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Donny

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posted on 15/9/21

Just let him leave now, ruining his career for a few mins here and there.

Pointless signing by a manager that's out of his depth. He will excel as a number 10 somewhere one he can get free from Ole.

posted on 15/9/21

He might excel as a 10 somewhere else but he isn’t as good as Bruno. I was all for getting him in as back up and to give us options, the problem is Ole simply doesn’t rest Bruno.

posted on 15/9/21

comment by manutd1982 (U6633)
posted 57 seconds ago
He might excel as a 10 somewhere else but he isn’t as good as Bruno. I was all for getting him in as back up and to give us options, the problem is Ole simply doesn’t rest Bruno.
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This is how I see it.

posted on 15/9/21

He was a victim of the circumstances last night more than anything. You don't play Donny and Pogba in a 2 when you're down to 10 men against anyone. Nowhere near solid enough. Ole didn't have much choice for me.

posted on 15/9/21

First, I'll make it clear that I'm not a United fan but I can see some general patterns coming out in posts.

Firstly, I think your squad is now close to being perfect - not for the incorporation of Ronaldo, who is class, but for Varane. He is the top centre back you've been missing since Vidic and Maguire is solid enough to partner him.

Secondly, up front you have an embarrassment of riches, almost too many players. You probably should have let Mata go, great pro and person that he is, he offers little to what you already have. I just hope Greenwood gets more game time as he looks absolute class.

Your problems are in midfield where you are a player short imo. The problem is that I read comments about how good Van Der Beek is - based on what exactly? Had any of you really seen him play before he joined United? He was an above average midfielder in a team which dominates a below average league.

The key to your midfield is getting the best out of Matic to compensate for the creative and attacking flair of your other central players. The problem you have is that Matic is declining as a footballer and you need a proper sitting player. It's no good expecting Pogba to sit - it's like buying a 100 quid bottle of champagne and mixing it with orange juice. And Fred lacks discipline and ability. I think the money you paid for Sancho would have been much better invested in Rice, Ndidi or Phillips or even Ruben Neves or Verratti.

Saying that, with the quality you have you won't even notice this deficiency in the majority of games in the premier league. What is noticeable is Solskjaer's tactical naivety in some of the more difficult games. You would have won with 11 men last night but it's an away game in the Champion's League, the most important thing is not to lose!

posted on 15/9/21

Saying that, with the quality you have you won't even notice this deficiency in the majority of games in the premier league. What is noticeable is Solskjaer's tactical naivety in some of the more difficult games. You would have won with 11 men last night but it's an away game in the Champion's League, the most important thing is not to lose!
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Agree with this. When you’re down to 10 men, that’s when the manager is tested tactically and frankly, Ole failed, he got it all wrong with the subs and formation. It’s not like we were playing a top tier team, this was a pot 4 team and we were outplayed. Playing for a draw after half time against a 3rd rate team…why?

posted on 15/9/21

Good post, Eric, hard to disagree with much of that.

We have tended to get results in the difficult games in recent seasons with Fred and McT sirring deep and actually being quite disciplined and using Rashford and Martial on the fast counter, it's been the games where we come up against a low block that we've often looked devoid of ideas, hence too many draws. For the money, Neves would have been the buy for me.

posted on 15/9/21

comment by BerbaKing11 (U6256)
posted 7 hours, 18 minutes ago
Thought Donny was having a decent game.

I also think the switch to 3-5-1 was a poor move.

I'd have taken off Pogba or Bruno for a full back and kept the shape as 4-4-1, retaining Sancho's pace and natural acumen for the wide role rather than bringing Bruno across, realising that wasn't going to cut it and then changing it again at half time.
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Bruno off for Dalot was probably the only change we needed to make. We'd have been a lot better off with a flat 4-4-1. But Ole sacrificed balance in order to leave his big names on the pitch, and didn't attempt to rectify that until after the equaliser.

I'm normally of the opinion that people overstate Ole's incompetence when it comes to using his bench, but he got it horribly wrong yesterday.

posted on 15/9/21

"Ole sacrificed balance in order to leave his big names on the pitch"

Agree with that as well, bloodred. That was an ideal time for Sancho to play as an outlet and compress the defence and midfield. Bruno didn't fit anywhere in the shape we took.

comment by IAmMe (U18491)

posted on 15/9/21

Can't really judge any team performance when, for the best part of an hour of that performance, the outfield resources are reduced by 10%.

It's a bad result, no doubt. But emphasises how relying on the idea that re-signing Ronaldo was somehow season defining or a winning campaign strategy.

United need more than just the qualities of Pogba, Maguire, Fred, Fernandes and Cavani/Ronaldo, even players like Varane, Sancho and DvdB will need lots of epl level game time to work out what it is all about. But without a proper keeper, genuine winger options and a genuine striker/centre forward the team/squad/club will remain relatively shapeless and directionless.

posted on 15/9/21

Ole has lost 7 of his last 11 cl games. Let that sink in and tell me he is still the man for the job. How united fans cannot see he is way out of his depth is beyond me. VDB signing just backs that up.

posted on 15/9/21

Not read the replies but I'm pretty sure he's just simply not very good.

posted on 15/9/21

Problem is that Sancho’s performance didn’t give any confidence to the manager. Had he kept Sancho and lost, people would have asked why keeping Sancho when he wasn’t in good form.

posted on 15/9/21

comment by red_evils (U19878)
posted 24 minutes ago
Problem is that Sancho’s performance didn’t give any confidence to the manager. Had he kept Sancho and lost, people would have asked why keeping Sancho when he wasn’t in good form.
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You are in a situation where people expect a lot from Sancho because of the whole saga, the price, the expectation. He's still a young boy with huge potential and he will come good. However, he may not be the "world class" player you were expecting but as a minimum he will be an excellent player for many years. He needs to get used playing for United.

Those talking about Van der Beek - he played a part in 20 games last season, and failed to impress once. Neat, tidy but lightweight. He too may become a good player but more than that I doubt he has the potential.

posted on 15/9/21

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 9 hours, 1 minute ago
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 2 hours, 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
comment by N2 (U22280)
posted 1 minute ago
comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 4 minutes ago
Diafol

It is because we don’t play five at the back properly. We never have. Dalit and Shaw should be further forward than they are.

What we should have done is play two banks of four
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They were always going to get pushed back with us a man down. We should have stuck with the back 4.
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I know..
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It sounded like you expected them to push higher in this game despite being a man light.
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Yes. Fifteen yards higher. I wasn’t expecting them to push too far forwards.



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Fair enough.

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