[Dante]

I'm really happy with our back four and goalkeeper. I think our first choice front three is full of goals and danger. Pogba is a top player and McTominay can match anyone in his particular role. We just lack one high tempo passer/playmaker to knit everything together, and the coaching to make it all work.

I've been saying this for a while, but we're very close to having a top team. A bit of luck in the market and a lightbulb moment on the training ground will see us comfortably in the top 4.

 

[John Blund]

I am struggling to understand how Ashley Young has an average score of 4.9 for that performance today, that was as far from a 5/10 performance as I have ever seen, he was absolutely horrendous. I would even go as far as to say it was the worst game I have ever seen him play. Abysmal

He wasn't too bad this game. He had the most passes on the pitch with his 60, only missing 4 (60/64).
Won the ball back 8 times. Other players' stats: Fred 12 ,McT 11, Lindelöf 7, Maguire 5, AWB 4.
He only tried two crosses, none hit their target. You see what you wanna see. He's not a great player, but he wasn't abysmal today. He's getting no free points by our fans on this site. He's been hitting bad corners for 5 seasons now, but today he was off corner-duty.

 

[John Blund]

Better than Chelsea at home?

Yes. By far. We were lucky against Chelsea as they didn't score first. Once we were 2-0 up, we played OK. Against Norwich, we never looked like we were going to lose.

 

[RedNed77]

Fletcher was the biggest one ever.
In his absence, he was elevated to all time world class midfielder levels

He was showing signs of being a late bloomer, which was cut short by his ulcerative colitis. His vision for a pass is something we have lost at this club.

 

[peridigm]

Yes. By far. We were lucky against Chelsea as they didn't score first. Once we were 2-0 up, we played OK. Against Norwich, we never looked like we were going to lose.

That's because they're shit. No idea how City lost to them.

 

[Handré1990]

It really should be getting checked by VAR like the goals are for offside etc.

He did well to save them but it should have been spotted by the officials.

Sure, you could say he did well, but that’s really besides the point. Definitely, it’s a clear cut goal scoring opportunity, so it should be checked, every single time imo.

 

[cfkane]

He was showing signs of being a late bloomer, which was cut short by his ulcerative colitis. His vision for a pass is something we have lost at this club.

This is true. I sometimes think people believe football really is like FIFA or Football Manager. Not every player in a squad is going to be world class, but squad players have a role to play. Players like Fletcher and O'Shea filled those roles. And many squad players over the years have contributed to the club's achieving silverware.

 

[Stookie]

I'm really happy with our back four and goalkeeper. I think our first choice front three is full of goals and danger. Pogba is a top player and McTominay can match anyone in his particular role. We just lack one high tempo passer/playmaker to knit everything together, and the coaching to make it all work.

I've been saying this for a while, but we're very close to having a top team. A bit of luck in the market and a lightbulb moment on the training ground will see us comfortably in the top 4.

I am of the same opinion.

 

[R'hllor]

Good performance, no clean shit sucks and missing 2 penalties is really poor. Not taking anything away from us but for some reason expected more from Norwich, then again probably its due their result vs City and not form overall.

 

[r0663664]

Great to finally see a good team performance. Hope we start to strings a wins together. We still need a minimum of 3 players in January. 1 striker, 1 right midfielder and 1 central midfielder. I hope our scout are working hard at identifying these players. We are 1-2 injuries away from being shit again.

 

[fps]

Solskjaer win %with Martial 77% without 28% or similar? Says a lot about lack of centre forward quality of course.

 

[fps]

This!!! I’ve thought it the entire season, but I walked away again thinking that we won’t contend for top 4 until Pereira and Fred no longer feature in our starting squad. Both of them have poor vision, zero sense of where they are on the pitch, and no ability to link passes. They both dribble too much and give the ball away in dangerous areas.

On a separate note, I’m very intrigued by Garner. I know we were up by a lot and that he didn’t have much responsibility to push the ball forward, but his movement off the ball was good and he played simple. He’s young, but I want to see him pick up more minutes against lesser opponents. He looks to have something in my opinion.

He has something, but should have got his challenge in for Norwich's goal.

 

[Green_Red]

Delighted to see us win and we looked good on MOTD. Hope we can keep building on this and get a few wins under our belts. It felt like a confident performance but lets not get carried away, its Norwich...

 

[caid]

That was pretty good.
A front 3 of Martial, Rashford and James looks pretty decent. Dont think any of them had great games but they looked dangerous and like they'll score goals anyway.
A lot of good performances spread around. Even Fred only fecked up one backpass, so thats progress. I gave MotM to Wan Bissaka. Was debating between him and McTominay when McTominay gave the ball away for their goal.

 

[RedDevil-85]

A fine performance.
3 quality goals and a deserved win.
Hope we can build on this and continue to climb the table.

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Luckhurst is such a cock and showing his agenda. Rashford, a forward is frustrated at not receiving a pass when he makes a forward run and puts it down to “entitlement”.

Third rate journalist, probably bitter he’ll never be offered a job with The Athletic like the adult journalists.

Such a strange tweet. I don't know much about Luckhurst, but that is just weird. Entitlement?

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

That's how we're supposed to perform against relegation material. Fortunately for us, Norwich are one of the few relegation zone sides that try to play expansive, attacking football which plays into our hands. We could have been 4-0 at half-time which would have been crazy! The first penalty was horrific though, not a penalty in a million years as far as I'm concerned so almost justified that Rashford fluffed his lines again from the spot. Our penalty takers are just so unreliable, none of our options are particularly good there.

In general though we were dominant and get a much-needed win. Shame we gifted them a consolation goal but hey ho. Onto the next one, another that could either be tricky or a comfortable win depending how Eddie Howe approaches it.

what? they packed it in?

 

[lysglimt]

That's because they're shit. No idea how City lost to them.

Otamendi and Stones were playing - as I recall

 

[Tapori]

Liquid football
It's not that Martial is some genius player; it's that that type of 9 really makes our wide forwards and advanced midfielders plays work so much better.
Well done to all.

 

[lysglimt]

I am of the same opinion.

Same - but I have given up trying to persuade the OGS-haters that we aren't shit. Already now we can stop the best teams with our organizations. But sure - we need creativity to win the tighter games.

In a way OGS is a bit unlucky as the talent exists in the squad - but they are just those 12-18 months too young and inexperienced. Gomes, Chong, Williams, Garner and Greenwood - even Laird, Levitt and Ramazani to mention some. If these guys had been 20-21 rather than 18-19 most of our squad-problems would have been solved. But if OGS doesn't sign players now - he will probably be fired. It's difficult.

 

[Giggsy9099]

It's Krul to be denied a bigger win

 

[Cantonagotmehere]

Good summary.

Another thing I noted is our energy levels were quite good. Previously against smaller teams we tend to be a little lose but today we were quite solid.

a good left back and a stronger midfielder and we are on to something

Agreed. it's not a world beating front 3 but with James/Martial/Rashford could cause most teams problems.

McTominay is really surprisng me, I thought he's be a solid squad player, but him with a healthy Pogba and a top midfield signing could have us set there.

Then please get Williams in for young and see what happens.

 

[fps]

Same - but I have given up trying to persuade the OGS-haters that we aren't shit. Already now we can stop the best teams with our organizations. But sure - we need creativity to win the tighter games.

In a way OGS is a bit unlucky as the talent exists in the squad - but they are just those 12-18 months too young and inexperienced. Gomes, Chong, Williams, Garner and Greenwood - even Laird, Levitt and Ramazani to mention some. If these guys had been 20-21 rather than 18-19 most of our squad-problems would have been solved. But if OGS doesn't sign players now - he will probably be fired. It's difficult.

Eh, it’s nice to be enthusiastic about young players but very few of those are going to be of the quality required, and the more contact they have with the first team, usually the clearer it becomes.

 

[passing-wind]

Norwich, Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester have played to our advantages by coming forward and leaving space in behind. The best aspect about the teams performance was that they attacked the 18 yard box something we haven't done for a multitude of games. The biggest advantage to make use of the result against Liverpool, win today is to continue building momentum. Consistency has killed Solskjaer's credibility it's vital to get more points in the coming weeks.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

The first penalty was horrific though, not a penalty in a million years as far as I'm concerned so almost justified that Rashford fluffed his lines again from the spot. Our penalty takers are just so unreliable, none of our options are particularly good there.

Both penalties were on the soft side of things and I wasn't surprised both were missed. I find that the universe actually evens things out more often than not when the penalty decision is suspect.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Also, five academy products on the pitch at the end?

 

[SaintMuppet]

We dispatched the mighty Norwich! Nothing more to be said.

 

[SaintMuppet]

Great to finally see a good team performance. Hope we start to strings a wins together. We still need a minimum of 3 players in January. 1 striker, 1 right midfielder and 1 central midfielder. I hope our scout are working hard at identifying these players. We are 1-2 injuries away from being shit again.

3 players in January? That’s not going to happen so don’t get your hopes up.

1 max if we are lucky

 

[drunkmonkmeth]

Norwich are a very open side who try and attack first defend second or not at all to be honest... game played into our style and it showed. When we get these results against side that sit back and defend against us or attacking sides with world class personel ill be happy. Ultimately though today was a nice breathe of fresh air it was a enjoyable game mostly and damn how didnee miss 2 pens

 

[croadyman]

Best performance in ages and we actually played for 90 minutes, I do agree with people who said they played into our hands by being attack minded though.Still worrying that Ole hasn't shown he can turn around a losing situation nor break down a packed defence which we will definitely face against Brighton in our next home league game.

 

[downunder red]

Very enjoyable and well worth getting up in the early hours of the morning. Norwich are nothing special but you can only play what's in front of you and we did that in style for the majority of the game. Barring more injuries I think we can get a run on; hope so.
Also I read some where that one excuse for the poor results was flattening out after a hard pre season. I definitely have seen that happen over here in the AFL. With a bit of confidence, good pre season, and players coming back things are looking rosy. Or should I say RED?

 

[Redbandito]

He has something, but should have got his challenge in for Norwich's goal.

Fair point and I agree. Hopefully that was more of an anomaly than the norm, as I think he gives us a guy who can link passes. But he will need to be more effective on that type of help side defense for sure.

 

[Will Singh]

Job done, Martial is important player.

 

[croadyman]

Great to finally see a good team performance. Hope we start to strings a wins together. We still need a minimum of 3 players in January. 1 striker, 1 right midfielder and 1 central midfielder. I hope our scout are working hard at identifying these players. We are 1-2 injuries away from being shit again.

Do you think RM over DM in January window?

 

[Tony247]

We played really well yesterday. AWB is again awesome.

Something needs to be done about penalties. Shocking.

 

[lysglimt]

Eh, it’s nice to be enthusiastic about young players but very few of those are going to be of the quality required, and the more contact they have with the first team, usually the clearer it becomes.

I am not saying they are all going to be first team regulars of course. But I am convinced that 4-5 of these youngsters at least will be good enough to be decent squad-players.

 

[lysglimt]

We played really well yesterday. AWB is again awesome.

Something needs to be done about penalties. Shocking.

They weren't great penalties but: a) Krul is very good at penalties and b) if the referees and Var-team had dont their job, both penalties would have been re-taken.

 

[1988]

Wan-Bissaka, McTominay and James really shined today. 3 points out of 15 of the five expected wins before the Spurs game. Really wanted the cleansheet and the penalties were worrying. Otherwise a good game vs one of the fodder teams.

 

[steve.crowford]

7 points of 4th is doable.. Need a good winning run of at least 5 games.

 

[nainaisson]

Otamendi and Stones were playing - as I recall

Yeah, greatest comedy duo since Laurel and Hardy, more hilarious than even Sokratis and Luiz or the recently retired Smalling and Jones.