[Scorpy]

errrr, the guy had cramp! You have to take him off otherwise its risks worse injury and he'd be out for a few weeks.

Must have missed the cramp part, my bad.

 

[Raoul]

Dire tumescent stuff again. Darmian, Smalling, and Romero were good. Problem (again) is the team is out of sync in terms of communication. LvG needs to fix that asap and get us back to the mentality when we played Pool and City in the 2nd half of last year.

 

[JustAFan]

No improvement from last season

6 out of 10
Dull in attack
stupid stupid sub of Darmian (injury perhaps but let's face it LVG is known for this)
Good start by Morgan
Shaw a beast
Smalling our best defender

As for up front - at least 1 signing needed and Rooney needs to improve asap

He was cramping up silly to complain about that substitution.

 

[GloryHunter07]

A win is a win.

 

[Tarrou]

Huge result that. We've got a couple of winnable games now before our tricky period starts.

 

[Sir A1ex]

Yes! I win the "predict the thread title" competition!

 

[revel911]

Carrick is still our best player.

Kidding, right? Carrick was one of our worst players. Was absent every second he was on the field.

 

[dsch]

- Romero was good for a quarter of the match. Fortunately, it was when they were at their most dangerous.

- Darmian is miles and miles ahead of Valencia, who went missing for their chance when Smalling had to bail us out. Blind didn't really have anything to do/was not in position to do anything. Shaw a bit meh at the moment.

- The central midfield hasn't settled yet. Schweinsteiger is no replacement for Carrick.

- Mata didn't have a great game. They pressed him early on and he just can't hold the ball at all.

- Memphis looked good in flashes, and was also strong on the ball.

 

[Loon]

Need to improve the goal threat n last third.

 

[Summit]

If Walker doesn't put it in then Rooney would have

I'm amazed Rooney didn't put it in without a touch.

 

[Red Dreams]

Let's be honest, this team doesn't give you goosebumps. Very pedestrian.

van Gaal is still not playing the team or system he will end up with Spoons.

Bale,Pedro and Otamendi will complete the team.

 

[Dylan94]

Let's not get bogged down with anything as its game one and let's keep things simple. 3 points which is all you can ask for and is all that matters on opening day. Darmian, Schneiderlin and Memphis were brilliant and have settled right in. And there are very encouraging signs in our midfield and attack. Just need to get our defence playing as a unit. Job done. Move on.

 

[Summit]

Kidding, right? Carrick was one of our worst players. Was absent every second he was on the field.

The feck were you watching?

Carrick was great!

 

[Maroo]

We really lost control when Carrick went off. He was very good with his interceptions today, though he lost a few balls when pressed

 

[Striker10]

You got lucky. There was very little between the two teams.

You're right. Only 3 points seperates us

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

Thought Schneiderlin, Darmian and especially Mike Smalling were excellent.

Felt Mata and Blind were a bit weak in their play. Mata looked a bit more threatening when drifting inwards but there was a lack of creativity.

Loved how Schweinsteiger was conducting each and every pass when he came on.

 

[hobbers]

Valencia also completely exposed as our biggest liability in defence.

Couple of minutes after he comes on there was a diagonal to Chadli with Valencia completely out of position, first thought I had was that Darmian would have had it covered. After that they got in time after time down our right. And on top of that he conceded 3 fouls in dangerous areas and gave Eriksen 3 chances to play the perfect set piece.

 

[JustAFan]

How many people complaining about the Darmian sub were watching on a stream with announcers they could not understand? Though you could see Darmian grimacing a bit as he walked off.

 

[Galactic]

Top of the league!

 

[Unlikely lad]

Impressed with Romero.

Kidding, right? Carrick was one of our worst players. Was absent every second he was on the field.

 

[Siorac]

Shite performance, three points in the bag though.

We looked worryingly clueless in attack. Smalling was great, Schweinsteiger was invisible and Herrera couldn't really contribute after coming on. Depay looked promising but raw.

 

[gooDevil]

Important 3 points, looked disjointed but if we can win while finding our feet we'lol be okay.

 

[NinjaZombie]

I am beginning to wonder what Van Gaal is playing at. Complains about us lacking speed, yet plays Memphis in a central role.

 

[Spoony]

van Gaal is still not playing the team or system he will end up with Spoons.

Bale,Pedro and Otamendi will complete the team.

I've always maintained that entertainment is more important than winning games, for me at least. I hope we start to excite again. Anyhow, an injection of pace is a must or else we'll keep looking pedestrian.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Kidding, right? Carrick was one of our worst players. Was absent every second he was on the field.

Carrick barely out a foot wrong and we missed him when he went off

 

[Sarni]

Good result, we hardly ever play well in the opening game (5-1 trashing of Fulham in 2006 aside, that was truly electric) and it's good to just pick up three points against a decent team. Plenty of new faces bedding in, new formation players are not yet familiar with and possibly a few tactical mistakes that van Gaal will hopefully fix eventually

The final 10-15 minutes were terrible though. We panic way too much.

 

[shamans]

It's a process.

 

[SoCross]

Darmian and Smalling; that right side of defence is sorted. Shaw was very good too and Blind did decent as well, wasn't overly troubled but didn't see much building from the back which I thought was the point of his inclusion. Partly due to how Spurs play to be fair but against weaker teams who sit back, I see this working. Valencia errrrm...

Young needs to have more end product otherwise he did decent. Mata was good but Memphis and Rooney average. Carrick, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger & Herrera did their jobs.

Ditch this 4-2-3-1 crap ASAP and go to what worked last year!

Overall, just glad we got a win onboard even though it wasn't too inspiring.

 

[roykeane19]

Was a copy of last season, absolutely no penetration or creation in the final third, we are so easy to defend against, the only way we get goals will be from, Fellaini headers, set pieces, or goals from herrera and mata, and from rooney obviously as the main main up front he`ll get some eventually, but I dont think he`ll get more than 15 maximum

And this possesion football is truly garbage, even to look at

 

[facund]

Surely that was a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 with Memphis on the pitch?

We still lack any consistent threat in the final third although having Depay there helped as his pace and ability to carry the ball seemed to afford Rooney a bit more space.
Mata is completely wasted in that system and, despite Mata being the "better" player and working incredibly hard today, we would have been better served having Nani playing that role.

The team looked solid enough overall and once again Smalling proved that he is well above any of our other CBs.

 

[Unlikely lad]

I'm tempted to say the panic at the end was largely due to Valencia's awful, awful positioning

 

[DatIrishFella]

Eriksen & Kane barely had a sniff which was a positive, in fact, Spurs barely threatened at all. Both teams offered next to nothing to be honest, but we were good at the back. Darmian & Smalling were fantastic.

The overall performance means feck all, we won, and I'm happy.

 

[Red Dreams]

I've always maintained that entertainment is more important to me than winning games. I hope we start to excite again. Anyhow, an injection of pace is a must or else we'll keep looking pedestrian.

Winning the United way is what I am used to. Today felt very much like another Pre-season match with van Gaal still not decided what team he wants. My big concern is we get through those qualifiers.

 

[Summit]

I'm tempted to say the panic at the end was largely due to Valencia's awful, awful positioning

I knew we would get open up at least once when he came on and we did.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Shite performance, three points in the bag though.

We looked worryingly clueless in attack. Smalling was great, Schweinsteiger was invisible and Herrera couldn't really contribute after coming on. Depay looked promising but raw.

Neither Herrera or Bastian are up to match fitness yet, so was always going to be a problem. Mata was cramping up. Rooney was disappointing, not surprisingly so. Depay looks good, but has a lot to learn. Smalling and Darmian were really impressive.

 

[Red Dreams]

Eriksen & Kane barely had a sniff which was a positive, in fact, Spurs barely threatened at all. Both teams offered next to nothing to be honest, but we were good at the back. Darmian & Smalling were fantastic.

The overall performance means feck all, we won, and I'm happy.

If that early try by Erikson had gone and in....it would have been interesting to see how we reacted.

 

[J-Stander]

Darmian looks class and Shaw played a full 90. I reckon them two will be pivotal for us this season. Didn't offer much going forward but it's always hard to gauge in the first game.

 

[sunama]

1-0.
We got 3 points and I am happy that we are not giving Chelsea a head start (like last season).

I want to highlight that in our last 7 league games we have scored 3 goals (+ today's own goal, by Spurs).

Before the game, many fans were saying we would score 2-3 goals. Myself: I cannot see us even scoring 1 goal right now.
Another fact: we had 1 shot on target.

I will add that 3 goals in 7 games is something I would expect from a team in the relegation zone. This is definitely not league championship form.

Lets summarise.
We lost:
RVP
Falcao
Di Maria

We bought:
Depay

IMO, we are now worse in attack than last year and unless we either change our system OR buy an absolutely World class striker (someone of the ilk of Suarez), we will have another tough season.
Although Spurs lost (due to their own goal), they look like a side who want to attack and can score goals. We don't look like we can score goals.
Some people are saying that when Pedro arrives, this will change things. I don't believe this. I think Pedro, will struggle and I don't believe Pedro is as good as Di Maria.
IMO we need a center forward who has EPL experience. Someone like Ronaldo, Bale, Aguero.

And finally, what about our new players?
Memphis: He is young and not a player who will give us immediate impact. While Di Maria, Bale, Ronaldo, etc are expected to provide immediate impact, Memphis can take his time and spend a season acclimatising. I think he has now realised that the EPL is a totally different animal to the Dutch league. Hopefully fans wont expect too much of him, otherwise they may give him the "Di Maria treatment" (ie. lost of abuse).
Bastian: I never expected much from him. He looks old and Guardiola was saying that Bastian has not been fit for 3 years. But when he came on, he came on with authority...like a boss. He was attempting to run the show. If this guy can stay fit, I think he should be made Captain. I just don't believe that Rooney is Captain material.
Darmian: He surpassed my expectations. First EPL game and he played well. When he came off, our defence was immediately weakened. This guy could become a club legend, if he continues to play like this.
Morgan: I didn't even realise he was on the pitch. Maybe its just me. So I wont say much about him.
Romero: If he can continue to play like this in every game, I am happy for him to take over from DDG. I have no complaints about this guy. I do prefer DDG though. DDG, for me, is the best GK in the World.

 

[Piratesoup]

Intensely boring, but despite offering pretty much nothing up front United looked pretty solid, at least more solid than I remember them being most of the last 2 seasons. If Van Gaal can sort out the link-up between midfield and offense (as well as stop playing Valencia), things could go really well for you this year.

 

[Anderson18]

1. Should've signed Aldereweireld, looks absolute quality.
2. Pedro will be a huge improvement on Young.
3. We still neeed a striker and a CB partner for Smalling.
4. Smalling, Darmian and Romero the only positives.