Manchester United Banter Archive October 06 2014

06 Oct 2014 19:58:57
Hi all. that's 2 pretty gutsy wins on the spin which means that at least our fighting spirit and confidence is beginning to return. It will be another 6 weeks before we see real consistency in our play until then we will have to call on luck(of which we have had little this season) Guts which we have shown in last 2 games and flashes of brilliance from the best paid players at the club.

Yes ken things seem to be looking up! Give it a month or so and I think we will know where we stand, and to think at the start of the transfer window I was panicking that we wouldn't sign top player's and i'm sure I wasn't the only one

07 Oct 2014 09:06:52
Simon I was certain we would try for world class players, but was unsure whether we would manage any this summer, as many players are all about the CL and not who the club are. I was very happy with our transfer window and am enjoying the season, even the poor results. We are definitely on the up and those who mocked us will end up eating their words :-)

Yes agreed I think this is going to be a good season for us the transitional period w7ill be interesting, I still think lvg has some lesons to learn regarding the premier league I think he is becoming a little more aware how hard a league it is and the quality of all the teams not just the top 6. I think top four then look to in9rove for the 2015 /16 season

06 Oct 2014 14:22:50
Watching the rematch and I have spotted Naismith twice easily ran behind big wig in defending third and got a header. Now that should be a shame for him. And with a last shot of oveido he actually turn his head away to " save" himself rather being brave for the team and take a blue patch to block the shot.

It simply points with this and including his past performances that he does not have positional sence and all round awareness.

Moreover he lacks pace so he doesn't have any chance to recover those loopholes of his game.
The sooner he is offloaded of wage bill the better it will be. I will rather say give hard working academy guys chances that wasting minutes on him.

He just returned frm injury. Give him a few matches before jumping on his back. Yes I don expect him set the league alight and yes he was crap last season. But if we can give Anderson 6 years, we can at least give him a few matches to judge him

Completely agree with you Dippy.


Btw I just booked tickets for Mumbai vs North East in Mumbai ;)

While I'm not sold on Fellaini by any means it was his first game back after injury and he played about 15 mins! How many games was he actually able to string together last season? Give Fellaini a little bit of time before dismissing him. We've all seen how good he could be when he was at Everton and he offers something very different to any other player in the squad.

Haha. Mumbai hav got a very good team together. I'll be going for the return leg in Guwahati :)

06 Oct 2014 11:10:20
I don't get why LVG is boasting that we are in fourth when we have not played well. Given the opposition we have faced and we still managed to lose twice and draw twice, Why has he said it?

I don really think he ws boasting. IMO it ws more of a looking forward to kind of thing.
We haven't picked up the amount of points we should have and he knows that hence the "we haven't been playing well" remark.
Our team is a work in progress that we should all understand. When our team is complete and settled I can't help but feel we'll be one of the top three sides in Europe.

It is still early days and we are slowly coming into form. We are now starting to get results. I think it is quite an achievement given how we have played in a lot of games. We are in touching distance or above our rivals with games to play against them. I think it is quite positive.

06 Oct 2014 12:14:54
Because we are 4th and have not played well. Simple really.

He actually said:-

"I told my players, 'We are not playing well but we are fourth in the table - so what will happen when we do play well?'" said Van Gaal.

He added it was "strange" that United have tended to fade out of games.

"We played well for one half, but we have to do it 90 minutes, " he said. "We haven't defended well. We have to improve our organisation.

So he is actually acknowledging that we are not playing well and there is plenty of room for improvement but the facts are. we are in the top 4 and it's the first time since August last year.
What's wrong with him saying that?

He wasnt boasting. he said that "we haven't played well", so he was admitting that we hadn't played well. He was saying in relation to the fact that the table is congested, points wise and that even when we hadn't played well we are still in 4th place.

Exactly if we had lost to Everton (which could easily have happened) we could theoretically be on the same amount of points as 17th place.

As it is 4th doesn't mean much at all but if the league finished today it would be a result despite 3rd being the new objective.

If things click soon and with the way other teams are playing the title isn't out of reach imo. If we go on a run now we will just grow and grow in confidence, especially with our defenders coming back.

Given the opposition we have played, fourth is no achievement.

Its 7 games into the season and we have 11 points, we all know where we stand. 3 wins, 2, draws, and 2 losses. It just seems unnecessary to say. It may have been the headline of the article that skewed my opinion on it. I take on board what you all are saying, how it could be a positive way of looking forward.

Cheers Guys

Given the opposition we have played, fourth is no achievement.

Its 7 games into the season and we have 11 points, we all know where we stand. 3 wins, 2, draws, and 2 losses. It just seems unnecessary to say. It may have been the headline of the article that skewed my opinion on it. I take on board what you all are saying, how it could be a positive way of looking forward.

Cheers Guys

06 Oct 2014 17:32:27
We haven't played well and van gaal acknowledged that but we could be so much better off if it hadn't been for some shocking refereeing decisions.We should of had two penalties against burnley and the first one against leicester was never a pen which in my opinion changed the game and think we'd of gone on to win both games.Man United could of been 5 points better off sitting in 2nd place having not played well,the future is bright.Oh and the penalty given against shaw was not a pen either.

Beast, no one is catching chelsea I'm afraid like a lot predicted in the summer they are simply going to walk the league. However in the mix of 2nd/3rd I think is likely and I think we would all have took that at the start of the season.

06 Oct 2014 10:24:18
What will be Blind's Role once we sign one of Strootman/Vidal/Carvalho, As LB position is already occupied with Shaw and Rojo both doing well?

And do we need to look at any other striker next window as RVP is far away from his best and will need replacement, or may be Wilson
will step up?

Blind I am sure will rotate. We need plenty of options. Strootman will likely rotate with Blind and Herrera.

06 Oct 2014 10:50:08
I would say Blind does so much unseen work, we might not see him dropped so easily. He made some absolutely brilliant blocks and tackles yesterday. He also, keeps the game ticking over very nicely.

Is Strootman that much better than Blind?? IMO not really so he's not needed, it would have to be a Vidal or Pogba type player to replace Blind.
Defence is where we need quality signings at the moment.

Blind has been excellent so far and if he keeps it up he will not need replacing at all .just cause he didn't cot 40mill doesn't mean he can't go on to be world class .he is the first midfielder since Scholes and keane we have had who dictates and controls the midfield,he also gets stuck in ,hopefully he goes on to be a utd legend

I definitley don't think that Blind should be dropped. But we do need someone like Strootman because look how many times we have had to have players fill in for Herrera. A versatile box-2-box player like Strootman would not go a miss at all.

I too think he will rotate with the new MF coming in. If we start playin with one on top ( IMO I think we should) we could accommodate him with two box to box midfielders. But with the 433 I think he'll be dropped to the bench

MU_DEVIL . if we sign Carvalho i'll melt my season ticket outside OT.

I wouldn't get too hung up about finding a specific role for everyone in the starting 11 as we're going to need a squad of 18 top quality players to make a real impression. That's why i think all the Mata talk is nonsense . he's more than good enough to be in that 18 and to get plenty of pitch time.

I don't think our midfield is anywhere as strong s it should be. If we need to control games, then we have to have at least three top midfielders.
So Strootman/Blind/Hererra to play in 433 formation. Which means two out of rvp/rooney/falcao to play up top with Di Maria making the numbers.

06 Oct 2014 13:20:06
I doubt we'll be back in for Vidal given his recent comments.

If we did move to a 433 why couldn't we play blind, strootman and Herrera with di Maria, falcao and another further forwards

06 Oct 2014 02:29:18
Back to the Mata debate. Someone asked me where Chelsea finished with Mata. Okay always in the top 4 and correct me if I'm wrong but winners of the champions league. The Mata who was Chelsea player of season was in same class as Silva it's facts. Ask any Chelsea fan and they will tell you. Mata needs to work at parts of his game perhaps to help the team but all in all he has quality and sees things so many of our players can't. Mata scores more than Silva I do believe looking at both players record. As I have said previous Mata is one of the best technically gifted players we have and he cares about the fans and the club. Top man on and of pitch.Mata and deg are also English speaking Spaniards helping the Spanish speaking players settle in. If we get Mata back to his very best he is a world class player and that comes from Chelsea fans I know who were Gutted he left. Ddg superb with his saves and pleased for him as always rated him and believed he was quality. Those calling him to be dropped know nothing. Di Maria has been a breath of fresh air and hope he continues what he has been doing. Great for falcao to get off the mark and hope this sets him up for rest of campaign. The two young lads deserve more credit I mean mc Nair has come in and done really well and not received enough praise from the media. Young Tyler also has not got enough credit this season. The block was amazing and how he is not in England under 21 squad is beyond me. Played most games for us and again for most part done well. Lvg believes in youth which is great. He obviously feels Wilson is better for United than welbeck and there is 5 years between them. Lvg and giggs have seen both players at close quarters so know who is better. I think we are not playing great but still in 4th and under lvg will only improve. Proper coach who is not overwhelmed by the club or job. Rafael was outstanding again I thought also. Lastly with injured players getting fit we should have a good squad to push on.

This comes from me, and I'm a chelsea fan. Chelsea actually finished 6th during the year we won the Champions League. And during the CL triumph, Mata played a pretty non existent role (in the later stages) due to the defensive playing style we adopted.
Mata is a fantastic player, but it feels like the whole team has to work for him and around. Play has to go through him because he isn't very useful off the ball. He can be lethal, but for that to happen you have to play in a very specific style.

Apart from the assist for drogbas goal. Then the following season provided the assist for ivanovic goal in Europa league final. Think Mata set two goals up for drogba in a game Chelsea had to win to get out of the group against Valencia. People go on about defending and what he does without the ball. Silva and ozil are the same type of player and don't do these things. You have to appreciate what these players can give going forward.

Johnjoe, no one is saying Mata is a bad player, far from it. And I'm not even that bothered if he dosnt defend that much. But what has he done for us going forward? THe pass he laid on for Di Maria was quite a simple pass and if he hadn't completed it, we would have been disappointed.
But what else did he do during the match?
If you are trying to compare him to david Silva, then i'm afraid he will come off far worse. He simply is not in the same class as Silva. That is why Silva is Spain's main playmaker and Mata doesn't make the Spain squad.
I think Mourinho was very clever selling him to us and getting £37m in the process. I think Januzaj might provide more creativity than Mata in that position.

Rooney has played in. Same position and hardly pulled up any tree's. Adnan will get his chance. Mata at his very best is superb.