Was a very different game to the Arsenal one to be fair, the Arsenal midfield left so much space in behind to let Herrera and Mata link and the Arsenal wingers weren't too fussed in tracking the full-backs. Today however Watford sat back a lot deeper, cut off that space and doubled up on the wingers. Didn't help that Blind had an absolute nightmare and felt like gifting them 4-5 chances too. Considering the lack of rotation and inexperience in key areas I think we did ok to hang in and pull through.
PL W FA Premier League
Manchester United 1:0 Watford
Post-match discussion
Wed, 02 March 2016
Don't know what view you had from your seat but from my seat, and after watching MOTD I'm delighted we got away with a win from that. They could have had any number of goals, and on seeing it again 2 of the more experienced players we had on the field should have given away penalties (Daley and Darmian). We won't always get away with it playing like that so we're right to draw attention to these things rather than pretend everything's great.
When Mata scored , It was the first time in a long time that I jumped out of my chair and screamed yes at the top of my lungs.
Been like that all season.
Watford did to the team what Arsenal should of. They learnt from the first match where they stood off in the first half. Today it was all effort. Saying that, apart from the set plays, we created all our own problems.
I think we are playing a lot quicker when we have the ball. But some tiredness caused some wayward passes. But movement was still good. Some players seem to get second wind about the 60 minute mark, which was good.
Glad LVG recognizes Martial on the right did not work. Made a lot of difference when we moved Rashford there.
Need Shaw, Smalling, Darmian/valencia back in the starting XI and the defence will start to shore up a bit more.
Not to mention the added attacking support on the wongs from Shaw/Valencia
Not to mention the added attacking support on the wongs from Shaw/Valencia
The result was brilliant. The performance was poor especially that first half. We could and maybe should have been 0-3 down in the first half but an improvement in the 2nd.
Schneiderlin was MOTM and although Mata didn't play well he came up with that bit of magic. Varela was decent again and I thought Mensah did well after that early yellow and the horrendous defence around him.
Martial was pretty poor and looked rusty. Memphis going forward was under par but he put in a great shift and worked hard defensively. I hope we can learn how to defend set-pieces because we will need to against West Brom.
Schneiderlin was MOTM and although Mata didn't play well he came up with that bit of magic. Varela was decent again and I thought Mensah did well after that early yellow and the horrendous defence around him.
Martial was pretty poor and looked rusty. Memphis going forward was under par but he put in a great shift and worked hard defensively. I hope we can learn how to defend set-pieces because we will need to against West Brom.
Thought Schneiderlin, Varela and Fosu-Mensah played the best today. Mata's free kick was sublime too. MOTM Schneiderlin for me though
Also thought Blind was terrible today. Would do a lot better at centre mid imo, average centre back
Also thought Blind was terrible today. Would do a lot better at centre mid imo, average centre back
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I am OK with few scrappy wins as long as we produce performances like Europa game and Arsenal every other week. Plus a grueling fixture list means few players will be tired and the performances might be like these in the coming couple of weeks. Games like West Ham, Everton, Spurs...I will be happy to take Watford like result.
I do like Blind but he was a very poor man's version of Mascherano last night.
Does that mean LVG stays... oh well, feck that for now, take the win any day and worry about LVG later.
With that kind of injury list and back to back matches, I ll take 3 pts from anything.
OG, deflection, offside anything.
OG, deflection, offside anything.
Been saying for a while now, that Mata should ALWAYS take the closest freekicks. His accuracy is a lot better than the others.
Rooney and Memphis should shoot from longer range.
Rooney and Memphis should shoot from longer range.
Memphis is "alleged" to have a great freekick.
Just listening to Talksport and their reporter Dom McGuiness said the conditions were awful for the game United wanted to try to play, Herrera did an interview on Sky after the game and said the same that the passes were going all over the place and that was not how they wanted to play. The manager said the same. Also McGuiness said it was a very After the Lord Mayors Show type of game. They won. Ander said these are games you have to buckle down and try to get a result, when you aren't playing well. I am not too concerned. If Spurs beat Arsenal and we somehow can beat WBA we will be one point behind Arsenal. That can't be bad.
Hopefully we'll have a couple of more players available for WBA. Smalling maybe which should give us some experience in the CB positions, while Rojo could move out to LB.
I wonder if we'll play with 2 defensive midfielders?
just watched the highlights...
feck me LVG most possibly have won the lottery like 200 times in his life already
feck me LVG most possibly have won the lottery like 200 times in his life alreadyI am hoping Smalling is back, yes he might play with two defensive midfielders or a midfield three. You can never tell with our LvG. Get the right result here and we are right back in that top 4 race and have the momentum.
Hopefully LvG now realises what it took us fans 10 minutes to realise way back in the season, Martial cannot play from the right. Yes its a problem when only playing one striker and Depay has now hit some form, well prior to last night at least but he should not just play him there for the sake of playing him.
I'm glad he did not drop Rashford and I was pretty sure Martial would've started from the bench with Lingard keeping his place. I now think Lingard really has to worry as Rashford looked twice the player he is when shifted to the right, I really think this boy has something special with his pace and close control. I wouldn't drop him anytime soon, he looked really fit last night whereas v Arsenal he was knackered after 60 mins. Think he conserved his energy better last night.
Fingers crossed we get Mike and BoJack back against WBA, we should set up like this;
-Depay Martial Rashford
---------Mata
--Herrera Schneiderlin
BoJack Blind Mike Darmian
--------De Gea
I'm glad he did not drop Rashford and I was pretty sure Martial would've started from the bench with Lingard keeping his place. I now think Lingard really has to worry as Rashford looked twice the player he is when shifted to the right, I really think this boy has something special with his pace and close control. I wouldn't drop him anytime soon, he looked really fit last night whereas v Arsenal he was knackered after 60 mins. Think he conserved his energy better last night.
Fingers crossed we get Mike and BoJack back against WBA, we should set up like this;
-Depay Martial Rashford
---------Mata
--Herrera Schneiderlin
BoJack Blind Mike Darmian
--------De Gea
More a case of being uninvolved in the first half. Ah well, it's a learning curve and the kid is learning fast
That was to accommodate all 4 Ms. If you saw the match day thread 80% of the people wanted martial on the right too.
Depends which City turn up, mate.
We seem to be picking and choosing which games to give maximum effort in and which to "wing it" in.
The players obviously feel that they will do enough for Top 3 and progress further than we ever have in CL. It's a dangerous game to play but we'll see.
I think United have a good chance to finish the season on a high with a Top 4 (not necessarily at City's expense) and FA Cup a real possibility.
Of course this opens up the debate about United's management for next season unless the decision is already and irrevocably made?
That's also very true but I noticed he only closed down the keeper and defenders when really worth it and not so much chasing everything out of youthful exuberance like he did against Arsenal, where he was clearly adrenaline filled until he burnt out rather rapidly.
Its definitely a learning curve as general fitness is obviously not a problem for an 18 year old but pacing himself is, anyway the more minutes he gets the stronger he will become. I'm sure the club have him hitting the weights to improve his upper body strength as he should not be playing for the reserves again anytime soon based on his three performances so far.
Of course Martial is less effective from the right, but given as good as he has been and with his close control and confidence, he was the one yesterday who should improvise and make the best out of the wrong position for him. But it was not just about left and right feet, he seemed disoriented. He wasn't on his front foot and didn't attack the ball in the box while it could have been a good chance if he did. So it didn't work out and it was corrected, but generally a player of his ability could do a lot more at this position.
I'm not Van Gaal's fiercest critic, but one of the first things he changed was to shield the training ground from the wind. That has a lot of advantages, but if you have to play in windy conditions a lot, it helps to train in windy conditions every now and then.
That passion, even Big Dave in the back 
Was a lot of the same sentiment in the stadium, or at least that's the way it seemed. People in our stand were going apes*it at 0-0, calling for Van Gaal to be sacked and Blind with him. It wasn't a great performance, but we weren't terrible either and we battled well. Fantastic three points in the end, especially with so many other slip-ups in the top four race.
We were so lucky.That is all.
Our transition from defense to attack is so much quicker. Like the United I grew up loving. Now it actually feels like the shackles are well and truly off.
Functional & ugly wins are wins too.
Frankly I think we will go for mourinho irrespective. Unless LvG does something amazing like get top 2 or 3, Win FA cup AND Europa league, van gaal won't be kept on. Even if he achieves that I don't think we would pass over mourinho for at best another year of LvG.
Good team except I wouldn't drop Varela for Darmian. The latter is a liability quite a bit of the time, whereas Varela has been excellent in this current run. He deserves to keep his place.
Is Memphis the best corner flag player of all time?
Together with Fellaini having the best chest control of all time we have quite a pairing.
Bad performance, but most players played their 4th game in 9 days. It's a good thing they could run at all.
A bit lucky to have won as Ighalo was shit and we were defending like clowns. Big 3 points though considering all the results.
passion.. it's all we really ask as fans. great pic. warms my soulThat passion, even Big Dave in the back
I got home late last night to watch the game on the DVR, so I'm late to the party here.
The players are clearly fatigued, so a top performance was never going to be in the cards. We ground out the win on the back of a fairly poor display, but that's the mark of a champion in the making. We're beginning to win games that earlier this season we would have lost or drawn. Massive stuff.
The players are clearly fatigued, so a top performance was never going to be in the cards. We ground out the win on the back of a fairly poor display, but that's the mark of a champion in the making. We're beginning to win games that earlier this season we would have lost or drawn. Massive stuff.
I have now watched the full game and I agree the players looked knackered, the conditions were terrible. They were also playing a team of giants who either kicked them or dived. Some are back to calling the players rubbish again. Sometimes you have to take circumstances into account. I would rather we got the result like last night than be City or Arsenal who are seriously looking over their shoulders. If Arsenal lose at Spurs and we can somehow win we will be one point behind Arsenal. The team are now showing some spirit. Some things might not have come off last night, but they didn't stop trying. We now have some momentum behind us.
Agreed. A few other items to take in account.
Blind has played an incredible number of minutes this season and in a position he was never born to play in.
Fosu-Mensah's potential is sky high. This kid could be ready for regular first team action next season. I don't recall ever seeing Smalling at the age of 18 but FM looks a much better footballer at this age than Smalling could possibly have been.
The collective effort was outstanding. The boys could have given up under the belief that top four is out of reach anyway and with so many players out injured, why risk injury pressing late in the game all the way to the end?
That passion, even Big Dave in the back
Please stay Dave
Typically, since I had a go about Blind being a liability a centreback, he'd beeen playing really well there. So before the game I admitted he'd been a lot better, and so typically, he played like a druggie who'd become fascinated and confused by the existence of their own legs.
I couldn't really figure out what was going on for most of the game. Partly because I watched it when I got home and was quite drunk, and partly because the whole gamme seemed to be played in fast forward. Every player on both teams seemed to always be sprinting somewhere whilst being man marked by about three people, with the balll just ping ponging around inbetween everyone (until it came to Blind who'd just punt it up in the air). Such a bizarre game.
All in all thought we were a bit shite, aside from Mata and Herrera in patches...and obviously De Gea...but I'll take grinding out an undeserved win when our line up is as weakened looking as it was. We struggle to look competent when we're at fulll strength. Watford looked well up for it so any chance of a comfortable game went well out the window really. They didn't deserve to lose but that's what happens when Emile Heskkey mysteriously ends up playing up front for you.
I couldn't really figure out what was going on for most of the game. Partly because I watched it when I got home and was quite drunk, and partly because the whole gamme seemed to be played in fast forward. Every player on both teams seemed to always be sprinting somewhere whilst being man marked by about three people, with the balll just ping ponging around inbetween everyone (until it came to Blind who'd just punt it up in the air). Such a bizarre game.
All in all thought we were a bit shite, aside from Mata and Herrera in patches...and obviously De Gea...but I'll take grinding out an undeserved win when our line up is as weakened looking as it was. We struggle to look competent when we're at fulll strength. Watford looked well up for it so any chance of a comfortable game went well out the window really. They didn't deserve to lose but that's what happens when Emile Heskkey mysteriously ends up playing up front for you.
Man of the Match
Runners-up
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22%
David de Gea
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17%
Morgan Schneiderlin
-
7%
Marcus Rashford
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3%
Guillermo Varela
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2%
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
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1%
Memphis Depay
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1%
Daley Blind
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1%
Ander Herrera
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 507 ratings.
Score Predictions
603,31,45
- Man Utd win
- Watford win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 30% Man Utd 2:0 Watford
- 16% Man Utd 3:0 Watford
- 14% Man Utd 2:1 Watford
- 13% Man Utd 3:1 Watford
- 6% Man Utd 1:0 Watford
- 3% Man Utd 5:0 Watford
- 3% Man Utd 4:0 Watford
- 3% Man Utd 0:0 Watford
- 3% Man Utd 1:1 Watford
- 2% Man Utd 0:5 Watford
- 1% Man Utd 1:2 Watford
- 1% Man Utd 4:1 Watford
- 1% Man Utd 2:2 Watford
- 1% Man Utd 0:1 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 4:2 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 3:2 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 1:3 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 0:2 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 5:2 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 0:3 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 1:5 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 0:4 Watford
- 0% Man Utd 3:5 Watford
Match Stats
- Man Utd
- Watford
- Possession
- 61% 39%
- Shots
- 14 13
- Shots on Target
- 3 4
- Corners
- 9 7
- Fouls
- 7 17
Referee
Mike Jones
Man Utd Lineup
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replaced by Matteo Darmian
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-
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-
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replaced by Paddy McNair
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replaced by Jesse Lingard
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