Your players need to think their playing United every week Billy. Probably go unbeaten if you did that. You were all up for it and was shown on the pitch. However, I'd still be having a pop at them for not having the same hunger/passion throughout the season.
Itâs never been about hunger or passion. Donât think youâll find a more passionate team than us in the league. Passion has always been there and it always will be there too, certainly under klopp.
Thereâs lot of reasons why weâve struggled this season but the main issue was obviously having our three centre halves out for the whole season. It throws the whole team off balance.
People will go on about mane and Bobby having poor seasons, which is true, but thereâs a lot more to it than that.
When we play VVD and Gomez weâre happy to leave them in a 2 on 2 situation because theyâre both that good and theyâre both quick too.
But playing Phillips and kabak who arenât blessed with pace has meant Trent and robbo have been a lot more grounded, taking away a lot of our creativity.
Our front three have achieved immense numbers over the last few years but weirdly, none of them are what you would describe as a natural finisher or goal scorer. But because we usually create so many chances via the full backs, theyâre bound to get on the score sheet at some point.
That hasnât been the case this season so where mane for example would usually get half a dozen or so massive goal scoring opportunities, heâs probably only had the one instead. If that. Theyâre been restricted and limited to half chances instead.
The midfield has also been a big problem. We havenât been able to press as aggressively as we normally would for the same reason. We canât risk leaving the cbs exposed.
People will say we miss henderson (I donât agree with that personally, look at yesterdays game for example). But I do think Fabinho is absolute key to our midfield.
Weâve had to play him at the back for a dozen games or so this season and weâre never the same side when heâs not in the midfield. His reading of the game, positioning and his ability to play the ball forward (rather then sideways or backwards like most DMs) is second to none.
Thiago has been affected by not having Fabinho in the team but we've seen how good he is when Fabinho has been back in the midfield. I thought Thiago ran the game yesterday and anybody who didnât notice him or donât understand what he brings to the team needs to watch the game again and focus solely on him. But the point being, weâve missed having the best of Thiago this season because of the re shape of the team.
Gini has also been affected because of the it and he has had a poor season by his standards too.
Then covid has played its part. I know itâs the same for everybody but I do think itâs affected us more than others. Look at Everton for example. Usually their atmosphere is quite toxic and they get on their players back. Theyâve probably benefitted this season not having those divvys in the ground. Weâre the opposite though. We get right behind the lads and even though itâs cliche, we can often be the 12th man. Itâs no co incidence our home record has been dog sh*t this season.
Then thereâs VAR. You might think Iâm biased but we always seem to be on the end of horrendous decisions. Goals that go against us that never should. And when we have the same sort of incidents in our favour they never get given! Look at bailys tackle on Phillips in the box yesterday. It wasnât given. But I guarantee if that was Phillips on one of your lads then you would have got a pen. Weâve had it all season.
I could go on. And on. And apologies for the lengthy post but one thing that isnât a problem with this team is hunger or passion. Youâll see that when we win the title next season.