Man Utd v Saints Post Match Hmmmmm.....

[Roger]

Passed ball around okay but didn't hurt them. 13 shots and 1 on target isn't good enough. I don't see who will score the goals. Long has never played like last seasons end before. Redmond not a mane replacement. Davis woeful. Romeo isn't as good as victor. Tadic isn't a 10. 66 million in by the board £25 million out with biggest sky money deal ever and Europa league meaning more games. Don't get it. Positives: hoojberg was quality, vvd is class and Bertrand will be back. But have to win next week as arsenal away after than Europa will kick in. Don't know why we had to change so much when last years formation was working.

[SaintBobby]

Very good performance. Still lacking teeth up front.

 

Result not good, of course, but I think we look pretty tidy.

 

Man Utd are exceptional. They may well win the league.

 

Great to all those who travelled...heard you loud and clear on Sky.

[adrian lord]

No matter what formation, you cannot easily mitigate the loss of Italy's striker and Mane without adequate back fill.

[Dalek2003]

it's all about staying above the bottom three this season. We are trying to do things on the cheap and I can see us getting caught out.

[Roger]

Very good performance. Still lacking teeth up front.

 

Result not good, of course, but I think we look pretty tidy.

 

Man Utd are exceptional. They may well win the league.

 

Great to all those who travelled...heard you loud and clear on Sky.

 

This is too happy clapper. One shot on goal isn't very good.

[adrian lord]

it's all about staying above the bottom three this season. We are trying to do things on the cheap and I can see us getting caught out.

 

It is looking a bit Russian Roulette this season. Unless we pull a rabbit or two out of the hat in the rest of the window.

[Dig Dig]

Unlucky fixture to get with Mourinho's first home game, Pogba hype etc so the result is not surprising. They would expect to beat us. I thought we were tidy in possession but pretty toothless. Long and Redmond don't play as a unit and our fullbacks are woeful. Bertrand returning will be a massive plus. Attacking midfielder and striker is a must.

[Dalek2003]

It is looking a bit Russian Roulette this season. Unless we pull a rabbit or two out of the hat in the rest of the window.

 

A good way of looking at it. If we go down, we will be well placed to come back up.

 

Honestly think we will get relegated this season.

[TwoPints]

Puel says after the game that the formation/set up is not the problem. The players will get it right and the goals will come

And he's right. I understand that change frightens people and they struggle to understand how doing things differently can be as effective to what they're used and they fail to understand why it takes time for these changes to get embedded into a team but I'm sure that when Puels time eventually comes to an end, you'll be complaining that the new way is different to the way Puel did things and you therefore don't like it.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[ziggee]

Actually quite encouraging. Obviously, Redmond's not ready for the front line striker role, and we: need a quality signing to play Point to free up Tadic to play Left Attack: or is that hockey, or netball...I'm confused.

[TwoPints]

it's all about staying above the bottom three this season. We are trying to do things on the cheap and I can see us getting caught out.

? the summer just wouldn't be the same without you.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[Roger]

41 million profit on transfers. Is it any wines we are worse. Surprised people aren't questioning the board more.

[Heisenberg]

41 million profit on transfers. Is it any wines we are worse. Surprised people aren't questioning the board more.

 

The fans are - lot of talk amongst fans tonight. This forum represents about 1% of our fanbase and typically people on this forum that question things or criticise SFC get banned.

 

Forum is left with apologists and those "just happy to have a club"

 

Bottom of the net spend this summer and over last 5 years.... When Hull, Burnley and WBA are out spending us you have to start asking why

[Ohio Saint]

41 million profit on transfers. Is it any wines we are worse. Surprised people aren't questioning the board more.

We've been questioning the board for years, most of the time, we end up eating humble pie.

[Heisenberg]

....

[S-Clarke]

When are the mods going to do something about this total moron?

[Ohio Saint]

....

Heisenberg, your meth is the absolute best! Please don't get high on your own supply.

[Heisenberg]

When are the mods going to do something about this total moron?

 

What is it you don't like? Truth hurt?

[Dig Dig]

When are the mods going to do something about this total moron?

 

Good question. With over 24000 posts, there has been plenty of opportunity.

[S-Clarke]

Nothing to do with the truth, just incredibly annoying seeing an obvious WUM/Troll spouting **** and stopping any serious discussions taking place.

[shurlock]

When are the mods going to do something about this total moron?

 

What's he done wrong?

[Antrimsaint]

Was at the game with the prawn sandwich brigade in the corporates. Interesting to be sat with the Utd fans. Consensus was that in the end the score was a result of two things. Man Utd have got a little bit better from same game last season and we have got a little bit worse. In the end we had Austin, Redmond and Rodriguez up top and they were in cruise control.

 

The Utd fans were happy that normal service has been restored and that Imbrahamovic is their new Cantona. Very much more positive atmosphere in the home ends than last season. They felt that the difference was that Mourinho seemed to manage the game so much better than Puel alluding to that " men against boys" comment earlier.

 

Mourinho has got that team sorted already. Fellaini was immense and Valencia looked great. Positives for us is that we will not be playing this team every week and for long spells we were equal to them.

 

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-1050F using Tapatalk

[nta786]

Saind anything better than a 2-0 defeat was a bonus, result exactly what I expected

 

In other news though, I subbed Van Dijk for Shaw in my Fantasy Prem and it worked!!

[Graffito]

I thought United struggled against the diamond first half. The system looked better as we moved the ball quicker. Passing slowed right down towards the end with inevitable consequences. The long diagonal was used a lot and could be effective if only the full backs were able and willing to take on their men and get to the byeline. Any ideas on the kind of forward that would suit this system?

 

Fair play to the bloke singing OWTS on the Altricham bound tram afterwards. Just as well you got off when you did though.

[OttawaSaint]

it's all about staying above the bottom three this season. We are trying to do things on the cheap and I can see us getting caught out.

 

Do the yo-yo skit... Please do the yo-yo club post!

[LGTL]

We're just a poorer version of last years team. Have sold but not replaced adequately. It really is that simple.

[eelpie]

0-2 isn't as bad as feared. Beat Sunderland next week and we will start motoring, though we won't be scoring as many goals as last season unless Uncle Les decides to spend his loot.

[St_Tel49]

Selling mane was madness. We need another player capable of hurting teams

 

Wasn't very impressed with Redmond or clasie.

 

Hoijberg the only positive from that. Looks class.

 

Worrying times. This is what happens when you sell and buy on the cheap

 

Katarina is using us as a business

 

Que the happy clappers with the old "remember we are a small club who were in league one a few years ago"

 

Time to show some ambition or lots will lose interest...

1. We had little choice

2. You are hard to impress

3. Agreed

4. We've done it successfully up until now - a bit soon to be worrying is it not?. It WAS United

5. Still promulgating that old ********?

6. What the hell has that to do with anything?

7. If the lots who lose interest's support is that flakey they can p1ss right off now and good riddance.

[nta786]

We have started with a point after our first two games in the past two seasons.

 

I can take positives from this, just as I did in 2014 after we lost to Liverpool at Anfield.

 

My only concern is a lack of quality in DM and AM/ST, and I do think we need a quick fix with some signings rather than hoping an academy graduate plugging the gap.

[BlakeySFC]

We gon dun sonnae

[Saint Fan CaM]

Well if that was no wake up call to the club to spend serious money, I don't know what is. Loss of Pelle and Mane is plain to see and Puels system isn't working. Davis had a shocker as did Tadic. Long was ineffectual and Redmond is no striker. Only positive is PEH. Shaw is a cheating toad - he deliberately tripped over his own feet...clear as day.

 

Trouble is, it's not just about spending some money - it's about how you use the players at your disposal to their strengths. Unless Puel sorts this out I can see him losing the changing room very quickly and that will be the end. If the Board don't act quickly we will be holding up the rest of the league wondering why all this possession is not getting results and all the fantastic building over the last 7 years will be lost.

 

Some here are expecting the club to buy 2-3 new players - well those players are fit to walk straight into the team that a good proportion of the team - who goes back to the bench? The club are never going to invest that kind of money...I think we'll be lucky to see another signing this side of January.

[Latheal]

Apart from the two that went in of course!

 

Hojberg and VvD both played well. Tadic, Targett and Cedric had their moments. Redmond and Long, to a slightly lesser degree, looked afraid of shooting.

 

De Gee really didn't have a save to make. Lots of possession from us, mostly in our own half/mid-third; lots of passing by us, mostly sideways and backwards; completely toothless up front. Pretty similar to last week in many ways.

 

For me, the signs so far are not good. We are 5 points down on last season (match by match basis) already.

 

For those saying everything is looking good, we'll be fine, etc, what, in particular, makes you think this?

 

Thought Puel showed that he wont change his formation for anybody. Matched Man U for large parts. We created more chances than last 2 years. 1st goal Davis and Fonte were awful but still a great finish...but that's what you get with £350k a week. Not sure it was a pen but not a lot we can do about that either way. Passing for most part was excellent. Players seem to have bought into it. Tadic, VvD, Holberg excellent. Agree that we look a little toothless up front but I don't think that is a lack of chances, just finishing. I didn't think that formation would work against a 4-2-3-1 as its basically 5 £30mil players against 3 £10mil ones. As it turned out, the quick passing was excellent and we were not outplayed at all.

 

Finishing is the problem. But we have Austin and Jay Rod to try. When we've exhausted those options, I will start worrying. People saying we didn't create any chances were watching a different game to me. We may have won their the last two seasons but that was as an attacking a display as we have done there since Poch lost 1-0. It will take time. I'm willing to give Puel that.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Just home now . Thanks Sky, ****ing joke . 8 hours up and no time for a beer , even missed the first 10 mins . What clown decided Manchester on a Friday .

 

As for the game . We passed the ball round well in areas they let us have it . No penetration at all . Long off his game again , Tadic poor , Davis poor & Targett just not good enough . Redmond is going to struggle until he can go either way . He checks back onto his right foot every single time , you just can't be that predictable at this level .

 

Get Ryan B back and our back 4 is decent . The issues are in front of them, particularly the middle of midfield . We're just not strong enough in there without Big Vic . It really was men against boys . Fellani won practically every single header , we were way too lightweight .

[PhilippineSaint]

A good way of looking at it. If we go down, we will be well placed to come back up.

 

Honestly think we will get relegated this season.

 

And he's back on form

 

Pity the Saints team cant have form like Dalek consistently wanting 17th and a poor result were being relegated is the standard. FFS man up what your doing is pathetic or at least change the flaming record for one season just change the f in record.

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I'm another that had a slightly different perspective than many others. I borrowed my boss' season ticket and so was sat among the home fans in the Stretford end. So here's a few observations from my perspective..

 

Targett was not as bad as some people have said and I would like to give him a bit of credit. In fact he carried more significant attacking threat than many other players and I would even go as far to say he was one of our best players! However, Puel clearly wants to prioritise him in the attacking role rather than in defence and that will be why some felt that he was always out of position. Whether that is Puel's fault or a wrong understanding of what Puel was asking him to do we cannot comment.

 

Tadic worked incredibly hard but was often too deep, which limited his ability to use his flair to take on players. It felt a bit as though he didn't want to move into more attacking positions and take on players for fear of moving out of position and doing what Redmond was being asked to do. Sadly Tadic is no deep lying midfield and several of his long passes went woefully long - much to the frustration of Targett who had got into some brilliant wide positions on the wing only to see the ball going over his head into touch.

 

Too many players seemed to be out of their natural positions - it seemed like we were not playing to the strengths of the players available but to a system. Nevertheless, we did have much of the possession, so let's not be too critical of the system.

 

Hojbjerg was incredibly hard working, but again I think he is better in more attacking positions and his long passes were sometimes wayward.

 

Redmond was incredibly inconsistent across the game but did get better as the game wore on. His first touch is poor and his passing and shooting accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. He was better when taking on players than in crossing.

 

Clasie was also a mixed bag. He got into some good positions and worked hard but I'm not quite sure why he seemed occasionally to be playing in a more advanced position than Tadic. Nevertheless, at other times he did provide a bit of midfield stability.

 

Cedric - mixed - didn't seem clear as to whether he should be pressing on or defending and got caught out on a number of times. Unlike Targett though he offered little attacking threat.

 

Virgil - was a super hero in defence but we can't expect him to do it all for us defensively. Without him he would have been in trouble.

 

Fonte - was exposed for a lack of pace on a couple of occasions. Thank goodness we won't have to face Martial or Pogba or Valencia every week!

 

Davis - did ok but was far from spectacular. I would have liked him to have been the one tracking back defensively a bit more instead of Tadic. He seemed to lack conviction in front of goal and prefered the safe sideways pass rather than the incisive attacking pass but was hard working and kept Felaini busy.

 

Long - did very little as a striker but maybe that is because he rarely received a pass from our midfield that he could use.

 

Austin - lacked match sharpness and was way out of position. He didn't really do anything of note while he was on.

 

Rodriguez - was not on long enough to offer anything much but was far more intelligent in his positioning than just about any other player. Sadly this was not noted by our midfield and he didn't receive the passes that could have allowed him to show what he could do. Even having said that he offered far more than either Long or Austin just in those few moments on the pitch.

 

Forster - did OK. He couldn't really have done much about either goal.

 

Man Utd - were relatively poor for much of the game, apart from the occasional glimpse of the attacking threat of Pogba, Valencia and Martial. For much of the game these players seemed to go missing, but then they would suddenly spring to life. On the whole though they seemed to allow us too much of the ball in midfield, though sadly we didn't do anything with it. To some degree Man Utd must be credited for how they allowed us possession in places where it made no difference, but cut out any offensive moves.

 

Saints - did have lots of possession but didn't do anything with it. Few clear cut chances were created and too many players were played out of position.

 

United Fans - sang lots and lots of songs (whose words were almost impossible to work out) but seemed to lack any passion about what was going on on the pitch. When Saints scored they were stunned, but didn't seem to think there had been any foul or off-side or anything. They just seemed relieved that the ref had let them off by disallowing what looked to be a perfectly good goal from a calamitous bit of United defending. They also did not shout for a penalty when Shaw dived in the area. I think they were as stunned as me that a penalty had been awarded.

 

Overall - despite a disjointed Saints performance the result seemed to swing on two key refereeing decisions. Firstly the disallowed goal. It seems that there is significant uncertaint as to why this was disallowed. One report says that it was disallowed for offside, while another says there was a push. It didn't look like either to me - but it is always hard to judge these sorts of things from the terraces. Secondly, there was the penalty. This again seemed questionable - Shaw seemed to go down with no-one near him. If there was any foul I wonder if it actually happened a few feet back from where he fell and if so did the foul take place in the area. Again ist is very hard to assess this sort of thing from the terraces and especially as I was at the far end away from this.

[Lighthouse]

And he's back on form

 

Pity the Saints team cant have form like Dalek consistently wanting 17th and a poor result were being relegated is the standard. FFS man up what your doing is pathetic or at least change the flaming record for one season just change the f in record.

 

Three things I find astonishing...

 

1. Why the mods are seemingly oblivious and haven't banned him.

2. Why people still continue to respond to him. Even sarcastic remarks about how 'hilarious' his routine is just feed his ego.

3. How an individual can be this utterly tragic. It's been like 12 years since he started with all the Hoddle stuff and he's still at it.

[david in sweden]

Though we started well, played some nice stuff and on top until they scored.

VvD was god, thought Tadic was good and Hojbjerg was good.

 

sadly again, I cannot for the life of me see how this set up will work long term with this squad.

lots of pass pass pass, side to side backwards....in that time, the opposition get 9 men not only in defence but set with their men.

we looked incredibly lightweight in midfield, something we have not seen at saints for a few years.

United did not have to be any good to beat us.

 

as this set up (and going forward) you could see the players heads drop in the 2nd half and lose confidence. but lacked all sorts in the 2nd half.

seeing austin in the right and left back positions defending was just weird.

this whole redmond thing...after losing the goals we have and redmond is there to replace that? poor lad

 

I honestly feel that it is a countdown on what goes first, the Diamond set up (which is just odd with these players) all fart and little shyte

or the manager himself (who I think will do well to last till january)

 

we were excellent in the run-in last season and finished 3 points from the champions league. we look so weak and pretty toothless now.

seem odd that we are changing the set up pretty significantly that got us 3 points from the champions league

 

big game next week

 

good observations Batman...losing Romeu was bad enough but we also lack a "toughie " (type Wanyama) as DM. Clasie was no replacement against " MU big men ".

 

Hojbjerg was very creative and showed lots of effort. Davis and Long both below par ....and Redmond, for all his speed and skill was starting from too deep.

 

A number of United attacks came from our bad passes and they created little from their own invention.

 

No doubt Pogba, Martial and Zlatan will win them games, but they will be hard-pressed when coming up against a really creative footballing side in Prem / EL.

Edited 20 August, 2016 by david in sweden

[Give it to Ron]

Well if that was no wake up call to the club to spend serious money, I don't know what is. Loss of Pelle and Mane is plain to see and Puels system isn't working. Davis had a shocker as did Tadic. Long was ineffectual and Redmond is no striker. Only positive is PEH. Shaw is a cheating toad - he deliberately tripped over his own feet...clear as day.

 

Trouble is, it's not just about spending some money - it's about how you use the players at your disposal to their strengths. Unless Puel sorts this out I can see him losing the changing room very quickly and that will be the end. If the Board don't act quickly we will be holding up the rest of the league wondering why all this possession is not getting results and all the fantastic building over the last 7 years will be lost.

 

Some here are expecting the club to buy 2-3 new players - well those players are fit to walk straight into the team that a good proportion of the team - who goes back to the bench? The club are never going to invest that kind of money...I think we'll be lucky to see another signing this side of January.

 

Good post but we are always 2 or 3 away. This formation sucks and we don't have the players for it so unless Puel gets in the players he is not going to last long unless he relents.

Funny thing is last year we did but what really concerns me right from the Espanyol friendly is the players look unhappy and uncomfortable.

I have seen them arguing amongst each other in games now - not many smiles.

We are not getting the best out of the players like Long, Austin or poor Redmond.

We need to recruit for the first team not the squad.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Convict Colony]

Haven't got a problem with our performances so far (1st half against watford aside) it is the execution we are struggling with.

 

Last night we had 58% possession and have 13 shots to Man U's 12 ( I think we had 25 last week and 70%)

 

The amount of balls that were overhit or sailed over the bar or balloning into the crowd when crossed is getting ridiculous.

 

Next game I'd put Pied in for cedric as he looked more accomplished in this system and actually could cross.

 

Obviously I would buy 2 players who presently play this system for their club, 1 AM and 1 Striker, I'd put Tadic where Davis is to add moe creativity and when needed Pierre on the other side and sit in when required with a fit Romeu/Clasie at the base

Edited 20 August, 2016 by Convict Colony
spelling

[Dalek2003]

The fans are - lot of talk amongst fans tonight. This forum represents about 1% of our fanbase and typically people on this forum that question things or criticise SFC get banned.

 

Forum is left with apologists and those "just happy to have a club"

 

Bottom of the net spend this summer and over last 5 years.... When Hull, Burnley and WBA are out spending us you have to start asking why

 

You are right. Complacency is the biggest danger. We are sleepwalking to disaster if not careful.

[sammysaint]

We need to change the system, Redmond is not a striker and his obsession with trying to do this will cost us a top 8 finish, Redmond is a good player who can become great if used out on the wings and let him cut in.

 

Jay Rod and Austin need more time to play upfront as they are more natural goal scorers before people write them off, we need stronger and more depth with europa league as this using the academy ******** is just another cheap way to help make more money for the greedy board, I think we are all realistic and know last season was a one off, but asking to finish 7th or 8th I feel is acceptable.

 

If we lose or draw to Sunderland I think we will be in a relegation scrap.

[Gingar]

For only the second competitive game under a new manager with a new system still (Hopefully) missing a couple of signings i thought we looked good. We gave away a soft penalty and we had some good chances that on another day we could have scored a couple of. That United team will be challenging for the league. Sunderland now though is a big game for us!

[Sour Mash]

If we had two quality full backs playing we'd be alright, key to the way we're set up and the two player aren't good enough currently.

[alpine_saint]

Still 2 weeks of the transfer window to go, and a couple more weeks of gelling will be needed after that to integrate any new players plus more familiarisation of our new way of playing.

 

But if we are not running like a well-oiled machine by mid-September, I reckon we will struggle to stay up.

 

This transfer window (in and out) so far has overall been a complete disaster.

[Wiggles31]

We badly miss Bertrand. He has much more intelligence than Targett to link play down the flank. And he advances more with better delivery.

[Batman]

Blackmore saying 'gelling' is no excuse in the prem. Should stick to what the players know

[Heisenberg]

Reminded me of England's euro performance vs Iceland.

[CB Fry]

We're staring down the barrel of a season of possession stat-wan k fawning over how we, like, dominated but just couldn't score. Basically the inverse Leicester City.

[John Boy Saint]

I think we look a bit French so far, if you have ever stumbled into a Ligue1 game on TV the football just looks a bit inert, lots of nice passing but nothing to grab you. PSG played Chelsea some years ago in the CL with lots of hullabaloo towards PSG pre match, Chelsea cruised through that game a bit like Man U did against us.

I just hope that Puel has the wherewithal to wise up to the fact that the Premier ligule is a different animal to Ligue1. You can't play the game at a Laissez faire pace passing the other team to death. You can't rely solely on a striker who (with some predictability) fluffs his lines one on one with the keeper, or a new striker who has had sunshine blown up his backside already but is looking predictably easy to read already.

 

But the strangest thing of all is under MoPo, Koeman, and (a bit unfair I know) Puel so far is that we have looked very nice in so many games but enter that final 1/3 and we just become a bit pants, how many post match interviews in recent times have we heard the manager saying we just weren't clinical enough in the final 1/3. It's almost like it's just in our DNA no matter who is in charge.

 

Still Like others have said its only 2 games into the season.

[Katalinic]

Reminded me of England's euro performance vs Iceland.

 

Of course it did, we believe you.