agreed. have to say great work by Young on the first goal to cut back, look up and place the ball perfectly. 3 of the most unlikely scorers in the league. Lingard was very good at driving forward and came up with a timely second. i thought we we did fairly well given the formation and personnel for 75 mins. the last 15 we stood off for some reason and let them back in. yes, some luck with the Valencia goal but largely we were fine. 3 goals is more than you'd expect away to Boro and we didn't expend too much energy so job done.
Lingard once again, was excellent with his movement on and off the ball. And that strike was simply awesome! Kind of hate we've made it more difficult than it should have been after we scored that second goal, but all that matters is the result which was secured in brilliant fashion by AY, Fellaini, Lingard, Rashford (did everything right today, except for his finishing unfortunately) and Valencia (great instinct to follow up on that back pass, not everyone would have done so, so late in the match). Starting to get worried about Jones defensively: simply has not been the same since his return from injury. Big 3pts today though and more of the same after the break vs WBA at home.
That Rojo Sub by Mourinho was pathetic. Nearly cost us the game. This ultra defensive shit he's been doing the last few games (we had 7 defenders on at the end in this game) has to stop. ...and he needs to stop making up stories about tiredness. Most of the players who have been playing all the games were not on the pitch today. Rashford, Mata, Lingard, Carrick, fellaini, Bailly and Young are all players that have had fewer minutes this month. Result is obviously all important, but Mourinho needs to stop whinging and be so negative with his interviews and tactics.
Also, Rashford had a poor 90 mins. I'm not really talking about the misses either. He was useless in that second half. He chased nothing down, lost every ball that went up to him, and lost the ball on many occasions. He was adequate the first half...but he just seemed to be sulking around in that second.
Rashford was pretty good, especially in the first half indeed. Pity he could not finish either of the big chances he had, but credit also has to go to Valdez in pulling huge saves himself. Rashford was not nearly as effective in the second half, but truthfully our whole offense pretty much shut down after the second goal. Guessing it was per instruction from the sidelines and it was annoying as it could have cost us the win. Hard to really blame the kid for that. For the good he did today and vs Chelsea, clear proof though that he's still got some work to do. But not really in the pace and movement dept however...
we did Rashford and Lingard no favours lumping it long. especially in the last 15... the ball came right back into the box. also didn't like how scared we were of Adama Traoré. only Rojo and Fellaini actually tried to tackle him
Rashford's movement was excellent, but damn did his finishing let him down. Lingard was good all around, smart running and a very well taken goal. I still don't fully understand going 3 in the back against a terrible team but so be it. Smalling continues to be ********ing awful.
Bailly was shakey early on but settled down. His indecision in clearing the ball and Smalling's subsequent cock-up made things more difficult than they had to be. The same applies to Mourinho watching idly by as we dropped back. The attacking combination play between Lingard and Rashford was good. When the Middlesbough defence realised they were outmatched for pace they dropped back scared which opened up space between the line for us. Rashford was great with his movement but looks a bit low on confidence in front of goal due to his lack of playing time. He is playing it safe by getting shots on target whereas a fit, sharp and confident Rashford would be placing those into the back of the net like he did last season. His touch deserted him later on as he tired and we punted aimless aerial balls towards him. I am not surprised given his lack of minutes due to Ibrahimovic playing every one possible. Valencia was poor with his delivery all game and got lucky at the end given he failed to play in an unmarked player then lost the ball. at the entire Bailly confrontation on the pitch and in the tunnel. Hopefully De Gea is not injured and what the ******** was up with us constantly playing the ball back to him under pressure when he was clearly hobbling. I though the attack looked good with Rashford pushing them back and playing behind the line to give Carrick an outlet and create space for Lingard and Mata. Lingard's goal was the result of their defence shitting themselves and back peddling.
ooh. Bigsoccer looks nice! Good game today.......haven't kept up, is Rooney injured? Vacationing? Moved down to the C team now?
It was surprisingly smooth compared to normal. I've ensured some horrible "sorry guys we lost everything" ones. Still shitty timing given the glut of European games and dearth of MLS ones today.
i'm liking the new look ! - de gea: 7. was not at fault on the goal and dealt with some dangerous crosses. distribution was a bit off, seems to have pulled something. - bailly: 5. got done by ramirez on a couple of occasions and never looked comfortable, one of the culprits for boro's goal. - smalling: 2. a calamity, even though playing in a back 3 allows united to hide his main weakness (i.e., make his feet do intended things with the ball). comical display of ineptitude on boro's goal, dude tripped himself up. - jones: 6. vanilla performance, did what he had to do. - valencia: 6. was not, for once, particularly dangerous on the right channel. bonus points for not letting up on the 3rd goal. - carrick: 4. had some clever touches but game passed by him. he can't function in a midfield 2 anymore, would be surprised if he got an extension at this point. - fellaini: 6. honest performance, kept it simple and played to his strengths peeling off the back post. - young: 7. very lively, excellent cross on fellaini's goal and held his own defensively. never shied away from the ball. - mata: 8. was our best player. came back for the ball and generally looked to be a playmaker. seems a bit more physical and interested in tracking back than before. - rashford: 7. excellent movement and clever runs, he's pressing for a goal and tries to keep shots on targets instead of going for the kill. still not ready to be the featured 9 as his hold up play is non-existent at this point. - lingard: 8. poor man's thomas mueller. jack of all trades, master of none cliche applies here. definitely has a knack for goals and deserves to be in the rotation going forward into next campaign.
Btw, Jose walking back to the dressing room after Valencia's goal, prior to the final whistle, pumping his fist in the air, was so Jose, but it was pretty awesome to see tbh... #Justiceforkaranka
Props to the mods for a very nice refresh! Ok, my two cents. A makeshift front line and Carrick+Fellaini meant it was never going to be blowout even over a relegation bound side. But we got the win, fully deserved, even if nervous nellies bit their nails to the bone for 20 minutes in the second half. No complaints with Jose at all. Keep in mind the boys suffered from massive fatigue.
Smalling was average again today and has his fair share of responsability on the goal we conceded but overall, the CB trio was mediocre for most of the game and Jones, for my money was the worst of them. Don't know if it's back to his normal level now, but he's nowhere near as good as he was prior to his latest injury.
Any idea who is second? [emoji8] No side has more @PremierLeague victories than #MUFC. 😎Our record tally in numbers: https://t.co/DjJGfk7Q3K pic.twitter.com/kaJsu6XiLb— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 19, 2017
Somehow all four CBs (who were all on!) managed to f<>k up on the 'boro goal; Rojo didnt mark his man properly and let him head back across goal, Jones 'clearance' went straight up in the air, Bailly lost a simple aeriel duel, Smalling failed to clear as he went with his wrong foot (reminded me of the own goal he conceded a few seasons back). Of the defenders, Bailly worried me the most - he was all at sea in the first half. He lost duels, allowed people to run in behind, failed to stop crosses etc. Want our Mr Consistency back from first half of the season.
To be fair to Bailly... His side was more exposed. On the left you had Young, Lingard and Rashford working in tandem which helped to restrict Middlesbough down that flank. On the right you had Bailly as a pseudo right-sided centre back and right-back as Mata did his usual flank abandonment and Fabio/Ramirez regularly got into the space behind Valencia. That said he did struggle initially but after that was relatively good until his missed header for their goal. In a three I would have preferred him to bring the ball out of defence more but given the shit show around him he was probably playing it safe.
I think Mou put Bailly there as Valencia always likely to be our most advanced wing-back - so RCB always likely to have the most work in our back three.
There were a lot of heavy legs out there. Judgment of everyone's performances, aside from Rashford, Lingard and Young, should take that into account.