United (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Forgive me for posting the rag but first few minutes of this is really good analysis. How we’ve changed how we play and why that made Donnarumma a fundamental signing. And of Haaland.

 
Dogtanian said:
After two games going missing in the 2nd half we decided to participate in one and blew the cunts away, still think we are in 2nd gear and can't wait for the dutchman to start playing like he did against Wolves, Haaland excellent, Foden excellent, Khusanov could be our right back answer and that's the best I've seen from Doku so far
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I was going a bit mad second half because we were letting them dictate the game. Maybe that was part of the plan but we should have the ability to hold onto the ball and slow the game down when we're 2 or 3 up. We were just giving the ball back to them too easily. Even a pile of shite like them might get lucky with that much possession.
 
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FogBlueInSanFran said:
Great post OB. TBF I was one of those who was concerned our tactical stubbornness, newness of personnel and rust would get us a draw today and that’s what I predicted. But . . . I was super-encouraged by EH’s pre-match bluntness about needing to play better which fired me up too. The whole team took putting a quality performance in an important match (for the fans especially) seriously, and their lap around the ground afterwards also showed how much they appreciated the home support (which was excellent to my eyes and ears from 5,500 miles away) despite a lot of our pre-match worry and disappointment with the two losses.

I don’t expect a win vs Arsenal but I wouldn’t even were we 4-0-0 with a GD of +16 — it’s a brutal fixture (I know Napoli is first). But the confidence lift in the players and how galvaniz(s)ed they were today gives me as a fan a ton of encouragement that we’ll put in an intense, entertaining performance whatever the outcome.
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The crowd was great at times and it was good to be in the stadium with that sort of atmosphere.

It’s a tough week and could influence the rest of the season but City are unquestionably in transition and it will take time. More personnel changes are needed before we can say the transition is over and we are back in a tweaking what we have got phase in the summer(s).

Confidence is very important. It was shattered last season and it is harder to (re)build than lose. This squad still has a lot of talent but a a lot of it is now unproven.

We just have to go step by step.
 
Father Paul said:
I thought Bernardo stuggled at times tbh. Seems to have slowed down a bit and was ponderous in forward positions. As usual he gave his all but I fear we have seen the best of this chap and he is yet another we face the difficult task of replacing.
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Particularly in the first half, he was receiving the ball and it was taken off him far too easily. The Bernardo of old would have twisted, turned and got out of trouble but he doesn't even seem to be able to do that now. He was better in the second half, when he seemed to have a freer role though, popping up all over the place.

He needs to be a 70 minute sub these days, coming on when we're holding onto a lead and sitting beside Rodri covering the defensive side.
 
mixed bag on and off the pitch.

Both sides could not pass to save their lives.

Crowd was quite at times, and noisy at others.

end of the day we won, should have been 4 or 5 and we also need to stop being sloppy

Have to say Rodri 1st half was awful, thought Doku, Haaland, Foden, Khushanov, o'Reilly all had terrific games.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Particularly in the first half, he was receiving the ball and it was taken off him far too easily. The Bernardo of old would have twisted, turned and got out of trouble but he doesn't even seem to be able to do that now. He was better in the second half, when he seemed to have a freer role though, popping up all over the place.

He needs to be a 70 minute sub these days, coming on when we're holding onto a lead and sitting beside Rodri covering the defensive side.
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Play Bernie like we did in the 2nd half and he wil be much more of use for us.
 
Citi-leaks said:
Exactly, the fact that he let the game flow without any stop start nonsense, gave City the opportunity to build up a momentum and all 3 goals came from quick, free flowing, open play.
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The annoyance for me with the ref was that their keeper was allowed to take all the time they wanted, yet as soon as we we were ahead he was whistling to donarumma to take his kicks quickly and went over to have a word with him.
Same thing used to happen to Ederson all the time, opposition keeper is allowed to waste time for 75mins but once we are in front eddie would get a yellow card issued for time wasting. Other than that he seemed to let the game flow well and waved away most of the free kick claims, probably fell for a couple of theirs near the corner of our box but it wasn't a bad performance.
 
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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Good for you that you've enjoyed how we've been playing last season.

I haven't.
 
BillyShears said:
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.
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Captain of Italy in net as well shouting orders that's his defence. Its like having a young Buffon, that's going to make the defence more solid. Apparently Donnarumma didnt stop organising and shouting all game. Proper leader
 
mancboy said:
Some of the comments on here are genuinely hilarious, for the last 2 weeks from some people all i have seen is pep has been found out, his way of playing isnt working anymore, we need to evolve etc etc, so yesterday we play a different way and win and now people are complaining that we didnt have enough possession, we let them attack us etc etc, basically you want everything different but to also be the same.
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To be fair it's not necessarily the same posters. I for one have been consistent that we needed to change our approach. Kudos to Pep because I would bet it went against the grain for him to play that way but he let go and we responded. No buts from me. Watching us be solid in defense while Haaland, Foden , and Doku ran roughshod on them was delightful. Arsenal looked shit against this same ManUre squad just a few weeks back. I can't wait for Napoli and Arsenal!
 
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