[LS17]

Terrible, didn't even deserve a point.

The thing is, as much as the players were terrible, I find it hard to blame them so much when they are played out of position or whatever else. Finally the back 3 has been scrapped and I do like the diamond considering how we played earlier this year with but it's never going to get the same performances when you play Rooney and Januzaj in midfield and Di Maria further forward. It's stupid, and the fact that Herrera can't get a game is ridiculous. Surely playing 4-4-2 Diamond with players in the correct positions would generate better performances and results, why doesn't LVG see that? Or switch between that and a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formation. I would hope there is serious talks between him and the backroom staff cause I refuse that they all believe that this is the right way to go.

I do like LVG and yeah there is no doubt that it's better than last year, but the more he carries on with the stubbornness and weird tactical choices he's gonna put pressure on himself and things could get bleak. People say these are 'Moyes' type of performances but the're worse, because LVG should know better.

He complained about balance at the start of the season and with all the injuries fair enough it was a valid reason, but he's now the cause of the imbalance. It's his poor decisions whether it be formations or player selections that are now causing it and it's a worry if he can't see it or is too stubborn to change it.

 

[mu77]

WTF did we sell Welbeck!

because like falcao he can't score goals. unlike falcao we got money for him

 

[rover]

knew this would be a hard game

my lineup started fellaini ahead of januzaj, smalling in with mcNair & rojo in wide, and planned to use wilson for the first hour of play too. is quite close to where we ended the game.

probably might lvg underestimate the difficulty of this game, or he really wanted to try if we can cope with this with some nice play.

anyway, we don't deserve to lose this game. both falcao & rvp should have scored.

 

[Luminous Lizard]

LVG needs to adapt or go. We're boring to watch, predicable to play against and not even picking up points in games we really should.
It's particularity annoying because it looks simple what the problem is, from the outside looking in at least.

 

[Wowi]

Abysmal performance. Just fecking dreadful all around. West Ham wasn't even good for most parts. Won't even bother listing LVG's mind boggling choices and our issues because you can look up any thread from the past few months and it's still the same shit. Putting Poodle-on-a-stick on when you have Mata and Herrera on the bench sadly sums up LVGs approach. West Ham were there for the taking; make shift central defence and they were visibly tiring after their goal, but only reaction from LVG was putting Fellaini on. It's so frustrating to watch.

 

[Roman Bellic]

You can't believe we brought a defender on after a defender was sent off?

At the 94th minute when we had a goal kick and it was only 4 minutes added? it was a terrible decision.

 

[Devil may care]

I thought Valencia and Shaw were both good and worked their arses off for the team, the CB pairing of Rojo and Jones is like two wild dogs chasing a slab of raw meat attached to a greyhound, disaster waiting to happen.

Januzaj is not suited to that inside role and Di Maria frankly looks scared out there at times.

RvP and Falcao just doesn't work, and yes I am aware they combined for one good chance, but we looked much better when we just stuck the mop up there and went Pulis, it's ugly and not what we want long term but it's got more chance of getting us points than the duo living off their names.

Rooney tried reallly hard to get into the game and drive us on, I don't blame him for struggling in a position he is not suited to.

 

[pocco]

We're a shambles and we aren't finishing top 4 at this rate. Come March we have hard fixtures and that is where our luck will end.

 

[LazyRed-Ninja]

Just when I thought this day couldn't get any worse!

Could be misunderstanding your reaction, but how did my reaction made your day any worse ?

 

[shabadu84]

Well the result, all things considered, is actually OK. Could and should have been worse.

But the performance...
Shows a lack of understanding or stubbornness on LVG's part. Simply stupid to keep playing slow tactics with the wrong players for that long when we were so clearly 2nd best. DDG saving us every match.

 

[rooney2009]

Good point and I thought Jones was quite good.West Ham are a very good team by the way.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Mr. van Gaal is a bit weird. Not a fan today.

 

[poisson]

I just can't see Rooney in midfield again with Herrera/fellaini/mata on the Bench. If that happens next game I might slit my wrists!

 

[RedSRM]

Keeping Herrera on the bench and persisting with Rooney in the middle with Falcao up top has to be one of the stupidest decision LvG keeps making.

Yes i even rank it ahead of playing 352

Yep, unfortunately I can't see him changing any time soon. He's the kind of person who doesn't like admitting he's wrong. Herrera's done nothing to deserve this treatment and Rooney will continue to get more and more frustrated playing in midfield. This 'system' will continue to fail and we won't make top 4 unless he starts using a more sensible formation. Arsenal, Tottenham, Southampton (and god forbid Liverpool) will be going all out to get those CL spots.

 

[ClosetDevil]

Scene is pretty melodramatic here...

Admittesly, we were second best for the first half. But once we went behind, we became much, much better. Blame needs to fall onto the players here to be honest. I do think Januzaj is severely overrated though. Would have rather seen Herrera or Fellani start.

We're doing okay. Just need to give LVG more time.

 

[Mister_Stubbs]

Wayne Rooney and James Wilson up front with Ander Herrera in midfield Wednesday please. Oh and drop Angel for Juan and I'll be happy.

 

[charleysurf]

Abysmal performance. Just fecking dreadful all around. West Ham wasn't even good for most parts. Won't even bother listing LVG's mind boggling choices and our issues because you can look up any thread from the past few months and it's still the same shit. Putting Poodle-on-a-stick on when you have Mata and Herrera on the bench sadly sums up LVGs approach. West Ham were there for the taking; make shift central defence and they were visibly tiring after their goal, but only reaction from LVG was putting Fellaini on. It's so frustrating to watch.

Poodle on a stick. What a genius you are.

 

[Galactic]

Average performance but late goals are good for the longer term especially in away games. We're still 4th and that's a good place to be in a transition period and season.

One thing worrying me is that our player always take extra touches when they can shoot. Happened far too many times for my liking.

 

[Cristiano Jonaldo]

Utterly clueless performance.

Valencia & Januzaj were dire.

 

[redindian1987]

Dear God, the moaning on these pages is unbelievable. 3 weeks ago, people wanted 3-5-2 to be out. van Gaal drops the 3-5-2 and goes for the diamond. The moaning continues. We drop 2 points in a tough away fixture, it's the end of the world.

We're one point from third, in the top four. Top 4 was the target for this season and we're on target. People need to calm down and have a word with themselves.

 

[Moonred]

In hindsight this is a decent point. We are fighting for top 4, that's the reality. Hammers have beaten City and 'Pool at home. We were worryingly rubbish in the first half and could've gone 2-0 down deservedly. Our strikers can't finish the little we create. Thank you Daley Blind.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Played diamond but again with that Rooney in midfield shit. Januzaj is not a mid too. Finally we have good mids and instead of actually playing them we're inventing stuff and putting players out of position. LVG said our team in inbalansed and he actually made things work. Like it was said in the other thread on of RVP of Falcao needs to go or both. Playing with 2 CFs both of whom are out of form esp. Falcao is dragging us down. I would personally keep RVP as a backup.

No need to panic,a point at West Ham away is good given they've been very good this season but we really should have won. We're still very much in the race for 4th of course but too much of these kind of results wont end well in that regard.

 

[RedSRM]

Starting to wonder if LVG is the man to take us further.
He gets more and more stranger as the games go by. Not looking forward to march/April one bit.
Extremely lucky to get into top 4 imo

Yep. It's like his stubborness is making him pick more and more ridiculous lineups as if to prove everyone that he can succeed by doing things unconventionally. He doesn't want to be seen to be taking anyone's advice. We'll be missing out on CL yet again if he doesn't start picking some sensible teams. De Gea will definitely be on his way if we feck up top 4 again.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Hey we went to 4 at the back like everyone here wanted so why are we still terrible?

Hard to believe that people say now 'we just need to play rooney up front and herrera in mf' and believe themselves.

We are shit away from home no matter what we do. We are simply not coached well enough on a strategy away from home. There's no simple solution like switching two players arround or playing a slightly different system

 

[saivet]

They were missing their main striker. They had some midfielder at CB. This was an under strength West Ham team. Not good enough.

 

[sunama]

We're a shambles and we aren't finishing top 4 at this rate. Come March we have hard fixtures and that is where our luck will end.

Thats what most people said about us, in December, when we played Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea.

I actually think that the system we operate - we should do better against sides which play (technical) football.
We seem to be weak when we play against sides who rely on the physical game, rather than a technical game.

It'll be interesting to see how we play in Europe against sides who rely more on technique/skill.

 

[WR10]

There were a combined 3 really good chances for Falcao and Van persie. We should have scored one of those. It's a very good positive that this is obviously our best formation going forward. West ham are hard to beat at home and in it's context, a point was good from this game. I don't see us dropping any point in our next 4 games, so it's all good.

 

[Adzzz]

If only we had last years away form.

Good character at the end, Fellaini came on 10 mins too late, Januzaj was on an hour too long. People need to seriously re-calibrate what they expect from Adnan. On another day Falcao and RVP would have had a goal or two, and West Ham are okay at the moment.

I hope it's a point we look back on fondly, rather than regret like the other away performances.

 

[Americano]

Allardyce having a go at our tactics.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

De Gea - 7 - when called upon was there. Could have done more with set pieces.

Valencia - 6 - lots of effort but little output offensively. Solid defensive display.
Jones - 5 - standard Jones
Rojo - 6 - good display generally speaking, still a few too many moments when possession is sloppy but progress.
Shaw - 6 - would have been 7 but for the silly red. Offered lots going forward compared to Valencia.

Blind - 8 - match winner, anchor, support man, option at all times, scrappy tackler, possession winner.
Januzaj - 6 - did well. Good movement and a tidy performance. Decision making still a flaw to be ironed.
Rooney - 4 - not enough mobility until the final 30 minutes. Offered Valencia very little options in the first hour. Watches play go by unless he can charge for goal or boot a Hollywood sideways. Passing again, hugely negligent at times.
Di Maria - 5 - delivery and general form is off key. Worrying.

van Persie - 6 - movement was good when he tried, not as energetic as he has been recently. Should have scored. Didn't.
Falcao - 7 - our best outfield player not called Daley. Excellent in duels, great spirit and fight against big defenders. Worked well short, always available to spin in behind to (ignore Carragher's nonsense). Lack of service hurts him. Should have scored. Didn't but worked like a Trojan.

Fellaini - 7 - Basic but there is huge value in the English game for his attributes. In hindsight, should have started.

 

[shabadu84]

Big Sam calling us Long Ball United.

We really have reached bottom

 

[roykeane19]

Looks like we got the wrong dutchman, Koeman is doing far better with SOTN, and LVg has had 150 mill to spend along with Falcao on loan

 

[siw2007]

Very lucky to come out of that with a point, thought it was a very poor display but West Ham's game plan had something to do with that. That midfield was poor all game and we struggled to create much until we went 1 down. Fair play to De Gea for some great saves again.
West Ham identified a weakness in the defending from crosses and we found it hard to defend those and payed the price but overall I was happy with how Valencia, Jones, Rojo and Shaw all played as they did their jobs on numerous occasions. Fair play to Blind for getting the equaliser and he made some good tackles in the game but I felt he got bullied a bit a times. Rooney, Di Maria, Januzaj and RVP were unable to impose themselves. Falcao played alright I thought, but his miss kind of pissed me off so knocked his score down. Pleased Fellaini came on and made a difference.
Luke Shaw probably deserved the red card but he was no worse than Song throughout the game so could find himself a little hard done by here.

I hope LVG is learning quickly about how the premiership works. His philosophy might come into fruition and we might start to play great football. But it is so much harder to play his way away from to a team like West Ham. It is difficult to just turn up and pass a team like West Ham, who are no mugs, off the park. You have to battle, be defensively strong but be direct and forceful going forwards. He must reconsider his approach away from home. For all of Moyes's issues last season, he did get us a very good away record and perhaps there is something to learn here.

 

[ThaReaper01]

4-3-3 plz.

 

[DevilRed]

We are terrible at defending set pieces. Never seen such a physically weak Manchester United side. Its amazing how easily west ham plowed through us on multiple set pieces. Surprised he didn't field Smalling in the lineup.

I suppose we really need the 3 points against burnley in midweek. We've already missed a chance to gain ground in the race for 3rd/4th.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Allardyce having a go at our tactics.

What did he say?

 

[NK86]

Falcao should never start a game for us again. He is god awful - that was the single worst performance I've seen from one of our players this season... it's not his fault, its hard to come back from an injury like that and his age have caught up to him... but yeah, Wilson should start ahead of him every time, he's a player who is actually part of our future.

Why did we only make one unforced sub? Why? It makes no sense... unless he didn't want to tarnish those on the bench with that performance, but christ on a bike, that's a weird way to make a point.

His ability to make game changing (in our favour) subs seem to be zero. He either makes awful changes when we are not playing well or he makes no changes. How did Falcao and RvP stay on beggars belief.

 

[marlowe78]

When Blind scored, I wasn't even excited. I'm thoroughly pissed off by the 'performances' today of our squad and manager.

For Christ's fecking sake, why didn't Fellaini start? Even with Carroll not playing, we needed all the size we could get with West Ham so reliant on balls in the air. We were getting dominated on every set piece and it's a miracle that they didn't score more, some of that averted by De Gea.

Our backline worked their asses off as we were outnumbered in the middle and had to pretty much keep us in the game on their own. Rojo and Shaw I thought were very good. Jones and Valencia had off-moments but were adequate.

Our up-front players to a name were awful. Di Maria and Falcao wasted just about every ball they got, that miss by Falcao goes into history as one of the worst in the PL. RVP also squandered a solid chance and can't seem to create a thing on his own. It is getting truly disgusting watching Rooney put in these pedestrian MF games when he has a reputation as one of the game's best strikers. Herrera still in his underground cell waiting for MI5 to pry him loose. Januzaj squelched our attack with his lack of daring and quick decision-making.

For those of you who didn't watch the game, trust those who say we were shit. Because that's what we were - shit. We didn't show any urgency until we fell behind, we basically let West Ham have their way until they scored. In a lot of ways, we're having a reckoning for signing overpaid veterans who have no clear roots with or concern for United. Welbeck may have been a terrible finisher but at least he gave a flying feck.

 

[red_devil83]

Sam Allardyce just called us 'long-ball Man United'

 

[Laphroaig]

So frustrating we were truly awful, West Ham were robbed.

Don't really agree with that, we created more than enough to score (Falcao's and RVP's big chances, Fellaini's two chances, Rooney's free kick, should've done better, then the goal). Draw is fair enough.

 

[Raw]

Sam Allardyce just called us 'long-ball Man United'

Fecking hell, the state of us