[Roman Bellic]

Mane looked like a world beater compared to any of our attacking players today.

In the league this season*

 

[Member 5115]

Then in attack Depay is very promising but not ready to be as important as we need him to be. Again feels like we needed to bring in a more established attacker for the start of the season.

It is a head scratcher for sure, we needed to give him time to settle in and adapt to a higher level of play. LvG isn't doing him any favors here.

 

[LazyRed-Ninja]

It's not the defeat, it's the manner of the defeat that is so worrying.

LVG just looks clueless.

We are in big trouble. Top 4 is not a certainty.

Ahh dont tell me that is what you have been dying to state since the start of the league ?

 

[An Irish Red]

Yeah and even when we didn't manage to get the late goals you could be sure the last 15 minutes would have consisted of us camped outside their box absolutely bombarding them, with the opposition hanging on for dear life. Looking at us now it's just sad.

Exactly, whether we scored or not you knew we would at least create chances and it would be nervy for our opponents.

As it turned out we needed three goals to beat Swansea today. Could anyone here really see us scoring three at Swansea? because I sure can't.

 

[Red Dreams]

we have 6 games in September. Better pull up our socks...or we will be out of the CL, league cup and out of touch with City even this early.

 

[prateik]

Wait.. Rooney is rated at 2.7... who is rating him higher than 1? Playing with 10 would have been a better option.. He didnt do a single thing right today..

 

[jem]

I know we've been scarred by the whole Moyes saga, and that United requires a certain kind of manager, but Garry Monk is very impressive. He gets his tactics and transfers spot on, and he just oozes confidence in his post-match interviews.

 

[vidic blood & sand]

When ? That was our 6th game this season and the manager insists he doesn't need anymore signings.

Some of you are going to get real wake up calls this year.

He's saying this probably because the players he wants he can't get.
Everyone knows we need a better defender than Blind, and a decent striker, but if they're not available, it is what it is.

 

[GE]

Nev is really unleashing frustration on Sky about United. He's absolutely spot on too. Exactly how the supporters feel.

It's sad watching us in this state.

 

[Enigma_87]

Transfer window is almost over, we have Romero as number 1, Blind as a center back and only Rooney and Depay to rely on goals. Pretty much top 4 is the maximum we can get this season.

And, no it's not based on 4 games, but on what we have as resources at the club and what will happen if some injury occurs to some of our attacking outlet.

 

[Moriarty]

Played well in patches but once we went ahead we lost all semblance of shape. Smalling was good but badly let down by blind and Shaw on the left side. Schweiny is good whilst he can run but that's only about 25 mins it would seem

What annoyed me most was how naive we were after the goal, I was screaming at the TV to just keep the ball for 5-10mins to weather the inevitable push from Swansea but instead we kept bombing forward. The amount of time and space Swansea had for their goals was ridiculous and totally against what we apparently are nowadays ie solid and cautious. Romero wtf. Shaw was good coming forward but both goals came down his side whilst he was miles up the pitch.

Rooney seems to think he's allowed to take all fecking day to get his shot away, even when behind and at the death

I'm annoyed

Good points. Shaw was seriously exposed but whose fault is that? Memphis doesn't track back which means that Blind has to cover the space behind Shaw. That's never going to work. We have been crying out for a centre half to partner Smalling (remember Hummels?) but Blind has been put there instead. Up top, we are lightweight. If we have to rely on Fellaini for goals, we're going to be disappointed. He'll score a few but he won't weigh in with a real striker's tally.

The De Gea business is the most annoying aspect of all this. You'd put money on him stopping that second goal and maybe even their first. At the end of last season, when it was clear to every man and his dog that De Gea wanted away, Van Gaal should have brought in a new goalie. Romero has done well enough so far but was exposed today. Schweini is doing well but the sheer pace of the English game has caught him a bit on the hop. But, pro that he is, I'll back him to get this right. Schneiderlin is making a big difference but he can't play in three places at once, and neither can Darmian.

The weaknesses in the side are there for all to see. Whether Van Gaal acts is anyone's guess but I hope he does.

 

[devil in me]

The same Neville who kept saying we have the best defensive unit in the league? Yeah.. I can be wise after the fact too.

We do have the best defensive unit in the league. He was talking about our attacking play and he was spot on.

 

[Reynoldo]

Time to start splashing the cash, we aren't getting the likes of bale or neymar but throw stupid money at the likes of griezmann or reus. We simply need more than what we have right now.

 

[Ixion]

Loads of people were arguing we had a great transfer window as well.

 

[Question234]

Our new nr 7 can't hide away like he did today. It's not the first time either, and he's played like 5 or 6 real games tops.

What do you expect ?

He was always going to need time to adjust and it's more than two games, like i said it doesn't help that he's become the main man for something magic so early on.

 

[Infra-red]

5 behind City already.

City aren't the benchmark though, they'll finish miles ahead of us. It's a battle for top 4 again this season.

 

[prateik]

We do have the best defensive unit in the league. He was talking about our attacking play and he was spot on.

We do? The league is in serious trouble then

 

[Untied]

Great analysis from Neville and Carragher. His criticism of our "controlled possession" before winning the game is spot on. Frustrating to watch.

 

[JustAFan]

Here's a question of the curreny squad and staff who will still be at the club when we become actual contenders again?

 

[An Irish Red]

Once Swansea scored I knew we were finished. That's probably how the players felt too. Belief all gone.

Same. We just don't have the goals in us that we used to.

 

[Sandikan]

Loads of people were arguing we had a great transfer window as well.

did anyone say great? I think everyone was concerned at the attacking side of things.

That's why all this "Chica going, we must be bringing a striker in" optimism should be tempered with the fact we thought exactly that with VP and Falcao

 

[mu77]

I never expressed any opinion on our football? It was a fecking piss take about the impending implosion. Don't take life so seriously, dude. Yes, we are utter wank at the moment and the shit on a stick being served up on a weekly basis isn't acceptable.

i agree . i do take life seriously and look to football as a get away if you will. we looked and have looked clueless for a while. can LVG get it sorted? less than a goal a match. i used to look forward to the build up and we just don't look like a united football club. now that i posted that we'll win the european cup.

 

[Jaapster]

In reference to people saying we wont make the top four, Bollocks we are more than good enough to get that or maybe 3rd .

we need a striker ! or at least have someone on the bench who can actually play that position (chicaritos going) Jesse lingaard and james wilson could not have been any worse than what we had on the pitch tonight.

 

[Revan]

We do have the best defensive unit in the league. He was talking about our attacking play and he was spot on.

We don't.

 

[Nathan]

Let's be honest we were poor today. I expected a much improved performance, yes we dominated possession but our build up play was slow.
Memphis was pretty poor as was schweinstiger who slowed the play down. We never got the ball forward quick enough.

LVG said we couldn't change with the shape of Swansea.

We didn't control the game, the goalkeeper should have saved that shot from Gomis.

Ideal platform to get closer to city, now we missed the opportunity.

Rooney had chances and we didn't have the luck

 

[ivaldo]

Two or three good passes, some of them being created by brilliant runs in the first place, don't make it a great performance, I'm sorry.

When someone could've walked away from a game with 3 assists, you can't question their creativity, you question the finishing, that's fairly obvious.

 

[Sandikan]

it's the worst time to lose a game, with a 2 week international break.

you just have too much time boiling over it

 

[Question234]

He's saying this probably because the players he wants he can't get.
Everyone knows we need a better defender than Blind, and a decent striker, but if they're not available, it is what it is.

it's really not though.

You can't be letting players like Otamendi and pedro go to rivals because they don't fit a profile no one has a clue about and then go into a season with issues.

 

[legball]

I think most of us are clutching at straws, the truth is, whatever LVG is trying to do with this team is clearly not working! Swansea play possession football, but how many touches do they take? Their players are moving freely, they take 1 touch, and pass the ball with the next, our players take 4-5-6 touches, brew a cup of coffee over the ball, take a sip, then knock it back to Romero, who then takes 2-3 touches, and knocks it out to Darmian, then to Smalling, then to Schneiderlin, it's too slow, it's lacking in penetraton and ultimately it's too predictable and easy to defend against, principal factor? Louis Van Gaal.

 

[Al-T]

Hope to goodness we're NOT selling De Gea to the Waiter after watching that. Significant improvement across the board needed before we play Liverpool.

Before that, of course, International week and the chance for our players to get injured or knackered. If Rojo has to fly back to Argentina, we probably won't see him again before Christmas.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Romero - Showed his level at the first instance of pressure on him. Defenders commit mistakes and it takes a good keepr to save the day.
Defenders - Overall ok. Shaw was the best of the lot.
Schs - Schneiderlin made his first mistakes in our shirt and we paid. Schweini ok. Nothing great.
Mata - One of the better players in the attack. Should have put certain chances away
Herrera - Average to decent performance
Memphis - Absolutely pointless. Does not bring anything to the team. His physique and his speed are put better to use by taking on defenders or at least taking defenders away with him. Just shows no desire and is busy claiming fouls for every nudge.
Rooney - Another garbage performance. No longer has the ability to put away half chances. And heavy touch and losing the
ball. Very quickly running out of excuses.
LvG - Young is useless on right. If we want to bring on Young, it is better we pack Memphis who hardly deserves a 90 min chance in this team

Overall gutted at performance.

PS: Overall, it reads like a knee jerk reaction. Maybe I will feel different tomorrow. But I am appalled at how we throw away matches and overall lack of desire to come back.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

I listened to a pretty interesting opinion on one of the guardian podcasts the other night that seemed to highlight part of our problem upfront, mainly rooneys seeming inability to make things tick upfront for us in this system.

some ex-striker gave the opinion that he would have struggled to play in todays game because the difference in playing in a 2 upfront compared to being the sole striker is enormous. and the 2 roles require completely different types of skillsets, as when playing in a 2 you can get away with a lack of certain characteristics if the other forward has it etc, whereas to be effective as the lone striker you need to be somewhat of the "complete" forward like a drogba/benteke/diego costa/lewandowski, or a absolute best in the world aguero/messi talent.

I just dont think, in this day and age and the way football has changed tactically, Current rooney can be the man we need upfront to hold the ball up, be a physical presence at set pieces and get others into play. He's a good finisher, longrange shooting and can pass the ball well, but he hasn't got the attributes we need in this system.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Once Swansea scored I knew we were finished. That's probably how the players felt too. Belief all gone.

I went out of room and came back in and it was 1-1. I was hoping against hope that we had gone behind and then equalised. When I realised it was the other way round I knew we were done for. The our glorious goalie comes into play.

 

[Ash_G]

It is a head scratcher for sure, we needed to give him time to settle in and adapt to a higher level of play. LvG isn't doing him any favors here.

I think if we had signed Pedro or another established player then we could have eased him in rather than essentially elevated him to ou main creative soark.

I think it would help the it we had more of a game plan in attack. It feels more like a lets see what happens rather than a game plan built around the players we have.

 

[Krovv]

Your fullbacks were exposed after you scored today. Once you get that one-goal lead away from home, might be a better idea not to bomb forward at every opportunity? Some of the defending was downright comical today.

 

[Hitchcocker]

City aren't the benchmark though, they'll finish miles ahead of us. It's a battle for top 4 again this season.

Thankfully only four teams competing for those spots this season (realistically)

 

[redhoop]

I think most of us are clutching at straws, the truth is, whatever LVG is trying to do with this team is clearly not working! Swansea play possession football, but how many touches do they take? Their players are moving freely, they take 1 touch, and pass the ball with the next, our players take 4-5-6 touches, brew a cup of coffee over the ball, take a sip, then knock it back to Romero, who then takes 2-3 touches, and knocks it out to Darmian, then to Smalling, then to Schneiderlin, it's too slow, it's lacking in penetraton and ultimately it's too predictable and easy to defend against, principal factor? Louis Van Gaal.

This exactly - while they might not be world-beaters, Swansea were so much more direct in attack than us. Controlled possession is great but too much of ours at present doesn't feel purposeful at all.

 

[Wayne's World]

How sad is it to hear a fecking Swansea City manager saying "we weren't at our best but managed to win"

That's how far we have fallen.....

 

[sunama]

Some people are saying that we defended badly. I will grant you this.
But should it be the case that if a team score 2 goals against us, that we concede defeat?
Under Fergie, if our opponent scores 2, we aim to score 3 or 4.
Right now, we can only score 1 goal in a game...if we are lucky.

Someone needs to tell LVG, either you drop Rooney or you will end up losing your job...make a choice.

 

[devil in me]

We do? The league is in serious trouble then

I would say so yeah, we've conceded less goals than anyone in the past 8 months or so. There's nothing wrong with us defensively as a unit, it's our static 'attack' that's the problem.