FA W FA Cup 4th Round Replay

Manchester United 3:0 Cambridge United

Post-match discussion


Tue, 03 February 2015

Some people really hate Young :lol:

He just came back from an injury, did nothing wrong, and looked threatening, yet he's the lowest rated player.
Least amount of time on the pitch, pretty normal that would get the lowest rating.
 
Some people really hate Young :lol:

He just came back from an injury, did nothing wrong, and looked threatening, yet he's the lowest rated player.
The only player who did less than him is De Gea. That's not a slight on either of them, just inevitable really.
 
Professional performance. Thought our passing and movement off the ball was really nice at times. I know it was 'only Cambridge' but still refreshing to see.

Was really impressed by McNair, was great tonight. Onwards to Preston!
 
Standard day at the office against lower league opposition. Earlier goal opened up the game.

McNair MOTM.

Job done. Controlled the game as you'd expect. Mcnair was fantastic, great to see him as confidant as he was.

And what a strike in the first half, controlled that superbly well, deserved a goal. One for the very near future indeed, great management from Van Gaal too, must be said.
 
Couldn't watch the second half, but did notice that we crossed an awful lot in the first half.

The crosses were pretty dangerous to be fair. Was kind of surprised that Cambridge had such a problem dealing with balls into the box considering you see that type of play a lot in the lower leagues.
 
Rooney looked dangerous when he was close to the goal, yet so unnatural in midfield.

It's such an obvious switch to make.
 
Did exactly what we needed to do against a team who was going to defend narrow and compact, and that was get the ball wide and stretch play.

Good performance from the lads. Now for the next round against Preston.
 
Just interested to know how people approach the player ratings:
How do people rate, for example, DdG when he's had almost nothing to do all game, technically he's done absolutely everything right but you can't give him 10 for that. But it would be unfair to give him 4 just because he had nothing to do (it's hardly his fault).
Do people work on the "everybody gets 10 and I'll take off points for things done wrong" or " points reflect contribution" method
Sure there should be a question mark or two in there somewhere … :confused:
 
Just interested to know how people approach the player ratings:
How do people rate, for example, DdG when he's had almost nothing to do all game, technically he's done absolutely everything right but you can't give him 10 for that. But it would be unfair to give him 4 just because he had nothing to do (it's hardly his fault).
Do people work on the "everybody gets 10 and I'll take off points for things done wrong" or " points reflect contribution"
Sure there should be a question mark or two in there somewhere … :confused:

i've always wondered the same thing...

keepers i think should always get 6 or 7 on a day when they had nothing to do, as 5 just seems harsh.
 
Comfortable but 2nd half could have been better. When teams press us we struggle, be it PL team or 4th division, which is a worry. We also have tendency to take foot of the gas in 2nd half in games where we are winning either with cushion or fine margin. On positive side, good confidence booster for lots of players, especially Rojo, McNair and Wilson.

I asked in match day thread too: Will same tactic, of Fellaini up top and lots of crosses by stretching play can be used vs West Ham, especially given they are carrying some defensive injuries? It is likely to back to usual but if west ham have regular CBs injured, Fellaini can be handful up top.
 
'Twas a comfortable win tonight and more like how it should be. We've made Cambridge look like a League 2 side tonight, whilst we performed more like a top 4 team this time around.

I still don't like seeing Rooney in central midfield given how lackadaisical he becomes when we're comfortable and given how he still doesn't suit that role, but his great quality and discipline did help us out in seeing off Cambridge. Mata was very good when he's given the freedom to play in the final third rather than in a more disciplined, deeper role. di Maria has improved in his care of the football in midfield, giving away the ball less often than he used to in that area. I also like that he's still an attacking threat in the final third and out wide, with his deliveries from the wide areas dangerous as usual. McNair was great going forward and very good at keeping the tempo of our passing high. His pass to Mata in the move for the first goal was exquisite, and he did very well on the ball for the whole match.

On the attack, I really liked how seamlessly we changed our shape and the players interchanged positions with ease. We've also improved in our passing of the ball and are playing more incisively and quickly than we've done in the past several matches. It's helping us be more of an attacking threat now from all avenues, not just out wide like we were when we played with 3 at the back for the past several matches.

What irked me in this match was how poor we were when pressing Cambridge. Our players are quite poor at pressing the opposition, and they look like they don't know how to close down players. Too often did I see the players showing the opposition into dangerous spaces rather than outside and into less dangerous areas. We cannot afford to play a pressing game unless our players improve their defensive positioning and man marking. I just found it strange that we forgot about keeping our shape whilst pressing Cambridge as we allowed them to attack our defenders too often in the second half. van Gaal has some serious work to do with this team if we are to improve in pressing the ball as a team.
 
I will also add on by saying that Fellaini was quite invisible since we scored the first goal. He was rarely getting involved other than when a long ball came into his way. It's obvious that he can't play as a striker as he doesn't have the movement and positioning of one, and whilst I understood the reason van Gaal played him there (add a physical presence and win crosses), he was still not that effective there, IMO. I believe he would have been better off acting as a shuttler in midfield who would get into the box rather than stay high up the pitch to play like a target man.
 
Just interested to know how people approach the player ratings:
How do people rate, for example, DdG when he's had almost nothing to do all game, technically he's done absolutely everything right but you can't give him 10 for that. But it would be unfair to give him 4 just because he had nothing to do (it's hardly his fault).
Do people work on the "everybody gets 10 and I'll take off points for things done wrong" or " points reflect contribution" method
Sure there should be a question mark or two in there somewhere … :confused:

My default is a 6-that's means the player had an "average" game. DDG today had an average game-distributed the ball and didn't screw anything up.

A 7 for me is above-average, meaning the player did something noticeably well. An 8 is for a player who stood out consistently during the game. A 5 is for a player who was below average-had more than 1 noticeable mistake.
 
Ended out exactly as I had anticipated. We look to be playing at a faster tempo which is good. I still think we need to be more intricate when we are doing our passes in and around the opponents box.
 
Ron Atkinson picked Di Maria, Mata or Fellaini as MOTM candidates for the MUFC Twitter account to pick from.

19950.jpg
 
Missed the game but caught the highlights and judging on the comments it was a good display of football.

Wilson took his goal well, had he any other chances? Only a matter of time before he starts scoring for fun, mark my words!
 
My default is a 6-that's means the player had an "average" game. DDG today had an average game-distributed the ball and didn't screw anything up.

A 7 for me is above-average, meaning the player did something noticeably well. An 8 is for a player who stood out consistently during the game. A 5 is for a player who was below average-had more than 1 noticeable mistake.
I use roughly the same system. My average rating for pretty much everything seems to be around 1 point higher than the overall average for the whole Caf...
 
Missed the game but caught the highlights and judging on the comments it was a good display of football.

Wilson took his goal well, had he any other chances? Only a matter of time before he starts scoring for fun, mark my words!
Nice assist by Herrera might I add.:)
 
Decent win/performance. Nothing more, nothing less.

McNair very good. Wilson is growing in confidence all the time. Fellaini was Fellaini. Not a fan of Rooney in midfield.

Nice to get a consecutive run of lower league teams in the cup for a change.
 
Still struggling to understand why the heck LvG fecked up Rooney& Fellaini's positions. There must be some logi.. Oh nope, It's just beyond me
 
I was at work so naturally missed the game. :(

- What was our starting formation? Looked like we were playing a 4-2-3-1 from the initial lineup.

- How did McNair do at RB? According to the Beeb live text I was following, he looked rather uncomfortable, but judging from the reactions here he did pretty well. Could he have a future there?

- Where did Rooney play? Was he our creative-midfield-enforcer-destructor again? I can't wait until we manage to get him up front regularly.

- Any improvements in ADM's performance? Where was he playing?

Overall it seems like we had a scare at the start but were fairly comfortable in the end.
 
Ron Atkinson picked Di Maria, Mata or Fellaini as MOTM candidates for the MUFC Twitter account to pick from.

19950.jpg

McNair was outstanding. Mata very good too.

Di Maria and Fellaini!? Just a normal game really. Fellaini marginally better as he saw a lot more of the ball. I'd have Rooney as my third option though.
 
I was at work so naturally missed the game. :(

- What was our starting formation? Looked like we were playing a 4-2-3-1 from the initial lineup.

- How did McNair do at RB? According to the Beeb live text I was following, he looked rather uncomfortable, but judging from the reactions here he did pretty well. Could he have a future there?

- Where did Rooney play? Was he our creative-midfield-enforcer-destructor again? I can't wait until we manage to get him up front regularly.

- Any improvements in ADM's performance? Where was he playing?

Overall it seems like we had a scare at the start but were fairly comfortable in the end.
McNair is MOM on here, so no he did very well indeed.
 
I was at work so naturally missed the game. :(

- What was our starting formation? Looked like we were playing a 4-2-3-1 from the initial lineup.

- How did McNair do at RB? According to the Beeb live text I was following, he looked rather uncomfortable, but judging from the reactions here he did pretty well. Could he have a future there?

- Where did Rooney play? Was he our creative-midfield-enforcer-destructor again? I can't wait until we manage to get him up front regularly.

- Any improvements in ADM's performance? Where was he playing?

Overall it seems like we had a scare at the start but were fairly comfortable in the end.

ADM was really good, ironically getting the ball from a deeper position than normal at times, great cross passing, much more accureate passing than normal, but also the free roaming Real Di Maria tonight.

McNair was excellent, calm, composed, confident. Wasn't bothered defensively, put in decent crosses, had a nice shot that was blocked. Did a very nice backheel pass too.

Rooney played a strange right-midfield role in the first half, kept playing centre midfield throughout the match. He wasn't good on the ball, but with a little luck he could've scored one perhaps. Worked his ass off though, I remember him being upfront, and 30 seconds later you see him make a tackle in between our central defenders, in the 80th minute.

Formation was

-------Smalling - EVans -------
MCNair ------------------ Rojo
---------------Blind------------
-----Rooney--------- Di Maria
------------Mata--------------
-----------RVP -Fellaini----------
 
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ADM was really good, ironically getting the ball from a deeper position than normal at times, great cross passing, much more accureate passing than normal, but also the free roaming Real Di Maria tonight.

McNair was excellent, calm, composed, confident. Wasn't bothered defensively, put in decent crosses, had a nice shot that was blocked. Did a very nice backheel pass too.

Rooney played a strange right-midfield role in the first half, kept playing centre midfield throughout the match. He wasn't good on the ball, but with a little luck he could've scored one perhaps. Worked his ass off though, I remember him being upfront, and 30 seconds later you see him make a tackle in between our central defenders, in the 80th minute.

Formation was

-------Smalling - EVans -------
MCNair ------------------ Rojo
---------------Blind------------
-----Rooney--------- Di Maria
------------Mata--------------
-----------RVP -Fellaini----------

Thanks for that mate.

Fellaini up front? Wow. :lol:
 

Player Ratings

6.6 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 425 ratings.

Score Predictions

400,7,6
  • Man Utd win
  • Cambridge win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 31% Man Utd 3:0 Cambridge
  • 29% Man Utd 4:0 Cambridge
  • 17% Man Utd 5:0 Cambridge
  • 10% Man Utd 2:0 Cambridge
  • 4% Man Utd 3:1 Cambridge
  • 3% Man Utd 4:1 Cambridge
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 Cambridge
  • 1% Man Utd 5:1 Cambridge
  • 1% Man Utd 1:0 Cambridge
  • 1% Man Utd 0:5 Cambridge
  • 0% Man Utd 1:3 Cambridge
  • 0% Man Utd 2:1 Cambridge
  • 0% Man Utd 4:2 Cambridge
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 Cambridge
  • 0% Man Utd 5:2 Cambridge
Compiled from 413 predictions.
Show more results Score Predictions League Table

Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Cambridge
Possession
68% 32%
Shots
24 9
Shots on Target
9 2
Corners
12 3
Fouls
11 5

Referee

Jonathan Moss