Premier League Gameweek 2 fixtures (18th - 20th August 2018)

Don Alfredo said:
Jorginho has been amazing. One of the best midfielders in the world. His passing can rival that of Kroos
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His passing is great. But, his defensive game is non-existent so far, Arsenal is basically running through him. Either he will need to improve on that, or they need to put a pure DM for this to work.
 
Torreira on for Xhaka seems like an extremely sensible sub to make
 
Looking forward to seeing how Torreria does. Xhaka is complete liability in these sort of games and was on a yellow aswell.
 
Wonder when Hazard will come on
 
bosnian_red said:
You think so? Hazard and Willian walk into our side (lukaku as striker), as do Jorginho and Kante (alongside Pogba in a 3). Think they'll look much better at the back with a simple switch of Christensen in for David Luiz as well. Also not like United has fantastic personnel at the back... just having the best goalkeeper in the world and some defensive tactics make up for it. On paper though, most would say Alonso > Shaw or Young, most would say Azpilicueta better then anyone we have in any of the positions, while not sure there is anyone who stands out at center back.
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I certainly don't think there is much in it, at least in terms of individual quality. Hazard walks in to your side, but I don't think Willian does (Sanchez is a better player despite being poor thus far at United). I'd honestly have Bailly/Smalling both over any of their CB options, I don't rate any of them, probably Rudiger as the best option they have.

I don't think either side is much better than the other. I guess Alonso makes your team, but only because your options on that side are so poor, because I really do not rate Alonso. Good going forward, but my god he leaves acres of space available defensively.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
Our football could be better and with more cutting edge, but there are different ways to play football and it would be boring if everyone played exactly the same way.
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Yeah sure I'm not saying our football is the prettiest but I just don't like the constant negativity about our team.

Mourinho has to improve our style, we have to create more chances and score more goals but even after we have a good game there is still this negative feeling about United.

I just want us to enjoy and support the team we all love and that means support the manager even though it can be difficult sometimes.
 
Arsenal look more likely to score at the moment

Edit: Maybe not
 
Mr. Ant said:
Yeah sure I'm not saying our football is the prettiest but I just don't like the constant negativity about our team.

Mourinho has to improve our style, we have to create more chances and score more goals but even after we have a good game there is still this negative feeling about United.

I just want us to enjoy and support the team we all love and that means support the manager even though it can be difficult sometimes.
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Honestly I think today shows how fickle fans can be. Everybody loves and wants attacking, open football .. until you suffer the consequences at the back, can you imagine how furious some United fans would be if their team had played the way Chelsea have today? Utterly shambolic at the back and totally surrendered control of the game.
 
Smores said:
It's easy to score goals when your setup ignores the basic concepts of defence. Chelsea don't look poor at the back because of available personnel
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They do.

Marcos Alonso and David Luiz are well-known liabilities in a back 4
 
good block then his hands follow through

edit: actually just his torso goes over the ball after the initial block, really good defending on Kante's shot
 
SquishyMcSquish said:
Honestly I think today shows how fickle fans can be. Everybody loves and wants attacking, open football .. until you suffer the consequences at the back, can you imagine how furious some United fans would be if their team had played the way Chelsea have today? Utterly shambolic at the back and totally surrendered control of the game.
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There must be a way of being able to attack, but defend properly when needed.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Thing is, he isn't. Because he's works hard off the ball, people often think that's all he does. He's actually really comfortable on the ball. No Iniesta, but he certainly isn't 'pants'.
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He's very average on the ball, and he knows that so he keeps it simple. He had one assist all of last season, his passing range is very much limited.
 
SquishyMcSquish said:
I certainly don't think there is much in it, at least in terms of individual quality. Hazard walks in to your side, but I don't think Willian does (Sanchez is a better player despite being poor thus far at United). I'd honestly have Bailly/Smalling both over any of their CB options, I don't rate any of them, probably Rudiger as the best option they have.

I don't think either side is much better than the other. I guess Alonso makes your team, but only because your options on that side are so poor, because I really do not rate Alonso. Good going forward, but my god he leaves acres of space available defensively.
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Agree re alonso, also I dont think Willian is brilliant or anything but we have nothing on the right wing which is why he walks in. Left back and right wing I kinda view as 0 options for us. Also right back isnt great, though we'll see how dalot settles and how much of a role he has. That's fair though. Probably not a huge difference overall. Theyll likely score more then United but concede far more too as they need some CB signings to sort out their issues.
 
Jim Beam said:
His passing is great. But, his defensive game is non-existent so far, Arsenal is basically running through him. Either he will need to improve on that, or they need to put a pure DM for this to work.
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Yeah I am not judging a play maker by his defensive work. There are dozens of midfielders who can put in a shift, but only very few have the talent he has.
 
bosnian_red said:
You think so? Hazard and Willian walk into our side (lukaku as striker), as do Jorginho and Kante (alongside Pogba in a 3). Think they'll look much better at the back with a simple switch of Christensen in for David Luiz as well. Also not like United has fantastic personnel at the back... just having the best goalkeeper in the world and some defensive tactics make up for it. On paper though, most would say Alonso > Shaw or Young, most would say Azpilicueta better then anyone we have in any of the positions, while not sure there is anyone who stands out at center back.
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Very interesting game for the neutral. Chelsea play nicely but i think we would beat them quite comfortably despite that they have a couple of world class players.

I'd go:

De Gea
Azpilicueta Smalling Baily Shaw
Kante
Jorginho Pogba
Sanchez Lukaku Hazard​

​
 
It's really odd seeing Kante so close to the opposition's penalty area and one has to think why .... Kante is playing on the same line as Morata, it's so funny
 
SquishyMcSquish said:
Honestly I think today shows how fickle fans can be. Everybody loves and wants attacking, open football .. until you suffer the consequences at the back, can you imagine how furious some United fans would be if their team had played the way Chelsea have today? Utterly shambolic at the back and totally surrendered control of the game.
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Tbf after what weve seen for 5 years I'd give this over the endless 0-0 draws we saw under LvG or the bore draws with Mou. Frustrating as feck probably, but entertaining, which United havent been in a while.
 
SquishyMcSquish said:
Honestly I think today shows how fickle fans can be. Everybody loves and wants attacking, open football .. until you suffer the consequences at the back, can you imagine how furious some United fans would be if their team had played the way Chelsea have today? Utterly shambolic at the back and totally surrendered control of the game.
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Yeah I can imagine. This forum would explode. We have a very good solid base but at times too defensive.

In the big games I completely understand why we play the way we do but against the smaller teams Jose needs to find a better balance between defending and attacking.
 
Bearded One said:
Very interesting game for the neutral. Chelsea play nicely but i think we would beat them quite comfortably despite that they have a couple of world class players.

I'd go:

De Gea
Azpilicueta Smalling Baily Shaw
Kante
Jorginho Pogba
Sanchez Lukaku Hazard​

​
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If only our own manager would ever try Sanchez on the right... instead of trying to sign Chelsea's right winger for 60m. Also I'd move Azpi to the left and still keep Valencia at right back. Shaw had 1 decent game, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
 
Hazard coming on. Will surely change the dynamic of the game.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
There must be a way of being able to attack, but defend properly when needed.
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I think if you want to play properly attacking football, there will almost always be gaps at the back. You're almost certainly going to play with a high line, and will need defenders who are comfortable in possession rather than being old school defenders. Even all time great sides like Barcelona under Guardiola looked somewhat vulnerable defensively on the odd occasion, but it was rarely tested because they were able to exert such control over games, which Chelsea have utterly failed to do.

That's the answer I think, not necessarily having a great defence, but being so good elsewhere that you totally control a game and don't give up enough chances for it to matter. City last season were excellent at that, they don't have a great defence but it's so rarely actually exposed. Neither of the teams on show today are the finished article (both coaches have only really just started applying their methods) and neither is so much better on the ball than the other, so a messy affair was pretty predictable.
 
Classic Willian performance, a few bright moments then vanishes from the game.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
Thing is, he isn't. Because he's works hard off the ball, people often think that's all he does. He's actually really comfortable on the ball. No Iniesta, but he certainly isn't 'pants'.
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Good point. I've always wondered why people think he's useless on the ball.
 
bosnian_red said:
Tbf after what weve seen for 5 years I'd give this over the endless 0-0 draws we saw under LvG or the bore draws with Mou. Frustrating as feck probably, but entertaining, which United havent been in a while.
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I honestly don't think you have been that dull under Mourinho. It's not free flowing football, but you scored what, six less goals than us last season? We know a Mourinho team can score a lot of goals at its best too, his Madrid team broke records in the league.
 
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