[Inigo Montoya]

Holy Mother of God!

Then Watford
Break
Liverpool on the 17th

 

[eire-red]

If Pogba had half the effort of Cavani, he'd reach more of his 'world class' potential much more consistently

Pogba played very well, those are the unspectacular 7/10 matches we've been wanting to see when he's not at his sparkling best.

If this type of performance could be his baseline, with a Sheffield United/West Ham type of performance sprinkled in there every few games, then what a player he would be. Kept us ticking nicely last night.

 

[lex talionis]

Then Watford
Break
Liverpool on the 17th

I hope Ole gives Bruno and Harry the day off v Watford. Not that I can possibly have any idea of the daily fitness level of the players, but looking at the squad from a distance it seems to me Ole is running the risk of burning out our two most important players as we reach the final six weeks of the season when so much is at stake.

But Ole knows all this and we have to trust him.

 

[city-puma]

I have been quite wondering why we have not deployed Tuanzebe as either left or right fullback since he was put on left as an forced substitute in a game earlier this season. He did so well both defensively and offensively. He could be a Brown in this team, but a more flexible one (can play both sides).
I feel so pleased that Bailey did well and more importantly he did not hurt himself this time.

 

[Gator Nate]

Another away win...

Ole just picked a second team (I hesitate to use the "squad" descriptor for that team) that beat the #4 team in the league that made very few changes. The scouting and preparation for the last two games have been spot-on. If this continues through the next several matches, this weekend at Leicester in particular, I think we've turned onto a significant path.

At no point yesterday did I feel we were ever the second-best team on the pitch.

The finishing was worrisome yesterday (in part due to an excellent Everton defense), but as long as we keep opponents out of the goal, I'm not going to fret about it. This is a team that can consistently put in 90'+ and will be in it to the last whistle. They've gone down goals and come back.

Bailly was my Man of the Match. His presence in the middle with Maguire changed things. He has pace. He has really good field vision. If only he had a slightly higher regard for his own body...

Cavani's mentality is great. No amount of failure in front of the goal slowed him down. As a youth coach, whenever my kids take a shot and miss, I just tell them to keep taking them, they'll eventually go in. Maybe one of them will turn into Cavani.

So many good things that went on yesterday, I can overlook sloppy moments. They happen. The question is, do they make up for them? A resounding "YES!"

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Another away win...

Ole just picked a second team (I hesitate to use the "squad" descriptor for that team) that beat the #4 team in the league that made very few changes. The scouting and preparation for the last two games have been spot-on. If this continues through the next several matches, this weekend at Leicester in particular, I think we've turned onto a significant path.

At no point yesterday did I feel we were ever the second-best team on the pitch.

The finishing was worrisome yesterday (in part due to an excellent Everton defense), but as long as we keep opponents out of the goal, I'm not going to fret about it. This is a team that can consistently put in 90'+ and will be in it to the last whistle. They've gone down goals and come back.

Bailly was my Man of the Match. His presence in the middle with Maguire changed things. He has pace. He has really good field vision. If only he had a slightly higher regard for his own body...

Cavani's mentality is great. No amount of failure in front of the goal slowed him down. As a youth coach, whenever my kids take a shot and miss, I just tell them to keep taking them, they'll eventually go in. Maybe one of them will turn into Cavani.

So many good things that went on yesterday, I can overlook sloppy moments. They happen. The question is, do they make up for them? A resounding "YES!"

Was saying to my son after the indifferent game that Cavani was having that the introduction of Rashford and Martial that he’ll find space and lose the marker. That’s his skill and intelligence. He was wasted in the wing

 

[Jonno]

You must be kidding me! that was such a snooze fest. It was such a slow game. We play at snail's pace and the way we move out from the defense kills me every time. It is so easy to mark and any other opponent with good quality high press will make our lives a living hell. United need to move the ball much faster from the back line. Maguire takes so many touches before moving the ball on, it is so boring and predictable.

In our defence, Everton camped incredibly deep for most of the game following our excellent 20 mins, as the home team that was very negative to surrender the . We patiently picked their lock and won 2-0. It's not ideal football, but you can't expect Everton to play as naively as say Leeds, which will allow us to spring attack after attack. Everton had 9-10 players behind the ball for large periods and made it very difficult for us to break them down.

 

[Jonno]

Was saying to my son after the indifferent game that Cavani was having that the introduction of Rashford and Martial that he’ll find space and lose the marker. That’s his skill and intelligence. He was wasted in the wing

I agree with this. You've also got Mason who is incredibly talented, but at the very start of his career, and can get very isolated up top and perhaps isn't the best partner for Cavani when he needs space and link up play. We added a new dimension when we introduced Rashford and Martial.

 

[Gator Nate]

Also want to give a huge shout out to Martial. He may not be scoring the quantity of goals some think he should, and he has missed some absolute sitters, but his off-the-ball movement and hold-up play has been outstanding in my eyes. He's also putting in a defensive shift that I think gets missed. He's almost too unselfish with the ball sometimes, but his integration at the head of this team is key to our offensive output.

 

[iHicksy]

Basically if we have the luxury of keeping Rashford and Martial on the bench and we're drawing, sending them on is an instant win against a tired defence. They just run wild. Not felt like that since we had Cole, Yorke, Sheringham and Ole.

 

[DSG]

My takeaways:

Cavani is a great addition to the squad. I thought he was past it at 33, but he really adds a dimension with the cleverness of his runs, high work rate and finishing. A great professional from which Greenwood can hopefully learn a lot.

Pogba’s work rate over the last few games has improved significantly. I think he benefits from seeing Bruno, clearly our best player, work so hard. On one of the few Everton counters, watching Bruno chase down Iwobi to challenge a ball into the box — that’s a winninG mentality that starts at the top.

I may be Pogba’s biggest critic, but when he acts as a true box to box and matches the work rate of his teammates, he can be very effective.

 

[Croftona7]

Also want to give a huge shout out to Martial. He may not be scoring the quantity of goals some think he should, and he has missed some absolute sitters, but his off-the-ball movement and hold-up play has been outstanding in my eyes. He's also putting in a defensive shift that I think gets missed. He's almost too unselfish with the ball sometimes, but his integration at the head of this team is key to our offensive output.

Agree with this, his finishing lately has been really poor, other times he makes it look easy and you'd bet your house on him 1 on 1, so that's frustrating.

However, his all round performance has lifted significantly in the last 2 games and I have noticed it despite the frustration at the great chances he's missing, when Martial is on his game and up for it like this then the front 3 seem to be so much more potent and alive, pundits mentioned their movement the other night, it feels like maybe something in the team has clicked recently and I'm actually sitting down to watch games feeling confident, almost dare I say.... Expecting to win!

Which is great, I prefer that feeling to the 'I have absolutely no idea what to expect from us today' feeling that I've had before each game since the start of this season.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He’s done well in the last couple of games.

Id ike to see him put his foot through the ball on occasion, rather than just the inside of the foot pass/ shot.

 

[MZX7]

Yes Van De Beek was largely meh as usual. Other than 1 Champions league game,. I cant even remember which one, he's been invisible every time he plays

No wonder Ole is not using him much. But, he definitely needs game time to improve.

The decision to buy him will seem like a hasty one otherwise.

Unless of course, Pogba leaves in which case we might need him for depth.