18 Oct 2015 14:08:57
I'd bring back Depay on the right after he has been suitably punished for poor performances. With Rooney guaranteed a start, Martial looking good on the left, the right hand side is ideal for Depay.

Herrera is essential for midfield dynamism, Rooney needs to be kept well away from anywhere in midfield.

Mata racks up assists and gets goals but he doesn't offer an outlet, everything goes backwards or slows down when he gets the ball - Mata shone against Wolfsberg but I can only think of a couple of games like that in almost 2 years with the club. Darmian could be a real threat with a pacey winger ahead of him. Depay offers no defensive cover but neither does Mata and hopefully Depay will develop that aspect (Darmian needs less as well) .

Anyone agree that Depay may be our long term right winger? Mata is a safer bet, but doesn't bring much to the table for the majority of games we play in the league for me.

1.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 14:56:35
Rooney appears to have a god given right to start, and we need to be playing 4-3-3. So I think for the time being the best front 3 is Martial on the left, Rooney through the middle and Mata on the right.

Memphis likes to cut in a lot so needs to be played on the left and so does Young. It's a tough one, I'd like to see Memphis have a go on the left though.

There is no reason why the front 3 can't all interchange though like the 3 at Barcelona do.

2.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 15:01:48
It will be important to see how receptive Depay is of the advice given to him by Giggs and LvG. From what I see in the media Depay comes across as a guy who is "too full of himself" and that too at a young age. I hope he gets his head down and starts performing upto his potential.

3.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 15:40:32
Everyone is saying martial should be on the wing to accommodate Rooney but I honestly think martial should be in the centre. That's where he's going to be most dangerous and he is our best attacker. We should be making our team around martial and Herrera in their best positions, because by doing that we'll get the best out of the team I think.
I'm really starting to think Rooney holds the team back sometimes because a front 4 of Memphis, Herrera, young and martial in front of schmidfield could be our best option. As much of an amazing player as Rooney is I sometimes feel the fact that he's neither a prolific modern day striker, nor a natural number 10 puts is at a disadvantage sometimes.

4.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 16:02:55
Brad - A lot of us think Rooney should be dropped, but the simple truth of the matter is he won't be. I'd have Martial up top in a heartbeat over Wazzer, but that would mean Rooney dropping into midfield somewhere, which I hate and I guess/hope the manager has started to realise it doesn't work.

5.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 16:18:10
Rooney is still miles better than Depay. I really don't get the love in with this guy you lot have. He has been poor pretty much every game except against a 2nd tier belgian outfit, let's be honest.

There are much more polished and estabilised players with bigger reputations who have failed to live up to deliver in the PL.

Beast

You don't like Mata and will criticise him for having a bad game like yesterday. I tend to think he has many more good games than bad games for us and still think he is our best option on the right. He can pass and reads the game very well. BTW leads the team in assists and up there in goals so must be doing something right.

6.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 17:39:37
GCU - I think he stifles things mate. He is undoubtedly class on the ball, but he runs with his legs tied together. Nothing comes from our right hand side. He is great at ghosting in to finish chances, but that is it. If he was a striker then fair enough, but he isn't a striker, he should be influencing games more and providing an outlet.

I agree Depay has been shocking so far, but longer term I would like to see two pacey wingers. Mata should be central and I would rather Herrera so that means no room for Mata in my ideal line up.

I criticise Depay, Rooney and Mata often mate. They don't influence games nearly enough, but Depay has potential. Mata I like but he isn't right for the wing in the PL.

7.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 17:47:33
GCU,

It's not a love in, we just see that he has quality and want to give him the chance to shine, anyone writing a young kid off after 2 months is just a bit embarrassing in my opinion.

8.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 18:19:48
GDS2/Beast

I have not written him off and have said this before, I have no issues with a player being positive and trying things. I do have an issue with a player who seems very selfish and does not work for his teammates. He is an individualist and has not done anything or achieved anything with us to be like that on the pitch.

Mata for me offers a lot more than Depay and said down the page, Depay starting will mean Herrera or Schneiderling not playing and that is a no no for me.

I think we just played our best game of the season and never even thought about the guy, we missed nothing. Mata is not fast but he leads the team in assists so that is not a coincidence and has outscored depay with almost similar minutes on the pitch. I will venture to say Mata will score more goals than Depay this year in the league.

I would personally use him as an impact sub until he changes his approach. I guess the manager went even further today and said he might not be here long term if he does not change by comparing him to ADM.

BTW ADM was piss poor too and not the managers fault as some want to believe and I said that all last year too.

Look guys i guess we all know what i think of Depay so far as I have not hidden my views and nothing is going to change that until i see a remarkable improvement on the pitch from him over a number of games and not the flash in the pan of one decent game and 5 bad ones thereafter.

I am amazed we are having this discussion again given the fact that we finally dropped him and had our best performance by a country mile in Yonkers and looked like a team who is capable of playing anyone and beating them.

Did you guys at any point yesterday think we need Depay on the pitch?

9.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 19:37:21
GCU - I like you have been very critical of Depay. But don't forget Mata was hauled off at half time and he contributed negatively to the game, giving it away and not being able to track an inexperienced full back. He did nothing on Saturday and for me was the one poor performance.

Depay isn't going to be flogged without being given more opportunities on the pitch. I would rather him play than Mata in that RW position because the knock on effects mean Rooney will drop deeper into Herrera' spot if Depay isn't played. There is much more to the game than getting a few tap ins and last touches before somebody scores.

Mata was great against Wolfsberg, Depay was great against Bruge. I can't think of another time they have played well this season.

I hope they both up their game, but I feel for Mata as he is not suitable to the position in the hurly burly PL. We often complain about our slow play going forward, Mata and Rooney are the primary reasons for this.

10.) 18 Oct 2015
18 Oct 2015 23:51:30
Beast
There was a reason mata was voted our player of the month. We will appreciate their contribution when they are probably out injured. Mata is the most brilliant of the lot.

11.) 19 Oct 2015
19 Oct 2015 08:26:20
Beast

Mata had one bad game mate and happens to everyone. He has been pretty darn good most of the year and I am not sure how you can only look at the wolfsberg game. The full back you are referring to in the Everton game has tons of speed and not many in our squad can win a footrace with him and that is why Lingard was introduced.

He was Chelsea's player of the year 2 years in a row and for me the guy who stood out in the key games last year to finish 4th with 2 massive goals at Anfield. We play a possession style game based around passing and technical ability and he is one of the best in our squad. What he lacks in speed, he makes up for in terms of his vision, intelligence and calmness and working for the team. Scholes was never the best tackler or fastest player but my god his other attributes never made anyone question him.

If we are going to judge players by single weaknesses then I am afraid everyone should be dropped as they all have something they are not great at.

You remind me of people who argued for Nani all the time because on surface he had everything but could never put it together on the pitch on a consistent basis. BTW Nani was better comparative to what we have gotten from Deoay so far.

Finally, he has never played on the right and will probably struggle with it. I don't mind us trying it and it might work out but not at the expense of herrera or Schneiderling.

12.) 19 Oct 2015
19 Oct 2015 09:15:07
GCU - But it isn't a single weakness. He is slow, he plays inside all the time, he provides no outlet on the right. There are no overlaps on the right, he doesn't create half a many chances as people think he does. He has no aerial ability, no physicality.

His benefits are he is technically class and can "sometimes" play a clever ball. He is great at ghosting in to nick goals and he does link well in a slow controlled games.

I want to see fast free flowing football. He has been a bit part player in virtually every game he has played. Liverpool and Wolfsberg were the two games he has shone for us in 2 years. Chelsea sold him because he wasn't capable of doing more with his game, so much of their game went through him and he was their player of the season, but they didn't achieve during that period. It's like everything went through Rooney during Moyes season, but where did that get us?

Mata got out player of the month last month which is frankly ridiculous, it means nothing other than your colleagues like you and respect you. The top post at the moment is Herrera exaggerating about how good Rooney is. Players may see things we don't but fundamentally it's what you see or I see that matters to us.

I was expecting a lot more from Mata and when he has played in the hole he has been anonymous. I'd like us to be a threat down both flanks, it will mean both wingers get more room and the striker has more room. Players can shuffle along now to mark Mata very easily, which limits what other players can do.

13.) 19 Oct 2015
19 Oct 2015 09:56:35
Beast

LOL I guess we will completely disagree on this one. He has done a lot more than being good in 2 games.

14.) 19 Oct 2015
19 Oct 2015 11:31:58
Player of the month is voted for by the fans Beast and fundamentally what you or I see may matter more to us but that is because nobody cares what we think and there is a slight possibility that the players and the staff might actually know more than you or I.