[Woodenlung]

The second half was great, but Chelsea were awful after the 60th minute.

We need to tighten up a lot in midfield as Chelsea were walking through us in the first half and should have been a goal or two to the good. There are many better teams than Chelsea in the league and they'll take advantage of our lack of structure.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Sky saying it was our biggest day one win since Mourinho was in change? Feck sake it was our first one since he got the sack

That long ago?

 

[Flytan]

Pleasantly surprised. Defense was exceptional and the midfield picked it up after the first 15 minutes. We'll definitely be in contention for top 4 this season I feel.

 

[DatIrishFella]

Fat Frank trying to stay humble.

 

[Catt]

Predicted 5-0 so a tad bit disappointed

 

[Pjisared]

Top four.
End the season now

 

[cantonaldo]

Chelsea played well to be honest. They will give problems to a lot of the top teams.

 

[MisterLupus]

First half Chelsea looked marginally better - but we were keeping up. They looked shaky in defense we looked uncoordinated on the attack. Second half I think our fitness kicked in. When Chelsea were gasping and losing their focus our players looked like they were just done warming up and getting down to business. Three minutes settled the game - then Pogba and James gave us an added bonus. Loved watching this - not perfection through and through (second half was really good though) but definitely a huge step up from where we left it last season. A decent day - and a perfect result (Greenwood netting his chance would have made it brilliant).

 

[SirAnderson]

Feel for Lampard, but hell yeah, hope he gets results against our other rivals.

 

[Mr. Meeseeks]

Great post match interview from Maguire. Sounds like he has been playing for the club for years. Future captain material..

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Very defensive. Playing on the counter. At home. Cynical is not very unfair. Though I would accept it wasn’t overly so.

I see. I'd argue that Ole knew exactly what Chelsea were going to being and set us up perfectly. Nothing wrong with being pragmatic

 

[fps]

I feel sorry for Lampard that Loftus-Cheek and Hudson-Odoi are long-term injuries, seems very hard on him given he's having to rely on younger players. No sympathy for Chelsea with their transfer ban mind, and wow, how quickly did their squad get so thin?!

 

[WensleyMU]

Lampard defecting. A career trait.

 

[Stubble]

Being able to pass the ball about comfortably at the back and pick passes forward is a massive boost.
Got to remember this is Lindelof/Maguires first game together so id expect things will only improve..

 

[FootyGirl88]

Unlucky Frank

 

[NinjaZombie]

You can see what Ole is trying to do. We got lucky but I enjoyed that.

We will probably regret not strengthening our midfield though. I'd be more upbeat about our chances if we still had Herrera. I know Gary Neville said we could get better cms that him, and I agree to a point, but the fact is, we've not gone out and got one.

 

[smudgegezer]

this will be us this season i think, looking out of a game then getting a goal out of nothing, brillant chelsea was easily the better team and we still won 4-0. lets see how we doo aginst 10 men in the box, well done boys i am buzzing

 

[Volumiza]

Great result. Enjoyable match. Although we obviously have some holes that need filling.

DDG - good to see him with so little to do. Was there when needed though.

AWB will be a hero here over the coming years.

Good opening match. Great to keep a clean sheet and lets kick ombamd develop.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Feel for Lampard, but hell yeah, hope he gets results against our other rivals.

feck Frank. How many lucky deflected goals did he get as a player? Those chickens are coming home to roost!

 

[eltigreFalcao]

So many positives, seems like a game of another era. The attitude, the desire, all of it was there and thats something we were definitely lacking of in recent times

Maguire, omg, what a player, absolute class. AWB too. I couldn't believe myself being so happy to watch them defend. Haven't seen that for ages. Also Lindelöf and Shaw were solid. That defensive line + de gea were a joy to watch. Some clumsy patches but luck was on our side, nothing that the stream of play and the coming games wont help to adjust.

In midfield we had half Pogba and a very big McTom. No trace of Matic's negative play. Hopefully Pogba gets better as well in the coming games. But he was class anyways.

The biggest positive is the change in tactics in the second half. We struggled to succesfuly maintain the high pressing against the quick passing game of Chelsea and thats when they outplayed us. Ole spotted that and switched to a more deep defending, sitting back a little bit and hurt the in the counter and it proved to be the decisive bit. That awareness is very much needed and as it worked here it'll work further down the season.

Cant wait to see what comes from this United.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Daniel James being interviewed. Such a grounded lad.

 

[Dosse]

Say what you will about José, but it was nice when the fans cheered him!

 

[RedCoffee]

The team will be buzzing tonight. Sets a great tone for the next month.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

This is hilarious.

 

[Cantona in disguise]

Very defensive. Playing on the counter. At home. Cynical is not very unfair. Though I would accept it wasn’t overly so.

Defensive? Did you watch some of the stuff we served up last year? That was not defensive. We rode our luck at time but we had a plan. You can see the likes of rashford martial etc come alive as soon as we turn over possession.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Daniel James being interviewed. Such a grounded lad.

He seemed be be holding back tears at first. Must be an incredibly emotional moment for him.

 

[BusbyMalone]

For those who want to relive it all over again:

 

[DevilRed]

This is a result to build upon. Next week will be another big test for us. Away from home was where we struggled the end of last season.

We need our attack to be clinical on the counter and hopefully Ole has figured out how to combat silva's tactics which nullified us.

Hopefully with another week under our belts and more training, the team will be more cohesive in midfield and in possession.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

didn't olly do a similar one about Fabregas on here years ago?

 

[1988]

Four goals and a clean sheet vs Chelsea on own turf. Brilliant.

I was skeptical of Maguire starting so soon but when I saw the lineup I actually felt comfortable. Lindelöf and Maguire seems has potential to grown into a strong partnership. Something we haven't had since Ferdinand and Vidić.

Pogba had his moments but overall he took dumb and rash decisions. Hopefully he'll get more focused as the season grows.

Our shape looked great after a shaky start / 1st half. Our passing at times were dreadful. Something we need to rid off.

But super pleased with what I saw.

 

[MaroonDevil]

4-0 surprised me. It is a very great result but the number does not tell all about the game. United is lucky that Chelsea did not score first which hit the post and also lucky that first half we maintain the 1-0 leading.

Hopefully United youngster keep this spirit. We could not play like how we played in the first half against other big 6 teams.

Winning against Chelsea is always special especially 4-0 is fantastic result but I am still worried.

 

[fps]

So many positives, seems like a game of another era. The attitude, the desire, all of it was there and thats something we were definitely lacking of in recent times

Maguire, omg, what a player, absolute class. AWB too. I couldn't believe myself being so happy to watch them defend. Haven't seen that for ages. Also Lindelöf and Shaw were solid. That defensive line + de gea were a joy to watch. Some clumsy patches but luck was on our side, nothing that the stream of play and the coming games wont help to adjust.

In midfield we had half Pogba and a very big McTom. No trace of Matic's negative play. Hopefully Pogba gets better as well in the coming games. But he was class anyways.

The biggest positive is the change in tactics in the second half. We struggled to succesfuly maintain the high pressing against the quick passing game of Chelsea and thats when they outplayed us. Ole spotted that and switched to a more deep defending, sitting back a little bit and hurt the in the counter and it proved to be the decisive bit. That awareness is very much needed and as it worked here it'll work further down the season.

Cant wait to see what comes from this United.

Completely agree I also felt the enjoyment watching United defend, with not a Jones, Smalling or Young in sight.

Valid concern going forward, though, that the pressing wasn't working and the sitting deep and breaking was the only real style we saw towards the end of last season. Worked a charm today (!), but the pressing game is the one that's ultimately needed, so how can that be implemented, if it's what Ole ultimately wants?

 

[Tincanalley]

I predicted 2 2 and am delighted to be proved wrong. Was working so didn't see game. Comments hinted at good innings by Maguire and AWB. Delighted for James, will watch it later and gloat

 

[GailSpaceWynand]

still buzzing!

 

[Organic Potatoes]

The goals from open play exemplified what we need to see a lot of if we’re gonna score enough goals to be successful:

• A quick transition to attack from Harry winning the ball
• Martial scoring a proper striker’s goal
• Pogba hitting Rashford on the break
• James’ pace hurting teams as they tire in the last quarter-hour

 

[Lyng]

I have to admit James goal and the celebration almost had me in tears of joy. Seeing all the lads so happy for him and how everyone of these young lads seem to just enjoy playing for United. That is the kind of team I want to see in the United shirts.

 

[WensleyMU]

Souness is smashed

 

[tentan]

Didn't expect a result like that. Hope we can keep it up all season.

 

[caid]

Encouraging
We're obviously taking a few gambles this season, nice to see its on Pereira, McTominay and Greenwood as opposed to others. Its risky but you can see a payoff. You'd hope a bunch of academy players will be relatively easy to keep committed and ambitious so should help with apparent attitude problems.
Great to see Rashford and Martial getting off the mark too, bit more gambling that payed off today. Long may it continue.

 

[AJ10]

4-0 up.... wasn't looking for 5-0 but praying for a clean sheet.

 

[fps]

I have to admit James goal and the celebration almost had me in tears of joy. Seeing all the lads so happy for him and how everyone of these young lads seem to just enjoy playing for United. That is the kind of team I want to see in the United shirts.

Definitely my favourite moment of the match.

 

[Tyrion]

I didn't see that coming before the match or even at half time.

 

[Reddy Rederson]

Here are some quotes from the preceding ten messages.

and what do you have to say about the guy moaning about other posters instead of enjoying the win?

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Some poor things to improve upon, we rode our luck in the first half and looked listless at times.

With that said not in our wildest dreams we expect that result. Maguire and AWB look to be superb signings and our counter attack improved as the game wore on and put the game beyond Chelsea. I was delighted for Rashford, Martial and James to get goals, I hope they grow in confidence from getting the ball in the net.

My key takeaway is the huddles after the goals. Often those kinds of public shows of togetherness leave me a little cold, particularly when they're not matched by any kind of performance on the field, but I think the players realise they need to show us they are up for the difficult fight this season. On the face of it we do not have enough quality in midfield and up front to make a success of this season, but if all our lads are pulling together I live in hope that we can surprise many people this year.