[Sheikhy]

Anyone got a link for the post match interview with LvG?

 

[Red Dreams]

Liverpoool supporters being bitter and making things up as ususal.

 

[Red Dreams]

I just can't see how anyone can say Fellaini was offside. Dean was by no means awful, and if he did get a decision wrong it was letting that little runt Wilshere stay on.

thats it.

 

[Globule]

I realise that you want to see pretty football, but with so many injuries this is going to be difficult.
Also, we need points above everything else.
If LvG finishes outside the top 4 while playing pretty football, having spent £150M, he will almost certainly be sacked.
Top 4 is the target and that is where we are right now.
Arsenal are fantastic at home and we beat them. Be thankful and happy for this.

If you are expecting us to play like R.Madrid, with so many injuries and after 3 months of LvG, you are going to be frustrated because LvG's methods usually take a while to set in and he will need the majority of his 1st team available.
Are you aware of our injury problems right now? Even Mourinho would be struggling if Chelsea had half the 1st team out.

Geez, you guys are blowing this out of proportion. I complained about deficiencies in our play and the only response from critics of this view is 'but injuries...3 points'. That doesn't change the fact that those deficiencies existed today, and have done this season overall. With our injuries I'm not expecting us to 'play like R Madrid', but if you don't think there's a middle ground between that and how we've been playing this season (even with respect to injuries) then you need to watch more football. I know we need points above everything else, but do you know the best way to guarantee points - by playing well. I know we beat Arsenal at home. I'm not criticising the result. I wouldn't have criticised if we parked the bus ala Mourinho, but we were ripped apart far too easily for my liking.

 

[Dylan94]

All I'm trying to say is, with all the sh*t we've had to deal with during the international break; let's just enjoy this welcome and perhaps unexpected win. And leave the heavy criticism out for another week when we've actually played 2 games in a row with the same back 4.

 

[Sheikhy]

From AudioBoom. LvG post match interview.

http://audioboom.com/boos/2675384-louis-van-gaal-post-arsenal

 

[The White Pele]

I thought we did very well after going ahead. Never looked in too much peril after that and always were more likely to score. We badly need a settled defence but we've not done too bad recently results-wise all things considered.

First 6 matches:
Swansea, Sunderland, Burnley, QPR, Leicester, West Ham
8 points

Last 6 matches:
Everton, West Brom, Chelsea, Man City, Palace, Arsenal
11 points

If we can keep stumbling along like this through Christmas, whilst hopefully steadily improving our play, then we have a nice run of fixtures in January and February:

Stoke, Southampton, QPR, Leicester, West Ham, Burnley, Swansea, Sunderland

where we can hopefully go on a run and strengthen our claim on a Champions League place.

 

[IrishLegend]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

Just got done wiping my eyes. I dont give a feck, I love my club, Ill cry for it if we I want.

It hurts so fecking bad this time round. I spent the whole month building anticipation, I thought we had a really good shot at beating them this time round. The first 30 minutes was a joy to watch and I was certain that we were going to win. After the own goal I was deflated but I still had hope. When Rooney scored I turned off the telly, locked my door and fecking cried, head in hands.

All I wanted was a win against Man Utd, and this was our best shot at it in years, and we cocked it up. Its just been five years of disappointment after disappointment. You're right OP, this hurts far worse than the 8-2. Ive not been this sad after a loss in a long long time.

 

[The United Irishman]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

 

[DevilRed]

A minor miracle was performed today. Now we need to follow it up with a strong performance against hull at home.

Hopefully Di Maria will get on the scoresheet next time because he was so much more effective today on the break.

 

[Hojoon]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

 

[Micha]

We should all just take one moment to appreciate this textbook example of an Arsenal bottlejob.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I'm tired mate, maybe that's why I'm cranky but I thought the performance could have been better if we'd played the diamond or the 4-1-4-1. Despite the injuries we were still able to leave Mata and Herrera on the bench to play a system that has been really poor whenever we've used it. As I said before, I do believe Van Gaal will improve this club in time but I don't think he's making it easier to deal with the absences by tweaking the system all the time. That being said, you're right that it's always a good result to win away to Arsenal and hopefully we'll put in a much better performance in the one game we have this season where we have a close to fully fit squad!

At least he does know how to alter the system. It is useful being able to play different ways depending on personel available or the opposition.

 

[izec]

If we learned anything today, drop RvP for Wilson, Mata or Herrera.

 

[Revan]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

I completely understand him. It has become beyond ridiculous now, on the last 15 matches vs us they have only a single win and I doubt that more than 4 matches have finished without winners. Now, evethough we aren't that good, we still defeat them. We defeated them even with Moyes as manager and they couldn't defeat us in their stadium. We haven't won an away game in 6 months and now the first game we won away is versus them.

We had one shoot on goal and scored 2 goals. Until that shoit from Rooney, we were leading despite hadn't shoot on the goal. They had a few clear chances on the other side.

I said on the match thread, they have a mental block when it comes to playing against us.Regardless of the form, injuries, stadium, we will likely win and at worst, draw. They players must be terrified playing against us. And it will be so until they finally defeat us in a comfortable way. Which hopefully is a long time from now.

 

[Infra-red]

A truly awful start, and generally a very poor game in the first half. The back 5 looked very uncomfortable with the system, and the players seemed confused about their roles.

Far better after the break when the intensity of the play increased and the game fell into a natural pattern of one side looking to dominate the ball, while the other tried to break at speed. We seemed to manage Arsenal pretty well in that period, and the 3-4-1-2 started to make more sense with a counter-attacking strategy being imposed.

De Gea was brilliant, Smalling, Carrick, and Rooney very good.

 

[Moriarty]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

I hope somebody has the good sense to remove all sharp objects from this poor sod's house.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Pointless argument.

We were shit. We won. @ Arsenal.

Makes it even better.

 

[Theonas]

I swear we could have 2 players sent off, Rooney playing with a broken leg and playing away to Bayern Munich and some people would still complain about our performances. There is a reason clubs pay their senior players good money, it's because the academy players and 3rd choice defenders are going to result in poorer performances. Injuries and performances are linked, it feels stupid to talk about the basics of logic but it really seems necessary sometimes.

As I make it out, every top team needs quality players, competent coaching and mental strength. We have the first, could be better but it's still comfortably one of the best in the league. For the second, you need a talented manager and coaching staff and maybe more importantly practice, understanding, being able to train together and play together on a consistent basis which we simply have not been able to do. When it comes to mentality, it was the most worrying aspect for me about this season but after the draw to Chelsea, performance against City and today, I am very pleased to see that side of us is back at least. Considering all this, how can you not be optimistic? All we need is our players back, a consistent run of games with a fixed team and everything will come together.

 

[J-Stander]

Good result. If Arsenal had a good striker instead of Welbeck they probably would have won. McNair and Smalling were very good second half as was De Gea. Happy days.

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Still struggling to realize we won after that performance

Only Arsenal manages to not take advantage of us being so shit.

 

[J-Stander]

I thought we were going to completely blow that.

The result made me happy, this post on the Arsenal reddit was the cherry on top.

Brilliant. I love Arsenal fans.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

If only Wilshere was tall enough to headbutt anybody anywhere higher than his groin, he'd have been sent off a couple of times.

Exactly being a shortArse actually went in his favour today.

 

[Dr Fink]

Resilient. Tide after tide in the first half, but we held out. Brilliant second half. Vintage counter attacking. ADM should have finished them off. Rooney was immense second half. McNair, Blackett, even Young did a job. Not a complete performance, a long way off, but mentally strong. I'm ove the moon. Must be worrying for Arsenal fans. I can see Wenger's tenure coming to an end soon.

 

[r0x0rwolfo]

How was the first goal offside?

 

[noodlehair]

Has to be the worst I've ever seen us play and not lose, let alone win.

Not sure about De Gea being MOTM either. He made a bunch of saves you'd expect him to make, his kicking was terrible, and then he let in a really soft goal near the end. I would say either Rooney or Smalling, or maybe even Ashley Young. Who were all merely ok. Di Maria was ok until the terrible miss at the end and then pointlessly pretending to be punched in the stomach (or whatever it was he was doing)

The best part is that despite that genuinely being one our worst performances in a season of shambles performances, Arsenal somehow deserved to lose...and by the end it probably should have been 3 or 4. They're a joke of a team.

Jack Wheelchair getting injured was a shame. We were due for another massive temper tantrum before the end, possibly another two if he'd survived the second one.

 

[Brightonian]

Selection was horrible. I know we had injuries at the back, as ever, but I don't see how playing extra CBs is a reaction to having lots of CBs injured.

We got the result, so I don't feel like I can exactly criticise LVG for this one. But I will say that it was an uncomfortably Moyes-esque way to approach this game.

Stick to four at the back, drop RVP (SO OVERDUE), get Herrera and Mata involved and we could have won that match playing good football. We'd still have had the counter-attacking players like Di Maria and Rooney on the pitch, but we'd also have had players who can actually pass the ball around and get some good possession going when necessary.

 

[DJ Jeff]

Has to be the worst I've ever seen us play and not lose, let alone win.

Not sure about De Gea being MOTM either. He made a bunch of saves you'd expect him to make, his kicking was terrible, and then he let in a really soft goal near the end. I would say either Rooney or Smalling, or maybe even Ashley Young. Who were all merely ok. Di Maria was ok until the terrible miss at the end and then pointlessly pretending to be punched in the stomach (or whatever it was he was doing)

The best part is that despite that genuinely being one our worst performances in a season of shambles performances, Arsenal somehow deserved to lose...and by the end it probably should have been 3 or 4. They're a joke of a team.

Jack Wheelchair getting injured was a shame. We were due for another massive temper tantrum before the end, possibly another two if he'd survived the second one.

Absolutely agree on DDG. His one good save from Wilshere was his own making, I give him no praise for that because it was own shocking kick that produced the chance. I'd say Smalling who I thought was a colossus at the back for us tonight.

 

[Dylan94]

You know what? To be fair, watching the motd highlights, there were plenty of mistakes, particularly in the first half an hour. But to be honest, with everything that's happened during this break: I don't care one bit. Just for once this season and after all the trauma of last: I just don't give a sh*t this week! A win is a win and that is by far and away the most important thing today.

 

[Dr Fink]

I'm really disappointed with a lot of the comments on here. People need to realign their expectations and take the results in context - we are in massive transition. A disciplined performance, coupled with a high level of profligacy. Rome wasn't rebuilt in a day, but it took a season and a manager to tear it down. Bear that in mind.

 

[TheGame]

We were lucky. Smash and Grab but 3 points is 3 points.

 

[Loon]

The most nerve-ridden defence in football. I really hope this injury list eases, because we're not buying the defender we need in Jan.

 

[Brightonian]

I'm really disappointed with a lot of the comments on here. People need to realign their expectations and take the results in context - we are in massive transition. A disciplined performance, coupled with a high level of profligacy. Rome wasn't rebuilt in a day, but it took a season and a manager to tear it down. Bear that in mind.

So are Southampton.

I'm not saying we should be playing great football all the time or winning every game or anything. But in this specific game, a bad lineup led to a bad performance when it didn't have to. So people have the right to point out that there was no reason that we couldn't have put in a much better performance today with the players available.

 

[Hellboy]

We rode our luck at times, but how the feck did Wilshere escape a straight red or even a yellow at the VERY least ? Also, that offside call was ridiculous.

Thought Fellaini was brilliant too.

 

[fishfingers15]

Have to say I'm extremely pleased about the result. This stupid 'Welbeck is going to score isn't he?', 'It's written in the stars for him to score' bollocks was grating. I bet there were people willing on Welbeck to score to prove a fecking point.

 

[Wade3]

Terrible game, good result. Thank God for Big Dave.

 

[Dr Fink]

Why mention Southampton? Are you a fan of them? This is a United forum. I'm not interested in other teams, only mine. I've come to terms with our situation, painful though it is. An instant return to success is not going to happen. We have to build momentum, a new style of play, under a new manager and it might start with this defensive display and show of mental strength. We all support United, so sorry if I come across critical. Let's all be positive, we won!!!!! It's a results based game. We've won leagues on scabby results and performances in the past.

 

[Wumminator]

Absolutely love it. We're going to have a go at the league aren't we!

 

[langster]

Yes we were lucky, and yes it was a clusterfeck of a game. 8 minutes injury time, Shaw injury, Di Maria missing, Rooney thinking United had a clean sheet after the match.

However, I don't care. A win is a win and after all the bad luck United have had this season, I'm not going to turn my nose up when something goes our way for a change. Plus, I think we played some solid counter attacking football at times, and exposed the weaknesses everyone knows Arsenal have. And it was fecking hilarious.

 

[Pentagruel]

Unbelievable how bad we were yet ultimately still won relatively comfortably. Only against Arsenal haha. No one can run into the knife quite like them.