I don't think the issue is that we are poor at defending corners...it's that we give too many away. The way we are set up under Ange is deliberately risky but it has led to a decent enough goal difference. But if you score two goals a game on average and concede 1.5 then you will concede 3 or 4 goals a few times a season. Because of our growing financial strength our squad will gradually improve in quality relative to the rest of the PL. That should lead to better results. I don't think there are any shortcuts. I don't expect the coach to make much difference to the results in the long run but I am happier with a coach who I respect as a person. One issue I worry about is that we need a lot more top class players. In defence I think the starters might well develop into top class players as they are all pretty young. In midfield and attack I think we have less scope for that to happen so we are relying on signings or for the U21s to develop quickly.
Individual mistakes from defenders are what they are. They’re always going to happen especially when you rely on 1v1 defending as much as we do. The more systemic issue is still the midfield and wingers. None of our midfielders are in good form anyway but we miss a dominant, controlling profile at 6 who can help us guard against counters. Sarr also helps as an 8 because he can cover so much ground. And Kulu might have helped us control the play in the final 3rd a bit better because he’s so helpful in retaining the ball, but then we lack a bit of penetration that you get with Johnson. Everything happening at the same time is going to cause results like today. We need more investment in the squad as we’re missing certain types of players Ange needs and he clearly doesn’t trust the rotational options for Biss and Maddison as they’re still starting despite being well and truly off form. But mainly we should blame that kit and the fact that Mickey has stopped wearing black boots.
I think overreacting is just part and parcel of being a football fan, we’re all guilty of it. At both ends of the spectrum too. This season alone has actually shown both sides of it. First few months of the season we had fans saying it was the “best football they’d seen in decades”, certain players were raising the bar of what we’d seen and also that we didn’t miss Kane. Then fast forward to now where the football the last few months has been pretty poor and we’re seeing things like “one of the worst performances ever”, things like Son isn’t as good as we think or is in decline or questions should be raised about Ange. All in all it’s emotion getting the better of us. I think you’ll find the praise and criticism over the season has points of validity but not to the extremes that have at times been said.
I think the difference between the top 3 and the rest of the league is massive. They can have a slightly off day away from home and still generally get a result. The rest of the teams if they are not at it will lose. It will take time to close the gap but I do believe Ange is the man for the job. If we do get 4th that will be a fantastic season. Results like today show how much work there still is to do
All of this can be said of any team. And what "sustainable" means I know not. Whatever critique of the manager there is to be made (and critique there is) , "aussie Ardiles" etc is not it.
It's my fault: this morning I got a Hermes delivery four days before schedule then got undercharged for my coffee, so the universe was going to be a bell about it somehow
Bentanccur gets kicked at shoulder height, no pen. United playing just as **** as we did get gifted a pen to get them back in the game and you know they’re going on to win now! Not sure this day could get any worse football wise.
No-one has mentioned that two of the goals started from Son losing possession. I’m glad Ange substituted him again. It’s not his fault as he’s clearly can’t play as a striker in this system whereas he managed okay previously during Kane’s ankle injuries.
We may not have deserved to get anything, but a pen is a pen. United have had vast amounts of luck this seaon. And as I type this VAR has just overturned a late penalty awarded to Bournemouth to rule it outside the box. Perhaps the issue is that VAR sometimes intervenes and sometimes it doesn't. You hear that VAR are satisfied that there was not a "clear and obvious" error, which is dodgy enough anyway as it's so subjective, but that assumes the ref has actually seen the incident at all! The question is whether VAR would always have not intervened given the same circumstances as our pen today, or would they... sometimes? I'd be interested to know what the refs explanation for not giving a pen was.
