22 Oct 2023 19:49:24
I am trying to be positive about our team, manager and style of play but it's not easy. EtH has plenty of injuries but surely the way we play should be now be instilled in the squad. Watching us again we are still not playing any different to pre ETH. We have new players but can we say any have really improved us. I can see lots of potential Armabat looks good, Hojlund looks a very good prospect, we have lots of young lads, coming through, some players l don't know where they fit in and many older ones not up to it. I really think there is a good selection of players there but our manager needs to start getting the system and team formation sorted quickly.
22 Oct 2023 20:26:22
Sorry but don’t agree on Amrabat
He looks leggy who passes sideways and backwards.
22 Oct 2023 21:26:13
I like Amrabat, he’s a good addition. Would have him in the starting 11 before Casemiro 100%. And don’t forget he’s only been with us a matter of months.
23 Oct 2023 03:57:54
It takes a lot to change a style. Last year we pretty much stopped trying to change our style because we didn't have the players. He has tried again this year, but our defensive injuries have made it very difficult. He needs to time to run through this. Clear out the players that need to go and let's hit the reset button.
I am far more interested to see the senior layers of this club go first before we start to question EtH.
23 Oct 2023 08:32:26
I agree on the pitch we're no more watchable than over ten years ago but have faith that off it things are definitely moving in the right direction.
I appreciate it takes time to change style, even Mourino's biggest excuse he would turn to although he'd never name LvG he'd cite the players' previous programming as the main problem he had getting the players to do what he wanted.
But then Ange can walk into Spurs, lose his best player without replacing him, and make an immediate change to mentality and style. So it doesn't necessarily need to take a year and a half in my view.
Not seen too much of Amrabat. Unlucky not to score a worldy. But these players need movement and runs ahead of them as well in order for their clever passes and vision to pay off.
23 Oct 2023 09:57:28
It was an absolute mess on Saturday and at the moment i don't think we are more watchable than we were 10 years ago.
I just could not believe how bad we were in possession especially in the first half. The amount of times we gave the ball away in that midfield area was frightening. The whole of the midfield was so poor.
I have always said let's give Antony a break and give him time but honestly the more i see of him the worst he gets. Can't beat a man, can't cross a ball. Ajax must of been laughing all the way to the bank. 80 million for him is just embarrassing.
Rashford has gone back to his can't be arsed attitude and just runs in to people.
Bruno is unable to make a simple pass now. Constantly giving the ball away and stands there moaning about it.
Casemiro looks like he can't even run.
I have no idea why he bought Mount, where does he even fit in?
Yes we have injuries i get that but come on, that display was awful and we should be doing better with the players we have.
I am absolutely dreading the City match.
If we turn up and play like that we are going to get absolutely smashed.
23 Oct 2023 10:15:53
Spenno
Ang at spurs is the beneficiary of both fullbacks being upgraded. a really good central defender also coming in plus Maddison and Johnson who cost total 90 mill and in total 8/ 9 players brought in and they lost kane but definitely playing better than when he was there.
He had had a the major upgrade at the back 4 with 3 players although porro joined late last year which has allowed them to change the way they play. I think pep bought 5 or 6 fullbacks in his first 2 years trying to transform City and playing with a full squad and one game a week atm.
We have gone backwards and devastated at the back. Shaw, Martinez were a big part of our set up last year in terms of possession and control. Both brought the ball up the field. ATM only Dalot does that and the other 3 are hitting long balls, because if we get caught they will all get beat for pace.
Not making excused as the game and first half was so so so bad but need to see a first 11 without compromises all over the place to gauge if we are moving in the right direction.
It been one of those strange season where we had no fit striker to start the season then as we get one guy back 3 are out and problems in other positions and just keeps happening. Against Wednesday, I though reguillion would start and he does not even make the squad and same goes for Mainoo.
23 Oct 2023 10:31:31
Come on please, when are you going to stop making excuses it’s crazy
A blind man can see this is the worst football in 10 years
18 months in should be seeing something The Team is poor, the players coming in are poor The management is poor the coaching is poor, yes you can say injuries but come on let’s be real, it’s a mess
Amrabat looks at bottom to mid table level club very slow and ponderous.
Antony, just no good in EPL been found out long ago
Mount no idea where he bought for
Even Rasmus is a prospect but that’s it, had 3 chances on Saturday did anything hit the target
If we are now at the level of judging this team on mid table down then yeah they’re fine if we want to win anything No chance!
Make all the excuses you can find, this is not working, the football is dire the team set up is awful, the play is slow one dimensional hit it and hope for a worldy how on earth it come to this!
Can’t blame injuries can’t blame the glazers, we have bought utter rubbish we play utter rubbish football the coaching team including ETH is not of the level required to challenge in the EPL
No one in there right mind no matter how they see things can say this is any good it’s time to stop making excuses!
You could put a pure novice in charge and would look no worse then this.
23 Oct 2023 10:45:22
I get what you're saying Ahmad in that Ange has at least been able to field his strongest line-up thus far this season, which not many of the top teams have been able to.
Porro was mocked for the entirety of last season but seems to have tuned a corner. While I doubt many would have even heard of Van de Ven, Udogie and Vicario until they signed. They're an example of having a system, an excellent scouting network targeting players for that system then putting it all together and pulling the most out of them.
We've been told constantly that we have a plan and will sign players who fit into in but other than Garnacho who we already had it's been completely underwhelming.
I get that there are issues that have contributed to the performances, injury-wise across the defence in particular we haven't been able to see where we're at.
On the right wing developments have been beyond Erik's control.
The midfield is still a million miles away. I doubt Cas will be here beyond this season, he's gone from being a revelation to a liability in a very short space of time.
Add to this the complete lack of goals. Our top scorer is a midfielder we were all praying would be sold months ago.
23 Oct 2023 10:55:35
Where do you stand on that Shamrock? :p.
23 Oct 2023 11:12:46
Shamrock lol, tell us how you feel. I am not that quick to write off managers, players and no question we are playing poorly.
The drop in Rash and Bruno's form is making it even worse. IMO Bruno has not had a single good game this season even with the wonder goal.
Personally one more summer window for eth and see where we are. In the meantime I will suffer with the rest of the fanbase and hope for better days ahead.
23 Oct 2023 12:21:47
Ahmad H,
Bruno has been shocking. He is has been very poor this season.
The problem that EtH has is that he is trying to put together a good run.
Last season Utd were unbelievable at times, but it's the players weak mentality that holds them back, along with a somewhat petulant attitude aswell.
Spurs sold Kanez would Utd benefit from Bruno being sold?
Utd blossomed whe RVN was sold and Saha was played up front. Sometimes a huge change is needed.
23 Oct 2023 12:29:50
We are playing like a mid table team as we have bought mid table players/ prospects. Amrabat£20 - £30 million compared to Rice £100 million.
We have a 20 year old prospect, new to the PL, playing up top, no wonder we are still struggling for goals.
Mount could be a decent signing if ETH drops Bruno and plays Mount instead. Bruno has been worse than awful this season, I like his work rate but giving the ball away so often is maddening.
Rashford has his new custy contract and looks miles off but then I'm no Rashford fan, so probably a little harsh. I would seriously consider giving Granacho more and more playing time though.
Overall tI feel still too early to judge on any improvement, especially given the injuries but the clock is ticking.
23 Oct 2023 12:41:03
Well it is that bad Ahmed.
You’re incorrect Bruno played well for Portugal, Rashford played OK for England, Cas played well for Brazil, that tells me there are problems in what they’re being ask to do at United.
It was as bad as I seen on Saturday, if anyone enjoyed it, you need therapy, every game that goes by we are worse than the game before.
Ask yourself Ahmed if you give ETH 400 million and you honestly look at what he bought you honestly think any of them get in City Arsenal or Liverpool team, but my question is would you seriously give him another Dime to spend!
IMO all he is trying to build is a 4-8th level team at best
Maybe I need specsavers and therapy because I honestly am seeing us going backwards, to keep watching this, I will need the men in white oats to come and get me! I am honestly bewildered how anyone on earth sees anything getting better.
23 Oct 2023 13:43:59
shamrock
Bruno, rash playing well in the internationals definitely has something to do with the caliber of players around them. Look at England and Portugal set up.
Cas had a very poor international break. They lost to Uruguay and drew with venezuela. Brazilian media reports said something along the lines cas worst ever performance.
From all of Eth buys and not loans as they are temporary due to our financials, I doubt will turn into permanent deals. I think Antony is a waste of money for 80 mill. He is an average winger and his stats don't lie. The rest I have no issues with including Onana and Mount.
I recall Michael Carrick being slagged. why did we buy him and do we need him, when he struggled in his first couple of seasons. The stuff about mount is just typical noise a united signing gets. Haeverts cost arsenal 70 mill and no one talks about it. Everything at united gets overblown and magnified.
23 Oct 2023 13:59:44
And on top of that I just seen ETH interview saying he happy with that performance on Saturday, if this is standard he wants to set…. WELL I’m flabbergasted he clearly still enjoying Dutch Cafe’s.
23 Oct 2023 14:09:31
I think we should go all out for Ange. Fantastic man manager and tactician. He has proven in such a short time that he can radically change how a team plays. The only problem is that he grew up a Liverpool supporter.
23 Oct 2023 14:37:00
Spot on Shamrock. How he can stand there and say that was beyond belief. The football is sh*t and in my opinion it's worst than last season.
23 Oct 2023 15:03:07
We are 6 points off top. Time to panic? We can either go through the pain it will take to get better and challenge, or we can avoid it and stay a mediocre team.
23 Oct 2023 16:08:06
Which is fine Dodgy but what have you even seen that you can make any sort of assumptions that we are going in right direction.
In the games we even won we have barely got them wins and played some deplorable football, in fact probably say we been outplayed in everyone of them.
Loans or buys what’s the difference they are putting the kit on so ETH thinks they are good enough and signed them and out of all our buys I would say Mount is the best, but no one including him knows where he supposed to play.
Just because Carrick, Vedic, Evri etc turned out great signings, they are in the past, if you’re pinning all your hopes on this happening with this bunch that’s plain ridiculous.
Amrabat, Onana, Antony, Malacia, etc are all mid table quality, but more then there quality to me it’s the lack of team progression in 18 months
Rasmus is even nowhere near the quality atm to carry us through, imo if everyone fit the team is still a shambles, shows what ETH thinks is good he had cheek to say we played well on Saturday that’s totally laughable
No goals in team, no direction of play no style of play no football it’s a total shambles.
23 Oct 2023 16:13:41
Simo
He did not say that. he said first half was not good but second was much better. Pretty much everyone's view. Yes they lost to nc 8-0 but city and arsenal won there by 2-1. Granted they played much better than us. ATM, I just care about points, we can fix style later once the squad get healthier.
23 Oct 2023 16:16:23
For me, Amrabat does the boring work at the back and does it well. He would be better suited with Martinez behind him and a good, fit Luke Shaw at LB, but for me Amrabat is an absolute bargain at his value.
23 Oct 2023 16:46:56
Agree sydney. Amrabat looks good to me. Shrewd bit of business.
This team would be doing a lot better with a stable back 4 of shaw, Martinez, varane and wan Bissaka.
Hoylund looks like a good player to me. Very sharp in the box and I think he will be an excellent signing once settled into the team.
Rashford and bruno and our right wing are our biggest problems for me. As they play together more we will see more goals coming. We are learning again how to play with an actual striker.
23 Oct 2023 17:02:47
Ahmad - you can waffle on about it all you want but we are playing sh*te football. We have spent over 400 million pounds and there has been no improvement.
The majority of his buys have been poor and we haven't improved.
I am sick and tired of hearing the excuses.
23 Oct 2023 18:51:42
SIM
What do you want sack the manager and sell 10 to 15 players and start over. that really has worked for us so far so why not just keep doing the same thing.
Fergie would have been sacked a zillion times by you guys before he even won a trophy.
23 Oct 2023 18:56:25
Shamrock is him again isn’t it, it’s uncanny.
24 Oct 2023 09:34:42
It’s laughable.
Rinse and repeat the same cycles. Decent season, regression the second and we see the same complaints about style and manager not being good enough.
I like ten hag, and the football right now isn’t great. But I don’t care if we win. You can’t develop a style without consistency in selection, we’ve not been able to have that. It will come with time, just give the manager a chance.
Every other manager has failed here, we can only hope under ratcliffe they’re given more tools to succeed in terms of football structure and stability (I don’t have the energy to debate about Qatar either. ) .
So many fans just fall into the same cycle.
24 Oct 2023 12:37:29
I certainly have no problem sticking with a manager, if he showed something after 18 months, I think that ETH just does not have the required experience for supposedly a big club, no one can dispute the football is awful, the players bought in are poor, his man management is not great his in game management not great either, let’s be fair that is enough to show he is not good enough to lead a club to challenge.
I’m sorry but that statement you can’t create a style without consistency in the team is rubbish, because you should be setting a style right through the club so no matter who comes in the style is there, ok quality drops but the style is in place, we’re a shambles! Klopp bought a complete new midfield (only months ago) he got people playing out of preferred position because injuries but they still play with the same style that he implemented from day one.
Ange come in months ago got a style.
De zebra come into Brighton had a style from day one, we are 18 months in and 400 million yet still a shambles
I don’t get this had great season last year either, we took some spankings, we never played that great, we finished 3rd, why does that add up to great season, was more to do with Liverpool and Chelsea having a mare!
Jose and Ole finished 2nd with far inferior squads
We are getting worse game by game, players don’t look happy, team is all over the place, football is dire, if you can defend that it’s with the heart no reasonable sane person can be using there head after watching this week in week out, it’s shockingly bad.
24 Oct 2023 12:48:45
Ange is playing a style of football that suits his players and playe to their strengths. They look happy and comfortable.
Ten Hag is playing a system that doesn't suit his players and doesn't play to their strengths. The players do not look happy and comfortable.
Then Hag had great success at Ajax, a club with an established philosophy that matches his own. It buys and produces players to fit that system.
United have not played bought or coached players to play in this system. Many of our big names are not suited to this style.
Now if you blame Ten Hag, the DoF or those who appointed him it doesn't really matter. Until United start at the very top and world down fwith a consistent footballing vision we will struggle to get where we want to be.
As for Ange, I really like him and how he has come in at Tottenham and wish him success. Everyone was sure that he would be a failure, what do Aussies know about football and he has never managed in a big league.
In fact other than winning whilst playing attractive attacking football everywhere he has gone what elae dowa he have going for him ??.
24 Oct 2023 14:31:59
Oak that’s a very easy question to answer regarding Ange …… it’s his man management skills…. ETH got not a lot in that department
The other thing with ETH and Ajax it’s totally different animal Dutch league to EPL and coaching kids compared to coaching so called top Egos! ETH is struggling with this, it may work at a lower level or lower leagues but not if you want to win the premier
Let’s be fair Ajax even under ETH would never win the EPL, so if that’s what we are measuring him by, we are in trouble!
I just feel even with the squad he is trying to build it’s a mid table squad, because one would think he already purchased some of the best in his mind, Antony being one of them so that don’t bode well, remember it’s 3 years plus he been coaching Antony and he still useless!
24 Oct 2023 16:57:53
I agree with a lot of the concerns about Erik's style and whether he's even good enough to succeed, as I haven't enjoyed a Utd game for some time and haven't seen much evidence to suggest he's got it, and I'd have expected to have seen something by now.
Behind the scenes I am a million percent behind him. He stood up to Ronaldo, is dealing with Maguire and Sancho. There's routine and discipline, where there was none. He's fantastic at representing the club and generally good with the press (save a few dodgy comments recently) .
I'm not sure if he can be held responsible for all the players he's been given due to our financial predicament. I'm sure every manager would love a blank check and to sign Kane, de Jong et al but we don't have the funds or sadly the pulling power. The players he's got may have been on his list, but albeit as second or even third choices (Martinez wasn't even first choice) . The trouble is we've ended up with 3-4 manager's second or third choices and have this bizarre assortment of players the managers didn't ideally want but ended up with. I think he's a better judge of character than a few of our previous managers, all his signings irrespective of ability seem to have been up for the fight unlike some we have on the weeks.
24 Oct 2023 23:04:15
Spenno
As I said further up the page i have no issues with Onan or mount. Onana was the hero tonight and mounts shinning moments will come. we did buy them two and sign them for 4/ 5 years based on a weekly fickle fan opinion. We get proper back 4 back and this team will do very well.