No match report today

[Edwards of Nazareth]

I personally thought only Mcburnie and berge were the only ones who made an effort today- and they weren’t exactly brilliant. Fleck was awful from the first minute and boggle should have been subbed immediately after being booked. I know one or two on here have a pop at Baldock , but at least he always puts a shift in and try’s his best. Bogle lately just seems to swan about like he hasn’t got to run

 

[Wards]

I left early from a home game for the first time since I started supporting United in 1991.

Fucking abject, spineless, cowardly, boring, dog shit of a performance. Throw any adjectives you want at them. As pathetic as anything we put out under Adkins, Heath, Jokanovic or any other twat that's managed us in that time.

Needs 4 or 5 changes on Wednesday and a performance that's full of energy and attacking intent. Bollocks to thinking about Blackburn, put the strongest XI out made up of anyone that didn't turn out today plus whoever else from today that's needed to fill the gaps.

Bastards.

 

[Mesut Özil's Lawnmower]

I'll tell you how good Lowe was...fucking abysmal

ok cheers

 

[Grey Blade]

The last time I felt so fed up after a game was the midweek match at Bury in league 1 days. We've had a few poor performances this season and got away with it but it can't just be put down as a blip this time.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

 

[N20 Blade]

you poor buggers - someone somewhere must have had to do the same almost in every game bar Swansea and at a push Watford

Oh it got worse, chelsea fans boarded at leicester and were as charming as ever.

 

[Addison]

Understand the frustration DB. The manner of todays tactical ineptitude and lack of desire by players and management team has lost a fair proportion of the fan base that will be difficult to get back onside unless we go out and take the game to Sunderland from the off. You don't mind losing if you go down fighting but we were waving the white flag after about 10 minutes.

The incredible lack of energy across the whole team is troubling. Half paced half arsed build up followed by tippy tappy football on the edge of the area then losing possession rinse repeat rinse for the whole of the game. We are at Home against a play off contender and we don't get one fucking shot on target!!! Lets be honest Luton controlled midfield winning every second ball throughout the game. Yet they barely troubled us and we concede the softest of goals. No idea what Wes was doing as he was ball watching and failed to anticipate Morris coming in at the near post.

We are a team that struggle to get back into a game when we go behind. Whether this is the players mind set or a lack of instruction from the dug out we don't know but we haven't solved it all season. I'm afraid the we are 4 points clear with 10 games to go argument is wearing thin. We just aren't playing well and we've come up against the top teams in the last few weeks and fallen short.

Where do we go from here is anyones guess although recent performances are more indicative of a continuing slide than the upwardly mobile trajectory of Middlesbrough. The pack have smelt blood and we are not coping with keeping them at bay.

Changes have to be made for the Mackems away. Both wing backs are in a run of poor form and Baldock as a minimum requirement has to come in. In midfield we need a ball winner. We just need to change it up and force some regular pick players out of their comfort zone. The FA Cup tie takes on even less significance now. All that matters for the future of the Club is getting to the EPL. Fail against Sunderland and let the kids play on Sunday. It won't be a good look if players are busting a gut to get an FA Cup semi final appearance at Wembley if they are putting in insipid performances in the league. PH should tell them based on current form they've more chance of getting to Wembley in May than June.

 

[1973Blade]

Sorry.

Players couldn't be arsed.

Nor can I.

Noone above 4/10

First Match Of The Day, then this.

 

[Keen Blade]

If ever a time to stand by our team it,s now. Obiously feeling the pressure of not going up and set us way back. We,ll never win cups ,never the P.L. our fate is the odd good win. Still blades forever. We do need some serious invester to spray money about to get further, doubt it,ll happen in my time. However Sunderland wednesday ,i,ll be watching and hopping.

Hopping mad , I bet

 

[Roygbiv]

First Match Of The Day, then this.

Wish I knew he was doing this so I could miss The View From and use the excuse that I was standing in solidarity with Deadbat

 

[Keen Blade]

Drop Lowe , play JLT at LWB and Clark at LCB.
Drop Bogle , play Furious George.
Drop any you want out of Fleck , Norwood & Berge.
Play any you want out of Doyle , McAtee , Coulibaly , Brooks , Ndiaye in midfield.
Play McBurnie alone or with Jebbo up top.
I can't watch shithispants Hecky's scaredy-cat crap any more.
We've just lost to all 4 teams immediately below us.
On this form , we don't deserve to go up.
So Hecky has to grow a pair and do something positive to change our form.

 

[ChrisDysonHT]

Sorry.

Players couldn't be arsed.

Nor can I.

Noone above 4/10

Totally agree - roll on next week and a cup run

 

[ZLB]

Drop Lowe , play JLT at LWB and Clark at LCB.
Drop Bogle , play Furious George.
Drop any you want out of Fleck , Norwood & Berge.
Play any you want out of Doyle , McAtee , Coulibaly , Brooks , Ndiaye in midfield.
Play McBurnie alone or with Jebbo up top.
I can't watch shithispants Hecky's scaredy-cat crap any more.
We've just lost to all 4 teams immediately below us.
On this form , we don't deserve to go up.
So Hecky has to grow a pair and do something positive to change our form.

Baldock for Bogle. 100%.

 

[N20 Blade]

How are that fucking shower in the top 6? Southern fuckholes.

It’s a terrible league. This makes our predicament all the worse.

 

[Solihull Blade]

No clearly not by me saying “I’m sure plenty disagree”

I’m with you My MOM was Max Lowe

 

[coaxingstar71]

The majority of the pattern of our play today seemed to be; Wes gets the ball, plays to defender, defender plays into midfielder, midfielder has no intention of playing ball forward or making a run, plays back to defender, defender now under pressure and boots it hopelessly upfield where they gobble everything up, and repeat.

We used to have an identity, a way of playing that was effective and a game plan. This team doesn't appear to have an identity or a game plan. There doesn't seem to be any purpose to our play other than giving the ball to Illy and hoping he'll make something out of nothing. No one else took any responsibility, there was no bravery on the ball, there was hesitancy and it was negative. We used to start games on the front foot and put teams under pressure at least for the first 20-30 minutes. Today our first 'attempt' on goal, a routine save from a McBurnie header was on 41 minutes.

I don't care about tactics and formations, today we didn't win first balls, we didn't win second balls, we didn't put enough tackles in, we didn't put any passes together, we didn't put them under any pressure, nothing, none of the basic pre-requisites of how you win games. It was about as comfortable as a 1-0 away win could be.

I've been saying for ages that Bogle and Lowe are not good enough defensively and that puts more pressure on the back three, and the wider midfielders who are having to try and cover them to some extent. It's looks great when we're on the front foot and attacking and they're going past their man. Bogle particularly makes poor decisions. He failed to get past his man at all today, he tries to go past his man when he should play an easy ball and both he and Lowe came inside so much we had no width, we were too narrow and it played right into their hands.

As we've got a midweek game, it's a good opportunity to rotate the squad, get George back in, play Doyle in the Norwood role, maybe as some have suggested, play Clark and Robinson at LWB to make the defence more robust. We need to change something and shake it up a bit.

 

[PaulHalfway]

To me the only player who was above average was McBurnie everyone else was shocking especially the 3 in midfield.

If only he could head a ball at the goal with power and direction, he gets the headers in but it’s like a cushion header straight into to goalkeeper hands
I think 3 decent chances yesterday

 

[SouthStandGBlock]

thought Max Lowe was good but I’m sure plenty disagree

felt like the only player putting any effort in at points

That's why football is all about opinions. I respect yours, but I thought Lowe was f@@king awful today. Never looked for the ball, never crossed and never moved into space. He just hid.. 1/10 Abysmal

 

[Deadbat]

Wish I knew he was doing this so I could miss The View From and use the excuse that I was standing in solidarity with Deadbat

Thanks Al means a lot

 

[AWetFlannel]

The reaction to this game is valid given the context, but it wasn't that bad a performance. We gave a very good team no chances and not much territory, and doubled their xG.

As others have said, McBurnie and Ndiaye put a shift in today and had decent games. Sharp was also good off the bench.

Same with Berge, defensively better than I've seen him be and good on the ball.

Not a big fan of Lowe, but thought he was aggressive and played ok today.

 

[AWetFlannel]

If only he could head a ball at the goal with power and direction, he gets the headers in but it’s like a cushion header straight into to goalkeeper hands
I think 3 decent chances yesterday

First half of the season he scores at least one of them. Many players' form since the WC has dropped off a cliff.

 

[Deadbat]

First half of the season he scores at least one of them. Many players' form since the WC has dropped off a cliff.

Yeah lots of talk about Bogle,Lowe,Fleck but the main players for us to start the season and play well up to the World Cup break were Anel, Norwood, Berge, Ndiaye and McBurnie.

Those 5 have gone from team of the year in the league contenders to looking average Champ players.

Berge gers a lot of hammer but Norwood has been dreadful for a month now. The front two are not scoring regularly at all. Anel offers nothing goung forward and makes routine mistakes at the back.

I said pre game we need 2 or 3 of our big players to step up. Not one did. Noone. They jogged around, did not run or pass forward and even more concerning looked tired, lacking confidence and the body language was really poor.

If those key players don't wake up, then for all the criticism Hecky is getting and discussions on selections, tactics,then we will be lucky to cling onto a playoff place never mind automatic.

 

[Champagneblade]

The reaction to this game is valid given the context, but it wasn't that bad a performance. We gave a very good team no chances and not much territory, and doubled their xG.

As others have said, McBurnie and Ndiaye put a shift in today and had decent games. Sharp was also good off the bench.

Same with Berge, defensively better than I've seen him be and good on the ball.

Not a big fan of Lowe, but thought he was aggressive and played ok today.

Can’t wait to be lining up in the XG Premier League next season.

When you were a young man you didn’t get any credit for going out an almost pulling is getting in a good position to pull but then not doing so.

We are a bit of a Pot Noodle and a wank team at the moment. Maybe without the Pot Noodle!

My team for Sunland:

Near Post Wes
Anel Egan Clark
Baldock Doyle Norwood McAtee Robinson
McBurnie Ndiaye

Subs - Davies, Bogle, Basham, Coulibaly, Berge, Jebbison, Sharp

Slightly concerned Sharp will get banned depending on the interpretation of him looking like he cuffs Lockyer when he goes past him. Replicating his pal Beattie there, getting banned when we might need him in the run in.

 

[originaltrueblade]

Send em all to an army training camp just like Dave Bassett did, make the ******work

 

[AWetFlannel]

Can’t wait to be lining up in the XG Premier League next season.

When you were a young man you didn’t get any credit for going out an almost pulling is getting in a good position to pull but then not doing so.

We are a bit of a Pot Noodle and a wank team at the moment. Maybe without the Pot Noodle!

My team for Sunland:

Near Post Wes
Anel Egan Clark
Baldock Doyle Norwood McAtee Robinson
McBurnie Ndiaye

Subs - Davies, Bogle, Basham, Coulibaly, Berge, Jebbison, Sharp

Slightly concerned Sharp will get banned depending on the interpretation of him looking like he cuffs Lockyer when he goes past him. Replicating his pal Beattie there, getting banned when we might need him in the run in.

I'm not using our xG to argue we should have won, just to give one bit of evidence that we had the better of the game.

Some players are badly out of form and last 15 minutes we looked clueless, there is plenty to worry about, but that isn't the same as a diabolical performance where we get outfought and outclassed by an average team.

These lot are on a massive high, we know what it's like. Their fans sing that they're going up, the mood is positive and they are getting the most out of the team. Whereas we expect to go up, have been performing slightly below our level, the ground is a morgue and we are all nervous as fuck.

 

[Deadbat]

I'm not using our xG to argue we should have won, just to give one bit of evidence that we had the better of the game.

Some players are badly out of form and last 15 minutes we looked clueless, there is plenty to worry about, but that isn't the same as a diabolical performance where we get outfought and outclassed by an average team.

These lot are on a massive high, we know what it's like. Their fans sing that they're going up, the mood is positive and they are getting the most out of the team. Whereas we expect to go up, have been performing slightly below our level, the ground is a morgue and we are all nervous as fuck.

It's why forums are great as you get different opinions...I thought we wrent outclassed but WERE outfought.

XG makes no difference when the reality is we did not have one decent chance, maybe the Egan one where its smothered close range. Yes they did sod all too but were away and did exactly what they had to in order to win. Scored a goal and saw us out easily.

I thought it was a diabolical performance sadly. Not a sustained period of attacking,barely a forward pass, noone carrying the ball and other than a few weak headers,not one shot put in all game. We lost a lot of battles and generally just looked slow, timid and lacking energy. The urgency to attack and try and score a goal was nowhere to be seen.

 

[Chazzer]

Arguably our best performance pre World Cup, and some would say the best of the season, was the 5-2 win against Burnley on 5th November.
It was the same team that played yesterday, apart from Bogle, Lowe and Berge. Instead we played Baldock, Stevens and Osborn. I think that Bogle and Lowe are a huge part of the problem at the moment. Opposing teams soon discover that they can run past either of them at will (witness Luton's goal from our left side yesterday) and our central defenders are left with too much to do to thwart the resulting danger. The other thing that would make a big difference will be the return of RND. We have really missed him on the left side.

 

[Mesut Özil's Lawnmower]

That's why football is all about opinions. I respect yours, but I thought Lowe was f@@king awful today. Never looked for the ball, never crossed and never moved into space. He just hid.. 1/10 Abysmal

The stats don’t quite back that up mind

 

[N20 Blade]

As an aside, the referee was poor yesterday. Not biased but incompetent and inconsistent. Let some challenges go, ignored Billy’s lash and regularly blew for nothing.

They time wasted from the start. No action. The Luton fans admitted this is their tactic and couldn’t believe nothing was done. He tapped his watch a few times. Is this the new protocol? If so then there should have been more than five minutes. Regardless speak to the keeper and be stronger with players feigning injury.

Finally the linesman second half in front of the ss. Far too many bogle, berge, mcb, etc. had their shirts virtually off but no flag.

These are not excuses but observations however a stronger level of officiating should be the bare minimum for the fans at least.

 

[JasonEllis]

Having just watched the extended "highlights" on YouTube you were certainly right not to do a report on the match - I feel for whoever had to pull together and edit those clips of the ball being kicked/headed straight out of play/at a defender/into the arms of the goalkeeper (delete as appropriate) into a near 10 minute segment. Goodness gracious that was bad.