16 Jan 2018 08:19:23
Good performance last night .
Confidence is the key word for me, not sure if the team had a lift with city and Chelsea dropping points but we looked confidante last night.
Our back 4 looks solid with Tony playing again did little wrong, and Shaw with no injuries and a run of games is showing what a good player he is .
Pogba continues to improve and ran the game last night, something he is capable of and should be doing more often . What a difference it makes, just like KDB has done all season .
Also done it in a cm2 in the middle of the park .
Lingard continues to give an example of a player playing to his potential.
Martial in a way was quiet at times but showed his class .
And lukaku gave a great example of what United where missing last season .
Mata was busy through out and linked a lot of the football up .

Hopefully we kick on now at what is the business end of the season and the lads show everyone what a good squad this is .


1.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 09:10:07
Hmm, I wouldn't say defence looked solid at all. Shaky at times and Ireland missed two sitters because the defence was all over the place. I do agree that confidence is key though.


2.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 09:11:55
Lukaku looked much more confident which is great to see. We need a nice run now and who knows, maybe we can stop City winning league so easily.


3.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 09:15:13
It's definitely a good squad Jred. Just need to strengthen our first XI. Sanchez would do that if we can sign him.


4.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 09:16:50
Ireland ran off his cm marker twice.


5.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 09:46:52
We weren't man marking the mighty Ireland Jred. The defence was all over the place at times. Luckily for us it was Ireland on the end of those sitters. It goes 1.1 and then it's a different game. We got a squeeze, twice, so we cannot complain. But I don't think we were solid at all. Shaky at times, lucky too. But doesn't matter, we just need to tighten up a little more.


6.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:00:43
Got to admit that even the mighty Citeh have had to rely on luck in arts.


7.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:08:00
Who said we where man marking Ireland?
Our cms didn't track his run twice.
But after that stoke barely had a sniff
Totally controlled the second half good team performance.
Some won't be happy until Tony v is replaced tho?


8.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:08:03
The squad is 4/ 5 players short of bwing a really good sqiad imo. Jose is getting them playing well. Confidence is the key.


9.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:10:26
I thought we played well and got a great result, especially when you consider that Chelsea and City dropped points over the weekend.


I thought defensively we were poor and against a better side or a more in form side we could have been punished for a sloppy defensive performance.


Having both full backs move forward at the same time when we play with a midfield duo where one of which also likes to move forward and can be lax in his defensive duties it is a risk. Mourinho generally prefers only one of his full backs to get forward at any one time.


Having both move forward and one of our two midfielders also leaves only three players covering our defence and makes us susceptible to being hit on the break.


You say both of Ireland’s chances came as he ran off a midfield marker but with them playing three in midfield and us playing two which of our midfielders did you expect to be able to mark two players at once? That is where a full back is supposed to cover.


If you are going to have BOTH full backs move forward at the same time then you need to either have two midfielders sit back to cover them or play a back three with one midfielder sitting. Or just accept that you will be prone to the counter and hope your team can keep the ball so well that the opposition doesn’t have many chances to counter (ala City), or hope your team can outscore your opponents (ala Liverpool) .


A shout out to Pogba, who in my opinion the most important player to his side in the league. Everyone is raving about how De Bruyne is the best player in the league and how he makes City tick, yet Pogba has just as many assists in the league as he does (9), and has managed that in 13 games as opposed to KDB managing 9 assists in 23 league games. Imagine how many more goals and assists Pogba would have at this point if he had been available for those extra 10 games.


10.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:48:17
Shappy
In simple terms stoke have conceded 56 goals so far this season .
Which at this stage of the season is up there with the most ever in a EPL season .
So we had a go at them .
Assist are a by product of playing well . A miss hit shot or 5 yard yard pass can be an assist.
Kdb has been outstanding for city and is a major reason why they are setting records .

Take him out that team and people may appriciate just how good he has been and how important he has been to the players around him .

Would that amazing miraculous city squad with 22 world class players look quite as good with out KDB pulling the strings?

Would our average squad that needs millions spent on it look a little bit better if pogba controlled the game like he did yesterday week in week out?


11.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 10:58:49
Shaps
Have a look a Ireland second chance I think .
He is stood with both pogba and matic about 25 yards out in the middle of the pitch . Just them 3 he makes a run neither player tracks him, he runs into the box on his own .

Nothing to do with full backs just a lapse.
But it happens, we had a go at them grew into the game and in the second half had a swagger about us the first time in a while .


12.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 11:03:43
Also shout out to lukaku . When he has played well United have .
When he hasn't United haven't.
But that's football
United had a dip, drew 3 games in a row and lost to Bristol.
6 points dropped in them 3 games and out a cup .
That's looking the big difference at the moment.


13.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 12:45:13
Tony is a good player but we need to be planning his replacement.


14.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 13:11:02
Pogba, Lukaku and Tony V were excellent yesterday.

Our service into Lukaku is terrible, he keeps showing his wide men the crosses he is looking for whenever he crosses. If we could start to give him better service he could score a bucket load. Even his goal he had to perform a magic trick to control the pass.

In terms of setup, we are almost playing 4-1-4-1 when Pogba pushes high. It works well when we apply a high press and have so much energy on the pitch, but we could never play that open against better teams.


15.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 15:42:31
I think City have been missing that wee magician, Silva, as well lately. I don't think they ever look as good without him.


16.) 16 Jan 2018
16 Jan 2018 16:59:58
99
He is a class act.