[Red-Man-Walking]

So he should have played on with a dislocated shoulder?...Yeah you're right, he really is a soft cnut!!

Yeah what a fecking idiot for letting himself get injured! feck him and that prick Luke Shaw who let someone break his leg and rule out our then best player thus ruining our season just because he didn't fancy it.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Can't believe we were outplayed by f*cking Sunderland and the Dutch cnut still hasn't been sacked.

They've conceded 50 goals this season, and we barely tested Mannone.

 

[Scorpy]

They've conceded 50 goals this season, and we barely tested Mannone.

Indeed. They had lost 15 of their 25 games before yesterday, yet we lost and were outplayed as well. We lost the midfield battle against fecking Cattermole and the Rubin Kazan reject Yann M'vila.

 

[VorZakone]

Indeed. They had lost 15 of their 25 games before yesterday, yet we lost and were outplayed as well. We lost the midfield battle against fecking Cattermole and the Rubin Kazan reject Yann M'vila.

It's a fecking disgrace.

 

[Scorpy]

It's a fecking disgrace.

It really is. Looks like we'll have to endure another 3 months of this shite before the Dutch fraud finally fecks off.

 

[VorZakone]

It really is. Looks like we'll have to endure another 3 months of this shite before the Dutch fraud finally fecks off.

It was guaranteed that some topclubs were going to lose points today as they're playing eachother, yet United just had to lose against fecking Sunderland ffs.

 

[Scorpy]

It was guaranteed that some topclubs were going to lose points today as they're playing eachother, yet United just had to lose against fecking Sunderland ffs.

It's sums up Van Gaal's tenure - inconsistent results combined with consistently shit football. We can't even win two fecking league games in a row, yet he talked about having a chance for the title after the lucky win against Liverpool.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

"Fantastic European Level still in the Europa League" - he's setting the press up for a loss against Midgitland!

He's now saying "top 4" was "our aim" at the start of the season, when he had made a point of saying "top three" in interviews up until about 2 games ago! Will he start saying top 5 and top 6 soon?

Talking about opponent's levels of aggression is madness - does he not think that other lower-league teams play aggressively against top opponents like Barca and Bayern - the guy lives in a dreamworld located somewhere around the turn of the millennium in footballing terms.

That last question about it being the worst result of the season considering Sunderland were second from bottom and his reply is a shrug and "pfffft" He's thrown in the towel and he only seems worried about how all this will affect his legacy and history.

Can't wait for his book after this is all over … and I'm not fecking buying it either!

In fairness I think you are twisting his words.

The Europa does have some good teams still in it. There are a number that are equivalent to us in that they got knocked out of the CL, and others that are having a better season than last season, e.g. Spurs. You could take a view he is saying talk is cheap saying we are going to win the Europa, it is not so easy doing it with the quality there.

He didn't say top 4 was our target, he said losing 5 points in the Chelsea and Sunderland games was making it very difficult now to even get a top 4 place.

As for aggression, he was right, our players could not deal with the second half aggression of Sunderland and the same players, like against Chelsea, panicked and kept losing or giving the ball away. It was an observation, hardly rocket science.

There is no getting away from the fact, that I think most on here probably thought after we equalized that it would just be a formality in us going on to win. The players obviously thought that, took their foot off the pedal and could not rise to the occasion. It was a very poor second half. Overall, I think we carried Carrick and Schniederlin for most of the game, they were both very poor. Their lack of protection put the defense under too much pressure resulting in many stupid free kicks.

 

[togg]

The bottom line is that the players are no longer playing for him. It was so obvious, so many of them were half hearted, not assed. The same thing happened with Moyes and he was sacked. I'm not saying Rooney was good in the match, but he tried. I don't think I've ever seen him so demoralised in that interview after the game. That dressing room must feel totally shite.

 

[Chicharito_]

So he should have played on with a dislocated shoulder?...Yeah you're right, he really is a soft cnut!!

Apologies for that one, fuming after that game and Darmian was in the firing line - poor guy.

 

[Alek M]

Carrick was world class today. He made all happen with passes and positioning. Almost Scholesy level.

 

[markorm]

Why, oh why is he still here!?!




His reasoning why we didn't come away with 3 points?
- We didn't have enough possession.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGH!

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

I miss Ashley Young. Is he out for the season?

 

[pacifictheme]

It's a team of players that is very hard to like. They're slow and frankly spineless.

De Gea and Martial well done. CBJ the only player that knows how to cross a ball properly in the entire club.

Purple patch is over then.

Yeah i miss the glory days of beating derby and an out of form stoke and drawing at Chelsea....

 

[legball]

Not surprised by any result we get. We have a crap team that, on occasion, due to a few good individual performances, may look good.
No manager can transform this lot into a top European club. We need a lot of great youngsters coming through our academy in the next few years because we cant buy the needed 8 or 9 players in the transfer market.
I would keep De Gea, Martial, smalling, Shaw and Memphis ( due to his potential ) and get rid of everyone else. Its going take some time to rebuild.

This post would have made sense if we lost against Bayern, Barca, Man City or Arsenal. We've lost games against Norwich, Southampton, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Stoke, couldn't beat Newcastle at home & away etc. You don't need to be a "top" european club to win a game against this lot. Leicester & Spurs aren't top European clubs, but they're top of the table, they certainly don't have a better squad than we do. We're underperforming, mainly because we have a manager that has failed in his basic task, which is, GETTING THE BEST OUT OF HIS PLAYERS.

 

[SirFergie]

This post would have made sense if we lost against Bayern, Barca, Man City or Arsenal. We've lost games against Norwich, Southampton, Sunderland, Bournemouth, Stoke, couldn't beat Newcastle at home & away etc. You don't need to be a "top" european club to win a game against this lot. Leicester & Spurs aren't top European clubs, but they're top of the table, they certainly don't have a better squad than we do. We're underperforming, mainly because we have a manager that has failed in his basic task, which is, GETTING THE BEST OUT OF HIS PLAYERS.

Fair enough. It's quite clear he is failing and there are things that annoy me about LvG, partly his reluctance to give it players when they feck up on the touchline but I refuse to believe he sends them out onto the pitch without the basic ability to do the simplest things like mark players effectively, see out games when leading and convert chances when they come your way etc. the players have to take responsibility, notably our captain who looks like a Sunday league footballer the vast majority of the time.

 

[grahamo]

Its soul destroying. After the Sunderland game I switched off the TV and didn't want to know about Football for the rest of the week. I only got the rest of the weekends results from today's paper. ......Still pissed off ......

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Its soul destroying. After the Sunderland game I switched off the TV and didn't want to know about Football for the rest of the week. I only got the rest of the weekends results from today's paper. ......Still pissed off ......

I have watched German and Italian football all weekend. Don't even want to look at the PL.

 

[TheGame]

Still don't understand why we don't play 4-4-2 against the weaker teams with something like:

---------Rooney-----Martial-------
Mata---Herrara-----Scheinderlin----Janujaz/Depay

Attacking is our problem so we need to set up to be more attacking. Against the top teams, we can then play an extra person in midfield with Martial to the left.

 

[Charlie Foley]

I have watched German and Italian football all weekend. Don't even want to look at the PL.

Yeah I'm starting to head down that route.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

Still don't understand why we don't play 4-4-2 against the weaker teams with something like:

---------Rooney-----Martial-------
Mata---Herrara-----Scheinderlin----Janujaz/Depay

Attacking is our problem so we need to set up to be more attacking. Against the top teams, we can then play an extra person in midfield with Martial to the left.

Because our aim under LvG is to become a team able to defend through possession and break down the opposition defenses through good positioning and exceptional passing. It's very difficult, in principle, to achieve that while playing a 4-4-2 (thin midfield), we can't do it even with three central players right now. That's also why you don't see many possession sides deploying the 4-4-2 and the main reason this formation has always been considered kind of a British thing.

Your dream may come true with a different manager or if LvG changes his tactics.

 

[sunama]

Yeah i miss the glory days of beating derby and an out of form stoke and drawing at Chelsea....

That was our purple patch.
Last year, the purple patch was: Spurs, MCFC, LFC.
3 games seems to be about right.

 

[legball]

Fair enough. It's quite clear he is failing and there are things that annoy me about LvG, partly his reluctance to give it players when they feck up on the touchline but I refuse to believe he sends them out onto the pitch without the basic ability to do the simplest things like mark players effectively, see out games when leading and convert chances when they come your way etc. the players have to take responsibility, notably our captain who looks like a Sunday league footballer the vast majority of the time.

I agree with players taking responsibility, but, you're not getting just how important the job of a manager is. Look at City for example, they have quality defenders, but they're a shambles at the back, but Chelsea defended better with Terry (35) and an average Cahill. The players lack motivation, many of them look average when it's clear they are not, I am sure he does not send them out on the pitch to look that way, but whatever he is trying to do is simply not working, that's my point. And if the players are shit, well then, he signed the bulk of them.

 

[Tyrion]

That was our purple patch.
Last year, the purple patch was: Spurs, MCFC, LFC.
3 games seems to be about right.

Hmmm. A 3 game purple patch? He's on a 3 year contract, isn't he?

Logically we need to give him a 38 year contract and watch us win the league unbeaten.

 

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Because our aim under LvG is to become a team able to defend through possession and break down the opposition defenses through good positioning and exceptional passing. It's very difficult, in principle, to achieve that while playing a 4-4-2 (thin midfield), we can't do it even with three central players right now.

It's also because if you want to attack you want to have as much space as possible, and therefore use the full width of the pitch. With only two up front you don't do that in the front line, and the passing distances and triangles are not optimal.

That's also why you don't see many possession sides deploying the 4-4-2 and the main reason this formation has always been considered kind of a British thing.

Until 10-15 years ago 4-4-2 was the normal way in Europe too, but defensive tactics have become less rewarding. Britain hasn't had that development, I think partly because there's an attacking spirit that can't be shackled by systems, partly because the pace, toughness and technical ability in the PL didn't allow many teams to take all the advantages of 4-3-3, and thirdly because if you play 4-4-2 with two wingers getting forward and taking on defenders, and one striker playing behind the other, the difference with 4-3-3 with the midfield pointing forward is quite small.

 

[sunama]

Leicester & Spurs aren't top European clubs, but they're top of the table, they certainly don't have a better squad than we do. We're underperforming, mainly because we have a manager that has failed in his basic task, which is, GETTING THE BEST OUT OF HIS PLAYERS.

It could be argued that Spurs have a better squad than us. Remember, our attack is pretty terrible. Abysmal, actually.
And LCFC have Mahrez and Vardy. If you have those 2 on your team, anything is possible.
I do agree though, that LVG is not getting the best out of our players - that much is for certain.
And he has a track record of turning attackers who create/score goals, into attackers who don't create/score goals.

 

[Parma Dewol]

I've only just mustered up the courage to watch the highlights I'd recorded. How did that first goal go in? Khazri miss-hits the free kick, two players contrive to miss the flight of the ball, it bounces about 16 yards from goal, yet it still manages to end up in the back of our net.

Freak occurrence aside, it was a classic Premier League example of a more gifted side being undone by the graft and determination of supposedly weaker opposition. Our players don't seem to approach the lesser sides with the right attitude, and from the get-go Sunderland looked like they wanted it more. It was a game in which we sorely needed a commanding leader in the middle of the park.

 

[Fully Fledged]

It could be argued that Spurs have a better squad than us. Remember, our attack is pretty terrible. Abysmal, actually.
And LCFC have Mahrez and Vardy. If you have those 2 on your team, anything is possible.
I do agree though, that LVG is not getting the best out of our players - that much is for certain.
And he has a track record of turning attackers who create/score goals, into attackers who don't create/score goals.

It is not just about having good players but playing them to their strengths. Vardy and Mahrez are well suited to a direct counterattacking style of play where they can utilize their pace. Vardy for one would be nowhere near as effective in the style we try to play.

 

[sunama]

I actually think that Vardy could be successful in any team/style.
His forte is the high energy, constant movement. I would describe him as a buzzing bee - constantly moving around and annoying defenders. Eventually, he will drop defenders and have a chance on goal, in any league/team.
The only tactic he would fail in, is if he was played upfront alone with nobody around him OR LVG's favourite tactic of "don't move, stay still and let the ball come to you".
In any case, this all comes down to making best use of the players you have...which LVG is not doing.

 

[LeftyBlaster]

It is not just about having good players but playing them to their strengths. Vardy and Mahrez are well suited to a direct counterattacking style of play where they can utilize their pace. Vardy for one would be nowhere near as effective in the style we try to play.

Messi would commit suicide.