United (H) - League Cup SF 2nd Leg Post-Match Thread

[blueparrot]

I’ve just been told it was over two games. And we won on aggregate 3-2

Excellent, spread the news there’s a lot of disappointed fans around this’ll cheer them up.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

Are yer still seething, r, or has the impending trip to Wembers sunk in yet!!

Just quieting down 8-) but I`m not going to Wembley. The Branch I go with go to a great pub in Ealing called the Fox and Goose. The bus for Wembley is a 3 minutes walk away and is every 10 minutes.

Getting back to the pub isn`t so easy. The buses struggle to get through because of the traffic and I`ve had to walk all or most of the 4 to 5 mile back. I had hip and muscular prob`s for 10 years. After 50 yards the pain starts so as you can imagine the walk back tests one`s resolve. 8-) CTID.

 

[Luddite_Blue]

The nature of two legged matches is that the result of the first game normally determines the type of match the second one is. Now if we'd scored first we may very well have hammered them. Given that they scored with their first shot, imo we showed grit, resilience and very good game management to see the game out. We created chances whilst restricting theirs to an absolute minimum. This type of performance in my view will stand us in good stead for the Chumps league knockout stages where not everything will go our way. The match I found increasingly tense and was glad when it was over, but we are through and going to Wembley so I find the underlying mood of this thread surprising.

 

[HarrytheBlue]

To me that game highlights exactly why we are not in the running for the league.

We dominated, but didn't win. We don't take our chances and the game slips away from us. Reminds me of three seasons ago, lucky shots, last minute goals against us, every chance seems to go in despite looking comfortable for large parts of the game.

Sterling was great defensively, but going forward he looked devoid of confidence. He was desperate to not be in a goal scoring position, it seemed. Needs to get his mojo back.

Laport back in and we don't lose that game. But Pep needs to address this, we've slipped on our standards and, potentially more worrying, we are going back to panicking and losing our discipline when chasing a game, like so many European ties.

Plus, that kind of game is why someone like Sane is a great option. Different approach, faster ball and you're in.

That said, we did enough over two legs and we're going to Wembley!

Love Raheem, but don't understand why when he's running on to a through ball he just doesn't keep on running and hit the target. Instead, he runs, stops, flicks the ball sideways, the defender inevitably gets a toe on it and he loses the ball. When he has time to think, things go wrong. When he plays on instinct, he's world class. He's improved massively, but I'd like to see him get back to using his pace. But I'd also like to see more of the 'round the corner' passes to him that he thrives on. Having said all that, he worked his nuts off last night - tenacious tackles, tracking back etc.

 

[Amadeus71]

 

[HarrytheBlue]

No one hid on the pitch. They did however make mistakes in the final third.

I think you've been over-critical of Pep there. Our finishing is poor but our approach play was good and the only occasions I worried about Utd related to set-pieces. You can't blame Pep for City not taking chances. We had more than enough to win that game comfortably.

If we had taken half of those easy chances, the innovative formation would have been described as a Pep masterclass. Nothing Pep can do about us missing a series of near open nets - we score more than any other team anywhere.

 

[Deleted member 81382]

Haha that's brilliant.

 

[OB1]

No it wasn't, the fault was having small players on heading in the box for a free kick (no slight on Bernardo by the way), but that said, it is not a defensive 3 I want to ever see again, as its not good enough.

You won't see that 3 again if Mendy and Laporte are fit.

One of the reasons I think Pep liked Rodri (as a transfer target) is his physical stature. It will be interesting to see if he tries to introduce more height and / or pace into the team with future purchases. He may not, his briefs to Txiki may just focus on technical skills rather than physicality but he obviously recognises that it puts us at a disadvantage in certain situations.

I don't know if there is any foundation to support the discussion people seem to be having about Jack Grealish (beyond Pep saying good things about him) as a target but he is quick and not a short-arse but has the kind of technical ability Pep likes so he might fit the bill of the kind of player we will target.

 

[OB1]

If we had taken half of those easy chances, the innovative formation would have been described as a Pep masterclass. Nothing Pep can do about us missing a series of near open nets - we score more than any other team anywhere.

That's one of the problems I have with a lot of criticism that I see of Pep: if we lose, you get all the Monday morning quarterbacks saying he fucked up his team selection and / or tactics. That can be hard to argue against because you have to rebut the argument that we lost so what Pep did didn't work. However, losing doesn't always mean there was anything fatally wrong with the game plan, it can just mean that all the random factors in a game of football have worked against it.

 

[i8rags]

I can’t get my head round most of this thread, it was two legged, 180 mins of football, we beat our rivals 3-2 to reach a final, why are people dissecting it down to suit their point.

I am buzzing we beat them twats, we won the tie. Bring on the same result in the chumps league in every round.
Win 1-3 in Madrid, lose 1-0 at home, happy fucking days.

Get real