Arsenal where set up extremely defensive too
Ruben Amorim - Manchester United Head Coach
- Thread starter sewey89
- Start date
Arsenal where set up extremely defensive too
I don't think we "tried something different", I just thought the structure looked far better and more organized both in and out of possession. We simply don't have anyone that was ever going to cause concern for Arsenal at the back, and once they realized that and committed more men forward they played for corners and won.
But the structure actually looks sustainable and something to build off of, unlike the majority of Ten Hag's games where it looked like we'd just win or lose on a coin flip and there weren't any obvious signs of sustainability in how we might get consistent perforamances. We'd press high, create a key turnover or two, spoon a chance, and then tire out and leave a single midfielder to cover 60 yards of ground while teams cut through us. Then we'd get the ball back after a save, and look to immediately play another fast outlet ball to a winger staying high and wide and do it all over again. It was like watching a shite basketball game where we'd just accept we were either going to win or lose based off of chance.
So many times in the first half especially we had the ball in decent areas, with plenty forward to support the attack... and we just ended up going back to the centre halves or even keeper.
I get that we're moving away from the "move to ball forwards as quickly as possible" idea under the last three managers, but hopefully we start to see some kind of happy medium develop.
I’m not really sure how creative we can be when we struggle to play through the thirds like we do. If we have Bruno in the pivot then we get overran, if we have Ugarte and Casemiro we’ve got no real hope of progressing the ball.
We’re basically giving the ball to Amad and hoping he can produce something from nothing.
We’re basically giving the ball to Amad and hoping he can produce something from nothing.
Probably was also one of those that was Ten Hag out before he won the FA Cup, then was Ten Hag in.
Bingo. Ultimately you need LCB's and RCB's that can really play through the lines as well as WB's and CM's that can carry it through the spaces left in the middle. We hardly have either, so a lot of our progressive play is laborious, without adding in the fact that our forward line today generally sucks technically under pressure.
Seems to have been a huge ten Hag fan all the way from a brief look at his posts. I expect that some of them will be hoping that Amorim fails badly now as that will make their hero look better.
Oh yes we definitely should have hired the interim who does not have anywhere near as much experience because he did well over 4 games. That worked great with Solskjær. What we need is more short term thinking at this club.
We must have watched a different game because if you didn't see the improvement in the way we were shaped, composed and played out from the back I don't know what to say. Yes it was a dull performance without much attacking edge and we were bad at defending set pieces but it was way less chaotic than we've seen for ages and we kept the ball and controlled parts of the game a lot better than we're used to. Fix the attacking issues and start being threatening up front and we've got a real foundation to go forward. It always sucks losing a game but I'm excited for the new era.
Thats there tactic under Arteta, there was really no reason for us to be setup so defensively instead of setting up to attack the opposition
Pullis would be proud on a windy and rainy Wednesday night in North London
There needs to be an acceptance that we are a mid-table PL team and will remain one for a couple more years unless we somehow get 6 new players in over the summer. We are too reliant on Martinez to progress the ball from the back, we have almost no midfield and we have a timid, technically poor attack.
Onana
De Ligt
Lissandro
Yoro
Mazraoui
Amad
Kobbie
Ugarte
Is the only players he can rely on the others are all replacable.
De Ligt
Lissandro
Yoro
Mazraoui
Amad
Kobbie
Ugarte
Is the only players he can rely on the others are all replacable.
Too many seem to think problems are either "Player or manager" when it's been quite clear that it was both in our case. Just because Ten Hag was shite doesn't mean the players suddenly gain extra pace and more technical ability and football IQ.
The good news is it seems INEOS's first summer was solid enough in charge. MdL + Maz package deal for 60 was good, Ugarte looks a good signing, and Yoro is a potential star with the perfect profile for this system. Zirkzee looks like the only miss, but that also seemed a calculated risk based on him having a decently priced release clause and a really interesting package of technical ability and frame with the pedigree of being a former wonderboy.
He is trolling. Took me a couple of posts to realize. Ignore posts that are thick as pigshit.
It's moments like these you realise why someone invented condoms.
Bring back Erik Ten Hag- this guy is costing me to many points in the squad selection game.
I couldn't watch the second half because of work but Amorim did well with what we had in the first. Martinez and Mainoo were missed and would have made a difference in our attacking play with their ability to pass through the lines and keep the ball under pressure. We actually had more possession than Arsenal - when was the last time that happened away at the Emirates?
Amorim has been in the job for only three weeks, but this will be a moment of learning for him in how the PL works. Top teams have more than one way to beat you. All Stoke jibes aside, Arsenal saw the weakness and exploited it. Amorim will learn all the ways his team has to be prepared to keep winning in this league.
Amorim has been in the job for only three weeks, but this will be a moment of learning for him in how the PL works. Top teams have more than one way to beat you. All Stoke jibes aside, Arsenal saw the weakness and exploited it. Amorim will learn all the ways his team has to be prepared to keep winning in this league.
To be fair I'm only talking about this game in isolation. Of course, I can see the progressive ideas and things Amorim is trying to do. His accurate assessments and tweaks have been vincating to hear especially since he's only been here for only a few weeks.
However, tonight's game reminded me a lot of ETH's first season. Mid-block, fairly controlled tempo, where the Martinez, Casemiro and Eriksen triangle helped us dictate games (in moments) but our individual quality would shine through against opponents. However, against Arsenal, theirs shined brighter than ours just like tonight. To be fair, we were all hoping ETH would build on that but then he just went mental last season. Anyways, don't want to go off topic. I guess the plus is that we didn't have the trio mentioned tonight and still managed to somehow have some control with a fairly clear progressive structure. Progress!
The first half didnt appear this way. It was more of no attacking at any cost. I mean we were literally passing it back even when were in good positions. Second half we tried to push more but that first half was negative as feck.
Just watched the post match interview, I agree with everything he said.
We have got the right manager this time, I am sure of this. He is going to change so many things gradually. I'm excited.
We have got the right manager this time, I am sure of this. He is going to change so many things gradually. I'm excited.
Solid rage bait 8/10
He also said, that part is difficult to improve without a lot of training. But the tweet conveniently left that out. So it isn't about the players pulling a finger out, it's more about training how to attack.
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I agree. The problem is the short term nature of modern football. I'm more convinced from the past few weeks than previous managers in years. Just let's stay grounded and not proclaim him as the messiah - it might take a while.
What is this post.
Not a United fan. Oppo with a lot of time on his hands.
Which is music to my ears because we have not had a coach since LvG who has bothered with final-third attacking training (and even he was eccentric at it as when he told Rooney to not shoot with his first touch). Our forwards have always made it up as they go along because none of Mourinho, Ole, or ETH (shockingly enough) seemed to want to address it. I often think how much better Rashford would have been under SAF, because SAF often berated young forwards from the touchline for not choosing the correct option in the attacking third (when to shoot, when to pass, and what channels to run). I believe Amorim will insist on developing this aspect in the weeks and months ahead and he will get it right as much as he has already got the shape and the pressing right.
That's not what I said though is it? We played like we had no ambition to attack in the first half. That's my problem with the performance. We got into plenty of good situations on the wings and rather than make an attack out of it we just passed back to our defenders all the time. Bruno, Mount, Malacia, Garnacho, Dalot, everyone was doing it.
Yeah me too. I really do have faith in Amorim. But he hasn't had a preseason, so he is going to have to train them to attack litlle by little in between games. If we had signed him after the FA cup final we would be such different team right now.
Anyway like I said, I have faith, he will transform this team.
I’m actually surprised how well we did today for just his 4th game in charge with very little training sessions. That first half was great to see, how the defense and midfield operated, seeing his ideas already filtering through certain areas of the pitch. The closing down was good too, a huge difference to recent seasons. We were up against a top 3 side, who have been around the top of the table for 3 seasons now, and we nullified their best players, away from home, and we got beat by corners. I half expect Arsenal to eventually start hoisting players into the air, Rugby style, to score more corners. But apart from that, I liked what I saw today. We just need to sort that attack phase out.
Jesus Christ, what a car crash of a post.
I understand being pragmatic but we could have a little ambition to attack. That was my only problem with it. It was a free hit kind of game as we were expected to lose anyways so he could have been a bit more adventurous but that kind of negativity in the first half just disappointed me. Gave way too much respect to Arsenal in my opinion.
Troll.
You said that it was an instructional thing from the coaching staff, whereas I'm saying we simply don't have the quality in the final third with that starting XI to really threaten teams/get into dangerous positions/be clever on the ball. Amorim even said our attacking play wasn't good and not brave enough, but the players that were out there simply were never going to be able to do so. Do we really think Garnacho is going to dance between the lines and thread balls into Hojlund? Is Hojlund going to be able to hold up the ball under pressure from Saliba and find runs beyond him? Is Malacia going to play passes into the runners in the half spaces for crossing opportunities?
I just fundamentally disagree that it was a blatant approach to not attack Arsenal and just keep the ball away. I think Amorim hammers on the team to stop treating the ball like a bomb and look to probe for openings in a smart way, but many of these players aren't clever enough to pull it off if it's not a direct straightforward idea, so instead they chose to play it safer and keep possession (which isn't a bad thing) but it ultimately amounted to nothing because no one could actually threaten Arsenal in the final third (which is bad).
It all comes down really to us needing a major upgrade in quality in the final third personnel wise.
Christ, some of the posts on here.....get a grip ffs. He doens't stand a chance with some of you lot.
1) its arsenal away
2) we usually don't get toe to toe with title contenders. They needed set pieces to break thru.
3) its his 3rd game which he started midseason. We have players out, prima donnas and rashfords.
4) we been crap and low on confidence for months prior. Under coached or over coached for years.
5) never once during the game i worried this going to be 5-0 humiliation. That's a major progress since ETH.
If you dont see the progress or the positives i dont know what to tell you. It's not cowardly, it's how you approach a top 2 side at home being a clear underdog. Even SAF does that at time. FFS
Why stop there? Let's go further and bring back Van Gaal or even Moyes!
Why? For beating Leicester twice and PAOK.
We all knew this game was coming too soon. But first half was really encouraging, we were missing a bit of quality in attacking third, but overall it was a good performance. Second half was not so good, but this is mainly due to Stoke's corners. It think we could be better prepared for this, so this is a black point for coaching staff from mine side.
He needs to be targeting the Wirtz and Guler of this world for that double 10 roles. Players of that profile, the kick and run merchants of our squad cannot bring out the joy of this setup.