Manchester United banter 80601

 

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21 Sep 2018 20:43:23
Just watched the first half of jose press conf.

Dalot not starting or even playing tomorrow but will start tuesday, his reasons are very good IMO and his whole interview (so far) is very different from the jose of last season - in a good way.

Agree2 Disagree2

21 Sep 2018 21:12:17
Spot on EZRS. All about managing expectations and easing the young lad into the side. I love the sort of signings like Dalot where they are very unknown but they have bags of talent and have the potential to be a vidic or Evra sort of player. Early days but he looks like he could be a very good player for us.

Nice to see the manager a bit more chirpy and enthused. Even if he is not enjoying living in Manchester, I hope to see him more positive and less tetchy. Think he knows he has the fans backing at old Trafford and during away games so this will have lightened his mood. Especially after the spurs game where I believe he would have walked if he had been booed.

21 Sep 2018 21:39:43
Couldnt agree more park!

We have had points already where i think this could have outed jose and he'd be hone already or b4 xmas.

He has come. to the fa s and seen what we are capable of if we unite as a club. Some will say his "ploy' with our fans now is for his own agenda (blah blah blah) BUT those same people are always saying jose is out for himself and doesn't care about us or our future - it can't be both, can it?!

22 Sep 2018 06:28:16
I think his reaction to the Spurs loss, and the subsequent fans reaction to him might have improved his mood. He took it on the chin and aligned himself with the fans, and in the main the fans have rallied, sung his name, and made him feel wanted. Jose is an interesting character and I think this kind of thing is important to him.

He’s also seen one of his new signings have a very solid debut giving his another option, it looks like he now has a LB that meets his needs and the team spirit looks very good.

We have a few things to sort out but as has been said several times, a few wins changes everything.

22 Sep 2018 08:46:49
I should add that the other effect of the fans getting behind the manager in this way is that players who thought they might swan around until a new manager arrived can no longer do that. They will have to knuckle down and put effort in.

22 Sep 2018 09:04:49
Good posts lads. I agree things are looking more positive but I saw some worrying signs midweek that without the two defensive midfielders we got hit on the counter too often and against a better team we could have been in trouble. Pogba's goal was a moment of individual brilliance which settled us down but prior to that it was a pretty abject performance.

I expect Wolves to give us a difficult examination today. They will defend with numbers then break quickly. They are also decent in possession so it could be a frustrating afternoon if we sit off them and don't play with energy or intensity.

I'm still not convinced we've got the correct balance in midfield. Whilst I like Fred I'm not sure how he fits in. It will be interesting to see who plays today given Matic is suspended. I'd like to see Fred play a more disciplined role and sit a little deeper next to Fellaini to help dictate the play. He's a good passer and capable of playing incisive passes into the likes of Pogba, Lingard, Sanchez and Fellani. He's also a good dribbler so I'd like to see him dribble from deep on occasions and help break the defensive line. In the games I've watched so far he's played too high, we've been vulnerable to the counter and unable to sustain attacks. I'd like to see him on the ball a lot more and back up play from deeper positions.

On a more positive note I think we can safely name 9 or maybe even 10 of the starting 11 today which will hopefully bring some consistency to our performances. I fully expect us to line up as follows -

De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw, Fellaini, Fred, Pogba, Lingard, Sanchez, Lukaku.

Let's see what today brings. Sorry for the long posts I love talking football as you can probably tell! 😂.

22 Sep 2018 10:58:41
DLIB, I get your initial point that we may have been in trouble against better teams but surely that is why any manager may change his team on a game to game basis. Horses for courses, as they say. I don't think for one minute we would have played the same team and formation if we had been playing a stronger team on Wednesday.
I think some people like this ideology that we should always play the same team, the same tactics and the same attacking style every week but in reality that isn't going to happen.
Even the managerial geniuses that are Pep and Klopp have been known to change personnel from game to game.

22 Sep 2018 12:03:09
Betty - I totally agree that squad rotation is important especially with the amount of games we play but at the moment we're struggling to find any kind rhythm or consistency. Regardless of personnel we all know how City, Liverpool or even Chelsea (under Sarri) play football. (I accept there may be slight tactical alterations depending on the opposition, however their style of play remains fundamentally the same) .

I've liked the midfield trio of Pogba, Matic and Fellaini in recent games which I think has given us a nice balance. From the games I've watched this season Fred does not provide this balance at the moment. I still think he's a good player my point being I'd like to see him play slighter deeper and dictate the tempo of the game rather than making forward runs and leaving us susceptible to the counter. We have Pogba, Sanchez, Lingard and Lukaku to do the attacking. What we really need is a pivot who can feed them the ball, back up play and prevent the counter. I think Fred can fulfil this role maybe he just needs more of a defined role and slight tweak to his positioning.

Under Jose we have lacked identity, struggled for any kind of consistency in selection which in my opinion has adversely effected results and performances. What I have seen in recent games is a slight change to our style with our full backs playing higher, Lukaku making more penetrating runs, Pogba playing with more freedom, breaking forward from midfield and generally being more involved with Lingard and Sanchez closer in support of Lukaku. This in my opinion has largely been due to Fellaini and Matic providing the team with more balance which has allowed our better players to be more involved. Despite the good result in midweek I think the changes effected the performance and I didn't think we we're as effective in both defence and attack. What we really need is to build on the last few results so we can cement relationships and patterns of play, whilst rotation is important we need a sustained run of games to get us back in the hunt. Rotation can wait for a while in my opinion its not as important as fielding a consistent team on a regular basis just yet. Small steps one game at a time. It wasn't that long ago some thought a third season implosion was inevitable and Jose wouldn't see past Christmas. That still might be the case, whilst we've improved it's still far from vintage and I get the feeling we're still always one defeat from another crisis. Now is not the time for the tinker man, consistently and stability will see us through this tough period.







 

 

 
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