Match Day Thread United v Boro - FA Cup 4th round

[Christiansmith]

Well, i have to say i am very happy with the way we played tonight. fast, direct and inventive, totally controlled midfield and every player always had a pass on.
That said, i can't believe how **** the finishing was, Ronaldo and Bruno snatching at everything, Rashford thinking he had to burst the net with every effort instead of just hitting the gap, we sorely missed a calm head like Cavani tonight.

Elanga was brilliant when he came on, more experienced players than him have missed penalties in much less pressured circumstances, it was nice to see Ronaldo pointing to himself when consoling Elanga and it looked like he was pointing to himself as the player that lost the game with his first miss.

Call out to McT and Fred as they both added a lot to the attack and still carried out the defensive side well.

If we carry on playing like that and include actually scoring top 4 should be a shoe in but still lot's of improvement needed for any higher.

FFS do you even consider the opposition? They were several rungs below premiership standards. If you play against **** of course you are going to have “great performances “. Let’s see how we play against a top premiership side and then we can see whether that optimism is warranted.

 

[Diego]

FFS do you even consider the opposition? They were several rungs below premiership standards. If you play against **** of course you are going to have “great performances “. Let’s see how we play against a top premiership side and then we can see whether that optimism is warranted.

So you didn't recognise the difference in playing patterns and movement then?
Ok

 

[Christiansmith]

So you didn't recognise the difference in playing patterns and movement then?
Ok

I did see nice playing patterns and movements. But my point is that the opposition ALLOWED those to be made. I do not for one second believe that we would have been doing the same playing decent premiership opposition.

 

[Diego]

I did see nice playing patterns and movements. But my point is that the opposition ALLOWED those to be made. I do not for one second believe that we would have been doing the same playing decent premiership opposition.

So when other teams do it is it because the oppo "allow" them?

 

[cytrax]

So when other teams do it is it because the oppo "allow" them?

Yes! According to Christian’s 1st Law of Logic!

 

[Ivan Dobsky]

 

[Dorty Dogbreath]

Cheer up Alex Ferguson

 

[Treble]

FFS do you even consider the opposition? They were several rungs below premiership standards. If you play against **** of course you are going to have “great performances “. Let’s see how we play against a top premiership side and then we can see whether that optimism is warranted.

We've played **** against the likes of **** like Newcastle, Wolves, Watford. The performance last night was completely different then against those sides.

As for playing against the top sides in the prem, it's a fair point. But we are 7th for a reason and we just need to be good enough to better than the 3 above us to finish Top 4. Because unfortunately, the damage was done in the first half of the season. And if we continue to progress in our performances as we have over the past 2/3 games then we'll be good enough to beat the 3 above us.

 

[cytrax]

when some of us said that the players needed to take responsibility for match outcomes they were told it was ****ing poppycock. It was all down to the manager and coaches and what happened in the training pitch. Middlesbrough have beaten a strong side at OT. The manager is ****ing useless and cannot inspire the players. What does he do on the training pitch?

So let me get this straight… you’ve gone from it’s the players to now “Rangnick is fkin sht”.

For three years, you were backing the wrong manager that had no system. And we gradually hit rock bottom. But now that a new “interim” manager is implementing a system to undo the last three years, you’re up in arms about it and screaming blue murder. This is poor, Christian!

 

[Christiansmith]

So let me get this straight… you’ve gone from it’s the players to now “Rangnick is fkin sht”.

For three years, you were backing the wrong manager that had no system. And we gradually hit rock bottom. But now that a new “interim” manager is implementing a system to undo the last three years, you’re up in arms about it and screaming blue murder. This is poor, Christian!

Go back a year and read your and other posts here. You changed your views. Are you willing to accept now that whoever is manager the players have to at least accept some of the responsibility? This is not about Ole but about the players. When some players played badly you and some others laid the blame 100% on the manager. Yes he had to shoulder the blame when the tactics were wrong but when players were missing incredible barn door chances like on Friday how can we not blame the actual players?

 

[Christiansmith]

So when other teams do it is it because the oppo "allow" them?

Come on Diego you are better than that. The team put out in Friday should have easily won the tie against a poor Middlesbrough side. That we squandered multiple chances indicate a complete lack of focus and leadership. There IS a difference dominating a premiership side and a mid table championship one. We would expect any premiership side to dominate Boro at home. What I’ve said should be completely uncontroversial. That we had enough chances to win 2 or 3 matches and yet are dumped out of the competition should not be a source of satisfaction but bewilderment at the confusion and lack of leadership at the club.

 

[cytrax]

Go back a year and read your and other posts here. You changed your views. Are you willing to accept now that whoever is manager the players have to at least accept some of the responsibility? This is not about Ole but about the players. When some players played badly you and some others laid the blame 100% on the manager. Yes he had to shoulder the blame when the tactics were wrong but when players were missing incredible barn door chances like on Friday how can we not blame the actual players?

What the are you talking about? You think that it will take three months to move from the rock bottom that poor Ole left us in?

Read my posts! I’ve been very clear that the manager must work with the players in the current squad. Not simply go out there and start buying brand new players in hope that something will change. That certainly never worked under Ole whereby we kept throwing money at a very poor system hoping that it would delay the inevitable. The best way forward is to first implement a system and culture that is sustainable whereby we can see visible movement forward. Have I seen evidence of that transformation coming? Absolutely! Is there work left to be done? Without a doubt!!

My consistent message is this; the culture at the club is rotten and I squarely blame Ole for that. None of these “players must take responsibility” BS that you’re hanging on to. Players do not get fired when things go horribly wrong. It is the manager. Therefore, for better or for worse, it is invariably the manager that must always bare responsibility. We didn’t win yesterday because Rangnick has still not cracked the code for what works best in the final third.

Is that consistent enough for you?

 

[cytrax]

Come on Diego you are better than that. The team put out in Friday should have easily won the tie against a poor Middlesbrough side. That we squandered multiple chances indicate a complete lack of focus and leadership. There IS a difference dominating a premiership side and a mid table championship one. We would expect any premiership side to dominate Boro at home. What I’ve said should be completely uncontroversial. That we had enough chances to win 2 or 3 matches and yet are dumped out of the competition should not be a source of satisfaction but bewilderment at the confusion and lack of leadership at the club.

You are about four years late in your assessment. It will certainly take more than four months to undo the damage. And about another four years for you to realize it.

 

[Christiansmith]

What the are you talking about? You think that it will take three months to move from the rock bottom that poor Ole left us in?

Read my posts! I’ve been very clear that the manager must work with the players in the current squad. Not simply go out there and start buying brand new players in hope that something will change. That certainly never worked under Ole whereby we kept throwing money at a very poor system hoping that it would delay the inevitable. The best way forward is to first implement a system and culture that is sustainable whereby we can see visible movement forward. Have I seen evidence of that transformation coming? Absolutely! Is there work left to be done? Without a doubt!!

My consistent message is this; the culture at the club is rotten and I squarely blame Ole for that. None of these “players must take responsibility” BS that you’re hanging on to. Players do not get fired when things go horribly wrong. It is the manager. Therefore, for better or for worse, it is invariably the manager that must always bare responsibility. We didn’t win yesterday because Rangnick has still not cracked the code for what works best in the final third.

Is that consistent enough for you?

You can’t have it both ways. And as bad as Ole was nobody sane would put all the blame on him. At the beginning of the season, we had a world beating title chasing squad of players. Some of us disagreed. Now that we have a new manager the players are not good enough. To lay all the **** at Ole’s door and his supposed lack of coaching simply won’t wash.

 

[Christiansmith]

So let me get this straight… you’ve gone from it’s the players to now “Rangnick is fkin sht”.

For three years, you were backing the wrong manager that had no system. And we gradually hit rock bottom. But now that a new “interim” manager is implementing a system to undo the last three years, you’re up in arms about it and screaming blue murder. This is poor, Christian!

And of course these 3rd and 2nd places in the last 2 seasons were the least we deserved and a clear indication that we were on the slide and going to hit rock bottom. Do some people here learn how to rewrite history from the likes of Stalin ?

 

[cytrax]

And of course these 3rd and 2nd places in the last 2 seasons were the least we deserved and a clear indication that we were on the slide and going to hit rock bottom. Do some people here learn how to rewrite history from the likes of Stalin ?

2nd and 3rd with biggest budget spend and wage bill in the league. Great success that is!

I’m glad you’re not hiding your subjective bias.

 

[Treble]

I don't know anyone on this board who wasn't expecting us to make a title challenge.

"No excuses" remember?

 

[Christiansmith]

2nd and 3rd with biggest budget spend and wage bill in the league. Great success that is!

I’m glad you’re not hiding your subjective bias.

where did I say it was a great success ? Just because you spend lots of money doesn’t guarantee you the title.

There is a huge difference between not achieving the top we crave for (when 2nd and 3rd are labelled as failure by entitled fans) and sliding down for 3 years and reaching rock bottom. Can anyone honestly say that 3rd and 2nd was rock bottom? Aren’t we going to celebrate getting 4th as a massive achievement by this manager? I am not the only one with bias here.

 

[Treble]

I'll repeat what I said earlier. The fact we are aiming for 4th is because of the damage already done in the first half of the season.

If we manage it, it will be a good achievement by this manager considering his starting point.

 

[cytrax]

where did I say it was a great success ? Just because you spend lots of money doesn’t guarantee you the title.

There is a huge difference between not achieving the top we crave for (when 2nd and 3rd are labelled as failure by entitled fans) and sliding down for 3 years and reaching rock bottom. Can anyone honestly say that 3rd and 2nd was rock bottom? Aren’t we going to celebrate getting 4th as a massive achievement by this manager? I am not the only one with bias here.

Please just stop already! Your points are getting too ridiculous to even try to argue against. Your keeping pointing to 2nd and 3rd, were you under a rock for the first three months of this season?