United (A) | PL | Post Match Thread

[makinghistory]

Why would it be their Cup Final?
We aren't the team we were and are Champions of nothing in the here and now. It's not a rare event to get beaten anymore, in fact it's become all to common. Maybe we should try raising our game and odd time. Peps Derby record is poor considering how dominant we've been domestically during his tenure.

It's their cup final for too many reasons to tell. They are out of all competitions. They have not finished the season above us since 2014. I could go on .......

 

[BlueMoon_Phil]

Having watched the game yesterday I was really frustrated by the performance, but having calmed down today and looking at the bigger picture. If we think about it logically we have played roughly 10+ more games than United this season. We are still juggling league, Europe and the cups. United are out of Europe and went out of the cups early, so they’re getting plenty more rest and training time.

On top of that we have had lots of injury absences at points this season, including key starters for this particular game our full normal starting defence wasn’t playing. Obviously United have had injuries too, but not on the same scale as what we have had. Plus if we add in the new manager bounce United got yday, all of that makes a massive difference.

We haven’t been playing well and are still only 7 pts behind arsenal, if we can somehow draw and win our next two and they drop points I fancy us to overcome them.

 

[bluemc]

Pep's more likely to sign a new contract than leave. The players absolutely adore him and continue to run through brick walls for him. It's the day the players stop running that he'll leave. Also, he's just been bought a new team that he wants to reach its potential. You have to understand the mentality of the guy. He would never leave simply because the team wasn't doing well, on the contrary he'd be the first guy to want to fix it.

Playing devil's advocate, yesterday was quite alarming then when it comes to the part I've highlighted in bold.

 

[Franny 1234]

You can be sure they won't ......

I refer to being a soft touch
Not getting the 3 points
So I am pretty sure they won't rollover and gace their belly tickled like we did.

 

[makinghistory]

All decent excuses but from no Europe to possibly a place in the CL suggests it might not have been "their cup final".
However, for all the above points, we still created the grand total of fuck all. Defensive injuries I accept, but are Foden, Haaland, Semenyo, Doku and Cherki and Reinders (when they came on) also injured? The only shot their keeper saved was one that was going wide.

We dont disagree on virtually anything ! I would still say though that having not finished above us since 2014 and having been knocked out of all comps at this early stage it is most def. their cup final. If you asked them b4 the match about the result they expected to get hammered.

 

[makinghistory]

Good post. Time is running out for Foden. Beat a few players and have a shot ffs rather than playing safe and passing back. Is he under instruction or us he just not that good ? If under instruction Guardiola should be bollocked royal style !

Hate to see him go but reckon we could get a whopping fee for him and use it to better the team.

 

[makinghistory]

Yes but surely we don’t need them to be down to ten men to beat them.Just too many games for most of them in short space of time.Pep seems to do that all the time and sometimes burns people out.

I agree we should beat the with 11 men. It's difficult to excuse ourselves for lack of selection choice when you see no passion or intent. That is what wins these type of matches. They had it.

 

[Franny 1234]

Games like that I get over way more that the 1-2 at ours the scumbags nicked! Anyone with anything about them after seeing our backline and the first half saw where the game was heading!

I said at halftime will that's our bad half out of the way.
Things will improve now for the second half.
How wrong was i

 

[blue by birth]

It's their cup final for too many reasons to tell. They are out of all competitions. They have not finished the season above us since 2014. I could go on .......

They did well finishing above us in 2014
We were champions

 

[simon23]

You look at our team before the game for me you see the problem! I forgot about that game minute it ended! I’ll be seeing watching this team rest of season to see where we are!

The team sheet yesterday as soon as it was announced I knew we were in trouble...some of that is just bad luck...especially losing Nunes coupled with the loss of all of our centre halves.

However its not just about yesterday..Its been obvious since the end of last season that the squad aint anywhere near serious enough to get to the heights we have previously...

Now that is part of football -it goes in cycles and the club need time to refresh which in part they seem to have done well.

HOWEVER - I have some serious doubts about some of our recruitment even before yesterday....

• The lack of a specialist right back - walker fell off a cliff over two seasons ago and we have been treading water ever since
• we only have one left back - NOR has done well but we have run him into the ground....RAN - serious questions about whether he cares or not from the albeit little Ive seen....but his attitude stinks at present
• Wide players - Doku I like - he is something different - think he will always be a step below world class but he is a decent squad player....but other than that we have Semenyo and he isnt a traditional winger......As for Sav ( apoor transfer) and Bobb - they aint got it and wont get to the level required.
• We spend money on buying a young Engish Keeper and then went for Donarumma as well - this was in hindsight just bad planning....we spent money on Trafford that we probably didnt need to spend. (I like Trafford as a keeper and I think he has parts of his game where he is better than Donarumma BUT Donarummas shot stopping is superior)
• Over a season ago I said Stones and Ake were finished..they should have been encouraged to be moved on - with a world cup year ahead of them being told they wouldnt play cause of fitness and recovery issues would have motivated them to find a new team allowing us to bring in new players and bed them in sooner....we have to let these two both go this summer and make very quick decisions on Reis and Khusonov (who I really like) - Bringing Guehi in hopefully sorts out some of this
• Reijnders for me at present is looking like a bad transfer....he isnt a winner....he is a bit part player and we needed a serious box to box midfielder and we have got a light weight moments type player who disappears the moment a game becomes difficult.

 

[coolcity]

Yeah fuck utd, but I'm more concerned about how our performance levels have been bang average these last two seasons barely putting in top performances anymore but eeking results out. The new players who have come in over that time look a shadow of who they replaced, was always going to be mission impossible i guess but still they're a huge downgrade.
I think Pep has to win some trophy this season otherwise I think we'll be seeing a new boss at the helm next season

Sorry but I think that's over the top. I know it hurts after a result like this, and a lot of people are making similar comments but you're normally one that offers the more considered opinions.

The drama queens on here don't realise it yet but this is and always will be the best period in our history., If anybody thinks somebody is going to come in and emulate Pep's success they're mistaken at best and deluded at worst.

Most will openly admit that we don't have the players that we once had, the ones that have brought us 18 - EIGHTEEN - trophies during his time here.

Let that sink in for a minute.

We don't have those players, yet we're second in the league, should qualify for the next phase of the CL, as near as damn it in the final of the Carabou and put 10 past a team to get to the next round of the FAC. Virtually every other club dreams of having a squad capable of that. Yet despite not having the same class of players everyone goes into meltdown after a bad spell or even a bad result.

We don't know what difference losing Bernstein has had. There's no doubt that regardless of how good he may be at his job, Viana will have different ideas about the players he and his team want to bring in to what Txiki had. But I don't think the players we have a a "huge downgrade" at all and our current status suggests I'm right. I think Cherki is good enough to reach world class status, I think Khusanov is too, and if you look at the back history of the players we've brought in they are all high quality players, but it takes time and it's extremely difficult when there are constant injuries.

We can't get a settled team as a result, we have players playing out of position and we have little, if any, recovery time. All these on their own are small issues but when compounded you get what we are seeing now. As I've said I thought we were unlucky v Chelsea, Sunderland fought like no team I've seen for a long time and the Brighton match wasn't easy either yet we came through unbeaten, put 3 past Newcastle away in a crucial match and 10 past Exeter. we're second in the table and in 4 competitions. Is it really that bad or are we just expecting too much?

 

[Franny 1234]

Yet, he clearly isn’t. Did you see that corner? One of the worst I’ve ever seen at this level

Phil had a corner of similar shite

 

[alexmcity]

Hate to see him go but reckon we could get a whopping fee for him and use it to better the team.

Don't think there's a club in the world that would rate Foden higher than us. If we are ready to sell him, then the fee won't be whopping at all.

We'll be happy to have him around, given we offered a new contract to Rico.

The difficult problem for the club is how to handle the negotiations over Foden's new contract. Will we offer him a better contract if he doesn't improve? How much would Foden want?

He'll stay or go the Rashford way. But I don't see him living and flourishing abroad.

 

[coolcity]

I knew he WOULD be a liability, even before the game started.....united just have too much pace for him, and unfortunately we seem to find the 'doubling up' skill difficult, which might have helped him out .... and I don't really know why Pep couldn't see that too.

Possibly just went for experience. We have limited options at the moment, that's why we've recalled Allenye and signed Guehi. Ake is probably past his best and hasn't played much recently, it all adds up.

But lets be honest, did anybody expect that level of performance from the rags? If was supporting them I'd be bloody angry now after what they've served up over the past 18 months.

 

[blue by birth]

Phil had a corner of similar shite

That's one thing that pisses me off..the lack of quality in our corners
Go to Hough End or other places and you will see hung over players can take better bloody corners

 

[Earlyriser]

Yesterday regardless of the injury situation was a reversion to the form and tactics of last season. Get possession and move the ball upfield by passing from side to side with no movement from any of our front players. It is remarkable watching Seymeno that he has become Grealish Mark2 in 3 games. Gets the ball passes back or sideways. That's not how he way he wants to play or why we bought him yet already we are stifling him as a player

 

[Fordyboy46]

Sorry but I think that's over the top. I know it hurts after a result like this, and a lot of people are making similar comments but you're normally one that offers the more considered opinions.

The drama queens on here don't realise it yet but this is and always will be the best period in our history., If anybody thinks somebody is going to come in and emulate Pep's success they're mistaken at best and deluded at worst.

Most will openly admit that we don't have the players that we once had, the ones that have brought us 18 - EIGHTEEN - trophies during his time here.

Let that sink in for a minute.

We don't have those players, yet we're second in the league, should qualify for the next phase of the CL, as near as damn it in the final of the Carabou and put 10 past a team to get to the next round of the FAC. Virtually every other club dreams of having a squad capable of that. Yet despite not having the same class of players everyone goes into meltdown after a bad spell or even a bad result.

We don't know what difference losing Bernstein has had. There's no doubt that regardless of how good he may be at his job, Viana will have different ideas about the players he and his team want to bring in to what Txiki had. But I don't think the players we have a a "huge downgrade" at all and our current status suggests I'm right. I think Cherki is good enough to reach world class status, I think Khusanov is too, and if you look at the back history of the players we've brought in they are all high quality players, but it takes time and it's extremely difficult when there are constant injuries.

We can't get a settled team as a result, we have players playing out of position and we have little, if any, recovery time. All these on their own are small issues but when compounded you get what we are seeing now. As I've said I thought we were unlucky v Chelsea, Sunderland fought like no team I've seen for a long time and the Brighton match wasn't easy either yet we came through unbeaten, put 3 past Newcastle away in a crucial match and 10 past Exeter. we're second in the table and in 4 competitions. Is it really that bad or are we just expecting too much?

I think it's high expectations now from what we've done in the past, I'm as guilty as anybody for that. I guess this horrible performance was coming, Pep probably knew it as well but maybe not in this game. Maybe we just play too many games as well and the players are running on empty. I'll be over this come next Saturday

 

[coolcity]

Why would it be their Cup Final?
We aren't the team we were and are Champions of nothing in the here and now. It's not a rare event to get beaten anymore, in fact it's become all to common. Maybe we should try raising our game and odd time. Peps Derby record is poor considering how dominant we've been domestically during his tenure.

It's their cup final because apart from a top 6 place they have nothing else to play for. We've already played something like 8 matches more than they have this season, we're second in the league, as near as damn it in the Carabou final, put 10 past Exeter in the FAC and still in the Champions League, yet most on here are talking like it's the rags in that position and that we're the ones with nothing to play for.

"Under Pep Guardiola's management, Manchester City has won 16 Premier League matches against Manchester United, with United claiming 5 victories." - Source: Give Me Sport.

There probably isn't another team that have beaten them 16 times in the past decade. That's not a poor record by any stretch of the imagination.

The are 90 teams in the top 4 divisions that would love to be in the position we're in now. We were unbeaten in 9 before yesterday's match and you're talking like we lose every other match. We accept we don't have the quality of players that we had in the best years so why is everybody expecting the same results?

 

[brazilians hurt]

Lewis and Ake at full backs seemed to be Pep saying I’m going to touch that hot stove one more time and see if it burns. It made no fucking sense, playing Foden based on what he does in flashes and used to do makes no sense, Silva puts the effort in but is largely peripheral.
I mean Pep is widely accepted as one of the greatest managers of all time, but wtf was he playing at yesterday. Yes I know that dirty **** should have been sent off, but that aside we could have been battered 6-0 if not for Donna playing a blinder. Pep is bringing four dimensional chess tactics to a game of dominoes. Fucking baffling.

Don’t get me started on Cherki…..the freekick, putting his hand up for a throw in when 10 yards from the touch line, trying to chip it past Luke Shaw on the halfway line. He did my head in!

But you’re probably right, though. A very bad day at the office and just make sure something like that never comes close happening again

Cherki was shite especially for someone who had publicly stated he wanted to kill Manchester United. He showed absolutely nothing. First goal was down to him with an awful free kick and a pathetic attempt at recovery.
He needs to be much better if he wants to live up to the hype

 

[coolcity]

I think it's high expectations now from what we've done in the past, I'm as guilty as anybody for that. I guess this horrible performance was coming, Pep probably knew it as well but maybe not in this game. Maybe we just play too many games as well and the players are running on empty. I'll be over this come next Saturday

That's EXACTLY what it is - I've just posted in my last entry, "We accept we don't have the quality of players that we had in the best years so why is everybody expecting the same results?"