39
Fantastic. Ball winning was excellent, as well as driving forward after winning it. Kante does that and the commentators won’t stop talking about it for half a season. Granted he’s yet to do that in big games for us.
His lack of passing (forward through the lines) ability really does hurt us, but it’s so rare to find a player who can do everything. There was lots of stories of Carrick and McKenna trying to work on him as a 6, I’m not sure it’s something that’s easily learnt at 24, but even if he can increase that skill a little bit he’s going to be a very useful player.
It's going to be interesting if we manage to get one or two players who are upgrades on him and Fred.
He has some issues with dealing with bobbling passes, trying to get his feet right when the press is coming, can sometimes be dispossessed. One of the drawbacks of being such a big guy in midfield, those initial trigger movements can be a little slower(One of the reasons why Pogba is such a unique if frustrating talent is just how deft he is at the same size) The other side of that is when he does get it under control and a bit of momentum it is very hard to stop.
His passing can be very good at times, he switches the play from left to right quite well, a developing skill, not as good going the other direction. He needs to work on the disguise and quicker release of the pass, sometimes he overthinks it, allowing space to close. Key is to be braver in showing for the ball deeper, he could definitely work harder in dropping to receive and showing earlier.
Pretty sure it was more than oneIt was 1 run.
Yeah I agree. The passing he struggles with is when he picks up the ball from deep and needs to play straight through the middle, Carrick was a master at it in his later years. I’m not really sure he can ever really improve that to a high level, but if we can find a proper structure in the team, it will become far more natural to subconsciously know where players are positioned.
I think it lies with firstly him not getting the ball enough (Fred and Bruno) and also that despite him being the no.6, we got cut through way too easily. I don't think he made any errors in particular but his defensive positioning made us easier to play through. I thought he used the ball okay in the first half when he had it though.Don’t understand all the first half criticism. I thought he was pretty solid throughout and grew as the game went on.
Broke the lines with his ball carrying several times and won the ball back often.
Man of the match for me.
We should already have those players. However, the powers that be at this club are just not up to it.
Guess we cross our fingers and hope until May since the suits have decided they only want club targets. F-k me if I think they're going to spend the £100m its going to take to get Rice or Bellingham. Dunno why they don't just listen to Ralf and go for some players he recommends.
Most of their attacks seemed to bypass the midfield, though. Not sure what he’s supposed to do with balls hit over the top into channels.I think it lies with firstly him not getting the ball enough (Fred and Bruno) and also that despite him being the no.6, we got cut through way too easily. I don't think he made any errors in particular but his defensive positioning made us easier to play through. I thought he used the ball okay in the first half when he had it though.
he's lost positionally and dynamically off the ball I gave him some praise for some of his surging runs forward but most of the time he's bypassed like nothing and offers himself zero times and he should definitely help to build that protection playing without the ball closing spaces and winning the ball putting us on front foot and than a crucial passing option in the build up. What he's good at is when the game gets scrappy and quick and the ball gets to his area where he can win some 50/50 and take the ball forward, not thinking about anything much. Otherwise when teams are organized well and press the shit out of us, they pass it with such ease around him.32 passes in 90 minutes from a midfielder is not good enough when the team has 60% of the ball. As someone said, hard to see some standout quality that McTominay brings so you start him regularly. As a squad option, yes.
If you expect Pogba to play the way Scott did today then you’ll be forever disappointed. It’s just not his game.Pogba who? Scott was everything Pogba should be in a United Shirt
We got cut through because we kept giving the ball away. Case in point Dalot for their key chance. That’s not on Mctominay - he was one of the few first half seemingly aware he wasn’t playing for Brentford!I think it lies with firstly him not getting the ball enough (Fred and Bruno) and also that despite him being the no.6, we got cut through way too easily. I don't think he made any errors in particular but his defensive positioning made us easier to play through. I thought he used the ball okay in the first half when he had it though.
I don't agree about the treatment part. You play good, you get praised. You play bad for longer periods, you'll get criticised. It's Manchester United, huge club that has spent hundreds of millions over last decade and never came close to winning anything significant. Fans have every right to be mad imo. They always give their support to the players at Old Trafford, even when there are boos it's mostly directed towards the manager or club owners. So only exaggeration fans maybe make is on social media, insulting some of the players there.Been by far the best player under Ralf. Needs to have a licence to push on and he can take his game to another level.
The treatment he’s received from some of our fans is nothing short of disgraceful.
It was 1 run.
