[Insanity]

Looking forward to the day LVG walks out the door.

More and more it's becoming obvious that it isn't going to happen under him. A safe coach, who may be do well in cup competitions; the league...no chance.

 

[Isotope]

3 league games

2 goals scored

0 goals conceded

It's a process

The chief has spoken.

Where would the goals come from? That question was about 10 years too early.

 

[LARulz]

Van Gaal needs to stop saying luck and admit we still are lacking

 

[Geordopolous]

He wasn't bad, but he did do what he needed to, runs of the defenders. Not enough, drifted far too much, not enough movement. Overall he had an ok game, and was robbed of a goal too

Yep got a goal and the fact is Hernandez came on who is renowned for being the king of off the ball movement and he didn't get many chances except that one that fell for him. We definitely need to look at our service and mata NEEDS to play centrally

 

[kouroux]

Several times the fullbacks had space and time for first time crossing but because they lack the technique and confidence, they take one or several touches and therefore they get closed down.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Marked difference in tempo when Schweinie went off. Thought maybe Herrera on would have been better for tempo.

We have played better every game so far this season. Lots of attacking intent.

We can play fast possession football. Even Rooney looked better today.

The plan is clearly coming together.

Too much of sense in one post.

 

[Unlikely lad]

We were good today, just unlucky and not consistent enough throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Carrick should be starting.

 

[Moriarty]

I'm pissed off with that game but did rooney play bad? I didn't think so you guys should give it a rest cos he wasn't so bad

I disagree. He's supposed to our main striker yet he wanders all over the pitch. He's on the wing when he should be inside, or he's deep when he should be leading. He's never where he's supposed to be and that's leading the line.

I was one of those who advocated giving him the captaincy too. In hindsight, that may have been a mistake. Rooney may be many things but he's not the right man for the armband.

 

[hbgreg]

Rooney isn't called offside and everyone says great performance need to work on our finishing.

But he was called offside, so the crowd that can't wait to see LvG gone (even when we do win) will let go of the frustrations they've been holding back the last few weeks.

 

[Man of Steel]

So so frustrating when we play pretty well but the final ball is not good enough, we seem clueless upfront sometimes and not enough movement off the ball. They defended well but it's worrying that the way we play and the players we have could not get a breakthrough and I'm wishing we had Fella to come on today.

We did play well though and Rooneys goal should have stood we must remember that.

Worrying how the front guys are so predictable and don't seem to have movement awareness with each other and getting more space. We still need a striker and a creative fast player, Rooney and the Pea don't give me much hope at the moment and when is Herrera going to be used!

We have to hope that we improve upfront as I don't think we could be much worse.

 

[mazhar13]

This has happened a lot of times under LvG. Hold on to the ball and fail to break teams down. I call that shite.

What? I never saw any of that at all. We weren't waiting for Newcastle to make mistakes. In fact, we were doing all we could to force openings through our movements, direct passes, and wing play. Newcastle just settled into their shape and decided to park the bus after the first 20 minutes, and it was quite clear that they were looking for a draw. They literally played with 11 men in their own half for all of the second half!

The number of times I saw Mitrovic, Perez, and Obertan/Thauvin in our final third was amazing. That tells you enough about the result they wanted. Mind you, if we were really toothless and stale like against West Brom at Old Trafford last season, sure, I'd understand the frustration, but this was nowhere near that sort of a performance.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Slow lethargic and lackluster. For the first 15 mins we looked good and Memphis was creating chances. After they reorganized to counter that threat they comfortably controlled the game to a 0-0 draw.

Our main problem last year was breaking down teams that park the bus. This season we still don't know how to breakdown teams that park the bus.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

We were good today, just unlucky and not consistent enough throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Carrick should be starting.

I disagree, we looked much better with Schweini in.
Also Herrera should have played today.

 

[Ballache]

I counted one clear cut chance.

What I mean is that Newcastle played their game almost perfectly. They sat back and defended, it's the exact same shit that was happening all last season -- it's not one game,it's about 15-20.

I know what you mean, and i agree. difference in opinion here is that I don't see this match as one of them performances you're referring to.

 

[lem8sh]

More and more it's becoming obvious that it isn't going to happen under him. A safe coach, who may be do well in cup competitions; the league...no chance.

I'd take playing players in their right positions to start off with, the situation with Herrera the most frustrating aspect for me today. The style of play we're just gonna have to grin and bear because it won't change. Certainly won't win or get close to winning the league playing that way.

 

[goin4glory]

Overall was a good performance and unlucky not to win. I love Carrick but he can't play alongside Schneiderlin in home games we expect to be winning, both are defensively minded and rarely break forward to support. Thought we looked much better first half with Schweinsteiger/Schneiderlin combo, Herrera should be starting alongside either Schneiderlin or Carrick.

 

[Black Adder]

It was one of those matches you just can't win no matter what you try.

 

[Smores]

We've scored 2 goal in 3 games and 1 was a own goal, this is FECKING SHIT, Ed and LVG have fecked up with Pedro simple.

Why the feck was Herrera not used, he was a AM/#10 at his old club, he should have come on for Januzaj and Chico for Rooney who is past it to be leading the line!

I was trying to be positive but his does hammer it home really.

It's not good enough. We had these games under Moyes and I blamed the players a lot rather than the manager but the new manager has spent a ton, should we still be so far from a decent attacking unit really..

 

[Mali_Zeus]

I'd take playing players in their right positions to start off with, the situation with Herrera the most frustrating aspect for me today. The style of play we're just gonna have to grin and bear because it won't change. Certainly won't win or get close to winning the league playing that way.

What players in what positions? Only Mata. And he was good today.

 

[Ryan7]

Had 0-0 written all over it after the initial half an hour. We're not good enough.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Van Gaal needs to stop saying luck and admit we still are lacking

He said he wasn't bothered by our lack of goals after the Villa game and that we only needed one to win. I'm hoping this opens his eyes a bit. You can't win titles with such a weak attack, no matter how good your midfield may be or your defence might perform.

 

[Nate Dogg]

We must have the slowest team in the PL, Rooney, Adnan, Depay & Mata are just too slow for me.

We are desperately lacking pace, if you look at our midfield again it's not the quickest.

Apart from that Rooney was shit again, let's hope LVG isn't stubborn when it comes to buying a striker.

 

[Lewis.no.9]

I felt we were unlucky more than anything else, we played some great stuff but it just lacked the killer instinct, mind you count that disallowed goal from Rooney and we're up 1-0 within 10 minutes.

The frustration of not scoring took away from some of the great stuff we played at times, but its about perspective, this has been a much improved start of last season and 7 points from the opening 3 games isn't bad.

We still need to work on some areas but overall its been good stuff, hopefully it continues to move in the right direction.

Perhaps but I 100% don't see us replicating last seasons awesome results against the top 6. So losing points to lesser teams before we face a real challenge is concerning. By the time we face city they will have Aguero, silva, de bruyne and sterling. And you can see Pedro coming back to haunt us when we play Chelsea

 

[simonhch]

Haven't read the thread, but I feel confident in saying that people need to calm down. 7 points after 3 games is ok. We've had another massive reshuffle, including in formation. It'll take a little time to click.

There are a lot of positives to take from this performance. We were very unlucky. It will click. One more explosive forward and I believe we are title challengers.

 

[Fortitude]

Maybe you and I were watching different games. If clever runs is all it takes to be our primary #9, then Hernandez is better than Rooney in that regard and yet was shipped out last season.

As for Rooney, his first touch was poor as has become the norm. Yes we did not create a bucket load but Rooney was part of the reason and not suffering because of it. He has been atrocious for a long time and today just confirmed that he is finished at this level. His link up is atrocious, he is pretty useless in tight spaces and he is our striker who needs to have nimble feet so that he can dribble a bit in the penalty box to get his shots away.

If we are banking on him this season, we will be screwed.

You're gunning for him. Was by no means close to our worst player today and did a number of things you expect from a #9 and was promptly ignored a number of times for good measure.

Rooney is being put under the microscope whilst a lot of poor play around him is being glossed over. If we don't supply the striker, we'll need one that can do it all by himself, those can be named on one hand.

 

[Unlikely lad]

I disagree, we looked much better with Schweini in.
Also Herrera should have played today.

Seriously? Carrick was infinitely better than Scweinsteiger today.

 

[rotherham_red]

here comes the overreaction, we were good but couldn't get that goal. Shit happens, we'll be fine.

This. If anything it was better than what was served up in the first two games of the season. #Process.

 

[Raoul]

Marked difference in tempo when Schweinie went off. Thought maybe Herrera on would have been better for tempo.

We have played better every game so far this season. Lots of attacking intent.

We can play fast possession football. Even Rooney looked better today.

The plan is clearly coming together.

Good post. Fully agree with this. The new attack centric approach will start to yield results soon, which combined with better defending will have us in good shape for the remainder of the year.

 

[tyunited]

Poor Herrara

 

[shivab]

Any manager that plays open against us is really daft..Bus parking against us works, especially when you dont have much firepower yourself..Worked like a charm for West Brom last season too

Well of course not all teams park the bus but most plan to counter attack us since we have an inexperienced defense. We need to have a plan for that and van gaal will figure it out. Its not like we've never had days like this (even in fergies era) where we create a lot chances and just can't score.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Seriously? Carrick was infinitely better than Scweinsteiger today.

Yup seriously.

 

[Sir Matt]

There's so little dynamism in our attack outside of Memphis. Mata was better, but he slows down play so much. As does Rooney these days. There's no pace in it at all.

 

[Rory 7]

How did you determine that based on this game.

I thought Hernandez was more of a threat playing ahead of Rooney. I always have thought Rooney is better playing behind a front man. Call it no 10, in the hole or whatever you want. Rooney is like Cantona, he needs a striker playing ahead of him.

 

[Ronnie O'Sullivan]

Swansea and Liverpool next games? Won't be surprised if we draw blanks again!

 

[Rich_H_1989]

I hope LVG was just saying what he thought he needed to say but didn't believe...

Scholes really summed it up nicely. There was nothing special about that. At home to Newcastle you expect to win and Krul only had one save to make.

If they aren't frantically trying to get in a player with real pace and / or a striker then this may be a long frustrating season.

The one thing that was fantastic was the defence!

 

[lem8sh]

What players in what positions? Only Mata. And he was good today.

Mata the one in particular, he started off with Depay as a 10 at Villa, I mean we have spent a fortune so playing players in their natural positions should not really be too much to ask. I'm not in the slightest a believer in the Blind at cb experiment either. He will be found out against the better strikers in the division and it'll be back to square one.

 

[holyland red]

The performance was also not as slow, sluggish, and stale as many are making it out to be. Case in point: Juan Mata and his adventurous approach going forward.

I think the negativity stems from the fact that we were quite toothless last season and for our first two matches going forward, so those narratives are coming back again.

Playing two defensive midfielders in the last 15-20 minutes was madness. Not signing a top class striker is madness #2

 

[Scarecrow]

We must have the slowest team in the PL, Rooney, Adnan, Depay & Mata are just too slow for me.

We are desperately lacking pace, if you look at our midfield again it's not the quickest.

Apart from that Rooney was shit again, let's hope LVG isn't stubborn when it comes to buying a striker.

Eh? None of those players is slow, apart from Mata. We're playing passes on foot rather than in the channels. They are rarely given chances to show their pace but that doesn't mean they're slow.

 

[Red Stone]

Amazingly frustrating game. Ref was crap, Rooney was crap, Memphis was crap, we were crap, finishing was crap and Newcastle are a team of bus-parking cnuts.

Rooney needs to acquaint himself with the bench for a while to get his motivation back and we desperately need a striker that will get us goals in games like these. I have a feeling Chicharito would have had at least a couple if he'd started today. The goals were there for the taking at the start today when Newcastle crumbled like a house of cards in a hurricane. Chicharito would have gotten into the space they were leaving behind the defence.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Good post. Fully agree with this. The new attack centric approach will start to yield results soon, which combined with better defending will have us in good shape for the remainder of the year.

Once we make the addition or two in attack I can see us really flying. The cohesion and general team play has substantially improved. Some of the link up play on either flank was very nice.