[Ranchero]

That line-up in my eyes was Mourinho throwing the game and throwing in the towel. One foot out of the door. He won't resign as he won't get his pay out but the writing is officially on the wall after today.

The team line up read like sabotage. And his after comments about how great 'the kid' played, when he didn't, and it wasn't his fault was just him transparently trying to cover that up.. He is not a central defender and was cynically used by Mourinho to make a point. Mourinho cynically made the comment about Instagram in training knowing the cameras were there to get Pogba reacting, while he, knowingly looks serene.

The man is poison. He was special now I just want him out. But I am annoyed, because he appears to be angling for the big pay off with this sabotage.

 

[freddie the red]

Even the groundhog's got déjà vu

 

[Asger]

Wake the feck up Woody.

Or just feck off! He has been shit since he took over Gill.

 

[Kaizane]

The team line up read like sabotage. And his after comments about how great 'the kid' played, when he didn't, and it wasn't his fault was just him transparently trying to cover that up.. He is not a central defender and was cynically used by Mourinho to make a point. Mourinho cynically made the comment about Instagram in training knowing the cameras were there to get Pogba reacting, while he, knowingly looks serene.

The man is poison. He was special now I just want him out. But I am annoyed, because he appears to be angling for the big pay off with this sabotage.

Agreed. He's contriving to get himself fired, with his selections and his little digs in his interviews. I saw it after the Young Boys game and thought i was reading too much into it but today confirmed I'm not. First time in years I've watched a game and expected us to lose. Management need to nip it in the bud while it's still salvageable.

 

[Buster15]

Honestly one of the weirdest features with out team under Jose has been the lack of work rate. We simply wait for the opposition, no aggression either when in our own half all the way back to the burnley away game in 16/17.

Very good point. I have commented many times about our poor work rate and if you and me are correct it would be interesting to see some actual stats to prove it or not.

We just do not work as a team. Don't know if the players are lazy or not fit enough but when I watch other teams their players are always MOVING AND THINKING about where the spaces are.

They also keep moving to support the man with the ball whereas we often pass to a player who is isolated and loose possesion.

These are the absolute BASICS and it frustrates the hell out of me when I see Manchester United players who just stroll around as if it doesn't really matter.

Where is the pride??
You are a professional footballer playing for Manchester United for goodness sake. At least TRY...

 

[Asger]

Totally agree. A defender would make no difference to the shambles at the club that is caused by the poison that is Mourinho both on and off the pitch.

The biggest poison is the board and those overrated players who think more about theirs wages and look rather than do their work they are paid for. All the players doesn’t give a shit for the club. They don’t deserve to get paid for months now!

 

[ghg]

Manager, coaches, players, all stealing a living.

You forgot who the real thieves are , they live in America. Woodword and the Glaziers will act , not because they care about results or the crap football we play but because Mourinio and Pogba are damaging to the brand . Pogba is one of the most marketable players in world football , Jose is a "has been" who has been found out in the modern game . Easy decision , expect it before the US stock market opens on Monday

 

[Daft Lad]

Mourinho out and Probga out after all Ferguson let him go for some reason.

Ferguson did not let him go for a reason but instead of being blinkered let's look at one simple question. Why is Jose not getting the best out of the squad? He himself is under performing and this so called debate around Pogba and Mourinho is misleading.

 

[Reggie74]

Absolute shite, but hey, apparently revenue is up

I remember a time where there was pride in the shirt. This club needs a huge broom from the top down. We have become a mid table club

 

[Verminator]

He wanted a cb in the summer. After being defensively sound but weak in attack the previous season, the board were right to question this.
After buying him two cb of his choice already, they were right to question this.
After seeing the squad age rise with Matic and Sanchez signings, and him wanting an older cb, they were right to question this.

So he goes and selects a youth midfielder to prove a point.

He's had a lot of backing in the market, and 3 years to put some kind of cohesion into the team, and we are looking at a worse team than under Moyes. As bad as Moyes was, there was less depression about that side.

People go on about player-power, but Jose is guilty of the same approach to the board.

Just go Mo.
I can't watch this shot anymore.
I've never felt more vindicated for giving up my ST last year.

 

[Daft Lad]

I'm hoping fellow fans don't concentrate on any comments he makes after the game. The issues are: he's not coaching us properly; his man management is terrible; and his constant drama is dragging the whole club down. There's no chance he turns this around, so no need to wait any longer.

Spot on. Hes a master at deflecting and creating a different narrative. He's poison.

 

[buchansleftleg]

I do actually think jose is now trying to get himself fired. Park him on garden leave. Announce he has gone on mutual consent. He can sit at home festering in resentment for 2 years until his time is up or get another job and we stop paying him.

He has lost the players and is affecting their confidence now. Time to sweep out the stable.

 

[Ibrahimorich]

All 3 Wham goals were dubious at best. Offside, fluke and a foul in the build up, so Jose's got a point there but that doesn't excuse how bad we were.

Various players showed one or moments of effort or skills throughout the game but there really doesn't look like there's any team spirit or cohesion. Everyone is just milling around kind of doing their own thing. I refuse to believe this is their level. We saw a team that ran away with the Prem collapse into mediocrity under Moyes, so it shows that the manager can have a devastating effect on a squad.

I didn't really get the line up. It was more of a "feck you, I'm going to do what I want" than a desperate last roll of the dice. Basically, it seems nobody involved really cares any more. They're all just waiting until the inevitable sacking and Jose's just throwing shit at a wall and seeing if anything sticks.

I think he's on borrowed time now. It's going to take a miracle to turn this around and there's absolutely no signs of that happening.

 

[Esquire]

I've been a big advocate to giving Mourinho more time, but its just not working is it. My only major worry is that two years after we sack him whoever we replace him with will likely be in the same boat with many of the same shitty players. That's just football I suppose.

I think we are in for a major restructuring and there needs to be a protocol. But whatever happens, there must be short and long term goals. One of the glaring short term goals is that we need to get rid of Mou - we need to kill the bear that’s in front of us and worry about the other stuff later. It won’t get better and there is too much bad blood between him and the players to be effective anymore. This run of games eerily really looks like the third season at Chelski where the players downed tools. In terms of player recruitment, we are working to get a DOF in so that should be a start. Re-working our academy so that’s another step in the right direction. Ultimately we will need to live with the Glazers and Ed so we need to be realistic there and we will hope that, despite them being suits and are just in this for the money, even they realise at some point that the current set-up is not working and the commercial gains they keep referring to will regress even ultimately the product we sell is not attractive to the newer generation of fans. It will be a long and hard road back to the top.

 

[vanderpants]

JM is right, an offside goal and an own goal.. But bloody hell, get a reaction and turn the game around..

Moving on to Tuesday and go to the break with a win..

Jesus you sound like Jose's love child

 

[donkeyfish]

Honestly one of the weirdest features with out team under Jose has been the lack of work rate. We simply wait for the opposition, no aggression either when in our own half all the way back to the burnley away game in 16/17.

I think it sucked under LvG too. Many of the critical issues we had then we still have 3 years onward.

 

[vanderpants]

What are the board playing at if they can't see what is happening, I know Bobby didn't want Jose at utd and I'm hoping the others want him out too now. We won't finish top 4 and that's a certain, we will get dumped out of the CL as won't beat the other two good teams in our group. Only the FA Cup to go for .This is what some fans think is acceptable nowadays

 

[Rolledo]

Seems to me that SAF made the new owners and administration look good the first few years around. Since then it’s been shit beyond belief. For five years going on six. Can’t remember any style or swagger in that period. Nor two good games in a row. Nothing. It’s been through the looking glass.

 

[Asger]

What are the board playing at if they can't see what is happening, I know Bobby didn't want Jose at utd and I'm hoping the others want him out too now. We won't finish top 4 and that's a certain, we will get dumped out of the CL as won't beat the other two good teams in our group. Only the FA Cup to go for .This is what some fans think is acceptable nowadays

Did anyone think we had a chance for the title?? It’s so obvious that United lack so much quality. Most overrated cl squad for sure.

 

[doriandun]

Jose is trying to get himself sacked before the international break, wiith the set up and tactics, tuesdays result, and todays, he thinks will be enough, to push the board over the line to make that decsion. As for the statement that the board were right about the defence, last season Jose purposely played compact, to cover up the sort coming, the arrival of an experienced calm head would of allowed Linderof and Bailly to develop.

 

[Al-T]

I'm no longer even mildly surprised by what a rich seam of shite this manager and these players are able to mine.

 

[pauldyson1uk]

This is the best I can do after watching that game.

 

[Cee90]

I have remained patient with Jose and to be honest, still have an element of sympathy for him, but I think he needs to go now.

I also think the players are to blame just as much as the manager himself, but ultimately the manager has to take the blame for their performances.

One big issue for me with sacking Jose is whether or not the new manager will get rid of a lot of the players Jose has bought in. Some may say that is a good thing, but we can’t keep building new teams every couple of years when we sack our manager. That takes years.

This is where a DoF is vital. Even when a manager leaves, there won’t be such an overhaul in personnel as they will be in sync with our playing style and ‘philosophy’, so to speak.

Basically our club has a lot of problems and it’s not going to be a quick or easy fix. Getting rid of Jose is the start, but I feel it’s not going to help us solve our problems completely.

Gutted.

 

[gza the genius]

I can't believe the old "stick a random midfielder in to a back three (can't be a midfielder on the field that has already relatively successfully played a similar role the last few games), still play with two (the slower the better) defensive midfielders and then just shove two players up top with no plan on how to involve them whatsoever" tactics didn't work. Maybe next time we can somehow get slower and have less width to try to shore things up.

 

[mancan92]

The guy actively threw the match today. Absolutely diabolical tactics, awful subs and no motivation.
That is some disgusting stuff today

 

[tjb]

I think it sucked under LvG too. Many of the critical issues we had then we still have 3 years onward.

That is a fair point. The real similarities there would be the full backs and the wingers we had under LVG, as the midfield and striker position has changed, and that would actually make sense. Luckily, I see Shaw and Dalot being our full backs from this season onwards so on that front I think we are covered. But in the attack, we really need to do something about the lack of energy/positional awareness/ laziness of Martial, Mata, Rashford and Lingard....These 4 are the common denominators regarding our pressing in attacking areas which almost seems inexistant, so something must really be up.

 

[tjb]

Did anyone think we had a chance for the title?? It’s so obvious that United lack so much quality. Most overrated cl squad for sure.

I don't think we are that bad, we proved as much at the start of last season. However I think we have a real imbalance of quality in the squad. We seem to have sorted out full back areas with the signing of Dalot and reintroduction of Shaw which is a really good thing, but our Centre Half area needs alot of work. Our midfield also has talent there, with a lot of varying pieces to suggest that without making any real additions or subtractions it should be fine under a new manager. Our attack is horrible, and has been since Sir Alex left. The combinations among attackers, and the quality of individuals has been a real let down. Most people blame the full backs and midfielders for the job our attackers are supposed to do themselves, only Lukaku has shown any real quality. We literally get no production from our flank areas. In addition, Lukaku is more of a poacher/ behind the defensive line striker and therefore requires some form of support, whether from wingers being closer to him, an attacking midfielder behind him or a strike partner, we have literally used none of that. We have decent depth as well, but no back up striker, no back wingers ( well we have no wingers anyway) and no real back up full backs ( who aren't 32 and older). So the squad does need some work, but not as much as it seems sometimes.

 

[Jojo <3 Mou]

It feels like a long and really pitiful goodbye.

We didn't have to get to this point, but through the actions of many...we are here.

It's time for the people in charge to make an attempt to fix this.

 

[Penycwm]

He wanted a cb in the summer. After being defensively sound but weak in attack the previous season, the board were right to question this.
After buying him two cb of his choice already, they were right to question this.
After seeing the squad age rise with Matic and Sanchez signings, and him wanting an older cb, they were right to question this.

So he goes and selects a youth midfielder to prove a point.

He's had a lot of backing in the market, and 3 years to put some kind of cohesion into the team, and we are looking at a worse team than under Moyes. As bad as Moyes was, there was less depression about that side.

People go on about player-power, but Jose is guilty of the same approach to the board.

Just go Mo.
I can't watch this shot anymore.
I've never felt more vindicated for giving up my ST last year.

Maybe Fergie knew something about Moyes, the fans or board didn't give him much support, two managers later, countless millions of pounds spent and no sign of any improvement.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Moving closer to the exit door. Looks like he is losing the players pretty fast.
It is a freefall

 

[Verminator]

Jose is trying to get himself sacked before the international break, wiith the set up and tactics, tuesdays result, and todays, he thinks will be enough, to push the board over the line to make that decsion. As for the statement that the board were right about the defence, last season Jose purposely played compact, to cover up the sort coming, the arrival of an experienced calm head would of allowed Linderof and Bailly to develop.

If that was the case, why did he not buy that defensive stalwart instead of either of those two?

 

[Minimalist]

Tactics yeah fair point, but Mou hasn't had that much backing. We signed three players this Summer, one was a fringe player and one was Lee Grant.

I'm in the Mourinho please for the love of god go camp but there's a lot of fair criticism the board should be getting too.

u wot m8?

 

[tjb]

I have remained patient with Jose and to be honest, still have an element of sympathy for him, but I think he needs to go now.

I also think the players are to blame just as much as the manager himself, but ultimately the manager has to take the blame for their performances.

One big issue for me with sacking Jose is whether or not the new manager will get rid of a lot of the players Jose has bought in. Some may say that is a good thing, but we can’t keep building new teams every couple of years when we sack our manager. That takes years.

This is where a DoF is vital. Even when a manager leaves, there won’t be such an overhaul in personnel as they will be in sync with our playing style and ‘philosophy’, so to speak.

Basically our club has a lot of problems and it’s not going to be a quick or easy fix. Getting rid of Jose is the start, but I feel it’s not going to help us solve our problems completely.

Gutted.

I'm not so sure. This isn't like Van Gaal where looking around there was just a dearth of talent. There is talent in this squad, as bad as the team is at the moment, i still feel in Matic, Lukaku, Pogba( who could be sold for money and we get players from him), De Gea, Sanchez....we have prove quality. In addition, we also have potentially good players in Dalot, Shaw, Pereira, Fred, Martial....and a lot of depth. I feel aside from restructuring the squad, depending on what the new manager decides to do with Pogba and Martial, the manager would only need to sort out our central defence and add a player in attack to see good performances, which is far more than Mourinho had when he came in.

 

[Todd]

It must pain SAF to watch this club now

 

[Verminator]

Maybe Fergie knew something about Moyes, the fans or board didn't give him much support, two managers later, countless millions of pounds spent and no sign of any improvement.

I hope you didn't garner from my post, that I think Moyes is anything other than an incompetent buffoon.
Just the uncertainty was less depressing.

 

[Dolf]

I wonder if top players still want to come to us after this season...

 

[Imran Mamdani]

How we're still top half of the table I've no idea. Predictably terrible, and it'll continue being that way till Jose is binned.

just wait until all the weekend games are over...

 

[tjb]

If that was the case, why did he not buy that defensive stalwart instead of either of those two?

Honestly this one of the main issues I have with Mourinho's tenure. Since LVG it was clear that UTD needed a defender with experience that could handle premier league defending, this means dealing with crosses, being strong enough to handle long ball situations, and in the modern day era, being able to play out from the back. Instead we signed two defenders, both of whom are horrible in the air, one who seems scared of premier league defending ( Lindelof) and another who is clearly inexperienced( too rash) and isn't the greatest passer from the back ( who is still feel is good). Instead of going for one, who signed two relatively average ones.

Then to the midfield, I expected Jose to again be pragmatic with his signing in this position, get players to come in with a specific role and action, at good prices. Instead he signed Pogba for a world record 90m. At the time, he could have used that money to sign a less expensive midfielder who could play that role, but instead he took the risk and signed Pogba, taking advantage of the clubs willingness to spend. Pogba was always like this, even at Juventus, the difference being that at Juventus he already had other talented attacking and defensive players around him which allowed him take up a freer role....At Utd, he came in as a star man in midfield expected to make things happen from deep, and this has clearly failed. Under Mourinho, despite the fact that utd haven't had a good winger since Nani, we have not signed a single winger at the club, which has forced us to be narrow and relatively slow in attack, as we do not have the players with technical intricacies in movement and short passing to play a narrow game in attack. He also wasted money on Mhikitaryan who he should have scouted more thoroughly. Lukaku was necessary and he is blameless for the cost, as the market for a striker was high at the time, and the cost of a striker was 60m upwards. In short, he was given money to spend, but did not spend it as well as he should have. Utd do have talented players to work with, but not as many as we could have had.

 

[KingMinger22]

We have been shit since 2013.

The underinvestment in the team between 2009-14 was catastrophic.

£500m wouldn’t get us what we need now. That’s two star players.

 

[clarkydaz]

I wonder if top players still want to come to us after this season...

you could always pay obscene wages nobody else would match. What could go wrong?