[Ronaldo's ego]

We go from boring to improved to shite to a embarrassment and back all within a game. According to this place anyway

 

[Roosney]

Three points in the bag, all that matters.
I do agree thou that we should keep playing and not get on the backfoot when we get ahead.

 

[minoo-utd]

That's impressive.

 

[sunama]

Pogba is back next game.
I'm expecting 3-4 goals.

 

[KirkDuyt]

Am I reading the result wrong it seems to say we won 1-2, but reading the caf Im pretty sure we lost 3-0?

 

[Seij]

Obviously happy with the win but...

We were playing against a team that hasn't won in 15 matches, and they were battering us toward the end. This very much could've gone the other way if they had a bit more luck. This seems to happen every time when Pogba isn't playing.

 

[kotha]

Got 3 points, Pogba back for the next game.. Relieved we haven't dropped points anywhere other than the city game..

I'm fine with parking the bus but our hold up play during the last 20 mins was utter crap.. We don't need to sit with our butt cheeks clenched against fecking WBA..

We just can't string 3 passes together and seem to invite more pressure due to our failure to hold on to the ball more than 10 seconds.. I think Mourinho shouldn't make the team sit back as that seems to be our weakness for some reason..

 

[marko goalo]

I have concluded that we have two fundamental problems:

1. Our midfield is extremely average. We lack creativity, initiative and bite in that middle without Paul Pogba. It's so obvious, it's blinding.

2. We are very average at playing the ball on the ground, playing from the back and keeping retention. This is due to having few real ballers and likely also due to poor training.

These two problems are the roots every other problem we have. It's why the strong teams seem to outplay us. It's why we are under serious pressure once the likes of West From are about to level scores or win. I even dare say that it's why we have not yet seen, despite all his limitations, the best of Romelu Lukaku.

1. Couldn't agree more and every Utd fan can see this. Poor recruitment over several seasons has led us to this position.

2. Again agree but again there is no excuse for players who are supposedly the cream of the league. A huge amount of training must include simple ball retention and control...jeez even at sunday league level you spend plenty of time one touch or ball retention. I cannot understand why this part of our game has so fallen apart. I know we've been spoiled in the last 20+ years but to see Utd resort to hoofing the ball you have to wonder what the coaching staff do. Or is it the mentality of the players who seem to press the panic button when under pressure and just seem happy to get rid?

 

[Nathan]

Thought while we got the win, it really was a very poor performance from the team.

 

[LoneStar]

Happy with the 3 points. But the way we went about it, especially at the end was annoying and also slightly concerning. We just give up control of the midfield and let the opposition walk all over us. Once we get the ball back, we hoof it aimlessly and the whole cycle repeats again.

Herrera has been very disappointing this season. He offers nothing in attack and always plays the safe pass. In fact, most of our players seem to prefer playing it safe rather than trying to find spaces and attack.

We really need to buy a cm and a RW for this team, preferably in the winter transfer window. 2 in 2 for Lukaku, should help with his confidence a bit.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Why'd he leave out City?

 

[simplyared]

Can somebody tell me: what the point is of having Zlatan on the bench? If there was ever a day we needed to replace our no 1 striker it was in the last 20 mins of todays match. Rom just didn't have the legs.

 

[utdalltheway]

He's just showing that we're doing well,point wise against the historical seasons.
City's season is an anomaly and only half way through.

 

[zenith]

Great away win and a very valuable three points, especially since our rivals all got three points over the weekend.

The number of posters with something to crib is amazing, we're doing quite well this season and this result, despite the second half performance was very imp.. Do people really expect something special in terms of performance every week.

 

[AlwaysRed66]

Play professionally for over an hour, in complete control if not greatly exciting. Then Valencia goes off injured & we lose focus & cannot string a pass together, letting WBA back into the game. Instead of replacing Valencia with a recognised full back our foolish manager instead moves Young over to RB & brings on the useless Rojo, even though Shaw is on the bench. Am I missing something.

 

[Flytan]

Why'd he leave out City?

Because he's trying to show that we aren't doing badly and if it weren't for a possibly-historic City side we'd be just fine.

 

[Acole9]

A tale of two halves really. First half all over them, could've scored more, should've scored more. Second half we did our usual and take our foot off the gas and sit back, why do we do this?! It annoys the hell out of me because we're not sound enough defensively to do this.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Because he's trying to show that we aren't doing badly and if it weren't for a possibly-historic City side we'd be just fine.

Which you can do with the City record there. If anything it would show how much outlier Cities season is.

 

[freeurmind]

 

[freeurmind]

 

[Fully Fledged]

Tony's teams are strong from set pieces. He does know he's left right?

 

[Eddy_JukeZ]

Good win.

That 2nd half performance was very odd though. It's annoying how we can't keep composure when we face pressure in terms of ball retention. We rely too much on aerial duels imo.

 

[freeurmind]

 

[stu_1992]

Fairly dull match, but decent 3 points. Got the job done fairly professionally in the first half without ever really impressing. Second half turned into a bit of a shambles when we completely took our foot off the gas and got sloppy.

Hope the Valencia injury is nothing too serious, because he'd be a loss for us. It does seem like Lukaku is back on one of his goalscoring runs so hopefully that continues. Pogba back for next weekend, and not a moment too soon.

 

[Lentwood]

We can’t control games because we carry players

Herrera, Lingard and Mata aren’t good enough to control games and Martial/Rashfords inexperience can show at times

 

[Judas]

Was only able to watch the 2nd half, that was really hard to watch. I made a new rule this season: only watch United matches.

Makes it easier to get through this shit

Genuinely have a hard time working out why people do this. Do you just not really enjoy football?

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Good win in december

 

[Dante]

After 18 games. We'd be in touch with the leaders in almost any other season.

 

[Maradona10]

After 18 games. We'd be in touch with the leaders in almost any other season.

Crazy to think we finished 3rd in 03/04 after having 43 points in first half of the season, we only got 31 points in second half.Arsenal only got 40 points in 20 games in 07/08 and finished third. Being at top of this table for city shows, well its ridiculous and unheard of but credit to them for it, however you cannot ask Mourinho to do What pep has done, with an head start on finances and squad quality. Usually, teams on this table went to have maximum points at end of season apart from some examples like i have written above. City will have to only take 40 from their next 20(2 points per game) for united to stand any chance and united will have to take 52 from next 20(2.6 ppg). I do not think we will even come close, sadly city have this tied up in march.

 

[Fluctuation0161]

After 18 games. We'd be in touch with the leaders in almost any other season.

Just goes to show how much progress we have made as a club under Jose. City have just had a crazily good start to the season.

Today though. 3 points. Pogba back now. Carry on and see what happens. You never know what’s round the corner. We’ve done well to keep pace with City post derby and showed good mental strength to keep on winning.

 

[TimScoreboard]

Apart from the last 15 minutes, it was a stroll. Not an overly exciting stroll, but a game we dominated at walking pace. There will be concerns over our set piece defending and I'm sure the lads will get beasted in training, to resolve this issue.

3 points away from home, at a canter; but we'll need a bit more dog in us in Bristol come Wednesday

 

[noodlehair]

- Why has Rashford started playing like he thinks he's Ronaldo? How has he gotten this idea in his head? Maybe about once a game he'll do something comparable to Ronaldo, the other 99 times he gets the ball it just makes him look like Memphis Depay...and half the time the thing he does that is comparable to Ronaldo is a dive/tantrum. Someone in the dressing room needs to give him a right slap. I don't mind confidence but don't act like you're already the big it when you haven't even been playing well enough to merit a place in the team.

- Another game where we defend set pieces about as well as you'd expect from your average Sunday League side. I mean, it's no big deal is it? It only cost us a chance of winning against the team top of the league last week, and this week meant we were lucky to win against by far the worst opposition we've played all season. I mean it's not like it's costing us vital goals or anything. Just don't bother sorting it out eh lads?

- I also get the idea of trying to win games conservatively and pick teams off on the break. I even enjoy this kind of football when it's done well...but today it's like we were deliberately testing where the line was between being conservative and just deliberately trying to lose the game...to the point we were willing to step over the line just to prove where it was. I mean fecking hell.

- I also get all this being positive about winning stuff, but again, fecking hell. How bad do we have to be and somehow stilll win before you're allowed to raise legitimate concerns about it? The first half was ok at best though good enough in the circumstances, and the second half was several hundred levels bellow it.

 

[freeurmind]

- Why has Rashford started playing like he thinks he's Ronaldo? How has he gotten this idea in his head? Maybe about once a game he'll do something comparable to Ronaldo, the other 99 times he gets the ball it just makes him look like Memphis Depay...and half the time the thing he does that is comparable to Ronaldo is a dive/tantrum. Someone in the dressing room needs to give him a right slap. I don't mind confidence but don't act like you're already the big it when you haven't even been playing well enough to merit a place in the team.

Rashford played well, set up Lukaku's goal. Rashford needs to play with confidence and take his man on more often. No idea what you're on about.

- Another game where we defend set pieces about as well as you'd expect from your average Sunday League side. I mean, it's no big deal is it? It only cost us a chance of winning against the team top of the league last week, and this week meant we were lucky to win against by far the worst opposition we've played all season. I mean it's not like it's costing us vital goals or anything. Just don't bother sorting it out eh lads?

Defending set-pieces has been an issue for a while, going back to last season actually. Mourinho has made adjustments regarding men on the posts and changing the assignments but the results aren't there at the moment in this regard. 4 goals conded from set-pieces this season. The last few goals from set-pieces aren't due to poor marking but rather poor reactions to balls dropping in the box.

- I also get the idea of trying to win games conservatively and pick teams off on the break. I even enjoy this kind of football when it's done well...but today it's like we were deliberately testing where the line was between being conservative and just deliberately trying to lose the game...to the point we were willing to step over the line just to prove where it was. I mean fecking hell.

West Brom were poor and we were in complete control after the second goal. I think the team felt the game was in hand and was trying to conserve energy given the upcoming schedule. Even after their goal, we had the far better chances.

- I also get all this being positive about winning stuff, but again, fecking hell. How bad do we have to be and somehow stilll win before you're allowed to raise legitimate concerns about it? The first half was ok at best though good enough in the circumstances, and the second half was several hundred levels below it.

No one is against fair criticism but it's remarkable how some people have almost nothing positive to say about how the team is doing despite the great start to the season we've had

 

[Bilbo]

It was dreadfully dull.

I feel conflicted as a fan after these types of games. Should I just be happy that we won? Am I spoilt if I'm not happy?

Ultimately the fact is we played poorly. I wasn't entertained and we could feasibly have thrown away a 2 goal lead against the worst PL team I've seen us play in recent memory.

We've become a typical modern Mourinho team. We win most weeks but the football is crap. Am I okay with that? Not really.

 

[Bilbo]

- I also get the idea of trying to win games conservatively and pick teams off on the break. I even enjoy this kind of football when it's done well...but today it's like we were deliberately testing where the line was between being conservative and just deliberately trying to lose the game...to the point we were willing to step over the line just to prove where it was. I mean fecking hell.

- I also get all this being positive about winning stuff, but again, fecking hell. How bad do we have to be and somehow stilll win before you're allowed to raise legitimate concerns about it? The first half was ok at best though good enough in the circumstances, and the second half was several hundred levels bellow it.

Strongly agree with these two points

 

[charlenefan]

1st half I thought we played well without getting out of 3rd gear, was well in control and had the ability to score at will so long as someone took a chance on the ball (Matic)

2nd half though urgh, could and should have sent out a statement but instead just held on

 

[Sarni]

Why'd he leave out City?

To highlight that our points total is very good irrelevant of how far behind City we are.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Was it just me that felt like WBA were dictating a lot of the play long before they got that goal. Rondo was causing issues and really making Smalling and Jones work for their lunch money. There were certainly periods where we took the reigns but for the most part the most adventurous and dangerous play was coming from them.

 

[PieCrust]

It was dreadfully dull.

I feel conflicted as a fan after these types of games. Should I just be happy that we won? Am I spoilt if I'm not happy?

Ultimately the fact is we played poorly. I wasn't entertained and we could feasibly have thrown away a 2 goal lead against the worst PL team I've seen us play in recent memory.

We've become a typical modern Mourinho team. We win most weeks but the football is crap. Am I okay with that? Not really.

I'm with you. Lackluster wins against bottom feeder opponents, while shelling up with 11 defending against the big teams like City and hoping for a moment of individual magic on a counter attack to win the match.

Jose has proven it effective in his CV, but it does nothing to get the blood pumping.

 

[Android1974]

“December injury,” when you start 8 games in a row in 23 days.