i have to say i thought we were awful against man utd we kept giving the ball away barton being the worst offender our defending was woeful as it seems to be most of the season and we have no threat up front which means we could be in big trouble jan cant come quick enough there was times when i thought we were colour blind we passed to utd so often if this goes on warnock will be under pressure as up to now he is not getting results ,i dont want another managerial go round but he is paid to get results and he is not doing it but lets hope he can turn it around so it wont come to that
I thought both Barton & Faurlin were poor today but on the plus side Taarabt showed some good skills and seemed to be playing more for the team than previously. I thought Barton was a bit like the old Taarabt - didn't want to chase back after losing the ball which he did far too often! But come on did you really expect us to get anything from this game?
We need to remember that we were playing the Prem Champions and one of the best teams in the world. I never expected us to beat them but i was hoping for a performance. We did not get it. We have problems that we just don't seem to be addressing. I have mentioned them in my other thread Mid season assessment.
If we'd scored more points against the lower half teams, my view would've been that given United's status and vast resource, we competed pretty well today. There were times when I thought Cerny's saves and some of our work in the middle of the park (not necessarily by midfielders) was promising and the Mancs were there for the taking - but we were shooting arrows with no heads, and far to few of them to worry anyone.
Methinks that since Barton has "cleaned up his image" he is less than half the player he was. The team seem to be playing Champions League style football with a team that doesn't have the ability to do so. Lots of little touches that didn't come off, poor crossing, passes overhit or underplayed. If these things come off we look superb, however the current line-up and the constant changes due to injury mean that we will be lucky to see that one game in ten .... and that ain't enough.
Very disapointing today. There didn't seem to be the spirit either in the team or crowd that we had against the scum or city. Defensively, we looked as open as a barn door, maybe it was partly Anton not being there but we seemed very unorganised, even though Conolly did ok. Cerny did well apart from 2 errors one of which ended with a header on the bar with the goal open, and the other the 2nd goal. We did little going forward, Ali and Barton had their worse games of the season, Barton made some terrible errors one which led to the second goal. Bothroyd did little that looked likely to result in a goal, SWP did little, Mackie got past Evra a bit but his crossing was mainly terrible. HH didn't get much ball but didn't get any result from what he had. DJ missed our best chance. Only positive apart from Cerny's saves was Adel who made DJ's chance and did OK. Great to see him in the shirt again when some on here have been saying we never would. I hope he starts against Sunderland.
Time for the return of Adel on Wednesday and DJ up front. Sorry but Boothroyd is not a premiership striker and its showing. Gabbidon is not up to it either and our defence is not up to the standard required. On the last few showings i think we are going to be in the thick of the action down the botom come April although im happy to be disproved wrong.
I hope Anton is fit as well, and we give the back 4 more protection than they had today. I suppose going 1- 0 down after a minute meant we had to push forward, but we left a lot of room at the back. I think we need Barton, or Derry if Joey doesn't get his finger out, playing back in defensive midfield with Ali giving the 4 cover, and Adel in front of them hopefully creating. I'd like to see DJ starting rather than Betty. Mackie in and SWP out on todays performance. Moan over! -----------Cerny-------- Luke----Anton-----Gabbidon----Traore ---------Barton--Ali------ -----Mackie--Adel---DJ--- -----------HH---------
The team badly needs a shake up. I would bring in Derry, Taarabt, Hill, Smith & DJ for the next game. Barton, Bothroyd, SWP, Mackie & Helguson to be rested.
Maybe I have rose-tinted specs, but I didn't think we were that bad today. SWP was outmuscled, and all our players who had a shot or header (of which there were but few) muffed it or missed it, but none of them was particularly inept or wasteful. Bothroyd was the worst player, but I think he was more surprised than me when the first subs came on and he stayed on this pitch. Worse than his performance, though, was the way he seemed to lose interest as the match wore on and he realised that Man Utd are a bit of a trickier proposition than the championship sides he hade the measure of last season. The first goal saw Man Utd catch us with our pants down, and the second was Barton's fault (is it just me, or does he really lose possession like that at least once a match?) Let's not forget that Man Utd are a pretty damn good side, who played loads of neat flicks and one-twos that we could only dream about. They were quick to attack, we were too slow in our build up. And whenever we launched a ball into the box there was always a leg or head to deflect it. I'm disappointed we lost, but it's almost January, so maybe we'll get ourselves a potent striker or two who is neither out of their class or over the hill (or injured)
Yeh you are right it was Man U. I'm mainly disapointed because I thought we could give em a better game than that.
