[fps]

He's a great finisher in the box. One of our best. His movement OUTSIDE the box isn't great. He's always been a great box player.

Give him a chance and he’s lethal, agreed, but he seems not to find opportunities as often as many other strikers, and I feel a lack of midfield laying it on a plate for him is only part of the issue. Different player with Rashford around.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Been crap really, open defensively and no movement whatsoever up front but good goal anyway!

 

[dev1l]

Re Maguire it s true he stuck his leg out but the momentum was taking him away from the Chelsea player - who started the incident when he pushed Maguire off the field after the ball was gone.
Right decision for me

 

[JPRouve]

Maguire wasn't deliberate, but it looked bad.

William wasn't a dive either.

It was absolutely deliberate, he clearly kicked him.

 

[RedDevilUnited369]

Daniel James was never supposed to be a starter.

He is playing so regularly because of recruitment mismanagement, not Ole but above...

Give the kid a break.

 

[Icemav]

I think the main reason for the 9th place is that someone like James is playing a lot. He is a 9th placed team player at best. Martial has enough quality and talent to play for a high placed team.. he just isnt good to do it by himself.

Martial just isn't good at the basics of hold up play, attitude, pressing, and hunger to win the ball back. Stuff that the top teams (and many others) excel at. Occasional brilliance at a club that want consistent excellence is not good enough.

 

[stu_1992]

Ideal time to score. Lovely work by Wan Bissaka to set up the goal and very nice header to finish it off too. Can't complain there at all.

Overall very open game so far. I think both teams are clearly showing that they are missing key players. They've certainly had their chances and we looked good at times too. Williams always seemed to be a option and I would not have guessed out of the two wing backs that Wan Bissaka was the one setting up the goal.

On the big decisions, think we got very lucky on the Maguire kick out. Easily could have been a red and I'm surprised it wasn't. Don't think it was a penalty though. So correct call there. Bailly is still mental on the ball in other news.

 

[Irrational.]

Can they even do that now?

I mean, it clearly should have been a red. But given that VAR looked at it, on what grounds could they retrospectively change the decision?

Good point. No idea, I think they've just started making it up as they go along based on the degree of outrage. Nothing would surprise me.

 

[kouroux]

If we're clutching at straws, Son's leg was already on Rudiger, certainly no way he could claim it was an accident as he was literally touching him with the same leg as he kicked out.

Like I said, clutching at straws but that is the small difference I see. Both should be reds though, we got lucky.

I love clutching at straws, that's a big aspect of my real job

 

[Withnail]

He should have. Its a clear red

It's not even a debate

 

[entropy]

Please bring on Ighalo. I think we can do a lot better up front if Fred, Bruno link up often. The problem now is Martial is just one person upfront and has little to no support. Hopefully, Ighalo can help us there.

 

[Red Dreams]

Greenwood for James.

 

[Schmeichel=God]

Luke trying to half Batshuayi there
And on another day I can just see Bailly self clothes-lining himself into Maguire on the way out...knocking them both down and presenting a bemused Batshuayi with a tap in

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Quite fortunate to be winning really, though Chelsea haven't really been better than us either

Shocking how little we're playing through the middle. Bruno has hardly had a touch, and not because he's not trying. Our new £50m signing and we're not even using him

 

[BusbyMalone]

That's the thing, though. He often makes good runs in the box but the difference today is we had some decent delivery.

He's not Inzaghi, but he's not as clueless in his movement as he's made out to be either.

Yeah exactly. His movements outside the box leaves a lot to be desired, but when he's in the penalty area he's good.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Maguire wasn't deliberate, but it looked bad.

William wasn't a dive either.

It most certainly was a dive. Left his leg hanging and went flying.

 

[Cassidy]

Daniel James was never supposed to be a starter.

He is playing so regularly because of recruitment mismanagement, not Ole but above...

Give the kid a break.

Greenwood should be playing RWF

 

[arnie_ni]

It was a stonewall red card, not even a debate.

I'm unclear on the rules, can he get retrospective punishment if the incident gets reviewed?

Thats a good point. Its already been reviewed. Are retrospective reds a thing of the past now?

 

[Sassy Colin]

It was absolutely deliberate, he clearly kicked him.

Like I said, it looked bad, but I don't see it being in his nature.

 

[MonkeysMagic]

Fred and Fernandez look to have good understanding (perhaps Portuguese helps) but we are not finding Fernandez further up the pitch due to taking too many touches meaning he is running deeper to collect. Couple of minor tweaks and we can create chances but feel Batshuayi cant be as bad sec half!

 

[kouroux]

It would have been a pretty harsh red card. He didn't intend to hit him, was just an accident.

Accidents don't mean a player cannot get red carded. Besides, it wasn't an accident

 

[OldSchoolManc]

Maguire could have killed him and any future children there

 

[dev1l]

I love clutching at straws, that's a big aspect of my real job

Are you a farmer?

 

[Vault Dweller]

No one is writing him off but he has done about nothing today. He should do a lot more that's we're just thinking.

Maybe. But it pisses me off the lack of passing into him. They need to look to pass into him far more.

 

[2 man midfield]

As it stands there’s 7 points between 4th and 11th.

Liverpool have nicked all the points.

 

[thepolice123]

That was brilliant

 

[Cassidy]

Like I said, it looked bad, but I don't see it being in his nature.

He kicked him, doesn't matter if its in his nature of not

 

[King Eric 7]

Second half to come. 45 minutes of attack vs defence. What a joy it will be. Please prove me wrong Ole. We should go for a second goal.

 

[ivaldo]

100% red for me. Very lucky. VAR inconsistently is crazy.

Maybe he could make a case that he thought Batshuayi was going to fall on top of him and so reflexively pushed out to prevent that, but he's very fortunate.

 

[arnie_ni]

It's not even a debate

I said as soon as he done it its off. Was gobsmacked he didnt get it after the VAR review

 

[ivaldo]

Second half to come. 45 minutes of attack vs defence. What a joy it will be. Please prove me wrong Ole. We should go for a second goal.

Thanks for the update.

 

[Tincanalley]

Im not his biggest fan at all but I think he's actually been one of our best players so far.

He is ... match day thread ... constructive ignore helps the sanity

 

[Suedesi]

Out of the loop here, but where is Lindeloff? Bailly gives me a heart attack

 

[Sassy Colin]

Greenwood should be playing RWF

Agreed, Greenwood can do zero the whole game, then pop up with a goal out of nothing. James runs around alot, but doesn't produce anything and is never going to score.

 

[el3mel]

Off to watch second half. Hopefully will be a good night.

 

[JPRouve]

Like I said, it looked bad, but I don't see it being in his nature.

I don't know about his nature but he kicked him and I'm glad that the referee saw it and made a mistake. They can't do anything about it anymore.

 

[morbidsaint]

Want to give some credit to Taylor. He has done a great job this half. Only mistake might be Maguire.. should probably have been sent off.

 

[dogwithabone]

I must be watching a different game to some because I think we’ve been really good. We are way ahead of the LVG and Mousinho eras. We are going toe to toe with all the top teams now rather than parking the bus. We are careless at times but much more watchable.

 

[R'hllor]

Are some for real when it comes to that red card incident.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Disagree. His movement in the box is fine; certainly not "very poor". It's outside the box is the trouble. He's not very good at holding the ball up, but in the box he's good.

Nah, holding the ball up is one of his strengths. It’s being a fox in the box that’s his weakness.

Wait, who are we talking about...?