[manufanatic]

He was infuriating defensively again but he created Rooney's goal with his run and shot and should have had an assist for his cross to Fellaini.

He was decent going forwards.

Yes I forgot about the cross so his attacking play was good but he needs to check back and it is one of the issues why he had been sitting. As great as giggs at that it bothers me that he hasn't got Memphis to do it. Giggs while not the manager needs some of the blame he should be driving that willingness to check back and defend

 

[nimic]

I know I should feel better, and it was an entertaining game, but... we still failed to beat a woeful Newcastle side. People can talk all they want about our three goals, but it's really not as simple as "if only we were as good defensively as we usually are." They're connected. It's very worrying that we seem to be unable to be half-decent at both attacking and defending at the same time.

 

[Alex99]

Thanks for your honesty. Many confused or disengenious posters on here tonight not being so honest!

Right now, our team is not evolved enough to play entertaining winning football. Abromovich has spent a decade chasing this particular dragon and seen how hard it is. It took SAF 7 years before he was able to produce it consistently.

So it is a choice: win ugly or entertain and lose points. Our problem many of our entitled fans (and ex players) have created such a stink that the media has been allowed to create a huge story. And that story adds yet another level of pressure this nascent squad could do without.

Our fans really need to wise up. It's not 1999 or 2008 and SAF is gone. It takes time to rebuild an empire, but this constant volley of snide remarks from people whose sole role is to 'support' the club is confusing the manager and the team.

The thing is, you don't have to play particularly risky, attacking football in every game to be seen as entertaining. Hell, you don't even have to do it in the majority of games. Play it against the relegation fodder (such as fecking Newcastle), and a couple of the weaker mid-table sides at home, and you can take the rest as they come. The fact that we're struggling against the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth, Norwich and bloody Sheffield United shows how poor LvG has been.

 

[one340]

I've said this before, if we want to play more open attacking football, we need to reinforce the defense. All we have is Smalling and he can't cover the defense all by himself.

 

[marlowe78]

I said to a coworker today that if we didn't beat Newcastle we should give it up. Well...

 

[roykeane19]

I think Newcastle will be a decent side a year fro now. Sh!t teams don't move the ball forward like that. McLaren just need time.

They`re an amazing side with lots of potential, thats why theyre in relegation, look at reality every shit team we come up against, know they can match us, and at least get a draw or win, the stats and most of our matches this season show that

I remember back in the SAF days when we`d look at the fixture table, and basically count and guarantee we would be getting points against most of the bottom 10 was a given. Nowadays we make relegation teams look like world beaters

 

[Raees]

I know I should feel better, and it was an entertaining game, but... we still failed to beat a woeful Newcastle side. People can talk all they want about our three goals, but it's really not as simple as "if only we were as good defensively as we usually are." They're connected. It's very worrying that we seem to be unable to be half-decent at both attacking and defending at the same time.

Ultimately it is simply not good enough and LVG should have been on his way ages ago. That said if we are to endure him and be unsuccessful. . I'd rather see games like this. Actually enjoyed the game today and felt like we deserved to win it albeit 6-4.

All our attackers had decent games bar Fellaini.

 

[Red-Jeff]

They`re an amazing side with lots of potential, thats why theyre in relegation, look at reality every shit team we come up against, know they can match us, and at least get a draw or win, the stats and most of our matches this season show that

I remember back in the SAF days when we`d look at the fixture table, and basically count and guarantee we would be getting points against most of the bottom 10 was a given. Nowadays we make relegation teams look like world beaters

Probably has a good deal to do with the increased quality of the league overall. The best teams in the league aren't as good as previous years but I don't know if it has ever been this competitive in the sense that any team can beat any other team on a given day. Gone are the days of sure points in the prem if it keeps up like this.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

Enjoyable football match, pathetic result.

 

[Alock1]

He isn't a risk taker, tonight could easily have ended in a loss, and he would have been far happier if this had ended 0-0 and minimal risk had been taken.

It is clear now we can't out play teams, and that our oh so wonderful defensive is actually nothing of the sort, he knows this so plays to what he believes to be our strengths, and what he is most comfortable doing.

We all know that. But when objectively speaking this is still better than the results we are getting with the other style, I don't see how much stock can be placed on it.

He can't set the team up to score and not concede. The squad is obviously capable of it though.

 

[MThomas]

I said to a coworker today that if we didn't beat Newcastle we should give it up. Well...

You quit your job ?

 

[Rory 7]

Essentially the same crap as the Wolfsburg game. We are a mess.

 

[Crashoutcassius]

It was exciting and nice to see mata dropped and lingard and martial given a chance. We have good options and getting the team choice correct more often I think will be positive. Depay again looked better when he featured, all the attacking players just look better since van gaal has given them some more license.

Poor defensively and hard to know where that is coming from, for me we typically look leaky with fellaini in CM as he plays so box to box but that isn't the be all... darmian looks like he has 1 mistake per game in him and smalling looked uncomfortable tonight. Add a good defender alongside smalling and we will look more solid you would think

 

[JustAFan]

More points dropped and a further plunge down the table is coming

 

[Green_Red]

I cant believe we scored 3 goals, and in a single game!

 

[JakeC]

The balance in the transition phase is not there. Fullbacks are possibly the most important players on the pitch these days with how fluid the game has become, and when we play a left winger as right back, and a right back as left back, we're going to struggle.

Smalling let us down today, which is a surprise because he's been our best player this season.

 

[Yorkeontop]

They`re an amazing side with lots of potential, thats why theyre in relegation, look at reality every shit team we come up against, know they can match us, and at least get a draw or win, the stats and most of our matches this season show that

I remember back in the SAF days when we`d look at the fixture table, and basically count and guarantee we would be getting points against most of the bottom 10 was a given. Nowadays we make relegation teams look like world beaters

Leicester hastened and chastened us that 5-3 day, look where they were then and now. Newcastle had us going as well at times in that second half. The way they moved the ball at times, they're being coached these guys. Just give them time I reckon. The biggest problem is the general mood around the club, they lack Leicester's free spirit.

 

[Offside]

Honestly people go on about attacking Football but if Mouriniho was here and we were winning 4/5 games 1-0 this place would be buzzing. It's only after a certain amount of time we would start to get sick of it and raise our expectations to winning with style. The Ferguson era our expectations were sky high because we had the best situation of any club in the world ever (barring maybe the arca Messi era we are seeing). He is gone. Our expectation should just be winning games and getting back to where we need to be.

This is what I think the LVG plan was. He would come in, break up the squad, get us back into the CL, get us back winning trophies in any way possible and that way is boring football. Then somebody would come in after 3 years and take us on to becoming to most brilliant team in the world. But what is actually happening is boring football and boring results, which is just utterly depressing.

 

[Loon]

Great to see goals and attack, but feels like a loss the way we blew a two goal lead and then the final slip.

 

[Shimo]

It's like people don't watch the games. Yes, Newcastle have had a bad results, their league position is way down there but, that does not mean that in today's game they didn't play well and in fact over the last few games have done just that but, not got the results. They were confident, they moved the ball around very well, were quick into tackles and second balls and they fed off the energy of the crowd and vice versa. It's not unheard of that so called poor teams put these types of performances against the top sides, so lets give credit where credit is due. Newcastle gave it their all and as such benefited from it, some of it luck, some of it our own doing. The positives are that we ourselves know we can play with speed and direct football that can result in chances/goals.

Our issue is/was not having a proper CM pair to play the type of game we had on our hands today, one where our attacking players would have a lot of space to attack but, our defense would be tested by the opposition, so really needed the cover from the 2 CM. Both of which were very poor in that role today, one of which IMO wrongly picked up a yellow early, which affected how much he could get about when we needed him to.

On a separate note - Lingard was not pulled because he missed the chance, think it was always planed because he is just coming back from injury and probably not ready to play more than he did. He was going to be less and less effective in helping on that side defensively, where Newcastle were attacking using Janmaat.

 

[Sb_16]

1:30 am kickoff. I'd rather wake up to a nightmare than this.

So, I did have a nightmare this morning...
A zombie outbreak, one came up behind me, I viciously smashed its head in. In the process I got zombie blood/brain all over my hand. Afraid of turning myself I rushed to the restroom to wash it off, that's when it happened....
I saw the PL table. With 31 games gone, we're merely hanging on to 4th with 49 points, far behind the other 3. Above us were Liverpool, 22 points ahead in the title race.

Woke up and saw the result, now I don't know which I prefer; the reality or the nightmare.

 

[kouroux]

Honestly people go on about attacking Football but if Mouriniho was here and we were winning 4/5 games 1-0 this place would be buzzing. It's only after a certain amount of time we would start to get sick of it and raise our expectations to winning with style. The Ferguson era our expectations were sky high because we had the best situation of any club in the world ever (barring maybe the arca Messi era we are seeing). He is gone. Our expectation should just be winning games and getting back to where we need to be.

This is what I think the LVG plan was. He would come in, break up the squad, get us back into the CL, get us back winning trophies in any way possible and that way is boring football. Then somebody would come in after 3 years and take us on to becoming to most brilliant team in the world. But what is actually happening is boring football and boring results, which is just utterly depressing.

Mourinho's teams have always beaten poor teams convincingly (except this season). It's only in big games he's extra cautious.

 

[mav_9me]

I have come to the following conclusions.

1. We cannot find a balance between defence and attack with the current set of players.

2. The reason for that is the paucity of good defenders, exacerbated by LVG decision not to buy anyone compounded by making blind his left sided defender. All of it made worse by Shaw's injury.

3. So to protect our defense we play a possession based game where the defense doesn't have to deal with as many attacks simply because the opposition doesn't have the ball. Note we are still vulnerable to a counter attack by virtue of lack of quality.

4. A feature of the above possession based approach is that we retain the ball till the opposition players get back in position so as to avoid our players being out of position in case we lose the ball in swift transitions.

5. Consequently there is no attack during transitions making our attack suffer the burden of picking apart well set defenses.

End result is yesterday's game where we tried a counter attack approach. The problem of course is it can only work if you can actually defend before counterattacking.

 

[Marcus]

We attacked well. The result was unfortunate and could have been avoided with better finishing. I like the direction in which the style of play is heading. Finding the right balance between attack and defence is the key.

 

[bosnian_red]

Unrelated to United, how the feck is Wijnaldum playing for only Newcastle? Can easily play for a top 6-7 team. And start at one, not just be a sub. Far too good for Newcastle, will be a bargain for whoever gets him when Newcastle get relegated.

 

[Bobcat]

Well, it was exciting at least. Now..if we only could find a way to play attacking football AND defend at the same time, that would be neat

 

[Roosney]

Umm, I bought Smalling in my FPL team instead of Rooney.

A decent game from us, the result was fair I think.

 

[Spock]

Same old story. We can't attack AND defend well in the same game.

At least we created chances, but poor finishing let us down.

 

[Norris]

From what I have seen of us, we have 2 modes:
Mode1: high possession, can't score, but also don't concede. We can play any team for hours and do a 0-0.
Mode2: attack & 50-50 possession. In this mode, we can score goals, but we also concede plenty of goals.

Once a Mode has been selected, we are unable to change.
If we start with Mode1, we will continue with Mode1 for the whole game.
If we start with Mode2, we will continue with Mode2, for the entire game.

Very true. After going 3-2 up with like 5 mins remaining, the team were literally pushing forward. It is in those sort of moments when we should be recycling possession. Over-excuberance ? That's when the manager or AM should get off their ass and tell the players to keep the ball or bring on an experienced figurehead like Carrick (I know we already used up the 3 subs, just saying).

Van Gaal saying Fellaini can't head.

I know he didn't mean it that way, but it was epic

Mike Smalling became Chris Smalling

Nope, I think he became Pele and we all know Pele can't defend.

 

[Sad Chris]

Entertained for 90 minutes, depressed for the rest of the week.

 

[Rednotdead]

We look a rudderless team, a bunch of players just sent out to play and hope it all comes right.

We have no leader on the pitch. We have a captain who does his best, but he's no natural leader.

 

[Sad Chris]

Very true. After going 3-2 up with like 5 mins remaining, the team were literally pushing forward.

We were and I thought it was good.
Right before their goal our midfield and defence dropped very deep into our own half as if somebody had shouted to do so. I just rewatched and it doesn't make sense. That's how they managed to get all their numbers up front.
I'd almost rather take a lone counter runner vs de Gea than a crowded box.

 

[kafta]

For one reason or another, this is the result that depressed me the most this season. That's quite a feat.

 

[Norris]

We were and I thought it was good.
Right before their goal our midfield and defence dropped very deep into our own half as if somebody had shouted to do so. I just rewatched and it doesn't make sense. That's how they managed to get all their numbers up front.
I'd almost rather take a lone counter runner vs de Gea than a crowded box.

I am not suggesting we sit deep either. I am merely suggesting that we play like normal possession based football. Newcastle would get frustrated and close us down, and we have good enough players to have beaten their press and gotent the ball forward with ease and scored/created something. Instead, we didn't do that. We just played it wide and bombed forward, which is very pleasing on the eye I agree, but wouldn't have been the right approach. We could have just as easily created chances even in those 5 mins if we had stuck to van Gaal's famed philosophy.

 

[Crossie]

We were and I thought it was good.
Right before their goal our midfield and defence dropped very deep into our own half as if somebody had shouted to do so. I just rewatched and it doesn't make sense. That's how they managed to get all their numbers up front.
I'd almost rather take a lone counter runner vs de Gea than a crowded box.

Forgot where I read it but even statistically speaking, the best way to defend a narrow lead in the last minutes is supposedly to attack, including the substitution of a defender or defensive midfielder for another striker or attacking midfielder.

 

[Norris]

Forgot where I read it but even statistically speaking, the best way to defend a narrow lead in the last minutes is supposedly to attack, including the substitution of a defender or defensive midfielder for another striker or attacking midfielder.

I think he echoes your sentiments too, that we should be attacking even in those final mins. I just think we should attack the van Gaal way and not the Ferguson way in those final few minutes.

 

[ants7]

It's a shame that from a game where we scored 3 goals (!), two of them in the first half (!) and played entertaining football, we still came away with just a draw. Disappointing. And the Premier League table doesn't look good for us either.

 

[Siorac]

I do sympathise with Van Gaal a little. It's almost as if we can't be trusted to play free flowing, forward thinking football, and so he puts the brakes on. Every time he's pressured into loosening us up a bit, we show just why it's not a good idea. Entertaining game, but we were awful at the back.

We just can't seem to find a happy medium with our attacking style and defensive solidity.

The only problem with this argument is that we're not getting results even with the brakes on. So why not at least entertain then?

 

[Sunny Jim]

It's funny bacause that's first time in ages i actually enjoyed our our game. For all the wrong reasons but at least something happened and the game stands out in my memory.

 

[Green_Red]

Chris Waddle reckons Newcastle handball was unlucky, what a feckin clown! Lad jumps hands above head in the box and is unlucky to get a handball?! Kept asking why Martial is playing on right, meanwhile Martial is rinsing Dummett inside out. Some muppets commentating on prem.