PL L FA Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur 2:0 Manchester United

Post-match discussion


Sat, 19 August 2023

I mean we had 22 shots and didn't score. It's pretty clear where our issues are, and have been for a while. Tottenham didn't deserve to win really and that handball was an absolutely atrocious decision by the referee and VAR.
 
I think he choose to go that way due to the personnel at his disposal. He tried last year to control games and make them less chaotic but due to how our squad is constructed he's forced to lean into being a transition team because that's what suit our best players.

When your best players are Bruno, Rashford, Casemiro and the likes, it's hard to control games, so instead he decided to play into their strength which is transition. When you watch Bruno and Rashford needlessly and constantly give away the ball while attempting 5 yards passes, how confident can you be in believing you'll ever exert control over any decent team.

My take though, is that he should still try to force it to them. No more allowing Bruno carelessly giving away possession, no more Casemiro playing hot potato with the ball at time. Probably far harder than it sound.
Yeah, that's the thing: the goal isn't to get the best out of Bruno and Rashford but to build a top team that is capable of controlling games by intelligent possession. And we seem to be giving up on that, instead of giving up on Rashford and Bruno if they can't adapt.
 
Man Utd Lost so the CAF is in meltdown! PANIC STATIONS!

Sack EtH. Sack Murtough. All the players bought are crap.

Fold the club.
Wouldn't be a hard task since Old Traford is like a lego stadium nowadays.
 
The people genuinely saying we miss Fred and McTom :lol:
As if they always sorted things out for us and we didn't just moan about them the last 4 or 5 years.
 
Man Utd Lost so the CAF is in meltdown! PANIC STATIONS!

Sack EtH. Sack Murtough. All the players bought are crap.

Fold the club.
Think it’s more a case of us looking shit and our transfer window being an obvious failure yet again.
 
Is Ten Hag the new Lego Pep? I rather think he is the new Pep Guardiola is my idol. Kidding really.
 
The people genuinely saying we miss Fred and McTom :lol:
As if they always sorted things out for us and we didn't just moan about them the last 4 or 5 years.
Ha yeah cracks me up too. I understand not liking the mount signing but fecking stupid saying we should be starting mcfred again. Would understand saying should've signed diff ones at least
 
We just need to play with a striker. Currently playing with 3 wingers. All making the same runs (or not bothering) nobody wants to come short and pick the ball up. Too open in the middle of the park. Bruno and Mount cannot play together in midfield.

Don't see the same midfield starting the next game. If they do well it's on erik
 
I wonder who of this bunch is going to end up as our player of the year at the end of this season. Thinking about this is fascinating.
 
Yeah, that's the thing: the goal isn't to get the best out of Bruno and Rashford but to build a top team that is capable of controlling games by intelligent possession. And we seem to be giving up on that, instead of giving up on Rashford and Bruno if they can't adapt.
The problem is that most of his best players don't suit any football that warrant control, so his hands are really tied. Remember, managers ought to be able to adapt to what they have. I'm sure if he could get rid of said players and replace them with quality he'd have probably stuck to his initial plans but that's not the case.

Our base is simply not suited for controlling game. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems very hard to play that way when your midfield has Bruno and Casemiro together.
 
We just weren’t dominated though were we. Spurs got gifted two goals. We missed big chances and denied a clear penalty. Aside from that it was fairly even.
So you weren’t concerned at all by the second half performance?
Dominated is exactly what it was.
 
It's never as bad as it seems. Martial is the best at the club at holding up the ball. You want to play two attacking midfielders and two wingers? You need someone to hold it up and play them in. This was a tactical blunder for me but maybe Martial didn't have 90 minutes in him? There's always stuff going on in the background we don't know about.

I also don't understand playing a left winger with no right foot on the right and a right winger with no left foot on the left.
 
Carrington too.
Erase United's historic trophies from the record books too.

Given half a chance some of our fans wouldn't hesitate.

I'm as disappointed as anyone but it's clear to see the issue. The side effects are directly linked to it as well.
 
We are a collection of 11 individuals not a team welded together under a designated playing system. There is no balance, and for a side like Manchester United to start a season with no striker just beggars belief. I don't know if the new kid is the answer but the lack of goals last season was worrisome. It still is.

Just like last season. What a joke.
 
Our base is simply not suited for controlling game. Maybe I'm wrong but it seems very hard to play that way when your midfield has Bruno and Casemiro together.
All the more reason not to add Mason fecking Mount to it. Surely it would make more sense to get someone who compensates for their weaknesses, as opposed to a player who highlights and exacerbates them.
 
It's never as bad as it seems. Martial is the best at the club at holding up the ball. You want to play two attacking midfielders and two wingers? You need someone to hold it up and play them in. This was a tactical blunder for me but maybe Martial didn't have 90 minutes in him? There's always stuff going on in the background we don't know about.

I also don't understand playing a left winger with no right foot on the right and a right winger with no left foot on the left.

There's no "maybe" about it. I don't think Martial has had a regular 90 in him for about 3 years now.

We need him to start soon though to unlock Rashford. It's painful seeing him aimlessly storming around up there.
 
Dog shit and utterly predictable we won’t finish top 8
 
Ten hag being shown up by spurs manager who not only outdone him tactically but actually has implemented a new style without the excuse of it being a lengthy "process".

Brighton will finish above us this season
 
Man Utd Lost so the CAF is in meltdown! PANIC STATIONS!

Sack EtH. Sack Murtough. All the players bought are crap.

Fold the club.
Why can't you discuss and post opinions like a normal person, instead of always going hysterical
 
United are going places this season. Like, away from home, where we will have a very bad, no good, terrible, horrible viewing experience, in that order.
 
We look like a side that has no focal point. The midfield has no outlet when it has the ball so players overthink and then lose the ball. Our attacking players are all of the wide or secondary type and not the pure striker so they don't make those runs or have the movement that comes natural to a striker.

Our play has no end game. The opposition doesn't need to worry about us attacking because there's nobody there to occupy them and when we do go forward, it's usually out wide and ultimately there's nobody in the middle.

It's easy to play against, easy to defend against. It makes our players look poor because they have no outlet, no options.

A striker doesn't even need to score. There were presence brings it all together.

Putting someone up top who doesn't have the natural instincts won't fix it either.

Honestly if they just made better decisions in the attacking areas we’d score more goals. Garnacho and Antony both had the ball in dangerous areas and mostly made the wrong decision.

We need the forwards to have their heads up and look for each other more and when they do get the ball maybe don’t drill it straight into a defenders shins.

It mostly feels like we have a very dumb group of attackers. Spurs were wide open first half and yet it felt like our attackers were all just desperate to get their first goals of the season rather than actually making the right play.
 
Don’t know what Erik does to fix this. All the preseason enthusiasm is gone!

I hate being a fan on days like this. Self inflicted torture.

now to watch how good City are
 
Dog shit and utterly predictable we won’t finish top 8

We will be absolutely fine once the young lad gets involved. Even if he doesn't bang in the goals, our entire game will transform and we will play with some semblance of a point.

Right now though we're basically Chelsea of last season. And that's who we should be looking at to see our issues.

We'd probably be better with Martial starting but his fitness let alone quality is so unreliable I understand ETH being wary of risking us being without any strikers at all.
 

Player Ratings

4.5 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 282 ratings.

Score Predictions

158,67,81
  • Man Utd win
  • Tottenham win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 27% Tottenham 1:2 Man Utd
  • 17% Tottenham 1:1 Man Utd
  • 10% Tottenham 0:2 Man Utd
  • 9% Tottenham 2:1 Man Utd
  • 8% Tottenham 2:2 Man Utd
  • 7% Tottenham 1:3 Man Utd
  • 7% Tottenham 2:0 Man Utd
  • 5% Tottenham 0:1 Man Utd
  • 2% Tottenham 3:1 Man Utd
  • 2% Tottenham 3:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Tottenham 0:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Tottenham 2:3 Man Utd
  • 1% Tottenham 3:2 Man Utd
  • 1% Tottenham 1:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Tottenham 4:1 Man Utd
  • 0% Tottenham 0:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Tottenham 5:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Tottenham 6:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Tottenham 9:0 Man Utd
Compiled from 306 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Tottenham
  2. Man Utd
Possession
56% 44%
Shots
17 22
Shots on Target
6 6
Corners
5 6
Fouls
9 8

Referee

Michael Oliver