striker

True. When I hear a player say "well the coach wants us to play a different way, so...", to me that is telling. He didn't say "we are playing" or "its a good system we just need to work". He said "the coach", which IMO means he's forcing it on them and they don't like it.

I personally thought Austin looked fine. He had a couple of good chances and the goalie made a nice save on one to stop him. He was active and made a lot of nice runs. He was the only one when he was out there making the defense work. I would keep Redmond at #10, keep JRod, and rotate Austin, Long, and JRod in the 2 striker spots. We need three for sure, and I don't think anyone has really proved they are much better then the other two.

After careful consideration, I think the Diamond formation sucks.

Instead of JRod, maybe we can loan out Puel before Monday? How about Puel plus some of our cash for Koeman?

Redmond looks better in the midfield role. The game brightened up when he moved to #10. Leave him there. Let Austin, Long, and JRod (if he stays) work upfront, they look much more dangerous up there.

actually things seemed to change when Redmond moved to #10 after Long came in for Tadic.

Everything is so congested in the middle with the diamond. Our midfielders are always under pressure and it looks pretty easy to defend.

Forget about bashing the strikers, our midfield is terrible. I don't think its the players, I think its the formation

Sometimes its not the run that makes it offsides but the delayed pass.

So does that mean Redmond is playing #10? if not who?

Some on here are crazy. Redmond is invisible, the midfield is in shambles, yet lets slag on Austin who is the only guy looking threatening up front. He is the only guy giving Sunderland problems up front.

right through the midfield

These are good runs, and its really close to onsides. One time he will be.

However I don't think Puel will do this. Instead he'll drop Austin, who has given us our only 2 real chances, for Long and leave "little Henry" up front.

I'd drop Redmond back to midfield where he belongs and bring on Long. Our midfield has been terrible, and Redmond looks MUCH better when he is farther from the goal in space. I still don't see why Puel thinks Redmond as a true striker is such a great idea.

After a very dangerous start, our forwards barely touched the ball in the last 20 minutes. Our midfield wasn't there, what happened? Sunderland was dribbling around without challenge and winning all the free balls.

Sunderland has all the possession. This diamond thing is not good.

Our midfield is getting run over. Can't get the ball up, and puts way too much pressure on the backs.

I think its the best thing for JRod. Get him back on the field so he can prove himself.

Why does he get to ask 95% of the questions? Was there only 2 reporters there?

I don't know, seems like a lot of money for this guy. First he's hurt, so we'll see how/when he comes back. Putting that aside, he seems like yet another small, quick, dribble it around lot guy. Right down Puel's alley, he seems to want a team of completely attacking midfielders. Is he really any different than Redmond or Long? To me, he certainly doesn't seem close to Mane. However I guess its all about possession, not about goals.

I personally don't think Pelle would be starting in Puels diamond. Like Austin he isn't what Puel wants. He wants attacking mid types more than target strikers.

I can't see Puel switching formations for Sunderland. Its too early for him to give up on his diamond. He only switches out of it when he is losing late in games it seems (which if you think about it is telling).

Hey what really matters is time of possession, and we did win that at Old Trafford 57% -43%.

I'd be surprised if Puel runs something other than his beloved diamond. Frankly if it doesn't work against Sunderland I can't see it working against any team. I predict many completed passes around midfield, and Puel gloating about our possession percentages. Having said that I'd like to see us try something new, putting players where they fit. Something more like a 4-4-1-1/4-4-2 with Forster Cedric, VVD, Fonte, Targett Redmond, Pierre, Davis, Tadic Long Austin