Anna
Player Valuation: £8m
I mentioned in the match thread at half time about fitness and space being given to the opposition. These are not new things coming to light today but it was painful viewing today.
After about 15 minutes United had a corner and literally every one of our players were stood with hands on hips, blowing out their cheeks, completely gassed. It was also roughly after this we seemed to stop chasing down and pressing their defenders into rushing passes and panicking. These are professional athletes running out of energy after 15 minutes or so.
Again not a new thing but the amount of time and space Mata, Schneiderlin and co. had to stroll through the middle of the park was just ridiculous. Moving forward at will, able to send the ball out wide and no attempts what so ever at closing down or stopping crosses before they come into the box. Our defense sit so deep and invite pressure and it seems our midfield just dissolves.
One other thing that really annoyed me was the compete lack of shape to the team, if anyone can tell me exactly what formation we were playing today and who was in what position, you're a better person than me, the midfielders just seemed to be drifting all over the place.
So, my point is, what do they actually do in training all week? Because i've seen no evidence what so ever that Martinez has been working on anything that actually needs addressing.
I've never been convinced about Martinez from the very beginning, I ate my words in his first season and genuinely thought we were about to see something special, that looks a distant dream at the moment, the players seems to have lost all passion, fight and pride. I don't really know how Martinez can get them back onside.
After about 15 minutes United had a corner and literally every one of our players were stood with hands on hips, blowing out their cheeks, completely gassed. It was also roughly after this we seemed to stop chasing down and pressing their defenders into rushing passes and panicking. These are professional athletes running out of energy after 15 minutes or so.
Again not a new thing but the amount of time and space Mata, Schneiderlin and co. had to stroll through the middle of the park was just ridiculous. Moving forward at will, able to send the ball out wide and no attempts what so ever at closing down or stopping crosses before they come into the box. Our defense sit so deep and invite pressure and it seems our midfield just dissolves.
One other thing that really annoyed me was the compete lack of shape to the team, if anyone can tell me exactly what formation we were playing today and who was in what position, you're a better person than me, the midfielders just seemed to be drifting all over the place.
So, my point is, what do they actually do in training all week? Because i've seen no evidence what so ever that Martinez has been working on anything that actually needs addressing.
I've never been convinced about Martinez from the very beginning, I ate my words in his first season and genuinely thought we were about to see something special, that looks a distant dream at the moment, the players seems to have lost all passion, fight and pride. I don't really know how Martinez can get them back onside.
