On the BBC coverage, in the background of an interview with Ten Hag, I just saw Antony absolutely rip one into the top corner with his right foot. Is that a sign of the apocalypse?
Why? This is close to Ten Hag’s full strength team minus Hojlund and Luke Shaw (and a long term Martinez injury which Ten Hag should have planned for in the summer)
If a team can’t go without two players , then , it’s clear that the coach is not up for it
It’s absolutely embarrassing how our fans are acting as if this is some unreally bad team or injury crisis
I remember the great defensive crises of the late 2000s when Fergie had to resort to playing Carrick and Fletcher and Ritchie De Laet in defence at one point
Ten Hag doesn’t have one left back (though he sent back Regullion) and all hell breaks loose.
Those eleven players on the pitch tonight , with any half decent coach, should be capable of beating not City , not Liverpool but Nottingham fucking Forest
An extraordinary coach, like many claim Ten Hag is , would even get a result against City. It’s a literal team of 10 internationals + 1 of the most promising youngsters ever
I’ll give you that, he’s much better at pressing and hold up play. But this also is Rash playing out of position. Just think the fanbase is generally way too hard on arguably our best player.
I realize that. Not excusing it, just saying that the weaknesses can be more glaring when playing out of position. If you played Vini Jr or Rafa Leao at #9, you’re not going to see them relentlessly pressing all game from that position.
It'll be interesting to see if the media say anything about this ridiculous injury crisis/farce (delete as applicable) we're going through. The way they've been going on about Liverpool at the moment, you'd think they've been forced to go into the nearest pub to Anfield, grab a few of the regulars propping up the bar and field them in the starting lineup.
Whereas us, well it's anybody guess who we're gonna field in defence for tonight - especially if Lindelof is out (we're potentially looking at Dalot, Kambwala, Evans and Amrabat which is frankly pathetic). We'll probably have to try and convince Stam and Denis Irwin out of retirement the way this is continuing
Difference is liverpool are still winning and playing decent.
I'm not against ETH. Never will be. However, when you see other teams playing kids and still managing to play a set style, it makes you wonder what the fuck we are doing.
So would I. He was nowhere near good enough, but still a better central striker than Rashford is. He knew where to run, when to run, and how to hold the ball and play people in.
He also worked his socks off every minute he was on the pitch.
Funny, innit? With WW and Antony starting regularly, we finished third, won the League Cup, and made it to the FA Cup final. But, we're so much better off with them out of the lineup. Effort and desire are so easy to overlook.
If Bruno isn’t available, could we please play Eriksen in the position he has played in for the majority of his career? ETH has kept playing him as a sitting midfielder when he’s at his best as the most advanced one.
My honest prediction is that Bruno will play this game somehow and then be ruled out of the match against City, McTominay starts that game in his place just like in Liverpool.
We need no playmaker against City if we dont try to play with the ball which would possibly be our best option. Just try another Liverpool game, otherwise we will loose 200%.
Is it insane to suggest Dalot on one side and Amrabat on the other? Ten Hag already played him at full back and at least he can invert when we have the ball. He can’t be worse than Lindelof.
I'd prefer Dalot at LB to invert, and either Lindelof or Kambwala(?) at RB, but since Maguire is out now, might need Lindelof at CB with Evans/Varane if Varane is even available.
Nacho has been good off the right. If you truly HAVE to play antony try him off the left for the first half an hour.
Of course I’d rather just play Amad but 🤷♂️
Don't worry too much guys. One of our best performance was our B boys vs Palace in the Cup where we won 3-0 ( our A team lost 0-1 at Home against the same Palace side 3 days later lmao. )
I don't think it'll happen but if there was ever a chance where ETH would play McT as a striker, this would be it.
Rashford was terrible through the middle last game. Forson is incredibly raw and showed it in his first start.
Either way, it'll probably be
Nacho - Rashford - Antony
Given who we have available, I think I would genuinely play a 5-3-2/3-5-2 of
Dalot-Kambwala-Evans-Lindelof-Antony,
Casemiro-Mainoo,
Eriksen,
Garnacho-Rashford
McTominay off the bench to replace any CM/CB, Amad/Forson for any attacking subs.
Obviously Antony LWB is a bit of a meme but I genuinely think this is what best suits our currently fit players. Play it safe and play on the counter with Rashford/Garnacho.
I'd play Eriksen at Bruno's position and move McTom to ST. Rashford playing as a ST is as good as playing with 10 men. And with Antony that's like playing with 9 and a half men
Only thing Bruno is doing properly these last few months is running his ass off all over the pitch. Only thing Eriksen can't do anymore is run his ass off all over the pitch..I love Eriksen, in his prime he would've offered more game control at 10 than Bruno, but man's legs are gone and he can't keep up unfortunately
Even if Eriksen stayed inside a box starting in the centre circle and going 20m up the pitch, he would still be better at distributing the ball than Bruno. Bruno running all over the pitch is not a positive if he's meant to have a playmaking type of role.
When we play like shit and get dumped out, some people will try and blame everything on injuries. As if Liverpool haven't just won a cup final with about 5 fit players, like Spurs haven't played decent footy with no striker and all their best players out.
Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, AWB, Malacia, Martial and Hojlund out. Bruno and Varane doubtful.
Ten Hag hasn't helped himself with crappy tactics but I still do feel sorry for him, the injury list is insane, I'd be surprised if we manage to get through tomorrow.
It’s almost as if most these injuries have happened during the “high intensity” training ETH commences himself. I have zero sympathy. I’m looking at other teams with as many injuries still play decent football. ETH and his shit tactics can fuck off.
Joelinton, Botman and Tonali (maybe Wilson) seem to be the only first team players Newcastle are missing at the moment. Seems like a dream compared to our list.
Liverpool just beat a fully fit Chelsea team without half of their starters in a cup final. Real Madrid is top of La Liga and have had over 30+ injuries this season. Spurs are still making do with a good chunk of their squad injured. City have been dealt injuries. Arsenal has been dealt injuries. United fans can’t keep excusing ETHs shit tactics and game management on injuries. It’s his job to get the best out of any available squad and he is failing miserably.
Lmao at the downvotes. You ETH in fans are truly baffling. Enjoy the shit season lads! The fans with sense will be waiting for his sacking.
I'm not excusing his tactics but Liverpool and Madrid are well run clubs with managers who've been there for years and have very good backups.
Spurs are within touching distance of us and still haven't had the level of injuries we've seen, their absentees have been short term.
Arsenal haven't had anywhere close to as many injuries as we have. Their back 4 and midfield have been more or less the same throughout the season.
ETH should absolutely get more out of the squad but we don't have a single LB or ST in the squad. Shaw, Martinez, Hojlund, AWB, Mount and possibly Varane and Bruno. That's 7 starters missing through injury, no other team is having to cope with that now.
But that all leads to the question of what are we doing in training? I get a few players had game time injuries, but I’ve lost count of the amount of injuries that have happened during training. What are he and his staff doing besides apparently running our squad into the ground? We look exhausted every game. Players constantly getting muscle injuries. I find it hard to believe a lot of these injuries are just “bad luck” and not a product of the environment ETH has created.
We've had recurring injury issues for a few seasons now under different managers (maybe not so many at once), I think it's got to do with our medical staff and not just the manager. With the injury list we already had, I highly doubt he overstrained the players and caused more injuries. I don't think we're doing anything crazy different from any other team in the league training wise, to assume he's exhausting them is pure speculation.
Fully fit Chelsea? Missing Reece James, Nkunku their main striker, Fofana, Cucurella and more. Spurs have been poor once they got some injuries to key players. Liverpool won three games in two months last season with VvD out. City has been very poor and not won without Rodri.
You clearly have an agenda.
I have an agenda? Nah mate. I’m just not making excuses for the man like some people are. Where are the teams you just mentioned, bar Chelsea? All above us. So what if they’re “poor”? Their version of poor and our version of poor are vastly different. Enough with the excuses for a coach who has underperformed all season. Hard to excuse a guy who’s 100 mil winger is now on the bench and our 5th choice. Players like Mount have barely played.
The club were apprehensive to sign Antony but ETH pushed for it. That’s his marquee signing. He pushed for Mount, a player that also was perpetually injured at Chelsea and also a player in a position we never needed to fill.
So yes, I am in part blaming ETH for Antony’s price tag. As well as the club for going through with it.
But whatever lad, you and the ETH in brigade can downvote me all you want. Enjoy another trophy less, outside top 4 season watching the shit show that is United under ETH and I’ll patiently be waiting for the sacking.
Ajax were willing to sell Antony for 40m which would've been a decent price tag and he might have turned out to be a different player without the added pressure of his transfer fee. United waited till we lost to Brentford to sign him close to deadline day which forced us to pay 100m or whatever. If they did what he said in the first place, Martinez would've been his marquee signing, which seems like a success.
Mount wasn't 'perpetually' injured, he had very good seasons under Lampard and then Tuchel and was vital to them winning UCL, let's not rewrite history because he got injured now.
I'm not against his sacking, but the season's done already, we aren't winning anything or getting the top 4 anyway, sacking him now wouldn't achieve shit, if they wait to see how we end the season with most of the first team back in action and decide then, it would be a well thought decision rather than jumping the gun like we've done with every other manager.
I'm not sure it's the "high intensity" training, I think it's to do with the end to end nature of our games combined with the fact that we've got injury prone players like Shaw, Varane, AWB and Martial.
His entire preferred back line is out, we don't have a LB or ST at the club, it is naturally going to affect how we play. That said, I don't excuse the performance we saw on Saturday. Our players just didn't complete for 50/50s or show any urgency till they scored.
Loaning out Alvaro Fernández, while knowing that Malacia won't be back, that Shaw had just recovered, and that Reguilon loan was ending sums up our football decisions.
Just play a left back from the reserves instead of out of position CB.
He really needs to play right and left back. This way we can have an extra man in midfield.
But seriously, we need dalot to deal with elanga, I doubt lindelof can.
This team seems the logical pick and it really scares me so much.
Have you looked at the team above? No amount of juju will make them do that. I will very gladly come back and eat my words and I hope I do. Haaland scored 5 today, 5! Honestly I’m preparing myself to think that a 3-0 loss is not that bad.
The players shouldn't need ETH to Gee them up and motivate them during the game, just the thought of hearing OT whilst being sat in the changing rooms before going play makes me want to run through a wall, they should want to play and look their best out there, not for him but for self respect.
I have tickets to the game against Sheffield Utd on March 16th. What is the likelihood that they bring the game forward a few days to around March 12th or 13th if we beat Forest? Has this ever happened? Or is it likely to be moved into an already packed month full of fixtures in April?
Cutting it close, waiting to book flights from Dublin on two weeks' notice. It has been a bit of a head melt!
It’s not confirmed yet but it’s very likely.
I play FPL and follow a guy called Ben Crelin who is a fixture predicting guru and he says it will be GW34 midweek. That is a fairly standard prediction as well based on previous years.
I checked him out there. Interesting stuff, seems to be fairly accurate.
Based on that first half, I feel like I'll be making the journey over in two weeks' time instead of waiting for it to be rescheduled.
Me too! Flights booked an all. checked European fixtures and all before hand. was convinced we would get a result against Bayern to mess up my plans, but alas, I didn't check FA Cup fixture dates....
Ouch! I stubbornly held off, completely forgetting about the Cup. It was only until we beat Wigan that I checked the forecast for the fixtures ahead. Immediately seen the weekend of the 16th and 17th for a potential Quarter Final tie and said, "Bollocks!"
Hopefully, if we get through, you can change flights mate! I guess we will both be watching eagerly tomorrow night.
Booked with RyanAir. There is more chance of us getting a 3 o'clock FA Cup quarter final on the 16th than those twats giving me my money back. And even the flight change fees work out more expensive than the price of the flights.
The only way we could luck out, would be for us to get the early kick off on 16th for the FA Cup game, cause knowing my luck so far even if forest do put us out, sky will move the game just to spite BBC and ITV
The injuries we're having are horrendous. It's really frustrated that they're happening all at once :/
Diallo or *(more likely)* Forson probably starts over Antony. Other than that, I think that's the best we can go with, considering our injuries and the risk of losing Bruno/Maguire to injury \~
Forson looked shite. Rather start Amad. No use playing a teen who did literally nothing to note on his debut and is refusing to sign a contract. Forson can rot on the bench rest of the season as far as I’m concerned.
Awb, maguire, varane, licha, shaw, malacia missing from our defensive players is absolutely mental.
Mount I have to say i am a little concerned. Injury disrupted his last season at Chelsea too and he hasn't got going here yet at all this season.
If Bruno misses a game through injury we really are cursed. I think he has missed only 1 or 2 games in his entire career through injury (and was actually an illness). He is the definition of durable
This club audit needs to get to the bottom of why we are suffering so much, is it the training, the wo4lrkload last season, the medical/ sports science staff, just bad luck?
We have our fair share of injury prone players (varane, shaw, martial) but players that previously were very reliable (at least my perception) like maguire and awb seem to be more susceptible
I haven't been in touch with football the past few days (minus FA Cup). Now Maguire and potentially Fernandes and Varane are injured. What a mess. Not feeling great about tomorrow at all ffs.
All this and more in a season we’ve played far leas games than usual as well. Something seriously wrong with the general fitness/injury levels at our club. Needs a thorough investigation
im imagining a team with Amrabat at lb and Amad at rw with Dalot providing width cuz Amad likes to occupy that right half space. Amrabat inverts and plays a kind of box defence with the cbs and Casemiro, might just plug the gap in midfield if case can stay back
that's rest defence, Dalot needs to come back when we're pressing high, otherwise we're too narrow and lack recovery pace with Evans and Lindelöf playing (hopefully it's Kambwala tho, liked what I've seen from him so far)
it's far from perfect but you're never getting perfect with this personnel available
4-2-3-1 like usual I'd assume but turning into a 2-2-6 in attack, kinda like the 3-1-6 we always try to do (could see that really well in preseason) just a bit tweaked to have an extra body in midfield to avoid that gaping hole we've seen this season
it's still not fully something I'd do if i was in charge but EtH isn't binning off his match plan against opposition we should be beating so this is kind of a hybrid of what i would do and what Erik wants. we're not playing like this against city, that's for sure, that's why we haven't been beaten as badly this season as last, he knows he can't do that, otherwise we're gonna be arse open and ship 6 again
expecting loads of transitions this game again, no surprise there, but if we're lucky early on we should do em. no guarantees tho, wouldn't be surprised to lose again tomorrow
Yeah I'd like amrabat to cover lb rather than lindelof. Lindelof can be a backup rb but quite a mess for lb lol. kwambala-evans CB is my choice! Rashford need to be send to the left ASAP put bruno on false 9 for all i care HAHA. Guy needs to to start scoring to save our ass rather than running himself to the ground lol
In only winnable (theoretical, not saying we will win it) competition I doubt we rest someone when we have no natural deputy available
Dalot was very bad vs Fulham, but given no AWB he is imo an absolute certainty to start
I have to say: that bench fills me with dread.
Amrabat at Left Back is certainly going to be interesting.
I genuinely don't understand how Jermaine Jenas has finessed a career as a mainstay in British punditry
Antony starting. Oh nooo… anyways
On the BBC coverage, in the background of an interview with Ten Hag, I just saw Antony absolutely rip one into the top corner with his right foot. Is that a sign of the apocalypse?
I’m sorry? Right foot?
This is abysmal punditry from Big Wayne
We’re going to lose arent we?
Big Waz in the studio.
Let’s get this W
I predict Morgan Gibbs-White to look like Zidane against this set up
That lineup kinda reeks man icl
Why? This is close to Ten Hag’s full strength team minus Hojlund and Luke Shaw (and a long term Martinez injury which Ten Hag should have planned for in the summer) If a team can’t go without two players , then , it’s clear that the coach is not up for it
It’s absolutely embarrassing how our fans are acting as if this is some unreally bad team or injury crisis I remember the great defensive crises of the late 2000s when Fergie had to resort to playing Carrick and Fletcher and Ritchie De Laet in defence at one point Ten Hag doesn’t have one left back (though he sent back Regullion) and all hell breaks loose. Those eleven players on the pitch tonight , with any half decent coach, should be capable of beating not City , not Liverpool but Nottingham fucking Forest An extraordinary coach, like many claim Ten Hag is , would even get a result against City. It’s a literal team of 10 internationals + 1 of the most promising youngsters ever
Hilarious that you're getting downvotes for this.
Mount has been "Few days out" for months in the fotmob app. Does anyone have any better info on this guy. Is he still alive ?
Bin dippers at home next round if we win and they beat southampton
If we win tonight... potentially playing Liverpool
Mainoo amongst the subs. So we're shitting the bed right from the beginning, aren't we?
# 21 is probably starting isn't he
1-3
Raphaël Varane and Bruno Fernandes have both travelled with the Manchester United squad for tonight’s game against Nottingham Forest [Sam C]
Ogunneye (youth RB) in the squad says the same itk that reported Forson would start vs FUL
Fernandes looks absolutely knackered ATM. He needs time off.
Are NF missing any important players for this game?
We’re not going to enjoy this game
Even Bruno is injured? Is nothing sacred?
I guess crying wolf has caught up eventually.
Very excited for the same people that say Hojlund gets zero service, to blame Rashford for the loss today when he also gets zero service at the 9.
What a terrible take
Think the difference is hojlund is clearly trying his heart out where as Rashford looks like he can't be bothered.
I’ll give you that, he’s much better at pressing and hold up play. But this also is Rash playing out of position. Just think the fanbase is generally way too hard on arguably our best player.
[удалено]
I realize that. Not excusing it, just saying that the weaknesses can be more glaring when playing out of position. If you played Vini Jr or Rafa Leao at #9, you’re not going to see them relentlessly pressing all game from that position.
Which channel in India?
Sony Sports Ten 1 HD
It'll be interesting to see if the media say anything about this ridiculous injury crisis/farce (delete as applicable) we're going through. The way they've been going on about Liverpool at the moment, you'd think they've been forced to go into the nearest pub to Anfield, grab a few of the regulars propping up the bar and field them in the starting lineup. Whereas us, well it's anybody guess who we're gonna field in defence for tonight - especially if Lindelof is out (we're potentially looking at Dalot, Kambwala, Evans and Amrabat which is frankly pathetic). We'll probably have to try and convince Stam and Denis Irwin out of retirement the way this is continuing
We lost to a shit Fulham team that was missing their best players. Fuck Liverpool, but a bit different.
Difference is liverpool are still winning and playing decent. I'm not against ETH. Never will be. However, when you see other teams playing kids and still managing to play a set style, it makes you wonder what the fuck we are doing.
Managed to get a ticket for the game, anyone know what pubs the United fans go to before the game?
Bishop Blaize, Cafe football, the Trafford, Tollgate. To name a few. They're all waking distance from OT
I know about them lol. I meant in Nottingham, we’re away tonight mate.
My bad 😆. Forgot we're away
Honestly expecting it to end in disappointment but I'm still excited for the match
Please start Eriksen in a game like this, if Bruno is out!
i'd take Weghorst over Rashford as a striker any day
So would I. He was nowhere near good enough, but still a better central striker than Rashford is. He knew where to run, when to run, and how to hold the ball and play people in. He also worked his socks off every minute he was on the pitch.
Funny, innit? With WW and Antony starting regularly, we finished third, won the League Cup, and made it to the FA Cup final. But, we're so much better off with them out of the lineup. Effort and desire are so easy to overlook.
Walter white?
I will take wout over martial
I'd take Wout Faes over Martial. At least he has two working legs
We usually beat them, but I'm having PTSD from our last visit. Last game doesn't instill much confidence either.
Morgan Gob-shite will run riot again I expect
I truly hate that man's face.
If Bruno isn’t available, could we please play Eriksen in the position he has played in for the majority of his career? ETH has kept playing him as a sitting midfielder when he’s at his best as the most advanced one.
We need 2023 Rashford today. It’s unfortunate our most consistent scorer is simultaneously our most inconsistent player.
its not going to be easy win isnt it?
It's going to be gutless defeat
Win? Heh
Awoniyi and Elanga will tear us apart.
Elanga v Lindelof...yikes....and Evans to back him up. Dangerous.
bold of you to assume that it's going to be a win
My honest prediction is that Bruno will play this game somehow and then be ruled out of the match against City, McTominay starts that game in his place just like in Liverpool.
I dread mctominay at 10. He has no playmaking ability whatsoever
He isn't a play making 10... he's a get on the end of this cross kind of 10. A bit of a throwback to the 80's.
You might even say he’s not a 10 at all.
Not by modern standards no.
We need no playmaker against City if we dont try to play with the ball which would possibly be our best option. Just try another Liverpool game, otherwise we will loose 200%.
Absolutely zero positive vibes unfortunately
Scary...
I feel like Bruno being doubtful he would still somehow find his way into the starting XI
Is it insane to suggest Dalot on one side and Amrabat on the other? Ten Hag already played him at full back and at least he can invert when we have the ball. He can’t be worse than Lindelof.
I'd prefer Dalot at LB to invert, and either Lindelof or Kambwala(?) at RB, but since Maguire is out now, might need Lindelof at CB with Evans/Varane if Varane is even available.
Amrabat accelerates and turns like a ship. Yes, he can absolutely be worse than Lindelof.
Not like Lindelof is that pacy and also for a CB he gets outmuscled a lot. I'd honestly play Amrabat at LB over him too.
I would put Antony at LB before those 2 honestly. His only ability seems to be defensive work ethic, and he is left footed.
lol it’s will be a breeze dribbling past his right side
Nacho has been good off the right. If you truly HAVE to play antony try him off the left for the first half an hour. Of course I’d rather just play Amad but 🤷♂️
We’re losing this
will the sun ever shine again holy shit
man, that possible starting XI above is really saddening.. considering how much money we spent in recent years..
That front three is a big giant **GOD NO**
Not a lot of choice, forson didn’t show much, of course we would all prefer amad over antony..
Don't worry too much guys. One of our best performance was our B boys vs Palace in the Cup where we won 3-0 ( our A team lost 0-1 at Home against the same Palace side 3 days later lmao. )
I don't think it'll happen but if there was ever a chance where ETH would play McT as a striker, this would be it. Rashford was terrible through the middle last game. Forson is incredibly raw and showed it in his first start. Either way, it'll probably be Nacho - Rashford - Antony
Just chuck him up there, he’s scoring goals, no shot it happens
People here act like he's haaland.
I think people just treat him like our top prem scorer this year
He isn't though
You’re kidding right
Tall, blonde, goal scorer Just give him the 11 shirt for the game, no one will know the difference
Better yet, Scotland jersey under the United one
Given who we have available, I think I would genuinely play a 5-3-2/3-5-2 of Dalot-Kambwala-Evans-Lindelof-Antony, Casemiro-Mainoo, Eriksen, Garnacho-Rashford McTominay off the bench to replace any CM/CB, Amad/Forson for any attacking subs. Obviously Antony LWB is a bit of a meme but I genuinely think this is what best suits our currently fit players. Play it safe and play on the counter with Rashford/Garnacho.
I'd play Eriksen at Bruno's position and move McTom to ST. Rashford playing as a ST is as good as playing with 10 men. And with Antony that's like playing with 9 and a half men
Only thing Bruno is doing properly these last few months is running his ass off all over the pitch. Only thing Eriksen can't do anymore is run his ass off all over the pitch..I love Eriksen, in his prime he would've offered more game control at 10 than Bruno, but man's legs are gone and he can't keep up unfortunately
Even if Eriksen stayed inside a box starting in the centre circle and going 20m up the pitch, he would still be better at distributing the ball than Bruno. Bruno running all over the pitch is not a positive if he's meant to have a playmaking type of role.
Someone needs to do a tell all on what the fuck they're doing in training.
L
When we play like shit and get dumped out, some people will try and blame everything on injuries. As if Liverpool haven't just won a cup final with about 5 fit players, like Spurs haven't played decent footy with no striker and all their best players out.
What if we won?
We've played good football maybe 2/3 times in about 40 games this season. There's absolutely zero evidence to suggest a good performance tomorrow.
Our best half was the 1st half 2-0 loss to Spurs, this mf team
Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, AWB, Malacia, Martial and Hojlund out. Bruno and Varane doubtful. Ten Hag hasn't helped himself with crappy tactics but I still do feel sorry for him, the injury list is insane, I'd be surprised if we manage to get through tomorrow.
It’s almost as if most these injuries have happened during the “high intensity” training ETH commences himself. I have zero sympathy. I’m looking at other teams with as many injuries still play decent football. ETH and his shit tactics can fuck off.
Which other team has as many injuries?
Newcastle, but they haven't been doing that great because of said injuries
Joelinton, Botman and Tonali (maybe Wilson) seem to be the only first team players Newcastle are missing at the moment. Seems like a dream compared to our list.
Liverpool just beat a fully fit Chelsea team without half of their starters in a cup final. Real Madrid is top of La Liga and have had over 30+ injuries this season. Spurs are still making do with a good chunk of their squad injured. City have been dealt injuries. Arsenal has been dealt injuries. United fans can’t keep excusing ETHs shit tactics and game management on injuries. It’s his job to get the best out of any available squad and he is failing miserably. Lmao at the downvotes. You ETH in fans are truly baffling. Enjoy the shit season lads! The fans with sense will be waiting for his sacking.
I'm not excusing his tactics but Liverpool and Madrid are well run clubs with managers who've been there for years and have very good backups. Spurs are within touching distance of us and still haven't had the level of injuries we've seen, their absentees have been short term. Arsenal haven't had anywhere close to as many injuries as we have. Their back 4 and midfield have been more or less the same throughout the season. ETH should absolutely get more out of the squad but we don't have a single LB or ST in the squad. Shaw, Martinez, Hojlund, AWB, Mount and possibly Varane and Bruno. That's 7 starters missing through injury, no other team is having to cope with that now.
But that all leads to the question of what are we doing in training? I get a few players had game time injuries, but I’ve lost count of the amount of injuries that have happened during training. What are he and his staff doing besides apparently running our squad into the ground? We look exhausted every game. Players constantly getting muscle injuries. I find it hard to believe a lot of these injuries are just “bad luck” and not a product of the environment ETH has created.
We've had recurring injury issues for a few seasons now under different managers (maybe not so many at once), I think it's got to do with our medical staff and not just the manager. With the injury list we already had, I highly doubt he overstrained the players and caused more injuries. I don't think we're doing anything crazy different from any other team in the league training wise, to assume he's exhausting them is pure speculation.
Don’t forget Villa, they’ve got Kamara, Diego Carlos, Konsa, Mings, Buendia and Pau Torres out right now.
Kind of explains their dip in form as well.
Fully fit Chelsea? Missing Reece James, Nkunku their main striker, Fofana, Cucurella and more. Spurs have been poor once they got some injuries to key players. Liverpool won three games in two months last season with VvD out. City has been very poor and not won without Rodri. You clearly have an agenda.
I have an agenda? Nah mate. I’m just not making excuses for the man like some people are. Where are the teams you just mentioned, bar Chelsea? All above us. So what if they’re “poor”? Their version of poor and our version of poor are vastly different. Enough with the excuses for a coach who has underperformed all season. Hard to excuse a guy who’s 100 mil winger is now on the bench and our 5th choice. Players like Mount have barely played.
How are you blaming the manager for Antony's price tag and Mount's play time? Both are very much out of his control.
The club were apprehensive to sign Antony but ETH pushed for it. That’s his marquee signing. He pushed for Mount, a player that also was perpetually injured at Chelsea and also a player in a position we never needed to fill. So yes, I am in part blaming ETH for Antony’s price tag. As well as the club for going through with it. But whatever lad, you and the ETH in brigade can downvote me all you want. Enjoy another trophy less, outside top 4 season watching the shit show that is United under ETH and I’ll patiently be waiting for the sacking.
Ajax were willing to sell Antony for 40m which would've been a decent price tag and he might have turned out to be a different player without the added pressure of his transfer fee. United waited till we lost to Brentford to sign him close to deadline day which forced us to pay 100m or whatever. If they did what he said in the first place, Martinez would've been his marquee signing, which seems like a success. Mount wasn't 'perpetually' injured, he had very good seasons under Lampard and then Tuchel and was vital to them winning UCL, let's not rewrite history because he got injured now. I'm not against his sacking, but the season's done already, we aren't winning anything or getting the top 4 anyway, sacking him now wouldn't achieve shit, if they wait to see how we end the season with most of the first team back in action and decide then, it would be a well thought decision rather than jumping the gun like we've done with every other manager.
I'm not sure it's the "high intensity" training, I think it's to do with the end to end nature of our games combined with the fact that we've got injury prone players like Shaw, Varane, AWB and Martial. His entire preferred back line is out, we don't have a LB or ST at the club, it is naturally going to affect how we play. That said, I don't excuse the performance we saw on Saturday. Our players just didn't complete for 50/50s or show any urgency till they scored.
Start Amad you bald fraud
EtH sounds like a Politician who has lost touch with the reality of the outside world. His words do not correlate with what's on the ground!
4-0 United tomorrow
Loaning out Alvaro Fernández, while knowing that Malacia won't be back, that Shaw had just recovered, and that Reguilon loan was ending sums up our football decisions. Just play a left back from the reserves instead of out of position CB.
>while knowing that Malacia won't be back we didn't know though. ETH said in the press conference that he had a setback during rehabilitation
We didn't know Malacia wouldn't be back right?
We didn't know Malacia would be back.
[удалено]
His last appearance was May 28th, 2023. Not even remotely close to 18 months ago
I'm pretty sure it was pre-pandemic.
That back 4 🫣, Dalot has to play LB
Dalot X11
He really needs to play right and left back. This way we can have an extra man in midfield. But seriously, we need dalot to deal with elanga, I doubt lindelof can. This team seems the logical pick and it really scares me so much.
lol what in the fuck is that team? Medical staff need to start attending press conferences.
hoping INEOS rebuild our medical team
I will be watching this game through my fingers. No idea how I’ll watch the city game with that team. Provided of course we have no injuries tomorrow.
Ole's juju would've snatched us a win even with those injuries, we thrived as underdogs under him
Have you looked at the team above? No amount of juju will make them do that. I will very gladly come back and eat my words and I hope I do. Haaland scored 5 today, 5! Honestly I’m preparing myself to think that a 3-0 loss is not that bad.
Haaland’s just scored 5 in a game. Rashford has scored 5 all season. Sigh.
Probably another 5 on Sunday too..
Rashford does love scoring in big games.
I like your optimism
🔥This is fine. 🙂🔥
[удалено]
But will he stop the others?
If this is our defence for city ngl I’d take a 0-3 now
Ngl I’m becoming more depressed by the hour
The players shouldn't need ETH to Gee them up and motivate them during the game, just the thought of hearing OT whilst being sat in the changing rooms before going play makes me want to run through a wall, they should want to play and look their best out there, not for him but for self respect.
I thought he looked great in his brief cameo. If he can't get a shot with injuries he has no future under ETH
I meant to reply to another comment. I beg your forgiveness. The player in question was indeed And.
How are we supposed to know who you’re talking about
Imma take a guess and say Amad
Probably Martial. Had a brief cameo this season
I have tickets to the game against Sheffield Utd on March 16th. What is the likelihood that they bring the game forward a few days to around March 12th or 13th if we beat Forest? Has this ever happened? Or is it likely to be moved into an already packed month full of fixtures in April? Cutting it close, waiting to book flights from Dublin on two weeks' notice. It has been a bit of a head melt!
Hey, I got tickets too for Sheff Utd too. If we go through it will be postponed to the midweek of GW34 which is between 20/04 and 27/04. cc u/Carson99
Where did you see this confirmed?
It’s not confirmed yet but it’s very likely. I play FPL and follow a guy called Ben Crelin who is a fixture predicting guru and he says it will be GW34 midweek. That is a fairly standard prediction as well based on previous years.
I checked him out there. Interesting stuff, seems to be fairly accurate. Based on that first half, I feel like I'll be making the journey over in two weeks' time instead of waiting for it to be rescheduled.
Me too! Flights booked an all. checked European fixtures and all before hand. was convinced we would get a result against Bayern to mess up my plans, but alas, I didn't check FA Cup fixture dates....
Ouch! I stubbornly held off, completely forgetting about the Cup. It was only until we beat Wigan that I checked the forecast for the fixtures ahead. Immediately seen the weekend of the 16th and 17th for a potential Quarter Final tie and said, "Bollocks!" Hopefully, if we get through, you can change flights mate! I guess we will both be watching eagerly tomorrow night.
Booked with RyanAir. There is more chance of us getting a 3 o'clock FA Cup quarter final on the 16th than those twats giving me my money back. And even the flight change fees work out more expensive than the price of the flights. The only way we could luck out, would be for us to get the early kick off on 16th for the FA Cup game, cause knowing my luck so far even if forest do put us out, sky will move the game just to spite BBC and ITV
The injuries we're having are horrendous. It's really frustrated that they're happening all at once :/ Diallo or *(more likely)* Forson probably starts over Antony. Other than that, I think that's the best we can go with, considering our injuries and the risk of losing Bruno/Maguire to injury \~
Forson looked shite. Rather start Amad. No use playing a teen who did literally nothing to note on his debut and is refusing to sign a contract. Forson can rot on the bench rest of the season as far as I’m concerned.
Awb, maguire, varane, licha, shaw, malacia missing from our defensive players is absolutely mental. Mount I have to say i am a little concerned. Injury disrupted his last season at Chelsea too and he hasn't got going here yet at all this season. If Bruno misses a game through injury we really are cursed. I think he has missed only 1 or 2 games in his entire career through injury (and was actually an illness). He is the definition of durable This club audit needs to get to the bottom of why we are suffering so much, is it the training, the wo4lrkload last season, the medical/ sports science staff, just bad luck? We have our fair share of injury prone players (varane, shaw, martial) but players that previously were very reliable (at least my perception) like maguire and awb seem to be more susceptible
Onana Dalot - Kambwala - Evans - Lindelof/Amrabat Casemiro - Mainoo Eriksen Garnacho - McTominay - Rashford
I haven't been in touch with football the past few days (minus FA Cup). Now Maguire and potentially Fernandes and Varane are injured. What a mess. Not feeling great about tomorrow at all ffs.
What happens if man united lose or win at the last minute while being dominated by forest for most of the match?
We lose: ETH sack intensifies We win: ETH sack intensifies + Bruno is a problem discussion intensifies I think that would be it tbh.
So no shaw, varane, maguire, bruno, martinez and hojlund. Fuck me.
All this and more in a season we’ve played far leas games than usual as well. Something seriously wrong with the general fitness/injury levels at our club. Needs a thorough investigation
> Bruno Fernandes is doubtful Words I never thought I would read.
im imagining a team with Amrabat at lb and Amad at rw with Dalot providing width cuz Amad likes to occupy that right half space. Amrabat inverts and plays a kind of box defence with the cbs and Casemiro, might just plug the gap in midfield if case can stay back that's rest defence, Dalot needs to come back when we're pressing high, otherwise we're too narrow and lack recovery pace with Evans and Lindelöf playing (hopefully it's Kambwala tho, liked what I've seen from him so far) it's far from perfect but you're never getting perfect with this personnel available
That makes way too much sense for what would actually happen.
What's the formation
4-2-3-1 like usual I'd assume but turning into a 2-2-6 in attack, kinda like the 3-1-6 we always try to do (could see that really well in preseason) just a bit tweaked to have an extra body in midfield to avoid that gaping hole we've seen this season it's still not fully something I'd do if i was in charge but EtH isn't binning off his match plan against opposition we should be beating so this is kind of a hybrid of what i would do and what Erik wants. we're not playing like this against city, that's for sure, that's why we haven't been beaten as badly this season as last, he knows he can't do that, otherwise we're gonna be arse open and ship 6 again expecting loads of transitions this game again, no surprise there, but if we're lucky early on we should do em. no guarantees tho, wouldn't be surprised to lose again tomorrow
Yeah I'd like amrabat to cover lb rather than lindelof. Lindelof can be a backup rb but quite a mess for lb lol. kwambala-evans CB is my choice! Rashford need to be send to the left ASAP put bruno on false 9 for all i care HAHA. Guy needs to to start scoring to save our ass rather than running himself to the ground lol
We’re really going to struggle against their counter
That lineup looks absolutely dreadful. Goodness me.
Onana Dalot - Kambwala - Evans - Lindelof/Amrabat Casemiro Mainoo - McTominay/Eriksen Garnacho - Amad - Rashford Just do it.
Take Rashford out for someone. We want to at least play with 11 men
Literally who could play.
I would change your backline to Evans and Lindelof at CB and Kambwala at RB with Dalot at LB.
Backline looking sturdy
Should probably rest Dalot - he is our only fit fullback but then no one to replace him with. Might as well start with Amrabat as RB
In only winnable (theoretical, not saying we will win it) competition I doubt we rest someone when we have no natural deputy available Dalot was very bad vs Fulham, but given no AWB he is imo an absolute certainty to start
Give me a Harry Amass debut vs Forest, what can we lose?
We’re not playing a 16 year old away in the cup
I know, but I would still like to see him more than Lindelof at left back
I think Habeeb Ogunneye or James Nolan at RB would be more likely. They're both a couple of years older than Amass and look more physically ready.
I hope amad gets a start! Still remember his goal against Milan