Match Day Thread Manchester United v Chelsea

Yeah, including Pogba, who you'd like to be shot, right?

 

Yes, I’d rather not see him in the team again. Even his assist last week doesn’t change the fact that he is net negative for the team.

DvB is will be more effective and not a media clown.

 

I'd also have DVDB, but then every time Mata plays I realise why I'd play him every game as well.

Fact is, we've got a really good squad. Perhaps a centre half short.

Let's just let him pick the teams and he can be judged on that.

 

We need to stretch this game through the flanks. Everything seem to be going through the middle.

Why did we buy DvB when we intend not to use him? Seeing him on the bench is depressing. This baffles the hell out of me. What a waste!

 

The thing that bugs me is the 'we're United' stuff, then we play for a draw at home against Chelsea with no one there.

It just doesn't stack up.

 

we were dreadful too. Never even looked close to scoring

worst game of football i have seen in ages

 

Two really good squads, two managers who don't really know what to do with them.

 

I didn't see the game, but the outcome seems utter bollox.

In the grand scheme of things we're 3 points behind where we should be so table-wise it isn't bad... right?

Except it's just the same as every other season recently. Us hanging on to the coat-tails of the top 4/6 and every time we're in a position to catch up or race ahead, we'll fall flat on our arse and continue to cling on. All the way to the end. Same Ole' same Ole.

As has been mentioned, that squad is decent, especially attack-wise and we can't score at home against a vulnerable Chelsea defence. Just piss poor.

 

Ours lacks balance

 

Under Ole, we are forever going to be “work in progress”.

 

The priority yesterday against Chelsea was not to lose. It wasn’t to win. It was Chelsea’s too but I’m not bothered about them. And the other priority was not too concede. I can understand where Solskjaer is coming from. When you concede 6 in an abysmal game when everyone lost their discipline you need to regain some form of stability. So a 0-0 while not ideal could be seen as some sort of recovery. What he didn’t want was an open attacking game which could see us losing 3-2 and we are back to square one with everyone on Ole’s back and screaming for a sacking.

Yes there were some positives from the game: Not starting with Pogba, Keeping a clean sheet (not difficult with Chelsea wanting a 0-0), creating chances whilst playing a cautious game. But remember we are not living in normal times. Playing in an empty OT is abnormal. As long as we finish in the top 4 and play good attractive football I am happy. Those who scream that we should be top and immediately challenging for the title are not realistic. All the top teams are undergoing some disturbance, including the RS. I’ll be more demanding when normal life with full stadia and great atmosphere at OT return.

 

This is the worst excuse I’ve read in a long time. To suggest that the target for a game being played in Manchester against nasty Chelsea, is not to lose is just plain sad. Your message clearly illustrates how low we have sunk in expectations and how accommodative we have become in allowing Ole to get away with below average output.

You also pointed to the exact same excuse that Ole brought up in his post match interview.. lack of supporters in the stadium. This is pathetic considering we have already lost there twice this season again lowly teams. No disrespect to those teams, but what rights do they have to win the without their away support? Further, this is the same condition that we had our great run after the initial lockdown was lifted to sneak into this position. How exactly did we accomplish that if we are now reverting to empty stadium as an excuse. I guess PSG lost to us because they didn’t have a full stadium, right?

Let’s just stop with excuses. It’s getting ridiculous!

 

Personally i think Ole was right to take the pragmatic approach. To play anything other than safe and suffer another demoralising defeat would have dented the improving confidence around the squad - a draw in the circumstances was no bad thing. Had we lost, the effect could have carried on into this week's CL fixture against RB Leipzig and any damage done there could have rippled through the rest of our CL campaign. I think it shows that Ole is learning - he knows sometimes it is best to consolidate and come out the other side of a situation with confidence intact. Also, I really don't get it when people are so willing to dismiss the effect on players of an empty stadium - more likely than not they haven't been to OT when the atmosphere is electric - to take that away is having a hugely negative impact at all stadiums this season.

 

I guess it comes down to seeing the glass half empty or half full on that result yesterday.

I would accept the 'regaining stability' and 'improving confidence' arguments if it was genuinely going to have any lasting long term benefit.

But the last few seasons has shown it won't. We could just as easily get a tonking at home to Leipzig tbh. They're a decent side. Yesterday's approach, performance, result will mean very little going forward imo but that's just how I see it. In my mind we have to improve on last season.

 

I see no reason to be wary of Chelsea, at home I really don't. Is that where we're at?

If that's the mind set then we genuinely have become Arsenal mk2 and we'll see top four and CL qualification as some sort of trophy and success.

What happened to "but we're United so, you know" and that? He doesn't even say that **** anymore.

 

Agree with that. Getting a draw against Chelsea made sense when both clubs were fighting it out for the league. Not now though. Neither side are in that position and if we consider ourselves better we should be looking to beat them.

There's a lack of ambition or urgency about the club. I'm not saying we should be winning the league but we should be demonstrating progress and look to be challenging at least. Back to back Top 4 doesn't mean anything without that.

 

I think the club think they're getting a free hit this year. What with the Covid malarkey, that it's OK to just trundle on until football is back to normal.

It's the complete reverse of what we should be doing.

It's quite clearly a free for all this season, we should be trying to challenge to win the bloody thing, not shrug and say we're not quite there yet, that's just ****ing nonsense

Who looks stand out this season?

No one, that's who.

 

Except that the siege mentality of throwing everything at visiting teams at OT has not been there for years now. We get few good games and then a stinker every four or five games. In the end, we celebrate another top 4 as Chief mentioned.

I don’t think we should feel entitled either that we should be getting into top two every year, but when I look at the salaries laid out for these players, I actually get pi**ed to think that we are starting to think like Arsenal that top 4 is somehow an achievement.

I am now a broken record on this point >> we cry about lack of transfers, but none of the new players could even start yesterday. One couldn’t even be included on the team sheet. The other one sat on the bench yesterday looking like a sad sod with the manager promising that his time will come. Do we really need new players? Or perhaps we simply need to accept the fact that the coaching required and sense of direction to get the best out of what I personally see as a quality talented team is simply not there and will never be established under the current regime.

 

I think Ole will be trying to get us as far into the CL as possible this year. Trying to contain the likes of Chelsea a few days before CL game isn't a sign of 'where we're at', it's an indication of how piss poor the squad is that he has to tinker with the side on an important match-day to ensure we have a full strength side for the CL. Back in the day we had such depth and strength in the squad that we could do both, seamlessly but now we cant - the end result being an imbalanced match-day squad and a lack-lustre bore draw.

 

You can't be serious mate. Other than a centre half, where else are we lacking depth in the squad?