[Gannicus]

Amigos, we're not going to play champagne football at all this season. We haven't played champagne football for a long, long time.

I suggest all we ask right now is that we deserve victory and get it, which today we did.

 

[Getsme]

It's the first time in a long time that I knew we were going to win the game.

 

[Enigma_87]

Amigos, we're not going to play champagne football at all this season. We haven't played champagne football for a long, long time.

I suggest all we ask right now is that we deserve victory and get it, which today we did.

What I'd like is to see some plan or idea when we have to ball what to do with it. I'd like us to begin creating chances and start playing good, rather than grinding results at home against mickey mouse opponents and losing/drawing the away games.

I'd like us(or LvG) to realize that Rooney is a striker, AdM is not; Fellaini is not #10, Mata is and to play players in form rather to bench them after good performance(Herrera in mind). We've seen some progress with the last point(not sure if RvP injury is a reason for this as well).

If anyone is satisfied with what we've seen today(apart from the result) then our expectations are really low at the moment.

 

[Yorkeontop]

Was that 352? If so, why werent we putrid like some of the other times?

 

[Nik70]

Was that 352? If so, why werent we putrid like some of the other times?

No. 4-2-3-1

 

[The Mitcher]

Was that 352? If so, why werent we putrid like some of the other times?

No, we played 4411/4231

 

[Fully Fledged]

It's no change really. We have been really good all season at home(at least results wise) the true test comes Wednesday away to Newcastle. The fact that we needed a set piece to break the deadlock against a woeful Sunderland was disappointing.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

After the horrible first 20 minutes, during which De Gea saved us again, we managed to put ourselves in the driver's seat. Nothing extraordinary really, just used the possession we enjoyed to nullify Sunderland's threat and keep them in their half and then, as usual, we waited for one good individual moment to break the deadlock. Still there are one or two things worthy of mention...

First of all, Herrera and Blind managed to hold our midfield together and connected the lines rather well. Herrera still isn't the supporting midfielder (defensively wise) we want him to be and Blind isn't the most mobile or fastest on the ball midfielder in the world but they covered a lot of ground on the pitch today and they covered it well. They did a decent job at organizing the game from behind, they chased a lot of second balls and they were quick to close down the first attackers and prevent Sunderland from hitting on the counter. I'm not sure they will be enough to win us the midfield battle in the upcoming fixtures, which are considerably tougher, but it's certainly a sign of improvement. Maybe a reverted triangle with Carrick at the base of it and Blind-Herrera slightly ahead of him will do the job.

Next, Smalling. It's not about him playing well, it's about more how confidence at the back can help you push your lines further on the pitch and control the game. After those shaky first 20 minutes Smalling played like he (and all the other CBs) should be playing week in and week out. Excellent performance, he commanded the defense, he gave the opportunity to the two CMs to stay in more advanced positions. Even Evans become more confident next to him as the game progressed. I hope he keeps it up because we need these performances from him.

And we also need our strikers to make things happen in the box more often. Falcao beat his marker to a ball in the box just once today and look what happened, just imagine if he and RvP got on the ball in dangerous areas 8-10 times per game. But his overall performance was poor and his substitution justified...

As was Di Maria's, not necessarily because he had a bad game (he was again one of the very few who tried to make things happen) but mainly because of his bad decision making. It was a bold decision to sub him at half-time with the scoreline at 0-0 but it paid off. Our game plan today depended a lot on the wingers' ability to create chances, so bringing off our most expensive signing and rewarding Young for his effort on the pitch and Januzaj with a full half to prove himself was a decision that imo should send a message to the rest of the squad.

The big problem in the final third remains though, we don't have players who can beat defenders and unbalance defenses. Since we don't have that we're "doomed" to pass the ball around until we find an opening. Both Young and Januzaj put a lot of effort in today's win but we are still in need end product from the players in the final third.

 

[Will Absolute]

That was the exact same as every other game this season. Boss possession, create nothing, make it nervy at times with our defenders. But I'm thankful for a deserved win.

Yep. Amazing how the final score shapes perceptions.

Great result though. I'll take it.

 

[DevilRed]

Result is all that matters at this point. Yes we didn't play the prettiest of football but I think most of us felt comfortable right from kickoff that this was going to be 3 points in the bag.

As expected, sunderland sat deep and camped in their own box whilst waiting to counter us. As with most opponents these days they also pressed us relentlessly when our defence has the ball. Its a simple blueprint for opposing teams to force us into mistakes.

Thankfully, we turned up the tempo in the second half and say what you want about Falcao, but he won us that all important penalty which basically decided the game. Just baffling why he should have been subbed off for Fellaini but I suppose we might have had the midweek match in mind. Important 3 points in the bag and some good performances from the likes of Young and Rooney.

 

[Nik70]

Result is all that matters at this point. Yes we didn't play the prettiest of football but I think most of us felt comfortable right from kickoff that this was going to be 3 points in the bag.

As expected, sunderland sat deep and camped in their own box whilst waiting to counter us. As with most opponents these days they also pressed us relentlessly when our defence has the ball. Its a simple blueprint for opposing teams to force us into mistakes.

Thankfully, we turned up the tempo in the second half and say what you want about Falcao, but he won us that all important penalty which basically decided the game. Just baffling why he should have been subbed off for Fellaini but I suppose we might have had the midweek match in mind. Important 3 points in the bag and some good performances from the likes of Young and Rooney.

World class from Falcao for the penalty but he tends to make every defender he plays against look brilliant. Much of the same again today up until that penalty incident. Hopefully he kicks on from here with some more confidence and starts banging in goals with regularity.

 

[Will Singh]

Nice WUM.

I take it you didn't watch the game

 

[Oneunited26]

Another home win, concerns that we cannot win an away game for love or money. Like I say with van gaals United, it's crucial we get the first goal, because in the PL van gaal has failed to win a game from a losing position

 

[Raoul]

I take it you didn't watch the game

Far too bleak. We were off in the first half, managed to play better in the 2nd. We're obviously a work in progress but 3 points, a clean sheet, and 3rd place are all positives.

 

[Will Singh]

falcao and rooney are being saved for Wed's game against Newcastle.

Are you having a laugh? Rooney I agree with but Falcao hadn't done anything until that moment he brilliantly turned in the box, my point is he must have got a lot of confidence from that moment only to get it destroyed by being subbed!

Remember the last game he was dropped and only on probably on the pitch because of injuries

 

[ThaReaper01]

Thought they played quite well.

Bog standard to say the other side were 'awful' or something to that effect whenever United win.

 

[Getsme]

Struggling to understand how people didn't think we played well.

 

[Will Singh]

Far too bleak. We were off in the first half, managed to play better in the 2nd. We're obviously a work in progress but 3 points, a clean sheet, and 3rd place are all positives.

I totally agree about those stats but we still played shit and "work in progress" is cringe worthy comment seeing that we have had all this time to sort it out!!

 

[Dominos]

Baffled by the people saying it was a good performance. Except O'Shea doing his best to score for us by hitting his own cross bar we didn't create a chance until the penalty incident. It very much looked like we were going to drop points for a lot of that 2nd half. Only real positive is Rooney is back amongst the goals and he usually goes on a streak once he's broke his goal drought.

 

[Raoul]

I totally agree about those stats but we still played shit and "work in progress" is cringe worthy comment seeing that we have had all this time to sort it out!!

We will continue to be a work in progress well into next year imo. On a negative note, our players are definitely not communicating well with another, which fecked up several attack setups, which is down to constant formation changes.

 

[The-Natural]

Typical first half with Loads of possession and almost zero penetration due to largely the fact that we are playing two strikers who aren't running in behind or can beat anyone. The ball was going round in circles as per usual. Then 2nd half eventually we move to more or less a 4231 and all of a sudden things click. Basically what a lot of us have been calling for for a while. Would have been really good to see di Maria stay on and sub either falcao or Rooney with whoever stayed on obv moving up top by themselves and then we would really see penetration. In fact put mata in for fellaini today in this system and things could be very very Good indeed. Another good thing is (however late in the fcking day it Is ) that LVG had the balls to take one of the strikers off and at last move to this superior system. We deserved to win today and maybe, just maybe, this will show the big stubborn Dutchman the way forward.

 

[siw2007]

Started off poorly but turned into one of the better performances of the season. At the start we were slow and tepid, our play was far too cautious and was wondering where we were going to create chances from. Di Maria's poor first touch and lack ability to make anything happen for us kind of summarised this period for us. When Evans played that ball back to the keeper from our corner the crowd really booed and then encouraged the team to attack more.
I felt the game changed for me at this point as our passing quicker, more purposeful. We began to pound Sunderland and were unfortunate not to go into the break in the lead. The change of Di Maria for Januzaj turned out to be a great one, as Adnan was direct and creative. The two goals came which was a relief but felt we deserved more from the game.
Smalling got my man of the match as he imposed himself extremely well at the back and was impressive at driving from the back which was key to turning the tide in our favour. A much improved Evans also looked solid with another good game with Rojo. Herrera was good again with Young and Januzaj looking ever dangerous for us. Rooney played a good game and deserves a lot of credit for taking the penalty in what must have been a pressurised situation against a very big keeper. Falcao was poor but a big well done to him for winning the penalty.

Other than Di Maria, the only real let down for me was that we should have been far more clinical in the final third as we managed to break through to the penalty area on so many occasions. If we improve here and play with the same intensity and purpose against Newcastle mid week then I have no doubt we will get a positive result, even though we will be playing a strong team in their back yard.

 

[Will Singh]

We will continue to be a work in progress well into next year imo. On a negative note, our players are definitely not communicating well with another, which fecked up several attack setups, which is down to constant formation changes.

Agree with that, but still think this should have been all dealt with by now and we had some rhythm in our play which is the biggest concern.

 

[Oneunited26]

Far too bleak. We were off in the first half, managed to play better in the 2nd. We're obviously a work in progress but 3 points, a clean sheet, and 3rd place are all positives.

Until an away game comes along, and we slip up again. The home form is good, but we need to rack up some away points

 

[ghagua]

Really disappointed, we were absolutely shit. We have world class players who looked like they won't bothered.

LVG has to sort his ego out, Falcao was gonna be subbed before his brilliant turn in the box which lead to the pen, but LVG instead of leaving him on as still subbed him, That must be a confidence killer for a player to come off after finally doing something right and it paid off!

Young had a fantastic game and was really refreshed to see Januzaj cone on and run at defenders!

Di Maria for me ain't worked out and I think he was bought for the wrong reason as LVG doesn't know what to do with him which is worrying as the amount of money it's cost to buy him!!!

Something is going on behind the scenes which is killing the confidence of the players, I think it's the philosophy bollocks which is getting to the players heads.

There been recorded on the training ground and then shown what they are doing wrong!!!

Just shoot at the fecking goal is all I ask!!!!!

Amen to that.

 

[Rob Bowman]

What I'd like is to see some plan or idea when we have to ball what to do with it. I'd like us to begin creating chances and start playing good, rather than grinding results at home against mickey mouse opponents and losing/drawing the away games.

I'd like us(or LvG) to realize that Rooney is a striker, AdM is not; Fellaini is not #10, Mata is and to play players in form rather to bench them after good performance(Herrera in mind). We've seen some progress with the last point(not sure if RvP injury is a reason for this as well).

If anyone is satisfied with what we've seen today(apart from the result) then our expectations are really low at the moment.

^ This

Couldn't agree more. How Falcao continues to get starts while Mata sits and against a team begging to be unlocked by a little magician like Mata...

Makes no sense to me.

 

[Gannicus]

What I'd like is to see some plan or idea when we have to ball what to do with it. I'd like us to begin creating chances and start playing good, rather than grinding results at home against mickey mouse opponents and losing/drawing the away games.

I'd like us(or LvG) to realize that Rooney is a striker, AdM is not; Fellaini is not #10, Mata is and to play players in form rather to bench them after good performance(Herrera in mind). We've seen some progress with the last point(not sure if RvP injury is a reason for this as well).

If anyone is satisfied with what we've seen today(apart from the result) then our expectations are really low at the moment.

Let's be brutally honest: our expectations are indeed low. Everyone here would happily accept a fourth place finish, however we get there, short of cheating.

We do have a game plan, although most of us disagree with it. The game plan is to control possession of the ball, get the ball out wide and send in short crosses. That's it. It's not a horrifying game plan, but the problem is that we're not very good at it and our opponents know it's coming and can effectively defend it.

The core problem with that game plan is that our striker play has been poor this season. We had one moment of good attacking play today and that was a good short cross from Herrera to Falcao, who made the most of it before getting pulled down for the pk. We had a few other good moments from Young in the first half and then Januzaj in the second half.

Depending on what's really going on with Di Maria we may have to sit him down and go with Januzaj. I'd prefer Roo at the 9 instead of Falcao, however, and Mata in the hole.

I'm still confident we can secure fourth place, but we absolutely need to defeat Liverpool. Do that and we're in the catbird seat.

 

[buckooo1978]

dodgy start but we grew into the game and by the 20 minute mark I felt we were in total control for the rest of the game

Smalling started to dominate the defence - earlier he and Evans had looked very shaky - impressed by him today

Young offered some good attacking options down the left and was probably our best player over the 90 minutes

Di Maria was awful today (one amazing ball into the box aside) and I'm glad LVG sent the message to him that he needs to step up

Falcao was trying really really hard to get into the game - control wasn't fantastic but was unlucky not to win a penalty in the first half - his turn in the second to win the penalty and get the sending off was class - just a little disappointed he was taken off.......he needs a goal and against 10 man Sunderland why take him off for Fellaini


Lots of average performances from Rooney, Herrera, Blind and one or two others - we visibly looked better after the sending off and Valencia/Januzaj combined well

its going to take a few wins to get into any kind of stride

 

[Snow]

A good win thanks to Falcao. Weren't very close to scoring before that penalty and red card that came out of nowhere.
bring on your foaming mouths

 

[MkPaul]

Smalling was fantastic today, really solid, calm and didn't feck about. Herrera & Young were good as well and Januzaj when he came on was a big game changer.

 

[bosnian_red]

What I'd like is to see some plan or idea when we have to ball what to do with it. I'd like us to begin creating chances and start playing good, rather than grinding results at home against mickey mouse opponents and losing/drawing the away games.

I'd like us(or LvG) to realize that Rooney is a striker, AdM is not; Fellaini is not #10, Mata is and to play players in form rather to bench them after good performance(Herrera in mind). We've seen some progress with the last point(not sure if RvP injury is a reason for this as well).

If anyone is satisfied with what we've seen today(apart from the result) then our expectations are really low at the moment.

Well Van Gaal has seemed to realize most of that. Though Fellaini is a #10/striker/target man. He's by far at his best there. But he's stopped playing Di maria up front, Rooney has played up front recently, and we actually made loads of chances today, had 30 shots total in the game. It was a good performance, the only thing lacking was confidence so it took a while for the break through to actually come.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Decent performance, complete control apart from first few minutes.
Plenty of shots but not fast flowing football. As long as we win the better football can wait.
Service to the strikers still not quite there, need to speed up tempo for this to happen.
Di Maria had poor game, Young good in first half; Januzaj second half. Smalling good apart from beginning of match
After we scored penalty would have preferred Mata on instead of Fellaini

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

Decent performance, complete control apart from first few minutes.
Plenty of shots but not fast flowing football. As long as we win the better football can wait.
Service to the strikers still not quite there, need to speed up tempo for this to happen.
Di Maria had poor game, Young good in first half; Januzaj second half. Smalling good apart from beginning of match
After we scored penalty would have preferred Mata on instead of Fellaini

Summed up well enough for me. Questions over LVG man management skills remain.

 

[Cletus]

A win and a defeat for Southampton, good start to the weekend.

Totally agree, but even so many months into the season it sounds weird to read that

 

[Cristiano Jonaldo]

As for di Maria, hopefully now, people stop the nonsense that our only problem was not buying enough world class players and that it was simply a matter of stuffing the team with established players and everything else will be smooth sailing. Playing well takes much more than that.

What on earth kind of logic is that? Di Maria's personal performance levels have been terrible compared to what he's capable of. He's not playing anywhere near to a world class standard. If you buy world class players who are actually prepared to put the effort in and play to their ability then yes, that would solve problems. Di Maria looks like he has severe motivational problems when I watch him play, like he's just going through the motions.

You can't by any logic attribute the problem with Di Maria to world class players in general. That's ridiculous.

 

[Moriarty]

Well Van Gaal has seemed to realize most of that. Though Fellaini is a #10/striker/target man. He's by far at his best there. But he's stopped playing Di maria up front, Rooney has played up front recently, and we actually made loads of chances today, had 30 shots total in the game. It was a good performance, the only thing lacking was confidence so it took a while for the break through to actually come.

Januzaj made a big difference causing Sunderland all kinds of problems. He's not easily shrugged off the ball either which is a problem Di Maria seems to have. I don't know a whole lot about the Spanish league but he must have played against robust defenders over there.

I thought Falcao had a good game game today, considering he was marked by Brown and O'Shea for most of the match. Why Van Gaal decided to yank him when his marker had just been sent off is weird but a lot of what Van Gaal does mystifies me. Big pat on the back for Ashley Young too who had a fine game.

 

[Wade3]

It was a solid performance overall, although Sunderland never posed to be much of a threat. The only thing lacking today was the final ball.

 

[Ringo 07]

It finally looks like Van Gaal is getting to know his best XI. Januzaj, Young and Smalling need to stay in the team from now on. Evans was very shakey but I'd probably have him ahead of headless-chicken Jones now.

Herrera still looks lightweight in central midfield but he was decent enough. If he can just find a bit of consistency and confidence between now and then end of the season then that would give us a good chance to get a top 4 spot.

Blind looks lightweight and is a good player but not sure he is a man utd player.

Falcao did nothing again but maybe the fact that he won us the game will do his confidence no harm.

One has to wonder whether Di Maria just isn't settling in Manchester. If that is the case then swap him sharpish for Cavani at the end of the season

 

[Cassidy]

It finally looks like Van Gaal is getting to know his best XI. Januzaj, Young and Smalling need to stay in the team from now on. Evans was very shakey but I'd probably have him ahead of headless-chicken Jones now.

Herrera still looks lightweight in central midfield but he was decent enough. If he can just find a bit of consistency and confidence between now and then end of the season then that would give us a good chance to get a top 4 spot.

Blind looks lightweight and is a good player but not sure he is a man utd player.

Falcao did nothing again but maybe the fact that he won us the game will do his confidence no harm.

One has to wonder whether Di Maria just isn't settling in Manchester. If that is the case then swap him sharpish for Cavani at the end of the season

Hes not that good.

 

[Gannicus]

Deserved winners

Clean sheet.

Fantastic play by our second tier players.

Not much to complain about, truth to be told. It was the kind of performance that would never beat Chelsea or City, but if we can maintain today's form it will be enough to secure fourth place. And that's the ONLY thing that matters right now.