Manchester United 1:0 Crystal Palace

Paul_Scholes18 · Nov 8, 2014

I am pleased with the win, but Van Gaal looked like Moyes today and we played like last season. Last few games was some progress, but now back to square one. Rooney or Persie need to be dropped and we desperately need Rafael, Herrera and Falcao back. What I most worry is we can't deal with the pressure. I said before the season that the start was the key and that I was confident given our super easy start that he blow. Now I would be very pleased if we can just get to EL next season.

redevil2 · Nov 8, 2014

Speak said:
Agreed.
The funny thing is, this performance so far could have come under any of our last three managers.
Sir Alex just had that 'it' factor though, and it translated to the team.

You know what it's true. Apart from all the top ability, quality, talent and Charisma as a great manager, Sir Alex has this winning mentality that had made him so successful.

I just came across this article on my FB feed, one that says it all. It's about RvP and what he says:

"We were once 18 points clear of City but we lost at home 2-1. We were still 15 points ahead but he was furious. Then I realized: he's a winner."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/07/robin-van-persie-alex-ferguson-manchester-united

hbgreg · Nov 8, 2014

The Man Himself said:
"After the goal, we killed the game for the first time. We did it well & deserved to win. We created chances, we won and we are now two points behind fourth place, so it's in our hands. I am happy."

ripping players to shreds and digging into the players...

There's no doubt he's happy with the result and that there are positives to take away. They did deserve to win, they did win, they did get three points, and two points off fourth is fantastic. He can be happy with all of that, but I've looked at the post match interview and read some of his comments. He said we didn't create big chances before the goal, he said we were a bit lucky to get the goal, he said we didn't finish our big chances after the goal. He's not going to go to the media and say it was a lackluster performance, for example after the Leicester game he said he wasn't mad at his players. Ripping them into shreds, it was a really bad way of putting it and I'll admit I should of phrased it better. His body language after the game wasn't good, and he's a very blunt person, he highlights mistakes in front of the whole team. If I had the chance to rephrase the sentence, it'd be that a lot of the players won't be coming out happy after watching the film with the rest of the team.

The Man Himself · Nov 8, 2014

hbgreg said:
There's no doubt he's happy with the result and that there are positives to take away. They did deserve to win, they did win, they did get three points, and two points off fourth is fantastic. He can be happy with all of that, but I've looked at the post match interview and read some of his comments. He said we didn't create big chances before the goal, he said we were a bit lucky to get the goal, he said we didn't finish our big chances after the goal. He's not going to go to the media and say it was a lackluster performance, for example after the Leicester game he said he wasn't mad at his players. Ripping them into shreds, it was a really bad way of putting it and I'll admit I should of phrased it better. His body language after the game wasn't good, and he's a very blunt person, he highlights mistakes in front of the whole team. If I had the chance to rephrase the sentence, it'd be that a lot of the players won't be coming out happy after watching the film with the rest of the team.

Fair enough with middle section of your para but we all know it. Even players will know it wasn't greatest of performance but he is not going to lay into them or criticise them in dressing room I think. Instead, on Monday he will discuss the shortcomings. He is a good man manager and will not want to blame players after they got crucial 3 points. Crucial given the previous results.

SirFergie · Nov 8, 2014

abhayselvan said:
Does anyone know why Carrick and Blind switched positions after we scored the goal?

Probably because he was anticipating long balls from Palace and as Carrick is taller than Blind, he was best suited to deal with them.

Frank Grimes · Nov 8, 2014

Valencia only got 2% of the vote in the Motm poll but he was definitely deserving of more credit imo. Defended excellently in the second half.

hbgreg · Nov 8, 2014

The Man Himself said:
Fair enough with middle section of your para but we all know it. Even players will know it wasn't greatest of performance but he is not going to lay into them or criticise them in dressing room I think. Instead, on Monday he will discuss the shortcomings. He is a good man manager and will not want to blame players after they got crucial 3 points. Crucial given the previous results.

Only reason I reason said that was because of his body language and due to one of the players (forgot which one) saying that he points out individual mistakes in front of the whole team when they watch the film and went on to say that some players aren't comfortable with getting called out in front of the whole team. Not a literal ripping into them, but it'd feel like one. I think I saw Louis telling Valencia "good game" before they headed into the tunnel though.

Asger · Nov 9, 2014

Luis Van Gaal once again shows how smart he is. There's a reason the game was slow and somewhat boring; Moyes-esque even. To call our back four makeshift today is generous, so he has probably gone and told the players to keep possession even at the expense of attacking. More possession = less defending, and it worked really well for the most part. I don't think De Gea had to make a single significant save (although they did get one chance in the first half).

Players

De Gea: We played it back to him a lot and he was very calm and collected on the ball with good distribution. He wasn't really called upon except for Campbell's 1v1, but De Gea was really quick off his line and got big. He's usually way more "reactive" in 1v1 situations so I was a bit surprised but pleased.

Valencia: Solid performance, defended well. He was a bit slow on the ball sometimes compared to his teammates, and his crossing is still shit, but he stayed disciplined and committed in defence and his cutting back inside during the 2nd half instead of going wide to cross as much was pretty effective.

Shaw: Great match for the young lad, solid defensively and showed real impetus going forward, almost scoring a great goal.

McNair: Other than one mishap which seemed like a miscommunication between him and Blind, he had a solid, no-nonsense game. He wasn't tested much, but he defended the 1v1 situations he was in very well.

Blind: Same as McNair. I'm so glad we got this guy, he's such a versatile player, and he's so good and smart on the ball. When asked to change positions it's amazing how quickly he adjusts in the middle of a tight game.

Carrick: Great to see him back in action. He had a great game defensively both as the CDM and when he went into the back four later on. He played the CDM-to-center half role to perfection, never leaving a lack of coverage when McNair or Blind went forward. He played a bit "Cleverly-esque" today with his lateral and backwards passing, but I think this is exactly what Van Gaal wanted to keep possession.

Fellani: Solid game, he really gives us a bit of steel in the midfield that we've needed. I know a lot of people don't really like him, but I for one am glad we have him as an option. He didn't really stand out much today offensively, but I think that's mostly because he just didn't get the best service today.

ADM: Playing ADM on the wing instead of in toward the center is a massive waste of talent, but I think that this was again, by design. ADM loses the ball a bit more than I like when he plays in the center, opening us for counter attacks, and I think this is why Van Gaal played him out wide. For what he was asked to do, solid enough game.

Janazaj: He needs to spend more time with Giggs. Right now, he's turning into a Nani for me and I hate it because he's so unbelievably fecking talented. Nani's greatest weakness is that when the ball needs to be played quickly and with purpose, he slows it down and when play needs to be slowed down, he doesn't take his time; Janazaj is starting to have the same problem. This isn't the only area he needs to improve upon either. He needs to be benched for a few games and made clear that he needs to step up his game. The excuse that he's "only 19" doesn't fly with me anymore. He's had plenty of games to adjust to the PL but he needs to work on things before he continues getting chances.

Rooney: Average game from the skipper. There wasn't much in the final third, his workrate is fantastic.

Persie: Good hold-up play from him at times and he definitely sacrificed for the team today. Palace contained and surrounded him constantly, so chances to get on the ball for him were rare. He accepted this and didn't get frustrated, knowing that his lack of opportunity opens spaces for others.

Subs/changes

Mata made the difference only a few minutes after being introduced, was really happy.

It was a bit annoying hearing the commentators going on about switching Blind and Carrick and Fletcher into the back four but they are idiots and don't realise what the system was actually doing. Essentially, we were playing with a DM who gives the two CB's the coverage to stab into the midfield. Several times we saw Blind and McNair (who's really decent on the ball for his age/position if you ask me) move forward, sometimes all the way to Palace's 18. Whenever that happened, Carrick essentially moved backward into the CB pairing with whoever hadn't gone. Later on, when we moved Blind into the midfield, it was simply because Blind, despite not being quite as brilliant at passing the ball as Carrick, is actually better at keeping possession from a CDM role than Carrick. Carrick needed to save his legs a bit because he's just back from injury, and he plays a better long ball from deep positions than Blind.

To me, every move made sense from Van Gaal except adding Wilson for ADM. I would have liked to see Wilson on for RVP in a straight swap.

Stack · Nov 9, 2014

Just watched the game again. Have to say Palace defensively worked very hard and kept their shape very well. They were set up to try and get us on the break. I thought on 2nd viewing our biggest problem was ball speed, we just didn't move the ball quick enough at the right times.

Luigi Galvani · Nov 9, 2014

The RVP bashing is something like a virus here. Everybody is catching on it. Except workrate Rooney also didn't do anything, horrible shots closer to the corner than to the goal. Atleast RVP showed quick feet and awesome touches. There were many players poorer than Persie, no service to him. The wide players Di Maria , Januzaj are to blame, they are too selfish. Angel's set pieces are horrible. His corners are just a waste. I thought we played better after Maria and Januzaj went off . Rooney, Persie combined better.

Luigi Galvani · Nov 9, 2014

Excellent analysis Asger. I agree with all the points there.

DomesticTadpole · Nov 9, 2014

Luigi Galvani said:
The RVP bashing is something like a virus here. Everybody is catching on it. Except workrate Rooney also didn't do anything, horrible shots closer to the corner than to the goal. Atleast RVP showed quick feet and awesome touches. There were many players poorer than Persie, no service to him. The wide players Di Maria , Januzaj are to blame, they are too selfish. Angel's set pieces are horrible. His corners are just a waste. I thought we played better after Maria and Januzaj went off . Rooney, Persie combined better.

Unfortunately the most important thing he has to do is put the ball in the net, along with Rooney. They are both failing on that.

MrJames · Nov 9, 2014

Have to agree with Asger on the first point about how we played and why it is being seemingly "negative" to get the result.
LVG likes to play attacking football, he tried it in the beginning with the team, but it wasn't working. This came down to the mistakes made by the defence predominately, as such he is having to set up the rest of the team to protect the backs more. At this point he must know he can't afford slip ups against teams like palace.
I'm hoping that once there is a stable defence (which may take until we buy the stability as it looks like what's available wont be able to provide it to the level needed)then the attack will again improve.
The score also can't be looked at in comparison to Palaces' other games in which they bombed forward leaving themselves open a lot.
Happy to have a clean sheet, if we can keep arsenal out ill be even more happy.

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