07 Mar 2021 18:52:30
Fantastic performance and result, no complaints from me and Martial was superb by the way.

See, I can be magnanimous.


1.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 20:01:05
I'm beginning to get the taste for humble pie, it is actually quite sweet.

A great performance and tactically the perfect way to play city.

Martial was excellent as was Shaw, bit of a toss up who to give MOM to, the whole team produced, but agree, I think further down the page, someone said we need to upgrade Fred and I think that is very true. I still love his work ethic but he just does not create enough for me.


2.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 20:07:18
Well done you.


3.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 20:52:51
Much improved performance from Martial, should've scored at the end to cap his performance.

Fred is very good at winning the ball back, but his distribution is awful at times.


4.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 21:01:44
Maybe I was watching a different game, Martial's problem is that's he not working hard, you can't jog you have to run and run hard to closs people down. And for a time last season he was doing that. I agree the United CFs don't get much service but that doesn't give you the license to jog around. If I was his manager I'd give him an earful for being lethargic.


5.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 21:17:52
Fred is one of the weak links for sure and is an area that I hope is addressed in the summer. Lindelof and Maguire did well today but are still a problem. Martial is still not good enough to be our long term number 9, even though he had a good game.


6.) 07 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 21:33:58
I thought Martial was brilliant, our ex full back gave him man of the match, know we go off what our ex players say as gospel now, he had his best game of the season and I wish he played like that all the time.

I logged on to the chat towards the end of the game to see everyone happy for once and I just saw people slagging martial off saying he should be taken off and how can Ole not see it. I would say I couldn’t believe it but it doesn’t surprise me. I swiftly left. People make their opinions on players before they even play and then base everything on what they thought before.


7.) 08 Mar 2021
07 Mar 2021 23:50:49
GDS

He did a lot better than recent months, but let's not go overboard. He was drifting out to play wide left wing too much. Was pretty lucky for the pen - bad play from Jesus. He missed a sitter that would have made the last 15 mins a cake walk.

He did fight a bit more (can't believe this is even a comment) and he held up the ball quite well to relieve pressure and launch counters.

His movement in the box just looks flat, he doesn't attack space in the 6 yard box. So you don't leave the game thinking "if only" the cross had picked him out. You leave the game thinking "if only" our front 3 attacked the 6 yard box better we would score more goals.

James and Shaw now are putting in more crosses. Be nice if we had a striker who could score goals in the middle.


8.) 08 Mar 2021
08 Mar 2021 01:53:33
Dodgy,

I totally agree, I just thought he was good today and was surprised to see some saying he needed to be brought off, at times he was unplayable and was causing their defence all sorts of problems, he was even tracking back. He has to show he can do that more than once a season though!


9.) 08 Mar 2021
08 Mar 2021 08:16:23
Rohan I agree Martial looked lazy again.

The difference yesterday is that he got himself on the ball and was involved at key moments. He hasn’t done anything at all recently so maybe the bar is set lower for him.

It’s so frustrating watching Rashford, Bruno and James apply the press while Martial rarely breaks into a gentle jog. The press doesn’t work unless everyone works together.

Shaw MOTM for me.

{Ed077's Note - well Martial essentially bullied Ruben Dias and Stones, the best CB pairing in the league this season. Was it a perfect perfprmance? no. But did he do most of the things expected? Yes. Maybe he should have pressed more but nobody actually was pressing that much and running around closing people down too much.


10.) 08 Mar 2021
08 Mar 2021 09:36:30
Ed077 yes I totally agree, like I say he was involved at key moments. Won the penalty and got involved in build up play. It was a refreshing change and a very welcome one at that.

But we can't flip flop our opinions based on a single performance. Martial has been very poor all season. If he keeps that up then I'd be over the moon because on his day he can be very good. Whether that is good enough remains to be seen.

I disagree about the pressing, particularly in the first half we were excellent at closing down their defenders, but City always had one or two options centrally as Bruno couldn't do it all on his own centrally while Rashford and James occupied their full backs.

{Ed077's Note - well we can say a player had a good game when he had a good game. Thats not flip flopping, thats just saying what happened. If Martial wants to be the undisputed first choice going into next season he has to build on that performance because that was possibly the only good game he has had this season. This season he hasnt done anywhere near enough to be even considered worthy of a place in the squad let alone in the first team.

Martial hasnt been good enough at all this season but he was good yesterday.


11.) 08 Mar 2021
08 Mar 2021 10:09:49
Bullied them is complete nonsense. He played much better than usual. It's amazing what a bit if effort can do.
He missed his only chance. He didn't create a chance except for the pen in 1st min where he did well even though he was running up a dead end before Jesus got excited.
He played well with his back to goal but he should play at least that well every week.
He bullied nobody yesterday. He had a good game though.


12.) 08 Mar 2021
08 Mar 2021 13:42:00
He again showed he has ability WHEN he applies himself, (martial) and a good display yesterday. Regarding bullying the cbs I can reacall the run second half when Dias went in on him about the halfway line and he simply shrugged him off and carried on but that was it for me: didn't see him bullying any of them tbh.
Would still sell him in the summer as he simply doesn't deliver as often as he should.
Rashford was a worry for me in the warm up! he looks to be in pain and awkwardly tries but the first challenge he was wincing and holding his side/ back- we cannot keep risking him to a long term injury.

Overall they all played well yesterday, Shaw stood out for me but they were a joy to watch: as much as watching pep getting stroppy in the post match and as satisfying as Jurgen AKA dierdre barlow throwing another tantrum. Well done united!