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This week, the Red Thoughts team discuss Manchester United’s recent form, injuries and the performances of Victor Lindelof.
REX: For me, a number of factors contributed to the Huddersfield defeat. First, we looked burnt out. That was the first and most apparent reason. We can call it attitude or whatever, but we were simply not at the races in that game from the get go. Even when we got control back in the second half, largely due to them just sitting back, they could have easily scored 2 more on the counter if they had had more quality in their final ball.
Injuries are killing us at this time. We’ve got no rotation whatsoever, other than changes to the wings and no. 10. The rest pretty much selects itself. Our style of play is also not helping this situation. Playing defensively takes a lot out of players. The focus, the running and the perseverance needed for such games is so intense. We had to do this for 2 games running, with the few options that we do have. They just looked out of it.
We need players back…simple as. Without options, there’s only 1 way to go. It’s still early days and if we get these knocks and bruises out of the way early, hopefully we are all good for the run in, as that’s the most important part. We’ll have fit and in form players when it’s crunch time and everybody else is feeling it.
BETS: Maybe it’s not so much about quality but about attitude, as Mourinho and Herrera mentioned after the Huddersfield game. Spurs were 4-1 up against Liverpool and were still chasing down every ball. They seem to have a hunger that our players don’t. They don’t seem to need rotation so why do we?
REX: They haven’t switched due to injuries. It’s more or less their first 11. All their key players are playing. I believe if we had Pogba, Fellaini, Bailly and everyone else who’s our first choice, we’d be a whole lot better. We would be dominating rather than setting up defensively as we are now. If you’re dictating the play then you don’t get tired because you speed up when you want to, and slow down when you need to. That’s why we were scoring freely in the last 10 minutes of games. We ran those games, scored early then just dominated and whenever they felt comfortable to attack, we hit them with a devastating counter.
BETS: But we’re all talking about Fellaini like he’s a galactico. I know he’s improved but please, are we really using his injury as a reason for losing to Huddersfield?
REX: Well, he’s an option and by the looks of things, he gives us more than Herrera is doing now. That’s not to say he’s a better player, but at the minute, he fits into what José wants in midfield. We played way better with him and Matic than we’re doing now. It’s weird, but we miss him as an option. Other than Matic playing out, we’ve got absolutely no connection between the middle of the park and forwards. Somehow the ball just gets lost in the middle. It took Lukaku running 30 – 40 yards out wide to cross in for us to get a goal against Huddersfield. So something is not working at all there at the moment.
EHSAAN: From what I saw against Huddersfield, one thing we can’t ignore was the complacency. And another was Lindelof. We need to put Tuanzebe above him in the pecking order, maybe that will power a fight back against criticism and maybe a purple patch.
CARL: I hate to write off any player so early, but it’s really not looking promising for him. I mean, you can coach him all you want, but he seems to lack basic in-game intelligence. This is not just one or two errors we’re talking about now, this is numerous major errors in the short time he’s been here. Not good.
I agree with Rex about Herrera. Nothing creative is coming through our CMs. I have a lot of respect for Herrera, but the fact is that the guy can’t create. Herrera has never been one for being hugely influential in a deep creative role. His energy and hounding of opposition players is his best asset. Matic & Herrera as a pair give us nothing in a creative sense and Herrera alongside any CDM in a two man midfield just looks completely useless – it was the same when he played with Carrick last season too. It’s actually embarrassing how little we’ve created in the last 3 games. The issue is the injuries to so many of our most influential players first and foremost, it’s that simple. We fell apart defensively after Jones came off against Huddersfield. Anyone still in denial about just how good Jones has been for us needs to look no further than us without him that day. Bailly, Jones, Pogba, Fellaini – that’s most of our first choice spine selections injured and the replacements are just nowhere near up to their levels.
BETS: I can’t believe we are blaming injuries to Jones and Fellaini for not beating the likes of Huddersfield. Jones hasn’t suddenly become world class, he’s played well this season and avoided his usual Norman Wisdom moments, but that’s all. I like that he’s a passionate player and always gives 100%, but he’s never going to be free of injury or in the league of Vidic/Rio/Pallister/Bruce/Bailly/McGrath. Lindelof was great at Benfica but some players just choke on the big stage for whatever reason and unfortunately it’s looking like he’s going to be another one of those. If we could get his confidence back, he’s potentially good enough to join that group, but I’m not sure how many more points José can risk trying him and hoping he’ll come good.
As for Herrera, we have seen dips in form before under LVG, he is a confidence player and needs to be believed in. He was Player of the Season last year, yet automatically benched when Matic arrived … I think that’s affected his confidence badly.
CARL: Bets, we’ll never agree on the Jones topic. I think he’s always been a top defender. Jones even leads by example. He has taken the initiative as leader in every performance I’ve seen this season. Whereas even against Benfica, Lindelof made me nervous. Players were getting a few shots round him and Smalling was cutting out a lot that meant he didn’t have to deal with too much. I don’t like to pick holes, because he kept a clean sheet after all, but I didn’t think he looked entirely safe against a poor Benfica side.
BETS: I totally agree that Lindelof has been awful since joining us, my point is that he looked world class for Benfica, and Mourinho knows the Portuguese game better than anyone, so he clearly thought he was buying a world class player. If we can reproduce that at United, we’ll have a great player … but I am losing patience waiting for it!
DAN: From what I have seen of Lindelof, he looks very good on the ball, but not the best defensively (a Swedish John Stones). We clearly haven’t spent that much money to bring in a 6th choice CB, which at this moment in time he actually is, if everyone was fit. I just hope its settling in time.
HEMOR: I was very angry after the Huddersfield game because that’s just basic defending, I mean, how difficult is it to head a ball out? But I don’t think the problem is that Lindelof isn’t good, I think the problem is just lack of confidence. The way the manager and other people keep talking about him not being ready for the PL probably put a fear of the PL in him, he probably (at least I hope) wouldn’t have made those mistakes if it was UCL.
This should be a wake up call for Lindelof, José and his staff that time is running out and the fans’ patience is running thin. He has to start showing signs of improvement ASAP.
I hope Bailly and/or Rojo will be fit for the Tottenham game, even if it’s just to be on bench in case Smalling or Blind get injured, because we really can’t afford to let Lindelof face the likes of Kane, Alli and Eriksen.
EHSAAN: I think we need to try Lindelof in different positions in cup matches and UCL matches, namely, right back and holding midfield. I think that would be a good use of his strengths.
BETS: We could loan Lindelof back to Benfica until the end of the season. Work him in again on next summer’s tour. If Tuanzebe is fit, I want him in the side. Every time he gets a chance he does well and for me he’s ready now and can only get better with every game he plays.
DEAN: Lindelof is doing more harm then good at the moment. I know he needs time and needs to build up self confidence, but he’s a liability at the back, and his errors are costing United important points. Mourinho has options in Blind and Tuanzebe. Tuanzebe is a inexperienced player, but has great potential, and plays with huge confidence, a much better option then choosing Lindelof at this stage of the season.
As for the side as a whole, what I really found shocking about that game against Huddersfield was the fact that United had 78.1% possession in that game and yet created peanuts. There’s no excuses for that extremely poor performance really. Huddersfield ran their socks off and a very expensive United team got outplayed.
DAN: I think what José and Herrera said was spot on, as no disrespect to Huddersfield, but that’s a game we should be winning. They simply wanted it more and there were numerous poor performances. Martial got involved in that bit of handbags, which I don’t mind, but his reaction was to sulk instead of getting after the lad who got booked with him with the ball at his feet. Mata was obviously part of the mistake for the first goal and I thought he was poor. It should have been a chance for him to show why he should be in the side and he blew it. He just couldn’t get on the ball and his mistake came from dropping deep to go and find the ball. Herrera himself didn’t exactly have a brilliant game. I thought Mkhitaryan was poor again when he came on. He has created a few assists, but I can’t think of any game where I’ve sat back and thought, wow, he was amazing. Yes, we are missing players, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Yes, they are players who can dominate or change a game, but we had more than enough in the team to beat Huddersfield. Again, no disrespect, but we got exactly what we deserved – nothing.
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| Article Name | Analysing United's problems and the huge opportunity for our big money signing |
| Description |
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| Author Name | Candyboy |
| Published On | November 17, 2017 |
| Post Category |
Man Utd
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