Ratings & Reactions: LC3: Man Utd v Villa

[TomC]

6 hours ago, TRO said:

It seems to me, that in terms of cover....our recruitment is poor.

I wouldn't say it's poor. We've had some very good cover signings recently. Donck has been a very good addition; Young has been wonderful cover at multiple positions; Chambers always looked good until last night. We don't have the depth of a Man U yet, and it shows in the fact that our best XI beat their best XI (minus Fernandes) followed by our half-second team losing to their half-second team. But it's hard to justify buying cover at their level unless you have matches to justify it and to keep the players happy. They do because they're in Europe.

Sometimes the best cover is bringing in young players. As I said earlier in the thread, I understand why Unai didn't bring Archer on yesterday, but let's hope we see more of them in opportunities like this. And let's not kid ourselves...I don't think we have any youngster in the pipeline as impressive as Garnacho was last night.

 

[sheepyvillian]

7 hours ago, TRO said:

That has to be addressed....its gone on for too long.

Crazy how some  got ahead of themselves after Saturday's performance. How could anyone honestly think that some or our recent woeful performances have not been down to the shortcomings of some of these players. 

Still that's not to assume that the manager should be pardoned of any criticism. I didn't see the need for most of them substitutions. Why didn't he just take McGinn and Ramsey off and bring on Nakamba and Morgan and pull the shutters down, like he did in the first - half. He proved at the weekend he is tactically adept so I'm a bit frustrated that he disrupted our cohesion and concentration by making so many changes.

But that doesn't excuse yet another head dropping reaction to adversity and fixing that problem, for me, has to be the priority amongst the backroom team. 

I feel for the goalkeeper, but, tbh,  everytime he's played he hasn't looked confident which is strange. I sometimes question our communication too, many times we have conceded corners, throw- ins and free - kicks because players are unsure of their whereabouts. 

TRO, we're talking basics, they should be a given, it's those basics that provide the foundation for any team being built towards success and it's time that the penny dropped for some of these players. McGinn suddenly looks like he's passed his sell by date, Ings and Watkins are not the level we hope to aspire to.Also If we're going to play with such a high line and distribute from the back, I'm afraid, Mings is not the defender we require, imo

[onmeedson]

Our part timers were asked to play two games in a week and ran out of steam in the second half. Man u put a bit of pace on and showed up how slow our central defence are and how bad they read the game. Bambi on ice made to turn a bit sharpish and game over, they were left to cope and Unai learnt the task that awaits him. 

 

[thunderball]

That back 5 is not how we are likely to line up again, we have spent nearly £100m on players who get in ahead of them. It’s really a nothing match, all that matters is an improved performances game on game and points in the league for this season.

Hopefully Emery is learning all the time as are the players so we improve over this season. Man Utd at home was never going to be easy, there were positives in that game, I wouldn’t get too down

[sheepyvillian]

2 hours ago, thunderball said:

That back 5 is not how we are likely to line up again, we have spent nearly £100m on players who get in ahead of them. It’s really a nothing match, all that matters is an improved performances game on game and points in the league for this season.

Hopefully Emery is learning all the time as are the players so we improve over this season. Man Utd at home was never going to be easy, there were positives in that game, I wouldn’t get too down

You're correct, no need to feel too disheartened about last night. It just felt like the game was there to be won, if only we had boxed a little clever.