[Bebe]

Happy with our defensive organization which is definitely coming along nicely. As for the attack, it'll improve. People just need to be patient. Last season was similar in that by November (as the injuries abated) we started grinding out results without playing thrilling football. Through that run we built confidence and gelled, by February/March our passing had gone from functional to fluid and we were dominating quality opposition. Same thing will happen this season, except now we have better players and the depth to sustain it.

 

[gerdm07]

I am starting to think Schweini might be our most important player going forward. If he is healthy, we will have a good season. Would love for us to start Schneiderlein, Schweinie and Herrera, Schneiderlein DM and have the other two just roam. Maybe LvG will be more adventurous in the next two matches.

 

[Striker10]

Great option to have Schweinsteiger and Carrick rotating. There seems to be a good team spirit in the camp. Considering our away form last season, it was a good 3 points. Villa were inept int the final third but we still had to dig in at times. I think when Rooney took a blow late on - we're quite fragile up top. Hernandez needs minutes and I don't think that performance is acceptable from a captain. We're obviously a better shape with Schneiderlein, Schweinsteiger and Herrera and if that means bench for Rooney until his form picks up, so be it.

 

[eggwithsideburns]

Unspectacular but solid. The contrast in our defending compared to the start of last season is vast, last season we looked almost like headless chickens at times so it is very pleasing to see us looking so assured and organized with our defending. Both Darmian and Shaw did excellent again, as did Blind who once again went against opinion and looked just as much a natural as the rest of our back four. Romero is quietly going about his business protecting our goal, he is doing fine.

Rooney needs to sharpen up fast but I expect he will, then our attacks will be more fluid and we will get more goals to celebrate. Memphis can only get better too, we saw glimpses of his talent and I'm excited to see more of it. I think he suits being out wide but he could have done better. We have the midfield to control games and we did that today for the most part, we even had the luxury of bringing on two excellent midfielders when we felt we needed to, smart move by LVG. special mentions go to Mata and Adnan, Mata showed lovely creativity and vision today and Andan did really well with his goal, brilliant bit of skill.

An improved performance over the Spurs game and I think we will be even better again against Newcastle.

 

[The Purist]

Bit of class from Mata won the game for United. That moment aside, there wasn't much to separate the sides.

Classy players win games and that's what he helped to do.

 

[carlosp]

Bit of class from Mata won the game for United. That moment aside, there wasn't much to separate the sides.

Classy players win games and that's what he helped to do.

Mata had a second excellent pass to Memphis but he failed to convert. Almost my MotM but Darmian kept the right hand side so shut that the Villa left forward couldn't get passed him at all. Solid by Darmian.

 

[ChaddyP]

Bit of class from Mata won the game for United. That moment aside, there wasn't much to separate the sides.

Classy players win games and that's what he helped to do.

we were head and shoulders better than villa without even coming out of second gear. Should have been at least 2 love had our finishing been better. Most of the chances created came from us.

 

[NoPace]

we were head and shoulders better than villa without even coming out of second gear. Should have been at least 2 love had our finishing been better. Most of the chances created came from us.

There were 2 chances. We scored one (deflection put it in, though a rebound looked likely) and Memphis just missed the other. Was there a 3rd chance? I guess you could count Schneiderlin's header on that set piece (though Villa were asleep and it wasn't close to a shot on target) and none other come to mind.

We looked way more solid defensively than they did, though, so deserved the win.

 

[ChaddyP]

There were 2 chances. We scored one (deflection put it in, though a rebound looked likely) and Memphis just missed the other. Was there a 3rd chance? I guess you could count Schneiderlin's header on that set piece (though Villa were asleep and it wasn't close to a shot on target) and none other come to mind.

We looked way more solid defensively than they did, though, so deserved the win.

like van gaal i dont consider much other things than shots on target or shots just wide as chances created. We created chances just that we weren't good enough in attack to put the chances away.

 

[ZDwyr]

Decent away performance really. Got the three points and that is all that maters. I think our defence may end up being the best or second best in the league this season. We look solid.

 

[Insanity]

Bit of a tugrid affair. Villa were atrocious and we looked solid defensively.

The Good:

Mikey looks awesome; has picked up from where he left last season. His passing can improve. Hope he isn't sacrificed for a "ball" player.
The two full-backs are both awesome. Pace, positioning, defending - they have it all. Wish we would unleash them a bit more in attack.
Some of Blind's passing from the back was awesome. A day when Blind and Romero aren't put under too much pressure is a good day.
Schweinsteiger, what a player. We would be fine if we can get 30 league games out of him.

The Bad:

(The not so bad)
Carrick looks uncomfortable playing ahead of Schneiderlin. Should be the holding player.
Schneiderlin looked good off the ball but made some stupid mistakes on the ball. Looks a bit rusty.

(The bad)
Was chuffed that Januzaj started and scored a goal. Rest of it, terrible. Couldn't hold on to the ball well and kept falling. Blind played some good balls to his feet, only for him to mess them up.
Depay has a lot to learn. Same problems as Januzaj. He is a goal scorer, so should take the chances when presented to him.
It was very easy for Villa players to bully Mata off the ball. Slows down the attack too much. Need to make more of those passes that he made to Januzaj

The Ugly:

fecking Wayne! Has he forgotten how to play football or something? Horrendous performance. One of the worst I have seen from him.
The game started at 00:15 IST and in the ensuing one hour and fifty minutes, I dozed off four times. We are dire to watch. Predictable, slow and uninspiring - that sums up our football. That one of our defenders or goalie is the Man of the match in a lot of our games, says it all.

Need to get a winger and a striker before the window shuts.

 

[hbgreg]

Rewatched the game, was far from boring.

 

[World Game]

Agree. For all of LvG's talk about attacking football, I have yet to see any evidence that will start actually doing it at some point.

We are the team who is controlling the game. We don't rely on counter attacking or direct football and our main form of defence is ball possession. That is attacking football. Attacking football doesn't mean going gung ho and throwing caution to the wind. That's dumb football.

 

[legball]

Bit of a tugrid affair. Villa were atrocious and we looked solid defensively.

The Good:

Mikey looks awesome; has picked up from where he left last season. His passing can improve. Hope he isn't sacrificed for a "ball" player.
The two full-backs are both awesome. Pace, positioning, defending - they have it all. Wish we would unleash them a bit more in attack.
Some of Blind's passing from the back was awesome. A day when Blind and Romero aren't put under too much pressure is a good day.
Schweinsteiger, what a player. We would be fine if we can get 30 league games out of him.

The Bad:

(The not so bad)
Carrick looks uncomfortable playing ahead of Schneiderlin. Should be the holding player.
Schneiderlin looked good off the ball but made some stupid mistakes on the ball. Looks a bit rusty.

(The bad)
Was chuffed that Januzaj started and scored a goal. Rest of it, terrible. Couldn't hold on to the ball well and kept falling. Blind played some good balls to his feet, only for him to mess them up.
Depay has a lot to learn. Same problems as Januzaj. He is a goal scorer, so should take the chances when presented to him.
It was very easy for Villa players to bully Mata off the ball. Slows down the attack too much. Need to make more of those passes that he made to Januzaj

The Ugly:

fecking Wayne! Has he forgotten how to play football or something? Horrendous performance. One of the worst I have seen from him.
The game started at 00:15 IST and finished at 02:05. In the ensuing one hour and fifty minutes, I dozed off four times. We are dire to watch. Predictable, slow and uninspiring - that sums up our football. That one of our defenders or goalie is the Man of the match in a lot of our games, says it all.

Need to get a winger and a striker before the window shuts.

You can say this about almost every player we had out there, Memphis, Adnan, Rooney & Mata etc. Some of the passing was awful and careless.

 

[World Game]

Rewatched the game, was far from boring.

Agreed, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say.

 

[NK86]

Bit of class from Mata won the game for United. That moment aside, there wasn't much to separate the sides.

Classy players win games and that's what he helped to do.

Barring the fact that Villa created feck all chances being the home team, yeah there was nothing to separate us!

 

[Insanity]

You can say this about almost every player we had out there, Memphis, Adnan, Rooney & Mata etc. Some of the passing was awful and careless.

True. The attacking quartet were especially guilty of this, like you said.

 

[marlowe78]

I have to say that I'm pleased with this. There is a clear improvement from how we started last season and it's not just in the results.

The big positive, obviously, is our defensive play. The back 4 were superb and the holding middles did a very good job in breaking up movement. Smalling dominated in the air as you would hope and Darmian and Shaw were like glue in preventing the cross. Blind was very good again, also made some fine passes to move things forward. Romero didn't have to do very much but he was perfectly positioned for balls at goal and his distribution was good as well.

Villa came at us in the early stages of the second half and the correct changes were made in bringing Herrera and Schweinsteiger on. While having Carrick and Schniederlin together makes us solid, there was again no link between the back and front line and Villa were beginning to exploit this. Bringing them on made us more deliberate with our possession and we really should have had another goal or two on the counterattack.

I'm thrilled for Januzaj in how he took advantage of his chance to play. Memphis really botched that scoring opportunity but this game showed he is meant for the wing and for stretches of the game he was the only one who looked like creating something. Mata was like a cheap crime film, a lurid mixture of good and bad.

I am a fan of Rooney but that was absolute dogshit. Everything he did today was poor - poor touch, poor passing, poor positioning, just horrible. I honestly can't remember him playing this poorly and he's had some real stinkers. People keep mentioning that he needs some playing time to get into form but what strikes me about Rooney is that I don't have the feeling he can pull magic out of nowhere like in seasons past. Today, especially his offsides, reminded me of the last 1 1/2 seasons of van Persie when he played for us, except his touch and holdup play was much better than this guy's. I'm actually tempted to say that Januzaj should be given a chance at striker, if not Hernandez or whomever we might sign.

 

[RedRonaldo]

I am pleased with the result so far.
We also look much better and in control when we have Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin and Herrera in midfield.
Defence looks good with Darmian, Smalling, Blind and Shaw.
Our new keeper looks solid and reliable.
We should give more chance to Januzaj (maybe as no.9?), who scored an amazing goal.
Rooney looks horrible.

 

[Shimo]

We did get control back when Schweiny and Herrera came on but, people should keep in mind when they came on, not only were Villa pushing up, which gave them a bit more space to work with but, also Villa had expended quite a bit of energy in the first half as they tried to keep their shape and close us down and then early in the 2nd half when they were pushing for the equalizer.

They'll probably get their shot at starting but, the Carrick/Schneiderlin partnership has certainly given us a good base so far.

 

[Mani]

It seems like LVG preparing another Muller in the form of Januzaj,he just need some physical attributes to succeed in No.10 position.

 

[Dans]

Defensively sound but our attacking play left a lot to be desired. Again few shots/chances created, and our goal again wouldnt have gone in with the last touch of an opposition player. Things can only get better in that respect, one would hope.

 

[Slevs]

"This man Gestede."

Man I love LVG's interviews.

 

[Sad Chris]

Some do though, and that's fine as well.

Some marry for rational reasons too. It's all fine. Maybe I'm just a bit of a hopeless romantic, but if you keep saying my wife is a stank breathed whore, I get pissed off. She may seem ugly to you, but I've seen her a lot worse and still fell in love.

 

[Sad Chris]

Just want to say, although I can see how styles of Football being branded boring..but I don't understand how if you are a United fan you can actually be genuinely bored during the match. The intensity and emotional involvement I feel is the opposite of boring.

Even for a neutral, we weren't slow or tumescent tonight, the lack of creation was there and we were really focused on possession again which isn't the most exciting.

But if you are a Manchester United fan it should be physically impossible to be bored during a United game.

Likes + 1

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I went on Whoscored.com to see what the pass completion rates are. Some make you understand why some play and some are worrying.
Darmian - 81.3%
Smalling - 83.2%
Blind - 91.1%
Shaw - 86.3%
Carrick - 94%
Schneiderlin - 87.2%
Mata - 89.2%
Januzaj - 81.3%
Memphis - 83.1%
Rooney - 80.3%
Schweinsteiger - 89.7%
Herrera - 88.9%
Young - 75.7%
Valencia 60%
That stat shows why Blind plays where he does, Carrick is still neat and tidy. The bolded ones are a worry and Valencia should never leave the bench.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Valencia barely touched the ball so his stat is meaningless.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

The team is presently too skewed towards defence.

After last seasons start that is hardly surprising. I think once the defence has built a good understanding, which it is starting to do, they can start to be more attacking.

 

[izec]

"This man Gestede."

Man I love LVG's interviews.

''I like Tottenham, i like the players of Tottenham''. Think he had Kane, Lloris, Eriksen and Vertonghen in mind. Would suit his philosophy.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Valencia barely touched the ball so his stat is meaningless.

Probably, but him coming on let Spurs back in, he likely does need game time but that defence is doing well so not sure how he will get it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

We did get control back when Schweiny and Herrera came on but, people should keep in mind when they came on, not only were Villa pushing up, which gave them a bit more space to work with but, also Villa had expended quite a bit of energy in the first half as they tried to keep their shape and close us down and then early in the 2nd half when they were pushing for the equalizer.

They'll probably get their shot at starting but, the Carrick/Schneiderlin partnership has certainly given us a good base so far.

Maybe that will be what happens, we bore teams to sleep in the first half, knick a goal. Second half the other team have to try to score, Bastian and Herrera to come on when the space appears.

 

[manichester]

Rooney needs to be told he is not an automatic starter with displays like that, drop him and show him he has competition for his place.

Defense was excellent and we have healthy competition in midfield for positions (at last). We are not far away from a very good team.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Rooney needs to be told he is not an automatic starter with displays like that, drop him and show him he has competition for his place.

Defense was excellent and we have healthy competition in midfield for positions (at last). We are not far away from a very good team.

Rooney doesn't have competition though, that is the problem.

 

[Name Changed]

Rooney needs to be told he is not an automatic starter with displays like that, drop him and show him he has competition for his place.

Defense was excellent and we have healthy competition in midfield for positions (at last). We are not far away from a very good team.

LvG can tell him that as much as he likes but it will clearly be lies as there is nobody else.

 

[TwoSheds]

I went on Whoscored.com to see what the pass completion rates are. Some make you understand why some play and some are worrying.
Darmian - 81.3%
Smalling - 83.2%
Blind - 91.1%
Shaw - 86.3%
Carrick - 94%
Schneiderlin - 87.2%
Mata - 89.2%
Januzaj - 81.3%
Memphis - 83.1%
Rooney - 80.3%
Schweinsteiger - 89.7%
Herrera - 88.9%
Young - 75.7%
Valencia 60%
That stat shows why Blind plays where he does, Carrick is still neat and tidy. The bolded ones are a worry and Valencia should never leave the bench.

How is it worrying to have pass completion rates in the 80s from your forwards?

The only worrying thing is if theyre not creating chances or scoring goals.

 

[Stretford Red1978]

Watching United is like torture. We all started watching this sport for entertainment and somewhere along the way we sold our souls for 3 points each week.

Jesus Christ let me get the bloody razor blades!

 

[Tosicsleftpeg]

Was Darmian really MOTM? I'd put the other 3 defenders ahead of him.

Not saying he did poorly at all, mind.

He just had a decent game imo i thought Shaw/Smalling were the best players out there last night.

 

[Lewis.no.9]

At this point who would be up for Schweinsteiger/smalling captaincy?.. Bastian should start every game and get rests for the last 20mins or so.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

How is it worrying to have pass completion rates in the 80s from your forwards?

The only worrying thing is if theyre not creating chances or scoring goals.

Problem is that Rooney won't stay up front half the time. Mata is playing in that front three and he has a pretty good pass completion. A lot of moves are breaking down with Wayne. I just want him to hit form. I think we had 9 chances last night through various methods. The problem is not hitting them in the net. Some teams could have 4 chances and every one of them goes in the net.

 

[iHicksy]

Positives

Defence looked solid. Darmian is a fantastic defender and Smalling is for me, fast becoming the most complete CB in the league. Depay looks to have all the tools to be a fantastic left sided attacker. We got another clean sheet and 3 points. Bastian is an amazing player, all of his passes were perfectly weighted and we gained a faster cutting edge to our play with him pulling all the strings. He has bags of creativity which were lacking for the previous hour of football.

Negatives

LVG's tactics were not working with the players on the pitch. I'm not sure if some of the people here actually watched the game but Januzaj, despite scoring, looked out of his depth. He was muscled off the ball and offered no link up play. This was further exemplified when Herrera came on and instantly looked like a huge improvement. Again, Mata was no where near as good as people are making out. He had a really poor game. I lost count of the amount of times a counter attack was on or an attacking pass was obvious and he instead chose to either do a Valencia style pirouette with the ball and pass it back, or run horizontally along the pitch and again, pass it backwards. Rooney again was absent, but it's not surprising that as soon as Herrera and Bastian came on he had much better service.