[stu_1992]

Unbelievably frustrating. Basically anti-football from Pulis' side, what's new? But we really should have the quality to deal with that, especially at home ffs. You just knew the freekick would end up a goal with the way the matches have been going recently. I hope the manager gets right into these players because they need to wake the feck up or before they know it we're out of the Champions League places again.

 

[legball]

1. Mourinho publishes the book on how to beat us
2. Our manage claims victory despite defeat and
3. Changes nothing
4. We lose three matches in a row, unable to score

Except Mourinho didn't publish anything, stop giving him worthless credit. Almost all the smaller teams that came to OT this season played this exact same way, and we managed to win them, just because we lost against this style after Chelsea doesn't mean Mourinho wrote a book. Go and look at our home games this season.

 

[Water Melon]

Just watched the post match interview. LvG always says correct things, but does not seem to be able to change his aproach. He knew that WBA will park the bus, but still has not introduced any changes into our attacking play. If Palace park the bus as well, I can see us sweating a lot.

 

[syrian_scholes]

Just watched the post match interview. LvG always says correct things, but does not seem to be able to change his aproach. He knew that WBA will park the bus, but still has not introduced any changes into our attacking play. If Palace park the bus as well, I can see us sweating a lot.

tbf we did have 26 shots 9 of those on target and we did miss a penalty, I don't think this loss is on Van Gaal.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

If RVP did not miss the penalty, we'd probably have won...

We would have, but we missed it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Just watched the post match interview. LvG always says correct things, but does not seem to be able to change his aproach. He knew that WBA will park the bus, but still has not introduced any changes into our attacking play. If Palace park the bus as well, I can see us sweating a lot.

Listening to the press conference, he over thinks, over analyses thing. Can he never ever just go with instincts? Just let the players play. He has bottled it again. After two bad results he has put the shackles back on the players. Just let them play to their strengths.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

The only good thing was it became more obvious to me where our problems lie..

1. Di Maria currently has no business in this side, awful form, its like a Torres story, he needs to be left until he shows VG he is better.

2. Herrera as great as he is, is not a defensive midfielder to marshall the defense, he can do a job but it stifles his best attributes.

3. Chris Smalling & Ashley Young need to stay, i think Smalling is looking more like a WC cb every game, and AY is reminding me so much of Beckham with his crosses and work rate.

4. Rooney should not play every game, he like every other goes through form and that needs to be taken into account, he should not have started today.

5. Our chances created were very good, i disagreed with the commentators.. Several on a nother day would have been goals, but when you say that most days, we need to look at the strikers, and not of VP, Falcao or even Rooney have been WC this season..

6. Fellaini, i love this guy.. He makes mistakes and has holes but at 92 minutes he sliding about with more heart and determination than any, his turns after hplding up the ball were impressive too.

Moving forward...

I think if we keep De Gea, we are sorted there obviously, Smalling and Shaw should be first names on the XI after the keeper, id like another CB to fight it out with Jones, smalling has that experience and will be 27 next year, id like a Varane type player to challenge Jones, and we absolutely need a right back, the amount of times he messes things up is crazy..

To play this possesion football, you need someone deep to pull the team apart like a Gundogan, Xavi type player to challenge Carrick, my preference would be Schneiderlin.

In front of him we have a plethora of attacking midfielders we choose to play as wide players, we need to keep Mata, hes proved it in this league, bring back Nani, add Depay and sell Di Maria.

Up top id move Persie and Falcao on and bring in a young striker to battle wilson like Dybala, Lacazette, and then a more proven but cheaper squad player like Ings.. We dont seem yo have any ariel ability..

Something like:

DDG
Clyne Smalling Varane Shaw
Gundogan Schneiderlin
Nani Mata Depay
Rooney/ Ings/ Lac/ Wilson

 

[Americano]

Except Mourinho didn't publish anything, stop giving him worthless credit. Almost all the smaller teams that came to OT this season played this exact same way, and we managed to win them, just because we lost against this style after Chelsea doesn't mean Mourinho wrote a book. Go and look at our home games this season.

We found a formula for success, the opposition adjusted, and we have failed to adapt beyond that. It's a failure in management to persist with the same tactics and the results show it. Zero goals in three games. That's not all down to bad finishing. We are not adjusting and varying our approach.

What Mourinho did worked and I'm not surprised other managers took notice. Our possession is pretty meaningless.

 

[Water Melon]

tbf we did have 26 shots 9 of those on target and we did miss a penalty, I don't think this loss is on Van Gaal.

Tbh I do not think that we were that creative in our attacking play today. No threat from wings, no runs into free space, no shots from distance. To sum it up, had we played against Everton again, we would again concede 3, I reckon.

 

[Water Melon]

Listening to the press conference, he over thinks, over analyses thing. Can he never ever just go with instincts? Just let the players play. He has bottled it again. After two bad results he has put the shackles back on the players. Just let them play to their strengths.

Not gonna happen under LvG. He likes some sort of creativity under strict control. Not sure our players understand that at times.

 

[nick2004]

We would have, but we missed it.

Still ... people go overboard with analysis, without taking into account this simple fact: RVP missed a penalty, that was the most crucial point of the game.

 

[nick2004]

Against a team that parks the bus, you expect to at least score on penalties...

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Still ... people go overboard with analysis, without taking into account this simple fact: RVP missed a penalty, that was the most crucial point of the game.

I cannot understand why he took it. Why not Rooney?

 

[siw2007]

Angry, frustrated and embarrassed to have lost three games on the trot. Mata and Young were okay and outside the penalty miss, I felt RVP did alright too but the rest have to take a good look at themselves.

Three defeats in a row and no goals suggests to me that we have been found out. Without Carrick's vision, we don't get the ball out wide quick enough and as well as Fellaini has done, teams have found a way to stop him and now the vehicle has grinded to a halt. We cannot change the way we play, but I think we desperately need to change the personnel. Palace next week, will set up to do the same as West Brom, Everton and Chelsea have done and we need to find an answer. Maybe Di Maria down the middle is the solution??

 

[legball]

We found a formula for success, the opposition adjusted, and we have failed to adapt beyond that. It's a failure in management to persist with the same tactics and the results show it. Zero goals in three games. That's not all down to bad finishing. We are not adjusting and varying our approach.

What Mourinho did worked and I'm not surprised other managers took notice. Our possession is pretty meaningless.

Not today though, we created enough to win, didn't you see the missed penalty, the saves the GK made? I will be interested to know what you would have done if you were manager and what guarantee that it would win the game today. West Brom were lucky and got a fluke goal, how this is somehow down to a poor tactics on our part is beyond me. Some of you are guilty of what you accuse LVG of, you overcomplicate a simple matter.

 

[legball]

I cannot understand why he took it. Why not Rooney?

It's one of those days where Rooney would have missed and we'll say, why didn't RVP take it.

 

[bosnian_red]

Listening to the press conference, he over thinks, over analyses thing. Can he never ever just go with instincts? Just let the players play. He has bottled it again. After two bad results he has put the shackles back on the players. Just let them play to their strengths.

I wouldn't say he put the shackles on them or anything... That just stems from a loss of confidence from the players. The manager can only do so much, it's up to the players to actually put in the good crosses or finish the chances. When we were full of confidence, players are more confident in their abilities to take risks and take on players. Now, everyone is taking that half second more and it's easier to defend against.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Not today though, we created enough to win, didn't you see the missed penalty, the saves the GK made? I will be interested to know what you would have done if you were manager and what guarantee that it would win the game today. West Brom were lucky and got a fluke goal, how this is somehow down to a poor tactics on our part is beyond me. Some of you are guilty of what you accuse LVG of, you overcomplicate a simple matter.

I would have even been happy to see Danny Ings on the bench as an option, because Falcao is useless, Rooney should have taken the penalty, RvP did offer some things, where the hell is Wilson? Oh and Fellaini is not a forward in a million years.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

It's one of those days where Rooney would have missed and we'll say, why didn't RVP take it.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I wouldn't say he put the shackles on them or anything... That just stems from a loss of confidence from the players. The manager can only do so much, it's up to the players to actually put in the good crosses or finish the chances. When we were full of confidence, players are more confident in their abilities to take risks and take on players. Now, everyone is taking that half second more and it's easier to defend against.

Shouldn't the manager on the field Wayne Rooney be driving the players on?

 

[syrian_scholes]

Tbh I do not think that we were that creative in our attacking play today. No threat from wings, no runs into free space, no shots from distance. To sum it up, had we played against Everton again, we would again concede 3, I reckon.

But you don't know that, do you? I'm sure had we buried our chance and been more clinical everyone on the caf would hail this performance, and if Van Persie scored the penalty and we won I'm sure no one would say we played bad.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

But you don't know that, do you? I'm sure had we buried our chance and been more clinical everyone on the caf would hail this performance, and if Van Persie scored the penalty and we won I'm sure no one would say we played bad.

Even if we grinded out a result it would have been one of those wins people would have moaned about.

 

[nick2004]

It's one of those days where Rooney would have missed and we'll say, why didn't RVP take it.

Probably!

 

[Fully Fledged]

Even if we grinded out a result it would have been one of those wins people would have moaned about.

Agreed.

 

[Water Melon]

But you don't know that, do you? I'm sure had we buried our chance and been more clinical everyone on the caf would hail this performance, and if Van Persie scored the penalty and we won I'm sure no one would say we played bad.

Well I can only assume, however, WBA were toothless and we had no plan B. Again, if you see this game as just a fluke by us, then lets agree to disagree and move on. We could have started with AdM in midfield and Wayne upfront for a change, or switch to something similar at HT, after having seen what WBA had to offer. To sum it up, I do not think we looked more clinical/roothless after the Everton game. We just had a much weaker opponent to play against at OT and lacked creativity.

 

[Americano]

Not today though, we created enough to win, didn't you see the missed penalty, the saves the GK made? I will be interested to know what you would have done if you were manager and what guarantee that it would win the game today. West Brom were lucky and got a fluke goal, how this is somehow down to a poor tactics on our part is beyond me. Some of you are guilty of what you accuse LVG of, you overcomplicate a simple matter.

We score the penalty and we get a draw. At home. Against West Brom. If it was one match, I would agree with you. Viewed as the third similar result in succession, it is on the manager. Van Gaal has showed that he is not an adaptive mind. Not within a game itself, and not over the course of a season.

You want to know what tactics I would use? How the feck should I know, I can't even manage my 5 a side team. We have a genius manager and it's his job to get it right. We might lose a game because of some mistakes, but if we fail to adapt over time to THE MOST COMMON PROBLEM WE WILL FACE IN THIS LEAGUE then we have no chance at success.

He's been found out and he refuses to adapt.

 

[legball]

The shittiest thing about this is how we've gone from a position of comfort to needing Chelsea to win a game against Liverpool. I honestly can't even put money on us beating CP, because, unlike West Brom, they can defend and have pacy wingers who can hurt us on the break. My gripe with LVG [not just this game] is his inability or refusal to mix it up a bit, I don't get it that everything has to be done and confined under a "system". He's like Wenger. 1-0 down at OT, with 20 minutes to go, we should be throwing the kitchen sink at them. I hope we get top four, and address the quality issues in our squad, apart from the obvious positions, we need a player like Hazard, a player who can win a game on his own, a go to guy who can carry the ball and make things happen, we lack that.
We play too much as a unit which is great but makes it a bit easier to shut us out. When the unit is shut out, you need one of your attackers to make the game his own. The player we bought to do that came on and decided his best contribution would be to cross one aimless ball after the other, what's the point of Di Maria? It's frustrating seeing him give the ball away time and time and again, and this is the player some of you want in midfield? Really? I think we were a bit unlucky today but we don't help ourselves at times, we are too easy to play against and that's not good enough.

 

[legball]

We score the penalty and we get a draw. At home. Against West Brom. If it was one match, I would agree with you. Viewed as the third similar result in succession, it is on the manager. Van Gaal has showed that he is not an adaptive mind. Not within a game itself, and not over the course of a season.

You want to know what tactics I would use? How the feck should I know, I can't even manage my 5 a side team. We have a genius manager and it's his job to get it right. We might lose a game because of some mistakes, but if we fail to adapt over time to THE MOST COMMON PROBLEM WE WILL FACE IN THIS LEAGUE then we have no chance at success.

He's been found out and he refuses to adapt.

Again, he has not been found out. We have won many games this season against teams that set up this way, stop being overly dramatic.

 

[JustAFan]

GGMU. Goalless goalless Man United!

 

[Alex Styles]

didn't see the match but WOW. just WOW

 

[Kakeru]

It's one of those days where Rooney would have missed and we'll say, why didn't RVP take it.

Are penalties even practiced on the training ground? Feck me, there has to be someone in there who has a hell of a high success ratio even if it's not one of our top players.

 

[ThanksBoss26]

I cannot understand why he took it. Why not Rooney?

Rooney is crap at penalties too. His record with them is very average and he missed his last one as well.

I don't feel confident with either taking them. In my opinion, Mata should be.

 

[Garethw]

What and it takes him a whole season to implement new players and a new style? We'll crash out of Europe and probably finish 5th before it take effect. Then Guardiola may become available...

If Van Gaal is only here for three years then we are going to have that exact scenario sooner rather than later any way.
Would it not be better to get a manager like Klopp (who's quality and available) now and have them here for the next 10-15 years? I'd happily take another year or two of rebuilding for a manager that will offer long term stability.

 

[crossy1686]

Even if we grinded out a result it would have been one of those wins people would have moaned about.

After the Chelsea and Everton game I would have took a 1-0 deflected free kick as our only shot on target.

We're at the wrong end of the season to be worrying about playing well. We need to cement that top 4 finish by hook or by crook. I'm sure we all feel this way at the moment.

 

[Jazz]

Was at a mates wedding (a fellow red at that) so didn't see the game. Shite result, but let's see what happens next week before we go into full meltdown mode. Frankly, I'm still shocked about Rio's wife dying, so this result pales in comparison.

 

[gerdm07]

I actually paused the match and took a nap at halftime and I'm sure I've never done that in 16 years being a fan.

One thing I've noticed the past few matches is we are not moving the ball with as many one touches so our build up is becoming slow like in January and February. However, I think part of that is the fact teams are parking the bus and most players have time with to receive, take a touch and pass.

 

[gerdm07]

3. Chris Smalling & Ashley Young need to stay, i think Smalling is looking more like a WC cb every game, and AY is reminding me so much of Beckham with his crosses and work rate.

Please do not compare Young to Beckham.

 

[Bojan11]

Just watched the post match interview. LvG always says correct things, but does not seem to be able to change his aproach. He knew that WBA will park the bus, but still has not introduced any changes into our attacking play. If Palace park the bus as well, I can see us sweating a lot.

Palace will be worse because they have pace on the break. West Brom just had Berahino up front with pace.

 

[Moriarty]

I actually paused the match and took a nap at halftime and I'm sure I've never done that in 16 years being a fan.

One thing I've noticed the past few matches is we are not moving the ball with as many one touches so our build up is becoming slow like in January and February. However, I think part of that is the fact teams are parking the bus and most players have time with to receive, take a touch and pass.

I watched it online and felt like falling asleep myself. It was like watching 11 crabs on a beach moving in unison at times. It's not as if we lack pace; we just don't seem to use it. The ball goes from side to side, and the defenders follow it. I can't recall many balls knocked past their back line for our players to run on to. If we're going to use Fellaini as a target man, it would help if we had a striker in and around the big man to pick up what he knocks down.

 

[paulscholes18]

The players need to wake up, it's a bit like what's happening at newcastle, the players think there job is done when it's not the case, lack of urgency is clear for all to see