[Raw]

If it's any consolation, Arsenal needed a last minute winner to beat a manager-less Crystal Palace. They're tough to beat.

We've got issues, sure, but we weren't as bad as people think.

 

[NoLogo]

Good to get the 3 points but we really need to get back some players in midfield who can make the game fast. Rooney and Fellaini don't seem capable of that and I felt we were much more urgent in attack while Di Maria and Herrera were playing there.

 

[JUPITER]

If it's any consolation, Arsenal needed a last minute winner to beat a manager-less Crystal Palace. They're tough to beat.

We've got issues, sure, but we weren't as bad as people think.

Correct. And Everton were beaten at home by Palace this season as well.

Really surprised at how lots of people on here are reacting to an important win.

 

[thoward]

I know possession isn't the best stat but we had 72% of the ball today.

That must be some sort of record for us surely. Rooney had 100+ touches in the match. I don't think I've ever seen him have that much of the ball.

We had 74% in the 3-2 defeat at home to Tottenham two years ago.

 

[Viral United]

So let me guess,
We have won the game which is basically played in (C Palace) half.
We have one CM, one winger and two 19 years old defenders in back-line.

Yet people think its horrible performance? We play like Moyes team?
And people think New-be forum are worst.

 

[Van Piorsing]

I just don't see reasons to be excited as many fellow Caf members wrote this week. First half was abysmal. We got our win but amount of quality we have should let us fully control the game for once this season.

There's still no clear leadership structure seen in the team. With supposedly the strongest attack in the league we couldn't do anything substantial for a huge amount of game time but on the other side of the coin hopefully this will be start of something close to consistent league form.

Few wins more and the confidence in this current group may return but the optimism is not a fully proper reaction to what have been seen today on the pitch.

No matter what it's still a win and that's a relief anyway with a good decision from Mata. He simply fired a torpedo and sometimes this is what football is about. Don't be afraid of simplest solution to the problem. Well Done !

 

[Roboc7]

The win was all that mattered but it's still hard to imagine us putting a winning run together without drastic improvement, for all their faults I can't see us beating Arsenal in our next game because they'd still look a better team than us.

 

[Browniee]

We used to win ugly all the time under SAF, these 1-0 wins are what win championships. We played well against the 2 best sides in the country in the last fortnight.
Let's get a run together, avoid defeat against arsenal and push hard until the xmas period and see where we are.

 

[Getsme]

We used to win ugly all the time under SAF, these 1-0 wins are what win championships. We played well against the 2 best sides in the country in the last fortnight.
Let's get a run together, avoid defeat against arsenal and push hard until the xmas period and see where we are.

As hard as it was to watch I would have snapped your hand off for a 1-0 victory before the start of the match. The important thing at the moment is getting the points.

 

[Browniee]

As hard as it was to watch I would have snapped your hand off for a 1-0 victory before the start of the match. The important thing at the moment is getting the points.

Yep, we've shown we can play against the best. Our defensive crisis is holding us back.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind we are heading in the right direction. It's going to be a bumpy ride, especially until we sort out the CB position. Until then, shitty 1-0 against park the bus teams are massively important

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

I miss Welbeck.

 

[Stack]

I miss Welbeck.

I dont

 

[ravi2]

Hopefully Van Gaal ends his experimentation with Januzaj and Fellaini and restores Mata and Herrera next time.

I hope he ends his experiment with rvp too, Wilson has looked dangerous whenever he is on.

 

[Gannicus]

Appreciate the wins when we're desperate for wins. Once we're winning on a regular basis then we demand winning in style.

 

[ninety]

Credit to Crystal Palace, they're a hard team to break down. Thought they parked the bus well and they were almost up at half time when Campbell lobbed De Gea.

I think we need Herrera back in, we look much more fluid with him in the team. RVP up front on his own didn't work either, he needed someone up there with him to play off. He was hardly involved in the play.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

We play Fellaini, who's at his best when he's being utilised to frustrate the opposition and as a target - he's never going to make our midfield look good; we have Valencia at RB, who can perform to an acceptable level at RB, but is completely spent as an attacking force; we have a van Persie so out of form that he's making people misty-eyed for Welbeck; we've Januzaj who just hasn't got into the swing of things this season and whose final ball is particularly poor at the moment; we've got di Maria shunted out wide with little movement around him forcing him to attack crowded cup-de-sacs; and then we've got Rooney who just isn't a very good playmaker at the best of times, let alone when he's being assisted by Fellaini, Januzaj and Valencia.

Basically, what did people expect?

 

[Acole9]

Good result and a nice clean sheet considering our defensive troubles recently. Not the best of performances but the three points are all that matters just to get us further up the table.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Positives : Fellaini excellent again, Paddy McNair not looking one bit out of place, Keeping good possession, decent from carrick. Negatives for me - probably Rooney being disappointing CM again, although better towards the end.

All in all it's fair to say Palace killed the game and we were professional in those circumstances and ground out the win. God knows though if the goal would have ever come if Mata hadn't of banged one in

 

[RedPnutz]

Poor on the eye, but a good game to build players confidence.

Allowed us to hone our passing and possession game while alleviating the pressure on our makeshift back four.

I think Fellaini's inclusion made sense. Whether he does a lot of defensive duties or not, he does provide a much better physical presence during set pieces and corners and as a possible shield for the defence. When you have an ad hoc back four like we do, any incremental bit of assurance is welcome.

In addition if Herrera is coming back from injury, I don't see why he needs to be risked especially in such a game where we are basically comfortable. Any freak random event and he could be out again.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

If you think that my statement of fact was an overreaction then your the one that needs the blessing: not me.

Your expectations are too high and thus your over reaction to the slight drop from perfection. You are are not stating facts, they are rafa facts, based on perception and opinion.

You seem to ignore or under estimate the ability of the opposition, and just sound off because they are not a big club. Many of the third tier clubs have organized themselves well this year and we have seen the top tier clubs struggle against them. Even yesterday City v QPR, City also had problems v Stoke and WHU, Chelsea struggled against QPR and Palace, Liverpool vs Newcastle, QPR, Aston Villa and WHU, Arsenal against a host of teams. Spurs, Everton and Utd have also had problems.

On paper, YES, these teams should walk those games, but the game is not played on paper.

 

[bbest]

feel Rooney and Van Persia should pull back the ball for Wilson to shoot at goal then the result looks better. A make-shift defence and midfield so the overall performance from team looks a start-stop affair.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Not the best performance, but we won and that's what matters. Take the points, take the confidence, and let's build on this.

We did keep the ball very well, but it's a shame we didn't manage to create more opportunities. Palace kept a lot of players back and we really struggled to test their keeper. Thought Di Maria and Januzaj were poor, and we looked better when Mata came on - fair play to the lad, he can pick a pass or create an opening for himself.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Not the best performance, but we won and that's what matters. Take the points, take the confidence, and let's build on this.

We did keep the ball very well, but it's a shame we didn't manage to create more opportunities. Palace kept a lot of players back and we really struggled to test their keeper. Thought Di Maria and Januzaj were poor, and we looked better when Mata came on - fair play to the lad, he can pick a pass or create an opening for himself.

Our next 3 games should be quite telling as none of them are known for parking the bus. We should get space so let's see what we can do.

 

[Parma Dewol]

Our next 3 games should be quite telling as none of them are known for parking the bus. We should get space so let's see what we can do.

Yeah I was talking to a mate at the game yesterday and we were saying that the last couple of games (City, Chelsea) aren't a great metric of where we're at. It's the next five that will determine whether we're top-four material or not.

I said we should be looking for at least 12 points out of 15. Is that do-able against Palace, Arsenal, Hull, Stoke and Southampton? I think so, and it would give us a massive amount of confidence going into the Christmas period.

 

[bosnian_red]

I miss Welbeck.

 

[Momochiru]

Typical overreaction. We just played the 2 best teams in the league - only City beat us and it was very close due to a brainfart red card.

I think the team performance was pretty good. CP put 11 behind the ball, so we didn't have many chances. On top of that RVP, ADM and Januzaj had poor games, so we looked toothless going forward, but there were many positives. Shaw, McNair, Carrick, Rooney and Mata were very good. Fellaini, Valencia and Blind were decent. We were solid defensively and completely controlled the game - could've had easily 3 had Mata, RVP and Rooney not missed good chances. CP had only one chance due to miscommunication between Blind and McNair, but other than that we completely dominated. Another positive - we didn't get nervous and didn't panic like in many other games. Overall I'm very pleased. Pool lost, now if City, Spurs, Arsenal and Everton also drop points it will be the perfect weekend.

Hahaha. Great weekend for us, just as I called it out Where are all the negative gits now? The boring win against CP was exactly what the doctor ordered

 

[JackXX]

Good win. I wouldn't be concerned about playing style we have shown already this season what we can do going forwards. We are a team torn apart by injuries and a nice 1-0 home win is exactly what we needed after a couple of tough games. We have been playing well without getting results so taking 3 points was very welcome.

 

[JackXX]

Hahaha. Great weekend for us, just as I called it out Where are all the negative gits now? The boring win against CP was exactly what the doctor ordered

It was indeed

 

[Get In Scholesy]

Considering the injury crisis coming into the game, I'm happy we kept the clean sheet and got 3 points. It's all I wanted coming into the match. Hopefully the international break helps us get some players back from injury.

 

[WR10]

We looked like we were playing at home. Something you couldn't have said last season. Palace were scared, and paid us the respect to sit back and let us do the work of attacking. I feel like last season they would have been going gung ho on our weak back 4.

 

[World Game]

Why are people saying we played bad? We completely controlled the game for 90 minutes.

 

[caisenma]

All I care about is that we got 3 points. Arsenal, City, Tottenham and Liverpool would gladly have switched weekends with us.

 

[PedroMendez]

Controlling a game with pointless possession against a team, that parks the bus isnt a great achievement. its ironic that the same people who always laughed about possession and said that its utterly boring, now use it as indicator how good we play. No we didnt play well against Palace; it wasnt terrible either, but very mediocre.
In the end I only care about the 3 points, but I surely wouldnt brag about this performance.

 

[fishfingers15]

Controlling a game with pointless possession against a team, that parks the bus isnt a great achievement. its ironic that the same people who always laughed about possession and said that its utterly boring, now use it as indicator how good we play. No we didnt play well against Palace; it wasnt terrible either, but very mediocre.
In the end I only care about the 3 points, but I surely wouldnt brag about this performance.

Well, our defenders were two 19 year old players, a right back short on confidence and a midfielder who can play as a left back.

 

[bosnian_red]

Controlling a game with pointless possession against a team, that parks the bus isnt a great achievement. its ironic that the same people who always laughed about possession and said that its utterly boring, now use it as indicator how good we play. No we didnt play well against Palace; it wasnt terrible either, but very mediocre.
In the end I only care about the 3 points, but I surely wouldnt brag about this performance.

I was never one who loved possession football, especially the Spain national team who were always incrsbly dull for me. That said, I still appreciate good possession football and know that dominating possession against teams like Spain, barca, bayern do and what we're only starting to do is not an easy thing to do and can lead to very good things. You always have a better chance of scoring if you have the ball, and while it's not my favourite type of football, a possession team with plenty of movement can be very entertaining as well in different ways.

Also, after the shit we've seen last season and the last 3-4 years in general, any fluid type of passing football is an upgrade and we're definitely improving with that. We had a lot of attacks break down with the wings but the build up play up until the ball reached them was fine I thought and generally pretty good to watch. Wasn't zombie like or Carrick sitting on the ball for 5-10 seconds waiting for someone to open up like it used to be.

 

[Cro]

Controlling a game with pointless possession against a team, that parks the bus isnt a great achievement. its ironic that the same people who always laughed about possession and said that its utterly boring, now use it as indicator how good we play. No we didnt play well against Palace; it wasnt terrible either, but very mediocre.
In the end I only care about the 3 points, but I surely wouldnt brag about this performance.

So you would have prefered not to control the game with possession against a team that parked the bus?

Of course it's more boring if a teams come to a game and primarily defends deep and plays on the counter. But we can't change how the other teams play and therefore have to find a way to win these kind of games in a confident way. We need points at the moment far more than sexy performances. We are still finding our feet under a new manager who is building a new team, have a lot of players who just joined this summer and played with a different centre back pairing in 11 of our 12 games so far this season. Everyone here would have liked to see us destroying Palace, but that's not how it always works. There are days like this and whilst we weren't spectacular, we did a solid and very concentrated job over 90 minutes, which in my eyes is an encouraging sign for our team at the moment.

 

[432JuanMata]

Was an average performance at best but the other results over the weekend have made this win so important and just what our season needed.

 

[Gopher Brown]

I miss Welbeck.

Whisper it, but Danny would have injected some much needed dynamism into our forward play so far this season. It was his choice to leave though, so we just have to accept that.

 

[SoCross]

Frustrating to see no one showing up for the ball in midfield. Puzzles me as to why Herrera isn't playing.

 

[Dante]

Valencia -- Carrick -- Blind -- Shaw

If someone told you that lineup and asked if it was a defence or a midfield, you'd probably guess it was a midfield. But that's the backline we ended the match with. We're very much a side in flux at the moment.