Pizy

Jesus, man. We should have 3 goals here...

Desperately need Kante and Rüdiger back. Our two best defensive players.

Just awful. Without Kante we're being ripped apart through midfield with ease. Kovacic has zero defensive awareness.

It's pretty embarrassing how poor we are on the ball. Can't handle being pressured at all. Also can't pass accurately when we have it in midfield. Very concerning.

As with just about every goal we've conceded in preseason, it comes from a dreadful giveaway from us. And that challenge by Kovacic. Kante wouldn't have allowed it.

AC and Zouma together should be really interesting. Neither is a leader/organizer who is assertive. Both have always had that sort of CB paired with them.

Hmm. I thought it would be nailed on that Michy would start this one. Not even in the squad. Has to be an injury, right? Talk about terrible timing if so.

I'm actually kind of excited to see how we do with zero expectations this season. No one is going to pick us to finish top 4 or win any titles. We're kind of the dark horse. Anyways, just looked at the trends on Twitter and the hashtag #FreeZouma is trending worldwide. 😂 Everton are desperate for him to come back.

Smalling, Jones, Rojo, and Bailey aren't starting caliber CB's for a top team but as depth that's pretty damn good. Left back is thin so they will need the injury prone Shaw to stay fit, though. Will be interesting to see what sort of XI they'll go with if they pull off the Dybala and Fernandes signings. Having a midfield 2 consisting of Pogba and Fernandes will be fantastic going forward but very suspect defensively. And replacing a classic #9 with Dybala who doesn't really have a set position seems super risky. Not at all convinced he'd be this superstar signing for them. Has Di Maria written all over him. A South American player who reluctantly joins United when he would've clearly preffered to stay at his previous club. But this potential XI: ----------Martial---------Dybala-----------Rashford -------------------Fernandes-----Pogba------------------ Shaw----------Maguire-----------Lindelof------------AWB ---------------------------DDG---------------------------- Looks pretty damn strong. Certainly MUCH better than what they've had in recent years.

I mean, they do on paper anyways. Massive upgrades at CB and RB. Shaw seems good now and apparently what's-his-face from Sweden improved greatly under Solskjaer. And now DDG won't have to work miracles to win them points so he'll probably return to his best.

£80-85m for Maguire who would cost literally half that if wasn't English. More than DOUBLE what we paid for Rüdiger, a full fledged German international who regularly starts and plays for them. One of our best players last season. He is very good, though. United now have probably the best back 4 in the league or at least right there with Liverpool. If they make another signing or two I think they'll challenge for the title.

It's Arsenal. They'll either make a really good start to the season or have a great patch at some point where everyone thinks they've finally turned a corner. Then they'll callapse near the end when all the fixtures pile up. They're definitely a dangerous side, but I don't think they'll be title challengers or even a top 4 lock.

And so many of those shots and dangerous scenarios came from us being terrible and irresponsible on the ball. Schoolboy stuff at times.

Some big time positives (Pulisic, Barkley, Emerson) but also some big time concerns. As great as we looked on the break, we looked really poor with the ball in possession. Just constantly playing sloppy passes and giving the ball away. We also really struggled against their high energy pressing. That for me is the biggest concern. Loads and loads of teams all over Europe play that way now, even the smaller sides. Luiz was probably our worst player. He looked like the Sideshow Bob version of Luiz that other fans make fun of him for. Really poor decision making. I just have to assume our defending will improve drastically with Kante back in. I hope so, anyways.

Why the fuck is our media team so janky? Why am I seeing ancient Chelsea TV footage here instead of the match?

He was almost playing as a second striker and was tucked in centrally a lot. I want to see him stay wide where he can run at defenders and create lots of 1v1's. We need to stretch teams out with our wingers and fullbacks because otherwise it'll be Sarri-like all over again. Clogged middle area and slow, stagnant attack.

It's good to remind myself that we have a load of quality players still injured. Because goddamn, that bench tonight is pretty shocking. But with RLC, CHO, Reece, Kante, Willian, and Rüdiger all to come back we'll have fantastic depth for the first time in ages.

Nice starting XI. Let's se if Tammy can grab this opportunity to stake his claim. Also hope to see Pulisic play as a more traditional winger than he did last match.

I see the Dybala-Lukaku swap is heating up. I think it's funny how loads of English journalists and all the United fans are hyping themselves up as though Dybala is this world class superstar who will take them up a level. He's not anywhere near the very top level and I think he's pretty overrated. Isn't top class at any particular thing. He's not a pure striker and he's not a wide player. Really, he'd have been a good signing to play with Lukaku as a second striker. If they plan on depending on him as their main source of goals they're going to be let down. Everyones losing their minds like Dybala will come in and score 20 goals and be a world beater. I think he'll look solid but not anything special for them if he signs. Not really bothered at all. I will say however, if United can get Dybala, Maguire, and Bruno Fernandes in addition to AWB who they've already signed all while keeping hold of Pogba they'll have had a fantastic summer window. They'll have significantly improved all their weaknesses. Much as it's painful to accept, I don't think we're getting near the top 4 this season which I've long since accepted. This year will be a free hit. By the end of the transfer window I fully expect all 3 of our rivals we finished above last season to have significantly improved while we have taken a bit of a step back. I think we're finishing 6th. For me it's all about taking our best shot at a deep CL run. Focus on that as our main competition because anything can happen as Spuds proved last year.

So these last 2 games we'll see what his idea of our absolute best formation and lineup is. He hinted there that Barkley and Mason can definitely play together but I'm not sure it's wise against a top team.

And that Real Madrid with almost their best XI yesterday conceded 7.

What's really nice about Mount is that not only does he have great attacking instincts, but he also presses nicely and has a high workrate. What a bonus and great coincidence that he and Lamps know each other so well just as everything lines up for their return. For all the hype Foden gets at City, I bet Mason will turn lots of heads if he keeps this up. He'll certainly play much more than Foden will.

While annoying to concede 3, I'm not that worried yet. Their first goal was a total, lucky fluke. The second and third were laughable gifts that we put on a plate for them. I'll put those 2 down to lack of focus during preseason. We saw just last week against Barca that we can look very solid at the back when focused. Positives outweighed the negatives. What a choice Lamps has between Barkley and Mount for that #10 position. Both will play a lot this season and we still have RLC to return there, too. Thought Michy looked nice. Great touch, good holdup play. Tammy got into great areas but isn't sharp yet. Emerson 100% HAS to be first choice without question. For me, if Luiz is going to continue being undisputed staring CB on the left side, I'd play Zouma next to him until Rüdiger returns. His pace, strength and athleticism can hide David's weaknesses better than Andreas can. AC is kinda soft and not very commanding. Zouma is a beast physically and needs to start these last 2 preseason matches to get ready for United.

Kenedy is the weirdest player. He's clearly very skilled and tricky but he's so awkward. Looks like he's going to fall over every time he gets the ball. I thought Alonso was his usual poor self and thought Bakayoko grew a bit as the half went on. Not sure I like where Pulisic has been playing. He's basically been a second striker. We need him to play wide and use his pace and skill to beat defenders. Basically what CHO does. Having him play in the congested middle of the box negates his abilities.

You mean to tell me you don't wanna see Kenedy shoot 6 times from 30 yards?!