[gasmanc]

We defended

 

[carlosp]

I miss the young, exploding Louis.

Haha, that sounds so .. erm .. bad really.

 

[Fahad Jawaid]

I loved how we played yesterday, Di Maria had two great chances we could have had 4 nil easily in the first half, i just feel there is something a ref decision in the second last match against Rafael, or a red card of Rooney against Westham that is holding this team, we could have scored 4 to 5 in both matches. And there were so many positives to take from the Defensive display yesterday, specially the Debut of Mcnair, Rooney was obviously told along with Falcao to help out Defense, and Herrera was told to kept the keep not to wonder forward ahead of strikers, like he did in previous matches, which were stuff you could obviously see on the pitch so there were obvious improvements and brilliant displays from Blind, Shaw, Rafael, Herrera, Falcao and Rojo, i thought Di Maria and Rvp looked poor, but onwards and upwards now.

 

[J-Stander]

They're definitely one of the biggest long ball teams I've seen so far. I was impressed with them against Liverpool so I was surprised to see them resort to that shite. It's good to see that we can defend well when needed. This win is as important as a thrashing.

 

[marlowe78]

We've had a lot of doubt hanging over our defenders these few games, maybe this will restore some confidence?

Congratulations to Shaw and McNair on their club debuts. McNair was impressive. He looked tentative when coming forward with the ball, but that can be owed to nerves and wanting to not make a mistake. What mattered most was that he showed good positioning and looked composed. He saved us from an equalizer so you can't ask for much more.

Rafael was again excellent and as long as he stays healthy, he should thrive with the attacking options he now has to work with. We looked dangerous every time he ran setups on the wing.

Also glad to see van Persie getting back into form. DiMaria I thought was so-so but he used his skills brilliantly to keep the ball away from West Ham when we were a man short.

We still have things to improve on. Blind worked his ass off and covered a lot of ground but his passing has been very dodgy the last two games. That needs to improve quickly because he is in that Carrick role that helps to stabilize our midfield play.

I am also concerned about De Gea. He did make a great save late in the game but his decisions on distributing the ball were often poor. De Gea is working with his third goalkeeping coach in four years with the club so I'm not sure if that could have a negative effect on his play.

And Rooney...you idiot.

Overall I would give us a 6 out of 10. If we kept the 11 men and were able to attack for a full 90 minutes we might've gotten to 7 or 8.

 

[Rezyuz]

But Rooney was our best player in the first half and worked his bollox off. It was just a retarded moment

Your performance is decided on the outcome, not on a specific time in the match. He blew it completely, and even before his stupid brainfart he had tons of weird mistakes and bad moments. Even in the first half, for me, Rafael was MOTM.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Your performance is decided on the outcome, not on a specific time in the match. He blew it completely, and even before his stupid brainfart he had tons of weird mistakes and bad moments. Even in the first half, for me, Rafael was MOTM.

There are multiple "outcomes" concerning Rooney, yet it seems you are counting only one. A bit not fair.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Absolutely loved the game. That 2-1 win meant more to me than a big scoreline would have. For the first time in a while we were able to dig in and scrape a result - one of the things Sir Alex was incredible at.

Feared the worst when we went to 10 men, but we were good value for the win. Paddy and Rojo did well considering it was their first time an centre back for United. Fletcher came on at the right time and won the ball on numerous occasions. Heck, even Rafael, who is usually culpable at the back, was making tremendous blocks.

Atmosphere was unbelievable. Really tense at the end but we never went quiet, pushed our lads over the line. Also nice to see Fletcher telling all the players to go round applauding the fans at full time - nice touch.

 

[Raulduke]

Absolutely loved the game. That 2-1 win meant more to me than a big scoreline would have. For the first time in a while we were able to dig in and scrape a result - one of the things Sir Alex was incredible at.

Feared the worst when we went to 10 men, but we were good value for the win. Paddy and Rojo did well considering it was their first time an centre back for United. Fletcher came on at the right time and won the ball on numerous occasions. Heck, even Rafael, who is usually culpable at the back, was making tremendous blocks.

Atmosphere was unbelievable. Really tense at the end but we never went quiet, pushed our lads over the line. Also nice to see Fletcher telling all the players to go round applauding the fans at full time - nice touch.

Agreed, those players will have got more from coming through that kind of backs to the wall scenario than thumping a dire QPR for example.

 

[Dante]

West Ham got 41 crosses in. The fullbacks didn't do enough to stop them. Rafael repeatedly let people run past him whilst Shaw was targetted in the air a few times (and lost). The former was particularly good going forward tbf, but half a performance isn't worth the praise he's received.

 

[Glanville95]

West Ham got 41 crosses in. The fullbacks didn't do enough to stop them. Rafael repeatedly let people run past him whilst Shaw was targetted in the air a few times (and lost). The former was particularly good going forward tbf, but half a performance isn't worth the praise he's received.

I noticed this happen about three times, which I found very surprising given his height and strength, though I suppose there might be a slight weakness with his aerial ability against sides like West Ham. Good debut though and he added a lot to our attacking play on the left and even our possession game in the first half with his quick first time passing and secure touch.

 

[finneh]

I thought it was a good win, made more difficult by a stupid decision by our goalkeeper for their goal and our captain for the red card. We limited their chances to hopeful punts into the box, none of which should have been particularly troubling. On another day De Gea collects their goal with ease, Rooney clips Downing and gets booked and the game probably finishes 3-0.

Van Gaal also showed far more intelligence with the substitutions, acknowledging that a bit of strength and discipline was required in the final 25 minutes. Overall in the first 30 mins we showed that at our best we can cut teams open almost at will, whilst in the final 30 minutes we showed that we can actually defend.

I can't imagine why anyone would be anything other than satisfied. Reading some responses you'd think that they had chance after chance that they squandered.

 

[Dr Fink]

When we went down to 10 men, I thought LVG made the wrong decision. He should have pushed ADM up top by himself. He can keep the ball well, away from the opposition. Although the last-ditch defending came off, we just kept booting it up field. Most of the time it did not stick and came right back at us within seconds. It was relentless. McNair was outstanding, in particular THAT header facing his own goal. Rafa dug deep as did the others at the back. Shaw did OK, nothing more. Rojo was a little bit of a let down for me, although I did notice him encouraging young Paddy quite often and praising him when he did good. Valencia was poor again. Time and time again he could have run deep in to their half with the ball to take the pressure off the defence, but he chose to stop, as he does regularly with 11 men, put his foot on the ball and pass square or backwards.

Again, when we went down to 10 men and looked like we had a flat row of 4 midfielders in front of a flat back bour, the midfield suddenly seemed to lack the ability to find each other with passes. Panic had definitely set in, it was evident. We lack a leader on the pitch - lots of shouting and general encouragement from each player but that's it. The clearances did the job, but weren't the best. DDG looked hit 'n' miss, a concern.

What also concerns me is that after our first 11 the others look distinctly off the pace when they come on. They are more disruptive than improving, with or without 11 players on the pitch. What do you think? Saturday's game was slightly different in that Rooney had departed leaving us short.

I actually did not enjoy watching at OT after Rooney was sent off. I must be in the minority.

 

[Ish]

Great character from the lads - though, in fairness, it's very apparent how mentally scared/fragile we are.

I've seen inferior teams, playing with a man down doing much better then that. We ended up just lumping the ball away at every opportunity - because frankly, I think every player was shitting themselves as they were too scared to make a mistake.

Very good/important 3 points though.

 

[Maroo]

When we went down to 10 men, I thought LVG made the wrong decision. He should have pushed ADM up top by himself. He can keep the ball well, away from the opposition. Although the last-ditch defending came off, we just kept booting it up field. Most of the time it did not stick and came right back at us within seconds. It was relentless. McNair was outstanding, in particular THAT header facing his own goal. Rafa dug deep as did the others at the back. Shaw did OK, nothing more. Rojo was a little bit of a let down for me, although I did notice him encouraging young Paddy quite often and praising him when he did good. Valencia was poor again. Time and time again he could have run deep in to their half with the ball to take the pressure off the defence, but he chose to stop, as he does regularly with 11 men, put his foot on the ball and pass square or backwards.

Again, when we went down to 10 men and looked like we had a flat row of 4 midfielders in front of a flat back bour, the midfield suddenly seemed to lack the ability to find each other with passes. Panic had definitely set in, it was evident. We lack a leader on the pitch - lots of shouting and general encouragement from each player but that's it. The clearances did the job, but weren't the best. DDG looked hit 'n' miss, a concern.

What also concerns me is that after our first 11 the others look distinctly off the pace when they come on. They are more disruptive than improving, with or without 11 players on the pitch. What do you think? Saturday's game was slightly different in that Rooney had departed leaving us short.

I actually did not enjoy watching at OT after Rooney was sent off. I must be in the minority.

Valencia was doing just what we needed in that particular situation - win the ball with his strength, hold off defenders with his strength and keep the ball, recycle the possession. We really didn't need to go in for extravagant crosses in that situation leaving us open to counters- for that matter most players stayed deep so he didn't have players to aim for either.

He is normally frustrating with running with the ball and then slowing play down, but this was just the kind of display we needed with 10 minutes to run down the clock- smack the defender, win the corner, keep the ball.

 

[Dr Fink]

Maroo - I agree with your counter point to mine to some extent. However, he did it EVERY time, even with space in front of him. Keeping the ball is key like you say, but not if 2-3 passes later you lose it in and around the centre of the park. He's frustrating to watch. At times he could have stretched West Ham and taken the ball deep in to their half, then got a throw or corner. This would have released some of the relentless pressure on the back four. I was sure we were going to concede......

The fact we struggled to retain the ball in midfield when down to ten probably exagerated my point.

 

[Maroo]

Maroo - I agree with your counter point to mine to some extent. However, he did it EVERY time, even with space in front of him. Keeping the ball is key like you say, but not if 2-3 passes later you lose it in and around the centre of the park. He's frustrating to watch. At times he could have stretched West Ham and taken the ball deep in to their half, then got a throw or corner. This would have released some of the relentless pressure on the back four. I was sure we were going to concede......

The fact we struggled to retain the ball in midfield when down to ten probably exagerated my point.

The fact that we struggled to retain the ball was certainly disappointing - I expected better. But I am relieved to have gotten through the game unlike Madrid (after Nani) and Leicester.

Hopefully, the togetherness in adversity gets us together as a team. We would have learnt a lot in this situation about playing as a team, organisation and defending in numbers.

 

[El Zoido]

Great character from the lads - though, in fairness, it's very apparent how mentally scared/fragile we are.

I've seen inferior teams, playing with a man down doing much better then that. We ended up just lumping the ball away at every opportunity - because frankly, I think every player was shitting themselves as they were too scared to make a mistake.

Very good/important 3 points though.

We've had this for a while though, it's concerning. It used to be that if we were 2-0 up and the other team pulled one back, we'd go up the other end and score a couple more. Can think of several times even towards the tail end of Fergie's reign where we collapsed (after Nani's red vs. Real, Everton 4-4, etc). We have almost a whole new first 11 and it's still happening, and ironing this out will be the hardest part of the rebuild.

We did well to hold on at the weekend but if not for the most marginal of offsides we'd be looking at another blown lead. I fear for us vs. Chelsea and City.

 

[Ish]

We've had this for a while though, it's concerning. It used to be that if we were 2-0 up and the other team pulled one back, we'd go up the other end and score a couple more. Can think of several times even towards the tail end of Fergie's reign where we collapsed (after Nani's red vs. Real, Everton 4-4, etc). We have almost a whole new first 11 and it's still happening, and ironing this out will be the hardest part of the rebuild.

We did well to hold on at the weekend but if not for the most marginal of offsides we'd be looking at another blown lead. I fear for us vs. Chelsea and City.

Let's hope the win builds the confidence of the team. But yeah, its concerning. I'd take a couple of "smash and grabs" against the big guns for now, in all honesty. Though I can't see us setting up like that.

 

[bishblaize]

We've had this for a while though, it's concerning. It used to be that if we were 2-0 up and the other team pulled one back, we'd go up the other end and score a couple more. Can think of several times even towards the tail end of Fergie's reign where we collapsed (after Nani's red vs. Real, Everton 4-4, etc). We have almost a whole new first 11 and it's still happening, and ironing this out will be the hardest part of the rebuild.

We did well to hold on at the weekend but if not for the most marginal of offsides we'd be looking at another blown lead. I fear for us vs. Chelsea and City.

Two things to point out.

Firstly even in the good old days we used to chuck away leads. Remember the first half of the 10-11 season? We kept losing leads before Xmas including chucking away a two goal lead three times in the first 8 games. So it did happen from time to time.

But the other thing is that we're at a very different place in our development right now compared to our best teams. If City or Chelsea were clinging on to a one goal lead at home it'd be a backwards step for them, because they're genuine title contenders. For us, we're still moving on from last season. Frankly, last year we would have lost that game 2-1, not won it. So while its true we're far from the finished article, it does also represent some progress.

If you think about all the aspects of a team at the top of its game, we're missing several attributes still. Durability is certainly one. But compared to last season, we're checking a lot more boxes this time round.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

Just seen the game for the first time We're really starting to look like a proper footballl team again. Quite happy we don't have the CL to deal with this season; need to keep key players like Herrera, Di Maria and Rafael as fit as possible till we can sign able deputies in the next window hopefully. A bit worrying how the we looked to have lost some momentum in the second half. Herrera was absolutely fantastic, real gem of a player. Involved in everything and does everything.
Some complacent passing from Blind but he was pretty good too I thought. Desperately need experience at centre back although McNair and Rojo did well today. Off day for Di Maria and yet managed to cause trouble on some level. Rooney was decent till the red, but I really think we could use a David Silva styled player in his and Mata's place.

 

[Stack]

I watched the first 30 minutes again last night. Will watch the rest later tonight. I thought we looked really good in that 1st 30m, the best we have looked in a long time. Rooney in that 1st 30 was superb. If we can continue to build on this I think we have a real chance at the top 4. We will have more bad days coming but this feels so much better than last season.

 

[Gannicus]

Keep in mind the context: we had just been gang-raped by Leicester City and West Ham had just destroyed Liverpool, so we all knew this was going to be a difficult match. And then the injury situation and having to bring on Paddy McNair.

The De Gea and the Rooney mistake take the final rating down a notch, but a final overall rating of 7 wouldn't be out of order.

 

[FromTheBench]

Manchester United feel Wayne Rooney red card was unjust... especially after Diafra Sakho headbutt left Luke Shaw with a shiner

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...butt-left-Luke-Shaw-shiner.html#ixzz3EkUuezZ3

Sakho got away, btw.

Shaw with Better comments than LVG about the refereeing really. LVG needs to up his referee management skills a LOT.

 

[Stack]

Manchester United feel Wayne Rooney red card was unjust... especially after Diafra Sakho headbutt left Luke Shaw with a shiner

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...butt-left-Luke-Shaw-shiner.html#ixzz3EkUuezZ3

Sakho got away, btw.

Shaw with Better comments than LVG about the refereeing really. LVG needs to up his referee management skills a LOT.

ok...