Brighton v Manchester United Official Match Thread 8:15pm 29/6/20

Originally Posted by Swagger

I remember when we used to expect to beat the leagues cannon fodder by 3 goals.

Lads, it's Brighton.

ffs

of course, but the amount of times we've pathetically rolled over for shite like brighton in recent years is a testament to how mediocre we've been. 3-0 wins against teams of that calibre is a sign of improvement, all things considered.

as is doing the double over the likes of city and chelsea.

Originally Posted by Swagger

I remember when we used to expect to beat the leagues cannon fodder by 3 goals.

Lads, it's Brighton.

ffs

It’s been seven years pal, you may have noticed we’re not as good as we once were.

All this and Sanchez still to return

What a great performance. What a counter attack. Love it.

Greenwood is class, what an absolute stonking player he's going to be, and what a front line we have. Three extremely talented, pacey attackers, and the eldest is only 24

Also, Shaw has really impressed me since the restart. He's been getting pelters but imo he's been putting in some of the best wing back performances we've seen for a while. Although he doesn't look it, his fitness seems to be at a good level. I thought he was fantastic last night.

Still got a few players that need to find their feet again after the restart ( The Scottish Player and Rashford), hopefully they can get in the rythm again in the next couple of games when we'll need the whole squad firing for the run in.

What a man Ole is. He's turned a squad full of individuals that couldn't even be motivated by their massive wage packets, to a proper team that are playing for each other and the club. And the smile has never left his face. He's set the standard and the players have answered. Think Matic is a good example of this. Imo Ole was more than willing to give everyone at the club at least a chance if they wanted to stay, but there was a minimum expectation in terms of fitness and ability. Matic couldn't cut it with his fitness and was left out of the first 11 for a time, and iirc there were some rumblings from his camp about leaving the club. But he's worked on it and now he looks sharp, in shape and happy, and is an automatic starter based on his performances. Didn't he cover the second most ground in our team yesterday behind Bruno Imagine that a year ago.

Just got to pray that Bruno and Pogba can stay fit for the remainder of the season

Think Evra summed it up well for me - what we’ve been crying out for for years are players with the right mentality. Bruno is the best example of that - exceptional talent but someone who commands respect because of his attitude and positive approach. Not a Keane style everyone’s scared type obvs but vitally important for a team. Someone who other players are desperate not to let down.

I think McGuire’s been important in that regard - just adding some mental steel to the whole thing. rashers and Scot McTom too.

When you look at our squads over the last 5 seasons, there’s practically nobody that you could point to with anything like the right mental attributes. And in many cases, the complete wrong attributes.

Really feels like it’s all coming together nicely and with a few additions we’ll be able to kick onto the next level very soon.

Greenwood is going to be a star

How good was Matic again btw, that pass to set up the counter was incredible

Originally Posted by AK14

Really feels like it’s all coming together nicely and with a few additions we’ll be able to kick onto the next level very soon.

Greenwood is going to be a star

How good was Matic again btw, that pass to set up the counter was incredible

https://twitter.com/EastStandRed87/status/1278223735913406464

That last goal was a throwback to United of old, quick thinking, good passes at pace done with complete faith that the person receiving the pass was good enough.

The other thing I noticed was that as soon as Matic hit the ball forward all the forwards were breaking their necks to get into the box, I think when the ball went in there were four United players in there, great to see that level of desire which has been missing for too long

Originally Posted by Parlabane

That last goal was a throwback to United of old, quick thinking, good passes at pace done with complete faith that the person receiving the pass was good enough.

The other thing I noticed was that as soon as Matic hit the ball forward all the forwards were breaking their necks to get into the box, I think when the ball went in there were four United players in there, great to see that level of desire which has been missing for too long

Watch Rashford absolutely belting forwards. They all ran into different spots.

Originally Posted by redhegemony

Watch Rashford absolutely belting forwards. They all ran into different spots.

Rashford draws the space for Bruno.

It's such a simple thing, but something we've failed to do so often.

You watch Liverpool and City over the last 2 or 3 years and they do simple things like that so well: they work their arse off, they pack the box, they make up ground on counter attacks.

The improvement in quality by adding Pogba and Bruno is undeniable, but there's clearly been a clear shift in work rate and desire to get into the box.

You watch martial's second goal against Sheff U and they're queuing up. You've got Maguire getting in where it hurts 127 mins in against Norwich. Martial, Ighalo getting 'poacher's goals'. Even little things like AWB pass to Greenwood is a more progressive ball than simply knocking it back inside to Pogba. It immediately gets a talented player into a position where he can do damage.

It ain't rocket science.

For the best part of 7 years since Fergie left we have consistently failed to move the ball with any pace, commit numbers into the box and have been so cautious. You just can't do that any expect to put teams under any concerted pressure.

It has a knock on effect through the team too. The opposition look rattled again. Struggling to get out their own half, so when they do get the ball, it's few and far between and they often give it straight back. We were barely under any pressure in the last two league games.

Long may it continue.

I think the clearest change has been getting a couple of true leaders on the pitch - players who could lead by a combination of personality, performance and expectation. Watching the body language of Maguire and Fernandes interacting with the others you get the impression they have absolutely no problem playing bad cop if the others are not doing their jobs. As good as he is, Pogba won’t bring that; nor will De Gea, Smalling, Lukaku, Sanchez, Shaw or any of the others we’ve bought in the last six years. Schweinsteiger had the potential to be that man, but he was unfamiliar with the club and could no longer lead by example; he was finished.

The reason for most optimism is that it appears Ole realised immediately what we needed most and went about sorting it. Contrast with Arsenal who’ve been crying out for a certain type for over a decade but keep bringing in the opposite - like Ozil - and wonder why they’re still spineless.

Maguire and Fernandes make everyone else better. As such they were both worth much more than we paid. If Ole gets us CL, either through the league or Europa, he should immediately be re-upped at a level more in touch with the PL’s best managers.

Originally Posted by utd99

I think the clearest change has been getting a couple of true leaders on the pitch - players who could lead by a combination of personality, performance and expectation. Watching the body language of Maguire and Fernandes interacting with the others you get the impression they have absolutely no problem playing bad cop if the others are not doing their jobs. As good as he is, Pogba won’t bring that; nor will De Gea, Smalling, Lukaku, Sanchez, Shaw or any of the others we’ve bought in the last six years. Schweinsteiger had the potential to be that man, but he was unfamiliar with the club and could no longer lead by example; he was finished.

The reason for most optimism is that it appears Ole realised immediately what we needed most and went about sorting it. Contrast with Arsenal who’ve been crying out for a certain type for over a decade but keep bringing in the opposite - like Ozil - and wonder why they’re still spineless.

Maguire and Fernandes make everyone else better. As such they were both worth much more than we paid. If Ole gets us CL, either through the league or Europa, he should immediately be re-upped at a level more in touch with the PL’s best managers.

Agree re Bruno and Slabbo. Transformed the spine of the team by giving it some spine.

Not sure why you'd want to give Ole a rise for CL football though. It's the bare minimum expected and it's not like he'll be angling for a move elsewhere anyway.

Originally Posted by atticusgrinch

Agree re Bruno and Slabbo. Transformed the spine of the team by giving it some spine.

Not sure why you'd want to give Ole a rise for CL football though. It's the bare minimum expected and it's not like he'll be angling for a move elsewhere anyway.

Not essential, but would be a recognition of the job thus far and optimism for the future. We’re Man Utd; we can afford to pay him more than half what Mourinho gets for sucking the life out of clubs or Brendan Rodgers.

Originally Posted by utd99

I think the clearest change has been getting a couple of true leaders on the pitch - players who could lead by a combination of personality, performance and expectation. Watching the body language of Maguire and Fernandes interacting with the others you get the impression they have absolutely no problem playing bad cop if the others are not doing their jobs. As good as he is, Pogba won’t bring that; nor will De Gea, Smalling, Lukaku, Sanchez, Shaw or any of the others we’ve bought in the last six years. Schweinsteiger had the potential to be that man, but he was unfamiliar with the club and could no longer lead by example; he was finished.

The reason for most optimism is that it appears Ole realised immediately what we needed most and went about sorting it. Contrast with Arsenal who’ve been crying out for a certain type for over a decade but keep bringing in the opposite - like Ozil - and wonder why they’re still spineless.

Maguire and Fernandes make everyone else better. As such they were both worth much more than we paid. If Ole gets us CL, either through the league or Europa, he should immediately be re-upped at a level more in touch with the PL’s best managers.

Yep, this.

Ole has made no secret of this and it was another stick to beat him with whenever he talked about signing players with the right DNA to play for us.

This was the plus side of appointing someone who played for us, who 'gets us'. He understands that temperament is as important as ability when we're trying to get to the level we want and we're rebuilding.

He's been disciplined enough to not succumb to easy options like Dbayla if he doesn't want to come. He will take his time scouting the likes of Fernandes to ensure he's made of the right stuff. He sold Lukaku, rented out Sanchez and not directly replaced them. That takes balls

Not all his signings will come good because no managers ever do, but if you look at all of them:

Maguire
James
AWB
Fernandes
Ighalo

They are all one or many of a leader, a grafter humble and hungry. They all want to be here.

Then there's the lads he's brought in or shown faith in from the youth set up.

Williams
Greenwood
The Scottish Player

All hard workers and with a bit of personality.

Improving the culture, the dressing room and making it Man United again can seem like a saccharine concept aimed at appeasing fans and buying time, but we're seeing that there is something to it and it's been the biggest shift since he's been here IMO.

As much as I hate them, I see parallels with Liverpool and Klopp. He was laughed at for open top bus parades for 2-2 draws at home, but he was positive, had a type of player he wanted, didnt waver from that and gradually added quality over time.

Now, he has a side that will run through walls, knows exactly what it's job is, has quality peppered throughout and has characters punching above their weight. They've gone from 7th, to 4th, to CL winners and Champions in 5 years.

We've a way to go and we have to guard against getting overexcited, but the signs are there and the addition of Fernandes have shown that you can get to the next stages or progress a lot faster than you think.

We've done it ourselves too. In 05 and 06, we seemed light years behind chelsea and were pitching o shea and giggs in centre mid. By 2008 we had the best side in Europe.

Well said.

Originally Posted by utd99

Well said.

Thanks. Tired now.

Originally Posted by Dr Stranger

Thanks. Tired now.

Didn’t read tbf; just looked good with all that spacing.

Originally Posted by utd99

Didn’t read tbf; just looked good with all that spacing.

I had my suspicions, because I praised Lingard halfway through

Originally Posted by Dr Stranger

Now, he has a side that will run through walls, knows exactly what it's job is, has quality peppered throughout and has characters punching above their weight. They've gone from 7th, to 4th, to CL winners and Champions in 5 years.

We've a way to go and we have to guard against getting overexcited, but the signs are there and the addition of Fernandes have shown that you can get to the next stages or progress a lot faster than you think.

We've done it ourselves too. In 05 and 06, we seemed light years behind chelsea and were pitching o shea and giggs in centre mid. By 2008 we had the best side in Europe.

Spot on.

I don't get this notion that it will take years. I know Liverpool and City are brilliant atm but their standards will drop a bit and if we keep improving the gap will close.

People forget that 04-07 period. Fergie built a brilliant new side when we looked pretty far away. Winning the first one in 07 with the newer side.

It will take time because of the age of the key components and their having to mature into consistency.