Preseason observations

Champ said:
We had more possession than Madrid,

equal amount of shots on target, equal amount of attempts also.
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In the first half, with our supposedly best line up, we were bad in possession. Just struggled to bring the ball forward vs a Real Madrid team who isn't famous for their pressing. Off the ball we were slow and they dealt with our pressing comfortably .

Let's just say I'm slightly worried for when the real football starts.
 
My observation from pre season (please let me be wrong), Mason Mount wasn't worth chasing after.
 
We've looked better recycling the ball in deeper areas. Even before Onana played tonight, I thought that was evident.

It looked the best tonight with a much better GK. Our problems have been more-so in the final 3rd for some games. Sloppy final passes/poor finishing/poor decision making. And I think our defending in transitions vs Real was pretty poor at times, but they're a very good side in transition too tbf.

But I do think there's been positive signs in our ball progression. It looks much better.
 
- Martinez has gotten over his injury
- Varane will be even better with a ball-playing keeper
- Mount's primary use may be to get the best out of those around him
- AWB>Dalot - no longer a debate
- Antony is still going to be a work in progress next season
- It is insane how badly we need a striker - and Hojlund alone is unlikely to be enough to take us to the next level
- Mainoo is God
 
My main observastion, which is hardly a unique or surprising one, is that I'd feel so much more comfortable about this team this season if we had secured the Kane/Osimhen calibre CF we had hoped for.
 
- Mainoo has been the best midfielder in preseason. Make what you wish from it, but he looks like he's the "glue" between defence and midfield, he is also the only one who seems to match opposition midfielders physicality. He might as well vanish once the season starts as we know ETH doesn't fancy diverging from his favourite midfield setup.
- We don't seem anywhere near to solving striker situation.
- We are working on getting the fullbacks inside to support DM.
- Onana and Martinez will be key in build up, the latter will take playmaker role.
- Mount has been playing higher than expected, he's not a direct Eriksen replacement at all.
- we seem to be more of a vertical team than ever before, certainly don't expect us to keep possession more than last season (based on the very limited sample obviously).
EDIT: we also seem to stumble upon our chances but it's early days as we are not used to playing without Bruno in #10.
 
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Bruno on the right wing doesn't work I don't think we've won a single match where he started and finished on the right wing, maybe i'm wrong but it can't be many, it just unbalances us, i don't know how ETH doesn't see this.

We need a combative, physical midfielder who's good with the ball

A Striker should have been the first signing through the door
 
FreakyJim said:
In the first half, with our supposedly best line up, we were bad in possession. Just struggled to bring the ball forward vs a Real Madrid team who isn't famous for their pressing. Off the ball we were slow and they dealt with our pressing comfortably .

Let's just say I'm slightly worried for when the real football starts.
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Your concerns are unfounded here because we will not face teams of that quality very often in the league. Madrid are one of the best 3 or 4 sides in Europe and we hardly got taken apart by them and actually played very well in periods of the game. As is often the case, the poor finishing cost us a result.
 
Borys said:
- Mainoo has been the best midfielder in preseason. Make what you wish from it, but he looks like he's the "glue" between defence and midfield, he is also the only one who seems to match opposition midfielders physicality. He might as well vanish once the season starts as we know ETH doesn't fancy diverging from his favourite midfield setup.
- We don't seem anywhere near to solving striker situation.
- We are working on getting the fullbacks inside to support DM.
- Onana and Martinez will be key in build up, the latter will take playmaker role.
- Mount has been playing higher than expected, he's not a direct Eriksen replacement at all.
- we seem to be more of a vertical team than ever before, certainly don't expect us to keep possession more than last season (based on the very limited sample obviously).
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Kept more possession than Real tonight and probably had more than Arsenal in the 1st half too(they kept their starting XI most of the 2nd half so they had more for the game).

I'd be very disappointed if we had to resort to 30% of the ball vs City at OT to beat them.
 
I just think we really need to strengthen at the midfield and that’s why Amrabat comes in. Casemiro alone as a holding midfielder won’t make it as he will miss a few games from red cards and the task will be too big for a whole long season.
 
The transition is way too slow especially in the first half. When you looked how easily RM move from defence to attack finding players at speed, then we had players with the ball around the half way line passing backwards. Shaw did it a lot. Is it because our players are static and easily marked. Second half after numerous changes we seemed to move it upfield better, but with no attacking edge.
Rashford might as well not played as he was non existant as a striker. Bruno on the right is a waste of a talent as well. Sancho is ineffective against better opposition up front as well. We have no one presently to find the back of the net consistently
Its only pre season and with Hojlund coming in and Amrabat, who is a good passer, we may be a lot better, but when TH last week said we need to be the best in transition, well he has his work cut out there.
 
Observations? That results in pre seasons friendlies are worthless and should not be judged. Like it was when we thrashed European champions pre season Madrid and didn’t even qualify for the CL.
 
giggs-beckham said:
I meant do we look better in possession as in more coached. Hard to tell pre season, a near 50-50 with RM doesn't tell much
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We should have went for a possession manager after LVG or atleast after Jose. In the 1st half how Madrid moved the ball and how we did was a night and day difference. Our work with the ball is awful. EtH has so much work to do.
 
If we don't get a striker we won't finish top 4. We can't stretch sides.
 
Don Juan Matus said:
We had 53% possession vs Real Madrid's 47%
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We have been down one goal since 6th minute. 53 vs 47 means it's an even game. Teams that tend to dominate games get into 58% and above. We are definitely not a possession based team, I also don't think we aspire to be one to be honest.
giggs-beckham said:
Any signs well be better in possession?
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This can only be answered after we play a serious game in a setup that might resemble something we might use when the league starts. So far I have not seen any evidence of us being better in possession than last season, quite the opposite to be honest. Our game so far relied on Mainoo doing something, otherwise the games were quite end to end.
 
Lights Out said:
If we spank Real Madrid 4-0 in pre-season then everyone at the club thinks we have enough with the current squad to be title contenders.

A little wake-up call like this in a meaningless friendly is probably a good thing.
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You’d think. There are nutters in our fanbase who think the current squad should be challenging for the title. God help them.
 
pogbasformerbarber said:
I’m sure I’m in the minority but I am really curious to see if Sancho might work as a striker. I’ve felt this for a season and a half now…I hope we stick with it a bit.

IMHO it’s always seemed like his best attribute has been being clinical in front of the net. It’s been him getting there that’s been the problem…
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He’s too passive and weak. Maybe if we were prime Barca plying tiki taka it would work but we need a 9. No more shoe horning players.
 
AWB successfully transformed himself to modern day Maicon.

Comparing this version to the version when he first joined, I think he has evolved so much. Rightfully our first choice RB.
 
Unrelated to my other post about him being a 9…is it me or does Sancho seem noticeably faster/slimmer this summer?
 
I watched the extended highlights and, whilst they don't tell the full story of course, it (Real Madrid) seemed like a fairly even game in which they were simply more clinical.

We need to be better at finishing our chances but I don't think this game is any reason to be unduly concerned.
 
Bruno isn’t a right winger.

rashford isn’t a striker

Like last season, we lack goals. It will be our downfall. We NEED a world class goal scorer. Nothing else will be enough.

we need a modric type player for this midfield.

awb has improved massively.

onana and his passing will be a asset.

Casemiro takes ages to get going.

martinez is amazing.
 
Rams said:
Observations? That results in pre seasons friendlies are worthless and should not be judged. Like it was when we thrashed European champions pre season Madrid and didn’t even qualify for the CL.
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In my opinion preseason is just to confirm things I already know. The only ones that their performances are worth analysing in detail during preseason is new signings and young players.

Players uncharacteristically playing extrmely well or bad mean nothing to me really if they are already established players in the team.

I have noticed we seem to be more confident and in control in possession which is good but as was the case last season we have key players who are sloppy in Casemiro and Bruno so this limits how good we are at keeping the ball.
 
It would have been nice to have, at least, one forward option available that would help us practice our main plan when we have the ball in the attacking third. It's a ridiculous predicament for a club of our stature to be in, really... This might benefit us in some ways in the future, with the manager getting a taste of how good or bad other combinations up front can look like on the pitch, but it's not an ideal situation. Which, i think, is what ETH was alluding to when he said that the training could be better the other day.
 
DRJosh said:
Wish we had Bellingham
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Not a Mount hater but i would rather have signed Belligham than Mount. Although its for a reason Real Madrid wanted Bellingham and not Mount... or why Bellingham was way more expensive. Maybe we can get him when Real Madrid is done with him in 10+ years or so?
 
We have improved but still have the problems -
1) Play out from the back - Much better with Onana. But there is still no midfielder linking up with the back 4. The De Jong player. Arambat looks like he could do this if we get him.
2) Midfield - Still missing a defensive 6/8. Someone who can hold the midfield with Casemiro in big games and also stand in for him when he's out. Mainoo/Arambat can play alongside him but not play in his place as a single pivot.
3) Attack - its sht. Mount will help. Hojlund will help. But its nowhere near enough. We need a 2 strikers - Hojlund + 1. Then we need one of the Right wingers to step up. We need 10/15 goals and the same for assists. Rashford and Antony will get 10 assists at the very max. We need double that. Maybe Mount + Bruno will be enough with Eriksen to supply. But playing Bruno on the right is not the answer. It needs to stop.
 
United will pay the cost for not reinforcing the wide areas this season. The entire attack offered nothing last season with the exception of one player.

This season it's as if the club is banking on Rashford to bring goals because if he doesn't this team will be in trouble. It's got nothing to do with pre season but observing the biggest weakness the previous campaign. Even if United signed Kane it doesn't equate to a one size fits all category. The wide players will continue to be a concern.

What's odd is that ETH from his quotes in a previous interview has identified this issue but seemingly the targets haven't rectified it. In modern football more goals come from inside forwards as opposed to the midfield (exception of city) so the idea that Mount comes here and scores 15 extra goals for the team is something I can't see unless there's some tactical masterclass involved. Even with Hojlund coming I'd rate the summer purchases on the showing of last season a 5/10.
 
Redstain said:
United will pay the cost for not reinforcing the wide areas this season. The entire attack offered nothing last season with the exception of one player.

This season it's as if the club is banking on Rashford to bring goals because if he doesn't this team will be in trouble. It's got nothing to do with pre season but observing the biggest weakness the previous campaign. Even if United signed Kane it doesn't equate to a one size fits all category. The wide players will continue to be a concern.

What's odd is that ETH from his quotes in a previous interview has identified this issue but seemingly the targets haven't rectified it. In modern football more goals come from inside forwards as opposed to the midfield (exception of city) so the idea that Mount comes here and scores 15 extra goals for the team is something I can't see unless there's some tactical masterclass involved. Even with Hojlund coming I'd rate the summer purchases on the showing of last season a 5/10.
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On the bolded part - I share the same concern. He did make a comment last season that we play too much end-to-end tennis games instead of having a bit more control, and yet he signs Mount what means we're basically becoming even more vertical team. Nothing against Mount, he's a decent player, but this is a strange move. On the other hand, Onana might be transformative if this works and pushes our defense higher up, although that is a rationalization and might not be as effective as we think, because there's still a big gap between back 4+ Casemiro and the rest of the team.
 
We didn't turn into all conquering 100 point League champions after beating Liverpool well in preseason last season, so my observation is that maybe it doesn't really tell us that much when it comes to competitive games. We were the best team in the World playing unreal football under LVG and we all know how the style of play turned out after that.
 
The press is still very disjointed. I do think part of that is because we've been playing with the same attacking unit as last season plus mount. I'll judge the press when we have rashy on the left and a new striker. At the moment, same as last year, we don't fully commit to the press as a unit.

Passing out from defence is better but I think its clear the defenders need to get comfortable playing it back to Onana in tight situations.

Think we definitely need Amrabat and hopefully Mainoo to step up in the midfield to give us a different dynamic in there.
 
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