Jose: The forwards to blame for that

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

I haven't really blamed Mourinho for the recent results. I've just said that most managers would get more heat.

You're looking for inconsistencies that aren't actually there. The inconsistency comes from people who now don't blame the manager.

Though Mourinho does have better players and hasn't endured two months with 15 players out tbf.

Moyes? I was blaming him before a ball was even kicked.
LvG? I had patience with him up until that run around December time last season and after realising that the players he signed were £#%&!wits.


Mourinho? If it's the same this time next year, I will start asking questions.


Not about being inconsistent, it's about not judging a person who has an almighty mess to clean up.....


For example, if it is true about Shaw's mentality, then what the £#%&! is he doing here in the first place? He has no business been at this club if that's the case.

We concede few goals despite the revolving door of a back four bar Valencia, we easily control most games but we have been both shit and unlucky in the final third with a players struggling to maintain form. Martial and Rashford in particular. Lost Pea and Welbz and they were never really replaced.

Originally Posted by Crumps

We concede few goals despite the revolving door of a back four bar Valencia, we easily control most games but we have been both shit and unlucky in the final third with a players struggling to maintain form.

Hello is that Manchester United under Louis van gaal?
Oh no sorry wrong number.

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

zlatan has missed at least as many proper chances as he has taken. he has also wasted countless easy opportunities and situations to feed others in better positions, simple positions, to score ... the reason he has marched in and scored so many goals is because apart from him being a great player the team has been set up, not entirely unlike van gaal's teams, to use the 9 as the absolute focal point of the system ...

as for comparing united's 2 young strikers with city's 2 young wingers get a grip mate, they're completely different types of players. the nearest genuine comparison is sane with mhikitaryan and sterling probably with lingard ...

i wouldn't be sucking city off too hard though if i was you - they've got it all on themselves to secure top 4 and were humiliated home and away for long periods by monaco in the 1st knock-out round of the CL. saying 'yes but at least they were in it' will cut no ice btw so spare your little chubby fingers ...

Although with LvG's teams it's not all about playing to that player and relying on him for goals. The no9 often does a more sublte, understated job than you'd usually expect. In fact, throughout LvG's career it's been almost a constant that the striker is not his top goalscorer. Of course during that great run in spring '15, Rooney played as the striker barely touching the ball, and certainly not scoring many of the goals. Given the ability to sign anyone, he may well have wanted a shadow striker for behind Rashford.

Mueller, used the way LvG did at Bayern behind Ollic, probably the wet dream.

Originally Posted by Clarkie

Moyes? I was blaming him before a ball was even kicked.
LvG? I had patience with him up until that run around December time last season and after realising that the players he signed were £#%&!wits.


Mourinho? If it's the same this time next year, I will start asking questions.


Not about being inconsistent, it's about not judging a person who has an almighty mess to clean up.....


For example, if it is true about Shaw's mentality, then what the £#%&! is he doing here in the first place? He has no business been at this club if that's the case.

United ended last season with 9 wins from the last 13 games, a cup win and a handful of talented youngsters b#@&%! with confidence. That was not a mess. It was a decent platform to build on. But we hired a manager who by his own admission intended to delete everything the players had been learning. Seems to have worked a treat with the youngsters, anyway.

Originally Posted by itisme_panaflex

Hello is that Manchester United under Louis van gaal?
Oh no sorry wrong number.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

United ended last season with 9 wins from the last 13 games, a cup win and a handful of talented youngsters bass kissing with confidence. That was not a mess. It was a decent platform to build on. But we hired a manager who by his own admission intended to delete everything the players had been learning. Seems to have worked a treat with the youngsters, anyway.

Got some serious second syndromeish shit with younguns. More expectation, more pressure, new management team will impact them more (not always positively) everyone has a had a look at them so this strengths and weaknesses are now being learned by opponents. I think they'll be fine personally but I'm not exactly surprised at how and why they are struggling a bit.

Originally Posted by Crumps

Got some serious second syndromeish shit with younguns. More expectation, more pressure, new management team will impact them more (not always positively) everyone has a had a look at them so this strengths and weaknesses are now being learned by opponents. I think they'll be fine personally but I'm not exactly surprised at how and why they are struggling a bit.

Me neither.

Originally Posted by itisme_panaflex

Don't want to.

You don't have a say in the matter. Assume the position and get back down on you knees.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Largely because the brains trust Herrera and Valencia kept giving away free-kicks.

Martial scored twice, of course. He was phenomenal in the closing stages of lasts eason. Ended with 17 goals iirc.



Every team misses chances. Believe it or not, we even missed them last season too.

Besides, the days of the heroic, shot peppering draws are long gone. At home to Hull, Bournemouth and now WBA - we've just been shit.

we had more than enough chances to win all those games though. i can't defend the performances because by definition we didn't do enough. but they should all have been wins based on what we actually produced, nqat.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Although with LvG's teams it's not all about playing to that player and relying on him for goals. The no9 often does a more sublte, understated job than you'd usually expect. In fact, throughout LvG's career it's been almost a constant that the striker is not his top goalscorer. Of course during that great run in spring '15, Rooney played as the striker barely touching the ball, and certainly not scoring many of the goals. Given the ability to sign anyone, he may well have wanted a shadow striker for behind Rashford.

Mueller, used the way LvG did at Bayern behind Ollic, probably the wet dream.

presume you refer to that spring run of 6 wins and 5 defeats in 11 games?

tbh i only meant van gaal's united teams, in which the thing was all about getting it into rooney facing the play to come short and pop off, playing within a box in front of the opposition area. for me the variation with mourinho is that he offers more freedom to the supporting attackers, which in turn allows the 9 a touch more freedom. the trade off for this freedom - which we all accept is his clearly stated philosophy - is that if they consistently fail to deliver they have nowhere to hide. personally i'm fine with mourinho digging them out for not delivering goals. but by the same token the fact is we've replaced one problem striker with another, and despite the obvious step up in class with the one we're running with this season compared to last, it hasn't helped the team much overall and was never likely to. a season of progress for the youngsters seems to have been frustrated, though I guess we'll know for sure in season 2 - assuming they aren't pushed further down the pecking order in the summer.

Originally Posted by marlo

it's never the players faults unless it's the hugely unpopular ones....

the general line being trotted out by you idiots now is mourinho is a shithouse for calling our 4 attacking players who couldn't score a goal against a team who concede a average of 1.5 goals per game away from home...

When did west brom turn into a great Italian defensive team that it would unfair to ask 4 international forwards at a top European club to score a goal....

on one hand you guys claim rashford and co are good enough but then it's unfair to actually expect them to deliver....

the truth is the players you guys rate in theory don't seem to be delivering in reality and it's about time a manager called them out.
"Oh they haven't played there much this season"
"West brom are just so good at breaking up attacks"

Never the players...
When will the player we bought for 60m actually step up and win us a game, or be a constant and genuine threat ? Or is he still having problems with his girlfriend... Compare and contrast him to sane at City who is a constant threat every game...
When will the huge talent you guys claim rashford is actually you know show that talent... Hasn't score since September in the league and is hardly making a case which would see another big club come in for him the way we are circling that youngster Monaco...?
Mhiki can have a off day as he is proven quality and had a track record we can look back at ..
Lingard deserves nothing to match the type of player he is.

maybe just maybe...the players we talk up and pray big bad mourinho don't ruin aren't actually good enough and ironically enough are consistently proving they aren't.

Originally Posted by marlo

I agree , strikers find it easier when they had players like sterling and sane moving around , playing quick little passes and playing off each other.

sterling and sane, guess who the like for like players in our team would be...
Yep the two that every excuse under the sun is rolled out to justify or excuse the fact they are both are playing poorly. Sterling and Sane play in wide positions and threaten, use their pace positively and harm opposition where as we have players with similar attributes not performing but that's because they aren't playing the right position nothing tondo with them actually not playing well.

the reason the premiership is so competitive is because the defences are not very good, which is why zlatan has marched in at 35 and not found it hard to score goals yet he is holding back the amazing young players we have who can't score

Some of you guys

Originally Posted by Tumescent Throb

we had more than enough chances to win all those games though. i can't defend the performances because by definition we didn't do enough. but they should all have been wins based on what we actually produced, nqat.



presume you refer to that spring run of 6 wins and 5 defeats in 11 games?

tbh i only meant van gaal's united teams, in which the thing was all about getting it into rooney facing the play to come short and pop off, playing within a box in front of the opposition area. for me the variation with mourinho is that he offers more freedom to the supporting attackers, which in turn allows the 9 a touch more freedom. the trade off for this freedom - which we all accept is his clearly stated philosophy - is that if they consistently fail to deliver they have nowhere to hide. personally i'm fine with mourinho digging them out for not delivering goals. but by the same token the fact is we've replaced one problem striker with another, and despite the obvious step up in class with the one we're running with this season compared to last, it hasn't helped the team much overall and was never likely to. a season of progress for the youngsters seems to have been frustrated, though I guess we'll know for sure in season 2 - assuming they aren't pushed further down the pecking order in the summer.

The run of six wins that basically secured top four, after which we switched off.

Nailing down top four with a month to spare. Dark days indeed

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

The run of six wins that basically secured top four, after which we switched off.

Nailing down top four with a month to spare. Dark days indeed

Nailing down top four with a month to spare?


The time we beat Crystal Palace in May, 3 games before the season ended?


Or, the time we needed a win, on our second last game of the season, but bottled it (again) and let our rivals take it from us?

Originally Posted by Clarkie

Nailing down top four with a month to spare?


The time we beat Crystal Palace in May, 3 games before the season ended?

Top four was done long before the mathematics, pal. Was a comfy end to the season.

Originally Posted by S/Side.Red

Top four was done long before the mathematics, pal. Was a comfy end to the season.

Standard was much, much lower.

Originally Posted by saffers

Standard was much, much lower.

Surely we're chasing the Dippers and Fraudiola this year? Can't believe our luck.

Originally Posted by Ranier Wolfcastle

TFM looked as bright as Rashford last season.

Hasn't had a look in despite Moyes' legacy blundering about in midfield giving away last minute penalties.

Depressing.

How many, exactly? Is the plural even justified here??

I am no Fellaini fan and will be mightly pleased when he is finally moved on. But this is a slightly strange take IMO.

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

How many, exactly? Is the plural even justified here??

I am no Fellaini fan and will be mightly pleased when he is finally moved on. But this is a slightly strange take IMO.

Watford. Two.

Originally Posted by andyroo

Watford. Two.

Ah, OK - I had given up watching that utter holocaust before the end tbh.

One that actually mattered, then.

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

Ah, OK - I had given up watching that utter holocaust before the end tbh.

One that actually mattered, then.

That mattered too. There was time to score a goal. We know because they did.