[Canagel]

For me the key was the balance in attack. We may have struck gold with Matic and Pogba in the middle. In front of them you have Mata and Miki providing creativity. In front of them you have Lukaku and Rashford/Martial. That looks very balanced to me. We must continue to play like this especially at home.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

I thoroughly enjoyed that.

Looked like United of old, solid in defence with quick passing and movement plus finishing.
Everyone played well and special mentions to Lukaku, Matic, Pogba and Martial when he came on.

No sign of cones, zombies or headless chickens (at least apart from the last few minutes)
Top of the league at least for one game and there is room for improvement.

We won our first three games last season but decided to play the headless chicken in the 4th.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

How is Henry criticising Lukaku for that performance

 

[Shark]

Henry doesn't like Lukaku does he?

This is not a day to criticize the guy. He's scored two goals on his fecking debut.

Henry is a tool of a pundit.

 

[DevilRed]

Agree that the next match away from home will be a sterner test. Lets see if we can replicate this kind of dominance at swansea.

 

[RoadTrip]

I thought so when watching.

Keep that kinda shit to yourself

 

[Addled]

Great performance all round. However West Ham were really poor. Delighted that Lukaku and Magic have shown that they are worthy of the fees and the shirt.
Early days but hope is rising. Can't wait for next week.

 

[#07]

We finally look like a Jose Mourinho team. So strong, so clinical.

I used to hate watching Jose's first Chelsea side because there was an inevitability about them. They'd go ahead and then pick teams off as they tried to get back into it.

That's how I felt about United today: Like watching a Boa Constrictor slowly strangle the life out of its prey.

Matic was a monstrous presence. Rashford and Martial tortured Zabaleta. Lukaku finished unerringly. Pogba shook off his postman tag by hitting the net not the post. Bailly and Jones looked solid. So many good performances. So much to be pleased with.

Too of the League.

 

[Summit]

This is not s day to criticize the guy. He's scored two goals on his fecking debut.

Henry is a tool on a pundit.

Absolutely, agree completely. What a twat.

 

[tony54]

Not really controversial. It's exactly what I was thinking during the game against Real Madrid. We should aim to reach that standard in the future but for now our priority should be to become a Permier League challenging side. If we get there, and there's still a tough road ahead, we can start to look beyond it.

Real Madrid had 2 big advantages on the night, one was they were better used to the high temperature and secondly, their players were accustomed to their positions. Once MU get a decent left back and Mou gets a more settled team the gap between Real and MU wont be so great.

 

[Hasawi Red]

That was fun , also loved how 3 of the goals were from nice open play.

Love the variety in our play. We certainly have options this year.

 

[Catt]

Tweet

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controversial: harsh or reality?

Don't think it's controversial to say we aren't as good as Real Madrid. We could probably have played better though.

 

[simonhch]

Somewhere is London, an Italian is crying over a box of cookies and a toupee.

 

[Marzo]

Had tears in my eyes .....This was amazing, what a start

 

[Ajax Treesdown]

Great performance from Matic, always on the front foot and very commanding. Hopefully he can keep up this level of performance. Given food for thought to those who moaned and whinged when we signed him.

 

[Zlatattack]

Great performance, roll on the next one.

 

[DeGea]

All our scorers today speak French as their first language.

 

[Catt]

Keep that kinda shit to yourself

Lol. Actually though he was trying to play Matic through but who cares

 

[Antisocial]

TOP OF THE LEAGUE!!

I know it's the first game and means nothing, but seeing us top of the league must feels right

Delighted to dispatch such an annoying opponent so decisively, and LOVE the hunger of the team to keep going for more and more goals after taking the lead

 

[MadMike]

Standard and consistency are too different things. Consistency is required in the Premiership throughout the whole squad and across the whole season. In the Champions League it's more about standard and an exceptional team. Real Madrid's first team is a notch above Barcelona and multiple notches over everyone else.

That bolded statement is out of context. Consistency is required to win any league, from Spain to Azerbaijan.

What I said is the PL requires different intensity. Higher tempo matches, no winter breaks, more rough challenges allowed, no quarter given by underdog teams that make you play for the full 90' to win etc. It's a different thing to consistency. The standard is lower than the top level of Spain but it requires more effort, if less skill.

 

[antohan]

Who is Man of the Match then? The former Chelsea midfielder or the former Chelsea target?

Tee hee.

 

[vivaronaldo]

Great start .... long season , we move on

O and Matic is an absolute beast

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Did Pardew just call Pogba, Drogba?

 

[Dec9003]

Man of the match:
For me the man of the match has to be the new man Matic. It was really difficult to pick because everyone did their part today but Matic was brilliant.
I knew he was solid defensively and knew how to keep it simple, but he showed today that he's much much more than that; if he can keep that up he's the signing of the season.
Best of the rest:
There were plenty of stand out performances today; Lukaku was obviously excellent. He kept it nice and simple and was deadly when he needed to be, given his pace and physicality I think we've not only replaced Ibra, but upgraded on him.
Mata and Pogba also massively impressed me, when Mata is involved in the match he's as good as your Eriksens and your coutinhos quite comfortably. If Mourinho can figure out how to get consistent performances out of him this season we might not be as desperate for a creator as we all believe we are.
As for Pogba it was another commanding performance next to Matic. Topped off with a brilliant goal that we know he has in him. Hopefully with a lot of the pressure off him this season he can really shine.
Final thoughts:
To cap off an already much too long block of text; it's a massive relief to get a result like this at home this season. We struggled massively for goals at home barring one or two matches, so if we can start becoming serial winners at home again then a title challenge is very likely. The squad is better than its been in years and with a manager like Mourinho I'm incredibly excited for the season.
Ps Chelsea and Liverpool are rubbish.

 

[Ainu]

All our scorers today speak French as their first language.

Lukaku isn't a native French speaker.

 

[Wal2Fra]

Excellent performance all round. Gave them nothing at the back and just t run the ball through midfield all game.

Pobga was insane, such a joy to watch & Matic makes such a huge difference. Excellent from Martial too, had a great 10 and will fill him (and Jose) with confidence. Well done to Rom on his 2 aswell.

 

[Member 5225]

Did Pardew just call Pogba, Drogba?

think so!

 

[Mystry]

That was fun, even the first half where it was a quite stodgy at times. Obviously we'll have much harder games but I also expect us to get stronger and our attacking play to flow even better in a couple of months time.

Also Matic looks reinvigorated and like he's played a couple of seasons with us, and that's without a proper pre season.

 

[Red Dreams]

Who is Man of the Match then? The former Chelsea midfielder or the former Chelsea target?

Tee hee.

read that as who is the "Man of Steel "

 

[Red For Ever]

This is not a day to criticize the guy. He's scored two goals on his fecking debut.

Henry is a tool of a pundit.

Isnt Henry is coach with the Belgium team, so will know him quite well

 

[ManuMou]

Herrera 0 mins. Even Fellaini got some. Haven renewed contract. He will get some mins for sure. But like Morata and James......and if this cont...he would be off to other club in near future then ?

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

Tweet

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controversial: harsh or reality?

Reality, but I sence bit of jealousy in his post, or sadness, like he is not very happy with our good performance, he did not expect that, and not taking it nicely, so he has to kick back to make himself feel better, so he puts RM in his tweet, cause no one else's performance (other big teams in PL) can be compared.
Or maybe I'm wrong..

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

There's still plenty of room for improvement in our decision-making and finishing. Hopefully the former will be solved as we continue to gel and will in turn help us in the latter department. Though I'm encouraged by today's performance there are still some misgivings about how to get the best out of Martial, Rashford, Mata and Mkhi in the same team, it feels a little bit of a square pegs/round holes scenario. Also West Ham were dire. All that said...

We were superb. Defensively solid as a rock with Jones and Bailly chewing up what little they had to throw at us and both fullbacks adequately completing their defensive duties and managing to get up the pitch (sometimes at the same time ) to help out in attack. Matic was fantastic, doing his share of the dirty work with aplomb while distributing the ball very nicely. The only reason I didn't give him MotM was that his influence lessened in the second half as Pogba stepped up. If I was a little frustrated with some of his poor choices of pass in the first half I thought he was sensational after the break, West Ham couldn't get near him and his goal was lovely. I was pleased with Lukaku's hold-up play and I was very pleased to see how he took his goals. Fair play to Rashford, who stuck at it after a poor start to give their rightback a torrid time with some nice direct play and Mkhi and Mata popped up here and there with some good stuff, particularly the former's fine set piece for Lukaku's second goal. Martial also did well when he came on and he took his goal very well.

Overall a great performance against a poor side that was better than anything we produced at OT last year. I hope we build on what we've produced in this game in the coming matches. Keep the tempo high, the movement sharp and the defence ruthless, add a little more quality in our passing and finishing and we're on a for a great season.

 

[ThaReaper01]

Didn't get to watch but 4-0 over anyone is good stuff. Nice bounce back.

 

[PieCrust]

No need for wingers when if we can play through the middle this well all season. Matic easily man of the match for me. He's been immense in his 2 games so far.

Lukaku getting the brace was fantastic start for him. Pogba, you could just see his freedom now that we have a proper DM in Matic. Rashford was also very good down the line and was unlucky not to score.

Only 1 match, but I'm very much chuffed with that performance and 4-0 scoreline. Warning shots fired to the rest of the league.

 

[The Stain]

Was funny how so many wanted Bailly/Smalling when it was clear in pre-season that Bailly/Jones worked better. *smug cnut*

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

Just realised, this guy in studio, he did that dance

 

[pacifictheme]

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controversial: harsh or reality?

Not really. Real are the best in the world.

 

[No Idea For Nickname]

Gary, shut up, Antonio is crying at home..

 

[r3idy]

Great result and performance. Matic once again adding balance to the midfield. Pretty much every player was a steady 7 / 10. There will be sterner tests ahead for sure but opening day win, some decent goals spread out amongst the team, and a clean sheet, yeah I will take that. This kind of game last year is where we slipped up so good opening result.