[Hamadovich86]

They have better players, with the exception of Pogba and DDG none of ours make it into their first team. I thought we did well against them in the first half, Lingard and Martial being forced off had a big impact offensively. Our dogshit defense was found as usual, people praising Lindelof and co over the past few games should look to Thiago Silva for a true top defender, that should be the standard.

Overall, the loss stings but not unexpected, I dont see a way for us to go through but thats ok we'll get there with the right vision and leadership.

 

[Hughes35]

Lingard going off changed the game. I thought he was excellent first half. Once he went off we couldn't press high and lost a lot of pace on the break.

Other than that I didn't think we were awful, just outclassed by a better team. Still think we are 2-3 top players away from being really competitive. RB, CB and RW.

No blame against Ole tonight, we were ok and the tactics were working well until Martial and Jesse went off.

 

[Desert Eagle]

Any news on the two injuries?

 

[UpWithRivers]

Sorry but we just lost that tacticaly. They took Pogba out of the game and we had nothing left creatively from midfield. Made marking front 3 easy. It wasnt equal in the first half. They had the upper hand and at half time they were given the instructions to push up and attack for the first 10 minutes. This would have happened even if we hadnt had the substitutions.
And we were done. They were much better. We were no where near.
I cant figure it out if uts Ole or his lack of options but there is limited ability to adapt tacticaly. He just brings on like for like.
Again best option would have been Fellaini.

 

[tenpoless]

One run he made by the touchline in the 1st half, I couldn't believe what I was seeing; he was that fast.

True, it was his first sprint in the game as well if I remember correctly and He did it flawlessly. Faster than Gerrard's slip. Madness.

 

[kaiz]

We still have a long way to go. Hope we won't be too down and continue to improve ourself. Experience is very important in the CL and we barely got any. This is similar to how Milan used to school the like of Rooney and Ronaldo 2x with Crespo and Kaka. If we are patient and continue with Ole, we will get there.

 

[bushyboy]

Wasn't that bad a performance in the first half, until the two injuries, but overall not good enough at this level.
PSG technically superior and hardly misplaced passes or panicked like we did.
Some serious upgrades needed to our first 11 and squad to give our manager (hopefully OGS) a fighting chance.

 

[Raees]

Some fundamental issues in our play got exposed last night which hopefully is a good thing for us (subject to it actually being taken on board by us going forwards from this game):

1. We have no real metronome in midfield like a Verratti - Pogba is not this player and he desperately needs someone alongside him who can control games at the top level so he can focus on being a purely destructive force. He needs his Pirlo and United needs a game controller in the middle if we want to compete with the big boys.

2. Playing out from the back/passing back under pressure - our general press resistance is still piss poor compared to European sides or the best sides in EPL - we keep hitting it long or aimlessly into channels instead of confidently playing it out from the back through the thirds properly .. goalkeeper is shaky with ball at his feet, Lindelof apart none of our CBs have confidence on the ball and our midfield need to be more proactive and positive when they’re being closed down instead of abdicating responsibility and passing back.

3. Lack of hold up play in CF position - both Rashford and Lukaku have shite touches and are very easy to knock off the ball in 50/50s. They don’t have a good low centre of gravity or the nous to strike fear into elite intelligent defenders ... compare them to a Kane and they’re very much off the pace and that lack of stickability up top hurt us as we had no outlet.. every time it got passed forward, it came right back at us as Rashford couldn’t bring others into play.

4. Lack of proper attacking full backs - neither Shaw or Young have that ability to beat a man out wide at the very top level or the fitness levels required to be proper up and down without needing to take a breather. Full backs are the engine room of the modern game and we are operating with steam engines whilst everyone else is deploying the latest Japanese style ‘bullet trains’. Our crossing from this position is also very 90s .. we need to work more on our cut backs and threading passes through into the box and finding men - not just hit and hope.

5. We are man united ... until we play someone good - as much as Ole has been lauded for making us play more positive compared to Jose ... we still have an inferiority complex where we can’t seem to go toe to toe against big sides. We had to sit back and counter because we just don’t go out there with the confidence to just take risks with the ball and play with it at all costs and I think that is hurting us from a long term perspective because all the elite teams have such a positive brand of football where they are looking to impose their football on the opposition whether it is home and away and we can’t even do that against a team at home.. even against Spurs and Arsenal - it was more smash and grab style play which can get results but long term it’s not the way to go if we want to return to the elite of the modern game.

Final point is that this game exposed the folly of extending certain contracts and we truly need to get rid of deadwood and inject some more dynamism, youth and technical quality into the side in conjunction with the tactical changes referred to above. No one should realistically have expected a win last night but it can be a pivotal moment for our future if we don’t bury our heads in the sand and think it was a one off.

It was a ‘schooling’ but that can be a positive if you take it on the chin and do something about it. Remember Fergie after 94 by Barca.. that is the type of mindset we need.

 

[kiristao]

DDG - Did well to keep it at 2-0. Maybe should have come for the corner but he never ever does really so that is something he needs to work on
Lindelof - Even though we conceded 2 goals at home, I felt he had a good game.
Bailly - Same as Lindelof. Maybe could have done better on the 2nd goal but sometimes you have to put your hand up and accept when a brilliant cross and the speed of the striker beats you.
Shaw - Had a very good game defensively. Got into good positions in attack as well but as always, very poor final ball.
Young - He isnt the best defender and he is not too fast anymore as well. He is in the team for his offensive qualities but has not been contributing much going forward so I really do not see the point of playing him anymore. Maybe give Dalot more games or play a youth team player.
Matic - Had a very good game. Kept the ball well in tight situations and moved it forward. was at fault for going to sleep for their first goal and that goal completely changed the dynamic of the match.
Herrera - His pressing and energy is very important for us but in big matches like these where the opposition is able to go past his pressing, he needs to learn to step back a bit and press a little less higher up
Pogba - Started well but as the game went by, he was marked out of the game by Marquinhos. OUr over dependence on Pogba being the creator was the reason we created nothing in the 2nd half.
Lingard - Pressed well but his passing game was a bit off. Hope the injury isnt too bad.
Rashford - Worked hard but did not really get into the game at all.
Martial - Not one of his best games.

Sanchez - He seem totally off the pace once again. If Martial was poor, Sanchez was worse.
Mata - Not the right kind of game for him. Our tactic was to press high up which he can do but it also involved fast couters which he cannot.
Lukaku - Should have come on instead of Mata. He barely touched the ball when he did finally come on

OGS - I think he got it right with the starting 11. Injuries and Matic's mistake kind of threw the plan out of the window. I would have preferred bringing in Lukaku for Mata and moving Rashford into the Lingard role. Also, after we went a goal down, we did not seem to try anything different. Was that a lack of tactical nuance or lack of options on the bench is hard to say.

 

[Water Melon]

Fellaini would have been useful in a game against PSG? Are some of you guys serious? Do you think that having a slow tall player with limited movement and pretty ordinary passing skills would have helped? Is Marouane some sort of a magic player who wins all the balls and aerial duels? We were dire in midfield and we got worse after Jesse and Tony were subbed off. So if you think that the alternative of hoofing it to Fellaini would help, you are underestimating PSG by quite a lot I would say. They were able to mark Pogs out of the game quite easily, so Fellaini would have been kept in pocket just as easily as well. The French side were better and are a class above, hands down.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Some fundamental issues in our play got exposed last night which hopefully is a good thing for us (subject to it actually being taken on board by us going forwards from this game):

1. We have no real metronome in midfield like a Verratti - Pogba is not this player and he desperately needs someone alongside him who can control games at the top level so he can focus on being a purely destructive force. He needs his Pirlo and United needs a game controller in the middle if we want to compete with the big boys.

2. Playing out from the back/passing back under pressure - our general press resistance is still piss poor compared to European sides or the best sides in EPL - we keep hitting it long or aimlessly into channels instead of confidently playing it out from the back through the thirds properly .. goalkeeper is shaky with ball at his feet, Lindelof apart none of our CBs have confidence on the ball and our midfield need to be more proactive and positive when they’re being closed down instead of abdicating responsibility and passing back.

3. Lack of hold up play in CF position - both Rashford and Lukaku have shite touches and are very easy to knock off the ball in 50/50s. They don’t have a good low centre of gravity or the nous to strike fear into elite intelligent defenders ... compare them to a Kane and they’re very much off the pace and that lack of stickability up top hurt us as we had no outlet.. every time it got passed forward, it came right back at us as Rashford couldn’t bring others into play.

4. Lack of proper attacking full backs - neither Shaw or Young have that ability to beat a man out wide at the very top level or the fitness levels required to be proper up and down without needing to take a breather. Full backs are the engine room of the modern game and we are operating with steam engines whilst everyone else is deploying the latest Japanese style ‘bullet trains’. Our crossing from this position is also very 90s .. we need to work more on our cut backs and threading passes through into the box and finding men - not just hit and hope.

5. We are man united ... until we play someone good - as much as Ole has been lauded for making us play more positive compared to Jose ... we still have an inferiority complex where we can’t seem to go toe to toe against big sides. We had to sit back and counter because we just don’t go out there with the confidence to just take risks with the ball and play with it at all costs and I think that is hurting us from a long term perspective because all the elite teams have such a positive brand of football where they are looking to impose their football on the opposition whether it is home and away and we can’t even do that against a team at home.. even against Spurs and Arsenal - it was more smash and grab style play which can get results but long term it’s not the way to go if we want to return to the elite of the modern game.

Final point is that this game exposed the folly of extending certain contracts and we truly need to get rid of deadwood and inject some more dynamism, youth and technical quality into the side in conjunction with the tactical changes referred to above. No one should realistically have expected a win last night but it can be a pivotal moment for our future if we don’t bury our heads in the sand and think it was a one off.

It was a ‘schooling’ but that can be a positive if you take it on the chin and do something about it. Remember Fergie after 94 by Barca.. that is the type of mindset we need.

Great post.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Fellaini would have been useful in a game against PSG? Are some of you guys serious? Do you think that having a slow tall player with limited movement and pretty ordinary passing skills would have helped? Is Marouane some sort of a magic player who wins all the balls and aerial duels? We were dire in midfield and we got worse after Jesse and Tony were subbed off. So if you think that the alternative of hoofing it to Fellaini would help, you are underestimating PSG by quite a lot I would say. They were able to mark Pogs out of the game quite easily, so Fellaini would have been kept in pocket just as easily as well. The French side were better and are a class above, hands down.

Fellaini is not the answer long term. But what other options do we have at the moment? Fellaini would have brought strength and an extra body in midfield hopefully freeing Pogba a bit. He would be able to hold the ball up front something Rashford couldnt do. He could support Rashford. Give him someone to play off. And he could ask questions in in the air

 

[Jeffthered]

Bollocks was it a reality check. Nothing in it until they scored. Both teams were poor going forward, and as I said at half time, one bit of quality will change the game.

Unfortunately, it was PSG and the goal played right into their hands as they were able to sit back and hit us on the counter, which is where their second goal came from.

On another day if we score the first goal we win that.

If you really, genuinely draw that conclusion from the game then I am extremely surprised.

They absorbed all the fervour and pressing in the first 20mins, and then ran the game. It was a superb, away-from-home-in-Europe performance.

This is a reality check, a damn good one in my opinion, because as supporters, it will make some of us reassess how we view our squad... Which is very good, with a couple of truly, outstanding players... but simply not strong enough, or good enough yet to compete at that level.

That was a team missing Rabiot, Cavani and Neymar.

Some of us need to get real.

 

[kouroux]

Having slept on it my thoughts are that facing an opponent who is more experienced than us (I'm talking about the players on the pitch and the clubs themselves) was always gonna be a tall order, whether they had injuries or not.
I still feel like we're looking for our identity, first few games Ole had us keep the possession well but slowly and slowly the teams has gotten closer to a style similar to Jose's which isn't a surprise at all tbh.
The league is still the priority and it is essential that we develop this habit of reaching the CL so that our players would gain experience and maturity.

If you really, genuinely draw that conclusion from the game then I am extremely surprised.

They absorbed all the fervour and pressing in the first 20mins, and then ran the game. It was a superb, away-from-home-in-Europe performance.

This is a reality check, a damn good one in my opinion, because as supporters, it will make some of us reassess how we view our squad... Which is very good, with a couple of truly, outstanding players... but simply not strong enough, or good enough yet to compete at that level.

That was a team missing Rabiot, Cavani and Neymar.

Some of us need to get real.

This. However I'd say it's only a reality check for the truly optimists or deluded fans out there. The CL requires something else than the PL and many of our players were out of their depth last night.

 

[P-Nut]

Some fundamental issues in our play got exposed last night which hopefully is a good thing for us (subject to it actually being taken on board by us going forwards from this game):

1. We have no real metronome in midfield like a Verratti - Pogba is not this player and he desperately needs someone alongside him who can control games at the top level so he can focus on being a purely destructive force. He needs his Pirlo and United needs a game controller in the middle if we want to compete with the big boys.

2. Playing out from the back/passing back under pressure - our general press resistance is still piss poor compared to European sides or the best sides in EPL - we keep hitting it long or aimlessly into channels instead of confidently playing it out from the back through the thirds properly .. goalkeeper is shaky with ball at his feet, Lindelof apart none of our CBs have confidence on the ball and our midfield need to be more proactive and positive when they’re being closed down instead of abdicating responsibility and passing back.

3. Lack of hold up play in CF position - both Rashford and Lukaku have shite touches and are very easy to knock off the ball in 50/50s. They don’t have a good low centre of gravity or the nous to strike fear into elite intelligent defenders ... compare them to a Kane and they’re very much off the pace and that lack of stickability up top hurt us as we had no outlet.. every time it got passed forward, it came right back at us as Rashford couldn’t bring others into play.

4. Lack of proper attacking full backs - neither Shaw or Young have that ability to beat a man out wide at the very top level or the fitness levels required to be proper up and down without needing to take a breather. Full backs are the engine room of the modern game and we are operating with steam engines whilst everyone else is deploying the latest Japanese style ‘bullet trains’. Our crossing from this position is also very 90s .. we need to work more on our cut backs and threading passes through into the box and finding men - not just hit and hope.

5. We are man united ... until we play someone good - as much as Ole has been lauded for making us play more positive compared to Jose ... we still have an inferiority complex where we can’t seem to go toe to toe against big sides. We had to sit back and counter because we just don’t go out there with the confidence to just take risks with the ball and play with it at all costs and I think that is hurting us from a long term perspective because all the elite teams have such a positive brand of football where they are looking to impose their football on the opposition whether it is home and away and we can’t even do that against a team at home.. even against Spurs and Arsenal - it was more smash and grab style play which can get results but long term it’s not the way to go if we want to return to the elite of the modern game.

Final point is that this game exposed the folly of extending certain contracts and we truly need to get rid of deadwood and inject some more dynamism, youth and technical quality into the side in conjunction with the tactical changes referred to above. No one should realistically have expected a win last night but it can be a pivotal moment for our future if we don’t bury our heads in the sand and think it was a one off.

It was a ‘schooling’ but that can be a positive if you take it on the chin and do something about it. Remember Fergie after 94 by Barca.. that is the type of mindset we need.

Got to agree with all of that to be honest.

We're a bit stuck at CF I feel. No way Rashford wants to drop back to playing second fiddle and missing out on the big games, but unless we want to play on the counter against sides like this he needs to improve with his back to goal.

I think the metronome CM needs to come in the shape of a DM. It would take a bit of onus off of the defence to progress too far with the ball. At the moment, when they pass into Matic he hasn't got the ability to keep it going forwards and so it CES back to the centre backs and inevitably a long ball into the channel for Rashford to chase after.

Young was a joke tonight, just before their second goal he's trying to press their CB. Then drops into CM before realising he's miles out of position and trying to get back. You don't get to make those mistakes against the best sides. I don't think we'll improve at LB in the summer either, we've not got that ruthless streak in saying this isn't working and splashing the cash on someone to come in and do the job. With Shaw and Young both signing contracts this season we'll see them competing for the left back spot next season with a RB bought and Dalot being back up.

As an addition I'd say Pogba was a disappointment tonight, which in itself would usually be fine, however it's not the first time in a game of this magnitude his levels have dropped. He wasn't atrocious in giving the ball away like previous, but his impact was next to none, and for a midfielder who has been awarded a lot of defensive freedom that isn't good enough.

I'd have no problem selling lots of this squad and replacing with 4 or 5 signings and letting some kids step up next season. It's going to take a while to fix all the issues so bedding some kids in next year will be a massive help going forwards.

 

[Orange Tree]

Just see the difference in quality of the players. Our defenders had to resort to fouling to stop their players, on the other hand....

Martial was missing, Rashford could barely hold the ball longer than a second, Lingard did well, shame about the injury.

We got worse after Pogba got the yellow and the game was good as gone after Martial and Lingard were injured. We didn't have any offensive outlet in the second half aside from Young, who sadly didn't have enough quality in his crossing. The lack of movement in their box didn't help either.

 

[Water Melon]

We lost to a better team. I was not hopeful before the game, as PSG are a different beast compared to Cardiffs of the prem. They have better players, they have a settled side and they can allow their transfers to go wrong as they are funded by a filthy reach government. Ole has been here for a couple of months, has already transformed the team compared to Jose and has us sitting fourth in the table. Things are not great at the moment, we are not winning CL, we are not winning the prem, but we have already climbed up some way up the huge mount that we have ahead of us. Hopefully, with some additions to the squad and more time with this newly employed coaching team, we will do much better in CL next season. By the way, top 4 is not guaranteed either, but going out of CL could be a blessing in disguise in this regard. Do not forget about the state that Mou has left us in. Reaching top 4 seemed to be a mission impossible at the time, and we brought in feck all new players in the winter.

 

[kouroux]

@Raees Your point 4) resonates a lot for me. It's nuts that our full backs are of the "cross and hope" variety. They don't look for players, just areas. Young has even surpassed Valencia in that aspect.

 

[Roosney]

The injuries pretty much killed our game. PSG had 0 shots on target in the first half, 5 in the first 15mins of the second.

 

[MackRobinson]

Some fundamental issues in our play got exposed last night which hopefully is a good thing for us (subject to it actually being taken on board by us going forwards from this game):

1. We have no real metronome in midfield like a Verratti - Pogba is not this player and he desperately needs someone alongside him who can control games at the top level so he can focus on being a purely destructive force. He needs his Pirlo and United needs a game controller in the middle if we want to compete with the big boys.

This is an extremely underrated point.

The first 10 minutes of the match when United were pressing relentlessly, it was Veratti who was most composed for PSG and allowed them to get into their rhythm. The remainder of the match nobody could touch him and he dictated play as he saw fit. I said it in the match thread but United desperately need a player like him instead of Matic/Hererra to compete with the other big clubs. Even a Wijnaldum-level player would take them to another level.

Tuchel wisely realized Pogba was the only player in that midfield 3 with creativity, and Lingard/Marital getting injured amplified the effect of his tactics.

Mbappe was great. Silva was great. Di Maria was great, but the difference maker (especially in the first half) was Veratti and United would be wise to find a player like him (Paredes would have been a good shout)

 

[dmode]

I think Pogba was out of the game... so might be a blessing in disguise he is not here for return leg.

Ole has to find a way to win the return leg without him... we are capable of doing it.

We lick our wounds and we fight.

 

[Water Melon]

Fellaini is not the answer long term. But what other options do we have at the moment? Fellaini would have brought strength and an extra body in midfield hopefully freeing Pogba a bit. He would be able to hold the ball up front something Rashford couldnt do. He could support Rashford. Give him someone to play off. And he could ask questions in in the air

I see your point there mate, but PSG are not Ajax. With Felli on the pitch, we would become even more slow in our play and Marouane has never been useful in trying to control the midfield. He could have been used as a pole further up the pitch to hoof the ball too, but again with the quality of PSG players, I doubt that it would matter much. We lacked off the ball movement yesterday and Fellaini has hardly been a player that would add some steel to a proper midfield. In hindsight, maybe Rom should have been brought on instead of Mata, but it seems that Juan was introduced to help us retain and circulate the ball better, which he did but we were absolutely useless in the attack. The most basic law of reproduction of human race says, "if you do not penetrate, you wont score". This can be applied to our game in the second half yesterday.

 

[Canagel]

We were unlucky to lose the match. The game was even and competitive between two teams and neither creating much danger until disaster struck and the front line got decimated with injury. The game was delicately poised and it couldve gone either way and unfortunately it went to them . Our set pieces defending is always suspect and then we just didn't compete after that. They sensed blood and ruthlessly finished it off. Special mention to the ref for ruining the spectacle . 5 cards in 25 mins?

the squad isn't ready to compete for CL yet despite this. Focus on FA Cup, top 4 and getting back to a force in the league before we try again next year

 

[reddevil80]

Second to everything last night.

Beat by the better team, AFTER, losing two of our speedsters.

Their defence were more experienced.

Sanchez looked useless.

Just hope Lingard and Martial can recover sooner rather than later.

Ref was shocking ( again in a european tie)

Focus on Prem and maybe FA now.

 

[Cnaiür urs Skiötha]

Yesterday's game really showed our restrictions and our actual status.

I have been saying this since Ole's arrival and this is my opinion: Ole's job is to get the best out of our actual squad as we played below our abilities before. His goal is to somehow grab place 4 if possible. Managing a Jose-like win against a better side like Spurs is an extra plus.
So far he has been doing a great job. He implemented the best front 3 and while I am always a bit skeptical about Lingard his fast decision making is an important factor and Ole recognized that. Also playing Pogba further up the pitch and implementing Herrera + Matic behind him was a good decision.
That being said we are still missing an overall game plan and a stringent system. There are holes everywhere across the pitch and no harmonized movement. Our work with and against the ball has improved but the movement without the ball seems chaotic or other times non-existant. And as great as Pogba, Martial and Rashford have been each of them is still doing too much on hin own which does not work against the big teams. We did not have one single chance yesterday.
We are also lacking the positional awareness the top teams show.

Comparing our starting 11 to the one from Paris I would not think that our players are so much behind in individual quality. These qualitites just need to be streamlined in the correct way.

 

[kouroux]

Yesterday's game really showed our restrictions and our actual status.

I have been saying this since Ole's arrival and this is my opinion: Ole's job is to get the best out of our actual squad as we played below our abilities before. His goal is to somehow grab place 4 if possible. Managing a Jose-like win against a better side like Spurs is an extra plus.
So far he has been doing a great job. He implemented the best front 3 and while I am always a bit skeptical about Lingard his fast decision making is an important factor and Ole recognized that. Also playing Pogba further up the pitch and implementing Herrera + Matic behind him was a good decision.
That being said we are still missing an overall game plan and a stringent system. There are holes everywhere across the pitch and no harmonized movement. Our work with and against the ball has improved but the movement without the ball seems chaotic or other times non-existant. And as great as Pogba, Martial and Rashford have been each of them is still doing too much on hin own which does not work against the big teams. We did not have one single chance yesterday.
We are also lacking the positional awareness the top teams show.

Comparing our starting 11 to the one from Paris I would not think that our players are so much behind in individual quality. These qualitites just need to be streamlined in the correct way.

I disagree, even with their injuries they have a much much better squad. Only Pogba and DDG could get in their team.

 

[OneUnited24]

Still think he should have dropped Pogba further back played mata in the hole and brought Lukaku for Matic when it was 2 nil.

Oh well onwards and upwards I suppose

 

[Richter]

I disagree, even with their injuries they have a much much better squad. Only Pogba and DDG could get in their team.

I agree with this we are not ready for PSG, Barca Real etc yet.

 

[Dans]

Until Lingard and Martial went down injured we were absolutely fine. Two subs at half time knocked us down and a goal from a player who should have been off killed us. PSG are not that good.

We weren't really creating much, so I disagree. Martial was relatively anonymous last night. Ref was bad though and Kimpembe should have gone, but that doesn't disguise the fact that against a good team (and they were good - some of their passing and movement was excellent), we struggled to really test Buffon. Rashford's shot from an unlikely angle is all I can recall.

 

[Galinha]

Its the first time since Barcelona in 2015 that PSG didnt get a shot on target in a half. I know 2 of their key players were out. But it still count for something.

Its a fair result, and iam still happy about the effort from the players, they actually looked like they wanted to win. We just need more depth in the squad and a couple of key players.


The only mistake in my opinion is not to bring on lukaku earlier. We were stucked and he could have made a New dimension in our playstyle

 

[crossy1686]

Yeah, agree with all this but it’s going to be way too rational for most in here.

The thing I’ve found most amusing since the game is the amount of people who’ve said Solskjaer was “tactically outclassed”. Love they’ve been sitting on that since he came in, waiting for a reason to bust it out to suit their narrative. It will be more of the same at the weekend if we don’t beat Liverpool despite some teams just being in a better place than we are currently.

 

[crossy1686]

Nani's red card

This game had shades of that didn’t it? We we’re never going to get a result once Martial and Lingard went off but the ref was fecking diabolical.

 

[crossy1686]

Any news on the two injuries?

Desperately hoping they’re fit for the weekend...

 

[Relfy]

Game changed when we lost Martial and Lingard. Our pressing reduced which allowed them to find a nice passing rhythm. First half we forced them into a lot of misplaced passes, especially the cross field balls, but 2nd half these started finding their targets as we allowed them more space and time to pick them out.

Sanchez plays likes he half pissed every time he comes on the pitch - please, let's cut our losses and move on. Mata is a tidy player but not what we needed on the right flank in that game. As nice a guy as he is i think it's best we move him on too now.

We still have some way to go yet, but if anyone thought we were back to the elite level because of a good run of form then let this be a reality check. There are still issues with the squad which will hopefully be addressed this summer.

Pogba sending off looked like a joke to me and almost kills us off in the return leg. Admittedly i have not seen many replays of the incident but it looked fairly innocuous when watching live.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Yeah, agree with all this but it’s going to be way too rational for most in here.

The thing I’ve found most amusing since the game is the amount of people who’ve said Solskjaer was “tactically outclassed”. Love they’ve been sitting on that since he came in, waiting for a reason to bust it out to suit their narrative. It will be more of the same at the weekend if we don’t beat Liverpool despite some teams just being in a better place than we are currently.

Yep. It wasn't the tactics. We just came up against a team with better players. Losing Martial and Lingard derailed us a bit as they were the pacey outlets. Think the media have been waiting for this moment to put the boot in. It is now time to regroup and they have to just pick themselves up.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

We weren't really creating much, so I disagree. Martial was relatively anonymous last night. Ref was bad though and Kimpembe should have gone, but that doesn't disguise the fact that against a good team (and they were good - some of their passing and movement was excellent), we struggled to really test Buffon. Rashford's shot from an unlikely angle is all I can recall.

Barring the Mbappe chance they were creating nothing as well. The point is that despite our poor performance those two allowed us to keep PSG on their toes, as did the game being level of course. Once they went off we lost some belief, a goal and they knew we have to pace or dynamism to match or hurt them. Two slow widemen with two fullbacks who can't attack behind them.

 

[saivet]

Rationally, no way we are going through. Was racking my brain for CL comebacks after losing the first leg at home. One that didn't happen but came close was Juve last season afer losing the first leg 3-0 at home they very nearly took it to extra time before that late penalty.

Now I'm trying to convince myself it's still on....

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Rationally, no way we are going through. Was racking my brain for CL comebacks after losing the first leg at home. One that didn't happen but came close was Juve last season afer losing the first leg 3-0 at home they very nearly took it to extra time before that late penalty.

Now I'm trying to convince myself it's still on....

If we had snatched a goal last night we may have had a chance, but without one we have no chance. We will have to score early to hope the jitters set in for them.

 

[snk123]

What? They were better than us in every department. That is called being outclassed

They were only better when they went 2-0 up (because of our awful defending - and injuries to key players). They controlled the game thereafter. In the first half, they couldn't string two passes together.

I don't know what game people watched but we were extremely poor yesterday by our standards and that really had nothing to do with PSG. All front 3 played badly which can happen because they are still young. They were bound to improve in the second half when the nerves had settled but Jesse and Martial got injured. That's where we lost the game.

 

[saivet]

If we had snatched a goal last night we may have had a chance, but without one we have no chance. We will have to score early to hope the jitters set in for them.

Yeah early goal for us or early red card (lol) for them could that bring some nerves.

We'll see I guess, wouldn't be the craziest of things, but a lot will need to fall our way.