We don't know about Pogba's condition. Nor Bailly's condition. Nor Rashford's.

They've all had knocks recently and there is a risk of injury for them.

I think Jose has taken too many risks with injuries this spring anyway and the way he is pushing players to come back early and make themselves available in public is not totally right. He should at least do it in private. That can't be helping the players.

To me this seems wrong. There isn't a cohesive setting where the manager fights for the players in the press. He leaves them to be criticized and makes the positives about himself. Mourinho gets Mkhitaryan to deliver, Mourinho gets Shaw to shape up. It's all about him. That can't work for long. After all it's the players who play and should get the credit. With Fergie it was never about him. It was about the club and the brilliance of the players. We knew he had a huge role, but that was a given.

It feels like Jose still feels the need to prove himself to others and that might backfire. I think it already has in some cases. I don't think Shaw feels like he has Jose on his side. He should feel the support of Jose. The disputes should be between them and none of our concern. Surely Shaw doesn't respond only to threats via the media? :)


That said I think at last he did the right decision and didn't play the players who have played a lot in recent weeks. It probably cost us the game, because Arsenal just isn't that good, but in the position we're in there was no great alternative. Playing semi-fit players who have played a lot vs playing just semi-fit players.

I'm fine with the result and I hope this season Jose had to make those decisions because he felt that otherwise he might not have the job next season and he'll change his policy on rotation.

We don't know about Pogba's condition. Nor Bailly's condition. Nor Rashford's.

Had Jose' wanted to pursue the top 4, he would have played them.

They were on the bench, so they were available for selection.

If they were over-fatigued, it's mostly Mourinho's fault, as he didn't make turnover when needed, in some games which were less significant and less decisive.

However, as we've mentioned before, it was obvious that Mourinho decided to drop out of the race for top 4 after the draw with Swansea and after the away win against Celta.

For me, it was a wrong thing to do as there were still decent chances of finishing top 4, while the EL trophy is not in our cabinet yet.

Therefore, deciding to make a massive turnover against Arsenal might leave us empty-handed, so I'd say Mourinho is gambling a lot here.

Now, he is walking a tightrope because of this situation and not only him, but the whole club. We all know the importance of playing in Champions League, so you can imagine the consequences if we don't win the Europa League.

Concerning Mourinho's public criticizing of some players, I understand that not every human being is the same and therefore players react in a different way. While a public bashing might push someone to do more, it might have a negative effect on another person. As a manager, you must know the soul of your players in order to choose correctly and make your man-management successful. In this case, I think Mourinho got carried away and exaggerated a bit. He feels a lot of pressure, imo he expected the things to be a tad easier and once the results were not as good as expected, he started to blame everyone around: players, referees, fixtures, luck, brexit, Margaret Thatcher... :)

I might agree with him in some cases, but I think a big part of the responsibility goes to himself as well, as at the end he is the leader, the person to decide who to buy/sell, who to play, which formation to choose etc.

Let's wait and see how this ends, as there is still the last straw called Europa League.
If we win it, this season might even be remembered as successful from a certain time distance, because of two trophies and a CL qualification.

I really hope it won't go the other way...

At the end of the day all the remaining teams in the EL are one thing -- average. It's a bunch of Stoke's & Everton's. If we can't take care of them & take that trophy down our issues are bigger than worrying about whether we can finish top 4 or not.

I agree with JM's gamble to take down the EL, surely we're able to beat Ajax?

I agree with JM's gamble to take down the EL, surely we're able to beat Ajax?

Let's eliminate Celta Vigo first.

We are favorites, that's for sure, but I hope we won't underestimate neither Celta, nor Ajax if we get to the Finals.

Ajax are a quick team, playing free-flowing football with lots of players in attack.

They arrive to the opponent's goal quite easily, can create lots of chances and shots, but on the other hand they often leave their defence uncovered.

Therefore, it will depend on us and our possibility to:

1. Defend well against quick and unpredictable attackers.

2. Convert our chances once we get them.


They have a dangerous attacking trio of Dolberg, Younes and Traoré (with Ziyech, Klaassen and Schone often joining from the middle) so we will need to have our awareness at maximum level and our midfielders will also need to be concentrated and track back a lot.
We must be especially aware against Traoré, whom I predict to be in the headlines when it comes to the transfer market this Summer.

I think that it was a case of one or the other. Had we won against Swansea, then we would've been 3p behind Liverpool with 2 games less played at kick off on Sunday. As we still had Arsenal and Tottenham away it was still a tough ask to get ahead of Liverpool in the league. Southampton and Palace might be somewhat easier because they have nothing to play for, but they're probably still not much weaker than the EL teams. To get 4 results in the league against who are on average stronger opponents vs getting one draw + winning the final in EL. I know which I think is more likely.

For me the current decisions are fine in isolation. The problem started in October or even before. Not playing the second 11 often enough and pushing the first 11 to the brink. It has surely played a part in them getting injured. I can understand the reasoning behind him choosing the way he has and I can't say whether it's wrong or right, because in general we've played well and perhaps that's the result of him not playing those who he feels don't do what he asks of them.

Let's just hope that next season he'll be happy to play the second 11 in more games and rotate normally. And most importantly - use his subs more early, especially bringing on youngsters and helping reduce the load on our big players. Rotation is key to a successful season.

All of this reminds me of how much I miss Fergie. The more comparison you have, the more you see how amazing he really was. Even with Jose the differences are noticeable.

All of this reminds me of how much I miss Fergie. The more comparison you have, the more you see how amazing he really was. Even with Jose the differences are noticeable.

You can say that again!

How many times did I think of that in the last three seasons...

I miss about everything, from the way we used to play, team organization, all the way to his press conferences, interviews and statements.

Of course, he did make some errors in his career (who didn't?) especially in his last seasons, but nevertheless he was the best manager ever without a doubt, a complete package.

Mourinho was my wish ever since the first talks of Fergie's retirement, as I was convinced he was the real man to succeed SAF. It would have been much, much better had he came in 2013, but we were unlucky.
Now, in a much tougher circumstances after Moyes and Van Gaal left a bit of a mess, Mourinho is trying hard to rebuild a team, make it play as he wants and shape it by his liking, which is not easy, especially as he himself is changing during this process.

After he came to United, Mourinho started to change his behavior and he seemed to be more calm than usual, seemed as a true Man Utd manager, with exemplary behavior and without creating battles with everyone around. He really seemed a changed person, evolving also in a tactical way and trying to form an attacking team, rather than a team playing mostly to defend and counter.
However, there is a saying that a wolf can change his coat but not his temper. I was thinking about this after we played several games mostly defensive and Mourinho seemed to go back to his usual ways. I also remembered this saying when he attacked some of his players in public. Hence, I can just hope he will continue his own evolution in the right way, instead of regressing and returning to some old habits.

Now, in a much tougher circumstances after Moyes and Van Gaal left a bit of a mess, Mourinho is trying hard to rebuild a team, make it play as he wants and shape it by his liking, which is not easy, especially as he himself is changing during this process.

Is he changing?

I'm not so sure.

I mean - when he had to defend himself at the start of the season and named a lot of young players who he gave a debut to. Now he can add Tuanzebe there, but has he really given him a chance so far? I have my doubts there. While Fergie might have been happy with the set of players we have for right back (the 'regulars' + Fosu-Mensah and Tuanzebe), I can see Jose buying a new defender just to challenge Valencia. Which isn't going to help the young boys.

I have the same concern about Martial and Rashford. I think we need to get them to play better instead of going out and buying some new striker. Unless it's Mbappe, which is totally different as he is young and probably going to be one of the big players in the next decade.

I think next season will be the real test for him. I'm not even talking about the results, but the way he handles the squad. We'll see if he is in it for the long haul or not. I quite disliked that during the last 7 days there was a quote of him saying that he isn't ruling out a return to Inter. He should just say that he is happy at United and looking to stay for a long time instead of saying something to please the Inter fans. Doing something like that shows that he isn't 100% committed. That combined with him hanging players out to dry and talking in the press after a win how his great plan worked and how his team was the best is something that irks me and makes me feel like he doesn't get that he isn't the centerpiece. If he does well, then in 5 years he might be the centerpiece, but even then he shouldn't have a reason to shout out that he is the best. Just let the results do the talking...

Even though I think he is a very good manager and I enjoy this season more than last season I just don't think that in the long run it's going to work out. I really hope he proves me wrong, but so far he hasn't really shown too many signs of changing.

After he came to United, Mourinho started to change his behavior and he seemed to be more calm than usual, seemed as a true Man Utd manager, with exemplary behavior and without creating battles with everyone around.

The first few months he seemed to pick quite a few fights. Twice sent off before the end of October, being weird and not playing Miki, ignoring Shaw.. It seems like he is his usual self, picking fights here and there. Winter was weirdly quiet with him though. But he had quieter spells at other clubs as well IMO.

I don't mind his tactics in big games. Fergie used to play defensively in select games as well and this isn't a problem in my opinion. I mean - United never went to Anfield looking to play open football. At least I can't remember that happening. I think in games of that intensity you can't do that. The Arsenal game was just poor. We didn't create enough. I'd blame it mostly on the lack of rotation, which is a result of other things like not trusting half the squad 3-5 months ago. Perhaps that was with reason and we'd be in a poorer situation if he had rotated more back then and because of that I'm not too fussed about it, but this shouldn't happen again next year. If it does, then it's Jose's fault. Right now I'm fine with how things are.

chuksi wrote:

Is he [Mourinho] changing?

I'm not so sure.

I believe he's trying to change his mentality. It's "always" been to go in and win. To me, he sounds like he really wants just a taste of what Ferguson had and that he plans/hopes to be a United-manager for some time to come.

I hope he grows with the task, as there's few managers out there I believe has the format to walk in those footsteps. José, however little I like him, is one of those few if he can change his ways.

Edit: In NFL terms, I'd call José a "Win now"-strategist, like we've seen the Texans recently try to build a SB hope on their defense, while Ferguson was more of the Bill Belichik who aims to always get the most out of his resources and always build for the long run - even when the long run sometimes is just the next season. Whatever's best for the club.

Interesting:
(http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/80195...ville)

With the kids that played yesterday, Old Trafford was again the Theatre of Dreams and not the Theatre of draws.... like so many times this season.

I wonder why didn't Mourinho give a chance to some of those youngsters earlier, especially Harrop and Mitchell.

Anyways, I am happy to see that we have some great prospects in our reserves team.


And, yes, that pass from Pogba was brilliant!

Are we ready for tonights game?

I think it's going to be a close and tactical game, but we will be the strongest and come out with a 2-1 Victory.

Rashford and Mkhitaryan will be our goalscoreres. And the Danish hope Dolbert will score for Ajax.

Dolbert......................................




:-)



I'm just hoping for one hell of a game. Don't care who wins. :-)

Didn't you know that was his new name? Our maybe I just have big fingers and a small keyboard :-)

United have to win. I don't want to Watch them in Europa League another season... They have to be i Champions League.

A loss might prompt Mourinho to focus more on the league.

I couldn't care less about EL or CL. It's PL or nothing.

I hope we will manage to explore Ajax's defensive weaknesses and in the same time keep strong and organized in defence, in order to deflect their attacks.

I think José might not sit and wait, but that he will try to press them high in the middle with Fellaini and Pogba playing in front of Herrera (or Carrick?).

Hope that Jones will get the nod ahead of Smalling, who is terribly lacking self-confidence and might be more error prone.

In the attack, I would hope to see Martial, Rashford and Mkhitaryan, but I think Mourinho will choose Lingard, while Martial will remain on the bench.

As for the result, it is difficult to guess, but my hopes go for a 3-1 United victory.

If, however, José decides to play a very defensive tactics, we might also see a 1-0 victory.

I don't even want to think about a defeat or a draw + ET + penalties.

3-0 !!! My soul is smitten by the defeat of the Dutch. I can not wait for the match!

CL Means a lot of Money and prestige.

Just look at Liverpool and which players they can buy after some years without CL. That are not topplayers, and we need better than that.

We need CL to attract the best players.

We don't need to attract the best players. We need to go back to developing the best.

When you look at the dominant clubs, it's pretty much only Real Madrid and Chelsea who haven't had a core (albeit not the top players necessarily) of somewhat homegrown talent.

In the entire Ferguson era, he relied on prospects coming from the youth ranks to reinforce the first team squad and maybe even take over in a spot.

A good deal of Barcelona's big purchases has been to buy back talent that came through their academy, like Pique and Cesc. Apart from that, they always had a healthy portion of homegrown talent in their squad.

Tottenham is a brilliant example of a club that not many really took for anything, but they focused on developing step by step and look where they are now! With a very young squad even.

Why did Mourinho choose Smalling ahead of Jones?

If we look at their form in the last games, Jones would be my definite choice.

Martial should enter instead of Miki, who has a yellow card and is also not playing well.

Fellaini very important for this tactics of skipping the midfield. He has won a lot of duels in the air.

Moreover, we must not retreat too much. We should be careful but also continue to attack. Ajax are a young team and they are not good under pressure, so we should put them under, instead of letting them back in the game.