First time since Millwall at home that I’ve enjoyed going to a game. We played really well. I’m certainly warming to Gomes. A bold selection and it almost worked. Really pleased to see so many ‘Grads’ playing so well at OT. Also pleased to see Aluko have such a positive impact. Looks a different player under Jose. Repeat this form and we’ll be fine. That is the challenge though! URZ!

Worked hard, kept the ball well round the defence and midfield but there's nothing in attack, it's all well and good saying we had more possession, but when you constantly mess up the pass on 3 vs 2 occasions, surely questions have to be asked? One goal in 4 games under Gomes doesn't exactly sound prolific either and whilst today was OK, a defeat next week will completely erase this one


Ratings

Jaakkola 6 - didn't have much to do, good save at the end

Yiadom 7 - played well today, needs to contribute more in the attacking box though
Moore 9 - MOTM, an absolute rock
Ilori 4 - Moore was almost a one man CB at times, he was clearly injured, constantly walking back when United were on the attack, and pathetic defending for the second goal. Get Rid
Richards 7 - not a fan but apart from the penalty, he did well

Kelly 8 - played very well, kept it simple yet effective
Rinomhota 6 - not as good today but worked hard and kept Rashford at bay when at RB, just a few sloppy misplaced passes from him today
Swift 4 - can be categorised with Ilori, I can't remember the last time he played a defence splitting pass, it's just backwards and sideways or to the other team

McCleary 4 - past it, ruined so many attacks
Harriott 7 - sharp, worked hard and created chances, very impressed
Loader 3 - worst player on the pitch, he HAS to go out on loan before his confidence plummets here because he will be a very good player in the future

Aluko 7 - so much better than Swift in that role, simply has to start next week
Barrow 5 - created the chance for Aluko but needs to go
Meite 4 - still can't control the football, and now doesn't understand the offside rule, is Bodvarsson really worse?

I thought we were good. A bit more confidence, a few more shots.....we might have had a goal. We’d have still 100% lost but hey ho.

I thought we were good. A bit more confidence, a few more shots.....we might have had a goal. We’d have still 100% lost but hey ho.

A bit unfair on Swift - played some really good balls especially first half, but tired second half and of course gave away the ball leading up to 2nd goal, but so many players made similar mistakes that went unpunished that it would be a bit harsh to single him out ... Kelly was similarly tidy and wasteful in possession. Agree though that Aluko looked really good when he came on ... apart from one terrible pass that could so easily have led to a goal ... but we desperately need a striker ... we could have played all afternoon without scoring or really threatening the goal.

We desperately need a strong and prolific centre forward.

Swift needs to be sold or exchanged for magic beans.

Aluko looks about as good as he ever has done for us.

Rinhomota is class and we won't keep hold of him for long.

Mo Barrow can bugger off with Swift.

There are a few similarities between the start of McDermott’s first stint and Gomes’ handful of games.

Spirited performances in the league with exception of one stinker (Plymouth for BMcD and Swansea for JG), and then a very promising performance against one of the best teams in the country.

Let’s hope Gomes can share similar successes.

I'm shocked.

WOW. Lost to a penalty and VAR, and to a very good goal, with better possession, more passes against one of the best teams in the country who were at home and in form. WOW.

I'm not going to single out players though, because today we played as a team and individual performances almost don't matter.

Very impressed with the whole team, with Gomes, with the spirit, the tenacity, the fight. This can really spur them on!!

WELL DONE READING!!!!!!!!

---
Possible talking points:

1) Penalty: I don't fully get to be honest... if we foul whilst they are fouling does it count? Like, for the pass just before Lukaku was in an offside position and the pass itself was offside as the foul came in... my head is hurting. But yeah they deserved the pen and the goal anyway.

2) Harriott. 'New signing'. As impressive today as he was last game and also before his injury. Keep him at all costs. If he stays fit he will be vital for us. Young, hungry and very impressive!

3) Loader. He's only young, but very promising with his movement and his pace. BUT WE NEED A STRIKER (or three). Anyone remember Roberts changing our fortunes overnight?

4) WE NEED A LEFT BACK. I'm shocked that since I started a new thread on this years ago we STILL DONT HAVE ONE. Anyone remember how simply getting a (relatively) good left back (Robinson for Gurney) Pardew's pants team was changed overnight? Obita was turned into one and tbf he is a good one, but he's not around. RIchards is currently even more of a liability than Blackett is/was (2 Swansea goals and today penalty and AWOL for their second) and hopefully needs more time.

So please Gomes... CB, LB, Striker +/- Keeper.

Didn’t go or watch on TV (still sulking about last weeks catastrophe)

However the radio suggested our midfield was very good. 60% possession at OT would suggest the same. Also keeping them to <10 shots and 0 corners pretty impressive

Delighted to hear Gomes seems to be getting something out of Aluko. Harriott also sounds like he did well

Not too unhappy about being out of the cup, as need to put all energies into survival. Pleased to escape without a thrashing tbh

Very much doubt Swift will go anywhere under Gomes, and I’d still say he is currently our best chance of survival. Along with Gomes finding some great striker on Loan from somewhere

Many thanks for these. A creditable 0-2 defeat, (is such a thing possible?!). So they can turn it on in front of 74000 at OT in the FAC, please now do the same in a dire relegation match somewhere up North on a cold and wet Tuesday night!! Well done all.

Not sure we turned it on but we did play some nice stuff but definitely overpassed at times.
Harriott did well and deserves to start against Forest.

Not too shabby. Still a few passengers, McCleary is a league 1 player already. Andy Rinomhota is going to be a mid level Prem player in 2 years, (and not with us...)

Just needed a cutting edge, needed to shoot more. Bod wouldve helped, Loader linked well but that 1 on 1 should be bread and butter for someone that has represented his country in his age group.


VAR can phuck off. 2 offsides BEFORE the foul overlooked. Isnt football about narrative? VAR takes a lot of the beauty out if football, making it just a numbers game. Sh1te.

So, anyone win big on their bets? Who backed us to not lose by more than 2 goals?

As you say, he was clearly injured. Hardly his fault that the management team decided not to substitute him till half-time was it?!





Either you didn't watch today's game very carefully or you have a really poor memory!



He's injured! Gomes said he picked up another injury v Ipswich.

Appreciate transfer values these days are almost meaningless, but just noted that the Manure starting XI was the highest we have ever faced :



beating the £218,600,000 of the Man City starting XI in the PL match at the Mad Stad 15/05/2013. We lost both games 0-2 BTW.

Indeed the top 4 most expensive starting XI opponents have been Manure twice and Man City twice.

Second string Utd team looked pretty poor but won comfortably is the other way of looking at this

General view here is that Reading weren't as bad as expected

For those interested here are the top 50 opponent starting XI values, suspending belief in some of the figures quoted generally and ignoring "Undisclosed" values - which does make the whole thing a bit of a lottery of course!

Lets not forget wages, too. Sanchez is on about 500k a week?
(And given that he can't even get in their side, his cost-per-minute must be outrageous, strap. )

From what I saw on a schonky stream Utd sat back, we passed crisply but were untroubled, gave the ball away too easily in the attacking third and didn’t have a striker working the box.

Really needed Bod in there.

Need a large, dirty striker. Madine from Cardiff on loan would work but it looks like he’s going to Sheffield Utd.

You know who I'd love back here? Orlando Sa. That bloke put himself about and could score goals.

I'd also take Peter Crouch on loan too.

Our final ball was poor.

The perfect game for us really.
Away from home at Premier league giants, no pressure or expectation making it easy for the kids to go out and play their football.


That said they did it very well indeed. Impressed with the composure and style out there.

Let down by VAR and the usual mistake leading to a goal aside were decent and it feels like we have improved a bit already. We just need to get a win.

We need to work with the players that we've got. Unless they play regularly not going to regain fitness nor match experience. When Nicky Shorey first arrived was often caught out of position and in possession, likewise Kevin Doyle couldn't hit a barn door. We are a long term work in progress. Nor do we have the money to splash around. That's if anyone would come anyway.

What matters is which offence is committed first. As far as I can tell, the foul was committed before Fred touched the ball, so it is a penalty. A "pass" cannot be offside, only a player. It's not an offence to pass to someone in an offside position, it's an offence to interfere with play, interfere with an opponent, or gain an advantage having been in an offside position when a team mate was the last person to play the ball.

Sequence of events was like this:

1) Ball comes into Mata. Lukaku is in an offside position, but isn't interfering with play or an opponent so hasn't committed an offence.
2) Mata plays a pass to Fred, who is in an offside position.
3) Richards trips Mata. Foul.
4) Fred controls the ball and scores.

As Fred was offside, it is correct to disallow the goal. This means that there is no advantage following the foul, which happened before Fred interfered with play in an offside position. That means that it is a penalty.

Both decisions correct, and pretty much only possible due to VAR.

You know who I'd love back here? Orlando Sa. That bloke put himself about and could score goals.

I'd also take Peter Crouch on loan too.

Yeah a tall, dirty target man who our wingers can aim at. Dont care about nice football, pass the ball from defence to wide midfield quickly and hit 45 degree diagonals to our strikers. Win knock downs. Try and score some goals.

Hard work, organisation and plenty of cynicism.

I see what you almost did there...

And why you changed it...

TBH, we've missed him for ages. A real shame he never settled here

What matters is which offence is committed first. As far as I can tell, the foul was committed before Fred touched the ball, so it is a penalty. A "pass" cannot be offside, only a player. It's not an offence to pass to someone in an offside position, it's an offence to interfere with play, interfere with an opponent, or gain an advantage having been in an offside position when a team mate was the last person to play the ball.

Sequence of events was like this:

1) Ball comes into Mata. Lukaku is in an offside position, but isn't interfering with play or an opponent so hasn't committed an offence.
2) Mata plays a pass to Fred, who is in an offside position.
3) Richards trips Mata. Foul.
4) Fred controls the ball and scores.

As Fred was offside, it is correct to disallow the goal. This means that there is no advantage following the foul, which happened before Fred interfered with play in an offside position. That means that it is a penalty.

Both decisions correct, and pretty much only possible due to VAR.

I think your analysis is spot on.
Without VAR we’d have got away with it and it was a very tight call.
Personally I would rather we let the officials get on with making decisions as it is a very slippery slope to start assessing everything in slow motion and from multiple angles down to tiny fractions.
But youcannotdeny that in this case the ‘correct’ decision was made.

TBH, we've missed him for ages. A real shame he never settled here
Wasn't it his Mrs who hated it here and made him put in a transfer request? He was a real animal at times, defenders couldn't cope with him.

I agreed that we looked like a team that has the skill and pace to become a real attacking force.

But then it's hard to know how much of that is 'real'; we were playing against a completely make-shift team that was happy to let us have the ball and run as they knew that they could take us apart at the back at any point. Compare that to a hardened Championship side that plays together week in, week out and will be quick to close us down and kick legs at every opportunity.

Man Utd pretty much showed us as little respect as possible and still beat us without getting out of first gear.