[JUPITER]

ON DI MARIA






That, in comparison to the stuff you've posted on Rooney? Behave!

The thing you seem incapable/unwilling to acknowledge is that I'm not criticising Rooney - I'm criticising Van Gaal for playing him there.

You asked if I'd pulled up Di Maria's relatively poor game - and I had.

But the thing you're clearly not grasping is that I don't believe Di Maria's position cost us the game, whereas I believe Rooney being played in CM effectively cost us the game in the first half.

 

[Nighteyes]

, I have to admit though when he was running back like a bull after Toure I was waiting for a Red card tackle, but he didn't and won the ball. Good performance for a 10 man squad, getting better at his captain duties.

Same here.

You could almost feel his feet getting itchy to lash out. Heaved a huge sigh of relief after the tackle.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

The thing you seem incapable/unwilling to acknowledge is that I'm not criticising Rooney - I'm criticising Van Gaal for playing him there.

Not with this post youre not

Why couldn't Van Gaal have made DDG captain? What is gained by having to shoe-horn Rooney into every starting 11 whenever's he's available even if it means playing him in ridiculously out of position - like CM against a top team?

Argh it really annoys me.

 

[Varun]

Thought he drove the team on in the 2nd half. Obviously a bit rusty but that was to be expected. Much better than his usual performances after a lay off.

 

[DevilRed]

Played well considering how long he has been out for. Cramps towards the end of the match probably rendered him less effective in injury time. Great barnstorming run through the middle of the pitch. Havent seen that in a long time from him.

 

[JUPITER]

Not with this post youre not

I'm directly criticising Van Gaal for making Rooney (or any striker) captain. How am I criticising Rooney for being made captain, it's not his decision, is it?

Strikers should always be picked on form, not because they're the captain. And if you're gonna pick Rooney every game at least play him in position.

That's my criticism, do you understand?

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

The thing you seem incapable/unwilling to acknowledge is that I'm not criticising Rooney - I'm criticising Van Gaal for playing him there.

You asked if I'd pulled up Di Maria's relatively poor game - and I had.

But the thing you're clearly not grasping is that I don't believe Di Maria's position cost us the game, whereas I believe Rooney being played in CM effectively cost us the game in the first half.

Oh, so it had nothing to do with Smalling getting sent off?

And why the feck do you keep talking about the first half? The games is two halves. I could understand if Rooney made a mistake and City scored, but he didn't. Yes, he gave away possession a few times, but you can't say a player 'cost us the game' if something he did wrong didn't result in City capitalizing.

Would you say Di Maria 'cost us the game' in the second half when he was out of position for Aguero's goal?

 

[UnofficialDevil]

I'm directly criticising Van Gaal for making Rooney (or any striker) captain. How am I criticising Rooney for being made captain, it's not his decision, is it?

Strikers should always be picked on form, not because they're the captain. And if you're gonna pick Rooney every game at least play him in position.

That's my criticism, do you understand?

I cant be asked to get into this with you, and yes I understand where you're coming from very well.

 

[RedMachine03]

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Love that. I'd like to see him do it a lot more, mind. Reminiscent of a young Rooney.

 

[Steven Seagull]

Started by a crap first touch

 

[wr8_utd]

Ugh. Why didn't he shoot!!

 

[JUPITER]

Oh, so it had nothing to do with Smalling getting sent off?

And why the feck do you keep talking about the first half? The games is two halves. I could understand if Rooney made a mistake and City scored, but he didn't. Yes, he gave away possession a few times, but you can't say a player 'cost us the game', if something he did wrong didn't result in City capitalizing.

Would you say Di Maria 'cost us the game' in the second half when he was out of position for Aguero's goal?

Our entire shape was compromised because of this issue. And our entire possession game was lost because of this issue. These are the factors that got us a point against Chelsea - our shape and our possession, this is what our football is about now.

Our back 4 was very, very weak, we knew this, and from those cross field hollywoods in the first half we gave City free run at our weakest element - our right side, which is where our red came from. Yes, I do blame Smalling, but Smalling isn't good enough to deal with pressure like that. Van Gaal IS good enough to know what playing strikers in CM will result in.

If we'd played the exact same tactics today with Herrera or Carrick in CM and played Rooney instead of RvP as a striker I think we'd have won the game.

You simply can't play a striker in that CM role in a team that's based on possession football, not against top opposition. You're throwing the game right there.

You can laugh off what I'm saying now, but if Van Gaal does it again against a top team I guarantee you it'll hold the exact same consequence.

 

[Nighteyes]

Has he ever scored with his left foot? I am struggling to think of any right now

 

[bosnian_red]

Started off really poorly with the passes but then was great after. Should have shot after his run instead of cutting in though. Great to have him back.

 

[Rado_N]

Explode!

 

[Mali_Zeus]

Explode!

Damn, he should have shot it.. He was through on goal.

 

[Kakeru]

Ugh. Why didn't he shoot!!

Probably the only thing I keep asking a question about his performance today. Man, he had that momentum after making Kompany look shite.

Otherwise, he did well for a first match after a suspension.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Our entire shape was compromised because of this issue. And our entire possession game was lost because of this issue. These are the factors that got us a point against Chelsea - our shape and our possession, this is what our football is about now.

Our back 4 was very, very weak, we knew this, and from those cross field hollywoods in the first half we gave City free run at our weakest element - our right side, which is where our red came from. Yes, I do blame Smalling, but Smalling isn't good enough to deal with pressure like that. Van Gaal IS good enough to know what playing strikers in CM will result in.

If we'd played the exact same tactics today with Herrera or Carrick in CM and played Rooney instead of RvP as a striker I think we'd have won the game.

You simply can't play a striker in that CM role in a team that's based on possession football, not against top opposition. You're throwing the game right there.

You can laugh off what I'm saying now, but if Van Gaal does it again against a top team I guarantee you it'll hold the exact same consequence.

What a load of rubbish! We bossed the game for most of the first half with Rooney in centre midfield, with Fellaini and Blind. If I didn't know where Rooney played, I wouldn't have said he looked out of place in midfield today. I felt our shape and our possession was fine against City until the sending off. We weren't exactly getting torn apart before that, were we? Even after Smalling got sent off we looked pretty organised.

Smalling is good enough to deal with pressure like that. Actually, I'd say Smalling's a very intelligent player who normally deals with those situations a lot better. Today was an uncharacteristic mistake. Also, the goal come from us not clearing our lines.

Based on what? Herrera was poor against West Brom, losing possession a number of times, and has since been dropped by an in form Fellaini.

Anyone can lose possession in midfield, striker or no striker. Like I said above, Herrera lost possession a lot of times against West Brom and he's a centre midfielder. Your point?

Well, today I didn't think we looked out of place, even when we went down to 10, and this is supposed to be a 'top team'. I also maintain that we were the better team with eleven men on the pitch.

 

[NinjaZombie]

Has he ever scored with his left foot? I am struggling to think of any right now

He does. Rooney scores a variety of goals, for all his faults. Off the top of my head, one of the goals in his hat trick debut was a left footer.

Also, am I the only one who thinks his run today was because he miscontrolled the ball? But he did okay today, I think.

 

[Blodssvik]

I think city read it every time he tried to smash it out to the right today. Sometimes looked as if they intentionally opened up for him to hit that pass so they could dispossess and counter. Felt Rooney mixed it up more towards the end.

 

[JUPITER]

What a load of rubbish!

We bossed the game for most of the first half with Rooney in centre midfield, with Fellaini and Blind.

I felt our shape and our possession was fine against City until the sending off.

Anyone can lose possession in midfield, striker or no striker.

Our shape was conceded by the decisions LvG made in order to squeeze Rooney and Van Persie into the starting 11 - that's why he changed formation from the Chelsea game, which he shouldn't have done. Watch both games again if you want to develop an understanding of this point.

Our possession game, which is what our football is supposed to be about now was thrown away by playing a striker in CM. Wayne Rooney isn't very good at holding on to possession when passing, it's probably the weakest part of his game. Playing him in that key role broke the 'philosophy' and equalled our entire possession game going out the window. Again, watch the Chelsea match again and then watch the first half against City to gain an understanding of this.

A striker who is prone to giving away possession in midfield is always more likely to give up possession in midfield than an actual midfielder. Watch the first half again and count how many times possession is squandered under no pressure by Rooney in midfield and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Our shape was conceded by the decisions LvG made in order to squeeze Rooney and Van Persie into the starting 11 - that's why he changed formation from the Chelsea game, which he shouldn't have done. Watch both games again if you want to develop an understanding of this point.

Our possession game, which is what our football is supposed to be about now was thrown away by playing a striker in CM. Wayne Rooney isn't very good at holding on to possession when passing, it's probably the weakest part of his game. Playing him in that key role broke the 'philosophy' and equalled our entire possession game going out the window. Again, watch the Chelsea match again and then watch the first half against City to gain an understanding of this.

A striker who is prone to giving away possession in midfield is always more likely to give up possession in midfield than an actual midfielder. Watch the first half again and count how many times possession is squandered under no pressure by Rooney in midfield and you'll see what I mean.

Don't patronize me. I think it's you that needs to watch the games and again see that we stuck to Van Gaal's philosophy and bossed the game. As Neville said about 15 mins into the game, City's players couldn't get near us, and were chasing shadows, at times. Our formation was exactly the same as it was against Chelsea. All that changed was Rooney replacing Mata in the midfield.

I love how you completely ignore my points. You keep talk about Rooney giving away possession in the first half (why you keep mentioning the first half when the game is two halves, I don't know) but as I said, Herrera give away possession a lot against West Brom, so who's to say he wouldn't have done it today? Who cares if he's an 'actual' midfielder. Fact is, Rooney's being played in midfield because he's always been a player to drop off and use his great passing range. Not exactly new to him. He did it under SAF, hence why he wanted to leave.

Also, can you please stop telling me to watch the first half. It's getting really annoying now. A game doesn't last for 45 minutes.

 

[JUPITER]

Don't patronize me. I think it's you that needs to watch the games and again see that we stuck to Van Gaal's philosophy and bossed the game. As Neville said about 15 mins into the game, City's players couldn't get near us, and were chasing shadows, at times.

Our formation was exactly the same as it was against Chelsea. All that changed was Rooney replacing Mata in the midfield.

Just gonna have to agree to disagree aren't we, mate? We clearly don't see eye to on the last couple of games and I think we're just annoying each other here.

For 15 minutes at the start we did well...and then we started gifting them our possession and it all came from the striker we played as a CM. This lost us our game plan, our shape and directly placed massive pressure on our weakest element - right side defence.

Our formation and set up wasn't the same as the Chelsea match.

 

[united_99]

Apart from the ever present pointless diagonal passes he did well today.

 

[Sparky_Hughes]

Beautiful run and an exquisite turn to make himself some space just after half time, our best player today

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

Just gonna have to agree to disagree aren't we, mate? We clearly don't see eye to on the last couple of games and I think we're just annoying each other here.

For 15 minutes at the start we did well...and then we started gifting them our possession and it all came from the striker we played as a CM. This lost us our game plan, our shape and directly placed massive pressure on our weakest element - right side defence.

Our formation and set up wasn't the same as the Chelsea match.

I guess we'll have to, but what I'm trying to say, Rooney losing possession a few times (although Di Maria was also dispossessed a number of times), didn't lose us the game. If our shape was lost, it was because we had one less player, not because of Rooney. If that happened against Chelsea, it would've been the same.

Against Chelsea​

De Gea
Rafael - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw
Blind
Mata - Fellaini
Januzaj - Van Persie - Di Maria

Against City

De Gea
Valencia - Smalling - Rojo - Shaw
Blind
Fellaini - Rooney
Januzaj - Van Persie - Di Maria
​

What did you see that was different to the Chelsea game?

 

[Acole9]

Wonderful run in the match just a shame it didn't result in a goal.

 

[NoPace]

Best game as a 10 in a long time.

Still rather see him up front as a 9 and one of Falcao or Van Persie leave and the money earmarked for them put towards a wide attacker with pace.

But he played quite well.

 

[Marching]

Rooney did a lot of whinging today.

 

[charlenefan]

Apart from the ever present pointless diagonal passes he did well today.

This

Those floated (often under hit) diagonals to Di Maria really did cut the momentum of numerous attacks today. Not sure I like Rooney in the 3 though, he did ok but not as well as Mata did last week (imo) or Herrera or Di Maria would do in there (IMO)

 

[Water Melon]

Wayne is a striker, and is a damn good ome. Playing him in the midfield was a gamble, but he looked decent. Would still prefer Herrera there.

 

[JUPITER]

Rooney did a lot of whinging today.

He did.

He's out of his depth being played in CM though, and also out of his depth as a captain - which I think leads him to shout a lot in an effort to be a 'good leader'.

I'm sure LvG regrets his decision to make him captain. It was a daft decision for all concerned.

 

[wr8_utd]

He did.

He's out of his depth being played in CM though, and also out of his depth as a captain - which I think leads him to shout a lot in an effort to be a 'good leader'.

I'm sure LvG regrets his decision to make him captain. It was a daft decision for all concerned.

Who would you rather have as captain? Rooney was the best option we had and honestly, he's the only one we have on the pitch who closely resembles a leader. He works his socks off and gives it his all and is absolutely all over. He was the best choice we had for captain and we didn't have many.

 

[TheShedEnd]

Has this been posted? Found it amusing:


Thought he was the best player on the pitch today mind.

 

[Adebesi]

It's weird, I can't work out why Van Gaal made a rod for his own back by saying Rooney was undroppable. He could've just quietly never dropped him and let people draw their own conclusions. Then he'd have the flexibility to drop him if he ever needed and journalists wouldn't be able throw his words back in his face in stories speculating about why the undroppable player has been dropped.

Having said that you wouldn't drop him now anyway. Really want to see him play striker again.

 

[JUPITER]

Who would you rather have as captain? Rooney was the best option we had and honestly, he's the only one we have on the pitch who closely resembles a leader. He works his socks off and gives it his all and is absolutely all over. He was the best choice we had for captain and we didn't have many.

DDG, without a doubt.

Rooney's a great player and a spirited lad but he's not actually a leader on the pitch. Never has been. He works best with less responsibility.

There's a difference between running around shouting and leading.

 

[wr8_utd]

DDG, without a doubt.

Rooney's a great player and a spirited lad but he's not actually a leader on the pitch. Never has been. He works best with less responsibility.

There's a difference between running around shouting and leading.

DDG was never going to be made captain really.

 

[Adebesi]

When there was a poll over the summer I voted DDG for captain. It would have been bold but I think he was the best candidate. Especially given out massive Spanish-speaking contingent.

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Overall pretty good today, especially in the second half. Inspiring stuff really. If only he would've finished that magnificent run off, it would have been one of those great moments!