'Wanting it more'

[Luxo Jr.]

Already slightly bored of this being used as the main argument for having beaten Utd. Seems a bit of a cop-out by pundits who don't appreciate a tactical victory when they see one.

So may I say, Lee, you outsmarted Jose, and huge respect to you for training our boys to be able to press that high up the pitch for the full 90 minutes. 

[chinapig]

3 hours ago, Luxo Jr. said:

Already slightly bored of this being used as the main argument for having beaten Utd. Seems a bit of a cop-out by pundits who don't appreciate a tactical victory when they see one.

So may I say, Lee, you outsmarted Jose, and huge respect to you for training our boys to be able to press that high up the pitch for the full 90 minutes. 

Of course players need to be motivated and work hard but so called 'passion' is not enough. English fans tend to focus too much on that element imo, often judging players and teams on how much they run around rather than what they actually achieve.

What struck me in fact was how calm we were, cool under pressure, always looking to pass out of defence and to keep possession when we couldn't find a way through. Sometimes that means going backwards and it is refreshing that we don't seem to hear groans from the crowd when that happens. Everybody played their part in that but I thought Marlon Pack was the hub.

We didn't go gung ho with our pressing but picked when and where to do it intelligently and varied our tempo so as not to wear ourselves out.

Good tactics, coaching and execution all round, which is becoming the hallmark of our team.

 

[Luxo Jr.]

3 hours ago, chinapig said:

Of course players need to be motivated and work hard but so called 'passion' is not enough. English fans tend to focus too much on that element imo, often judging players and teams on how much they run around rather than what they actually achieve.

What struck me in fact was how calm we were, cool under pressure, always looking to pass out of defence and to keep possession when we couldn't find a way through. Sometimes that means going backwards and it is refreshing that we don't seem to hear groans from the crowd when that happens. Everybody played their part in that but I thought Marlon Pack was the hub.

We didn't go gung ho with our pressing but picked when and where to do it intelligently and varied our tempo so as not to wear ourselves out.

Good tactics, coaching and execution all round, which is becoming the hallmark of our team.

 

Precisely. Pack was absolutely outstanding. I almost feel like I understand his role better now I've seen him absolutely bossing it against Pogba and Daley Blind. Imagine the confidence boost it will have given him and Flint each time they outmuscled/tackled Pogba and Ibrahimovic. Also Flint's run on the ball vs Lukaku.

[Major Isewater]

3 hours ago, chinapig said:

Of course players need to be motivated and work hard but so called 'passion' is not enough. English fans tend to focus too much on that element imo, often judging players and teams on how much they run around rather than what they actually achieve.

What struck me in fact was how calm we were, cool under pressure, always looking to pass out of defence and to keep possession when we couldn't find a way through. Sometimes that means going backwards and it is refreshing that we don't seem to hear groans from the crowd when that happens. Everybody played their part in that but I thought Marlon Pack was the hub.

We didn't go gung ho with our pressing but picked when and where to do it intelligently and varied our tempo so as not to wear ourselves out.

Good tactics, coaching and execution all round, which is becoming the hallmark of our team.

 

I have said on many occasions this season that we go anywhere , home or away , lower or higher placed opponents and play with belief that we can win .

That we did the same last night speaks volumes. If we do likewise at the Etihad we are going to ruffle a few more feathers.

 I am glad to be alive to watch this City era.

We are on a magical mystery tour , I just hope that we get the promotion that the club and everyone associated with it deserve.

 

[redsince1994]

I mean. Yeah. We clearly wanted it more. But we won because we were better to a man, had a better gameplan and played them off the park at times.

I see what you mean, pundits continually saying it seems to negate how well we actually played.

[poland_exile]

7 minutes ago, Major Isewater said:

I have said on many occasions this season that we go anywhere , home or away , lower or higher placed opponents and play with belief that we can win .

That we did the same last night speaks volumes. If we do likewise at the Etihad we are going to ruffle a few more feathers.

 I am glad to be alive to watch this City era.

We are on a magical mystery tour , I just hope that we get the promotion that the club and everyone associated with it deserve.

 

I've already run out of likes for the day (first time ever, actually). So... beautifully said Major. 

[Roe]

It is true though.  Mourinho spent the vast majority of the game sat in the dugout. There's no way he does that in games he'd consider more important.  Don't think it takes anything away from the effort and quality the club showed as a whole.

[Luxo Jr.]

13 minutes ago, redsince1994 said:

I mean. Yeah. We clearly wanted it more. But we won because we were better to a man, had a better gameplan and played them off the park at times.

I see what you mean, pundits continually saying it seems to negate how well we actually played.

 

7 minutes ago, Roe said:

It is true though.  Mourinho spent the vast majority of the game sat in the dugout. There's no way he does that in games he'd consider more important.  Don't think it takes anything away from the effort and quality the club showed as a whole.

It's just making it out to be a Roy of the Rovers smash and grab situation. Of course it's true that we wanted it, but that was easier to see because of our style of play, which is the style we generally play anyway. 

Both our goals were absolute class, opening up the United defence and finished brilliantly. Meanwhile United only really had one moment where I couldn't believe they hadn't scored - where Lukaku got the ball, Rashford was waiting literally by himself in the middle, and he overhit the cross - and the rest of the time you have to put their failure to score down to brilliant last-man defending, which we've done all season.

Sure, we stepped our game up last night, but we've been doing what we did to that effect all season. If we wanted it more but had a poor tactical setup, we'd have been steamrollered. 

As a sidenote, I've never seen Pack give a better performance. Absolutely outstanding.