[Red-17]

It is kind of worrying that when trying on a style of play that some teams can maintain for 90 minutes, this team looks knackered after 30. Really says a lot about the previous management. I'm tempted to suspect that given Ole's history as a player, he might not concern himself very much with stamina. Whatever the case, it's clear that the team needs to run more in training. Pretty disappointing to see the players exhausted after half an hour.

I don't think we really looked knackered tbh. The main thing that changed from the half hour mark was that Palace almost completely ceased trying to play the ball out from the back because we were winning it in dangerous areas literally almost every single time they tried it. They started playing it long and trying to just win second balls instead.

This basically meant that instead of us winning the ball 30 yards from goal with 5 of 6 Palace players behind the ball, it was 50-60 yards from goal with 9 or 10 behind the ball. That made it much more difficult to break them down consequently, but in both phases, we were dominant in terms of ball possession and overall control. Palace didn't create a single chance that was anything other than a speculative effort from open play the entire game. Compare that to how many dangerous chances we have consistently conceded in games against similar quality sides this season and it was night and day.

 

[mav_9me]

Its not really a fair point with Matic at all I don't think. Rangnick is known for wanting to press and has repeatedly said since taking the job that we need to "transfer the game away from our own box"

I'm genuinely baffled what version of Matic people watch to think he fits into that at all. Matic is the master of forcing you to play the entire game on the edge of your own box. Of all the players in our squad I think he's by some way the least suited to how we'll be expected to play...well to be frank how any PL team should be expected to play. Honestly what do people see when Matic plays? Do they just ignore the fact he is 20 yards deeper than he should be all the time and takes 3x as long to do things as the opposition midfield?

McTominay does need to step up but he's not going to be getting dropped for Matic unless that latter's fitness level and sharpness/speed over go some kind of science defying upturn.

Sorry for the random rant but it genuinelyt astounds me people still want him in the team after literally years of him consistently and visibly playing like a crippled old man. Ole's failure to recognise obvious things like this was one of his biggest undoings.

I agree that Matic doesn't have the legs to play this style but perhaps Rangnick can set up around that weakness? Cuz he does bring strengths like passing and carrying the ball.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Our first step is to learn how to press as a team and to gain control, which we did great in this game.

Our next step is to learn how to organize attack move effectively after winning the ball back, which we are still poor at.

It’s takes time for whole team to learn to play by this new approach. But we are in right direction I believe.

 

[mav_9me]

Not sure how to post screenshots but there is a moment shown on one of the review shows where our defense is basically 35 yrds from their goal. Thats how high a line they played. How can you not get excited by that?

At 4:46 in this video

 

[Alek M]

I rewatched the first 30 min. We cornered them and won possession a lot. But we need to work on quick pass afterwards to get a shot.
Rashford was awful. Hopefully he just needs match sharpness. Too many feckin touches
dalot impressed
Sancho was good

We were in control!!!

 

[lex talionis]

We still struggle against bus parkers, but we ground out the kind of win we used to snatch all the time under Ferguson.

We need to appreciate how much the squad absorbed and implemented after just one training session with a proper manager. Remarkable.

 

[SAFMUTD]

I think many are overreacting, the performance was better but we are still a long long way from performing like the top teams.

If not by Fred's goal I don't think the narrative would be the same, we hardly generated any chances in the whole game. It was nice to see the defensive control but attacking wise we look nothing electric or "heavy metal".

I'm excited about Rangnick but just not buying the whole "look how much the team changed with just one training session" narrative.

I expect us to be fully performing by February, hopefully we can make a great run at the UCL.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Not sure how to post screenshots but there is a moment shown on one of the review shows where our defense is basically 35 yrds from their goal. Thats how high a line they played. How can you not get excited by that?

At 4:46 in this video

A good team will exploit it for sure. We need to be vary of it.

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Yes it was 2-0, statman Dave fail and plenty believed it

15 consecutive home games. We beat them 2-1 at home.

 

[justsomebloke]

It is kind of worrying that when trying on a style of play that some teams can maintain for 90 minutes, this team looks knackered after 30. Really says a lot about the previous management. I'm tempted to suspect that given Ole's history as a player, he might not concern himself very much with stamina. Whatever the case, it's clear that the team needs to run more in training. Pretty disappointing to see the players exhausted after half an hour.

What? Stamina was a major theme for Ole from the beginning. It was a key reason why they had to abandon the high intensity style that was so successful during his caretaker period, because JM most certainly had not left behind a physically fit squad. Physical fitness was heavily emphasised in the following preseason. All of this was very public. And they stood up well to the rigors of last season too. This is not an area where the previous regime left problems behind.
And of course they weren't knackered after 30 minutes, as others have pointed out. Just read what Rangnick says.

 

[mav_9me]

A good team will exploit it for sure. We need to be vary of it.

For sure but we should be doing this against the bottom half teams at home in particular.

 

[#07]

Woke up this morning feeling fine;
Got Man Utd on my mind;
Rangnick's playing the way that Utd should, oh yeah;
Something tells me I'm into something good...

 

[V.O.]

Woke up this morning feeling fine;
Got Man Utd on my mind;
Rangnick's playing the way that Utd should, oh yeah;
Something tells me I'm into something good...

Careful now. Down with this sort of thing.

 

[dasty]

Attacking patterns of play is always the hardest to implement, but the signs are there. Our midfield and defence looked multitudes better than they were under Ole, and it was actually a game where it felt like we were in complete control, albeit the lack of chances. We pinned Palace in their own half for the most of the first half, which is refreshing to see compared to when we were pinned in our own half vs the likes Watford...

The structure, movement and running off the ball felt a lot more purposeful. Very promising first game especially when you take into account the fact that they barely had time to train in between games. We also deserved a clean sheet, unlike the rare few times we got a clean sheet in the past year where we were just lucky or bailed out by De Gea.

 

[Judas]

I think many are overreacting, the performance was better but we are still a long long way from performing like the top teams.

If not by Fred's goal I don't think the narrative would be the same, we hardly generated any chances in the whole game. It was nice to see the defensive control but attacking wise we look nothing electric or "heavy metal".

I'm excited about Rangnick but just not buying the whole "look how much the team changed with just one training session" narrative.

I expect us to be fully performing by February, hopefully we can make a great run at the UCL.

Of course we are? Obviously? It's been one game. You can be excited by the little we saw and be realistic, and I think most people are. I don't see much overreacting here. Even if there is, positive overreaction makes a bloody change to the typical tone on SadCafe over the last few years.

It's not really a "narrative" the difference in that first 30 minutes was quite clear and every pundit and fan noticed it, if you want to act like it wasn't, fair enough, bit strange but alright.

Why would we look "electric" or "heavy metal" football? No one with sense expected that after one training session.

I don't get the urge to sort of snigger at those who enjoyed watching us for once.

 

[jackal&hyde]

Very good first 30 mins and looked solid throughout.

 

[Ash_G]

As others have said it was definitely encouraging to see what felt like a real change in how we were approaching the game. Clearly it's early days so we can't say too much but it was good to see. If we could have capitalised in the first half with a goal that would have been great and feels like a real way forward as with the pace we have on the counter, once a team has to come at us then we're a real threat and we've got the squad to keep that energy up in attack over 90 mins. CM remains the main issue both in terms of missing that little bit of quality but also in terms of depth as probably only VDB can come in and still let us play the way we were trying to as Matic doesn't have the legs and Pogba isn't really that player either.

Speaking of squad one thing that isn't just specific to this game but the last few is just showing that actually the squad isn't that bad. Dalot and Telles have come in and done well. Bailly had a decent game, we've seen Sancho really start to step up. I think that was a key area we weren't helping ourselves in either- we were too reliant on a small core of players which meant players weren't getting enough rest and when the squad players were used they were basically being brought in completely cold which makes it much harder to come in and be effective. There's definitely a lot more squad rotation we can do. It doesn't need to be a complete eleven change but a few changes here and there to keep people fresh/put that competition in the squad.

 

[Solius]

Rangnick mentioned defending pro-actively and I thought we did that really well. Obviously if you press high there’s a danger you can be countered but I thought we snuffed anything out before it could begin, with Lindelof doing excellently.

It actually got to the point where our attack was so worrying for Palace that when they did win the ball back they had XI behind the ball and nobody upfield to pass it to. More of that please.

 

[I'm a beautiful thing]

I enjoyed the game, very good for half an hour, bit of a struggle after that but always looked the team more likely to win it.
I'm not Wan-Bissaka's biggest critic but unless he improves on the ball, there is no way he fits into this system, Dalot looked far better yesterday, 50 million, dear me

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I don't understand how we can have so many quality players in attack and barely create any chances.

On the plus side our off the ball work looked much better already, didn't allow them many counters and won the ball back much quicker.

Still so many basic errors made in possession, and struggling to break down a low block is a familiar story.

Yeah. He's had 1 full training session to work out all the kinks and it just didn't happen. Terrible manager #ralfout

 

[Compton22]

Beautiful

 

[Redrob84]

I think many are overreacting, the performance was better but we are still a long long way from performing like the top teams.

If not by Fred's goal I don't think the narrative would be the same, we hardly generated any chances in the whole game. It was nice to see the defensive control but attacking wise we look nothing electric or "heavy metal".

I'm excited about Rangnick but just not buying the whole "look how much the team changed with just one training session" narrative.

I expect us to be fully performing by February, hopefully we can make a great run at the UCL.

Agree but it’s going to take time, as you say let’s see how we’re doing come February. Really looking forward to Wednesday hopefully we can get the attack going and create more chances.

 

[Maticmaker]

The match as a whole was a great appetizer for what (hopefully) is to come under RR, especially the first half. Still worried about how close Palace came to equalizing, so work still to be done, defensively, but both Telles and Dalot seem to be making the most of their opportunities.
Ever the consummate professional, CR not only provided some lovely little flicks and layoffs throughout the game, but also showing his determination, if a times a bit 'agricultural', to help with defensive duties.
Fred the match winner, how many times will we say that going forward? He still had one or two little gaffs in him, even on probably his best day ever at OT (at least so far) but his goal squared it all off. Carrick moved him ten yards up the pitch, Ralf kept him there...are we seeing the beginnings of a new career for Fred, or is this papering over the cracks?

 

[KingCavani]

Beautiful

These are now the highlight of my week.

 

[Dominos]

Yeah. He's had 1 full training session to work out all the kinks and it just didn't happen. Terrible manager #ralfout

Silly post. When did I criticise the manager?

I'm frustrated by the long term problem that our players don't have a clue how to create chances against a low block. Obviously not the new managers fault considering his plane just landed.

 

[noodlehair]

I agree that Matic doesn't have the legs to play this style but perhaps Rangnick can set up around that weakness? Cuz he does bring strengths like passing and carrying the ball.

He is too slow for premier league football both on and off the ball and that's a very difficult thing to set a team up to compensate for. There is no way you can play that isn't a handicap.

We've seen what generally happens. Matic drops back and pretty much becomes an extra centreback because it's either that or players run past and/or take the ball off him.

The reason I think it's a particularly big problem for Rangnick is he seems big on controlling games and playing the game away from our own goal, which is literally the exact opposite of what Matic offers. If Matic plays you either sit in and okay on the break, or have no control of the game at all.

I mean the other thing as well is it's Matic. If it was an ageing Paul Scholes you can make an allowance based on his quality. You make an allowance for Ronaldo based on his quality. Matic if we're being frank isn't going to do anything to compensate for the difficulties playing him causes the team...and we've seen that time and time again over the whole of Ole's time in charge. The only time it has worked was after lockdown when no one was fit or sharp enough for a month.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Are there any stats to show average distance covered by teams in the league over the weekend?

Would be interesting to see how we compare considering we were pretty much bottom for these metrics up until this point.

 

[Foxbatt]

What's this talk of CP missing a sitter? From all the replays I saw it was offside though the referee didn't blow.

 

[Hughie77]

To get that Intesity, out of them in 1 game, shows they have it in them. The only issue I've always had with this kind of play, is if you don't score when your on top like we didn't in the first 45. Teams will change and Palace did yesterday they went long as they were losing the ball high up the pitch.
Saying that they gave the ball away more as we won most of the knock downs if we didn't get the header. I got to say though it was the most comfortable 90mins I've watched all season.
Even the 5 and 4 goal wins at home , it wasn't comfortable. Yesterday they controlled the game, if we lost the ball and they cleared it a red shirt picked it up. Just need to keep this going .

 

[calodo2003]

These are now the highlight of my week.

They never disappoint. The Twitter account is worth a follow.

 

[mitchmouse]

Just seen Match of the Day, and it's like watching a total different side. OK, it wasn't dazzling but we were in total control, hardly looked troubled and moved the ball around quickly.

One thing proves what I've been saying for weeks: Shaw and AWB are not our best fullbacks (at least not on current form).

And I loved how excited Ralfie (!) got when we scored. More please

 

[VidaRed]

Positives:-
-Playing in the opponents half most of the game
-Midfield not being bypassed
-Defense not being split open
-Dalot and telles being useful outlets out wide
-Clean sheet
-Collective pressing
-Fred completing forward passes
-Fred scoring
-Maguire not being a wuss

Negatives:-
-McT offensive game needs improving
-Rashford needs to be coached to make better decisions
-Let the foot of the pedal in the second half*

*Better fitness and a few more training sessions with ralf will take care of that.

 

[Dante]

What a great video! Like being in the East Stand and the Stretford End in the same match.