I think the EPL has suprised Louis. His philosophy is in recess for now I feel.
- Status
West Brom scored twice, De Gea was a big part of why Chelsea and City didn't smash us (and the latter could've had three penalties) and Palace could've taken the lead today. How are we more defensively stable? As I see it we're wide open in midfield. Fellaini is often far ahead of the ball leaving us with one covering midfielder and against pacey teams that will hurt us, as it did in the second half against Swansea on day one this season.
I don't buy into this formation.
Maybe Herrera will need to wait until he can sign reinforcements for the defence, because sure as hell needs to. Our defence at the moment does not encourage the team to attack. He needs to strengthen it and quickly.
We are still getting carved open and it is just for the grace of god and David De Gea that we don't concede. Earlier in the season, apart from the infamous Leicester game, we looked like we could score loads of goals, the reason we didn't is more down to RVP than anyone. Now we look like we can't score and still might concede.
We're really not and your completely deluded if you think that.
Exactly, we were getting better, the play was great. Now we are back to looking like the same side from last season. We have to sort that defence out properly so it enables the flair midfielders to play. If the defence is solid we can go all out attack.
Completely agree. We've reverted to Moyesball recently.
Nothing about that win was down to him. We just had better players.
Agreed. And thanks to poor results against smaller teams in games we should have won: Sunderland, Swansea, Burnley, Leicester, we are now in a position where anything less than 9 points from are next 3 games will be another big step backwards.
We have stopped leaking goals, even with an array of defensive injuries but that has come at the expense of the attacking play we were exhibiting early on. The problem we have is that he is trying to work around a couple of undroppable players in attacking positions who aren't justifying their inclusion in the side with enough goals. Earlier we had stumbled upon a midfield combination that, albeit too open, I felt was the best we had in a long time.
Call it luck or an improved competitiveness of the league but despite an obvious poor start we are still within sight of our key objective. Things obviously need to change but as long as we set out within a straitjacket of undroppable players we won't go anywhere, we look too lethargic to cause an organised defence any trouble whilst I'm not too sure we can shut out any good attack. Things need to change and change fast because the next three matches could see us knocked out of the race for CL football.
Call it luck or an improved competitiveness of the league but despite an obvious poor start we are still within sight of our key objective. Things obviously need to change but as long as we set out within a straitjacket of undroppable players we won't go anywhere, we look too lethargic to cause an organised defence any trouble whilst I'm not too sure we can shut out any good attack. Things need to change and change fast because the next three matches could see us knocked out of the race for CL football.
That is the point, we need that midfield combination back, with a strengthened defence and he has to decide who plays upfront. He has had no problems dropping Herrera and Mata, yet will not show the balls to drop RVP.
LvG says he is no respecter of reputations, but then that is the only reason RVP is still in the side at the moment.
Today was a bad example of how we have improved. I much preferred our big games this season to last when we lost 3, 4, 5 nothing etc.
The league isn't just about the big matches sadly.
Good job we just won then and kept a clean sheet despite having a winger and two midfielders in our back 4.
We did, but we should be scoring more against them. Not a hiding, but definitely not 1-0.
I think today it became clear that he has a blind spot as far as Van Persie is concerned, I didn't understand why Di Maria had to make way when we could use ADM's pace on the break. I've been thinking, for weeks, that we only need to play just one out of Falcao,Rooney and Van Persie at least until we have turned a corner. We can't carry passengers atm and they are not justifying their inclusion with goals. I'd like to see a midfield of Carrick, Herrera and Blind, with Di Maria in a free role and he could even field Young/Lingard/Mata/Valencia on the right to make it a proper 4-5-1. Sucking up to underperformers needs to stop now because we can't afford ti have this season pan out like the last.
Yes, RVP was the problem today. Not Di Maria and Adnan, they were excellent.
That was hard to watch today. We're clueless in attack, disjointed in general and weak at the back. It really was as bad as last season and the beginning of this season before the massive expenditure on players.
I am beginning to wonder if LvG should be telling Robin to retire from international football. He actually looks exhausted. He played a World Cup and will be off again playing internationals. Maybe be should be resting during these breaks.
They were all a problem. Robin is upfront where he wants to play, so to keep his place he should be scoring more. Di Maria has been moved out of his best positon and Adnan has not shown the progress we all hoped from last season.
Ok, how about this - Chelsea only beat Crystal Palace by 1 goal as well a couple of weeks ago...
But Chelsea didn't manage to keep a clean sheet against them as we did today.
FFS they turned up with the most negative approach possible, defended with 6 at the back and played for a 0-0. Games like that are ugly.
We got the 3 points, we couldn't do much else. That's football.
I get the impression that even if we were at full strength we'd still be playing the same turgid stuff. I don't see Van Gaal as someone who has a clear plan.
But the difference is, Chelsea aren't playing poorly in other games.
I think he does, but the injuries are altering it all the time. He cannot decide who to play up front. In a way it should be a blessing that Falcao is injured, but he is still playing an out of sorts RVP and might be alienating Rooney by playing him in midfield instead of up front. RVP is the elephant in the room at the moment. I would have Rooney up front so more place are available in midfield. Januzaj has not justified his place and Fellaini was not need today.
Yes I watched them. We scored a last gasp goal to get a point at home to Chelsea and we lost to a Man City team who can't beat anyone but us.
He has a lot of decisions to make in terms of finding the best formation and best line up and whichever one he settles on is going to mean off loading some big names if he is prepared to do that and buying quite a few more players.
We are too slow, disjointed and lack balance and I think we need at least four or five new players to correct that the constant injuries need to be dealt with as well and you have to wonder if we need to steer clear of the likes of vidal, strootman and falcao considering their recent problems.
We are too slow, disjointed and lack balance and I think we need at least four or five new players to correct that the constant injuries need to be dealt with as well and you have to wonder if we need to steer clear of the likes of vidal, strootman and falcao considering their recent problems.
Last edited:
As much as you may have a point, I think it's generally seen as unprofessional for managers to either pressure a player into international retirement or outright tell them to retire from it.
Winning is the "only" positive in this match. The rest is not to be remembered.
I think he's caught between two minds. He wants to play the same attacking football we have a month or two ago, but he also knows the weakness of our defence - let alone when we're putting out back fours like today - and he tries to find the right balance. Unfortunately there's no clear solution. I do think he should have treated the Palace game much differently than the other two. Maybe he's just trying to find sort of stability and build from a sort of formation/team he knows is less likely to concede tons of goals. You're not really going to win games regularly through the attack.
Comparing United's and Chelsea's result to Palace is pointless as it ignores the rest of the season. What does that one result tell us in isolation?
Chelsea have also managed to get results against all the top sides and currently sit on top of the league after an excellent start which is much better than United.
I'm not using this as a way of criticising LVG but I really don't see the point in your comparison.
I was responding to a poster who suggested we should've beaten them by more goals.
By reminding ourselves that just a few weeks ago Chelsea, who as you've pointed out sit at the top of the league, also only managed to beat them by a 1 goal deficit, we can see that the margin by which we beat Palace isn't something to concern ourselves with.
That's why I made the comparison. Though I imagine you probably knew this already
I was responding to a poster who suggested we should've beaten them by more goals.
By reminding ourselves that just a few weeks ago Chelsea, who as you've pointed out sit at the top of the league, also only managed to beat them by a 1 goal deficit, we can see that the margin by which we beat Palace isn't something to concern ourselves with.
That's why I made the comparison. Though I imagine you probably knew this already
Obviously I did not as I would not have posed the question.
The problem with that comparison is as one result is such a small sample it naturally lends itself to a wider comparison with Chelsea and our results against similar opposition so far this season where there record is evidently far better than ours(and anyone's else for that matter). A 13 point difference tends to suggest they are doing far better than United.
Chelsea look like the best side in the country by a considerable distance at the moment due to their start and the form of others. I find it odd to bring them in as any type of measuring stick with current United unless it's to show how far off the top we are the moment. It's always going to be unfavourable to us.
I would not make the comparison and focus on Arsenal, Spurs, Everton and Liverpool who have had some similar problems to United and who are very much in touch with after a difficult start. I would not compare us with title contenders. That is not the objective this season.
I think he did have a plan but he doesn't have the personnel to execute it properly and now he is experimenting and adapting to try and find something that works. I'd not think he turned up with a great knowledge of the players, his focus had been on international football and he probably knows more about the Dutch, German and Spanish leagues. That combined with his late arrival means he hasn't got to grips with everything yet and there Re probably a lot more changes on the way.
Right on we are too pedestrian is attack, too soft off the ball and we are carrying too many crocks and pointless players still. This means that until he makes the big decisions that need to be made we will never run at full throttle and we will struggle for consistent results. It's a huge job but I can't help but feel that signing Falcao did not help us in moving towards where we want to be.
It's not just about signings either because he has to decide o exactly how he wants us playing and sign players that help him implement that. We need more pace in attack and more stability at the back.
Re- signings I think if we could sign McCarthy, Depay, one top/upcoming CB on the brink of WC status and a versatile fullback we will be okay for next season.
I think you're nit-picking. Using Chelsea as a comparison clearly shows that if the best team in the country are only beating Palace by 1 goal and can't keep a clean sheet against them then we have no reason to complain about a 1-0 victory!
But if it helps you, Arsenal also only managed a 1 goal deficit victory over Palace and also couldn't keep a clean sheet.
Everton lost to Palace, at home, 2-3.
The other teams you mention as 'valid comparisons' haven't played Palace yet this season.
Last edited:
One's gotta give him the benefit of doubt, I suppose - his tactics, formations and gameplan are heavily influenced by the injuries to the defenders.
I still can't understand his handling of Herrera, though; I hope he's not playing at the moment either because he doesn't think Ander is not suited for the setup given the injuries to the other players or because he isn't completely fit still.
I still can't understand his handling of Herrera, though; I hope he's not playing at the moment either because he doesn't think Ander is not suited for the setup given the injuries to the other players or because he isn't completely fit still.
Palace actually beat Everton at Goodison.
- Status