FA Premier League

Aston Villa 0:1 Manchester United

Villa Park

Kick-off
Fri, 14 August 2015 @ 7:45pm BST
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    United again! said:
    Depay, maybe in the long term but I wouldn't have due to him coming to a new league. I thought he'd be eased in but he's been dropped in and struggled really.
    Rooney is a comical error. He's playing a get out of the way of everyone else and occupy the CB's role. He won't score many this season. Certainly not a FF type role.
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    definitely weighing up a rooney& depay out move.
    obviously that'll suddenly unlock them, but i'll take that for the greater good!
     
    pretty boring till now.
    the goal was probably the only positive move of Januzaj. Rooney is poor too.
    we are very sloppy with the ball and soooo slow
     
    justboy68 said:
    We don't even look like giving them a sniff which is promising. Still need to produce a bit more ourselves but a good half overall I thought.
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    My exact thoughts in the Spurs game. We created next to nothing but we didn't give Kane or Eriksen a sniff. It's promising in that respect.
     
    In attacking sense, apart from Januzaj for the goal and some nice bits here and there for Memphis it's been pretty poor. Rooney really needs to improve, let's hope it's just early season rustiness and he'll get over it.

    Defensively, we've been sloppy at times trying to play out of the back; Carrick and Schneiderlin need to be quicker in transitioning us from defence to attack. Darmian was on thin ice with that holding on Richards, but otherwise he's been good though and Smalling has been our best player so far.
     
    I have no doubt we have played better primarily without the ball. We have pressed better and we have defended better.
     
    justboy68 said:
    We don't even look like giving them a sniff which is promising. Still need to produce a bit more ourselves but a good half overall I thought.
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    Yep. We need another. Don't like the idea of going into the last 20 minutes with Gestede upfront for them and it still being 1-0.
     
    Would we be any less effective by just playing with 10 men. That run Januzaj made for the goal is the sort of run Rooney needs to make and to creates opportunities or even space. Has he even made one of them?
     
    WyoManU said:
    Can't understand how Rooney is starting for us. Our attack is a shambles. Good news is that we have good shape and much better midfield control. Problem is we don't have any good outlets. All I can ever think now when I watch us play is that LVG has focused so much on possession that nobody takes any risks anymore.

    On a better note I can only laugh watching Villa. This appears to be a team built entirely with players who have the fitness and physique to sprint, press and tackle endlessly but none of them have a clue what to do with the ball once they win it.
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    That's definitely harsh based on just this half. Patience my friend.
     
    amongst all the moaning, we should remember we are coasting to a 1-0 win.

    Imagine if we were Villa's fans. All they have is punting it long!
     

    Twitter: United solid but unspectacular, Villa not having a sniff at goal

    Too little risk taking and adventure for my liking. We did well to get in front but then you'd expect us to keep the momentum going.

    But we've eased off and allowed them to respond. Carrick and Schneiderlin have started to get a bit sloppy in front of goal and we giving away the ball cheaply. What's the point of this possession if we're not posing a proper threat? You can't allow games to drift. You must kill them off when you have the chance.
     
    That first half made me seriously question why the hell I even like football. I understand van Gaal's got a difficult job but it really does seem like he takes pride in boring everyone into submission.
     
    ottosec said:
    We have done well defensively, the had no chances whatsoever. Offensively we were our usual shit.
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    I don't think we've been that bad offensively. I think it's just a case of the team still not quite clicking yet up top. The good moments we have had have been very promising though.
     
    The important difference so far comparing this game to Spurs is the gaps between our lines are much smaller. Januzaj has played the #10 very cleverly and been smart enough to time his runs to move with our play, both offensively and defensively.

    We're compact, difficult to play through, and due to the fact we've squeezed the pitch when we attack the player on the ball has always had options. The passing has not been as slick and cute as we'd like at all times. However, you can see the white shirts making runs and angles available to each other.

    If the penny drops for some of our players this could actually turn into a working system. Given how awful it looked less than a week ago, it looks to my eyes that we have taken a great leap forward in a very short space of time.
     
    Much better than almost any away performance last year.

    Also new players are still bedding in, wins like this build confidence and build momentum.
     
    Apart from the great goal that was totally shite - can see us hanging onto this 1-0 right to the end and Romero saving the points again

    Really pleased for the kid but LVG will haul him off because he is playing too well :rolleyes:

    Rooney is gash but you all know that anyway :)
     
    defense has been good, mike is bossing it. darmian/shaw look like they've nailed down the full back spot for the next 10 years. schneiderlin and carrick quietly controlling the midfield

    depay looks promising, januzaj took the goal well, mata with very nice pass to make that possible. rooney has been dreadful
     
    We still look sluggish. There's no reason in singling out Rooney when I've witnessed plenty of poor touches and misplaced passes all around. Add to that the fact that Januzaj isn't playing the 10 role any better than Memphis did (goal aside) and I'm still left with the opinion that we need Herrera in to be able to bridge the gap between the front and the back.

    I've seen on several occasions the ball at the back with no one in the middle of the pitch to offer up a passing opportunity with at least two Smalling hoofballs as a result. I've also seen Rooney come up from the very front to the middle in order to try and work that area, something that Januzaj needs to be doing more of.

    Ohh well. It's still way early and we'll sort all this out.

    We look solid defensively.
     
    We've looked a bit better defensively and without the ball. In the attack too there were some nice bits. I think we're getting there.
     
    Bet all they talk about is the Darmian incident and conveniently forget Januzaj being kicked for an obvious red card.
     
    Steven Seagull said:
    Glad we're ahead and first games about results and rusty blah blah blah... But that was boring as feck. Fair enough we haven't clicked yet or don't quite have the experiences creative players (says LVG) but my god, why don't we press the ball and force some mistakes? We have such a low work rate for a so called top side. We'll get murdered in Europe playing like this.
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    Didn't find that boring at all. We press very effectively too. Just that we wait till the ball comes to CMs rather than pressing right from the off.
     
    Schneiderlin has looked a bit uncertain I thought. Darmian seems more nervous today too but he's clearly going to be huge for us. Rooney is our only out and out striker other than Hernandez really which is worrying in the extreme and not just from this performance.
     
    Many complaining about the boring football. While I agree, I find it quite funny as many of these people probably wanted mourinho - and the bore fest would've been on the same level at least.
     
    Rooney looks like he needs another month to get match fit. Which is a bit weird. Is he past it or just been on the beers?
     
    Gopher Brown said:
    Anyone who plays up front for us does shit all. If it's not Rooney it was Falcao, if not Falcao it was van Persie. It's a problem with the system.

    We might as well take Rooney off and putting another midfielder on for all he's doing.
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    Our goal came from a bit of movement in the box. Something Rooney doesn't and isn't doing. People like Mata and Carrick will always find you if you move.
     
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Post-match discussion

Man of the Match

Matteo Darmian image Matteo Darmian 29% of 1240 votes

Runners-up

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Player Ratings

6.4 Total Average Rating

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Compiled from 1058 ratings.
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Score Predictions

1050,47,133
  • Man Utd win
  • Aston Villa win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 31% Aston Villa 0:2 Man Utd
  • 22% Aston Villa 1:2 Man Utd
  • 10% Aston Villa 1:3 Man Utd
  • 9% Aston Villa 0:1 Man Utd
  • 9% Aston Villa 0:3 Man Utd
  • 8% Aston Villa 1:1 Man Utd
  • 2% Aston Villa 0:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 1:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 0:4 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 2:1 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 1:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 2:0 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 2:3 Man Utd
  • 1% Aston Villa 0:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 2:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 3:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 5:0 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 3:4 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 1:5 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 3:1 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 3:2 Man Utd
  • 0% Aston Villa 2:4 Man Utd
Compiled from 1230 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Aston Villa
  2. Man Utd
Possession
46% 54%
Shots
5 9
Shots on Target
1 2
Corners
3 5
Fouls
14 10

Referee

Mike Dean

Man Utd Lineup

Substitutes

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