[Ed Muhia]

The performance was horrendous, disjointed and uninspiring. Barring De Gea's saves, we would already be out of this competition. It seems teams have found out Mourinho's tactics and knows he is unlikely to change. That performance just entrenches my gut feeling that JM was never going to improve us. He was coming here more for his CV than getting us back to our competitive days.

 

[Turnip]

Pretty much. Only not everyone wanted him and it was because of things like this.

I remember quite distinctly there were plenty of us that didn't want him, and that was also because of things like this.

I'd come round to Jose and thought he was doing a good job, but the last few weeks feels like we're under LvG mixed with "collapsing Jose". Hes making so many strange decisions persistently that everyone can see are wrong. You can forgive him a couple, but he's making the same mistakes over and over. His stubbornness will be his downfall unless he changes. I hope he changes because swapping managers again wouldn't be good.

The fault isn't entirely his, but if the team aren't putting the effort in then it's his job to kick some arse so that they do.

 

[ZAGREB RED]

It IS a decent result.

What it cannot be considered is a decent performance. It was a dreadful performance but thankfully a decent result.

This, in a nutshell.
It is a decent result, yes, but United achieved it by an over-reliance on DDG - again - , rode their luck at times against an average side and offered little in terms of attacking threat to try and get an away goal.

 

[shield]

It's not just a matter of result. It is just Sevilla for God's sake. I can understand playing defensive but yesterday was not that either. Just a pointless, planless match. When you play defensive, every now and then you have to organize counter attacks. We didn't have that either. I wonder what is our attackers working on training as it seems they have no chemistry between each other.

I remember being frustrated after some United matches. I remember very specifically being frustrated after Barcelona draw in 2008. I remember being frustrated under LvG, Moyes and Jose. But yesterday was something else. Maybe Pogba news made it worse but my frustrations are still not over. Play some fecking football.

Yes. I was so excited about this. All the other PL teams performed so well, Tottenham totally dominated Juventus, Liverpool and Man City actually setted the draw and even Chelsea were really good against Barca.

Then comes our turn, and we get dominated by Sevilla and have to depend of DDG to save the day. It almost feels like we don't belong here in the CL and maybe Saint-Étienne, Rostov, Anderlecht are our level.

 

[PoTMS]

The worst thing is the performance and scoreline were wholly predictable. Just last week, you had so many saying that it’d be United that let the PL down, we’d play shite defensive football, we’d eek out a 0-0 boredraw, etc.

We are nowhere near winning the trophy and even worse, we seem to be in a downward spiral with no tactics or gameplan in sight.

 

[Honest John]

Like watching Don Revie's Leeds.

So far removed from what we should be it is not funny.

He should give the players more freedom.

 

[Houdini]

There are 2 things to consider.
1. It's true that under Fergie we had some 0-0 away CL matches
BUT
2. The thing is we were dominating most of that games and/or were unlucky to score (at least had several dangerous counterattacks)

Against Sevilla we were lucky not to concede and several time. They were dominating us and were better at most aspects of game. That is worrying.

 

[Kostur]

The worst thing is the performance and score line were wholly predictable. Just last week, you had so many saying that it’d be United that let the PL down, play shite defensive football, eek out a 0-0 boredraw, etc.

We are nowhere near winning the trophy.

Oh no

 

[kitress]

I wanna know if Sanchez is contracted NOT to play on the right. The right wing is full of wank for the longest time. They've had years to rectify that shit and nothing's been done. Sort it out, goddamn.

 

[Ed Muhia]

The cumulative affect of games starts to tell around March. Typically you need 2 weeks of proper rest to allow your muscles a chance to recover. Even if they have a game once a week they're still training every day.

Have a look at Jose teams, all start on fire then usually crawl to the finishing line. Take the time 3 years ago when he won the title with Chelsea, blew teams away in the first half and had a sizeable lead which got cut into massively in the second half of the season.

TBH its not just a Jose thing, i think other teams feel it as well. We can argue about it being the best in the world but i believe the pace of games in the EPL makes it the fastest in the world. Which is having a effect on English teams in Europe. Makes what City are doing atm all the more impressive

While i agree there could be general fatigue, drawing parallels with Fergie teams seems to dispel that theory. Then, Manchester United used to perform better in the second half of the season. Even in individual games, the tempo used to rise towards the end of the game, which in most cases used to culminate in a late goal. Its the opposite with Mourinho team who are always a pace slower regardless of which part of the season.

 

[PoTMS]

Oh no

Does it not make you sad/angry/upset that we played like we did yesterday when all of our rivals played a thousand times better than us?

 

[markelphick]

Was anyone really expecting us to go out there and win 2/3-0??? This is Mourinho we're talking about and he always does this.. Tactical brilliance. Yeah the away goal would have been the icing on the cake but it's a great 1st leg European result regardless. Win at OT and we're through.

 

[Thisistheone]

Solid enough result, had to dig in and it wasn't pretty. Which you knew was coming as soon as the line-up was announced. Jose has done it time and time again away from home.

McTominay was good, enjoyed seeing another Utd youth player coming of age in Europe.

It's very much in our hands playing at OT now.

 

[captain666]

Kick off was 4am for me,I dont even bother setting the alarm clock anymore!

 

[Ekeke]

I remember quite distinctly there were plenty of us that didn't want him, and that was also because of things like this.

I'd come round to Jose and thought he was doing a good job, but the last few weeks feels like we're under LvG mixed with "collapsing Jose". Hes making so many strange decisions persistently that everyone can see are wrong. You can forgive him a couple, but he's making the same mistakes over and over. His stubbornness will be his downfall unless he changes. I hope he changes because swapping managers again wouldn't be good.

The fault isn't entirely his, but if the team aren't putting the effort in then it's his job to kick some arse so that they do.

True and Mourinho would seem like one of those who does that as much or more than other managers.

Mourinho, like several other managers, always has an extra dimension to think about that he often falls out with one or two players and will stubbornly stick to his point of view about them regardless of what happens. There are other managers like this, including LVG, but that was one of the reasons I wasn't keen on Mourinho. That and I felt like he'd lost a lot of his mojo from his earlier days, when he tried to change his style and meet the expectations at Madrid and he failed.

So those were the reasons I was reluctant for us to go for him and I think we've seen evidence of this at United.

Playing for 0-0 draws in big matches certainly wasnt the main reason for me. But as I mentioned earlier, usually when Mourinho has been at other teams and looked to do that, the teams have looked a lot more solid and harder to make chances against. Usually it wasnt luck and the keeper ensuring he got the result, but a far more solid team setup that was hard to play against.
We were very easy to play against yesterday

 

[Treble]

Sevilla - Girona (10 days ago) - shots 11:11 (4:7 on target)
Sevilla - United - shots 25:6 (8:1 on target)

It's not about the draw. It's about the performance.

 

[Kostur]

Does it not make you sad/angry/upset that we played like we did yesterday when all of our rivals played a thousand times better than us?

I genuinely don't give a shit.

Especially when it comes to this place, you ask anybody how Chelsea played against Barca and you'll hear that they were shit, here we love to glorify anybody that's not us.

 

[Hamadovich86]

As all the lovely people pointed out i'm an idiot for saying 0-0 is worse than losing 2-1. Not sure what I was thinking there. Result is still not great and performance was still shite tho.

 

[Infra-red]

Would have taken this result at half time having seen our first half performance. Was definitely pleased with it at full time. A total shambles with a world class (possibly our best ever) goalkeeper.

 

[tony54]

What I am feeling is that there is a low moral in the camp and I wouldn't be surprised if Pogba and his potrayed attitude are not helping the situation.
I not going to defend Mourino because despite his magnificant record as a manager he is not playing the football that the fans needs and the players must be pulling their hair out in frustration. We all saw how the players stopped playing for Mourino at Chelsea., is the same starting to happen here because
our team is not playing football with passion and as a team, the complete opposite is being shown. The players are not running and working for each other.

Mourino has one more season here and hopefully he will buy 3 decent defenders this summer to hand over to a new manager with passion, leadership and modern knowhow. I still think the team can pull out the stops for a cup win but we cant go on with this, quite frankly crap.

 

[Donnie Brasco]

Our fanbase has now reached a new level of delusion, people think that if we put red shirts on players with limited technical ability and average players they will suddenly become world class players just because they play for Man Utd.

Half of our starting lineup last night shouldn't be starting for this club at this level. Smalling, Valencia, Young, Mctominay and Mata. And then people ask themselves why we play shit and Mourinho keeps it defensive.

You can carry one or two of these players on this level but they can't make up half of your starting eleven.
This is not Mourinhos fault, but the Glazers and their economics because we should of spent some money when the market was different. This team still needs 4-5 players. Two midfielders, fullbacks and right winger.

 

[Sarni]

It IS a decent result.

What it cannot be considered is a decent performance. It was a dreadful performance but thankfully a decent result.

Exactly.

 

[JohnLocke]

Solid enough result, had to dig in and it wasn't pretty. Which you knew was coming as soon as the line-up was announced. Jose has done it time and time again away from home.

McTominay was good, enjoyed seeing another Utd youth player coming of age in Europe.

It's very much in our hands playing at OT now.

This.

Also the fact that any time Sanchez got the ball he was upended, didn't really help with us going forward.

 

[Beaucoup]

Solid enough result, had to dig in and it wasn't pretty. Which you knew was coming as soon as the line-up was announced. Jose has done it time and time again away from home.

McTominay was good, enjoyed seeing another Utd youth player coming of age in Europe.

It's very much in our hands playing at OT now.

I agree, Expectations really have changed, 0-0 used to be a good result away from home in Europe

 

[The holy trinity 68]

People are acting like we just lost 5-0. A draw away from home against Sevilla is a good result. Sevilla are not Maribor, they are a good team.

We also won the Europa last season playing poorly for the most part.

 

[Eire Red United]

The performance was horrendous, disjointed and uninspiring. Barring De Gea's saves, we would already be out of this competition. It seems teams have found out Mourinho's tactics and knows he is unlikely to change. That performance just entrenches my gut feeling that JM was never going to improve us. He was coming here more for his CV than getting us back to our competitive days.

Strange statement to make about Jose’s CV. Surely if he doesn’t get us sorted out it will further damage his reputation like Moyes and LVG. Unless he’s as deluded as Moyes and thinks its a great achievement just to manage United but not do anything worthwhile.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Yes, our record was fantastic, I am not denying that. The point is we did not set up to dominate those teams, we very often sat back and countered or nullified the opposition waiting for their mistakes. Especially in KO as in groups it's a bit easier.

This was usually not as deep as yesterday but still we were not a team that went abroad to attack for 90 minutes as people seem to remember us.

According to @Jaap figures we only drew 0-0 in 3 knockout matches under SAF. So the idea that we did the same then is not backed up by the facts.

 

[chb23]

For those saying it was the tactics and that's what Jose wants for the knockout... We've been playing this horrible disjointed football for the past 4-5 games. We can barely build up a coherant attack.

 

[mitchmouse]

Pretty bland and in days gone by this would have been a good result but Sevilla weren't as good as I expected and we should have gone for the throat. I know about 99.999% of people will make DDG the Mom but he had very little to actually do - and I thought his very early stop was almost as good as the one right on half time because he was going the wrong way -- but for all-round good performance my vote goes to Scotty McTee

 

[B20]

Wait, are some people really arguing that drawing 0-0 is a worse result than losing the fecking match?

it's the footballing equivalent of flat earthers.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

For those saying it was the tactics and that's what Jose wants for the knockout... We've been playing this horrible disjointed football for the past 4-5 games. We can barely build up a coherent attack.

I know, right? You'd swear that some of our attackers have barely played together until the last few weeks.

 

[André Dominguez]

Jesus, what an horrible match. I'm starting to be one of those people who just wants the season to end as quick as possible.

 

[padzilla]

it's the footballing equivalent of flat earthers.

The result was okay - the performance, once again in a key game away from home, showed a continued lack of imagination and we really offered nothing going forward which remains a worry for many supporters.

 

[daveoliver91]

Decent result, bad performance. A draw was coming all the way.
Mourinho, a defensive manager against an Italian manager. However, I've read some people saying: "Mourinho OUT", "Can't wait for this season to be over"... But wait guys, we are 2nd in the EPL and we are still alive in the Champions League. Can't remember when it was the last time this happened without Fergie in command.

We need to make OT a fortress on the 2nd leg and destroy them. We'll need the fans to be extremely supportive on the 2nd leg and I know we'll get through it!

C'mon United!

 

[mattunited1978]

Its alarming how regularly our players seem unable to string 2 passes together against anyone remotely decent. I really dont know whos at fault.

On one hand, the tactics dont encourage good football and more than likely give the players an inferiority complex. It cant be good for confidence when your manager sets you up in a way that suggests he dosnt think your good enough to go toe to toe with teams and win a game by outplaying them. Especially when your a worldclass/top quality player and your up against teams that havnt got anywhere near the ability you have.

On the other hand, even taking into account the negative tactics, some of the rubbish these supposed worldclass/ top quality players serve up is unacceptable. The wrong decisions, the poor control, the miss placed passes, the woeful defensive headers and most concerning, the complete lack of bottle and the total panic when the ball goes anywhere near them.

I dont know if its the players failing the tactics or the tactics failing the players, probably a bit of both, its dreadful to watch regardless.

Im one of lukaku's biggest supporters but i thought he was absolutely woeful last night.

 

[BigdaftGorby]

Harsh reality guys and gals....
If anyone expected anything more than that performance last night then you don’t know Jose.

This is what he does, he did it with Chelsea, Madrid and Inter.

Except he had better player to fit his philosophy at those clubs.

And he will defend his tactics citing all the trophies he’s won as evidence that his philosophy works.

You can spout all the 4-3-3 you want, you can blame it on Pogba etc etc but when it comes down to it he has a pattern when managing clubs and he looks like he’s sticking to it.

He moans about the atmosphere at OT, then why doesn’t he get bums off seats with some excitement.

 

[overrated 92's]

The Roma/Shakatar winner is going to be the one everyone wants to get.

i'm not so sure, maybe we'll both get lucky and draw each other

 

[Eire Red United]

I agree, Expectations really have changed, 0-0 used to be a good result away from home in Europe

It’s alright, wouldn’t call it good, especially given that Sevilla are nothing special. Just means that we can’t play for a one nil at home because of the chance they’ll get a late equalizer.

 

[Tincanalley]

He lost the ball multiple times and played the ball straight out of play a couple of times too. Completing passes to your centre backs is nothing to be proud of.

Oh, ok, right. Obviously I have to defer to your depth of knowledge and superior judgement.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Bad performance but ok result. I wish people would feck up about the away goal. If you can't beat Seville at Old Trafford you should not be in CL knock out stage, simple as. A rubbish Leicester side put them out at home last year.