[always_hoping]

I might add the two extra days to prepare for this game really showed in the two teams performances this evening.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Until we sort out the depth of the squad we will have problems. That has to be addressed. You need viable options to come off the bench to not overwork the players. The standard drops too much if we make the slightest change to the team.

 

[Devil may care]

The result was disappointing but it was the performance that was far more worrying.

1. System we rarely play with James as a striker was a mistake
2. De gea can't be excused for those errors, the 2nd was farcical
3. 2nd best in every department today, especially competitiveness
4. Lack of press resistance in midfield and at CB

 

[LunchBox]

I do not understand Bruno playing this whole match. Let the man rest for champions league possibility ffs.

 

[GeorgeistheBest]

Numerous poor performances today. De Gea at his absolute worst. He has been on the wane for the last 2 or 3 seasons so never understood why he was given such a massive financial contract. As long as we win on Wednesday this game will soon be forgotten. Let's start with Henderson next season.

 

[Canucantona20]

Honestly the team had absolutely no energy at all.

 

[mazhar13]

Why are so many people saying they are not bothered then?

What is acting like children is blaming the ref , tiredness even the BBC ffs(look at match thread) The excuse list is never ending.

Our effort in the 2nd half was evidence of that. We tried hard in the 1st half, but once we hit some adversity with the Bailly injury, the players lost whatever intensity they had.

You're right, the ref wasn't fully to blame; Chelsea played more aggressively than we did, and that's because of the valid 2nd point: fatigue. They looked sharper and fresher, and because of that, they played more aggressively and, consequently, conceded more fouls. We had a game plan that relied on our defensive shape to stop them instead of aggressive, non-stop pressing, and it all went out of the window with Bailly's injury.

I don't know how the BBC are to blame, but they came with no knowledge and perspective on United over the past couple of weeks. They thought that we'd be a fresh, fully fit side with no issues whatsoever in preparation for the match.

 

[Agila Dathi]

It’s time for De Gea to move on and get a new challenge, Inlove the guy but he’s not been good enough for some time now.

Maguire... why did he cost so much? He’s not better than Smalling, I just don’t see the point in buying him at all.

Bailly, he was unlucky today but still I’m sick of him being injured all the time, he has to go.

Daniel James, worst piece of siht we’ve had since Obertan and Bebe, I’d even pick Lingard ahead of him.

Ole, resting players in FA semi finals, and playing Daniel James!! Ffs!! Lampard complained about VAR before the match while Ome just sat there smiling like a virgin waiting for a lapdance, why didn’t he put pressure in the ref too? It was Mike Dean and Chelsea ffs, there was alot to mention!!! An resting Martial and Pogba in a match like this is just stupid, we betrer get the fourthnor he’s out.
We were completely outclassed today.

Yes I’m fecking angry!

 

[mattunited1978]

Maguire and AWB (£130m) in particular are shocking.

Horrible use of finances...two defenders with massive deficiencies in there game, both have been woeful recently,especially AWB

 

[DeGea]

With many of our players tired, I think we should have played a defensive, in-your-face, physical kind of game with a physical second string side akin to Jose's matches. That way, skills are less important. An average player could do well in that style. Chelsea were expecting to press , so if they encountered a team that sat back they would be slightly surprised. We should have played on the counter and parked the bus. Sometimes semi-finals are won in an ugly fashion like that. This is all hindsight of course.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

Martial looked ok when he came on.

Literally everyone else was shocking

 

[GenZRed]

I had a feeling we would lose this game. That feeling was amplified when I saw DeGea was starting.

 

[Jazz]

Just seen that Bailly was rushed to the hospital via helicopter. I really hope he will be ok...

 

[Asger]

Terrible performance by our players and so called referees..

United will never win CL or PL with Williams, Lindelof, Maguire and Wan-Bisaka. Maybe its team to give Henderson a chance but god bless him for having this defense in front of him.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Yeah. We tend to get way ahead of ourselves by running up the score in a few easy games and pumping the stats. We ain't all that.

I think that’s a little harsh. When we’re having one of our hot streaks we win difficult games too. Our record against the big teams is excellent as a result. My worry is that Ole can only get a tune out of this bunch when their tails are up and they’re full of confidence. What he needs to do now is show he can arrest a sharp downturn in form from a team that looks like it’s lost all its confidence. And he needs to do it a hell of a lot quicker than he did it the last time we lost our mojo.

 

[mazhar13]

I'm on about when Chelsea were attacking us, and he was the one getting a foot in, and breaking up their play, and he used the ball pretty well.

I agree, he was fine. I wasn't referring to performances with the "100%" comment: that was more about the energy levels and mentality in our players. Bruno kept his head up and didn't let the goals bring him down. I guess Matic was also fine in that respect.

 

[TMDaines]

A very weird match. It felt like the game of the football was completely incidental to all the injuries and goalkeeping mistakes.

Chelsea undoubtedly were better until the first half drinks. I’m loathe to criticise the tactics, because they have worked so well in big games away from home this season, but there were a couple of glaring holes on the pitch because of the personnel selections. James won one ball back in the Chelsea third, but otherwise was anonymous, and Fred was Fred: hard-working but struggling to do anything progressive. Bruno had to come deep for the ball before the formation reshuffle. Brandon also showed why Shaw is now looking a real top player.

United were on top though from the drinks until De Gea’s first error at the end of the second half. I don’t think anyone in that period would have predicted a comfortable Chelsea win, but within about five minutes of actual football, De Gea had gifted them two goals with absolute dollies.

It was always going to be hard from United to come back from that, but at least the intent was there. United has the three best chances of the second half and probably were ahead of xG. If Caballero had tossed two in the net, United would have likely won this by a mile. I’ll hold my hands up and admit when my team deserve to be 3-0 down and are being thoroughly outplayed, but today was not it.

De Gea sadly confirmed the worst kept secret at the club. He’s no longer able to be backed as United’s #1. Two awful goalkeeping errors for the first two goals and even for the third he should save it more often than not. De Gea’s contract was seen as a risky move at the time by many of us and it hasn’t paid of. If anything his form has deteriorated further since then. United’s pursuit of Sanchez looked like being the most costly error we could possibly make with personnel, but De Gea’s contract is a bigger error. At least Sanchez has a potential buyer; nobody has been interested in De Gea for years.

Bruno was our best player. Not everything he tries comes off, but his influence on the team is incredible. He plays with ambition coursing through him.

Oh well. Shit happens. Leaders in the team need to make sure our heads are screwed on for Wednesday.

 

[DevilRed]

Did ok with the 5-3-2 and then our players started to get injured. Bailly coming off "forced" us to change formation and that opened us up because we all know that lindelof is a bang average defender that has mistakes in him.

Conceding before the half and right after the half, are probably the worst times to do so. It essentially killed the game. DDG the culprit for the second one.

You can chalk it down to luck with injuries or chelski getting the extra few days rest or them wanting it more than us. Said it many times, that OGS has really really bad luck with injuries. Not the first time its derailed a result or a run of matches.

Excuses aside, it was still a poor performance. The Squad players that got a chance did not step up and take it. Fred is absolutely horrible and not at the required quality even for a rotational player. Dan James was off the pace and looks bereft of confidence.

Rashford was running on fumes a bit. I believe some of the regulars are trying but also need to save themselves for the two more important matches coming up.

I hope we bounce back from this with a vengeance. The true character of the team will be on show against west ham.

 

[Backrow Singer]

Bad day at the office, move on.

Not sure about that to be honest. Today was an FA Cup semi-final. That should still mean something despite the situation that’s around the game at then minute. Today’s defeat still hurts. We’re still Manchester United and presumably we want to challenge for trophies again in the future. Need to wear that defeat and learn some lessons from that today.

 

[NewGlory]

We went into the game with a terrible mentality, looking to lose. Our players simply executed the plan to perfection.

Not true. We looked like a far better side, ready to own them - almost entire first half, up until Bailly got carried out on a stretcher and then their first goal came in. Things just went downhill from there.

In retrospect, I can see why Ole wanted three central defenders in this game. Lindelof and Maguire both made too many mistakes and could have used Bailly backing them up.

Plan was not bad. It didn't work.

 

[Jazz]

I had a feeling we would lose this game. That feeling was amplified when I saw DeGea was starting.

I felt we would lose as well....

We just need the lads to give everything on Wednesday.

 

[cfkane]

Law of averages, (no pun intended), caught up with us. No excuses, Chelsea wanted it more. Ole got the tactics and lineup wrong, but he gets it right more than not. Even SAF got tactics/lineup wrong a few times. On to WHU and the drive for CL spots. And hopefully we can still win Europa.

 

[HJ12]

21 fouls to 9, and we end up with the only card of the game. Let that sink in. As bad as we were in the first half, whenever we tried to transition between defence and attack, we were inevitably fouled. No excuses in the second half though - just terrible.

 

[48 hours]

Bad day at the office, move on.

more like a getting your cock trapped in the escalator day at the office

 

[djembatheking]

Blessing in disguise, we can concentrate on top 4 now.

 

[Decade long lurker]

It’s hard enough without handing 2 goals to the opposition. Feckin hell. That was a tough watch. Just get top 4. Lask is a dead rubber game. So a nice 2 week break between next Sunday and the europa quarter finals. Go full tilt for that. Come on reds

 

[NewGlory]

I do not understand Bruno playing this whole match. Let the man rest for champions league possibility ffs.

I agree with this. Letting Bruno play was the one of only two decisions of Ole's that I disagreed with. The other one was - Romero should have played instead of De Gea. It was a Cup game ffs. Emotions got better of Ole and he really wanted to win, is my only explanation. Not good to let heart rule over brain, in situations like this.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Is there an option to NOT choose a man of the match. Literally NO ONE, played well.

Yep.
It's called, 'I don't want to vote on this match'.

 

[Houdini]

Everything went wrong tonight. From fitnes level to tactics and individual errors. DDG, Maguire and Brandon were horendous (Brandon is after an injury and only 19 but don't play him FFS if he is not ready!). There is no exuse for that DDG performance and I don't rate Maguire at all. His only strenght is aerial dominance (only when defending because he can't hit the target at corners). Lendelof is good at ball but only average in def positions. James Gump can only run. What I don't like th emost is that we are out of FA cup for nothing. Didn't rested the players just picked up another injury Pleyers need a proper hairdryer!

 

[buchansleftleg]

Sadly our defence will never play with confidence whilst DDG is in goal.

His lack of dominating on high balls was always a wekness that he outdid with awesome shot stopping. But now he is a busted flush and you can see the defenders confidence being eroded game after game.

Romero till the end of the season and get Hendo back to train ready for being number 1 next season.

 

[SirAnderson]

Yep.
It's called, 'I don't want to vote on this match'.

But I want to, I want to say No one is.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Poor game. Sloppy from start to finish. Can't be too harsh on Ole and the lads because that's their first defeat in 19. We've done fantastically well to close the gap between the top four. Hopefully, we can brush ourselves off and go again on Wednesday.

 

[Houdini]

I agree with this. Letting Bruno play was the only decision of Ole's that I disagree with. Emotions got better of him and he really wanted to win, is my only explanation. Not good to let heart rule over brain, in situations like this.

DDG was the MOTM. Unfortunately for the Chelsea side...

 

[charlenefan]

Meh

Didn't like the starting XI, especially James' role from an attacking point of view was never going to offer us a threat
First goal joke blaming De Gea imo
Second goal obviously was on De Gea and it's beyond a joke with him now
Third goal just summed up the day

Concerning with 2 must win games to come the current form over these past 3 games

 

[Dante]

I wasn't bother before the match, and I'm not bothered now.

 

[morbidsaint]

Clearly the whole squad is feeling our schedule at the moment. Please keep in mind that the last month or two has been fantastic for us. We have run over everyone. Last two three games however has clearly showed that the players are VERY tired.

It can be seen in all the moronic, indivdual errors made today, and the overall workrate. Even Fernandes looks battered. I am not sure what Ole could or should have done different today. This forum would have complained either way. Its just how this forum functions. Two months of very good performances all forgotten about after one loss against a solid team that had 48 hours more rest in the middle of the worst schedule we have seen in decades.

 

[sammsky1]

Not sure about that to be honest. Today was an FA Cup semi-final. That should still mean something despite the situation that’s around the game at then minute. Today’s defeat still hurts. We’re still Manchester United and presumably we want to challenge for trophies again in the future. Need to wear that defeat and learn some lessons from that today.

All this ‘we are man united’ bravado is such a load of crap.

Manchester United currently finishes 5th or 6th. That’s what we are.

Until we become a top 2 team with a squad capable of competing on all fronts, that’s what we remain.

Getting back to that pinnacle takes time and we are on that journey.

 

[DevilRed]

I might add the two extra days to prepare for this game really showed in the two teams performances this evening.

It was the critical factor IMO.

That and we were once again undone by injuries.

OGS needs a bit of luck. Im hoping he gets it in the next two matches.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

With many of our players tired, I think we should have played a defensive, in-your-face, physical kind of game with a physical second string side akin to Jose's matches. That way, skills are less important. An average player could do well in that style. Chelsea were expecting to press , so if they encountered a team that sat back they would be slightly surprised. We should have played on the counter and parked the bus. Sometimes semi-finals are won in an ugly fashion like that. This is all hindsight of course.

Think we are being kicked to pieces at times. People saying Bruno dives, James dives etc so refs letting them get away with it. Maybe we need to give others a taste of their own medicine or Ole needs to quietly bring it up in a press conference, but doubt it will help us much.

 

[Irrational.]

Three factors cost us the game:

1. Ole's selection. He should've rotated for a meaningless FA Cup tie - in the scheme of this season it doesn't mean anything. It's not going to get us into the CL and quite frankly, we have other priorities. I think he probably saw the Arsenal win yesterday and decided to go for it, but didn't fully commit. As a result, he had a handful of tired first XI players combined with with a dodgy formation and some useless tactics like playing Dan James up front.

2. Chelsea having 48 hours more rest. No matter what you say - you could see our players dead on their feet with wayward passing and sloppy possession. In sharp contrast, Chelsea were full of beans, pressing us to death and snapping into every challenge and pretty much kicked us off the park (most of the kicks conveniently went unpunished by Deane). I just hope playing the likes of Bruno for another 90 minutes doesn't cost us against West Ham. I think a second string would've put up a far better fight and wouldn't have embarrassed us like DDG and Maguire did today. Speaking of DDG...

3. DDG. He is finished. The sooner we get Romero in until the end of the season, the better. Otherwise, he will end up costing us top four again like last season. His confidence is completely shot and he has let complacency take over his game. Next season - Henderson has to take over. Ole has to be more ruthless with him. At the moment he plays like the world's most expensive player who knows that his place is never under threat, no matter how badly he plays.

We really need to pick ourselves up for Wednesday. I hope Ole's tactics don't come back to bite us in the arse, or the players' heads don't drop. With Leicester dropping points we really, really need to capitalise. A draw is not good enough as I can't trust us to beat Leicester on the final day. Though from this performance, I can see Moyes licking his lips.