I think that it is official that OT has had the least goals scored this season.
PL W FA Premier League
Manchester United 1:0 Aston Villa
Post-match discussion
Sat, 16 April 2016
Rooney is my captain. When fit he shall always play.
Foolishly, I predicted a 4-0 win for us, but when I saw the team line-up when I arrived at the ground, I revised that to a 1-0 win. It makes sense to give some of the guys who have played a lot recently a rest. That was very much our shadow slow attacking set (with the notable exception of Rashford). Hopefully LVG will revert to a similar team that played against West Ham for the visit of Palace on Wednesday.
Villa were there for the taking and were poor, apart from a crazy 60 seconds spell near the end when they could have scored on three occasions. Our lot are just such a lazy and complacent bunch, happy to sit on a 1-0 lead and then carrying out the embarrassing play of time wasting at the corner flag at the end against a relegated team. How standards have fallen.
Crowd was pretty flat - it's difficult to get fired up when the players don't get fired up, take so few shots and are incapable of taking threatening corners and set pieces. Rashford was the only lively attacker, the rest were pretty sterile, predictable and easy to defend against.
Villa were there for the taking and were poor, apart from a crazy 60 seconds spell near the end when they could have scored on three occasions. Our lot are just such a lazy and complacent bunch, happy to sit on a 1-0 lead and then carrying out the embarrassing play of time wasting at the corner flag at the end against a relegated team. How standards have fallen.
Crowd was pretty flat - it's difficult to get fired up when the players don't get fired up, take so few shots and are incapable of taking threatening corners and set pieces. Rashford was the only lively attacker, the rest were pretty sterile, predictable and easy to defend against.
I thought Rooney had an excellent first half. Tailed off somewhat in the second but maybe that's to be expected at this stage in his recovery.
Looking at this defensive approach LVG uses..... Had we been playing attacking football, which was entertaining for the fans, would we really have been worse off in the league?
We might not even make the top four now so the fact that we've been using this boring approach has been pointless.
At least it would've made the games more exciting.
We might not even make the top four now so the fact that we've been using this boring approach has been pointless.
At least it would've made the games more exciting.
It's ridiculous how efficient Valencia still is 
http://sports.opera.com/?sport=news&page=news&view=article&news_id=767189&localization_id=www
The man is aware of the problem. Maybe he asks too much of these players.
The man is aware of the problem. Maybe he asks too much of these players.
This season? Hard to recall any. 4-1 vs City last season was great though.
I made it 9 minutes before i fell asleep. I was proud of my effort.
When Rooney and Valencia play on the same team you know what Rooney is going to do. He always plays the ball out to the right to Valencia.
And there's nothing wrong with that really, considering it's usually a viable way to get the ball in a good crossing position or to open up space. If the rest of the team could move the ball around at a quicker pace and get the wingers in 1v1 positions we would be better off for it. It was ok to complain about this when Fergie was our manager and we had better players so we could complain about playing such a 1 dimensional, "zombie football". I'm sure everyone on here would kill to have that back. So why criticize Rooney's balls out to Valencia when it's far better and likelier to produce a chance than any other thing we do under Van Gaal?
It's like when people criticized Di Maria last season for crossing it so much or trying through passes so often. At least he does it and even a half chance comes from them a decent amount of time. Who gives a feck about keeping possession or playing little 1-2's if nothing comes of it ever.
...as did Scholes towards the end of his playing days.
You know I was really into the article until I read the part where he says that it is not easy playing against a defensive team. Aston Villa have conceded 65 goals this season and he thinks they are 'defensive'. What a clueless man.
One of the worst games ive seen at Old trafford, and I went to the Southampton game earlier this season, as well as the 0-0s against City, Chelsea (this season), 0-0 against Rangers and the 6-1 against City.
It really was terrible. Its almost a chore to goto OT nowadays, the atmosphere was terrible (fairplay Villa fans, they clearly came up to have fun and did so). When it went 1-0, you were hoping it would open up, we would settle and end up with maybe 3 or 4. Instead, we were lucky to get away with a 1-0 win, and in the end were hanging on and trying to run out time in the corner, at home, against one of the worst teams the Premier League has ever seen.
It really was terrible. Its almost a chore to goto OT nowadays, the atmosphere was terrible (fairplay Villa fans, they clearly came up to have fun and did so). When it went 1-0, you were hoping it would open up, we would settle and end up with maybe 3 or 4. Instead, we were lucky to get away with a 1-0 win, and in the end were hanging on and trying to run out time in the corner, at home, against one of the worst teams the Premier League has ever seen.
Scholes was always more selective with his long passes -- if he felt the attack would progress better on the same flank he didn't feel the compulsion to look up and spray it wide. With Rooney I get the feeling it's his default when he gets the ball.
Hahaha pure Paddy Crerand. Brilliant.Paddy: I think of all the poor quality games I've seen at Old Trafford through the years, that will be in the top one. That was absolutely rubbish. Poor. Awful. Aston Villa... dreadful. I can never understand why should United get down to their standard, but they did and it was an awful game.
Stewart: Apart from that though?
Paddy: Well apart from that I'm freezing.
It is the age old question, do you win big? Or die trying? I think this is a club who has an image burnt into its soul that if the fans see player on match day doing the absolute utmost and playing just short of killing themselves for the club, they would give undying support and be happy.
What we see now is a purposeful deviation away from that to a more "tactical", "technical" brand of football that hasn't worked in these parts for going on 20 years.
It's some achievement to actually win a game and yet come away feeling utterly depressed, and Van Gaal has managed it twice this season with today and the FA Cup game against Sheffield Utd.
Which one was worse?
Which one was worse?
It's as if the players know they need to perform to amuse the fools who pay serious quid to watch them play but it's just not in their hearts.
This season needs to end. Bring in Jose on the Monday after the last match and start the rebuild, again.
This season needs to end. Bring in Jose on the Monday after the last match and start the rebuild, again.
Only twice you have felt like that?!
What other games have we won this season that left you feeling utterly depressed? Out of interest?
Extremely shit performance. If Van Gaal's tactics stop at an unconvincing 1-0 win at home against a team where every single player looks to completely have given up any hope of playing professional football ever again, let alone play in the Premier League again, he's not the right man for us. Aston Villa is the sort of team we should have sent home licking their wounds with a handful of goals at their end. Instead they might even feel like they were a better finish away from getting a point from this game. It's abhorrent.
This season we've lost against Norwich, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Stoke, Swansea and West Brom and drawn against Newcastle (twice) and Crystal Palace. Today's game pretty much sums up a problem that we've had ever since van Gaal took over. We're atrocious against the lesser teams in the league. If you look at our results last season, the difference between barely qualifying for the CL and winning the whole thing was our piss-poor results against the relegation fodder. This year is no different, apart from the fact that we might not even qualify. Getting the maximum amount of points against the teams mentioned accounts for 24 points, which would bring us up to 80 points - or eight points clear off the top. I would say it's not totally unrealistic to expect a minimum of 19 out of 24 points from those teams? Instead we've gotten 3 out of 24. Those 19 points would put us even with Leicester and make us favourites for the league at this stage.
Scraping a 1-0 win at home against the most hopeless team the league has seen in a decade is miles behind the standard we're supposed to expect. Even if it didn't cost us any points in the league it does highlight a huge problem in the team: Last season we dropped an unusually high amount of points against lesser teams and this season is no different. Until we get a manager who is able to find a reliable way to get as many points as possible against the shite teams we'll never be close to winning the title again. After two years of the same problem repeating itself time and time again the conclusion is pretty darn clear: Van Gaal has to go. He's obviously not going to find the magic formula to winning games against significantly poorer opposition in the time he has left. I just can't see a future where him being in charge is worthwhile, when the alternative is getting someone who will be here more long-term, in addition to having a playing style that allows us to win more consistently.
This season we've lost against Norwich, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Stoke, Swansea and West Brom and drawn against Newcastle (twice) and Crystal Palace. Today's game pretty much sums up a problem that we've had ever since van Gaal took over. We're atrocious against the lesser teams in the league. If you look at our results last season, the difference between barely qualifying for the CL and winning the whole thing was our piss-poor results against the relegation fodder. This year is no different, apart from the fact that we might not even qualify. Getting the maximum amount of points against the teams mentioned accounts for 24 points, which would bring us up to 80 points - or eight points clear off the top. I would say it's not totally unrealistic to expect a minimum of 19 out of 24 points from those teams? Instead we've gotten 3 out of 24. Those 19 points would put us even with Leicester and make us favourites for the league at this stage.
Scraping a 1-0 win at home against the most hopeless team the league has seen in a decade is miles behind the standard we're supposed to expect. Even if it didn't cost us any points in the league it does highlight a huge problem in the team: Last season we dropped an unusually high amount of points against lesser teams and this season is no different. Until we get a manager who is able to find a reliable way to get as many points as possible against the shite teams we'll never be close to winning the title again. After two years of the same problem repeating itself time and time again the conclusion is pretty darn clear: Van Gaal has to go. He's obviously not going to find the magic formula to winning games against significantly poorer opposition in the time he has left. I just can't see a future where him being in charge is worthwhile, when the alternative is getting someone who will be here more long-term, in addition to having a playing style that allows us to win more consistently.
Fair enough, utterly depressed is maybe a bit strong but I can only remember coming out of OT feeling great this season twice: Liverpool and Arsenal.
I'd agree with that aye.
Stoke was ok too. So 3 times and it's mid April.
fecking shocking.
MotD said 12 points and 20 goals WORSE than last season at the same stage
We are going backwards in a big way. We should have torn these guys apart. We won't face a worse said than them for many years. At least L2 opposition try, Villa players have been on the beach since Feb.
We are going backwards in a big way. We should have torn these guys apart. We won't face a worse said than them for many years. At least L2 opposition try, Villa players have been on the beach since Feb.
One of many fillings in the shit sandwich van gaal has served up this year.
There was so much wrong with today that it beggars belief. We deserve a refund on our Sts. TBH its been like this since the beginning of this manager's reign with just the odd moments of entertaining footy. He has gone through so many players bought, sold, loaned, rented out, discarded, and promoted that its almost impossible to keep track. Not so long ago we all thought Wilson was the future, now its Rashford. During the interim we lost Chico, Welbeck, AdM and the Falcon. If this is transition, what the hell does failure look like? I expected crap from LVG and never liked him, but this is a horrible endless mess of disjointed squads, inconsistent performances, and dire entertainment. Its shit, we know it, the players know it, OT knows, the football world knows it, and yet it continues. Surely the crowd today kicked OT from out of its complacency and inertia, if not this is going to turn into a titanic. In 50 years I never thought I could be so disgusted but worse I am now becoming indifferent to the whole experience. After two seasons of mind numbingly dull football I actually walked away today totally disinterested with the whole shower. LVG has destroyed my passion for MUFC, now its about crawling through the emotions to the end of the season in the hope that someone at OT has the balls to act. Shame on them.
At least we wont be accused of being flat track bullies!
Maybe mentally we are built for the european super-league.
difficult to rebutt what you say. All I will advice is patience. All the rumblings are he will be gone in the summer. I have become numb like so many. It does not hurt so much any more. But that does not mean I do not care. I think that is teh same with you and many others.
Keep the Faith mate.
And so it came to pass, the end of our premier league season, not with a bang, but a whimper.
I was walking out the door right when Rashford scored. I spent the rest of the day on a boat thinking I'd finish the game when I returned and see a couple more goals. I saw the only goal before I left. Many were joking we'd win 1-0. We fecking did. It's beyond shocking.
Hey , each too their own, if scraping 1-0 home wins is your thing then LVG is your man, but that kinda football isn't the reason I support this great club, Sir Matt would be turning in his grave, at some fans acceptance of such mediocrity.
Hundreds of millions spent, all that big talk and bluster, all those likeable players he's gotten rid of, and Van Gaal's got us holding the ball up in a corner flag enroute to a mind numbing 1-0 win against a relegated Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
The Caf should register as a media entity just so we can have someone from here point all this out to him in a press conference.
The Caf should register as a media entity just so we can have someone from here point all this out to him in a press conference.
Certainly not my thing, just find it strange that only negative stats get raised, mainly to try support a weak argument. We have people constantly raising goals scored stats and comparing them to clubs lower than us. Scoring goals is obviously working for them then. We also get the 'we cant beat the teams in the relegation area, but ignore the record against those in the top half of the table.
There seems to be a general view that LVG is 100% the cause of all of United's poor performances, yet again ignoring the contribution of the players. In his post match, he pretty much made it clear that the team had trained to play at pace, yet the same players as always slowed the game down.
The performance was poor, and United have not met any of our expectations over the season, but imo it is not all down to LVG.
3 points are welcome, but the the attacking display is just soul destroying.
Well, he is responsible to get the best out of the players. If the players are not responding the way they trained, he can actually get of his fecking throne during the game and instruct them to pick it up from the sidelines. If the players are not listening, then he has 3 subs that he fully instruct and send on the pitch.
You gotta be on a wind up, if you think us playing crap isn't a direct consequence of his "straightjacket" football, like I say if you are a fan of LVG or think he's doing a good job,let's just agree to disagree, he's ruining the club I love with his negative football.
He can say what he wants, but the reason the players don't reach that level is down to whatever he tells them to do/not to do in training and before the game. It happens every game as well. Sometimes Van Gaal says it's a very good performance, but all he bases it on is if the opponents create anything. Us creating chances is very much secondary to him, and that is clearly seen by the team when we play. Scoring goals is not the main goal for us. It's not conceding/keeping the ball and playing safe passes. If the opponents make a mistake, then we try and take advantage, if not, Van Gaal's goal is to keep the ball.
Also if managers with worse squads can get sides to play a much more exciting brand of football (and get better results, without spending close to 300m), then it clearly means Van Gaal isn't good enough and is the reason for us playing like shit and having the current squad. Yes it's true that there are plenty of deficiencies in the squad, but that's down to Van Gaal for making it like this.
Also we all know that we play well in big games generally. That hasn't been a problem for Van Gaal (in the league). The problem has come against any side in the bottom half of the league. To win the title, you need close to a perfect record in those games usually. That's what determines how high you finish in the table. We are awful in those, and that's why we aren't in top 4. Those are all down to the way he sets us up in those games. He assumes that by keeping the ball and not giving away too many chances, we'll win the game eventually when that's not how it works these days.
Incredible that we managed to beat and keep a clean sheet against the mighty Aston Villa. Great result.
But seriously absolute crap. We almost drew that and we only managed to score against the worse team in the league once. We made bloody Guzan look like an actual goalkeeper. I reckon that was Villas easier game all season
But seriously absolute crap. We almost drew that and we only managed to score against the worse team in the league once. We made bloody Guzan look like an actual goalkeeper. I reckon that was Villas easier game all season
I believe a big part of the problem is that many of our players are simply not good enough for the type of football we want to see, particularly the attacking players. However the squad that we have is completely down to the decisions that LVG has made in terms of players bought and sold. It was obvious to me in August that we'd struggle for goals but yet our manager couldn't see it.
Wayne Hennessy gave them an own goal in a win over Palace didn't he? He was suggested by many villa fans as their player of the season.
Man of the Match
Runners-up
-
11%
Daley Blind
-
6%
David de Gea
-
5%
Wayne Rooney
-
3%
Memphis Depay
-
2%
Juan Mata
-
2%
Antonio Valencia
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1%
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
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1%
Marouane Fellaini
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1%
Marcos Rojo
Player Ratings
Total Average Rating
Highest Rated Player
Lowest Rated Player
Compiled from 341 ratings.
Score Predictions
464,17,29
- Man Utd win
- Aston Villa win
- Draw
Detailed Results
- 30% Man Utd 3:0 Aston Villa
- 26% Man Utd 2:0 Aston Villa
- 10% Man Utd 1:0 Aston Villa
- 8% Man Utd 4:0 Aston Villa
- 6% Man Utd 5:0 Aston Villa
- 5% Man Utd 3:1 Aston Villa
- 4% Man Utd 2:1 Aston Villa
- 3% Man Utd 0:0 Aston Villa
- 2% Man Utd 1:1 Aston Villa
- 1% Man Utd 0:5 Aston Villa
- 1% Man Utd 0:1 Aston Villa
- 1% Man Utd 4:1 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 2:2 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 1:2 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 1:4 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 0:2 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 0:3 Aston Villa
- 0% Man Utd 5:1 Aston Villa
Match Stats
- Man Utd
- Aston Villa
- Possession
- 66% 34%
- Shots
- 13 7
- Shots on Target
- 4 1
- Corners
- 14 3
- Fouls
- 9 10
Referee
Kevin Friend
Man Utd Lineup
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replaced by Timothy Fosu-Mensah
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-
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replaced by Jesse Lingard
-
replaced by Anthony Martial
