22 Apr 2018 12:01:32
Great result yesterday against a good spurs side. Great mental fortitude and never say die attitude that Jose has seemed to have instilled in this squad. This must be one of the most frustrating united squads I have known. Can beat anyone on its day but when it loses it loses badly with a whimper and lack of fight.
Thought Sanchez was brilliant and I love his work rate. Charging around the pitch like a terrier making tackles and darting runs. Great to see. Pogba grew into the game and looks a world beater when he is given the freedom to play further up in the final third. Pass for Sanchez was amazing and I would like to see Sanchez play more on the right or centrally so him and pogba don’t get in each others way. Smalling and Jones really stepped up and credit to them. Though the full backs were poor although Valencia had some good last minute tackles early on. Definitely need to invest in 2 new ones on the summer.
But my man of the match was Herrera. He as brilliant and looked like the player of the year that he was last year. Hope he stays because he is captain material for me. Just gets what it means to play for united. Well done to Jose 3 finals in 2 years is very impressive. Whilst the style is not always great he is doing a good job so retains my backing for another year at least. Have a good feeling if we buy correctly we will challenge next year.
And finally to have a bit of a laugh there were articles in the independent saying that united players are in revolt against Jose and have compared the Luke shaw situation to Mo Salah situation at Chelsea. It’s astounding the negative press this united team and Jose get. Just beaten the media darlings spurs in their own backyard and not one word of positivity. Hated, adored, but most definetly not ignored. Enjoy your Sunday guys!
22 Apr 2018 12:49:38
Agree and great post Park though I differ in MOTM since I feel Sanchez work rate is the best.
As to the media, you have this feeling that when we play well most of them still are negative. Nothing new to me. My comfort is that they recognized we are coming back and they hope we do not dominate like before.
Even the commentators were rooting for Spurs when I was watching the game. I just turned the volume to almost inaudible 🤣. I’d love to see what nonsense they will still rat about when we win something 🤣🤣.
22 Apr 2018 12:56:43
Good tactical points, there, Park. I agree about Sanchez playing further away from Pogba, though in time they could figure it out on the left side as long as they keep moving and playing off of each other. And Pogba once again was at his best in a midfield three with Herrera's excellent work and defensive responsibility.
{Ed004's Note - It seems we alternated between a 442 and a 433 yesterday depending on the circumstances. I reckon Jose has been working on it for the past couple of weeks and we are finally starting to see it work better. Pogba played a lot of the game on the left wing while Sanchez played a lot closer to Lukaku almost like a second striker. However, when we are under pressure and Spurs pushed both fullbacks forward Sanchez was tasked to drop back.}
22 Apr 2018 13:02:58
Agree 666 the big players stand up when it really matters and hats off to Alexis he was great yesterday. I must admit I didn’t think he deserved to start but he proved me wrong! So true the bbc coverage from Danny Murphy was laughable. I think the thing that frustrates me is that it isn’t a fluke we are second in the table. You can’t fluke your way after 34 games played. Not saying we are a great watch but credit needs to be given from where we have been the last few years. That credit must go to Jose whether people like him or not.
{Ed004's Note - Exactly what I've been saying all season. It's not luck that's resulted in us being second. We have had a few very poor performances this season but as a whole we have definitely improved and that's with shocking fullbacks and unreliable centre backs}
22 Apr 2018 13:15:56
Couldn't agree more ed. The fact we beat spurs yesterday with almost no attacking threat from our full backs speaks volumes imo. We are basically relying solely on the attacking players to stretch the opposition defence and when there are no overlapping runs we look very one dimensional. I thought shaw did that well against Bournemouth but clearly his days are over at united. It was interesting to see Lukaku come towards the right at times and sanchez to go more centrally where i think he is at his best. We need to allow the front 3 to be more fluid and interchangeable.
Im still not pleased with the style but I cannot fault the progress we have made and sticking with the manager is clearly the right thing to do. Stability seems to be the key. Thought jones and smalling were very good yesterday but jones is made of glass and smalling always has a mistake in him. A partner for Bailly would be a welcome addition but is not essential.
{Ed004's Note - If the reports of Martial wanting to leave and us selling him to fund another signing we really need a top player coming off the right hand side such as Isco (role he plays at Madrid often), Dybala (1st pick) or a potentially wc player like Pulisic}
22 Apr 2018 13:17:36
Bang on park and ed004.
22 Apr 2018 14:53:01
Totally agree ed and park. If martial is unhappy, then we have to let him go. Isco will be a dream signing. And Dybala will also be incredible.
{Ed004's Note - One of those would complete our attack. I'd be happier with Dybala because then we would finally have a set piece taker and proper number 10}
22 Apr 2018 14:53:37
What about leon bailey ed. He looks a top class player.
{Ed004's Note - Haven't seen enough of him so can't comment}
22 Apr 2018 15:33:32
I tend to agree AAA on martial. I am one of his biggest fans but if he doesn’t want to be here then he needs to go. Jose clearly expects his forwards put a shift in and do defensive duties. But above all I think he wants to see desire. That is why rashford is ahead of martial now. Martial is more talented but rashford and Lingard for that matter work harder. I hope we don’t see martial leave if he can put his head down and work harder. But it looks increasingly like he will be off. I would love Dybala as ed said for all the reasons he listed. We need a world class attacker who can provide quality from set pieces, especially corners. Griezmann would have been my choice but Dybala would be perfect.
22 Apr 2018 15:44:04
It depends how much we get for Martial to determine who we go for aa a replacement. Dybala will be quite expensive compared to Isco and Dybala is apparantly a serious target for City.
22 Apr 2018 19:31:09
I would like both dybala and isco. The gap between us and city is big. We need more attacking threat and more imagination in midfield and attack.
22 Apr 2018 22:31:04
I want a golden goose right now!
I will be stunned if we get Isco and Dybala. Maybe bring back Perrera and add dybala.
If we play 3 in midfield to fit Pogba in then we have no room for a 10. Unless Pogba can play better in a 2, which he did early season.
22 Apr 2018 22:36:13
Jose is slowly but surely getting rid of all LVGs signings except the ones he likes. Rojo, Herrera and maybe Romero (unless he wants first team football) are the exceptions.
23 Apr 2018 12:32:34
We could always play 3-5-2, moving Sanchez back into midfield, with Matic and Pogba, then play Dybala as a no 10. 3 at the back then gives more freedom to the fullbacks to provide width in attack.