[No11]

That was never a red card, what the feck is the game coming too?

 

[Lawman]

Knew we were going to struggle with Fletcher starting (he shouldn't get near 1st team again) been a great servant but well short of the standard needed now. Pains me to say it but its our home grown that are all the weakest around the 1st team right now. Fletcher and Evans the main culprits. Blackett, Wilson Adnan and McNair will all improve a they are all green behind the ears so they should get leeway.

 

[ThaReaper01]

Quite why Fletcher played period and why RvP was subbed instead of Mata I will never know.

 

[surf]

Not a red card, we completely failed to take advantage of having the extra man, and Villa were worth the point. Young good, Falcao improving, Fletcher and Evans poor, Maria rusty, Wilson yet to make an impact this season.
3rd at Christmas - I'll take that.

 

[revel911]

Those complaining about the lineup or formation, look at the injuries.

Once we have a proper RB and LB back, and Fellaini/Herrera/Blind, then we won't be seeing 3 in the back anymore.

 

[Lawman]

Quite why Fletcher played period and why RvP was subbed instead of Mata I will never know.

Agree with this. Not sure why Young was moved to the right either?

 

[Sam]

Those complaining about the lineup or formation, look at the injuries.

Once we have a proper RB and LB back, and Fellaini/Herrera/Blind, then we won't be seeing 3 in the back anymore.

Spot on. Not sure why people aren't seeing this.

 

[Borys]

Those complaining about the lineup or formation, look at the injuries.

Once we have a proper RB and LB back, and Fellaini/Herrera/Blind, then we won't be seeing 3 in the back anymore.

We could've gone with Young-Evans-Jones-Rafael in the back, then Carrick behind Valencia and Rooney, Mata at the tip and RvP - Falcao duo up top. Just saying. I don't think the 3-5-2 was justified against Villa today.

 

[Hed Zitin]

5.5 average rating.

That is the definition of an average showing. I gave us a 5.6 and I thought we were crap .

 

[Jev]

Those complaining about the lineup or formation, look at the injuries.

Once we have a proper RB and LB back, and Fellaini/Herrera/Blind, then we won't be seeing 3 in the back anymore.

If anything the 3-5-2 made no sense today in particular. We had a midfield crisis and decided to put our best midfielder in defense. How does that make sense?

I think this is a vanity thing for LVG. He wants to prove that he was right in the first place to introduce this.

 

[Erebus]

So 4 months in and we draw a match against ten men - we're also third in the table and undefeated for 7 games. Our much criticised defence have only 3 teams who've conceded fewer goals, and only two teams have scored more goals than us. We'd have given our right arms for that position last year. A bit of perspective is needed I think. Yes there are still things to correct, but some of you are so doom laden. We've come a long way in 4 months.

 

[Sassy Colin]

What I find interesting is that when De Gea made 8 saves against Scousepool, we had a terrible defence, De Gea saved us and we didn't deserve to win. (According to the 'pundits').

Today, Guzan made 8 saves, their defence was a rock, Vlaar should transfer to United, Guzan was immense.

What's the difference? Our finishing wasn't good enough, we should have stuffed these.

Also, I hate Rooney playing deep, it's a waste of his talent. If he had been playing further forward, I believe he would have created something. Seeing Fletcher playing in a more advanced position than Rooney actually offends my eyes. Seriously, Fletcher further forward than Rooney? He's the Captain, should have told him to get the feck back in front of the defence where he belongs and stop wasting everybody's time up front.

 

[J-Stander]

Could see a result like this coming with our recent performances but I can still see a lot of positives. Shaw, Rafael and Blind should be back soon and hopefully we can play our normal formation. Disappointing result but I think our best is yet to come.

 

[Trizy]

We simply looked pure shite, had no midfield in the first half and when that problem was fixed with Carrick we still couldn't create.

We should be beating this lot all day but we some how managed not to.

 

[7even]

Those complaining about the lineup or formation, look at the injuries.

Once we have a proper RB and LB back, and Fellaini/Herrera/Blind, then we won't be seeing 3 in the back anymore.

This.
Look at our formation in the first half an you see that six players wasn't playing at their preferred position. Valencia, Carrick, Young, Rooney, Wilson and Falcao. On top of that we had Fletcher who is past it and then Evans who have lost his self confidence.

 

[Rolandofgilead]

I think LVG got the subs wrong today, young was ineffective when switched to the right, he was getting at the full back down the other side and causing problems, do Maria coming on was fine but why not just a straight swap with mata? Frustrating afternoon.

 

[rover]

the 11 players started the 2nd half was my lineup.

but when we needed to chase from behind probably i would skip it and changed the formation from 352 to MW. just pushed up carrick into the no 6 and directly replaced fletcher by adm to play along side mata & rooney behind falcao & rvp. when we were after a winning goal in the final stage we could have pushed it up to WW either. taking out mata, using adm & rooney to support a 3 forwards front line & i would prefer januzaj to wilson in a side forward position.

i thought we could have done better but i confessed i had only thought about it quite a while after the game.

 

[Amir]

What I find interesting is that when De Gea made 8 saves against Scousepool, we had a terrible defence, De Gea saved us and we didn't deserve to win. (According to the 'pundits').

Today, Guzan made 8 saves, their defence was a rock, Vlaar should transfer to United, Guzan was immense.

What's the difference? Our finishing wasn't good enough, we should have stuffed these.

That's probably why football and statistics don't always work. I don't think Guzan had nearly as many big saves to make as De Gea.

 

[NotoriousISSY]

In light of the red card, am I the only one who thinks it was justified given that the red failed to book him for taking out Rooney and Mata right in front of his eyes? By my counting, he definitely put in two bookable offences and should've been off either way.

A straight red it was not, but a red was correct overall.

 

[Tompo]

A straight red it was not, but a red was correct overall.

When I saw it at the time I thought by the letter of the law it was a red, it looked to me like he was using excessive force, was reckless and was trying to follow through into the player to cause damage.

In fairness I was watching on let's just say a non-hd source but I take it I am off the mark?

 

[sajeev]

Yeah, every time he talks sense.

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking, and those that are complaining about his philosophy being all about possession I hope you can see from this interview that he is very well aware that we are nowhere near creative enough. He isn't stupid.

it doesn't matter if he is talking sense if the team is being held back because of his mistakes which the case clearly in this match

 

[Micha]

Fergie wouldn't have had to play 5 at the back today.

True. He would have played 4 at the back and a defensive midfield four, possibly featuring Valencia and Young on the "wings".

 

[pascell]

True. He would have played 4 at the back and a defensive midfield four, possibly featuring Valencia and Young on the "wings".

And if that performed how they did today, we'd have picked up 3 points. Unless Valencia picked up a knock, there was no need to change them two. LvG cost us today imo, 3 CB's simply does and will not work with these players. Rooney suffered today because of the line up and formation.

 

[NK86]

Some of his subs don't make sense to me. Hooking off Valencia for Wilson and then moving Young to the right where he was clearly not getting any joy. He should have switched him back to the left where Lowton was being handed his arse by him throughout the game.
And for the love of God, please drop this 3-5-2 and don't use your best midfielder as a CB when the other alternative in midfield is Fletcher.
And what's with keeping our most in form striker in midfield. Why would he do that to accommodate Mata in his current form?

 

[POF]

Some of the comments on here are an absolute embarrassment. Bleating about systems and "Van Gaal cost us". Absolute utter hysterical nonsense.

Criticising Van Gaal for not playing Young as a left back in a back 4? Van Gaal is the only manager who has ever played him there! He cost United the game vs Swansea playing there.

As for the 3-5-2, United played poorly vs 10 men. That was mainly after Wilson replaced Valencia when they moved to a back 4. Why is LVG playing a back 3 with wingbacks? Because he has 3 options for left back in a 4 (Shaw, Rojo, Blind) and they're all injured.

 

[legball]

United fans have this sense of entitlement that is way beyond belief. We finished mid table last season and I thought Moyes coming here slapped some reality into some of you. Get off your fecking high horse now, will you? The team is getting criticized even when they have won a game, with stuff like "they are playing poorly" - I wish we could have played as poorly as we did against Sotton or worse but grabbed three points against Villa. LVG knows that if he finishes below 3rd position, he'll get the chop, so, of course he'll do what he thinks gives his team the best chance of 3 points, doesn't matter how ugly it is, results is what matters. The fact that we now expect to win every fecking match says a lot about the improvement that has taken place since LVG was appointed. Luckily, we have a manager that won't be swayed with these nonsense being served up by self entitled fans. He'll do it his way, and as proven over his long career, more often than not, he gets it right. He's a human being, and he'll make mistakes but some of you do need to grow up now, it's getting embarassing, you moan about EVERY single thing.

 

[Gannicus]

If we had a genuine hope of beating Chelsea and City for the prem trophy this season I'd be angry with this defeat, but we don't and therefore I'm not.

We're well on track for fourth place at worst so a point from this match doesn't hurt us much. Louis made do with the few players he has left and experimented with playing Robin, Radamel, Juan and Wayne where he did. It clearly did not work and hopefully Louis will have seen this.

We need to see this match not as a de facto defeat, but an opportunity to learn some lessons.

Lesson 1. Wayne Rooney is a second striker, not a central midfielder.

Lesson 2. Robin and Radamel do not work together like Andy and Dwight.

Lesson 3. The weakest link in the squad is our midfield, not our back line.

Strengthen the midfield, better scoring chances will follow. A healthy back line (a big if) will do its job. Until we strengthen our back line, Louis should focus on grinding out ugly wins, not trying to get us to play gorgeous possession football.

 

[Jacob]

Still can't get over the game. Aston Villa were cringeworthy, especially Guzan. I think this will be the game where we lost the chance to win the title, or finish second.

 

[SiRed]

Wowzers. Im reading a lot a doom and gloom in this thread.
Villa away is always a tricky place to go and whilst i too am dissappointed with only 1 point, things could have been worse.
Here we have people moaning about bad managerial choices, about dropping points against relegation candidates about individual perfomances,... Give it a break.

We will always drop points against weaker teams - When we won the treble - we lost league games against Sheff Wed and Middlesbourgh. It happens, thats the nature of the beast.

Managers will always make bad decisions - Fergie dropped an 'on fire' Valencia for Park at the emptihad and we got beat 1 nil.

Players will alaways have a bad day - Eboue

My point is that LVG calls the shots that he believes is in the best interest of the team. Sometimes it will be wrong but lets look at the bigger picture before crying about it.

Players, regardless of performance levels, will always put in 100% effort. Sometimes it just doesnt happen.

Build a bridge, get over it and lets beat Newcastle on boxing day.

 

[Getsme]

Wowzers. Im reading a lot a doom and gloom in this thread.
Villa away is always a tricky place to go and whilst i too am dissappointed with only 1 point, things could have been worse.
Here we have people moaning about bad managerial choices, about dropping points against relegation candidates about individual perfomances,... Give it a break.

We will always drop points against weaker teams - When we won the treble - we lost league games against Sheff Wed and Middlesbourgh. It happens, thats the nature of the beast.

Managers will always make bad decisions - Fergie dropped an 'on fire' Valencia for Park at the emptihad and we got beat 1 nil.

Players will alaways have a bad day - Eboue

My point is that LVG calls the shots that he believes is in the best interest of the team. Sometimes it will be wrong but lets look at the bigger picture before crying about it.

Players, regardless of performance levels, will always put in 100% effort. Sometimes it just doesnt happen.

Build a bridge, get over it and lets beat Newcastle on boxing day.

We have not lost at Villa Park in the league for the past 18 games, in which we have won 12 and drawn six.

 

[Acole9]

Definitely not a red card. Lambert reckons Young fouled Agbonlahor but to me it just looks like a real 50-50 challenge.

 

[Spark]

Still can't get over the game. Aston Villa were cringeworthy, especially Guzan. I think this will be the game where we lost the chance to win the title, or finish second.

So frustrating to draw this game, but where we lost the chance to win the title was 5 points from 5 games at the beginning of the season. Games like Villa yesterday happen every year, but our start to the season means that we literally cannot afford to drop points, which is an impossible ask in my opinion. Chelsea and City will slip up a couple times but their consistent form mitigates the consequences.

 

[Ixion]

I was a little surprised at such a negative reaction to the performance and manager after the result, I thought fans might have become a little more philosophical at this point but after 6 (fairly lucky) wins in a row I think some got carried away and thought about the title. We're still being affected by injuries, Rojo/Smalling/Blind/Herrera/Fellaini/Shaw all being out is massive (and Raphael and Di Maria not totally back yet) but people seem desensitised to the injuries now, forgetting we're still playing kids and midfielders in defense.

Until we get Blind and Carrick both playing in the middle consistently and Rojo and Smalling together at the back we're going to get plenty of results like this.

 

[Moonred]

Would have loved if the run of wins continued, but at the end of the day, we lacked a bit of incisive attacking play. Controlled it otherwise. Not sure why this match is bringing some of the Ott reactions. People seem to suffer from extreme bout of hopefulness or hopelessness.

 

[Kakeru]

Not sure why this match is bringing some of the Ott reactions.

Considering the form of the teams right behind us (like Southampton finding their mojo by raping Everton or West Ham not losing any steam), the last thing we needed was a shitty result like this one.

Some of our players should be ashamed of themselves for not going to the jugular when Villa went down to 10 men.

 

[Sweet Square]

People seem to suffer from extreme bout of hopefulness or hopelessness.

Really ?

Some of our players should be ashamed of themselves for not going to the jugular when Villa went down to 10 men.

 

[Moonred]

Really ?

Its extreme, either of the two. In the quoted case, its a case of hopelessness.

 

[Sweet Square]

Its extreme, either of the two. In the quoted case, its a case of hopelessness.

Agree. I wasn't too fussed about yesterday result as we were always going to drop some points during the rest of the season, it was always going to happen. As long as we are with in 10 points of the leaders by the end of Christmas then there still a chance of at challenging for the title.

 

[Moonred]

Considering the form of the teams right behind us (like Southampton finding their mojo by raping Everton or West Ham not losing any steam), the last thing we needed was a shitty result like this one.

Some of our players should be ashamed of themselves for not going to the jugular when Villa went down to 10 men.

Southampton were close to 8/9 points ahead of us at one point and now they are few behind. Judge a team over a period of time atleast for the sake of discussion and not swing from one tree to another every week.

 

[FujiVice]

Its a result that could have happened with any Man United side in the last 25 years. A draw away to Aston Villa isn't like getting beat at home to Newcastle like last year. A point at Villa Park isn't a sign our bubble is burst. I see it as a decent point, how I've had time to digest it. 7 games unbeaten is a world away from last year.