[Sandikan]

Even at this early stage, it's everything the last couple of years weren't.

Look a much better team, even in little details, like Valencia now tries to burn on, rather than stopping dead and holding position.
Pogba was probably at about 60-70% and a little rusty, but still looked a class apart, and Ibra scored from probably his only 2 real chances.

All in all, solid and we're back to expecting to win these games easily. A great sign.

Fair play to everyone who came from the south, awful drive up, took ne 5 1/2hours for a usual sub 3hour drive!
A mate only got home at 3.30am and he lives 30mins closer than me.
Felt a great decision to stay up north overnight.

 

[AR87]

Posession alone isn't everything, true. But that doesn't mean it's worthless. Counter attacks alone won't get you to the very top of European football.

You should talk to Diego Simeone about that with how much Atletico has struggled virtually only playing on the counter and having some of the "worst" possession stats for a top team in Europe.

 

[do.ob]

Some fans will always find the negatives and then exaggerate them, while ignoring any positives.

3 games into LVG's tenure: LDL, 2 goals scored, 7 goals conceded.
3 games into Jose's tenure: WWW, 7 goals scored, 2 goals conceded.

The difference is night and day.
Anybody who wants to see high possession stats and a toothless attack: watch our games last season and enjoy the borefest which was on display. And I want you to remember the booing, the losses, the drawing, never scoring a goal in the first half and the pathetic excuses from LVG.

After Moyes/LVG, I am thankful for the displays we are putting up under Jose.

Don't be so defensive, I'm not denying that Mourinho has made several steps forward in terms of effectiveness, but I still see some obvious deficits.

 

[Borys]

I thought Shaw was equally good as Valencia, if not better. I love the way they bomb forward each time they get the opportunity.

 

[AR87]

So the the biggest drawback that's been mentioned in this match is how we conceded them space to cross the ball in and I actually think this was a defensive mix up from Mata. It seemed to me that instead of sticking to the zonal marking which Mourinho employed he often reverted back to LVG's man-to-man method and ended up following runners deep into the box to the point where he was often in line with Fellaini and Valencia. This quite often left the top of the box area and the wing on our right exposed and available for them to send crosses in from.

Would not surprise me at all if Mata was dropped in favor of Mkhitaryan for the next match as it seemed their supply of crosses dried up when he came into the game. I need to go back and watch, but that's what it seemed to me.

As far as controlling possession, a major problem is that when Zlatan drops deep to receive the ball only Martial has the pace to be an outlet for him when the other attackers are Rooney and Mata. IMO starting those 2 together will seriously hinder our prowess on the counter. It can only be one or the other and Mata adds a lot more to our attacking than Rooney and I believe his defensive deficiencies (which have more to do with discipline rather than effort) would be less of a liability as a #10 than as an RW.

 

[Gladiator]

We're gonna win the league.

HAHAHAAHA this is pretty much how i felt after Bournemouth but yes

 

[acrebo]

Font size automatically adapts to the size of ones penis

Don't be so absurd.

 

[Carolina Red]

Finally got a chance to watch the whole game on replay today.

I'm just left with a general feeling of after seeing it. It's amazing the difference in our play in such a short time. The way we went at them... It was just lovely.

 

[carlosp]

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=647699655&EditorialProduct=Man Utd

 

[carlosp]

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[sunama]

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=647699655&EditorialProduct=Man Utd

When you have these 2 in your team (and lets not forget DDG in goal)...you know that everything is gonna be just fine.

 

[Sad Chris]

Don't be so absurd.

 

[utdalltheway]

You have to give credit where it's due, Van Gaal has laid some great foundations yet again.

White text?

 

[Vato]

White text?

As if it wasn't obvious without it?

 

[Organic Potatoes]

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That just makes me happy on so many levels...

 

[Yagami]

Good game. It's so surreal seeing Pogba and Zlatan dominating in a United shirt. Long may it continue!

The only complaint I had is how deep we sat whilst Southampton had the ball. I wish we'd press high up the pitch but I'm not going to harp on about it as it's early days.

I was disappointed for Romeu getting another injury so early into the game. It must be so disheartening to experience not only once, but as often as he has, but hopefully Southampton can help him get through this. Hojbjerg's performace was decent. I've always thought he looked a decent player and was impressed by not only his performance, but the interview he gave post match, too. Soton have got themselves a good player in him.

 

[Escobar]

Great to have some attacking power back. Not everything is running perfectly but you have the feeling something big is coming. We were much better on the ball and with a couple of passes we managed to have some space and attack quickly. I also liked how Mata distributed the ball in the first half. Special mention also to Fellaini who never stopped chasing the ball.

I didnt like that we defended so deep, too often everyone was in the box and Southampten was free to cross. But I also thought that Shaw was too aggressive and to high and as a result left way too much space behind him. Blind constantly had to cover.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

Just watched a few post-match reaction and highlights on FM&S and … am I hearing this right?

Are people really saying that Shaw dived (or tripped himself up) for the pen?

Any idiot can see that Classie makes contact with his trailing leg causing it to go behind his planted foot (tripping himself but not purposely).

Was a clear pen for me!

 

[sunama]

You have to give credit where it's due, Van Gaal has laid some great foundations yet again.

White text?

As if it wasn't obvious without it?

There are people in here who truly believe that LVG lays foundations so that the next manager can win the trophies.
There are some in here who feel that Moyes should've been given longer. And that LVG should not have been sacked. They said, "how can you sack a manager how won the FA Cup?"
What you have said is not obvious sarcasm and some may agree with what you originally wrote.

 

[sunama]

Any idiot can see that Classie makes contact with his trailing leg causing it to go behind his planted foot (tripping himself but not purposely).

Was a clear pen for me!

You only have to look at the immediate reaction of Classie to know that he knew it was a penalty.

 

[sunama]

Did anyone have the feeling that Mourinho's United was playing against LVG's United? Southampton had the same sort of pointless passing game in the midfield as we used to play last year.

I did mention this ini the match day thread.
Southampton were not a threat. They did have the ball in the final third, but once they got there, they couldn't do anything with it.
Our players stood off of them when they arrived in the final third because they knew Southampton couldn't do anything with the ball.
Basically they were playing like we played, last season.

 

[sunama]

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Nothing beats this!

Aaaaah.
You like silly hand-shakes?

Before I was born, there was a TV show called Monty Python and they had a segment called, "The Ministry of Silly Walks". That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that silly handshake, only Pogba was not doing that for a comedy show.

 

[Maradona10]

Aaaaah.
You like silly hand-shakes?

Before I was born, there was a TV show called Monty Python and they had a segment called, "The Ministry of Silly Walks". That's the first thing I thought of when I saw that silly handshake, only Pogba was not doing that for a comedy show.

That made me happy, now it looks silly.