05 Nov 2017 20:28:52
Is it just me who feels incredibly depressed and disappointed. We were outfought and outclassed by a team that was thrashed by city and more recently, Roma.
Our play was utter tripe. Our passing is non existent. Our tactics were weird. Playing Jones as a midfielder shows how completely lacking we are.
We are no nearer the top as we were since Fergie retired. We were lumping balls up to lukaku and expecting him to control them, go past 4 defenders and score from 30 yards. The whole team looks like a complete joke.
I said it before the season started and I stand by my prediction, city will win the league by 12 points and we'll be fighting for top4.
A team playing football from 10 years ago. Something has to change.
05 Nov 2017 20:41:41
Schmid, I understand where you're coming from but I don't thinkits quite that bad. As I have said further down the page the issue for me is CM where we are lacking energy and impact. Hi Weber, I do think Lukaku is a flat track bully and not the answer long term.
05 Nov 2017 20:55:30
Pogba is a miss Tony. But this is becoming a familiar scene that we always play badly away against top teams. Honestly, we are light years away. Playing incredibly predictable football.
The balance of the team is so poor. You have to give pep credit, he came he learned and changed the structure of the team. They look a real force. They play football like we used to.
Mourinho is in cuckoo land if he thinks we can challenge.
05 Nov 2017 21:06:08
Well guys, were you not entertained?
I was going to leave this post a few days to give me time to digest that result and performance but I'm that angry I feel compelled to get it off my chest!
That was the most un-Jose like performance I have ever seen! The players didn't seem to know their jobs, there was no plan or organisation, we let their best players have time and space on the ball, it was terrible, we got outclassed and are lucky to have only been beaten 1-0!
Ok it looked promising for 10 minutes, we committed men forward and created a good chance for Rashford, but equally they looked like scoring every time they came forward. It was only a matter of time before they scored with players like Hazard and Fabregas being given the freedom of Stamford Bridge.
I respect a well disciplined, organised, hardworking defensive performance. What I can't respect is the naive, sloppy, rubbish we served up today.
People won't like to read this but forget about City. It's almost impossible to live with their form of 10 wins from 11 games at the moment. We haven't come anywhere near close to winning the league since Fergi retired in 2013. In fact in the four seasons since he's retired we've only finished in the top 4 ONCE! To think we were going to win the league this season and bridge that gap was fanciful at best. It's obvious we're still a team in transition. Jose has made some great signings and we're moving in the right direction but it's plainly obviously we're still at least a couple of players short of being a truly competitive unit. That result has pulled us right back into the dog fight for top 4 never mind what it's done for our confidence.
I'm frustrated at all the moaning and criticism of Jose's style by both the media and even some of our own fans. Well we've fallen right into the trap and that was a result for the Jose haters as much as anybody else tonight. I never thought he'd feel pressured into playing a more expensive game but that's what we saw this afternoon. A team without a plan, a team lacking direction, a disorganised team where the players didn't appear to understand their role.
My message is be patient, wait for our main creative player to return, give Jose time to build his team. We won't play football like City but once Jose gets the right players our style will improve.
Style alone does not win trophies and don't be seduced by all the shiny new ornaments on display at the Council house across the road; we've been showcasing that stuff for decades. Yes it may have gone into storage but let's re build the roof and foundations first before it proudly go's back on display (yes I have gone mad) .
I think this was another case of Jose knows best!
05 Nov 2017 21:18:02
Hi Schmid
The club has only got itself to blame for where it is. Lack of player investment over many years and particularly the last years of SAF, the Glazernomics, then failing to look at our own history of how not to manage a transition. Failing to look at what City were building, it seems arrogance thinking we were bigger than that. The club seemed to be so reliant on being told what to do by SAF they lost the ability to think and take decisive action. We have been like someone struggling to swim in deep water. How many times did I post on here about us ignoring what City were building, now we are seeing it. When appointing LVG the club had to have a plan for succession and as I said on here they should have had Pep lined up after lvg set it up, they didn’t.
People think it’s just the manager, it is not, after the botched transition of SAF the whole ethos of the club was diminished, the confidence of winning from any position destroyed by a lack of leadership of the new manager and higher than the manager. Some fancying buying is not going to fix it instantly. Even City who threw money at it didn’t have instant success
Time to be patient, we have had far worse situations as 1974 shows us, stop pinning everything on one result but realise where we are and we are up against a club like City who did have a plan, who didn’t say there was no value and are ultimately ambitious where nirvana isn’t financial success .
05 Nov 2017 21:20:14
Danny
I would of took the spurs performance today .
Is Jose feeling a bit of pressure did he give into the fans and press today?
Is that old rivalry with pep taken it's toll, can Jose ego take the praise city are getting in the papers, is that what is behind his moaning at the fans media experts?
Is that why he decided to have a go at Chelsea today?
Many don't like Jose, I've always been a fan But has got that the same spark he had?
05 Nov 2017 22:17:31
Jred - I like Jose, I wanted him to replace Fergi and sank into a deep depression when we appointed Moyes, that was only ending one way in my opinion and we're still suffering from the that mistake even now!
I think your right, maybe he's feeling a little sorry for himself at the moment. I don't think he feels he's got the credit he deserves for winning the Europa and League Cup. I don't think he can understand the criticism from the media and even some of his own fans regarding the style of play despite results being relatively good. This is made undoubtedly worse by Pep playing champagne football and the media going on like he's reinvented the game. Don't forget he's won nothing for City yet!
Maybe he has lost some of his old charm but he was like this at Chelsea as well.
I trust him and I think given time, patience and support he'll eventually win us the title. We'll never see the type of free flowing attacking football that some crave, he respects the defensive side of the game too much and that just not his style. I have no doubt that once he gets the right players into the team our style will undoubtedly improve.
I like most of his signings Pogba, Bailly and Matic in particular and I don't buy into the theory that his tactics are outdated or prehistoric and he's been left behind by more forward thinking managers. He's won the title, league cup twice and Europa league in the last three seasons. Yes he's spent money but so have City and Chelsea spending from a better position.
I just can't see a viable alternative at the moment and I think we should be careful what we wish for. I think we should get behind him and let him create that siege mentality which is difficult to achieve when his style and methods are being undermined by some of his his own fans.
05 Nov 2017 21:49:39
Jred - I like Jose, I wanted him to replace Fergi and sank into a deep depression when we appointed Moyes, that was only ending one way in my opinion and we're still suffering from the that mistake even now!
I think your right, maybe he's feeling a little sorry for himself at the moment. I don't think he feels he's got the credit he deserves for winning the Europa and League Cup. I don't think he can understand the criticism from the media and even some of his own fans regarding the style of play despite results being relatively good. This is made undoubtedly worse by Pep playing champagne football and the media going on like he's reinvented the game. Don't forget he's won nothing for City yet!
Maybe he has lost some of his old charm but he was like this at Chelsea as well.
I trust him and I think given time, patience and support he'll eventually win us the title. We'll never see the type of free flowing attacking football that some crave, he respects the defensive side of the game too much and that just not his style. I have no doubt that once he gets the right players into the team our style will undoubtedly improve.
I like most of his signings Pogba, Bailly and Matic in particular and I don't buy into the theory that his tactics are outdated or prehistoric and he's been left behind by more forward thinking managers. He's won the title, league cup twice and Europa league in the last three seasons. Yes he's spent money but so have City and Chelsea spending from a better position.
I just can't see a viable alternative at the moment and I think we should be careful what we wish for. I think we should get behind him and let him create that siege mentality which is difficult to achieve when his style and methods are being undermined by some of his his own fans.
05 Nov 2017 22:22:29
Danny, from what I know of José, he doesn't seem the type to suddenly forget all his managerial principles, built up over years of football management, just because the media are giving him a hard time.
05 Nov 2017 22:45:19
Of course your right Noucamp but it's unusual to see a Jose team so disjointed and allowing the opposition time and space to play. I didn't expect that kind of performance at all!
05 Nov 2017 23:04:09
Bad team performace today. Our midfield was over run and we offered nothing in attank from wide areas. Our 2 front men had to live off scraps. Nothing for them to attack. Pogba is obviously missed but without proper full backs over lapping and making runs creating space and time and options for the player on the ball or wide players putting crosses in our attack is easily nullified.
It was there earlier this season when everybody was fit and available but i still think our squad depth is very weak in certain areas and we don't have enough variation in the squad. Ie no proper full backs and not 1 out and out winger. Just like fellaini gives a different option an out and out winger is needed to give a different option and help give lukaku the service he thrives upon.
The sooner ibra is available the better.
06 Nov 2017 05:50:32
I think you guys are reading way too much into this. Jose has the utmost confidence in his ability and set out a team that he believed was going to get a result. My only criticism of him was he should have pulled miki and rash at halftime and not waited for the inevitable to happen. Both were very very poor and Lukaku is getting stick but he hardly got any service but the odd awkward bouncing ball with 3 guys around him.
Mik was so so poor both offensively and defensively needs to be benched. The 2 week break should do us a big favor as long as the national team mangers are not idiots and don't play guys in useless meaningless games and we get more injuries. I am worried about Martinez at Belgium who is a donkey. Hope he plays de bruyne for 180 minutes :)
06 Nov 2017 07:08:39
I think we got the set up in midfield all wrong today.
Chelsea where good we where bad move on.
06 Nov 2017 08:20:56
Danny. I respect what you're saying, but two matches prior to this, we played equally erratically at Huddersfield and were outfought and that's not me saying it, both the manager and hererra said it.
Redman, I fully agree. I've been talking about City and their owners and the way the club has been transformed for 5 years. In fact, it's got to the point where our club has been shown to be run by complete idiots compared to the way city owners have planned and executed their game plan.
A winger, two fullbacks, two midfielders, a world class playmaker is not going to solve the problem, nor is it going to happen as these players are not easily available and will cost money. Frankly speaking, if I was a player looking to enjoy my football, tgen United will be 10th on my list.
The club has been and continues to be run solely as a business and until someone comes in with serious intentions of achieving football success, then we're stuck in this cycle.