Even going through on goal, I had no confidence that he was going to score. His eventual effort was terrible, really weak and off target. He has missed a number of chances (he does find himself in good positions to be fair) and not only that, he keeps missing the target. It was shit, we shouldn't be reluctant to say that because of his age. Of course, the fact that he is our main striker whilst Gallagher is out is a sad indictment on the owners and the cuts they have inflicted causing such a shoddy, thin squad. Good point on the Sterling penalty, it was a definite one after a stupid challenge.

I must be because hes certainly not fast and especially out wide. Neat and tidy, technically fine, but doesnt really achieve much. What does he really offer to worry teams? An improvement on Dolan and Markanday is a very low bar, but im not convinced he is, or if he is, not much. The front 4 today were all similar, that attack wouldnt do much damage in League 1.

What do people think of Moran? I know he is a different player positionally but lots of similarities with Morton. Technically fine, neat and tidy but struggles to impact games. Slow, weak and no real spark.

Miles away against a Chelsea side who were far from at full pelt but cant fault the effort, just a gulf in quality. Some really good performances in defence and midfield. Hill was very good, Wharton looked at home, Carter was good too. That front 4 would be below par in League 1 and how did we find a keeper as a first choice target who cant catch a ball? Cant believe he isnt an upgrade on Pears.

I dont even think he is, just purposely provocative. We are either in the mire or on the edge of something special.

How is it a game we don't need? Its an exciting game to test ourselves against one of the biggest clubs in the country. An unlikely win would be remembered for many years. In the league, promotion and relegation are incredibly unlikely, so it will probably be a season with little to show for it. His decision wasn't necessarily justified, we lost. Obviously we might have lost had we gone with Ennis and Leonard together, but still. I appreciate that neither Ennis nor Telalovic are proven Championship strikers, but one was playing in a ridiculously low standard league, the other played a big part in a team finishing on over 100 points in League 1.

Tomasson's comments pre match are worrying about Hyam's fitness, and Szmodics now is seemingly a doubt for the weekend. He also was asked about the standard that Telalovic has come from yet seemed to group Ennis in with him. Whilst he obviously also has come from a lower league, League 1 and the 4th tier in Germany are not comparable. He also suggested that there wont be money in January, unsurprisingly. He said that he didnt want to change formation at the weekend because we were creating chances. Obviously that proved to be the wrong decision and seemingly it didn't do Szmodics any good. Besides the Leonard chance when Wharton played him in, apart from a few half chances and of course the header at the end, I didn't think we were knocking the door down by any stretch and we could have done with another player to potentially take a chance should it arise, eg Ennis. It's a hard selection tomorrow, the squad is so thin that I appreciate that we cannot cope with any more injuries, but equally I agree that play offs arent happening, we likely will be in the middle somewhere and it feels like a chance to have a bright spark in a season that may be anticlimactic after recent years. I hope the changes he makes arent wholesale ones, especially with Chelsea potentially going strong.

Tomasson has suggested pre match that he will make changes and "give people a chance." The question is, how drastic that is. Travis is back which is a boost. Put in players like Wharton, Ennis and Moran and Travis and you arent weakening the side. Then you start considering the likes of Markanday and Garrett and you start to lose competitiveness, then even some of the likes of Gamble, Hilton Batty etc and it becomes an uphill task to avoid a thrashing. The problem is that the squad is just so thin. He also said he hopes Szmodics is ok for the weekend. He perhaps should have been subbed off on Saturday if he was struggling.

He got a couple of minutes and then they happily offloaded him in the summer for a nominal fee, so im not sure they saw too much of him. Im not sure it would necessarily "take a hammering" because you are struggling to find anything useful with no money to play with.

The under 21s lost 7-2. To think, one of the defenders has been on the bench lately for the first team. Telalovic didnt score.

The budget we had seemingly would have not come close to say buying a top league 1 striker. A Colby Bishop, Dion Charles or Devante Cole, all of whom would have big question marks over whether they could step up (Rhodes is old and couldnt get a game for a terrible Huddersfield and he bangs them in) would have cost probably at least close to a million if not above that. So they are non starters. So you are then likely looking in League or even in non league, and the idea that anyone there would be "ready to go" for us is simply not true. Im not defending the Telalovic deal specifically, he looks nowhere near it and is playing for an under 21 team getting battered at Reading when we have a tiny squad with a cup game in 2 days. But when you have such a pathetically low budget, your only hope is to try and be creative, and even then you are trying to find a needle in a haystack with no money. Vardy was a unique case, and he took a year to settle. He isnt the norm for signing players from non league.

I just cant see us getting close to be honest but obviously so much depends on the teams. If Tomasson opts to play the likes of Gamble and Hilton (even Garrett and Markanday to an extent) then we are waiting for a hiding. Chelsea had a very week bench at the weekend with a number of injuries, they did have Reece James on there who may play for fitness, they had Gusto who is also a right back, Maatsen, Badiashile, but not much else. Mudryk and Fernandez didnt make the squad though so I presume they will miss this game, but Chelsea dont have Europe so may not make wholesale changes.

I think win percentage is a flawed basis to use, partly because it discounts draws, but it also obviously doesn't factor in the different situations, for example how they inherited us, the league we was in etc.

I was surprised he made the bench on Saturday as he was never going to come on with 2 other strikers ahead of him. Suppose him and Atcheson being on bench just highlighted how light we are at the moment, we had 7 players who ever had a chance of coming on, including a sub keeper, and then Ennis who wasn't fancied when we needed a goal and Garrett who again was probably unlikely to ever come on. We are currently missing Hedges, Hyam, Gallagher and Travis, fair play, important players. But 4 outfield injuries shouldn't leave us this light.

Rashford is obviously a talented player but the reason why he not a top class one is because he is far too streaky. When hes on it, he will go on a run of a goal a game. But he regularly has extended spells where he doesnt do anything and when hes not on it, he has a tendency to hide and not appear to put in the effort. Relating to England, there seems to be one space alongside Bellingham, Kane and Saka and I have always thought that Foden has to take it.

I think team wise, it might be a case of picking what team we intend to put out on Sunday and working back from that. Rotate where possible but we cannot risk the battering that wholesale changes with our tiny squad would cause. This would be my team at the weekend: Wahlstedt Brittain Hill Wharton Pickering Tronstad Wharton Rankin Costello Szmodics Dolan Ennis So on Wednesday I would bring in Leonard, Sigurdsson, Moran and Carter for Ennis, Dolan, Szmodics and Hill and then at a push Garrett for Tronstad and Markanday for Rankin Costello. We cant afford to play players like Gamble and Hilton.

Neville is hard work to listen too when it comes to United because he cant avoid reverting back to discussing the Glazers. That might sound rich because we know full well that the owners are invariably responsible for anything. But even yesterday, he tried to shut down Carragher for questioning the fact that there is no discernable style of play. And obviously it isnt comparable to us. Venkys slash the budget beyond competitive levels. They overrule the manager/DOF on player sales to then allow assets to leave for free. Hardly comparable to being allowed to spend 100s of millions including on players you want from previous clubs.

Graham Potter would be a funny appointment. All for that and continued frustration and underachievement.

It is a good question regarding a club whose problems obviously lie beyond who is in the dug out. I am not sure exactly who decides on transfers, im guessing Ten Hag must have had a big influence hence deals for the likes of Martinez and the terrible signing of Antony, but there is no signs of anything coming together. The summer saw loads more money spent, maybe Onana is starting to settle but Mount was a waste of money and Hojlund might turn out well in time but he is not ready at the moment to be who they pin their hopes on. United will always be able to attract big names but I couldnt tell you across Europe who would stand out as a good pick. An obvious name in this country would be De Zerbi but he would be better off staying where he is.

The same managers will naturally go onto the merry go round. For Eustace's reputation, he may well have been sacked at a good time for him personally as his stock is now very high. They were in the top 6 of a league that is still obviously forming at an early stage with a lot of similarly average sides split by not many points and with a few tricky games after his departure. But naturally he will be seen as a good option. Rowett has always been mediocrity personified really but he is a steady and safe pair of hands. Nathan Jones (besides being a bell end) is a strange one in that he worked wonders at Luton yet his terrible personality saw other clubs he has managed sink.

Mount has always been overrated. He is an average number 10 whose main attribute is his ability to run around. He clearly isnt nearly as useful as the petulant Fernandes and he lacks the intelligence to play deeper or the ability to play wider. A bizarre signing. United surely need to be thinking of letting Ten Hag go. Theyve lost as many as they have won and what will more time achieve when they are so lacking in any clear strategy and tactical plan, when they do win its more down to individuals.

I certainly am far from 100% convinced by Broughton and I dont believe that our overall transfer record has necessarily increased in success compared to before he joined the club. But the Telalovic signing was clearly one out of desperation during that phase in the transfer window when there was no clarity from the owners, they were causing delays and had slashed the budget so much. On the same day, despite letting Buckley go, we were not allowed to bring in a further loan such was the situation with the budget cuts. So I can have sympathy on that deal that it clearly wasnt a first choice target by a long stretch.

But where is the blame towards the reason we were fishing in the bargain bin to begin with? Cant put it all on Broughton.

You say supposedly skint as if its questionable. But even to sign a lower league striker would cost a fee we seemingly didnt have. We couldnt even afford another loan. There seems to be absolutely no blame towards the owners or recognition that Broughton had his hands tied behind his back.

I dont get why we have to stick to the same formation throughout. Needing a goal, if the manager had any faith in either of the strikers signed for him, surely have 2 up when chasing a game.