[paulscholes18]

Good passing just lacked the killer touch

 

[BootsyCollins]

I like Rooney, but if he is going to continue like this we really really really need another striker asap.
Love that Januzaj got the goal and our defence looks good.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

last season I would have been having a heart attack waiting for us to concede in the last minute, so far this season...... I have the cigar in .

 

[Full Member]

I bloody love Darmian, we've replaced one loveable little scamp in Rafael, with another.

Fully agree. He's just great.

 

[mu77]

Solid brother!

 

[Striker10]

Just not holding the ball up well enough. Too many attacks break down and our width isn't quite clicking yet.

 

[Ixion]

Solid performance really, didn't do more than we needed and never looked in too much danger of conceding (like Spurs). A couple of good spells in each half, Schneiderlin and Darmian look good, and Blind isn't the horror show at CB like so many insisted he would be.

Rooney and Memphis off the pace though, we need Pedro soon.

 

[dasty]

A good result being one man down. Looked comfortable throughout and never really threatened. Our defense is really stepping it up this season.

 

[SirAF]

Very very pleased tonight. Darmian and Smalling were awesome

 

[Rolandofgilead]

Solid defensively which is a plus, half way through the second half when we switched to 4-3-3 we looked much better.

Rooney was awful tonight, there's no defending that I'm afraid, I thought Memphis was poor as well, couldn't complete a pass and his touch was off.

Januzaj looked lively enough though and 2 early wins, 2 clean sheets and 5 points better off then we were last season having played 2 better sides.

I'm satisfied enough.

 

[RetroStu]

Pedro, a striker and a defender please before the window shuts.

 

[MDFC Manager]

For so much whining about Blind at CB and Romero in goal (from myself included)... two consecutive clean sheets!

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Get Pedro in for Mata, get Schweinsteiger in a midfield 3 with Schneiderlin and Herrera and get Rooney into form and we can win the league. Seriously.

 

[Listar]

Daley got man of the match, and some were doubting him so
Much it was embarrassing. Humble pie people?

 

[Man of Leisure]

Love our new signings!

 

[Everest Red]

Januzaj needs to be stronger physically if he wants to make that #10 his own, Mata needs to show more determination, lose the ball easily at times. Anytime I see Rooney, he makes me feel like the ball that goes to him is made of a different material.

Another 3 points, so am happy. Defense looks very solid. Do you guys still want another defender? Personally I think we are fine.

Did you miss that time when Mata won the ball immediately after he lost it? That was sheer determination.

 

[matt23]

Happy enough in the end. We looked like a legit attacking unit after Hererra came on. Mata should have had two assists, looked good going forward but he's a passenger the other way, still think he's our best 10.

First half was very frustrating though, I don't know why we go in our shell after scoring so often.

Two deserved clean sheets and neither Romero or Blind have looked too flustered so far which goes against everything I was predicting.

 

[caisenma]

Jeez lots of hate for Januzaj, but it was his run and of course Mata's beautiful pass tat made the difference today.

This is a game that LVG will have liked... It's early in the season, we're not fully clicking but we did what we needed to. Got a good goal, kept a clean sheet. That's how championships are won.

 

[Ryan7]

A bit better than Spurs. However, Villa were dire. There was little need for us to do anything.

And we did have ten men due to Rooney.

 

[Kag]

I'm pleased. We're clearly well drilled and defensively solid. Others may focus on the negatives, but there are encouraging signs there. Playing like a team being one of them.

The attacking play needs work, but I think both Herrera and Schweinsteiger can help that. They need to start, however.

6 points in two games with two clean sheets. It's not all bad, huh?

 

[Livewire1974]

Solid, not much going forward but this is the kind of dirty 1-0 that wins titles. I also had a tenner on Januzaj to score and United to win at a nice 8/1. Tonights pints are paid for

 

[Infra-red]

Dreadful to watch. The back 4 & Schneiderlin all played well and I don't think we'll concede many goals this season. The attack is toothless and Rooney is in shocking condition. Generally better following the substitutions and change in shape.

 

[Red Stone]

Our backs were world class today. Our two best players by a distance, with Smalling on a solid 3rd place.

But we desparately need someone up front to reinvent our attack. Rooney put in the type of performance that warrants getting dropped from the match day squad outright.

Amavi looks a proper talent. Will be interesting to see if that was a one-off masterclass performance in the biggest game of the season or his usual level. Crap hair, though. All the Villa players had dreadful hair. Gestede, Richards, Gana, Ajew, Amavi, Sinclair, Sanchez, Agbonlahor's upper lip and Guzan. Unsettling stuff.

 

[Smores]

Not too sure I can get excited about a dull 1-0 win against Villa but at least we had a few moments of exciting play

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Whats most encouraging about today's game, apart from the win of course, is that we had the option of boosting our midfield when we started to get overrun in that department. We looked better after Herrera and Schweini came on.

 

[Dumbstar]

Credit to Utd. Getting over these banana skin games with minimal effort. LvG is definitely turning Utd into Chelsea. Which might actually be a complement.

 

[#07]

Pleased by the result and even more pleased that, despite some sloppiness and our team shape sort of collapsing at the start of the second half, you always got the sense we would win 1-0.

It was slightly disappointing to see us lose control of the game early in the second half. I question whether Carrick, at his age, can press as aggressively from start to finish as Van Gaal wants/needs his double pivot to in a 4-2-3-1. Its probably only a matter of Schweinsteiger getting up to full fitness before Carrick loses his place.

The substitutions salvaged the situation for us though. After Ander and Basti were introduced I felt we eased into the game again, and there was a lot of nice one touch stuff in the middle third. Something we didn't get much of beforehand.

It leaves the manager with an interesting dilemma because Ander certainly adds more balance to midfield, Adnan offers more attacking thrust though. Ander is better at linking play, Adnan has more natural attacking instincts. Wonder what Van Gaal will do next week?

Smalling improves every week. Just bossed it. The full backs were good too, especially Darmian. While Blind did competently. A lot of people thought he might get exposed up against pace and power tonight but he didn't.

Lastly, Romero looks like he's getting up to speed. Surprised by his catching. Thought he'd flap or punch high balls but he did well holding them, especially after his boo boo in the warm up.

1-0 to the Man Utd could end up becoming a new chant at this rate!

 

[Pyroblazer]

Solid performance, we lacking the quality upfront, especially Rooney is a huge worry for me. Our defence and midfield looks pretty good, I am not even sure anymore we need a CB and I can understand why LvG doesn't want to spend 50 million on someone like Otamendi, but should probably spend that money on an attacking player. 6 points after 2 games, great start and with the further fixtures I expect us to stay very close to the top

 

[bosnian_red]

Good all around performance and result. Everyone did well, apart from rooney who was woeful. Don't think we're going to be very exciting on the whole this season, but we are solid as feck all around. Darmian, Shaw, smalling, schneiderlin and blind are all great defensively. Then once herrera and Schweinsteiger came on they were class as well and we completely dominated.

Memphis looked lively but should've scored. Still, that pace and movement is something we've lacked and the goals will come. Mata looked more creative then he has at any point in the last few seasons as well. Now if only rooney could pull his head out of his ass we could look really good, but as it is, we're effectively playing without a striker.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Never bothered with Villa, lad on the left gave some trouble to Mata and Darmian (more to former), but other than him, nada. Was entertained, as it was still United, but playing wise, guess will have to get used to not-that-entertaining United with van Gaal at the helm.

 

[Grib]

I have it like this

any other team than Villa gets something against us tonight, if not the win, so many anonymous performance

 

[Rezyuz]

- mata showing again why he should be the 10
- rooney showing again why he should be benched
- its beyons obvious that Herrera should play over schneiderlin

 

[adamwest]

Very very pleased tonight. Darmian and Smalling were awesome

Get out of here with your positivity

Agreed on both counts. Schweinsteiger was also class when he came on.

 

[Red-Man-Walking]

Solid but unspectacular display, with the contrast of brilliant defensive organisation and the worst performance I've ever seen from Rooney, it was on the level of Evans vs. West Ham and Bebe vs. Wolves, cannot recall one positive contribution to the game.

 

[mu77]

kit looked 1990's ish

 

[SirAF]

I have it like this

any other team than Villa gets something against us tonight, if not the win, so many anonymous performance

Last weekend it was any other team than Spurs.

 

[vodrake]

After all that panicking about Gestede beforehand, I don't think he won a single header against Smalling! Even Blind didn't look that fazed by him.

 

[justboy68]

We look like we're never going to concede a goal again. You have to be happy with that. Not to draw too much of a comparison with the 08 side but that season we ground out a lot of fairlyu uninspiring 1-0 wins due to an invincible defensive unit and that was really the foundation for our success that year. We're just lacking Ronaldo banging in the goals obviously.

 

[antsmithmk]

What on earth is that villa team all about though? Have you ever seen a stranger collection of humans? And the hair cuts and 'taches? Jeeeez!

 

[slir32]

Happy with the 3 points disappointed with Rooney. Is that 2 games with no shots on target for him?