Manchester United's Headliners, Articles and Rumours

[Javabeans]

As long as Man U put on a spirited performance vs city, any result is ok with me.

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by Rickey

So far there r 2 votes for a Man U win n 1 for a Man U loss in their game against their arch rival City tonight ...omens r they will lose or draw... hopefully even if they don't win at least there is a draw

1 chrissutton who is usually correct in his prediction says they will be beaten by City ..quite possible he is right as Pep would want to make sure he wins against his neighbour n fiercest opposition team n not be humiliated n thrashed back by them like in their last encounter by fielding his strongest team tonight...though we r not sure why he was not serious n treated the Carabao cup so lightly choosing so many fringe n 2nd class players to play against Southampton in their last match 2 days ago losing 2-0 to the Soton n crashing out of the cup which they won for the last 4 years

Now let's see wat @PaulMerson hv to say....

Hip hip hurray !!!...so unbelievable !...ETH n the Red Devils hv finally been able to beat their noisy neighbours in blue for the 1st time this season taking revenge for the earlier loss to them, thrashed by them 6-3 in Oct last yr.....can say they hv thrashed their arch rivals back 2-1 tonight ..goals scored by Bruno Fernandes n Rashford, all thanks to ETH's introduction of the new super sub Garnacho in the 2nd half ...the City players couldn't handle his fast running n good crossing of the ball for Rashford's goal

Glad they hv now jumped to 3rd in the table leap frogging the Magpies n just 1 point behind Pep's team ...seems like Pep n Klopp r on the decline this season, Pool also losing their match tonight against Brighton beaten 3-0 by the seagulls

So this time round Charlie's prediction of a Red Devil's win is spot-on with the exact score whilst Jones is also correct but his scoreline is wrong ... unfortunately the others guessed incorrectly

[ilovepantyhose]

what a great result to extend the winning streak

here are some thoughts:
- city misplaced some passes in the 1st half, man u countered quickly but couldn't score (lacked a cutting edge)

- martial looked really sluggish and out of sorts, slow to react to passes and he didn't accelerate to full speed, already carrying an injury before the match?

- fred was tasked to mark KDB, he did a good job overall, but a few times he let KDB out of his sight. the moment KDB had space, he was able to threaten and create chances immediately and did so with an assist for grealish. what a scary player, KDB is crucial to city title push

- malacia did a good job of sticking close to mahrez and keeping him quiet

- fernandes' goal, was rashford interfering with play? was he not? i think its a favourable VAR call

- rashford scored again continuing his red hot form, but a minor worry as he seemed to have tweaked his groin

- man u have a packed fixture list until feb, ETH will have to rotate and manage the players' minutes so that fatigue and injuries can be minimised. and hope sancho can come back asap. (also, really bad luck for VDB, out for the season having fought his way back into the starting lineup)

[lacoruna69]

What a comeback!! Finally, Man U are able to find that magical touch.
This is crucial as title challenger. You need to be able to comeback when you are down.

My thoughts.

Overall, a very much improved performance. ETH had taken Bro ILPH recommendation to put 2 DMC.
(What a lousy inept Manager, only knows how to cope forum ppl ideas )

But, I was a bit startled to see Fred pairing w Casemiro.
Surprisingly, Fred did an excellent job marking KDB. Some small hiccups along the way though.

A stroke of master genius putting boy boy Garnacho on after going 0-1 down.
His running at the City defence and mazy runs too hot to handle, which culminated the 2nd and winning goal.

Shaw started pairing w Varane as CD. Capt McDisaster again cast aside.
Really have to look for another club liao.

[ilovepantyhose]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

What a comeback!! Finally, Man U are able to find that magical touch.
This is crucial as title challenger. You need to be able to comeback when you are down.

My thoughts.

Overall, a very much improved performance. ETH had taken Bro ILPH recommendation to put 2 DMC.
(What a lousy inept Manager, only knows how to cope forum ppl ideas )

But, I was a bit startled to see Fred pairing w Casemiro.
Surprisingly, Fred did an excellent job marking KDB. Some small hiccups along the way though.

A stroke of master genius putting boy boy Garnacho on after going 0-1 down.
His running at the City defence and mazy runs too hot to handle, which culminated the 2nd and winning goal.

Shaw started pairing w Varane as CD. Capt McDisaster again cast aside.
Really have to look for another club liao.

i saw what u did there hahaha

credit must go to ETH for instilling much needed discipline into the squad and picking players based on suitability to his tactics and training performance, rather than transfer fee, reputation or nationality

fred is the best option to mark KDB because he has pace, agility and workrate. casemiro is more of reading the game and breaking up play, and mctom will prolly get sent off trying to mark KDB

garnacho is effective as an impact sub because of his direct running against tired defenders, he has a bright future as long as he dun do stupid things

maguire doesn't suit ETH system, but which club is willing to pay his contract? he is more suited to a team that plays a deep defensive line. big clubs rather spend money on a up and coming younger DC than a 30yo slow DC. either man u offload him at a big loss or he leave on a free after his contract expires

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by Rickey

@ChrisSutton, @charlienicholas, @PaulMerson, n @JonesKnows ....No predictions for their match tonight against Crystal Palace ??

without a doubt it shd be a Man U win ...who disagree, kee chiew

That was not to be ...sigh...Palace were lucky to score a fantastic n unexpected goal from a free kick in the last few minutes of injury time almost at the end of the game after Fernandes scored their only goal at the end of the 1st half, the game finishing 1-1 ..showing their need for a prolific stricker like Haaland of City...

their new man WW helped but not good enough to score a goal or assist in 1..another bad news is Casemiro was booked again suspending him from taking part in their next crucial match against arch rivals Arsenal...looks like their chances against the gunners hv taken a hit having to depend on the Mcfred combo again...pray that if they can't win the gunners in the next match they can at least draw ...

wake up ETH n the Red Devils, if u guys want to win the league or be in top 4, must be more clinical in front of goal than last night against Palace

[ilovepantyhose]

i thought that with the next game at arsenal, ETH would choose to rest some players against palace, instead he fielded a strong lineup to continue the winning momentum but ended with a draw, it was 2 points lost

from the highlights:
- we can see what WW offers, holding up ball as a targetman, bringing teammates into play, pressing opponents, defending set pieces, dropping deep to pull defenders out of position and his runs into the box provides space for teammates outside. i feel that he is a shrewd loan signing

- unable to kill the game off, the opponent can still comeback despite a goal down, DDG made great saves before being beaten by olise stunning free kick. despite the draw ending the win streak, man u have only lost 1 in 20 matches. the team has really improved, next game at arsenal will be another tough test

- casemiro kena 5th yellow card and will be suspended against arsenal, can mctom or fred step up? i think ETH will setup like he did against city, absorb pressure and then counter on the break. possible lineup: DDG, AWB, varane, shaw, malacia, mctom, eriksen, fred, fernandes, rashford, WW. impt thing is not let the midfield and flanks be overrun

[lacoruna69]

Always got a bad feeling when Man U can't score that crucial 2nd goal.
Casemiro could have nick it in injury time....but unlucky.
But once again, he showed his class with his timing n positioning.

Very bad performance. DDG had to make a few crucial saves, Casemiro with tackles which earn him a yellow, and that last minute AWB desperate lunge on Zaha.

Pre match, there were reports on Man U being branded as favorites.
Just doesn't sound good. Probably the lads were just too lax and underestimate the match as a walkover victory.

Now, have to face Arsenal without Casemiro.

Winning streak just come to an end.

[lacoruna69]

Originally Posted by ilovepantyhose

i thought that with the next game at arsenal, ETH would choose to rest some players against palace, instead he fielded a strong lineup to continue the winning momentum but ended with a draw, it was 2 points lost

from the highlights:
- we can see what WW offers, holding up ball as a targetman, bringing teammates into play, pressing opponents, defending set pieces, dropping deep to pull defenders out of position and his runs into the box provides space for teammates outside. i feel that he is a shrewd loan signing

Ok....maybe I need to watch WW more carefully. I was half asleep waking up at 4am for the match.

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by ilovepantyhose

i thought that with the next game at arsenal, ETH would choose to rest some players against palace, instead he fielded a strong lineup to continue the winning momentum but ended with a draw, it was 2 points lost

from the highlights:
- we can see what WW offers, holding up ball as a targetman, bringing teammates into play, pressing opponents, defending set pieces, dropping deep to pull defenders out of position and his runs into the box provides space for teammates outside. i feel that he is a shrewd loan signing

- unable to kill the game off, the opponent can still comeback despite a goal down, DDG made great saves before being beaten by olise stunning free kick. despite the draw ending the win streak, man u have only lost 1 in 20 matches. the team has really improved, next game at arsenal will be another tough test

- casemiro kena 5th yellow card and will be suspended against arsenal, can mctom or fred step up? i think ETH will setup like he did against city, absorb pressure and then counter on the break. possible lineup: DDG, AWB, varane, shaw, malacia, mctom, eriksen, fred, fernandes, rashford, WW. impt thing is not let the midfield and flanks be overrun

Point :-

1) No, u r wrong bro...ETH will always want to field his strongest team in any match they play...this is becos he wants to win at least 1 trophy in his 1st season as manager...he already told his players esp Rashford to be resilient n play on even if injured...every game is impt to him n he wants to win it...once anyone of them don't perform, they r removed from the squad ..doesn't matter how they hv improved, they must win every game...it is because of this target for excellence n zero tolerance for failure that ETH set that they managed to climb up so high up in the table in just 1/2 a season from rock bottom

2) Yes, WW is good n played well as a team member but still not good enough to score goals or assist in scoring one... without him it will be worse for them of course..they may hv prolly lost the match if not for DDG saving at least 2 clear goals from Palace strikers...they really need prolific strikers like Haaland of City n Kane of Spurs if they want to win the EPL crown n trophies this season..

3) now that Casemiro is suspended for the next game against bitter rivals Arsenal, their strikers better buck up n be more sharp in putting the ball into the gunner's net n defenders must make sure the opposition strikers like Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli n Nketiah don't hv a chance to score ...they hv won b4 w/o Casemiro, they can do it again just that it may be harder for them this time w/o Case...n Rashford had an off day in this match...he better wake up too n continue to score goals in every match

[ilovepantyhose]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Ok....maybe I need to watch WW more carefully. I was half asleep waking up at 4am for the match.

in the first half of the highlights, WW was featured heavily, maybe the editor is a WW fan?

i hope ETH starts WW vs arsenal, so that he can drop deeper to midfield and add more physical presence in the absence of casemiro

Originally Posted by Rickey

Point :-

1) No, u r wrong bro...ETH will always want to field his strongest team in any match they play...

...

its necessary to rotate the players thru the season to prevent fatigue, burnout and injuries. no doubt casemiro suspension will affect the midfield vs arsenal, but on the bright side, he will be fresh for cup ties later this month

i think the EFL cup is the best chance for man u to win a trophy this season, if ETH's KPIs are to win a trophy and qualify for UCL, it will be a good season after seeing much improvement

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by lacoruna69

Always got a bad feeling when Man U can't score that crucial 2nd goal..

Not only that, they seem to be going back to the old habit of conceding goals at the last minute of the game from 90th minute onwards like last season under OGS n RR....can't even defend fiercely against a goal for just another few more minutes ....not sure who is the culprit who gave away that free kick at the last minute for the Palace player to score directly into goal

[Rickey]

Originally Posted by ilovepantyhose

i hope ETH starts WW vs arsenal, so that he can drop deeper to midfield and add more physical presence in the absence of casemiro

its necessary to rotate the players thru the season to prevent fatigue, burnout and injuries. no doubt casemiro suspension will affect the midfield vs arsenal, but on the bright side, he will be fresh for cup ties later this month

Yes, u r right bro...rotating players to give them some rest is good esp when they hv to play so many games...but the problem is that Casemiro is just too good a player to warm the bench n ETH knows they hv been winning all their games due to his presence playing on the field...therefore even though he wants to rest Case he cannot but hv to play him every game becos w/o him Man U would prolly hv lost some of the past 9 games they hv won...

don't worry, ETH will definitely play WW in the next game against their bitter rivals Arsenal which is the reason why he brought him in so quickly this winter transfer window to help score goals with the departure of CR7...hope this time round with WW they can destroy Arsenal with a goal or 2 like the last time they did when they met at the beginning of the season w/o Case in the team

[ChrisSutton]

Arsenal v Man Utd x-x 3-1

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64283241

[charlienicholas]

Originally Posted by ChrisSutton

Arsenal v Man Utd x-x 3-1

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64283241

Charlie prediction: 3-1