Deadbat
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Well not a report..most people will have been there or seen it on TV as I did shamefully. First half was a non event - they had better chances and a bit more composure and they could have led. We never really got going and despite a few half chances they never looked in massive danger. It was poor game though.
Second half we had a decent start but then they stepped it up and kept breaking our line time after time. Faced with pace and movement the backline got horrible exposed not helped by no pressure on the pass from the midfield. The first goal Lundstram went for the pies and then it was easy but there was no protection behind. The second was again poor play really and we got picked off. Carruthers then tossed it away again and they scored again. We scored a fortunate goal and Brooks showed a few flashes but they scored another late one we were well beaten and it was easy for Leicester second half.
Shakepeare showed how to cause problems against our formation as they got it wide and moved it around and at times we had two separate defence lines meaning they could get in the gaps. They had more pace, power and clever footballers.
Leicester - Sadly you saw the step up as Leicester’s second string beat our mostly second string. First half they looked as slow and sluggish as us but still got in a few times. Maguire played one of easiest games of his life really. We kicked him early and I thought get amongst him/them but he never had a challenge apart form on corners. Slimani was clumsy and gave away a few fouls (despite what some say it was not a second yellow being a nothing challenge on Wright) but scored two goals and had a third wrongly disallowed. Musa was abysmal. Everything he did went wrong. 16.5 million he cost and he could not do anything right! He did score with about the only thing he did do right. The likes of Gray showed his pace and running and the young left back Chilwell played well too until Brooks finally had a run at him late on but it was too late.
United - This might be a bit damning but I felt first half we were very ordinary-poor despite being in the game but then 2nd half we never got going and the heads dropped badly when it went 1-0.
I have to say I think despite many saying it was Prem opponents and it was (they rested so many players of course) that many did not take their chance. I cannot think of too many of those that came in save for maybe Brooks and Baldock in flashes. The best 3 players were probably the back 3 and they were not great and struggled near the end but had nothing protecting them in front. The keeper was badly exposed for a young kid second half. The midfield pairing were woeful I felt after starting game ok. They never gave us a a chance by giving it away and then when they did not have it were square and did not go with runners.
Giving it away constantly, every 2nd touch a tackle and generally sat off. Carruthers got stuck in first 15 mins but then after that seemed knackered.
The front two were equally abject. With Clarke out, Hanson on his way and not really Champ quality, we have seen in reality we need probably at least 1 probably 2 new strikers. We badly need pace and running up top. I cannot believe how poor they both were tonight in terms of touch, hold up, desire and danger factor. In short, they looked lower league strikers. The reality is neither would have got in our team last season (and didn’t in most cases for Lavery) and now we are higher up. People may say they were up against a good side but you expect them to at least run about a bit.
The fact that Wilder threw on Sharp, Coutts and Basham said what he thought about the fringe players. Tonight, proves that we need some players still in key positions. If O'Connell, Coutts, Fleck or Sharp get injured; their back-ups showed what a drop off it is. With the poor performances of Evans/Lavery I would play Brookes off Sharp Saturday and still play Duffy. These two would cause more problems for Derby I feel than playing one of Lavery/Evans. Be interesting to see what he does. I still feel a loan may come in up top.
Eastwood 7/10 - Seems high for someone letting 4 in but had no chance with any of them, made a few good saves including a super one second half. Did not do much wrong really and badly exposed.
Freeman 6/10 - Decent first half as he defended well in unfamiliar role and tackled and chased well. Second half he struggled with pace and movement and him, Wright and O'Connell got dissected twice on through balls. Appealing for fouls/pens too much when clearly not fouls. He was not the worst player tonight but not a centre back and showed his defensive weaknesses.
O'Connell 6.5/10 - Competed well and won headers, challenges and first half he was fine but then they seemed to find gaps and he got done a few times with slide rule balls. Struggled with runners and they had men in gaps.
Wright 7/10 - Maybe our best player for me. He also got done with runners but as I say no pressure from midfield in front did not help defence who were put in a bad position with a huge gap or runners going through. First half he was excellent making several key blocks. Second half showed against pace he could struggle.
Baldock 6.5/10 - He was ok actually. Grew into the game and did some decent things. Good on the ball and was able to get down the flank and attack a few times. Got stuck in and did not get beat too much. Second half different story as he got caught forward too much and left us exposed with Gray getting through several times and Freeman having to go across giving us gaps in the middle. Not the worst debut and some promise there.
Lafferty 3/10 - Some said that he was unlucky to lose his place to Enda Stevens but tonight he showed how slow and weak he is. Lost the ball a lot and defensively got beat so easily. He was really poor both ways tonight and looked a player that was probably ok in lower level but versus pace and power he struggles and looks one paced = slow.
Lundstram 4/10 - Poor on the ball, tried a few crossfield balls that did not work and gave it away a lot. His fault on the first goal as he got done for the dummy. On the second he also put no pressure on King who played an easy ball in. If you watch again he is at fault to some degree for that one. Other than that, can’t recall him giving many good balls, getting on it and dictating and just looked very slow and heavy footed to me. One game so will give him time but he is miles off Fleck/Coutts on that performance and will be a backup unless he gets fitter and to the pace of pressing Wilder needs.
Carruthers 5.5/10 – Better than above but second half he was a liabillity. His first half he did ok but faded so badly. He ran around first 20 minutes and committed 5 or 6 fouls and got about the park and got stuck in. He had a few link ups on the ball but then he seemed to regress and every time he had it he gave it away. He tried some daft balls instead of keeping it simple and I lost count of times he telegraphed ball. Gave it away on the edge of the box for the third and then nearly did same on another chance. Looked knackered at the end. Had to do much better. He is not a 10 and not a defensive midfielder and he does not have energy to get up and down so question marks over his position. For me he will be an impact sub at best as he was used to good effect last season. Not sure he looks any better than when he first signed. He had a decent first game but since then has lost his place.
Brooks 7/10 - People will rave about him but I actually thought he was up and down tonight. He had 2 or 3 good slalom runs and some nice touches and passes but gave it away quite a bit, defensively did not always chase back and I bit wasteful and ponderous at times. There was no end product for all his nice touches and few dribbles. Sure others will say he was brilliant etc but he only came to life for me when it was 3-0. I wanted him to get on the ball and do more when it was a game still. However his close control and touch showed he is a real talent and some Prem club will probably throw a few million bid in for him next week and United being United will accept the first bid I am sure. Shame if he goes as would like him to have a season here. I would play him Saturday along Sharp as I have said before. Especially as he might not be here in a week! That may seem negative but history suggests with Calvert Lewin, Ramsdale etc that we do not tend to hang onto our young players for long. That is not just being negative but looking at what United traditionally have done for 125 years+. Do not see any reason for that to change next week. 2 million would be pocket change for all Prem clubs. What we need to do for once is accept the first bid. As I say hope I am wrong.
Evans 3/10 - Sluggish, slow and leaden footed. Looked hopeless. Slow to the ball, never held it up and did not link with others. Looked badly off the pace. Lacked mobility, strength and general awareness. He looked tonight a million miles from the player we saw 5 years ago. People will say he needs games but we are in the Championship, we cannot wait 2 or 3 months. We need someone to play now. He is not a young kid who is going to get better. Again, may seem harsh but he has to do much better than he did tonight. Not sure how he can start him after that performance against wise old heads Keogh and Davies Saturday. I think Brooks would cause far more problems.
Lavery 4.5/10 – Scored a goal if a little fortunate. He was nearly as bad as Evans. Not much in it. Dreadful first touch, slow to the ball, kept bouncing off him and he ended up tackling after his first touch. He seemed to think he had an age when the ball came to him and got picked off so many times. After Walsall and tonight, Wilder will look at him and wonder if he is good enough to be a serious starter. That is 2 chances he has had against League One players and then some Prem reserves (equivalent of who he would play in u23s save for maybe Maguire) and looked well short for me. He ran around but nothing happened at all really.
Subs
Sharp - Had one chance blocked but it was too little, too late as second had gone in.
Coutts - Did more in 15-20 mins than Carruthers/Lundstram all game in terms of getting on the ball and getting it moving.
Basham - He was abysmal on the third miskicking and then passing it straight to them.
Second half we had a decent start but then they stepped it up and kept breaking our line time after time. Faced with pace and movement the backline got horrible exposed not helped by no pressure on the pass from the midfield. The first goal Lundstram went for the pies and then it was easy but there was no protection behind. The second was again poor play really and we got picked off. Carruthers then tossed it away again and they scored again. We scored a fortunate goal and Brooks showed a few flashes but they scored another late one we were well beaten and it was easy for Leicester second half.
Shakepeare showed how to cause problems against our formation as they got it wide and moved it around and at times we had two separate defence lines meaning they could get in the gaps. They had more pace, power and clever footballers.
Leicester - Sadly you saw the step up as Leicester’s second string beat our mostly second string. First half they looked as slow and sluggish as us but still got in a few times. Maguire played one of easiest games of his life really. We kicked him early and I thought get amongst him/them but he never had a challenge apart form on corners. Slimani was clumsy and gave away a few fouls (despite what some say it was not a second yellow being a nothing challenge on Wright) but scored two goals and had a third wrongly disallowed. Musa was abysmal. Everything he did went wrong. 16.5 million he cost and he could not do anything right! He did score with about the only thing he did do right. The likes of Gray showed his pace and running and the young left back Chilwell played well too until Brooks finally had a run at him late on but it was too late.
United - This might be a bit damning but I felt first half we were very ordinary-poor despite being in the game but then 2nd half we never got going and the heads dropped badly when it went 1-0.
I have to say I think despite many saying it was Prem opponents and it was (they rested so many players of course) that many did not take their chance. I cannot think of too many of those that came in save for maybe Brooks and Baldock in flashes. The best 3 players were probably the back 3 and they were not great and struggled near the end but had nothing protecting them in front. The keeper was badly exposed for a young kid second half. The midfield pairing were woeful I felt after starting game ok. They never gave us a a chance by giving it away and then when they did not have it were square and did not go with runners.
Giving it away constantly, every 2nd touch a tackle and generally sat off. Carruthers got stuck in first 15 mins but then after that seemed knackered.
The front two were equally abject. With Clarke out, Hanson on his way and not really Champ quality, we have seen in reality we need probably at least 1 probably 2 new strikers. We badly need pace and running up top. I cannot believe how poor they both were tonight in terms of touch, hold up, desire and danger factor. In short, they looked lower league strikers. The reality is neither would have got in our team last season (and didn’t in most cases for Lavery) and now we are higher up. People may say they were up against a good side but you expect them to at least run about a bit.
The fact that Wilder threw on Sharp, Coutts and Basham said what he thought about the fringe players. Tonight, proves that we need some players still in key positions. If O'Connell, Coutts, Fleck or Sharp get injured; their back-ups showed what a drop off it is. With the poor performances of Evans/Lavery I would play Brookes off Sharp Saturday and still play Duffy. These two would cause more problems for Derby I feel than playing one of Lavery/Evans. Be interesting to see what he does. I still feel a loan may come in up top.
Eastwood 7/10 - Seems high for someone letting 4 in but had no chance with any of them, made a few good saves including a super one second half. Did not do much wrong really and badly exposed.
Freeman 6/10 - Decent first half as he defended well in unfamiliar role and tackled and chased well. Second half he struggled with pace and movement and him, Wright and O'Connell got dissected twice on through balls. Appealing for fouls/pens too much when clearly not fouls. He was not the worst player tonight but not a centre back and showed his defensive weaknesses.
O'Connell 6.5/10 - Competed well and won headers, challenges and first half he was fine but then they seemed to find gaps and he got done a few times with slide rule balls. Struggled with runners and they had men in gaps.
Wright 7/10 - Maybe our best player for me. He also got done with runners but as I say no pressure from midfield in front did not help defence who were put in a bad position with a huge gap or runners going through. First half he was excellent making several key blocks. Second half showed against pace he could struggle.
Baldock 6.5/10 - He was ok actually. Grew into the game and did some decent things. Good on the ball and was able to get down the flank and attack a few times. Got stuck in and did not get beat too much. Second half different story as he got caught forward too much and left us exposed with Gray getting through several times and Freeman having to go across giving us gaps in the middle. Not the worst debut and some promise there.
Lafferty 3/10 - Some said that he was unlucky to lose his place to Enda Stevens but tonight he showed how slow and weak he is. Lost the ball a lot and defensively got beat so easily. He was really poor both ways tonight and looked a player that was probably ok in lower level but versus pace and power he struggles and looks one paced = slow.
Lundstram 4/10 - Poor on the ball, tried a few crossfield balls that did not work and gave it away a lot. His fault on the first goal as he got done for the dummy. On the second he also put no pressure on King who played an easy ball in. If you watch again he is at fault to some degree for that one. Other than that, can’t recall him giving many good balls, getting on it and dictating and just looked very slow and heavy footed to me. One game so will give him time but he is miles off Fleck/Coutts on that performance and will be a backup unless he gets fitter and to the pace of pressing Wilder needs.
Carruthers 5.5/10 – Better than above but second half he was a liabillity. His first half he did ok but faded so badly. He ran around first 20 minutes and committed 5 or 6 fouls and got about the park and got stuck in. He had a few link ups on the ball but then he seemed to regress and every time he had it he gave it away. He tried some daft balls instead of keeping it simple and I lost count of times he telegraphed ball. Gave it away on the edge of the box for the third and then nearly did same on another chance. Looked knackered at the end. Had to do much better. He is not a 10 and not a defensive midfielder and he does not have energy to get up and down so question marks over his position. For me he will be an impact sub at best as he was used to good effect last season. Not sure he looks any better than when he first signed. He had a decent first game but since then has lost his place.
Brooks 7/10 - People will rave about him but I actually thought he was up and down tonight. He had 2 or 3 good slalom runs and some nice touches and passes but gave it away quite a bit, defensively did not always chase back and I bit wasteful and ponderous at times. There was no end product for all his nice touches and few dribbles. Sure others will say he was brilliant etc but he only came to life for me when it was 3-0. I wanted him to get on the ball and do more when it was a game still. However his close control and touch showed he is a real talent and some Prem club will probably throw a few million bid in for him next week and United being United will accept the first bid I am sure. Shame if he goes as would like him to have a season here. I would play him Saturday along Sharp as I have said before. Especially as he might not be here in a week! That may seem negative but history suggests with Calvert Lewin, Ramsdale etc that we do not tend to hang onto our young players for long. That is not just being negative but looking at what United traditionally have done for 125 years+. Do not see any reason for that to change next week. 2 million would be pocket change for all Prem clubs. What we need to do for once is accept the first bid. As I say hope I am wrong.
Evans 3/10 - Sluggish, slow and leaden footed. Looked hopeless. Slow to the ball, never held it up and did not link with others. Looked badly off the pace. Lacked mobility, strength and general awareness. He looked tonight a million miles from the player we saw 5 years ago. People will say he needs games but we are in the Championship, we cannot wait 2 or 3 months. We need someone to play now. He is not a young kid who is going to get better. Again, may seem harsh but he has to do much better than he did tonight. Not sure how he can start him after that performance against wise old heads Keogh and Davies Saturday. I think Brooks would cause far more problems.
Lavery 4.5/10 – Scored a goal if a little fortunate. He was nearly as bad as Evans. Not much in it. Dreadful first touch, slow to the ball, kept bouncing off him and he ended up tackling after his first touch. He seemed to think he had an age when the ball came to him and got picked off so many times. After Walsall and tonight, Wilder will look at him and wonder if he is good enough to be a serious starter. That is 2 chances he has had against League One players and then some Prem reserves (equivalent of who he would play in u23s save for maybe Maguire) and looked well short for me. He ran around but nothing happened at all really.
Subs
Sharp - Had one chance blocked but it was too little, too late as second had gone in.
Coutts - Did more in 15-20 mins than Carruthers/Lundstram all game in terms of getting on the ball and getting it moving.
Basham - He was abysmal on the third miskicking and then passing it straight to them.
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I think whoever did the timing should ask for their money back on the watch they used!
