[Wumminator]

Who was better than Young today? Was always available put in some good crosses and won the ball back. Welbeck, jones, blacker were better than him. That's it.

 

[Livewire1974]

More players will arrive eventually and we will keep improving.

Stay calm.

Its difficult to stay calm after watching that rubbish. The football was slow and predictable, however for me the action on the bench was non existent. We were not seeing any leadership from the management team. Remember the days of SAF where he would be out on the touchline urging the players forward for the final 10 minutes to get a winner? We saw none of that today. Overall, we are beginning to look like a very stale club.

 

[Agent Red]

Name me a squad who could cope with the amount of injuries we have, im not talking about squad injuries, but regular starters. There isn't a team on the planet.
And before anybody says Real Madrid, Chelsea, City or anyone else for that matter, no, they wouldn't. They might cope better but they would still struggle.

A more credible argument if we hadn't played at this level for all of last season. I know we had injury troubles then, but form issues were/are clearly the biggest problem.

 

[crappycraperson]

Wait, what? Is this real?

He was asked about Di Maria. He said the club would announce it. Then he was asked if he would like a player like Maria in the team. He said ofcourse he wants to sign top players and said he would love a Messi as well and Vidal too.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

I think he said he likes Vidal, not that we would like to sign him..But wouldnt take too much of that comment whatsoever.

 

[crappycraperson]

I think he said he likes Vidal, not that we would like to sign him..But wouldnt take too much of that comment whatsoever.

Not to bring transfer muppetery in here but it was telling that he named Vidal after Messi. As throw away big names he could have used Ronaldo or Iniesta, adding Vidal in there was cheeky. Tease

 

[The Red Thinker]

Van Gaal was asked if he liked Di Maria: "Yea... but I like Messi also. I like Vidal. So... "

In my opinion this dispels the notion that he isn't rated by LVG. There were a lot of reports saying that Vidal was never part of our plans. The last time our manager said he liked someone, we bought him for £63.9m. Read into that what you will.

 

[Getsme]

A more credible argument if we hadn't played at this level for all of last season. I know we had injury troubles then, but form issues were/are clearly the biggest problem.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that we need fixing, but we are nowhere near as bad as some on here would want you to believe. We had virtually half a team missing today, not only that but the the teams injuries are in the worst possible areas.
We need fixing, of that there is no doubt, however today's performance doesn't give a real picture of where we are.

 

[m1y2]

Its difficult to stay calm after watching that rubbish. The football was slow and predictable, however for me the action on the bench was non existent. We were not seeing any leadership from the management team. Remember the days of SAF where he would be out on the touchline urging the players forward for the final 10 minutes to get a winner? We saw none of that today. Overall, we are beginning to look like a very stale club.

Agreed, this could give our players a boost in confidence. as well as Captaining - Rooney looks like a similar option to Carrick, why cant he just go by example give somebody a roasting or encourage them, they all look shy as our captain..

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Not to bring transfer muppetery in here but it was telling that he named Vidal after Messi. As throw away big names he could have used Ronaldo or Iniesta, adding Vidal in there was cheeky. Tease

To the Vidal thread!

It has been dying for a while.

 

[Yorkeontop]

We'll be fine in defense. Rafael,Shaw and Evans are injured plus we have Rojo now. As for the midfield,dont get me started!

 

[Badunk]

Who was better than Young today? Was always available put in some good crosses and won the ball back. Welbeck, jones, blacker were better than him. That's it.

What good crosses? What game were you watching?

 

[simonhch]

Its difficult to stay calm after watching that rubbish. The football was slow and predictable, however for me the action on the bench was non existent. We were not seeing any leadership from the management team. Remember the days of SAF where he would be out on the touchline urging the players forward for the final 10 minutes to get a winner? We saw none of that today. Overall, we are beginning to look like a very stale club.

Oh come on. Emotions are running high, I know.... So I'm not going to go in too hard on this. But the work is done and the games are won on the training ground. You just need the players to do what they've been taught. Managers waiving their arms on the touch line doesn't win games. Van Gaal is a cerebral coach.

 

[Raoul]

Generally a shit performance because we lacked midfield quality, an inform striker, and better defenders. Much of this will be fixed when Herrera and Carrick return and RvP has another match or two under his belt, not to mention some fella named Di Maria.

 

[pascell]

Di Maria isn't going to make much difference in this team because it simply has no spine and severely lacks aggression.

 

[Ralph1386]

With Fletcher, Valencia and Cleverley this was kind of expected. I hope to god we at least buy one midfielder this week.

 

[Badunk]

Di Maria isn't going to make much difference in this team because it simply has no spine and severely lacks aggression.

I agree.

RVP isn't making any difference.
Rooney isn't making any difference.
Mata isn't making any difference.

Nobody is. The lack of confidence is astounding. I expect Rooney, club captain, to be going fecking apeshit at the likes of Cleverley and Fletcher, but he's hiding like the rest of them. Stick Di Maria in this team and all that'll happen is that he'll turn to shit as well.

 

[m1y2]

Don't get me wrong, I agree that we need fixing, but we are nowhere near as bad as some on here would want you to believe. We had virtually half a team missing today, not only that but the the teams injuries are in the worst possible areas.
We need fixing, of that there is no doubt, however today's performance doesn't give a real picture of where we are.

we struggled from the minute one, yes we have a lot of players injured but should we be keeping our back-up players who were not capable being a match to the likes of cattermole? This is shameful. I defended Cleverley a lot thru his career and Fletcher was my favourite player, and he was my favourite player but if he cant handle 50minutes of football against sunderland.. what a poor performance, we don't need to spend that much, we just need to get rid of some players first and give a chance to youth, they are atleast young and we would benefit from it in the seasons coming. It is pointelss playing 30yO fletch who only get worse(can he be even worse?) and cleverley whose potntial was so overrated and is no better payer than Gibson. Pearson could at least get the game thicking and he could RUN! Rohwell as well whoever bring him on. It surely was a sign of desperation when Januzaj came on to play as CM.. it is that bad

 

[vibe]

Di Maria isn't going to make much difference in this team because it simply has no spine and severely lacks aggression.

A bit knee jerk, that comment. The team doesn't lack spine, it's just injured. Our best CM in pre-season - injured. Our best CB - injured. Our most inspiring young signing - injured. Our veteran CM - injured. Our best striker - off fitness. Di Maria's going to make a hell load of a difference. I expect if we see all of Herrera, Shaw, Carrick and Evans on the pitch, a front line of van Persie, Di Maria, Mata and Rooney will demolish defences.

 

[FromTheBench]

I liked the Last 40 minutes in terms of control. Much better.

 

[Someone]

Plenty of good players in this team playing below their standards because of this dysfunctional midfield, we don't have anyone in midfield capable of controlling the tempo and pushing the play forward, we needed someone to make us tick today and it's amazing we still don't have him.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

The lack of speed in our passing is the problem

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

Mata does very little as a 10 currently, for me.

 

[Amadaeus]

I agree.

RVP isn't making any difference.
Rooney isn't making any difference.
Mata isn't making any difference.

Nobody is. The lack of confidence is astounding. I expect Rooney, club captain, to be going fecking apeshit at the likes of Cleverley and Fletcher, but he's hiding like the rest of them. Stick Di Maria in this team and all that'll happen is that he'll turn to shit as well.

I agree, Rooney is supposed to be our captain and he did not inspire the team with any confidence. Could you imagine Keane playing alongside the likes of cleverley and fletcher and not going apeshit over their performance? It looks like the team has gone back to the friendly environment we had under Moyes were everyone is just happy to be playing on the pitch.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

There seems to be no plan to our game play. Under SAF we moaned about getting it wide and getting crosses in, but at least we scored a lot of goals as we often flooded the box.

I'm not expecting Van Gaal to pull up any trees because he did say it would take time, and I understand that, but at the moment we seem to be a bit void of ideas. Hopefully it will change when we get our full team back.

 

[Will Singh]

Van Gaal was asked if he liked Di Maria: "Yea... but I like Messi also. I like Vidal. So... "

In my opinion this dispels the notion that he isn't rated by LVG. There were a lot of reports saying that Vidal was never part of our plans. The last time our manager said he liked someone, we bought him for £63.9m. Read into that what you will.

To the Vidal thread then, time to go full on muppetry

 

[Livewire1974]

Oh come on. Emotions are running high, I know.... So I'm not going to go in too hard on this. But the work is done and the games are won on the training ground. You just need the players to do what they've been taught. Managers waiving their arms on the touch line doesn't win games. Van Gaal is a cerebral coach.

Two awful performances in our first 2 games indicates to me that whatever is being done in training is not working very well. We need to get a top 4 finish and we are already under serious pressure.

 

[thejtrain]

Mata does very little as a 10 currently, for me.

I have a similar feeling, not just as a #10, but on the whole. Today, he was our best player though, which isn't saying much.

 

[The Red Thinker]

To the Vidal thread then, time to go full on muppetry

Almost time. It took approximately 2 days after Rojo, before Di Maria stuff started spouting everywhere. I think by Wednesday, according to my highly unproven theory, we should see Vidal news popping up.

 

[simonhch]

Two awful performances in our first 2 games indicates to me that whatever is being done in training is not working very well. We need to get a top 4 finish and we are already under serious pressure.

Take a deep breath mate. If you think training isn't working based on two matches (and a heinous injury list), then I feel any logical argument will be wasted on you.

 

[Number7]

Thought we were promised a clear out? I find it frustrating that the likes of Young, Valencia and Cleverley are starting for us. I feel sorry for Cleverley though as he's just a rnk average squad player who's been put into the firing line. Dwight Yorke was right, our players have no bollocks and shouldnt be playing for this club.

 

[RuudTom83]

I was watching on a stream so it is always harder to judge the performance when the connection is dying every 5 mins.

I hoped to see a pattern developing and an assured performance but it appeared to be the same kind of performance the team has been putting in every week since SAF retired.

But to be fair the team had more injuries today! than in the first week! so to expect a better performance might be asking to much until the senior players return.

I hope LVG has Rojo and Di Maria available next week at least.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I think he said he likes Vidal, not that we would like to sign him..But wouldnt take too much of that comment whatsoever.

Why bring up Vidal though, he could have said any player? If was saying someone, until all this speculation, Vidal wouldn't come into my mind.

 

[Nytram Shakes]

A bit knee jerk, that comment. The team doesn't lack spine, it's just injured. Our best CM in pre-season - injured. Our best CB - injured. Our most inspiring young signing - injured. Our veteran CM - injured. Our best striker - off fitness. Di Maria's going to make a hell load of a difference. I expect if we see all of Herrera, Shaw, Carrick and Evans on the pitch, a front line of van Persie, Di Maria, Mata and Rooney will demolish defences.

its not a knee jerk comment, at the start of the summer we said we needed a strong center back and a mobile center defensive midfilder with some bite(to be honest weve been saying this for years) so why is it knee jerk that where still saying it when we havnt bought these players

 

[Loublaze]

Who would you have played in place of them? No one can seem to answer this

@Will Singh I guess thats that. No one has answered this question so far.

 

[Orton]

Phil Jones "We need to keep working. We will evaluate the game tomorrow and we'll go again"

Oh Phil

 

[Cletus]

Di Maria isn't going to make much difference in this team because it simply has no spine and severely lacks aggression.

My hope is that if all remains as is, Di Maria can hog the ball and run with it mercurially creating chances on his own, leaving us not relying on that impotent passing. I know it's a lot to ask...

Valencia had acres of room to take on Van Aarnholt; after one success, why did he quit? I hope it was fitness rather than mentality.

 

[Escobar]

Again, no real chances created in 90 mins

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

What kills us is Mata, our main playmaker is creating very little, and his lack of pace combined with the slow passing and lack of aggresion behind him made for a toxic combo today. So much of the ball, yet so little being created. As of now, we need to sign pace in midfield, or try powell and Kagawa as a pair till Herrara returns.

 

[Orton]

Thought we were promised a clear out? I find it frustrating that the likes of Young, Valencia and Cleverley are starting for us. I feel sorry for Cleverley though as he's just a rnk average squad player who's been put into the firing line. Dwight Yorke was right, our players have no bollocks and shouldnt be playing for this club.

Valencia and Cleverley got new contracts, god knows why, and god knows who offered them.