The Manchester United Thread

Mike. said:
precisely what I said when people were saying this month was decisive for us. Only remotely "decisive" one was Wolfsburg, would have made group tricky. Now it's still wide open.
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Oh, I never personally look at the table until December at the earliest.

I only thought/ suggested October would be telling for Utd. in so much you being able to see exactly where you currently stand against serious direct opposition by the end of it.

That would be my take on the month as a Utd fan. But 'decisive' it most certainly isn't however it's started out.
 
Scouseinthehouse said:
Oh, I never personally look at the table until December at the earliest.

I only thought/ suggested October would be telling for Utd. in so much you being able to see exactly where you currently stand against serious direct opposition by the end of it.

That would be my take on the month as a Utd fan. But 'decisive' it most certainly isn't however it's started out.
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Everyone is so up and down that it would serve no purpose really. It's all about where we are standing end of the holiday season.
 
Back in the office, sitting next to an Arsenal fan, sipping on my coffee and I'm reading through all the articles I've found regarding the game.

1, I agree with most of you guys, it was a terrible decision to start Carrick with Schweini. Mostly because we've Schneiderlin, but also because he had a 'minor' injury during the week.

2, Did not understand LVG's decision to substitute Darmian and leave the booked Young on the pitch. Yes, Darmian was terrible too but what the flaming **** was Young doing?!?! Arsenal were clearly about to expose our left side (in the first 15 min or so 57% of the Arsenal movements were on our left) 'cos they knew that we lack a proper left back there and attacking there is going to be a walk in the park.

3, Whoever said Rooney was exceptional, watched a different game yesterday. He was awful, played totally without confidence and the only thing he's good at is arguing all the time. Clearly remember a situation in the first half when he was clear on target on the edge of the area but instead of shooting he just passed the ball out wide. I wouldn't say that the '2010/11 Rooney' would have blasted the ball into the back of the net, but I'm 100% sure at least he would've tried.

4, Poor old Basti. Everybody's blaming him 'cos all they've heard is Gary Neville stating that 'Cazorla is behind Schweinsteiger'. Of couse he was behind him, 'cos 2-3 Arsenal players were around him constantly. I remember a situ when he sliding tackled two Arsenal players and eventually the third one claimed the ball.

5, Fellaini on for Memphis. Well, Memphis didn't do much in the first halft (nobody did tbf), but I just don't substituting him either at half time or early in the second half do good for his confidence. So, Fellaini is on and what he does? Suffeing deep in the midfield instead of going forward and trying to something productive. He came on as #10, with Rooney went out wide to the left. Brilliant.

6, And last but not least LVG must tick the "Mark Tighter" on the TI.

Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to reflect on everything I've read and seen. Trying to find a black sheep in the team to blame him for the nightmare performance is just pointless. We'll learn from the lesson and bounce back with a win against Everton.
 
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Depay needs to step up his game, offered very little so far apart from them two goals in Champions League, has almost been non-existent in Premier League.

I've cooled down... a bit... and will take that defeat for what it is. A **** up of monumental proportions with bad performances from everyone including the manager who got aspects wrong as already mentioned.

That's the problem under LVG, if you concede a few goals, you'll find it really difficult to come back because we never score that many under him. I kind of think his way of management and system goes against the United way but we have to accept that right now he is the best man for the job, he has slowly rebuilt us to being at the top of the table again rather than lurking mid-table.

I still think our aquad deficiencies we didn't address come to bite us in the *** yesterday.
 
But I'll just add I thought Rooney was better yesterday by his own dismal standards. Then again it's easier to perform when you're 3-0 down.
 
Did anyone ever discover where Theatre of Dreams disappeared to BTW?

He went from massive summer contributor to absolutely nottin'. Anyone in contact with him?
 
This game was the type Schneiderlin was bought for and the way Fellaini played coming on showed that we would have done better with a dominant presence in midfield.
 
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In the past we've always dominated their midfield and been in the face/aggressiive against Arsenal, that's pretty much the key to beating them. But in this game none of that was evident and imo we really do miss Herrera's dynamism he offers in midfield in games like this.
 
Roonaldo said:
This game was the type Schneiderlin was bought for and the way Fellaini played coming on showed that we would have done better with a dominant presence in midfield.
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Exactly.

Also the general tactics were very weird. All the high pressing (Schweini obviously instructed to press reallly high up the field - ending up with a more attacking average position than everybody bar Martial ffs) etc was baffling. Esp since we always beat Arsenal by sitting off them and killing them on the counter.

LVG is crazy and mostly it works to his advantage. But the downside is that now and then you end up with unfathomable tactical decisions such as in the **** match.

Btw has anybody realised that:

1. We had a perfectly good goal disallowed against Newcastle - dropped 2 points.
2. Lost match against Swans - which looked like a match we d come on top in with DDG in goal.
3. Lost the **** match mostly by the use of outlandish tactics?

What. a. pity.
 
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MANUMAD said:
Exactly.

Also the general tactics were very weird. All the high pressing (Schweini obviously instructed to press reallly high up the field - ending up with a more attacking average position than everybody bar Martial ffs) etc was baffling. Esp since we always beat Arsenal by sitting off them and killing them on the counter.

LVG is crazy and mostly it works to his advantage. But the downside is that now and then you end up with unfathomable tactical decisions such as in the **** match.

Btw has anybody realised that:

1. We had a perfectly good goal disallowed against Newcastle - dropped 2 points.
2. Lost match against Swans - which looked like a match we d come on top in with DDG in goal.
3. Lost the **** match mostly by the use of outlandish tactics?

What. a. pity.
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I've seen some say Schneiderlin wasn't picked because his performances so far have been a tad innocuous. My response is that this was our first real test of our credentials therefore you pick the most balanced midfield. Schweinsteiger and Carrick as a pair are a much of a muchness in the 4-2-3-1. Schneiderlin would compliment either with his pressing, strength, energy and drive as well as being tidy on the ball himself. You can get away with having BS-MC in home games where your opponents will sit back so they can settle in possession but in these more challenging games, we saw how their immobility was punished. Schneiderlin would have been in the thick of the action which is a far more of a confidence booster for a player of his ilk than a home outing against Sunderland where he was quiet due to the sheer lack of ambition the visitors showed.

Life at United is different from Southampton where he would previously be tasked with being a lieutenant, now he's being seen on cruise mode. When he settles we'll see more influence but I think Van Gaal's doesn't know what his best combination is to allow the 4 in front to be most effective. Hence why I hope we go back to the 4-3-3 where things are less rigid.
 
Average Joe said:
Can't remember the United thread being this quiet for a while!
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Not much else to say, we need to respond from that Arsenal fiasco, we practically gave that game away but got to take it on the chin now and move on.
 
zzeezzy said:
Not much else to say, we need to respond from that Arsenal fiasco, we practically gave that game away but got to take it on the chin now and move on.
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Do i smell little bit of optimism in this post? ;)
 
Vanjagl said:
Do i smell little bit of optimism in this post? ;)
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Mourinho side one of the worst in the league defensively, Liverpool have a good manager, zzeezzy is optimistic. 3/7 signs of the apocalypse there, should we be worried?
 
razielioux said:
Back in the office, sitting next to an Arsenal fan, sipping on my coffee and I'm reading through all the articles I've found regarding the game.

1, I agree with most of you guys, it was a terrible decision to start Carrick with Schweini. Mostly because we've Schneiderlin, but also because he had a 'minor' injury during the week.

2, Did not understand LVG's decision to substitute Darmian and leave the booked Young on the pitch. Yes, Darmian was terrible too but what the flaming **** was Young doing?!?! Arsenal were clearly about to expose our left side (in the first 15 min or so 57% of the Arsenal movements were on our left) 'cos they knew that we lack a proper left back there and attacking there is going to be a walk in the park.

3, Whoever said Rooney was exceptional, watched a different game yesterday. He was awful, played totally without confidence and the only thing he's good at is arguing all the time. Clearly remember a situation in the first half when he was clear on target on the edge of the area but instead of shooting he just passed the ball out wide. I wouldn't say that the '2010/11 Rooney' would have blasted the ball into the back of the net, but I'm 100% sure at least he would've tried.

4, Poor old Basti. Everybody's blaming him 'cos all they've heard is Gary Neville stating that 'Cazorla is behind Schweinsteiger'. Of couse he was behind him, 'cos 2-3 Arsenal players were around him constantly. I remember a situ when he sliding tackled two Arsenal players and eventually the third one claimed the ball.

5, Fellaini on for Memphis. Well, Memphis didn't do much in the first halft (nobody did tbf), but I just don't substituting him either at half time or early in the second half do good for his confidence. So, Fellaini is on and what he does? Suffeing deep in the midfield instead of going forward and trying to something productive. He came on as #10, with Rooney went out wide to the left. Brilliant.

6, And last but not least LVG must tick the "Mark Tighter" on the TI.

Sorry for the long post but I just wanted to reflect on everything I've read and seen. Trying to find a black sheep in the team to blame him for the nightmare performance is just pointless. We'll learn from the lesson and bounce back with a win against Everton.
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Regarding your first point, so would you risk darmian, on a yc, against sanchez for 45 minutes?
 
Roonaldo said:
I've seen some say Schneiderlin wasn't picked because his performances so far have been a tad innocuous. My response is that this was our first real test of our credentials therefore you pick the most balanced midfield. Schweinsteiger and Carrick as a pair are a much of a muchness in the 4-2-3-1. Schneiderlin would compliment either with his pressing, strength, energy and drive as well as being tidy on the ball himself. You can get away with having BS-MC in home games where your opponents will sit back so they can settle in possession but in these more challenging games, we saw how their immobility was punished. Schneiderlin would have been in the thick of the action which is a far more of a confidence booster for a player of his ilk than a home outing against Sunderland where he was quiet due to the sheer lack of ambition the visitors showed.

Life at United is different from Southampton where he would previously be tasked with being a lieutenant, now he's being seen on cruise mode. When he settles we'll see more influence but I think Van Gaal's doesn't know what his best combination is to allow the 4 in front to be most effective. Hence why I hope we go back to the 4-3-3 where things are less rigid.
Click to expand...

Actually if you see his OPTA stats Schneiderlin has been quite good so far this year.
 
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