LC W League Cup Third Round

Luton Town 0:3 Manchester United

Post-match discussion


Tue, 22 September 2020

I said it at the start of the match when i saw the line ups that it would be a long night with Mata and Lingard starting and both on the wings. They keep coming towards the ball rather than running in behind. Look at the difference when the speedy wingers came on.
 
That Rashford goal was a thing of beauty.
 
Few positives to take from a pretty dull game.

Bailly looked sharp and quick across the pitch.
Matic getting some minutes to get up to speed.
DvB would look top around the first team front 3 with his quick touches in and around the box.

Negatives would be Ighalo looking finished, Mata and Lingard creating nothing (Lingard worked his socks off though)
 
  • We have two very good goalkeepers in De Gea and Henderson. Classy save from the later
  • Bailly is the best defender we have in the team. Really sad with his injury problems. Could be one of the best
  • Fred is better at DM than CM. Definitely the first backup option behind Matic going forward. I think Fred even had a better game than Matic today
  • Ighalo is not good enough for a top team in England
  • It is crazy how big the difference is between our first and second team. The game changed significantly after the late substitutions. It really shows how important it is for the team to invest in some quality attackers to support our current starters
  • Greenwood is legen - wait for it - dary
 
In the secnond half, AWB started pushing up much further and VDB started covering Mata's runs instead of Lingard - going right instead of left. Our play improved immediately.

Bruno's link up transformed us once the subs came on, making us look more fluid going forward. Rashford ran into space and finished his chance, and Greenwood showed how we could have had an easier night if we had at least one player who was willing to take his man on. I'm sure Ole learned a lot in that first half, and I'm glad we picked up our play in the second.

It feels like one player we could have really used this summer was Willian. His ability to provide width, play on either flank, ability to dribble and an eye for goal would have strenghtened our squad.
 
I know its only Luton, but I'm just way more comfortable with a midfield duo of Matic and Fred on the teamsheet.

They provide great cover for the backline and a good base for our front 4. No fancy flicks or passes either, just keeping the ball moving.
 
Some football happened for 88 mins and then Greenwood happened. That’s all.
Lingard/Mata are not UTD quality. Ighalo also seems to have lost that blistering form that he had earlier.
We are a top 6 team and on a good day a top 4 team. It all depends on luck now to see if we make it in to the top 4 again. Mentality really lacks.
 
Thought we played well in the 2nd half.

Good win.

That 2nd goal was great.
 
Excellent management from OGS to use the game to help improve fitness of entire squad and also boost confidence of some 1st XI players at the end.

lingard was good but I was really enamoured and reminded of Bailly’s speed. Hope he can stay fit and build an understanding with Maguire as that might be an amazing solution to our issues at CB
 
Hard work till the subs. Ultimately, job done! We might play Brighton twice in a few days, which won't be fun. Great to see Rashford score. Greenwood = special! Thought Hendo won't have anything to do all game but stood up when called upon. Good win. On to the next...
 
good result but beating a second string luton is no achievement. Worrying trends still on display.
positives: gunwood fc still class, goal and assist. Rashford got a nice goal, lingard and matic played pretty well.
 
Greenwood an obvious MotM (1G + 1A), Rashford and Bruno also played very well. Rather than that... Dean with a world class save and his first clean sheet. Others were not very good to be frank
 
Only caught the last 10 minutes but we looked decent enough from what I saw. Good to shake off a bit of the close season rustyness
 
Decent run and out & good to close it off once their legs had gone. Not the best game to watch but good to see Hendo on form, take some confidence into Saturday
 
Nice to see Hendo make a big save. Last ten minutes was real bright. Much of the other 80 was real tumescent. The second string not being match fit wasn’t pretty.
 
Delighted to see Mason and Marcus on the score sheet.

However, it is very sad to see the number of players that are surplus to requirements and too expensive to shift. Ighalo's loan should be terminated if we can find an alternative (even a youth prospect).
 
People are aware of these two things right?

A) obviously are first teamers are better then our second team, that's sort of the point

B) of course they did well when they came on, Luton were finally over committing and we could catch them on the break vs. Tired legs.
 
Mata, Lingard and VDB should be good enough to create/score goals against a Championship side but that was pretty poor. Why were they playing so narrow? All three were on top of each other at times. Even when Lingard started going wide, neither him or Williams attacked their man. Questions need to be asked about the system. But a win and a run out for players who needed it. Onwards and upwards.
 
Lingard looked bothered again, good for him - although hes been playing like he isnt bothered for 2 years. Mediocre at best aside from that
 
Scoreline flattered us in the end. We were at absolutely nothing until the 3 lads came on at the end there. We stepped up nicely then so it was good to see them look good. Greenwoods good was the highlight. Class bit of individual play and no one else on our team is scoring that.

Anyway job done, for 80 mins it was a tough watch though.
 
Job done, showed the difference between our first team and backup players which we all know is a bit too big.Great save by Henderson on his debut too.
 
Must have watched a different match to all those raving about Bailly. He looked like a headless chicken running around out there, he is fast but he is also clumsy, a terrible header of a ball and genuinely seems to not know what football is.
 
Bailly probably man of the match. Good defensive performance and he had the instinct to save the goal. Who knows how the rest of the match would have played out if not for the double save at 1-0.
 
Must have watched a different match to all those raving about Bailly. He looked like a headless chicken running around out there, he is fast but he is also clumsy, a terrible header of a ball and genuinely seems to not know what football is.

Yep, you did.
 
Mata needs replacing, that much is obvious as he doesn't have the strength nor pace to play as a right sided attacker. He also cuts inside and abandons whatever shape there is. So imagine the right sided player that rotates with Greenwood....it's just painfully obvious.

Also, Luton was completely overlooked by too many people. They were unbeaten in their previous four matches, two in the Championship and two in the League Cup before tonight.

Good run out by the team. Solid performance as well by everyone.
 
Was impressed with VdB first touch and technique, quick thinking. Looks a player.

Bonus to see Fernandes, Greenwood and Rashford come on for 15 minutes and looking sharp.

Greenwood is brilliant.
 
We didn't learn anything we didn't know already tonight: Our second string can barely keep its nose ahead of Luton's second string. Our first string players can bury the likes of these in 5-10 minutes.
 
In the secnond half, AWB started pushing up much further and VDB started covering Mata's runs instead of Lingard - going right instead of left. Our play improved immediately.

Bruno's link up transformed us once the subs came on, making us look more fluid going forward. Rashford ran into space and finished his chance, and Greenwood showed how we could have had an easier night if we had at least one player who was willing to take his man on. I'm sure Ole learned a lot in that first half, and I'm glad we picked up our play in the second.

It feels like one player we could have really used this summer was Willian. His ability to provide width, play on either flank, ability to dribble and an eye for goal would have strenghtened our squad.
Zaha?
 
Am I alone in thinking Lingard was bloody awful? Shot damn near every time he had the ball and the vast majority were high and wide.
You're probably not alone but I actually thought he was our liveliest attacker until we made the subs. His finishing let him down badly though.
 
The final scoreline was needed as much as the result itself just for confidence if nothing else. It may have papered over the cracks but at this point it's considerably better than what could have happened. I'm fairly certain there are dark days ahead of which severe criticism will be entirely justified but today is not one of them.
 
Mata needs replacing, that much is obvious as he doesn't have the strength nor pace to play as a right sided attacker. He also cuts inside and abandons whatever shape there is. So imagine the right sided player that rotates with Greenwood....it's just painfully obvious.

Also, Luton was completely overlooked by too many people. They were unbeaten in their previous four matches, two in the Championship and two in the League Cup before tonight.

Good run out by the team. Solid performance as well by everyone.
they are a good settled side, good manager, good form, and have several games under their belt. this is a tough game as far as carabao goes.
 

Player Ratings

6.3 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 200 ratings.

Score Predictions

188,32,13
  • Man Utd win
  • Luton Town win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 24% Luton Town 0:2 Man Utd
  • 21% Luton Town 0:3 Man Utd
  • 14% Luton Town 1:2 Man Utd
  • 7% Luton Town 1:3 Man Utd
  • 6% Luton Town 0:4 Man Utd
  • 5% Luton Town 0:1 Man Utd
  • 4% Luton Town 5:0 Man Utd
  • 3% Luton Town 2:1 Man Utd
  • 3% Luton Town 1:0 Man Utd
  • 3% Luton Town 1:1 Man Utd
  • 2% Luton Town 0:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 2:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 2:2 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 1:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 0:5 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 3:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Luton Town 2:4 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 4:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 5:1 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 2:3 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 5:3 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 2:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Luton Town 1:5 Man Utd
Compiled from 233 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Luton Town
  2. Man Utd
Possession
42% 58%
Shots
10 19
Shots on Target
2 12
Corners
4 8
Fouls
15 16

Referee

Tim Robinson