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

The Galatasaray one also, booted out unfairly and beaten up by the police too.

The Bayern one was harsh.

 

Re: Pogba, I'll just say that even in a match where he was far from his best, most of our best attacking moments came via his efforts, either where he directly set them up, or where his ability to beat his man in the middle of the park gave us numerical advantages.

 

Nah... the Porto one is by far the worse... incorrect offside call..... howler from Tim Howard... worst of all we planted the seed for our current manager...

 

Leverkusen in 01/02 is another one that will not go away either. Don't know if we would have necessarily beaten Real that year, but it arguably would have been a home game of sorts, playing at Hampden Park.
That's the thing I always felt for SAF: by rights, he easily could have had at least 4 CL victories under his belt.

 

Yep - that hurt. But not technically going out on away goals (think we were headed through on away goals until they scored at the end).

Apparently we also went out to Leverkusen on away goals in 02, but can't remember the game for some reason.

 

If he is still making the point to Woody that he wanted Perisic to fill RWF, then we are all tired of it now.

 

More to the point, why would Martial look to stay beyond his current contract? Honestly, this is ridiculous, especially when he was having a banner year. Not being rewarded for his efforts probably won't go down too well for him...

 

With regards to our performance I'll say that I'm not one who is against "negative" tactics generally. I think well executed defending and countering can be both effective and entertaining (a ruthless counterattack can be every bit as "beautiful" to me as a 20-pass sequence ). But that's not what the team is doing at the moment, and really for the past few months since our bright start to the season. Right now we look like a broken team.

Despite tactics clearly meant to make us defensively solid and control the game, we relied far too much on our opponents missing chances and De Gea's miracle working. We generated far too little going forward against opposition who frequently looked very vulnerable. Riding our luck may see us through this round and just may get us in the top 4, but there doesn't seem to be much progress being made at the moment towards being a top side again.

 

If we didn't have DDG we would have been knocked out in this game 3-0 like the minnows we are portraying.

 

My feelings on our play so far this season.

 

Would be extremely satisfied if we played more frequently the same way Chelsea did yesterday. Especially in tough away games where Jose tends to park the bus anyway, it still would be pretty fun to watch. And we've got the players to do so as well.
Unfortunately, our attack does not really appear to be drilled correctly to hit teams incisively on the counter: the end of today's game was a perfect example, with Sevilla's backline pretty open (either being tired or bc they were trying to push for a goal).

 

Anybody who compares this to either a good defensive performance, or a 'professional' sir alex like away performance...dont know what they are talking about. What Sir Alex did away in Europe was slow and measured, but you rarely feared the opposition would score. Sure attacks were limited to few good chances, but the team never looked like conceding. And park the bus counter football was shown really well yesterday by Chelsea. Barca created nothing and were contained, and Chelsea had 3\4 excellent chances in comparison.

As usual...we play defensive, but allow loads of chances against us. We rely on the ineptitude of the opponents to miss good chance rather than prevent them, and we offer very little in terms of quick counter. It looks completely chaotic. We are only in the positions we are in because we have an individual moment now and again, because we've spent shit loads on quality players....but in term of team synergy, they could do no worse if they had no manager....and it would likely be an improvement.

 

We will be well and truly ********ed when DDG decides to leave for Spain.

United is where good players go to be mediocre. That is who we are now.

 

Jose love for mediocre players is never ending.

 

Jose defends his tactical choices...

www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11261200/jose-mourinho-defends-man-utd-tactics-after-draw-at-sevilla

 

Dude, there were some out there that really wanted him and stood against me during that time. Now they are eating their words.

 

They were some people who wanted Jose badly and flip flopped this season, but you certainly not alone in not wanting Mourinho in the first place.
What we're seeing now is no surprise. No surprise at all: speaking for myself, I was hoping against hope that he'd confirm to United's traditions or at the very least, get United to the level of his first Chelsea team offensively or as they were in the first half of his last title winning side.
This playing the victim thing you've got going on, "me against the world" is tiresome and point of fact, just not true...

 

Some of them are still here putting plasters on all his mishaps

 

Matic was hammered once again today (and rightfully so, I might add) and while I know I've mentioned it before, it does bear repeating: the guy looks completely knackered, dead on his feet. Really not sure what Jose is failing to see, since it's been obvious for some time now. Compounded is the fact that to be anywhere ner effective, Matic needs to have loads of energy, which he does not have at the moment. Getting really frustrating seeing him play game after game, with no respite whatsoever.
Herrera's injury on that respect is a massive blow, but Carrick s back now and he should be fine to play once a week at minimum. It's may be a bad time, but Matic needs a break, in the worst way.
Speaking of CMs, I was impressed by Banega today: at 29 already, not sure he'd be a viable to go after but he's the type of guy I woudn't mind having in our team in the least. Love his versatility as a CM also. Good game from him.

 

Final stats:
Shots (On Goal): Sevilla 25(8) Man Utd 6(1)

I know Mourinho has a great record in these knockout matches but I enjoyed watching Sevilla play today. Mourinho's style is just so outdated.

Anybody else feel that Sevilla were physically superior today? I mean winning one on one challenges, were the ones doing the bullying....They say La Liga isn't physical compared to the EPL.

 

Going forward we need to start with McTominay Matic and Pogba, Sanchez on the right Martial on the left.

 

Also while on the subject of our midfield and Matic being exhausted and well below his optimal self, Herrera injured for a long time probably (a month to month and a half minimum), where oh where is Daley Blind? Is he still injured? Get that he's not one of Jose's favorites, but he's another guy who can help us in midfield in the Carrick/Matic role, even it's it's just for he odd game here and there. Or even in central defense with Jones and Rojo both out. If he's fit again, Jose needs to recall him ASAP.

 

From the article Ashur posted above:

I think we finished the game with more space than we had in the beginning. We were more close to the possibility of scoring a goal,

Funny what happens when you bring Martial on and play him on the left.

 

Martial on the left and Sanchez on the right would fix so many problems, but Jose is too daft or too stubborn to see it.