21 Oct 2017 19:27:32
Great interviews with Jose where I thought he was brutally honest; they had more passion desire and a better attitude. Given the last few performances I think a sit down and open, honest, and direct discussion is needed along the lines of "what the hell has changed? ".

We have players not playing particularly well but we also have some who do not seem up for it, the first is understandable, the second is not.

Today, I think the debate about Martial or Rashford was answered, not sure what was going on in Martial's head but he was pretty dreadful. Mata was committed but had a poor game. Lukaku got stick on live chat but he never stopped running or trying, nor did Lingard. Young was as steady as ever but we lacked creativity throughout.

Bailly was a loss and then losing Jones left us with carnage at CB. Lindelof may settle but right now he looks way out of his depth.

So all in all a reality check. City look light years ahead of everyone right now, watch their pace and movement and then compare it to ours and the difference is all too evident. However, other than City I think the rest are much of a muchness.

{Ed025's Note - i cant argue with any of that AJH..good post mate..

1.) 21 Oct 2017
21 Oct 2017 20:09:51
Ajh yr comment about us relative to City is spot on been saying the same for ages and they have young players who will be even better as they mature.

2.) 21 Oct 2017
21 Oct 2017 20:47:37
Their movement is very good. To be honest, having watched a lot of games over recent weeks I think we lack movement compared to most, we seem to be very static and the players do not move as a unit. Before I get abuse this was also true when we were steam rollering teams earlier. We have had some very good individual performances in earlier games but we have not necessarily gelled as a team. That may sound harsh as we are clearly missing Pogba but I think the lack of movement is a real concern.

We have discussed full backs endlessly but compared to Spurs and City we are mills behind in terms of using them effectively as additional attackers.

It's slightly concerning how we have gone from being so effective to so disjointed so quickly.

3.) 21 Oct 2017
21 Oct 2017 21:12:23
The thing that irritates me is the needless free kicks we give away when we are losing and end up losing any momentum. It happened loads last season as well when we drew a lot.

I think we are a few players short and even some of the squad players aren't good enough.

I melted down big time today, gutted we lost but worse thing was the performance from players that earn 100k plus a week being bang average.

4.) 21 Oct 2017
21 Oct 2017 21:54:27
Good post AjH. As soon as we have to rely on the likes of smalling young jessie to start 5 or 6 games in a row tbeir lack of quality will be exposed. i'd add blind darmian and dare i say it fellaini to that list. They have all been at the club years and have not nailed down a place in the first 11 and when they have had a run of games they have never delivered high quality consistently. Its not a lack of effort just a lack of quality. Fellaini as an impact sub has delivered quite often to be fair and jesdie has had some good moments. Its been happening for years with tbese players. They look like good squad players but once they become regular starters they will slip up soon enogh the odd start we will get away with. But Our squad lacks strength in depth. Compare it to city who have possibly 18 or 20 players who can start every week without reducing quality we have 13 or 14 and our best 11 has no attacking support from full back area.
On top of that martial was hopeless today again. mata and herrera just as bad. I thiught lukaku tried hard.
A player lauded on here valencia had all his limitations exposed yet again. Great in 70% of the full back role and useless and a hinderence to the team because of his lack of ambition urgency and ability to deliver in the final third.
Lindelof screwed up and looks nervous as hell.
Really disappointing but not a huge surprise. The sooner bailly and pogba are back the better and ibra to give lukaku a rest and competition.
This league cup fixture is suddenly a big game in terms of momentum. For me it also means we now must beat chelsea a nil all is no good.

5.) 21 Oct 2017
21 Oct 2017 21:55:27
Valencia’s and young are makeshift rb/ lb. Smalling and Jones are injury prone. Smalling when fit is a liability. I was hoping to see more of our youngsters given chances this season. Tuanzebe would be better at CB than Blind or Lindelof until Bailly returns.
Mourinho failed to show faith in the team by taking such a negative approach to the Liverpool game. Since then we have reverted back to how we played last season.
He’s the one who has destroyed their confidence. He made them doubt there abilities to be beat the top opponents whe. We played Liverpool. A team
With a dodgy defence and keeper. There best player had just got injured. So, Mourinho decides to get the players to play very defensive football. An team with a dodgy defence and keeper who’s best player was injured and the gaffer says we best shut up shop and hope we get a goal on the break. After our start to the season we revert back to let’s just get a point today.

6.) 22 Oct 2017
22 Oct 2017 11:07:31
Valencia isn't really a make shift anymore he's player a fair amount of games there for a few seasons now and did so admirably!