Why are we technically so poor?

sillwuka

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I watch a lot of Premier League games, as we all do and I've noticed we are so poor technically in comparison to most teams.

Many of our players cannot lay the ball off correctly, never make a pass with the right weight and just lack football intelligence.

Is this all down to recruiting poor quality players or is there more to it than this?
 
sillwuka said:
I watch a lot of Premier League games, as we all do and I've noticed we are so poor technically in comparison to most teams.

Many of our players cannot lay the ball off correctly, never make a pass with the right weight and just lack football intelligence.

Is this all down to recruiting poor quality players or is there more to it than this?
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A lot of either youth development or transfers based on running or pace rather than high skill and composure on the ball. From the starting lineup only Amad - who we recruited as the best young player to perform against our youth team, and Lisandro who brings those skills to the defence were really recruited for technicality. Mazraoui was an improvement in general play and comfort on the ball over AWB and Dalot but was probably most targeted due to being available cheap and looking like a good option to replace AWB's defending. But no doubt the improvement with the ball is a bonus
 
Probably has to do with whatever we were doing in training over the last 2-3 years. Or more importantly weren't doing.
 
The most obvious answer is the players. We just sign very poor players with obvious flaws and then complain about us not being technically as good as other teams. You compare our players like Zhirkee, Hojlund, Rashford, Garnacho, Bruno, Antony. All of them have obvious technical faults. They have the inability to protect the ball under pressure, first touch is poor, some slow basically technically shit. You compare us to all top teams

Arsenal have Odegaard, Saka, Haverts, Martinelli
City has Debruyne, Silva and Foden
Liverpool has Salah, Diaz, Sboz and Mac Alliaster
Chelsea has Madueke, Palmer, Nkuku and Enzo
Spurs have Son, Kulusevski

The only player who resembles close to any of these players in terms of close control and technical ability is Amad.

Look at our summer business the smart option would have been to go for Jao Pedro (Watford or then Brighton) or Cunha from Wolves and Neves from Benefica. Whereas we signed Zhirkee (earlier Hojlund) and Ugarte (whose solid but technically not at the same level). Before that we signed Antony (for 85M) when we should have signed Kudus from Ajax for 40M etc. Then we signed Mount where for 60M we could have signed Maddison who is far better player for 40M was it or even less. All players who are better technically and were signed for less amounts then we paid for.

We need fast, technically strong players who can hardworking, with good dribbling ability whereas we always end up with slow, technically deficient players who are lethargic. Its a pattern that has been going on for a while, Maz hand Yoro will be good signings for future who will improve our overall technical quality. But a lot more is required and it should start with Bruno and Rashford because they may fetch us the most amount currently.
 
Bruno for me it's a very technical player, yes I know, he is not a dribbler, he ain't Zizou or Riquleme holding the ball, yet it's his head the one mostly messing with his output.
He is a player that it's too much focus in what he feels it's his style so he would lack more intelligence in ocasions and in others he'll deliver an extremely difficult pass because of precisly playing in a less "patient" style. Yet he doesn't lack technique at all.

Rashford neither, he is in some very frustrating form, he needs to be in top physical form too, he ain't Ribery, Figo, but he isn't just a fast player.
Of course Lisandro it's extremely technical, more given his role (yet it's his role the one that would not make him be as influential if the team has someone of the sort in the mid) and the kid Mainoo is a skill, yet very green (obviously) player.

More than technique per se, the team lacks more calm, a more "intelligent/clever" game.

BTW: Liverpool without Virgil and Mac Allister in the pitch gets dumber and more frantic by the minute, so it's not that even the Top teams have many players that are trully very clever. Pool have lots of very frantic not that clever fellas doing their task, but most of them are on great form.
 
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We're no different to most teams, I would say we lack a real leader/leadership in general to keep things calm and that probably ends up looking like we're not a technical team because things are rushed and often frantic. The actual players we have are very good individually for the most part.

@Fobal realise I just repeated what you said, exactly this - it's more about fan perception on how we play than our players not being technically good.
 
Ekeke said:
A lot of either youth development or transfers based on running or pace rather than high skill and composure on the ball. From the starting lineup only Amad - who we recruited as the best young player to perform against our youth team, and Lisandro who brings those skills to the defence were really recruited for technicality. Mazraoui was an improvement in general play and comfort on the ball over AWB and Dalot but was probably most targeted due to being available cheap and looking like a good option to replace AWB's defending. But no doubt the improvement with the ball is a bonus
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Running and pace? Every manager complains about a lack of fitness, and we must surely be one of the slowest and least physical sides in the PL? Even Amorim alluded to us lacking height. Honestly, I have no idea what the recruitment has been.
 
signings technically poor players add issue to current problem.
Most players we sign in recent years are not very good at keep the ball.
 
Rossa said:
Running and pace? Every manager complains about a lack of fitness, and we must surely be one of the slowest and least physical sides in the PL? Even Amorim alluded to us lacking height. Honestly, I have no idea what the recruitment has been.
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Ugarte is a runner and ball winner, Rashford was developed and played because of his speed, De Ligt was signed because of more legs than Maguire, Dalot was signed as a youngster because he was making suporting runs from fullback as a young player not because he's a technical player

Mount was signed for workrate and running, Hojlund was a young striker who scored a few goals and has pace and a bit of power

Who did we sign for their close control and technique first at foremost? There are very few. We valued pace and running over that
 
Technically poor players, coaching, relying on moments FC for far too long.
 
Mazroui sticks out like a sore thumb. The rest of them are terrible either on the ball or under pressure. We just panic and give the ball away.

It’ll be clear as day on Sunday against even a half arsed city team.
 
We have never been a club who values technique as much as we should.
 
Glad there’s this thread as I had the same thought tonight - especially after sitting through that first half.

There were some sequences of play which were laughable, dozens of passes where the weighting isn’t right, or it’s behind the player, or on his wrong side etc.

We were nullifying our own attacks
 
Fortitude said:
Never is a long time... what are you talking about?
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I guess he might be saying it in the sense that United as a Club, has that aura of first give everything, have a winner mentality, then comes the technique....of course this ain't entirely true, but it's kind of a moto, you can even see it in very technical players like Roy that can even talk down his very own technique.
Me being a Boca fan, also belong to a Club with such predicament in a broad brush approach. Yet both clubs had players like Best, Charlton, Maradona and Riquelme, so it never is entirely that true.

Other clubs like River, Barca and such, would tend to be more associated to have a more technical, less pragmatic and more academy related approach...dunno, maybe it's that
 
sillwuka said:
I watch a lot of Premier League games, as we all do and I've noticed we are so poor technically in comparison to most teams.

Many of our players cannot lay the ball off correctly, never make a pass with the right weight and just lack football intelligence.

Is this all down to recruiting poor quality players or is there more to it than this?
Click to expand...
Yet teams at the bottom of the table or even Championship have players who can at least pass the ball. Surely it's a prerequisite for a footballer to be abnle to pass?
 
Ekeke said:
A lot of either youth development or transfers based on running or pace rather than high skill and composure on the ball. From the starting lineup only Amad - who we recruited as the best young player to perform against our youth team, and Lisandro who brings those skills to the defence were really recruited for technicality. Mazraoui was an improvement in general play and comfort on the ball over AWB and Dalot but was probably most targeted due to being available cheap and looking like a good option to replace AWB's defending. But no doubt the improvement with the ball is a bonus
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You might have a point only for the fact that we don't have a lot of running or pace in the squad either! So we've somehow managed to recruit a bunch of players, at an astronomical cost, who are poor both athletically and technically!

Our recruitment policy is going to be studied for decades to come.
 
It’s the simple ones that are the most frustrating, easy passes that are behind players and not in stride etc
 
One thing I observe is that when we break from the center, we seem to have this habit of passing the ball to feet rather than space. It's almost as if we refuse to pass into forward central pockets except in long ball situations and we seem to lose 3-4 good opportunities in every match because of this.
 
I think the players are poor at everything collectively, including being poor on the ball.

They don't run enough as a team, they don't move in the right way, they don't make the right decisions, they don't read the flow of the play.

The players individually are good technically, Amad, Maz, Martinez, Bruno, Ugarte, Mainoo, Mount, De Ligt, Onana, (yes even him) Dalot, Cas, Zirkzee, and most of the players in squad have an acceptable level of being good on the ball, I am not saying they are elite on the ball, but on an individual level, they range from very good to good to Ok, only ones I think are poor on the ball are Rashford, Hojlund and to some extent Garna, (I am hopeful though Hojlund and Garna will get better, Rashford probably not) the issue is on a collective level, they are horrible, they don't open up passing lanes, they don't move the ball quickly, they don't see where is the open space to move the ball too, all of this is probably due to lack of confidence, continuous bad performances under the previous regime, also not being used to the new way of playing under the new manager.

My hope is that most the issues can be rectified through coaching and hopefully as a team they just get better slowly, I've seen some good signs since Amorim's arrival, but there is long way to go.

I also hope in the summer, players who are elite technically are targeted to elevate the overall technical level of this team, being ok or good is not enough, we need elites on the ball.
 
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We give them a five year contract and pay them obscene wages and then they don't give a feck!
 
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
 
Shaw's Shank Redemption said:
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
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Late post of the year candidate
 
Shaw's Shank Redemption said:
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
Click to expand...

I swear its only our fanbase that have this absolutely bonkers obsession with shirt numbers.
 
Shaw's Shank Redemption said:
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
Click to expand...

Numbers only matter if you're a kid and you want the number Messi or Mo Salah wear. I coached a group of u10s and they'd be fighting over the numbers for Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Salah etc. Except for that one kid who wanted to be Jordan Henderson, I never understood what his deal was.
 
Fahad Jawaid said:
Look at our summer business the smart option would have been to go for Jao Pedro (Watford or then Brighton) or Cunha from Wolves and Neves from Benefica. Whereas we signed Zhirkee (earlier Hojlund) and Ugarte (whose solid but technically not at the same level). Before that we signed Antony (for 85M) when we should have signed Kudus from Ajax for 40M etc. Then we signed Mount where for 60M we could have signed Maddison who is far better player for 40M was it or even less. All players who are better technically and were signed for less amounts then we paid for.
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This is the problem. We sign players with obvious technical deficiencies(because they are usually specialised players who are good at one thing), and then do a pikachu surprise face, when we cant keep the ball.
 
OmarUnited4ever said:
I think the players are poor at everything collectively, including being poor on the ball.

They don't run enough as a team, they don't move in the right way, they don't make the right decisions, they don't read the flow of the play.

The players individually are good technically, Amad, Maz, Martinez, Bruno, Ugarte, Mainoo, Mount, De Ligt, Onana, (yes even him) Dalot, Cas, Zirkzee, and most of the players in squad have an acceptable level of being good on the ball, I am not saying they are elite on the ball, but on an individual level, they range from very good to good to Ok, only ones I think are poor on the ball are Rashford, Hojlund and to some extent Garna, (I am hopeful though Hojlund and Garna will get better, Rashford probably not) the issue is on a collective level, they are horrible, they don't open up passing lanes, they don't move the ball quickly, they don't see where is the open space to move the ball too, all of this is probably due to lack of confidence, continuous bad performances under the previous regime, also not being used to the new way of playing under the new manager.

My hope is that most the issues can be rectified through coaching and hopefully as a team they just get better slowly, I've seen some good signs since Amorim's arrival, but there is long way to go.

I also hope in the summer, players who are elite technically are targetes to elevate the overall technical level of this team, being ok or good is not enough, we need elites on the ball.
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Your standard for technical ability is low.
 
They’re slow and unfit, not technically poor.

If games lasted for 15 mins, they’ll all world beaters. We’ve seen it even under ETH where we look absolute great for short period of time before losing steam for the rest of the game.
 
I feel like it isn't always technical ability, but more lack of focus, bad habits and maybe lack of confidence for some.

What strikes me most watching our games over this last period is that so often simple passes are misplaced so that it is slightly behind the receiver. This often takes the momentum from a counter attack, which is frustrating to watch to say the least. Is that because the passer technically can't pass it where it needs to be? Maybe, but it seems more like a lack of urgency and awareness of how to make the most of certain situations.
Our players also take way too many touches. Often it's 2-3 before releasing when really it should be 1. Our inability to break the lines comes partly from lack of quick interchange between our players.
 
Hammondo said:
In our history we have not had many particularly technical players.
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That's not really true.

If you watch back games under SAF, the one thing that always stands out to me is how every player is comfortable playing 1, 2 & 3 touch football. He didn't keep players who couldn't do the basics to a high standard consistently.

This Utd squad is just littered with players who just can't do the simple things consistently to a high standard. Every player can control and pass a ball, but it's down to bad habits and them getting away with it for too long. First touch is the wrong way, loose first time passes, poorly weighted passing, over hit crosses, passes behind players, too many touches etc.
As a group they just seem to accept this stuff, that's why I was happy to see Ruben say he was ok with the players arguing over passes after the game.
 
Shaw's Shank Redemption said:
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
Click to expand...

:nervous:
 
sillwuka said:
I watch a lot of Premier League games, as we all do and I've noticed we are so poor technically in comparison to most teams.

Many of our players cannot lay the ball off correctly, never make a pass with the right weight and just lack football intelligence.

Is this all down to recruiting poor quality players or is there more to it than this?
Click to expand...

Because we've been built to he a kick and rush team over the last 5 years or so.
 
Shaw's Shank Redemption said:
This is going to be ludicrous thing to say -

But i think players like Mount having the number 7 shirt, Onana having the number 24 shirt, Rashford as a number 10 etc
I believe this would effect even 1% of their ability because it may effect 1% of their confidence/big headedness.

Its an honour to be United's number 1, Uniteds number 11, Uniteds number 6, Uniteds number 7 etc.

Its not going to make them technically better but i think mentally they may become stronger.

Even tactically a number 1 seeung a number 6, a number 6 seeing a number 8, a number 8 seeing a number 7 or 11 and a number 7 or 11 seeing a number 9.

I really hate this random shirt number thing in our squad - it defeats the role and even importance players have within our squad.

Cant wait for it to change back - will it change back?
Click to expand...

:lol:
 
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