[charleysurf]

Top 4 suddenly looking a lot more doubtful.
I see that Blackett has been identified as the scapegoat.
But big money signings Di Maria and Shaw were poor.
Rooney, and even Carrick mediocre.

This is a tough one. No obvious quick fixes. Even bringing the fabled Herrera on to the pitch didn't magically improve things as promised.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Yeah, that was pretty terrible.

Louis has such a large ego that he will never drop this formation. fecking figure it out FFS.

And the team just clearly lacks any sort of cohesion. Which is fecking bizarre.

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Puts a top 4 place in real doubt. Needs to turn around immediately or we'll fall away with our tough fixtures in March and April.

 

[Dunk]

Anything but this shit, please!

 

[Infra-red]

Zero shots on target, in 90 minutes, at home, zero.

 

[Raw]

This is the first time that I'm really pissed off at LVG. We had all our players back and STILL we persist with 352.

What an abomination of a game.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

That Blackett substitution was completely unnecessary and he ended up losing his man for the goal.

If Blind can play 90 mins after barely playing for 2 months then why can't Shaw.

 

[#07]

Shockingly bad. No shots on target wasn't it? Didn't really create a clear chance until well after an hour. Awful. Yes, the service from wide areas was horrific until Blind went to left wing back but its more than that. Di Maria was totally unable to influence the game from up front and we lost his drive from midfield playing him there. On midfield, 3-5-2 leaves us far too light in that area. We can't get our players playing off one another and that forces them to go wide more, which leaves us depending on the wing backs for every attack. Nothing is going through midfield to the centre forwards. Its all very predictable and one paced. Van Gaal is a clever man, he should be able to see why the team is so f'd.

 

[crappycraperson]

Playing Di Maria up top.. just NO! He has never produced the kind of numbers that would justify such a move. I know we are desperate for pace upfront and if he really wants a pacy striker then maybe he should not have sold Welbeck.

 

[nemanja nemagic]

3-5-2 needs to go. Now.

 

[Man-United]

I don't trust LvG with a transfer budget. He should stick with what he's got and think about the money he spent last summer.

 

[justboy68]

Smash and grab. Yet we deserved it for how utterly toothless we were going forward. Southampton did absolutely nothing all game, yet somehow with all of the ball we didn't do any more.

 

[Van Piorsing]

Having Rooney, RVP, Di Maria and Mata on the field and can't even shoot on goal and in the end playing like Moyes to Fellaini, long feckin balls... That's not Manchester United.

I want my Manchester United back.

 

[Smores]

And least now our manager gives good press conferences and talks in a cool accent.

That's what matters after all

 

[Kostur]

That Blackett substitution was completely unnecessary and he ended up losing his man for the goal.

If Blind can play 90 mins after barely playing for 2 months then why can't Shaw.

Yea and this was just the start of fecking idiotic subs, it was a one big what the actual feck show.

 

[Ainu]

Words can't describe how disgusted I am. Again the same shit tactic that has seen us produce nothing but absolutely horrendous football, playing our best players in each other's positions and baffling subs. What the feck is Van Gaal thinking? He's looking more clueless than Moyes at the moment and that takes some doing.

 

[J-Stander]

The terrible football is starting to take the piss. Too many backward passes and nobody making runs. Really really shit and it was down to van Gaal today.

 

[Cooksen]

Blind was good.

But our stubborness cost us that game, 3-5-2 is not working.

 

[lysglimt]

Getting tired of LvG now - to spend so much money with this result ? Imagine the stick Moyes took - but we are just as bad now as we were under Moyes.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

Pathetic performance. Change the fecking formation Louis you absolute tool.

Classy...

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

Down to fourth, a point above Arsenal.. yeah top four is a cert isn't it.

 

[jem]

For me, all the blame goes to LVG. We finally have a healthy squad, and he persists in playing a formation that, for me at least, has only been acceptable when we've been hamstrung by injuries. Our best striker was in the midfield, and our best midfielder was playing as a striker. Baffling to say the least. Unless there was a reason for Falcao not being in the squad, then that is also baffling.

Van Gaal needs to have a long, hard look at himself in the mirror. I like his confidence, but he needs to accept that he was out-coached today.

 

[Jev]

I don't understand the point of Juan Mata.

Unless the game is going perfectly for us, he's invisible.

When he's not, like today, he doesn't fecking hit the target 3 times.

He was hit and miss but still orchestrated some of our best attacking plays.

 

[Feed Me]

Useless.

That looked every bit an OT performance from last season. Form has taken a nosedive over the last five games and we're in a dogfight for the top four once more when we should have basically consolidated third place by now.

Players out of position, disgraceful final ball and tactically outclassed by Koeman. What a miserable day.

 

[Raw]

Here's a funny stat, Moyes had the same amount of points at this stage last season as we do now.

 

[Man-United]

3-5-2 needs to go. Now.

And if that don't go maybe the man himself should go? He's responsible.

 

[Red Comet]

Before the knee jerks floods this thread completely...

Am I concerned about our run of poor form in the new year? Yes.

Am I concerned about the style of play? Yes

Am I going to lose it? No. We are still in good position to finish with CL qualification this year, as was the target that most of us have at the start of the season.

Southampton came with a clear plan, and they executed it to perfection.

If any of Di Maria's touches was better in the 1st half, and Mata actually finished some of the chances on his plate, it would be a different outcome.

Today's match was just one of those days.

 

[Moston Red]

We're going to mess up a top 4 place if we don't sort this out soon. Stop this 352 now.

 

[LARulz]

feck 3-5-2. I've had it with that shit

 

[WyoManU]

No shots on target at Old Trafford in a big match for a CL spot. Pretty shameful. Lots of blame to go around. Finally starting to doubt LVG and his philosophy. He has a reputation of being great tactically, and yet we rarely win the tactical battles in our matches. We create nothing and as I have said over and over, even though we have a good defensive record on paper we always look like conceding. DDG has bailed us out so much in the past to flatter our goals against numbers. Won't bother evaluating the players. No need. This is a team sport and we are dead average as a squad.

 

[JohnDoe]

Classy...

It's an internet forum, not a tea party.

 

[izec]

Needs to drop some players, there are many players knowing that they are undroppable. Change formation too

 

[sullydnl]

Thoughts:

1. We were poor.
2. 352 sucks but is a consequence of our unbalanced squad.
3. We're a long way off where we want to be, some recent results flattered us.
4. Some of the comments in the match thread were beyond stupid.
5. I don't get why people are complaining about our possession based approach. This has always been LVG's approach, what did you expect when he was hired?

 

[mancan92]

Today Southampton were absolutely ridiculous defensively not a single mistake the whole match. A near perfect match which we would have needed to play near perfect to win but we didnt. We played decently and were solid defensively but we needed to be great and honestly I feel like this formation is holding us back heavily.

 

[Beachryan]

0 saves from either keeper right?

It's cowardly from LVG more than anything else. And stupid, given how limited Southampton are going forward. Played right into their hands, entirely lost the 'tactical battle'.

Hopefully it's a good thing, the 3-5-2 can't be gone soon enough. We're United. Not this boring, defensive, conservative sack of sh*t.

Deserved to lose at St. Mary's, probably deserved a draw today.

 

[jem]

On the balance of play we were much the better side, the final ball really, really let us down today.

I don't think so. We had plenty of non-threatening possession, and I don't think we managed a shot. We were awful and deserved to lose.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

All that possession, and just couldn't muster one decent ball. I thought the players were all fine up until their final third.
3-5-2 needs to stop. We don't have the players for it.

Valencia was my MOTM. Only positive from today is that it looks as if he's found his sprint again

 

[An Irish Red]

Rooney should never play in midfield again. He's been absolutely terrible the last few games there. Di Maria is wasted up front and we need to ditch the 3-5-2.

 

[CLARiiON]

What a shit game, only 1 shot on target in the whole match by both teams combined. Not a single shot was saved by any of the goal keepers, actually just one shot needed to be saved in the whole match. All this points to some bad planning and execution.

 

[sizzling sausages]

Fair play to Southampton, very good performance from them. We were terrible. Zero shots on target at home, was it? That's shocking.

 

[RedSky]

Credit to Southampton, they played very well today and had their tactics worked very well.

Bit bemused at United over the past month, looked secure enough in defence but our attack can barely get a shot on target. Well I say i'm bemused... i'm not really, it was obvious in the Summer we needed a quality winger, should have gone for Cuadrado.

 

[Borys]

In the hindsight, the Netherland's 3rd place in WC is causing us a lot of troubles.