v Spurs (H) League - 27.08.18 - 20:00hrs K.O

[.]

Aug 26, 2018 12:31:29 GMT Stew said:

It’s tricky, the CB situation. Bailly and Lindelof both played like ketamine addicts last time out but I appreciate the need for stability. However, Smalling and Jones have barely given Kane a kick in recent games.

Bailly and Lindelof played like ketamine addicts, brilliant description Stew. Post of the week right there! 👍🏻

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2018 14:11:45 GMT Bestie said:

Aug 26, 2018 13:28:15 GMT Paul said:

This for me is the most important thing but even if he back he's not going to be 100%. Also it depends how defensive we're going to play.

My only hope for this game is we put a stop to the constant sideways and backwards passing and concentrate on attacking.

He's too concerned with us conceding than he is with us scoring. We have Dave for that. Focus on getting the goals.

I'm in Amsterdam this weekend but apparently you're the one who has been getting high.

As I said "hope". I didn't say it was going to happen did I?

Plus watching the game high would more than liekly be less painful so I wouldn't be against it.

[Rustin Cohle]

www.football365.com/news/man-united-v-spurs-one-big-game-five-big-questions

Man United v Spurs: One big game, five big questions

Dark clouds are gathering over Old Trafford. No doubt Jose Mourinho will interpret the talk of ‘crisis’ as evidence of the media’s bias against himself but in truth Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend carried all the hallmarks of Chelsea in the autumn of 2015. There is no conspiracy. It’s just that we’ve seen all of this before, and we know how it ends.

A dreadful summer transfer window defined by Ed Woodward’s incompetence, public feuds between Mourinho and his players, and the manager’s (sorry, the head coach’s) constant negativity are all impacting the performance of his team, but the problems are tactical as well as psychological.

Mourinho doesn’t coach attacking patterns with anything like the same detailed instruction as, say, Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino, who use rote learning to teach the choreography of their attacks. By contrast Mourinho affords his players freedom in the final third – which is fine until confidence drains and a poisonous atmosphere creates hesitancy. At times of crisis players take fewer risks, their dwindling self-belief seizing up limbs. They need to fall back on muscle memory, but Mourinho teams have little to drawn upon.

Directionless performances are sure to follow and the problems snowball. That’s why Chelsea couldn’t recover in 2015/16, and it’s why Mourinho will prioritise cautious defensive football at Old Trafford on Monday evening. It won’t be a classic, but it will be absorbing.

1) Will Mourinho take an ultra-defensive approach to restore some credibility to his methods?

Mourinho will react to pressure, to accusations of outdated tactics and waning powers, by doubling down on his cautious reactive football. The Portuguese will seek to reassert his authority by reminding us that his methods are uniquely effective, that he is a special manager with a tactical DNA all of his own. He is nothing if not stubborn, a true believer in his own mythology, and consequently will want to regain control over the media narrative.

Across their four home games against fellow top five sides last season (we can discount Arsenal because Arsene Wenger put out reserves for a clash sandwiched between the two legs of their Europa League semi-final) Man Utd averaged 39% possession. Against Liverpool just four of their 37 attempted tackles were in the opposition half; against Manchester City only three of their 19 interceptions were past the halfway line.

United won three of these four games, including a claustrophobic and fractured 1-0 victory over Spurs in October 2017. The point being the hosts will sit deep, compress the lines, and frustrate Pochettino’s team. This will, unfortunately, be another slog at Old Trafford won or lost by a single moment of brilliance or incompetence. The individual key battles are of huge significance.

2) Will Pochettino start Mousa Dembele to help pierce the Utd shell?

Tottenham looked to be labouring towards a draw against Fulham before Mousa Dembele was introduced with half an hour remaining. Fourteen minutes later Spurs were 3-1 up, largely thanks to the calming influence of the Belgium international. Dembele adds a metronomic composure to the Spurs midfield, wresting control of a game to help his team-mates win the territorial battle and grind their opponents into submission.

He had a similar effect the previous weekend at Newcastle United, steadying the ship after coming on in the 68th minute at a time when Rafael Benitez’s team looked capable of grabbing a late equaliser. The Magpies didn’t muster a single shot on target while Dembele was on the field.

His influence would surely help stamp out United’s counter-attacking threat and assert the visitors’ dominance, although it is his ability to dribble in tight spaces – opening up a cluttered midfield – that can make the difference at Old Trafford. Few midfielders in the Premier League can break through the lines like Dembele or wriggle free of the press with such self-assurance.

Against such a tight-knit defensive structure that’s a weapon that can free up half a yard of space for Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen. Dembele’s inclusion could be the difference between a hard-fought win and a frustrating evening.

3) Can Lucas Moura take advantage of Fred and Victor Lindelof’s hesitancy?

United’s dreadful performance against Brighton is unlikely to be repeated here, primarily because a defensive shape means less risk-taking, less responsibility, and a simpler set of individual instructions. However, Fred and Victor Lindelof –two of the worst performers in Brighton – happen to be guarding the space Tottenham’s Lucas Moura will be driving into, and the Brazilian looks a different player in 2018/19.

Lucas is nominally a right winger, although in Tottenham’s 3-5-2 against Fulham – a formation Pochettino may stick with for the trip to Old Trafford – he played alongside Harry Kane, taking up positions in the space just inside the left-back to make diagonal runs towards the penalty area.

Fred, who is struggling to adapt to the pace of English football, may find it difficult to track the Brazilian’s movement. Lindelof doesn’t have the pace, or the positional intelligence, to spot the sort of ghosting runs that led directly to Lucas’s superb opener against Fulham. United are rattled at the moment; the last thing they need is to face an opponent as direct, quick, and confident as the Spurs winger.

4) Will crosses ultimately matter more than the territorial battle?

There is statistical and tactical evidence to suggest both Spurs and Man Utd may struggle to defend crosses into the box on Monday night, but the analysis doesn’t need to go that deep: five of the six goals conceded by the two clubs so far in 2018/19 have resulted from crosses. Both teams will look to capitalise on the other’s weakness.

United’s narrow defensive shape inevitably leaves gaps around the corner of the penalty area, where Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies will look to fire balls into the box. Spurs complete 7.5 accurate crosses per match, the most in the Premier League, while Leicester managed 27 crosses against United at Old Trafford on the opening day.

The hosts aren’t anywhere near as prolific, but in such a fricative match they will invariably counter-attack down the flanks, leaning heavily to the left (see below) and Marcus Rashford and Ashley Young both like to cross the ball whenever possible. The most obvious ‘key battle’ previewed on Monday – Harry Kane versus Romelu Lukaku – is worth paying attention to. A headed goal from either could win it.

5) Can Rashford’s/Martial’s pace exploit Spurs’ weaker right side?

Alexis Sanchez’s injury means Mourinho will probably play Rashford on the left (or alongside Lukaku if he switches to the 3-5-2 used successfully against Spurs last season). Consequently the hosts will counter-attack down this side of the pitch, which just happens to be Spurs’ weakest flank defensively.

Should Spurs remain in a 3-5-2 then Davinson Sanchez, the right-sided centre-back, will be tasked with moving across to shut down Rashford. The Spurs man is capable of winning a foot race but in terms of positioning he could easily get caught out. Rashford’s runs on the shoulder of the last defender were crucial to United’s 2-1 win against Liverpool (in which he scored twice) and the 1-0 win against Spurs. In the latter, he wore down Toby Alderweireld and Serge Aurier before Anthony Martial came off the bench to score the winner with a run from the left of centre.

[.]

Agree that we'll grind out a 1-0 or a 2-1 win here.

Days of us scoring more than two are long gone with this guy in charge

[Stew]

Aug 26, 2018 22:27:18 GMT . said:

Agree that we'll grind out a 1-0 or a 2-1 win here.

Days of us scoring more than two are long gone with this guy in charge

The most recent Manchester derby springs to mind.

[Bestie]

Aug 27, 2018 7:09:17 GMT Stew said:

Aug 26, 2018 22:27:18 GMT . said:

Agree that we'll grind out a 1-0 or a 2-1 win here.

Days of us scoring more than two are long gone with this guy in charge

The most recent Manchester derby springs to mind.

Unfortunately an exception that proves the rule, really.

[mightyez]

Big performance needed tonight and that is an understatement
fans need to be placated, team needs to show fight, manager needs to show maturity.

[.]

Just heard Harry Redknapp on the radio, he's going for a 2-1 win for Spurs.

He says they won't lose it. You'd expect him to say it anyway.

[On a break]

I remember when it was rare for us to lose and two on the bounce were unheard of, it's now a distinct possibility.

But hopefully we will win 

[thesheepdog]

I know the answer will be no but is anyone sat here thinking I'm not sure I want to watch this.

Part of me is expecting a big performance. The other part of me fears for the worst

I will of course watch it I always do even under Moyes and LVG

[stonecarver2]

Aug 27, 2018 10:05:49 GMT thesheepdog said:

I know the answer will be no but is anyone sat here thinking I'm not sure I want to watch this.

Part of me is expecting a big performance. The other part of me fears for the worst

I will of course watch it I always do even under Moyes and LVG

Luckily I'm working tonight so the choice is made for me. Wether I watch the recording of the match.....well thats another story entirely.

[stonecarver2]

Aug 26, 2018 19:09:43 GMT Rustin Cohle said:

www.football365.com/news/man-united-v-spurs-one-big-game-five-big-questions

Man United v Spurs: One big game, five big questions

Dark clouds are gathering over Old Trafford. No doubt Jose Mourinho will interpret the talk of ‘crisis’ as evidence of the media’s bias against himself but in truth Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend carried all the hallmarks of Chelsea in the autumn of 2015. There is no conspiracy. It’s just that we’ve seen all of this before, and we know how it ends.

That makes for grim reading..............so Zidane the next United manager? 

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2018 22:27:18 GMT . said:

Agree that we'll grind out a 1-0 or a 2-1 win here.

Days of us scoring more than two are long gone with this guy in charge

Last time we scored more than 1 against these lot was March 2015 and that's the only time in over 5 years.

It'll be 1-0 again no doubt.

[Stew]

Aug 27, 2018 11:11:20 GMT Paul said:

Aug 26, 2018 22:27:18 GMT . said:

Agree that we'll grind out a 1-0 or a 2-1 win here.

Days of us scoring more than two are long gone with this guy in charge

Last time we scored more than 1 against these lot was March 2015 and that's the only time in over 5 years.

It'll be 1-0 again no doubt.

And yet we were able to win 3 game of those games.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2018 12:42:26 GMT Stew said:

Aug 27, 2018 11:11:20 GMT Paul said:

Last time we scored more than 1 against these lot was March 2015 and that's the only time in over 5 years.

It'll be 1-0 again no doubt.

And yet we were able to win 3 game of those games.

Clearly not my point. Just stating facts to back up what was said in the post.

Id take a shitty ground out 1-0 tonight, regardless of the score its papering over cracks anyway but I'll never go into a game thinking we'll lose it regardless of how shit we're playing.