[bosnian_red]

As pointless as the EFL cup is, it showed a few things:

• Rooney is definitely done. Like he should be looking at retirement or the MLS. Nowhere near Premier League quality and probably would be lacking fitness in the Championship.
• Same with Rojo. Awful player.
• Schneiderlin doesn't even try to do much on the ball, and because of that, he won't ever make it here IMO.
• Fosu Mensah is still quite raw, also will need to lock down a position to develop in.
• Carrick is still quality, just needs to be managed properly.
• Herrera has to start. Always gives you his all and you can rely on him to never shirk responsibility on the ball or not put in the effort. Has the quality to boot.
• Rashford is becoming incredibly productive (goal and assist in 30 minutes today)

 

[DenisIrwin]

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Gazpacho for midfield!

 

[MrBest]

Well it's devastating to realise you're not in charge of transfers then

Tell me about it, should of performed better in the interview but I didn't fit Gaals philosophy.

 

[AllezLesDiables]

Carrick needs to start in the PL to calm us the feck down. Rooney horrible again, I mean who could we even sell him to?

China

 

[Zlaatan]

Switched over to Barcelona vs. Atletico. So depressing to watch the huge gulf in quality.

Agreed. I also watched the Real game and it really is mind boggling how big of a difference there is in quality, both individually and how they work as a team.. It's like you're watching a different sport.

 

[Sky1981]

China

As a chinese race I'm offended, we're rich but we're not blind. I suggest the american takes one for the team

 

[LLMU]

As a chinese race I'm offended, we're rich but we're not blind. I suggest the american takes one for the team

 

[Gause]

How many times has Rooney been 'Lowest Rated Player' in the last couple of years?

The only distinction he can win now.

Was wondering the same. Is there any way to check something like, say, who gets the 'highest/lowest rated player' the most in a season?

 

[Isotope]

Carrick needs to start in the PL to calm us the feck down. Rooney horrible again, I mean who could we even sell him to?

Even if we give him for free, I'm afraid that we might still need to subsidize his salary for anyone to take him.

 

[Roosney]

Think only Carrick, Herrera and Rashford came out of it with credit, Morgan and Memphis tried. The defence is still a shambles.

You just jacked me for my post.

 

[Chuckazulu]

I thought Schneiderlin did well. Carrick and Herrera looked on point too. For the next game, I would stick with the 4321 with Carrick and Schneiderlin as the two pivot mids and Pogba as the 10.

 

[montpelier]

We move the ball about more quickly & with more purpose than with LVG in charge. Just a routine win apart from the slightly wobbly 10mins either side of half time. Which is probably more us fretting, Northampton scored a goal & hit the bar and that was about it. We controlled the entire rest of the game well enough.

 

[OldTrevil]

Low opposition but Mourinho looked determined.

 

[togg]

I thought Jose looked and sounded so tired and depressed in his post match interview....

 

[Witchking]

Any individual highlights of Rooney like the ones against Watford?

 

[jojose]

As pointless as the EFL cup is, it showed a few things:

• Rooney is definitely done. Like he should be looking at retirement or the MLS. Nowhere near Premier League quality and probably would be lacking fitness in the Championship.
• Same with Rojo. Awful player.
• Schneiderlin doesn't even try to do much on the ball, and because of that, he won't ever make it here IMO.
• Fosu Mensah is still quite raw, also will need to lock down a position to develop in.
• Carrick is still quality, just needs to be managed properly.
• Herrera has to start. Always gives you his all and you can rely on him to never shirk responsibility on the ball or not put in the effort. Has the quality to boot.
• Rashford is becoming incredibly productive (goal and assist in 30 minutes today)

As a Rafa would say…..FACT!

 

[trevor newnham]

Yes, Carrick was good but I have a nagging feeling that , against Premiership quality midfields, he would struggle unless he has someone energetic - like Herrera - beside him. Surely, this match proves a few things. Sadly, Rooney is a shadow of a great player and must be moved aside, but with dignity - not the ferocious witch hunt that is going on at the moment. It proved that Rojo is not nearly good enough, nor indeed , Depay - although I also have a feeling that he could be useful given a run of games , which we cant afford. Rashford brings energy and I am sure would complement Ibra. Pogba has to play 10, he is not anywhere near the player we thought we had bought playing deep. However, a win is a win. We must beat Leicester on Saturday. Not worried about the next round of this cup yet. Lets just get a momentum rolling again.
And I really do not like Mourinho's negative demeanour and body language, unless all his good bits are edited ouf by the telly. Anyone at the game offer any observations about his touchline demeanour?

 

[Acole9]

Good win last night albeit against lower league opposition. Hopefully this will bring some of the confidence back for the players and management.

 

[Verbalkint]

Carrick is still our best midfielder.

This is a big worry for us all. Was evident in past seasons too. We played Carrick, we got 3. I can see Morgan stepping into his shoes provided he gets a look in now and then.

 

[Jaxdan]

As a chinese race I'm offended, we're rich but we're not blind. I suggest the american takes one for the team

I'm sure some MLS team would take him. Hey we've had Beckham, and currently have Pirlo, Lampard, Gerrard,Villa, Kaka, etc....China has Hulk.

 

[Danillaco]

Carrick and Herrera were both good. Both worthy a start against Leicester.

Rooney, Rojo, Fosu-Mensah, Schneiderlin, Depay, Young. Not so much

At least we won

I think it's unfair to put them in the same bracket.

Rooney and Rojo were abismal.

Young for poor, the rest of them did average, Fosu-Mensah was some lapses but his so young it's expected. Still have a lot of hope for Morgan, he's a very good player, just need time on the pitch. His ball to TFM was brilliant.

 

[Danillaco]

Don't forget to watch Rooney's moments of brilliance.

Can't wait for the new post match compilation.

 

[The Brown Bull]

Rooney is finished.Has to be said.I think Jose didn't realise just how poor Rooney has become till he had to manage him.
Tojo should be out the door too.
Carrick should start with Pogba and Herrera in midfield.
Ashford is a gem.
Good draw in the next round.

 

[spwd]

As a chinese race I'm offended, we're rich but we're not blind. I suggest the american takes one for the team

Just someone take him please

Rooney is finished.Has to be said.I think Jose didn't realise just how poor Rooney has become till he had to manage him.
Tojo should be out the door too.
Carrick should start with Pogba and Herrera in midfield.
Ashford is a gem.
Good draw in the next round.

Sorry but

 

[Ban]

You taking the mic?

Cant be worse than Phil Neville.

 

[RedCurry]

Not much to add to what is already mentioned about individual performances from some players.

But the first 30 minutes of the game we played like the team Jose would've wanted to see, except for the missed chances. There was definite increase in our tempo from the last two games. We played the ball quick into the feet of our attackers and on multiple times Young/Rooney/Memphis tried playing a quick one-two to get a run on goal. That will come with practice and we are going to start taking our chances. Might I dare say that our football was borderline-mildly-attractive.

A player like Carrick is so vital to the team. He gets the ball moving so much faster. Instead of 2-3 passes before the ball gets to a striker, he is capable of doing it in a single move. It's quite remarkable that we haven't found a worthy replacement for him. A player like that is so important if we want to catch the opposition out.

 

[sincher]

Rooney is finished.Has to be said.I think Jose didn't realise just how poor Rooney has become till he had to manage him.
Tojo should be out the door too.
Carrick should start with Pogba and Herrera in midfield.
Ashford is a gem.
Good draw in the next round.

Play Ashford, sell Tojo!

 

[sunama]

Under Van Gaal we frequently didn't trouble opposition at this level or worse.

Correct.
I remember that game against Middlesborough last season, League Cup, at OT.
After 120 mins, it went to penalties. Had we played for another 2 hours we would not have scored a single goal.
LVG was absolutely dire.
In this game, we scored 3 goals and were constantly looking to score more goals.

There is no comparison with the LVG team we had previously.

 

[sunama]

China

No team would pay money for Rooney. We'd need to pay off his contract and let him go as a free agent.
Same applies to P.Jones.

 

[donkeyfish]

I think it's unfair to put them in the same bracket.

Rooney and Rojo were abismal.

Young for poor, the rest of them did average, Fosu-Mensah was some lapses but his so young it's expected. Still have a lot of hope for Morgan, he's a very good player, just need time on the pitch. His ball to TFM was brilliant.

Agreed, a bit "shallow" that assessment. My point was that for all those mentioned, I think we have better options. Not necessarily in general, but for the Leicester game.

But I do think that Rojo and TFM both had stinkers of a game. If one deserves the grade "abysmal", so does the other. TFM, being 18, has a much better excuse in that all 18year olds are inconsistent. That shouldn´t conceal a bad performance though. TFM was the main culprit for allowing Northampton attacking prospects last 15 of the first half.

Schneiderlin had his moments, but equally he had moments of horror. And mostly he was flat. I too agree that he can become a good player for us, but he wasn´t yesterday. Same with Memphis, who also had his good moments.

Young didn´t do much. At least he is trying. Which can´t be said about Rooney, who came in last (again).

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Just watched the match.
Nothing spectacular but decent match, win for confidence
Herrera Carrick and Rashford played well.
Rooney ineffective, Young and Rojo not very good, Memphis so short of confidence
TFM looked too nervous
Wish Carrick was 5 years younger

 

[prath92]

Correct.
I remember that game against Middlesborough last season, League Cup, at OT.
After 120 mins, it went to penalties. Had we played for another 2 hours we would not have scored a single goal.
LVG was absolutely dire.
In this game, we scored 3 goals and were constantly looking to score more goals.

There is no comparison with the LVG team we had previously.

Boro at the time were in form and I think top of championship. They also had a well drilled defence and we started a front four of Wilson pereira Memphis Lingard. Maybe you could compare to Ipswich town or derby county too instead of Boro or Sheffield?

 

[The Brown Bull]

Just someone take him please




Sorry but

LMAO

 

[AllezLesDiables]

As a chinese race I'm offended, we're rich but we're not blind. I suggest the american takes one for the team

Impossible that an MLS team would step in but the marketing for Rooney for Chinese league would be insane. I think he'd be a lynchpin signing for the Chinese league for marketing plus the transfer would quite high (40-50 mil pounds) and United may be able to have the new team take on 10-25% of Rooney's wages, perhaps more.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I am still staggered that they did not get anyone sent off.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

The third goal, if that had been Wayne he would have given up. Marcus made sure he got there. Right cock up from the goalie though.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

The third goal, if that had been Wayne he would have given up. Marcus made sure he got there. Right cock up from the goalie though.

Rooney doesn't have the pace to do that at all, he wouldn't have even tried

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Rooney doesn't have the pace to do that at all, he wouldn't have even tried

Exactly.

 

[kotler]

Depay looks finished and washed up? Can u believe he was regarded as the next ronaldo? I knew we should of gone for de bryne instead!

were we ever in an "either or" situation?

 

[MrBest]

were we ever in an "either or" situation?

I don't think we were but I remember stating my preference ( not on this site) about it and getting a lot of stick. People never really understood how good de bryne was last year