PBP: UCL - FC Barcelona vs Manchester United FC - Apr 16, 2019 [R]

VdS, as stated previously, would be an excellent candidate for the DoF job and it's got nothing to do with sentimentality or his ties with United. The job he's done at Ajax, in tandem with Overmars and the team's current success speaks for itself.
It does appear however, that he will remain loyal to them for the foreseeable future (which in itself speaks volume about the man, as far as I'm concerned). But if there was any inkling we could get him, he's definitely someone we should be going after. Without question.

 

Hands up who watched the whole second half ...

 

Sums it up just right...

#mufc completely outclassed. Can’t criticise Solskjaer for this defeat. Messi a genius. Individual mistakes (Young, De Gea). Squad flaws (full-backs, centre-back, right wing). Woodward/Glazers need to back Solskjaer properly and buy the players they really need. Time to rebuild. pic.twitter.com/qZHKpd4tO9

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 16, 2019

 

...there we go, fixed it....

 

So we also have this:

4 of that back 5 started against Basel in 2011 when we were knocked out in the group stage. 8 seasons ago. EIGHT.

— United Religion (@Unitedology) April 16, 2019

and 3 of those Ed just renewed. Just great.

 

Saf signed them.

 

My focus was already on the Juve v Ajax game at that moment and missed this sequence. Messi twisting Jones like a pretzel and the subsequent run is sick. But the reflex save from Dave on Sergi's point blank shot is absolutely incredible. Even in what clearly was one of his worst days in quite a while, he still manages to pull out something of that quality. Amazing.

Messi v Phil Jones. Harder to watch than Ovechkin v Svechnikov https://t.co/MWFLBkjFQo

— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) April 17, 2019

 

We overachieved in this season's Champions League. Nobody gave Utd a chance against PSG, especially after losing 0-2 during the home leg. but we prevailed. But Barcelona are a different animal. And how 'bout that guy Messi?

 

It's not about losing .It's the way we lost and the players that we're out on the field. It's coaches failing to see the players that continue to cost the team even though they're bad week in and week out. And it's also about our "stars" not rising to the occasion.

 

Dude, no one gave us a chance of beating this Barcelona side and Barca proved why they were such heavy favorites. No one should be losing their shit here. As the great Aristotle once put it, it is what it is and we knew what it was.

There was no player selection Ole could have come up with to dig out the win. That said...

Young should not have been given the start. I’m not a Young hater, but he’s clearly out of his depth at this level. Bench him and go with Darmian at LB. And go with Dalot at RB.

Lingard was a mistake.

Maybe this player selection was Ole’s way of giving these players their last career appearance in a CL match.

 

We punched above our weight by beating PSG (alongwith fortune) .. Ole will make mistakes it will be a learning curve and he needw signings in summer if he is not backed it will be more of a same..

 

He's not that good

 

I disagree. I think OGS just fuked up with team selection. Literally no one expected us to beat PSG in Paris after they beat us at home. The home leg loss to Barca wasn't bad and still kept us in contention. It also demonstrated that this Barca side is beatable. That's the mentality we all had going into this match. We wanted the team to fight, and they didn't. After abysmal performances in multiple games, even the fans knew we couldn't start Lingard and Young. But OGS did so anyway. I really can't think of a single good reason why Young was started. Unless OGS is playing 4D chess to highlight key deficiencies ahead of the summer transfer window.

 

Shaw suspension and Rojo total lack of quality meant Young was pretty much nailed on as LB sadly.

Dalot is promising going forward but needs to develop as a defender. Asking him to play opposite side to his usual against Messi would have been harsh.

Can blame OGS for this if you like, but FB is a position a number of us have been moaning about for years. Our lack of quality and depth there is shocking. Especially when you contrast to City who shipped two out and bought 3 for around 150m in one transfer window a few years back.

Bigger picture, the fault for this lies with Ed and the Glazers.

 

Smalling poked the beast in the first leg in the wake of his rough treatment of Messi - Ferdinand

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...ews/man-utd-barcelona-messi-smalling-16140710

 

Both are loaded with money, so that would only be a lure to people with a unhealthy need to accumulate it. Guess they're not that kind. Given that they can just focus on what appeals to them the most emotionally.

 

The mentality the players have is being displayed on here with some posts.

 

See but therein lies the problem. He shouldn't be nailed on. That's a coaching error to see Young as a better option than Dalot or even a youth player. It's an even bigger mistake to make Young captain when he makes mistakes constantly but then berates his own teammates when they screw up. After his form the past month, Young should have never been close to the 11 and anyone with eyes that has watched a United game recently could see it.

 

And that was over 8 years ago. Say it out loud. 8 years ago. Ed just renewed Young and Jones ffs. How many games in the past 8 years have these 2 donkeys been good? Probably under 10. Combined.

 

Young has been shit forever. He was made to look good for a while because by our other fullbacks were so awful he looked decent by comparison.

 

They were never good enough. Even 8 years ago. Especially Young.