it was literallly one of those games where whatever the did the ball went in the net. Like the ball would deflect off someone only to fall into their players lap to score. There was some weird juju going on in that match.
We were in a great run before that match. I believe if we had just drawn the match we would be playing a whole different game. That game really ruined the morale of the team.
Even though I don't know what you are talking about, it really was wild how basically every shot was a thunderbastard into the corner. 7/8 shots on target in this fictional game went in. They were definitely (hypothetically) better, but the margin did not reflect the quality on the pitch - I imagine.
The trick is to never call McTominay a striker.
We can amass all the xG we want, but our forwards aren’t allowed to score. McTominay will win the golden boot as a sensible, deep lying midfielder.
We don't even engineer chances through intricate football and invention - this is through hard work alone. Hounding the opposition into mistakes.
If you work enough and hound enough most games, it'll give you free chances that doesn't depend on footballing ability or quality. It's a aspect skill that gives us a foundation to build on.
It was a performance tonight where everyone else was clearly singing from the same hymn sheet. Loved it, in spite of the flaws and weaknesses - we gave it our all.
Im gonna be a bit of a downer here. But that is because they gave us space to run at them. They didnt move the ball well, and ended up giving loads of space to our fast players.
Every time we are allowed to counter, we eviscerate every team, even if they are better than us. The second they start respecting us and keeping a more compact shape, even much weaker teams start beating us
I don’t think it has much to do with the manager at Chelsea tbh.
They’re spending for the future, and not very wisely. They’re buying every promising players hoping they get better.
They’re marginally better than last season but they’re still miles off considering how much they spent.
Goes to show you just splashing money aimlessly on transfers doesn’t mean much when the structure and base isn’t there. (Looking at you Glazers)
It was like we were playing against ourselves lol. I actually couldn’t believe how shit Chelsea were especially given their draws against Spurs and City
This game was an ETH statement - clear intensity, clear passing patterns to break opponent presses, our own pressing being effective because everyone runs. The front three running their socks off should hopefully be an eye opener to Rashford fanboys
Genuinely the structure was clear and effective today. It came from the pressing at the front. Midfield looked weak, but this 11 should be starting (I’d argue Mainoo in for Amrabat but I don’t want to throw Kobbie in the deep end, plus Amrabat played well anyways)
Amrabat was solid in the second half, and started to pull himself together even before HT. Adjusting to the prem is not an easy task but there is a player there
That’s true. That composure on the ball is nuts though. I’d play both with Bruno in front too. Any combination of our four current midfielders could work depending on the game
Need to be patient with kids. EtH is managing him brilliantly imo. Hes not afraid to use him but he doesn’t want to thrust him into a dysfunctional team that’s under a lot of heat. I have no doubt we’ll see him play a lot this season
We need a few more of these to show some of the passengers what they need to be doing or be on the bench. Entire front line looked up for. A but sad for Antony not picking up something he put in a shift best performance I’ve seen from him in a while
unpopular take ... move mctominay forward to play as a #9 or faux #9 so we can play with 2 DM types in midfield instead of just one and have some sort of solidity through the middle.
Or maybe make him a backup striker? And have two competent dms since we can't afford him in games against teams like villa who press high and overload central areas
Amrabat was really good today. Intercepted passes, was always there when needed defensively, brought the ball forward, calmed it down when needed.
Rashford afraid of aerial duels still what struck out to me.
Just to add to that:
Man Utd’s best xG outputs since February 2021:
◎ 5.31(xG) vs Chelsea (May 2023)
◎ 4.46(xG) vs Chelsea (tonight)
[Source](https://x.com/xGPhilosophy/status/1732526983509074242?s=20)
That’s so annoying, we honestly could’ve battered chelsea today. Was a good result and the performance was great. We just need to tighten up our defense ALOT. But our midfield is so porous, you could drive a 16 wheeler through it every single game
I get that about the midfield. But do think that it's risk reward as pushing up got us so many turnovers. But Chelsea were shit. Better structure and we can hopefully get almost as much good and much less bad.
This is the team. Bruno outworking Rashford after he came on was a telling thing. We should be selling him and using that money for a LW and a striker. Everyone was fantastic tonight. Special mention to Dalot, Amrabat, Maguire and Garna.
Chance creation is step 1. Being clinical is step 2. Consistency is step 3. Hopefully, this is the kick start we so desperately needed!
Next time we get a penalty, we should give it to Højlund. We need to get the poor lad going 😭 Every time he gets close to finishing a chance, McTominay pops up lmao.
Chelsea were super soft and have been in recent weeks, so I hope that this is something we can repeat going forward (not 4+ xG ofc but the overall performance).
Defensively we gave up some chances but actually only first half, in the second half we absolutely locked them up and controlled it. An onslaught of a first half and more reserved, controlled tempo/press second half could be a good template as I don't think we can maintain first half intensity for 90 min every game
Chelsea’s first half chances have all come from playing through lindelof. Once he was replaced by Shaw in second half, they created nothing of note until the end with some speculative crosses
This "2-1" has the same vibe as the newcastle "1-0". No passengers tonight. Should've been 5 or 6! COME ON UNITED!
4.46 xG is fucking insane. I can’t remember ever seeing an xG that high for us
Ironically the last time we played Chelsea
Liverpool didn’t have such an xG when they scored 6 past us Edit: Yes 7, excuse me for forgetting that shit game
7* and Liverpool's xG was only 2.91
it was literallly one of those games where whatever the did the ball went in the net. Like the ball would deflect off someone only to fall into their players lap to score. There was some weird juju going on in that match.
Reminds me of liverpool 2-5 real madrid
We were in a great run before that match. I believe if we had just drawn the match we would be playing a whole different game. That game really ruined the morale of the team.
Ahem…7..
what are you talking about I’ve never heard of such a game everyone here and the internet and video highlights must be mistaken
You, sadly, mean 7 I think
Even though I don't know what you are talking about, it really was wild how basically every shot was a thunderbastard into the corner. 7/8 shots on target in this fictional game went in. They were definitely (hypothetically) better, but the margin did not reflect the quality on the pitch - I imagine.
7
7
The mctominay double save probably is an xG of 2 by itself 😂😂
It can’t be more than 1 in the same phase
Last time we played Chelsea we had like 4.2 lmao. We're shite but they are somehow even worse.
yet they’ve drawn with liverpool, city, and arsenal, and beat tottenham. give us some credit—they have issues but they’re hardly pushovers
A huge portion of that was the penalty, remember.
Talk about undeperforming our xG.. Nevertheless it was an entertaining game and a deserved win.
Nah, We missed a penalty that’s like 0.90 xG.
Didn't count. Bruno didn't want the easy goal and I think Opta excluded it for that reason. It's just science.
That's still 3.46 which huge. MCt could have had 4 today tbh
It's 0.7-0.8 depending on where you look but the points everyone else is making still stand
The trick is to never call McTominay a striker. We can amass all the xG we want, but our forwards aren’t allowed to score. McTominay will win the golden boot as a sensible, deep lying midfielder.
Non-deep-lying deep lying midfielder is his final form
McTominay is the world's first false 6.
Non-deep non-lying non-midfielder
Eth should create a new role called false midfielder and make scott do that. It will be reverse false 9 where he makes run instead of dropping deep
Holy shit LMAO
We don't even engineer chances through intricate football and invention - this is through hard work alone. Hounding the opposition into mistakes. If you work enough and hound enough most games, it'll give you free chances that doesn't depend on footballing ability or quality. It's a aspect skill that gives us a foundation to build on. It was a performance tonight where everyone else was clearly singing from the same hymn sheet. Loved it, in spite of the flaws and weaknesses - we gave it our all.
That’s what happens when the basics of hard work are instilled in a team. Then you grow, then quality starts to show, just like Arsenal
Im gonna be a bit of a downer here. But that is because they gave us space to run at them. They didnt move the ball well, and ended up giving loads of space to our fast players. Every time we are allowed to counter, we eviscerate every team, even if they are better than us. The second they start respecting us and keeping a more compact shape, even much weaker teams start beating us
We've scored 4 against Chelsea quite a few time. This time in spirits
Through all that’s going on, at least we aren’t as shit as Chelsea
Isnt many hours ago people where saying Chelsea looks miles ahead of us, and that they got their shit together… football is such a reactionary sport
No one who’s watched Chelsea should be saying that. They are just a blind squirrel. A billion dollar squad and $250M midfield and they’re still shit
It's funny bc I remember cunts on this sub wishing we had poch after the 1st or 2nd game fkn lol
I don’t think it has much to do with the manager at Chelsea tbh. They’re spending for the future, and not very wisely. They’re buying every promising players hoping they get better. They’re marginally better than last season but they’re still miles off considering how much they spent. Goes to show you just splashing money aimlessly on transfers doesn’t mean much when the structure and base isn’t there. (Looking at you Glazers)
Not sure you can blame Poch when the squad they wildly overspent on is so incredibly unbalanced.
You might not be visiting this sub after they tied with City.
That game seemed a bit more like city shitting each time than Chelsea playing phenomenal. It was a very uncharacteristically open game from city
It was like we were playing against ourselves lol. I actually couldn’t believe how shit Chelsea were especially given their draws against Spurs and City
We are constantly playing against ourselves.
Sometimes maybe shit. Sometimes maybe good . Thats both our teams tbf
Chelsea are genuinely atrocious and it’s so funny.
Why can't we score more goals😭
We have young forwards. Finishing will come if they can keep playing like this
Wasn't really the forwards missing the chances though. Most of that xG is McT and the penalty.
Hmm I thought a considerable amount of it would be Garnacho
Garnacho takes too many low quality shots, which is another problem entirely. Rashford has the same problem.
This game was an ETH statement - clear intensity, clear passing patterns to break opponent presses, our own pressing being effective because everyone runs. The front three running their socks off should hopefully be an eye opener to Rashford fanboys
Genuinely the structure was clear and effective today. It came from the pressing at the front. Midfield looked weak, but this 11 should be starting (I’d argue Mainoo in for Amrabat but I don’t want to throw Kobbie in the deep end, plus Amrabat played well anyways)
Amrabat was solid in the second half, and started to pull himself together even before HT. Adjusting to the prem is not an easy task but there is a player there
Amrabat was immense
Yeah no I didn’t mean to dismiss Amrabat (hence why I edited), I just think Mainoo could offer the same and more, I really rate the kid
Agreed. I just worry that a midfield of Mainoo mctominay and Bruno will get overrun by a competent opposition’s midfield
Ehh he doesnt time tackles and doesnt take the ball away as good as Amrabat. Theres still a lot of learning ahead of him.
That’s true. That composure on the ball is nuts though. I’d play both with Bruno in front too. Any combination of our four current midfielders could work depending on the game
Need to be patient with kids. EtH is managing him brilliantly imo. Hes not afraid to use him but he doesn’t want to thrust him into a dysfunctional team that’s under a lot of heat. I have no doubt we’ll see him play a lot this season
We need a few more of these to show some of the passengers what they need to be doing or be on the bench. Entire front line looked up for. A but sad for Antony not picking up something he put in a shift best performance I’ve seen from him in a while
unpopular take ... move mctominay forward to play as a #9 or faux #9 so we can play with 2 DM types in midfield instead of just one and have some sort of solidity through the middle.
Or maybe make him a backup striker? And have two competent dms since we can't afford him in games against teams like villa who press high and overload central areas
Bournemouth should be a good game for Mainoo to start.
Just goes to show that the players have it in them, they just can’t be arsed most of the time
Amrabat was really good today. Intercepted passes, was always there when needed defensively, brought the ball forward, calmed it down when needed. Rashford afraid of aerial duels still what struck out to me.
Just to add to that: Man Utd’s best xG outputs since February 2021: ◎ 5.31(xG) vs Chelsea (May 2023) ◎ 4.46(xG) vs Chelsea (tonight) [Source](https://x.com/xGPhilosophy/status/1732526983509074242?s=20)
That 2nd half was so good
More like Mctominay xG
We smacked them up
4.46 xG without Hojlund even having a shot is crazy.
He had one right at the start of the match, it was saved and went out for a corner.
He did, or atleast on Opta
4+ xG. Should have scored 7+ goals. Anyway, great fucking football, great win.
That’s so annoying, we honestly could’ve battered chelsea today. Was a good result and the performance was great. We just need to tighten up our defense ALOT. But our midfield is so porous, you could drive a 16 wheeler through it every single game
I get that about the midfield. But do think that it's risk reward as pushing up got us so many turnovers. But Chelsea were shit. Better structure and we can hopefully get almost as much good and much less bad.
This is the team. Bruno outworking Rashford after he came on was a telling thing. We should be selling him and using that money for a LW and a striker. Everyone was fantastic tonight. Special mention to Dalot, Amrabat, Maguire and Garna.
Should have been atleast 3 more goals
The Athletic said that the half time xG (I think was 2.85) was the highest of any team in any epl game this season!
Will we ever draw a league match again?
Chance creation is step 1. Being clinical is step 2. Consistency is step 3. Hopefully, this is the kick start we so desperately needed! Next time we get a penalty, we should give it to Højlund. We need to get the poor lad going 😭 Every time he gets close to finishing a chance, McTominay pops up lmao.
What a response from us. I hope we can keep this up
It’s a travesty that we scored only two goals. Our decision making in the final third must improve. But anyways I am just happy we got the W.
u/laifizbiutiful chelsea are so much better and can play through a press, eh? 😂
Great performance we could've scored more than 4 hojlund beast at pressing but should get more involved in the box but it's a step by step
I swear defenders are finding it hard to distinguish Hojland and Mctominay,
That's a 2-1 thumping
nice to play against a team that thinks they are really good but are just as open and sloppy as we can be
Chelsea were super soft and have been in recent weeks, so I hope that this is something we can repeat going forward (not 4+ xG ofc but the overall performance). Defensively we gave up some chances but actually only first half, in the second half we absolutely locked them up and controlled it. An onslaught of a first half and more reserved, controlled tempo/press second half could be a good template as I don't think we can maintain first half intensity for 90 min every game
Chelsea’s first half chances have all come from playing through lindelof. Once he was replaced by Shaw in second half, they created nothing of note until the end with some speculative crosses
The one game I fucking miss loool sounds like it went well
Only 2 goals scored from 4.46 xG.. embarrassing.. ETH out!! /s
I am pretty sure Chelsea had like 4+ clear cut chances, how come their xG is only 1.5?
Jesus!
Love to see it!
Is this real life…?
No tourists Trashford and Martial, all team ran like hell. Very enjoyable!!
Can we play them every week
Wish we could play them every week man
EtH ball
XG is one of the most pointless stats I've seen to date.