Manchester United Banter Archive August 09 2015

09 Aug 2015 22:19:10
How many entered the fantasy football in the end flew anyone know? I'm 394th with silva to score points, Jesus what a terrible start lol. Can you use that all out attack and the other ones only once or more?

09 Aug 2015 23:04:40
Just once.

09 Aug 2015 23:36:02
Not sure how many are in, but i'm 120th or so with Aguero to tally up, although he's my Captain so get double!

10 Aug 2015 00:20:35
Ah you'll shoot right up the table tmrw then mpez, prob loads of people on the same points. Kudos to who suggested it, will be some bragging rights for who finishes top. I'm sure the Eds said there's free holidays to Dubai on offer for the top 395 ;p

10 Aug 2015 04:52:09
There are 709 entries so if you're in the top 140 that'd be equivalent to top 4. I had a bad weekend probably somewhere around you welsh. I am putting my eggs in the berahino basket against city's defense

10 Aug 2015 09:36:41
I am 318th mid table obscurity 😭

10 Aug 2015 10:47:37
Im sitting nicely in 8th!

09 Aug 2015 20:36:48
Would anyone else like to see us playing a traditional 4-4-2 again like the good old days?

09 Aug 2015 20:51:53
No, we have just built a top midfield to compete with others why change it?

Again I feel the real question needs to be, Is Rooney be good enough for this system?

Imo no, and before I get pelters that's not me hounding wazza just asking is he good enough to be our first choice FW, I hope so but I'm not convinced at all.

09 Aug 2015 20:58:32
With our current squad how would you start ? Depay n Rooney up top with tony and Young on wings ? If we sign pedro and a striker then yes with our current squad i don't think its an option.

09 Aug 2015 21:30:27
Not when most Premier League and Champs League teams are playing 433. We'd get out numbered centrally in every game.

09 Aug 2015 21:11:25
I was thinking young and depay on wings with mata behind rooney as top two. Carrick/swienstieger and shniederlin/herrera as cm

09 Aug 2015 21:18:53
Echos here of CTRs post.
😕

09 Aug 2015 22:00:44
Pep wouldn't that line up make it a 451? Not really a traditional 442 imo.

Not dismissing that set up though mate.

09 Aug 2015 22:03:31
Pepgiggs
That's just a 4-2-3-1. Mata is not a striker.

09 Aug 2015 22:15:29
No idea who that is patzi. 4-4-2 is a classic formation and we have the players to play it. Just would like to see how it worked out even if just for part of the game ie if we are winning or losing. If lvg is this big tactician I'm yet to see it within a 90 minute game

09 Aug 2015 22:16:46
Chris, wash your mouth out, Rooney is a God, how dare you even think about questioning his ability

09 Aug 2015 22:45:36
If Mata plays there it's not really a traditional 442 is it ?

09 Aug 2015 22:45:11
Change your name to mike Bassett.

09 Aug 2015 22:58:13
Well i'm basing it on 4-4-1-1 then with mata playing just behind rooney as the front 2. It's definitely not 4-2-3-1, the 4 in midfield would play aa a traditional 4! One sit, one gp forward ala Keane,Scholes.with 2 wingers who hug the touchline ala giggs Beckham

09 Aug 2015 23:10:02
So you're talkin through your false nine then Pep :)

09 Aug 2015 23:10:15
We only have three strikers, with Rooney, Hernandez and Wilson. One of which we are looking to sell. I don't think a formation that relies on two strikers is prudent.

09 Aug 2015 23:54:43
The thing is Tony, I worry that him playing will always hamper our forward movement, his touch is non existent at times which can only be down to laziness of the mind.

hes not so quick and his hold up play is very inconsistent at best. I just feel we have to compensate with him our main man, atm it's Depay behind him to add the speed and I'll bet when available Fellani will play to compensate for his hold up play.

I'd play him in the number 10 role and get in a top draw lewandowski type to play striker and see how that goes. If it still doesn't work, I dunno I guess 😐

10 Aug 2015 10:33:40
If we bought lewondowski then 4-4-2 would be a must with him and rooney up top!

09 Aug 2015 20:16:25
I think its wonderful how for some people chelsea and arsenal floundering on the first day to much lesser opponents is down to 'just the first day' and us actually beating a formidable Tottenham team is 'a sure sign of the struggle to come'

09 Aug 2015 20:47:45
Snap judgements being made all across the board after the first day. LVG isn't good enough, Rooney isn't good enough, Arsenal aren't title contenders anymore, Liverpool are contenders, take your pick.

09 Aug 2015 20:54:55
Where's the 'agree and disagree' button?.
😉😂😆

09 Aug 2015 19:51:56
@ Schmidfield

I read a post earlier stating how Wilson wasn't good enough to be united second striker, then u went on to say about other clubs wouldn't want him.

Chelsea's second striker is falcao
Arsenals is Welbeck

What do these 2 have in common? Both of these 2 played for United at the same time as Wilson, yet Wilson is stil here, surely he's doing something right? You don't see what the kid is doing in training everyday so u can't really comment on whether he is good enough, he scores loads of goals for the u21's, that's all he can do, give the kid a chance.

I'm sure at the time people thought that butt or scholes where not as good as ince, or that de gea wasn't as good as van der sar?

09 Aug 2015 20:23:09
Touché

09 Aug 2015 18:58:21
Timing is everything in football. Because we were the first game and it being quite a dull affair, everyone jumps on our back (including our own fans). But let's put in in perspective of the weekend. Chelsea were extremely fortunate to come away with a point yesterday. Arsenal were very sloppy today and the Liverpool game was dreadful but FairPlay they got their goal.

We played a team that has the potential to mix it with the big boys and came out on top. I thought our midfield and back 5 played well. We were just lacking that something extra up top. We had a few nervy moments but other than that we were in control.

Now after seeing the weekends football I'm chuffed with the result. 3 points in the bag, a few very promising debuts and no injuries. It's a shame we didn't hit the ground running. But hitting the ground walking is better than last year when we hit the ground face first!

Get a win at Villa and then kick on in the qualifier. Get a couple of bodies in and we could start to make a bit of momentum. There's far more positives than negatives.

09 Aug 2015 19:14:01
lets see where we r at xmas.
an awful lot of people want to say ," i told you so" at the moment

09 Aug 2015 19:19:23
Good post that mumbles.

09 Aug 2015 20:29:49
We all watch the same game yet everyone has a different opinion. If you sit there wanting to find negatives, you'll find them. If you want to find positives, you'll find them. I'd rather focus on the positives after the first game of the season and 3 weeks left in the transfer window and after 10 games if we're not improving, then I'll start to worry. But we had 5 debutants yesterday and Blind at centre back. I can only see us improving, especially with a couple of signings.

09 Aug 2015 21:01:27
If Walker wasn't in such good form (O.G. aside) we would have destroyed them. Young was playing out of skin to try and get past him, but didn't get sniff.
LVG should have moved the boys about, put Young/Valencia on the right, Mata in the hole and give Depay a go at Walker. Simples.
Where do I apply
😎😎😎😎😎

09 Aug 2015 18:00:27
Liverpool play poorly and win 1-0 and it's a great performance and result, we play poorly and win 1-0 and our top 4 credentials are I'm question, some people, pundits etc. just want us to fail.

09 Aug 2015 18:24:07
Diddums, what a beautiful day.

09 Aug 2015 18:47:06
Small clubs like Liverpool aren't expected to get results like us. A win against Stoke wasn't expected.

09 Aug 2015 19:03:03
Mighty red, it must be a beautiful day when you only win 2 in 8 games usually.

09 Aug 2015 19:10:25
Utd fans say it's a beautiful day when we win the premier league, Liverpool fans have fallen so far from the top beating Stoke is a beautiful day.

09 Aug 2015 19:21:18
It says everything when stoke outplayed "pass and move" Liverpool I was genuinely surprised the pool got anything I thought stoke were a banker

09 Aug 2015 16:17:14
It's a very late post but,
Almost everyone wants to swap Depay with Mata, even I do but maybe LVG thinks he needs a bit of pace centrally and he won't get that with Mata. It puzzles me a bit too.
The only reason I could think of Mata playing there is coming of Pedro. Pedro would play at Mata's position, young on left, depay middle and rooney uptop, so he wants depay to be there and we know how good a shot he says.

Was surprised to see that both the free kicks were taken by mata and rooney when we had specialist in Depay.

I really expect us to sign a CB sometime soon as we have to play a lot in august with the addition of qualifying rounds.

And I could have missed if anyone said that but why isn't Carrick playing CB instead of Blind.
Carrick can pass better than Blind, defend better, has equivalent pace, better postioning, better heading ability.

And we could play either of Herrera or Schweinsteiger in the midfield.

09 Aug 2015 16:28:21
Depay wasn't on the pitch for the 2nd free kick and the other was clearly better for the left footer.

09 Aug 2015 16:34:29
Rohan all that makes sense to me but LvG seems to be seeing things differently.

09 Aug 2015 16:47:31
Maybe the thinking of playing depay off rooney is that it frees him of most of the defensive responsibilities that the modern winger has. Hence why someone like young is used so frequently by lvg.

Could just be me thought lol

09 Aug 2015 16:49:23
Carrick isn't left footed and would therefore not fit the 'philosophy'.

09 Aug 2015 17:38:55
DSG,

I'm pretty sure that is exactly the reason, I said it the other week, it takes the pressure of defending off him so he can just concentrate on using his pace going forward.

09 Aug 2015 18:32:33
I Agee dig, the most cursing thing to me was his reluctance to run behind the last defender he had several opportunities yesterday but pulled up , too often yesterday Rooney and Memphis both dropped off with nobody running behind stretching the defence

09 Aug 2015 19:21:36
I feel Hernandez would do a decent job when running behind the defenses, he gave a torrid time to the Chelsea defense and was a constant thorn for stoke, 2 teams with great physicality.
Hernandez should be given 1 or 2 games before he's shipped off.
He was very enthusiastic while leaving us for Madrid and I think he hoped to stay there but he's back and is a wild card sort of a player.
SAF believed in him and hence he performed well for him.
LVG believed in Young and Fellaini and it paid dividends, I think Chicharito has a future.

Sorry GDS2, I was working while watching the 2nd half and wasn't concentrating on the game.

09 Aug 2015 15:23:45
For all those who were waxing lyrical about Arsenal this season, have just witnessed why they won't be anywhere near the title come the end of the season.

I know it is only one game, but they don't have a midfield. They just have a bunch of attacking midfielders playing all over the place. They look so easy to play through.

Great game from Cech as well lol.

We look a lot more powerful than that Arsenal team IMO.

09 Aug 2015 15:30:26
Arsenal will be right up there. 1 game in your writing them off? Plus with a big signing or two probably to come. They have a better squad than we do

09 Aug 2015 15:47:47
Yep, I am writing them off unless they sigh a top holding player. They are completely light weight in midfield.

The PL is going to be a lot more competitive this season. Central midfield will be a battle ground, especially as more teams are using three men in the middle.

I don't believe they have a better squad than us. They have a number of excellent AM players, but they don't have a a top class holding player or two, which will cost them IMO.

To win the PL, you need muscle in the middle, hence why they haven't won a PL is 12 years; and I don't see them being any near this season either. In fact, unless they make some big signings in the middle of the park I think they could struggle a bit.

That is just my opinion. We all have - and are - entitled to one.

09 Aug 2015 15:52:23
Stand you're wrong they don't have a better squad at all.

Doesn't matter who they bring in, unless they overcome their lack of winning mentality then they will never win the league.

True it is only one game but it showed everything that is wrong with arsenal. They underestimate and play like they deserve to win. Which as United fans we know it will always be a downfall. They need a good CB, DM and ST before they can get to the top. They may well kick on from here but come Jan/Feb they will drop off as they always do, they just haven't got it in them.

Mentioned it before about west hams signings and I think I will be proven right on Payet, he had an absolute stormer of a game. Bilic is going to be a good watch too!

09 Aug 2015 15:56:16
Makes our signing of schneiderlin even more important. He would have been the ideal signing for arsenal to complement their midfielders. Great work by lvg and ed

09 Aug 2015 16:01:55
But sam Arsenal must have a better squad tan us, I mean we have an over rated captain who can't be a main striker, a useless defence that couldn't play in the championship, not to mention our goalkeeper trouble and a manager who doesn't know what he's doing. At least that's what I'm led to believe on here.

09 Aug 2015 16:04:37
Agreed, DSG. They badly needed Schneiderlin.

Saying that, they do have Arteta and Flamini. :o)

09 Aug 2015 16:09:47
I know, inhope. We are miles behind Arsenal according to a few on here. The evidence of that was there for all to see.

It is a game of opinions mate. I just don't share the belief that we are miles from being PL champions this season. In fact, I think we might be a player or two short. But that is just my opinion of course.

09 Aug 2015 16:33:50
Arsenal will regret not getting Morgan. They also, like us admittedly, lack a commanding centre back, and they also need a striker capable of hitting 30 a season so I don't think there is much between us.

09 Aug 2015 17:05:07
Yeh and the last two years have proved how arsenal are not better than ourselves haven't they? Finished higher 2 seasons running, trophies won. Cech, Koshielney, Ramsey, Walcott, ox , Wilshire, Sanchez. Would all get into our side. If they add one or two top quality players they will win the league IMO

09 Aug 2015 15:03:17
Nice to see the top 2 favorites starting the season so well, and we are worried about our side haha I don't see us signing a CB we got rojo who people seem to forget we do however need a forward reckon he will come in on deadline day

09 Aug 2015 14:48:02
Who'd have thought Romero would have a decent game and keep a clean sheet while Cech would end up having a mare ?

09 Aug 2015 16:02:30
I don't think people are giving him the credit he deserves. He had a very good game.

09 Aug 2015 16:06:59
He performed well, even though he had little time to gel, didn't seem him make a mistake with his gloves, he did not flap at all, was good on corners and looked assured.
The only thing he lacked was his passing but LVG is the perfect manager for that thing.

09 Aug 2015 14:32:15
Does anyone know if we are still in for otamendi? ?

09 Aug 2015 14:48:44
We was in talks with Valencia but I dunno now, eggs in the Ramos basket perhaps.

09 Aug 2015 13:41:07
As Beas alluded to before. I'm finding myself worryingly agreeing with his views. I think the lack of creativity is becoming concerning. This is no fluke. We have the players, mata played wide and he's not a winger. Depay played centrally and he's not a no.10. Hererra not picked and yet he can create more than any other midfielder we've got.
Yet lvg insists on playing people out of position. Blind in central defence is a joke.
Why can't our frustrating manager play people in their right position. It is pathetic and stubborn and will never work.

09 Aug 2015 14:18:41
I agree, Depay should be out on the left or right, Mata or Herrera behind the striker, what worries me is that he will play his put a shift in players no matter what, Rooney, Mata, Blind, Young and Valencia and then shoehorn them in wherever he can.

With the players we have available now Blind should always be on the bench as should Valencia, the others should be played in there best positions, as i said earlier in another post Rooney as a lone striker is never going to work, he isn't going to stay up top and will always drop into midfield if he isn't getting much of the ball.

09 Aug 2015 15:09:43
Ever thought blind played cb because jones is injured evans is atrocious rojo isn't fit and mcnair and blackett are not ready to play in big games.

I wish there was an option to block people on here so we don't have to see the BS every week

09 Aug 2015 15:15:52
I'm thinking the fact Blind is at CB shows the value Lvg puts on having a ball playing CB - which makes it a shame we couldn't tempt Hummels to OT. Depay/Mata I agree would like to see them switched or even Herrera in the middle, I think 99% of posters on this site agree with that.

09 Aug 2015 15:41:30
spb, so you would block people for having an opinion would you because it doesn't fit in with yours, Blackett and Mcnair played CB in games last season.

I know exactly why he was playing yesterday all i meant was when we have the players available then he should be nowhere near CB.

09 Aug 2015 16:46:00
its not the opinion that's the problem its the constant posting of the same opinion, what's the point is saying the same thing over and over again?

we can understand the opinion from the first time its been posted, it doesn't have to be made over and over does it?

im sure a lot of people would love a block option. that's my opion :)

09 Aug 2015 13:32:23
To be successful not only do the right players need to be brought in but the manager has to make some ballsy decisions. A new CB is easy, Blind gets dropped to the bench as a utility man. Two holding midfielders with one CM pushing forwards, Schweini/Carrick, Schneider, Herrera with Mata dropping to the bench. Pedro plays wide right and Depay wide left with a new out and out new goalscorer up top, Rooney drops to the bench. The problem is Rooney he will not be dropped and the reason for this is because he is captain because unfortunately when he was given the armband there were no other leaders and maybe it was part of the reason he was tempted to stay. My personal opinion is he should have been sold when Ferguson believed it was the right time. If he had we would now have that out and out goalscorer. Maybe i have a blinkered view because i just don't like him and despite what he achieves i will never view him as a Utd great.

09 Aug 2015 13:59:52
I think one of the Eds said it once, that if a club wanted Rooney he wouldve gone by now, but because of his wages and reluctance to move abroad the chances of him moving are slim.

09 Aug 2015 12:41:25
Happy with the result yesterday. Clean sheet and 3 points.

Our defensive display was really good but our attacking display leaves a lot to be desired. Here's hoping that with a run of games and some signings we can see better attacking football.

It is common knowledge that LVG likes his teams being disciplined in both aspects of the game. It is clear to see that we are good at disciplined defending but the players can't seem to grasp the concept of slow build up attacking football (paradox). Rooney especially comes across as being very impatient.

As I said this game is based on results and I'll not moan at us winning football matches. I'd rather win the league with 1-0 results than finish in the top 4 playing exciting football, just compare Arsenal and Chelsea these past few seasons. I know what fans are happier.

09 Aug 2015 13:19:40
911: what's your emergency
Me: hi i'd like to report a theft
911: what was stolen sir?
Me: the words outa my mouth.
911: who's the perp?
Me: Red in Moscow.
911 to dispatch: Put an APB out on alias "red in moscow" who was last seen making absolute sense on this young yet blossoming web empire :P

I agree unequivocally mate.

09 Aug 2015 15:10:13
Haha cheers mate!

09 Aug 2015 17:01:47
Racounter, you're a bit 'out there' aren't you.
I admire that.
Keep up the posts!

10 Aug 2015 15:11:10
You had to say that and jinx everything didn't ya badger? I blame 16 hours of commute to meet the most boring people on earth who need no internet on you!!! but given you all have rescued me from these very situations so many times (maybe i need to reevaluate things :S) i am inclined to bury it all and plus you have the most awesome-st avatar pic :P

Thanks for the kind words kind sir :)

09 Aug 2015 11:44:49
Aaaaaand the saga continues, ladies and gentlemen. Neymar out fo two weeks. After Barca wanted Pedro until the Supercup final, now will they want to hang on to him for two more weeks ?! I hope we pay (if not agreed already) his buyout clause and start in our next match.

09 Aug 2015 14:02:34
There is no buyout, it is a gentlemens agreement between pedro and barce that if someone pays 30m euros he can leave.
That is why they are holding the cards in the transfer, because they don't actually have to sell.

09 Aug 2015 18:23:07
Where did you get this ?

09 Aug 2015 09:36:03
First things first, fantastic that we got 3 points against Spurs. Brilliant performance by Darmian and Smalling.

Now for the reality check, Blind is not a centre back, Memphis is not a number 10, Mata is not a RW, Valencia is not a RB, Ashley Young is not a first choice LW for a top 4 team and Romero look ok, but only ok.

Let's not get carried away, this was Spurs we beat, a team notorious for losing heart if the concede a goal, who only had 1 striker/ looked flat up front.

Looking at all the teams on match of the day, we need more movement and pace up front. I am not convinced that if we had played Swansea again this season on the opening day that we would not have lost. I thought they looked like an excellent balanced team.

For me we still don't look balanced and after we have spent 1/4 of a billion pounds that is worrying. Why does LVG insist on not playing people in their best positions.
I personally believe that we either need to use Mata in his best position (number 10) or get rid of him.

Everybody on here knows we need a CB. We have needed a CB for two seasons, why has this not been addressed? Wayne Rooney can score goals, but he is not a top/ proper CF. we need someone to lead the line, stay up front, hold up the ball or run in behind. Rooney just drops deep and we loose our focal point.

I do worry about where we will end up this season. The glimmers of hope I am hanging onto are:

1) the transfer window has not closed so we can address the issues above.
2) it is only the first week of the premiership.

09 Aug 2015 11:03:15
Liverpool fan here

Y do you need to play Carrick alongside Morgan? Morgsn in itself is a playmaker who could defend.
Strange

09 Aug 2015 13:14:21
Not really, we were playing a slow LB at CB yesterday, so that extra midfielder providing cover for the defence makes perfect sense.

09 Aug 2015 13:22:24
@european glory: Just to add a bit of surety to the proceedings, i would assume mate. perhaps that Leicester match still gives him the jeepers.

Stranger things have happened buddy.

09 Aug 2015 09:27:57
I went to OT yesterday and I have a few observations. I've not yet read others posts on the game so apologies if I'm repeating points already made:

Blind is not a centre half. He's too slow, too small and too weak.

Valencia is not a full back. After he came on for Darmian we were more shakey at the back and twice Valencia was out of position and had no awareness of who he was supposed to be picking up. Tottenham could have scored twice because of his poor play. Conversely Darmian looked solid and made it look effortless as all the best players do.

Mike Smalling had an excellent game. He was solid and looked very comfortable. He kept it simple and his positioning was good.

Depay is not a no 10. He looked really unfit and when he gets the ball in central areas with players running off him he looks hesitant and unsure what to do. I'd like to see him bombing down the wing and taking on full backs. Isn't that what he did so well last season?

Ashley Young had another good game both going forward and defensively. He's not a fashionable player but he's very effective. If he could just squeeze over a few more of his crosses.

We need to play 4 3 3 with a first choice midfield of Schmidfield plus Herrera. We started with 4 2 3 1 including Carrick, Schneiderlein and Depay. Once Depay and Carrick were swapped for Herrera and Schweinsteiger we were much better. The passing was quicker and at points we played some good intricate and penetrating passing moves. The crowd was chanting herrera's name before he came on and he didn't disappoint as the most advanced midfielder. His energy and quality on the ball is great plus I like the way he gets stuck into the physical battle as well. He and Mata should share that central attacking role. Killer John is wasted out wide.

It looks like we've found a goalkeeper. Romero looked like he'd been playing at Utd for years.he looked composed and commanded his area well. He made a few decent saves and his distribution with hands and feet is excellent. He's a proper player and the crowd were quite rightly chanting his name

What concerns me is so much of this seems obvious but I fear will be ignored by Van Gaal. I'm all for him trying new ideas but I don't understand the dogged persistence once we can see it doesn't work.

We have an excellent, much improved squad which I think is a top CB short of really challenging this season. I think another top quality striker such as Benzema to share and compete with Rooney would really finish us off.

It just needs Van Gaal to harness what we have and take the obvious options rather than trying to be too clever with square pegs and round holes.

09 Aug 2015 11:09:04
Agree with most of that but can't agree with you views on Romero, very nervous start(understandable) he's distribution with his feet in the 1st half was second rate at best, less than half his passes hit a Utd player. 2nd half it looks like he was told if in doubt get it out, Not trying to slag hom of, settled well as the game went on and looks a good keeper, but I'm not sure good is good enough for Utd.I honestly think he is a stop gap, a good stop gap at that, and will eventually be no.2

09 Aug 2015 11:41:15
Agree with most of that Andrew, apart from Romero, he did very well but thought his distibution was a bit shakey, he kicked it into touch a few times when he was put under pressure but all in all he wasn't too bad.

09 Aug 2015 12:01:05
Murph and Minion, he did have a few clearances/passes go astray but my main point is he looks comfortable on the ball.

If I had to critise I would like to have seen him commanding his area a bit more. He didn't have any crosses to come for but there were periods when Spurs put us under pressure and we moved back to defending our 18 yard line.

I would have liked to see him push the team forward and demand they get out of HIS area.

Like I said, the Stretford End were chanting his name during the game and as the players left the pitch and they don't do that for just anyone having an average game.

I've read the other posts now and it looks like we pretty much all agree on everything else.

I don't imagine Van Gaal will change anything though

09 Aug 2015 13:06:31
Ha! just realised I've contradicted myself on Romero. What I'm trying to say is he looked confident and the defense seemed to trust him but I would have liked to have seen him dominate and dictate more.

Hope that makes sense, I'm going for a lie down.

09 Aug 2015 09:03:47
Rusty start and very tired finish with 3 or 4 players looking like they were cramping up/dead on their feet. (Training?) No wonder the last 5-10 minutes were so harrowing. And yet the team survived and recorded a clean sheet. With Blind at CB, where he looks like an accident waiting to happen, that was a remarkable achievement. In the end it's a results game. We get 3 points.

I agree with those who think Mata and Depay should have swapped positions, and I also could not understand why LVG brought on Valencia on for Darmian rather than Mata at the end of the game, unless he was concerned that Darmian had taken a knock. If there's one thing Valenca is good at, it's wasting time around the corner flag. As it was the defensive organization crumbled.

With respect to Rooney, get used to it. In this system he is going to continue to touch the ball about half the number of times per game as we have come to expect. This will be fine as long as we play 4-3-3 and the wide players play to the level of Ronaldo, Bale, Robben or Ribery, which makes the Mata/Depay dynamic even more inexplicable.

I thought all the new signings had decent outings with Darmian a stand out, and Depay looking excellent in the first half during which he showed some great touches, one time passing and a desire to close down their defenders which contributed to a spell of extreme dominance when Spurs could hardly get the ball out of their half. Shweini looked a little overweight, or perhaps his shorts were badly tailored.

To win the league any team will need their share of luck, a few timely refereeing decisions in their favour, and some wins when they are not playing that well. That was one of those games, and the fact that it was against a very settled top 6 aspiring opponent, we should take some satisfaction. Remember, there are some of us who will be negative even if we win the league.

These folks split into two categories:

a) The nostalgic Romanticists, desirous of a United playing like an art form.
b) The inherently negative Nellies, each of whom could have been the model for Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch.

But, one way or another let's rejoice in the fact that the season has started again, marking the official end of the period when the weather is the most important thing to talk about. The English summer - now there's something to be continually disappointed by.

09 Aug 2015 09:32:38
Good post Shawthing. I thought we looked good defensively on the whole which was big plus, but not surprised with 2 holders and Spurs looking very tired.

Fitness is obviously a major issue still for us, we shouldn't be in this shape game one - bad preparation.

I think those being negative are just expecting better from the resources at our disposal, another grind of a season ahead unfortunately.

Ultimately we were on last for Match of the Day again, despite our game being the game of the day on paper. I think last season we were on last more than ever, and this season will repeat that. I think 1-0 to the Utd will be the new chant this season.

Darmian was superb, he would be even better if he had a proper pacey winger ahead of him, creating space so he could fly down the wing. Depay was a bit off for me, but you could tell he is going to be our Hazard. Just wish we could take advantage of our financial power and the ability we have, instead of playing this cautious boring football which is almost a chore to watch - Walker had Young in his pocket, Mata did nothing against a poor RB imo and Rooney was virtually anonymous yet again.

Pleased the footy is back, but I think excitement has officially left the building! Chrysler will be pleased our performances reflect their assembly line though!

09 Aug 2015 09:34:31
Before people say "it's the first game", yes but the first 5 games last season were virtually identical to the last 5 games of the season.

09 Aug 2015 09:43:01
Good post, well summed up.

09 Aug 2015 09:57:33
Yes beast it is extremely important not to be on last on MOTD. My god what a point to make. A show that has Alan Shearer as an analisist.

And it was only the 1st game, the defence played well and I'm sure there is a CB yet to come in. I felt depay was also a bit off but we shouldn't expect too much of this young man just yet. I look forward to him being properly settled in. Young and Walker I thought was a very good battle, again I thought young did well. He got some decent crosses in again.

Let's all just see exactly how we do over the next 4-5 games. There will be a couple of more additions.

09 Aug 2015 11:09:31
They always have the biggest game last? To keep you watching through the whole program. If they had utd first a lot of us would turn off after it. Common sense

09 Aug 2015 12:37:40
MOTD normally have the early kick off on last because most people have already seen highlights and goals throughout the day.

09 Aug 2015 13:14:12
Lets all be honest our game was on last because it was the worst game of the day yesterday full stop. We had one young back pass on target and Spurs had 1 shit and 1 header.

09 Aug 2015 06:04:23
We need to pass the ball faster. We are giving time for opponent to close down on almost every pass. Closing down happens even if we pass faster but opponents gets out of position, giving us space for attack. For that we need a world class center back who can start the attacking wave by passing accurately. Yesterday we linked Biglia, another CM. LVG has plans to use Carrick as a ball passing CB springs to mind.

09 Aug 2015 09:12:00
I think our slow tempo is the reason we struggle to break teams down. They have long enough to get set and have 10 men behind the ball

09 Aug 2015 11:16:36
100%. we buy Depay and play him @no.10 then play young and mata @lw and rw. Hardly going to tear the wing backs a new one. makes no sense.

I can see us buying Pedro and playing him beside Schneiderlin at this rate

09 Aug 2015 04:41:12
Yesterday Rooney's goal(Walker's own goal) was the one we expected to be scored, but the finishing touch was not even in my(anyone's) wildest imagination. Rooney can claim that goal if and only if Rooney's brain can think like the girl in the movie 'Lucy'(2014).

One other goal like that was scored by the great Midfield Maestro Paul Scholes himself against AC milan in a Champions League match. He tried to finish a low cross using his right foot, he completely missed it but the ball hit his left foot and went in.

Giroud of Arsenal scored one with his shoulder which look as a perfect header from long distance but not as lucky as Scholes and Rooney.

Post such goals if you remember without google searching.EDs are also welcome.

{Ed001's Note - lucky goals? I can't think of any, but I do remember an own goal by Djimi Traore as he tried a Cruyff turn on his own goal line in a cup match v Burnley, if I remember rightly, for Liverpool. To think he won a Champions League, if just shows how medals are no way to judge the quality of a player!}

09 Aug 2015 06:32:25
That Scholes goal was incredible.

09 Aug 2015 07:34:42
Who could forget Maradona's 'hand of God'?
It fooled the ref. Grrrrr.
Although, if my memory serves me well, I have to admit that his other goal that day was pretty great.

09 Aug 2015 08:00:45
When chicarito kicked it at his own head haaaa

09 Aug 2015 09:50:29
Was it Yorkie against Aston Villa,
Yorkie charged down the keeper as he was kicking the ball, Yorkie jumped to block, turned his back, the ball bounced of Yorkies ample backside and ended up in the net.

Now I accept it was good centre forward play, but there was also an element of luck. What I wouldn't give for a Dwight York in his prime to lead the line.