Amdouni- just how cool was he to slot the penalty home in front of the biggest crowd in the prem.
Just after being wiped out as well.

Muric- not sure anyone realised just how good his goalkeeping ability is. Far better than just a ball playing keeper. 4 prem team of the weeks now out of 8 apps.

Berge- his forward passing, especially the throughball to Foster.

We were repeatedly told Trafford was picked for his shot stopping ability but Murics has been another level to Traffords since his return, the strange thing is his distribution is what makes us tick but is what's let him down at times.
Berge gets better every week as does Esteve.
If we could just add finishing to the build up play we'd be miles clear of the drop zone, let's hope we get a few in the next 3!

bumba wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 3:45 pm

We were repeatedly told Trafford was picked for his shot stopping ability but Murics has been another level to Traffords since his return, the strange thing is his distribution is what makes us tick but is what's let him down at times.
Berge gets better every week as does Esteve.
If we could just add finishing to the build up play we'd be miles clear of the drop zone, let's hope we get a few in the next 3!

I was one who thought Trafford was picked for his shot stopping and I think it’s fair to say Trafford is also a very good shot stopper.

As you say, overall Muric is just 10% better (maybe more distribution wise) at everything, and baffling he didn’t start the season, but equally feel we have a very good keeper in Traff too. We’re incredibly lucky given his age. Behind the stronger, more confident defence (which Muric has benefited from albeit also helped create), I think he’d be okay after some more training and development.

On the other positives, agree about Berge and Esteve

O’shea was also outstanding. He’s becoming excellent for us. Massively underrated.

Muric's presence on corners and crosses has also been a massive plus for us too. He can be wayward but it's still so much more than what we were getting from Trafford. His distribution can be off, but it's high risk so it's going to be on occasion - the speed of his distribution and ability to find those passes just makes us look such a better team.

Swizzlestick wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 4:08 pm

Muric's presence on corners and crosses has also been a massive plus for us too. He can be wayward but it's still so much more than what we were getting from Trafford. His distribution can be off, but it's high risk so it's going to be on occasion - the speed of his distribution and ability to find those passes just makes us look such a better team.

Completely agree. How Kompany couldn’t see that early doors is beyond me.

This’ll go down as the season we continually shot ourselves in the foot. Blew them both off actually.

The ironic thing is we all would have said months ago to bring Muric in. Cullen also has made a difference. Even without those changes the constant self inflicted suffering we put ourselves through. We are not one of the 3 worst sides in this league - but we are probably the worst at getting a result.

I said it from the start and people laughed at me even when I was continuously clamouring for Muric! It's literally quite impossible to play the balls that he does on point every single time but it's the fact that even trying them means opposing teams have to account for the threat of it (or potentially get burned) and in turn our team can position themselves higher/wider.

That wasn't the case with Traff and it wouldn't be with many goalkeepers - Muric is just a special, special talent. That's why teams were happy to step on to us so much and in turn we played some real dross.

Too many need to stop viewing the game solely through moments (though that is important) and more about the bigger picture.

On to Amdouni - I've been critical of him, not denying he is another talented player just lacked the ability to force himself into games...

What I will say is that having the composure to calmly slot that pen away at Old Trafford, given our position in the league and the fact that he quite literally just got punched clean in the jaw was pretty good going and we have to give him kudos for that. Not to mention actually challenging for that in the first place as it was pretty clear he was going to get body checked as is.

Iloveyoubrady wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 29, 2024 4:49 pm

The ironic thing is we all would have said months ago to bring Muric in. Cullen also has made a difference. Even without those changes the constant self inflicted suffering we put ourselves through. We are not one of the 3 worst sides in this league - but we are probably the worst at getting a result.

You claim that we are not one of the 3 worst sides in this league but we ARE one of the 3 lowest scoring teams that have yet to hit the 40 goals mark. 2 of those 3 teams sit in the bottom 2 relegation places which is no coincidence.
When we were previously relegated from this division it was once again as 1 of the 3 lowest scoring teams who all went down.

The main thing is that we now look like we’ve found our feet at this level. We have actually improved for most of the season in general play. I don’t think we have ever looked as consistently dangerous at Old Trafford in our premier league years, even when we nicked our win.

Another positive was that we actually fought for every 50 50 ball.

I think Cullen has been the biggest positive in recent weeks.

Been our best player IMO