[manufanatic]

A half decent forward would have got Herrera's ball.

I agree mate

 

[diarm]

A point I meant to make earlier but forgot in my frustration at how the match went... the bloody black shorts curse struck again.
I get that we can't wear white ones if the other team are but next year can we have some alternatives in a different colour please?

 

[Litch]

Wasn't that bad and the quality of our passing was of an high quality. The problems is always when your on top but don't score. We simply can't rely on Rooney. That's not to say he's finished just it's impossible the burden should be on one forward. That's gonna be the same for all the top teams that basically are going to be over reliant on one forward. Shame our only forward is way behind the other teams. If we swapped Rooney for Gomes, we'd have won today....

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I agree mate

A half decent goalie would have not conceded either. The fact that LvG has said in his press conference that he has solved the DDG problem by signing Sergio Romero. I want to cry.

 

[manufanatic]

A half decent goalie would have not conceded either. The fact that LvG has said in his press conference that he has solved the DDG problem by signing Sergio Romero. I want to cry.

I agree again

 

[Triple.Threat]

 

[Insanity]

Don't get me wrong, I think there is a place for Fellaini, but not as a last ditch striker. You need a player like him to mix it up in the penalty area and around the box, even if it's just to draw away defenders. You've got to have a poacher on there to take advantage of the confusion he creates. Maybe Hernandez could have filled that role today but we lost that chance when we subbed on Carrick.

It was so obvious that is what we were going to do. If I could bet my house on it, I would have.

The bold part confuses me every time this happens. If we want him as a target man and hoof it to him, then we should have players near him to take advantage of him bringing the ball down, but most of time we have no one near him. The opposition put players on him and they keep clearing the ball. It's mind boggling.

The fact that he thinks that is all Fellaini can do. He is pretty good with his feet. Ok bring Young on but leave Herrera on, so the play is not one dimensional. He is doing Fellaini a disservice.

Don't get the point of replacing a DM with another DM when we are chasing the game. Herrera should be the one moving back and Fellaini should replace Basti instead of Schneiderlin. It's pretty baffling, tbh.

 

[manufanatic]

Haha, it's always relative isn't it? What happened today was rather odd given that you hadn't conceded in three games. Shaw was out of position for both goals.

And I thought Morgan should have been protecting the defence better. Was rather disappointing to see Swansea waltzing around the United midfield with some slick passing. You can't allow a player of Ayew's quality that much time to pick a pass.

Fair enough but why is ayew so great now wasn't he signed for free he played well and was the mom for sure.

 

[Rich_H_1989]

In part... The biggest disappointment was that it wasn't unexpected! I thought today a win would have been a great result, a draw a good result and a defeat unsurprising.

Is that where this club stands now? In years gone by a narrow victory would have been "meh that's alright I guess".

Today LVG failed to change his tactics from the start. On Wednesday we looked good when Bruge came at us and we got in behind. So why when playing a team that likes to have the ball did we not sit and hit them the same way? Risky maybe as they have quality but better than how it's been.

I guess you can't blame him for bringing on Fellaini, at least that changed our approach but then it became hoofball. But he did it too late in the day.

We need a striker and we need a winger!

Someone earlier made that point that we've spent all this money and still lack goals. That just isn't good enough. Has the squad been improved? Yes but for the money spent not by enough.

 

[Florida Man]

In part... The biggest disappointment was that it wasn't unexpected! I thought today a win would have been a great result, a draw a good result and a defeat unsurprising.

Is that where this club stands now? In years gone by a narrow victory would have been "meh that's alright I guess".

Today LVG failed to change his tactics from the start. On Wednesday we looked good when Bruge came at us and we got in behind. So why when playing a team that likes to have the ball did we not sit and hit them the same way? Risky maybe as they have quality but better than how it's been.

I guess you can't blame him for bringing on Fellaini, at least that changed our approach but then it became hoofball. But he did it too late in the day.

We need a striker and we need a winger!

Someone earlier made that point that we've spent all this money and still lack goals. That just isn't good enough. Has the squad been improved? Yes but for the money spent not by enough.

From what I saw, we were resorting to hoofball way before Fellaini came on

 

[LitterBug]

Effectively a replay of last season's fixture, so so frustrating. United took the lead, looked in control but let it slip, conceding two soft goals.

Good play by Shaw setup Mata for the opening goal early in the second-half and United were pressing for a second goal when Swansea hit them on the break to equalise through Ayew. Five minutes later the home side got in behind United again, Gomis beating Romero with a soft shot to make it 2:1.

United huffed and puffed in the last 20 minutes, looking for an equaliser, but never really testing Fabianski. Rooney had a glorious chance late on but was too slow to shoot and Williams tackled.

That's three defeats on the trot against Swansea and a familiar story to last season really. Not good.

You know things have really gone to shit when Niall actually writes a long post in the post match OP!

Frustrating doesn't even begin to describe it. I wish I hadn't gone to so much fecking trouble to follow the game now.

How the hell are we supposed to score when we're chasing the game with our backs to goal. Rooney reveives the ball with loads of soace behind him with his back against the goal and instead of playing a dummy and letting it run, he controls it and sends it back where it came from.

This mentality, philosophy, forfecksakeophy, of pass the ball and the space will come might be somewhat effective in the early stages of the game with loads of time ahead but it doesn't fecking work in the dying minutes of the game.

There is absolutely no urgecy about us. Instead of whipping the ball forward in the box and everywhere we can, we're passing it around and getting the centre backs in the game when they should be in the fecking box trying to get a goal in.

If we sell De Gea and don't buy a striker in 48 hours not only should we be forgetting the title, we will be struggling for top 4 again.

 

[Bilbo]

Doom and gloom after a defeat but I still believe van Gaal is putting together a great team. I don't think he'll see the fruits though if he only stays the three years.

Put the Rooney, Ronaldo & Tevez front three in this team and I think we seriously challenge for the lot, but it will take another two transfer windows before we have a dominant attacking unit.

Mata is not working on the right side. Not his fault - it isn't his position, but we are toothless down that side of the pitch. I'd even put Valencia back in there until we can find a better option. Depay was very disappointing today also.

The boredom factor is becoming a major problem for me. I can't help but be a little excited by what I think van Gaal is putting together here, but by god I hope it doesn't take too long. I miss Sir Alex

 

[Rich_H_1989]

From what I saw, we were resorting to hoofball way before Fellaini came on

I don't think we played hoofball but we did send pointless, aimless and utter rubbish crosses in to the box.

How the hell are we supposed to score when we're chasing the game with our backs to goal. Rooney reveives the ball with loads of soace behind him with his back against the goal and instead of playing a dummy and letting it run, he controls it and sends it back where it came from.

This mentality, philosophy, forfecksakeophy, of pass the ball and the space will come might be somewhat effective in the early stages of the game with loads of time ahead but it doesn't fecking work in the dying minutes of the game.

There is absolutely no urgecy about us. Instead of whipping the ball forward in the box and everywhere we can, we're passing it around and getting the centre backs in the game when they should be in the fecking box trying to get a goal in.

Superbly summarised mate! Gary Neville said after the game that we play from the off like we are 3/4-0 up. There's no urgency to our play it's just all about control. And when you are winning games 1-0 that's fine but when we have to chase the game we don't have the answers.

Rooney doesn't get in behind, Memphis needs to vary his play more and Mata is never on the wing.

This whole process nonsense needs to stop. I heard a guy make a good point on 606 this evening about our tempo / pace. Every season the pace of the league seems to get faster... Yet we seem to get slower.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

You do realise that after the international we might end up with only Herrera and Young fit. Carrick if he doesn't get called up.

 

[marlowe78]

Doom and gloom after a defeat but I still believe van Gaal is putting together a great team. I don't think he'll see the fruits though if he only stays the three years.

Put the Rooney, Ronaldo & Tevez front three in this team and I think we seriously challenge for the lot, but it will take another two transfer windows before we have a dominant attacking unit.

Mata is not working on the right side. Not his fault - it isn't his position, but we are toothless down that side of the pitch. I'd even put Valencia back in there until we can find a better option. Depay was very disappointing today also.

The boredom factor is becoming a major problem for me. I can't help but be a little excited by what I think van Gaal is putting together here, but by god I hope it doesn't take too long. I miss Sir Alex

It will all be for naught, because if we continue playing this way, he will be gotten rid of and the new manager will try to put his own imprint on the team and completely reorganize it. For all of the good signings he's made - which to me are purely due to his past cache - he has the squad in shackles and doesn't get the most of their abilities.

 

[Witchking]

Got 11/11 and all subs correct. Silver lining and all that.

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Van Gaalacticos]

I'll be honest I was one of the lucky few who watched the game pissed and don't know who to vote MotM and what a fair player ratings would be, can someone help me out?

I sat there as I lost a tenner and a pal won money on the game too. Absolutely devvo'd.

 

[Bilbo]

It will all be for naught, because if we continue playing this way, he will be gotten rid of and the new manager will try to put his own imprint on the team and completely reorganize it. For all of the good signings he's made - which to me are purely due to his past cache - he has the squad in shackles and doesn't get the most of their abilities.

It's always been said that great teams are built from the back. There is no doubt for me that we are a much stronger unit in the first two thirds of the pitch.

Unfortunately it will only be through significant investment that we bring the final third up to speed. We need game changers. What we have are a bunch of tidy footballers that know how to control possession but can't really hurt the opposition.

 

[Bilbo]

I'll be honest I was one of the lucky few who watched the game pissed and don't know who to vote MotM and what a fair player ratings would be, can someone help me out?

I sat there as I lost a tenner and a pal won money on the game too. Absolutely devvo'd.

IMO our best players were Shaw, Schweinsteiger and Smalling - in that order.

 

[Tyrion]

I only saw most of the second half because I was watching Dublin vs Mayo but I was shocked at how poor our basics were when we were behind. Simple passes went nowhere, crosses went over the box and we seemed to have no ideas other than to kick it into the box (poorly).

Young has been much improved under LVG but he is not going to make a big difference in really tight games and I don't think Rooney can anymore either. He has been too slow 3 different times afaik when he is through on goal and is poor on the ball. Memphis has been good but is 21 and new to the league so can't be relied on every week. Our midfield is good on paper but seems sluggish, maybe because of our problems up front and them being new to the team.

All of our games so far have been a little bit of a chore for me. Our tactics seem to be a weakness, not a strength. I do think we will improve and get top 4 again but we should be better than this at this stage of LVGs reign.

 

[Rich_H_1989]

Doom and gloom after a defeat but I still believe van Gaal is putting together a great team. I don't think he'll see the fruits though if he only stays the three years.

Put the Rooney, Ronaldo & Tevez front three in this team and I think we seriously challenge for the lot, but it will take another two transfer windows before we have a dominant attacking unit.

I don't think many would disagree with what I've highlighted from your post. But that's 3 world class players short of competing. OK we have one of them but it's pretty clear he isn't the same player from that brilliant trio.

Van Gaal may be building a quality team / squad... But the style he is instilling isn't getting the best out of the players and I'm not convinced that's going to change.

People can tell me that he's been successful everywhere else he's been. That's true but he's never managed in the Premier League before and that's showing. In a league that's all about pace his approach is too slow. That works fine in other leagues and international football but not in England.

It will all be for naught, because if we continue playing this way, he will be gotten rid of and the new manager will try to put his own imprint on the team and completely reorganize it. For all of the good signings he's made - which to me are purely due to his past cache - he has the squad in shackles and doesn't get the most of their abilities.

Absolutely agree with this! We've made some good signings nobody can argue that but it's still not enough yet. And I know people will disagree and argue with that but it's the truth. We are sadly lacking in attack.

 

[pacifictheme]

How the feck is Shaw our highest rated player? He was at fault for both goals. Is the entire population of the Caf high?!

 

[Spoony]

IMO our best players were Shaw, Schweinsteiger and Smalling - in that order.

Shaw'd be an even better player under an attacking manager.

 

[Van Gaalacticos]

How the feck is Shaw our highest rated player? He was at fault for both goals. Is the entire population of the Caf high?!

I was a bit smashed at the time but first impressions I got were that Romero could've done better with both goals. Amazing pass by Ayew for the second goal though, it was a world class ball that.

 

[Jazz]

We just need to replace Rooney first of all. If the club/LVG don't do that then we are fecked. Even if we get a new no.9, he'll still be there taking the no.10 role which Mata and Herrera are much much better at. So we're also sacrificing good players just to have him him start?! I didn't think we were so bad as others are making out, we just needed a clinical finisher - that's our big big issue. Quite frankly any old striker would do at this time. Can't be any worse than what we have.

 

[Stack]

Why do we need 2 defensive mids screening the back 4?. Surely defenders can be capable of defending, why do they need so much protection?. We only need 1 which would free up another player as a striker. I hate playing with 1 up front. Its so negative.

 

[itso 7]

Our forward line is too slow, our midfield moves the ball slowly into nowhere and our fullbacks are bombing forward senselessly leaving a makeshift CB and a third rate keeper horribly exposed. Remind me why the self proclaimed biggest club has contend with so many holes in the side? Why are we paying WPOTY wages to a League 3 striker? Why are relying on a 21 yr old to be the sole difference maker in the team?

It was a bad ball to lose by Rooney but after all the investment we have made in defensive midfield why did it take two straight forward passes to cut through our team? Where is the cynical fouling in such a bad situation, what happened to taking one for the team - a bunch of naive cowards.

 

[Momochiru]

A lot of overreactions here. I'm not a Rooney basher, but I agree with the general opinion that he was piss poor today and probably cost us the game.

My take on it - the game could be divided in 3: the first 60 minutes, the next 10 minutes and the last 20.

• The first 60 minutes we were pretty good (bar Rooney) - controlled the game created more chances than Swansea and scored a nice goal. Everything was going OK the way LVG has set us up. Even with the poor Rooney up front we were the better team.

• The last 20 minutes we were devoid of energy and ideas. After we went behind we were done - the midweek trip abroad showed. We had no legs left, we started misplacing passes - I knew the game was lost, but I don't have such a big problem with that as many here do. I think it was predictable that Swansea will park the bus and we will struggle to break them up. Our players we knackered both physically and mentally and a very good Swansea side managed to see the game off. I personally don't think under the circumstances this is the disaster many here paint it to be.

• However I think the 5-10 minutes in which Swansea scored twice were an absolute disaster. First we were so naive to concede the first goal, I still can't wrap my head around it. The naivety was strangely reminiscent of the Leicester game last season. Why didn't we keep the ball with our favorite possession football? Why didn't we keep the 6 defensive players behind the ball, passing it around and waiting for Swansea to come at us and than release one of the 4 attacking players with a pass from behind? Why chose to commit so many players up front when we had Swansea exactly in the position we wanted them and we just had to wait for another mistake from them? Rooney was very poor and his mistake was very stupid, but the whole team lost their heads at that time.

Many here blame LVG and I agree that he should've taken Rooney off at half time and generally his substitutions weren't the most optimal ones - Depay and Schweinsteiger were probably better choices to be taken off together with Rooney. But I don't think LVG has anything to do with the way the whole team lost their heads and started pushing up when the time was to keep the ball - I'm sure LVG is fuming.

 

[Todd]

Romero sucks, hopefully that's blatantly clear to everyone by now. On the first goal it looked like he was moving in slow motion.

Memphis useless again, he can play well against a shitty Belgian team but in 4 EPL matches he's looked crap.

We need to spend big before Tuesday, that has been apparent for weeks but should be crystal clear to anyone with a brain.

 

[pacifictheme]

I was a bit smashed at the time but first impressions I got were that Romero could've done better with both goals. Amazing pass by Ayew for the second goal though, it was a world class ball that.

Yeah Romero was poor for the second. But both goals came down the left. Shaw was way out of position and jogging.

 

[reelworld]

I don't think it's quite that simple. It's not just a product of time. While we're stronger in midfield than we were last season, as it stands, we're much weaker in goal, neutral in defence (at best) and weaker in attack (if only due to having fewer options). Swansea is a decent team and will have a pretty good home record come the end of the season, which is why I don't want to read too much into this match. The worrying factors, however, are more deeply rooted. Honestly, over the full season do you see United matching City, Chelsea or even Arsenal? Injuries will inevitably hit, which will result in even fewer options. Mark my words, we'll be fighting for fourth with the current squad.

You mean Arsenal who lost to West Ham at home and Chelsea who just lost to Palace? I'll take my chances against them

 

[Wade3]

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.

I didn't criticize the creativity. I simply stated that his performance wasn't good enough.

 

[Donaldo]

How the feck is Shaw our highest rated player? He was at fault for both goals. Is the entire population of the Caf high?!

Asked this two pages ago. It's bizarre. He showed naivete in leaving his position utterly vacant for the first goal.

Second goal wasn't really down to him as much as it was the keeper not making a pretty routine save.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

As it was said dont know why we comitted to the attack when we were leading instead of waiting them behind half way line and hitting them on the counter. Its great to try to score a 2nd but we were too open without needing to be and collapsed in 2 minutes. There are more problems in the squad.

Im depressed right now thats all I want to say. See you all in a few weeks,months,whatever..

 

[Van Gaalacticos]

Yeah Romero was poor for the second. But both goals came down the left. Shaw was way out of position and jogging.

Do you think he could have much better for the second, thought it was a good ball to Gomis myself. I probably need to watch the highlights before I comment properly though. Poor stuff from Romeros though definitely.

 

[lapassion]

LVG Looks pretty pissed off there. I hope he's gonna drop his captain...

 

[sunama]

Our forward line is too slow, our midfield moves the ball slowly into nowhere and our fullbacks are bombing forward senselessly leaving a makeshift CB and a third rate keeper horribly exposed. Remind me why the self proclaimed biggest club has contend with so many holes in the side? Why are we paying WPOTY wages to a League 3 striker? Why are relying on a 21 yr old to be the sole difference maker in the team?

I laughed when I read this.
Then I realised that this isn't a joke and I actually agree with what's been written.

It was a bad ball to lose by Rooney but after all the investment we have made in defensive midfield why did it take two straight forward passes to cut through our team?

I was somewhat amazed at the ease and speed at which the ball travelled from one end of the pitch to the other (for both goals). It was as if our midfield and defence was completely bypassed, in both instances.

 

[stevoc]

Of course it was his fault. He lost the ball when our players were in attack, leaving us open at the back. He screwed up a simple pass.

Jesus. His pass was intercepted in their box, they still had to get through our midfield, defence and keeper. It was bad defending all round hardly Rooney's fault alone if at all.

 

[Kakeru]

Doom and gloom after a defeat but I still believe van Gaal is putting together a great team. I don't think he'll see the fruits though if he only stays the three years.

Put the Rooney, Ronaldo & Tevez front three in this team and I think we seriously challenge for the lot, but it will take another two transfer windows before we have a dominant attacking unit.

Mata is not working on the right side. Not his fault - it isn't his position, but we are toothless down that side of the pitch. I'd even put Valencia back in there until we can find a better option. Depay was very disappointing today also.

The boredom factor is becoming a major problem for me. I can't help but be a little excited by what I think van Gaal is putting together here, but by god I hope it doesn't take too long. I miss Sir Alex

A manager who puts together a good team and yet doesn't reap the fruits is not the definition of a manager who does his job at a top club. It would be a failure on all accounts because the threshold for success for any manager at a big club is to win fecking silverware.

This match overall is a mix of everything going badly for us on all accounts:

• A lack of penetration on the attack
• Rooney fecking over 3 times at the very least (2 scoring chances and a stupid turnover)
• Shambolic defending by both Smalling and Blind
• Romero fecking up at the worst possible time.
• Van Gaal making a huge mistake by starting tired players who basically or almost played every single minute in the last 2 weeks
• And a referee who is a total pussy in a number of decisions: soft in their favour, almost jack shit in our favour.

About the boredom factor, this is a point where any other manager would have been crucified for and rightfully so. This is where owners and CEOs must put their foot on the ground and make clear statements of intent about what is expected and what is not acceptable.

 

[sunama]

LVG Looks pretty pissed off there. I hope he's gonna drop his captain...

That guy with multiple rolls of fat around his neck - not only is that unsightly but for his own sake, needs to go on a diet.

 

[izec]

Jesus. His pass was intercepted in their box, they still had to get through our midfield, defence and keeper. It was bad defending all round hardly Rooney's fault alone if at all.

He was the main culprit. Shaw was forward, Herrera, Mata, Memphis. He tried a first time pass and failed miserably. Not at fault at all? Wow, if it wasnt Rooney but Herrera, he would get slaughtered. We were totally out of shape, because we bombed forward and no expected a shite pass like that. Once interceped they had a clear run, because the left side was wide open. The only players who could have prevented it were Smalling ( defended Gomis) or Schneiderlin and Romero. I blame Rooney mostly and Schneiderlin. If it was another player, i would think they same.