Manchester United away (October 2)

[Cornish Steve]

As many have mentioned, today was a team performance (bar one).

Pickford had a pretty easy time of it, surprisingly, although his save in the first half was very good. That was as good as a goal.

The defence was excellent. Mina is solid, and Keane did well today. (Some have said he has no ability, but he does; he's a confidence guy.) Digne made some really smart steals today, which I enjoyed. He played Cavani onside, though, in the first half; very careless. Godfrey is not yet his former self, but he has a good sense of positioning, and his determination shows.

Allan is so underrated. You don't hear his name mentioned so much, but watching play reveals just how important he is to the team. On another day, he would be my MotM. Doucoure is having a good run of games, and he didn't deserve that yellow card at all. Gordon surprised me today. In his last two appearances, he's lacked confidence and been a light-weight. Today he came into his own, and I hope he gets a run of games instead of Iwobi. Townsend faded in and out of the game at times. He did have some good spells, though, and his goal was well taken.

I won't spoil this review by saying anything about Rondon (have written it elsewhere). The clear MotM, though, was Gray. The guy was full of energy and creativeness. He had no right to win and keep control of the ball on the left that led to our goal. But that was just one of many occasions when he caused United trouble. They struggled to contain him, and he was creating space for other players all the time.

How does the team change when injured players are back? DC-L walks back in as centre forward, of course, but who does Richarlison replace? The obvious answer is Gordon, but I'd like to see the latter given more playing time. Personally, I'd replace Townsend, despite his recent goals, and use him to replace on 60 minutes whomever is having an off day.

How did Benitez perform? I worry a little about his lack of substitutions until late in games, although today the principle was "if it's not broke, don't fix it." There's no way I would have taken off Gray. Bringing on Dobbin earlier would have been nice, and I'd like to see Whitaker given a chance (his record this season is impressive). The really positive thing that Benitez did, though, was approach Tom Davies after the game and give him a genuine smile of encouragement. That was very nice to see.

[Cornish Steve]

3 minutes ago, badaids said:

I don't think he laughed it off as such, it looked to me that he was using it to put an arm round him and encourage him; coaching and man managing him basically.  It's good management that.

You're right. By saying "laugh the matter off", I didn't capture the genuine warmth of that gesture.

[Romey 1878]

https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-doucoure-benitez-excellent-everton-manchester-united-townsend

[Matt]

That goal has a feeling of Ossie vs Larissa. Just pure, unadulterated counter with quality at each step. Easily my favourite goal for quite a while. 

[Romey 1878]

6 minutes ago, Matt said:

That goal has a feeling of Ossie vs Larissa. Just pure, unadulterated counter with quality at each step. Easily my favourite goal for quite a while. 

My favourite part of it was Doucoure sending three of their players the wrong way, which created the opportunity to put it into Townsend's path.

[MikeO]

Everyone and his dog banging on about Ronaldo not stating, nobody seeming to mention the fact that when he was on the bench they were winning, and when he came on we equalised

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58799450

[Zoo 2.0]

1 hour ago, MikeO said:

Everyone and his dog banging on about Ronaldo not stating, nobody seeming to mention the fact that when he was on the bench they were winning, and when he came on we equalised

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58799450

I think that's more to do with Fred being poor at his job and losing out to Gray, and Shaw being pulled out of position leaving Townsend rather than anything Ronaldo did or didn't do.

The fact that he wasn't starting would have certainly given Everton a lift, and I think when Cristiano did come on he looked the most likely to make something happen, he just wasn't around long enough to get "that" chance. 

What I would say is it's a simplistic way of looking at the game. Yes I agree Ronaldo should have started, but they dropped points because of flaws that have been around for months (perhaps years) now, plus the fact that we did very, very well!

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

33 minutes ago, Zoo 2.0 said:

plus the fact that we did very, very well!

Tried to join site after game to say this. I thought we played very well and when I saw possesion stats (MU 72%) couldn't believe we had so little of the ball, to give so little away in the way of real opportunities can think of 2, where Martial tried a CR7 hanging header(HA) and Cavani giving Pickford an awkward save, and the goal, other than that thought we were very comfortable, not a bad thing to say away to MU.

I thought 1-11 all did well obviously some errors but all round 6 and a half to 8's for peromance and 7-9 for effort.

Not a fan of Rondon yet, when I noticed him at Newcastle, he remined me of a Paolo Wanchope(sp) type very erratic and occassional moments of wonder!(Head scratching). What I have noticed about him here and in games before this, is there is a nuisance value in him, he is giving defenders something to think about which is all we can expect of him at the moment, don't expect his sharpness to get where we need it to be before DCL is back and then he can be useful either with DCL if we're chasing games, or to give DCL rest if we are comfortable.

Personally thought Allan and The Duke were immense, if Allan gets extended contract I'd consider him for Captain before Godders depending how long Seamus is still playing. The way Allan seems to have stepped up on the pitch I love, constantly giving orders pumping up the team, and leaving it all on the pitch and occasionally on opponents, closest thing to Carsley who is the closest to Peter Reid since Reidy, heart, passion and abilty to sense danger and sort it but prone to getting beaten sometimes bit easy, but at least tries to put it right.

The back five did as much as could be expected Mina and Keane the standouts, though also thought Digne had his best defensive game for a while, and have no worries Godders will improve fitness, hopefully over this international break and JP solid.

As for Andros and Demari, long may it continue.

[dunlopp9987]

2 minutes ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

Tried to join site after game to say this. I thought we played very well and when I saw possesion stats (MU 72%) couldn't believe we had so little of the ball, to give so little away in the way of real opportunities can think of 2, where Martial tried a CR7 hanging header(HA) and Cavani giving Pickford an awkward save, and the goal, other than that thought we were very comfortable, not a bad thing to say away to MU.

I thought 1-11 all did well obviously some errors but all round 6 and a half to 8's for peromance and 7-9 for effort.

Not a fan of Rondon yet, when I noticed him at Newcastle, he remined me of a Paolo Wanchope(sp) type very erratic and occassional moments of wonder!(Head scratching). What I have noticed about him here and in games before this, is there is a nuisance value in him, he is giving defenders something to think about which is all we can expect of him at the moment, don't expect his sharpness to get where we need it to be before DCL is back and then he can be useful either with DCL if we're chasing games, or to give DCL rest if we are comfortable.

Personally thought Allan and The Duke were immense, if Allan gets extended contract I'd consider him for Captain before Godders depending how long Seamus is still playing. The way Allan seems to have stepped up on the pitch I love, constantly giving orders pumping up the team, and leaving it all on the pitch and occasionally on opponents, closest thing to Carsley who is the closest to Peter Reid since Reidy, heart, passion and abilty to sense danger and sort it but prone to getting beaten sometimes bit easy, but at least tries to put it right.

The back five did as much as could be expected Mina and Keane the standouts, though also thought Digne had his best defensive game for a while, and have no worries Godders will improve fitness, hopefully over this international break and JP solid.

As for Andros and Demari, long may it continue.

Welcome! 

What's uh....what's goin on with your name?

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

11 minutes ago, dunlopp9987 said:

Welcome! 

What's uh....what's goin on with your name?

Am sure some seasoned professional may be able to help out

[London Blue]

55 minutes ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

Am sure some seasoned professional may be able to help out

Or maybe we could shorten it for you, it's a relatively simple operation  

HH for example

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

4 minutes ago, London Blue said:

Or maybe we could shorten it for you, it's a relatively simple operation  

HH for example

Please don't , it could have been  Hf,Hr,Hbotg..PR..PR  it that helps but I much prefer Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR

[MikeO]

1 hour ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

Am sure some seasoned professional may be able to help out

Just let me know what you want and I'll change it for you.

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

Just now, MikeO said:

Just let me know what you want and I'll change it for you.

I'm happy with it how it is, thank you for the offer.

[MikeO]

Just now, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

I'm happy with it how it is, thank you for the offer.

That's cool too

[MikeO]

10 minutes ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

I'm happy with it how it is, thank you for the offer.

Will just call you hydrogen fluoride, human resources, Hannah Wampler..proportional representation, rolls off the tongue more easily

[London Blue]

20 minutes ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

Please don't , it could have been  Hf,Hr,Hbotg..PR..PR  it that helps but I much prefer Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR

Fair enough, saves having to channel Alan Turing I suppose. 

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

14 minutes ago, MikeO said:

Will just call you hydrogen fluoride, human resources, Hannah Wampler..proportional representation, rolls off the tongue more easily

 

13 minutes ago, London Blue said:

Fair enough, saves having to channel Alan Turing I suppose. 

He's Fat, Hes' Round, He's worth a million pounds.........................................Peter Reid, when a million pounds was actually a figure that registered in footballing terms, one of the first of our songs/chants that I could remember and have been singng to myself ever since.

[MikeO]

1 minute ago, Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR said:

He's worth a million pounds.........................................Peter Reid

All becomes clear, clever

[Hf,Hr,Hwamp..PR]

27 minutes ago, MikeO said:

All becomes clear, clever

Thank you Sir, I do my best.

[dunlopp9987]

Just re-watched the game as background while working from home. This was some performance. We had more shots in the first half than United (albeit they had more on goal, but a couple of ours looked goal bound and were blocked) and they never really threatened us after we scored our goal.

The move for our goal was one of the best I've seen from us in a long time, especially considering how many things had to go right. Gray muscled Fred off the ball, just managed to keep it in play with a little touch, played a beautiful ball to Doucoure, Doucoure with some stellar footwork to open up space for the pass, the pass was absolutely dead-perfect in its weight, and Townsend with a composed finish.

I could watch that thing on repeat for days

[Bailey]

On 03/10/2021 at 10:18, Romey 1878 said:

My favourite part of it was Doucoure sending three of their players the wrong way, which created the opportunity to put it into Townsend's path.

Very underrated part of that goal. It is probably as silky as I have ever seen him!

On 05/10/2021 at 11:00, MikeO said:

Everyone and his dog banging on about Ronaldo not stating, nobody seeming to mention the fact that when he was on the bench they were winning, and when he came on we equalised

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58799450

I think the fallout from the United fans and pundits is embarrassing. United were winning, had the better chances up to that point and weren't really in immediate danger. As soon as Ronaldo comes on, the quality of their play in the final third went down and instead of blaming Solskjaer for bringing him on, they are blaming Solskjaer for not starting him!

18 hours ago, dunlopp9987 said:

Just re-watched the game as background while working from home. This was some performance. We had more shots in the first half than United (albeit they had more on goal, but a couple of ours looked goal bound and were blocked) and they never really threatened us after we scored our goal.

The move for our goal was one of the best I've seen from us in a long time, especially considering how many things had to go right. Gray muscled Fred off the ball, just managed to keep it in play with a little touch, played a beautiful ball to Doucoure, Doucoure with some stellar footwork to open up space for the pass, the pass was absolutely dead-perfect in its weight, and Townsend with a composed finish.

I could watch that thing on repeat for days

I think that is up to debate in whether or not it is a chance.

My view as a defender is that it is good defending. A big part of the art is defending the angles. The ball doesn't even get past the defender, let alone whether it will then get past the keeper. It is complete guesswork. Sometimes you can encourage strikers to take shots, because you know you have the right angles covered. Gray had a shot last week that the defender had the angle covered and Gray put it wide as a result. In my opinion that isn't a chance.

On the other hand, there are a couple of occasions where it can be looked at differently. Doucoure had a shot first half that I think Lindelof blocked. Lindelof was quite a way off him when he struck the ball. In that instance I think it is more luck than skill (for the defender), however, the shot still had to miss the other players, be on target and beat the keeper. I think that would be more of a chance, but by no means clear cut.

There was also an opportunity in the Liverpool v City game where Rodri blocked a certain goal for Fabinho. As the shot was on target, he was close to goal and it was an open goal otherwise (the keeper was out of goal), I would definitely class that as a chance.

Then you get into the Davies pass. That was definitely a chance, but it won't go down as one.