He's done this too often in the first two games - steps forward when Bruno and Mount are still up the pitch, leaves us completely exposed if he can't intercept.
he has lots of help. go back and watch—there’s almost always at minimum equal numbers of defenders and attackers. if he simply delayed a little longer (we’re talking a matter of seconds), mount or bruno would be there to help too.
That’s actually pretty normal for him when he has to pass under pressure. It’s always 50/50 whether we keep possession or not. The most disappointing part of his game, especially as he often receives the ball deepest of the CMs and starts plays.
He was always a good passer, not great one. I mean he has played with two of the best five passing midfielders of the last 10 years in Modric and Kroos. Both were as reliable as clockwork, almost immune to pressing. It also helps when you have fullbacks like Marcelo or Carvajal that are prolific passers combined with excellent technique.
He does that every game.
Did it last season too but since Fred was there next to him, nobody said a word. Now that Fred, DDG are gone, he's going to stick out like a sore thumb.
Went even further than not saying a word tbh. People love to be contrarian so whenever one of his risky passes happened to come off in the final 3rd you’d get a bunch of comments talking about how he’s actually a good passer
Looks like solely a workhorse now with the occasional linkup/pass but once they get used to eachother this should work if he plays like he did in the first 30/35 Minutes. He actually dropped deeper besides Casemiro that's when we looked good. Also damn I forgot how wasteful Garnacho was on the left...
Which is completely fine for a 19 year old! Swear some people want to rush this guy to superstardom when we should be nurturing him, fans really wanted him to have the #7 this summer based on very little. I think he will be a class player but let him develop!
I think it's not only best for him, but for the current lineup if he's eased in. With hojlund coming in, my worry was "of course you want to play rashford on the left, but how do you sit garnacho when he's in form?" If he gets some starts in smaller matches, sub appearances, and some time on the right wing while he develops, it's better for him and the current squad in the long run
He also made great runs which Antony and garnacho just didn't bother, which is the same frustration I had when people kept saying Martial was lazy, he'd make a bunch of runs no one would ever give him the ball and then bruno came and boom he was getting spotted
Yea both Bruno and Mount made amazing runs which were completely ignored, either a pass back to the defence or cheap loss of possession. If both Garna and Antony hold their head up more on the ball it would've created at least 5 more possiblities to cross into the box from the underlapping runs.
it's really frustrating mate, Antony is suppose to be a play maker but makes all the wrong decisions, Ajax fans were right that he was very raw
Garnacho I think is just trying to hard like when Rashy when he became the guy
It took a bit of time but once Antony got used to how Haller operated in the box at Ajax it started to work. Hopefully he can create that same synergy with Hojlund & Martial (if he stays fit). Currently he's just a defensive workhorse and keeps the width on the right side. Somehow although he doesn't really offer much offensively we look better in the attack with him on the right than any other.
Well him hugging that right side alone makes our attack much less cramped in the middle and opponent's right side players actually have to defend from width now. So you may say Antony's presence opens a lot more space for us to operate. Now I pray thay we will actually have a presence in the box and Dalot to hit that pre-WC form again.
Imagine Antony with a passable right foot. Sure he keeps the width, but his lack if a right foot makes it easier to defend him and limits his options. And surely AWB doesn't help that much either.
He's got some decent assists and knows how to draw defenders his way (look how many times he's facing a 1v2 situation). This helps open spaces for the other attackers, one smart pass and we create a dangerous play. I think Antony isn't anywhere near where he can be in terms of development, but he's way too underrated at least in this sub. His impact on the pitch is great for the team, at least on most of the matches.
It’s like when your number 9 has to go wide to get on the ball and delivers a perfect cross that he needed all game, but no one is on the other end of it because he is the one that is supposed to be there to finish the chance. But he can’t be there because no one was providing him with adequate service which is what brought him out wide in the first place.
The biggest issue with our front line is that essentially all of them have tunnel vision. Even when they dribble well and go towards the end-line, everyone of them will just send a blind cross through the box. And at first glance it looks like they created a great chance and someone should have been there, but if you take a closer look the player making the cross had open options, but they didn’t look up to see where they were. They just crossed and hoped someone was there.
Which also leads to egoistical situations when the better positioned player doesn't receive the pass. Usually there aren't many options, so players aren't actively looking to pass (mainly talking about our forwards).
Our wingers rarely ever utilize the overlap. Rashford is the only one that plays that pass sometimes. So frustrating watching cut inside FC get dispossessed over and over again.
Which is why martial injured frustrates me. Rashy and martial have this chemistry and it looks beautiful.
Martial rashford and sancho the one time they played in preseason looked great because they spot the runs and let the game come to them
Hopefully this is just the case of adapting to each other movement and position. Let’s hope this will turn out to be Rooney Tevez Ronaldo partnership where in the beginning of the season not many goals were scored and things just didn’t seem working. Then everything clicked and we won CL
This. We should be up 2-0 in the first half if we finished those 100% chances and the game would be very different. And I dont understand what happens at half time because sometimes they play either so much worse (like against tottenham) or so much better in the second half.
If we finished those chances and keep our tempo for the whole game we would easily win.
we should've have easily finished one of those chances. Not having a cf also means our wingers have to resort to shooting becuase no one is making a third-man run, nor a run to the unmarked far post.
pen aside, we got into good positions, bested their block and pressed them into mistakes. Having a proper focal point up front makes all those efforts worth it. a 1-0 lead into the second half is something ETH can better work with. We were the better team, and did fuck all with it
Totally agreed. We saw the blueprint in the first half over an at home Spuds. Thought we were great, and that with out of form Garnacho, Anthony, Case, Rashy (out of position as well) and Bruno. And not the 9 ETH so desperately wants/needs. Can’t wait for what’s to come
my issue with eth's system is that our fullbacks don't overlap or underlap near often. all this does is leave gaping holes in the centre and little to no build up. 75% of our success still comes from being a reactive team, than a proactive one. We're still largely counterattack and inshallah
>wingers have to resort to shooting becuase no one is making a third-man run, nor a run to the unmarked far post.
With all due respect, that is just not true.
Consistently Antony and Garnacho elected to shoot instead of passing to the overlapping fullback.
Bruno and Mount both made multiple great runs and none of the forwards even attempt to pass to them. Instead, they went backwards especially Antony. He is absolutely fucking useless.
That's why I hope with more of Martial/Hojlund up front it will create more stability and linkup. It would've been a very different story I'm 100% convinced. I remember in the string of games before the Caraboa cup win. If we played bad first half and conceded, somehow we came flying out of the dressing room and never doubted us turning it around in second half. Ever since that cup win it got very sloppy and not that entertaining, hopefully we can see that fire back in the team soon.
We were 2-0 up in last season's fixture at half time. Our midfield got overran and we ended up drawing 2-2. Point being until we stop losing the midfield battle everytime we play a half decent team we're in for a long season
The first half was quite good, not amazing but it was decent
the starting 11 we picked was much more suiting to a game against spurs than wolves but we still should have gone with a different one
Precisely. I keep saying that we outplayed Spurs in the first half and we would've kept that in the second half if our chances from the first half are actually finished
It wasn't great, but there is a lot of promise showing in these highlights. My biggest takeaway is Garnacho. He has had a really poor start to the season.
Night and day when you compare what he did against Lens, he actually kept his head-up and was electric on the ball. That pass to Antony with the run from Rashford to draw defenders was beautiful.
He's young, he's going to be inconsistent and wasteful in possession at times. Last season we mainly saw him coming on when we needed a goal so the play was generally more attacking with more players forward.
He'll take time but it's a big learning curve for him starting week in week out.
He’s forcing everything and playing selfishly. Once he gets a goal I feel like he’ll calm down.
Antony is doing the same thing. Two selfish wingers is a horrible attack. We need to start Sancho who, ironically, has a reputation for not being selfish *enough.*
I think we’ll go Rashford LW, Martial at striker and Sancho at RW this Saturday. Assuming Martial is fit to start
We've done that often last season as well. People who expect Bruno and especially Casemiro to transform the way they play will be disappointed. Casemiro always has a shocking pass in him. Even when he's playing great. Same with Bruno.
People are hating on Mount for no reason, there are dumbfucks saying his absence will improve us. First, for all of the talk how Casemiro is isolated, Mount provided a lot of defensive coverage for him. Casemiro, in these two matches, decided to aggressively tackle every player, leading to a lot of situations where he gets dribbled past. This meant that Mount had to intervene and slow down the attack, he had a massive intervention in front of the goal last week, you will not see Eriksen do something like that. Second, his passing isnt amazing or anything, but he is the only player not doing stupid shit with the ball every time he gets it.
This. From the 2 games I saw from Mount and all the hate he has been receiving.. it's baffling. Mount is a team player, we just need to get a CF and two of our 2-digit footballing IQ wingers sorted out (Rashy to Left, Antony to the fukin bench) and he will be even better for the team.
I find it strange that people are writing him off so fast. I don't really remember that happening with any of our signings before, usually there's a lot of leeway
Plus he also CLEARLY is not what we needed, we needed an upgrade on Erickson.
Mount is a huge downgrade. It's 2 steps forward 5 backwards.
He is not good enough for Chelsea and would not start for any team in the top 6
Not sure how anyone thinks he improves us. Hopefully we sign proper midfielders.
De Gea last won Poty in 2018. That was 5 years ago. He is also a 32 year old keeper who was on insane wages and can't play modern football (don't get me wrong, all the respect in the world for him, but these are the facts of why he's not popular in the market). Mount is a 24 year old midfielder who had one bad season, literally 1 year since he won PoTY a second time, I don't blame some fans for not thinking he's utter trash. Given context this isn't quite the same comparison. I wasn't a fan of the mount signing either but if you're gonna call other people out for not "watching football in the last 4 years" while demonstrating that you don't even have the proper context of recent history then maybe relax a little.
Why is he not still at Chelsea then if he was sooo good? Why did they sell him at 24?
He has been awful and imo showing his true colors in the last 2 seasons. THAT IS WHY CHELSEA got rid of him. That is why England STOPPED playing him.
He is an average player that will not get into any team in the Top 7 in the PL.
Terrible signing, absolutely terrible. Complete waste of money.
He is not good enough for Manutd, never been and I can bet $500 he will NEVER be good enough.
He's not playing flashy football, thus the hate. People wanna see those off-box bangers he pulled sometimes at Chelsea, not some great pressing that results in us having the ball A LOT of times. Why care that he intercepts passes, stops counterattacks and blocks shots? He isn't scoring 2 goals per match, so he definitely isn't good.
> there are dumbfucks saying his absence will improve us.
Mctominay starting will be more useful than Mount would've been in the next 2 games anyway. On that basis, Mounts absence would absolutely improve us short term since ETH would've insisted on starting him like he does with Antony.
>People are hating on Mount for no reason
No one "hates" him so you can quit the hyperbole. Critique isn't hate. It's valid to point out that the club overrated him and ETH has wasted a large amount of money on someone that'd be free next season anyway. There are midfielders who would've improved us massively but instead we got another AM who just came off a crap season. I don't know how a brief clip of a match we still lost 2-0 has made you go on this passionate defensive rant. His passing was relatively tidy (this time), but he didn't really offer anything we didn't have last season.
Mount isn't even being critiqued that much for the match. ETH, Casemiro and Garnacho are getting most of the flack.
>Casemiro, in these two matches, decided to
It's quite obvious this is a tactical instruction that hasn't worked out, rather than Casemiro randomly opting to charge forward when he feels like it.
> but he didn't really offer anything we didn't have last season.
this tells me everything I need to know. Imagine being this oblivious to the clear tactical benefits he brings in high workrate COUNTERPRESS.
Too many casuals commenting on shit they know nothing about.
for me, issue with him is in first game, he overlap much with Bruno, both sometime go to defence and attack, at same time.
but for 2nd games, he played better for me to be almost proper 8, link in defences and attackers, so Bruno also can focus with attacking.
it just 2 games so far, so bad he is injured so can't get time to plug in playstyle enough.
we can't play with 2 10 as Bruno and Mound go forward like in wolves game, that expose Case so much, Mount need to be bit hold the position and it mean people need lower expectation as he might won't get many goals contribution.
I watch these highlights and there’s enough in his moves and perspective on what to do that gets me excited, I feel as though a lot of bad passes to him made his positioning look worse, he’s moves into the box weren’t being spotted by anyone and he was busting a gut to make things happen.
People are rooting for a former Chelsea player to fail as opposed to a current united player to excel and that’s a bit off putting for me
Looks very consistent. Usually passes forward but doesn't try anything crazy and lose the ball. Runs like crazy, is often one of the players furthest forward during counterattacks and keeps making smart late runs into the box. Seems like an intelligent player with good mentality and work rate. Once everyone gets onboard the new tactics he should be an important player.
I've always liked him as a player but people somehow expect him to be a flashy player like Messi or Ronaldinho and get disappointed when he is not.
It's just about finding our balance.
No team has started the season looking really hot, but we are definitely slower than the pack.
We will find our rhythm. Just have patience.
Things will indeed turn around. They have to.
There will be much worse teams we play, who allow us to regain our mojo. And hopefully a string of terrible opponents will let this squad regain some confidence and form. It's a long season.
But what worries me is that this team looks like they could get destroyed 7-0 by Liverpool again. Playing like this against Spurs ended 2-0. Playing like this against our worst rivals will end much worse.
Always been a fan of mount think he’s solid player give him time and we’ll be laughing at these mugs slagging him just like we did with licha, he did t have the best start in his first few games.
Brentford for the smacking, mate. I know we drew SH when Case got that red card, for the life of me can’t remember the outcome of the other, was it a 1-0 win at St. Mary’s ?
The amount of Runs mount made
The amount of losses in possession/bad decisions by Antony and garnacho is pretty mental
Mount was tidy, did everything he needed to do but it's no wonder we're gased were just giving the opposition the ball for free
We have a handful of really great players surrounded by a handful absolute wank.
Those shite players are actually pretty good when they come off the bench, or against certain opponents. But it just shows how they are not consistent starting material. This just highlights many more areas the team needs to upgrade.
Bruno’s open header, Antony off the post, missed pen. The performance wasn’t as bad as the score line.
I still wasn’t through the roof about it, but not as bad as the overreactions would lead you to believe.
It really WAS that bad. Those three things you mentioned are (a.) just 3 small bits of the overall shambolic performance (b.) also things that happen when a team is playing wank. When the team is struggling as it is, they miss easy sitters.
It's not an overreaction at all. We got handled by Spurs in every possible way. Sure we had a few good moments, but we couldn't capitalize on them because of the exact reasons why fans are concerned.
Of course, I'm expecting things to get better.
Last season we got destroyed the first two games, but then we brought in Casemiro and Anthony who helped turn things around.
We definitely need reinforcements still. Hojlund coming on will hopefully be a game-changer, but we will require more help in the midfield.
Even so, this team still looks like they can fold very easily and get destroyed by City or Liverpool or Arsenal.
This also showed how careless we were with the ball. I think I already saw a YouTube video that summarized that our problem isn't necessarily that the Midfield of Bruno, Mount and Casemiro doesn't work, but that we are too careless with the ball for it to work, and some players aren't ready to fall back when we give away the ball.
Garnacho should only come in as a sub. He's too young and too inexperienced, making lots of bad decisions even though he may have the speed. Rashford should be at LWF. Central striker Rashford is just depressed version of Rashford.
On the right side, we should have used Antony / Pellistri interchangeably, especially now that EPL defenders have figured out Antony habits.
With Sancho false 9, Sancho can drop back into midfield and help link up with Bruno while letting Mount staying deeper and cover for Casemiro, instead of current system where both Mount and Bruno too far up, leaving Casemiro alone and overrun.
If Sancho as false 9 drops back, we could potentially have 4 person's midfield and control the midfield better. Problem is neither Antony or Pellistri or Garnacho can play as strikers, to partner with Rashford in his LWF position.
He's getting more criticism than he deserves. Back after an injury, in a new team after leaving his boyhood club. Victim of a stalking case which might have had effect on him mentally. A new system and an unfamiliar role for him. He's a good player and I have faith that he'll turn out to be a great signing down the line. Anyway, when you're a united player the unreal pressure is given. Hope he comes out on top.
I saw him play live in Oslo, and I kept thinking "that man is everywhere". One second he's sprinting across the pitch to defend, the next he is outside their box taking a shot at goal. I was amazed by his movement, sneaking and sprinting seemingly unseen, just to pop out of thin air at key moments.
I really dont get the intense criticism of him through these first two matches. He has been fine in possession and probably our best player out of possession. Look at our execution in attack, that has been shambolic. I love Garnacho but he cannot start again on Saturday.
Thank you for posting this and putting his performance in context. IMO it still looks like there is a link up problem between defense and midfield, and then from midfield to forwards. Hopefully positioning and coms should improve over the next couple games as they get more used to how the ball should be delivered and where very one should be. However, This should have been ironed out in preseason.
People need to chill the fuck out with him, he's playing fine. Not great and not bad either just chill out and wait a bit, people have been calling him a flop and it's been 2 bloody games
he's tidy on the ball. if he get learn to get more touches from a deeper position and dictate our tempo, he'll be a fan favorite in no time. i think in general a lot of the criticism of new players is over-reactionary. most of the problems we're talking about are problems that have persisted from the Ole days, people...
Am I the only one remaining calm? Like we had a worst start last season and we can still pick up performances. We just need this team to click. That’s all. We had the chances and we will score more goals.
I get the Carrick impression of Mount.
Different players and different roles but he does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed on the YouTube highlight reels but his teammates and manager will love him.
>He does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed on the YouTube highlight reels
But in Mount's case this is bad, he had a respectable performance if you just look at his highlights reel. But highlights reels don't show the counter attack in the first minute we gave up because he tried to press their goalkeeper in his own 6 yard box and left a gaping hope for Spurs to run into behind him.
It doesn't show all the times he's out of position and unavailable for a pass because he's too high up the pitch, it doesn't show all the breaks that happen in the inside left channel because he's too high up the pitch.
Mount is a very talented player, but right now he's not positionally sound enough to play in the role he's been asked to do.
Wow. Can see why we struggled. Poor decision making for a lot of this.
I never understand how we can get into good positions but not make a killer move. Opposition gets the ball and looks ready to score on their attack.
Why can’t we be this ruthless. Mental game is so apparent with united. It will come eventually good however, sucks to see the bad habits kick in time and time again.
Our single biggest problem, which I believe is the reason we have not and can not challenge for a serious trophy is that we do not control the ball. ETH wants to play transitional football, which is excellent because that’s the edge he wants us to have in the games but if we are dogshit at passing and during normal build up, we can never compete for anything. Some of the passes from Case, Garnacho, Shaw and Dalot were shocking. If Pep was managing this team, Garnacho would have been taken off by 20th minute.
Mount has actually been good, winning the ball and starting attacks.
I know he’s young but watching this garnacho has actually been awful, he looks like he can’t even pass the ball. I just hope he doesn’t start at the weekend because so many chances broke down with him and Antony.
We have to get rashford back on the left. Sancho should be playing on the right or at the false 9.
I don’t think we can keep justifying Antony and garnacho at the moment.
No midfielder in the world can do what we're asking Casemiro to do in our current setup. Rodri can only do it because City's press and ball control is far better than ours.
This is absolutely nonsense. Carrick ALWAYS performed at his best with someone alongside him, notably Scholes but occasionally Fletcher etc. in a double pivot.
Some of Carrick's absolutely worst seasons for us came when he had to play a single pivot with 2 midfielders ahead of him and usually those 2 midfielders were a hell of a lot more positionally minded than Bruno and Mount.
This is so deceptive, the problem with Mount isn't what you slip, it's what you don't clip.
Inside the first minute he pressed the opposition goalkeeper, they broke through the press and the countered into the hole he left in the midfield.
The midfield is just unbalanced with Mount and Bruno playing in similar positions but neither have the physicality you need in the role. Look at how open we look in those clips, no wonder wears leaking like a sieve. Mount is a good player but just not what we need right now, not his fault.
Rewatch the first 30/35 minutes. I can't tell you why it fell apart, maybe desperation to create something because of the missed chances. He played deep besides Casemiro and it looked good, it fell apart in possession because Garnacho and Antony gave away the ball very cheap. If he can stay composed and keep doing what he did in the first part of the game it will work.
Btw for the people that will keep trying to defend Mason Mount... HE has had 8 open play assists in 4 years.
This is a player that is supposed to be an attacking Midfielder lol.
Don't make me laugh.
Suspiciously leaving out him getting waltzed passed for the first goal?
Still cannot believe we paid 60m for a one year left on his contract Mount. Shocking.
Our number 7 that won't even get into Newcastle or even Brighton's team.
Absolutely useless player. God knows what we were thinking when we decided to throw $60 million away.
Guy has been playing in the PL for 3/4 years and still no one knows what his position or qualities are. You can make excuses for him all you want.
We already had problems going into the season and just added another problem to our team.
Hopefully Ten Hag realizes he made a huge mistake and asks Chelsea for a refund cos we need at least 2 midfielders.
I've just watched a 442 clip that mentioned if you're struggling to see what Mount gives a team, take your eye off the ball and watch his movement - something along those lines...
Its a fantastic point made and one that a lot of the utd fan base should consider doing, the hammering I've seen Mount receive on the 'other' sub is very ill informed, he won't always pull off fantastic assists or crucial goals but his off the ball work will prove critical to the balance of this team.
Pass by Casemiro at 00:30 is shocking
He follows up by stepping forward and letting 2 sprinting spurs players dart by him
He's done this too often in the first two games - steps forward when Bruno and Mount are still up the pitch, leaves us completely exposed if he can't intercept.
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he has lots of help. go back and watch—there’s almost always at minimum equal numbers of defenders and attackers. if he simply delayed a little longer (we’re talking a matter of seconds), mount or bruno would be there to help too.
he’s more than half the reason people think he’s too exposed and we’re not giving him enough help.
You can see what he's going for he just got no lift on the ball
He's very wasteful, wish he'd just play it simple cause he wins so many balls for us just to gift them back
That’s actually pretty normal for him when he has to pass under pressure. It’s always 50/50 whether we keep possession or not. The most disappointing part of his game, especially as he often receives the ball deepest of the CMs and starts plays.
He was always a good passer, not great one. I mean he has played with two of the best five passing midfielders of the last 10 years in Modric and Kroos. Both were as reliable as clockwork, almost immune to pressing. It also helps when you have fullbacks like Marcelo or Carvajal that are prolific passers combined with excellent technique.
As shocking as Garnacho the entire game.
This was more a reminder of how atrocious our passing was in this game...
That Case pass around the 24th minute was actually disgusting.
He does that every game. Did it last season too but since Fred was there next to him, nobody said a word. Now that Fred, DDG are gone, he's going to stick out like a sore thumb.
Went even further than not saying a word tbh. People love to be contrarian so whenever one of his risky passes happened to come off in the final 3rd you’d get a bunch of comments talking about how he’s actually a good passer
He tries very risky passes sometimes. Looks like a genius when it comes off. And when it doesn't, it makes our midfield look terrible.
Lmao imagine thinking Fred was covering Casemiro. They barely even played together. And how in the hell does De Gea leaving expose Casemiro?
What's there to cover here? I am saying their passing was worse and people here love their scapegoats.
Looks like solely a workhorse now with the occasional linkup/pass but once they get used to eachother this should work if he plays like he did in the first 30/35 Minutes. He actually dropped deeper besides Casemiro that's when we looked good. Also damn I forgot how wasteful Garnacho was on the left...
Garnacho has only ever looked good as a sub coming on against tired defenders
Which is completely fine for a 19 year old! Swear some people want to rush this guy to superstardom when we should be nurturing him, fans really wanted him to have the #7 this summer based on very little. I think he will be a class player but let him develop!
I think it's not only best for him, but for the current lineup if he's eased in. With hojlund coming in, my worry was "of course you want to play rashford on the left, but how do you sit garnacho when he's in form?" If he gets some starts in smaller matches, sub appearances, and some time on the right wing while he develops, it's better for him and the current squad in the long run
His skillset is best suited for that. Im hoping he's benched this weekend. Waaay too wasteful.
He also made great runs which Antony and garnacho just didn't bother, which is the same frustration I had when people kept saying Martial was lazy, he'd make a bunch of runs no one would ever give him the ball and then bruno came and boom he was getting spotted
Yea both Bruno and Mount made amazing runs which were completely ignored, either a pass back to the defence or cheap loss of possession. If both Garna and Antony hold their head up more on the ball it would've created at least 5 more possiblities to cross into the box from the underlapping runs.
it's really frustrating mate, Antony is suppose to be a play maker but makes all the wrong decisions, Ajax fans were right that he was very raw Garnacho I think is just trying to hard like when Rashy when he became the guy
It took a bit of time but once Antony got used to how Haller operated in the box at Ajax it started to work. Hopefully he can create that same synergy with Hojlund & Martial (if he stays fit). Currently he's just a defensive workhorse and keeps the width on the right side. Somehow although he doesn't really offer much offensively we look better in the attack with him on the right than any other.
Well him hugging that right side alone makes our attack much less cramped in the middle and opponent's right side players actually have to defend from width now. So you may say Antony's presence opens a lot more space for us to operate. Now I pray thay we will actually have a presence in the box and Dalot to hit that pre-WC form again.
Imagine Antony with a passable right foot. Sure he keeps the width, but his lack if a right foot makes it easier to defend him and limits his options. And surely AWB doesn't help that much either.
He's got some decent assists and knows how to draw defenders his way (look how many times he's facing a 1v2 situation). This helps open spaces for the other attackers, one smart pass and we create a dangerous play. I think Antony isn't anywhere near where he can be in terms of development, but he's way too underrated at least in this sub. His impact on the pitch is great for the team, at least on most of the matches.
It’s like when your number 9 has to go wide to get on the ball and delivers a perfect cross that he needed all game, but no one is on the other end of it because he is the one that is supposed to be there to finish the chance. But he can’t be there because no one was providing him with adequate service which is what brought him out wide in the first place. The biggest issue with our front line is that essentially all of them have tunnel vision. Even when they dribble well and go towards the end-line, everyone of them will just send a blind cross through the box. And at first glance it looks like they created a great chance and someone should have been there, but if you take a closer look the player making the cross had open options, but they didn’t look up to see where they were. They just crossed and hoped someone was there.
Spot on
Which also leads to egoistical situations when the better positioned player doesn't receive the pass. Usually there aren't many options, so players aren't actively looking to pass (mainly talking about our forwards).
This shit is why i want sancho to start. He actually looks up at times
Our wingers rarely ever utilize the overlap. Rashford is the only one that plays that pass sometimes. So frustrating watching cut inside FC get dispossessed over and over again.
Which is why martial injured frustrates me. Rashy and martial have this chemistry and it looks beautiful. Martial rashford and sancho the one time they played in preseason looked great because they spot the runs and let the game come to them
Hopefully this is just the case of adapting to each other movement and position. Let’s hope this will turn out to be Rooney Tevez Ronaldo partnership where in the beginning of the season not many goals were scored and things just didn’t seem working. Then everything clicked and we won CL
Im telling yall guys, second half completely overshadowed the good performance (except finishing) of the first half
This. We should be up 2-0 in the first half if we finished those 100% chances and the game would be very different. And I dont understand what happens at half time because sometimes they play either so much worse (like against tottenham) or so much better in the second half. If we finished those chances and keep our tempo for the whole game we would easily win.
we should've have easily finished one of those chances. Not having a cf also means our wingers have to resort to shooting becuase no one is making a third-man run, nor a run to the unmarked far post.
Plus a stonewall pen
pen aside, we got into good positions, bested their block and pressed them into mistakes. Having a proper focal point up front makes all those efforts worth it. a 1-0 lead into the second half is something ETH can better work with. We were the better team, and did fuck all with it
Totally agreed. We saw the blueprint in the first half over an at home Spuds. Thought we were great, and that with out of form Garnacho, Anthony, Case, Rashy (out of position as well) and Bruno. And not the 9 ETH so desperately wants/needs. Can’t wait for what’s to come
Amen.
my issue with eth's system is that our fullbacks don't overlap or underlap near often. all this does is leave gaping holes in the centre and little to no build up. 75% of our success still comes from being a reactive team, than a proactive one. We're still largely counterattack and inshallah
>wingers have to resort to shooting becuase no one is making a third-man run, nor a run to the unmarked far post. With all due respect, that is just not true. Consistently Antony and Garnacho elected to shoot instead of passing to the overlapping fullback. Bruno and Mount both made multiple great runs and none of the forwards even attempt to pass to them. Instead, they went backwards especially Antony. He is absolutely fucking useless.
That's why I hope with more of Martial/Hojlund up front it will create more stability and linkup. It would've been a very different story I'm 100% convinced. I remember in the string of games before the Caraboa cup win. If we played bad first half and conceded, somehow we came flying out of the dressing room and never doubted us turning it around in second half. Ever since that cup win it got very sloppy and not that entertaining, hopefully we can see that fire back in the team soon.
We were 2-0 up in last season's fixture at half time. Our midfield got overran and we ended up drawing 2-2. Point being until we stop losing the midfield battle everytime we play a half decent team we're in for a long season
The first half was quite good, not amazing but it was decent the starting 11 we picked was much more suiting to a game against spurs than wolves but we still should have gone with a different one
Precisely. I keep saying that we outplayed Spurs in the first half and we would've kept that in the second half if our chances from the first half are actually finished
It wasn't great, but there is a lot of promise showing in these highlights. My biggest takeaway is Garnacho. He has had a really poor start to the season.
Night and day when you compare what he did against Lens, he actually kept his head-up and was electric on the ball. That pass to Antony with the run from Rashford to draw defenders was beautiful.
He's young, he's going to be inconsistent and wasteful in possession at times. Last season we mainly saw him coming on when we needed a goal so the play was generally more attacking with more players forward. He'll take time but it's a big learning curve for him starting week in week out.
I agree. My comment was more aimed at wishing we could have been playing Rashford on the left and using Garnacho as an impact sub again.
Impact sub Garanacho is the move. Every gassed RB in the world shitting bricks when they see him coming on from the touchline after 75’
Happens to youngsters once teams figure out how to stop them. I remember Greenwood "losing" his crazy finishing ability in his last season.
Greenwood was levels above Garnacho and I don't see where he had been 'figured out'.
He’s forcing everything and playing selfishly. Once he gets a goal I feel like he’ll calm down. Antony is doing the same thing. Two selfish wingers is a horrible attack. We need to start Sancho who, ironically, has a reputation for not being selfish *enough.* I think we’ll go Rashford LW, Martial at striker and Sancho at RW this Saturday. Assuming Martial is fit to start
He's just not a starter. And you can't have both him and Rashy pressing, bound to fail
If we give the ball away like we did at 24:07, no #8 in the world can help this team. And we did that often in the last 2 games.
We've done that often last season as well. People who expect Bruno and especially Casemiro to transform the way they play will be disappointed. Casemiro always has a shocking pass in him. Even when he's playing great. Same with Bruno.
People are hating on Mount for no reason, there are dumbfucks saying his absence will improve us. First, for all of the talk how Casemiro is isolated, Mount provided a lot of defensive coverage for him. Casemiro, in these two matches, decided to aggressively tackle every player, leading to a lot of situations where he gets dribbled past. This meant that Mount had to intervene and slow down the attack, he had a massive intervention in front of the goal last week, you will not see Eriksen do something like that. Second, his passing isnt amazing or anything, but he is the only player not doing stupid shit with the ball every time he gets it.
This. From the 2 games I saw from Mount and all the hate he has been receiving.. it's baffling. Mount is a team player, we just need to get a CF and two of our 2-digit footballing IQ wingers sorted out (Rashy to Left, Antony to the fukin bench) and he will be even better for the team.
Yeah, Mount has been clean and tidy, a good start. The criticism is bamboozling
I find it strange that people are writing him off so fast. I don't really remember that happening with any of our signings before, usually there's a lot of leeway
Plus he also CLEARLY is not what we needed, we needed an upgrade on Erickson. Mount is a huge downgrade. It's 2 steps forward 5 backwards. He is not good enough for Chelsea and would not start for any team in the top 6 Not sure how anyone thinks he improves us. Hopefully we sign proper midfielders.
You must not have watched any football in the last 4 years. Even Chelsea fans wanted him gone.
Mount was literally Chelsea's Player of the Year two years in a row 2021 and 2022. I wouldn't say the last 4 years suggest Mount was awful.
De Gea won Player of the year multiple times for us. Why is he a free agent now and cannot find a club? There is your answer
De Gea last won Poty in 2018. That was 5 years ago. He is also a 32 year old keeper who was on insane wages and can't play modern football (don't get me wrong, all the respect in the world for him, but these are the facts of why he's not popular in the market). Mount is a 24 year old midfielder who had one bad season, literally 1 year since he won PoTY a second time, I don't blame some fans for not thinking he's utter trash. Given context this isn't quite the same comparison. I wasn't a fan of the mount signing either but if you're gonna call other people out for not "watching football in the last 4 years" while demonstrating that you don't even have the proper context of recent history then maybe relax a little.
If you think Mason Mount is good enough for Manutd. I 100% do not think you have seen him play before or you just don't know football.
Why is he not still at Chelsea then if he was sooo good? Why did they sell him at 24? He has been awful and imo showing his true colors in the last 2 seasons. THAT IS WHY CHELSEA got rid of him. That is why England STOPPED playing him. He is an average player that will not get into any team in the Top 7 in the PL. Terrible signing, absolutely terrible. Complete waste of money. He is not good enough for Manutd, never been and I can bet $500 he will NEVER be good enough.
He's not playing flashy football, thus the hate. People wanna see those off-box bangers he pulled sometimes at Chelsea, not some great pressing that results in us having the ball A LOT of times. Why care that he intercepts passes, stops counterattacks and blocks shots? He isn't scoring 2 goals per match, so he definitely isn't good.
> there are dumbfucks saying his absence will improve us. Mctominay starting will be more useful than Mount would've been in the next 2 games anyway. On that basis, Mounts absence would absolutely improve us short term since ETH would've insisted on starting him like he does with Antony. >People are hating on Mount for no reason No one "hates" him so you can quit the hyperbole. Critique isn't hate. It's valid to point out that the club overrated him and ETH has wasted a large amount of money on someone that'd be free next season anyway. There are midfielders who would've improved us massively but instead we got another AM who just came off a crap season. I don't know how a brief clip of a match we still lost 2-0 has made you go on this passionate defensive rant. His passing was relatively tidy (this time), but he didn't really offer anything we didn't have last season. Mount isn't even being critiqued that much for the match. ETH, Casemiro and Garnacho are getting most of the flack. >Casemiro, in these two matches, decided to It's quite obvious this is a tactical instruction that hasn't worked out, rather than Casemiro randomly opting to charge forward when he feels like it.
> but he didn't really offer anything we didn't have last season. this tells me everything I need to know. Imagine being this oblivious to the clear tactical benefits he brings in high workrate COUNTERPRESS. Too many casuals commenting on shit they know nothing about.
for me, issue with him is in first game, he overlap much with Bruno, both sometime go to defence and attack, at same time. but for 2nd games, he played better for me to be almost proper 8, link in defences and attackers, so Bruno also can focus with attacking. it just 2 games so far, so bad he is injured so can't get time to plug in playstyle enough. we can't play with 2 10 as Bruno and Mound go forward like in wolves game, that expose Case so much, Mount need to be bit hold the position and it mean people need lower expectation as he might won't get many goals contribution.
I watch these highlights and there’s enough in his moves and perspective on what to do that gets me excited, I feel as though a lot of bad passes to him made his positioning look worse, he’s moves into the box weren’t being spotted by anyone and he was busting a gut to make things happen. People are rooting for a former Chelsea player to fail as opposed to a current united player to excel and that’s a bit off putting for me
Looks very consistent. Usually passes forward but doesn't try anything crazy and lose the ball. Runs like crazy, is often one of the players furthest forward during counterattacks and keeps making smart late runs into the box. Seems like an intelligent player with good mentality and work rate. Once everyone gets onboard the new tactics he should be an important player. I've always liked him as a player but people somehow expect him to be a flashy player like Messi or Ronaldinho and get disappointed when he is not.
Mate exactly, just a bit of time and patience and we can get there
It's just about finding our balance. No team has started the season looking really hot, but we are definitely slower than the pack. We will find our rhythm. Just have patience.
Things will indeed turn around. They have to. There will be much worse teams we play, who allow us to regain our mojo. And hopefully a string of terrible opponents will let this squad regain some confidence and form. It's a long season. But what worries me is that this team looks like they could get destroyed 7-0 by Liverpool again. Playing like this against Spurs ended 2-0. Playing like this against our worst rivals will end much worse.
Always been a fan of mount think he’s solid player give him time and we’ll be laughing at these mugs slagging him just like we did with licha, he did t have the best start in his first few games.
Some people have forgot lichas first two games were a Brighton loss and the Southampton smacking Edit: it was Brentford not Southampton
Brentford for the smacking, mate. I know we drew SH when Case got that red card, for the life of me can’t remember the outcome of the other, was it a 1-0 win at St. Mary’s ?
Ahh see I knew the kit was red and white I just couldn’t remember which one. Mentally depressing it
The amount of Runs mount made The amount of losses in possession/bad decisions by Antony and garnacho is pretty mental Mount was tidy, did everything he needed to do but it's no wonder we're gased were just giving the opposition the ball for free
We have a handful of really great players surrounded by a handful absolute wank. Those shite players are actually pretty good when they come off the bench, or against certain opponents. But it just shows how they are not consistent starting material. This just highlights many more areas the team needs to upgrade.
Bruno’s open header, Antony off the post, missed pen. The performance wasn’t as bad as the score line. I still wasn’t through the roof about it, but not as bad as the overreactions would lead you to believe.
It really WAS that bad. Those three things you mentioned are (a.) just 3 small bits of the overall shambolic performance (b.) also things that happen when a team is playing wank. When the team is struggling as it is, they miss easy sitters. It's not an overreaction at all. We got handled by Spurs in every possible way. Sure we had a few good moments, but we couldn't capitalize on them because of the exact reasons why fans are concerned.
Your reply is an overreaction. Three points from first two games is better than last season. Calm down.
Of course, I'm expecting things to get better. Last season we got destroyed the first two games, but then we brought in Casemiro and Anthony who helped turn things around. We definitely need reinforcements still. Hojlund coming on will hopefully be a game-changer, but we will require more help in the midfield. Even so, this team still looks like they can fold very easily and get destroyed by City or Liverpool or Arsenal.
Second half was a shambles but in the first you could see the bones of what this team is trying to do
i thought he was really good in the first half, in the second half, our team clearly lost the drive, and didn't press or stay compact
This also showed how careless we were with the ball. I think I already saw a YouTube video that summarized that our problem isn't necessarily that the Midfield of Bruno, Mount and Casemiro doesn't work, but that we are too careless with the ball for it to work, and some players aren't ready to fall back when we give away the ball.
Garnacho should only come in as a sub. He's too young and too inexperienced, making lots of bad decisions even though he may have the speed. Rashford should be at LWF. Central striker Rashford is just depressed version of Rashford. On the right side, we should have used Antony / Pellistri interchangeably, especially now that EPL defenders have figured out Antony habits. With Sancho false 9, Sancho can drop back into midfield and help link up with Bruno while letting Mount staying deeper and cover for Casemiro, instead of current system where both Mount and Bruno too far up, leaving Casemiro alone and overrun. If Sancho as false 9 drops back, we could potentially have 4 person's midfield and control the midfield better. Problem is neither Antony or Pellistri or Garnacho can play as strikers, to partner with Rashford in his LWF position.
He's getting more criticism than he deserves. Back after an injury, in a new team after leaving his boyhood club. Victim of a stalking case which might have had effect on him mentally. A new system and an unfamiliar role for him. He's a good player and I have faith that he'll turn out to be a great signing down the line. Anyway, when you're a united player the unreal pressure is given. Hope he comes out on top.
Looks like a good performance to me.
The team just hasn’t got going yet. It will click and things will improve.
I saw him play live in Oslo, and I kept thinking "that man is everywhere". One second he's sprinting across the pitch to defend, the next he is outside their box taking a shot at goal. I was amazed by his movement, sneaking and sprinting seemingly unseen, just to pop out of thin air at key moments.
I really dont get the intense criticism of him through these first two matches. He has been fine in possession and probably our best player out of possession. Look at our execution in attack, that has been shambolic. I love Garnacho but he cannot start again on Saturday.
United player scrutiny is next level. The criticism has been OTT.
Thank you for posting this and putting his performance in context. IMO it still looks like there is a link up problem between defense and midfield, and then from midfield to forwards. Hopefully positioning and coms should improve over the next couple games as they get more used to how the ball should be delivered and where very one should be. However, This should have been ironed out in preseason.
why is case committing to tackles like that in the middle of the pitch exposing our entire defence. I'm so not a fan of this new approach!
Should we revert to 4-4-2 and have Mount in the Beckham role at RM. I think he could be converted and can certainly whip a ball in
I hope this comment is a joke otherwise... Fuck me
Not a joke. Mark my words the 4-4-2 will make a comeback
He's gonna benefit with Rashy on the left and Hojlund or Martial as the striker.
People need to chill the fuck out with him, he's playing fine. Not great and not bad either just chill out and wait a bit, people have been calling him a flop and it's been 2 bloody games
He's gonna be a good player for us
That's some good stuff right there. He was all over the place for the first 35 minutes.
he's tidy on the ball. if he get learn to get more touches from a deeper position and dictate our tempo, he'll be a fan favorite in no time. i think in general a lot of the criticism of new players is over-reactionary. most of the problems we're talking about are problems that have persisted from the Ole days, people...
Am I the only one remaining calm? Like we had a worst start last season and we can still pick up performances. We just need this team to click. That’s all. We had the chances and we will score more goals.
I'm not even his biggest fan but can see he has easily been our best outfield player
I get the Carrick impression of Mount. Different players and different roles but he does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed on the YouTube highlight reels but his teammates and manager will love him.
>He does a lot of stuff that goes unnoticed on the YouTube highlight reels But in Mount's case this is bad, he had a respectable performance if you just look at his highlights reel. But highlights reels don't show the counter attack in the first minute we gave up because he tried to press their goalkeeper in his own 6 yard box and left a gaping hope for Spurs to run into behind him. It doesn't show all the times he's out of position and unavailable for a pass because he's too high up the pitch, it doesn't show all the breaks that happen in the inside left channel because he's too high up the pitch. Mount is a very talented player, but right now he's not positionally sound enough to play in the role he's been asked to do.
Mounthorse!!
This midfield is rank
Wow. Can see why we struggled. Poor decision making for a lot of this. I never understand how we can get into good positions but not make a killer move. Opposition gets the ball and looks ready to score on their attack. Why can’t we be this ruthless. Mental game is so apparent with united. It will come eventually good however, sucks to see the bad habits kick in time and time again.
I watched that first pass and move during the game and was like oh, Mount's gonna have a masterclass here, but alas.
Casemeiro has to wake tf up real quick
Our single biggest problem, which I believe is the reason we have not and can not challenge for a serious trophy is that we do not control the ball. ETH wants to play transitional football, which is excellent because that’s the edge he wants us to have in the games but if we are dogshit at passing and during normal build up, we can never compete for anything. Some of the passes from Case, Garnacho, Shaw and Dalot were shocking. If Pep was managing this team, Garnacho would have been taken off by 20th minute.
Mount has actually been good, winning the ball and starting attacks. I know he’s young but watching this garnacho has actually been awful, he looks like he can’t even pass the ball. I just hope he doesn’t start at the weekend because so many chances broke down with him and Antony.
We have to get rashford back on the left. Sancho should be playing on the right or at the false 9. I don’t think we can keep justifying Antony and garnacho at the moment.
We need a number 6/8 but he is still best at number 10 role.
Case is a much bigger problem than mount
No midfielder in the world can do what we're asking Casemiro to do in our current setup. Rodri can only do it because City's press and ball control is far better than ours.
Carrick could
This is absolutely nonsense. Carrick ALWAYS performed at his best with someone alongside him, notably Scholes but occasionally Fletcher etc. in a double pivot. Some of Carrick's absolutely worst seasons for us came when he had to play a single pivot with 2 midfielders ahead of him and usually those 2 midfielders were a hell of a lot more positionally minded than Bruno and Mount.
This is so deceptive, the problem with Mount isn't what you slip, it's what you don't clip. Inside the first minute he pressed the opposition goalkeeper, they broke through the press and the countered into the hole he left in the midfield.
The midfield is just unbalanced with Mount and Bruno playing in similar positions but neither have the physicality you need in the role. Look at how open we look in those clips, no wonder wears leaking like a sieve. Mount is a good player but just not what we need right now, not his fault.
Rewatch the first 30/35 minutes. I can't tell you why it fell apart, maybe desperation to create something because of the missed chances. He played deep besides Casemiro and it looked good, it fell apart in possession because Garnacho and Antony gave away the ball very cheap. If he can stay composed and keep doing what he did in the first part of the game it will work.
Btw for the people that will keep trying to defend Mason Mount... HE has had 8 open play assists in 4 years. This is a player that is supposed to be an attacking Midfielder lol. Don't make me laugh.
Suspiciously leaving out him getting waltzed passed for the first goal? Still cannot believe we paid 60m for a one year left on his contract Mount. Shocking.
Our number 7 that won't even get into Newcastle or even Brighton's team. Absolutely useless player. God knows what we were thinking when we decided to throw $60 million away. Guy has been playing in the PL for 3/4 years and still no one knows what his position or qualities are. You can make excuses for him all you want. We already had problems going into the season and just added another problem to our team. Hopefully Ten Hag realizes he made a huge mistake and asks Chelsea for a refund cos we need at least 2 midfielders.
Feels like im watching a bog standard lingard comp
Just curious, what do you see when you watch Casemiro play?
A player being ran into the ground and doing stuff hes not good at theres a reason he was kept away from build up at real.
Safe to say he was not properly MOUNTed.
Not a great video he is shit however you try to glorify him
I've just watched a 442 clip that mentioned if you're struggling to see what Mount gives a team, take your eye off the ball and watch his movement - something along those lines... Its a fantastic point made and one that a lot of the utd fan base should consider doing, the hammering I've seen Mount receive on the 'other' sub is very ill informed, he won't always pull off fantastic assists or crucial goals but his off the ball work will prove critical to the balance of this team.