Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 25/3

Sand

Christ no, I wouldn't let Valencia or Fellaini go. I wouldn't even let Young go except I wouldn't offer him a longer contract and he would go for free in 12 months.

I'm just saying we need upgrades so we have better player in the first XI than Young, Valencia and Fellaini - but the latter two can definitely be retained as squad players. That's how I think we ought to improve the team - buy better players than we currently have.

Pyjamarama

Headshot wrote: »

All worked out in the end thou

Really?!? Cause Chelsea are going to win the league in a canter and United (who'd won the league the season before that decision was made) aren't going to...

bucketybuck

Disappointing on one hand, because I think we could have played all day and still not scored. Falcao was crap and no surprise that Rooney was rubbish in midfield, but more than that I don't think the players actually believed they were ever going to score a goal.

On the other hand we were the better team, and despite losing at least the performance was there. They nicked their goal and parked the bus, there will always be games like that and no real point dwelling on the result.

Not sure how else the game could have gone, I would have subbed Falcao early but a rusty RVP may not have been much better anyway. Adnan was rubbish again, no surprise there. Felliani didn't do much but he had Zouma up his hole all the way so a tough game for him.

I thought Herrera was brilliant. At one point in the first half two defenders were passing the ball back and forth while Herrera kept screaming for the ball 15/20 yards away in midfield. He just kept adjusting his position and then calling for it again, he genuinely wanted the ball unlike the hiding Cleverley used to do.

Will I Amnt

Swap Carrick in for Rooney and Rooney for Falcao and I genuinely believe we come away with 3 points.
Chelsea fans will obviously argue the absence of a proper striker.

ElChe32

UnitedIrishman wrote: »

Nonsense. Can't be arsed getting into another Adnan argument but saying he's done nothing since Sunderland last year is beyond daft considering he's played a handful of games this season.

Apparently if you have a few bad appearances as a kid off he bench you're another Macheda. Right.

Feel free to quote my post in the years to come when Adnan goes on to fulfill the prophecy that he's the next greatest talent to ever pull on the shirt.

*Begins holding breath*

MagicIRL

adox wrote: »

Thought he had one of his best games of the season myself.

Was I watching a different game? Can't recall him making any consistant threat down his flank.

He defends well, but going forward he's no existent.

Will I Amnt

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Really?!? Cause Chelsea are going to win the league in a canter and United (who'd won the league the season before that decision was made) aren't going to...

We got the right man in the end. Things are looking up, deal with it.

Pyjamarama

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Swap Carrick in for Rooney and Rooney for Falcao and I genuinely believe we come away with 3 points.
Chelsea fans will obviously argue the absence of a proper striker.

They would and should. Drogs was the worst player on the pitch.

Kylo Ren

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Really?!? Cause Chelsea are going to win the league in a canter and United (who'd won the league the season before that decision was made) aren't going to...

The mission this year was to get Champions League football, not win the league. And it looks like Van Gaal has accomplished that.

It's all about Champions League football in the modern game. The biggest clubs need Champions League football.

Champions League football.

Pyjamarama

Will I Amnt wrote: »

We got the right man in the end. Things are looking up, deal with it.

They're certainly looking up compared to last season. My sole point would be that imo United wouldn't have experienced the drop last year they did if Jose was in charge and would have stood a great chance of winning the title last year or this.

Pyjamarama

Keno wrote: »

The mission this year was to get Champions League football, not win the league. And it looks like Van Gaal has accomplished that.

It's all about Champions League football in the modern game. The biggest clubs need Champions League football.

Champions League football.

I agree... My point is in relation to Jose being appointed or moyes followed by Lvg being better...

Polo_Mint

I really dont care about that result today

Hopefully our injuries are sorted next week and we can watch some flowing football again.

Mars Bar

Valencia was frustrating. The amount of times he stood with the ball stopped dead was ridiculous!

Will I Amnt

Pyjamarama wrote: »

They're certainly looking up compared to last season. My sole point would be that imo United wouldn't have experienced the drop last year they did if Jose was in charge and would have stood a great chance of winning the title last year or this.

Short term pain...
I don't want to see the tactics Jose applied today at OT... ever.

Mars Bar

Did anyone else celebrate Rooney's shot in the third minute? The whole pub I was in went daft!

Will I Amnt

Mars Bar wrote: »

Did anyone else celebrate Rooney's shot in the third minute? The whole pub I was in went daft!

Yeah, De Gea :pac:

Lord TSC

Mars Bar wrote: »

Did anyone else celebrate Rooney's shot in the third minute? The whole pub I was in went daft!

Ran to tell someone it was a goal, only to look foolish when I realised it wasn't Was sure it went in.

Pyjamarama

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Short term pain...
I don't want to see the tactics Jose applied today at OT... ever.

I think every football fan says that but then when they see their team captain lift the trophy they forget about it. I agree with you in spirit tho even if I think all football fans are way to fickle to care about it when they win.

Mitch Connor

just needed more cutting edge, a better forward up top and we might have got something out of the game. Also, while Herrera did well deep, had he been in his normal role his combination with Mata may have provided us more too. Thought Chelsea nullified Young and Fellaini, Fellaini offered little.

irishfeen

Mars Bar wrote: »

Valencia was frustrating. The amount of times he stood with the ball stopped dead was ridiculous!

In fairness to all the United players Chelsea were lining up in banks to contain us at the back - a masterclass at parking the bus, not my cup of tea but best of luck to them.

Kylo Ren

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I agree... My point is in relation to Jose being appointed or moyes followed by Lvg being better...

Jose wouldn't have signed a one year deal in anticipation of LVG arriving, so it all worked out in the end.

Like Hitler in 1939, we march into Europe next year.

Sand

Pyjamarama wrote: »

They're certainly looking up compared to last season. My sole point would be that imo United wouldn't have experienced the drop last year they did if Jose was in charge and would have stood a great chance of winning the title last year or this.

I don't know about that - the last title win was incredible in that United played dire, but had Van Persie nicking goals and every other rival playing even worse. The squad was overall poor, ageing and imbalanced but that wasn't widely recognised at the time.

I feel a lot of sympathy for Moyes in that if he had come in and dismantled a title winning team, he would have been slaughtered. He didnt, wasnt able to repeat the Fergie magic and was slaughtered anyway. Not sure a manager like Mourinho - well remembered as a rival manager so with critics already - whose first instinct is for dire to watch but effective football would have been given any more respect than Moyes was. The "United way" and all that would have been very upset to see Mourinho playing boring football and probably still not being good enough to compete with the likes of Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea or even Liverpool on the run of a lifetime formwise.

LVG was able to come in and do what he liked as it was recognised a complete rebuild was necessary. I dont think Mourinho would have been given that level of trust, and hes infamously prickly about not being given a free rein when it comes to team decisions.

hufpc8w3adnk65

Mars Bar wrote: »

Did anyone else celebrate Rooney's shot in the third minute? The whole pub I was in went daft!

The entire pub i was in too!! I was up on a chair!!!

Pyjamarama

Keno wrote: »

Jose wouldn't have signed a one year deal in anticipation of LVG arriving, so it all worked out in the end.

Like Hitler in 1939, we march into Europe next year.

Jesus if I compared United to the nazis I'd get banned...

Sand

Yeah - I was there for about 10 seconds thinking, "Damn, Rooney is ice-cold. I'd be going mental after scoring a goal....oh"

Will I Amnt

Pyjamarama wrote: »

I think every football fan says that but then when they see their team captain lift the trophy they forget about it. I agree with you in spirit tho even if I think all football fans are way to fickle to care about it when they win.

Mourinho wouldn't have guaranteed a trophy last season. He couldn't win it with a much stronger Chelsea team. He would have needed a massive clear out at United to adapt to his way of playing.
I think things have worked out for the better.
I genuinely believe United are going to be the team to catch next season with a couple of additions over the Summer to fix the problem areas.

duffman13

I'm not too annoyed about today's result. When I look at the positives, Shaw was tearing down the left, beared some resemblance to his Southampton performances.

I must be in the minority who thought Rooney played very well in midfield but was missed further up the pitch. I am absolutely delighted we dodged a bullet on Falcao, really wanted the guy to succeed but with 90 mins today he really looked lost at times. He was making some strange runs and was almost trying to hard. I think he will come good but it's just too far gone at United for him to get back to his best with us.

Giggsy11

Btw how good is Smalling, I wouldn't swap him for any CB in the league. He was always a proper defender but his ability on the ball is excellent. There was a moment in the game where the game was very congested and he brought the ball down with his first touch like a majestic Spanish player.

Same with McNair. His ability on the ball is excellent.

edgecutter

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Btw how good is Smalling, I wouldn't swap him for any CB in the league. He was always a proper defender but his ability on the ball is excellent. There was a moment in the game where the game was very congested and he brought the ball down with his first touch like a majestic Spanish player.

Same with McNair. His ability on the ball is excellent.

If he could stay fit I could possibly agree.

Pyjamarama

Will I Amnt wrote: »

Mourinho wouldn't have guaranteed a trophy last season. He couldn't win it with a much stronger Chelsea team. He would have needed a massive clear out at United to adapt to his way of playing.
I think things have worked out for the better.
I genuinely believe United are going to be the team to catch next season with a couple of additions over the Summer to fix the problem areas.

Yeah but I'm sure all arsenal, city and Chelsea fans prob think the same way too.

We'll never know but I think it's safe to say that Jose would have set United up to be super hard to beat and him
In charge would have allowed United to attract better players than moyes so I think he would have done well. Well enough to easily make top 4 anyway. And then this year easily challenge for the league, and likely every season after that... It's Jose. Look at his record.

MagicIRL

The balls on McNair just charging out of defence with the ball. Loved it!

A 1-0 loss to the champions-elect at their fortress, with a few important first team regulars missing. It wasn't all that bad at times and there were some positives to take.

Luke Shaw and Paddy McNair showed the definition of what it is to be a good squad player and why squad depth and quality are important. These two have been waiting on the bench for their chance for many minutes now, and then when called in to deputise in a big game, not only do they suffice, but shine. Ok, 'shine' might be a stretch considering the defeat, but these youngsters were very promising today. Shaw just needs more game time to 1) build up stamina 2) Build a better chemistry with the other players who attack on the left, like Young and Fellaini.

I thought Valencia did very well down the right, running at and beating defenders. Out of he, Young and Fellaini (three players experiencing a revival in form under LVG) I thought Tony had the better game.

I'm not so sure that Di Maria had a poor appearance, but that subbing him on with Blackett going to LB basically meant Angel was on his own out there. Shaw must have been bollixed, only way I can explain LVG making this sub.

A match-sharper Falcao might have dinked that shot on the inside of the post rather than drill it at the outside of the post. Courtois went the wrong way and was beaten, shame Falcao couldn't hit the target. Not good enough even if it was his first game in a while, but I will suggest that he was fouled in the build-up to the Chelsea goal.

Herrera was alright and did what he could at where I reckon he was playing most of the game, at DM. I definitely think he had far more positive moments than negative, but hopefully Carrick will be back for the remaining games and Herrera deployed in his usual position. I adore Herrera, favourite United player, but disappointed to see him leave the leg in with Cahill in the dying seconds of the match. Yeah, he was trying to get our team a penalty and possibly a goal and a point, but I don't condone those methods. Hopefully the yellow card and a quick scorching from LVG will see that this is an isolated incident.

Fellaini was no great shakes today. That's alright for me considering the circumstances though. Where someone else might suggest that he was 'found out' today, I think that like Herrera, Fellaini was another to suffer from the absence of Carrick and particularly Blind. As Keno posted earlier, Carrick is currently Bach to the United orchestra and setting the tempo and directions the play will take. Blind has been immense at supporting Fellaini, and Young, down that left. Shaw personally had a good game, but the team currently performs better on that left flank with Blind in there.

Rooney was meh for most of the game. I did think for a second that he hit the top corner of the Chelsea net in the first half. Lovely play and pull-back from Shaw, Rooney should have done better.

Januzaj needs a loan, and United need Januzaj to go on loan. I'd like to think that there'll be better quality available for competition in the RW position next season, as it's badly needed.

So that's that, disappointed today but 12/15 in the last 5 games since Spurs and a hell of a run of games out of the way. No matter what City do against West Ham tomorrow, we're still 3rd. Arsenal v Chelsea next weekend means that 2nd is not lost yet. Everton for us away next week isn't a dead cert, but they were terrible against Burnley today and are arguably there for the taking. I think that rather than suck the momentum out of United, today's narrow defeat will only make them more hungry to get back to winning ways...hopefully.

Kylo Ren

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Jesus if I compared United to the nazis I'd get banned...

I remember an unfortunate United email photo a couple years ago that had an abstract connection to them.


Anyway, enough of this.

This is a time of celebration - Champions League football is the theme we should be discussing.

Will I Amnt

Pyjamarama wrote: »

Yeah but I'm sure all arsenal, city and Chelsea fans prob think the same way too.

We'll never know but I think it's safe to say that Jose would have set United up to be super hard to beat and him
In charge would have allowed United to attract better players than moyes so I think he would have done well. Well enough to easily make top 4 anyway. And then this year easily challenge for the league, and likely every season after that... It's Jose. Look at his record.

I've not said he wouldn't challenge, I'm just much happier to do it under van Gaal next season.
Dominating the bigger teams instead of sitting off them and hoping for a break on the counter.

Mars Bar

MagicIRL wrote: »

The balls on McNair just charging out of defence with the ball. Loved it!

That second shot was thunderous.

I may be mad but I know McNair started out as a CM. I was almost hoping on seeing Blackett coming in to CB, McNair into CM and Rooney up top. As I said, they might have been just bonkers!

Giggsy11

In the home game against Chelsea, Fellaini was used to man mark Fabregas, in the return leg Chelsea changed their line up to man mark Fellaini. Says it all, how opposition treat Fellaini as our most dangerous attacker.

TheMilkyPirate

McNair and Shaw were fantastic, Didn't think Falcao was too bad myself with the service he got but should have scored his chance.

jayo26

Giggsy11 wrote: »

Btw how good is Smalling, I wouldn't swap him for any CB in the league. He was always a proper defender but his ability on the ball is excellent. There was a moment in the game where the game was very congested and he brought the ball down with his first touch like a majestic Spanish player.

Same with McNair. His ability on the ball is excellent.

I had an argument with bangcock a few weeks ago about smallin and getting in the barca team i have to say i was actually wrong he has been top notch for us the past few months and today he did very well,

On another note i thought mcnair was brilliant tday agint too and was just thinking he might actually be better in carricks position in the future he is so confident on the ball and not afraid to take it forward i know he was signed as a midfielder i think he is gonna be very good there Just needs the experience of reading the game nd improve his forward passing a bit.

jayo26

Mars Bar wrote: »

That second shot was thunderous.

I may be mad but I know McNair started out as a CM. I was almost hoping on seeing Blackett coming in to CB, McNair into CM and Rooney up top. As I said, they might have been just bonkers!

Hah you beat me too it i had posted the same opinion about mcnair didnt see yours but yhh i agree mcnair has brilliant future ahead as a midfielder i think.

Kylo Ren

Depay got a lovely free kick today.



His 20th goal of the season. Crazy stats for a winger.

Lukekul

Those injuries to Carrick, Blind and Jones are some pain in the hole.

J. Marston

Keno wrote: »

I remember an unfortunate United email photo a couple years ago that had an abstract connection to them.


Anyway, enough of this.

This is a time of celebration - Champions League football is the theme we should be discussing.

Don't get too carried away. Everton away next week will be tricky, more dropped points and Liverpool could be breathing down our necks again.

We've thrown away an 8 point lead in April not so long ago.

The_Kew_Tour

Watched 2 games today where 1 team in either game dominated and the other one scored 1 goal from the only real chance they get.

That's football.

All the doom and gloom I saw hell of a lot to be positive about today. Considering key players were missing or out of position we deserved a result.

Can hold heads high. Bring on Everton

homerjay2005

Fu*cking sickened after that. Deserved at least a draw.

Bringing on Blackett and Adnan with RVP and Rafael on bench was shocking.

Nalz

Any of the four out back for Everton game?

Whatsisname

Trilla wrote: »

Any of the four out back for Everton game?

Jones and Blind were apparent late fitness tests for today so should be back next week. Evans ban is over now I think too.

Kylo Ren

J. Marston wrote: »

[/B]

Don't get too carried away. Everton away next week will be tricky, more dropped points and Liverpool could be breathing down our necks again.

We've thrown away an 8 point lead in April not so long ago.

Ah I know, I was just having a bit of a laugh.

A strong finish from here on out would be top notch.

Nolars

Its clear we need 1 or 2 central midfielders. We didn't do 2 bad today considering. If we had carrick and Rooney up top we could of got the draw.

bmcc10

Lukekul wrote: »

Those injuries to Carrick, Blind and Jones are some pain in the hole.

Even if one of Carrick or Blind where available at least could have kept same team, Hopefully Blind is learning from Carrick to replace him because going by today we have a very good young player in Shaw.

Cantona's Collars

Nolars wrote: »

Its clear we need 1 or 2 central midfielders. We didn't do 2 bad today considering. If we had carrick and Rooney up top we could of got the draw.

Chelsea set a new record,the lowest possession over 90 mins since Opta started.They had just 29% of the ball but they knew how to dig in and get the win.
With 4 players missing,we all knew this would be a tall order today,I wouldn't fear anyone,Everton are nothing special and there's a lot of talk of disharmony at the club.Despite the loss today,I'm not concerned.
The only thing as you say is the need to strengthen the midfield and defence as a priority.