[#07]

Winner in Fergie Time! Nostalgic much?

At some stage I'd love Van Gaal to explain why we only release the handbrake when we're up against it. After we went 1-0 up we did virtually nothing. Switching to 5-3-2 after Herrera's injury (God I hope its not serious) was very negative and, barring balls over the top and counters, we did not try to put the game beyond doubt. We let Watford have hope.

Thank God, in the end, we dug deep and found the winner.

ps) Rojo needs a brain

 

[Irrational.]

Undeserved, but a huge 3 points. Watford will be gutted, we just stopped playing after the opening 10 minutes.

The injury to Herrera and reverting to the 3-5-2 really shot us to shit.

DDG saves us once again, what an incredible man. I love him.

Rojo, Mata, Lingard and Schweinsteiger (other than his contribution to the winner) were all very poor and couldn't keep hold of the ball to save their lives.

Jones is made of glass.

Finally, top of the league baby!

For a few hours at least.

 

[Kostur]

LVG nearly cost us there with his idiotic 352 imo, it's easy to see that nobody's fecking comfortable with it so why go there? Watford surely isn't the first team to play with 2 strikers against us.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Good first half and shit second half.

And how did Lingoed miss that chance....poor technique!!

 

[WyoManU]

Big 3 points away from home. Another very average performance by us. LVG claiming that we lack luck when I continue to say that we are getting huge fortune this season to see us where we sit in the table. On the whole Watford created the more dangerous chances, though neither side was prolific. We never are.

My MotM was Schneiderlin.

Lingard. Don't know what to say about that chance to seal it in the end prior to the penalty. That was as easy a lob as you will ever get in the modern game. It wasn't as if Gomes just got his fingertips to it...he literally baby kicked it into his hands at head height. I am a big believer that for the top class players those sorts of abilities come naturally. Afraid that he will never amount to more than a bit player who moves on after a few more seasons.

Mata. I am fed up with him. I'm just not sure what he gives us. Yes, every now and again he produces a moment of brilliance, but for most minutes of most matches he is worthless. He can't dribble. He isn't fast. He refuses to go in on a tackle. *shrug*

DDG. Saved us points today, again. It is the brilliance of DDG and Smalling that has our defensive record looking so solid.

 

[simonhch]

So, I refrained from commenting in the match day thread because it was full of some of the most pathetic whining I've seen in some time. I'm looking at an away game played in difficult conditions, with a horrendous injury list, a team full of youth, more players dropping like flies; and all I see are positives in that performance.

Firstly, Memphis...thought he played really well today, not perfect but he looked dangerous and confident, and largely used the ball well. Seemed much more in tune with his team mates. Then Lingard....thought he was wonderful today. He could have put away one of his two chances, but his direct running was a menace throughout, his work rate was phenomenal, just his all round performance was excellent. I really like this kid, he is grasping this chance with both hands and it's great to see.

On a day like today. it's all about getting results. And we did. De Gea made an astonishing save, but that's what he's there for. I thought through the spine of the team we were magnificent: De Gea, Smalling, Schneiderlin, Lingard.

But the biggest positive was the response to the 1-1. It was Fergie era stuff.

A very good result under the circumstances, and a good performance.

 

[Raoul]

We were poor in the 2nd and mediocre for the final 20 minutes of the first after Herrera was subbed.

 

[littlepeasoup]

This.

I went from depressed to the most happy man in a matter of minutes there.
It wasn't pretty, but i would've taken a scrappy win before the game.

LvG made a mistake changing to 3 at the back imo, we lost control after that.

De Gea was just brilliant, Memphis was good also.

We seemed to be so poor in possession that second half, and obviously you'd like to see free flowing attacking football and lots of goals, but I do love wins like this.

Hopefully some other teams do us a favour, and other title challengers drop points.

 

[DevilRed]

No more 3-5-2 please. Just no more.

It makes us impotent in attack.

Good win and we actually had some decent linkups between Lingaard/Memphis/Herrera before Herrera went off. Thought Jesse was terrific today.

 

[Varun]

Injury time winner. feck yeah!!

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

A tough game made tougher by injuries before and during the game.

Changing shape and changing defenders really does mess up the game plan. Bringing on Rojo who is probably knackered from travelling, and McNair who hasn't played in a long time, and putting them into the back line, in a system we've not played for ages, it's no surprise the performance was ropey and we had no fluidity to our play. To still get a win after turning up with no strikers, and the amount of changes made to the backline during the game is a great performance really. Shame the clean sheet record came to an end, but can't beat a last minute winner. I can't remember the last time we had one.

I thought the first two subs were the wrong ones. The system in the first 20 minutes was tearing them apart. They couldn't deal with two attacking midfield players between the lines. Pereira for Herrera should have been the first sub, like for like. We'd have kept control of the game most probably, and perhaps the 2nd injury might not have happened.

Much better from Memphis today. Still inconsistent and a little frustrating, but a great finish from a difficult ball in. He linked up with Lingard well too. Just needs to sharpen up his decision making, but hopefully he'll be full of confidence now.

Lingard needs to work on his killer instinct. He does everything right but doesn't seem convincing with his finishes a lot of the time. His work rate and runs at the defence are excellent though.

 

[Maestro14]

First half was good. We could've done more in the second half to take Watford out of the game. Delighted for Memphis, who looked a whole lot more confident today, but still I'm sure he's got more to give. Mata was really disappointing. Particularly when Herrera went off, he should've been the one to step up. Lingard really has to score. Great response from conceding and Schweinsteiger finally scoring makes it even better. Overall, great win and I think we deserved the win too. Watford didn't show up for most of the game.

 

[bubbles_]

16 points ahead of last years league winners after 13 games

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

 

[Snow]

People blaming Lingard at 1-1, have a word with yourself.

He missed at 0-1. Should have sealed it. That chance was a lay-up. Was as big of a mistake imo as Rojo's foul because the chance was that good. Keeper out of goal, perfect height on the ball to lob it. It's a chance I'd expect every player to score from.

 

[Sereques]

Pogue should enjoy this game. Lots of running with giving the ball away pointlessly and a last minute winner. "United Way"

 

[dsch]

We were so good at the start of the game. Refreshingly quick, crisp passing, and not afraid of putting balls into the channels for Lingard and Memphis to run on to. Like watching a different team.

 

[Mutter Merkel]

Scholes and Wright talking nonsense about that save.

 

[midnightmare]

Excellent result, average performance overall, but some great signs. Memphis looked better than he has all season and showed that we do indeed have better options than Wayne Rooney (yes, I know he scored for the national team). We also showed we still have the "never say die" spirit and the drive to win in Fergie-time. Frankly, conceding a late leveller and then piling forward and scoring a winner is something we've not seen since SAF. Most of the time if we conceded, we'd be holding on to get a point!

Let's also recognize that we got this result with a massively patched-up team. Credit where it's due. This was a squad ravaged by injury. Martial, Carrick, Valencia, Rooney all unavailable at the start itself and then Herrera off that early!

Downside of course is that I wish we could see more of Pereira. I was hoping he'd be the one LvG threw on when Herrera was injured. Still, his time will come. Get the feeling that while he'll play #10 in future, LvG doesn't trust his work-rate enough to play him anywhere but wide right now...

 

[tom33]

Good first half, poor second half. Maybe tired a bit after a particularly draining international break. So happy with the win though, a long time since I've celebrated a goal like that!

 

[Skywarden]

At least this will stop people complaining about us not coming back in the dying minutes....for a week.

Good win, all things considered. Butchered team but they fought well.

 

[Cooksen]

3 points away from home you take that any day of the week

 

[dsch]

Also, Gomes may be a clown at times, but he's a very good shot-stopper. Still think Lingard should have put away that chance, though.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

13 Games in Last Season

 

[Joemo]

Shocking punditry from Scholes and Wright. Wright is a clown, why is he trying to overrule the designated goalkeeping pundit, and more importantly not giving him any chance to give his own opinion.

 

[Scarecrow]

Average performance all round but great response to their goal and deserved 3 points. Considering the injuries and the tough opposition, I'm very pleased.

De Gea stood out, as per usual. Smalling was solid as ever, albeit not as dominant as usual. System change certainly played its part. Rojo, I thought was solid as well, until that stupid foul. Memphis and Lingard moved well, ran a lot. The former was more effective and more dangerous though. Both Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin seemed a bit distracted to me, throughout the game. Not their best outing. Bastian got the winner of course (sort of), so he came out of it pretty well. His attitude and desire are impressive but he loses concentration sometimes.

 

[Devil may care]

With the mix of injuries and then a mid-game formation switch it is a fantastic 3 points, especially when it looked like we had thrown 2 away. We were sloppy on the ball in the last 20 minutes and lacked clinical finishing to kill the game off but showed some great resilience to rebound from their equalizer.

 

[All 3 United]

First half when we attacked, Watford were all over the place at the back. Second half we sat deeper and deeper trying to defend a 0-1 lead, we were hanging on and then they equalised. We then attack and score within 5 mins! Why are we trying to defend 0-1 lead against shite. Attack!!

Great 3 points and to be top of the league, wow.

 

[SSSSnake]

Anyone catch Herrera celebrating that goal?

 

[fishfingers15]

Undeserved, but a huge 3 points. Watford will be gutted, we just stopped playing after the opening 10 minutes.

The injury to Herrera and reverting to the 3-5-2 really shot us to shit.

DDG saves us once again, what an incredible man. I love him.

Rojo, Mata, Lingard and Schweinsteiger (other than his contribution to the winner) were all very poor and couldn't keep hold of the ball to save their lives.

Jones is made of glass.

Finally, top of the league baby!

For a few hours at least.

Thank feck I stopped reading at Undeserved.

 

[Raw]

Love this image!

 

[Nik70]

Great start to the game. Poor decision to go 3-5-2 in retrospect because that second half performance was poor. Great response after the penalty though and nice to get a late winner.

 

[fishfingers15]

Anyone catch Herrera celebrating that goal?

Searching for a gif of that actually

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Ah, the annual ManUtd holidays injury crisis.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

 

[Raw]

Anyone catch Herrera celebrating that goal?

 

[Tarrou]

 

[diarm]

That is fecking awesome!

Didn't think I could love the guy any more!

 

[sullydnl]

 

[simonhch]

Winner in Fergie Time! Nostalgic much?

At some stage I'd love Van Gaal to explain why we only release the handbrake when we're up against it. After we went 1-0 up we did virtually nothing. Switching to 5-3-2 after Herrera's injury (God I hope its not serious) was very negative and, barring balls over the top and counters, we did not try to put the game beyond doubt. We let Watford have hope.

Thank God, in the end, we dug deep and found the winner.

ps) Rojo needs a brain

Firstly we went 3-5-2, amply demonstrated by how advanced Blind and Young were most of the time. Secondly, we were away from home, in tough conditions, with a heavily improvised line-up. The switch in formation, given the injury, was smart; and we completely controlled the match until Watford had that little spell. Indeed we should have easily been 2 or 3 up by the time they finally applied pressure.

People expect far too much sometimes. This was an excellent win.

On a positive note, Herrera was sitting on the bench at the end and looked very upbeat.

 

[Paul the Wolf]

Important result, top of the league for a while.
Good first half, comfortable and should have scored another to finish off Watford.
Good to see to bouncing back after being pegged back especially with such a young team.
Bit more confidence up front and it would have been easy, think Martial would have had a field day today.