[Geordopolous]

I think what a lot of people are forgetting is that tottenham played a really well executed game plan, and they are probably one quality attacking player away from winning that game. They didn't give us any time on the ball at all. I'm very happy with the result and we should be pleased that we won, while last season we would have lost that. And for those who absolutely hate 4-2-3-1.. So far it's had an 80% win rate so there is no need to stress

 

[LouisDanGaal]

It's Tottenham not Fulham, 3 points is always a good result. People are jumping in on the result too quickly as if this game tells you how we are going to play all season. We kept the game tight and limited their chances and kept the ball well. Yes we didn't create a lot but we were winning the onus is on the other team. 3 points.

 

[Wumminator]

Honestly can't believe the shit being spoken in this thread.

We were playing Tottenham at home. We kept it tight, we looked solid and passed the ball well.

People this is as good as it gets in the premier league. You can't play brilliantly every game, especially when you're playing a top four contender. These finished FIFTH last year. They were just behind us. That means it is never going to be particularly easy. Especially when we had five new players.

Yesterdays performance was absolutely fine. If you're honestly telling me you look at Chelsea playing Swansea yesterday and think they looked better than us you're in a dream world. Compare our performances to others around us this weekend and you'll see they will be par for the course.

 

[Water Melon]

Everyone is happy with the three points, however, most of the posters on here are just saying that it was quite a lucky win. I do not think that we looked better than the Spurs, nor do I understand what LvG is trying to do at times. Of course, he will have fans' support as long as he is United's manager, but I find most of his critics to make reasonable and valid points.

 

[Getsme]

Honestly can't believe the shit being spoken in this thread.

We were playing Tottenham at home. We kept it tight, we looked solid and passed the ball well.

People this is as good as it gets in the premier league. You can't play brilliantly every game, especially when you're playing a top four contender. These finished FIFTH last year. They were just behind us. That means it is never going to be particularly easy. Especially when we had five new players.

Yesterdays performance was absolutely fine. If you're honestly telling me you look at Chelsea playing Swansea yesterday and think they looked better than us you're in a dream world. Compare our performances to others around us this weekend and you'll see they will be par for the course.

Agreed. But we didn't win the shots on target stat, therefore we were shite

 

[entropy]

It's Tottenham not Fulham, 3 points is always a good result. People are jumping in on the result too quickly as if this game tells you how we are going to play all season. We kept the game tight and limited their chances and kept the ball well. Yes we didn't create a lot but we were winning the onus is on the other team. 3 points.

So what? As long as they have ham in their name, we should be dominating them.

 

[Jerch]

It was all about the result yesterday and we got it. We set up to get a result and we get it, i wouldn't look further. Tottenham game would be always tought and it is nice to get 3 points from it and to crossed out one of the most difficult fixtures in the calendar.

 

[Lewis.no.9]

Thing is people are forgetting that our record last year against the bigger teams was terrific. We lost the league through losing to the smaller clubs. Aston Villa and the like will be where we really see any progression or not.

 

[Lewis.no.9]

Everyone is happy with the three points, however, most of the posters on here are just saying that it was quite a lucky win. I do not think that we looked better than the Spurs, nor do I understand what LvG is trying to do at times. Of course, he will have fans' support as long as he is United's manager, but I find most of his critics to make reasonable and valid points.

Moyes had blinkered support too. Look where that got us.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Thing is people are forgetting that our record last year against the bigger teams was terrific. We lost the league through losing to the smaller clubs. Aston Villa and the like will be where we really see any progression or not.

Not if we then lose to the big teams round us. If we continue to beat the Arsenal/City etc then beat the Villas as well as you say that will be progress. The squad we have is capable of that, however the manager seems intent on setting them up to be hard to beat but not necessarily to win. I am hoping that once the players have their full fitness things will improve. Yesterday the players were obviously not ready and the subs he brought on had even less playing time in pre-season so were even less ready to change the game.

 

[Sarni]

Honestly can't believe the shit being spoken in this thread.

We were playing Tottenham at home. We kept it tight, we looked solid and passed the ball well.

People this is as good as it gets in the premier league. You can't play brilliantly every game, especially when you're playing a top four contender. These finished FIFTH last year. They were just behind us. That means it is never going to be particularly easy. Especially when we had five new players.

Yesterdays performance was absolutely fine. If you're honestly telling me you look at Chelsea playing Swansea yesterday and think they looked better than us you're in a dream world. Compare our performances to others around us this weekend and you'll see they will be par for the course.

While I am happy with the result and content with the performance you cannot really say that this is as good as it gets in Premier League when we played much better against the same side both home and away last season (failed to score a goal at WHL but outplayed them completely). And we didn't really pass the ball very well yesterday. It was a good win but we cannot overlook obvious flaws in that performance and be over the moon with the way we played when we clearly were far from our best. Even van Gaal won't be happy with how we played and I'd be worried if he were.

Chelsea until the red card yesterday probably did look a little sharper than us going forward. Also average performance from them and they could do much better.

 

[K2K]

Everyone is happy with the three points, however, most of the posters on here are just saying that it was quite a lucky win. I do not think that we looked better than the Spurs, nor do I understand what LvG is trying to do at times. Of course, he will have fans' support as long as he is United's manager, but I find most of his critics to make reasonable and valid points.

Some of his decisions are just downright baffling..saw this from a Dutch football follower that has watched both Memphis and LVG for years and this was his observation.



The problem is that the experimentations do not seem to be working , that is why the questioning of them is so profound. We cant just believe that LVG will magically get it right, there has to something for us to give us hope. But in a year here, for at least 90% of his time here, the football has been abysmal..

And when we do question him, instead of giving reasons why his tactics will work , all you get is the standard "give him time". You couldnt question him last season as that was just his first year, and it would take the players 3/4 months to understand the philosophy( His own words), then it was because he didnt have the players he wanted..In preseason, it was because it was far too early and he was just experimenting( Even though he promptly went and played the exact same tactics during the season).

When Brendan Rodgers was playing Sterling as a wingback and Can as rb, we all laughed and knew it was daft, and it was promptly proven so. Our own experimentations are just as bizarre( not just this season, but even last, before someone starts with the first game of the season retort) and have not worked either. I have backed a manager blindly with Moyes before, but its when you cannot really defend the managers actions over a prolonged period other than the fact "that he is the manager" when sometimes we have to question things. I dont think that makes you any less of a supporter to do so imo.

 

[Wumminator]

90% of the time the football is abysmal?

Come on!

 

[Ixion]

While I am happy with the result and content with the performance you cannot really say that this is as good as it gets in Premier League when we played much better against the same side both home and away last season (failed to score a goal at WHL but outplayed them completely).

The difference between the games against Spurs last season and now is we had four players making their debut at the start and another off the bench. It's going to take some time for the players to gel. Personally I thought there were lots of encouraging signs from Darmian and Schneiderlin and I can see them making a big difference. Get some more creativity in Pedro instead of every other attack breaking down via Young, and get Rooney to pull his finger out and I can see us playing some good stuff.

 

[Adam-Utd]

Some of his decisions are just downright baffling..saw this from a Dutch football follower that has watched both Memphis and LVG for years and this was his observation.



The problem is that the experimentations do not seem to be working , that is why the questioning of them is so profound. We cant just believe that LVG will magically get it right, there has to something for us to give us hope. But in a year here, for at least 90% of his time here, the football has been abysmal..

And when we do question him, instead of giving reasons why his tactics will work , all you get is the standard "give him time". You couldnt question him last season as that was just his first year, and it would take the players 3/4 months to understand the philosophy( His own words), then it was because he didnt have the players he wanted..In preseason, it was because it was far too early and he was just experimenting( Even though he promptly went and played the exact same tactics during the season).

When Brendan Rodgers was playing Sterling as a wingback and Can as rb, we all laughed and knew it was daft, and it was promptly proven so. Our own experimentations are just as bizarre( not just this season, but even last, before someone starts with the first game of the season retort) and have not worked either. I have backed a manager blindly with Moyes before, but its when you cannot really defend the managers actions over a prolonged period other than the fact "that he is the manager" when sometimes we have to question things. I dont think that makes you any less of a supporter to do so imo.

LVG is trying to develop Memphis into a better player, which I think he could become an all round brilliant attacker in the future. It might not be the best time to try it though.

 

[Sarni]

The difference between the games against Spurs last season and now is we had four players making their debut at the start and another off the bench. It's going to take some time for the players to gel. Personally I thought there were lots of encouraging signs from Darmian and Schneiderlin and I can see them making a big difference. Get some more creativity in Pedro instead of every other attack breaking down via Young, and get Rooney to pull his finger out and I can see us playing some good stuff.

Of course and there are a lot of positives to be drawn out of that game, I am merely pointing out that you cannot look at the game yesterday and be 100% happy with how we performed. There is plenty of room for improvement.

 

[Shez]

Smalling is a beast. Was so afraid he would play Jones over smalling

 

[Drifter]

Three points are very welcome. But without a mistake from Walker it could easily have been a bore draw. That's what's worrying me, our complete lack creativity in the last third.

 

[sallycinnamin]

Very important we got the right kind of result and the only one that fits that bill was a win. Three points is what matters.

 

[Galactic]

Three points are very welcome. But without a mistake from Walker it could easily have been a bore draw. That's what's worrying me, our complete lack creativity in the last third.

You can also argue that without the OG it could have been a better game. We were content with the lead and sort of coasting through the match after the goal. The desperation wasn't there to score another goal. We were much more desperate not to lose the lead. Just my opinion.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Hugely important three points, particularly after the way we started last season. Spurs was a tricky first fixture but we came away with the win and that's what matters most.

Thought some of the players looked a bit leggy, but then it was an unusually hot day, pre-season was short and the season has started earlier, so I'm not surprised we haven't hit out stride straight away.

There was a lot of criticism about our goalkeeper and central-defender situation, so a pat on the back is deserved for the clean sheet. Romero did well and Mike Smalling is finally realising his full potential, looked immense and that's not the first time he's kept Kane quiet.

 

[Garethw]

You can also argue that without the OG it could have been a better game. We were content with the lead and sort of coasting through the match after the goal. The desperation wasn't there to score another goal. We were much more desperate not to lose the lead. Just my opinion.

If that is true then LVG should be sacked. Happy to sit on a one goal lead from half time onwards at home is a disgraceful approach.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

You can also argue that without the OG it could have been a better game. We were content with the lead and sort of coasting through the match after the goal. The desperation wasn't there to score another goal. We were much more desperate not to lose the lead. Just my opinion.

I think he sent on the subs to hold onto the lead not add to it. There was definitely a lack or urgency until we were actually under the cosh a bit at the end.

 

[K2K]

90% of the time the football is abysmal?

Come on!

That may be too high..From last season, the games we played well from my recollection were QPR, Leicester before the collapse, Hull, Newcastle, Spurs( Home and away), Pool and City..Im struggling to think of more, I think you are being pedantic though, but arguably you are right , so Ill rephrase that

: For the overwhelming majority of last season we played dour non-penetrative possesion football...

And to just to put out it out there, Im not anti LVG.There have been many contentious decisions that he made here that I actually agree with, such as getting rid of players that he considered deadweight such as Nani, RvP and Danny welbeck....its the tactics and the resultant football where the complains are.

 

[K2K]

LVG is trying to develop Memphis into a better player, which I think he could become an all round brilliant attacker in the future. It might not be the best time to try it though.

I agree, but I just dont think it may be best for the team overall.

I remember reading an interview that Adnan gave, whereby he explained that although he preferred playing in the centre, He and Moyes had agreed to play him in the wing to enable his development. That was one of the few good decisions that Davy made here, but it was a good one.I think Memphis would be best served being on the wing rather than the centre, whereby the burden of both creativity and goalscoring lies with him. Rather on the wing, whereby he is more comfortable, you can gently ease him in.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I agree, but I just dont think it may be best for the team overall.

I remember reading an interview that Adnan gave, whereby he explained that although he preferred playing in the centre, He and Moyes had agreed to play him in the wing to enable his development. That was one of the few good decisions that Davy made here, but it was a good one.I think Memphis would be best served being on the wing rather than the centre, whereby the burden of both creativity and goalscoring lies with him. Rather on the wing, whereby he is more comfortable, you can gently ease him in.

He should be letting him get his feet under the table first as you say, before trying to change how he plays. He is putting an awful lot of pressure on a young player and if Wayne doesn't pull himself together soon the pressure and scrutiny will be suffocating.

 

[K2K]

He should be letting him get his feet under the table first as you say, before trying to change how he plays. He is putting an awful lot of pressure on a young player and if Wayne doesn't pull himself together soon the pressure and scrutiny will be suffocating.

True..I get that Memphis is a confident young man and will be up for anything in order to almost please the manager..but with his experience, LVG should know the pressure can get to even the most confident of players..I live in hope that he will change it soon, maybe even next week due to the European game in the next week.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

True..I get that Memphis is a confident young man and will be up for anything in order to almost please the manager..but with his experience, LVG should know the pressure can get to even the most confident of players..I live in hope that he will change it soon, maybe even next week due to the European game in the next week.

European games aren't for experimenting. He needs a well tried formation and personel. If we mess this up it will be humiliating.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Too much deal is being made of Memphis being behind Rooney. He played that before and even in PSV he wasnt a classical winger but drifted to the middle a lot. So even when he will play on the wing he will be in the middle a lot.

 

[K2K]

European games aren't for experimenting. He needs a well tried formation and personel. If we mess this up it will be humiliating.

I was thinking about the Villa game, not necessarily experimenting, but rather be forced to play different players who then play so well that he cant drop them like last season..or that is my hope anyway.

 

[Hal9000]

LVG is trying to develop Memphis into a better player, which I think he could become an all round brilliant attacker in the future. It might not be the best time to try it though.

Think he's also trying to accommodate Ashley Young in the line up. It was the same last season with Di Maria.. Although Young probably deserved to start over him. How ever i think Van Gaal likes the fact Young has become very good at helping his left back out and putting in that hard work, and it's probably why he gets the nod there over Depay or Di Maria or would be more suited to attacking from that left wing, rather than try and work space in between the striker.

Personally i don't need to see the need to have someone play right behind the striker. When Rooney played on his lonesome and bagged 30 goals, he had a lot of space to do it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I was thinking about the Villa game, not necessarily experimenting, but rather be forced to play different players who then play so well that he cant drop them like last season..or that is my hope anyway.

They likely will play well and then he will change it again. We can but hope.

 

[Oneunited26]

Not if we then lose to the big teams round us. If we continue to beat the Arsenal/City etc then beat the Villas as well as you say that will be progress. The squad we have is capable of that, however the manager seems intent on setting them up to be hard to beat but not necessarily to win. I am hoping that once the players have their full fitness things will improve. Yesterday the players were obviously not ready and the subs he brought on had even less playing time in pre-season so were even less ready to change the game.

This squad for me can win the league title, the talent and experience is there, and he has got the pieces to play a balanced set up. VG seems to be doing the opposite, he seems to thrive on creating problems for himself, instead of saying, wait lets play a system that suits the squad. The ceiling of chelsea is not that high, and we have a squad that is almost has good as chelsea's. If VG played the system that suits the squad, I think we are quiet capable of winning the league

 

[pierrethesnack]

Too much deal is being made of Memphis being behind Rooney. He played that before and even in PSV he wasnt a classical winger but drifted to the middle a lot. So even when he will play on the wing he will be in the middle a lot.

And besides, I guess one of the reasons for him playing in the middle is that Young has somehow made himself undroppable. If he gets injured or starts playing poorly, we will probably get to see Memphis out wide.

 

[Mr Anderson]

Best players were Darmian, Carrick and Romero. That said it all really. Defended for large portions of the game. Didn't really have a period of generating chances.

The game got worse once Valencia came on, we could have and probably should have conceded. Valencia went missing twice, we Spurs got in behind him. Blind was lucky to have Smalling cover his arse too.

I don't know why he was happy to make us sit back for such long periods in this game. Lucky.

 

[MancFanFromManc]

I'm not complaining about yesterday, last years start to the campaign did my head in, so to kick off with a win is very much job done

That said... I found it very disturbing when the camera panned to our THREE disgruntled goalkeepers. How have we ended up in this situation. It's very odd and doesn't exactly paint our beloved leader in a flattering light

 

[Bobcat]

Honestly can't believe the shit being spoken in this thread.

We were playing Tottenham at home. We kept it tight, we looked solid and passed the ball well.

So much this !

1. It's the first freaking game of the season
2. We have a LOT of new players to bed in.
3. Tottenham is not a bad team. In fact, based on last season, we should consider them rivals for the top spots.
4. We might have created few chances, but so did they
5. We fecking won

 

[Havak]

It was only the first game, but I kind of expected that kind of performance (but with a few more chances created / shots on target). After the goal we looked like it had clicked a bit and with a bit more precision we could have extended the lead before half time. In the second half after Schweinsteiger and Herrera came on, we controlled the game quite well without really doing enough when we had the ball.. Because of this lack of ambition we let Spurs have a chance in a game that should have been over ages ago. If they had better offensive options off the bench, or it wasn't the first game of the season where fatigue is a bit of a factor, they'd have probably got the draw.

Positives were Matteo Darmian and Chris Smalling, both looked very good and it was a toss-up for Man of the Match, with Smalling edging it as he played the whole game and had a few things to do at the end when Spurs pushed for the equaliser. The other debuts were all fine (Schneiderlin, Memphis, Schweinsteiger), but didn't really manage to contribute a whole lot offensively. Memphis I believe did struggle a bit in the hole, but I'll go into that now..

I think a lot of people have an issue with who is playing where in this system, with three glaring ones:

1. Blind at CB means teams are more inclined to lob a ball over the top when we play high.. Spurs did this at least three times that I can remember, even within the first few minutes of the game and could have easily scored.
2. Memphis as the No.10. LvG obviously knows him better, but I think a guy with that pace and power needs to be playing out wide, especially when he's new to the League.
3. Mata. I'm fine with him playing out wide as he did well last season there, but I think everyone knows he's a bit better through the middle and it is almost complete nonsense to not swap him with Memphis, at least for 20-30 minutes in a game to see how it goes.

I'm hopeful that as the season goes on, Ashley Young may lose his place in the side to Ander Herrera, with Memphis and Mata in the wide areas. Hopefully this performance was a one-off and we do better on Friday night, but I'm convinced the line-up will be the same. However, while we're still adding to the squad and everything's gelling, I'd take winning like this for a few more weeks yet! We just need to be flowing better come October when we have a tough month against a few good teams.

 

[dogrob]

First game of the season and a win regardless of who scored, lets be honest which team this weekend has covered itself in glory, Chelsea drew, Arsenal are one goal down just now against West Ham and the Scousers play Stoke later so who knows. Don´t understand the negativity as it can only get better and the Transfer Window is still open so its possible that new players are going to come in and strengthen the team.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Has everyone seen the post match press conference?

It includes a funny Beatles line at the 5th minute