2 is essentially a 3-4-3 but the 3 just being a different shape. The actual formation of it doesn't matter all that much. Bruno definitely wasn't on par with Fred and McTominay in terms of defensive responsibility or how deep they played. He was far closed to the front 2, making it an attacking 3. He played as a 10 - just behind 2 strikers. It wasn't a midfield 3 where the midfield is a distance away from the attackers - it was pretty clear IMO that if you look at it in groups, Bruno was part of the attacking group as he always is. The fullbacks definitely played more like wing backs, or at least yeah like they usually do but we were more balanced as it just doesn't work in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

If we want to start this way, we can also say it was a 5-3-1... So I know what you mean but commonly a 3-4-3 is known for having 2 inside forwards (wingers) outside of a real striker or potentially a false-9. A 3-4-1-2 has a traditional offensive playmaker and two "classic" strikers. Which was what we have seen today. Therefor I don't think, calling it a 3-4-3 is correct.

Also, I can't find it on the sofascore homepage but on the app it looks like Bruno was more in midfield as he was in attack based on their "average position" feature. But I'll give you that one because it certainly wasn't clear. For me, we were much more compact out of position and this wasn't just because of Varane in the backline. So I think, either Bruno was way more involved today or he did something differently than usual.

Same goes for the Fullbacks. If you compare the Liverpool game with the game today, again with the average position feature, the difference are very very small.

 

[Red00012]

Voted for him I thought he was immense

 

[AndyMUFC86]

Ole pre game when thinking of how to line up “what would Conte do”

 

[Redlyn]

Really happy with everything I saw today. Great tactics (even though I doubted them), excellent commitment from players, and we played as a team.

I was ole doubt, but he’s earned more time. Let’s stay united.

Really!? Surely a single one off game can't mean much either way. We have won lots of games before under Ole.

 

[lex talionis]

Voted for him I thought he was immense

Nah, Ronaldo easily.

 

[NZT-One]

Voted for him I thought he was immense

One genuine question because I am still puzzled how well the ratings for the players are in general compared to my own ratings: how do you rate the player? Are you comparing, in this case McTominays performance with a) his recent performances and other contexts or b) with overall quality? So more relative in terms of other performances of the same player or more absolute?

Again there is no sub-message here, I am really interested. I am happy to read the answers from others as well!

 

[The Purley King]

Mctominay motm easily but that was far from a commanding performance.
Spurs are fecking pony. Full stop.
Still no patterns in our attacking play and again reliant on moments of brilliance.
I’m happy that we won but this changes very little.
City having Laporte suspended next week will help us and I think we’ll probably win there as well.
Doesn’t change my mind on ole though.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Fred played well ? He lost possession about 20 times

McTominay was man of the match

McT was excellent.

I think Fred not being quite as bad as usual has clouded my judgement. Any improvement on his usual standard is noticeable. He definitely faded in the 2nd half.

 

[Reddevildans]

I can't believe we watched the same game. I bet he made most tackles, had most touches and ran most distance.

That was probably mctom. You can't honestly believe fred had a good game? He was dispossessed numerous times esp in the second half which lead to impotent spurs attacks. He was weak and flimsy on the ball. Nothing in his performance surprised me. Runs around a lot but that's not good enough.

 

[lex talionis]

That was probably mctom. You can't honestly believe fred had a good game? He was dispossessed numerous times esp in the second half which lead to impotent spurs attacks. He was weak and flimsy on the ball. Nothing in his performance surprised me. Runs around a lot but that's not good enough.

Apart from his shot from long distance Fred was a liability. We didn’t get punished for his poor play so it’s easily overlooked.

 

[lemmiwink]

Over stacking the defence and staying ultra compact against a team that has fewer goals than Mo Salah. It’s not that impressive to be honest. If this works against City I will be very surprised.

 

[Shimo]

First time seen us play as a team in a very long time. I don't care how bad Spurs were but, first and foremost we need to look after ourselves and we did just that. Not fancy, not trying to blow away the opposition but, being organized, working hard and not acting like a bloody sieve through the middle.

No one should read anything too much into this game for moving forward since Ole's tenure has been all about getting a performance at the right time and consistency is just something that has never been there. However, what is clear is when setup properly and given an actual plan, we have have top individuals that can if coached properly develop into a very good team.

Need to build on that and not necessarily the formation though I think that should be the basis. Build a absolute solidity in the back and midfield, let us be very difficult to break down first. Focus on clean sheets, fight blood sweat and tears for them and then let our attackers do what they do.

Today we had Rashford, Greenwood, Sancho on the bench, could have had Martial as well and you've got Pogba/VDB as well. Message to them should be, you get on the pitch and give that effort to the team first, then worry about the attack side of the game. Thing is the attack side comes naturally to them, which is why they need to double down on the other side first.

Be interesting to see what we do against Atalanta and more so against City next week. But, for now enjoying this much needed win.

 

[MIC_FIN]

Apart from his shot from long distance Fred was a liability. We didn’t get punished for his poor play so it’s easily overlooked.

Fred is woeful. And will be replaced once we get to the next transfer window or next summer. We need 2 new midfielders. Pogba needs to go too. Then we are capable of challenging on all fronts.

 

[United Irishman]

Obviously, so many changes for tonight's game that were vindicated but the most sustainable change was Bruno's average position. Definitely played deeper. On the right of a 3. Turns out he's bloody good at it. Needs to be a permanent thing.

 

[MIC_FIN]

Over stacking the defence and staying ultra compact against a team that has fewer goals than Mo Salah. It’s not that impressive to be honest. If this works against City I will be very surprised.

Go and support Liverpool then.

Spuds away and taking all 3 points after last weekend and all the negative media. One of the most prolific strikers contained (had basically 3 or 4 touches in the 2nd half) Where do you work, a funeral parlor?

Just enjoy the win ffs

 

[largelyworried]

Go and support Liverpool then.

Spuds away and taking all 3 points after last weekend and all the negative media. One of the most prolific strikers contained (had basically 3 or 4 touches in the 2nd half) Where do you work, a funeral parlor?

Just enjoy the win ffs

Being a united supporter doesn’t mean pretending things are okay when they’re not.

 

[Acquire Me]

Picking Maguire and two touch Fred was either stupid or Ole has alzheimer's.
Spurs are awful which means you would expect to beat them and thankfully we did.
Cavani just glides like he could lead the 300.
Disappointed that Donny didn't come on for Fred .

Not sure if serious.

 

[Devil77]

I wonder what game he watched

The one against Spurs I believe. McTominay was really good today. Showed for the ball and carried it forward multiple times.

 

[Devil77]

What does Donny need to do to get a game?

Guess he’ll stay on the bench comes January. Then he’ll be sold.

 

[ajay1002]

Played ok against an awful Spurs side. But that's not a lineup/tactic that I would look forward to watching every week.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Go and support Liverpool then.

Spuds away and taking all 3 points after last weekend and all the negative media. One of the most prolific strikers contained (had basically 3 or 4 touches in the 2nd half) Where do you work, a funeral parlor?

Just enjoy the win ffs

He's being realistic, that's the worst Spurs performance in years. United were okay today, Ronaldo was exceptional. Did you just wake up from a coma, have you seen us this season. Negative media nothing, we were beat 5.0 by Liverpool at Old Trafford only a few days ago, awful performances this season. Get your head out of your ass and acknowledge this manager ain't bringing us back to the top.

 

[foolsgold]

Always nice to win, but my mind on the manager situation has been made up. Going to take a lot more to change it.

Great chance to bring Donny on and give him some minutes, but no it's Matic again.

 

[RazorOz]

Go and support Liverpool then.

Spuds away and taking all 3 points after last weekend and all the negative media. One of the most prolific strikers contained (had basically 3 or 4 touches in the 2nd half) Where do you work, a funeral parlor?

Just enjoy the win ffs

This mentality of going from game to game is exactly why Utd are in the mess they are in. You can't just judge over 1 game. It was better than a lot of the recent rubbish, but that's not saying a lot, vs a very poor Tottenham side, and even then 3-0 massively flattered Utd.

There's no real sustainability to playing like this, and it all points to any long term plan being totally out the window when you play 5 at the back with 2 holding men vs a team that will finish mid-table, otherwise why even buy some of the attacking talent we have. It's all just desperation short term now to try and survive in the job, with any long term vision out the window.

 

[RoyH1]

I cannot want my team to lose. Ever. Great result and performance to remind Spurs where they stand in relation to us, crisis or not.

 

[Still ill]

Over stacking the defence and staying ultra compact against a team that has fewer goals than Mo Salah. It’s not that impressive to be honest. If this works against City I will be very surprised.

Absolutely, we should have really opened up and gone for it. A front line of Ronnie, Cavani, Sancho, Rashford and Greenwood would have shut those naysayers up. Midfields are overrated.

It was the right formation for today, solid performance, great result. Not sure what people were looking for today.

 

[Tom Cato]

Over stacking the defence and staying ultra compact against a team that has fewer goals than Mo Salah. It’s not that impressive to be honest. If this works against City I will be very surprised.

This is how we've beaten City every single time under Ole.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

I don’t mind the formation but Ole will need to rotate players or we’ll get a very split dressing room. I think it should be fairly simple though as long as everyone knows what they have to do.