United (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

JackM said:
At 3-0 we played out the game by allowing United to control the ball with no injury creating challenges. We allowed United possession out wide and their only attacking option was crosses which were easily cleared by our defence. We have Napoli and Arsenal this week so conserving energy and avoiding injuries was paramount.
United ‘s most influential player was Taylor who consistently avoided awarding us free kicks. Thank God there were no big decisions to be made.
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I’ll never understand why the Premier League allow a guy who is Manchester born and bread and whose family are Rags to referee the Mancheter teams, especially derby games. Hard to believe they are stupid enough to actually believe the Alty fantasy.
 
Very interesting game. Much more space for both teams and we struggled to control play for long periods but Haaland is a different animal when he gets space and Phil and Doku revelled in the pockets between the United lines. Defensively we looked solid but at times they were running through our midfield at will. Rodders looked rusty but that is only to be expected. Attitude is a massive thing and Phil, Erling and Donna showed it in spades yesterday. I was particularly impressed by Erling and Donna's leadership qualities and I can certainly see either of them being captain at some point.

Hands up. I was critical about signing Donna as we had James. I was wrong. He brings much more to the team than simply being a very good shot stopper. There is a huge amount to improve but the signs are there that this can be a very good team again with a spine that included Donna, Khus, Josko, Dias, Rodders, Phil, Erling, Doku.
Reijnders has to improve his overall play. He was really disappointing yesterday and its taking him longer to integrate than I would have expected based on his performance at Wolves. He needs to stop bloody grinning at his mistakes too. Kalvin did that and its not a great look. Hopefully its just a short period and he will be firing again because we need him.

Bernie now loses every physical challenge and he was pretty bad in the first half although he chalked up a nice assist in the second. I saw a lot of praise for Nico O but I wasn't totally convinced. He is strong and physical for sure but I feel he will struggle against a really good wide man. He was taken apart a couple of times yesterday and we would have been punished against a better side.
 
Hang on, City played completely differently in terms of application, tactics and personnel (in many positions).
The Marvins in here here giving it the big "I told you so" one, must surely realise it was through an almost complete rejig that the "moaners" were advocating....that it came good.
 
I'm not arsed about the performance as I've seen us play teams off the park and get beat 1-0 to a counter-attacking goal/defensive howler too many times.

It was great to see Dias & Gvardiol played to their strengths in the 2nd half & not having to defend on the halfway line.

You'd have thought that Sean Dyche was our goalkeeper coach with the way we passed it wide & then launched it upfield where we had 3 or 4 players competing for the ball
 
Hoping that Foden bounces on from this, we need our best players to be back at their best again. Pep just needs to solidify that defensive line now.
 
HarrytheBlue said:
Passing to players who are being marked is a key part of our style - roll the defender and pull the opposition out of shape - high risk and reward.
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It is, but we don't have players with sufficient strength or skill to receive the ball and roll the defender. And losing the ball in our own half means we are under pressure immediately. I'm hoping we have more options available once we're back to full strength and new players develop an understanding of the system.
 
foggy1974 said:
I'm not arsed about the performance as I've seen us play teams off the park and get beat 1-0 to a counter-attacking goal/defensive howler too many times.

It was great to see Dias & Gvardiol played to their strengths in the 2nd half & not having to defend on the halfway line.

You'd have thought that Sean Dyche was our goalkeeper coach with the way we passed it wide & then launched it upfield where we had 3 or 4 players competing for the ball
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Winning was brilliant but we can learn something from every game.

We saw a a world class keeper and a world class striker yesterday. Rodri and Reijnders struggled. Foden and Doku played very well. Doku's 2 assists were exceptional.

It was an uneven performance by City. Good and bad in parts. A game from a side in transition which is what many blues expected. We should get more control as Rodri gets fitter and Reijnders adapts. This is a growing City side imo. We have pressed the reset button but its effects won't be felt immediately. It's difficult to say how much this City side can achieve this season as we don't yet know much about players like Reijnders and Cherki and we don't know how Rodri is going to recover.
 
alexmcity said:
The last 18 months? That's since March 2024: we won the last 9 games in 23/24, April and May, to win 4 in a row and got beaten in November (at Bournemouth). In that period, the 4 in a row aside, we broke the record for most consecutive unbeaten games in Europe.

Also, the main reason why we didn't dominate possession yesterday was our passing and midfield problems. It wasn't tactics. The more this team develops, the more it will resemble previous Pep teams in terms of midfield dominance and possession-based style.
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United did what Brentford have done in the past, and in a different way, what Liverpool did under Klopp. They knew that if they could win the ball back when we were attacking, there'd be a big spaces in the channel on the opposite side of the pitch. This made it easier when we gave the ball up for them to pin us back.

The other side of that, for me at least, is that with Khusa, Dias, Josko, is we backed ourselves to defend in those moments and not panic or do anything stupid. We managed their transitions fairly well, even if we did cough the ball up in some stupid areas. Once that midfield rhythm comes back, we'll be close to back to our best.

You can see the influence of Linders increasing game by game IMO. We are getting better in attacking transitions, we are braver in making choices even if it means giving the ball up on occasion. The defensive line continues to be really aggressively high too.

Can't really underestimate how much of a 'new' team this is. 4 games in the biggest net positive for me is Pep's commitment to the rebuild and the new players. Oh and playing Phil centrally.
 
Marvin. said:
Winning was brilliant but we can learn something from every game.

We saw a a world class keeper and a world class striker yesterday. Rodri and Reijnders struggled. Foden and Doku played very well. Doku's 2 assists were exceptional.

It was an uneven performance by City. Good and bad in parts. A game from a side in transition which is what many blues expected. We should get more control as Rodri gets fitter and Reijnders adapts. This is a growing City side imo. We have pressed the reset button but its effects won't be felt immediately. It's difficult to say how much this City side can achieve this season as we don't yet know much about players like Reijnders and Cherki and we don't know how Rodri is going to recover.
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Agree with this. I think we will be motoring after Christmas. Too late perhaps for the Pl but just in time for the CL and FA Cup.
 
Marvin. said:
Winning was brilliant but we can learn something from every game.

We saw a a world class keeper and a world class striker yesterday. Rodri and Reijnders struggled. Foden and Doku played very well. Doku's 2 assists were exceptional.

It was an uneven performance by City. Good and bad in parts. A game from a side in transition which is what many blues expected. We should get more control as Rodri gets fitter and Reijnders adapts. This is a growing City side imo. We have pressed the reset button but its effects won't be felt immediately. It's difficult to say how much this City side can achieve this season as we don't yet know much about players like Reijnders and Cherki and we don't know how Rodri is going to recover.
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Also have Moosh and Cherki to slot in and adapt yet as well
 
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