[ZAGREB RED]

First 40 minutes was shocking, but United could easily have went in 3-2 up at the break, Ibra's mis-kick with only a defender on the line was poor, the free header just before that also. Bravo was absolutely shocking, his challenge on Rooney was a penalty and a red card. United at least got going in the 2nd half, had it finished 2-2 that would have been about right, although Stones and Bravo were United's most creative influences at times with their horrendous passing.
It was 100MPH, didn't expect that, thought it might have been more cagey but must have been a great game for the neutrals, not so much from a United point of view.

 

[sunama]

In the last three years we would have folded after that first 30 minutes and we didn't, we actually came back and had a good second-half. That's what we should take away from the game, IMO. There's fire in the team again!

Indeed.
Do people remeber that 3-0 game at Arsenal?
Basically, the opponent scores 3 goals and we start to side/back pass and make no chances to the score a goal. Basically we accepted that we have lost and can't score 3 ore more goals. We gave up.

We did not play today, the way we would've played under LVG. Night and day difference.

 

[Maradona10]

Lack of pre season for pogba is showing, you can get through a couple of games without pre season on adrenaline after that it really kicks in and you need to get some form in. I hope he plays the feyonoord game. Mkhi also needs games, lost too much of the ball. Mourinho got tactics wrong, he probably trusted fellaini and Pogba too much and that backfired.
City had two class number 10 and we had none, either we should play pogba as a 10 or Mkhi but rooney there does not give us quality, he just gives us industry. Thought blind was at fault many times defensively and we should now see the reason mourinho wanted an experienced center back.
Mourinho himself got the team wrong, he tried to be oversmart and looked a bit of an idiot. He should have stuck to his formulae of mata and martial that had worked so well in last few games, instead he went for 2 players who dint have much game time and hence did not have a touch of the game. I guess had it worked, we would have called him a genius, so as a manager you win some and lose some. Problem is this will give city huge confidence, Mourinho will rip the players a new one and it will affect ours. Its good we have a game quickly. The home record will hurt mourinho, he would have wanted another record of not losing at home which he wont have now. City winning here, will give them confidence they can win anywhere, Right now, they are huge favourites and that is without even playing their best team. Gundogan, gabriel jesus and Aguero to come for them. It is a reality check for us, people were cocky but this will bring them down.
Positive here is that we probably even after playing badly should have drawn the game, we made chances and also should have had a penalty and city should have seen red for Bravo/otamendi. I hope mou can build the seige mentality from this shocking ref performance. Better team won on the day. Dust ourselves up and go for next game.

 

[PlayerOne]

Indeed.
Do people remeber that 3-0 game at Arsenal?
Basically, the opponent scores 3 goals and we start to side/back pass and make no chances to the score a goal. Basically we accepted that we have lost and can't score 3 ore more goals. We gave up.

We did not play today, the way we would've played under LVG. Night and day difference.

Night and day is spot on. I think we have a really chance at the league this season. And really, you win the league by beating the smaller teams.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Formation is one thing, but they both player terrible, couldn't hold on to the ball, got brushed off easy when they did control it, and even after they were able to do that they just passed it back to the opposition. Nightmare scenario for Jose where we was obviously counting on them to help with the counter and peg back City's press

I agree. No disputing that the two were poor, but I really think that part of this was down to the formation.

You mention they couldn't hold the ball and they got brushed off it. Was this a result of them having to keep onto the ball for longer than they wanted? Did they have the options they needed to pop it off quickly and make a run? That's the type of players they are. Pass and move, but very often City's high pressing, coupled with the lack of movement and options from us in the first half, meant it was always going to be tough for Mkhitaryan and Lingard. Ironically, they were our two wide players.

 

[Red-Jeff]

He wasn't their best player by a large margin. He was poor against us last time he was fielded against Rojo.

He was brilliant today but a lot of it was down to having like minded players around him. Silva was just as good today. Nolito also caused trouble. And then there's no Agüero who is their best player. City will go a long way

I disagree, I believe he was much better than Silva today and Aguero will likely miss a third of the season for one reason or another. If they are missing KdB it will hurt them hugely.

 

[nick2004]

Miki and Lingard cost us the game in the first half. Both were too soft for such a game. Playing with 9 players against City... we lost, it's not a surprise. In the second half the game was even.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Can't play as poorly as we did for 40 minutes and expect to get anything out of the game.

Lingard and Mkhitarayan were both as bad as I've ever seen from an individual performance.

I gave them a 1 rating. First time ever.

 

[RedIke]

Angry for the loss, but not too concerned.

Jose got it wrong. But he made changes.

Players caught a beating. But came out and fought hard and put in a hell of a display and almost got one back.

And even with all that. Zlatan had a wide open net be missed, and the ref missed a call.

Lots learned in defeat, and for me its all positives that can make the team push on and compete for the title.

 

[fellaini's barber]

We don't use PEDS? And we have two oldies taking up prime positions in the team... everybody else has to work twice as hard

Don't think it's that simple, even Bailly was looking like fainting towards the end, but the City players looked ok though

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

I disagree.

Your prerogative, if you honestly feel that Pep's dominance is everything to do with the particular managers concerned and nothing to do with the totally different squads of players … then we stood no chance in the first place. Silly me!

 

[WyoManU]

They have a better side. Simple as. We had a brilliant transfer window but we are not back at the top of world football. There is still a lot of work to do. We field quite a few players that aren't really good enough if we actually aspire to regain the apex of the footballing world. Still going to be a year or two of rebuilding.

 

[Enigma_87]

Obviously disappointed but it was one of those days. City were the better side and won. We should bounce back and put this game behind us.

Micky, Lindgard disappointed and probably shouldn't started. Blind is always going to be liability in tough games as a CB and was terrible today. We will look much better in games like this with Smalling/Bailly pairing.

Rashford IMO should get a chance instead of Micky based on current form. Roll on next week.

 

[Acole9]

Very disappointed with the result given the huge build up, a lot of people seemed very confident going into the match which perhaps spread to the players and possibly made them show some complacency who knows. They seemed shocked by the start City made, we really struggled with the intensity City played at in the first half it was making me feel rather uncomfortable watching how much better they looked than us. Mourinho must've had a hard time deciding who take off at half time because it could've almost been everyone in truth.

In the second half a couple of changes were made and we tightened things up a bit and although we offered more in attack it wasn't quite enough really.

 

[Tyrion]

Mkhitaryan, Rooney and Lingard looked like they were caught in the headlights and lost the ball almost effortlessly in the first 40 minutes. We were beaten in midfield and outplayed. We defended well but the constant pressure brought on the mistakes of the centre backs that cost us two goals.

Their keeper screwed up and Zlatan scored, hitting City's confidence helping to buy us more time and space. We looked better and were able to fight them on equal terms.

In the second half, substituting the worst performers (bar Rooney) improved us and Pep becoming more cautious gave us momentum but gave them enough structure to keps us out for the rest of the match.

The lessons learned imho are:

1. A 433 would help stop us from getting swamped in midfield though we may only need that in 3 or 4 games a league season.

2. Don't be afraid to drop Rooney. Dropping Mkhitaryan and Lingard improved us but Rooney continued to slow us up and contributed little. I'd like to see a front 3 of Martial - Zlatan - Mkhitaryan and a midfield of Pogba - Schneidirlin - Herrera.

3. We can't sit back against City and they aren't so good that we can't press them.

 

[Maradona10]

Expected this reaction now. I hope we make him eat his words in may.

 

[friend]

Completely outplayed in the first half which obviously cost us the game however two very surprising plays:

- An extremely un-Mouirnho like defensive structure that allowed both De Bruyne and Silva so much time and space on the ball
- For all that talk of our physical advantage, in the 1st half they seemed to win every single header in the middle of the pitch

Bad day in the office but that can happen when you play against Guardiola, so let's hope for better for the rest of the season.

 

[CS@SG]

Jose did exactly that.
In the 2nd half we played with attack, power and pace. No fear.

Why not right from the start?

 

[Dec9003]

I'm actually not overly fussed we lost today. Yeah the result is a bad one but everyone put 100% and on another day with a bit of tweaking to the tactics we could've won that.
Good points:
We had a lot of positives from that I feel, Rashford was great as always (he should've started) Fellaini and Valencia (my motm) were very, very good and Bailly put a massive shift in.
The crowd were up for it which is always nice and bar some bad finishing on the day we at least matched the supposed best team in the league.
Negatives:
Mourinho- I will never understand sacrificing what your team is good at in an effort to stop the other team playing. The strong point of our side is the attack, when you have Ibra, Martial, Rashford, Mkhytarian, Mata, Pogba, Herrera and Fellaini all avalaible it's shocking to stick Lingard in and half arsedly sit deep and hope not to concede. You should always play to your strengths and our strengths are Rashford and Martial making havoc to make space for Ibra.
Rooney- I won't go too far into it because I imagine by this point it's been said a million times, but since the start of last season he's been a joke for 90% of the time. He should have been sent off and is more interested in whinging at the ref than changing the scoreline. He's been one of my favourite players at United for years, but much like Carrick he's well past it and shouldn't be a nailed on starter anymore.
Overall:
Overall we did well, couldn't find the goals we needed and learned quite a lot about our side going forward. I'm sure when we go to the Etihad it will be a much different result. I'm confident that this season will be a great one.

 

[Ducklegs]

And much as I like Wayne, it's absolutely over for him at that level, he offered nothing today.

He looks a shadow of the player he was, there used to be a time where when he was left out you could justifiably point out to all the dickheads calling for his head just exactly where the Rooney shaped hole in the team was as we laboured and chugged along with out him.

Now we have a Rooney shaped hole in the team when he IS playing and we need to call time on him for these matches.
We got two cracking young forwards who both offer exactly what Rooney used to give us, Rashford especially, so get them on the pitch and get them playing.

 

[legball]

They have a better side. Simple as. We had a brilliant transfer window but we are not back at the top of world football. There is still a lot of work to do. We field quite a few players that aren't really good enough if we actually aspire to regain the apex of the footballing world. Still going to be a year or two of rebuilding.

We can say this about Man City as well, or even any team in the PL. They were better prepared and performed better on the day.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Got dicked in the first half, Mourinho should have parked the bus and shut down Mini-Messi (DeBruyne). Second goal was a killer, we should have played defensive and waited for the 2nd half when City have been faltering, unbelivable that Mourinho didn't play tactically smart.

Saying that, I thought we gave it a good go, hard to find fault with a lot of players today.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

This performance actually makes me worry for our games vs Klopp.

I suppose Jose can always count on Wenger at least

 

[WyoManU]

We can say this about Man City as well, or even any team in the PL. They were better prepared and performed better on the day.

I agree in theory with your point. However, I state it again...they have a better squad than we do, imho. We still have a few key positions that aren't performing well and with consistency.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

What makes you think those three were asked to press. The tactics seemed clear. Let City have the ball around the half way line and then try to counter them. However, Lingard and Mkhitariyan were absolutely woeful today. Didn't seem to win any take ons and just giving the ball away time after time.

It was fairly clear none of those 3 were doing their job. The two changes at half time simply cemented that factor. Pep was forced to adopted a more defensive approach second half by taking of Kelechi precisely because Rooney on the right, Rashord on the left and Pogba did the type of pressing our AMS failed to do in first half to disrupt City building attacks from the back. There is no away at home in a big Mourinho willfully instructed his players to sit off a Guardiola side. The last time he took that risk he was hit 5 nil at the Nou Camp

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

I agree that they were awful..the bit I'm not sure of is the fact that they were supposed to lead the high press. I haven't seen Mourinho's post match interviews so maybe that is what they were supposed to do. But the fact that none of them did, made me wonder if we were happy for City to have the ball in their own half and absorb the pressure.

Moirinho was not. That is why he rang the changes immediately at halftime and our performance from then on was as different as night and day. City were always set to dominate possession. But we were never supposed to give them the acres of space to start up attacks like we did a first half.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I agree in theory with your point. However, I state it again...they have a better squad than we do, imho. We still have a few key positions that aren't performing well and with consistency.

Taking Aguero out, since he was today, how much better is their first 11 team than ours, though? Fernandhinio probably stands out in particular as being more mobile than any of our DMs. But other than that, I don't see much in the personnel. The difference seemed to be in the tactical set up and the cohesion coached into the players. Their passing was miles better than ours.

 

[newgiz]

Obviously disappointed with the result. The first half cost us the game. Miki and Lingard couldn't handle the press and Pogba wasn't tracking any of the runs De Bruyne or Silva made through the middle of the field. I am quite disappointed with Pogba's display to be honest.

Hearing Jose's post match comments on MUTV it's quite clear that he was not at all happy with that first half display and wanted to sub more players. Second half we were much better. The introduction of Herrera and Rashford made quite a difference. The former especially was able to beat the City press many times and as a result we had more control in the midfield. And I know we give Rooney a hard time, but I think today he was well and truly up for it and created plenty of opportunities.

Had we started with the team that ended the game, the result could have been quite different. Not too worried as I think we have plenty of room for improvement. The switch to 433 would be inevitable and that's the best way to go. Also will free up Pogba from his defensive duties and he could be more of a threat going forward. Overall, plenty of players weren't up to the usual standard in the first half and that really cost us the game. The second half was a much tighter affair but City deserved their win.

 

[legball]

I agree in theory with your point. However, I state it again...they have a better squad than we do, imho. We still have a few key positions that aren't performing well and with consistency.

They have a better squad, yes, but it's closer than you're making it out to be, moreover, having a better squad is meaningless when the application is not there, they applied themselves very well today & deserved their win, they didn't win simply because they have a better squad/team. That's the point am making.

 

[legball]

Taking Aguero out, since he was today, how much better is their first 11 team than ours, though? Fernandhinio probably stands out in particular as being more mobile than any of our DMs. But other than that, I don't see much in the personnel. The difference seemed to be in the tactical set up and the cohesion coached into the players. Their passing was miles better than ours.

I agree with this, the likes of Otamendi & Stones were very poor last season, Kolarov & Nolito isn't all that, there's really not much difference in the quality of the starting XI as you said, they were just better set up tactically & knew what they wanted to do.

 

[DeafMUFC]

First thirty minutes very poor - didn't press at all hence City totally dominating possession! Next 15 far better - should have gone in 2-2.

Second half much better, lots of effort, played some really good stuff, had chances, should have had two pens just very susceptible to the counter.

Not all doom and gloom and we've got lots of improvement in us despite feeling absolutely devastated!

 

[Jazz]

Hours after the game and I'm still pissed off

 

[WyoManU]

They have a better squad, yes, but it's closer than you're making it out to be, moreover, having a better squad is meaningless when the application is not there, they applied themselves very well today & deserved their win, they didn't win simply because they have a better squad/team. That's the point am making.

Really? Do you think Lingard would even make the bench let alone the squad? Would you rather have Stones/Otamendi or Blind in central defense? Rooney or KDB? Listen, I'm not saying we are bad, and in fact we look far better than any point in the last 3 years. I just don't think we have as good of a squad as City atm. They absolutely hammered us in the first half.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Your prerogative, if you honestly feel that Pep's dominance is everything to do with the particular managers concerned and nothing to do with the totally different squads of players … then we stood no chance in the first place. Silly me!

Of course we stood a chance.Theres always a chance.
I believe the stat is significant as its indicative of who has the better football philosophy and lets be honest who is the better manager.Pep.
The guy I wanted us to get.

 

[sincher]

Oh we are not so far away at all. A better setup and a bit more fitness from Pogba etc. and we could have got at their vulnerable defence more. Martial should have played.

Their attacking midfield is very good though.

 

[Jacky Quacky]

Of course we stood a chance.Theres always a chance.
I believe the stat is significant as its indicative of who has the better football philosophy and lets be honest who is the better manager.Pep.
The guy I wanted us to get.

Why don't you support City then

 

[ravi2]

Deserve failure when we start Lingard, Rooney and Fellaini over Martial, Rashford and Schneiderlin.

This

 

[sincher]

Fellaini was ok today.

Rooney did not hurt them enough... it is becoming hard to justify his place when Mata, Rashford and Martial are on the bench. And Mickey will get much better soon I am sure.

 

[mav_9me]

Never feels great to lose a match, especially a derby. Thus I can understand the overreacting.

But seriously, people need to stopping trying to blame someone. There's no need for finger pointing or someone to Take the blame.

It is a sport, a game. There will alway be wins and losses.

I don't see what was wrong with jose's tactics. Lingard and Mhiki just seemed to be out of rhythm and a little fazed by the occasion. City had a day where all of their guys turned up and clicked, like the time we were battered 3-0 by Arsenal in the first 15; and the time we battered Roma 7-1.

It was a good match. The dynamics kept shifting and you could see the manager's tactical changes within the match. Some fans complained that it was City taking the foot off the gas that allowed us to come forward in the second half. I see it as Pep saw our rising momentum at the end of the first half plus the substitutions that forced him to take a step back.

The reality is that I do think that City do have the better players on average. As a team Utd looks like a force to be reckoned with.

Just like Pep, Mourinho is one of the most consistent managers around. Barring injuries, we will be up there.

Whilst we want to win everything, this season the PL is pretty great for neutrals.

Agreed. Particularly with the last 3 paragraphs.

Our response was very good. We managed to put pressure on them and managed to go for it with 3 at the back.

 

[jeff_goldblum]

Thought Mourinho got the starting line-up wrong, Rashford on that left side gave City something to worry about that Lingard wasn't able to provide in the first half, he had a nightmare trying to be our outlet on the left. Mkhitaryan was also very poor but that was purely a bad performance rather than a square peg in a round hole situation. Rooney's struggling to justify his inclusion, especially since Pogba is a better player who also enjoys a bit of a free-role.

Main thing in the first half for me was that we were losing all the 50-50s, the City player seemed to come away with the ball every time and it gave them a chance to pile on the pressure.