PBP: UCL - SL Benfica vs Manchester United FC - Oct 18, 2017 [R]

Another Van Gaal-esque performance

 

Max points, so good result. Another poor performance though.

Nothing especially wrong with the team selection given he had to rotate or tactics (apart from maybe the full-backs staying at home), however some poor individual performances. In particular the three behind Lukaku who made lots of individual mistakes and errors such as poor passes, running offside, poor shots etc.

 

Another Mourihno maters class... back to the EPL now

 

Boring.

 

I fell asleep at work while watching that game.

 

So did I...seriously.

(I work from home)

 

Paid to watch this shit was not even worth it, I rather work.

 

The most predictable result really.

We were never going to go there and play football.

I will criticize bad results, not bad play. Mourinho is a results manager with an above average team. If we had a squad of world beaters I would complain.

 

I thought Lukaku was very poor. His touch deserted him, and he constantly chose to dribble (& lose the ball) through 2 or 3 players instead of passing back or wide. He turned the ball over more than any other player. Rashford was good, sure hope his injury is nothing serious, but he seemed to know that he was done for immediately.

First NBC, now Fox, have abandoned MUFC. We weren't mentioned during halftime discussion. Is it Mo's boring style of play. the lack of Pogba, or what?

 

Lost in all talk about our front players being poor today, but Herrera once again, not having the best of games himself. Matic was strong next to him, but Herrera couldn't get going. Playing as the more busy/creative guy in a mid 2, doesn't appear to be his bag.
We always knew that Pogba was going to be a big miss/loss, but Fellaini is looking more and more like a pretty significant one himself. At least, playing alongside both Matic and Herrera, with the latter surely benefiting big time.
Getting Carrick back soon hopefully will help in that regard as well...

 

Talking points from United's win vs Benfica

www.skysports.com/football/news/15115/11087395/talking-points-from-man-utds-champions-league-win-at-benfica

Fingers crossed Rashford's injury is not too serious...

 

Well, that wasn't worth recording. Job done, not much to build on from this performance other than acknowledging decent depth in the squad.

 

The goalkeeper's gaffe benefited us, no doubt, but still felt for him, especially someone so young. It obviously shook him and it was great seeing United players, especially Lukaku, seek him out after the game and try to console him, in what was an inconsolable time. Classy.

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-utd-fixtures-benfica-lukaku-13782260

 

Best way to improve is learning from your mistakes. De Gea was unsteady when he first came here and look at where he is now. If that kid can learn from his mistakes I'm sure he has a bright future in front of him. Not to mention it was only his second career start with the first team. I would have been shitting my pants going up against United.

 

A case of nerves in hs situation is perfectly understandable, and to be expected even. And the fact that his mistake ultimately was the difference in the game, certainly didn't help matters.
He's a solid young prospect and there is little doubt this will be a lesson well learned for him and he'll move past it in time.

 

It wasn't nerves. He's shit. A nervous GK flaps at that ball. He just makes bad decisions.

 

His mistake was to have misjudged the flight of Rashford's ball and not push it above the bar. And yes, it was a bad decision on his part, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt given the circumstances and the talent he's shown before. Mistakes do happen...

 

He's 18 mate relax. He made his first team debut less than a week ago. He will be a good keeper one day. Dave made plenty of errors like that when he was 21 let alone 18,

 

Should I school these guys? Or nah?

 

Do it.

 

Finally saw this game (thinking very unkindly about directv and the amount of money I pay them only to find that the game isn't on) and really enjoyed watching Benfica play. Shame they're incapable of scoring any goals.

Do we know when Pogba will return? Has he been kidnapped by space aliens?