Everyone on Twitter mocking Man Utd, but I think was a missed opportunity. Very frustrating.
I don't think Mourinho outwitted us at all, we just weren't at the races in the first half. I didn't think they'd score in the first half despite them looking more comfortable, but Sturridge being absolutely AWOL and Can turning in midfield like an oil tanker made us look horrifically and uncharacteristcally disjointed.
They were bad in that first half but if we played like we did against a better team, we would have been losing. Second half began to pick up and the players started to click into gear with Lallana proving to be that spark of inspiration - but it was a slow ascendency but too slow. If a game had lasted more than 90 minutes we'd have won!
I'd like to think it was just lack of match sharpness from Can (seemed that way as he grew into the game as it wore on) but even at full fitness, he's not replacing Wijnaldum any time soon. Sturridge I'm really not so sure about. These games demand the full effort of all on the pitch and Sturridge's no-show caused a huge imbalance to our attack. Far too absent, and just like we criticised Benteke last season, only ever came deep for the ball. That may be a prerequisite for all attackers but he didn't ever deep to actually press.
Ings and Origi may not have match fitness at the minute but I think it's high time we started priming them for such games - their running and pressing abilities seem more suited to our pressing interplay and I believe they could very well fit this system a lot better than Sturridge. If Lallana and Wijnaldum had been fit, there's a high chance we'd have won, I certainly think we'd have dominated at least. Can has to sharpen up fast while I'm not quite sure what to think of Sturridge in these types of games. Just like we saw against Burnley and United who played deep, he didn't offer any encouragement by showing he could unlock these parked buses.
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