PBP: PSF - Manchester United FC vs San José Earthquakes - July 22, 2018 [R]

Even in a preseason game, half fit, with half our squad we should be doing a better job of generating offense.

 

wow, seems like we have found a role for pereira. if he keeps going, he'll be our deputy #6 this year.

 

Yes, the point today is gaining fitness and for marginal players to make an impression on the manager, but this is painful viewing.

So glad I didn't bother with the drive down to Santa Clara today and instead will be at StubHub (originally scheduled for the Rose Bowl but ticket sales were poor) against AC Milan on Wednesday.

 

Still early in preseason and alf the regulars are missing. But if the start of the season is a repeat of the end of this past season, the majority of the fans will completely turn on Mourinho.
This simply won't do in the least...

 

He can reasonably be expected to fill in any of the CM spots. And the way Herrera has played today, would rather see him as Matic's primary deputy.
But AP, so far, has been very, very good.

 

i don't like herrera in a deep role, he never plays penetrative passes. actually, i don't like herrera in any role tbh.

 

AP is proving good as a 6, but I think I still like him more in a more forward role (and it's one thing to play the 6 vs the likes of Club America or San Jose, different matter in the Prem for instance).
We'll have to see exactly what Fred looks like creatively, but the way I have it, AP is probably our most creative CM after Pogs.

 

Zuckerberg must be kicking himself for the Right To Be Wrong example he went for instead.

 

That was ..... dull.

 

Preseason or not, this is simply not good enough. Shame for the people who payed good money to watch this dross.
AP clearly has been our best player today (and on tour after the first 2 games). Very much a confirmation as opposed to a revelation.
But we need to improve in the other warmups games: no 2 ways about it.

 

AP as the backup 6? So he'll play maybe 5 games this year while Matic plays the rest. Great.

 

who do you want him to play in front of? fred? pogba?

 

Didn't see ALL of the match, but what I saw was good. This was a good preseason match. Our opponents were fit and physical and we were organized and gained fitness.

 

We should be winning these games comfortably. Seriously, we almost got embarrassed by Club America, and now this. Anyone who thinks these are just preseason jitters or something is coping hard. These teams were beaten during the last tour, and even with 2-3 players who aren't first team regulars, these games games should be won. I'm just holding out to see how it is against Milan.

 

The best thing in today's game, aside from AP's display, were the blue jerseys: liked the look of them and that is definitely the direction I will be going with this season.

As far as our play, those games are glorified training sessions, but we still usually win them, as it's been pointed out. We better see us stepping up our prep to the next level, now that we are facing some real legit opponents and with the start of the season just 3 weeks away.

Valencia looks to be a calf injury according to reports. Not necessarily good for him, even if we have some solid cover, even with Dalot out until September. Still a bummer though.

 

Tbf to the lads the Quakes are complete shit and nearly in last place.

 

2\10

 

That 19 point gap is getting much, much bigger.

 

I don't regard preseason results as all that important. I remember one year under Fergie we might have lost most if not all of our preseason games and everyone was complaining saying we're doomed. Then we went on a tear when the Prem started.

 

I would prefer him to be first off the bench for either 8 positions behind Pogba or Fred. Not that it would happen with Fellaini around.

I'd prefer Herrera to be the backup 6. I think AP can do the job and maybe even better than Herrera due to his passing range, but I'd like AP a little closer to goal.

 

There will be 10 point gap between us and top 2/3

 

I will never do justice to the immortal mancunian, but this team "performance" does call out for a good, bad and the ugly -- GBU for short.

The good. The performance of Andreas Pereira, who IMHO had done more than enough last pre-season to warrant a first team role. We learned nothing today that we didn't already know, but in case there were any lingering doubts those doubts are behind us now.

The bad. The overall team play. It wasn't horrific, but it was bad. I know it was hot out there, but the fans who paid $100+ deserved better than what they got.

The ugly. A tossup between the hideous purple kit with NFL-style gold block letter and Anthony Martial. The horse has left the proverbial barn on the kit this is an abomination. Hopefully the pink will salvage two other poor kit designs. But then there's Anthony Martial, who plays with no joy and no desire whatsoever. Maybe he knows his days are numbered and we don't but if this what we can expect for the rest of the season we might as well sell him and be done with it.

That said, there's no reason for serious concern. Our senior players are on their way back and while we might still have a worry or two about RB and RW, we have a strong squad. Sanchez looks like a new man, Bailly looks sharp, Pogba is ready, I believe, to raise his game, Lukaku is still a beast and Rashford has his sophomore slump behind him. There are probably one or two more signings in Woody's quiver. Let's give this squad, and manager, a chance before reaching for the panic button.

 

I get the focus for preseason (ie re-establishing physical/match fitness) and I know it is early days in pre-season and owing to WC we are without much of the regular team etc.. That said some of our issues from last season are already starting to manifest;

- players not taking risks in final third (eg very few shots on goal, seem more prepared to just recycle the ball)

- we stick to fairly rigid player positions which means we are easy to defend against and there is little on for the players coming out with the ball as everyone is so far away

So we look clueless again against anyone that bunkers.

Not fussed about results in pre-season, but performance wise we should be able to do more with chance creation - if you can't take a few risks in the final third in pre-season when can you?

Hopefully things will improve as we get players back and players get back to fitness.