FA Premier League

Aston Villa 0:1 Manchester United

Villa Park

Kick-off
Fri, 14 August 2015 @ 7:45pm BST
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    Souness went up one notch tonight - "Rooney was poor"

    Still makes him 3 notches under a slug with the clap :)
     
    Solidin defense with some sparks that showed what could be. the offense will need a bit time to gel - perfect to get the points as long as we are in that process. at the end we killed the game in a most professional way. i cant get the moaners on here - there are enough positives to see.
     
    K, Souness, Romero had nothing to do in the first match.. TV off.
     
    It was a decent performance, but nothing to write home about. There are some good signs: Darmian and Shaw look like they could be our full-backs for the season, Darmian looks to be the RB we've been crying out for. Schneiderlin will be vital for us this season, Blind and Smalling looked solid but we're never really subjected to anything special, Romero has been decent enough in goal, Januzaj looks like he might get back to the form he showed under David Moyes. Herrera and Schweinsteiger also looked good off the bench, I hope Herrera starts more in the #10 posistion.

    On the other hand, it was not Depay's night but feel he will be a big player for us. Let's not forget he's only 21 and is settling into a new country and team, some of the criticism of him on here is scathing and unfair.

    Rooney, however, was about as abject as I have seen him play probably ever. He looked off the pace, his passing was way below par and his first touch was abysmal. I would not be opposed to Hernandez getting a chance against Bruge.

    In the end, we won, we didn't win these games last year and we are on six points and potentially either or both of Chelsea and City could drop points this weekend.
     
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    Listar said:
    Mata was ok, almost excellent, 2 beautiful passes with one lead to the winning goal
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    I disagree completely. Mata usually controls the ball extremely well and passes accurately. Tonight, especially in the second half he was wasteful. I for one didn't like him at all tonight. Not in the same league as Rooney but close second for the worst player of ours ( compared to what i would expect him to do).
     
    Yorkie sums up the problem perfectly - "they have the flair players but they aren't allowed to express themselves"

    Another win but I hate the way we are playing
     
    The pundits on sky think we're going to go all season playing like this scrapping 1-0 wins every game. :lol:
     
    Yorke seemed very defensive of the team and players there but less so on how LvG has them playing
     
    walkinhop said:
    I disagree completely. Mata usually controls the ball extremely well and passes accurately. Tonight, especially in the second half he was wasteful. I for one didn't like him at all tonight. Not in the same league as Rooney but close second for the worst player of ours ( compared to what i would expect him to do).
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    That's a bit OTT. He is not a very tactical player in the wings. He relies on time and space and his creativity and vision. Put him on the ball with 2 people constantly pressing him and he would struggle to keep hold of the ball. What's impressive is that he is actually creating chances even while playing that position.
     
    TrustInJanuzai said:
    I'll be honest I'm actually feeling very good after that performance. I thought defensively we were absolutely superb and I think we looked so much better as a defensive unit. Darmian is playing out of his skin, Smalling is finally stepping into vidics shoes and blind is giving the defensive that composure that we have been lacking for awhile now. Add to this that shaw without injuries is like a new signing and schneiderlin offers true midfield protection which is a pleasure to see. I strongly believe that a defensive performance like that would not have been possible last year and in that regard we have made strides.

    In terms of our attacking play, Rooney was worryingly poor and we still didn't really click. That being said I believe that there was some real glimpses, 10 minutes here and there, where we moved the ball quick, efficient and accurate and actually looked like a very good team. I thought Depay was a real threat and has added a certain flair that we have missed for awhile, although he clearly wasn't at his best and can improve. Herrera just confirmed that he needs to start with his performance off the bench as he just adds energy and creativity that nobody else in the side provides.

    I can fully understand those who thought that performance was poor but I'm feeling extreamly happy in the knowledge we can put out a solid defensive showing and still go and get all the points. We didn't play like classic Utd and that might be the issue but I still firmly believe that as the season progresses we may finally unleash the true potential of this side.
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    Yeah I can understand what you mean, well I'm not yet really satisfied but I agree with your take on the defensive display. The work LvG has done on that side is great, we really defend like a unit and a lot of the individuals are covering themselves with glory, even though it's still early days. Shaw and Darmian are a delight to watch even though their attacking play isn't perfect yet (final pass mainly) and I've rated Smalling for ages so not really surprised. Having a solid midfield in front helps of course, as well.

    It's just the overall offensive game which annoys me. I don't think Rooney was as poor as this topic suggests but I think we really struggle to link all the forward play together and to transition from defence to attack. This was glaring in the counters we started, they were all slowed down. Definitely an aspect we should work on as it should be more intuitive (and I love a nice goal on the break :drool: ).

    Anyway it's still early days and we've replaced some players in key positions (and aren't really playing with the same style as last year), so it's too early to judge. I'll agree with you that the overall solidity is a huge positive, hope it carries on.
     
    Another really poor performance. We are offering very little going forward. Delighted for Adnan even though he wasn't really that involved throughout the whole game. Mata gave a generally good performance with some truly excellent passes, but he also made quite a few mistakes which could have been costly, and left us exposed at times in defence. Memphis struggled again but at least he's making good runs. He still needs to start giving more though. Rooney was terrible today, as bad as I've ever seen him. Very worrying.

    Kudos to the defence who were brilliant! All 4 were superb! Blind particularly deserves credit for fantastic positional awareness! He could seriously prove me and a lot of others wrong. What he lacks in height, strength and speed he may well have in mental awareness, and his performance was probably the most exciting aspect of today's game. Smalling continued to dominate in the air and do very solid defensively. Again, the one area he's lacking is distribution, and there were a couple of instances where he gave the ball away needlessly today. Both full backs were great, and I think I'll be saying that in most games this season. Darmian built on a fantastic home debut to give another very good performance. Also, the 'I'm watching you' signal to Micah was priceless :lol:. Shaw looked much better than in the first game and offered a great deal going forward.

    Schweinsteiger and Herrera improved the performance when they came on, and I'd be seriously considering starting them in the next game if I was van Gaal. Atm, I think Bastian is far more likely to go into the first XI than Ander, most likely for Carrick. Considering both Carrick and Schneiderlin do basically the same job, I see no reason to start both (with possible exceptions against possession-based teams like Barcelona), and they were ineffective today again (though Morgan was better than Carrick).

    Overall, decent result, but the performance is still nowhere near good enough.
     
    Not over concerned about Rooney. It's annoying, but he does have a regular habit of being sluggish and off his game at the start of each season.
     
    Rooney isn't 100% fit yet, give him another start on Tuesday night and we might start seeing the goals flowing. Unfortunately he's not an out and out striker, therefore I'd fully expect periods of lack of goals this season.

    I seen enough tonight to suggest Depay could be a goal threat this season, okay he didn't score but he made a fair bit of space for himself, he'll no doubt score a fair few goals during the season.

    All in all three points are the main thing we're chasing and that's what we've got, performances will improve as the season progresses and we will see Schweinsteiger lead the midfield in time. Looked great when he came on.
     
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    Subho611 said:
    That's a bit OTT. He is not a very tactical player in the wings. He relies on time and space and his creativity and vision. Put him on the ball with 2 people constantly pressing him and he would struggle to keep hold of the ball. What's impressive is that he is actually creating chances even while playing that position.
    Click to expand...

    No clue what OTT is but i hope it is not trendy. I have the right to an opinion it is motivated by Mata himself. I have seen him play way better on a regular basis. This is also no the first time he has been pressed. Overall, one of his worst games in my opinion. Did he make a couple of great passes? Sure. Did he play worse than what i usually see him do? Sure. Trying to prove me wrong is pointless.
     
    Jamie Redknapp claiming Memphis doesn't have as much talent as Januzaj? Not sure about that. They are very different players in their style but I don't think it's fair to start putting Memphis down yet. He's showed glimpses of real potential though.
     
    walkinhop said:
    No clue what OTT is but i hope it is not trendy. I have the right to an opinion it is motivated by Mata himself. I have seen him play way better on a regular basis. This is also no the first time he has been pressed. Overall, one of his worst games in my opinion. Did he make a couple of great passes? Sure. Did he play worse than what i usually see him do? Sure. Trying to prove me wrong is pointless.
    Click to expand...
    OTT = Old Trafford Testicles
     
    walkinhop said:
    No clue what OTT is but i hope it is not trendy. I have the right to an opinion it is motivated by Mata himself. I have seen him play way better on a regular basis. This is also no the first time he has been pressed. Overall, one of his worst games in my opinion. Did he make a couple of great passes? Sure. Did he play worse than what i usually see him do? Sure. Trying to prove me wrong is pointless.
    Click to expand...

    OTT - over the top. By the way if there is not even a 1% chance that you would concede your point then why post at all?
     
    Well that interview just put a downer on things, LvG not bothered about only winning 1-0 or only 3 shots on target in two days.
     
    iBoss said:
    No.
    Click to expand...

    So I'm not being ridiculous finding it annoying how often Herrera is not picked despite his (in my view) excellent form for us since joining.

    And also for how often Mata was dropped for fecking Falcao last season.

    LVG has done a few good things but there is plenty to question.
     
    Souness and Redknapp are really making it a Liverpool v United debate. Idiots

    Redknapp even brought up that United fixture list is "kind" in comparison to Liverpools.

    Absolute wankers.
     
    GE said:
    Souness and Redknapp are really making it a Liverpool v United debate. Idiots

    Redknapp even brought up that United fixture list is "kind" in comparison to Liverpools.

    Absolute wankers.
    Click to expand...


    It's unbelievable how much Redknapp hates us, moaning about how easy our early fixtures are.

    So what, we've still got to play the same teams!
     
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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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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

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