26 Nov 2017 21:14:50
I've been watching the games closely and what I see is that we are losing the midfield battle repeatedly. But I don't think it's anything to do with either of the midfielders playing well or not but rather with the simple lack of bodies in the center that we have.
A midfield two of Matic and Pogba with wingers like Rashford and Martial who are basically forwards means our midfield gets outnumbered against an opposition with a 3 man midfield and wingers that pack themselves inside.
Having a Mkhitaryan or Rashford as an attacking midfielder doesn't help since he plays further forward. This is why I believe we need to play a 3 man midfield to get more control of the games. Matic is a good defensive midfielder, Herrera is a decent passer of the ball but isn't the kind of player that can pass an opposition to death or pick out a special pass. Having a midfielder like that would allow Pogba more freedom to play further forward instead of having to come deeper to set the tempo of the game. He was most effective with Pirlo and Vidal playing alongside him.
I believe we will benefit from buying someone like a Kroos or even a Modric or Fabregas as a short term fix to the problem. Or perhaps the answer could be a box to box midfielder who can allow Pogba to then sit a bit deeper around the middle of the pitch to dictate the tempo of the game.
I also think we lack a genuine winger in the squad. I can see the impact Salah and Mane have at Liverpool for eg. I can see why Jose wanted Perisic. We get into wide areas but our crossing from the wingers and full backs is just so poor and wasteful. Lukaku is a beast in the air but isn't getting the service he deserves.
So I believe a midfielder, a winger and at least one new fullback are essential for us. In the meantime playing Herrera, Pogba and Matic together might fix the problems with controlling the midfield with an extra body in there and would also allow the likes of Rashford and Martial more license to stay much wider and ahead to support Lukaku.
26 Nov 2017 21:21:35
Our last 3 games have been Basel Newcastle and Brighton. Matic Herrera pogba fellaini should be able to cut it against them .
But I agree for some reason teams are getting at our midfield, teams seem to be going through our midfield .
Has matic gone of the boil a bit?
The 10 or attacking cm needs to do a bit more imo as well.
26 Nov 2017 21:55:20
Jred,
That's disrespectful and condescending to a Champions League team and Brighton who were top 10 when we played them and have played well against most other top teams they've played. These are good teams and have the energy to overrun us in midfield.
You could have a midfield two of the best players in the world but against a packed midfield 5 from a decent opposition they'd still get overrun. Its no surprise that the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid who usually dominate in midfield play with a 3 in there.
The very fact that we are shipping such a few amount of goals should point to the defensive midfielder Matic doing his job. Pogba looked quite knackered after an hour in the last game which left Matic isolated and it was no surprise that we started controlling the game better after Fellaini came on to add an extra body in midfield which allowed Pogba to move further forward.
Jose's analysis of the game was right. We had too many attacking players and lost control in midfield. The same thing happened to us against Chelsea. Add a midfielder instead of playing 4 up front and allow Pogba to link the midfield with the front 3 is a good solution imo.
Against Basel in the first half we wasted our chances and our crossing has been an issue for a while now.
If we could add Danny Rose in January it would give us width from the left side and then Martial can play a bit more centrally or cut inside to provide another body in the center for Pogba to play one twos with.
26 Nov 2017 22:19:03
Great post redfaith. I agree with that. Just look at Basels credentials over the last number of years in Europe, they have a knack at beating big teams. Bit disrespectful to suggest we should have no problem with them.
26 Nov 2017 22:34:31
Brighton are a well organised team who had a midfield 3 against pogba matic and Mata. Them 3 probably cost more than there team
We had 2 many attacking players? We played with a striker a 10 2 wide men an attacking cm and 2 cm .
We are not playing 4 up front.
Brighton where great but they haven't got 11 good players and ate a different level to United Madrid city barce Munich. That's not disrespectful it's the truth.
Basel might be a champions league team just makes them a good team in the Swiss league . Although there 7 points off the top of the Swiss league at the moment.
Brighton spent 42 mill this summer
Newcastle 38 mil
Basel 723 k
I don't think I'm being disrespectful when I say
"Our last 3 games have been Basel Newcastle and Brighton. Matic Herrera pogba fellaini should be able to cut it against them "
All top international players all tip players non would play for any of them teams .
To be fair we put 4 on Newcastle should of been 5 up at half time against Basel and had a bad day yesterday against a team who played really well.
26 Nov 2017 22:40:10
Red faith how well did young play yesterday?
26 Nov 2017 22:56:33
Seriously, how far have we fallen, when we're not allowed to state that we should be doing better against Basel, Newcastle and Brighton.
26 Nov 2017 23:02:04
How about our forwards pressing quicker and the whole team doing so as a unit?! That will sort this out.
26 Nov 2017 23:08:15
Angle
We should of been 5 0 up at half time pal.
Man United Chelsea spurs barce etc should beat Basel.
Basel are 7 points of the top of the Swiss league . Spent 0.7 mil this summer, there whole 26 man squad cost 40 mil and has 10 internationals I it .
Not sure I Said we should have no problem with them ( your words ) but I do think pogba matic Herrera fellaini should be able to cut it against them.
Amazed how low some fans rate our players?
26 Nov 2017 23:10:27
if Jose selects the team and tactics then i find it a bit odd that he comes out with there were too many attackers. unless that comment was a sly dig at someone else. tactically i thought he got it wrong again yesterday but it seems most teams that played midweek last week didn't play that well.
27 Nov 2017 05:30:51
What has how much brighton spent got to do with tactics? The midfield 3 of Pogba Vidal and Pirlo was bought for a pittance by Juventus for eg. Does that mean they were a bad midfield 3? What did Kante cost Leicester? If Brighton were such a poor team they wouldn't be top 10. Show some respect.
Clutching at straws there pal.
Regardless of cost, most premier league midfielders are of a decent quality and when you play a midfield two with 4 attackers against a packed midfield 5 you are always going to lose control in midfield, especially after a midweek away trip, the effects of which were showing in the legs of a few by the end against Brighton.
Basel, away is a decent Champions league game. We dominated them for a half and got overrun in midfield in the second due to tactics.
Mata was in a midfield 3? What game were you watching? He started on the right side of the front 4, much further up. Only when we started losing control in midfield did Jose move him towards the center later on. Mata isn't a proper energetic CM anyway. He is a slow number 10 who plays as a wide forward sometimes.
If you can't see that 2 against 5 in midfield against a more than decent opposition means getting overrun in midfield there's nothing I can say to you.
Young played well but he doesn't provide the option of a fullback who hugs the byline allowing the winger to cut in and play more centrally. Martial and Young to me seem to get in each other's way, both looking to cut inside and cross. Need a proper left footed left back to get the best out of Martial imo.
27 Nov 2017 07:28:21
My post was a bit of tongue in cheek jred. of course we should be more than well equipped with our squad and budget to handle Basel. Always have a decent squad but we should be having no issues with that sort of team.
27 Nov 2017 07:50:45
We didn't play a midfield 2 it was a 3 .
We definitely didn't play with 4 up front?
It really wasn't 4.2.4 .
Did I say Brighton was a bad team? No I Said pogba matic fellaini Herrera are better players than they have in cm .
Show some respect? I Said pogba matic and co should be able to cut it against them.
Basel are average we should of put 5 on them . That's there level.
Reading your post above it sounds like your having a right dig at Jose to be honest.
Who plays 4-2-4? And doesn't change it .
We lost against Basel due to Jose tactics?
United and Jose are 2nd in the league top of our CL group, fellaini Mata pogba matic Herrera are all top international players. show some respect.
27 Nov 2017 07:52:18
Irrespective of formation, we should not be struggling against Brighton or desperately clinging on for a draw against Southampton. I’ve said it many times, we have very good players who often do not play well. When did Lukaku last have such a long dry spell? We have the players, the Manager needs to get the best out of them consistently.
27 Nov 2017 08:07:51
"Our last 3 games have been Basel Newcastle and Brighton. Matic Herrera pogba fellaini should be able to cut it against them . "
Can't believe the above comment has got your knickers in a twist .
But if you think that's me being disrespectful, well fair enough .
27 Nov 2017 12:29:35
Good post ajh. agreed, he needs to be getting the best out of the players. But also, the players need to get the best out of themselves. A recurring theme since Fergie left is players not playing well enough despite knowing that they are more than capable of better performances. So equally, the players need to do better themselves.
27 Nov 2017 13:17:04
The players need to be held accountable for poor perfomances.
Jose is responsible to a degree but ultimately it is the players who win or lose a match.