05 Oct 2020 10:28:11
Where to start with unpicking yesterdays result, first and foremost there will be no silver linings in this post. Normally I always try and find a positive but losing 1-6 at home to Spurs means that there really are no positives to be found.

Defensively we were an absolute shambles, Maguire lumbered around like a one-man wrecking crew, sadly the only thing he was wrecking was his teammates. Bailly was all over the place, as was AWB, while Shaw looked like a man who knows his replacement is signing today (pretty sure he tried to get himself sent off) .
Pogba was awful, Matic looks like he's at the end of a 60-game season not 3 games into the start of a new one. Martial and Rashford were poor, I only noticed Martial was on the pitch when he was sent off. Bruno and Greenwood tried hard but were ineffectual with so much dross around them.

The problem is Ole looked defeated, there was no fire in his eyes, he looked like a man who knows he won't be Manchester United manager come the end of the season, at this rate he won't be United manager by Christmas.

While a change of manager will give the team a short-term lift, and probably a better tactical plan, sadly what we are seeing is a symptom and not the cause of the issues at the club. There seems little ambition to actually try and win the league. We seem happy to splash the cash when we drop out of the UCL, but once we get there, we start shopping in the bargain bucket.

I think the biggest issue we have with the team is we are trying to fit all the pieces of our squad into a team and a tactical plan, which makes us disjointed and without a clear direction as a team. The moment a key player is out of the team we seem to have to totally change what we are attempting to do.

Personally, I think a variation of 343/ 3412 is the best way to go with our squad. We don't have the quality of defenders to play a flat back four. While our only true holding midfielder is Matic who has tended to fade badly in every season for us and doesn't seem to have the fitness to play a whole season. Meaning we have poor defenders and a fading player shielding them. While our best midfielders are offensive midfielders. We actually only have one winger in our squad (James) and there are serious question marks over his quality. We will have 4 strikers once Cavani signs.

Price tag and reputation cannot dictate a starting spot, we need to have a clear tactical plan, then play those who fit that plan best. If that means a 80m centre back drops to the bench then so be it, or a 50m right back.

I think Maguire needs to come out of the firing line, physically he might have returned from Greece, but mentally he is still there.
My starting 11 would look like: Henderson, Bailly, Lindelof, Shaw, Williams, Bruno, Fred, Telles, DvdB, Greenwood and Rashford. In a 3412 shape. Have Telles and Williams provide the width, Greenwood and Rashford play as split strikers, Donny or Bruno as the No.10/ false 9, Then have one creative midfielder (Bruno, Pogba, DvdB) and one all action defensive midfielder (Fred or McTominay) .

1.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 10:36:31
So you forgot Martial won the penalty then? He also made a couple of decent moves, but was let down by the sloppy passing of his teammates.

2.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 10:51:58
Martial should be made carry pogbas suitcase so the 2 leave together.

3.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 11:00:37
Shappy

There is no point buying players without a pattern or plan of how we are to play, no coaching to ensure that pattern works. Formations are fine to mess with but have we been buying to a plan? No. We bought AWB who can’t attack, we shifted Dalot out who can, now when Telles signs we will have two left backs who can attack. Unbalanced! We buy DVB, for what position?

Talking changing different formations at this time is pointless, we need to get them to learn to play one and build from there. They can’t play one formation at the moment. We look like we are sent on the pitch just to go out and play, make it up as we go along.

Ole looked shattered, like a man who thinks time may be up, just put him out of his misery, not at Christmas, now, this morning, use the international break. The club needs to stop dithering on everything.

4.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 10:37:49
You haven't said who you would replace Ole with Shap. Are you offering your services?

5.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 10:37:52
In some regards, Martial being suspended for 3 games could be a blessing as we can try playing with 2 forwards without having to drop one of rashford, martial or greenwood.

6.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 10:38:07
Shappy, in short yesterday was a lack of character from all involved. I posted yesterday that these defeats can happen when down to 10 etc- but it’s all about the manner of the defeat. The players just accepted it. The decision making was shocking, at 2-1 and down to 10 we needed to just try and get through the next 10/ 15 mins. But nope the shape of that goal we gave away for the third. Clueless.

7.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 11:31:06
Maguire was constantly chasing the ball leaving huge gaps behind him, maybe he was actually playing in midfield yesterday and it was just a back three. He really didn’t help his Fellow defenders yesterday. Gives away a free kick and doesn’t even switch on to any danger. Lots of talk of he needs a partner to see best of him but I think we need 2 new Cb he’s just not good enough.

8.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 11:39:30
Shappy - I think you hit the nail on the head. Ole looked completely defeated. Very worrying. He didn't react to the sending off and the team threw the towel
In.

They looked completely paralysed by fear and uncertainty. What we really needed yesterday was a leader to take control of the situation, to re-organise and galvanise the team. We could have put men behind the ball, frustrated Spurs and made things difficult for them. We could have tried to hit them on the counter which we're actually quite good at. There was no urgency or reaction from Ole and we got punished.

The team he picked yesterday was far to open and will always be picked apart by the better teams. I've been waiting for that to be honest.

Whilst Maguire has been woeful he has been left completely exposed by a manger that insists on playing an unfit and defensively inept Pogba as a holding midfielder, Fernandes is so advanced he is almost a second striker, the full backs are pushed high up the pitch with two wingers/ forwards that rarely track back. It's the equivalent of football suicide. This was a team ripped apart by relegation fodder Palace and Brighton. Betters teams were always destined to destroy us.

I completely agree Ole must revert to a back three. All our defenders need the extra protection and it's the only formation that still provides width and gets most of our attacking players on the pitch.

Red Man - The formation is absolutely vital in my opinion. If Ole is going to continue to play Pogba as a holding midfielder and push the full backs high exposing our CB's then results and performances will continue to plummet. We've been found out, forget the good performances after lockdown against Sheffield Utd, Brighton, Villa and Bournemouth teams have adapted and worked us out. They can play right though us and counter attack with ease. If Ole doesn't adapt this will be a sobering season especially against the quality of teams we are going to face in the next few weeks.

9.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 12:00:29
DLIB

My point is they need coaching to play a formation, tinkering, try this one, that one when they can’t even play one formation, is not getting us anywhere. Lots of formation talk, but we haven’t perfected one.

It’s a lack of experience at coach manager level. Said for a long time Pogba deep is nuts, said it yesterday morning before the debacle happened. That is solely down to Ole. Glad you agree with that point. I even suggested putting Williams in the holding midfield role, Pogba is a joke there, but Ole knew best.

10.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 13:26:14
Redman, I'm not a fan of Pogba but nonetheless he is obviously less bad further up the pitch. It doesn't even need a massive change in tactics to change from 4231 to 433.

This way we can choose two out of VDB, Bruno, Mata and Pogba to play as 8s with a 6 behind.

11.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 14:05:09
Maguire is an unhead chicken and whoever plays next to him will suffer.
Its not only about the first goal who marked his teamate. Then he fouled Harry Kane and didn't stopped him from taking his foul quickly. Tottenham i remember scored a similar goal at Anfielf, Harry Kane use to do that, taking his fouls quickly.
Then again he followed Kane at the center leaving big gap and Kane created the chance for Orie who De Gea saved.
We must be ruthlles, no matter how we paid we must sell him even for 20 millions next summer.

12.) 05 Oct 2020
05 Oct 2020 16:35:30
Herrera, we should just send him out to AEL Kalloni, he seems to like Lesbos.