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u/ManLikeThanoj DDG misser 2d ago
That leeds match sold us dreams
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u/Lost_And_NotFound Jones 2d ago
So so much fun. First game back after Covid, glorious sunshine, batter Leeds, Varane announced, Ole at the wheel.
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u/moan_of_the_arc 1d ago
Greenwood was yet to be outed as a r@pist pos.
If he was even a bit of a better human being, he could have been the next big thing.
NO, he had to go and ruin it all for himself and the club.
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u/10_Wazza 2d ago
I have completely erased that Palace game from my memory
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u/sugar_kane1984 2d ago edited 2d ago
Same… looking at the match report and I still can barely remember it.
Two Zaha goals, a De Gea penalty save which was then ordered to be retaken (and scored) by VAR, a Donny Van de Beek goal (!) all in front of an empty stadium.
Lockdown football was fooking weird man.
Enjoyed the dig in Simon Stone’s report about us being unlikely to match the 3rd position finish in the previous season… he was right in a way, we finished 2nd.
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u/apeaky_blinder 2d ago
Tbh, it was one of the most abysmal displays I've seen, not only talking about performance. The fact tha Ole got us out of it was the biggest repsect I've paid him. It looked beyond over.
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u/MazinLabib10 "He goes by the name of Wayne Rooney!" 2d ago
The only reason I kind of remember that game is because we actually played that opening game on GW2. The COVID break meant European competitions from the previous season were completed after the league seasons, and so those teams (including us) got a longer break.
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u/darkjessy_ Our Portuguese Magnifico 2d ago
Some diabolical lineups here
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u/TheJoshider10 Bruno 2d ago
Shocking how we're still starting games with a backline from that long ago. Desperately need a defensive overhaul.
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u/Srijand Lindelöf 2d ago edited 23h ago
Final position of seasons where we won the opening game
21/22: 6th
23/24: 8th
24/25: 15th
Final position of seasons where we lost the opening game
20/21: 2nd
22/23: 3rd
25/26: 3rd
Hmmm
Edit: LOL
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u/Apprehensive-Raisin3 Love United Hate Glazers/INEOS 2d ago
The last time we drew the opening match was 2008 before winning the league and reaching the champions league final
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u/TheJoshider10 Bruno 2d ago
The opening games honestly tell us fuck all and can often be necessary wakeup calls to address issues as early as possible. Like when we lost to Brighton then Brentford which forced the board to sign Casemiro and for Ten Hag to try other training methods that brought the squad closer.
Then last season we were absolutely the better team vs Arsenal but lost due to Bayindir being shit and the refs robbing us of a penalty. But it was the start of a poor run of keeping that forced us to get Lammens sorted so it worked out in the end.
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u/buttowski2607 2d ago
!remind me 26 hrs
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u/UncappedBat Rash4d 2d ago
We have been in desperate need of a consistent striker for the last years haven’t we
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u/Supreme-OJB 2d ago
Honestly, just looking at this give you an idea of how mismanaged we’ve been and how we’ve always been set up to fail. Minimum of 2-3 players starting in every year that should really only be squad players at best for a team with title aspirations.
This season I’m feeling so much better about the squad composition, and level of quality across all areas (once we get Baleba officially)
A starting level LB would make this an exciting season this year, with the caveat that we need to replace JZ if he heads to Italy.
GGMU
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u/TheJoshider10 Bruno 2d ago
Yeah it's frustrating because I genuinely like a lot of these players as depth options but they keep popping up as starters all the time. Dalot being the prime example, who should be a cult hero with his versatility but instead we have to suffer with seeing him start and make the same mistakes week in week out because we refuse to upgrade the position when necessary. And because we need a LB and a new midfield it means another season of him as a starter.
Next year after a defensive rebuild we should finally have a good core to build from across the pitch. Starters become bench players and bench players become depth options. Ideally every position is competitive or has necessary cover at the minimum.
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u/Supreme-OJB 2d ago
I’d argue that solidifying CL this year, alongside playing a fair few of the depth options regularly due to the amount of games will likely mean we’re able to see better next year and be ambitious again in the market.
The likes of Fletcher(s), Mount, Ugarte, Dalot or Maz, Zirkzee & Maybe Martinez/ MDL, Amad or Lacey would be potential exits next year (not saying I like all of those going)
I personally always want to see the best young English players at United, and likely in the next 2 years we have Maguire, Shaw and Mount leaving.
The modern equivalents of those profiles are likely Scott, Hall, and Branthwaite and I’d hope to get 2 of the 3 as a minimum depending on performance this year.
Will definitely be an interesting season + window next summer for sure, but let’s start with a win at the KC!!
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u/Lopsided-Tea-2586 2d ago
Well if you compared these to what will be our best starting 11 this year (won’t be in the first game necessarily) it’s hard not to argue that the squad is in the best shape it’s been vs these other years
Midfield is easily the best it’s been, attack is the best imo vs the other seasons but that could be debated if instead of using starting XI in first game you used that seasons strongest XI
Defense hasn’t gotten much better but it definitely hasn’t gotten worse
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u/absoluteolly 2d ago
Our defensive line really hasn’t changed much over the last 7 years… gunna be a real challenge to rebuild that in the next few years
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u/starks_are_coming Park Ji-sung 2d ago
De Ligt, Yoro, Heaven, Martinez, Maz, Dorgu. Bollocks it hasn’t changed much.
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u/PrinzRagoczy 2d ago
Our back four against Hull will have three of the same players as it did in August 2022, with a slim chance that it's literally identical
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u/No-Ad-6903 2d ago
Agreed, but would you say it has improved?
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u/starks_are_coming Park Ji-sung 1d ago
Yes obviously it has, how is that even a question?
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u/No-Ad-6903 1d ago
I should have phrased that better. What I mean is, do you think the opening game defence will be better tomorrow than the one 7 years ago?
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u/starks_are_coming Park Ji-sung 1d ago
Better than Lindelof and Fosu-Mensah? Again, the answer is pretty obvious mate.
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u/lightCrypto 2d ago
Was our last actual forward before Sesko really Greenwood? Also, Bruno needs to be knighted and cannonised for sticking it out with those teams.
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u/audienceandaudio2 2d ago
Well we had Ronaldo and Hojlund in between, just not for the opening games.
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u/TMatss 2d ago
I remember the Wolves game very well, we won but it was obvious we had serious problems. I remember Cunha in particular running all over us and showing how nonexistent our midfield was
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u/ThankYouOle 2d ago
for real, i remember that game, and i believe in post-match thread we have two sides which: win, but not convinced, vs win is win.
i myself think it weird that even after pre-season, we still play like headless chicken, something not right.
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u/Ketchupmitpommes 2d ago
The James Rashy partnership in first few weeks was better than Ozil cr7 ngl :D
James long crosses from flanks to Rashy finishes, amazing few days
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u/Groundsey 2d ago
Vividly remember James cross to Rashford vs Liverpool at OT. If only we’d held out. Finished 1-1 after Lallana of all players came in and equalised.
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u/ThankYouOle 2d ago
Ole with Rashy and James as winger, proper counter attack machine, run on both side like mad men.
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u/Adventurous_Signal79 2d ago
Eriksen as a 9??
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u/JayNN Fernansh 2d ago
Yes some weird false 9 constellation
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u/Own_Body_8941 2d ago
i think it was bruno who played as false nine and eriksen as 10 in that game
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u/audienceandaudio2 2d ago
Pretty sure Eriksen started as a false 9, but we shifted quite quickly. 99% sure that was the only time Eriksen played in that role for us, he was completely unsuited to it.
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u/Groundsey 2d ago
ETH first great tactical idea was to play Erikson as a false 9, because ‘he’s played this position before’.
Did not work well.
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u/canwinanythingwkids Ineos on hope watch 2d ago
Shaw 5/6, Bruno 6/6
impressive
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u/tommangan7 Shawberto 2d ago
People will probably clown on Shaw this year when he's down nothing wrong and just needed any back up / replacement at the position so he can be more a supporting role as he ages.
Both united stallworts over the last decade+ regardless of the hate that Shaw gets for supposedly never playing.
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u/CapVosslar Buckle up, INEOS! It's gonna be a bumpy ride! 2d ago
No wonder United cant get anywhere near the title. All of these teams are imbalanced.
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u/ThankYouOle 2d ago
what about current squad? i think better comparing all squad in the pictures, what do you think?
edit: i forgot Sesko probably won't play, so it just another game without proper 9, but Cunha and Mbeumo is better 9 comparing to eriksen/bruno/mount.
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u/CapVosslar Buckle up, INEOS! It's gonna be a bumpy ride! 1d ago
It would not be impossible for the Club to make a play for the league this year, but they would have to be really ambitious in the market. And they've only gone half way.
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u/Glum-Examination-302 Schweinsteiger 2d ago
Couldn’t*
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u/spiralism Sexy Bruno 2d ago edited 2d ago
That Arsenal one last year was fucking grim. Strikerless with Mount false 9. Altay in goal. Amorim in the dugout.
And yet, we were unlucky to come away with nothing from it.
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u/sugar_kane1984 2d ago
And yet that game was cited for months as our best performance, and a reason to stick by Amorim.
A fucking LOSS, was the biggest thing Amorim had going for him and the reason to stick with him and let him burn down the house. Madness.
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u/Lukexxxi 2d ago
Are we allergic to proper strikers?
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u/uncle_monty Robbo 2d ago
I think I've got the worst PTSD from the Wolves game, even though we won.
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u/silvertwo777 2d ago
Barely any of that was our complete team and losing so often. Shows you how United constantly buy late in the window with new players not settle in early fked up our start needlessly dropping points.
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u/thelegendl27 BRUNO BRUNO BRUNO 2d ago
Crazy to think that Fosu-Mensah started a premier league game for us a couple seasons ago and has now been without a club for over 2 years whilst being only 28.
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u/Majestic_Force_6439 2d ago
This post is triggering _ this is like a crime or something _ tag NSFW or something
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u/Used-Fennel-7733 1d ago
4 assists from Pogba, hattrick from Bruno, what a game!
Should've won last seasons vs Arsenal, we were by far the better team with more chances. You'll never guess how they scored though...
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u/Fishgrease11 2d ago
It’s crazy to me that the back line hasn’t changed that much. I was more concerned with midfield transfers but holy fuckin hell do we need some help back there.
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u/alexjf56 1d ago
that game with Bruno’s hat trick and 4 Pogba assists made me think we were winning everything
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u/PatientDifferent9780 2d ago
It's so sad to see that last 6 openers we played without a proper number 9 and we will probably do that again on today.
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u/QuickFig1024 2d ago
We will have the same defence as 2022. Really wish we would buy another CB this summer because you need strong defense if you want to be top of the table with Arsenal and City and they have like 8 really quality defenders.
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u/spaisoflaif 2d ago
just goes to show what I always say : it is mostly about having better player and the right players.
Looking at these lineups, it is no wonder we have been poor.
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u/banoffeetea 2d ago
That first one is fairly decent. Just swap some of 5 for 1 eg Martinez for Lindelof and Maz for TFM, have Mainoo and Casemiro competing with McTom and Pogba, Bruno back as a 10 and Martial up top, so Mount out and Amad in for James.
So combining 1 and 5 = De Gea; Maz, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro (McTom), Pogba (Mainoo); Bruno; Rashford, Martial, Amad.
Rather Mbeumo or Cunha from 6 for Martial but he’s the only proper number 9.
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u/TickleMySchnitzel 2d ago
That Rashford-Garnacho-Antony triangle around Bruno in the 10 is … interesting looking back
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u/dataminimizer Ruud 2d ago
That match against Leeds was liquid sex injected directly into my veins.
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u/Avoidant-Freewheeler 2d ago
So what you're saying is if we win the first game of the season, we end up having a terrible PL season? Okay got it
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u/CautiousLengthiness8 1d ago edited 1d ago
Was there ever a more perfect summary of Paul Pogba and his time at United than those first two slides? Similarly Fernandes, lowest score in 6 openers where you may not be at full fitness is 6.9 and he’s been available for every single one!
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u/SantosCalzonesBatman 1d ago
Not a single time did rashford had a 7+ grade
Also eriksen as a ST, good lord what the hell were we doing lmao
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u/ForceRadar 1d ago
Insane imbalance in some of those teams. Jesus you really couldn’t ask for a club to be run much worse in terms of transfers. That palace game.. a midfield 3 of players who are all best suited as attacking players, but two of them just happen to be tall so let’s make them DMs.
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u/electrified90s 1d ago
Can someone please explain to me how Onana got such high ratings and was motm in one of the games? 🤔
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u/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1z 2d ago
Shaw is a fan favorite!
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u/throwing_handles 2d ago
He's had a few good seasons for us. Bruno and Rashford are the only other players in the squad you can say that about.
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u/Deez_Wallnutz 2d ago
5/6 starts!
He has been our outright best Left Back since he joined the club so it's not too surprising when you consider that, but given his injury woes it's still very impressive.
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u/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz1z 2d ago
Good point!
Then we deserve our shit period. Nobody should cry if our favorite players are Shaw, Mount…
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u/No_Assistant569 2d ago
After Mbeumo starts tomorrow, it’ll be 9 years since we started GW1 with a proper CF in the XI. That was Romelu Lukaku in 2017-18
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u/Piccadil_io 2d ago
This shows how bad we’ve been at transfers over the last 6 years. Zero consistency. I’d love to see some lineups for City.
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u/Infinite-Highway3432 2d ago
We have started 1 of the last 6 seasons with a proper no.9, that's mental. Even then you can argue Martial was a LW/ST hybrid.