Spurs v Manchester United - 5:30pm 19/08/23 - Official Match Thread

michael oliver is the most gutless little homer of a ref in existence.

Originally Posted by Finport Red

You’ll get more sense out of Father Jack Hackett than that @#%&!.

Get more sense out of Morten Harket tbf

Originally Posted by magic_cantona

I don't mean complaining. I'm complaining and moaning. It's the #@&%!s that are absolutely delighted we've lost (or, they think it's a great wum to carry on about sacking the manager after beating Wolves).

Complaining and being angry are absolutely fine.

I agree. let's put on an over sized shirt and look hard done by

The most depressing aspect is how limited we are to change this mess. As Quayders said, all we have to bring in is a young striker, unproven at this level.

If we don't bring in another 2 players we're going to struggle. The manager so far going all out on Mount, which isn't working.

I can't believe how light we look, like the squad is down to the bones, but it isn't.

Same shit different year this.

I think I said it during the match but we played like we were 2-0 up when it was 0-0. Very self-indulgent. We were the better side but spurs deserved the 3 points. They did the basics right while we were trying to score points for artistry.

Not excusing players that did play because some of them were appalling, without getting into specifics but … we have 2x strikers who look made for each other - one is injured before he has even kicked a ball for us and the less said, the better about the other one. Mainoo has excelled in pre-season, maybe beyond expectations and looked like making the starting XI before getting himself injured. I’d expect the the three of them would have made a difference. Then there’s these disgusting owners… beginning to think we’re £#%&!ing cursed.

Originally Posted by Denis Irwell

Not excusing players that did play because some of them were appalling, without getting into specifics but … we have 2x strikers who look made for each other - one is injured before he has even kicked a ball for us and the less said, the better about the other one. Mainoo has excelled in pre-season, maybe beyond expectations and looked like making the starting XI before getting himself injured. I’d expect the the three of them would have made a difference. Added to this, we’ve got these disgusting owners… beginning to think we’re £#%&!ing cursed.

says it all that some kid we'd never heard about getting injured is derailing our entire season.

Originally Posted by Denis Irwell

Not excusing players that did play because some of them were appalling, without getting into specifics but … we have 2x strikers who look made for each other - one is injured before he has even kicked a ball for us and the less said, the better about the other one. Mainoo has excelled in pre-season, maybe beyond expectations and looked like making the starting XI before getting himself injured. I’d expect the the three of them would have made a difference. Then there’s these disgusting owners… beginning to think we’re £#%&!ing cursed.

It’s a big ask pinning our hopes on an 18 year old CM and 20 year old striker. It should never be this way.

If one of them gets injured does this mean the team reverts to type? I think it’s looking more and more naive that they went after mount before that CM. In a time where we were restricted by a budget , why go after the number 8? Even if mount comes good and shows us he can be a quality player ( as so far it’s nothing)

He needs a CM behind him to control or dictate the game. I hope casemiro gets going after a few games and we haven’t just got one season out of him. Once he has a proper CM partner his game should excel too.

Naivety in the window again. We signed a lightweight Eriksen last season, who actually was great but clearly wasn’t the fit for CM for the whole seaosn and we seem to have done something similar with mount. Atleast Eriksen has a passing range.

I hope to god Mount proves me wrong but he has shown nothing since preseason in what he can actually bring. Even if his best attributes are linking up in tight spaces in the final third and offering a high energy press , all of that is negated if we have no CM to help as cover or even give him the ball in the final third.

The balance of the team looks off. It is only two games and they will get better. But we look like two injuries ( hojlund and Casemiro) from having no real viable options in those positions. Hopefully we buy by the end of the window. But it’s pretty much the same old story that United have been the cause to their own struggle.

A looming takeover that’s been dragged on due to greed and whatever else. No communication from the owners and an absolute shitshow that can only happen to us. Uncertainties with funds, debt all leading to a lack of stability.

Carrying out a 6-7month long “investigation “ on greenwood, making it worse the longer it goes on. Then after all the time and effort that went into it making a decision that ultimately gets backtracked on after a few days because of public perception (rightly so) . Took them 7 months to make the wrong decision only to change it within days. Within that process branding domestic abuse charities as “hostile”

The last two points have nothing to do with the actual football but trying to make the point that higher ups are so inept, pathetic and out of touch that bad decision making will filter it’s way down .

The club is still a mess and will be along as those rat bastards will be here. A few games in we should be a better footballing outfit, most of them look unfit .

Maybe switch mount to the right. Bring in Eriksen/The Scottish Player/new CM next to Casemiro. Introduce hojlund and have a proper striker to play off and things will get better. It’s early doors, but we can’t keep making these mistakes

Slept in it, it wasn't half as bad as some are making out.....

Penalty
Bruno header
Rashford header
Antony post

First half we should have been ahead and on the front foot coming out for the second....
.we weren't and I'm afraid that's football....

A better start than last season and look where we ended up, the micro negativity around every single 90 minutes if football is tiresome but a product of the modern fan, reporting and 12 second video feeds...

Originally Posted by Bunker Buster

Slept in it, it wasn't half as bad as some are making out.....

Penalty
Bruno header
Rashford header
Antony post

First half we should have been ahead and on the front foot coming out for the second....
.we weren't and I'm afraid that's football....

A better start than last season and look where we ended up, the micro negativity around every single 90 minutes if football is tiresome but a product of the modern fan, reporting and 12 second video feeds...

Spot on.

Seeking to make any kind of concrete conclusions 2 games into a new season is crazy. I remember the days when we used to laugh at pundits writing us off so soon. Now a large portion of our fans seems to scramble to be the first to do so, or the to be the most damning.

Which is not to say criticism isn’t justified, I think other than half an hour yesterday we’ve looked very poor tbh. There’s a difference between voicing concerns and writing off the team, manager and indeed season after 2 games ffs.

Originally Posted by Bunker Buster

Slept in it, it wasn't half as bad as some are making out.....

Penalty
Bruno header
Rashford header
Antony post

First half we should have been ahead and on the front foot coming out for the second....
.we weren't and I'm afraid that's football....

A better start than last season and look where we ended up, the micro negativity around every single 90 minutes if football is tiresome but a product of the modern fan, reporting and 12 second video feeds...

That last bit is definitely true. But there’s valid concerns in the noisy shit.

Last couple of times we played great? Last couple of good performances?

Anyone playing well consistently? Seems like we’ve been in a bit of a rut since around feb and the summer activity isn’t filling people with confidence

These are also fair concerns, we look like we need a decent performance and to go on a run .....

I'm not worried about the manager and certain players though, yet....

We need to get rasmus up to speed, pronto

(Took arsenal to the sword in pre season)

Originally Posted by Dasilvatwins

It’s a big ask pinning our hopes on an 18 year old CM and 20 year old striker. It should never be this way.

If one of them gets injured does this mean the team reverts to type? I think it’s looking more and more naive that they went after mount before that CM. In a time where we were restricted by a budget , why go after the number 8? Even if mount comes good and shows us he can be a quality player ( as so far it’s nothing)

He needs a CM behind him to control or dictate the game. I hope casemiro gets going after a few games and we haven’t just got one season out of him. Once he has a proper CM partner his game should excel too.

Naivety in the window again. We signed a lightweight Eriksen last season, who actually was great but clearly wasn’t the fit for CM for the whole seaosn and we seem to have done something similar with mount. Atleast Eriksen has a passing range.

I hope to god Mount proves me wrong but he has shown nothing since preseason in what he can actually bring. Even if his best attributes are linking up in tight spaces in the final third and offering a high energy press , all of that is negated if we have no CM to help as cover or even give him the ball in the final third.

The balance of the team looks off. It is only two games and they will get better. But we look like two injuries ( hojlund and Casemiro) from having no real viable options in those positions. Hopefully we buy by the end of the window. But it’s pretty much the same old story that United have been the cause to their own struggle.

A looming takeover that’s been dragged on due to greed and whatever else. No communication from the owners and an absolute shitshow that can only happen to us. Uncertainties with funds, debt all leading to a lack of stability.

Carrying out a 6-7month long “investigation “ on greenwood, making it worse the longer it goes on. Then after all the time and effort that went into it making a decision that ultimately gets backtracked on after a few days because of public perception (rightly so) . Took them 7 months to make the wrong decision only to change it within days. Within that process branding domestic abuse charities as “hostile”

The last two points have nothing to do with the actual football but trying to make the point that higher ups are so inept, pathetic and out of touch that bad decision making will filter it’s way down .

The club is still a mess and will be along as those rat bastards will be here. A few games in we should be a better footballing outfit, most of them look unfit .

Maybe switch mount to the right. Bring in Eriksen/The Scottish Player/new CM next to Casemiro. Introduce hojlund and have a proper striker to play off and things will get better. It’s early doors, but we can’t keep making these mistakes

Originally Posted by Bunker Buster

Slept in it, it wasn't half as bad as some are making out.....

Penalty
Bruno header
Rashford header
Antony post

First half we should have been ahead and on the front foot coming out for the second....
.we weren't and I'm afraid that's football....

A better start than last season and look where we ended up, the micro negativity around every single 90 minutes if football is tiresome but a product of the modern fan, reporting and 12 second video feeds...

It wasn't great. We were the better team for 30 mins and then...looked like a bottom half team against a Spurs team that likely won't make top six.
Pointing to the misses we had doesn't make it any better. We just don't seem to have goals in the team.

Of course too early to write off the season but the right time to point out we have a lot of issues right now. One of the most glaring for me is how weak the squad looks. Two games in and we have nothing coming off the bench (Sancho aside). Martial? Squad is still fun of players who were never good enough and who we are desperate to sell (Maguire, Donny, mcT, etc.)

Originally Posted by Ethers

Spot on.

Seeking to make any kind of concrete conclusions 2 games into a new season is crazy. I remember the days when we used to laugh at pundits writing us off so soon. Now a large portion of our fans seems to scramble to be the first to do so, or the to be the most damning.

Which is not to say criticism isn’t justified, I think other than half an hour yesterday we’ve looked very poor tbh. There’s a difference between voicing concerns and writing off the team, manager and indeed season after 2 games ffs.

We used to laugh at pundits writing us off because we were an all conquering juggernaut, huge difference.

Really concerning start to the season. Like most people l imagine, my first reaction to the links with Mount were wtf. We are so lightweight all over the pitch and l really fear the pressure that is going to be put on our new striker.

We shouldn’t be in this position with the money that has been spent.

Originally Posted by Ethers

Spot on.

Seeking to make any kind of concrete conclusions 2 games into a new season is crazy. I remember the days when we used to laugh at pundits writing us off so soon. Now a large portion of our fans seems to scramble to be the first to do so, or the to be the most damning.

Which is not to say criticism isn’t justified, I think other than half an hour yesterday we’ve looked very poor tbh. There’s a difference between voicing concerns and writing off the team, manager and indeed season after 2 games ffs.

Tbf it’s only Marlo writing off the season, unless I’ve missed a few posts other have made.

We need to sign a midfielder and forward while also clearing the deadwood before the window closes.

Going into the season with only a 19 year old unknown as first team striker is setting the manager up to fail imo.

Originally Posted by Dasilvatwins

It’s a big ask pinning our hopes on an 18 year old CM and 20 year old striker. It should never be this way.

If one of them gets injured does this mean the team reverts to type? I think it’s looking more and more naive that they went after mount before that CM. In a time where we were restricted by a budget , why go after the number 8? Even if mount comes good and shows us he can be a quality player ( as so far it’s nothing)

He needs a CM behind him to control or dictate the game. I hope casemiro gets going after a few games and we haven’t just got one season out of him. Once he has a proper CM partner his game should excel too.

Naivety in the window again. We signed a lightweight Eriksen last season, who actually was great but clearly wasn’t the fit for CM for the whole seaosn and we seem to have done something similar with mount. Atleast Eriksen has a passing range.

I hope to god Mount proves me wrong but he has shown nothing since preseason in what he can actually bring. Even if his best attributes are linking up in tight spaces in the final third and offering a high energy press , all of that is negated if we have no CM to help as cover or even give him the ball in the final third.

The balance of the team looks off. It is only two games and they will get better. But we look like two injuries ( hojlund and Casemiro) from having no real viable options in those positions. Hopefully we buy by the end of the window. But it’s pretty much the same old story that United have been the cause to their own struggle.

A looming takeover that’s been dragged on due to greed and whatever else. No communication from the owners and an absolute shitshow that can only happen to us. Uncertainties with funds, debt all leading to a lack of stability.

Carrying out a 6-7month long “investigation “ on greenwood, making it worse the longer it goes on. Then after all the time and effort that went into it making a decision that ultimately gets backtracked on after a few days because of public perception (rightly so) . Took them 7 months to make the wrong decision only to change it within days. Within that process branding domestic abuse charities as “hostile”

The last two points have nothing to do with the actual football but trying to make the point that higher ups are so inept, pathetic and out of touch that bad decision making will filter it’s way down .

The club is still a mess and will be along as those rat bastards will be here. A few games in we should be a better footballing outfit, most of them look unfit .

Maybe switch mount to the right. Bring in Eriksen/The Scottish Player/new CM next to Casemiro. Introduce hojlund and have a proper striker to play off and things will get better. It’s early doors, but we can’t keep making these mistakes

So, we play him to supposedly an unaccustomed role to support Cas.

Love big Erik and I’m assuming he has a fair bit of say with recruiting, but tbf, it isn’t as simple as replacing nearly the whole team and everything takes time to knit together. Not long ago AWB was being called “useless “ until we actually found a rw to accompany him. Now Antony is being called useless because he has no £#%&!er to play the ball to when he progresses to the oppo area. Maybe he needs a bit of a hand there. Even on the lw, now we are getting Shaw being asked to tuck in rather than support the lw and Guess what? Garnacho/Rashford are suddenly useless. Seems to me, we need to get the personnel right before embark new systems with square pegs in round holes. No wonder he’s pissed off with Slab because he can’t get Amrabat with him still stinking the place out. If we only had Mainoo and a couple of strikers available… we did ok last season even though we were on our last legs. We can’t have gone backwards because we’ve let Ddg and Fred go. The grand tour of the US with no regard to preparation for the platers hasn’t helped… oh, and @#%&!ing refs don’t help.

Originally Posted by Ethers

Seeking to make any kind of concrete conclusions 2 games into a new season is crazy.

pretending this is about two games is crazy. it's as if no one could know how 10h likes to set his team up or what sort of a talent mount is. the team is unbalanced and it shows in the way teams run through our midfield. the same criticisms were made last season.

Originally Posted by Ethers

There’s a difference between voicing concerns and writing off the team, manager and indeed season after 2 games ffs.

yes, but you don't understand what it is.

we should have bought according to our priorities, if money is short. the window is still open. we need midfield options.

obviously, if we'd taken a couple of our chances, we'd have won. we won on monday. it's not about the results; it's about the #@&%!ed set-up. it will not bring success. we're lucky we've played two shit teams.

Originally Posted by Denis Irwell

So, we play him to supposedly an unaccustomed role to support Cas.

Love big Erik and I’m assuming he has a fair bit of say with recruiting, but tbf, it isn’t as simple as replacing nearly the whole team and everything takes time to knit together. Not long ago AWB was being called “useless “ until we actually found a rw to accompany him. Now Antony is being called useless because he has no £#%&!er to play the ball to when he progresses to the oppo area. Maybe he needs a bit of a hand there. Even on the lw, now we are getting Shaw being asked to tuck in rather than support the lw and Guess what? Garnacho/Rashford are suddenly useless. Seems to me, we need to get the personnel right before embark new systems with square pegs in round holes. No wonder he’s pissed off with Slab because he can’t get Amrabat with him still stinking the place out. If we only had Mainoo and a couple of strikers available… we did ok last season even though we were on our last legs. We can’t have gone backwards because we’ve let Ddg and Fred go. The grand tour of the US with no regard to preparation for the platers hasn’t helped… oh, and @#%&!ing refs don’t help.

They’re a much better team than what we have seen. Even Martinez is doing things he wouldn’t normally do. He’s come back from a big injury. Even before hojlund comes back he has to work out a way to play rashford on the left in his best position.

Thing with mount is he doesn’t seem like a player we needed to improve the first team. We needed a GK CM and ST. Of course we need to bulk up squad depth . But if you’re on a tight budget you want your main positions sorted before you go after the players like mount who would help complete a squad.

I think The Scottish Player VDB Bailey are on the way out. They aren’t making yhe team and realistically we need to get 30 mill from somewhere with Amrabat.

Most of the players just don’t look sharp. First half was actually an improvement on wolves but we just couldn’t finish. Second half , maybe the legs went ? I don’t know, you expect more and should do from a lot of these players.

Hojlund, I have lower expectations. He’s young you can’t expect him to come in and score 20-30 goals. The whole team need to help chip in.

Antony has been hit and miss. He has raw talent and in moments really looks like he can skip past the defender with ease. Other moments he looks incredible predictable and his shooting is wayward. There’s a player in him. But it’s his second season at Manchester United, standards and levels increase.

I hope Casemiro just needs mins. We will find out after 3-4 more games. Atleast on one positive Onana looks like a real good signing .