Man United Vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[theShiznit]

Stupid of me really but had some risk free bets left over from Cheltenham and with the PP in play offer, went big on Spurs and the draw as "I can't see us losing"

I went against my natural instinct to bet against us (as I win either way), and now In the words of Morrissey I'm miserable now.

 

[Nebby]

Thought Eriksen was particularly poor today. He's not exactly one who gets stuck in, is he?

 

[N17Jack]

Not far off, if you swap Dembele for Townsend you would be correct

Well this place just amazes me some times, I call the team 100% correct and get a disagree, sad little man.

 

[DaSpurs]

Thought Eriksen was particularly poor today. He's not exactly one who gets stuck in, is he?

He is annoyingly calm. It was handy last season in the face of the adversity, as it manifested as unflappability, but this season it often hurts us in trying to establish a press, especially when he's wide. I have never seen such a passive footballer in all my life. I've seen players who I would outright describe as "pussies," but Eriksen is just overwhelmingly calm and reserved.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Today was the game to decide where we are this season. Could we actually win an important game and mix it up with the top four or fail like we have so many times.

There has been nothing to indicate we would be so poor all game like we were today. In fact even the performance against Chelsea in the League Cup final we had moments.

Today, we didn't compete. I'm sure I am not the only one wondering what the hell was going on for the first 30 minutes.

Then Poch made a change and but before we could settle down Rooney scored and that was that.

Annoying as it is at least we are going in the right direction. It will be interesting to see what Poch does this summer to add stronger more reliable players to our squad.

Might as well just enjoy the rest of this season and let's just see if Kane can finish with a flourish.

This was for me going to be the season defining game. Win and we know that we have turned a corner, draw and all was far from lost but once again we got taken apart by a top team. The defeats to Fiorentina and Chelsea showed our inexperience up but this game was not just men against boys but quality against just fitness and hard work. Sadly we had no player on the pitch near the class of a Rooney, Mata, Van Persie, Falcao, Di Maria ...and not even to Carrick or Fellaini

We just can't bridge the gulf between us and teams with world class players so guess we have to accept we will not become anything beyond a 6th-8th placed team

 

[homer hotspur]

Yes, the place goes to the league so it is currently 6th place. As pointed out by someone, it could actually go to 8th if Arsenal and Liverpool get to the FA Cup final(very likely) and both finish top 4(quite likely)

Actually, it can only go down to 7th as there is one place for winning/runners up in the cup final

 

[StartingPrice]

Just let it go mate don't do it to yourself

Never!
SP versus the negativist towel thrower inners:

 

[CheeseGromit]

Just absolutely gutted as I thought this was the opportunity to show we can do it when it matters
Sadly we didnt
Easy to say but perhaps it is a case of after the Lord mayors show, capital cup final, and the ton of european games the younger players are feeling the pace.
Just didnt thjink we looked anything like a team on an equal footing

 

[DaSpurs]

This was for me going to be the season defining game. Win and we know that we have turned a corner, draw and all was far from lost but once again we got taken apart by a top team. The defeats to Fiorentina and Chelsea showed our inexperience up but this game was not just men against boys but quality against just fitness and hard work. Sadly we had no player on the pitch near the class of a Rooney, Mata, Van Persie, Falcao, Di Maria ...and not even to Carrick or Fellaini

We just can't bridge the gulf between us and teams with world class players so guess we have to accept we will not become anything beyond a 6th-8th placed team

I'm not so sure about that.

I agree we cannot simply hope to beat them with quality. They will always be able to afford and attract outstanding quality players which we simply cannot hope to compete with. Where we have to get an advantage is building a team of such balance and variety that any manager finds it difficult to plan for us, and we have the right pieces in the right areas to remain efficient regardless of how we roll out in any given match.

As of right now, we have one very rigid plan which we have not deviated from at all regardless of results or squad content, and a squad which is very unbalanced as is regardless of who we put out.

Poch can do this IMO, he can make it work. He's got many pieces in place such as building a strong core mentality and reliance on youth, but the rest has got to come from him. He's got to diversify his plan to make it more difficult to predict, and he's got to be more open to players who can make the consequent other adaptations work. He cannot be so rigid in his concepts to succeed in this league, and especially when we are at a disadvantage with a smaller budget and less pull than some of the clubs we're competing with.

 

[JohannTHFC]

What the hell came over the team today? Were they over trained this week? Did they sneak out for pints last night? How can an entire team play that poorly from start to finish. Not just 1 player but Chadli, Walker, Mason, Bentaleb, Dier, Eriksen and Kane were all absolutely abysmal. All that we tried were terrible overhead balls into Kane and even the simplest pass with all the room in the world was going out for a throw in. What happened.

 

[Knarf44]

Until Poch adds more intelligence to the squad and potential match winners we are always going to get shown up against the top 4 sides.

 

[Black]

The worse thing about today is that I feel poch did nothing to try and get us back in to the game.

We only played a little better in the second half because man u had already wrapped It up in the first.

Chadli played for way to long, I don't think he should have started and I don't think Townsend should have been subbed before him.

 

[cookiemonster]

Leaking goals again

 

[yankspurs]

Sober people are the worst

 

[Sweetsman]

What the hell came over the team today? Were they over trained this week? Did they sneak out for pints last night? How can an entire team play that poorly from start to finish. Not just 1 player but Chadli, Walker, Mason, Bentaleb, Dier, Eriksen and Kane were all absolutely abysmal. All that we tried were terrible overhead balls into Kane and even the simplest pass with all the room in the world was going out for a throw in. What happened.

They got caught in the headlights of OT and collectively froze.

 

[Sweetsman]

Extremely bad day at the office, we all have them in our daily jobs. The team is young and relatively inexperienced. We have had a very good season so far, cup final some extremely good performances in big games against our London rivals and away from home we have been very good in general throughout the season.

One or two experienced premier league proven players in the summer, some deadwood shifted and this squad has a real potential to take us forward. Poch too is learning and is a good young manager. Look at the players that have come through this and last year, Kane, Bentaleb, Mason, the U21 squad have some classy looking players too.

Put today behind us. At the start of the season none of us thought we would get top 4 and it's highly likely now that we won't, BUT the future is bright cos its lillywhite

I was surprised that Fazio didn't start as he would have dealt with Fellaini better than Dier did.

 

[ebzrascal]

I think we need to buy a leader on the field someone who organises and tell people when they are not doing their job... Mason is not the answer alongside Benaleb as they are both kids..IF there was a game for Fazio to play this was it as we had no answer to Falani.. Walker surely now he should have an idea how to defend he needs to go back to basics recent performances from him are not good enough!! I think sometimes there is a case to play Stambouli or Capoue with Bentaleb and give Mason/Dembele a bit more freedom to join in with attacking play especially as neither is very strong defensively..

 

[Sweetsman]

Walker was absolutely awful today.

 

[225]

Sorry i have not been following team news but are fazio and soldado injured? Or just dropped?

the entire squad is fit

Then thats a real surprise with regards to fazio's absence. Soldado's absnece may be understandable but chiriches for fazio? Hmmm

Soldado was out with a Knee problem...

https://instagram.com/p/0QRGx8JrIQ/?taken-by=r9soldado

 

[diamondlight]

IF there was a game for Fazio to play this was it as we had no answer to Falani..

Completely agree. As soon as I saw Dier on the teamsheet I knew we had lost.

Incidentally, we had a tremendous run with Fazio and Verts in the team, then we brought Dier in and went rubbish. Dier is a big teddy bear.