[SadlerMUFC]

Toss up between Pogba and Martial for MOTM but Pogba takes it. Some of his passing was sensational. Scholes-esque. Lukaku had another good game as well which is nice to see as I have been one of his biggest critics. And if Jones isn't the best defender in England then I would love to know who is. This guy has captain written all over him...

 

[cyril C]

First half 2 seconds of magic the rest abysmal, second half better but some woeful decision making and finishing. Matic looks totally gassed.

Yes, that's about summing up our performance. Pity that the Dubai trip was focusing on attack build-up according to Lingard, we should have spent more time on defence. Hope we sort out set piece defending by now.

 

[Camy89]

Pogba ran that show.

 

[gerdm07]

Poor Shaw. Making all those gut-busting runs down the left touchline, only for Martial to not even glance in his direction and invariably turn inside!

Agree. I don't see how Martial is getting such high marks as his decision making was very poor almost all match.

Why doesn't Mou take Lukaku off when the match is in the bag? Does he plan to run his legs ragged again. He looked very fresh today after the break and we need him like that. If he plays every match and all the minutes then he'll look spent within month.

 

[tony54]

Absolutely fantastic game to watch.
Solid. Physically, technically and tactically superior to the opposition.

Lukaku was a pain for their defenders to deal with, grabbed himself a goal.

Martial both creating, scoring and trying a few long-shots. Very good game.

Mata getting into good positions together with Lingard (who mostly made the right decisions and made runs to create space for others in attack), but failed on the finishes.

Shaw had Shaqiri struggling all game, and offered a bit of support for Martial. Not the best team-play together with Martial who more often opted for going at it himself or going inwards but Shaw was there to have the option of stretching play almost all game while working tirelessly back in defense.

De Gea with another great game where nothing got past him.

Jones doing really well with pushing up the field and passing through the first-presser instead of taking it slow and sideways.

Matic having a few good passes of his own, but mostly being his disciplined self helping us keep a balance when we push forward.

A fair resume and I'd like to say Shaw seems to have got his confidence back and please let Jones stay fit as he is so solid, fast and strong.

Valencia. Left-foot. Goal.

Pogba with a absolute masterclass performance. 10/10.

Only players not doing very well today were Lingard, Mata & Smalling. And despite that they were all working hard and being part of the working team today. Very enjoyable for me overall.

A good resume and If I may, I'd like to say that Shaw seems to have got his confidence back and please let Jones stay fit as he is a beast in defence.

 

[Ashley R1+O]

Valencia's goal was absolutely minting. Top performance, hope we really kick on and can at least claw half the points back over the next 7 games if there is any slipups from City. We have to be primed and ready to strike.

 

[GM K]

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

Hmnnn, interesting

 

[eat_grass]

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

That stat doesn't just speak to efficiency, it speaks to the quality of the goals as well. For this game, the two first half shot attempts United converted into goals required a high degree of skill to score, ones which they would not be expected to score.

Also, xG is a cumulative metric, which means if you have a dozen 0.2 xG attempts in a game, your xG would be 2.4 goals. That doesn't mean you had two sitters and a half-gimme. Diouf's one-on-one with de Gea is what bumped them up to 1.5 xG. Shaqiri's blocked shot (by Jones) in the first half got them most of the 1.0 xG in the first.

 

[eat_grass]

In case anyone missed why Lukaku went after Martins Indi in the second half, here's the precursor:



The ref played advantage, and Martial scored a beauty. But Lukaku was pissed and initially ran after Martins Indi.

 

[cyril C]

What a load of nonsense. I don't know how you could watch that game and not enjoy it. We played some good football and scored 3 great goals. Do you expect us to win every game 10-0?

No. If you have actually watched the game, not highlight or statistics, you should have noticed that Ireland was clear inside the box twice after 1-0. Against a mid-level team we would have been punished twice. In fact 3 times if you included the typical Crouch fiasco which we were lucky to get away. How about 1-3 by half time doing a City to concede 3 goals in 10 min? It was terrible during those 15min and I saw Mourinho rushing out to the tactical area doing his crown thing. We were much better 2nd half in terms of denying space and chance to Stoke City.

If we are a Klopp team then fans should be content with conceding 2 goals in 5 min as long as your team can score 3 goals in 10min. But this is a Mourinho's team, giving space and chances to your opponents is a cardinal sin. It had almost negate the whole purpose of the Dubai trip.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

No. If you have actually watched the game, not highlight or statistics, you should have noticed that Ireland was clear inside the box twice after 1-0. Against a mid-level team we would have been punished twice. In fact 3 times if you included the typical Crouch fiasco which we were lucky to get away. How about 1-3 by half time doing a City to concede 3 goals in 10 min? It was terrible during those 15min and I saw Mourinho rushing out to the tactical area doing his crown thing. We were much better 2nd half in terms of denying space and chance to Stoke City.

If we are a Klopp team then fans should be content with conceding 2 goals in 5 min as long as your team can score 3 goals in 10min. But this is a Mourinho's team, giving space and chances to your opponents is a cardinal sin. It had almost negate the whole purpose of the Dubai trip.

I agree with you. It’s not unreasonable to say that we lucky not to concede twice after going up 1-0. Jones and Smalling were in dreamland.

 

[Fully Fledged]

A pre-Match tweet suggested Matic was out, and Carrick was starting.

Ah ok

 

[Fully Fledged]

Sometimes I share my feeling with Mourinho about his preference to a boring 2-0 win than a heart-attack 4-3 win. Our quality on defending was terrible and forgot to mention the once-in-a-while Smalling slippage as well. Luckily it was in the 90th min and we had DDG. If it was 3-2 then some of you might dropped to the floor.

3-0 with action at both ends is a great match.

 

[T A]

So has anyone got an idea about Antonio's celebration yet? I still dont know why would he run that far at Anthony after his opening belter

 

[Isotope]

Beautiful performance. The Pogba show, the guy is insane. Lukaku, Martial, Shaw and glimpses of Lingard played well too.
However I don't like Smalling. Against better attackers we would of conceded a couple because of him. We need a beast defender. Vidic standard.

Stop daydreaming. No team in the world has a CB with Vidic standard.

 

[Dike_Manc]

I thought Lukaku had a great game, always looked forward and asked questions of the back line. My MOTM however goes to Pogba, absolute class act this guy.

 

[Tony Babangida]

No. If you have actually watched the game, not highlight or statistics, you should have noticed that Ireland was clear inside the box twice after 1-0. Against a mid-level team we would have been punished twice. In fact 3 times if you included the typical Crouch fiasco which we were lucky to get away. How about 1-3 by half time doing a City to concede 3 goals in 10 min? It was terrible during those 15min and I saw Mourinho rushing out to the tactical area doing his crown thing. We were much better 2nd half in terms of denying space and chance to Stoke City.

If we are a Klopp team then fans should be content with conceding 2 goals in 5 min as long as your team can score 3 goals in 10min. But this is a Mourinho's team, giving space and chances to your opponents is a cardinal sin. It had almost negate the whole purpose of the Dubai trip.

I did watch the game and we won 3-0 and played some nice football. It doesn't bother me that we had a 10 minute spell where we weren't fully in control - we won easily in the end. Cheer up, what's the point watching every week if you never let yourself enjoy it!

 

[KirkDuyt]

Every game I miss is a good game, I might just stop watching all together, United's bound to still win the league then.

 

[iHicksy]

I might be in the minority here but i didn't think Martial had that great a game, Mata was far better for me. I'm a huge Martial fan but I felt he broke down our attack way too often and against better teams we would be punished for it. His first touch left a lot to be desired and our attack wasn't clinical at all, something which has hounded us all season and the area which Sanchez will improve us massively. I think we'll see these 3-0 score lines turning into 5-0's once we get more clinical players in, at least until such a time as the likes of Martial and Rashford become more consistent.
We lacked concentration in defense at times with tracking the runners from midfield, stoke could easily have scored 2 or even 3 because we weren't picking people up and it wasn't because of their quality, it was simply that we switched off. Great result however and an enjoyable game to watch!

 

[JK-27]

Wondering how many people saying Martial was good were actually at the game rather than watching it on TV? He wasn't that great at all he's got so much more to give, he's such a talent, yet seemed to not be bothered for large chunks of the game, which is why he got subbed (and gets subbed in all the other games too).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Mata is a very consistent player but ultimately he's too slow, he kills our counter attacking threat because he just doesn't have the pace. Sanchez would instantly improve that.

 

[Acole9]

I was fairly confident going into it anyway, Stoke are a poor/aging team, decent performance from us though. Onwards and hopefully upwards!

 

[wolvored]

I just love when people don't see white letters.

Sorry.

I was joking as well and of course I saw the white letters lol

 

[wolvored]

I assume you are considering the chances they could have scored. But if you assume that, then you have to also consider the chances we could have scored.

They had 3 clear cut chances 4 if you include diouf. I was just saying a better finishing team may have got them in. Of course we had other chances as well.

 

[simplyared]

Matic's recent form: a cause for concern imo!

 

[Okey]

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

Well, they had a chance you' expect to hit the back of the net and another you' half expect to. We scored 2 goals in the half, neither of which was a banker of a chance. So yeah, the xG sounds about right. I think it' an utterly ridiculous stat though, and would like a word with whoever invented it.
Mata is a big problem. So weak and slow, kills attacks and limits options. Swap him for Sanchez and the change could be quite dramatic...

 

[marlowe78]

Generally good performance and a deserved result. Glad to see Valencia with his shooting boots on after the injury and Lukaku again getting on the scoresheet.

Pogba was immense. Now tied for the league lead in assists this season despite being out for several games with injuries and a ban. Absolutely the best player on the pitch.

Martial needs to break his habit of trying to feint when he's already in a good position to shoot at close range. But still, an outstanding goal from outside the box.

Mata I thought did well in getting into dangerous positions, just his finishing was surprisingly poor. Lingard IMO was awful - kept losing the ball, really was having no impact, and looked pissed off from very early. If he came off at halftime, I really wouldn't have complained.

Midfield was pretty good. I really wish that we'd transition faster, I see no reason why we can't. Stoke looked much more energetic than us on the counter when the game was still close and that's a problem.

Our weakest point was the backline...Don't know what Smalling and Jones were doing at points. There was one moment when a stoke player (Shaqiri?) was getting forced towards the goal line by Jones and then Smalling comes over, yet it looked like neither of them had the situation under control. And what was anyone doing on that Diouf chance? Did I see right in that Shaw got across the 18-yard and bothered Diouf just enough for him to miss? Keystone Kops...

Anyway, I would give us about a 6 out of 10. I was pleased with the lineup and post-match by Jose, I think he saw what all of us did, I give him about an 8/10.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

No. If you have actually watched the game, not highlight or statistics, you should have noticed that Ireland was clear inside the box twice after 1-0. Against a mid-level team we would have been punished twice. In fact 3 times if you included the typical Crouch fiasco which we were lucky to get away. How about 1-3 by half time doing a City to concede 3 goals in 10 min? It was terrible during those 15min and I saw Mourinho rushing out to the tactical area doing his crown thing. We were much better 2nd half in terms of denying space and chance to Stoke City.

If we are a Klopp team then fans should be content with conceding 2 goals in 5 min as long as your team can score 3 goals in 10min. But this is a Mourinho's team, giving space and chances to your opponents is a cardinal sin. It had almost negate the whole purpose of the Dubai trip.

Seeing as you're assuming that Stoke puts away all their chances, how about we assume that we put away all of ours too. Final score, 10-2. You can't expect us to play for 90 minutes and not have a single lapse or give up any chances...

 

[MThomas]

Ref Martials performance yesterday, I thought it was interesting to see that he was still getting complaints about movement and runs. I wonder how long that one is going to stick. For someone supposedly poor at it, he sure popped up in a lot of great positions yesterday..Quite a few times he held back his run and drifted central outside the box instead of running in, scored once due to it and should've scored a second later on.

Not sure about the rest of the complaints, initially it's a bit sloppy and we need a bit of time to settle in, maybe a bit of a nonchalant attitude in relation to their league position. Thought it was pretty entertaining for the majority of the match. People need to relax.

 

[breakout67]

xG is one of the worst new coefficients to out of the stats-brigade. If you look at the xG league table, it's just doesn't make sense and you would expect is to average out about right.

xG is almost always misused. The best teams regularly outperform their xG stats; and every single title winner outperforms their xG stat by a considerable margin.

Our xG was less than 3 goals; well it bloody well better be because our attackers are supposed to outperform the average.

If Our xG for a game is significantly higher than the goals we scored, that means that our players had poor finishing, because xG is what the average player would get with the chances we created.

 

[hn4manunited]

Good solid performance from the team! A bit shaky in defense. I think not having a consistent pairing through injuries and fitness is proving to be the problem here. I see moments where the center halves look out of sync. I think the way Crouch was set up, intentionally spread our center halves sometimes too far apart creating the space in the middle for ireland and shaqiri. The couple of chances they had was mainly due to that.

Pogba played a good solid game. I just read a couple articles on Pogba's influence so far this season and was reminded by the fact that he has only featured in something like 13 out of 23 we've played. Can anyone confirm this?

 

[NecssryEvil]

I have to be honest, I have been watching Valencia for years and wasn't aware that he even had a left foot.

 

[gerdm07]

I have to be honest, I have been watching Valencia for years and wasn't aware that he even had a left foot.

That's good. Usually when he shoots with his left the result are pretty bad. Of course, the same could be said when shooting with his right.

 

[MZX7]

If we can get Sanchez and play him on the right( He has played there for Chile) then with Lukaku up front and Martial on the left, we would score against any team.

Suddenly Lukaku is Neymar for some. He hasn't scored against top teams...yet...I think.

Personally, I don't think he's a good long term solution for us up front. Wish we can get a striker. And a great playmaker behind the front three of Martial, Sanchez (hopefully), new striker and a playmaker behind them.

 

[NecssryEvil]

That's good. Usually when he shoots with his left the result are pretty bad. Of course, the same could be said when shooting with his right.

Yeah, the club website said that is the first left footed goal since joining the team. They are probably still searching for the other balls he has shot with his left.

Did anyone notice how he started to run towards his own goal but then turned and went to Martial? Martial really had really nothing to do with the goal so was just wondering what their "moment" was about. Maybe Martial has been telling him to take that shot? Or, are they just good friends?

 

[Still ill]

Suddenly Lukaku is Neymar for some. He hasn't scored against top teams...yet...I think.

Personally, I don't think he's a good long term solution for us up front. Wish we can get a striker. And a great playmaker behind the front three of Martial, Sanchez (hopefully), new striker and a playmaker behind them.

....and a unicorn and stuff.

 

[MZX7]

....and a unicorn and stuff.

Don't spoil my muppet mood

 

[eat_grass]

So has anyone got an idea about Antonio's celebration yet? I still dont know why would he run that far at Anthony after his opening belter

My guess is Martial showed him that shooting technique, so Valencia went to celebrate with his (shooting) mentor.

Mourinho (or Pogba) said in the post-match press interview that the team practiced their shooting techniques in Dubai, and that Valencia's finishing was crap, lol. Maybe Martial stayed after-hours to help him with his form.