Man Utd - back from the game

[Cypry]

SCIAG wrote: I'm beginning to doubt whether some of you watch the matches or just make arbitrary comments. For example, Morrison is at fault for two goals and is widely praised. Leigertwood is the only reason possession was anywhere near level, and made Darren Fletcher, one of the best midfielders in the league, look like a Championship player and is slagged off.

Totally agree SCIAG to see some of the ratings given to Leigerwood on here is a joke. The midfield pairing of Tabb and Legs worked there socks off against Utd.

As to Morrison and the defence we continue to concede form the left wing with Cummings / Gunter going missing and gapping gaps appearing all the time, Pearce is defiantly missed in the centre he reads the game.

A new defence coach would not go a miss because as it is happening week after week.

As Hansen pointed out on MotD, it's not so much Cummings / Gunter that the problem comes from, it's what's happening inside them.....
Feeling a bit sorry for Cummings / Gunter, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't....

Drop out wide to stop the crosses and it's leaving a huge hole inside which can be exposed so easily (see Andersons goal Saturday). Stay inside and it's easy for the opposition to put crosses into the box, which aren't all being dealt with.....

It's not so much the individual that's at fault (after all, Cummings can't be covering inside the box, and stopping crosses at the same time), as much as a system which needs working out, and with a completely new CB pairing which has only played 2 games, it's not surprising that errors are being made. Having said that, the biggest issue for me on Saturday was the midfield not tracking runs into our box......both Rooneys open play goal, and Andersons could have been prevented had someone tracked the player, something which, bizarrely, Kebe seems to do the best of any of our wingers....can't wait to see the Kebe / Cummings pairing back on the right, we've looked a lot less weak when those two are playing together...

[Royal Ginger]

5-4-1?

[Wimb]

SCIAG wrote: I'm beginning to doubt whether some of you watch the matches or just make arbitrary comments. For example, Morrison is at fault for two goals and is widely praised. Leigertwood is the only reason possession was anywhere near level, and made Darren Fletcher, one of the best midfielders in the league, look like a Championship player and is slagged off.

Totally agree SCIAG to see some of the ratings given to Leigerwood on here is a joke. The midfield pairing of Tabb and Legs worked there socks off against Utd.

As to Morrison and the defence we continue to concede form the left wing with Cummings / Gunter going missing and gapping gaps appearing all the time, Pearce is defiantly missed in the centre he reads the game.

A new defence coach would not go a miss because as it is happening week after week.

As Hansen pointed out on MotD, it's not so much Cummings / Gunter that the problem comes from, it's what's happening inside them.....
Feeling a bit sorry for Cummings / Gunter, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't....

Drop out wide to stop the crosses and it's leaving a huge hole inside which can be exposed so easily (see Andersons goal Saturday). Stay inside and it's easy for the opposition to put crosses into the box, which aren't all being dealt with.....

It's not so much the individual that's at fault (after all, Cummings can't be covering inside the box, and stopping crosses at the same time), as much as a system which needs working out, and with a completely new CB pairing which has only played 2 games, it's not surprising that errors are being made. Having said that, the biggest issue for me on Saturday was the midfield not tracking runs into our box......both Rooneys open play goal, and Andersons could have been prevented had someone tracked the player, something which, bizarrely, Kebe seems to do the best of any of our wingers....can't wait to see the Kebe / Cummings pairing back on the right, we've looked a lot less weak when those two are playing together...

It's this exact reason that makes the case for Pearce in over Morrison for me. Pearce has that extra experience and positional nous gained from playing at a higher level and while Morrison hasn't been bad, it's the little lapses that happen to all young players, especially defenders, that are undoing some of his good wrok.

[Nick Shorey my Lord!]

On the plus side, the first half was unlike anything I've seen us serve up to date. Ridiculous in a semi-good way. Utd were very suspect: Evans and of course Rapheal were appalling.

One the flip side our defence has more holes than a sieve and the midfield the creativity of a snail. The exception is Shorey who was class; his delivery was top draw all night. If we're going to go down, let's have more of this and less of the Villa nonsense.

It was fucking freezing mind and there were far too many RG1 Man Utd fans in the upper west corner

[Hoop Blah]

Well that's a difficult game to comment on in many ways.

As a spectator it's great to see our side going at teams and looking like proper footballers when going forward and doing some very good things against some of the top players in the country. The attacking wing play from both McAnuff and Robson-Kanu was excellent and we looked a real threat at times.

Unfortunately, playing like that, we're pretty unlikely to win these games, or even take a point, so I'm not sure that it's the best way to approach them despite the entertainment factor. United, for all their defensive frailties, always looked like they could step up a gear and score if they needed too. That's not only because they've got some of the worlds best attacking players but also because we were so poor at the back and the midfield didn't offer anywhere near enough in defensive suport.

The most frustrating thing is probably that we haven't really seen this group of players play with so much freedom and confidence in any other game this season. If we could get that kind of attacking performance out of the team in games that really matter then we might have a few more points on the board.

For me the game just emphasied how important the mental side of the game is and is probably more of an issue for us than technical ability.

[The Beardy Man]

Well that's a difficult game to comment on in many ways.

United, for all their defensive frailties, always looked like they could step up a gear and score if they needed too.

That was what I took away from this game in hindsight. Whilst before the game I would not have been too disappointed to lose by the odd goal to one of Europe's better teams, I never really felt for all our good play (and there was definitely some) that we really made United break a sweat. When they needed to score they opened us up pretty easily, then after half time they closed the game down almost without effort.

In many ways I would have been far more encouraged had we dug in, kept in really tight and made them work to beat us 1-0.

In a weird kind of way, whilst being more entertaining, just throwing your hands in the air and saying 'we will probably get beaten anyway so lets just attack and see what happens' is more defeatist then having a plan to sit tight and frustrate, trying to score goals from the occasional break or set piece. It kind of says you don't believe you can make the opposition work to score against you. Whilst that may be an accurate belief, its pretty revealing also.

[Handsome Man]

Darren Fletcher, one of the best midfielders in the league,

It was nice for us to only have Carrick and half a Fletcher against us in midfield: our passing was the best I have seen it.

[Hoop Blah]

Agreed.

We seem to have forgotten that we're a Premier League side at times. We're not just playing a series of 'big cup games' against teams from the higher league where it's worth having a real go at them and enjoying the day out. We're supposed to be competing against teams we've earned the right to be in the same league as.

It strikes me as a bit of a 'we know our place' attitude and it's another thing that I think stems from McDermott from what I can judge with the limited snippets we get from the media and club. I don't like it.

[Victor Meldrew]

Agreed.

We seem to have forgotten that we're a Premier League side at times. We're not just playing a series of 'big cup games' against teams from the higher league where it's worth having a real go at them and enjoying the day out. We're supposed to be competing against teams we've earned the right to be in the same league as.

It strikes me as a bit of a 'we know our place' attitude and it's another thing that I think stems from McDermott from what I can judge with the limited snippets we get from the media and club. I don't like it.

As mentioned in an earlier posting I didn't like our players asking for their shirts at the end of a game-it smacks of a non-league side playing in the FA Cup.
Why don't they just go and buy one?
Mind you I may be wrong,Ferdinand might have always wanted Morrisons shirt and his dream came true on Saturday night.
I wonder what they actually do with these shirts.

[Royal91]

Its true we have a small club mentality; lets all cream our pants UTD are in town. There is a reason why we have spent most of our years outside the top flight.

Just because we are here for a 3rd time in our history most of our fans think its acceptable if we go down because were a small club. NO we are here, we have the right to be here, we are a growing club so bloody try and stay here.

[bcubed]

SCIAG wrote: I'm beginning to doubt whether some of you watch the matches or just make arbitrary comments. For example, Morrison is at fault for two goals and is widely praised. Leigertwood is the only reason possession was anywhere near level, and made Darren Fletcher, one of the best midfielders in the league, look like a Championship player and is slagged off.

Totally agree SCIAG to see some of the ratings given to Leigerwood on here is a joke. The midfield pairing of Tabb and Legs worked there socks off against Utd.

As to Morrison and the defence we continue to concede form the left wing with Cummings / Gunter going missing and gapping gaps appearing all the time, Pearce is defiantly missed in the centre he reads the game.

A new defence coach would not go a miss because as it is happening week after week.

Agreed
Leigertwood seems to be getting a lot of stick these days but on Saturday I thought he and Tabb were excellent not just in their ball winning but in their passing ability. Much more balls to feet than is the norm these days

[bcubed]

SCIAG wrote: I'm beginning to doubt whether some of you watch the matches or just make arbitrary comments. For example, Morrison is at fault for two goals and is widely praised. Leigertwood is the only reason possession was anywhere near level, and made Darren Fletcher, one of the best midfielders in the league, look like a Championship player and is slagged off.

Totally agree SCIAG to see some of the ratings given to Leigerwood on here is a joke. The midfield pairing of Tabb and Legs worked there socks off against Utd.

As to Morrison and the defence we continue to concede form the left wing with Cummings / Gunter going missing and gapping gaps appearing all the time, Pearce is defiantly missed in the centre he reads the game.

A new defence coach would not go a miss because as it is happening week after week.

As Hansen pointed out on MotD, it's not so much Cummings / Gunter that the problem comes from, it's what's happening inside them.....
Feeling a bit sorry for Cummings / Gunter, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't....

Drop out wide to stop the crosses and it's leaving a huge hole inside which can be exposed so easily (see Andersons goal Saturday). Stay inside and it's easy for the opposition to put crosses into the box, which aren't all being dealt with.....

It's not so much the individual that's at fault (after all, Cummings can't be covering inside the box, and stopping crosses at the same time), as much as a system which needs working out, and with a completely new CB pairing which has only played 2 games, it's not surprising that errors are being made. Having said that, the biggest issue for me on Saturday was the midfield not tracking runs into our box......both Rooneys open play goal, and Andersons could have been prevented had someone tracked the player, something which, bizarrely, Kebe seems to do the best of any of our wingers....can't wait to see the Kebe / Cummings pairing back on the right, we've looked a lot less weak when those two are playing together...

at tracking back?

[bcubed]

Agreed.

We seem to have forgotten that we're a Premier League side at times. We're not just playing a series of 'big cup games' against teams from the higher league where it's worth having a real go at them and enjoying the day out. We're supposed to be competing against teams we've earned the right to be in the same league as.

It strikes me as a bit of a 'we know our place' attitude and it's another thing that I think stems from McDermott from what I can judge with the limited snippets we get from the media and club. I don't like it.

I thought something similar when I heard Brian answering questions about how we conceded goals so easily
He seemed to suggest "well i wouldnt be too critical they have got some of the best players in the world."
So we should just let them score at will?

[melonhead]

Totally agree SCIAG to see some of the ratings given to Leigerwood on here is a joke. The midfield pairing of Tabb and Legs worked there socks off against Utd.

As to Morrison and the defence we continue to concede form the left wing with Cummings / Gunter going missing and gapping gaps appearing all the time, Pearce is defiantly missed in the centre he reads the game.

A new defence coach would not go a miss because as it is happening week after week.

As Hansen pointed out on MotD, it's not so much Cummings / Gunter that the problem comes from, it's what's happening inside them.....
Feeling a bit sorry for Cummings / Gunter, they're damned if they do, damned if they don't....

Drop out wide to stop the crosses and it's leaving a huge hole inside which can be exposed so easily (see Andersons goal Saturday). Stay inside and it's easy for the opposition to put crosses into the box, which aren't all being dealt with.....

It's not so much the individual that's at fault (after all, Cummings can't be covering inside the box, and stopping crosses at the same time), as much as a system which needs working out, and with a completely new CB pairing which has only played 2 games, it's not surprising that errors are being made. Having said that, the biggest issue for me on Saturday was the midfield not tracking runs into our box......both Rooneys open play goal, and Andersons could have been prevented had someone tracked the player, something which, bizarrely, Kebe seems to do the best of any of our wingers....can't wait to see the Kebe / Cummings pairing back on the right, we've looked a lot less weak when those two are playing together...

at tracking back?

easily our best defending and hard working attacker- every game he has played has been characterised by superb tackles, and interceptions in the last third

[melonhead]

dont remember any ofthe game, have vague recollection of celebrating at 1-0

then being gutted at 2-1


after that its a total blank
ill watch the highlights on line nd get back to you

[John Madejski's Wallet]

at tracking back?

easily our best defending and hard working attacker- every game he has played has been characterised by superb tackles, and interceptions in the last third

^^ With Brendy here.

Kebe is miles better than HRK & McCleary at tracking back and helping out right right back.

Part of Cummings strength is the partnership he had with Kebe. Without Kebe he's getting no help in covering 2 or more attackers. Still way better than Gunter though imo

[3 veesinarow]

As mentioned in an earlier posting I didn't like our players asking for their shirts at the end of a game-it smacks of a non-league side playing in the FA Cup.
Why don't they just go and buy one?
Mind you I may be wrong,Ferdinand might have always wanted Morrisons shirt and his dream came true on Saturday night.
I wonder what they actually do with these shirts.

I've yet to see a Premiership game this season where every player trooped off in their own shirt. It happens after every game, regardless of who's involved.

[Hoop Blah]

I'm not really a Keb fan but one thing he added to his game last season was the willingness and ability to get back and help his fullback.

He's not always that great when he gets there but, apart from McAnuff, he's the best at getting back there to help out and make the opposition work harder to create an opening.

I wonder if McDermott has considered a Gunter and Cummings combination down the right at any point this season. I'm guessing not, but if we wanted to be a bit more resilient and defensively secure it might be an idea (not that I'm a fan of playing players out of position).

[loyalroyal4life]

Anyone think that Feds should have saved Anderson goal?

[pea]

Anyone think that Feds should have saved Anderson goal?

shot shouldn't have been coming in in the first place and the first time shot caught him by surprised. Probably could have done better if he'd anticipated it sooner but harsh to blame him for the goal which would have been avoided if Morrison/Tabb had done their job properly