22 Oct 2021 15:44:18
We're going into the game at the weekend in relatively good shape. Atletico was a great warm up for us in terms of intensity, ferocity and general danger - sharpening our in-game management and adaptability game by game.

One of the things I would like to see improved is that Robbo seems to be have an issue with playing the opposition on side in our own box at the moment. Not sure where this has suddenly come from but it needs fixing asap.

Likewise, I hope Virg, Matip and Trent will sharpen up a bit against United forwards that will be keen to get early shots off. We need to be ready to react to this - before the shot and to any loose balls that come after.

It is a shame that Thiago isn't fit. He was amazing at OT last season. When we've gone there in the past we haven't made the best use of the big pitch. Thiago did that last year and lo and behold, we took the points quite comfortably in the end.

Whilst I think Jota may come into contention, Bobby is playing too well right now to drop. He's pulling teams all over the place and Sadio and Mo are loving every minute of that. Perhaps Diogo off the bench then.

The thing I notice about United is that they lose confidence if they cannot get the ball forward quickly. They become ragged and lose what little plan they had. Almost like they get bored of trying to break down the opposition. Equally, they like to play in attacking spells that are usually a reaction to going behind. So either we need to dominate possession and not give them a sniff or we try to suffocate the space (not easy on that big pitch) and frustrate them / hit them on the break.

As always I am super nervous as form rarely ever counts in this fixture.

22 Oct 2021 16:46:43
Bobby is playing too well to drop? He was not good in his last game. Bobby was terrible the first 30 minutes v Watford then after his goal he improved massively and a great hatrick. Now Salah is playing too good to drop but Bobby has still lots to prove IMO. It’s 50 wether he plays or Jota. Bobby tends to go missing v the Mancs.

22 Oct 2021 16:58:44
Markp08, Bobby tends to go missing vs the Mancs? The same Bobby who scored twice literally the last time we played them?

22 Oct 2021 17:30:00
Mark 08. please please stop the constant negativity my man.

22 Oct 2021 17:31:19
One possibly two good games v Utd is no where near good enough. In the vast majority of games v the Mancs he has been poor. Hopefully he brings it on Sunday. Mane and Salah haven’t a good record v Utd either but the post said Bobby is playing too good to drop as if he is playing like Salah.

22 Oct 2021 17:43:15
How is it negative Marty? It’s a complete difference of opinion. The majority of my posts recently have been positive. I call it as I see it.

22 Oct 2021 17:46:24
Bobby is playing too good to drop! He creates space for the other two upfront if you can’t see that, that’s on you boss man!

22 Oct 2021 18:15:06
We scored just as many goals with Jota. Firmino is not the reason Salah and Mane get loads of goals. The reason is they are great players.

22 Oct 2021 18:15:42
Mane and Salah have scored goals all season without Bobby so in fairness to them not only can they do it on a rainy wed night in Stoke but they can also do it with zero space.

However Bobby scored a hat trick in his last league game so for me he deserves to start 100%.

22 Oct 2021 18:29:44
Firmino has 3 goals and 3 assists vs Manchester United.
Salah has 4 goals and 0 assists vs Manchester United.
Mane has 1 goal and 1 assist vs Manchester United.
To single our Firmino as going missing against United just shows your bias.

22 Oct 2021 19:42:28
All three of our frontline forwards are in the goals at the moment, no reason to think they won’t do it again this weekend, scoring three at Atletico is no mean feat. United are no Atletico and Ole is no Simone. I think we’ve every reason to feel confident.

22 Oct 2021 21:25:37
How did I single him out? You must have just read the bit you wanted Thunder. RTFP, I said the other 2 don't have a good record either. But what the thread was about was Bobby been undroppable because he was playing to such a high level which is just plain wrong imo. let's hope on Sunday he plays a blinder, and everyone can say I don't have a clue what I'm talking about.

22 Oct 2021 21:49:42
Still don't understand the drop Bobby comments lol.

22 Oct 2021 23:04:59
No one said drop Bobby. He deserves to play after his Watford performance.

23 Oct 2021 08:18:32
Bobby is one of the main reasons mane and mo are scoring so freely.