[SirFergie]

Thing is, Smalling shouldn't walk straight back in. Not for me. His form towards the back end of the season wasn't particularly great and Bailly and Blind have been generally superb so far as well providing the balance that's needed there.

Leaving Blind out would be incredibly shortsighted for me.

 

[Borys]

Overall good performance and the most important thing is how motivated everybody seems. We created some good chances with Mata and Ibra to Rooney who once passed it to a keeper and the second tried to win a penalty (what was that by the way? He had a clear shot!). Our goals were extremely lucky (Zlatan goal aside - pure class).

We're in phase 0 of building a new team so I don't care much about style and so. I expect Smalling, Pogba and Mkhitaryan to get their places in starting eleven and then we'll see some proper football I'm sure.

Bailly and Blind had great games. I see the former as a little rush and I'm afraid he might get some cards this season but right now he fits this league like a glove. Great attributes for a defender, also looks very good on the ball. Fellaini did surprisingly good and I like him for his attitude. Ibra is doing what he is supposed to do, should have an assist today too.

I thought Herrera played very good today, buzzing around the midfield and some good passing too. IMO he'll be a starter alongside Pogba with one midfielder behind them.

Rooney was shit in first half, breaking up moves and slowing down good moves. He improved in the second half but wasn't better than average and he has no chance to play in this team if he doesn't improve massively. Good goal though, will get him some confidence and buys him some time.

What happened to Valencia crossing by the way? He has caused some danger again!

Martial I think is playing poor for his standards. Should link up more with teammates rather than doing too much on his own. I'd consider giving Rashford a chance if Anthony doesn't improve in next game. It seems Mourinho rates him very high.

 

[Taibi]

Has anyone mentioned the liability Mata was on the right yesterday? I genuinely think Mata is a class player and should be our Number 10, but yesterday every time Mata drifted to the centre from the right there was acres of space for Bournemouth to play into. He's not fast enough to recover his position and it leaves a winger playing as right back exposed. Really hope Jose doesn't see Mata as his number one option on the right.

Also, while Fellaini and Rooney are decent options from the bench when we are a goal or two up, neither should be nailed on starters in my opinion.

 

[DWelbz19]

Is this true?

'We had seven shots on target vs Bournemouth, it took us until November to get that many last year'

 

[Natener]

Has anyone mentioned the liability Mata was on the right yesterday? I genuinely think Mata is a class player and should be our Number 10, but yesterday every time Mata drifted to the centre from the right there was acres of space for Bournemouth to play into. He's not fast enough to recover his position and it leaves a winger playing as right back exposed. Really hope Jose doesn't see Mata as his number one option on the right.

Also, while Fellaini and Rooney are decent options from the bench when we are a goal or two up, neither should be nailed on starters in my opinion.

More often than not, it was us (Valencia) that exploited the space. Drifting in is not a bad thing when attacking, especially when we have Shaw and Valencia overlapping.

 

[Raw]

Is this true?

'We had seven shots on target vs Bournemouth, it took us until November to get that many last year'

That is complete bullshit. If you're taking into account league only, we scored 9 goals in September alone (3-1 Liverpool, 3-2 Southampton, 3-0 Sunderland). Also we had 8 shots on target against Newcastle at home in that 0-0 game in August.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

That is complete bullshit. If you're taking into account league only, we scored 9 goals in September alone (3-1 Liverpool, 3-2 Southampton, 3-0 Sunderland).

Surely it means in one game? I can believe that

 

[Raw]

Surely it means in one game? I can believe that

Yeah I just thought of that, edited my post with that Newcastle 0-0 game. According to the BBC we had 8 shots on target.

 

[DWelbz19]

That is complete bullshit. If you're taking into account league only, we scored 9 goals in September alone (3-1 Liverpool, 3-2 Southampton, 3-0 Sunderland). Also we had 8 shots on target against Newcastle at home in that 0-0 game in August.

Unsurprising, I should've expected lies on the internet. Cheers.

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Is this true?

'We had seven shots on target vs Bournemouth, it took us until November to get that many last year'

I believe it's called sarcasm with a hint of hyperbole.

 

[ghagua]

Team needs to get Martial on the ball a lot more than they have been doing. We also need to get Mkhitaryan into the team as soon as possible.

 

[RU Devil]

Team needs to get Martial on the ball a lot more than they have been doing. We also need to get Mkhitaryan into the team as soon as possible.

Agree. Wish Jose would dispense with Rooney though or at least rotate him & Mata as the #10's. Using Mata on the right cause a bit if imbalance when he goes central, but I noticed Ibra occasionally covered when Mata did so. Appreciate the awareness.

 

[NoPace]

Thing is, Smalling shouldn't walk straight back in. Not for me. His form towards the back end of the season wasn't particularly great and Bailly and Blind have been generally superb so far as well providing the balance that's needed there.

Leaving Blind out would be incredibly shortsighted for me.

If Smalling comes back in it should move Blind to DM, not see him out of the team. He's clearly one of our best 11 players and seems to do fine wherever he's played.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Thing is, Smalling shouldn't walk straight back in. Not for me. His form towards the back end of the season wasn't particularly great and Bailly and Blind have been generally superb so far as well providing the balance that's needed there.

Leaving Blind out would be incredibly shortsighted for me.

The good thing about the situation is that Blind is in the team on merit. His form will keep him there and it will give Smalling a bar to aspire to while he is out of the team and he wants to get back into the team. I've made no secret that I thought Blind was poor last season at CB and really only got into the team at the start of the season on LVG's technicality and didn't show individual form defensively that warranted continued selection. LVG's shape, style and demands were what kept him in the team. Also his fitness. But as will all players this season, the slate is wiped clean and right now though, he is showing that defensively he is deserving to keep his place on defensive form and I hope he keeps it up if he stays in the team. More than worthy and will push Smalling to get his spot back imo.

 

[CS@SG]

I am surprised that not many are talking about the 2 dives by Rooney and Mata.

 

[carlosp]

http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?EventId=647699603&EditorialProduct=Man Utd

 

[marlowe78]

Thing is, Smalling shouldn't walk straight back in. Not for me. His form towards the back end of the season wasn't particularly great and Bailly and Blind have been generally superb so far as well providing the balance that's needed there.

Leaving Blind out would be incredibly shortsighted for me.

It looks like they work very well as partners and I would not want to disrupt that by putting Smalling back in. The one case that might've been made is that Smalling gives us height but we don't have that issue now with the new players and Fellaini still around.

 

[Borys]

I am surprised that not many are talking about the 2 dives by Rooney and Mata.

Me too, the Rooney dive was so bad. Miscontrolled the ball and decided to fall over.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Me too, the Rooney dive was so bad. Miscontrolled the ball and decided to fall over.

You will have to remind me of the Mata one, I do not recall it, probably doing a bit of a Wenger on that one. Rooney clearly fell over, but did he even claim a foul. Need to see a gif to recall it correctly. Normally he would be running into the ref's face if he feels it was an incorrect decision. The fact no one was up in arms about it in the press or media suggest both were non-events.