[Trizy]

You don't become a great or bad manager over one performance. We've been served some of the worst football in the Premiership for a long time. This result does not erase that fact. We need consistency over an extended period for there to be a change in judgement.

Agreed.

 

[Charlie Foley]

2 things that me laugh:
When Mata missed the header in the first half, it looked like LVG turned to his right to say something to Stuivenberg, before turning to his left to say something to Giggs only to realize he wasn't there

Second, after Rooney's non-goal (which is my favourite non-goal since Ronaldo against Chelsea in 09 or Gallas against us in 09) Stuivenberg is basically saying 'what the feck' to the fans behind him, but not talking to LVG about it

 

[Spock]

A great performance overall. An Arsenal buddy of mine still argues that we "overpaid" for Martial, a ridiculous notion. This is a special footballer.

 

[RedPnutz]

Maybe the players took matters into their own hands...

Funny. When results are bad it is LVG fault but when we play well, the players took matters into their own hands.

 

[RedPnutz]

That's true.

The Premiership would be mocked if this team somehow fluked Premiership.

Well it is not a cup tournament and the odds of fluking a 38 game season are very small.

Not saying we will or can, but if we win it it will be deserved. You can only win what's put in front of you.

 

[711]

Great performance and one I didn't expect.

Rooney, Mata, Martial & CBJ were very good.
Most other players played well too. I criticised Fellaini a lot pre-match but he played well.

Darmian's best game for a long while.

I liked our game plan. We scrapped that possession nonsense and we attacked potently and effectively. We looked like a confident side again + we defended well.

Hopefully we can take this into the Chelsea game. Sit back and counter and I think we can get something out of it.

Long may it continue.

 

[prath92]

A great performance overall. An Arsenal buddy of mine still argues that we "overpaid" for Martial, a ridiculous notion. This is a special footballer.

They paid 16m for chambers. By that base martial costs 70m

 

[Norris]

Didn't see the game, but was delighted to see us win 3-0. I saw the goals and they were brilliant. All three of them had some fantastic assists. Loved CBJ's inch perfect cross (Lingard was a little lucky with his finish). Martial's finish was gorgeous and wow that first time pass from Martial to Rooney was effin brilliant.

It's pretty obvious that to play attacking football, we need to let go of possession. I hope LvG does that. I hope he allows us to play every game like that. If he does, we might lose a few or draw some, but the football will be great and everyone will be in great spirits.

 

[Sereques]

It becomes a problem when players pass only sideways because they are scared of losing it. You cannot make good chances without risking losing the ball, and if the priority is to keep the ball (which clearly has been for most of the time under LVG) then you won't create many good chances. LVG always moaned for not scoring in matches when we had a chance or two, but that is normal. Create more chances and you'll likely score.

Our problem is we don't move the ball quickly enough not because we decide to keep the ball.

 

[BootsyCollins]

Possession is not the problem. I wonder when people will finally get this.

Maybe not, but it certently is a bi product of lack of creativity and beeing afraid of talking risks.

So many matches now we had the ball for ages without doing anything with it, and today it was clear as day we took a more direct aproach. That made us see less of the ball, but more atempts created than in a long time.
To play as we did today we need to have a high tempo on the ball, as we did, combined with the willingness of taking risks.

I have nothing against having possesion, but i do feel that the biggest problem this year has been the lack of directness wich for me translate into high possesion stats since we dont know/dare how to play direct and pass it sideways instead.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Good job by CBJ. Shaw has some serious competition to face once he is back.

 

[Norris]

Maybe not, but it certently is a bi product of lack of creativity and beeing afraid of talking risks.

So many matches now we had the ball for ages without doing anything with it, and today it was clear as day we took a more direct aproach. That made us see less of the ball, but more atempts created than in a long time.
To play as we did today we need to have a high tempo on the ball, as we did, combined with the willingness of taking risks.

I have nothing against having possesion, but i do feel that the biggest problem this year has been the lack of directness wich for me translate into high possesion stats since we dont know/dare how to play direct and pass it sideways instead.

I think rather than use the word possession, I think part of van Gaal's thinking is that we keep the ball moving , the opposition will lose concentration and we will exploit that weakness. But I think he realizes that, teams in the PL aren't all that bad at holding their own for 90 mins, which is why he has asked asking his players to enforce the situation at Stoke and Derby. To take initiative.
We've always taken risks even with the possession based game imo, but that is when we sense an opening, a weakness to exploit.

 

[Rolandofgilead]

Well it is not a cup tournament and the odds of fluking a 38 game season are very small.

Not saying we will or can, but if we win it it will be deserved. You can only win what's put in front of you.

This.

 

[sammsky1]

Didn't see the game, but was delighted to see us win 3-0. I saw the goals and they were brilliant. All three of them had some fantastic assists. Loved CBJ's inch perfect cross (Lingard was a little lucky with his finish). Martial's finish was gorgeous and wow that first time pass from Martial to Rooney was effin brilliant.

It's pretty obvious that to play attacking football, we need to let go of possession. I hope LvG does that. I hope he allows us to play every game like that. If he does, we might lose a few or draw some, but the football will be great and everyone will be in great spirits.

That's not how I see it. Our core problem using LVGs philosophy is our first touch is unreliable, players are bad at selecting the first time right pass and our play is too slow.

I think that's what he refers to when he asks that his footballers engage the brain and sit simply instinct.

Slow movement of the ball, especially through transition phases has been his most consistent critsicism of his team so far.

 

[kouroux]

That's not how I see it. Our core problem using LVGs philosophy is our first touch is unreliable, players are bad at selecting the first time right pass and our play is too slow.

I think that's what he refers to when he asks that his footballers engage the brain and sit simply instinct.

Slow movement of the ball, especially through transition phases has been his most consistent critsicism of his team so far.

Indeed but is the team good enough at the moment to combine fast passing football and possession football ?

 

[Norris]

That's not how I see it. Our core problem using LVGs philosophy is our first touch is unreliable, players are bad at selecting the first time right pass and our play is too slow.

I think that's what he refers to when he asks that his footballers engage the brain and sit simply instinct.

Slow movement of the ball, especially through transition phases has been his most consistent critsicism of his team so far.

I don't think we have a slow movement of the ball at all. Some of the movement from the players is fantastic. But the passer's are usually not in an Ideal position to make the pass. This is where Blind playing at LCB is so crucial, because he isn't closed down so often, he has time to pick out the good runs. Most of the 'Risky' Passes we make under the possesion based style of play originate from him.

I agree with your first touch not being reliable, there is no consistency to it, and as professional footballers, you really should expect more. But the way I see it, van Gaal philiosophy primarily relies on the opposition to make a mistake than enforce one (i.e being very passive). That's why his teams play so patient, side to side, front and back looking for that weakness. Yesterday and the game at Newcastle, he realized for some reason, that sometimes you have to force those mistakes. Hence the directness. He doesn't play possession for the sake of it, but he felt that the best way to beat the other team is to make them lose concentration and lose their shape at some point. It worked well for him previously, so he stuck to it. He just never expected PL players to be so good defensively.

We still have good enough players to make the right pass and I do rate our movement off the ball. Touch needs to improve though.

 

[prath92]

We scored 3 past Butland. Happy with that. Happy to see mata blind Smalling darmian Carrick Rooney martial getting back to form. Hope it continues.

 

[Norris]

We scored 3 past Butland. Happy with that. Happy to see mata blind Smalling darmian Carrick Rooney martial getting back to form. Hope it continues.

Only saw the goals, but wasn't Butland poor for the first and second goals ? He could have saved the first and his positioning for the second was not great.

 

[Treble]

You don't become a great or bad manager over one performance. We've been served some of the worst football in the Premiership for a long time. This result does not erase that fact. We need consistency over an extended period for there to be a change in judgement.

Spot on.

We'll probably be back to shitness on Sunday. We have to play like yesterday for at least 2-3 months. Last season we had several great performances and then collapsed.

Were we very good or Stoke very bad? Hopefully the first but wouldn't be surprised if it was the second. We were very poor vs Soton only some 10 days ago.

 

[NickSantigo]

Is anyone else thinking it was a very bad Stoke performance. They had 120 mins + penalties less than 7 days ago plus a cup game against Palace at the weekend. I fear it may have just caught up with them.
Hopefully I'm wrong and we have turned a corner

 

[GloryHunter07]

Only 5 pages of post match reaction? The caf loves a good moan eh?

 

[Norris]

Is anyone else thinking it was a very bad Stoke performance. They had 120 mins + penalties less than 7 days ago plus a cup game against Palace at the weekend. I fear it may have just caught up with them.
Hopefully I'm wrong and we have turned a corner

Don't believe this just yet. A good solid run is what we need.

 

[prath92]

Is anyone else thinking it was a very bad Stoke performance. They had 120 mins + penalties less than 7 days ago plus a cup game against Palace at the weekend. I fear it may have just caught up with them.
Hopefully I'm wrong and we have turned a corner

Did anyone give us that excuse in the draw away vs crystal palace?

 

[Treble]

Only 5 pages of post match reaction? The caf loves a good moan eh?

Well, we are still 5 points off 4th and Stoke aren't a top team. Had we beaten, say, Arsenal like that there would have been a lot more positive reactions. Now people are afraid that losing or drawing on Sunday may put us 7-8 points off 4th...

 

[prath92]

Only saw the goals, but wasn't Butland poor for the first and second goals ? He could have saved the first and his positioning for the second was not great.

He has been top class this season though.

 

[Ryan7]

Is anyone else thinking it was a very bad Stoke performance. They had 120 mins + penalties less than 7 days ago plus a cup game against Palace at the weekend. I fear it may have just caught up with them.
Hopefully I'm wrong and we have turned a corner

They were very poor. Especially for the third goal. It was good from Rooney to drag the centre back out of position, but the defending for the goal was still terrible. That and they'd lost their last three matches coming into this game.

 

[Dr Fink]

Mata made all the difference today. Playing in the middle of that 3. He caused havoc. Coupled with Martial's constant threat it was really good to watch. Blind was also outstanding. Credit to Fellaini who also put in a decent performance -he's still no holding midfielder though. The only dampner was Memphis coming on and being unable to complete a simple pass several times. Borthwick-Jackson even looked semi-decent going forward - he was sort of forced to push on for the cross for the first goal. A slight concern over the crowd getting agitated several times when Smalling brought the ball out across the halfway line and no-one closed him down. He's no pass-master, so what does the crowd expect?

A great performance and result, long, long overdue. There should be no talk of corners being turned until we do this 3-4 times in a row. A joy to watch at OT last night.

 

[iKeano]

Is anyone else thinking it was a very bad Stoke performance. They had 120 mins + penalties less than 7 days ago plus a cup game against Palace at the weekend. I fear it may have just caught up with them.
Hopefully I'm wrong and we have turned a corner

They were terrible.... Lifeless and flat all over the pitch. Plus they got through our defence on more than one occasion and could easily have scored 3 or their own.

Great win though, but I'm not foolhardy enough to forgive and forget so easily. It seems our £300k a week captain needs 3 months of football to 'get going' & our ill-fated manager needs 18 months to swallow his pride and let the players play.

 

[Escobar]

We played very well and different. A lot of movement, one-two's, the ball was played forward fast and of course Martial being just brilliant. Let's see what we can do against Chelsea though

 

[Floyd]

Must take into account that Stoke was absolutely shocking and missing some key defenders like Shawcross. I mean Glen Johnson at CB? He was absolutely abysmal. He was nowhere to be seen for our third goal and what the hell was he doing being pushed around like a little school girl when Rooney's goal was disallowed? It might have been the correct call if a bit harsh but come on, a little nudge and Johnson's GONE. Must hit the gym.

 

[Roosney]

Big test for Willian against Bojack this weekend.

Fixed.

 

[Nogbadthebad]

Mata at 10 and Carrick in the middle. Two very good ball players at the heart of our creativity, and that is what has made the biggest difference in the last two games I think.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Mata at 10 and Carrick in the middle. Two very good ball players at the heart of our creativity, and that is what has made the biggest difference in the last two games I think.

I stated just this but it appears every time you mention Mata as a 10 you get shot down; it's crazy. It's his best position.OK it won't work everytime for every opponent but more often enough his intelligence and technique is good enough to cause problems

 

[backofthenet]

Must take into account that Stoke was absolutely shocking and missing some key defenders like Shawcross. I mean Glen Johnson at CB? He was absolutely abysmal. He was nowhere to be seen for our third goal and what the hell was he doing being pushed around like a little school girl when Rooney's goal was disallowed? It might have been the correct call if a bit harsh but come on, a little nudge and Johnson's GONE. Must hit the gym.

Made me think of Vardy against Rafael, which was a hell of a lot bigger a shove, and he got away with it and was hailed a genius. Should have stood for me.

 

[Floyd]

Made me think of Vardy against Rafael, which was a hell of a lot bigger a shove, and he got away with it and was hailed a genius. Should have stood for me.

Don't mention the Vardy/Rafael incident, my blood might start boiling again. That's one of the worst decisions I've ever seen, thanks for that Clatty.

 

[rockerlad]

Why can't we play like that all season?

 

[Stretch]

I couldn't believe my eyes. Could barely sleep. Where it the feck did that come from? Brilliant.

Movement of the ball, actual incisive runs and passing was just superb

Also happy to hear that LvG said he was very happy which means he might let us play a bit now.

 

[Danillaco]

Am I wrong to notice that the team played much closer together? Seemed like we actually had options to play a pass and run, not just huge passes to the wings and crosses. He seemed so much more cohesive.

 

[Ixion]

Only 5 pages of post match reaction? The caf loves a good moan eh?

It was Stoke at home not the Champions League Final. How many pages do you want?

 

[kouroux]

Fingers massively crossed that this is a real and deliberate change in terms of football played than one match like that.