[Riz]

Was at Old Trafford today and one thing I noticed which isn't so obvious on TV is our off the ball movement isn't up to scratch. A lot of times Carrick and Bastian picked up the ball and looked up I was waiting for Rooney or Martial to make a run but neither often did.

It was an average performance but West Brom offered nothing until we scored and they had to come out and try and create (thankfully they blew the big chance). Delighted for Lingard to get off the mark, he was unlucky not to against City and then Middlesborough. Smalling once again babysat the opposition striker and good to see another youth product make their debut. 3 points, clean sheet run continues. Satisfied.

 

[littlepeasoup]

Considering West Brom played exactly the same way last season and we couldn't manage to break them down leading to them hitting us on the break, it's a massive positive that we actually managed to get past their stubborn defence this time round.

 

[NoPace]

Was at Old Trafford today and one thing I noticed which isn't so obvious on TV is our off the ball movement isn't up to scratch. A lot of times Carrick and Bastian picked up the ball and looked up I was waiting for Rooney or Martial to make a run but neither often did.

It's always easier to see in person, but you can see the lack of movement a fair bit on TV. It makes me a bit sanguine about everything, though, despite the fact that I hate it. I hope that now that Van Gaal has gotten the team used to spacing apart and bought (and played from the academy) some younger talent, the next manager will be able to take our formation (which is not a million miles from what Guardiola does) and get our players to use the space it should be creating in the middle and out wide to make off the ball runs, play quick combinations, get our wingers the ball in 1 on 1 situations closer to goal and get our fullbacks into dangerous spots more.

I'd like to see our territorial stats. Today, I thought we actually pushed West Brom deeper than we normally push teams (they were complicit obviously) and so when we got a moment from Martial to produce a cross and they did make a mistake (not a horrendous one, exactly, but if Brunt gets any height on that Lingard is charged down before he can hit it), it was deep enough that we were able to capitalize on it.

 

[krazyrobus]

Decent performance. Still many well documented attacking problems rearing their ugly head again.

 

[hbgreg]

What did he do this afternoon?

He was good.

 

[marlowe78]

I'm generally happy with the result. West Brom are always a pain to play against, as they show no real ambition to score, so it was our familiar scenario of trying to get through 10 men for a chance at goal. We really didn't make solid use of our possession in the first half but West Brom were like night of the living dead with how they would stick 2 or 3 players on every ball carrier. It was never going to look particularly good trying to break this down but we had two young men with great potential who gave us the spark we needed.

I have to say that I did not agree with our lineup, as IMO it was silly to have 2 holding midfielders against such a negative team that was looking to sit back and get a point. We would have been much better served to have Herrera instead of Carrick, as all of our buildup started at a crawl from deep positions. Carrick IMO was awful for large stretches, passing onto opponents' feet and really doing nothing to impact the game. At this point I don't see him warranting a regular place in the team and I don't think he should stay here beyond this season.

Carrick and Mata (aside from an out of form Rooney) are to me the biggest problems in our attack, as both offer next to nothing going forward. Mata has his moments of brilliance, like the penalty he took today, but he is so lacking in pace that any attacks going up the right pretty much die with him. If Memphis ever gets his act together, we might be able to have Lingard and Memphis on the wings, which could pull defenders away from the middle and open things up for our strikers.

On the positive side, Martial continues to impress me with his coordination and holdup play, he brings so much to this team that it's sorely missing. Schweinsteiger worked his arse off today and I thought Young was pretty decent considering RB isn't his normal position. Smalling was brilliant in the few times he was called into action and I am truly eating my words on Blind, I never thought it would work out at LCB.

If we can figure out how to attack with more intent, we might be in very good shape. I would give today a 6/10.

 

[MarkC]

Hopefully more of these average games to come.

Played well enough did more than enough to win it and only gave away one chance all game.

Everybody moaning is just not going to be happy unless we are beating teams 5-0. This was exactly like our last couple of games against West Brom with SAF in charge did enough to win and no more. Same scoreline as well.

 

[Red_Beans]

Very happy with the result. Scoring two against a team that parks the bus as well as West Brom, that's massive for us.

Bodes well for the rest of the season

 

[legball]

Only 3 pages, because we won. It would be around 50+ pages if we had drawn or lost, haha.

 

[suheilsworld]

Haters gonna hate!

Happy with the result. It was always going to be a grinding result but happy we got the 3 points and a clean sheet again. Great day!

 

[tom33]

Everything was set up in a particular way. Booking from the crowd midweek, a string of nil-nils, a sense of frustration. Pulis in the house. We structured totally negative defense. Yet LVG turned it into a triumph. Debut for the young man with the amazing name, and a fabulous goal for Lingard. Top end displays by Bastian, Rooney, Smalling. Well taken peno by Mata after terrific work by another brilliant youngster, Martial. Take a bow King Louis.

Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'm genuinely glad for the 3 points. It's just the second game this season that I've actually paid to watch live and I was very disappointed with the lack of entertainment.

 

[Geordopolous]

Gee the crowd was awful but. Should be getting behind your teams and creating a way louder atmosphere.
Good win and we did enough to deserve it. Lingard is going unreal, out of the youngsters we have he was the last one I would have picked to go this well.

Also can't believe LVG left Bastian and Carrick on for the whole 90. They looked tired around the 70 minute mark and we definitely should have brought on either or both of Herrera and Schneiderlin.
Thought we got a bit luck considering Berahino missed a sitter.

 

[Sereques]

I would have understand all this entertainment complaints if LVG had taken over from SAF at the end of 2003 season.

 

[surf]

Goodish performance overall against anti-football Brummies. Rojo is growing on me as a left back, Lingard's strike was special, Young was poor and so was Carrick until the goal. Martial is a much better front man than Rooney, and Rooney himself was better (6 out of 10) without ever being dynamic. A box to box midfielder with legs (like Gundogan) instead of Carrick would make a huge difference to our tempo.

 

[Freak]

We need some dribblers on the wing. Everyone wants to pass it around instead of take on their men. Also the fullbacks need to overlap more often.

 

[marukomu]

I came because the title was much nicer.

You wank over thread titles? I thought I was fecked up.

 

[Acole9]

Decent win for us yesterday, if we carry on like this and churn out the wins I'll be happy with that. Playing attractive football would just be an added bonus.

 

[Rams]

I thought it was a more than decent performance against WBA. Interesting to note that nobody voted Carrick MoM. Carrick was brilliant, pulled or the strings and gave United a nice tempo. Against teams who line up so defensively I think Carrick is a must starter.

 

[Andy_Cole]

Gee the crowd was awful but. Should be getting behind your teams and creating a way louder atmosphere.
Good win and we did enough to deserve it. Lingard is going unreal, out of the youngsters we have he was the last one I would have picked to go this well.

Also can't believe LVG left Bastian and Carrick on for the whole 90. They looked tired around the 70 minute mark and we definitely should have brought on either or both of Herrera and Schneiderlin.
Thought we got a bit luck considering Berahino missed a sitter.

It's hard being in the crowd and creating an atmosphere when we're getting bored to death.

 

[Geordopolous]

It's hard being in the crowd and creating an atmosphere when we're getting bored to death.

I'm a big believer of creating an atmosphere so you won't be bored to death and so the players will play off the atmosphere and ultimately play better. It's a two way relationship.

 

[#07]

Gee the crowd was awful but. Should be getting behind your teams and creating a way louder atmosphere.
Good win and we did enough to deserve it. Lingard is going unreal, out of the youngsters we have he was the last one I would have picked to go this well.

Also can't believe LVG left Bastian and Carrick on for the whole 90. They looked tired around the 70 minute mark and we definitely should have brought on either or both of Herrera and Schneiderlin.
Thought we got a bit luck considering Berahino missed a sitter.

Not fair. The East and West stands sung for most of the game. From the banks of the River Irwell, Go on the p*$$ with Georgie Best, U,N,I..T,E,D, 12 days of Cantona, Red Army, kicking a blue, the pride of all Europe, and 20 times were sung repeatedly. It wasn't bouncing but don't be having a pop.

It's hard being in the crowd and creating an atmosphere when we're getting bored to death.

Lot of truth in this. When frustration creeps in its hard to do much but sigh at the 1,000th sideways pass. We seemed to want to walk it in. Low and behold when Jesse finally tested the keeper from range we scored. Could have done that at least half a dozen times before. Basti has a great long shot, we've not seen it once at United. Carrick seems allergic to shooting too.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'm genuinely glad for the 3 points. It's just the second game this season that I've actually paid to watch live and I was very disappointed with the lack of entertainment.

A true supporter I see, maybe you should go to the opera or the cinema to be entertained , I mean how dare United win and not entertain you as well , should expect at least 10 goals a game. There is more to entertainment than just goals

 

[UnitedinRed]

When the home fans cheered constantly under Moyes, to now claim its hard under LvG is a bit of a cop out IMO.

Some should remember how lucky they are to go.

 

[VanGaalEra]

So has anyone got an explanation for this celebration?

Ever seen Any Given Sunday?

Willie Beaman celebration. Fecking loved it.

 

[Geordopolous]

Not fair. The East and West stands sung for most of the game. From the banks of the River Irwell, Go on the p*$$ with Georgie Best, U,N,I..T,E,D, 12 days of Cantona, Red Army, kicking a blue, the pride of all Europe, and 20 times were sung repeatedly. It wasn't bouncing but don't be having a pop.



Lot of truth in this. When frustration creeps in its hard to do much but sigh at the 1,000th sideways pass. We seemed to want to walk it in. Low and behold when Jesse finally tested the keeper from range we scored. Could have done that at least half a dozen times before. Basti has a great long shot, we've not seen it once at United. Carrick seems allergic to shooting too.

Ah alright fair enough lad. Just sounded bit poor on TV, anyway good win and Chelsea lost again so happy days!

 

[Red Dreams]

we should not get carried away with the result.

Lingard's goal came out of the blue. They had him covered. But that is why it is a wonder goal. It easily should have been 1-1. Teams who want to park the bus against us can do so very easily.

This is the point being made about our laboured approach. We are just not quick enough.

btw I enjoyed our win as much as anyone.

 

[tom33]

A true supporter I see, maybe you should go to the opera or the cinema to be entertained , I mean how dare United win and not entertain you as well , should expect at least 10 goals a game. There is more to entertainment than just goals

Can't afford a season ticket and, as a member I've only managed to get tickets for 8 games this season. That's hardly a part-time supporter mate!

 

[OJKernow]

Enjoyed the game to be fair, although I was at OT for the first time this season so maybe that changes things.

We controlled the game and never really looked under any threat. Frustrating that we didn't make more of our possession in the first half but to be fair West Brom were playing anti-football and were tough to break down. I feel that we were getting the ball forward into the final third much quicker, still need to take the risk and try and test the keeper from range more often though.

Great finish from Jesse and so good to see him score, he deserves it after all of his efforts.

It's another step in the right direction, things are looking better than a couple of weeks ago, plus with Arsenal, City, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea all dropping points it's been a good weekend!

I was in N42 and the East stand next to us was bouncing almost the whole game and we could also hear the Strerford End making a lot of noise throughout so not sure the previous comments about atmosphere are fair.

 

[Feedingseagulls]

One negative. I do not understand our obsession with lofted crosses to Mata out wide when he is in a small gap between two opponents.

 

[mazhar13]

Was at Old Trafford today and one thing I noticed which isn't so obvious on TV is our off the ball movement isn't up to scratch. A lot of times Carrick and Bastian picked up the ball and looked up I was waiting for Rooney or Martial to make a run but neither often did.

To be fair, I've noticed quite a bit of movement from the wingers and forwards, but Carrick and Bastian were hesitant to play the pass to the runners. Lingard, Martial, Mata, and Rooney made lots of runs beyond the defenders, but they were rarely played through by Carrick and Schweinsteiger (particularly Carrick), who preferred to play the pass to someone's feet.

In this case, Herrera improved on this when he came on as he was playing more passes through West Brom's line than Carrick and Bastian were. For the vision and passing ability that Carrick and Bastian possess, I'm quite surprised that they don't attempt more passes in between the lines. Those two were the reason our pace was so slow in the first half whilst Blind was the opposite of those two. In the second half, they did pick up the pace, but it was stupid to see us lose control of the match after going up 1-0, preferring to sit deep and clear balls away rather than tire out West Brom.

Overall, though, I saw some signs of encouragement and progress that I didn't see before. At least our front 4 are starting to play more passes in between the opposition's lines and into dangerous areas. Having Lingard take on players is also a breath of fresh air, and this leaves us less reliant on Martial. The combination play among the front 4 is also improving, though it's still sloppy at times. The only issue is how safe and slowly the deeper midfielders play in general. When Carrick and Bastian turned up the pace against CSKA Moscow at home, we were relentless, but when they decided to slow down things and keep things safe against West Brom, it made it easier for West Brom to sit back and organise themselves. We cannot just rely on the front 4 to break down teams that park the bus. The front 4 need the deeper midfielders to up the pace of the game with their movement and the tempo of their passing. Schweinsteiger and Carrick is a good midfield pairing to have to see off the game and bring some calmness but not to break down an ultra-defensive opposition. The pairing only worked alright against West Brom because Blind was quicker and more adventurous with his passing.

One more thing: we cannot have Mata playing out wide against opposition that park the bus. He's great at combination plays and making runs in between the lines, but he's not a good dribbler at all. We need dribblers at both ends of the pitch in order to break down such teams. It's too bad that Memphis is off form at the moment else we'd have had an easier time against West Brom. Rooney would have had an even better performance with two dribblers causing havoc at both flanks.

 

[Roosney]

Happy with the 3 points and overall it was an ok game. 2-0 against a parked bus is quite good I think.
It's ironic now that our crossing game has gotten better we have nobody in the box.

Found it funny when Borthwick-Jackson came on, lad looked soooo nervous running with his hands stiff-ish over his chest. Think he played ok thou.

 

[Stretch]

I don't know maybe I need to watch the match again but I don't understand the praise for BFS and the criticism of Carrick. If anything, Carrick is trying (like he did vs CSKA) to get the ball forward much faster than BFS and Mata for example. I always get infuriated when there's a runner of the ball but BFS and Mata in particular decide to turn around slow the play down to 0mph. It grates me. BFS is great for our link play but he seems to be scared to try a hollywood ball or 2 and he doesn't seem to want to shoot when he's in a position to do so. Mata has lost form completely and always slows us down. Carrick lost the ball a fair few times but majority of those was him trying to find a team mate making a run or in an advanced position which is what we're complaining about. Maybe I didn't watch the game properly though this assessment is not just based on off 1 game either.

Other than that, twas a solid game with lots of bad luck as balls just didn't fall for us 1st half in the critical moments or 2. Always looked comfortable other than the Berahino scare. 3 points. 2 points off the top. We can surely only get better.

 

[Dr Fink]

Another average performance in my opinion. Nothing special apart form Lingard's finish.

Carrick was woeful with his passing game. An off day I hope. Him and Basti can't play together in my opinion - from to you, to me to you again passing, Chuckle Brothers. Schneiderlin and one of the two, or maybe Herrera. The movement was really poor. I lost count of the times Basti picked up the ball, strode forward, looked up to pass forward to a runner..........only to pass it sideways to his mate Carrick, due to a lack of movement. Young had a pretty poor game, but he is only standing in at right back. Rooney did OK, half the ground chanted his name as he was subbed, the other cheered AH's arrival, which was overdue.

I had to laugh as I was watching the game from the East Stand, not my usual one on the North Stand. The lads around me were shouting "shoot" when the ball fell to Carrick 30 yards out...........oh dear, have they never watched him before?

 

[IwatUwat]

Schweinsteiger has to start shooting he gets into decent positions and doesnt do it.

Rooney was a bit better in the AM/10 role. Still nowhere near but better. Martial looked good creative for himself like a no9 should do.

Mata really does look slow at times out there. Really need to get him pockets closer to the box where he can try to influence games a bit more.

West Brom should be embarrassed that was one of the most negative displays Ive ever seen, similar to when Reading did that for full 90 mins. Only slight shame is Berahino got that chance as highlights and people remember them getting a chance.

They were so negative it is ridiculous. Poor from Pulis that. Obviously hoping we were creatively awful as we have been and try nick a point. Luckily we did get a few shots off and a good goal got us the win.

 

[SoCross]

I love Mata but it would do this team wonders if we had the vintage Tony V on the right wing IMO.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

I love Mata but it would do this team wonders if we had the vintage Tony V on the right wing IMO.

I'd take a vintage Kanchelskis over Valencia anyday!

 

[Spock]

A Tony Pulis side is always hard to break down. Let's call it a good win over West Brom but hope we can see more inventive play over our next few league opponents, who aren't quite as defensively strong.

 

[SoCross]

I'd take a vintage Kanchelskis over Valencia anyday!

even better!!

Although objectively speaking I think Valencia had the edge when it came to pace and definitely physicality but Kanchelskis had everything else.

 

[Tincanalley]

I don't know maybe I need to watch the match again but I don't understand the praise for BFS and the criticism of Carrick. If anything, Carrick is trying (like he did vs CSKA) to get the ball forward much faster than BFS and Mata for example. I always get infuriated when there's a runner of the ball but BFS and Mata in particular decide to turn around slow the play down to 0mph. It grates me. BFS is great for our link play but he seems to be scared to try a hollywood ball or 2 and he doesn't seem to want to shoot when he's in a position to do so. Mata has lost form completely and always slows us down. Carrick lost the ball a fair few times but majority of those was him trying to find a team mate making a run or in an advanced position which is what we're complaining about. Maybe I didn't watch the game properly though this assessment is not just based on off 1 game either.

Other than that, twas a solid game with lots of bad luck as balls just didn't fall for us 1st half in the critical moments or 2. Always looked comfortable other than the Berahino scare. 3 points. 2 points off the top. We can surely only get better.

You hear so many opinions. I am actually going to watch the game. I'll admit it if I change my mind but I thought, Carrick, Basti, Rooney and obviously Smalling and Martial played excellently. Really there were no totally dud performances. It had the feel of trying to open a tin of corned beef on a motorway when you have forgotten the can opener. Pity one of the early chances didn't go in we would have scored more against them.

 

[Tincanalley]

Looking at it again in the cold light of day (I don't often do this) I notice a few new things; how utterly drained the WBA players look in the last quarter of the game. How well Evans defended. How high up the pitch Smalling came. How much roaring Pulis did. Blind did great and so did Herrera prior to the peno at the end. I think yes there were a few opportunities to go more hell for leather than we did, but they were rarities. Could have scored 4; on the other hand the Berahino chance was gilt-edged. You can imagine the inquests if that went in. Schweini and Carrick played very well indeed, as did Rooney. Jones didn't seem all that much called upon.