[Jippy]

I suppose we mean different things. I think that their chances were due to our mistakes rather then them offering anything. Crouch fouled his way into danger and i doubt we would be set up like this against Aguero, so yeah.

I dunno, I think they workedcthe opportunities reasonably well tbh, barring that weird Jones/Shaw? collision. Hey ho, clean sheet in the end and nice that cnuty Ireland didn't score.

 

[Woodzy]

First half 2 seconds of magic the rest abysmal, second half better but some woeful decision making and finishing. Matic looks totally gassed.

That is an incredibly harsh analysis.

We were good first half and really good in the second.

 

[Jippy]

First half 2 seconds of magic the rest abysmal, second half better but some woeful decision making and finishing. Matic looks totally gassed.

I thought Matic looked solid tbh.

 

[Ramshock]

Pogba bordering on obscene!
One of Lukaku’s best games for us
Martial both brilliant and useless in equal measure!!
Stoke are woeful though, certs to be relegated

How was Martial useless Jamie Carragher?

 

[Ramshock]

First half 2 seconds of magic the rest abysmal, second half better but some woeful decision making and finishing. Matic looks totally gassed.

watching the wrong match

 

[Don Juan Matus]

Did anyone else notice a change in Big Dave's performance tonight? Most of his clearances were played short to the defenders rather than his usual hoof it up to the half way line, tactical change?

 

[Hellboy]

Did anyone else notice a change in Big Dave's performance tonight? Most of his clearances were played short to the defenders rather than his usual hoof it up to the half way line, tactical change?

we were playing Stoke at home not Barcelona ...

 

[GM K]

Good win. 3 cracking goals. Attack and midfield did well. Pogba MOM, but a better finishing side would have got a draw. The middle of defence was shocking at times. We need better options than Smalling and jones paired together.

I assume you are considering the chances they could have scored. But if you assume that, then you have to also consider the chances we could have scored.

 

[mattsville]

Messy 1st half, lucky not to concede, great strikes from Valencia and Martial changed it in our favour, thought we were on the back foot for a lot of the 1st half, their midfield players were getting far too much space, 2nd half we controlled it, Pogba was excellent, Shaw was excellent and looks settled, Lukaku was very good with the ball and looked sharp, Mata was doing my head in, thought he should have been off earlier, not focused over hitting passes and making bad decisions.

 

[All 3 United]

Controlled the game bar a 15 min spell. Great 3 points.

 

[Random Task]

More evidence of that sexy Martial, Pogba and Shaw combination we saw against Everton. Really promising relationship developing between them.

Pogba reminded me of Scholes with his sheer range if passing. He has that same level of confidence in his ability as well. Outstanding tonight.

Dominant performance and one that showed intent.

 

[Trizy]

Thought we didn't take the game serious at times. That's when you're most likely to concede and get a shock result.

Second half much better, less space given in midfield.

Clean sheet and 3 brilliant goals.

 

[dogwithabone]

Routine victory.

 

[saaypundit]

Let's be a bit more objective people.

The general play was poor, as usual.

Individual acts of brilliance did the job against a team who can't defend and lack confidence, as usual.

It's difficult to pick a man of the match out of the attacking players so I chose DDG for two important saves which saved our blushes, as usual.

Mourinho has got a lot to of work do with this team.

 

[WyoManU]

My only complaint is that everything that Mata is supposed to be great at...he isn't. I thought he was woeful. No pace. No aggression. No defense. No ability to pick a pass forward. Can't shoot. Yes, he is a nice guy with a blog, but h isn't what we need in our squad.

 

[TehRed]

DDG - 7 - some good saves, one slight error in the first half but was not punished due to an excellent block from Jones
Valencia - 7.5 - good goal, always provided width as usual although never really crossed the ball in, which hurts Lukaku
Jones - 6.5 - quiet day overall but was caught out along with Smalling on a number of occasions positionally
Smalling - 7 - dragged out of position often in trying to cover Crouch, but he broke forward to press very well
Shaw - 7 - like Valencia, provided width well but never really got the ball into the box. Seems to be fit again
Martial - 8 - goal & assist, good running and dribbling again, didnt track back enough in the 1st half but better in 2nd half
Matic - 6.5 - few good tackles and interceptions, kept the ball moving and passed sensibly, but quiet day overall
Pogba - 8.5 - MOTM with 2 assists, passing and ball control was typically outstanding, his close control was amazing again
Mata - 6.5 - popped up absolutely all over the place, didnt seem to have a fixed position, linked play well
Lingard - 6 - never really seemed to get going, didnt contribute much, just sort of roamed and laid the ball off
Lukaku - 7.5 - did better when he went looking for the ball as he was isolated again with minimal service, did well for his goal

Overall thoughts on the performance:

Stoke could and maybe should have scored at least 3 goals today (two Ireland chances and Diouf chance, maybe the effort blocked by Jones from the poor De Gea clearance too)
Lots of positional problems today - Crouch's movement dragged Smalling around, Valencia and Shaw were so advanced that they were out of positon defensively, Matic was covering Pogba's forward runs alone
Lingard and Mata seemed to roam a lot with no fixed positons, and neither really contributed much in an attacking sense although they did link play centrally
Still a glaring lack of service in to Lukaku especially from wide, all too often just playing the ball up to him for him to hold it up, or expecting him to try and feed off scraps and poor cutbacks
Obvious need for an out and out winger who is willing to cross the ball into Lukaku is still very evident, Mata dropping into central positions leaves Valencia with too much to do
Martial is still looking very sharp and confident, Pogba is bossing the midfield with the ball but still positionally poor without it, Shaw is still improving and finding consistency

 

[Arun Sampath]

16 for lineup and 4 for the score.. happy day overall !

 

[Gusjaros]

I assume you are considering the chances they could have scored. But if you assume that, then you have to also consider the chances we could have scored.

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

 

[AndyMUFC]

Pretty comfortable bar them having a couple of chances in the first half. The second half was a stroll really. Much needed ahead of two tough away games.

 

[stu_1992]

Good result, pleasing football. No complaints from me at all. Pogba looked great all game, I thought, and we scored some very nice goals.

 

[Foxbatt]

My only complaint is that everything that Mata is supposed to be great at...he isn't. I thought he was woeful. No pace. No aggression. No defense. No ability to pick a pass forward. Can't shoot. Yes, he is a nice guy with a blog, but h isn't what we need in our squad.

I agree with you and have been saying this for a long time now. He is all over the place and the biggest problem is that when we have the ball he moves infield all the time and narrows the pitch. He congests an already congested area instead of moving away from the ball and creating space.
He is also so slow and weak he gets pushed off the ball way too easily.

 

[Sarni]

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

What is that? How were Stoke supposed to score 1.5 in the second half?

I thought Stoke were garbage. They had 2-3 chances in the first half that were a result of our bad defending but overall they were very poor.

 

[davidmichael]

Controlled, efficient and solid with touches of spectacular thrown in at stages. I’m loving the left flank with Shaw, Pogba and Martial and at their ages could really be a special combination for years to come.

Think as an all round performance Lukaku was very good and I’m glad he scored as otherwise his all round performance would have been overlooked, Valencia coming back is a big plus as his energy up and down the flank always creates space.

 

[Will Absolute]

Shaw had Shaqiri struggling all game, and offered a bit of support for Martial. Not the best team-play together with Martial who more often opted for going at it himself or going inwards but Shaw was there to have the option of stretching play almost all game while working tirelessly back in defense

Poor Shaw. Making all those gut-busting runs down the left touchline, only for Martial to not even glance in his direction and invariably turn inside!

 

[Gusjaros]

What is that? How were Stoke supposed to score 1.5 in the second half?

I thought Stoke were garbage. They had 2-3 chances in the first half that were a result of our bad defending but overall they were very poor.

The total xG for Stoke was 1.5. In other words Stoke created an expected 1.0 goals by half time (HT), and another 0.5 goals in the second half, giving a total of 1.5 at full-time (FT). I also think Stoke was trash between.

 

[Trizy]

My only complaint is that everything that Mata is supposed to be great at...he isn't. I thought he was woeful. No pace. No aggression. No defense. No ability to pick a pass forward. Can't shoot. Yes, he is a nice guy with a blog, but h isn't what we need in our squad.

Yup, he was easily a 4/10. Absolute shite.

Swap Sanchez for Mata today and we score 4+ goals. Massive upgrade to the team.

 

[Frank Grimes]

Let's be a bit more objective people.

The general play was poor, as usual.

Individual acts of brilliance did the job against a team who can't defend and lack confidence, as usual.

It's difficult to pick a man of the match out of the attacking players so I chose DDG for two important saves which saved our blushes, as usual.

Mourinho has got a lot to of work do with this team.

You'll last long.

 

[Isotope]

Martial seems to be loved by players, which is very nice to see.

 

[koop]

Beautiful performance. The Pogba show, the guy is insane. Lukaku, Martial, Shaw and glimpses of Lingard played well too.
However I don't like Smalling. Against better attackers we would of conceded a couple because of him. We need a beast defender. Vidic standard.

 

[redshaw]

Yeah, Mata on another day could've had a couple of goals or assists.

He can produce magic at times, you can write him off then he'll pop up with some brilliance, then he's back to average for a few weeks.

Pogba was great again. We need him around the box whenever possible. he can give us the disguised pass instead of endless crossing.

 

[Tony Babangida]

Let's be a bit more objective people.

The general play was poor, as usual.

Individual acts of brilliance did the job against a team who can't defend and lack confidence, as usual.

It's difficult to pick a man of the match out of the attacking players so I chose DDG for two important saves which saved our blushes, as usual.

Mourinho has got a lot to of work do with this team.

What a load of nonsense. I don't know how you could watch that game and not enjoy it. We played some good football and scored 3 great goals. Do you expect us to win every game 10-0?

 

[Garethw]

I really enjoyed that. A good, dominating home win.

 

[Class of 63]

Let's be a bit more objective people.

The general play was poor, as usual.

Individual acts of brilliance did the job against a team who can't defend and lack confidence, as usual.

It's difficult to pick a man of the match out of the attacking players so I chose DDG for two important saves which saved our blushes, as usual.

Mourinho has got a lot to of work do with this team.

 

[Robertd0803]

Valencias goal makes me wonder why he hasn't tried it it more often.

Good win now back to refreshing Twitter every few minutes.

 

[Ødegaard]

Poor Shaw. Making all those gut-busting runs down the left touchline, only for Martial to not even glance in his direction and invariably turn inside!

He did give him the ball a few times, but to me it seemed like Martial was more interested in going or passing more centrally.
Still important to get the a man up there so defending against whatever decision Martial takes becomes harder for the defender.

 

[Flytan]

He did give him the ball a few times, but to me it seemed like Martial was more interested in going or passing more centrally.
Still important to get the a man up there so defending against whatever decision Martial takes becomes harder for the defender.

I think it was the gameplan. We didn't loft corners in or anything. We played much more centrally than usual (just look at Valencia's goal lmao) to combat Stoke's size.

 

[Ødegaard]

I think it was the gameplan. We didn't loft corners in or anything. We played much more centrally than usual (just look at Valencia's goal lmao) to combat Stoke's size.

Probably. I just wanted to note that Shaw came up and supported the attack, which I personally have felt has limited Martials and Rashfords output from the left until Youngs recent form and Shaw returning. I'm happy with it.

 

[DCP]

Look at the xG stats.

Half time
Man Utd: 0.3
Stoke 1.0

Full Time
Man Utd 2.0
Stoke 1.5

Man Utd was very efficient tonight, especially the first half. Two goals out of an expected 0.3 goals is just ridiculous.

xG is one of the worst new coefficients to out of the stats-brigade. If you look at the xG league table, it's just doesn't make sense and you would expect is to average out about right.

 

[The Mad Manc]

Maybe my favourite Lukaku performance so far. Just perfect with pretty much every touch.

Aye, I thought he played really well. He had to come deeper to get a touch of the ball because our service to him, especially from wide areas, is non-existent at the moment. That needs fixing. Quick.

 

[Needham]

3 - 0 is my favorite scoreline. Always sounds like a classy monstering. Also it was Jose's numerical way of winking at Sanchez. "This way my baby for goals and 75,000 ovating you."

 

[Pearl of Wisdom]

Beautiful performance. The Pogba show, the guy is insane. Lukaku, Martial, Shaw and glimpses of Lingard played well too.
However I don't like Smalling. Against better attackers we would of conceded a couple because of him. We need a beast defender. Vidic standard.

Someone like Bailey?
I think lindeloff was looking the part too, just before the Dubai break