We’ve been the opposite of clinical for so long now that it has to be a mentality thing. Other teams will have 2 shots on our goal and somehow end up with 3 goals. Yet we miss bucketloads of chances before we even score, if at all.
What are we good at?
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I think they definitely are. In attacking and midfield positions they’re far better stocked than us (and that was before they signed Rice!)
We probably shade it defensively, but only when everyone is fit and available (which isn’t often)
War! Huh!
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Assuming all are fit as a sum of its parts:
De Gea - Good shot stopper
Dalot - Ok AWB - Arguably best 1v1 in the league
Varane - Great sweeping CB not many will beat him in duels.
Martinez - Elite ball playing CB
Shaw - Arguably one of the best LBs in the league
Casemiro - World class at what he does
Eriksen - Very capable passer just lacks the physicality
Bruno - World class creator but operating without a target striker
Antony - Excellent at ball retention and progression but still needs to work on end product works hard to press too
Martial - When fit a great link man and decent finisher
Rashford - World class season from him.
So that as a side is actually very good. All pretty much international level players with good experience too.
Manchester United have got much better at the first line press this season too with the addition of Mount and the issue we have here is that if that press is bypassed our front and back lines don’t compress quick enough to leave little space between the lines.
Once we are in our shape though we concede very few chances so for me the issues we are having are about adjusting to this newer front press style.
De Gea - Good shot stopper
Dalot - Ok AWB - Arguably best 1v1 in the league
Varane - Great sweeping CB not many will beat him in duels.
Martinez - Elite ball playing CB
Shaw - Arguably one of the best LBs in the league
Casemiro - World class at what he does
Eriksen - Very capable passer just lacks the physicality
Bruno - World class creator but operating without a target striker
Antony - Excellent at ball retention and progression but still needs to work on end product works hard to press too
Martial - When fit a great link man and decent finisher
Rashford - World class season from him.
So that as a side is actually very good. All pretty much international level players with good experience too.
Manchester United have got much better at the first line press this season too with the addition of Mount and the issue we have here is that if that press is bypassed our front and back lines don’t compress quick enough to leave little space between the lines.
Once we are in our shape though we concede very few chances so for me the issues we are having are about adjusting to this newer front press style.
I think Arsenal and City obviously have better players, better profiles and fit a style better, and that’s how/why they finished above us.
After that, I really struggle to name more than 6 genuinely top players who match our very best from Newcastle, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Spurs — especially if we’re going off of last season.
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Now you look at this season and we’ve only really changed in the starting XI:
De Gea -> Onana Much better ball playing and dealing with high line should over a full season give us a massive boost in first phase of play.
Eriksen -> Mount better pressing better ball carrying/dribbling and has shown levels capable of scoring and creating well. A very clever player
Martial -> Højlund much more physically imposing but remains to be seen exactly how his role will work. Gives Bruno something to aim towards in behind a lot more and offers more pace and running in behind that we don’t get unless it’s Rashford.
So in theory once all is settled we’ve made improvements.
De Gea -> Onana Much better ball playing and dealing with high line should over a full season give us a massive boost in first phase of play.
Eriksen -> Mount better pressing better ball carrying/dribbling and has shown levels capable of scoring and creating well. A very clever player
Martial -> Højlund much more physically imposing but remains to be seen exactly how his role will work. Gives Bruno something to aim towards in behind a lot more and offers more pace and running in behind that we don’t get unless it’s Rashford.
So in theory once all is settled we’ve made improvements.
We are great at transitioning. We seem to create a LOT more chances when we have less possession. See: Spurs away the other week where we had less of the ball but managed 22 shots on their goal.
We were (are?) terrible at defending crosses both this and last season. See: Liverpool, City pumping the ball into our box where we just couldn't deal with any of it. De Gea, Martinez, Wan Bissaka and Shaw are all poor in the air. It causes big problems for us over the course of a season. Onana doesn't seem to be much of an upgrade on that.
We go up a level at Old Trafford. It's been noticeably louder lately.
We have a world class chance creator in Bruno. It's undersold because our fans mostly hate our players, but Bruno created more chances than de Bruyne last season overall and he's ALREADY top of the chances created stats for this season so far https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_created
^ filter that above link by any season. Bruno is absolutely incredible at what he does.
Eriksen is a lot better than I realised he was, and is a far better player than Mason Mount right now. We NEED Mount to step up to the level he showed two years ago and then we're going to be a great side. We need Hojlund to convert the chances Bruno is making. And then we'll be better than a top four contender.
We were (are?) terrible at defending crosses both this and last season. See: Liverpool, City pumping the ball into our box where we just couldn't deal with any of it. De Gea, Martinez, Wan Bissaka and Shaw are all poor in the air. It causes big problems for us over the course of a season. Onana doesn't seem to be much of an upgrade on that.
We go up a level at Old Trafford. It's been noticeably louder lately.
We have a world class chance creator in Bruno. It's undersold because our fans mostly hate our players, but Bruno created more chances than de Bruyne last season overall and he's ALREADY top of the chances created stats for this season so far https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/big_chance_created
^ filter that above link by any season. Bruno is absolutely incredible at what he does.
Eriksen is a lot better than I realised he was, and is a far better player than Mason Mount right now. We NEED Mount to step up to the level he showed two years ago and then we're going to be a great side. We need Hojlund to convert the chances Bruno is making. And then we'll be better than a top four contender.
We are very good at creating good openings and getting in good positions. This sometimes leads to creating tons of chances but because of our lack of a striker, it doesn't always. Lack of striker also leads to shite finishing, consistently below our xg, not scoring at opportune times where otherwise you can break the spirit of the opposition if you finish the game. We have very aggressive players on and off the ball in midfield so this leads to a lack of composure and consistency because we don't have the person who can calm the game down and nobody understands tempo.
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So my argument would be:
GK - Ederson and Alisson better ball playing than Onana but arguably best available for us at the time.
RCB - Not many better than Varane a multiple CL winning CB
LCB - Not many better left footed CBs
LB - Not many better LBs
CDM - Arguably the best?
CM - Questionable how Mount will fit in still
AM - Bruno is a world class creator very few are better
RW - At the time of purchase there was no clearly better and available left footed RW player who would join us
ST - Very much jury is out here Højlund has potential and the right physical profile.
LW - Last season arguably the best LW/LF in the league
So really when you break it down while adjusting to this change of style we have a very good first XI.
GK - Ederson and Alisson better ball playing than Onana but arguably best available for us at the time.
RCB - Not many better than Varane a multiple CL winning CB
LCB - Not many better left footed CBs
LB - Not many better LBs
CDM - Arguably the best?
CM - Questionable how Mount will fit in still
AM - Bruno is a world class creator very few are better
RW - At the time of purchase there was no clearly better and available left footed RW player who would join us
ST - Very much jury is out here Højlund has potential and the right physical profile.
LW - Last season arguably the best LW/LF in the league
So really when you break it down while adjusting to this change of style we have a very good first XI.
They may have said that, but the analogy stops there. Gerrard was greedy, Bruno is by far and away our most creative player, he creates for others
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Same here, he's the main attraction in this team for me.
There was another thread on here that said that our best players were part of a wider problem which i thought was an interesting idea and could go some way to explain what we're really good at: Transitions and the counter attack. These were still absolutely lethal at times last season (Liverpool and Arsenal at home for example) and there's still that imprint from Ole and even Jose to some extent. I can't think of many players that cut through a team more quickly and ruthlessly than Bruno and Rashford.
Defence hasn't been great this season but last year we had a fair few clean sheets IIRC and the bad GA was caused mostly by the hammerings by Liverpool, Brentford and City (17 goals in three games right there).
Defence hasn't been great this season but last year we had a fair few clean sheets IIRC and the bad GA was caused mostly by the hammerings by Liverpool, Brentford and City (17 goals in three games right there).
I will never refute that he's a brilliant creator, a master of the art. I don't think anyone with their brains inside their heads will do that. Just like, football rivalries aside, no one will deny that Gerrard was a great footballer with massive talent. The point of the analogy was that, often times, these talismanic footballers, need (or, in the case of Gerrard, demand) everything to revolve around them. Bruno is not greedy in the sense that, he's doing his absolute best to accommodate the best qualities of another footballer who likes to operate (and be utilized) in a certain way. But in order to do that, he often goes off script (tactical instructions) and he often makes decisions that make little sense. It's the part of his game that, in turn, needs to be accommodated by his teammates and managers. I take no issue with people such as yourself who enjoy the unpredictability and the sense of wondrous he brings to the table. But i always keep in mind that, just sometimes, it's better to have players who are malleable and fit the mould than mavericks. But yeah, in the spirit of the thread, he's definitely one of the bright stars of this, quite frustrating at times, side.
We’ve been very good at beating the bottom half teams home and away.
The crowd gives us a massive lift against the better teams at home.
We’re terrible away from home against the top half.
The crowd gives us a massive lift against the better teams at home.
We’re terrible away from home against the top half.
The short answer is we are very good at creating half chances when playing badly.
The long answer is we have some really good players in some aspects of the game, but we don't have many all-round players on the highest level. Actually most all-round players we have in defensive line.
Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Casemiro can play pretty much every system, while Wan Bissaka seems like the most improved player under Ten Hag.
Then it gets tricky, because we have players that only seem effective at one aspect of the game, but totally lost in other aspects.
Eriksen only works when the opponent sits back (see Forest game). He's bottom 10% in defensive actions, so he's a problem if we are facing any semi-decent team that actually wants to attack us. Correctly identified by ETH as an issue that needs to be addressed if we want to do better away from home.
Rashford is perfect for transition but can't play possession game to save his life, and runs into players when facing packed defenses. Doesn't defend at all.
Antony is good against packed defenses (sort of) but can't play counter attacking game. Defends well.
Bruno is high risk high reward player through and through. Runs a lot but can't defend and isn't really a 3rd midfielder, rather an attacker IMO. You can't expect much more from his game.
What is important though is sometimes it all clicks. Casemiro intercepts a ball with a tackle and starts a move, Bruno turns quickly and squeezes a pass to Rashford who will outrun two defenders to score a goal. Then we look really really good. But this is not sustainable, and also the reason why I was hoping we go for more structured approach this season instead of hoping it all falls into place in some moments of the game.
Notice that we as a team look good when our key players are in top form (Casemiro, Rashford, Bruno). This isn't unusual in football, but what is unusual is our football is rather poor outside of those periods, in fact very poor compared to teams we should be challenging.
The long answer is we have some really good players in some aspects of the game, but we don't have many all-round players on the highest level. Actually most all-round players we have in defensive line.
Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Casemiro can play pretty much every system, while Wan Bissaka seems like the most improved player under Ten Hag.
Then it gets tricky, because we have players that only seem effective at one aspect of the game, but totally lost in other aspects.
Eriksen only works when the opponent sits back (see Forest game). He's bottom 10% in defensive actions, so he's a problem if we are facing any semi-decent team that actually wants to attack us. Correctly identified by ETH as an issue that needs to be addressed if we want to do better away from home.
Rashford is perfect for transition but can't play possession game to save his life, and runs into players when facing packed defenses. Doesn't defend at all.
Antony is good against packed defenses (sort of) but can't play counter attacking game. Defends well.
Bruno is high risk high reward player through and through. Runs a lot but can't defend and isn't really a 3rd midfielder, rather an attacker IMO. You can't expect much more from his game.
What is important though is sometimes it all clicks. Casemiro intercepts a ball with a tackle and starts a move, Bruno turns quickly and squeezes a pass to Rashford who will outrun two defenders to score a goal. Then we look really really good. But this is not sustainable, and also the reason why I was hoping we go for more structured approach this season instead of hoping it all falls into place in some moments of the game.
Notice that we as a team look good when our key players are in top form (Casemiro, Rashford, Bruno). This isn't unusual in football, but what is unusual is our football is rather poor outside of those periods, in fact very poor compared to teams we should be challenging.
There is some truth in that, however I’d counter that to an extent it’s out of necessity. If we were better as a team, creating more, scoring more, this wouldn’t be a problem. Bruno to an extent has to go rogue because often there’s feck all else going on that’s going to win a football match.
I think it’s worth pointing as well to the fact that unlike a lot of creative mavericks, he’s an absolute work horse off the ball. Makes loads of runs, presses like an animal. He does that ‘team’ element very well
Yeah, football is easy game. Just buy the bestest 11 players in the league and you'll be the best team.
Also: do you know about a certain Rodri?
Very well said.
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I know it’s not that simple but I’m just highlighting that player by player basis they are objectively in the majority very good or unquestionably elite footballers and so it shouldn’t be a ridiculous surprise to see over a season that quality outperform other sides.If you have elite players they will do elite things that will win you games whether or not they are best suited to X, Y or Z.
I said arguably for Casemiro (based on last season) that doesn’t mean I don’t also consider Rodri absolutely world Class albeit for vastly different styles of play. The way our side is built Casemiro is probably the best holding midfielder we could have bought that season.
I agree with all of it.
If you have elite players they will do elite things that will win you games whether or not they are best suited to X, Y or Z.
I said arguably for Casemiro (based on last season) that doesn’t mean I don’t also consider Rodri absolutely world Class albeit for vastly different styles of play. The way our side is built Casemiro is probably the best holding midfielder we could have bought that season.
It is a tricky situation we are in. We know, we have pretty good players but for a number reason, we aren't performing as well as we think, we should. Teams like Brighton play successful too, maybe not as successful as us but closer to us than they should if squads are compared player by player. I think, we are moving forward though. I for one, would even be happy if ETH continues with his Bruno next to Mount system and doesn't abandon it, just because it fails after a couple of matches. I think, there isn't a way to success that simply skips the painful part of adaptation. It will be frustrating and discouraging. But at some point, we will benefit from it. We simply have to update ManUnited OS... Even if United Vista is working fairly well on some occasions, times go by.
He does often go rogue to save the day and when it pays off, he leaves a sweet aftertaste that fans can savour for days. Plus, his work rate should be setting an example for the rest of the team. I'd argue, though, that necessity is a cruel mistress. Why can't we escape this limbo of dire necessities and cul-de-sacs, in which we always need a hero to bail us out and carry the team on his shoulders? Could it be because as a club, no matter the manager, we nurture these types of players? When you see football as a game of moments, you'll eventually try to build a team that's constantly trying to find its moments. Football is by nature a chaotic game. In this sense, i can fully understand why these players are loved by the fans. They embody the impulses and the predatory instinct that are found at the roots of the game. But the best teams have always been the product of the attempt to tame this chaos. Even United under Ferguson. This means to be more than the sum of your parts. For example (and partially why i brought up Gerrard), for me Rooney, as a player, has always been the anti-Gerrard on the pitch. Someone who opens up options and creates variables for the team, as well as getting good numbers himself, instead of trying to be a one-man team. Again, not a Bruno problem. A post-SAF United era one. I want to make this clear.
Moaning!
This is a great post.
The fact we're Man utd plays a part. We also have some individually very good players.
Most on here agree that Onana, Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Fernandes, Casemiro (??), Rashford (??) Are all good players.
I don't think anybody doubts most of the players work hard on the pitch either. Just always seems to be the players don't connect.
I've said it before but I don't think we have many players with good football intelligence. I know they're different positions but give me somebody like Carrick who does all the simple things extremely well, over a flashy Rashford any day of the week.
Most on here agree that Onana, Shaw, Martinez, Varane, Fernandes, Casemiro (??), Rashford (??) Are all good players.
I don't think anybody doubts most of the players work hard on the pitch either. Just always seems to be the players don't connect.
I've said it before but I don't think we have many players with good football intelligence. I know they're different positions but give me somebody like Carrick who does all the simple things extremely well, over a flashy Rashford any day of the week.
Well Ten Haag strikes me as a pragmatist and despite our shit start I expect him to get a decent run unless it completely unravels, so I reckon your theory may well be put to the test
Last season, which is what this is based on really, saw the capitulation of both Liverpool and Chelsea and also a career high purple patch for Rashford the likes of which haven’t been seen before.
I would suggest that without those 3 outliers all occurring simultaneously, Utd would’ve had a very different season…
This season will be the telling one in terms of ‘what are Utd good at’, because the manager has now had a year with the players and has invested a lot of money into the squad.
At the same time Liverpool and Chelsea are to some degree back so it’s a far more realistic arena, competition-wise.
Utd’s best player is Bruno F, by a large margin. Take this guy out and the team, currently, is at very best a Europa League side.
I would suggest that without those 3 outliers all occurring simultaneously, Utd would’ve had a very different season…
This season will be the telling one in terms of ‘what are Utd good at’, because the manager has now had a year with the players and has invested a lot of money into the squad.
At the same time Liverpool and Chelsea are to some degree back so it’s a far more realistic arena, competition-wise.
Utd’s best player is Bruno F, by a large margin. Take this guy out and the team, currently, is at very best a Europa League side.
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I think we are still picking up the points though and plenty of our most successful periods we weren’t exactly playing champagne football. So if we’re experimenting and adapting and admittedly finding that process challenging but still winning then it’s not really a huge concern.I agree with all of it.
It is a tricky situation we are in. We know, we have pretty good players but for a number reason, we aren't performing as well as we think, we should. Teams like Brighton play successful too, maybe not as successful as us but closer to us than they should if squads are compared player by player. I think, we are moving forward though. I for one, would even be happy if ETH continues with his Bruno next to Mount system and doesn't abandon it, just because it fails after a couple of matches. I think, there isn't a way to success that simply skips the painful part of adaptation. It will be frustrating and discouraging. But at some point, we will benefit from it. We simply have to update ManUnited OS... Even if United Vista is working fairly well on some occasions, times go by.
I’m with you I hope we stick with Bruno and Mount and encourage our CBs and forwards when we lose the ball and the press is beaten to close the space between the lines quicker.
I think you’ve got a decent analogy there with OS. There are good things we’re doing but at time the processes we go through seem overly complex, risky or silly so much more can be done to make it clear to everyone we’re a top performing side and upgrade us.
I disagree. You cannot win multiple CLs without consistent footballing intelligence so Varane and Casemiro are in the clever bracket.
You can play the creative game Bruno does without high levels of understanding of how to pass how runs will develop etc.
You can’t play the build up we do without the intelligence of Martinez and Shaw to be fair.
Eriksen is unquestionably intelligent Mount follows tactical instructions by all accounts excellently too.
Rashford is also clearly an intelligent winger/forward when played LW.
Last season we're good when the opponent let's us play, that is against the bottom half teams. There's a structure to our passing and we generally create chances. We are not so clinical but we do enough to get by. This opponent who let us play that is the bottom half teams and some decent sides but at Old Trafford opponent at Old Trafford.
Away from home against the better sides who are proactive our issues begin to show up, that is the attack largely relying of Rashford not being enough of a threat, the midfield with Eriksen not being combative enough to wrestle control and De gea lacking ball playing skills just adds to our inability to play out from defense.
This season ETH tried to address this various issues by signing a 9 who hopefully will take some of the responsibility off Rashford, Mount brings more dynamism than Eriksen but we're yet to see how that works out and Onana improving our ability to play out of pressure. Still early days but he definitely has more tools at his disposal this season. Time will tell if it's enough.
Away from home against the better sides who are proactive our issues begin to show up, that is the attack largely relying of Rashford not being enough of a threat, the midfield with Eriksen not being combative enough to wrestle control and De gea lacking ball playing skills just adds to our inability to play out from defense.
This season ETH tried to address this various issues by signing a 9 who hopefully will take some of the responsibility off Rashford, Mount brings more dynamism than Eriksen but we're yet to see how that works out and Onana improving our ability to play out of pressure. Still early days but he definitely has more tools at his disposal this season. Time will tell if it's enough.
Fair one, looked it up and there have only been a few, was a lot more under Ole
I know it's responding to the wrong question but I think the two major issues boil down to : Bad finishing in settled play (on the counter it's fine and we have the right weapon for it) and the lapse in composure, control or intensity. Most everything else the team does reasonably well though there's a variety of smaller issues that could be improved.
Some of it root back to the maddening fact the team lacks important pieces season after season and perhaps the squad being a little thin overall.
If we scored more goals from the opportunities created we'd probably put a lot more games to bed early instead of all too common view of the team on the backfoot, besieged and sometimes conceding.
For all the ink spilled on the quality of the players, the first XI, etc the only major hole is the bewildering lack of a striker and that we are relying on 1,5 players still in that position.
There's already good (maybe not elite) bases of a gameplan otherwise.
Some of it root back to the maddening fact the team lacks important pieces season after season and perhaps the squad being a little thin overall.
If we scored more goals from the opportunities created we'd probably put a lot more games to bed early instead of all too common view of the team on the backfoot, besieged and sometimes conceding.
For all the ink spilled on the quality of the players, the first XI, etc the only major hole is the bewildering lack of a striker and that we are relying on 1,5 players still in that position.
There's already good (maybe not elite) bases of a gameplan otherwise.
We have enough talented players that when one or two hit top form they lift the team to a run of good results.
But for Rashford's great run last season i doubt we would have been top four. We also had Casemiro playing great for a while.
As a team however we still haven't learned to play as one and that doesn't look too be changing anytime soon.
This season will largely depend on how well Hojlund can settle in and lead the line
But for Rashford's great run last season i doubt we would have been top four. We also had Casemiro playing great for a while.
As a team however we still haven't learned to play as one and that doesn't look too be changing anytime soon.
This season will largely depend on how well Hojlund can settle in and lead the line
Under ETH, we usually start well in the first half, score early, and then drop off in the second.
The negativity around the level we're at is within the context of us wanting to become the best team in England and Europe.
We're shit at passing compared to City for example, we're not shit at passing compared to midtable and lower half sides.
I agree on Casemiro and Varane but not on the attacking players..... also, what build up ? Our build up play has been awful for years. We've had threads on slow motion zombie passing. Bruno is creative but often makes the wrong decisions. I agree Eriksen is intelligent, but he's not a starter for us.
Rashford for me has very low football intelligence. Good physical attributes, skillful but I don't think he link play and fit in to patterns. Remember heating tye sane about Walcott at Arsenal. Just couldn't keep up with the patterns of play.
I think we need more intelligence in midfield and the final 3rd. Maybe Mount can bridge some of the gaps, jury still out.
@Pogue Mahone : we were on the cusp of discussing this in an earlier thread. I think we are lacking in several areas. However, we are not poor in any category either. We’re not City, but were not Burnley in terms of technique either. Probably better than Liverpool. Behind Arsenal, Brighton…
We’re not the fastest team, but we’re faster than City and probably not behind Arsenal or Liverpool either?
We’re not the best pressing team, but nor are we the worst. Our defending is mostly solid bar for some serious mis-haps along the way.
I think it’s a case of us comparing ourselves at the very best at all categories, and we’re not the best at anything, but we’re rarely if ever at the bottom end of any category.
I think we lack identity and a cutting edge, but we’re not poor.
We’re not the fastest team, but we’re faster than City and probably not behind Arsenal or Liverpool either?
We’re not the best pressing team, but nor are we the worst. Our defending is mostly solid bar for some serious mis-haps along the way.
I think it’s a case of us comparing ourselves at the very best at all categories, and we’re not the best at anything, but we’re rarely if ever at the bottom end of any category.
I think we lack identity and a cutting edge, but we’re not poor.
We're good at grinding out wins over inferior sides but have to integrate our new forward as quickly possible and get our new keeper up to speed on the intensity of PL football.
Nice try, @Pogue Mahone. You should realize however, many of us men (and some some women) are socialized to get allergic attacks from the cuddlywuddly feelings that arise when we are forced to express positivity about others. It’s a shyness thing, but we like football forums because there is little of it here. It’s why we love those extatic seconds after a 3-2 matchturning goal when we can let go and shout BRUNO I WANT TO BEAR YOUR OFFSPRING!, before we revert back to ‘Why can we only score on penalties’ and ‘Typical, Rasford, couldn’t even escape the challenge’
I’ll go against my nature for once anyway: So far this season, we have showed for increasing spells a very high class of collective high press. First half against Tottenham and 3/4ths of the Forest game they were unable to establish play in our half for most of the game. Away to a Postecoglu side that is very well done.
We have also manged quite well to play into the space behind their back line, even aginst low defenses. This created quite a bit of chances aginst both Spurs and Forest. We seem to be increasingly able to get runs from midfield in behind to overload packed defenses. See goals from Eriksen, Casemiro, Varane, chances for Casemiro, Bruno, red card situation for Bruno. That is also very good, and quite difficult.
Now, I shudder inside, but I did my best.
I’ll go against my nature for once anyway: So far this season, we have showed for increasing spells a very high class of collective high press. First half against Tottenham and 3/4ths of the Forest game they were unable to establish play in our half for most of the game. Away to a Postecoglu side that is very well done.
We have also manged quite well to play into the space behind their back line, even aginst low defenses. This created quite a bit of chances aginst both Spurs and Forest. We seem to be increasingly able to get runs from midfield in behind to overload packed defenses. See goals from Eriksen, Casemiro, Varane, chances for Casemiro, Bruno, red card situation for Bruno. That is also very good, and quite difficult.
Now, I shudder inside, but I did my best.
I think a lot of things went our way last season rather than us being particularly good. Rashford's mid season purple patch in tight games put us in a strong position. Liverpool and Chelsea not being in the race helped us significantly.
Our strengths are in individual flashes rather than any particular team attribute.
Goal difference is a strong indicator of the better teams and we were 6th best on that front.
Our strengths are in individual flashes rather than any particular team attribute.
Goal difference is a strong indicator of the better teams and we were 6th best on that front.
we said that at the beginning of last season too
Absolutely nothing!