[Someone]

This was a difficult game so a point isn't a disaster, however, we aren't creating enough chances with this formation, and it's about time it dies.

 

[Suedesi]

Toothless

 

[JPRouve]

It was football. American football.

American football, is a fantastic game.

What we saw today wasn't fantastic at all, no drive, no technique, no tactic, no team play, no team spirit, no individual prowesses, nothing.

 

[Raven Blade]

Not according to Crouch and Shawcross. They said the conditions were poor and didn't allow for them to play football. "Back to the old school days" said Crouch because of the weather.

Our players did poorly. Many wasted passes and too many fouls.

Whatever they say, more of their players are built for this kind of "football". We did waste too much possession, especially with the floated crosses. That second half was awful to watch. Januzaj in particular didn't cover himself in glory when he came on.

 

[Orton]

Yes, because Stoke away in a gale is just like Hull at home

Herrera did feck all to improve us, so there goes that excuse.

If only we had Valencia and Fellaini, surely we would have won. You're a moron. Go out your way to criticise the same players every week.

 

[Red Comet]

Arnautovic was awesome.

He has got a lot of shuttle run training today running between the 2 corner flags.

 

[RedSRM]

Piss poor IMO.
I'm not a fan of Van Gaal's team setup right now. Biggest issue for me is his attempt to play all 3 of our main strikers. He wants to have Falcao in the side but refuses to drop Van Persie, and he can't leave out Rooney. If we continue like this then top 4 is gonna be a real struggle. As for Januzaj, I'm not going to be too critical because he's been away from the side for a while.
I'd have the team like this:
De Gea
Rafael. Jones. Smalling. Shaw
Valencia Herrera. Carrick. Di Maria
Rooney
Falcao

Obviously we've got to get Blind and Rojo back also.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

No urgency. Didn't look like we wanted anything from the game. The only good spell was between Stoke scoring and us equalising. I miss the days when we would launch the kitchen sink at them in the last 5 minutes if we needed to. Seeing the back three just tap it around at the 90th minute was painful.

The lack of pace is worrying. Even when we get Di Maria back, we really need more pace, especially up front. It's difficult to stretch the a defence without a pacey forward.

Stoke had the better of the opportunities. Hitting the post and Evans gifting Diouf the goal at his mercy. Luckily he ballooned it. Our goal aside, we had no clear chances to get a winner. Really poor.

 

[siw2007]

Not a very good performance to be honest and we were lucky to come away with the point after Stoke's penalty shout. A number of our players worked really hard throughout the game but just couldn't put their stamp out there. Good performance from Smalling at the back who looked like the only defender out there capable defending at times and Falcao grew into the game and was pleased to see him get the equaliser. Pleased to see Herrera back and felt he played well when he came on and helped us seize the momentum back from Stoke.

Thought Evans was shocking in the first half but seemed to find his feet a little bit in the second. Both Rafael and Januzaj struggled to make any real impact when they came on. To be fair to Adnan he is only just coming back but some of his touches were terrible.

Looking forward, I think January isn't so challenging in terms of games we have to play (unless someone wants to correct me) so I expect good number of wins to help our push for Champions League football because Southampton and Arsenal are very close. I think it's Yeovil at the weekend and these games are never as easy as first predicted.

 

[Godfather]

He has got a lot of shuttle run training today running between the 2 corner flags.

And everyone if them were dangerous. Especially compared to our crosses he puts in better ones with his dick.

 

[charleysurf]

If only we had Valencia and Fellaini, surely we would have won. You're a moron. Go out your way to criticise the same players every week.

For Stoke away, yes, really could have done with those two! Can't be helped if your hate won't let you see that.

 

[ravi2]

More of the same. I cannot think of a single save that Begovic actually had to make. We are slow, have no creativity and are only capable of passing it around in the back. Nobody can take a player on and create anything. We lack physicality. we lack concentration and intelligence. Our defense always looks like conceding and we are shockingly injury prone. We were very fortunate to get a draw. Stoke should've been given a penalty and certainly created the better chances. I don't think we are getting better at all. More than halfway through this season, and yes I think we are better than last year but not by much and that is after spending a truckload of cash. Smalling was probably our best player. Apart from that I can't think of anyone who did much of anything to applaud.

Happy that Falcao got his poachers goal, but apart from that he still looks awful. His first touch is abysmal. Not worth the money we are paying him. His time is running out. I won't bemoan RVP any more, as I have to do it after every match, but for me he is just past it and does nothing to help develop our attacks. Our passing going forward into the final third was just so poor as to be laughable.

'The philosophy' is turning into our new 'Chosen One' banner now...

I wouldn't go that far. The chosen one banner was pure poison.

 

[KeninDC]

Lucky to not lose. Teams drop off in MF-so,our CBs have way too much of the ball. Agree that Rooney shouldn't be playing deep-we need a real MF with Rooney at #10 or up top. Mata, Falcao and RvP can be rotated.

Expected Stoke to score on every set piece-terrible defending.

Road form needs to get sorted out-now.

 

[Anderson's Cat]

10 games unbeaten. 7 wins, 3 draws. No arguments here.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Yes, because Stoke away in a gale is just like Hull at home

Herrera did feck all to improve us, so there goes that excuse.

your hatred for herrera is a little pathetic.

 

[Robbie Boy]

Another predictably abysmal away performance. If Arsenal et el win today, we have lost some serious ground. Even during our winning streak, we looked far from convincing at times.

 

[Smores]

Still can't believe our main tactic was to get something from crossing the ball into their box

Starting to think letting Nani, Hernandez and Wellbeck leave was a mistake. We have no options

 

[WyoManU]

I wouldn't go that far. The chosen one banner was pure poison.

I have a friend who does not follow the sport and asked me about 'The Philosophy' the other day. So clearly it has created a life of it's own out of just footballing circles, and I think we can safely assume it is not for good reasons...just saying.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

Until we rediscover taking a man on instead of the defacto move of passing back to the goal keeper (just so he can boot it upfield to give the ball to the opposition anyway) we will be lucky to get a Europa league place. Someone should explain to LvG and his "philosophy" that retreat is not the cry he hears coming down from the fans … "attack" is our fecking philosophy!

 

[LARulz]

What's Van Gaal said?

 

[DevilRed]

Still can't believe our main tactic was to get something from crossing the ball into their box

Starting to think letting Nani, Hernandez and Wellbeck leave was a mistake. We have no options

Actually don't have a problem with crosses as stoke clearly sat back to defend the whole match. Its the fact that we couldn't hit them on the break with pace or create any real chances that's a worry.

Supposedly with the likes of Mata in our team we should be unlocking defences. Its the opposite. Mata actually slows us down on the break because he lacks pace.

 

[Gannicus]

Away at the Britannia in tornado conditions, so a draw doesn't bother me that much. Stoke tend to take scalps off big clubs.

Still, the frustration many here have expressed is very understandable.

My two cents are that Falcao is far from where he needs to be, we need Di Maria back and that Louis should seriously reconsider the value of this formation for this squad. We're on a long unbeaten streak, no question, but we're dropping points against clubs we should be smashing.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

But if you look at how many of our players have played in every game over this period (which we've had to given the injuries to players) you can argue most are just shattered

Having nobody of note regarding the midfield available to make changes hasn't helped there.

 

[charleysurf]

your hatred for herrera is a little pathetic.

The gap between the hype, that he's a dominating midfielder who is the answer to all our problems, and the reality, is so great that he can only disappoint.

When he plays like he is supposed to play I'll be delighted.

 

[Clas Sified]

The style of play is dictated by the availability of match fit players who can play consistently to gain a bit of momentum with LvG's system. We have yet to have this all year.

But we've never actually played well against decent opposition have we? It's all good and dandy smashing teams like QPR and Hull, but we're showing no signs that we're adaptable during a match. Of course, the injured players all have massive roles within the team, but really, we should be doing better in matches like this or certainly Aston Villa. While injuries have massively hindered us, we can't hide behind injuries as an excuse any more. It's clear that the injury situation won't improve, we just have to find ways to win while circumnavigating the injuries.

Edit: And no, this isn't just a knee-jerk reaction, I've said in the last few weeks that we've had no midfield in the last few games; if there's no midfield, we have to play in a way that doesn't largely involve the midfield. Otherwise we're just trying to fit square pegs in circular holes.

 

[psychdelicblues]

That's the worst game of football I've ever watched.

That wasn't Football.

It was football. American football.

Actully the Stoke corners reminded me of a 22 meters drop out in rugby union.

 

[Devil may care]

I missed the second half as we had a visit from family, my nieces singing songs from Frozen was more entertaining than the game I could see going on in the back ground.

Once again the total lack of players that can inject genuine pace into an attack is evident IMO.

I saw Young limp off, hopefully it's not too bad.

 

[Orton]

Actually don't have a problem with crosses as stoke clearly sat back to defend the whole match. Its the fact that we couldn't hit them on the break with pace or create any real chances that's a worry.

Supposedly with the likes of Mata in our team we should be unlocking defences. Its the opposite. Mata actually slows us down on the break because he lacks pace.

Mata created out best chance. It's pace in the wide areas we could do with, in other words Di Maria and a player we loaned out for free.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Totally over the top reactions

I'm far from jumping for joy, don't get me wrong. But the style and type of game we got was extremely predicatable.

It's not the worst point in the world

Looking at the ratings. Evans is averaging about 3.5/10 ..he made a couple of mistakes in the first half. But his performance was nowhere near as bad as being made out

 

[wiz4231]

Dislike the formation but can understand with injuries and players coming back.
Some good performances some poor.
Its evident that we're in need of investment. Evans needs to be replaced, Jones back up along with Rojo. Need to bring in a player to partner Smalling, Vertonghan maybe?
I hope Fletcher and Anderson move on and we bring in Strootman to beef up the midfield.
We need to add pace in wide areas, If we can't get Reus, Cuadrado would be sufficient and Depay in Summer.
We need to invest asap (and get some contracts signed up) and build a team now ready for next season and use the summer to rectify any weak spots in the team. I don't want to hear anymore of this process S*** at the beginning of next season bedding in new player, I want to see us hit the ground running.

 

[Snow]

Whatever they say, more of their players are built for this kind of "football". We did waste too much possession, especially with the floated crosses. That second half was awful to watch. Januzaj in particular didn't cover himself in glory when he came on.

They sure are but they've been playing football under Hughes this season. I don't think football players want to play like this. They used to all the time and it probably got very old for them but they were right about the conditions being poor. United has the better team and thus could play football to an extent. Stoke did pretty well in the first half getting the long balls into the right spots behind the defense. United couldn't do that because the Stoke defense was sitting too deep. Despite the poor pitch and weather it should have been a 3 pointer. Players were just poor today in key areas, especially Rooney up front.

 

[legball]

Too slow, passing was poor, movement was poor, players taking too many touches, final ball was lacking. What does our management team do on the training ground? It's baffling that for so many years we as a team can't pass the ball with any competence and penetration. The purpose of 3-5-2 is defeated when you don't have players with pace, LVG is thick to persist with it. Possession is mainly between the center backs, the midfield is bypassed more often than not, we still resort to wing play to create anything. In summary, we are poor and even when we have won games, we have created very little all season. I've never felt so angry after a United match like I am feeling today.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

You know when you watch a good game and time just flies by? That game felt like it went on for 5 hours.

I woke up late, only in time to watch after both goals had gone in and it still felt like it was 3 hours long.

Stoke should have won in the end, embarrassingly enough...

 

[VanGaalEra]

I see all the doom and gloom merchants logged on super quick time today.

It was a tough game, an early New Year's Day kick off at Stoke was always going to be. I'm more disappointed with the Spurs game as I felt that was the game we should have won and then a draw today wouldn't be so bad.

 

[JustAFan]

Players starting to look as enthused as they did under Moyes

 

[Clas Sified]

Totally over the top reactions

I'm far from jumping for joy, don't get me wrong. But the style and type of game we got was extremely predicatable.

It's not the worst point in the world

Looking at the ratings. Evans is averaging about 3.5/10 ..he made a couple of mistakes in the first half. But his performance was nowhere near as bad as being made out

Yeah, I agree with this, Evans' only shit-brick moment was when he stuffed up that simple over-the-top ball. Other than that, he wasn't too bad.

 

[Ixion]

Di Maria, Blind and Rojo are big misses. We would have far more options and chances to change a game from the bench with them. Away to Stoke, on a windy day when Evans is playing like a moron isn't easy, a point isn't the end of the world, just a shame on the back of the previous away points. We need to do a little more but our bench isn't allowing us to have a plan B.

 

[iammemphis]

Shouldn't have taken our best player off the pitch. Stupid decision.

Januzaj looks extremely low on confidence, needs to go on loan to get away from the club and rediscover the form he showed for 6 months under Moyes. He's regressing in my opinion, needs first team football but no where near good enough for us right now.

Does he not like playing on the wing? Looks completley disinterested out there..

 

[Raoul]

But we've never actually played well against decent opposition have we? It's all good and dandy smashing teams like QPR and Hull, but we're showing no signs that we're adaptable during a match. Of course, the injured players all have massive roles within the team, but really, we should be doing better in matches like this or certainly Aston Villa. While injuries have massively hindered us, we can't hide behind injuries as an excuse any more. It's clear that the injury situation won't improve, we just have to find ways to win while circumnavigating the injuries.

Edit: And no, this isn't just a knee-jerk reaction, I've said in the last few weeks that we've had no midfield in the last few games; if there's no midfield, we have to play in a way that doesn't largely involve the midfield. Otherwise we're just trying to fit square pegs in circular holes.

We can't be expected to "smash opponents" when half the squad has intermittently not been available, during a time when a new manager is attempting to implement a new system. If you're expecting near flawless, old school Fergie style attacking, then don't hold your breath. This is about making incremental improvements over an entire season, which we are doing, under less than ideal circumstances.

 

[Señor]

Let's be honest, at half time, did anyone think we're gonna go on and win this? Our second half performances this season have been dreadful.