Nah, he probably will be. City and Chelsea finishing above us if perfectly fine. Arsenal to a much lesser extent. To finish behind one of, or more of a Suarez-less Liverpool, Everton, Spurs or even Southampton is criminal. Unless one of those teams ends up challenging for the title I think finishing outside the top 4 may be an automatic sacking.
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Nah, he probably will be. City and Chelsea finishing above us if perfectly fine. Arsenal to a much lesser extent. To finish behind one of, or more of a Suarez-less Liverpool, Everton, Spurs or even Southampton is criminal. Unless one of those teams ends up challenging for the title I think finishing outside the top 4 may be an automatic sacking.
Yep, agree with you. We, the players and those running the club should take no notice of the press. It would be stupid to have a knee jerk reaction as we would go straight back to first base.
It is more worrying that United fans on here are feeling tetchy with him, than that school of Piranhas.
But the goals scored don't actually tell the whole story, if Van Persie was on form we would have scored at least five more and been two or three points better off. I think our forward play has improved but we are still building but if he doesn't sort that defence out, by whatever means, or th time being he is gone by Christmas imo.
Exactly, who would they replace him with? Giggs and his cronies, god help us.
How is he going to sort the defence out if the players can't keep fit? He is astounded by the frailty of that defence. Rojo injury can happen, but Jones, Evans and Rafael can't seem to keep fit and Smalling is a numpty.
I feel for him. His game plans and the way he's set out the team is near faultless. I feel the players have let him and us down. They need to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and fight for him and the team. They're doing that only in patches and they have to build their confidence up. You're playing for a Premier League, it doesn't get better than this.
Totally agree with all this. But RvP wasn't our only fit senior striker - Rooney was fit too!
So If he can't make injury-prone defenders that Fergie left stay fit, he'll be gone in 2 months?
I love how we play, and if I compare our last 2 - 3 years meeting at City ground I will say we play better.
I think last year at this time I started doubting Moyes, but this time I am confident with LVG.
However, I have to say we need to win now.
Yes we have defensive issue, but you can't give that excuses over time to time.
I think we need to win C. Palace and then every one will be calm down little.
Its big season and lots of twist and turn to come.
I think last year at this time I started doubting Moyes, but this time I am confident with LVG.
However, I have to say we need to win now.
Yes we have defensive issue, but you can't give that excuses over time to time.
I think we need to win C. Palace and then every one will be calm down little.
Its big season and lots of twist and turn to come.
Maybe some of the players are not intelligent enough to play the system. Who knows. I think he knows what he is doing, it is if some of the players do. I worry about the likes of Smalling, Jones, Rafael and Evans. I don't know about other areas. Blind will understand, Herrera I suspect will, if you can work with Bielsa you can work with anybody. He likes intelligence, where English teams have been used to players who get stuck in, have a good engine etc but maybe not great at the technical and tactical side of the game. As long as they had heart was all that mattered.
He is a bit stubborn I feel, really think we should be playing 4-5-1 with a lone striker supported by wingers, particularly in bigger games so that we can control possession more and shield our vulnerable defence. No idea why we have persisted with van Persie either, Rooney up top, supported by Fellaini with Blind and Carrick/Herrera in midfield is what I'd like to see him try.
Some of the "build up" play is much better than last season but again I can see why people are saying its down to improved quality of players as opposed to tactical brilliance. I can only assume Herrera was unfit to play but then why not start Carrick? Di Maria is plenty mobile to work his socks off to support a lone striker. The injuries and lack of a settled defence haven't helped him to be fair, any manager would struggle with that but have yet to see much from LVG that's tactically impressive, barring the resurgence of Fellaini. In any case, 4th is the aim and we can go it if we're consistent in the "smaller" games and that is what this season is about, then a few more reinforcements in the winter/next summer and maybe a couple of youngsters develop, still have faith he's the right man but I can see why the skepticism is growing.
Some of the "build up" play is much better than last season but again I can see why people are saying its down to improved quality of players as opposed to tactical brilliance. I can only assume Herrera was unfit to play but then why not start Carrick? Di Maria is plenty mobile to work his socks off to support a lone striker. The injuries and lack of a settled defence haven't helped him to be fair, any manager would struggle with that but have yet to see much from LVG that's tactically impressive, barring the resurgence of Fellaini. In any case, 4th is the aim and we can go it if we're consistent in the "smaller" games and that is what this season is about, then a few more reinforcements in the winter/next summer and maybe a couple of youngsters develop, still have faith he's the right man but I can see why the skepticism is growing.
He'll have to take them to Lourdes or something.So If he can't make injury-prone defenders that Fergie left stay fit, he'll be gone in 2 months?
True but I think LvG felt he needed Rooney's physicality in midfield instead of Mata, and my guess is our other option Herrera is not fully fit.
I would have been happier with Herrera playing, he puts himself about and can be creative and can score goals. He might have freed Di Maria to play where he plays best.
That's what crippling levels of injuries and suspensions does to you.
If LvG does not take us to top 4 by the end of the season, he will be gone. I am sure we will buy more in January, and he will have no excuse in front of Woodward. Personally, I do believe that we will finish third-fourth, and I am glad to see we are going in the right direction. My preferred line up against Palace and Arsenal would be:
DDG
Rafael-McNair-Evans-Shaw
Herrera-Blind-Di Maria
One of Januzaj/Mata/Fellaini
Rooney-Falcao
DDG
Rafael-McNair-Evans-Shaw
Herrera-Blind-Di Maria
One of Januzaj/Mata/Fellaini
Rooney-Falcao
The worst thing about this is I feel absolutely no attachment to the manager because I believe if he fails to get CL he will be gone.
Sad to say as I think the players at the back are are letting him down rather than him letting us down.
Sad to say as I think the players at the back are are letting him down rather than him letting us down.
Did he leave out Herrera? We need that guy on the pitch desperately.
The players haven't let anyone down, nor has Van Gaal. We're simply in the middle of a changing of systems and an injury crisis, which has slowed our start. We are definitely playing better football and growing in confidence compared to a year ago when our confidence was plummeting and the dressing room was beginning to come undone.
In my opinion he was dropped, if you're fit enough for the bench you should be fit enough to play.
Can take some heart from the last 2 games but the Palace game is a must win, there can be no excuses.
I agree, I think some of the players are letting him down. Being injury prone and individual mistakes by them have not helped him at all. Happy with De Gea and Shaw though. They did really well today.
Injuries and suspensions are no excuses for not winning the games I mentioned. Swansea, Burnley, Sunderland, Leicster. We had enough quality in the teams that played those teams to win and despite any injuries or suspensions: we should be winning all of those games. End of.
If he was dropped it was a mistake. He is just the player we need in the side. We needed this lad next season and I love the way he plays. Hopefully he will play against Palace as we could do with giving someone a good hiding for a change.
I agree, we've played our best football this season when he's been in the team.
They haven't had anywhere near the injuries we have had.
Maybe because he's not 6'4 with a stupid mop of hair and would be no use to lob long balls to?
I actually meant we needed him last season. My mistake.
I've defended the defenders we've had for long enough but I think it's time Van Gaal spends some money on some centre backs. Smalling is generally good but was beyond stupid today, Jones is good but made of glass, Rojo is OK but I don't feel comfortable with him at the back and Evans is good but anytime he did play this season he's looked pretty shakey.
We need a strong defender who can organise a back line without getting injured every second game
We need a strong defender who can organise a back line without getting injured every second game
I think it probably was to do with the physicality of the game. Chelsea and City are both big team in certain areas. I hope he plays against Palace.
Would Garay and Rojo work well together?
I'm sick of the abuse the defence is getting.
It's amazing how people can't grasp this. If you're looking at a season-on-season delta, we got absolutely spanked in this fixture last year, 11 vs 11, first choice back four (bar Rafael).
I think the come back of Carrick is a massive boost for our team. His calming influence and playmaking in midfield is what this new team needed. Plus judging by these last two big games, looks like LvG finally grasp the 'essence' of Premier League.
I can only see us moving up from now on, bar catastrophic events (bad refs, red card, etc.).
I can only see us moving up from now on, bar catastrophic events (bad refs, red card, etc.).
We still should of won those games. Burnley, Leicester, and Sunderland for god sake. They got beaten 8-0 a couple of weeks ago. Come on.
It's hard to imagine our players gaining much confidence from 0 wins out of our last 3 games, some of these players are used to winning leagues ffs!
Its the instant gratification culture. Buying expensive players and having a well known manager should instantly make us top of the league.
First of all, this isn't a knee jerk reaction to todays match.
I don't know if I really believe in LVGs 'Philosophies'
It may work at other clubs, but we can't play like Barcelona for 2 reasons.
1. We don't have the players
2. This is the Prem, it wouldn't work here
We have gone such a long way from scoring goals like this:
Problem is, minus Di Maria we are a very slow team.
We Nullify Di Maria's pace as our build up play is so slow. When he receives the ball, he has 10 players in front of him to break down. At Real Madrid, the build up was so much quicker, that he had gaps to run into
Aguero shows today that pace up front is very troublesome, but look around our attack and you don't see it. Rooney, RVP and Falcao are not quick, and the ball needs to be put in front of goal for them, rather than creating their own chances on a regular basis.
The defence is another issue for another day
I don't know if I really believe in LVGs 'Philosophies'
It may work at other clubs, but we can't play like Barcelona for 2 reasons.
1. We don't have the players
2. This is the Prem, it wouldn't work here
We have gone such a long way from scoring goals like this:
Problem is, minus Di Maria we are a very slow team.
We Nullify Di Maria's pace as our build up play is so slow. When he receives the ball, he has 10 players in front of him to break down. At Real Madrid, the build up was so much quicker, that he had gaps to run into
Aguero shows today that pace up front is very troublesome, but look around our attack and you don't see it. Rooney, RVP and Falcao are not quick, and the ball needs to be put in front of goal for them, rather than creating their own chances on a regular basis.
The defence is another issue for another day
Two of the three games were against the current champs and league leaders, and given the sending off, we still played quite well.
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