[SalfordRed1960]

I don't understand the players at times. There was no urgency, playing difficult rather than simple balls and giving away pointless free kicks.

Feck knows what Adnan was thinking. Rooney reverted to pre-Xmas form and effort, Smalling continuing his digressing, Blind playing his worse game in a United shirt. Lingard absolutely pointless being on the pitch. Fellani is just a foul machine. Only herrera and Schniederlin seemed to put in any effort.

 

[Libano]

I hope this defeat turns out to be the blessing in disguise we so sorely need. If we can't get a top coach right now we should at least put Giggsy in charge for the time being. Nothing to lose at this point.

 

[Martin(6)Buchan]

I cannot see any other alternative than United getting rid and I will say it again if he had anything about him he will resign, we are a shadow of what we were and not getting better.

 

[Natener]

So like... what's new?

 

[caisenma]

You've seen their touches, their passes and their crosses today and they were shit. That has nothing to do with the system, just lack of very basic technical ability.

Bullshit. These players are excellent technically, they just have no confidence and are being managed appallingly. A new manager can change that.

 

[Esquire]

Where does the blame lay? The young defenders who arent very good yet? The forwards who create nothing despite all costing a fortune and being paid crazy amounts. The midfielders who cant control a game? The manager who decides its a good idea to play 5 at the back and 2 deep lying midfielders at home?

Its all shit.

Even Lou Macari on MUTV is laying into the players. And he is right, no aggression, commitment, or heart. If you can't beat the opponent on tactics, you have to outwork, scratch and claw your way to a win. We have too many bloody pretty boys on our team for that. LVG out but feck some of the players are really getting away with murder because all the focus has been on LVG. What a bloody mess.

 

[Moriarty]

I hope this defeat turns out to be the blessing in disguise we so sorely need. If we can't get a top coach right now we should at least put Giggsy in charge for the time being. Nothing to lose at this point.

There is a top coach who's looking for a job. Just call Senor Mendes.

 

[Esquire]

Absolutely abysmal, even by LVG's very low standards. We are getting worse every game that passes. The chorus of boos at half time and fulltime prove beyond any doubt at all that LVG has lost the fans. The reaction of SAF to the goal was also telling. Its inconceivable that LVG will be our manager next week. Give Giggsey the job for the rest of the season and move heaven and earth to have Pep in charge for next season.

What did SAF do? I just saw him texting...

 

[Esquire]

Absolutely dire, so much mediocrity throughout the squad. I'm so sick of the likes of Blind, Lindgard, Fellaini and even Schneiderlin - mediocrity personified. With CBJ, you can accept that he's young and learning on the job, but Blind was absolutely dire in his passing, the aspect of his game that is supposed to be his strong point. I'm also worried about Herrera - he hasn't looked anything like the player we saw last season. Mata has underwhelmed, but at least he can control the ball and move it quickly (and make a run looking for the return pass.) There really is nothing positive to take away from this.

I love Herrera but he's slowed down.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Bullshit. These players are excellent technically, they just have no confidence and are being managed appallingly. A new manager can change that.

That may be true, but they were really shit today and no tactic would have changed that. Hardly any player controlled the ball whether they had time or not. Hardly any player moved. When we were outside their box we had 1 player in it if we were lucky.

 

[Reynoldo]

Jesus...just realised that when I was drunk last night I put Rooney onto my fantasy football team AND made him captain!!!

Don't drink and play kids!

 

[Dobba]

Even Lou Macari on MUTV is laying into the players. And he is right, no aggression, commitment, or heart. If you can't beat the opponent on tactics, you have to outwork, scratch and claw your way to a win. We have too many bloody pretty boys on our team for that. LVG out but feck some of the players are really getting away with murder because all the focus has been on LVG. What a bloody mess.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[Esquire]

Wasn't really expecting a title challenge in the second half of the season, but now we can't even hope. Arsenal were only 7 points ahead and play Chelsea, anything but a win today was completely unacceptable.

Van Gaal has been a pathetic parody on a top manager during his time here, the players have been pathetic too. They didn't reach the intensity required to win a football match today, not even for 15 minutes. There's nothing left to do really, whether Van Gaal fecks off or not, it's too late now anyway. Wait until the summer to finally fix this shite, though looking at our decisions since Moyes took over it's odds on us not delivering again.

You're right, it really looked like some of the players were going through the motions. Where's the fight. At least show us that!

 

[Happytom82]

emery or poch are my first two picks

 

[Livewire1974]

What did SAF do? I just saw him texting...

The angry head on him and his reaction was to grab the phone and text....hopefully it was to Woody.

 

[Irrational.]

LVG post match reaction:

- The only way S'oton were going to win the game was through set plays
- He wanted to win the game
- We could have won
- Neither team created much, 'but in the end we have lost'.

He's still delusional.

 

[Rolandofgilead]

I don't even know where to start.

I've tried to defend LVG the best I can but what the absolute feck was that?

Apart from the half assed approach from the players, the formation was baffling, the game plan seemed non existent and the substitution of CJB for Januzaj literally cost us the goal.

fecking clueless.

 

[goin4glory]

Last straw for me. LVG out.

 

[manichester]

The players do not believe and nor do the fans

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

The reaction looked brutal on the telly as LvG walked off. Booing seemed to start before the final whistle too.

Seems like we say it after nearly every game, but that was the worst performance of the season. We're not even playing LvG's style of football now. I can't even figure out what type of football we are trying to play. Have the team broken away from him, or has LvG just completely run out of ideas? Perhaps a mixture of both...

This far into the tenure, it's getting worse and worse, not better. There are no positive signs that it will improve. LvG seemed to stumble on a formula that started to work last season, and even in the games we lost in the 2nd half of the season, we looked to be moving towards something positive after the horrible 3-5-2/4-4-2 diamond experiments. Then in the summer, the reset button was pressed. New approach, new formation, and a style of play that nobody really seems to fit in to. That hasn't worked, so it looks like the reset button has been pressed again, and the players just look utterly bemused. We don't keep the ball, we don't play on the counter, we just lumber about, committing fouls, hoofing the ball and looking like we have no idea how to string 3 passes together. It's often like we are relying on DDG to be the playmaker, pick out a forward in the left channel and hopefully wriggle through. The last 3 or 4 games has been the most bizarre style of football we've ever played, including the aimless toilet football we played under Moyes.

Amongst all the cons, there are no pros. Perseverance seems pointless. I don't hate LvG, infact I quite like him as a personality, infinitely more than I liked Moyes. But the football... What is it? What is he trying to do? Over 18 months in to the job and he still hasn't settled on a formation, an approach, a way of playing, a way of getting the best out of key players. We look in the same position we were in at the start of 14/15 when we'd failed to win the first 3 games. 77 games he's managed, and he's no closer to finding success.

The players deserve a fair share of the blame too, but it falls on the manager to stand up and guide this team. Afterall, this is his team, an eye-watering expensively assembled team.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

First time I can't scramble a MOTM. Dire, beyond horrible utterly dreadful. Never seen such a pathetic turn out. They should be ashamed because that is not what we do.

 

[diarm]

First time I can't scramble a MOTM. Dire, beyond horrible utterly dreadful. Never seen such a pathetic turn out. They should be ashamed because that is not what we do.

I flicked through the options looking for the mouse.

 

[marlowe78]

Koeman takes LVG to school yet again. Soton were all over us in the 1st half and should've been ahead. They put so much pressure on our ball carriers and we have so little movement off the ball that it was impossible for us to create anything. 0-1 was looking the result very early on.

This game looked a complete replay of the home game last year. In that one, we didn't record a shot on target and the winning goal was conceded when Shaw was taken off for Blackett as part of a back 3. So what does LVG do? He uses wingbacks again (which got us nowhere in the last home game) and takes off CBJ for Januzaj leaving us with 3 backs, 2 of which are juniors. By the way, everyone was applauding Fellaini coming off for Mata, but we lost all of our physical presence in front of goal. Soton's players looked like their heads were magnets on corners and free kicks after he was subbed.

I think this was the most abject game we've ever played under LVG, which is saying something. We looked so lacking in energy, sharpness, pretty much everything, and we never looked like even getting a point from it. Our frontline players to a name were awful - Rooney was completely bad and Lingard was overhitting every cross. Martial IMO looks nothing like when he started with us. Schneiderlin was also nothing special and Blind was horrendous. Januzaj made an idiotic foul and I really want to smack him.

So is it the player's fault or the manager's? I think the players are trying or want to try but it's pretty impossible to play well when you're set up so badly. At the moment, the players are playing with no intensity at all, largely because our game is so passive and as a result the bar has been set considerably low. If the manager is going to stay pasted to the bench and just watch us meander while he's in charge, I see no purpose in keeping him. But then again, if we do get rid of him, we still have the pond scum that is running this club on the executive level. Where to start in solving these issues?

 

[sunama]

I predicted a 1-0 win for us. I am a little embarrassed because I believed that we had turned a corner and would cobble a few unbeaten games together.
How wrong was I.

It is strange that some people believe we will score 4 goals and similar cray numbers. I don't understand how anybody thinks we will score more than 2 goals in a single game.
Oh and was it 1 shot on target? And that was from Blind. Imagine if Blind had not made that shot? People would've been up in arms.

Anyway, we need to try get top 4. That is still doable.

 

[Stretford End Phil]

I flicked through the options looking for the mouse.

Excellent!!

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I feel sad. Like most weeks.

That is how I feel, sad and sick to the stomach most weeks. I even contemplate not following them anymore, but they are the team I love and will always love, so that isn't going to happen. This manager is destroying my club. Trouble is this board no there are people like me and you and the others who will support the club through thick and thin. They take our support for granted.

 

[Golden Nugget]

I've lost count of the amount of times I've said 'That is the worst I've seen United play" at half time. Playing poorly against Liverpool away can be excused - but playing this poorly against Southampton at home is unforgivable.

I don't even understand why we changed our tactics to go against Southampton.

I don't understand how Lingard stayed on the pitch for so long.

This has gone on for ages - I know it's hard to sign players in January - but I'm sure there someone there that could improve the team. Now we have 1 week left.

I'm not even bothered about the result, as Southampton deserved it. The coaching, the tactics, the passion, the players - all awful. I couldn't even think of a player that played well today.

 

[mu77]

oh fa!

 

[Moriarty]

Last straw for me. LVG out.

I can't understand why he changed the system again. We were not set up to attack but to defend and play on the counter. We looked like the away team. We certainly didn't need two defensive midfielders. Schneiderlin looks half the player he did at Southampton. Herrera was effectively isolated and so was Rooney who, when he did get the ball, had no outlets available. We need to work out where best to play Martial. Is it on the left, on the right, or through the middle? Nobody seems to know. Smalling is our only orthodox central defender and he gets dragged out of position more often than not. He ended the game playing centre forward.

We badly missed Schweinsteiger and Carrick today. Two players whose best days are behind them. There's a lack of quality in depth and spending another fortune in the transfer market isn't always the answer. A fresh start is needed.

 

[Giant Midget]

Januzaj scored two goals for the reserves playing on the right wing. He comes on as left WING BACK in the next game.

No thought, planning or structure to any decision LVG makes.

 

[Red Comet]

Remember the crazy number of crosses under Moyes v.s Fulham? I much rather watch that match than watch this crap today.

 

[saivet]

The players do not believe and nor do the fans

Does Louis even believe?

 

[Member 5225]

LVG on MUTV now

 

[LARulz]

What's he said?

 

[saivet]

We were playing five at the back again?

 

[Member 5225]

LVG on MUTV now

Basically both teams didnt create a chance, but the team with 1 chance (Soton) got lucky!

 

[DomesticTadpole]

I love Herrera but he's slowed down.

Maybe he has been told to be more measured and not run around too much. That takes everything away from the lad. I said somewhere else that I thought the players look mentally shattered, not so much physically. The tactics have been that rigid at times that they then look lost when things aren't working. I just want this manager to go. Let Giggs manage until the end of the season. See if things improve with him. Not sure what he could do about results but the play might be better. This manager has left us with a squad down to the bare bones and that is all his fault. He knew what we needed and didn't address some of the needs. Then get a new manager in the summer to reconstruct this squad.

 

[Member 5225]

Confidence is good (after results in 2016) - a lot of confidence in fact. Expectations are v.high!

 

[edcunited1878]

In fairness the Liverpool win was a robbery, we've been awful for three months now. Surely the board have seen enough.

Today was our worst attacking display yet.

Liverpool was a robbery, but it was always going to be disjointed as it was a North West derby at Anfield. It's about the lack of consistency and sticking to something that is most effective.

 

[Member 5225]

Basically injured Darmian, was ok till then (had momentum)!