Great win yesterday!
The first minutes of the first half were harder.
The team struggle to get the right space available, as the opponents were really working hard to cover all spaces, but United kept the calm and took the 3 points in a comfortable way.

United finished the Game with 69% Ball possession, 21 shots on goal, 8 great chances to score and that tells it all.

However, analyzing the starting XI there were a couple of surprises.

To start, we must declare that Mazraoui is one of the players that holds Ruben trust and confidence at 100%!

Either on left, right or back in to the back 3, he’s a player with the Coaches’ trust, definitely.

Malacia got another (unfortunate) chance to prove his value, starting on the left wing, but struggled the entire time with and without the ball – the yellow card at minute 8 may also have affected him negatively.

In the centre of the field, Collyer and Bruno were the holding 2 Midfielders when one could think (when looking at the starting XI before the Match started) that would be Mainoo on that position instead of the Portuguese.

Although I found that Bruno made a smart, intelligent and experienced performance, lowering the rhythm to only what was required – even if on the 2nd half, specially once Casemiro coming in, he had more space and freedom to go ahead and tried to score – this was important once he’s one of the players without rest.

Collyer, on the other hand struggled with the first touch, body positioning between lines, and that affected his performance. We cannot point him anything in terms of rhythm, pressing tempo and efforts, but clearly needs to improve this small details of his Game, specially against teams that defend deeper and his attacking skills are needed.

Supporting the Striker Højlund, we had Eriksen and Mainoo in the first half. 

The 2 Midfielders, playing slightly higher on the field provided a good connection element, which was expected, but there was less movements in depth on the side of Eriksen, with the right wing Dalot also not exploring a lot those movements. This created a simpler version of the Game, more monotonous, easier to defend.

Mainoo, on the other side, was much more active and his performance improved with time, finalizing the Game with 1 Goal and 1 Assist!
Great Game and has Ruben said: “He seemed happier in that position!”
And I think he’s right!

On the start of the 2nd half, observing how deep FCSB was defending, Ruben made 2 (smart) changes:
. Collyer for Amad, allowing Eriksen to come deeper on as the holding Midfielder position, having more space to use his passing qualities, facing the game in front of him and also in a smoother version of defensive transition, in comparison with the Premier League opponents. This gave the team more attacking quality, better passing options and better connections between sectors. On the other hand, getting Amad as the right wing, also improved the penetration movements when attacking, making the team more aggressive on that side.

. Malacia went out for Garnacho, which also made Dalot swap to the left side and created a good mixture of movements between Garnacho and Dalot, using both inside and outside spaces in a very coordinated way and that ended with a good portion of situations coming from this side, a goal included.

Finally, Højlund keeps trying (and struggling) with connecting moments and in finding the right space to create more danger, shots, etc.

But he’s trying really hard.

And when we understand that he’s only 21 years old, we must give him time.

He has all the qualities to be a top performer.

Good match overall!
A more dominant version, something closer to the future outlook of the team, and another clean sheet!

Talking about the Market is, as expected, hard.

Dorgu seems to be the only player arriving in this Market, which is somehow expected, understanding how Ruben works.

As mentioned before, he’s not someone that will receive players just because.

Either he believes they will add real value to the squad, or he’s not interested.

I assume I didn’t know much about him, but once the name start appearing in the Market rumors, I made a small analysis and he certainly seems a player fitting the “Ruben Style of Play”.

Young profile, super powerful, skilled, aggressive on the attack and defending, with great pace and duels capacity.
The team needs this, as well.

Very similar profile to Nuno Mendes, the natural 1st option for Ruben, that coached him at Sporting CP before moving to Paris SG.

I think he will be a great add to the squad.

Then 2 names came on the rumors in the last couple of days:
1. Marthys Tel (Bayern München) – a very talented young forward player (born in 2005), with good profile (183 cm), technical skills, speed and capacity to connect (if thinking the position “9” for him). 

My only doubts would be: the deal itself at start, as loans are clearly not what the Club needs, and his mental profile, which I assume not to have any relevant information or knowledge. However, if at the age of 19 years old, you can’t stand being on the bench when you have giants as Harry Kane, Thomas Müller, Gnabry, Olise, Leroy Sané, Coman, Musiala… it may not be the best of signals when United needs hunger players (yes!), but most of all, team players.

2. The second name, a big surprise: Paul Pogba. 

The French is finishing his doping ban in 5 weeks and was positioned as someone interesting to join United. 

Although, I’m not really sure about who came up with this idea, I totally disagree with this idea.

Yes, Pogba is super talented. Always was.

There was one Game, when at Juventus, that he played against Guardiola’s Manchester City, that I remember to be completely amazed by his performance, elegancy on the field, skills, vision, etc. I think that day, Guardiola got almost embarrassed for not having a way to stop him.

But, let’s be honest, mental abilities apart (with all scandals surrounding him constantly, which are the last thing the team needs now) and assuming he would be perfectly stable, he doesn’t play a 90 minutes match at almost 3 years (last record I could find was a Manchester United vs Watford in February 2022…). 

In the Season 2022/2023, already at a declining Juventus, he played 10 Games, in an average of 16 minutes per Match.

At the following Season (2023/2024) he played only 2 games, in a total of 52 minutes played…

So, I think it’s fair to assume that he has a long way to go in terms of fitness, which is something crucial for Ruben and he’s Football idea.

Lastly, the reason I think it’s a complete non-sense to have him joining is because he’s also part of  the recent past low-standards at the Club in terms of work-rate.

I also think is fair to state this, even if he’s not the only culprit here, naturally.

But he was there, he was influential, definitely.

I may be wrong, of course.

But his background supports me, at this stage.

Here again, the team needs quality players on the field, but also on the locker room.

Good personalities, willing to sacrifice for the team, for the Club.

That’s the only way to make the giant to wake-up!

And that brings me to another crucial point, which is the players exiting the Club.

Having only Anthony leaving the Club is, again, disappointing.

It either means that the Market is clearly in significant financial constraints, or simply means that the Market doesn’t see quality in these players.

Do you have any other idea?
Let me know!

The market is almost done: 3 days to go!