When this thread was made I said that we would be in for a tough, frustrating night and we would find it difficult to break them down. We never do well against well drilled organised teams. We don't have enough quality in our team to break those teams down. As much of a c**t that he is, Mourinho can set a team up to not lose a match and that's what he did last night. I thought a large amount of our supporters were being a bit delusional going into this game thinking we would batter them 5-0.
Moving on to the game, I thought we were poor, especially in the first half. We weren't pressing, we weren't moving the ball quickly enough and when we did have the ball we were going sideways and not forward.
My season ticket seat is at the back of the upper centenary. Not the best place for atmosphere but what you do get is a good view of the pitch. You can see the movement of all players clearly and we had none in the final third at all. Sturridge has come in for a lot of stick after last night and I've seen some posters even suggest his legs have gone (rubbish), but he had no service what so ever. We weren't getting anywhere near him. We were sh*t down both flanks, I don't remember Mane touching the ball in the first 45 and it was noticeable how little Clyne & Milner got forward too. Can had a terrible time in the middle and Hendo wasn't much better. United were the better side in the first half, I don't even remember us having a chance, they were better in possession and they gave us no chances.
Second half we played a little bit better and Lallana made a difference when he came on. United went very, very negative and sat back behind the ball, playing 6 in defence. They were clearly playing for a draw. I was hoping we would use Mane more but whenever he got the ball he drifted inside with it, rather than hogging the touchline and looking to get in behind. He was up against Blind who he would leave for dead in a race, so why didn't we focus on that?
We had a couple of chances /shots which might have gone in if United didn't have a world class keeper in between the sticks. Still though, our play and movement in general was poor throughout the game and we didn't do enough to get the win. We didn't deserve it.
Very frustrating night for us and we need to find a way to break teams like that down. Sometimes we need a plan B. Saturday will be the same when WBA turn up. Pulis is another one who can organise a team defensively and we are going to find it difficult. Its games like that where we drop too many points and we need to find a way to win them. I've said it a few times on this forum but I worry we don't have the quality to unlock tight defences.
Matip was my motm. Kept a grip of Ibra all game. He looks like the best CB we've signed since Sami.
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