[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

David May gets a hard time really. Yes by 99 he wasn't first choice but still was a starter in the FA Cup Final. And in previous years played his part. Mainly injuries did him in. He's not a Phil Jones type figure!

largely agree. He also won consecutive titles with Blackburn and United.

but he’s always a good example when people start a ‘show me your medals’ argument.

 

[svn]

largely agree. He also won consecutive titles with Blackburn and United.

but he’s always a good example when people start a ‘show me your medals’ argument.

He actually left Blackburn the year before they won the league.

 

[alexthelion]

Thoughts.....

Best I've seen from Telles today. If Shaw comes back in form, going to have to find a way to get them both on pitch at the same time.

I'll take a performance like that out of Pogba more often than not. Thought he was composed for decent portion of the match, great goal. The commentaters here stateside were so clearly anti-Pogba it became distracting.

Though McTominay was awful today, and compromised a lot of the team play. Poor play affected Pogba and VDBs ability to get into the match.

Wish we could have pulled Mata right after his wonder pass. Think there was surprise interest from club in Middle East, but everytime we put him out on the field his price tag has to be going down. He is really looking past it these days.

When was the last time we got a Maguire headed goal from a corner?? He was supposed to excel at that, is what I thought....

Both Telles and Pogba were at fault for their goal, they both stood there like statues as the WHU player moved behind them. No awareness at all.

 

[Meller]

Don't cry haha

No I want us to win. Just pointing out what happened.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He actually left Blackburn the year before they won the league.

My bad. So, actually pretty awful timing!

 

[Ramshock]

People still moaning after another away win again scoring 2 plus goals.

 

[svn]

My bad. So, actually pretty awful timing!

He made up for it in subsequent years though

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He made up for it in subsequent years though

yep. Did alright! Modern fans don’t seem to get, that you need players like that. Not spectacular, not first choice, but can come in and do a job when needed.

 

[Alek M]

Teles was awful
Bruno is gold
Rashford should be putting those away
We missed Fred the red
Pogba had a solid 5

 

[sammsky1]

 

[sammsky1]

 

[mancave bear]

People still moaning after another away win again scoring 2 plus goals.

Yes, we are scoring a lot more goals than we did some years ago. Great entertainment! That wat we want : )

 

[Moston Red]

That first half was embarrassing. The team are clueless without Bruno. Loved the pogba goal I wish he could sort his act out. He'd be some player.

 

[Footy van de Geek]

The most worrying thing is that the players are playing for Ole, yet can't stop producing bipolar performances. Nobody is downing tools. This is the best he can extract from them.

We are pretty much early Benítez days Liverpool. Bruno is our Gerrard. If he doesn't play well, we likely won't either.

But unlike the Liverpool squad circa 2005, we have a much better supporting cast. But remain an up and down squad. Despite the extra quality.

Today's win was similar to the Brighton game.

Will we learn from this? Probably not. But a good win given the circumstances.

 

[Bastian]

First 60 minutes as bad as at home to Burnley last season. But the last 30 were great. This really is a great habit away from home, coming back from losing positions.

Agree with Neville in that the inconsistency is hugely concerning and seems to be a mental problem, not just between weeks, but within matches. Still can't help but think that there is a lot more to be had from this group of players than what we've seen. Though it has to be said, without Bruno, we look lost.

Great result and great goals too.

 

[patty123]

Will probably go down as the best signing since Rooney and Ronaldo. Only others in that period that are close would be De Gea and RvP.

Nah I would include Carrick and the man that made ferdinand better, Vidic also.

I wouldn't include RVP, as one season wonder who openly admitted he down tools when moyes came in as he felt let down and lied to by AF when signing.

 

[edcunited1878]

But that's because Martial always wants the ball played to his feet, and rarely makes runs to attack a ball played in behind the defence. Such a big difference when Rashford came on in the 2nd half.

He does want the ball at his feet too often, but with Cavani and Greenwood going wide and VDB going deep, that left Martial centrally and was the only one playing between the lines.

Second half saw Rashford stay wide with Bruno occupying positions between the lines but inside the channels with a focal point of Martial and Greenwood coming in towards the middle.

West Ham sat deeper and allowed Pogba and McTominay to drive up the pitch. It was a mistake that will overlooked and United absolutely battered West Ham who didn't adjust.

 

[Strelok]

First 60 minutes as bad as at home to Burnley last season. But the last 30 were great. This really is a great habit away from home, coming back from losing positions.

Agree with Neville in that the inconsistency is hugely concerning and seems to be a mental problem, not just between weeks, but within matches. Still can't help but think that there is a lot more to be had from this group of players than what we've seen. Though it has to be said, without Bruno, we look lost.

Great result and great goals too.

Tbh he's simply clueless that Neville. The more he talks the more I want him to shut the feck off. We played like shite in the first half simply because we didn't have Bruno. Mental my arse.

 

[Tincanalley]

West Ham did tire, tbf. The press faded. Should keep that in mind.

 

[Hugh Jass]

Pure jekyll and Hyde stuff. You dont know which United will turn up.

I still think we are relying on individual brillance than collective brilliance. It is working but i still think we could be better.

 

[Bastian]

Tbh he's simply clueless that Neville. The more he talks the more I want him to shut the feck off. We played like shite in the first half simply because we didn't have Bruno. Mental my arse.

Such an easy way to deal with anything he says. But if you were to watch that first half again then you'd find that we made an abundance of unforced errors with very sloppy passing, getting very late to the ball, of course our defending set pieces is shaky, but Bruno is not going to make them all magically play better without it being a mental issue too - as he has leadership and is vocal.

To say we played like shit simply because we didn't have Bruno is excusing a host of bad performances. Though of course he takes us up a level both in terms of attacking intent, and character.

 

[ThinkTank@Cafe]

Bruno Fernandes FC.

 

[bsCallout]

Great ball up the line from Henderson. Bruno really turned things up a few levels.
Great goals all round and great to see Greenwood no.9 and getting a strikers goal.

Really struggled in midfield in the first half. Never had a hold of the game at all.

 

[Cpt Negative]

Pure jekyll and Hyde stuff. You dont know which United will turn up.

I still think we are relying on individual brillance than collective brilliance. It is working but i still think we could be better.

The promising thing is that it’s Jekyll and Hyde in halves where as too many games last season we didn’t turn up all game

 

[pacifictheme]

Imagine this team with a fast CB, a quality CDM and a class right winger, possibly also a top level LB, we’d be right up there

Nearly half the team.

 

[fps]

really?

Name another player on our team who has more trophies

Name the last time he turned a game for us before this.

 

[Riz]

Nah I would include Carrick and the man that made ferdinand better, Vidic also.

I wouldn't include RVP, as one season wonder who openly admitted he down tools when moyes came in as he felt let down and lied to by AF when signing.

Yeh you’re right Carrick, Vidic and also Evra would be in the conversation.

RvP’s one season was all the more brilliant though as it allowed SAF to go out as a champion, a huge factor in my books.

Anyway Bruno’s only 26 so if he keeps up his remarkable first year he’ll probably eclipse the lot.

 

[Tincanalley]

Three sublime goals. I roared and scared my cat for Pogba’s strike. Greenwood take and hit was sheer poetry. Great team play for #3. The first time connection by Mata was perfectly weighted. Once Rashford was in, he kept his head. Funniest moments - hard to choose between the WH lad falling over with the goal at his mercy or Moyes expression after we took the lead.

 

[tjb]

Horrible first half.
Class second half.

Pogba is not a central midfielder. If he stays he should play as backup to Bruno as attacking midfield.

VDB is not an playmaker. He should be used in the central midfield and get used to play a box to box role.

Martial is neither a first starter as LW or Striker. He should have a backup role. His top level is really good but unfortunately he is not showing it enough and should therefor have a second role (once we have enough good players)

Bruno. You can’t describe him with words! I’d so much love him to get the number 10 shirt

People always want to know why we haven' been where we wanted to be over the last 6 years...this highlights the problem. We spent a lot of wage on Pogba in 2016 to help us fix our midfield, using combativeness to win the ball, good passing, anticipation and composure to control games and occassionally drive through the midfield with his strength and dribbling ability. United thought they were getting Yaya Toure/Moussa Dembele. You could see how many people had not actually watched him in Serie A, as most of their actual midfield work was done by Marchisio or Vidal. Even from our first game with him against southampton, where Pogba played with Fellaini, despite being really good on the ball, we failed to control the game at all and people blamed Fellaini. It took us months to realize that this was the cost of playing Pogba in a midfield pivot.

You could say the same thing with Martial, Herrera, Mata and Mhiki. For Martial, people have spent years defending a player that has and continues to have fundamental flaws in his game that stop him from being class. There are so many wingers and strikers with flair, in the premier league today almost every team has attackers that can dribble and creative occassionally in the right situations. What seperates them from the Hazards, Mane's, Salah's and even Rashford's are the fundamental attacking skills off the ball and aggression to attack at every opportunity, and that has been obvious since he came here. There are still people who think he's more talented than players like Son simply because he can dribble and cut in from the left side whilst giving you moments of magic every 6 games. He had never shown consistent class prior to his arrival at United, so the blind faith has always been curious. Again, it took our fans too long to see where we were actually wasting money.

Herrera, our fans were again asking for him and asking why managers were not as hot on him as they seemingly should have been. He came here with a reputation of being able to pass the ball well despite the fact that again, that was never the case at Athletic Bilbao. In games where he played, we usually struggled to control those games or completely failed at constructing chances from midfield, as Herrera like Cleverly before him, was a master of running away from responsibilities with short passing. Due to fans not being able to spot the difference between dictating a game and simply passing sideways, he got away with being average for at least 2 seasons. After which, Mourinho turned him into a grafter like Fred, but again people failed to spot how bad he actually was at playing as a DM in his positioning, anticipation and composure on the ball. Fans saw graft and tight marking and praised him, even comparing him with Kante.

It took about 3 season with Mata. Fans made all sorts of excuses for why he was playing so poorly, even treasuring one or two decent games from him ( Juanfield) to justify his career at United. Despite the fact that he's never actually performed at any decent level at United. Mhikitaryan was given the same treatment, with people blaming mourinho for making him lose confidence, playing him on the right occassionally etc. Once he left United, he's been the same since.

People always blame united for ruining players, but the truth that people find hard to admit is that a lot of our biggest transfers, particular prior to the last 2 seasons have been poor. We invested a lot of money into players that had never proven they could perform in the way we wanted or expected them to. Players like Smalling, Jones, Lingard, Bailly, Pogba, Martial, Pereira etc have all been hyped to be something they never showed themselves to be prior and due to this, stayed in our squad longer despite performing consistently below expectation due to simply having a few traits that had never been performed consistently.

 

[Tapori]

Well done Maguire for passing forwards properly.
That Rashford from pass from Mata goal = Team top stuff
Pogba - About time he delivered somewhat. Still very long road for him to get to his top level. hopefully a start
Greenwood - Van Persie Re-Gen. What a touch, turn and finish. Should have had another.
Rashford - Just a different approach. Still not a lethal finisher but getting better.

Special mention to Henderson. Nervy, then grew and top save on the wrong foot for the free-kick

Martial has to start delivering in the second half of the season or I think Ole may cash in. Has another season to make it at the highest level imo or else he'll be another just-not-consistently-top-tier level. Awful performance but possibly injury is playing up. His control, reading, passing and movement were so poor for his level.

 

[trevor newnham]

I had to turn it off at half time before i had a heart attack. Recorded the second half, had a couple of large g&t's, watched Strictly to calm down, then watched the second half after the FPO went to bed. Just woke her up to talk her through the second half. Strangely, she isnt too pleased. Dunno why

 

[Devil may care]

There's an old cliché that you have to earn the right to play and it's true, we were doing nothing in the midfield battle and couldn't get any momentum, and in truth we weren't brilliant as a team in the second half, but our special talents produced big moments that got us the points.

It's great that we won but hopeully Ole and the staff know we got away with one tonight, the balance of the team needs rectifying and quickly.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

I would like to know if it is a mentality problem or a tactical problem why we are starting so bad in most matches
To win such matches is of course fantastic but this shit can't going for more matches.

The "OleInFanclub" will credit the win to Solskjaer but let's be honest there was again no clear consistently performance in our game and our several individual quality have won the match for us.

 

[Icemav]

We need to stop these laid back starts to matches, as if we don't need to press. The pattern of play is becoming highly predictable; sit back, mild press, concede a goal, continue until the first half, play football in 2nd half.

It's an unsustainable method of football.

What I saw in the first 60 minutes was atrocious. Sloppy passes, slow pressing, half arsed tracking. The last 30 was a complete opposite and I'm just so happy that we have the 3 points and we are 4th in the league.

I want to pretend that this is one of those games that I can just forget about but it's been happening all too often for me not to.

I think we have a good manager who is the right fit for club atm, and some good players with grit. What we possibly need is for Ole to hire a Head Coach who can raise the technical ability of the side.

 

[Siorac]

One sentence: we were playing utter shite and then bruno arrived.

You summed up Ole's tenure perfectly.

 

[eire-red]

I think its not as simple as "Bruno turned the game". Rashford and Greenwood started making runs in the second half, and suddenly Pogba, Bruno and Mata had options on the ball.

You don't get that threat in behind with Cavani and Martial playing. I think it has to be one or the other. For Cavani to be effective as a focal point of our attack, he needs runners off him. Martial is too static, its painful to watch at times.

Like others have said, coming from behind is a great habit to have, but we need to start games better. West Ham could have been out of sight if they had more quality up front. Got to be happy with the 3 pts though, these are the types of games we crumbled in a couple of years ago.

 

[DickDastardly]

Watched the game from the start again, clear headed this time.

My god was Anthony bad. Completly out of it from the start.
What the hell is wrong with him?
To be fair, he did look frustrated by himself as well.

The first half wasn't even that bad.
They had one chance before the goal in the 34th minute when Pogba and Martial lost it in the middle, and that was a half chance.

Their goal was good, something we should copy, aim the first player and send it over on the second post.
Again, Martial was on the first post.

Hallers chance, was it offside?

Pogba takes too much time on the ball, never in the first half has he made a one touch pass. Unforgivable.

Martial had one good move, the 43' minute one two with Telles, could have been a goal.

VDB was waay to forward, didn't do shit. Cavani and Greenwood as well. Zero fluidity.

Kudos to Ole for switching in on the halftime!
Although it didn't start well, their 51 minute was the best chance they had.

We sucker punched the feck out of them to be fair.
Daddy with the turn and Van Persie finish took the wind out of them.
Bruno with the gorgeus pass to Rashford was a dream.
And then the Mata pass....my word. Truly a magician.

One touch magic from our two magicians.

All in all, a good game. More of the same from the second half please.

 

[HarryRedCrumbs]

...gooooooo Zeeebra's!!!

Loving it!

 

[cyril C]

Teles was awful
Bruno is gold
Rashford should be putting those away
We missed Fred the red
Pogba had a solid 5

Agree. VDB was another 5 to be, work hard but not much noticeable. Even Pogba for his good and bad moment were visible. Nevertheless, a good start to him, may be against a lesser (defensive discipline wise) team he would have done better.

 

[Shane88]

We were blessed that Haller(?) slipped after he rounded Henderson. Would've been game over then.