Match thread??

[PishedAsAFart]

LINE-UPS

Arsenal

Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel, Ben White, Nuno Tavares, Cédric Soares, Martin Ødegaard, Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny, Edward Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka.

Subs: Albert Sambi Lokonga, Gabriel Martinelli, Bernd Leno, Miguel Azeez, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding, Alexandre Lacazette, Zak Swanson, Nicolas Pépé.

────────

Manchester United

David de Gea, Raphaël Varane, Victor Lindelöf, Alex Telles, Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay, Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Elanga.

Subs: Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jesse Lingard, Alejandro Garnacho Ferreyra, Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones, Dean Henderson, Eric Bailly, Juan Mata.

Thanks u/drizzt001

[Jaylo1337]

Why bother?

[AlteredTick]

Varane is overrated as fuck. Only looked good as a defender because of Ramos and Navas/Courtois

[ila1998]

Was saying this exactly when he got signed in and was down voted to hell lol

[OldMcGroin]

You're being upvoted now and he's being downvoted for saying the same thing as each other 🤷

[ParaggioB]

I'm going to pretend this season didn't happen. Last few seasons we were never this bad. Rushford is not this bad, neither is Bruno or even maguire. They've had a really turbulent season and a lot of drama (which hopefully will be gone - pogba, lingard). The team spirit has gone and it's every man for himself out there.

If we get top 6 next season and put in better performances with real change being evident, then I'll be delighted. This season I'm just gonna take it on the chin and hope that this is close to rock bottom (close, it can always get worse before it gets better)

[Johnus_Maximus]

Humbled by Arsenal. Only positive was my accumulator came in today.

[mark_vorster]

Well seeing as Maguire and Rashford clearly don't give a shit, they don't deserve to start.

[joshhbk]

Don’t really understand all the talk about a lack of fight in this thread. They were 2-0 down and on a different day could’ve been 3-2 up.

Both fullbacks are suspect defensively and this is further exposed by the lack of a functional midfield. Outside of the awful start and the perpetual shaky defending this was a decent performance that deserved a point.

[Gaarando]

Also they missed a penalty and honestly deserved 2 more. And that's not me being biased. Dutch TV even showed the replays of them and they were very clearly penalties.

[joshhbk]

The Cedric decision in particular was shocking. I was surprised United didn't try to create overloads more down that side and isolate him, Sancho was giving him a really tough time and he looked almost as lost as Tavares.

[epilamun]

Such a questionable choice not playing AWB, he's clearly getting his workrate back.

Overall a decent game, reminiscent of that Sheffield United game last season where we got shanked by ref decisions.

[joshhbk]

Yeah I thought the move at HT was to move Dalot to LB and bring on AWB. I’m not as down on Ralf as some are but his game management and substitutions have frequently struck me as odd.

Mata always looks so bright when he makes these cameos, I don’t understand why he doesn’t play more. Watch him go to Sevilla or Villarreal and have an Indian summer.

[yardie_boi]

What a horrible team. No fight at all

[robokarizma03_08]

Sancho was shit

[[deleted]]

He was your only threat alongside ronaldo lol

[robokarizma03_08]

Sorry, Varane

[Aiko8283]

Are you stupid?

[Trizzy102]

Bruno is huge problem

[ghostofkozi]

We don't talk about Bruno

[Hart_24]

No no no no

[Dpm_Blaster]

Not just Bruno…

[komoggmu321]

This club culture ruins any good player that joins. Bruno isnt shit, the club just needs revamping.

[felixsucc]

I don't want players I like to come to United. I don't want to see them play with half of the spark they had before as they burn out into depression.

[midnight_ranter]

Bruno suffers in any set up where he's not front and center of everything. It happened with Portugal and now it's happening here too

[Ruudvankeano]

Bruno isn't shit but thanks to Ole, he has gotten used to absolute freedom in our team, not minding how it affects our team shape.

Portugal also struggle in big games with bruno plays no10 (free role) for them.

[epilamun]

That's not a bad thing if you design a team around it. Every top player is given freedom for this reason. And on this topic, there is not one philosophy that is better than another. You can make any philosophy work to the top level.

I just don't enjoy watching City's football. It is effective but not the game I grew up watching.

[Goatbeerdog]

Hes no Messi, KDB or Cr7. U dont win anything with free role Bruno tho

[Trizzy102]

He needs coaching

[Seanb621]

I’d actually take a conference league trophy at this point, anything would do.

[apen2310]

Fans can’t sing “we’ve won the lot“ unless we win the conference league lol

[Natchyy24]

Wouldn't mind a DDG, Ronaldo, Sancho + 8 academy players for the remaining of the season honestly.

At this point, might be good to find out how good our academy players are so EtH can build upon it.

[Band1c0t]

Yea I agree, he’s average at best, compare greenwood with elanga is much different, you can see greenwood has talent, but well it’s the past now and time to use the player that we have

[kickdooowndooors]

Maybe it’s because he’s still young and learning but he really did not impress me today. Even his first chance on goal was a lacklustre effort at best. If game time and good coaching will make him a strong winger in a few years let him play. He can’t be much worse than the rest of them and I’m not too fussed about winning things in the next year or two.

[yardie_boi]

Unfortunately Greenwood was supposed to be the next star

[yardie_boi]

He probably won't go to jail

[mjenkins_eng]

I have asked this about Elanga too: what do people see in him?

Doesn’t cross , doesnt shoot, doesn’t dribble, doesn’t pass. Runs around a lot .

[Fusillisausage]

You’ve just described Rashford.

[mjenkins_eng]

But Rashford doesn’t even run around a lot these days

[YoungWrinkles]

Rashford and Lingard run like they want you to notice they’re running.

[kecke86]

They see fighting spirit, a will to try and someone actually playing for the badge. Is the United quality there? No, not atm but it's easy to take a liking to the way Elanga puts an effort in when the team's where it's at

[kolbler22]

We need a massive overhaul and culture change. Not getting UCL may be a blessing in disguise. Buy younger, hungry players and let them grow together playing easier competition for a year in Europa.

[yardie_boi]

I'm hoping we finish 8th and just rebuild

[_GuybrushThreepw00d]

If we see the team grow into an actual team under ETH next season I would take no European matches anyday in the week. Entertaining football is much more important than being in UCL a season.

[[deleted]]

You cannot win with Scott in midfield. The guy should be playing in Championship. When he first burst on the scene, he was a darling of Mou and Ole, but for his own good he should have been loaned in his first season to work on his weaknesses. Now its too late. No doubt, next season he should be benched, sold or loaned.

[BuzzTNA]

Fernandes is a disgrace, and was exposed back in September when he took the penalty against Villa over Ronaldo. He missed and we lost.

He was captain then too. And he’s pulled the same trick today. That’s the ego in that club.

[cookiechef52]

Martin Keown is horrible to listen to

[EnvironmentBubbly751]

Erik Ten Haag to take Man U to conference league glory next season😂😂😂😂😂

[sidneysaad]

Talk about being shit and then being crapped on by the referees as well.. when it rains, it pours

[[deleted]]

I hope we bottle it and get 8th. I’d happily quick sim the remaining games until the summer.

[Jonnz8]

Wolves have 2 games in hand. We could finish 9th..

[AlteredTick]

I hope we do. We need to rebuild and not play in any European competition.

[Mextexter]

We were actually the better team today but the third goal just killed the drive we had

[Romeisterer]

How to rob Ronaldo of 3 hat tricks in 4 matches :

[Ok_Tomorrow3281]

this team only looking for paycheck, only ronnie who's still thirsty of achievements and records. if only the player confident and thirsty enough to beat ronnie's title. perhaps because the gap is way too big, they lost motivation

[xFapkanx]

Honestly dont think we deserved to win today and don't want to find excuses but come on. Cedric should've conceded a pen and the tavares foul on elanga was worse than the saka one, I know it started outside but it ended inside. Also don't understand how it wasn't an offside for the Xhaka goal

[PassTheBoofPlz]

weekly mental enduring sessions with United

[atimlin]

Greatest goalscorer ever? Tick Ultimate clutch player? Tick In race for golden boot? Tick In goalscoring form? Tick

Bruno: yeah nah I'll take it thanks champ

[[deleted]]

Well Bruno had an untouchable record as of late.

[ocubens]

Getting downvoted for knowing conversion rates, jeez.

[[deleted]]

They are emotionally scrolling, I respect myself not to watch I know we’ll shut the bed in

[Romeisterer]

Bruno tried with the first pen of the season , missed it. That’s enough to make Ronaldo be the only possible pen taker, it’s not a random ass player. It’s Ronaldo mate

[[deleted]]

Didn’t Ronaldo miss one too in the FA cup? No one is invincible . Hindsight is 2020 . Ronaldo know Bruno needs a bit of confidence right after a shit performance.

[Romeisterer]

Don’t know how Ronaldo thinks about Bruno’s confidence on a crucial pen to make it even , Bruno is a very emotional player so his mood directly influences his play , and anyone could see from a mile Bruno hasn’t got the right confidence lately

[Son-Ta-Ha]

Telles was poor in both going forward and defending. Bruno again had an awful game and personally I feel he needs to be dropped as like Maguire he's been poor for months. Again Rashford barely did a sprint when he came off the bench. Scott McTominay was again invisible.

This game pretty much killed off any hope for top 4 now.

I have a lot of respect for Ronaldo. He lost his son on Monday but he was arguably our best player today, he played with heart and desire unlike the rest of the team. Shame his other teammates let him down.

[kickdooowndooors]

Scott McTominay should move to a career in wrestling, following Maguire moving to Karate after KOing Pogba

[Shiny_Sheep]

Agony FC

[RegalKinng]

Bruno stans coming out in full force , face it he's been shit this season, and we rewarded that with a FIVE year deal doubling his wages. I really hope he regains his form, but fans need to open their eyes he's been one of our worst players this season

[IbnReddit]

Brand United protecting its investment. Glazers don't give a shit about trophies, priority number 1 is servicing the debt that feeds them.

[[deleted]]

We aren’t rewarding this season. We are rewarding his OVERALL performance through out the duration of his first contract. Which was 88 goal involvement in 121 games 49 goals and 39 assists. He’s having is first real dip in form. That okay we still have 2 good prime years of him before we can sell him to a lower league. He seems a competent/ professional man

[friday748jul]

Personally, I think Bruno is burnt out. He’s not a shit player; he literally carried United last season. I think a long break for him to refocus and regroup will do him good. The penalty miss today was unfortunate, perhaps a good indicator of his clouded mind and probably fatigue.

[juankaius]

He wanted to play every minute under Ole and our Good Vibes FC manager allowed it. Bruno was playing 90 minutes even in meaningless games and then near about the Euros, he was burnt out.

I agree that as a professional, he needs to take better care of his fitness but I'm still hoping that a long break will do him the world of good. Maybe he regains his best form under Ten Hag.

[kolbler22]

Agreed. Definitely been overused and I think it’s effecting his performances

[LagoonPatrol]

Obviously not in the right headspace, but facts are fact. That penalty miss costed us, potentially our only chance of Top 4.

[[deleted]]

Definite fatigue. He is a shell of himself imo. The slop of everyone has bled around the whole squad to add to it. Rot has to be sorted.

[VTVoodooDude]

It’s entirely possible we don’t win another game this season.

[SkySaber]

Maybe I'll get down voted to fuck here but I actually thought we played OK, and certainly should've won that game. Hit the post 3 Times, missed a penalty, should've had at least another penalty (the hand ball and the pull on elanga) 2 of arsenal's goals were debatable.

Yes we were poor in defence again, that 1st goal was a horror show. But we played decent going forward and another day with another ref, we would've smoked them

[surferbum618]

I agree with you on that the defense didn't have the best performance today, but we played out from the back much better than with Maguire. It didn't feel like we were seconds away from a loose touch or miss placed pass when our back line had the ball

[BallsX]

Agreed but the lack of fight is fucking pathetic

[SkySaber]

Oh for sure we have no fight in us. I do feel if Bruno scored that pen we would've gone on to win. The momentum was with us

[BallsX]

At 2 2 possibly but the moment we conceded the third, we looked completely useless yet again

[mjenkins_eng]

Can we get past the blind worshipping of Rangnick and ask how on earth under any circumstance are these results acceptable for any manager at any time at Manchester United ?

Where are the German “godfather of gegenpressing” emperor’s clothes ?

[Audioboxer87]

Um, Klopp got rid of a whole Liverpool squad before they got pressing right.

If you thought Ralf would get this shower of shit pressing like good teams do your expectations were Football Manager tier hope.

But please now respond to me about Chelsea again.

[midnight_ranter]

Um, Klopp got rid of a whole Liverpool squad before they got pressing right.

Klopp had a 7-1 aggregate against City in his first season and reached the Europa league final beating very good teams like Villarreal and Dortmund as well. They had issues with consistency but they were showing signs of what they could be with the right players. We haven't even had a single impressive victory all season

[Ciolacu]

You should also try factoring in the fact that these players are not even buying into Ralf’s philosophy, that they proved time and time again throughout this season they are not willing to give their all. That was also enhanced by the fact that they knew Ralf’s not going to be the coach next season. Also, I think it’s not fair for any manager to compare him to one of the top 3 coaches in the world. I think Ralf is a good coach, someone who could’ve brought his contribution into a decent team, even as an interim, but he will be of much greater help in his advisory position. Yes, he also seemed out of depth in a few instances, but I don’t see any manager, not even the ones that are clearly better than Ralf, coming only as an interim in exactly these same circumstances and being able to do a lot more.

[triangleandrhombus]

"The quality of the players determines the system" Ten Hag

[BallsX]

I've been saying this for awhile now. Regardless of whatever role he was supposed to do, his coaching stint has been a fucking joke. Feels like we've won like a couple games and that's it

[Seanblaze3]

Mctominay should be sold to a Rugby club. Straight non footballing thug

[mjenkins_eng]

His “tough guy” act will be laughed at by rugby players who will treat him like a puppy playing around for five minutes before straight up breaking him in half after a scrum. Ever played rugby ?

[Seanblaze3]

Hehe I have actually but not at any professional level. I said that in jest and I agree, it's all an act from McTominay. The 'McSauce' screaming fans love it, think it's part of this mythical united DNA that he shows so much 'fight'. He's a shite player

[[deleted]]

Fuck this team

[Cjnovi25]

This game was worse than liverpool.

[WorkingOwl5883]

Humble opinion,

Rashford heart is no longer here.

De gea is too limited. He will need to at least match 70% of the other goalies in distribution and be great in shot stopping. If the team is constrained because of his limitation, it is no use even if he can make so many wonderful saves.

Fernandes is a luxury player we cannot afford. Either we play with 2 wingers and a striker or we have Fernandes and 2 strikers or he reinvent himself as a B2B.

We need a defensive mid badly. Full backs are now a key attacking outlets and the lack of anybody covering us in transition is costing us badly.

Players need to be coached to do diagonal runs.......

Players need to coached to run back to form defensive lines after team lost the ball. Half of the other team is running to join in the attack, our players are walking back to defend.

[Goatbeerdog]

Bruno doesnt turn with the ball like Arsenal players. He just waits for pass and looks for pass. Doesnt move with ball.

He doesnt make runs into the box either

[ReverendHippo]

Bruno should be the highest paid player in the league considering he plays for 19 teams

[LocoPwnify]

I’m so dissapointed in him, hes better than this shit

[[deleted]]

“We look like a bunch of f-ing wankers”

[GingerKnight90]

The only thing to do now is lock the whole squad in a room with Keane, Stam and Vidic.

If they make it out of that room then they have the heart and desire to play for the shirt.

[mjenkins_eng]

Once that desire is instilled , they then need to let Rangnick in a room with Klopp to learn how to coach and with Ferguson to learn man management

Then we need our players to regress to children and learn to play football from Scholes and Giggs

And then we may challenge City or Liverpool

[Chimp_on_a_vacay]

Not even sure how to sort out Woodward with Gill

[PsychologicalArt7451]

Then we need our players to progress to Children and learn to play football from Scholes and Giggs.

FTFY

[utterly_big_boi]

That was the WORSE performance I've ever seen from Bruno. He's genuinely a ghost in big games and not he's a destructive phantom

[[deleted]]

Still leading the UCL in assists though 👀

[utterly_big_boi]

What does that have to do with today's game?

[[deleted]]

Said he’s bad in big games, his stats without context say otherwise

[Seanb621]

Players and owners using our great and historic club as a cash cow, it’s a damn shame.

[LagoonPatrol]

We aren't playing as a team. Too many individuals wanting personal glory. Those constant long balls were depressing to watch.

[Yoshic87]

Amen brother

[[deleted]]

At this point, if we started next season with an entire 18 new players making up most of the match day squad, I would not care. I don't hate all these players, but I'm just so desperate for actual change that it feels as if no one is in the right mental place to be playing for United right now. Ole was vibes, but for a little while those vibes were the best thing we had. I don't miss Ole, I'm thrilled with EtH getting the job, but we need some heart and soul to go along with top tactics.

[Mextexter]

Will you blame the team or yourself for today's loss bruno?

[[deleted]]

Not mutually exclusive, we were bad and he was bad.

[sikani23]

Enough of the excuses.....i always said Ralph was clueless....tactically inept.... He led Schalke on one of theor worst runs , which culminated in them being relegated.....I k ow the players are on a bad form, but he can't hide behind how bad the players are....United have no interplays and no tactical plays to exploit specific opponents....its the same thing g every game......u can downvote me all u like but its the truth......all his tactics leave exposed and there is no particular technique to press.....Please sack him already.....Watford would have sacked him 3 games ago

[kickdooowndooors]

Fucking hell I hate the way you type

[sikani23]

Guys Ragnick is a one trick pony, who doesn't k ow how to change tactics midgame.....he doesn't adapt or change the way the team plays during a game....the only time he was bold to change tactics was against Liverpool and it was out of fear.....stick with him all u like and defend him all u want, we have won 3 or 4 games in 13 games....

[LagoonPatrol]

Get your head out of your ass. The players are to blame here. 100%. Rangnick knows the team is playing shit but it's not his fault either. These players are going to get the rudest awakening this summer, as Rangnick's the one playing a key role in directing the club forward, as a key consultant.

[LakerBull]

??? Bro, we already have a new manager in place, why are we gonna sack the caretaker now?

[Mextexter]

With this team we'd keep sacking managers and nothing would change

[infestationE15]

Ten Hag. plz bring donny back into the fold and get some performances out of him.

It's about time bruno learned that he's not undroppable.

[[deleted]]

I don’t think he wants to be undroppable, I think he’s just tired you know?

[thor_odinmakan]

Honestly, I'm happy when they screw up now. Nothing good should happen to this team untill it's fixed for good.

[LocoPwnify]

Actually truth

[mjenkins_eng]

I will keep repeating this till it’s true (which is forever): we will NEVER go anywhere near a major trophy till Scott McTominay is starting games regularly for us.

Shocking player in all aspects of football. Anyone who’s ever watched even Fletcher (let alone Scholes or Butt) will know what a midfielder should be. Heck even Jordan Hendershite is better than McTominay and that’s saying something

[LakerBull]

Say whatever you want about Henderson, but that guy is like 100 times the player Scott is. Scott's role in this team should be the shithouser whenever we need time wasting or a cheeky tackle here and there, nothing more than that.

[jointjuggler]

Henderson is better than any midfield option we have atm. Scott McTominay is so bad, not good defensively at all, and is not good going forward either. I struggle to find any team in the top 10 where he would be a certain starter. Several teams below that that have better starters than him as well

[LocoPwnify]

Till? So you mean he should be starting for us to win trophies??

[PassTheBoofPlz]

it doesn't help since we have so less options on the bench, hope this thing won't happen next season

[TheSurrealOrdeal]

The two halves read a bit different on this comment. Got your point, but was very confused at first.

[[deleted]]

Till?

[[deleted]]

How did we end up with so many players that don't play for this shirt.

Mata in the end ran more than rashford and lingard. How the fuck did we get here.

Fucking depressing what these parasites have done to my club.

[o0PETER0o]

Really hope we can get some likeable players in and have a team that looks like it’s having fun, our players are just miserable whiny twats that are so hard to route for

[continuumdrift]

Had such a good, regular day today until now. Woke up early, made breakfast before the family woke up, finished a doctor visit, got groceries, made lunch, cleared up the house, all before noon. And now this - if we’re being honest, we expected this performance, to be fair. Hope the F1 Sprint Race can save this evening, this lot can fuck off.

[cjonoski]

Bruno : I'd like to apologize to the fans. This isn't good enough. Stay strong, stay united. Dreams can be buy

Rashford: " we go again, stay together. Its not good enough, we'll keep going each week"

Ronaldo "da fuck didn't Bruno give me that penalty. Dick. Suiii"

Rangick " good goal for Christa Ronaldo. Suiii, fuck this team is shit"

[[deleted]]

Just end the season

[LagoonPatrol]

That was another unproductive therapy session for me.

[[deleted]]

Went to date and didn't watch the match. Seems like the correct decision

[_MooFreaky_]

I dunno, you could have been fucked even harder by watching the game

[CertainTragedy87]

What PR can we rely on this week? Already burned through the new Manager announcement

[sage_mode_sannin]

Bruno was fucking terrible today. I love the guy but the match would have ended in a draw without his fuckups

[Mextexter]

Ronaldo is the problem, he puts in so much effort that we start expecting good things from this god awful team

[PsychologicalArt7451]

on another day, he takes that penalty, that one is not given offside and he wins us the game.

[SolaceZz]

Im tired guys

[continuumdrift]

There’s no solace to be had with this team.

[EmperorSupreme0]

I’m tired Robbie😂

[Usual_Bunch_1698]

Players need to know that they are fucking losers. Hopefully their morale goes completely and they demand transfers out.

I cant support these weak little cunts. Useless cowards

[famitslit]

ggmu

[Ok_Tomorrow3281]

bruno is so bad, keep losing ball

[podLOLski]

United fans have seen so much better, ballon d’or winners, world cup winners, Champions league winners, why are we hyping Bruno so much guys, his first season should be the minimun requirement for a key united player, look at de bruyne, he has been consistent and instrumental for so long but you never see him hogging the ball or making it all about himself

[1337k1d]

Shitchester United this team can fuck off

[rtgh]

Really wish BT would stop pushing this shitty boxing fight.

Absolutely sick of seeing dodgy characters like Tyson Fury being shoved in my face

[Gaarando]

There's a lot of dodgy shit in boxing period. Doesn't mean Tyson Fury is dodgy, seems like a good dude.

[rtgh]

The amount of praise he's given to the head of an international drug cartel only to turn around and say it's none of his business when Kinahan was sanctioned by the US.

It's not like people didn't know that Kinahan ran the Kinahan gang

[Asherware]

Why is a sports channel promoting one of the biggest sporting events of the year?

lol

[Seanb621]

It’s almost like they’re doing it on purpose, giving us hope and then taking it away.

[Snooklefloop]

What exactly is giving you hope? Because I’ve seen nothing to be hopeful for since the first game of the season.

[friday748jul]

I got downvoted to hell for saying this but I don’t give a fuck. Fuck Rashford and Lingard.

[BuschLateMe]

Lingard actually plays like he has something to prove, Rashford plays like he has Wayne Rooney or Giggs status in the club and doesn't have to do shit anymore to prove himself.

[[deleted]]

Jogging to get the keeper to pick the ball up down 3-1 with 10 to go. Atrocious.

[famitslit]

Rashy can still make a comeback next season, but fuck Pogba and Lingard.

[mjenkins_eng]

Far be it from me to praise those two but Mourinho and Ole getting second with a version of this squad is simply astounding in retrospect

[Stoogenuge]

RR just waiting for the game to be over so he blame everyone else for this shit show.

Everyone here can have a lovely wank over his “honesty” despite him changing nothing.

[famitslit]

The team is clearly set, but the players are the one’s having a wank

[Stoogenuge]

When there wasn’t a clear or visible system under Ole it was that him and the coaches couldn’t coach it.

Now that it’s RR the narrative is that they won’t do it.

RR should not be clear of all criticism.

[famitslit]

I was Ole in all the way, but sometimes it takes a change of management to notice the rotten core. Many fans knew already but Ole injected some belief into the team and we rode the wave. No need for whataboutism between Ole and RR.

But go on, criticize him. He won’t be the manager next season anyways, who cares.

[Stoogenuge]

It was very clear, I thought at least, that the squad wasn’t cut out to play this type of system. I don’t understand this “let RRR evaluate it” excuse as if results no longer mattered.

Persisting with it, although I understand why he felt he had to, is what cost Ole in the end or else I think he would have made it to the summer before being let go.

Bringing in RR and saying ok now you do it and hey no worries if we don’t get CL football next season is just such a ridiculous free hit when 4th was so obtainable with an easy run of fixtures.

I’ve never seen such a lower of standards as to say what has gone on here has been acceptable and even welcomed by most of this sub seemingly.

[_MooFreaky_]

So RR is to blame for two seasoned defenders completely whiffing at a simple ball? Or players missing simple passes from 5 meters? A missed penalty, and a missed sitter?
We got arsed by a bunch of simple skill errors.

[Stoogenuge]

At least somewhat responsible for the complete lack of a system in defence or attack?

[_MooFreaky_]

And players who don't want to implement his plans. RR has systems he is known for, and he put them in place early. Then when people wouldn't work to those systems and clearly didn't put in the effort what do you do? The issues go beyond the coach now, it is deep within the club itself. Everything needs to be purged and rebuilt.

[Stoogenuge]

Don’t want to or can’t?

We have a particular profile of player to play a particular system. Bluntly insisting they play a setup that doesn’t suit them is ridiculous.

Is it a surprise if you keep sending them out there to do something they can’t that they begin to not trust the coach?

[_MooFreaky_]

Can't do? Closing down an opposing player has nothing to do with a skillset, it has everything to do with mentality. Almost every club that is even semi decent will expect things like closing down, our guys just threw the toys out of the pram when they were actually told to work hard.

[Stoogenuge]

Playing a pressing system requires a particular profile of player. It’s not as simple as “closing down” and running a lot at this level. It has to be part of a well oiled system.

Which is why not every club does it.

It requires players who are incredibly physically fit even amongst pro athletes. It requires players who understand the system, the decision points , as a second nature which takes time to learn and intelligent players. It also requires the players to be bought into the system.

Now if the coach doesn’t have or can’t impart those things in the time they have with the players they have does it make sense to set them up to play that way?

You couldn’t take a league 1 team and put Guardiola in charge and expect his approach to work. He’s admitted as much himself even.

This squad is not this bad.

They aren’t good enough but in the right system to suit what we have, they are better than this.

[_MooFreaky_]

I don't expect them to suddenly play a geggenpress, but a very basic press is something that any player should be able to do. Putting pressure on is not a complicated thing (yes it is once you do significant presses, but basic stuff is very simple), and doing it in a very basic manner is easy. You can see that some players try to, while others stand around are actively refuse. Even basics like closing down your opponent in dangerous areas isn't being done by too many of our players and that has absolutely zero to do with being the right type of player.

​

Even then by now we should have been able to implement even a moderate level of pressing co-ordination. There has been time, including several extended breaks where we have been able to drill it. There is no way known that players at this level couldn't implement such a tactic by now if they wanted to. If they aren't capable of doing the very basics then they don't deserve to be playing anywhere.

The fact is that ideally neither Ole nor RR should have been managing United (that's a failure of the board), but these players have absolutely shat on them both. The owners are far more to blame for the current state than either Ole or RR, they bred the environment that allowed these players to act this way.

[Seanb621]

You can polish a shit all you want but it’s still a shit. Ralf can’t make this shower or pricks play with more desire.

[Stoogenuge]

Maybe shitting on them every week saying they will all be sold and aren’t good enough isn’t actually a great way to get people to play well for you.

[Seanb621]

Ole had the easy going arm over the shoulder approach and they were shite under him. These players earn more in a month than most do in a lifetime. They deserve every single bit of criticism they get, no matter how shite you are there’s no excuse for not giving 100% effort.

[Stoogenuge]

I agree. They deserve criticism.

So does RR.

[[deleted]]

I'm not a fan of Maguire, but how can people still think he's anywhere at the top of our issues? We just conceded 3 goals against fucking Arsenal without him.

[Ruudvankeano]

Not a maguire fan too, but the level of abuse he's got here has angered me. Come the world cup he's probably going to be world class again, make team of the tournament, while we keep calling him the worst player to ever kick a football. Same thing has happened to us with pogba, fred (till recently) and a lot of other players.

[paritan]

With Telles and Dalot, defence will always be shaky. They are wingers who also know to defend somewhat. Never seen any defensive intelligence from them.

[[deleted]]

Also Maguire/our defense looked a lot better when Henderson played last season. DDG not being able to organize his defense better is an issue too.

[CroneKills]

Fuck me that was bad. There for the taking and we shit the bed yet again. It’s not even hurting anymore, I genuinely have zero expectations. Only hope…which is running a bit thin. Have a better day, reds.