Game on tonight, I won't do a match thread as, well, I can't really be arsed. Speculate away team wise as it could literally be ****ing anything, no idea what route he'll go with? Tuanzebe back in, has a stormer, one of the lumbering pair of bang average 'league match' centre halves replaces him for Saturday most probably. Be good to see Rafael, that's about it.
Easy 3 points. Other than making us comfortable in the CL table, it will mean very little. Is Telles back from Covid? Will be good if he is. Prediction 4-0 to United.
Don’t you worry, boys! Given this is midweek, we have another mega night of free attacking football in front of us, after which we will all declare - “Our season starts now”. Enjoy!
So United need a point to qualify. Leipzig need to win. Should be set up nicely for us to counter attack? I really hope we go out there to win though. If we go out there with the mindset a draw will do, then a draw will most likely end up being a 2-2 or 3-3 so fck that! Having said that, I actually think we'll go out to win and we will win this.
This is like a cup tie. Everything rests on this result. A loss we are out. Yes we could or should win it. But they could too as they are at home and German sides tend to play well at home. but it won’t be the disaster that people waiting to crucify OGS. will claim it is. Toughest group of all and so it’s proved.
Relax with the notion of people wanting to crucify Ole. He is judged on results like those before him. There is no such vendetta as you're making it sound. As a matter of fact, anyone else would be out the job if they performed as inconsistent Ole has done with all his resources. Also, given how we started the Champions League this season, it would be a COMPLETE disaster if we now don't qualify. As a matter of fact, it would sum up the two years of Ole's regime. Get consistent results, keep your job. Simple!
Thats the paradox. When we lose its the manager's fault but when we win we don't give him the credit. Given how we started the champions league, is the manager responsible for that unexpectedly good start? If as expected we had lost at PSG we would be at exactly the same place as we are now if we had beaten the turks.
The buck stops at the manager’s desk. End of! When we win games, Ole must rightly take the credits. When we suck, the manager must also take full responsibility. He is responsible for setting up the team and preparing them for each match to ensure that the consistency is there. Consistency is key to keeping any of the top jobs in football. With our squad, we should be competing for the championship. I don’t understand why we keep sugarcoating that.
Not sure I agree - how many stories of legend are there about SAF and the 'hairdryer' - if it were simply the case that the players on the field performed 100% to the manager's expectations/instructions then bollockings of a nuclear scale wouldn't be required. Ask the manager of and side from an under sevens upwards - it ain't that simple - sometimes players aren't up for it (Martial/Pogba), or they have charitable distractions on their mind (Rashford) or the text five minutes before kick off was disappointing news about their new fashion line (Lingard). There are a million and one reasons why the team on the pitch don't perform as the manager intended - and that can't be the manager's fault. Look back at some of the touchline meltdowns - Conte, JM, Poch, ZZ, Pep .................... the list is endless. Are they all bad managers or do players sometimes have an off day. You can tell these players how to play, but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.
Team News - The want-away kid is on the bench, no sign of Martial. A bit mix and match with one eye on this weekend's fixture. Should be a strong enough side to get the job done.
I fear we will regret the loss of Cavani and Martial is not even a replacement. Hope I am wrong but Leipzig do not do draws. They've had 7 consecutive wins at home. We've set up a defensive formation but we are not that good at defending. Oh well.
Five in defence and two defensive midfielders and we're two nil down. I can't defend him. I'm not even going to apologise for it, he deserves everything he ****ing gets after this ****e. He seems determined to get himself the sack and, to be absolutely honest, tough **** if that's what he ends up with. ****ing idiot.
What's unforgiveable is he actually set up to play for a draw. Just asking for trouble and we deserve everything we get tbh. Embarrassing.
I can see why he's kept Shaw on instead of Telles, but Shaw was booked in the first half. Lets hope the decision pays off because I can see the reasoning behind it. Btw had he played with a back 4, and looking at the way we've been playing since, had he started with that, we would've been in a great position to play the counter attack.
Absolutely. Yet, paradoxically Ole regularly paps on about United's attacking dna. I don't really recall playing for a draw with five at the back, two DCM's and only three forwards as being typically United to be absolutely honest. Can't even remember what thread I said last week we'd play for a draw and lose but here we are, doing exactly that. It's not even a surprise, it was obvious he'd do it and **** up. Because that's how Ole rolls. But he needs time and that, obvs.