[Randall Flagg]

Was such a hard earned victory. I'm more relieved than delighted

Think they were the best team we have played this season by a distance and far better than I was expecting them to be. Away to them will be very tough

I think we need all 6 points against CSKA

 

[chriswt]

Very classy performance by Juan Mata today and excellent performance by Chris Smalling once again.

Ref seemed hellbent on gifting Wolfsburg the game at the end, something like SEVENTEEN fouls in succession before United got one finally.

 

[pacifictheme]

We seem to have a very strong first team and quite weak replacements...

 

[Walrus]

Huge 3 points. With CSKA beating PSV then all the teams now have 3 points, so it is now all to play for.

 

[buckooo1978]

deserved win and like the PSV game we didn't take our chances....

my biggest concern is the way the players have flagged....

Mata admitted we were very tired in the closing stages when Wolsburg really put us under pressure

Van Gaal's lack of rotation and a thin squad are going to cost us in terms of tiredness and the inevitable injury

apart from that pretty satisfied

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Yeah, if it's a straightforward binary thing Imight have just switched to the anti-Rooney camp after that.

I think we have to accept that he's never going to be as good as we want/need him to be anymore. Yeah, he might come into some form and score some goals, but over the course of a season he's not going to be worth the money or the position in the team if we want to be the best in the league. We can do better than Rooney now. That miss in the first half was really bad, Hernandez basically got sold for doing that and we all remember the look on Van Gaal's face when he did it

 

[Raw]

If it weren't for that ridiculously stupid defending for the goal we conceded, I reckon it would have been a much more comfortable game.

 

[WR10]

The determination to win today was fantastic. We are finally looking like a united team again. BFS, Smalling and Mata were outstanding. We showed some immaturity in the last 20 minutes, but it's good because we didn't get punished and now it gives LVG a chance to iron it out before bigger games. Looked a bit fatigued too, so hopefully the rest will be good for the game against arsenal

 

[CG1010]

Good performance overall. Mata and Smalling are two big positives for me. A bit concerned about the midfield to be honest - Schneiderlin has been having very poor games consecutively for us. He needs to improve and improve fast. We were overrun in midfield so often during the whole match, and specially after Schweinsteiger went off. Also expected better from Blind.

 

[Moonred]

Shiuld be scoring more when dominant. Nervy last 20 as a result of that.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Phew.

Sums it up, I think.

Don't like how vulnerable we look for much of the match post our second goal. It's fair enough to grind out wins, but we didn't look like we were grinding as much as hanging on for dear life.

Still, a win is a win is a win.

 

[FreakyJim]

We looked very tired in the last 20mins and Anders P is not ready yet.

Maybe, but he was played wide. I don't think that's his position.

 

[Stack]

An ugly win in the end, but il take that all day long.

Was it really that ugly?. I thought we played well for most of the game. The last quarter was scrappy but overall I thought we looked really positive in our approach.

 

[The Man Himself]

I think we are playing more open in CL than in PL. We look to move forward quickly, attack more, play more direct balls and the attacking intent leaves us bit open at back at times but it is overall more entertaining. In PL we move around the ball a lot, many times without doing any harm to opposition and end up conceding on a break after some mistake and we seem to have to work more hard to create goal scoring opportunities. One would have thought it would be opposite.

On game, a good win. Nervy last 20 min, but job done in the end. Our play in first half deserved more than a goal and we could have won this 4-1 on some other day.

 

[Stack]

Maybe, but he was played wide. I don't think that's his position.[/QUOTEI
I went to the games he played for Brazil in the U20 WC earlier this year and he spent most of his time drifting wide or playing wide for them. Too many fans these days are wanting to have players pigeon holed into rigid positions. the game is changing, players more and more need to be capable of covering different areas of the pitch. Look at Ashley Young, left wing, right wing, left back right back.

 

[Gol123]

So serious question: would we have been less concerned about dominance of Wolfsburg in the final 15-20 minutes had we been considered a counter attacking based team rather than possession based?

As for the players, Rooney was wank, Andreas didn't play well at all either, although I think at that point the focus was almost solely on defense and took a lot away from his game.

Hope nothing happened to Smalling though.

Probably not but you should be regardless. You couldn't even get the ball out of your own half for the last 25 minutes. Wolfsburg were very good it has to be said.

 

[Ibi Dreams]

Maybe, but he was played wide. I don't think that's his position.

He made a few poor passes and lost possession, but in fairness it was very difficult as Wolfsburg were pressing like crazy and blocking all the angles. Not much to do with what position he was in, all of our players struggled in the same way.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

I think we are playing more open in CL than in PL. We look to move forward quickly, attack more, play more direct balls and the attacking intent leaves us bit open at back at times but it is overall more entertaining. In PL we move around the ball a lot, many times without doing any harm to opposition and end up conceding on a break after some mistake and we seem to have to work more hard to create goal scoring opportunities. One would have thought it would be opposite.

On game, a good win. Nervy last 20 min, but job done in the end. Our play in first half deserved more than a goal and we could have won this 4-1 on some other day.

Used to be the other way around under SAF – Gung-ho PL and careful and considered CL

 

[Brophs]

Some good, some bad, but this ability we have to control the ball in the PL isn't quite cutting it in Europe yet. Teams are smarter and more able to close down space cleverly to nullify it.

Still, job done. The consequences of losing that could have been dire.

 

[HabeasC]

Daemian says hi.

Ah true... Three-way split.

 

[montpelier]

I think both teams looked better going forward and there ought to have been more goals, but they could have come at either end. After being behind, it's a good win and we defended quite well considering how much pressure came on in spells.

Sunday will be interesting. Thought they were quite similar to Arsenal in style.

 

[Mockney]

We were great, in a really fun end to end game for a good hour, and then terrifyingly bad in a squeaky bum fest for 20+ minutes. Our philosophical play under Louis is undoubtably getting better going forward, but our propensity to go to full panic stations when the momentum shifts is worrying from a mental perspective.

 

[VanGaalEra]

It was nervy for the last 20 mins, but other then Schurrle's chance, I don't remember them creating much.

 

[montpelier]

Darmian MotM for me.

 

[QuackQuack]

I thought the rhythm of the game changed when schweini got subbed off. I thought Rooney was poor and didn't offer much. I feel Memphis had a better game today. But all in all, I'm satisfied with the three points.

 

[Ixion]

We looked a bit knackered by the end which is worrying ahead of Arsenal away and we don't have many options to change things up at the moment.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Cheers:

• Production from Mata
• Martial is a man
• Mr. Mike Smalling

Jeers:

• That first goal...??
• Nervous last half hour
• Not being allowed a fourth sub so we could take Rooney off.

 

[Moriarty]

Wasn't pretty but three points is three points. Shirley made a difference when he came on and we looked hard-pressed. We can't afford to drop points at home in any of our games because Wolfsburg will be tough to beat away and so will CSKA. Who said this was an easy group?

 

[mav_9me]

Cheers:

• Production from Mata
• Martial is a man
• Mr. Mike Smalling

Jeers:

• That first goal...??
• Nervous last half hour
• Not being allowed a fourth sub so we could take Rooney off.

At this time we would arguably be better off taking him off and playing with 10 men.

 

[Gol123]

Think part of it was we had 10 guys behind the ball at all times, which made Mata disappear, and Rooney and Andreas kept conceding possession with poor touches and passes every time.

Yes, well Mata will disappear whenever you go defensive. He did for Chelsea in their CL run in 2012. Ball retention and composure will need to improve if you want to assert yourselves against the top teams in Europe. All of the English teams need better ball retention. They struggle when they are pressed and resort to hoofing it.

 

[rednev]

It's worrying how drastically our passing-game breaks down when we are under pressure. Towards the end we looked second tier when trying to pass the ball around, whereas earlier on we did it wonderfully.

 

[Lyricist]

So Louis Van Gaal just said on German TV that Bastian Schweinsteiger is a "Führer" in the dressing room.

I mean, the word existed before the 1930s, there's nothing wrong with that statement. But the use of the word definitely made me chuckle.

 

[Rich_H_1989]

I hate to say it but Rooney was once again awful tonight.

Other than messing up your hardly knew he was playing. He doesn't get involved like he used to which from your captain isn't good enough.

I get that he's not the same youthful player but the drop off in Workrate is staggering. In the past when he's not been playing well you knew he'd put in a 10/10 for effort but not now. And when he wasn't scoring you knew he'd be heavily involved.

How can LVG justify his selection right now?

Darmian, Mata and Smalling vying for MOTM for sure. It's ridiculous how much Smalling is improving! Becoming one of the best defenders in Europe let alone England.

 

[Ramshock]

feck me Owen Hargreaves is a bitter cnut. We sure he doesnt post on here?

Anyway take the 3 points and that team will only improve because of that hard match tonight. I would want us to play tight and counter when we go there. I dont think we should go toe to toe with them at their gaff.

 

[FreakyJim]

feck me Owen Hargreaves is a bitter cnut. We sure he doesnt post on here?

Anyway take the 3 points.

Why does he hate us so much? We didn't break his knees, did we?

 

[Rezyuz]

Im a great fan of memphis even before he came here.

I dont mind him losing the ball 1000 times during goal attempts.

But his nonchelant passing pisses me the fk off.

 

[Ramshock]

Why does he hate us so much? We didn't break his knees, did we?

Fergie let him go and he didnt want to leave. He doesnt seem to like LVG either so I wonder what LVG did to him

 

[Momochiru]

Very crucial win despite the atrocious ref. Hopefully no injuries - got scared when Smalling landed awkwardly.

 

[Crackers]

feck me Owen Hargreaves is a bitter cnut. We sure he doesnt post on here?

Anyway take the 3 points and that team will only improve because of that hard match tonight. I would want us to play tight and counter when we go there. I dont think we should go toe to toe with them at their gaff.

We can find out. We're good at witch hunts, right? Luckily, with his knee he won't be running away. Easy peasy.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Besides the horrible ref, this match went exactly how I thought it would go. A hard fought but deserved win. Wish we could hold on a lead with less struggle though. Can't be good for my heart this.