[United again!]

I watched the first half and it was absolutely diabolical. So I went back to sleep, glad we got up though and Martial with the goal, sounds like he gave them a real wringing in the sheds at half time!

 

[Catt]

He's so awkward. And that pout.

 

[Acole9]

The first half performance was alright the only thing that was missing was that final pass and also the finish which was far more evident in the second half. I'm hoping this result could be the beginning of something special for the club.

 

[Kakeru]

The first half looked like 2 boxers who are afraid to attack first; it had shades of Mohammed Ali's typical early rounds in it. Then the second half as a hell lot better in terms of finishing and attacking, and that's very good considering how some people said Liverpool's defensive approach has supposedly improved. I'm really happy that we exposed them even more than they already were against West Ham.

 

[Ricardo de la Vega]

The first half looked like 2 boxers who are afraid to attack first; it had shades of Mohammed Ali's typical early rounds in it. Then the second half as a hell lot better in terms of finishing and attacking, and that's very good considering how some people said Liverpool's defensive approach has supposedly improved. I'm really happy that we exposed them even more than they already were against West Ham.

Liverpools defense is only so "strong" (its not actually) because he screens it with 3 midfielders. 3! I've never seen such a defensive approach taken.

 

[Tincanalley]

"Arm wrestle? Pouting competition? Rain-proof fake tan application? Come on, sucker..."

 

[Ryan7]

Things were much better in the second half. Still, we're not creating enough though. At least we did things correctly in the second half in terms of when to retain possession.

 

[Crackers]

"Arm wrestle? Pouting competition? Rain-proof fake tan application? Come on, sucker..."

Brentan trying to look tough and as usual looking like a spastic.

 

[Stack]

Utd beat Liverpool, Aberdeen beat Celtic, Chelsea lose. All I need now for it to be the perfect weekend is for Sunderland and Newcastle to win which puts Chelsea in the relegation zone.

 

[Tincanalley]

Utd beat Liverpool, Aberdeen beat Celtic, Chelsea lose. All I need now for it to be the perfect weekend is for Sunderland and Newcastle to win which puts Chelsea in the relegation zone.

Yeah, excellent days football. City were quite lucky to win, Palace had their chances. If they hadn't nicked it in the end United would have been just 3 points behind, would have made for a near-perfect set of results.

 

[championo]

Question: If you were watching sky, did anybody else hear Neville say he wonders if David Blind will hit it just before the first goal? I am curious if he knew what was coming or if he thought maybe it should be Blind hitting it from the original spot.

 

[Tincanalley]

Question: If you were watching sky, did anybody else hear Neville say he wonders if David Blind will hit it just before the first goal? I am curious if he knew what was coming or if he thought maybe it should be Blind hitting it from the original spot.

Daley Blind. And I forget.

 

[Raw]

Question: If you were watching sky, did anybody else hear Neville say he wonders if David Blind will hit it just before the first goal? I am curious if he knew what was coming or if he thought maybe it should be Blind hitting it from the original spot.

He said that he saw it coming due to the odd shape United were in for the free kick.

 

[Scholesgoals]

Is there anythimg but positive in this thread?! We just beat the scouse 3 1 can you argue with that?

 

[Scholesgoals]

We beat liverpool

 

[Crackers]

Beating the scousers is always a great feeling.

 

[lysglimt]

I will do something I usually never do - I will share my thoughts on Liverpool. I am gonna ignore the obvious - that they have lack quality players and mainly concentrate on their playing style - which the more I think about it, is strange.

Think about the quality Liverpool-side from a few years back - the one that could tear team to shred - there was one thing that characterized that team - HIGH pressure and counter-attacks.. They would start matches by putting some severe pressure on the opponents defenders and basically force errors. And they had the players for that kind of football. Up front they had Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling. All quick players and lethal on the counter-attack. They would get an early goal and hit teams on the counter with their high pressure and with Gerrard spreading the balls around.

Granted - replacing Gerrard, Sterling and Suarez is next to impossible for a club like Liverpool who don't have the same transfer budget as City. But what surprises me is that Rodgers never have looked like trying to find similar players who were ideally suited for this kind of football.

They are playing that same 4-3-3 which worked miracles 2 seasons ago - but without having the players to fill those roles. Yes they did have some players injured today - but would it solve the problem even if they were playing ?

They signed Ings and Benteke up front - and both are of course good players. But none of them are quick - Henderson, Can, Allan, Lallana, Lucas - hell even Firmino isn't lightning quick. So playing on the counter will probably prove less than efficient. And Ings who probably is the best player suitable for closing down our defenders, he is placed on the wing where he lacks the pace and skills to be at his best. Benteke is big and strong (and he will score a lot of goals) but will Liverpool get the best out of him when they look unable to get decent crosses into the box ? And is Benteke the right player for Liverpool ? I doubt it.

And I will have to end my thoughts on Liverpool by addressing the defenders. Clyne is good - yes. But on the left they have an 18 year old central defender who normally plays on the right-side of defense and centrally they have the partnership of Skrtel and Lovren. Two players who lack all the intelligence Daley Blind defends with - it's all about tackling and heart. Last round Lovren almost single-handedly destroyed Liverpools chances of points - today it was Skrtel who performed well below average. The sooner Rodgers realizes that both of them have to go - the better for Liverpool.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

We are unbelievably solid and well drilled now as a unit, i dont think we get walked over by any team in the world now. Thats not to say we can beat barca/real/bayern over 2 legs but we wont get battered 3-0.

Goalkeeper - Check
Defence - Check
Midfield - Check
Attack - ??

This is the conundrum for us now going forward. the spine of our team seems settled and we have outstanding depth all over the park other than the final third. its baffling really, as it stands now, with the form Rooney has shown in the league this year, we are banking on 1 of martial or Depay to have a breakthrough season, in their first ever season for us to click offensively. you dont win the league unless you score goals, and regardless of the scoreline today, we just dont score goals against teams set up to soak our possession. The goal early on in the second half basically saved the game for us. If we didnt get that breakthrough from the set piece and pool are forced to work the ball forward, i dont see us getting 2 and 3 and at that stage anything can happen and you would bet your house on a jammy liverpool goal with the score deadlocked.

Brilliant win, with a moment that i will remember for a very long time, but that first half is still warning signs about our troubles offensively.

 

[Manny]

Question: If you were watching sky, did anybody else hear Neville say he wonders if David Blind will hit it just before the first goal? I am curious if he knew what was coming or if he thought maybe it should be Blind hitting it from the original spot.

He called the pass just before the freekick was taken. Something like "This might be going Daley Blind"

 

[Tincanalley]

He called the pass just before the freekick was taken. Something like "This might be going Daley Blind"

"I wonder if Daley Blind's gonna hit it... he is.." then "you can see it coming an absolute mile off, and I can't believe Liverpool didn't..."
In fairness, good spot Gary.

 

[Stack]

I really like seeing Carrick, BFS and Herrera on the pitch at the same time. Feels like a proper midfield for the first time in a while.

 

[Todd]

3 points against a bitter rival, on a weekend when Chelsea lost again...I am content!

Lets all tip our caps to Benteke's goal, that was absolutely stunning.

 

[Callum93]

At the end of the day, I'm just happy we won a league game by more than 1 goal.

 

[Raoul]

It was good to win but the result could've easily gone the other way without Blind and DDG's heroics. Still a lot of work to do in terms of improvement.

 

[Shane88]

3 points against a bitter rival, on a weekend when Chelsea lost again...I am content!

Lets all tip our caps to Benteke's goal, that was absolutely stunning.

Shinned it.

 

[BigDunc9]

Made up for the win but yous have become soul destroying to watch these days. That 1st half was dour.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Amidst the euphoria, we should probably give some credit to Benteke who scored an absolute stunner.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Made up for the win but yous have become soul destroying to watch these days. That 1st half was dour.

Nope.

 

[Parry Gallister]

Made up for the win but yous have become soul destroying to watch these days. That 1st half was dour.

Fair, second half was better though. What are yours feeding Naismith, beastly today.

 

[BigDunc9]

Nope.

Who is that arsed?

 

[BigDunc9]

Fair, second half was better though. What are yours feeding Naismith, beastly today.

He hasn't played well for a while now but the man turns it on in the big games. He has his limitations but he is a great finisher and a intelligent player to go with his graft.

Yeh it was much better in the 2nd half and Liverpool didn't help with the way they set up. This United looks like it's set up to get good results in the big games.

 

[ghagua]

Enjoyed the 2nd half, 1st half not so much. We had so much possession in the first half, but could not do anything. Young needs to start on the right ahead of Mata to provide some penetration on the right. Mata drifting in towards the middle makes it easier for the opposition to pack their defense, it also helps them double and triple up on Memphis. Memphis had either 2 or 3 people on him the whole game today, and this needs to change.

Smalling just totally dominated at the back today, Shaw was excellent, and Darmian and Blind had good games as well. Schweinsteiger also had a good game in the midfield, and Martial showed a glimpse of talent, hopefully there is much more to come.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Who is that arsed?

Je blague, mais...

Why would you write "yous" when you can write "you," which is grammatically correct?

 

[Nickosaur]

I watched it at a mates then went out on the town. Very pissed and I'm sure much of this has already been said but...

All our back four were brilliant. Luke Shaw is now one of our best players. Smalling was Smalling. Blind was fantastic and I have a man crush on the bloke.

The noise I made when Martial danced into the area and scored is not something I thought a man could make. But I'm glad I made it because feck me he's going to be brilliant.

Ander Herrera is the most likeable man on earth. Even if he played for Liverpool I'd still get his name tattooed on my nads.

That's it for now. I look forward to revelling in the Caf's glory tomorrow but for now - I'm going to sleep well.

 

[Nickosaur]

Amidst the euphoria, we should probably give some credit to Benteke who scored an absolute stunner.

Oh yeah. I'm not mad we didn't keep a clean sheet because when something like that happens, you just have to take a fecking bow.

Imagine how City felt when Rooney did the same in the last minute v them....

 

[Xaviesta]

Both teams and managers deserve stick for what was a terrible first half. Blind's goal was the best thing that could have happened for the game, well worked and well taken. Gomez learnt a good lesson with that challenge on Herrera. He didn't need to make that challenge. Benteke and Martial with two terrific goals, Martial though great goal, but it was one goal.

 

[suheilsworld]

Any victory against scouser is a great victory. Add to that a Martial debut goal and that was icing on the cake.

 

[Rednotdead]

I just hope LVG's never tempted to play Fellaini as a striker again.

 

[Americano]

One thing can be admitted though, Benteke's goal has a strong chance of becoming the goal of the season.

Did you notice how he leaped off his right (kicking) foot? I found that really strange but it worked.

His performance in general was really impressive. We could do worse than having a player like him up top.

 

[Stack]

Did you notice how he leaped off his right (kicking) foot? I found that really strange but it worked.

His performance in general was really impressive. We could do worse than having a player like him up top.

Thats how it should be done because the swing of his left leg is what gives the right leg leverage. If he leapt off his left foot he wouldnt get the leverage.
All leaping from their shooting foot