Match Day Man Utd v West Ham, Sunday 13th August 16:00

[Stevencc]

Congratulations (in advance) to you and epic (and the other lot of ManU Fans, names slipped my mind atm) for winning the PL, the CL,the LC (this one with the new ridiculous name) and the FA Cup. It will be a quadruple for Mourinho if nobody stopps Shit Lukaku and his boys

You won't catch me getting ahead of myself, Dirk.

Great performance, though.

 

[Nilsson]

Great to dominate a game and actually have the scoreline reflect it.

Matic is the perfect replacement for Carrick, dm's with a good range of passing are hard to come by these days. He looked very sharp today and I'm sure he'll give Pogba the freedom to thrive this season.

Great to see Lukaku start with some goals. His first was a peach of a counter attack.

 

[claret50]

Fair do's to Man United, by far the better team and in a different class.

 

[Son of Cod]

Man Utd are going to be really boring and win lots of games 1-0 this season.

They're such a horrible lot, but that was like winding the clock back to those Fergie teams that you couldn't help but enjoy.

 

[Stevencc]

Man Utd are going to be really boring and win lots of games 1-0 this season.

They're such a horrible lot, but that was like winding the clock back to those Fergie teams that you couldn't help but enjoy.

Salty said we'd be unbearably boring this season and Pagnell guaranteed a 1-1 draw for every United game at Old Trafford this season.

I can see why they are avoiding the thread, they are probably quite embarrassed.

 

[Bilo]

While United were impressive, West Ham made a couple of key tactical mistakes that won't be repeated too often at Old Trafford. I watched with one eye but here's how I saw it:

Mistake 1: They consistently tried to put pressure on the ball winner -- counter pressing -- to pretty much no success whatsoever. This played right into United's hands and the three phase counter (see the 17 min video linked previously). They did this because United didn't really apply this three phase counter last season, probably because they didn't have Matic. Now they do and West Ham were reminded of this -- the only other team to try to counter press at United this season will probably be us, because we do it no matter what. The rest will watch the first ten minutes of this game and realize it won't work unless excecuted perfectly. This takes nothing away from how incredibly well United in general and Matic in particular exploited it, mind.

Mistake 2: Last season United were way too horizontal both in shape and passing pattern, and while I'm a fan of Carrick he was to blame for this quite often. What teams started doing to exploit this was playing quite a high line despite not really pressuring the buildup, because United either A) didn't have enough runners in behind or B) didn't look for runners in behind with any sort of regularity. Yesterday you could see United recycling possession in their central triangle (CB+Matic) with literally four or five players looking for the run in behind. That didn't happen at any point last season, I mean that literally. Take any of the gazillion times United found a pass in behind and take a look at the other options available -- more than once the passer could pick between two or three alternatives.

United took West Ham by surprise tactically because they didn't play much like the United of last season. The element of surprise won't be there again. With that said, their effectiveness and general awareness in the central third was lightyears ahead of what they displayed last season. I reckon for another three or four home games at least United will have an incredible advantage because they've changed so much, but the opposition teams will definitely adapt. If I were to predict anything, a deeper line and trigger-pressing rather than counter pressing will be a given for almost any team based on this match alone.

I do fear for us though, because we don't adapt and United will fucking murder us the way they played yesterday unless we play our game perfectly or get very lucky. YHIHF I guess.

 

[Stevencc]

Have you ever watched a game of football with both of your eyes, Bilo?

 

[Bilo]

Have you ever watched a game of football with both of your eyes, Bilo?

No but my career is a fucking rocket.

 

[Stevencc]

No but my career is a fucking rocket.

Psssh, you need to sort your priorities out.

 

[epic73]

We were very good, but West Ham played pretty badly, giving away the ball too much and not winning it back. It would have been a 1 or 2 goal win against any top 6 team.

 

[Leo]

Loved the result....had £50 on over 2.5 goals......

 

[Son of Cod]

Salty said we'd be unbearably boring this season and Pagnell guaranteed a 1-1 draw for every United game at Old Trafford this season.

I can see why they are avoiding the thread, they are probably quite embarrassed.

The Liverpool fans should let go of their prejudices and just enjoy the Man Utd show, in my opinion. The hate will only multiply the despair when this Utd side brings the title home. Liverpool will be battling it out with Everton, Spurs and Arsenal for 4th spot. Man Utd shouldn't really be of much concern to them . So Liverpool fans, sit back, relax and appreciate.

 

[SALTIRE]

Salty said we'd be unbearably boring this season and Pagnell guaranteed a 1-1 draw for every United game at Old Trafford this season.

I can see why they are avoiding the thread, they are probably quite embarrassed.

Don't get cocky so soon, you were at home against a poor side that let you play, wait till you come against someone decent and we'll see how you get on hoofing it up to Lukaku.

 

[SALTIRE]

The Liverpool fans should let go of their prejudices and just enjoy the Man Utd show, in my opinion. The hate will only multiply the despair when this Utd side brings the title home. Liverpool will be battling it out with Everton, Spurs and Arsenal for 4th spot. Man Utd shouldn't really be of much concern to them . So Liverpool fans, sit back, relax and appreciate.

Big jump to go from sixth to first. Chelsea went from tenth to first but were champs previously anyway. Utd might be a bit better this term but it's City or Spurs for the league imo.

 

[Son of Cod]

Big jump to go from sixth to first. Chelsea went from tenth to first but were champs previously anyway. Utd might be a bit better this term but it's City or Spurs for the league imo.

Leicester went from 14th to 1st!

 

[Stevencc]

Don't get cocky so soon, you were at home against a poor side that let you play, wait till you come against someone decent and we'll see how you get on hoofing it up to Lukaku.

No cockiness here, just laughing at your misguided assertion that we'd be boring to watch. We played great football yesterday and got a bagful of goals. If that's boring I think you are watching the wrong sport!

If Coutinho does end up moving you'll have another whole fried egg on your face too because you made some very bold assertions on that issue which also look set to end up making a fool of you!

 

[Son of Cod]

No cockiness here, just laughing at your misguided assertion that we'd be boring to watch. We played great football yesterday and got a bagful of goals. If that's boring I think you are watching the wrong sport!

That will be the last time though, Bilo says so. All the other managers have watched MOTD and read his post.

 

[Stevencc]

I wish Bilo would stop revealing all this esoteric knowledge of the game because all it takes is for one manager to make an account here and read his stuff and all the hard work we've put in on these tactics will be down the shitter.

 

[SALTIRE]

Leicester went from 14th to 1st!

Freak season that will never be repeated.

 

[HtfcWArrior]

Freak season that will never be repeated.

I'm not too sure about that

 

[SALTIRE]

No cockiness here, just laughing at your misguided assertion that we'd be boring to watch. We played great football yesterday and got a bagful of goals. If that's boring I think you are watching the wrong sport!

If Coutinho does end up moving you'll have another whole fried egg on your face too because you made some very bold assertions on that issue which also look set to end up making a fool of you!

Can't call me misguided after one game mate. Wait to see when you park the bus against us, Spurs, City and Chelsea and get back to me.

 

[SALTIRE]

I'm not too sure about that

Elucidate please.

 

[Son of Cod]

Can't call me misguided after one game mate. Wait to see when you park the bus against us, Spurs, City and Chelsea and get back to me.

Won't need to park the bus to beat Liverpool, they'll just need a few corners.

 

[HtfcWArrior]

Can't call me misguided after one game mate. Wait to see when you park the bus against us, Spurs, City and Chelsea and get back to me.

I think your slightly salty

 

[Stevencc]

Can't call me misguided after one game mate. Wait to see when you park the bus against us, Spurs, City and Chelsea and get back to me.

OK mate, I'll get back to you after we've faced some of the better sides in the league and Liverpool.

Enjoy the entertainment until then!

 

[SALTIRE]

Won't need to park the bus to beat Liverpool, they'll just need a few corners.

Well they had lumps like Zlatan and Fellaini out there last year and it didn't exactly work out that way did it.

 

[SALTIRE]

I think your slightly salty

Not at all, I just see that Steven is the one being misguided by one game and old Jose will revert to type in the bigger games.

 

[HtfcWArrior]

Liverpool can't defend as shown on Saturday against Watford when they conceded 3 goals 2 coming from a corner

 

[Stevencc]

Not at all, I just see that Steven is the one being misguided by one game and old Jose will revert to type in the bigger games.

You didn't say that United would be boring in the big games. You said United would be boring.

I understand we've already blown your assertion clean out of the water and that it would be silly for you to stick to it now but such backtracking already is a sign of fuzzy thinking in my opinion.

 

[SALTIRE]

OK mate, I'll get back to you after we've faced some of the better sides in the league and Liverpool.

Enjoy the entertainment until then!

Ah putting Liverpool in as an afterthought stating they aren't one of the better sides, when they finished way ahead of you guys last season