[Hed Zitin]

His job is to take people on and quicken the attack. Did the opposite.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

He was really bad, but as Van Gaal said Before the game he's basically been on a 2 week holiday so he's bound to be a bit rusty. That doesn't fully excuse such a poor performance however. He's come through at perhaps the worst possible time though hasn't he, considering the state the team is in.

 

[LARulz]

Mata was more involved in our game, but the position warrants that. Both of them created little though. What I expected with Januzaj and Di Maria was that we would attack them with pace, but that didn't happen at all. If they struggle with their fullbacks, why not switch sides? We create chances, don't get me wrong, but Januzaj and Mata created too few.

I agree they were both bad tonight, but I think Mata should have been able to do more. Januzaj had a couple dangerous crosses but they were far and few between. Mata I don't feel did any more than passing it to the easiest target which is why I was more disappointed in his performance. He should be looking for the runs and taking the ball forward or quicken the play at least

 

[Rossa]

I am the herder, not the sheep.

You are funny - I'll give you that, and me thinks you even have the slightest bit of self irony, albeit only a little.

 

[Godfather]

Not a good game from him

 

[NoWinNoFee]

Well one thing, if Madrid was watching today, they won't be interested anymore.

 

[SteveW]

People need to calm down. He's hardly played this season yet people expect him to hit form straight away. Its one poor game nothing more

 

[RetroStu]

He was like an attacking version of Carrick tonight. Just slowing down the play and keeping hold of the ball for 10 minutes at a time.

There is a reason why Van Gaal doesn't start him.

 

[Americano]

He looked slow out there today.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

He was awful. He's overrated, a lot. Last year we saw people actually comparing him to Sterling. He'll be a very good player I've no doubt but I don't think he's currently half the player some seem to think he is.

Sterling had a similar slump in his second (?) year aswell for a period where he was playing more for the reserves. Hopefully Januzaj will be able to recover as well as Sterling did.

 

[iBoss]

Was too slow with everything. Crossing was bad. Really poor game.

 

[Sammyjunn]

New trend, if a player plays a poor match, he wasnt good that season and he isnt half the player people are making of him, will try it with Ronaldo in the clasico.

 

[Rossa]

I agree they were both bad tonight, but I think Mata should have been able to do more. Januzaj had a couple dangerous crosses but they were far and few between. Mata I don't feel did any more than passing it to the easiest target which is why I was more disappointed in his performance. He should be looking for the runs and taking the ball forward or quicken the play at least

I pretty much agree with this. I've been waiting for Mata to prove how good he can be. This was the perfect match for him with a relatively low tempo and players making runs, but he simply took too long on the ball, which I've noticed that he can do. RVP was poor, but Mata did little to make him good, truth be told.

 

[Rossa]

New trend, if a player plays a poor match, he wasnt good that season and he isnt half the player people are making of him, will try it with Ronaldo in the clasico.

Giggs never scored a goal because he didn't score in his last season - he was always a little bit sluggish for a winger also, much more suited to play in the centre of the pitch.

 

[Nighteyes]

Looked a bit slow, not sure why.

That said, he was at least trying to create something which is a lot more than I can say for Mata.

 

[Cypriot]

Was pretty bad today. What I thought were his strongest points turned out to be his weaknesses tonight. His close control and ability to take on a man were none existent and he looked to slow down the play a lot whilst others were bombing forward. Not the worst performance in the world but certainly not what we've come to expect from our no.11. Hopefully this was just a blip and he'll be back to his old self soon enough. Thought he would have relished the chance to impress after not featuring for so long.

 

[Manchie]

He had poor game today but he is at least young and has a lot to learn unlike Mata and RVP

 

[Rossa]

Looked a bit slow, not sure why.

That said, he was at least trying to create something which is a lot more than I can say for Mata.

I've noticed before how he can look a little sluggish at times - I think it depends on his match fitness. He's no Valencia in terms of pace and I doubt he ever will be, but today he was indeed slow-ish. I'm not even sure how much he was trying tbf - to me it looked as if he resigned in the second half.

 

[DevilRed]

Looked a bit slow, not sure why.

That said, he was at least trying to create something which is a lot more than I can say for Mata.

Looked slow because he was always double teamed and he is left footed playing on the right flank. Which means the ball is always showing towards the defender making it very hard for him to beat his man.

Wrong match to use him in hindsight. There was no space for him to go on the break especially after we conceded early. Also, he is so much better playing on the left flank where he can actually put in a cross naturally. Of course, this might not be possible with Angel playing in the position, but maybe ADM can do a better job on the right wing similar to when he was at Madrid?

 

[GloryHunter07]

Bad game = bad player?

Youngsters are inconsistent, he will be back.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

He looked like a player who hadn't played for a good while. Looked slow and sloppy on the ball, but linked up with Rafael well on a number of occasions. He'll get better.

 

[RexHamilton]

Was far from his best tonight. Possibly understandable due to lack of football, but his chances are going to be few and far between this season, so if he wants to make an impression he'll have to learn to produce his best when he does get those chances.

Many were saying he was getting a chance to earn his place for the Chelsea and City games coming up and he certainly didn't take it tonight. People will defend him and say it's very hard to produce your best when you're not playing consistently and I'd agree, but he's not going to have that luxury unfortunately. We're going to see very little of him between now and Christmas, I reckon.

 

[Cheesy]

He looked like a player who hadn't played for a good while. Looked slow and sloppy on the ball, but linked up with Rafael well on a number of occasions. He'll get better.

The problem is whether he'll get the game time to get better though, especially since Rooney will be back and Falcao is likely to be starting.

 

[LR7]

8 mins vs QPR on the 14th Sept, 18 minutes vs Leicester on the 21st Sept. Surprise surprise, he played like he hadn't played football at this level for a while. Seemed to take ages to decide what he wanted to do which slowed play down a fair bit. He isn't poor, he just needs more minutes to get back to his confident best. Don't see why he is being written off.

 

[Sied]

I'm having de ja vue with last season where fans were calling on the likes of Zaha and Fabio to be given a chance when we were struggling. Then everyone jumped on them when the struggled. Why do people expect these young players to come in after not playing for an extended period, and suddenly be able to perform?

He was bang average, but so was the performance.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

As someone pointed out already, Sterling had a pretty rough time before he properly kicked on again last season. It's completely normal for young players, and there's no reason to start revising Januzaj's potential on the back of this (poor) performance.

Sterling had the luxury of having to break back in to a side that didn't have anywhere near as much quality in his positions though, so the question is obviously whether Januzaj will be afforded the time to rediscover his mojo though.

We'll see, but I believe Mata will be shipped out before long, which should make Januzaj's chances of starting matches a bit better.

 

[Minimalist]

Bit crap. Doesn't look dangerous on the ball at all. Also didn't really link up that well.

Seems to slow things down.

 

[Ringo 07]

Januzaj is still a couple of years away from being ready for this level. Him, mata and Herrera were our weakest links tonight

 

[Seveneric]

He's hardly gotten any game time as of late under the manager that prioritizes "juice" so much, what did people expect?

 

[Sammyjunn]

Januzaj is still a couple of years away from being ready for this level. Him, mata and Herrera were our weakest links tonight

Dont really agree with this statement, if there is one thing certain is that Januzaj has showed last season he was capable of this level. Teared almost every left/right back apart, everyone thought he would only do better when he is played alongside better players/better tea/better coach, things arent going his way and he isnt good enough? If he gets to play in this slow possesion based United, I agree he wont ever be good enough. The only player who would perform vs 2 defenders on a consistent basis, a team that just sits back, with an extremely low tempo in the team would be Robben.

 

[JPRouve]

Dont really agree with this statement, if there is one thing certain is that Januzaj has showed last season he was capable of this level. Teared almost every left/right back apart, everyone thought he would only do better when he is played alongside better players/better tea/better coach, things arent going his way and he isnt good enough? If he gets to play in this slow possesion based United, I agree he wont ever be good enough. The only player who would perform vs 2 defenders on a consistent basis, a team that just sits back, with an extremely low tempo in the team would be Robben.

Last season he showed that he was capable of brilliant sparks, nothing more. He had no consistency, he is a very young player, just be patient.

 

[christy87]

I dont understand why they didn't switch him to the left when young came on, he wasn't cutting in effectively enough and with both going down their opposite flank they would have been on their natural foot for crosses and the left side did look open for putting in first time crosses.

 

[FromTheBench]

8 mins vs QPR on the 14th Sept, 18 minutes vs Leicester on the 21st Sept. Surprise surprise, he played like he hadn't played football at this level for a while. Seemed to take ages to decide what he wanted to do which slowed play down a fair bit. He isn't poor, he just needs more minutes to get back to his confident best. Don't see why he is being written off.

Yeah, meanwhile RVP is being given all kinds of leeway and time despite being consistently worse if anything whole season for club and country starting games.


It was his first senior start of the season and his first minutes in a month now ?

 

[caisenma]

I'm having de ja vue with last season where players were calling on the likes of Zaha and Fabio to be given a chance when we were struggling. Then everyone jumped on them when the struggled. Why do people expect these young players to come in after not playing for an extended period, and suddenly be able to perform?

He was bang average, but so was the performance.

Precisely. We could have the same discussions about every single player on the pitch, except one. Remarkably, it was Fellaini who literally and figuratively stood out as our best player which is somewhat terrifying.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Januzaj is still a couple of years away from being ready for this level. Him, mata and Herrera were our weakest links tonight

Yep. Agreed on all three. Not a good performance by Adnan tonight.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Last season he showed that he was capable of brilliant sparks, nothing more. He had no consistency, he is a very young player, just be patient.

No consistency, when he had the run just in/before January he was our best played like every match, the only one who could create something, all our attacks, he played a part in it. The only thing he lacked last season was end product.

 

[iBoss]

He's hardly gotten any game time as of late under the manager that prioritizes "juice" so much, what did people expect?

If he doesn't deserve to start, he won't. Doesn't matter if van Gaal cares about youth or not.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm having de ja vue with last season where fans were calling on the likes of Zaha and Fabio to be given a chance when we were struggling. Then everyone jumped on them when the struggled. Why do people expect these young players to come in after not playing for an extended period, and suddenly be able to perform?

He was bang average, but so was the performance.

More to the point, why can't people see the obvious connection between the poor performances when picked and the managers apparent reluctance to pick them? Maybe their form in games reflects their form in training?

I really hope Januzaj's career doesn't follow those other two you mention but their limited opportunities for United have been 100% justified by what we've seen since they played more football at lesser clubs.

 

[In Rainbows]

Looked slow because he was always double teamed and he is left footed playing on the right flank. Which means the ball is always showing towards the defender making it very hard for him to beat his man.

Wrong match to use him in hindsight. There was no space for him to go on the break especially after we conceded early. Also, he is so much better playing on the left flank where he can actually put in a cross naturally. Of course, this might not be possible with Angel playing in the position, but maybe ADM can do a better job on the right wing similar to when he was at Madrid?

Not true at all. Players like him find it easier on the right side as it makes better use of their left foot and their tendency to go inside. He did that, but there wasn't an option to slide a through ball when he did that so just ended up passing it to the player behind. This happened many times.

I was more disappointed in Mata. Januzaj had a couple of good crosses, carried the ball forward at times, and had a good pass to Rafael that created a good goal scoring opportunity. Not an electrifying game by any means as he didn't try to take on players as much, and had to wait for the ball on the right wing a lot of the times. Mata on the other hand didn't affect the match at all and I've been wanting him to give great competition for Rooney. There is no way he is considered over Rooney behind the two strikers now.

Anyways, he's a player that is slow to get rid of the ball. He's always been like that unless an opportunity/space arises where a quick 1 touch pass is available. It's very noticeable in this LVG side as players get rid of it far quicker than a lot of other sides. He needs to work on that.

He also needs to work on his positioning as a winger so he doesn't find himself going lengths at a time waiting for the ball to come to him. He used to ask for it at every opportunity as a youth player, but the more he played under Moyes, the less he asked for the ball.

 

[JPRouve]

No consistency, when he had the run just in/before January he was our best played like every match, the only one who could create something, all our attacks, he played a part in it. The only thing he lacked last season was end product.

Consistent during 1 month out of 9, that's not being consistent