Manchester United vs AS Roma (Pre-season Friendly)

[penalty snot]

With Kagawa I have two years of him in a United shirt as evidence. With Shaw we have two preseason games.

No. You have half a season of him playing and then being injured under Sir Alex.

Then you have a season of him in and out of the team under Moyes.

So you've not actually seen what he can do with a manger that will use him the right way and without injuries over an entire season.

You're jumping to conclusions.

 

[Asger]

Not worried about the second half, we just had anyone on the pitch wherever we could put them. No central midfielders at all once cleverley went off.

Same here. We weren't even great in the first half with Herrara, Mata and Rooney until after 35 min.

 

[Brightonian]

I wasn't impressed last time on Michael Keane. And still not impress today. Do we have any decent CB beside him? Where is Thorpe?

Michael Keane was excellent.

Especially considering he was playing with no CMs in front of him. (Kagawa and Lingard . That really was a pre-season friendly team sheet by the end!)

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Where are the post match interviews?

 

[Brightonian]

Same here. We weren't even great in the first half with Herrara, Mata and Rooney until after 35 min.

We were ok. Roma were decent at breaking up our attacks, and everyone on both teams was struggling with the heat and altitude.

 

[Red Dreams]

Dunno where the criticism for Shaw is coming from. Didn't have space to do anything again but he did no less with his 45 than James did with his. The wing-back position simply isn't working at all, for anyone. Either the players are all doing it wrong or Van Gaal needs to give this formation a rethink, because at the moment we've got zero threat in wide positions. Fortunately our central forwards (Rooney, Mata and Welbeck at times, Herrera at times) were enough today.

I honestly think most of the good things we're doing would be happening just as much in a 4231, but the fullbacks would be more of a threat running from deep where they can pick up speed before encountering any defenders, and we'd have some proper wide players ahead of them providing another sort of threat.

Maybe things will change when Januzaj (our only reliably dangerous winger) is back.

Shaw was fine. That little flick after the tackle and he was in attacking the defender...pure class. He will be a top signing for us.

 

[penalty snot]

Where are the post match interviews?

Mutv lost connection probably.

 

[mazhar13]

Well, without a proper central midfield, we couldn't control the match and were more reliant on counters. It seemed pretty obvious that van Gaal wants to give everyone some match time and assess how well they understand the system and implement the philosophy.

Given how defensively weak our midfield was, our central defenders didn't do too badly. Smalling, particularly, was a very dominant defender and showed that he has the ability to play in defence for Man. Utd. He was stopping everything coming at him, and he played with so much confidence that I've never seen in him before. Blackett started to get unsettled and seemed to lose awareness of what was around him as he got under more pressure, and in a back 3, that's going to be troublesome particularly if we don't have a midfielder who's defensively solid. Michael Keane was very good in my opinion though started to fluster as we got under more pressure. Shaw still seems like he's getting used to the wing back role. Too often was he a bit too high, allowing for Roma's wing back to get in between him and Blackett into some good space. I'm not too worried about that, though. He'll settle into the system as he plays in it more often. Going forward, he wasn't too influential, but he played with more confidence and seemed more settled into the attacking side of the game.

Michael's brother, Will, was poor on the ball. His movement was good, and he has some nice upper-body strength, but playing in this system requires a forward who's good on the ball, which Will wasn't. He was poor at holding it up and lost it every time when running at the defenders. Chicharito didn't have much time to make an impact though he was good at linking up with the team and stretching Roma's defence. Lingard seemed to tire out and became less influential. It's clear he doesn't have it in him to play a more box-to-box role. Kagawa looked very promising as a #8 (more attacking central midfielder). He was very good at intercepting passes and winning the ball in midfield, and he was excellent in keeping the ball and playing it about at a fast pace. Nani was somewhat invisible, which isn't good for him. He doesn't look used to a forward role at all. Young was defensively poor, and I hope he never gets a match as a wing back again.

In terms of our team play, I'm very happy. We're moving the ball around at a much faster pace and playing at a quicker tempo than before. Our movement's much better, and the quick transitions are nice to see as well. van Gaal's really transformed our team, and I'm looking forward to us playing some very nice football.

 

[amel]

Shinji will be important player in LVG team, but I can´t see Clevs in the same.

 

[Brightonian]

Shaw was fine. That little flick after the tackle and he was in attacking the defender...pure class. He will be a top signing for us.

Exactly. I seriously see us reverting to 4 at the back before long, which will help him. All of our good stuff so far would have happened just as much in a 4231 lineup, but our FBs would be playing better and we'd have wingers to make our attack less narrow.

 

[Wade3]

No. You have half a season of him playing and then being injured under Sir Alex.

Then you have a season of him in and out of the team under Moyes.

So you've not actually seen what he can do with a manger that will use him the right way and without injuries over an entire season.

You're jumping to conclusions.

So it's all just bad luck and the manager's fault? Sure.

 

[Red Dreams]

so Tuesday 6.30 pm CT....perfect timing for the match in the evening.

bring on AC Milan...

 

[hellhunter]

so Tuesday 6.30 pm CT....perfect timing for the match in the evening.

bring on AC Milan...

I think it's Inter we are playing against.

 

[penalty snot]

So it's all just bad luck and the manager's fault? Sure.

Jumping to conclusions again.

You should take your own advice.

 

[WyoManU]

Not the most impressive display. I thought Roma were the better side. 15 minutes at the end of the second half won us the match. Our first 11 were drab for first 30 minutes. Looked out of sorts in most departments. Passing was terrible. Herrera lost his touch this match. The second 11 made me cringe several times. I am sure that after a match like this LVG is more comfortable in knowing who is staying and who needs to go and who to bring in to strengthen us. And our goalkeepers...

 

[diarm]

i thought blackett was great. must have been knackered by the end!

very different game to the last. temperature and altitude meant the high intensity, high pressure gameplan wasn't feasible.

was impressed at how we switched up a gear at the end of the first half. positives were blackett, james, smalling, rooney. was concerned at the amount of simple balls over the top that caught us out.

 

[The 4th Official]

Blackett was solid despite him twice failing to spring the offside trap. It's a lack of experience, but he'll get that in time so no fear there.

 

[Red Dreams]

Exactly. I seriously see us reverting to 4 at the back before long, which will help him. All of our good stuff so far would have happened just as much in a 4231 lineup, but our FBs would be playing better and we'd have wingers to make our attack less narrow.

my thoughts too.

...and van Gaal must be taking the piss convincing everyone he will be playing 3 at the back all teh time...he will adjust his formations according to the players available and who we play. But he will still play to our strengths. Really looking forward to the season.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Watched live on Bein Sport in France - Good first half apart from shaky first 15minutes. Second half disjointed mainly due to just giving players match time and some out of position with no real midfield. Rooney easily best player, Mata, Evans, Smalling and Reece James had good games(although very annoyingly the commentator kept calling him Matty James). Goalkeepers both didn't inspire confidence and anonymous appearances from Cleverley Nani and Chicharito.

Got the score right

 

[Red Dreams]

I think it's Inter we are playing against.

correct.

 

[Wade3]

Jumping to conclusions again.

You should take your own advice.

That's exactly what you said. He was injured under SAF and didn't play under a proper manager last season, hence you're faulting bad luck (the injury) and Moyes for his poor play, aren't you?

 

[Irish-Red-7]

Absolute cracker from Rooney.. Some good goals tonight with the Mata and Bale ones aswell.

 

[The Red Thinker]

Mutv lost connection probably.

They're cutting transmission shirt because there's a lightning storm approaching.

 

[mazhar13]

Shaw was fine. That little flick after the tackle and he was in attacking the defender...pure class. He will be a top signing for us.

I think the wing back role is something our full backs aren't really that used to. Reece James seems the best settled into the role, but even then, his positioning and awareness isn't that of a proper wing back. Then again, given how our full backs play at wing back, we are in dire need of a central midfielder who's defensively solid, someone who's excellent at reading the game and closing down the gaps.

 

[Red Dreams]

I think the wing back role is something our full backs aren't really that used to. Reece James seems the best settled into the role, but even then, his positioning and awareness isn't that of a proper wing back. Then again, given how our full backs play at wing back, we are in dire need of a central midfielder who's defensively solid, someone who's excellent at reading the game and closing down the gaps.

certain we will get a top defender...and I am still sure we will get Vidal.

 

[RyRy11]

Round of applause for the Mods, these match day threads are brilliant

 

[marlowe78]

I also think the criticism of Shaw is quite harsh. He has just changed squads and signed a huge contract so naturally a player of his age will take time to feel comfortable. I think he did make a good cut towards the goal in the second half and looked a bit more settled overall than in the game on Wednesday. Evra is gone now so it seems the club has trust in his qualities for the long term.

 

[WyoManU]

I think the wing back role is something our full backs aren't really that used to. Reece James seems the best settled into the role, but even then, his positioning and awareness isn't that of a proper wing back. Then again, given how our full backs play at wing back, we are in dire need of a central midfielder who's defensively solid, someone who's excellent at reading the game and closing down the gaps.

I agree with you. It is going to take some coaching from LVG to get our guys to understand the wing back role better. I am sure he is up to the task, and I am also impressed enough with Shaw from last season that he will learn quickly. I hope I am right. We do still need a few more players.

 

[hellhunter]

I agree with you. It is going to take some coaching from LVG to get our guys to understand the wing back role better. I am sure he is up to the task, and I am also impressed enough with Shaw from last season that he will learn quickly. I hope I am right. We do still need a few more players.

I am quite surprised Rafael looked so lost in the wingback role. He seems a perfect fit for the role.

 

[mnoorani]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

That's it for Cleverley then?

 

[RyRy11]

Shinji will be important player in LVG team, but I can´t see Clevs in the same.

100% agree with this. LVG will want to play a more fluid style of football which is becoming evident in these pre season games and that can only help Kagawa's performance.

 

[WyoManU]

certain we will get a top defender...and I am still sure we will get Vidal.

The good news about the Vidal saga is that it should be settled one way or the other fairly soon I would think. I heard that Juve flies out on August 2cnd for training. For me, if Vidal is on that plane, then we won't get him. If, for any reason, he does not board that plane, then chances look good.

 

[Cmz']

Personally I don't get the idea that Roma were the better team, all they seemed to do in the first half was try to spring the offside trap with 40 yard passes or just generally capitalize on mistakes we made, I thought we played a lot better football overall, certainly in the first half the second half was neither here nor there really given how few of those players will be starting regularly for United. Although I was impressed with Kagawa, Smalling and Lingard second half, I also didn't think Young or Shaw were too bad either. Anyway, it's all about getting used to the system and gaining fitness and I think van Gaal will certainly be able to come away from these two games already with an idea of where we need strengthening (CM and CB) & players who can be sold.

 

[penalty snot]

That's exactly what you said. He was injured under SAF and didn't play under a proper manager last season, hence you're faulting bad luck (the injury) and Moyes for his poor play, aren't you?

Injured first season. Didn't play regularly second season. Played under Moyes in a season where everyone played poorly. Yet that's enough for you to judge him?

In the same breath you say not to judge Shaw yet.

Silly argument.

Go back to the newbies, you're full of contradictions and not worth discussing this with.

 

[Asger]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

That's it for Cleverley then?

So Mata, Rooney and more players are off then?

 

[zzakzz17]

At least van gaal realised we didn't play that well. Moyes would've called it "remarkable performance " or something.

 

[mazhar13]

certain we will get a top defender...and I am still sure we will get Vidal.

I wouldn't get Vidal in this setup unless our wing backs develop their awareness and get used to their role immediately. At this point, I'd prefer a midfielder who's more disciplined than Vidal.

 

[thejtrain]

so Tuesday 6.30 pm CT....perfect timing for the match in the evening.

bring on AC Milan...

I think it's Inter Milan we are playing against.

Right, we don't care even if it's Water Milan. Milan. Melon. Whatever.

 

[Devil may care]

The verve and energy in our passing and movement is very encouraging, there is still a lack of balance in the midfield IMO but overall I'm very excited about the new direction under LvG.

 

[Dazzmondo]

Dunno where the criticism for Shaw is coming from. Didn't have space to do anything again but he did no less with his 45 than James did with his. The wing-back position simply isn't working at all, for anyone. Either the players are all doing it wrong or Van Gaal needs to give this formation a rethink, because at the moment we've got zero threat in wide positions. Fortunately our central forwards (Rooney, Mata and Welbeck at times, Herrera at times) were enough today.

I honestly think most of the good things we're doing would be happening just as much in a 4231, but the fullbacks would be more of a threat running from deep where they can pick up speed before encountering any defenders, and we'd have some proper wide players ahead of them providing another sort of threat.

Maybe things will change when Januzaj (our only reliably dangerous winger) is back.

That's very unfair to James. He did very well again today, particularly in defence and was great in the last game even when not counting his goals. Shaw was terrible, only passed backwards and gave the ball away far too much. Shaw has been very poor in his 90 mins so far. He wasn't as good as people made out last season either, just very good for his age. His potential is the reason we bought him, but he has to show on this tour that he's good enough to be a starter for Utd this season. So far he hasn't. I don't think the systems' the problem, James and Young both did well in the wing back slots today. Say what you want, but we've had two very impressive results playing this system. I look forward to the Madrid game.