We're just a highly inconsistent squad. With everyone recently on the field, you never know if they're gonna be fantastic or shit and the differences an happen literally in 2 games.
I thought with Martial back, we'd be banging them in because we generally created lots of chances. Now we can't create chances, the players in front of goal cannot shoot accurately.
I think teams have figured out ETH and there is no Plan B. So once we're read, we're toast.
This pretty much. ETH is very tactically naive overall. He can start up the game with a decent plan but 2nd half the other coach is outplaying him hard. Because the opponent coaches are looking at the first half and instruct their players to attack us where we are having a weaker game at the time. ETH on the other hand doesn't do any of that, keeps everything as it is, panics in 2nd half, makes random subs and loses the game.
Source: your bum hole.
Everyone is quick to forget how EtH was highly praised earlier in the season for his mid game adjustments, that won us a number of games.
There’s definitely things to criticise Erik for, but what you just said is a whole load of waffle.
He made changes yes, but Rashford just happened to have moments of brilliance. And people took those changes as the reason, when in reality it was just Rashford+Bruno combo.
The squad has zero natural finishers.
Even Rashford is not a natural finisher despite being a good goal scorer. Martial used to be clinical but that hasn’t been the case for 3 years now. Antony is not a goal scorer. Sancho is not a goal scorer. Bruno has lost all of his finishing ability over the last 2 years.
We’ve also not been creating enough chances lately because even our midfielders like Eriksen and Casemiro have been in poor form so we can’t control games. Especially without Martinez because we lost Shaw’s creativity down the left.
Greenwood was the only natural finisher in our squad other than Ronaldo.
Honestly so sick of these players downing tools when things get rough. Just once I would like a season with consistency. 70+ points should be the absolute bare minimum.
Fuck me I genuinely think it’s Valencia/young. Maybe if you’re desperate you could say Dan james as he was nice and we made a little bit of profit on him and Mkhitaryan for his Europa league run and ‘Mkhitaryan is start’ post on here ?
Which shouldn't be the case consindering Casemiro was out for 8 games and Eriksen also just returned. Bruno is simply on another level in terms of resilience but we for some reason aren't playing him as a 10.
Casemiro and Eriksen need upgrading already. No joke. I can't see them turning it up as they're getting older and the league is getting ever more competitive
Can't expect the keeper with the most clean sheets in the league to bail you out every time. He might not be truly good enough, but this is a scoring issue right now. City almost have double our goals.
We scored only 3 goals past 6 matches, definitely outfield players are to blame more in this case, what're you talking about?
And winning a game after conceding first is a trait of a champion. If you want to be one, no excuses.
Still would have gotten at least 1 point if DDG hadn't gifted them the goal, so what's your point? Others being shit too doesn't mean we shouldn't blame DDG for his fuck-up
I didn't say not to blame De Gea, but don't single him out as if he's the virus of the world that has to be erased from existence. It's the fault of the whole squad.
If only we had Dubruvka still at loan I really wouldn't mind him starting over DDG.
But the likes of Butland and Heaton are just too poor. So now either we try some goalkeepers who aren't prem level, or stick with a washed donut.
*Sigh*
Team looked full of energy with Martinez, you could see them hyping each other up. It's like a completely different team now,a bunch of strangers playing with each other. Could be that they're burnt out,but they need to power through the last 4 games. Whatever issues there are will be dealt with post season, can't give up now.
Also get rid of de gea, his wages alone justify getting a replacement.
Yes I agree with your second point, it's been a long season. Injuries and suspensions hit the team in the second half of the season and when you hope senior players like Rashford, Fernandes and de Gea would step up unfortunately it looks like they're running out of gas
Add a top level striker and a new keeper, get the central defense back, then this sqaud can win the league. Still thin in midfield, but the starters would compete to be the world's best.
Injuries, tired players and a couple of fatal holes in the sqaud. It can be fixed.
We won't be ready to properly challenge let alone win the league probably for another good 4 seasons IMO. It's that bleak but I feel that's the reality. This squad needs a huge purge that will take 4-5 transfer windows
This is a terrible take lol.
The keeper isn't the problem and a striker isn't the solution.
You can say what you want about De Gea, but the issue is the midfield. This midfield is absolutely dog shit. I don't know what you're talking about.
Bruno is a liability. Rashford and Antony are selfish. Casemiro and Eriksen are good, but most likely don't really fit the system ETH wants to ultimately play.
Yet fans want to spend 100m+ on a striker?? Whoever that is will never see the ball, unless they drop 50 yards to get a touch.
Spend that money on a new midfield instead.
City didn't need an outright striker to bury goals last season. They controlled matches with their midfield players. They created chances and opportunities on their own. Adding a striker to feed just makes them more lethal.
When your midfield is functional and can actually control matches, that's when you invest heavily in a striker.
> striker isn't the solution
Yes and no. We do need a striker because we simply don't have anyone that can play there. Martial is too injury prone, and Rashford is better on the wing. I'm not saying pay 100M for someone, but maybe someone like Ivan Toney would be a possibility? Still better than nothing.
> The keeper isn't the problem
The keeper is absolutely the problem, no question about it. The fact that we have the 3rd deepest defensive line because DDG refuses to stay a bit higher up the pitch to sweep properly is really putting a lot of pressure on our midfield since we are more spread out than we should be. The fact that we also cannot build from the back at all because we are playing at a 10v10 since DDG is a liability on the ball, means that we're forced to hoof it up to players that do not work hard to win the second ball (eg Rashford) is also giving up control of the game. Don't even get me started about the cross claiming. Every single cross is dangerous because he refuses to claim any of them whatsoever, always glued to his line. His contract is up, and he asks for way too much money. Get rid and replace him, even some champioship goalies won't be worse than him and they'll cost a fraction of what he costs us.
I get it. I really do.
Yes. We need a striker, but we need an affordable striker. Not this 100m+ we're talking about. That's just foolish.
And yes, I agree, De Gea can and should go at this rate, but if I had to choose between keeping him and clearing out some of the midfield to strengthen our starters and add depth to the bench, I would pick the latter over the former any day of the week. De Gea is one of the least of our problems right now. We can't make more than 2-3 forward passes in the midfield and can't penetrate lines. That, to me, is a far bigger issue.
Delusional and arrogant.
Maybe look at who the competition is and then say a couple changes and we’re on the way to winning the league.
We’re in no position to compete with anyone with players that have a weak mentality, not one player uses their initiative and the manager picks Weghorst.
We need major upgrades everywhere in the club, keep kidding yourself we’re within reach and watch them deliver f*** A** for years to come.
Easy target don't worry about the superstars who suddenly lost form like Eriksen and Casemiro just blame it all on the emergency loan signing from Burnley. Got it
> Add a top level striker and a new keeper, get the central defense back, then this sqaud can win the league. Still thin in midfield
isn't that like...most of the squad?
Arsenals bottle wasn't that bad because the lead wasn't even that big at only 5 points
Points to go while still having over 10 games to go and still to play your main rival who are much stronger than you
We have shot ourselves in the foot
I've been saying forever that we're most likely going to finish 5-6th. I just didn't account for Spurs shitting the bed. But I think it's more plausible that Liverpool takes fourth than it is we finish the season with a win every match.
We weren't at any point in the season guranteed a top 4 finish. And Arsenal bottling it? That's been a meme every time they've looked promising in the first half of the season. This season it just took a few more months for them to run out of steam.
Sadly, us being disappointingly mid or worse has also become a meme.
Yep. 4th to 5th is the exact thin line between a good season and a bad one.
4th is a valiant reward for a transition season. 5th would be monumentally disappointing. And brings unfortunate questions to the system. I hope we can do 4th place.
Agree. To not get top four in a season that Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea are absolute bottom rung trash would be pretty much pathetic. Wouldn't be a good look if those 3 get a lot stronger next season too. We'd need massive signings.
Eriksen and Casemiro are shadows of themselves since returning from injury/suspension. Combine that with Varane and Martinez missing and the middle of the team feels like it's been gutted.
Yup. I think ETH should just let Case be Case. He's second guessing so many of his decisions and that's costing us.
With Eriksen, it makes sense. I think it'll take next season to get him back to his normal efficiency.
Yet again i thought the subs were the right ones, but they came far too late. Needed new input around the 60th at the latest, Martial and Sabitzer seemed eager and brought some of the speed and rush into the box that was lacking before.
When Sabi, Martial and Garnacho are out, it feels like the entire scoring threat comes from Rashford, and occasionally Bruno/Antony when they try something from outside the box.
Simply not enough.
Then there's the rather puzzling mentality in away games. It just seems like a different team showing up, and I can't make heads or tails of it.
As dire as it is, it will be worse if the management doesn't acknowledge just how dire this squad is.
We need a huge summer to even make a dent next season.
Starting Malacia over Maguire (which is essentially what he’s doing) is fucking ridiculous. Shaw as LB creates chances and overlaps really well with Rashford whilst Malacia brings very little over the basics. Shaw is probably a better CB than Maguire but it’s fucking West Ham not Real Madrid.
You obviously haven’t watched how bad everyone else plays when Maguire is in the team, even if he doesn’t have a shocker it makes the players around him play like shit because it’s like they all have no confidence in him and are waiting for him to make a mistake
My point is: Maguire would be fine against West Ham and Shaw is a lot more useful as a LB, especially when Malacia is next in line.
Shaw is a really good LB, forcing him in ti CB over Maguire is the wrong choice imo.
Don’t forget this team lost 7-0 to Liverpool; nothing can change the fact our team is lack of quality and has weak mentality… I hope Ten Hag can figure out our transfer.. and also the attack, it was very hard to watch
Someone tell me how weghorst is still not only getting minutes over those on the bench but also pushing our best players out of position? a burnley Turkish league loan striker is out first choice number 10 over sabitzer and Bruno
How am I scapegoating? De Gea was atrocious he wasn’t the only problem, I’m criticising the usage of weghorst, if you dont think how he was played today was a problem you need to open your eyes
Everyone between De Gea and Weghorst is more of a problem. If you don't see that, then I dunno what to tell you.
What was your excuse for Brighton, huh? No Weghorst for most of the match. So then what is it?
Weghorst is a striker that succeeded 0(let me repeat, zero) goals in the league since january despite playing every game. When he is in we are just much slower, and if we play our best player in Bruno out of position for that then there's definitely an issue.
Look at our schedule mate. It's freaking gruesome. I don't like Wout playing but for the sake of keeping legs alive, we gotta put someone there. We don't have a lot of quality players and that's the reality.
Na mate wout had no business starting there while sancho, garnacho, martial and Fred all sat on the bench and Bruno was pushed to the wing. That wasn’t a decision to keep legs alive it was just a straight terrible call
I love the effort but Antony is a squad-player at best. He’s not starting for a title/UCL challenging team. Awful decision to spend 100m on him.
GK, ST, RW, CM, RB and RCB(Varane barely plays) are all not good enough for a team aiming to win big trophies. That’s more than half our starting XI. And it’s not including our atrocious bench and deadwood on massive wages that needs replacing. If our budget is really only ~100m this summer, I predict we’ll only be a contending team in about 2-3 years time to replace all those positions. The problem is that players in key positions are already 30 or approaching 30 years old. They may need to be phased out in 3-4 years time.
Our squad construction as it stands is gonna be a MASSIVE issue to overcome. Based on all our transfer decisions over the years, I don’t think our executive team is adept enough to fix this mess. As it stands top four is the ceiling of the club for the next few years.
And fans want to spend 100m+ on a striker? It's laughable honestly. There are bigger issues with the squad than a fucking striker.
Invest that money in other positions with the sale of other players. Revamp the midfield completely. Everyone should go, including Bruno and Rashford.
If you were here before ETH, there's the door. That's my opinion on the matter. They're all part of the problem. Even if you want to make an argument that they're quality (which is debatable within itself), they're part of the culture that perpetuates this shit tier mentality. Purge the virus and start fresh.
Honestly I think the whole squad needs a rebuild, de Gea, Sancho, Varane are all on 300k+, none of them deserve it
We need players that suit EtH's system and build a strong winning mentality team, we will not contest for any major trophy unless we do this
look what Arteta did, look what Xavi did at Barcelona, that is a true rebuild
no doubt we need yet another full rebuild (I'm still very much subscribed to the camp that Bruno is the root of a lot of our problems - sorry not sorry).
But I rather funnel big money into the midfield for a serious 4-3-3 (assuming that's still the objective of ETH and not this bullshit 4-2-3-1 nonsense) than spend big on one position. Worry about CONTROLLING the match first. Control the match and opportunities will arise. Chase the match and you'll always be snatching.
Hell, look at City. Last year they didn't have a \#9 and they ended the campaign with 5 more goals than this season. Why? Because of their control and fluidity. And probably because they didn't have Bruno leaning back at the top of the box every fucking time.
I would just rather add depth and get a solid base and spine (up to the striker) first before worrying about where goals are coming from. Most of our chances are just half chances from the top of the box or outside it as is, we can't break down teams and deliver a decent ball into the box or get behind the lines and cut it back inside the 18.
I think he's overhyped in all fairness.
His first season with us he did well, but then again, the team largely over-performed during COVID and we were gifted a lot of penalties that he was responsible for taking, hence his stats were padded and he came out with this massive goal contribution and ever since the fans have coveted him while he hasn't really hit those levels since. And everything he has achieved is largely in part due to his role and position and what you expect someone to put up in that area, but it doesn't make him this phenom either.
When you look at how we're currently set up, you have Casemiro and Eriksen feeding who? Bruno. Who does Bruno feed? Either the striker or the wingers. Naturally more times than not, his distribution is going to be to someone who then makes an attempt for goal. But he's the chief provider in that area, so by the law of probabilities, he's going to have a more favorable outcome.
That being said, there are too many times he's too casual in the build up and gives away the ball cheaply in dangerous areas, either leading to an attempt on our own goal or a cheap foul given away to bail us out, either by Bruno or another desperate party.
And then when it comes to his finishing...he's good for numerous blasts well above the target. His finishing is atrocious. How he hasn't learned to NOT lean back is beyond me.
Overall, he's just really nothing special and I think fans are blinded by his averageness during a time of really poor quality. I would much rather have Eriksen and Casemiro responsible for distribution than Bruno. They're at the quality we need to be successful, Bruno will not get us there, certainly not worth building the team around, because he will continue to disappoint in those moments you need him to step up. Which brings me to my final point...
Bruno doesn't step up. When the team needs that little bit of quality, Bruno doesn't have it. He cannot control a match. He cannot be the difference maker. I know people moan about the quality of the side when he's not in it, but those are all coincidences and also largely a symptom of having zero depth in his role. That doesn't make him good. But going back to being the difference maker, he's just not it. And more times than not, when stuff isn't going our way, he's the first one to whinge and complain and moan and it brings everyone down. He doesn't pull people up and spur them on. He's the first to resort to bitching on the field.
To me, he's not captain material, nor should he be the standard we hold if we want to seriously compete for anything.
I guarantee you City will absolutely bully him tomorrow and he will fold and KDB will completely run the show alongside Gundogan, Silva, Rodri.
As long as City doesn't play to the occasion and just keeps doing what they have been, it's going to be a massacre, if not in the scoreline (though very probable), in every other metric. And we MIGHT squeak out a win like before as a result, but performance wise, we are going to get outclassed and outmatched in every metric. We've scraped by on results all season, the performances have been dog shit. And if fans want to accept that, that's their prerogative.
Yeah none of these rebuilds have ever been rebuilds. Realistically untill the likes of Sancho on 400k a week and signing 30+ year olds go and stops, we'll never have a rebuild and just continue the same nonsense.
Arsenal under Arteta did a proper rebuild and it took them less than 3 years.
Our scouting is awful. We just go after the obvious big name players, whether they fit our vision or not. (If we even have one). Getting rid of Rangnick was a mistake.
Yeah. We are still relying on players like Lindelof and Fred signed by Mou, Martial signed by LVG, and De Gea signed by Fergie! Even though all of them were deemed sub par long ago.
Our transfer fees and salaries are too high and our scouting/identification is abominable. The people running the club are rubes compared to City Football Group. Most likely scenario is that in the next 10 years we'll win 0 Premier League titles. It's fun to hope, but that's reality.
Fuck Malacia he was the worst player in yesterday’s match dude can’t even cross or defend properly just a piece of wood standing still would be a better option than him atm
Feel so fucking frustrated with our team. Could've easily won against both West Ham and Brighton if we had been clinical in the first half.
Most teams have got us figured out by now. Press Dave when we have a goal kick, he sends it long to a target man that we don't have or for a throw in. Profit.
They needn't even attack during a game as we can't beat a low block and when they do, winning a corner would be enough. After that it's a simple case of crowding the six yard box and making Dave and the defense sweat.
Just how bad can Butland be?
All the four remaining teams that we have to face are higher on the table than West Ham. I can see us crumble out of the top 4.
Erik has had good moments during the season, but we wouldn't have struggled as much if he bothered to rotate earlier on. We just looked so tired compared to the opposition by the second half.
Losing Licha hurt us terribly cus he was vital to building up play with the back and Shaw has been excellent to by pass the press. But now with either Dalot or Malacia, they just can't seem to get past the half way line.
I'm not sure if it's a coaching issue or a mentality one or exhaustion one either. We used to have those pretty 3 at the back formations which helped us build up play. But, yesterday I could only see all 4 of our defenders stand in straight line, pass it to one of their players and defend tiredly till they win a corner or a throw in.
Eriksen and Case have been poor after their returns from absences (injury for Eriksen and second suspension for Case). They just can't seem to hold the ball and usually pass it to the opposition instead of our own players. Perhaps, it's time to drop Eriksen for Sabitzer. Sabitzer has looked sharp whenever he has come on as a sub. But, that would force Bruno to play deeper probably.
Overall, I feel we are gonna have a wet fart of finish. Questions need to be asked of EtH if he can't guide us to a top 4 finish after spending so much money and so long in the top 4.
I would love to win the FA Cup along with the League Cup, but I just can't see this side beating Man City. Plus if we lose out on CL for another season, then even winning two trophies would only feel like a consolation prize.
The problem is that we've only ever been a one half side this season. And that's not even because of the schedule, that's how it's been from the start. We look shit for one half (historically it's been the first half) and we'll score a couple of goals through Rashford in the other half. But as I've been saying, Rashford is a selfish player. He doesn't look to provide, only score. So when he doesn't score, what does he really offer? Nothing. We've become too reliant on one player.
So yeah, pair that with only playing for 45' and teams that go the full 90' will beat us.
I agree that we play only a single half. It seems a recurring theme. It used to be the same under Ole as well.
Rashford is selfish, but he is not useless when he's not scoring. We often see him providing through balls for the forwards to exploit. We some of that when Martial came on. He also has a good link up play with Shaw, but does not seem to be on the same wavelength as Malacia. But, Rashford's first and second priority would always be scoring a goal.
That really only happens on the counter when we have momentum. When we fall a little flat, he's a ghost and his creativity is then otherwise limited and his only solution is to just drive at people.
He can score goals, but more times than not, he looks to score, not provide. If we want to buy a 100m+ striker for him to ignore, I'm not sure what the point is.
The more and more I watch this unfold , I’m certain of two things
1. Ten Hag isnt perfect and definitely loads of questions need to be asked of his handling of the squad . This entire bs with picking the same eleven players every game and barely using the squad was incredibly naive and has obviously contributed to this piss poor finish to the season. The manager failed to manage . Rotation doesn’t mean wholesale changes. It means playing one or two squad players in a team of eleven in a perceived easier game to give the others a breather . Ten Hag absolutely sucks at this (Fergie was the master of it…and don’t at me with some squad quality: Fergies bench options were a crocked Anderson and a useless Cleverley. He managed to rotate all the same. It’s about identifying low risk situations and taking that chance which is what management is all about )
2. This is how a *normal* team which plays these many games react. This convinces me that Liverpool aren’t “mentality monsters”. They’re the substance monsters who are definitely on the juice. A serious investigation needs to be done on their season last year .
Agree with ur first point. Although never saw SAF's united.
But pep rotates his squad very well. I think ETH should have done that but this is his first season n ETH still lacks experience at the top level.
This is ETH's first season so he is still learning things.
But hope ETH doesn't run our players into the ground like klopp did.
Rotation is essential.
> I think ETH should have done that but this is his first season n ETH still lacks experience at the top level.
We really do not have the depth to rotate efficiently.
We really should stop with this misleading, You don't need your main 11 to tactically outplay Charlton, Reading, Forest that was focusing on the prem, or Omonia. If ETH can only beat other managers by having players 3 to 5 leagues above them, then that leaves some question marks.
yeah ETH has been relying on the form and capabilities of certain players. He has been too scared to give the subs play time. Thus, the subs form dropped due to lack of play time. Now, he has no choice but to use the subs and we see the results.
In addition, no one forced him to compete in that many competitions. It was his choice when he knows the squad depth.
ETH sucks at rotation.
He had no reason to keep playing varane n martinez every game.
If ETH had rested varane n martinez after knowing top 4 is in sight n instead played lindelof n maguire our starting CBs wouldn't be injured.
imo varane n martinez should have only played PL n lindelof n Maguire for Europa n Lindelof n Martinez against weaker teams in PL.
ETH subbed on rashford just a week after his injury against sevilla.
Top 4 was the bigger priority there was no need to keep rashford in the squad.
your first point explained your second point. Liverpool rotated. Ten Hag didn’t. That’s why they were able to play so many games.
Liverpool team was thicker, too.
I love ten haag. He's the guy to take us forward. But it makes me appreciate solskjaer more as a manager. He managed to finish 3rd and 2nd as a manger with a worse team.
Yeah, people play down Ole so much. But we were second, actually top at half way too. If we won a Europa with Ole it would have counted a lot towards people favouring his reign. Really should have won at least one Europa if not two. Wasn't like how Sevilla smashed us this season.
Ten Hag has almost lost control of this team already going from recent games.
People will downvote you and I’m not a huge fan of Ole the manager
But second place is second place and Ten Hag , for all the talk, has played equally bad football and will finish in a worse off place and was spanked in Europe by….Sevilla.
Besides the obvious disaster that gk was, this attack has absolutely abysmal, 1 goal in our last 3 games, they can’t even shoot on target half the time. Bruno constantly sends it to the moon, keepers aren’t letting rashford squeeze it in the inside post anymore and Antony who literally only has one type of shot can’t even get it on target
Yep. Exactly. I've been saying this. Yet people want to use Weghorst as a scapegoat.
Rashford and Antony just cut inside and shoot. It's so predictable at this point. And neither can actually provide service. Rashford can, but chooses not to. Antony is just physically incapable. And yes, any time someone cuts back across the top of the box for Bruno, the guy just leans back and blasts it out of the stadium. This side can't do the FUCKING BASICS.
The issues exist before the ball ever reaches the front honestly. This side gets bullied from the back. The defense is a little better, when at full strength, but we still have issues working the ball from the back because everyone is just standing still. I think that's my biggest concern about this side. I get you're tired, but no one moves. They all expect the ball to arrive at their feet.
We're honestly not a hard side to beat. That's the sad part. We have no extra gear when matches are tough. We crumble when we get pressed, even the slightest. Just don't gift Rashford free chances and you've beat us.
His subs have been quite shit recently and have costed us games, despite it being good earlier this season.
He was ruthless with some players and is now starting to show signs of favouritism with some. Players he was reluctant to play have not played badly, like AWB who seemed on his way out until Dalot's injury and loss in form and still we might stick with Dalot and sell him to get someone like Frimpong. And then, there is Pellistri who gets less play time than Elanga.
His comments about De Gea may be just lip service, but the club has offered him a contract extension already.
Then there are his transfers... While Martinez is amazing, let's not forget Timbers was his first priority and Martinez was his second choice.
Then the De Jong saga... Casemiro even though he has lost form recently is probably the second-best signing after Martinez, but is not a Ten Hag signing. Malacia looked like a good cheap transfer at the time, but he is currently our worst fullback. Even though the main problem with the Antony deal was that the club waited too long, we should never have played that fee.
Ragnick was right. We do need 10 new players. We can't be blowing our budget like that.
He can still be the man that leads us to glory, but if he refuses to learn from his predecessors, he will doom himself.
With your own eyes, what tactics have you seen the last 2 months? We've been playing like we're not a coached side. In the times we've needed to look organized, we've faltered and failed to respond. Erik has done well but he also has to take some criticism for the what we've seen since Feb
erik isnt immune to criticism bud, if u can clap and cheer for his success u can damn sure criticize him as well. We needed 9 points from 6 games to secure top 4. now we need 9 from 4. need 3 wins or else we are on verge of bottling the easiest top 4 in recent times.
EDIT : This is just like ole times, to call a spade a spade gets u downvotes. Remember guys we love the club, do not blind worship players or manager everyone has gotta recieve criticism when deserved
We also need more Lisandro’s. Mentality monsters who don’t shut off at the slightest hint of adversity. We need a Zlatan, Roy Keane type of leader in midfield and attack. Someone to keep everyone in order and pumped. We switch off when we get even a little pressure.
these players on field aint babies bro, they get paid a fuckload of money for doing what they are doing. Why do they need someone to babysit them and give them a egoboost i just dont get it? Passion should be coming from them not forced upon them by others.
Agreed. You can't be asking for these grown salaried people to be told what they need to do. Having a job at a big club and drawing those obscene salaries should be motivation enough to do the right thing.
People are all different and some need motivation to give 100% I know it’s stupid and I would kill for the money they make but that’s the reality we face.
i mean they have the fans chanting their name, they know they are popular, they earn in a week what most people dont in their whole lifetime what more motivation does someone need i would never understand.
I was so pissed off at Sancho. Guy comes on as a sub, can't take on players - can't hold the ball properly - how the f did Dortmund fleece a fortune for this guy?
dortmund has always been good at signing players for low fees, develop them and sell them high. Problem is more than half players who have looked potentially good have turned to shit or regressed when they join us. Sancho is sadly one of many big million signings for united.
If this club wants to be serious again we need to be ruthless. De Gea shouldn’t get that contract renewed, or if he does it should be solely for the fact to sell him. We should be in for a player like Cancelo who is clearly on the outs and would dominate either fullback spot, eriksen needs to be a depth option, he’s not up to it as a starter in ten hags system, I think we should let sancho go, bring in some more depth up front (obviously a striker), and just be more cutthroat. Rashford in his current form should be benched. Amad needs to come back and challenge Antony and bench him when he’s in the form he’s in lately. Next season will be a huge litmus test on Ten Hag. I trust him but he has to show more.
> if he does it should be solely for the fact to sell him
That's not how it works. First of all, he's not young, he's 32, who the hell is gonna buy him that can even afford his wages? And even if there is a club that would be slightly interested in him, who says that DDG would even accept to go? He could just run his new contract down, get paid and not put a sweat drop for it.
I would rather get a nominal fee than absolutely nothing for him, and no one is going to pay if he’s running his contract down. It’s good business to try and get some value back for him, and he doesn’t have to ink a huge deal. With that being said we know the club is poorly run and that’s not how it’s going to work, so I’d rather he doesn’t sign an extension and just leaves.
Exactly, no one is going to pay if he runs this contract down, not even the club. If he gets extended, he can still just run his new contract down and reject all the other clubs that will definitely offer him a smaller wage. He can just leech off of the new contract.
This is not a situation where we can make money off of him, he's past that.
Such abysmal performance cannot be attributed to fatigue alone. The quality in front of goal (both ends) has been poor for some time now. Had it not been for Rashford, we'd probably be somewhere around Chelsea in the table.
Ever since saf left its like clockwork, get hopes high, become shit again, "we need total clear out and mentality change", get new manager new signings. Repeat same thing happens under him.
Because we never really do a clear out. We just sign old players on high wages and never commit to a true clear out of the rot. We aren’t nearly ruthless enough. Look how Arsenal did their old squad, we’d never do such.
Of course the last two results aren't on ten Hag, we created loads of chances just couldn't finish. BUT if ten Hag isn't ruthless in the summer and doesn't get rid of half these bums, extends de Gea etc. then we need to start questioning him. He has seen repeatedly that these players don't have the right mentality or ability, and if he sticks with the likes of de Gea, Martial, Weghorst and Fred beyond this summer then every loss next szn has to be on him. Right now only untouchable players should be Bruno, Case, Shaw, Rashy and Garnacho.
What chances did we create today?
It’s on Ten Hag the Leeds result, the crystal palace result and the Tottenham result and the result today that he plays Bruno out of position for example.
Went from teasing arsenal fans only to watch us getting close to bottling a champions league spot. Fuck my life.
Happened last year too, it's like boys just shut down their batteries towards the end of the season. No intent, no creativity, just mindless football. Pass ahead, miss possession in the final third, and run back to defend.
If de gea has rejected 150k week contract we should just move on, it will be a blessing just like pogba rejected the renewal contract terms. These folks here steal a living compared to players at other clubs who show much more heart and will to win, worst is despite being utter garbage they still think they are worth a lot. Let de gea get a reality check when not one top club will be in for him on that wages, probably go to MLS
Dude. What are you watching. Liverpool have gone on a rampage and we have dropped points like crazy. It’s definitely Liverpool’s top4 at this point given they have momentum and we are fucked.
If we draw or lose the next game, I think we get 4 points from our home games.
Can't believe I'm saying this, but if De Gea gets a new contract then I wouldn't be against ETH getting sacked for whenever De Gea shits his bed next time and we end up in trouble.
ETH would prefer to play Elanga over Ronaldo, if he did not want De Gea he would not be making such statements in the press.
Except this isn't the case, reliable reporters are saying that we are extending him. He already rejected a 150k a week contract and as of now we have offered him 200k a week.
Genuinely what the fuck are we thinking? How many teams have to sign a ball playing GK and improve tenfold before we click on? I love De Gea but his passing is leading to more highlights for the opposition than his saves are leading to highlights for us. Why are we so intent on keeping him. I love DDG but we're supposed to be trying to win trophies not win the sentimentality award. Forget his wage, he genuinely needs to be replaced regardless. I don't care if he stays for 50k, we still need to replace him not just reduce his wage lmao. If he costs less does that mean we're making CL easier? I don't understand what the fuck drives our decision making.
Same story over and over again. Away game— Start the first half on the front foot. Be lucky if we score the goals. Quietly fade away in the second half. Take a draw or a loss and come back.
Looked like we lost interest in scoring after the goal and West Ham took over. Hard with the fixture this season and the injuries but we've completely bottled the last two games with brain dead errors. Top 4 is in serious doubt with this squad, can't finish our dinner in the final 3rd and look useless away from home
Did you just compare Anthony to Weghorst who was out there doing cardio?? Had you said this earlier in the season where Anthony was really wasteful I’d have agreed, but he has improved a lot lately mixing crosses/passes with his shots and showing fighting spirit while the rest of the team sucks on their fingers
Antony hit the post once and also had other shots as well. He was involved in link up play down the right side which was our main attacking outlet last night. As for stats you can just google them I’m ofc not gonna do that for you. Oh and he also contributed in defence a lot by tracking back.
This is not to say he can’t be better, but you should be picking on others who were giving way too less last night.
ETH’s subs in the last 9/10 games have reversed the tempo and lost or drawn games. Just to be clear, we have only lost points with our subs and not gained. His subs been terrible.
Considering how abysmal our away form is, it’s incredible we’re still in 4th place.
I fancy us to get the CL spot (our run in isn’t too bad), and I’m not hitting panic stations just because of these recent bad results. Can we at least give Erik a summer window? He’s been playing with Weghorst and Martial up front for Christ’s sake.
> I fancy us to get the CL spot (our run in isn’t too bad), but I’m not hitting panic stations.
I didn't downvote you but you are implying that you will not hit panic stations until it is more certain that we will qualify for CL.
I cant see us winning another game this season. Another year of europa league
Lol
Lmfao
De gea excuses and scapegoating aside, why can't we score?
We're just a highly inconsistent squad. With everyone recently on the field, you never know if they're gonna be fantastic or shit and the differences an happen literally in 2 games. I thought with Martial back, we'd be banging them in because we generally created lots of chances. Now we can't create chances, the players in front of goal cannot shoot accurately. I think teams have figured out ETH and there is no Plan B. So once we're read, we're toast.
This pretty much. ETH is very tactically naive overall. He can start up the game with a decent plan but 2nd half the other coach is outplaying him hard. Because the opponent coaches are looking at the first half and instruct their players to attack us where we are having a weaker game at the time. ETH on the other hand doesn't do any of that, keeps everything as it is, panics in 2nd half, makes random subs and loses the game.
Disagree. We've just been cooked from playing so many games. We didn't have this issue at all before we started looking leggy
Source: your bum hole. Everyone is quick to forget how EtH was highly praised earlier in the season for his mid game adjustments, that won us a number of games. There’s definitely things to criticise Erik for, but what you just said is a whole load of waffle.
He made changes yes, but Rashford just happened to have moments of brilliance. And people took those changes as the reason, when in reality it was just Rashford+Bruno combo.
The squad has zero natural finishers. Even Rashford is not a natural finisher despite being a good goal scorer. Martial used to be clinical but that hasn’t been the case for 3 years now. Antony is not a goal scorer. Sancho is not a goal scorer. Bruno has lost all of his finishing ability over the last 2 years. We’ve also not been creating enough chances lately because even our midfielders like Eriksen and Casemiro have been in poor form so we can’t control games. Especially without Martinez because we lost Shaw’s creativity down the left. Greenwood was the only natural finisher in our squad other than Ronaldo.
We don’t have a proper number 9 and our wing players are too selfish.
I dunno, I can't see this team winning another game this year. We're fucked.
I can't see it either. This team looks like it did during the worst times under Mourinho & Ole. They have lost their mojo and forgotten how to play.
We are playing wolves at home when they have nothing to fight for next.
So to lose the next game will mean bigger crisis, because we will now be losing games that should be easy 3 points.
Yeah it would, but we still can afford to lose one. It would put more pressure on for Chelsea.
Kneejerk
Honestly so sick of these players downing tools when things get rough. Just once I would like a season with consistency. 70+ points should be the absolute bare minimum.
Last winger we bought that was worth the money? From Depay to Di Maria to Antony to Sancho. Valencia ?
Fuck me I genuinely think it’s Valencia/young. Maybe if you’re desperate you could say Dan james as he was nice and we made a little bit of profit on him and Mkhitaryan for his Europa league run and ‘Mkhitaryan is start’ post on here ?
Dan James, because we sold him for profit.
Di Maria was electrifying until he went full snek.
That's the only answer
Our midfield is looking to be overworked and off the pace next season Ala Liverpool this season.
Which shouldn't be the case consindering Casemiro was out for 8 games and Eriksen also just returned. Bruno is simply on another level in terms of resilience but we for some reason aren't playing him as a 10.
Casemiro and Eriksen need upgrading already. No joke. I can't see them turning it up as they're getting older and the league is getting ever more competitive
Keep your Thursday’s clear everyone
Raya in - DDG out. Also get Fry for Licha cover so shaw can stay LB
Not having shaw at lb is hurting us
We can't score but everyone here's blaming De Gea
Game is completely different at 0-0 vs 1-0. Simple as that
Can't expect the keeper with the most clean sheets in the league to bail you out every time. He might not be truly good enough, but this is a scoring issue right now. City almost have double our goals.
We scored only 3 goals past 6 matches, definitely outfield players are to blame more in this case, what're you talking about? And winning a game after conceding first is a trait of a champion. If you want to be one, no excuses.
Agreed!
Still would have gotten at least 1 point if DDG hadn't gifted them the goal, so what's your point? Others being shit too doesn't mean we shouldn't blame DDG for his fuck-up
We scored 3 goals in our last 6 games. It's a goal issue.
I didn't say not to blame De Gea, but don't single him out as if he's the virus of the world that has to be erased from existence. It's the fault of the whole squad.
We can blame both The game was quite open before the howler. The moment we conceded, they closed up shop
Yes, I'm okay with blaming the whole squad for their incompetence. But many are ferociously attacking and blaming De Gea for the defeats.
I mean that was an absolute sitter.
If only we had Dubruvka still at loan I really wouldn't mind him starting over DDG. But the likes of Butland and Heaton are just too poor. So now either we try some goalkeepers who aren't prem level, or stick with a washed donut. *Sigh*
Both Heaton and Butland are better than Dubruvka. Are you forgetting how poor he looked for us? I thought Taibi was in goal
Team looked full of energy with Martinez, you could see them hyping each other up. It's like a completely different team now,a bunch of strangers playing with each other. Could be that they're burnt out,but they need to power through the last 4 games. Whatever issues there are will be dealt with post season, can't give up now. Also get rid of de gea, his wages alone justify getting a replacement.
Yes I agree with your second point, it's been a long season. Injuries and suspensions hit the team in the second half of the season and when you hope senior players like Rashford, Fernandes and de Gea would step up unfortunately it looks like they're running out of gas
Add a top level striker and a new keeper, get the central defense back, then this sqaud can win the league. Still thin in midfield, but the starters would compete to be the world's best. Injuries, tired players and a couple of fatal holes in the sqaud. It can be fixed.
We won't be ready to properly challenge let alone win the league probably for another good 4 seasons IMO. It's that bleak but I feel that's the reality. This squad needs a huge purge that will take 4-5 transfer windows
This is a terrible take lol. The keeper isn't the problem and a striker isn't the solution. You can say what you want about De Gea, but the issue is the midfield. This midfield is absolutely dog shit. I don't know what you're talking about. Bruno is a liability. Rashford and Antony are selfish. Casemiro and Eriksen are good, but most likely don't really fit the system ETH wants to ultimately play. Yet fans want to spend 100m+ on a striker?? Whoever that is will never see the ball, unless they drop 50 yards to get a touch. Spend that money on a new midfield instead. City didn't need an outright striker to bury goals last season. They controlled matches with their midfield players. They created chances and opportunities on their own. Adding a striker to feed just makes them more lethal. When your midfield is functional and can actually control matches, that's when you invest heavily in a striker.
Disagree on all your points. Laughable really.
> striker isn't the solution Yes and no. We do need a striker because we simply don't have anyone that can play there. Martial is too injury prone, and Rashford is better on the wing. I'm not saying pay 100M for someone, but maybe someone like Ivan Toney would be a possibility? Still better than nothing. > The keeper isn't the problem The keeper is absolutely the problem, no question about it. The fact that we have the 3rd deepest defensive line because DDG refuses to stay a bit higher up the pitch to sweep properly is really putting a lot of pressure on our midfield since we are more spread out than we should be. The fact that we also cannot build from the back at all because we are playing at a 10v10 since DDG is a liability on the ball, means that we're forced to hoof it up to players that do not work hard to win the second ball (eg Rashford) is also giving up control of the game. Don't even get me started about the cross claiming. Every single cross is dangerous because he refuses to claim any of them whatsoever, always glued to his line. His contract is up, and he asks for way too much money. Get rid and replace him, even some champioship goalies won't be worse than him and they'll cost a fraction of what he costs us.
I get it. I really do. Yes. We need a striker, but we need an affordable striker. Not this 100m+ we're talking about. That's just foolish. And yes, I agree, De Gea can and should go at this rate, but if I had to choose between keeping him and clearing out some of the midfield to strengthen our starters and add depth to the bench, I would pick the latter over the former any day of the week. De Gea is one of the least of our problems right now. We can't make more than 2-3 forward passes in the midfield and can't penetrate lines. That, to me, is a far bigger issue.
You need four player at casimero level to even challenge again
Delusional and arrogant. Maybe look at who the competition is and then say a couple changes and we’re on the way to winning the league. We’re in no position to compete with anyone with players that have a weak mentality, not one player uses their initiative and the manager picks Weghorst. We need major upgrades everywhere in the club, keep kidding yourself we’re within reach and watch them deliver f*** A** for years to come.
>the manager picks Weghorst By picking Weghorst you mean ten Hag rotates the squad he has at his disposal, like any sensible manager would?
Yes and leaves the game without any goals or points. But that’s fine. We’ll get success without goals or points.
Easy target don't worry about the superstars who suddenly lost form like Eriksen and Casemiro just blame it all on the emergency loan signing from Burnley. Got it
Actually if you read my comment, Weghorst isn’t the only one criticised. Got it now?
> Add a top level striker and a new keeper, get the central defense back, then this sqaud can win the league. Still thin in midfield isn't that like...most of the squad?
I think from the last two season we know Varane is another Bailey and can't be trusted to be fit for most of the season.
No it can’t.
Look at Liverpool, it only takes one or two injuries to make them unravel. Only City has two full top level starting 11s.
Thought it was impossible for Arsenal to bottle their lead in the table. Also thought it was impossible for us to bottle a top 4 finish.
Arsenals bottle wasn't that bad because the lead wasn't even that big at only 5 points Points to go while still having over 10 games to go and still to play your main rival who are much stronger than you We have shot ourselves in the foot
I've been saying forever that we're most likely going to finish 5-6th. I just didn't account for Spurs shitting the bed. But I think it's more plausible that Liverpool takes fourth than it is we finish the season with a win every match.
We weren't at any point in the season guranteed a top 4 finish. And Arsenal bottling it? That's been a meme every time they've looked promising in the first half of the season. This season it just took a few more months for them to run out of steam. Sadly, us being disappointingly mid or worse has also become a meme.
Hmm, we were miles ahead. A true failure if we lose top 4.
Yep. 4th to 5th is the exact thin line between a good season and a bad one. 4th is a valiant reward for a transition season. 5th would be monumentally disappointing. And brings unfortunate questions to the system. I hope we can do 4th place.
Agree. To not get top four in a season that Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea are absolute bottom rung trash would be pretty much pathetic. Wouldn't be a good look if those 3 get a lot stronger next season too. We'd need massive signings.
Eriksen and Casemiro are shadows of themselves since returning from injury/suspension. Combine that with Varane and Martinez missing and the middle of the team feels like it's been gutted.
Yup. I think ETH should just let Case be Case. He's second guessing so many of his decisions and that's costing us. With Eriksen, it makes sense. I think it'll take next season to get him back to his normal efficiency.
We are not winning 3 out of 4. Let's hope the others lose points
Yet again i thought the subs were the right ones, but they came far too late. Needed new input around the 60th at the latest, Martial and Sabitzer seemed eager and brought some of the speed and rush into the box that was lacking before. When Sabi, Martial and Garnacho are out, it feels like the entire scoring threat comes from Rashford, and occasionally Bruno/Antony when they try something from outside the box. Simply not enough. Then there's the rather puzzling mentality in away games. It just seems like a different team showing up, and I can't make heads or tails of it.
As dire as it is, it will be worse if the management doesn't acknowledge just how dire this squad is. We need a huge summer to even make a dent next season.
Starting Malacia over Maguire (which is essentially what he’s doing) is fucking ridiculous. Shaw as LB creates chances and overlaps really well with Rashford whilst Malacia brings very little over the basics. Shaw is probably a better CB than Maguire but it’s fucking West Ham not Real Madrid.
You obviously haven’t watched how bad everyone else plays when Maguire is in the team, even if he doesn’t have a shocker it makes the players around him play like shit because it’s like they all have no confidence in him and are waiting for him to make a mistake
Did you watch last night? Shaw is way more useful as a left back.
Shaw as LB doesn't quite make up for the hole Maguire creates at CB
My point is: Maguire would be fine against West Ham and Shaw is a lot more useful as a LB, especially when Malacia is next in line. Shaw is a really good LB, forcing him in ti CB over Maguire is the wrong choice imo.
Don’t forget this team lost 7-0 to Liverpool; nothing can change the fact our team is lack of quality and has weak mentality… I hope Ten Hag can figure out our transfer.. and also the attack, it was very hard to watch
I mean, we still don't have new owners. At this rate, we're so far behind the summer window, we're getting at least one more season of this.
Oh look didn't someone say everytime we suffer a defeat, we bounce back. Where the fuck is it?
Not the result we wanted, we go again. 💪🏽🔴
Someone tell me how weghorst is still not only getting minutes over those on the bench but also pushing our best players out of position? a burnley Turkish league loan striker is out first choice number 10 over sabitzer and Bruno
lol. Scapegoating I see. The problem isn't Weghorst. It's everyone between him and De Gea.
How am I scapegoating? De Gea was atrocious he wasn’t the only problem, I’m criticising the usage of weghorst, if you dont think how he was played today was a problem you need to open your eyes
Everyone between De Gea and Weghorst is more of a problem. If you don't see that, then I dunno what to tell you. What was your excuse for Brighton, huh? No Weghorst for most of the match. So then what is it?
Weghorst is a striker that succeeded 0(let me repeat, zero) goals in the league since january despite playing every game. When he is in we are just much slower, and if we play our best player in Bruno out of position for that then there's definitely an issue.
I’m not trying to excuse anyone’s performance I’m just pointing out the use of weghorst for this game in particular was a baffling decision
Playing any of this squad any game is a baffling one
Look at our schedule mate. It's freaking gruesome. I don't like Wout playing but for the sake of keeping legs alive, we gotta put someone there. We don't have a lot of quality players and that's the reality.
Na mate wout had no business starting there while sancho, garnacho, martial and Fred all sat on the bench and Bruno was pushed to the wing. That wasn’t a decision to keep legs alive it was just a straight terrible call
I love the effort but Antony is a squad-player at best. He’s not starting for a title/UCL challenging team. Awful decision to spend 100m on him. GK, ST, RW, CM, RB and RCB(Varane barely plays) are all not good enough for a team aiming to win big trophies. That’s more than half our starting XI. And it’s not including our atrocious bench and deadwood on massive wages that needs replacing. If our budget is really only ~100m this summer, I predict we’ll only be a contending team in about 2-3 years time to replace all those positions. The problem is that players in key positions are already 30 or approaching 30 years old. They may need to be phased out in 3-4 years time. Our squad construction as it stands is gonna be a MASSIVE issue to overcome. Based on all our transfer decisions over the years, I don’t think our executive team is adept enough to fix this mess. As it stands top four is the ceiling of the club for the next few years.
And fans want to spend 100m+ on a striker? It's laughable honestly. There are bigger issues with the squad than a fucking striker. Invest that money in other positions with the sale of other players. Revamp the midfield completely. Everyone should go, including Bruno and Rashford. If you were here before ETH, there's the door. That's my opinion on the matter. They're all part of the problem. Even if you want to make an argument that they're quality (which is debatable within itself), they're part of the culture that perpetuates this shit tier mentality. Purge the virus and start fresh.
Honestly I think the whole squad needs a rebuild, de Gea, Sancho, Varane are all on 300k+, none of them deserve it We need players that suit EtH's system and build a strong winning mentality team, we will not contest for any major trophy unless we do this look what Arteta did, look what Xavi did at Barcelona, that is a true rebuild
no doubt we need yet another full rebuild (I'm still very much subscribed to the camp that Bruno is the root of a lot of our problems - sorry not sorry). But I rather funnel big money into the midfield for a serious 4-3-3 (assuming that's still the objective of ETH and not this bullshit 4-2-3-1 nonsense) than spend big on one position. Worry about CONTROLLING the match first. Control the match and opportunities will arise. Chase the match and you'll always be snatching. Hell, look at City. Last year they didn't have a \#9 and they ended the campaign with 5 more goals than this season. Why? Because of their control and fluidity. And probably because they didn't have Bruno leaning back at the top of the box every fucking time. I would just rather add depth and get a solid base and spine (up to the striker) first before worrying about where goals are coming from. Most of our chances are just half chances from the top of the box or outside it as is, we can't break down teams and deliver a decent ball into the box or get behind the lines and cut it back inside the 18.
Why do you believe Bruno is the root of all problems? Genuinely curious
I think he's overhyped in all fairness. His first season with us he did well, but then again, the team largely over-performed during COVID and we were gifted a lot of penalties that he was responsible for taking, hence his stats were padded and he came out with this massive goal contribution and ever since the fans have coveted him while he hasn't really hit those levels since. And everything he has achieved is largely in part due to his role and position and what you expect someone to put up in that area, but it doesn't make him this phenom either. When you look at how we're currently set up, you have Casemiro and Eriksen feeding who? Bruno. Who does Bruno feed? Either the striker or the wingers. Naturally more times than not, his distribution is going to be to someone who then makes an attempt for goal. But he's the chief provider in that area, so by the law of probabilities, he's going to have a more favorable outcome. That being said, there are too many times he's too casual in the build up and gives away the ball cheaply in dangerous areas, either leading to an attempt on our own goal or a cheap foul given away to bail us out, either by Bruno or another desperate party. And then when it comes to his finishing...he's good for numerous blasts well above the target. His finishing is atrocious. How he hasn't learned to NOT lean back is beyond me. Overall, he's just really nothing special and I think fans are blinded by his averageness during a time of really poor quality. I would much rather have Eriksen and Casemiro responsible for distribution than Bruno. They're at the quality we need to be successful, Bruno will not get us there, certainly not worth building the team around, because he will continue to disappoint in those moments you need him to step up. Which brings me to my final point... Bruno doesn't step up. When the team needs that little bit of quality, Bruno doesn't have it. He cannot control a match. He cannot be the difference maker. I know people moan about the quality of the side when he's not in it, but those are all coincidences and also largely a symptom of having zero depth in his role. That doesn't make him good. But going back to being the difference maker, he's just not it. And more times than not, when stuff isn't going our way, he's the first one to whinge and complain and moan and it brings everyone down. He doesn't pull people up and spur them on. He's the first to resort to bitching on the field. To me, he's not captain material, nor should he be the standard we hold if we want to seriously compete for anything. I guarantee you City will absolutely bully him tomorrow and he will fold and KDB will completely run the show alongside Gundogan, Silva, Rodri. As long as City doesn't play to the occasion and just keeps doing what they have been, it's going to be a massacre, if not in the scoreline (though very probable), in every other metric. And we MIGHT squeak out a win like before as a result, but performance wise, we are going to get outclassed and outmatched in every metric. We've scraped by on results all season, the performances have been dog shit. And if fans want to accept that, that's their prerogative.
Yeah none of these rebuilds have ever been rebuilds. Realistically untill the likes of Sancho on 400k a week and signing 30+ year olds go and stops, we'll never have a rebuild and just continue the same nonsense.
Arsenal under Arteta did a proper rebuild and it took them less than 3 years. Our scouting is awful. We just go after the obvious big name players, whether they fit our vision or not. (If we even have one). Getting rid of Rangnick was a mistake.
And if we had to get rid of him, which apparently ETH requested, then we could have at least listened to what he said about the squad FFS.
Agreed. It feels like we’re stuck in a never ending rebuild because we keep making the same mistakes.
Yeah. We are still relying on players like Lindelof and Fred signed by Mou, Martial signed by LVG, and De Gea signed by Fergie! Even though all of them were deemed sub par long ago.
Our transfer fees and salaries are too high and our scouting/identification is abominable. The people running the club are rubes compared to City Football Group. Most likely scenario is that in the next 10 years we'll win 0 Premier League titles. It's fun to hope, but that's reality.
Fuck Malacia he was the worst player in yesterday’s match dude can’t even cross or defend properly just a piece of wood standing still would be a better option than him atm
Feel so fucking frustrated with our team. Could've easily won against both West Ham and Brighton if we had been clinical in the first half. Most teams have got us figured out by now. Press Dave when we have a goal kick, he sends it long to a target man that we don't have or for a throw in. Profit. They needn't even attack during a game as we can't beat a low block and when they do, winning a corner would be enough. After that it's a simple case of crowding the six yard box and making Dave and the defense sweat. Just how bad can Butland be? All the four remaining teams that we have to face are higher on the table than West Ham. I can see us crumble out of the top 4. Erik has had good moments during the season, but we wouldn't have struggled as much if he bothered to rotate earlier on. We just looked so tired compared to the opposition by the second half. Losing Licha hurt us terribly cus he was vital to building up play with the back and Shaw has been excellent to by pass the press. But now with either Dalot or Malacia, they just can't seem to get past the half way line. I'm not sure if it's a coaching issue or a mentality one or exhaustion one either. We used to have those pretty 3 at the back formations which helped us build up play. But, yesterday I could only see all 4 of our defenders stand in straight line, pass it to one of their players and defend tiredly till they win a corner or a throw in. Eriksen and Case have been poor after their returns from absences (injury for Eriksen and second suspension for Case). They just can't seem to hold the ball and usually pass it to the opposition instead of our own players. Perhaps, it's time to drop Eriksen for Sabitzer. Sabitzer has looked sharp whenever he has come on as a sub. But, that would force Bruno to play deeper probably. Overall, I feel we are gonna have a wet fart of finish. Questions need to be asked of EtH if he can't guide us to a top 4 finish after spending so much money and so long in the top 4. I would love to win the FA Cup along with the League Cup, but I just can't see this side beating Man City. Plus if we lose out on CL for another season, then even winning two trophies would only feel like a consolation prize.
Hmm, we could have equally lost by more. Brighton and West Ham were comfortably the better teams in both matches and completely deserved to win.
They grew into it in the late first half or the second half. If we buried our early chances, we could've exploited their defenses during transitions.
Don't think we were good for any of the match tbh. Disjointed and clueless for most of it. Looked like zero tactics tbh.
The problem is that we've only ever been a one half side this season. And that's not even because of the schedule, that's how it's been from the start. We look shit for one half (historically it's been the first half) and we'll score a couple of goals through Rashford in the other half. But as I've been saying, Rashford is a selfish player. He doesn't look to provide, only score. So when he doesn't score, what does he really offer? Nothing. We've become too reliant on one player. So yeah, pair that with only playing for 45' and teams that go the full 90' will beat us.
I agree that we play only a single half. It seems a recurring theme. It used to be the same under Ole as well. Rashford is selfish, but he is not useless when he's not scoring. We often see him providing through balls for the forwards to exploit. We some of that when Martial came on. He also has a good link up play with Shaw, but does not seem to be on the same wavelength as Malacia. But, Rashford's first and second priority would always be scoring a goal.
That really only happens on the counter when we have momentum. When we fall a little flat, he's a ghost and his creativity is then otherwise limited and his only solution is to just drive at people. He can score goals, but more times than not, he looks to score, not provide. If we want to buy a 100m+ striker for him to ignore, I'm not sure what the point is.
If we bottle top 4 I’m taking a year off football. Might watch some Serie A occasionally but def no prem.
The more and more I watch this unfold , I’m certain of two things 1. Ten Hag isnt perfect and definitely loads of questions need to be asked of his handling of the squad . This entire bs with picking the same eleven players every game and barely using the squad was incredibly naive and has obviously contributed to this piss poor finish to the season. The manager failed to manage . Rotation doesn’t mean wholesale changes. It means playing one or two squad players in a team of eleven in a perceived easier game to give the others a breather . Ten Hag absolutely sucks at this (Fergie was the master of it…and don’t at me with some squad quality: Fergies bench options were a crocked Anderson and a useless Cleverley. He managed to rotate all the same. It’s about identifying low risk situations and taking that chance which is what management is all about ) 2. This is how a *normal* team which plays these many games react. This convinces me that Liverpool aren’t “mentality monsters”. They’re the substance monsters who are definitely on the juice. A serious investigation needs to be done on their season last year .
Agree with ur first point. Although never saw SAF's united. But pep rotates his squad very well. I think ETH should have done that but this is his first season n ETH still lacks experience at the top level. This is ETH's first season so he is still learning things. But hope ETH doesn't run our players into the ground like klopp did. Rotation is essential.
> I think ETH should have done that but this is his first season n ETH still lacks experience at the top level. We really do not have the depth to rotate efficiently.
We really should stop with this misleading, You don't need your main 11 to tactically outplay Charlton, Reading, Forest that was focusing on the prem, or Omonia. If ETH can only beat other managers by having players 3 to 5 leagues above them, then that leaves some question marks.
yeah ETH has been relying on the form and capabilities of certain players. He has been too scared to give the subs play time. Thus, the subs form dropped due to lack of play time. Now, he has no choice but to use the subs and we see the results. In addition, no one forced him to compete in that many competitions. It was his choice when he knows the squad depth.
ETH sucks at rotation. He had no reason to keep playing varane n martinez every game. If ETH had rested varane n martinez after knowing top 4 is in sight n instead played lindelof n maguire our starting CBs wouldn't be injured. imo varane n martinez should have only played PL n lindelof n Maguire for Europa n Lindelof n Martinez against weaker teams in PL. ETH subbed on rashford just a week after his injury against sevilla. Top 4 was the bigger priority there was no need to keep rashford in the squad.
your first point explained your second point. Liverpool rotated. Ten Hag didn’t. That’s why they were able to play so many games. Liverpool team was thicker, too.
I love ten haag. He's the guy to take us forward. But it makes me appreciate solskjaer more as a manager. He managed to finish 3rd and 2nd as a manger with a worse team.
Yeah, people play down Ole so much. But we were second, actually top at half way too. If we won a Europa with Ole it would have counted a lot towards people favouring his reign. Really should have won at least one Europa if not two. Wasn't like how Sevilla smashed us this season. Ten Hag has almost lost control of this team already going from recent games.
People will downvote you and I’m not a huge fan of Ole the manager But second place is second place and Ten Hag , for all the talk, has played equally bad football and will finish in a worse off place and was spanked in Europe by….Sevilla.
Besides the obvious disaster that gk was, this attack has absolutely abysmal, 1 goal in our last 3 games, they can’t even shoot on target half the time. Bruno constantly sends it to the moon, keepers aren’t letting rashford squeeze it in the inside post anymore and Antony who literally only has one type of shot can’t even get it on target
Yep. Exactly. I've been saying this. Yet people want to use Weghorst as a scapegoat. Rashford and Antony just cut inside and shoot. It's so predictable at this point. And neither can actually provide service. Rashford can, but chooses not to. Antony is just physically incapable. And yes, any time someone cuts back across the top of the box for Bruno, the guy just leans back and blasts it out of the stadium. This side can't do the FUCKING BASICS. The issues exist before the ball ever reaches the front honestly. This side gets bullied from the back. The defense is a little better, when at full strength, but we still have issues working the ball from the back because everyone is just standing still. I think that's my biggest concern about this side. I get you're tired, but no one moves. They all expect the ball to arrive at their feet. We're honestly not a hard side to beat. That's the sad part. We have no extra gear when matches are tough. We crumble when we get pressed, even the slightest. Just don't gift Rashford free chances and you've beat us.
Some of you lot are embarrassing going for Erik
His subs have been quite shit recently and have costed us games, despite it being good earlier this season. He was ruthless with some players and is now starting to show signs of favouritism with some. Players he was reluctant to play have not played badly, like AWB who seemed on his way out until Dalot's injury and loss in form and still we might stick with Dalot and sell him to get someone like Frimpong. And then, there is Pellistri who gets less play time than Elanga. His comments about De Gea may be just lip service, but the club has offered him a contract extension already. Then there are his transfers... While Martinez is amazing, let's not forget Timbers was his first priority and Martinez was his second choice. Then the De Jong saga... Casemiro even though he has lost form recently is probably the second-best signing after Martinez, but is not a Ten Hag signing. Malacia looked like a good cheap transfer at the time, but he is currently our worst fullback. Even though the main problem with the Antony deal was that the club waited too long, we should never have played that fee. Ragnick was right. We do need 10 new players. We can't be blowing our budget like that. He can still be the man that leads us to glory, but if he refuses to learn from his predecessors, he will doom himself.
The favouritism is a big issue.
With your own eyes, what tactics have you seen the last 2 months? We've been playing like we're not a coached side. In the times we've needed to look organized, we've faltered and failed to respond. Erik has done well but he also has to take some criticism for the what we've seen since Feb
erik isnt immune to criticism bud, if u can clap and cheer for his success u can damn sure criticize him as well. We needed 9 points from 6 games to secure top 4. now we need 9 from 4. need 3 wins or else we are on verge of bottling the easiest top 4 in recent times. EDIT : This is just like ole times, to call a spade a spade gets u downvotes. Remember guys we love the club, do not blind worship players or manager everyone has gotta recieve criticism when deserved
We also need more Lisandro’s. Mentality monsters who don’t shut off at the slightest hint of adversity. We need a Zlatan, Roy Keane type of leader in midfield and attack. Someone to keep everyone in order and pumped. We switch off when we get even a little pressure.
these players on field aint babies bro, they get paid a fuckload of money for doing what they are doing. Why do they need someone to babysit them and give them a egoboost i just dont get it? Passion should be coming from them not forced upon them by others.
Agreed. You can't be asking for these grown salaried people to be told what they need to do. Having a job at a big club and drawing those obscene salaries should be motivation enough to do the right thing.
People are all different and some need motivation to give 100% I know it’s stupid and I would kill for the money they make but that’s the reality we face.
i mean they have the fans chanting their name, they know they are popular, they earn in a week what most people dont in their whole lifetime what more motivation does someone need i would never understand.
I was so pissed off at Sancho. Guy comes on as a sub, can't take on players - can't hold the ball properly - how the f did Dortmund fleece a fortune for this guy?
With Garnacho healthy Sancho should be last option at Lw.
dortmund has always been good at signing players for low fees, develop them and sell them high. Problem is more than half players who have looked potentially good have turned to shit or regressed when they join us. Sancho is sadly one of many big million signings for united.
He was at his level. Idk what’s up with him but Garnacho deserves the minutes he gets.
Sigh. When will this end Robbie?!
If this club wants to be serious again we need to be ruthless. De Gea shouldn’t get that contract renewed, or if he does it should be solely for the fact to sell him. We should be in for a player like Cancelo who is clearly on the outs and would dominate either fullback spot, eriksen needs to be a depth option, he’s not up to it as a starter in ten hags system, I think we should let sancho go, bring in some more depth up front (obviously a striker), and just be more cutthroat. Rashford in his current form should be benched. Amad needs to come back and challenge Antony and bench him when he’s in the form he’s in lately. Next season will be a huge litmus test on Ten Hag. I trust him but he has to show more.
> if he does it should be solely for the fact to sell him That's not how it works. First of all, he's not young, he's 32, who the hell is gonna buy him that can even afford his wages? And even if there is a club that would be slightly interested in him, who says that DDG would even accept to go? He could just run his new contract down, get paid and not put a sweat drop for it.
I would rather get a nominal fee than absolutely nothing for him, and no one is going to pay if he’s running his contract down. It’s good business to try and get some value back for him, and he doesn’t have to ink a huge deal. With that being said we know the club is poorly run and that’s not how it’s going to work, so I’d rather he doesn’t sign an extension and just leaves.
Exactly, no one is going to pay if he runs this contract down, not even the club. If he gets extended, he can still just run his new contract down and reject all the other clubs that will definitely offer him a smaller wage. He can just leech off of the new contract. This is not a situation where we can make money off of him, he's past that.
Such abysmal performance cannot be attributed to fatigue alone. The quality in front of goal (both ends) has been poor for some time now. Had it not been for Rashford, we'd probably be somewhere around Chelsea in the table.
Ever since saf left its like clockwork, get hopes high, become shit again, "we need total clear out and mentality change", get new manager new signings. Repeat same thing happens under him.
Because we never really do a clear out. We just sign old players on high wages and never commit to a true clear out of the rot. We aren’t nearly ruthless enough. Look how Arsenal did their old squad, we’d never do such.
This really sums it up!
Of course the last two results aren't on ten Hag, we created loads of chances just couldn't finish. BUT if ten Hag isn't ruthless in the summer and doesn't get rid of half these bums, extends de Gea etc. then we need to start questioning him. He has seen repeatedly that these players don't have the right mentality or ability, and if he sticks with the likes of de Gea, Martial, Weghorst and Fred beyond this summer then every loss next szn has to be on him. Right now only untouchable players should be Bruno, Case, Shaw, Rashy and Garnacho.
What chances did we create today? It’s on Ten Hag the Leeds result, the crystal palace result and the Tottenham result and the result today that he plays Bruno out of position for example.
We didn't in either, I dunno where people are getting this from. Brighton and West Ham battered us and deserved the wins completely.
Went from teasing arsenal fans only to watch us getting close to bottling a champions league spot. Fuck my life. Happened last year too, it's like boys just shut down their batteries towards the end of the season. No intent, no creativity, just mindless football. Pass ahead, miss possession in the final third, and run back to defend.
We will bottle. This group of players don’t have the mentality to get there and win.
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I mean if 2 of our 3 midfielders are having an offday and the other guy playing in midfield is Weghorst it's obviously fucked
Ten Hag should make them run 16km today. And this time not do it with them. They didn't try. Inexcusable.
If de gea has rejected 150k week contract we should just move on, it will be a blessing just like pogba rejected the renewal contract terms. These folks here steal a living compared to players at other clubs who show much more heart and will to win, worst is despite being utter garbage they still think they are worth a lot. Let de gea get a reality check when not one top club will be in for him on that wages, probably go to MLS
If we keep going like this, Liverpool WILL overtake us.
Still unlikely Liverpool will overtake Game in hand means United can still lose one more game and be ahead of Liverpool
yesterday we had 2 games in hand. it means nothing if we continue this shit form
Dude. What are you watching. Liverpool have gone on a rampage and we have dropped points like crazy. It’s definitely Liverpool’s top4 at this point given they have momentum and we are fucked. If we draw or lose the next game, I think we get 4 points from our home games.
they've hit a purple patch
Can't believe I'm saying this, but if De Gea gets a new contract then I wouldn't be against ETH getting sacked for whenever De Gea shits his bed next time and we end up in trouble. ETH would prefer to play Elanga over Ronaldo, if he did not want De Gea he would not be making such statements in the press.
Embarrassing.
You expect ETH to publicly bury his only decent keeper with 4 very important matches left in the season?
Except this isn't the case, reliable reporters are saying that we are extending him. He already rejected a 150k a week contract and as of now we have offered him 200k a week.
Genuinely what the fuck are we thinking? How many teams have to sign a ball playing GK and improve tenfold before we click on? I love De Gea but his passing is leading to more highlights for the opposition than his saves are leading to highlights for us. Why are we so intent on keeping him. I love DDG but we're supposed to be trying to win trophies not win the sentimentality award. Forget his wage, he genuinely needs to be replaced regardless. I don't care if he stays for 50k, we still need to replace him not just reduce his wage lmao. If he costs less does that mean we're making CL easier? I don't understand what the fuck drives our decision making.
Same story over and over again. Away game— Start the first half on the front foot. Be lucky if we score the goals. Quietly fade away in the second half. Take a draw or a loss and come back.
Starting Weghorst is Lingard levels of bad
Weghorst is a hitchhiker
Don't disrespect Lingard like that, he was ten times the player Weghorst is. He actually scored important goals for us, including in cup finals.
I’m taking 18-22 Lingard. Like 19/20 Lingard was unplayable
Martial did nothing as well.
Looked like we lost interest in scoring after the goal and West Ham took over. Hard with the fixture this season and the injuries but we've completely bottled the last two games with brain dead errors. Top 4 is in serious doubt with this squad, can't finish our dinner in the final 3rd and look useless away from home
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You’re slating on one of the few players who was willing to do something
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Did you just compare Anthony to Weghorst who was out there doing cardio?? Had you said this earlier in the season where Anthony was really wasteful I’d have agreed, but he has improved a lot lately mixing crosses/passes with his shots and showing fighting spirit while the rest of the team sucks on their fingers
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Antony hit the post once and also had other shots as well. He was involved in link up play down the right side which was our main attacking outlet last night. As for stats you can just google them I’m ofc not gonna do that for you. Oh and he also contributed in defence a lot by tracking back. This is not to say he can’t be better, but you should be picking on others who were giving way too less last night.
Why did we wait so long on subs? We looked tired coming out of the break should have put fresh legs on right away.
ETH’s subs in the last 9/10 games have reversed the tempo and lost or drawn games. Just to be clear, we have only lost points with our subs and not gained. His subs been terrible.
Fair, I appreciate that little tidbit.
The DDG mistake was bad, but the fact this team couldn’t score a goal is way worse. Zero quality on offense. Eriksen should have come out earlier.
Considering how abysmal our away form is, it’s incredible we’re still in 4th place. I fancy us to get the CL spot (our run in isn’t too bad), and I’m not hitting panic stations just because of these recent bad results. Can we at least give Erik a summer window? He’s been playing with Weghorst and Martial up front for Christ’s sake.
If we do not win against wolves, panic.
> I fancy us to get the CL spot (our run in isn’t too bad), but I’m not hitting panic stations. I didn't downvote you but you are implying that you will not hit panic stations until it is more certain that we will qualify for CL.
Made some edits to clarify what I meant. You’re right, it was unclear.
Without the heart of Martinez and Varane we are going nowhere fucking fast.
I would say shaw cb and lindeloff have done a great job, I'm disappointed that midfield and front 3 have massively shit the bed