Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[lawro]

Burnley v Man Utd x-x 0-2

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50856021

[ilovepantyhose]

burnley 0 - 2 man u

good away win and finally a clean sheet. from the highlights, pereira pressed and caused the defender to make a mistake and the result was a cool finish by martial. i think this is the way to play against non-flair teams, back four with high press, pressuring the opponents to make mistakes and then quickly counter. 2nd goal was also from a counter attack, nice pass by james to pick out rashford

Originally Posted by imom

Yep, a creative playmaker as backup or rotation with Pogba is a must. That is one of the positions Solskjaer has to recruit for. Apparently they think James Maddison is the one.
...
SAF days, we had almost the whole first team away on duty during international weeks.

maddison might not come cheap, there are rumours that jack grealish is wanted as well. another alternative to pogba must be signed, fred/pereira don't have vision and passing range

we shall see how the haaland situation will unfold. if he joins juve, ogs still has to sign a targetman nevertheless. its an alternative to their current tactics, when u only play one way, opponents will find a way to neutralise: already in several matches, we saw the midfield misplacing passes, the defenders pushing up to make things happen, the attackers running with ball into 2-3 opponents to force the issue

despite the inconsistent performances so far, martial and rashford have reached double figures in goals. to extrapolate, martial may hit 15-20 goals and rashford may hit 20+ goals by end of season

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by lawro

Burnley v Man Utd x-x 0-2

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50856021

Wow.. Lawro is spot on this time n Charlie is wrong ... they are 5th on the table now

[Rickey]

A good short analysis n view of bro ilovepantyhose in his post above

[ilovepantyhose]

latest: dortmund potong jalan and signed erling haaland

[imom]

The deal they got was good, if the fee is to be believed. Unfortunately for Utd, his agent is the greedy Raiola. Apparently the Haaland+Raiola camp wanted too many clauses and payouts that Utd couldn't and shouldn't stomach. Dortmund, if the press is to be believed, agreed to some ridiculous clause that sell-on profits be split between club, Alfe-Inge Haaland and Raiola. Utd apparently also couldn't stomach a buy-out clause that was demanded.

Raiola basically wants to flog Erling Haaland as many times as he can - each transfer makes him $$$. That's why he rather Haaland goes to a 'stepping stone' club first, as he is only 19 and good for a couple of transfers more, if his development continues as expected.

[ilovepantyhose]

with the season halfway thru, here is my review of the squad performance so far with a football manager element

GK
david de gea (key player) - overall dependable when called upon, although not helped by a nervy defence in front of him; made a rare mistake against watford; needs to be more vocal and commanding of his defence; 7

sergio romero (backup) - decent backup to DDG; fielded in UEL; 6


Defence
harry maguire (key player) - above average performance; traditional engligh DC; uncomfortable with attackers direct running; has ventured further up to try and make things happen but he is the slowest defender, better to sit back and let lindelof venture forward; 7

aaron wan-bissaka (1st team) - overall good performance; times his tackles well, except at watford; needs to make more forward runs and put in more crosses; 8

victor lindelof (1st team/rotation) - below average performance; seems to be unable to handle the physicality of big forwards and attackers direct running; needs to improve his positioning and marking; bailly will provide competition when he returns; 5

luke shaw (rotation) - average performance; needs to make more forward runs and put in more crosses; 6

phil jones (backup) - did not grab his chance when given a starting berth, ogs also at fault with the wrong formation vs sheff utd; tackling can be rash; at 27 he should be in his prime, but sadly a backup; 4

ashley young (backup) - aging; decent crossing/set piece; suspect positioning and marking; 5

brandon williams (hot prospect) - played well when given chance; more incisive than shaw, at this rate, he will threaten shaw's place; 6


Midfield
paul pogba (key player) - man u sorely missed his creativity, vision and passing range; ogs is easing him in after 3mths out; needs to improve his consistency; 6

scott mctominay (1st team) - above average performance, a certain starter when fit; needs to improve shooting; 7

nemanja matic (1st team but ogs deem him a backup ) - i feel he is unfairly treated by ogs, he may not be pacy but he is composed, tidies things up, can hold the ball and provides cover, ogs' refusal to play him is causing the midfield to be soft and prone to overrun and expose the defence to unnecessary pressure; 6

fred (rotation) - overall inconsistent; the good: passing vs man city; the bad: lightweight and cannot hold up ball, lack of vision and passing range; needs to pair with a strong MC in center midfield; needs to improve on vision, passing, shooting and strength; 5

andreas pereira (rotation) - overall inconsistent; the good: the pressing and assist to martial vs burnley; the bad: lightweight and cannot hold up ball, indecision, lack of vision and passing range; needs to improve on vision, passing, shooting and strength; 5

daniel james (rotation) - shrewd 15m signing; full of energy and direct running, opponents have a hard time coping with his pace; also helps in defence with high work rate; ogs must not to overplay him; 8

jesse lingard (rotation) - off-field issues affected his form big time; needs to sort things out and focus on football; 3

juan mata (backup) - aging; supposed to be a creative playmaker but did not impress when fielded; tried to make runs to stretch the defence; 4


Attack
anthony martial (1st team) - decent output with 10 goals and 3 assists; finishing and heading can be improved; 7

marcus rashford (1st team) - fast becoming a key player for man u and he is only 22; good output with 16 goals and 5 assists; heading can be improved; 8

mason greenwood (hot prospect) - used as an impact sub, has scored 8 goals; invaluable experience in UEL; 7



eric bailly, marcos rojo, diogo dalot, timothy fosu-mensah recovering from long term injuries

angel gomes, james garner, axel tuanzebe, tahith chong, ethan laird, dylan levitt are youngsters and developing


wishing all a happy new year, hope man u have a better 2020 ahead

[charlienicholas]

Arsenal vs Manchester United

CHARLIE PREDICTS: 3-2

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...ue-predictions

[ilovepantyhose]

here is my opinion of areas of possible improvements

GK
DDG will still be No.1 for the next 5 years, with romero serving as a decent backup. Man u doesn't have a history of a homegrown GK breaking into the 1st team, so its likely they will sign a GK when DDG retires


Defence
bailly will compete with lindelof, jones/rojo serve as backup. if fosu-mensah and tuanzebe can break into the 1st team, ogs may let jones/rojo go, but if they cannot reach their potential, ogs may need to sign a DC. dalot/williams can serve as backup when ashley young leaves


Midfield
needs to be improved the most. the squad needs another creative playmaker to be an alternative to pogba, a set piece specialist and a pacy DMC as ogs deemed matic a backup. gomes, chong, garner and levitt are knocking on the 1st team door, will take time to impress


Attack
ogs needs to sign a targetman to serve as a plan B and be an aerial threat at set pieces. having only 3 attackers without cover is not pragmatic


Tactics
playing out from the back - we have seen that when man u play out from the back, opponents adopt a high press and possession is lost too often, sometimes near the box which is too close for comfort. DDG has good distribution, so if there is a targetman, the ball can be punted further upfield to relieve pressure

offensive set pieces - man u used to be lethal, but not anymore. the current free kick takers aren't beckham, and there is no targetman to aim at during corners/free kicks. set pieces are a good option when opponents park the bus

defensive set pieces - the set up during corners is weird: defenders zone mark the 6-yard box while small midfielders are tasked to mark the tall opponents. a few times already, we saw that fred/pereira lose their man and resulted in goals. i feel the DCs should be marking the taller opponents instead of zonal marking

against non-flair teams - back 4 with high press: non-flair teams don't really have the guile to pass their way out, hence more likely to commit mistakes and man u can quickly counter (vs newcastle & burnley). however this style is done at a high tempo and its energy sapping for the players, so ogs has to rotate his players

against flair teams - back 3 with counter attack: set up beautifully by ogs, the gripe is the composure and finishing by rashford/martial, and cutting out defensive mistakes when absorbing pressure, flair teams will make them pay

[lawro]

Arsenal v Man Utd x-x 2-2

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50856023

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by lawro

Arsenal v Man Utd x-x 2-2

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50856023

Let me try...i think it is Arsenal 1...Man U 2

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by imom

The deal they got was good, if the fee is to be believed. Unfortunately for Utd, his agent is the greedy Raiola. Apparently the Haaland+Raiola camp wanted too many clauses and payouts that Utd couldn't and shouldn't stomach. Dortmund, if the press is to be believed, agreed to some ridiculous clause that sell-on profits be split between club, Alfe-Inge Haaland and Raiola. Utd apparently also couldn't stomach a buy-out clause that was demanded.

Raiola basically wants to flog Erling Haaland as many times as he can - each transfer makes him $$$. That's why he rather Haaland goes to a 'stepping stone' club first, as he is only 19 and good for a couple of transfers more, if his development continues as expected.

Didn't know this 19 year old shot is the son of Alf-Inge_Haaland....guess he is too well versed with the workings of the transfer market in EPL and want a piece of the pie.

[imom]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Didn't know this 19 year old shot is the son of Alf-Inge_Haaland....guess he is too well versed with the workings of the transfer market in EPL and want a piece of the pie.

Yeah Alfe probably wants some payback for Keane's career-ending tackle...

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by ilovepantyhose

with the season halfway thru, here is my review of the squad performance so far with a football manager element

wishing all a happy new year, hope man u have a better 2020 ahead

Originally Posted by ilovepantyhose

here is my opinion of areas of possible improvements

As usual, very in depth analysis.
Pity about Matic....becoz OGS favors high tempo speed passing game.
This proves to be Matic downfall.
But not playing him and put in the soft centre pairing of Fred and Pereira....even worst. As clearly evident in the Sheffield Utd game.

Lindelof had always been suspected ever since he came on board. But he had since improved and got a good performance last season.
Unfortunately, OGS preferred method of playing from the back took a toil on him. His frailties in covering back had been exposed cruelly many times.
It also doesn't help that Maguire is also equally slow.

Midfield and Defence is the problematic areas now.

With the addition of D James and Greenwood....the impact of losing LKK appears to have lessen tremendously.
With the failure to sign Erling Haaland, Greenwood proves even more vital.
This guy is humble and had proven to be a sharpshooter.....saved Man U several times. A bright prospect that needs nurturing.
No Haaland....no issue...Greenwood is here.

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by imom

Yeah Alfe probably wants some payback for Keane's career-ending tackle...

Haha...was going to mention if this Alf bears some grudge against Man U for that Keane tackle. Lol.