PBP: EPL - Manchester United FC vs Manchester City FC - Apr 24 , 2019 [R]

Solskjaer has been worried about United's fitness since he came in and it does feel like they've started to tire here after a good start. Still got the pace to worry City but ferocious pressing has dropped off slightly.

— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonESPN) April 24, 2019

United started well, tired and were then picked off. Comfortable for City in the end. Fitness clearly an issue for United but also haven't got the quality to really compete. Big summer coming up.

— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonESPN) April 24, 2019

 

The "clear out" has to include the manager. He's bringing knives to gunfights and is clearly being outsmarted.

 

Funny, now with only 3 matches left, we have the easiest run in in the contest for 4th.

 

We disnt started well and all the hassling puffing just restricted citeh and their quality shone eventually..

 

Chelsea sounds easy ..

 

Just reading Ole post match comments and its very discouraging and he thinks he got a reaction out of those players...delusional and sounds lost

 

He did get a reaction, but it faded fast in the second half. This team failed the gut check.

 

I mean, he did.

It's just we are that poor, misguided, and without cohesive talent.

But if we'd have played today like we did on Sunday, City could have put 10 on us.

I get the feeling that there's something very rotten that the public doesn't know about. Nobody can look straight at the camera anymore.

Watch Solksjaer's post match interview. When he talks about Rashford there's an insinuation and change in emphasis that makes me think that there is an internal awareness to an unspecified, or at least non-public, problem within the club. He emphasized Rashford's attitude almost too keen as if to say there's specific players he can't specify in a negative manner; but those players aren't carrying their weight.

 

We were another bottom half club for Citeh and quality came out top in the end, where was the reaction ?? Restricted them to 0 goals till half time ?? this is not reaction but joke and many bottom clubs could claim the same..

 

Also, I don't think he could be anything other than optimistic or coy. If we had been smashed out of the ground, it's one thing, but we held on and kept it respectable.

If Ole had gone in hard, it would have buried the mentality of the few that we have left still set right.

I emphasize now more than ever: it's embarrassing that this club is letting Ander Herrera go.

 

Well it wasn't quite the weekend shitshow plus if Lingard scores that sitter and DDG saved one it would have been a different story.

 

We clearly saw a reaction today, even if unfortunately it simply was not enough against a top class City team. Our attack that continues to be poor and misfiring is a proven we need to find a solution for the remaining 3 games (all of which are very winnable, even Chelsea IMO).
Been said before, but Ole really has nothing to lose by picking one or two youngsters. Even if he does not start them, but they can have an impact off the bench.
And speaking of the bench, he really needs to start making changes quicker. He knows full well that the pace he demands is too much right now for the guys and they eventually tire out in the 2nd half: it's common sense that fresh legs are required midway the 2nd half max in order to keep up the tempo we start with.
Top 4 is still a longshot, but other teams keep giving us chances and this weekend, we face a direct competitor, which could have huge implications. Let's hope we can somehow sort ourselves out...

 

Just watch the second goal for some of what is wrong with our club.

Fred gets beaten too easily by Sterling - have to wonder if Fred has the quality and attributes for this league. Says a lot about our recruitment and scouting.

Young has Sane run off him which makes it 4vs3. Why are a club like ourselves still relying on a player like Young?

The fact that it is 4v3 is because we do not have a #6. We have Matic who is too pedestrian and Herrera who is not a natural #6 and is out the door. So we start with Fred & Perreira - neither of whom are #6s.

Darmian feels he has to track Aguero because Smalling is not even watching him and he runs behind Smalls which pulls Darmian out of position at RCB. Smalls, Jones, Rojo not good enough. Darmian also not good enough and no Young to cover.

DDG since this end of season contract stuff has been distracted.

That is just what is wrong with us defensively. We have issues all over the pitch.

 

Chelsea and Arsenal have 2 semi-final games in the europa league ( even Tottenham have 2 in the champions league ) , they will suffer from exhaustion more than you , i'm sure they will drop points in the final 3 games they have , all you have to do is win the 3 remaining games and the game against Chelsea will be the one that can decide that

 

Where was this effort vs Everton?

Either way the gulf in quality was apparent....to think City signed Bernardo Silva for 43 million.

Compare that to all our recent midfield purchases...********.

Lindelof looked solid atleast overall, there's still something there to build on.

 

I have been saying this even before the losing streak began. The change in training schemes is another factor in the current run. A rush back from injuries. This team is not fit. For this I am willing to have patience with Ole. Give him a full preseason to get this team (well hopefully not this entire team) to the fitness level he desires to have them play his way.

I am not as pissed off as so many. The signs have been on the wall for a bit.

And I still have so much doubt about appointing a DoF.

I still love this club. Whatcha gonna do?

 

I think that's harsh on Fred to say he hasn't got the attributes or quality because he was beaten by Sterling. He overcommitted, yes. But that's the sort of thing an 8 will do when they're not used to playing as a 6.

If anything his performances of late merit more of a look-in for next season. Meanwhile we need to almost entirely replace our defensive roster over the next two years. Maybe we should be looking at Rice after all, we're so far away from playing with a more sophisticated DM as things stand.

 

I haven't given up on Fred. I think my point is more about our recruitment in the sense that we just seem to pick players without really knowing how to integrate them.

In the summer we bought Dalot and Fred and that was it. They both have promise but the simple fact is that they have not been automatic starters in their positions. We have mostly played Dalot as a RWF instead of RB and Fred as a #6 when he is more an #8.

That is a big concern when that was all we had in the summer to move us forward.

Haven't given up on either of them, but where is the planning? Where is the strategy? What is the plan? We need to buy nailed on starters in certain positions and constantly fail to do so.

Our recruitment is my single biggest concern. Ultimately whoever our manager is will only be as good as the squad we are building. They said on Sky City have spent 470M or some such and we have spent 420M or some such. Can't remember the exact figures, but one club has spent wisely and one has just p****d the money away.

 

👊 - "Forget the top four, forget the @ChampionsLeague, we have to play like @ManUtd."

An honest assessment of the last few weeks from @MarcusRashford after tonight's loss to @ManCity. 🔴🔵

📲 - https://t.co/h8IlNQKl7S pic.twitter.com/5nekU3Kx8z

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 24, 2019

 

Our scouting/recruiting department is trash when it comes to finding players of that talent

 

Recruitment has clearly been a problem, but I also think it's wrong to overlook the fact that we've had poor managers for years now. How many first team players have made significant internal improvements in the last 5+ years since SAF left? It's honestly hard to come up with any names - we've seen temporary upticks in form but guys making sustained improvement over their previous level? Shaw this year maybe counts although I'd argue he's more getting back to where he was previously. Some of the young players have shown modest improvement but none has really jumped a level, not even Rashford.

Then look at City - people here talked down Sterling when they got him, Fernandinho was considered bang average, lots of people questioned their CBs, B. Silva was certainly not considered player of the year contender level, neither was KDB. Yes, they've spent a fortune and spent it well, but their players also improve under Pep while every single one of our players has stagnated.

I don't say any of this to defend our trash recruitment but to point out that the club has top to bottom issues.

 

The constant turnover in managers and philosophy every 2-3yrs certainly does not help either. That is why the hiring of a DoF, who can set a recruiting pattern and team philosophy that outlives any manager we bring in, is vitally important.
Not only that, but everything we do going forward has to be at the service of that ideal, including the choice of managers. We can argue about their inherent quality, but we've been all over the shop with the guys we brought in that department since SAF left. And ironically, not had one (until we got Ole) who understood United DNA and tradition.