23 Dec 2018 07:02:06
Well, what to make of that? Yesterday was the first time we have scored 5 in the league since SAF left. Energy, ambition, attacking intent, and a 90 minute performance. I thought Rashford used his shoulder but even conceding an equaliser didn’t faze us. We just went down the other end and restored the lead.

So many players looked completely different to what we have seen and this situation echoes what happened at Chelsea. There are reports leaking every day now about what was going on behind the scenes and it seems Jose made the same mistakes he made at Chelsea, ultimately losing the players. I work with someone who is friendly with a member of security at OT and he tells me that the staff were unimpressed with Jose’s general manner and approach, unfriendly, ordering on rude. He’s a narcissist so he wouldn’t listen but I’d tell him to take a break and learn some humility. He is clearly incredibly talented but culture and behaviour drive everything.

As for the players, Red Man was right that some haven’t been putting in a shift; Roy Keane summed it up saying they should be ashamed. It would be interesting to see the running stats for the game as usually we are out run: I’ll bet that wasn’t the case yesterday. The Chelsea players pretty much downed tools and then won the League the next year so things must have been really bad there. As has been said so many times, it was never properly explained and EW took a big risk after that debacle. We won 2 trophies but have regressed badly with the same outcome.

There will be those who simply couldn’t adapt to Jose’s requirements, and there will be those who couldn’t be bothered because of their dislike of the man. But I don’t believe any player decides to cause trouble, they want to pay well, they want to win, they don’t easily ‘switch off’ (and I’m not excusing it) . These are quality players, given the right environment and direction they will do much better than we have seen, the change yesterday was immense. ‘But this was only Cardiff’ I hear you say. Yep, but it was only Brighton, or Southampton, or Palace, and our performances were poor.

As for the future, I worry that the brilliant recruitment process that has been vaunted will be EW knee jerking into another poor decision. Rumours will swirl all year, let’s hope there is some rational clear thinking out how we address the structural failings whilst recruiting the right man. Remember what was said, we want someone who understands the traditions and requirements of being Manchester United Manager.

Anyway, it feels good this morning and with some winnable games ahead let’s hope we carry that performance into the next games. Clearly the appointment of Ole has got Chelsea and City worried as they both lost yesterday!

1.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 07:57:04
AJH they can hear out footsteps now 😁.

2.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 08:34:47
Tony, United out ran their opponents for only the second time this season. We out ran Fulham by 2k, however, we out ran Cardiff by 5k. We also made more high intensity sprints than Cardiff 119-99. That was only the third time this season we completed more than our opponents. However, it's the 27% more forward passes we made than any game this season that really highlights the difference.

As many have said over the last 18 months or so, these aren't poor players. In fact they are very good players. But for some reason they were just playing very poorly. Was that the tactics? Was that because they didn't like the manager and therefore didn't commit to those tactics? In the end it's irrelevant. It's all about getting the best out of the players you have. It's only one game but Solskjaer has already got more out of those players in 90 minutes than Jose has all season.

3.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 08:53:45
They can't hide behind the manager anymore. It's great. They are actually putting a shift in, amazing what can happen.

4.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 10:01:50
Shappy

OGS has got more out of the team than the last managers.

5.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 10:03:42
Decent players maybe a few can see it.

6.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 10:23:28
When you pass the ball into space, rather than to another player, players have to make runs. It's not rocket science. Different tactics and the shackles removed. Amazing what can happen.

7.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 11:12:36
Nou, amazing that they could actually put in a decent 10 yard pass. They stopped playing for Jose. They can now freely play for themselves.

We've a nice little run of fixtures, I hope they make every point count. Who knows where we will be come mid jan.

8.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 11:37:28
Angel
Is it really amazing?
Players like rash pogba martial etc can actually play footy?
What's amazing is that some think its amazing.
A thread on here only a week ago about rash not having that much natural talent. As a way of excusing the fact he wasn't ripping up trees under the special one .
And don't get me started on martial.

9.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 11:42:45
Shappy, great stats, where do you get them from, it’s something I’d like to look at.

Jred, you and I agree on this one. Runners up last year following 2 trophies the year before says we’re not awful. I think Liverpool and City and a step ahead of everyone but our squad is currently good enough to be third. It was only one game but what a change, let’s see if we ca put a little run together and who knows, play even better.

10.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 11:44:20
Did we concede an equaliser?

11.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 11:53:29
AJH, players are always going to appear more energetic and cover more ground when they are instructed to press and close down across the pitch, not just their penalty area.

What impressed me most about yesterday was they at several times there was no one but De Gea in our half of the pitch, that and Jones and Lindelof feeling they had the right to bomb forward and launch attacks. Those types of things truly show, Lindelof would cover more ground when he's given the chance to leave his penalty area. Pogba wasn't used as a DM, meaning he was able to move about and roam behind the forward three, which means covering more ground. Lingard had a free role and was everywhere up front and Martial was even switching sides, seeing as his goal came in from the right. Again, this makes things appear more energetic, and the players cover more ground. All these things are down to the tactical set-up, not motivation.

12.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 12:31:05
Great contrinution Timbo. I was cooking, and drinking, and trying to watch so I got befuddled.

13.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 12:32:20
Ludwig, completely agree, alth to ugh I think motivation also plays a part. It just felt like “you score 2, we’ll score 3” approach which I love.

14.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 14:53:06
Tony, I often get the stats from a few different sources, some of those came from Sly Spurts, so maybe not the best source. lol. I also use Whoscored. Although they tend to just have the basic stats, and I manipulate them to work out averages ect.

15.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 15:06:56
You okay jerd? Haven't seen you in a while.

Look up the word sarcasm. It might help you out when trying to understand posts.

16.) 23 Dec 2018
23 Dec 2018 15:22:35
Angel
Haven't been on as much wasn't finding a good read to be honest.
Nice to see the lads proving a few wrong yesterday tho.