De Gea should have done better with one or two of the goals, but the defence in front of him was woeful.
Keane looks out of his depth at times.
Evans had the massive cock up with the first goal.
Vermijl was good and bad.
James is just too slow to be a wing-back. He can't beat a man, and it doesn't help that he has to run the full length of the wing when he can barely pass a player when he's not out of breath anyway.
Anderson and Powell completely lost the midfield battle. Passing was off, but they actually attacked the space which is the only encouraging thing from them.
Januzaj hasn't found his form yet.
Welbeck looked fantastic at the start, but became like a ghost as the game went on.
Hernandez was just useless. What was he thinking with that chance at the end?
Wilson and Pereira were the only positive notes of the whole night. Showed more effort and talent than the rest in the cameo appearances they had.
Really is an embarrassing night. I don't like using that word, but it really is. 4-0 to MK Dons is just unbelievable. Improvement has to be shown against Burnley. It's not right that we've actually deteriorated since pre-season.
Everything went downhill the moment Kagawa left the pitch.
People should know already that there's more to Kagawa's play than just creativity, he's a damn playmaker that dictate the tempo of a team. Even our best games last season were games he was at his best, dropping deep into the midfield to link up from the no 10 position or on the left, e.g Bayern, Swansea game e.t.c
It wasn't a coincidence Mata's performance improved with Kagawa on the pitch last season because he had Kagawa dropping deep from the left to support him and fortunately for him, Moyes gave Kagawa a free role on the left which allows him drop deep into the midfield to support Mata, e.g the Aston Villa, Newcastle, Westham games e.t.c.
Yesterday game was no exception, he was basically the brain behind the tempo which provided space for Powell and Anderson to attack, just like he did for Mata last season. Not a surprise everything went to shit as soon as he was off.
I also have my doubt about Van gaal, not because of today's game but because of other things. First, he should know there's a difference between 3-5-2 and 3-4-1-2 tactic, and should stop believing they are same because there's a clear difference! The same way he talks of 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 as one whereas they are different.
Secondly, he talks of our midfield lacking organization and instead of signing a playmaking midfielder, Di Maria was signed. What he failed to realize is there's no difference between Di Maria and Herrera as a midfielder because both don't offer control in the midfield but energy with their driving runs. Basically, both are box-box CM. Maybe, he planned using Di Maria as a winger but the problem is Di Maria's best performance has always been in the midfield for both Madrid and Argentina. Moroever, the team as a whole doesn't only need a controller in the midfield but also, a holding midfielder to act as a shield for the defence.
Lastly, I can't still get my head around how Kagawa didn't play to his philosophy when he was one of our best player every game he played in the preseason, whether in the midfield or as a no 10 and despite playing with the B-team.
Van Gaal even mentioned of the team wining the midfield battle against Roma in the 2nd half, which coincided with Kagawa coming into the midfield at that time. Should we talk of the team's improved performance as soon as Kagawa came on against Inter or the numerous lovely chances he fashioned out against Madrid & Inter?
And not forgetting how Kagawa dictated the tempo against Galaxy which contributed to the team having better chances created in the 2nd half of the Galaxy match after the first disruptive 15 mins of the 2nd half due to many changes. However, all Vangaal saw were Kagawa having average to decent performance and a player who ventured out of his philosophy or could it be a prejudice because he was part of the Dortmund team that usurped his Bayern team which led to his dismisal.
Whatever it is, my take is Van gaal's attitude of shoehorning players around different position which in turn, disrupt and confuse the whole team and formation is quite worrying. The faster he tells each player their specific and definite role in the team, the better for the team.
In short, I'm not seeing any improvement in the team or any new system for the team. It's as if it's getting worse than before.
) Anderson over fletcher for sure, he is capable of finding that defence splitting pass. The through ball he played to Hernandez today was good but unfortunately Hernandez just doesn't have the technique
