Super, no, but nine of SU's losses were by one goal. City only managed one goal on them, Pool only beat them 2-1. They may be the toughest winless team ever. Thirteen games into this mess and they still fought to the final whistle. I have a feeling that when they finally do win, they'll reel off a string of them.
PL W FA Premier League
Sheffield United 2:3 Manchester United
Post-match discussion
Thu, 17 December 2020
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
You have to admire Sheffield United's character last night. They didn't fold and continually put us under pressure even when we were in cruise control.
Valid criticism is always ok. What is not ok is talking as if experienced keepers should be flawless in some way. That doesn't happen.
- Pogba played very well. He did lose the ball a few times in dangerous areas, however, two of them were poor passes from others and Pogba wasn't expecting the ball because he was well covered. I distinctly remember AWB doing it once.
- Rashford's goal reminded me of a similar one last year when Pogba assisted. He took both in stride with a beautiful first touch.
- Some great passes from Bruno and Pogba.
- It looks like Matic will only be useful against the easiest opponents. Too bad as we will need him.
- Why didn't Henderson come out for the 2nd? During the match I was thinking it's so nice having a GK being aggressive with a couple of good punches, then he does that. I don't think DG loses his job now for another 2 months.
- Martial was still not good. He missed the ball entirely for the goal and just got lucky that their keeper made a mistake. For Rashford's second I'm pretty sure Martial was not passing the ball and it was just a very heavy touch. If he had tried to pass it he most likely would have miss hit it.
- Things are looking good overall. Can you Ole-out people just keep quiet for 2 months?
- Rashford's goal reminded me of a similar one last year when Pogba assisted. He took both in stride with a beautiful first touch.
- Some great passes from Bruno and Pogba.
- It looks like Matic will only be useful against the easiest opponents. Too bad as we will need him.
- Why didn't Henderson come out for the 2nd? During the match I was thinking it's so nice having a GK being aggressive with a couple of good punches, then he does that. I don't think DG loses his job now for another 2 months.
- Martial was still not good. He missed the ball entirely for the goal and just got lucky that their keeper made a mistake. For Rashford's second I'm pretty sure Martial was not passing the ball and it was just a very heavy touch. If he had tried to pass it he most likely would have miss hit it.
- Things are looking good overall. Can you Ole-out people just keep quiet for 2 months?
Well put. We have to play from the back a majority of the time if we want to be title contenders. And if we wait for the perfect players then that just delays our growth. During the match SU had 3 pressing our back line most of the match and most teams do the same to us. It's also obvious that teams key on AWB and Lindelof when they get the ball. They press Maguire so that he'll pass to Lindelof, not to force an error from Maguire. I think it all comes down to the fact our DMs do not instill confidence and they are always going to make a few mistakes each match.
If we could get a quick passing DM in January we are right there. Add in a good RW and we might be as good as Liverpool on our best days.
Where do I sign up!
On your original post, for some reason Ole always plays Matic along with Pogba. I am not sure why?
AWB, please. I read this and immediately thought of West Bromwich Albion, which was rather confusing.
It doesn't matter what "camp" you dedicate yourself to, some extreme views will just bucket you in a binary fashion regardless.
Many posters are like me who doubt whether Ole will be the right man for the longer term, but by default that buckets me as "Ole out" even though I wouldn't consider a sack midway through this season unless shit really hits the fan.
I wouldn't be too hard on him, mate. It was good play. Either player could have wound up touching the ball in that situation but at speed with your opponent rushing toward you it's difficult. Hilariously, neither of them made contact and the ball fell to Tony. Half of the battle as a striker is being in the right place at the right time, which he certainly was.
Rashford's second was definitely a heavy touch from Tony but right place right time wins again (for both Marcus and Martial). Credit to the players for moving it quickly and having that desire.
yes and Martial did pull out for the second Rashford long before and let Rashford have it once he saw that Rashford was the better option
That's not true mate. We were bad in the beginning but I think we well between the 20' mark to the 80' mark. We ended badly as well. I understand that you hate the way we build from the back and lose the ball many times and it can work badly against us against Leeds or any other team in the league but I think we need a few better players than Matic in the middle to play out from the back. I also understand the frustration that we don't look an aesthetically pleasing side when we pass the ball around because it is too damn slow but I think we will improve in that area if we keep playing the same side week in week out which sadly cannot be possible this season. We will send Fred or Mctominay out with Pogba and Bruno next match because frankly Pogba has done well against Sheffield and should not be dropped. We've never seen him more involved before, mind you this is because he wants to leave and show other clubs that he can be valuable but we need to take advantage of that. Bruno will always be our main man. If Cavani gets back, Rashford should shift to the right and Martial to the left to make way for him to play central. We can do well against Leeds. It is hard to play against us right now because we cannot be judged by any team and we can go out and beat any of them. Hopefully.
Ooh..that's dirty!
You're right, you don't know. It's not the style of play I have any issue with, and I've literally never said anything of the sort in this or any other thread so don't make baseless assumptions (why have I had to say this twice now in this thread?).
My issue is that we played quite poorly, in this game. We conceded two goals that would be genuinely embarassing at schoolboy level. We constantly gave them the ball in our half, too often not even where we were trying to play a forward or direct ball, but just where one of our players would be caught with the ball whilst trying to do absolutely nothing at all.
Ultimately we were bailed out because Sheffield United's tactics, considering our front line, were suicidal. Both our goals in the first half you could see coming a mile off, and doubly so when Jagielka came on. We literally just had to lob the ball over their backline and then let Rashford or Martial run faster than their defenders. It was made very easy for us. If we'd been on song it would have been a mauling.
I can actually accept it as a good bit of management if we've managed to save other players for the Leeds game and end up winning that, but I'm not going to pretend we played well when with the exception of Rashford and the odd bit of class from a few others, we didn't. We did enough to win, which in the middle of the current schedule will be fine if we make a habit of it.
As I said. I don't know of any other team that can so routinely have absolute calamity moments or periods in games, and then in the same game look like they are just swatting the opposition away with ease. I don't know whether it's even a good or bad thing, or some combination of the two. If we'd got to half time still behind you can pretty much guarantee the second half performance would have been an absolute slaughter and we'd have won anyway.
No, sad is turning another away win into a stick to beat the team and manager with.
Take it however you like.
Win = everything is shit and we were lucky to win.
Lose = everything is shit, we should be winning those, sack everybody.
Why not just enjoy the ride rather than trying to poison every thread with negativity?
Started slow again. It's getting to me now. Sloppy passes, lazy running , a quality ball and goal from Rashford changed the game quickly they panicked because they are where they are. Controlled game after 2nd and 3rd then fell asleep again for 10 mins. There 2nd was unfortunate for Lindelof to head it at other guys head and drop in. Overall 3pts but cannot keep giving cheap goals away. Pogba was very good. With Matic which was a plus. Same on Sunday without the poor start.
Two moments of madness, really, that leaked in two goals. The coaching staff need to have a word with Maguire and our keepers about what not to do when playing out of the back. Hendo takes most of the blame, and perhaps it was all nerves, but Maguire gave him a bad ball. That should be fixable.
As for the corner kick, we have to sort this out. Upcoming opponents like Leeds are licking their chops at the prospect of scoring off a corner kick, clearly an exploitable vulnerability that Ole has done nothing about yet.
Otherwise, the match was well under control. Pogba turned up...what a man when he decides to show up. Martial took his goal well, but he needs to show more industry to his game rather than waiting for the perfect ball.
As for the corner kick, we have to sort this out. Upcoming opponents like Leeds are licking their chops at the prospect of scoring off a corner kick, clearly an exploitable vulnerability that Ole has done nothing about yet.
Otherwise, the match was well under control. Pogba turned up...what a man when he decides to show up. Martial took his goal well, but he needs to show more industry to his game rather than waiting for the perfect ball.
Well yeah but we didnt take any of them, the players seem to have an air of not being focused enough to put the fecking ball in the back of the net.
I was ready to throw toys out of the pram after the lifeless first few minutes. But credit where due - they did eventually get going thanks to an injury to a defender and bringing on an old man to play in a high defensive line.
It is just incredibly frustrating that for years the lads don't seem to wake up and start playing with some effort until we go a goal behind.
Trying to focus on the positives:
-- we won without needing goals from Bruno, or pens! Hoozah!
-- Fred and Shaw got a rest. Sorry AWB, you will have to keep playing every match until your legs fall off. And sorry also to every CB at the club not named Harry and Victor; maybe you can get some "minutes" in a training match? Ok sorry, back to the positives
-- I don't think he played "well" really, or not nearly as well as I believe he can, but Martial did some things well. But there is no excusing his first 15 or 20 minutes when he was a walking ghost without a care in the world.
-- Same for Pogba, I think he can play so much better than he did, but it at least wasn't awful. Hopefully he is getting back fully fit after the virus and can be in good form for the second half of the season.
-- Finally, I think I saw a few passes between Mason and Rashford! I had to rewind and watch again to make sure, but there were a few times when one passed to the other instead of forcing a shit shot. Again, this is progress!
It is just incredibly frustrating that for years the lads don't seem to wake up and start playing with some effort until we go a goal behind.
Trying to focus on the positives:
-- we won without needing goals from Bruno, or pens! Hoozah!
-- Fred and Shaw got a rest. Sorry AWB, you will have to keep playing every match until your legs fall off. And sorry also to every CB at the club not named Harry and Victor; maybe you can get some "minutes" in a training match? Ok sorry, back to the positives
-- I don't think he played "well" really, or not nearly as well as I believe he can, but Martial did some things well. But there is no excusing his first 15 or 20 minutes when he was a walking ghost without a care in the world.
-- Same for Pogba, I think he can play so much better than he did, but it at least wasn't awful. Hopefully he is getting back fully fit after the virus and can be in good form for the second half of the season.
-- Finally, I think I saw a few passes between Mason and Rashford! I had to rewind and watch again to make sure, but there were a few times when one passed to the other instead of forcing a shit shot. Again, this is progress!
Oh nah. He's always complaining.
I'd go further with your last point, those two are showing themselves to be really good at quick combinations and exchanges
First remind me of your point. First you replied to my post about how I hate two defensive CM’s with something that I thought was against it and spoke in favour of two cdm’s
Granted. Your reply didn’t make much sense. What demonstrated how shaky Pogba and Matic were?
Then you used the two goals down by half 2 time scenario , which with have been more often then not when we’ve played 2 holding CM’s. So it contradicted the point I assumed you were making.
In your latest reply you mention Leipzig. A match were Ole cost us by playing so defensively with 2 cdm’s, and 5 defenders.
So what is your point? Not having a go, just trying to work out what your tactical preference is.
First of all, lets talk about Pogba+Matic pairing. Matic is too slow and static to cover for Pogba, so they make the worst possible combo. Under a 3 MF formation, Pogba's preference to twist and turn would be forgiven. Partnering with Fred, he might be able to cover for some of the Pogba's error, with better CB, we might be able to cover for Pogba as well. In short, you need a custom made team to partner with Pogba, if you think his contribution (when he wants to) justify it. This is why and how we suffer all these years, when Pogba turns up sometime and didn't bother another time. That is until Bruno was recruited.
This is not a thread to argue Bruno Vs Pogba, because the conclusion is written on the wall. The argument should be whether, or how, to make use of Pogba, when Bruno starts. There are games when Bruno should be rested so Pogba can play 90+ min if you like. But for key games, when Bruno should start, there you go.
I think we have yet to find the best possible scenario when both players can start, perhaps against a weaker side.
Then let's talk about teams that are well coached but consisted of average players. Leeds may be so, so are many other teams that we fell flat on our face. Hope nobody raise it on Leeds and say we can surely beat them, they are just Championship team....
I've literally only posted in this thread and a single post in the Pogba thread since the game, and also never said we were lucky to win or that everything is shit, and also don't in general tend to ever come on here to "use a stick to beat the manager with"...most of my posts about Ole are moaning about the people who are weirdly obsessed with replacing him with Pochettino.
You're making stuff up and then getting annoyed about it. If you're going to dedicate all your effort to moaning at people who hate Ole then at least direct it at one of them and not at random people commenting on a game of football they just watched.
Or just don't come on internet forums if you get wound up and resort to trying to be belittling every time you find opinions you don't agree with. I'm not under any obligation to agree with anything you think or say what you want me to.
During the game .....
And the award for hypocrite of the year goes to....Either that or you just don’t like @noodlehair
This description reminds me of how Liverpool used to be described in Klopps first full season. We'd do well to keep the strengths and bolster up the weaknesses in a similar fashion. Anyone know who the next VVD will be?
Meh, there's a vast difference between things said during the game and things said the next day.During the game .....
Either that or you just don’t like @noodlehair
And the award for brown nose of the year goes to....
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On Martial: The "pass" for Rashford was obviously just a bad touch, but he deserves credit for leaving it for a better positioned player. For a moment there I thought he was going for it, and they'd end up messing it up for each other. A greedier player would've stuck with it. Other than that, I was happy to see Martial inviting through balls from Pogba and Bruno by making the runs. As long as he keeps doing that, I don't really care if he sometimes has a bad touch or misses a chance.
RightMeh, there's a vast difference between things said during the game and things said the next day.
And the award for brown nose of the year goes to....
it’s ok, this sort of thing is standard on here. Abuse players, the board, fans of Manchester United its fine but don’t you dare say anything about Ole. I just find it funny now.
Not really. I don't think they will every be a great duo because Rashford is not good at weighting his passes and Martial is not good at reading plays. How often do you see Martial make a pass and either our player made a different run or a defender easily read the play? The third goal vs SU Martial was not thinking a cushion pass would see Rashford in, he was thinking let me control this and then decide what to do. His miss control created the play.
Not Martial...Greenwood.
I apologise, I never meant to hurt your feelings.
Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?
Matic, despite being in possession poor form this season and having poor mobility, is a better passer of the ball forward than Fred and is harder to dispossess. This gives Pogba more assurance to move higher, confident that the ball with find him more often than not.
With Fred, Pogba needs to stay close if he wants Fred to be able to give him the ball, and it becomes easier to isolate Pogba if he doesn't.
Fred brings some great qualities to the table like energy and ball winning, so it's not unreasonable to pair him with Pogba, but they're not as synergistic in possession.
With Fred, Pogba needs to stay close if he wants Fred to be able to give him the ball, and it becomes easier to isolate Pogba if he doesn't.
Fred brings some great qualities to the table like energy and ball winning, so it's not unreasonable to pair him with Pogba, but they're not as synergistic in possession.
What?
I mean I remember when I used to think there was a point in trying to pretend to be cool on the internet, but I hope I was a bit less rubbish at it than this (I probably wasn't).
This description reminds me of how Liverpool used to be described in Klopps first full season. We'd do well to keep the strengths and bolster up the weaknesses in a similar fashion. Anyone know who the next VVD will be?
Our team do remind me a bit of Liverpool in Klopp's first season actually. We just do things in reverse. They'd storm out in front then concede a bunch of calamity goals and feck it up. We feck it up first then have some random part of the game where we start creating chances every 2 minutes.
There's cool people on the internet?What?
I mean I remember when I used to think there was a point in trying to pretend to be cool on the internet, but I hope I was a bit less rubbish at it than this (I probably wasn't).
I can only assume it must be ones who spam Twitter threads with K-pop GIFs.
I've no idea why they do that, thus probably rendered uncool.
^
love this lads username- deserves some slack for that, alone
match threads notorious for getting ott, anyways
thanks. never thought of that (maybe I might stop hating my phone!)
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 295 ratings.
Score Predictions
210,17,10
- Man Utd win
- Sheffield Utd win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 24% Sheffield Utd 0:2 Man Utd
- 23% Sheffield Utd 0:3 Man Utd
- 12% Sheffield Utd 1:3 Man Utd
- 8% Sheffield Utd 1:2 Man Utd
- 7% Sheffield Utd 0:4 Man Utd
- 5% Sheffield Utd 0:1 Man Utd
- 4% Sheffield Utd 1:4 Man Utd
- 3% Sheffield Utd 2:0 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 2:1 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 1:1 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 0:5 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 1:0 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 2:2 Man Utd
- 2% Sheffield Utd 2:3 Man Utd
- 1% Sheffield Utd 1:5 Man Utd
- 1% Sheffield Utd 2:4 Man Utd
- 0% Sheffield Utd 5:0 Man Utd
- 0% Sheffield Utd 0:0 Man Utd
- 0% Sheffield Utd 4:0 Man Utd
Match Stats
- Sheffield Utd
- Man Utd
- Possession
- 41% 59%
- Shots
- 12 14
- Shots on Target
- 6 8
- Corners
- 6 3
- Fouls
- 16 8
Referee
Michael Oliver
Man Utd Lineup
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replaced by Donny van de Beek
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replaced by Scott McTominay
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replaced by Juan Mata
