11 Feb 2024 18:58:35
There is a different feel around the club right now. Maguire looks. solid, the youngsters are immense, Scott continues to defy the neg heads, even Onano looks solid.
I'm not suggesting we are ready to compete but momentum and cultire, and 'feel'can be very underrated.
I think we have the big Mo, Villa are sliding, and Tottenham, well they're Tottehham so we have everything to plU for. It's sad we are just competing for top 4 but it wil help recruitment and revenue if we achieve it.
11 Feb 2024 19:29:36
A lot to be positive about over the last couple of weeks AJH. The season will not go down as a success but some players are at least showing some form at last.
The youngsters will be the biggest positive from this season I reckon.
11 Feb 2024 19:59:02
The season is showing who has the character to fight back and who are the good pros in the group…Maguire and McT are definitely in that bucket, and Onana was superb today. I have no doubt he will come good, and he’s starting to show it. Hojlund also showing great mental strength to keep going.
I’d also pit the manager in that bracket too - he’s had to deal with a lot so far in his short tenure, and am sure given the right structure behind him he’ll do well.
11 Feb 2024 21:13:04
Yes a definite improvement but let's be realistic West ham and villa are not at the level they were earlier in the season and we are still moles off the top three.
We still give away too many chances and don't kill off games when we should. Still lack a dominant centre forward ans midfielder and clearly miss Martinezwhem he is unable to play.
11 Feb 2024 23:21:31
Onana was good today he made 2 or 3 saves he was not favourite for.
I don't share the optimism that he will do it consistently but I hope so.
We gave up a lot of chances today and rode our luck at times but showed good bottle and we created numerous good opportunities only for our wide players fluffing their lines.
Rashford was OK in the 1st half going forward a imo but got worse and worse as the game went on.
Garnacho got himself into good positions but was again wasteful on most occasions. I would not be too harsh on him because he is such a good character the misses don't bother him he will keep trying to make something happen. But we need to be honest and fair in our appraisal and not lash 1 player for poor final balls and ignore garnachos continuous wastefullness. I'm sure the coaches will be working on it. His attitude are very poor in the bottom 4 for wide players in terms of assists in the epl this season. It really is something he needs to work on and improve between now and the end of the season and I've no doubt those stats will improve before the season is out.
Rasmus is still finding his feet and improving. Again I expect he will get stronger towards the end of the season.
The team did have good balance in attack. But the question is how long to you persist with rashford?
Moving garnacho back left to accommodate amad or Anthony on the right is an option. I don't know if amad is an option from the left?
Shaw will be missed with no malacia lindelof is a worse full back than he is a cb. Let that sink in.
Mainoo is looking better and better with every game.
I get that maguire has a good attitude but we give up so many chances when he plays and are woefully slow at moving the ball forward.
Mctom is proving to be a good weapon off the bench. I'm pleased for him. Touch of the kinks about him. Will he stay or will he go?
Martinez being out could well cost us but there is a bit of metal beginning to show from some of the others. But without martinez and dare I say Shaw our defence looks more vulnerable than a turkey at Christmas.
11 Feb 2024 23:25:07
Great result. Don't care how it was achieved. Despite what anyone says, Villa are a really good team, especially at home. Take that result all day long.
12 Feb 2024 01:53:29
Yeah, I agree with that noucamp. Snatch your hand off for 3 wins when looking at these matches around christmas time. Wolves caused us all sorts of problems in the first game this season. Westham have proved no mugs this year and villa have been very strong.
I think we caught all of them when they are in a little bit of a slump, and I will take it! We've had dogs luck with injuries and happy to play a villa side missing both Konza and Pau Torres. We created chances, took our goals and hung in a bit when we needed to.
We need our wingers to create for players in the middle. Today we put in a good cross and we score. The chemistry still needs to grow, we can have a strong second half, but these defensive injuries are a problem.
12 Feb 2024 06:33:29
The usual United win is down to opposition being poor or in a bad moment or this or that! Great win, rode our luck at times but away at a top 4 side you’re going to need to! We also had good chances and should have done better, garn hoijland and rashford all had v good chances!
Good win well done, especially without Martinez and snowflake shaw second half!
12 Feb 2024 07:01:07
Yes was great to get the win, but jeez we are just plain boring and awful to watch… I don’t believe anyone can seriously think otherwise.
2 of the Onana saves were hit straight at him, he did not move just hit him, his passing is crap, the million touches are time consuming and boring, same with McGuire, both slow the game to walking pace.
If your happy to see united play this style of football then great, personally I think it’s like watching paint dry, but of course we could all wax lyrical that we won 4 on the bounce if we don’t want to see the real thing.
Come up against anyone half decent we take a spanking.
12 Feb 2024 07:30:46
Villa are a very good side who’ve just been on a really good run at home. Granted it’s just ended recently but that doesn’t suddenly make them a bad side.
Lindelof is worse at LB than CB let that sink in. Of course he’s worse at LB Ken, has naturally a CB.
As Nou said, it’s a win and it doesn’t matter if it wasn’t pretty, it was a tough fixture.
We’ve lost those games earlier this season. Finally Sky can stop banging on about this Top 9 stat, they had 3 different graphics created for it which were all displayed within 15 minutes either side of kick off. I really struggle watching football on TV. They even included the 4-0 loss away to Brentford in August 2022, I recall it was the 2nd game of the season. Yes technically they were top 9 because they won their first game, but they’ll really do anything to pad those stats out.
We have to be looking at the next 2 fixtures as winnable. Luton away then Fulham at home. Then it’s the Derby.
12 Feb 2024 08:16:14
The Clash Tumbleweed! Otherwise good points!
12 Feb 2024 08:54:31
Calm down. Yes, a win is a win and we need them but we were hellish lucky. Okay, you make your own luck but we seriously rode our luck yesterday.
12 Feb 2024 09:09:35
Strangeways we came up against a very good side and didn’t take a spanking we won you miserable clown!
12 Feb 2024 09:53:13
I can't actually believe that we came away with a win to be honest.
The first half was pretty even but the second half we are awful.
We seem to drop off massively in the second half. If i were a Villa fan i would be scratching my head on how they didn't at least get a draw.
on a positive note Maguire, Varane, Onana and it pains me to day this Dalot were all superb and put in a battling performance.
The biggest worry was the amount of changes that we blew on the counter attack. Bruno was bloody awful! Virtually every pass he tried went to a Villa player, he was so wasteful and so frustrating to watch. He honestly drives me mad!
So glad to see Rasmus scoring, he's been absolutely brilliant since he came. 19 years old and being aksed to lead the line at Manchester United is such a big ask and he's really looking the part now.
If Rasmus finishes with between 15-20 goals this season i would say he's had a fine first season.
12 Feb 2024 12:58:54
Chris that's a really good point and really well made. ?
There are some fans that just can't bring themselves to be positive. I don't think anybody believes that we are a great team but it's nice to see form a bit better.
12 Feb 2024 14:16:46
Strangeways
We're a club in the midst of a grand transition, grasping at the coat tails of clubs who have already evolved.
We have players not well suited to possession-based and/ or pressing/ counterpressing football now playing regularly alongside those that are suited to these modern demands.
It means we cannot go all out with one approach or the other, there must a happy medium.
This current style is addressing the weaknesses within the squad as best can be managed.
The consequence is that there's less creative expression, but the team dynamic is currently better for it.
I agree that it can be a difficult watch at times and the bum is rather more squeaky than I'd like, but we're still in the hunt for top 4 which, for a club in such a mess recently, is surely worth enduring.
12 Feb 2024 15:33:50
Indeed Patrick my bad.
If he goes there will be trouble if he stays it will be double?.