[Grib]

Last weekend it was any other team than Spurs.

Not in my view

Last night there was a terrible amount of no shows and bad performances, Villa were shockingly bad, Spurs at least created chances and bar the lack of efforts on goal we played okay with some notable individual performamces

The only thing I can say about last night was we looked a better with the introduction of Bastin and Herrera, who both improved is and looled to control the game and actually create something (respectively) but then again how much of the improvement was down to Villa being out of steam

 

[Mickeza]

The team is presently too skewed towards defence.

That's because we don't have the attacking players to build it around our attack. I'm not sure any of our front four would get into the starting 11 of our domestic rivals, let alone our European ones.

 

[imperi]

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.

I guess he'll start 2 out of 3 games, rotating with Carrick. Keeping both fit and ready to go.

 

[Kakeru]

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

Time to put the threat into effect and it can only get more serious if Chicharito bags a few goals to add insult to injury.

 

[Rich_H_1989]

I know I was one of the negative ones last week but this is getting silly now.

Just imagine that for a second... If Arsenal don't win tomorrow which is very conceivable given they are away to Palace then we are 6 points clear of them! If City and Chelsea draw, again very easy to imagine was Jose will go there to play for a draw and City won't take too many risks so easy in the season, we would be 2 points clear of City and 4 clear of Chelsea.

Things right now are OK! I'm not going to go as far as say they are great just yet but they are OK. We've played two, won two and we all know the performances have been shall we say limited. Take the positives from that.

 

[SirAF]

I know I was one of the negative ones last week but this is getting silly now.

Just imagine that for a second... If Arsenal don't win tomorrow which is very conceivable given they are away to Palace then we are 6 points clear of them! If City and Chelsea draw, again very easy to imagine was Jose will go there to play for a draw and City won't take too many risks so easy in the season, we would be 2 points clear of City and 4 clear of Chelsea.

Things right now are OK! I'm not going to go as far as say they are great just yet but they are OK. We've played two, won two and we all know the performances have been shall we say limited. Take the positives from that.

This has been on my mind for a few days, it's really shaping up to be a quite good start to the season. I fully expect us to beat Newcastle at home next weekend as well to really kick us off.

It is also worth noting that the same weekend Chelsea will play at WBA while Arsenal is at home against Liverpool and City are away against Everton. It is fully conceivable that all of our rivals are going to drop points in the third round too.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Everyone seen the post match presser?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Jesus Christ let me get the bloody razor blades!

I know, I know, I positively can't wait for the next game to see our 1 shot Posters on here having a laugh and dig at Mourinho's *pragmatic* football last season.. will they now confess they don't care when their side sets up similarly? as long as it nets the 3 points?

I don't know about you but i'm getting a bit sick of looking at the clock as soon as we take the lead in a match and end up looking forward to the final whistle just to escape out with our 3points each week, where is the joy in that.

Obviously I'm overreacting because theres a lot of positives to take out from our start to the season, but I hope to gawd we're going to try and play some actual football at some point this season, please.

 

[noodlehair]

Mata is literally incapable of passing the ball until an opposition player has closed him down and been clawing at the back of his shirt for at least 5 seconds. There were also at least three occasions when he could have played someone in behind, but he didn't, because no one was clawing at the back of his shirt or nearly tackling him yet...plus he needs to keep up his ratio of sideways passes. The one two times he did actually play the pass in behind when it was on, Depay ended up clean through on goal, and the other time we scored. What kind of idiot repeatedly chooses not to put his team mates in on goal? Infuriating.

Schneiderlin - He's fine off the ball but on it he's been nowhere near good enough so far. He dallies around for too long and then plays either a poor or negative pass (or both). If we're going to have just the two midfielders then one of him and Carrick needs to start actually doing some midfielding. Being capable of playing a basic forward pass isn't a big ask for a Manchester United player...it's a requirement.

Carrick and Rooney - Do these two spend the summer deliberately getting themselves as unfit as possible or something? It's actually pretty hard to get yourself that out of sorts in that short of a time...unless you weren't really in particularly good shape to begin with. People wonder how United managed to let their standards drop when their captain and highest paid player is someone who turns up for games looking and playing like he just rolled out of a pub.

Pluses

Luke Shaw lookss a different player this season. Faster, stronger, and much more aware of what's going on around him. Only thing letting him down is that he often faffs up his final ball when he gets in the opposition box, but it's encouraging how often he ends up there entirely through his own good play

Darmian - when opposition teams press him he literally just kicks the ball in a direction, which is very obviously not good enough, but defensively he looks good. It was amusing watching Aston Villa players kkeep trying to take him on for some reason when it was obvious he had them all in his pocket.

Schweinsteiger - Funny how he comes on and does basic midfielding things and we suddenly have a midfield and start playing football

Depay - He had a poor game but he was a constant threat with his running in behind and allways wanting to be direct and make space for himself. We had no one like this last season and it was encouraging. On another night, with less zombified teamm mates and better finiishing, he would have caused absolute havoc.

Overall thought it was awful again...but it was at least a llevel up from the awful of last week. Thought we were comfortably the better team, although Villa, jesus fecking christ.

 

[SirAF]

I know, I know, I positively can't wait for the next game to see our 1 shot Posters on here having a laugh and dig at Mourinho's *pragmatic* football last season.. will they now confess they don't care when their side sets up similarly? as long as it nets the 3 points?

I don't know about you but i'm getting a bit sick of looking at the clock as soon as we take the lead in a match and end up looking forward to the final whistle just to escape out with our 3points each week, where is the joy in that.

Obviously I'm overreacting because theres a lot of positives to take out from our start to our season, but I hope to gawd we're going to try and play some actual football at some point this season, please.

I've said that all along.

 

[Ixion]

Darmian - when opposition teams press him he literally just kicks the ball in a direction, which is very obviously not good enough,

I love that about him, no nonsense!

 

[prath92]

Game wasn't boring at all. Entertaining doesn't mean merely having lots of shots on target. We had good number of attacks. Villa also had attacks which were thwarted by our defenders and Romero. Schweinsteiger Carrick and Schneiderlin dominated midfield. Rooney was poor but we had chances through mata Schneiderlin depay as well. It was almost a top performance. We can improve obviously but it wasn't a bad performance at all. I think it's a solid base for us to move forward and I hope we do

 

[Question234]

I love that about him, no nonsense!

same, we need one defender who is prepared to just clear the ball in emergencies rather than play it out the back.

 

[vk20legend]

2 wins out of 2 and 6 points.. Can't complain in that area.. An away win to boot and that matters.. Last season, the same game saw us drop 2 points..

Memphis finally played on the left and looked better than through the middle.. Should have scored..

Mata is still more effective through the middle than cutting in from the right.. Excellent assist and should have had another with that Memphis chance..

The new signings all look good till now.. Darmian had a solid game.. We have a rock solid RB and it shows in our defense.. I am glad Alves chose to stay with Barca and we landed this guy..

The defense on the whole were excellent.. Even with Blind at CB!!

Romero had one straightforward save to make at a comfortable height and he was quick to come off the line to put out any danger.. Good to see that..

The pace of play is still a lot slower than what United fans are used to.. But it will get better as the season goes forward..

Schneiderlin was absolutely solid barring a few errant passes.. The addition of him and Darmian and a fit Shaw makes a difference to that defensive line.. Shaw was very good.. Hopefully a fit season and he can show what he can do..

Januzaj had a surprise start and he took his goal well and the run before to be in that position..

Rooney had very minimal impact as he didn't get much in terms of service.. That needs to improve and his support and service for him inside the box should improve a lot more..

Good substitutions to remove Januzaj and Carrick and bring in Schweinsteiger and Herrera right around the time Villa were surging ahead.. It brought in more ball control and mobility with Herrera..

Schweinsteiger was calm under pressure and sprayed passes reminding of a certain Scholes.. It is good to manage game time between Carrick and Schweinsteiger and that is the way to go for a long season..

Was every issue rectified?! Absolutely not.. But it is clear that we are solidifying and building from the back and the free flowing football should come hopefully soon.. Any title aspiring team should have a solid base of defense to build on top of it.. We are aiming towards that first..

Personally I am happy with that performance away from home.. Plus two wins out of two.. I'll take that any day of the week..

 

[pierrethesnack]

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.

I'd say attacking football is to have, oh I don't know, more than one or two shots on target.

 

[Oneunited26]

Who would not be happy 2 games 6 points, but the balance of our attacking play is a grave concern. And 2 goals from 2 games says it all, we lacking someone who can give teams problems, and playing depay off the striker is not working what so ever. VG needs to change the shape of our attack, because the worry is? if we go a goal down, its highly likely we are going to drop points, so VG should seriously look at the problems in the final third while we are on top. I still think he needs a system change back to 433

 

[Rams]

Apart for some very sloppy passing in periods, I thought it was a decent enough away performance against a physical Villa side. Despite all the reservations from the fans I do think the Smalling/Blind centre back combination seems to be working. Both players complement each other very well. Smalling was very good last night, apart from one stray pass he didn't put a foot wrong. Damian & Shaw were also very solid in defence, whilst Schneiderlin provided excellent cover for the defence. Schweinsteiger looked very composed, United looked far more in control when he came on. The forwards had mixed games, although I did think Januzaj and Memphis showed a lot of promise. 2 wins from 2, can't be anything but pleased with that.

 

[Moonred]

Considering our away form last season, I wouldn't worry about fancy football just yet. Home is where we need to start playing better. Good enough for now.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

I liked the midfield of Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Herrera that we ended up with. Obviously Villa were tired by then but that might well be a combo worth trying in some games. It's got a bit of everything.

 

[Xaviesta]

Get the results, then worry about the aesthetics if you deem that to be important. You were solid, but will be tested by better teams. Darmian very fortunate not to have conceded a penalty for shirt pulling on Micah Richards in the 38th minute.

Not so sure you need Carrick and Schneiderlin. It's a bit like when Spain had Busquets and Alonso starting in holding midfield. Perhaps starting both has made you more solid defensively. I'd probably have a midfield three of Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Herrera, but van Gaal has his reasons.

 

[sunama]

Rewatched the game, was far from boring.

This guy needs an award or something.

1. he rewatched the game - this isnt easy.
2. he enjoyed the game, even on the 2nd watch.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Solid controlled performance, similar to last week, Schweinsteiger with a bit more fitness will be immense. Rooney needs to get going soon.
Win important, more entertaining football can wait while we solidify the team understanding.
If we win every game 1-0 we'll win everything

 

[Red_Beans]

To be honest I don't understand why there is so much negativity on this site.
Maybe I'm being naïve but great teams take time to form, you cant just put 11 players on the pitch and expect them to blow everyone away.
At the moment we have a very solid base to build from in our defence, and our attack was better than against Spurs last week.
I am quite happy and if we keep improving gradually week on week, we could have a very good season

 

[Al-T]

I'm sure we'd all like to see attacking play of coruscating brilliance.

But at the moment, I'm happy that we now go into a vitally important Champions League qualifier (having received a favourable draw) on the back of two wins and two clean sheets.

 

[Jonnymufc]

I really wish people who claim to be United fans could come on and at least express pleasure that we have won. How several can come on here to purely moan when we won is beyond me. By all means pick out what needs improving but stop bloody whinging when we are winning!

My view is that the game was a marginal improvement on Spurs, we controlled the game largely and Villa had virtually no clear chances. We looked decent at the back against Spurs, we looked very good indeed last night so I was really pleased with that. I have long said in the transfer forums that our priority should be to improve our attacking options not the defence and what I have seen so far only confirms that.

Our attacking again lacked penetration and zip. We created 2 clear chances and that isn't enough for me, I believe we desperately need another pacey forward player to give us sufficient options. That being said, there were a lot of nearly things that in a few weeks time will become chances and I think that is down to early season touch not quite being there yet.

Overall, when we are playing ok with signs we can play better and win...I'm happy overall.

 

[stu_1992]

Look we won. Take the 6 points. Yes, it wasn't the most interesting and exciting football but it's early days. We're building a solid base, the rest should (hopefully) come in time. Confidence will grow with these successive wins too. I honestly don't believe we're done in the transfer market as far as attacking players go, so that should help with that problem.

Some thing needs to be done about Rooney too. He surely knows himself that his performance last night wasn't good enough. It needs to be said to him by the management either way. Maybe light a fire in him. Memphis was looking dangerous and hopefully that final ball will come in time. The sooner they both score, the better.

I'm loving Darmian already. Two really good performances from him so far. Hopefully he maintains this. It's just reassuring to have an actual rightback.

 

[Charlie Foley]

Get the results, then worry about the aesthetics if you deem that to be important. You were solid, but will be tested by better teams. Darmian very fortunate not to have conceded a penalty for shirt pulling on Micah Richards in the 38th minute.

Not so sure you need Carrick and Schneiderlin. It's a bit like when Spain had Busquets and Alonso starting in holding midfield. Perhaps starting both has made you more solid defensively. I'd probably have a midfield three of Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger and Herrera, but van Gaal has his reasons.

I'd like to see us go with this as well.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Another good thing about this win is we buggered Paul Merson's preditions.

 

[sunama]

Maybe I'm being naïve but great teams take time to form, ...

Teams do take time to form. But, when you spend so heavily, you expect results fairly quickly.

if you proposed to any manager, "we will give you £300M to spend in 2 years". What results can you get us in the 2nd year?
Most will say, "I will challenge for the title in the 2nd year".
If he stated, "I will score 1 goal per game", that managerial candidate would be taken off the shortlist.

 

[Question234]

I know, I know, I positively can't wait for the next game to see our 1 shot Posters on here having a laugh and dig at Mourinho's *pragmatic* football last season.. will they now confess they don't care when their side sets up similarly? as long as it nets the 3 points?

This is the fecking realest, I remember when we played chelsea off the park at Stampford bridge earlier this year and they barely saw the ball (29% possession I think) but knicked the win. Multiple threads on the caf opened and many said feck playing like that to win titles and how happy they were that Jose hadn't come after Fergie.

I think there was even a poll but the majority were like "feck winning titles playing like that" but to be fair that was during our great run and people thought we would only get better but instead we collapsed due to injuries.

Personally for now, I'll take the results. Come October, at the very least I expect better performances and more attacking threat.

 

[shabadu84]

We have 4 class central midfielders and it is our biggest strength this year, see no reason we shouldn't play as many of them as we can when healthy. More of them, in virtually any combo, in a 3-man midfield and we'll have control as well as penetration. We saw our best performances last year with Carrick, Fellaini, and Herrera supporting Young, Rooney, and Mata. No reason to change from that.

Still, I personally think you're seeing a team still in warm-up mode - we're not all up to full fitness or sharpness and it shows. Getting results is the most important thing right now. Starting with only 13 points from our first 30 last year cost us 3rd place at least, don't want that happening again.

 

[Jonnymufc]

Teams do take time to form. But, when you spend so heavily, you expect results fairly quickly.

if you proposed to any manager, "we will give you £300M to spend in 2 years". What results can you get us in the 2nd year?
Most will say, "I will challenge for the title in the 2nd year".
If he stated, "I will score 1 goal per game", that managerial candidate would be taken off the shortlist.

Yes I'm sure scoring 1 per game is our aim for the season...

 

[noodlehair]

I love that about him, no nonsense!

Nah I don't like it. We're not Stoke and the way Van Gaal wants the team to pla especially, he needs to show some composure on the ball when teams press him. Otherwise he'll end up being targetted.

But defensively and positionally he's been very good so far. It makes a change having a right back where you don't have to keep wondering where they've fecked off to, and why.

Even the Chelsea fans we were watchnig the game with were whining about why Villa kept trying to take him on when he obviously wasn't going to be beaten by anything they had.

 

[Red Dreams]

how many think Felleni coming back will help Rooney.

He has lacked service no doubt but atm there is no one else to take some heat off.

 

[United again!]

Everyone seen the post match presser?

Spoiler

Journalists stealing a fecking living, my god. Absolutely ridiculous the same garbage questions over and over. Embarrasing.

 

[Nathan]

Wasn't the most fluid performance, the downside was without a doubt Rooneys performance, lacklustre upfront. Like everyone I think he will improve.

I believe in the philosophy of LVG

 

[Trizy]

Just catching the match now, 57 minutes into it and everyone still looks terrible apart from the back line, even the ever so reliable Carrick has made errors that lead to losing the ball but the biggest losers of the ball time and time again are Mata, Januzaj, Depay & Rooney.

Hopefully its a once off that so many players are having a bad game.