PBP: UCL - Sevilla FC vs Manchester United FC - Feb 21, 2018 [R]

I don't know what you want from him. Y'all have been clamouring for him not to give the ball away in the defensive transition. He didn't. There should be have reviews. He seems to be playing very much within himself. I think that much is obvious.

 

While at the beginning of the season the team wasn’t clicking yet, everyone was having fun and we had swagger. We expected the team to gel more and become fluid in attack and transition. We’ve gotten worse at both, and no one is having fun anymore. It’s a culture problem at this point. And that comes from your leadership.

 

I never particularly asked for him to play in a more defensive fashion: that's not where he can make a difference for us or is anywhere near his best. What you will find I've said, is my wish for him in time, to truly become a more rounded CM. That much is true, but I've always maintained there is time for this, as he's still developing as a CM. For now, and I've never wavered about this, I want him to be played to his strength, which is part of a 3 men midfield, which he was today.
As mentioned, I don't know if he was not fully fit physically or if something is not right in his head, but he was poor today. There's just no going around that and these are the games where we need him to perform.
I've always pulled for him and this season in particular, I've always thought he's been doing very well, when he was playing. Conversely, we can't completely bury our heads in the sand when it comes to him either and he hasn't been good recently either. That is pretty much a fact and it's no coincidence the team has suffered as well.

 

Fair play to them, they get the results they need, but my god this Man Utd team really suck the joy out of watching football.

 

Who did you want?

Atmosphere is great. Love the flags. Where are the Utd fans?

Utd players aren't used to having so little time on the ball.

Nice pass from Pogba for the called back goal, but Pogba isn't owning the game like usual.

 

Full time at Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán: Sevilla 0 - 0 David De Gea. #SevillaFC #MUFC

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— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) February 21, 2018

 

We sacked two managers in a three year period. We could go ahead and sack yet another manager, making it three managers over five seasons.

After all, Mourinho only has us in second place in the league and in a good position to make it to the quarterfinal of the CL and the FA Cup. Completely unacceptable, almost shameful. He must be sacked.

 

Earlier in the season I was making statements about our play and it not being good enough and I got heavily criticized by the experts on here and was constantly told the season had only just started/young.

27 matches into the season and instead of the team improving we're now miles worst than before.

 

Next three leave games tho Chelsea, Palace, Scousers going to be tough to remain second past mid March.

 

This is what you get with Jose. Need a new coach, really.

 

Yes, every match is a street fight. We took Hudderfield I for granted and dropped three points.

There are definitely issues with this squad and, no question, with this manager. Complaints about key Mourinho decisions, such as his ongoing handling of Pogba, are fully warranted. But complaints about his decision to plan for and settle for a 0-0 draw against Sevilla, who had been in good form going into the game, are not warranted. A two-legged tie, Sevilla's recent form, our relatively good form at OT, Pogba's fitness problem, still no Bailly, Alexis still not getting in gear...these were are valid reasons for Mourinho to be doubtful of our ability to win a slugfest there.

I'll take the rest of the post to the Mourinho thread since this is the Sevilla match thread.

 

It was a horrible performance and I'm not sure whether it's the players who are not playing for Mourinho or if it's his tactics. These are great players - Sanchez, Pogba, Mata, Matic, etc but they need to be doing better. We got lucky because of Sevilla's poor finishing and David De God. As I mentioned before, it is supposed to be a joyous experience to watch Manchester United play. That is why we have so many fans all around the world. But I feel Mourinho has sucked the life out of these players with the negative tactics and the petty jabs and actions with the players and staff. It is almost excruciating to watch us played nowadays.

 

I swear if martial was at city he would be fighting with kane for the topscoring player in the league as he can score from pretty much anywhere on the pitch,he is so wasted at united.

Wenger wanted him to be included in the sanchez deal but mourinho refused because he knows how much better and dangerous arsenal would be with him in their team even spurs were ready to pay 35 or 40m euros for him at the start of the year.

To me i would play martial up top ot on the left or even next to lukaku because he is so talented but mourinho hates young players and prefers to work with already made players.

 

Rio

Fun fact about @rioferdy5​:

You can hear him before you see him 🗣

His reaction to David de Gea's save is amazing 😂 pic.twitter.com/leh3AOi3fW

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 22, 2018

 

Saw this and made me laugh. Bit hard on Lukaku and Alexis but still fair.

 

Martial appears wasted now, since Sanchez has arrived, and it does pain me greatly as explained before. But I argue he wasn't before (this season at least): he really was coming into his own, was having himself a great season, where he came back to his best (after the difficulties he experienced last term) and it feels like he's literally had the rug pulled out from under him. Let's hope that Jose remembers how he performed not too long ago and manages to bring him back in the team , in his favored position on the left of a front 3.
While I certainly do not believe Martial would be competing with Kane as the league's top scorer (there's still Aguero and GJ on that team lest we forget...), but he certainly would be on par with the likes of Sane and Sterling for sure. A level btw, he was getting close to anyway with United as he started to cement his place in the starting lineup.
That's why, in light of Sanchez's performance so far, plus his own ability to play out on the right, it's imperative for Jose to bring Martial back into the first XI wide left, where he is most comfortable. Failure to do that could see him leave whenever his contract is up and that would be terrible as Martial is a big part of our future.

 

A truer image would have Mourinho jerking off McTominay.

 

This post is so spot on I could have written myself! (Still wondering, however, how you, Ashur, could have endorsed Moyes as United manager...and demanded that he not be sacked until Christmas of the following season.)

Martial just isn't the finisher that Kane is now, but it may be that he would have developed as equally a proficient a finisher as Kane had be appointed as our true 9 rather than the left forward he has served under two managers over the last four seasons. (Four or three, I can't remember now.) Maybe, but it's doubtful.

Jose, if you're reading this thread please take to heart the recommend we're all making here to play Alexis on the right and Martial on the left. There's no guarantee it will work, but it's much more likely to work than what you're doing now.

 

United followed the game plan vs Sevilla - Smalling

www.espn.com/soccer/manchester-united/story/3393013/chris-smalling-manchester-united-followed-game-plan-against-sevilla?src=com