The Man Utd Thread

[feltmonkey]

I checked the laws of the game and there's nothing specific about it not being a penalty if it deflects off another part of the body that I could see.  I suspect it's one of those where the referees are given guidelines of how to interpret the rules, and it's entirely possible that the Premier League guidelines are different to ones given in other parts of Europe.  

 

It was ridiculous to award a penalty there though.  Absolutely ridiculous.

[Loik V credern]

Some genuinely quite interesting stuff from Martial:

 

Quote

“It started with the story of the shirt number,” Martial said about Mourinho.

 

‘During the holidays, he [Mourinho] sent me a message to ask if I want to change to the No.11, explaining to me that it is great because it was worn by Ryan Giggs, a club legend.

 

“I tell him that I have the greatest respect for Giggs, but that I prefer to keep my number 9. When I return to the club, I see my jersey with the number 11, the story did not start well! He disrespected me, straight up.

 

“[Mourinho] was talking about me in the press, little phrases, a bit like he had done with Karim Benzema at Real Madrid. He likes these games, but he also knows who he is doing it with. He knows that I am 20 years old then and that if I say something, it is I who will be the young person who lacks respect.”

 

‘So I said nothing, it was useless. 

 

“The second season [at United], I was the team’s top scorer in the first part of the season, [Mourinho] brought in Alexis Sanchez and I hardly played anymore. 

 

“It’s the season of the World Cup and it cost me dearly, especially since the France team won [the tournament]. I should have been there.”

 

Martial also hit out at Solskjaer for failing to defend the striker’s performances throughout his tenurein charge, despite putting his body on the line at times by playing through injury.

 

“I regularly played injured,” Martial said about his time playing under the Norwegian.

 

“People don’t know it, I couldn’t accelerate during the four months following the COVID-19 season. The coach tells me he needs me, so I play. But, given my game, if I can’t accelerate, it becomes very complicated all the same. 

 

“I got [criticised by fans]… the coach never bothered to tell the media. Obviously, I ended up getting injured for good and when I came back, finished, I didn’t play anymore.

 

“I took it very badly, I had a feeling of injustice, you are asked to sacrifice yourself for the team and behind the scenes you are dismissed. For me, it’s almost treachery. That’s all I hate. I can be blamed, but not for being fake.”

 

Martial was more positive about Van Gaal, though, saying he appreciated the time and effort the veteran Dutch coach put in to help the Frenchman improve his game.

 

He added: “I had a great relationship with Louis van Gaal the first season.

 

“I love to learn and when a gentleman like him takes the time to make me watch videos of my matches in his office to explain things to me, that’s the best.

“Once I had scored twice and he made me watch the video to set me on fire. 

 

“I told him that I scored twice, so what’s the problem? He wanted to talk to me about running angles and movement zones. I told him that I understood and that he liked my whole character. 

 

“With Mourinho, it had nothing to do.”

 

Martial also responded to criticism over his body language during games, and said he refuses to disguise his frustration on the pitch.

 

“Basically, I have to display my disappointment after a missed opportunity so that people don’t say, ‘Ah, he doesn’t really care’ – I’ll tell you simply: I’m a footballer, not an actor,” he explained.

 

“A lot of people think you have to be a little comedian and I see players who show their rage so that the public and the media think they are motivated. All the media circus does not interest me. I cannot change to please others.

 

“I am not immune to criticism. When people say that I lack consistency, it’s true. When I have my place, it often goes well, but when I’ve been used less, it’s true that my performance has not been the same.

 

“It’s a vicious circle: I’m less efficient, because I play less and therefore I play even less. When it’s like that, I can sometimes drop out a bit. A player like Cavani, he’s at 3000 per cent even when given few minutes.”

 

[fatbob]

So the Leeds game is also now postponed.

 

A silver lining to all this is it allows Ten Hag more training days to do system work, as well as for Martial and Rashford to recover from injuries.

[spork]

Is it the international break after that?

[feltmonkey]

Fortunately we've got tonight's 0-0 draw with Sheriff Tiraspol to look forward to.  A match where the descriptions of the journey to the stadium are likely to be more interesting than the game itself. 

[spork]

I hope we see some more youth players playing. Although with no fixture at the weekend I guess we can risk putting out a stronger team than we would otherwise.

[spork]

Didn't realise it was an early kick off!

 

 

[fatbob]

I feel like Eriksen is going to play a lot of football this year! 😅

 

 

[feltmonkey]

That's a lovely goal.

[feltmonkey]

Nice to have Ronaldo off the mark for the season, as well.

[Nicky]

good old BT Sport. as soon as the match finishes, they focus on a big black and white banner "HANG THE GLAZERS"

[Gabzy]

Dalot has scored 2 goals for Portugal (so far!) and his 2nd is an absolute peach from outside the box on his left foot. Woof!

 

 

[Gabzy]

Also a goal and assist for Bruno, and an assist for Ronaldo - with a broken nose.

[5R7]

Won't be watching as in work!  What do we reckon, 3,4 nill to city then?

 

1

D De Gea

20

D Dalot

19

R Varane

6

L Martínez

12

T Malacia

39

S McTominay

14

C Eriksen

21

A dos Santos

8

B Fernandes (c)

25

J Sancho

10

M Rashford

Substitutes

2

V Lindelöf

7

C Ronaldo

9

A Martial

17

Fred

18

Casemiro

22

T Heaton

23

L Shaw

28

F Pellistri

36

A Elanga

[spork]

City have put out a beatable lineup which only means we’re getting beaten 3-0 with Martinez being sent off.

[stephen129]

I'm going 2-0 City

[spork]

This is going to be a long match 

[teddymeow]

I see the pendulum has swung back to "we're shit"!

[teddymeow]

4 - 0 now?! WTF?!

[spork]

Just now, teddymeow said:

I see the pendulum has swung back to "we're shit"!

 

I think a bit of that but also a bit of City being a bit good.

[teddymeow]

5 minutes ago, spork said:

 

I think a bit of that but also a bit of City being a bit good.

 

Never!! 😅

[sith]

Sorry lads, but ETH shit the bed today. Not starting Casemiro over Bruno or Eriksen is just outrageous. 75m on the best CDM and we leave him on the bench against KDB and co. Also, why is Eriksen marking Haaland on corners???

 

Amateur hour yet again. 

[feltmonkey]

This is the second time this season, which is only 7 games old, that we've been 4-0 down at half time.  This is particularly mad when you consider that we'd probably say that overall the season hasn't been too bad.

[Gabzy]

Someone show me Ericksen’s passing stats. How is Casemiro still on the bench? Insanity.

[feltmonkey]

Oof! Beautiful goal.

[stephen129]

Sky sports preparing the "Best ever consolation goals" video as we speak. 

 

Haaland seems to play like your striker on Pro Evo/FIFA career mode on medium difficulty who scores 68 goals a season. 

[spork]

Fred

[teddymeow]

47 minutes ago, spork said:

 

I think a bit of that but also a bit of City being a bit good.

 

Okay, I'll admit it. City are a "bit good"...

[ckny]

Made me laugh.

 

 

[stephen129]

1 hour ago, stephen129 said:

I'm going 2-0 City

 

Not my finest prediction 😅