Utd vs Bilbao

[Misfit]

To be fair we were the better team for a large amount of the game, just nowhere near clinical enough.

Anyway, ref's been a bit of a homer for Bilbao, lots of free kicks they've been given with negligible contact. Almost as much of a homer as Atkinson was an awayer for Yanited against us.

We had possession and passed it quite nicely but our set pieces, lack of concentration and, I think, mental weakness in the form of a lack of self-belief all contributed to it. Some things need changing slowly. Others, like working the fecking nuts off the players on the training ground don't.

Yanited will have rarely played so flatly and created so little yet come away with a 3-0 win with so little effort.

I don't dispute the reffing of certain teams in the prem.

 

[Misfit]

Aye, Cleverly - nowt special. He's a replacement for Nicky Butt maybe, never Scholes.

 

[ikky]

Very well played athletic Bilbao

 

[mpickard2087]

Looking forward to seeing how far Bilbao go in the competition. They have been fantastic over the two games.

 

[Misfit]

Scoreline is kind to Yanited. Thoroughly outplayed and outworked over both legs.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

IMO, United will win the league this season and it will be their last for a decent period of time.

 

[nightgoat]

We had possession and passed it quite nicely but our set pieces, lack of concentration and, I think, mental weakness in the form of a lack of self-belief all contributed to it. Some things need changing slowly. Others, like working the fecking nuts off the players on the training ground don't.

Yanited will have rarely played so flatly and created so little yet come away with a 3-0 win with so little effort.

I don't dispute the reffing of certain teams in the prem.

To be fair our set pieces have been shocking all season. But given the attitude we go into games with Yanited with - even when we score more goals than them, we still don't beat them - the ability to score from a well taken set piece is crucial. Look at Chelsea last night - got a corner as a result of a lack of communication between keeper and defender and all of a sudden were 2-0 up.

 

[Misfit]

Which is the difference at this level. That our set-pieces are still shit, leaves me fuming tbh.

Fucking fix it ot fuck off from taking your massive weekly wages.

This is basic stuff. The take-it-for-granted stuff you expect from people who call themselves pros.

 

[sunnydelight786]

Good set pieces come from practicing them on the training field, are we doing enough of that.....? I have my serious doubts!!!

 

[Misfit]

Of course we aren't. Thank fuck we do have such a talented squad or the level of work we actually seem to put in to becoming the best would have us nearer the bottom 4, not the top 4.

To be able to solidly defend set pieces is the minimum and to at least pose some sort of threat when we have one in an attacking area would be nice. It would actually mean teams find it harder to defend against us - giving away fouls could be really costly, thus increasing our overall chances of winning by placing the opposition under greater pressure for the entire game, forcing them to use more concentration, hesitate possibly at a vital moment etc.

This isn't radical stuff.

 

[thinktank]

Which is the difference at this level. That our set-pieces are still shit, leaves me fuming tbh.

Fucking fix it ot fuck off from taking your massive weekly wages.

This is basic stuff. The take-it-for-granted stuff you expect from people who call themselves pros.

Exact.

 

[AngerManagement]

I Didn't watch the first leg, but apparently Utd were lucky to only lose 3-2

Tonight however they could easily have lost 5-0, a 2-1 loss was very flattering to them

Athletic Bilbao looked amazing

 

[Mullers]

Again proof that this so called tin pot cup has some quality sides playing in it and it is isn't easy to win.

 

[3Dnata]

Some teams ManU and City included put out quality teams for this competition it's a bit different to our insults of a team we put out.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Scoreline is kind to Yanited. Thoroughly outplayed and outworked over both legs.

Bilbao were excellent. Definitely could have been a bigger margin than it was.

IMO, United will win the league this season and it will be their last for a decent period of time.

Hmm, I see that as unlikely. Teams in the Premiership still get psyched out by United. They lose games before they even start and often even rest players. United get a lot of easier games and even when they haven't got a particularly great side by their standard they still have enough pieces to build around and be good for a while.

Some teams ManU and City included put out quality teams for this competition it's a bit different to our insults of a team we put out.

Not sure they were really serious about it to be honest. Bilbao were excellent but United were going through the motions.

Having said that, would love a few of those Bilbao players and would definitely love to see us implement some of their playing characteristics.

 

[AngerManagement]

Again proof that this so called tin pot cup has some quality sides playing in it and it is isn't easy to win.

No one ever said it was easy to win

People said it wasn't worth trying too hard to win it because it would effect our ability to succeed in other competitions.

Who knows, had we been playing everyone in that too our players who already look a little jaded may have been knackered or injured right now and we could be looking up at fourth in the league instead of looking down at it and STILL NOT WON the damn thing if we had to play the likes of Bilbao as Man U have found out.

 

[Mullers]

No one ever said it was easy to win

People said it wasn't worth trying too hard to win it because it would effect our ability to succeed in other competitions.

Who knows, had we been playing everyone in that too our players who already look a little jaded may have been knackered or injured right now and we could be looking up at fourth in the league instead of looking down at it and STILL NOT WON the damn thing if we had to play the likes of Bilbao as Man U have found out.

Or perhaps they may have won the Europa games which would have given them extra momentum and confidence going into our league games. We may have been able to retain Pienner. Perhaps we shouldn't play our best players in the CL should we qualify next season because we might not win and last time we were in it, we came 5th in the league.

 

[AngerManagement]

Or perhaps they may have won the Europa games which would have given them extra momentum and confidence going into our league games. We may have been able to retain Pienner. Perhaps we shouldn't play our best players in the CL should we qualify next season because we might not win and last time we were in it, we came 5th in the league.

The point is we prioritised our competitions and decided that the Europa was lower than the League and FA cup.

We wouldn't do that as the CL would be as high as the league next season.

Also the assumption would be that if we were to qualify for CL next season some of the pending prize money would go towards building a squad more capable of dealing with the demands of a European campaign alongside a domestic one.

I don't really see how much more momentum we could have gained from progressing in the Europa than we already built up from an extended run of form in the league which saw us toe to toe with the leaders until just after xmas (if anything it is far more probable that we wouldn't have been there in the first place)

We played strong enough teams to get through the group stages, had we progressed we would have played stronger and stronger teams depending on the opponents.

Its just a shame that the players sent out to do the job failed to produce when they were more than capable of doing so. I don't think tactically or selection wise we did anything wrong, it was the players themselves who did not do what they were supposed to do.

Are you seriously saying the teams we played were not good enough to get through that group? They should have walked through in my opinion.