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Man United had to be play incredibly well for 9-0
Nobody impressed? No-one would have admitted being impressed if we’d won 10-0 against 11 men. Even the self anointed best ever sides in the Premier League of Liverpool and City have not done this. It has only been done twice before, one of the others Soton were also only 10 men for the majority of the game. No-one is going to blow smoke up Utd’s arseholes. We even racked up nine goals while resting our most in form player of Pogba and giving a few others more minutes than they usually would have had – it’s a freak result but Utd still had to play incredibly well to achieve it.
Surprisingly, Utd fans seem to be learning not to get carried away by one game. There were a lot of positives for us and it was kind of the perfect training session we needed to forget about a bad recent run in the league albeit against some good sides. Once 2-0 up there was no danger of a shock and it was attack against defence the rest of the game other than a couple of break-aways where Southampton deserved something from, a shocking miss and an outstretched hand seemingly offside even though Maguire’s hand was playing it onside.
VAR was the biggest loser with some shocking decisions. While no decisions affected this result you have to feel sorry for the amount of bad decisions Southampton have suffered from. I hope VAR doesn’t even out over the course of the season or Utd will get these back in games that are in the balance.
Despite Martial getting in on the goals he still looked pants to me most of the time and his diving, while successful, is embarrassing. He really has mastered the art of winning over VAR but I still hate it. There was contact on his foot but Martial was falling over before then as seemingly knocked over by the breeze caused by close contact.
Southampton take on Newcastle next, not a bad place to get back on track. And Utd face Everton. That should be a tough game so it’s good to be back in winning ways in advance.
In response to Shaw’s improvement. He’s been a star player for Utd since he arrived except when Mourinho was in charge. Quite a few players were also turned to shit by him as he is now managing to do at Spurs. Sorry Spurs fans, I hope you get rid of him soon – it seems Poch might be available again as well and I’m sure you’d welcome him back?
Jon, Cape Town (Man City have a tough run coming up, either they cement their title credentials over the next few weeks or give others a chance to try and make it interesting)
9-0! I’m impressed
I just wanted to go against the constant stream of negativity of football fans during these Covid times.
9-0 was absolutely enjoyable to watch last night, I don’t care if it was against 11 players, 11 players with fans or 9 players with no fans.
It was nine goals, three points, and players a bit more relaxed before a reasonably big weekend game.
Was it a penalty for Martial? I just don’t care if it was or wasn’t in the eyes of the majority. It was given and that is all that matters. This was the same before VAR and is the same after. Decisions go for and against teams fairly and unfairly and that’s just football.
Gary B (Braced for ‘Utd get too many penalties’ crying sessions again)
…Actually I *am* impressed and that’s coming from a Liverpool fan. Ole has taken a hell of a lot of stick, United a lot of grief – but there they are , genuinely challenging.
9-0 against anyone in the Premier League is top notch and Southampton are having a good season. I’d be celebrating it as a Liverpool fan, so let Man U enjoy it as well.
It helps that Ole is a pretty hard guy to dislike mind you.
James, Liverpool
…Wow, no surprises the evil Manchester United win 9-0 and the biggest sticking point is events after the 86th minute when the game was over by the 25th minute maybe even the 2nd.
Niraj, I don’t think Ole’s plan was for Jankewitz to get himself sent off for a stupid tackle. After that it’s park the bus and damage limitation.
The main VAR controversy was the offside Southampton goal. If something takes that long to figure out from multiple angles and still get it wrong is unreal. Even if it stood I couldn’t see any comeback.
Also the foul on Cavani. The foul was on the line which is classed as a penalty?
VAR is here to stay but it needs a big shake up. But unfortunately the rules are so vague in places its annoying when the stonewallers are misinterpreted.
More importantly how inconsistent are Man Utd. We will find out more against Everton who suffer from the same fate.
Jon, Hull
…Jesus, Man Utd doing well in a game brings out all the angry people doesn’t it?
So many people blaming VAR or the refs for Luiz/Bednarek’s red cards which is stupid. Both referees implemented the rules of the game totally accurately from their point of view (there is the argument that Martial was going down before contact, I think this should have seen him pick up a yellow, and I hated him doing it). Other than VAR calling Martial’s a dive, which there isn’t enough evidence of as there was some contact, VAR also ref’d them both correctly.
The rules state that tripping a player is a foul. It doesn’t need to be deliberate. These kind of challenges are given as fouls hundreds of times a season on the half way line as someone breaks past a defender. As the trip prevented a goalscoring opportunity and the player did not make any attempt to play the ball the punishment is a red card. If Luiz or Bednarek had done a sliding tackle attempting to get the ball they would have got a yellow because they would have been trying to play the game.
So, Frankie AFC – Luiz could try attempting to be a defender some time rather than you bitching at the referees.
Tired Gooner – Good email. The rule was actually bought in to relieve the punishment of players making genuine tackles in that situation, not to punish people for deliberate cynical acts. Under the old rule the red card would have been guaranteed for any foul of any kind in that position.
Strevs – Nope, red card is correct.
I don’t know why this is suddenly an issue? This rule has been in place for I think two seasons now? Or 1.5ish? It’s better than the old rule which would have STILL given red cards for Bednarek and Luiz.
I’d argue that worse situations in were Che Adams ‘goal’ and the ‘penalty’ on Cavani. Adam’s was one of those ridiculous offsides that are way too close to be determined within human (where to measure from)/technical (frame rate, chosen frame) margins of error. If possible I’d like to see them classed as ‘level’ and given. The offside rule desperately needs an update for the VAR world. The contact for Cavani’s clearly starts outside the box but carries on in to it as the kick ‘slides down’ Cavani’s boot and on to his toes which were on the line.
Calum, MUFC, Wokingham
Will somebody think of the kids?
If anything is going to make me cancel my Sky contract it is a player diving when the team is 6 up and gets away with it. What has happened to morals in football what does it teach kids?
Darren Dawe
(Pretty sure it was on BT – Ed)
…I cannot remember the last time I watched United without controversy. Every game I watch makes me feel dirty. There’s always disallowed goals, penalties given, red cards avoided/dished out. Basically you don’t finish watching a Utd game saying “you know what? Utd beat that team heads up today, fair play!” I’ve watched football for over 30 years and never finished watching so many games with a sense of injustice and yuckiness. Is it just me?
John
Both red cards were right
Having watched the United game last night, and since caught up on the highlights of the Arsenal game…both were deserved red cards.
Both players were beaten by an opponent who was clean through on goal, ran at them, clipped them, made no effort to play the ball and denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. In both cases the behaviour was deliberate – both men ran out of their way to initiate contact.
The fact that Luiz contact was slight doesn’t matter. When you are running at full speed and someone clips your ankle you’ll go down.
The fact that Bendarek was ‘trying to get out of the way’ doesn’t matter (for more on that, see below). He had already gone in and made the foul – you can’t put a bullet back in the gun after you’ve pulled the trigger.
Also, he wasn’t really trying to get out of the way, was he. He was just doing that thing defenders do where they hold their hands up as they knowingly commit the foul as if that then gives them permission to do whatever the hell they want. It’s the footballing equivalent of those gits who think you can park anywhere as long as you put on your hazard lights…
Finally, getting sent off for deliberately denying a clear goalscoring opportunity is not double jeopardy, so stop saying that it is F365, thank you very much. The penalty kick is merely putting the wronged team back in in position they should have been to start with (I.e. clean through on goal). The red card is a punishment for what the rules deem serious foul play. By the same logic, a player shouldn’t be sent off for a leg breaking challenge, after all, the wronged team (usually) gets to bring on a substitute, so they’re made whole…
Andy (MUFC)
Oh when the Saints
This rag-e-mail is brought to you by my unbearably smug friend and head-to-head fantasy football opponent having captained Bruno Fernandes as well as my severe personal dislike of Man United.
I mainly just want to ask how Southampton could possibly have allowed that farce to happen? Arsenal were down to nine men earlier in the day but showed some pride and dug in. Sure, they lost but they could at least walk off the pitch with their heads held high!
Southampton might be depleted with injuries, a man or two down and United might have played well but this is a team that couldn’t score against bottom of the table Sheffield United! Southampton showed a worrying lack of fight and as high paid players and a club with an upwardly mobile reputation, surely it wasn’t too much to ask that they lose with some dignity? Embarrassing and pathetic.
Angry regards,
Eric (3 goals in the final six minutes?! Did they walk off the pitch on the 88th minute?)
On the Palace
Beyond thumpings, comedy red cards and a relegation battle, last night there was a meeting of two teams who seem to annoy their fans as much as they entertain them, occasionally threatening to break free of their often self-imposed limitations but instead preferring to lean on them as an excuse.
*As many predicted following Roy Hodgson’s post-match comments on Saturday, Crystal Palace reverted to a 4-4-2, with Jordan Ayew wide on the right and Eberechi Eze on the left. This allowed for a compact defence, but they got off to the worst possible start when Rob Harvey from the Music lookalike Jonjo Shelvey scored less than two minutes in. Jairo Riedewald was castigated for failing to block the shot, but it looked like he had chosen his angle on purpose – it gave Vicente Guaita a clear sight of the ball and reduced the risk of a deflection wrong-footing him.
*Shelvey supposedly started that celebration as a banter on his glasses-wearing brother, something that seemed asinine at the time and still does now.
*Riedewald would redeemewald himself a few minutes later. A Palace cross from the left wing was cleared but only as far as the Dutchman, who shut his eyes and put his laces through it. His shot took a slight, late deflection off a defender but it was still a superb goal.
*A few minutes later, the Eagles had the lead. A free kick was won down the right, which Eze delivered and Gary Cahill headed home, ably assisted by some teammates blocking off potential markers. With Eze in the team and taking set pieces, Palace have a genuine scoring threat, in total contrast from last season, or indeed this season when Luka Milivojevic pulls rank. On the subject of the Serbian, on a night of refereeing controversies he was lucky not to be sent off for a nasty looking tackle.
*Before their defeat to West Ham United last week, Crystal Palace had not lost the 29 previous games in which they had scored first, and yet, there are times when they play better football chasing to turn a game around. However, they have taken just four points from the 11 games where they have conceded first; last season, 11 of their 43 points came this way.
*Next up for Palace is a trip to Leeds on Monday night. As this is the only game on at the time, expect a comfortable win for United.
*The most disappointing thing about the Arsenal game was that Bernd Leno didn’t give it the full Stephen Taylor to try to disguise his handball. Game’s gone.
Ed Quoththeraven
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