Manchester United

[lewis stokes]

Hi,
Really struggling to get my head around why the hell we cant get goals or like today hardly any shots on target but dominating in possession in every game. Todays performance for example 80% Possession, 26 total shots only 9 on target to West Broms 6 total shots 3 of which where on target. The goal scorers we have on our team ie Rooney, mata, fellani, and RVP and we have a total of 9 on target is a joke. And the face RVP took the penalty instead of Rooney for god sake whats that all about. and as for Di Maria he would struggle to get into a sunday league side what a waste of £60,000,000 theres more 0's there than goals hes scored.

Summer transfer seasons cannot come quick enough. The people id like to see leave this season are. RVP (too old and hes had his best season for us), Di Maria (He's overrated and Not bale or ronaldo), Falcao (Not lived up to expection and id be embarrassed if united turn round and keep him for another year), There that should be easily £60 - £70,000,000 back.
Players id like to see come in, Memphis Depay, Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne and the biggest transfer of the that we should worry about is keeping David De Gea no way can we let him go. Im going to say what every Liverpool fan says every season Next season is OUR season But i believe it I will be and i cant wait to be back in the Champions League and Top of the BPL where we belong!!

U-N-I-T-E-D UNITED ARE THE TEAM FOR ME WITH A NICK NACK PADDY WHACK GIVE A DOG A BONE WHY DONT CITY FUCK OFF HOME!!!!!

 

[thespus]

Manchester United are maybe the 4th best side in the league and have far more work to do in the summer than Arsenal or Chelsea. Next season won't be their season. Only reason they'll finish fourth this season is because Liverpool are just a bit more shit and Rodgers can't manage a side that doesn't have momentum.

That chant is putrid.

 

[Renegade]

The saviour, Danny Ings.

 

[Red]

Hi,
Really struggling to get my head around why the hell we cant get goals or like today hardly any shots on target but dominating in possession in every game. Todays performance for example 80% Possession, 26 total shots only 9 on target to West Broms 6 total shots 3 of which where on target. The goal scorers we have on our team ie Rooney, mata, fellani, and RVP and we have a total of 9 on target is a joke. And the face RVP took the penalty instead of Rooney for god sake whats that all about. and as for Di Maria he would struggle to get into a sunday league side what a waste of £60,000,000 theres more 0's there than goals hes scored.

Summer transfer seasons cannot come quick enough. The people id like to see leave this season are. RVP (too old and hes had his best season for us), Di Maria (He's overrated and Not bale or ronaldo), Falcao (Not lived up to expection and id be embarrassed if united turn round and keep him for another year), There that should be easily £60 - £70,000,000 back.
Players id like to see come in, Memphis Depay, Danny Ings, Nathaniel Clyne and the biggest transfer of the that we should worry about is keeping David De Gea no way can we let him go. Im going to say what every Liverpool fan says every season Next season is OUR season But i believe it I will be and i cant wait to be back in the Champions League and Top of the BPL where we belong!!

U-N-I-T-E-D UNITED ARE THE TEAM FOR ME WITH A NICK NACK PADDY WHACK GIVE A DOG A BONE WHY DONT CITY FUCK OFF HOME!!!!!

A most amusing read.

With regards to Di Maria what do you mean he'd struggle to get into a Sunday league side, that's already the case Lewis. . Serious though, you're being a bit harsh on him, he's a top class player but not consistently when he plays for United. Maybe LVG isn't getting the best out of him. Lewis, every Liverpool fan doesn't say every season that next season will be their season. Some do, most don't. As for being back at the top of the Premiership where you belong, you really need to accept that Ferguson has gone, your team is weaker and other teams around you have strengthened.

 

[Red]

Manchester United are maybe the 4th best side in the league and have far more work to do in the summer than Arsenal or Chelsea. Next season won't be their season. Only reason they'll finish fourth this season is because Liverpool are just a bit more shit and Rodgers can't manage a side that doesn't have momentum.

That chant is putrid.

Good post. Regarding the chant. I've asked one or two Man U fans what the words to it are and not one has ever answered. Thanks for clearing that up Lewis it was the most enlightening part of your post for me. It makes me cringe when I hear it because it's like a song or something that you sing to a small child.

 

[thespus]

Maybe this is the Americanization I've undergone, Red, but I usually don't say fuck off in front of small children unless they're uncomfortably close or it's before noon.

 

[Red]

I meant the actual original song that they've highjacked. Before noon? What's the relevance of that?

 

[Renegade]

I meant the actual original song that they've highjacked. Before noon? What's the relevance of that?

I'm not a morning person either.

Kids can fuck off.

 

[Orion]

I've struggled to get my head around it, but to be honest my confusion is more over LVG's tactical approach than why we can't score. To me it feels like LVG's tactics ARE why we can't score. That's not to say I think he's a bad manager, there are many many many many things he's got right this season, BUT he's still learning about the Premiership.

Fellaini had a good few games, but he's best when deployed deeper than as a point man, because he can drag players out of position. But he's lost his aggression, been dominated by players that are smaller than him in the last 3 games. For me, when he plays like that, he should be subbed off, not pushed up to play as a striker. He's a plan B player for when we can't pass through teams and need a different outlet, putting him in the box and firing in crosses should not be plan A, especially against teams with good defensive units. I think Van Gaal looked back at the last time we played West Brom and the game changer was bringing Fellaini on because we couldn't pass through. He's looked at that and thought "lets start Fellaini then, and we'll play better straight away". Which obviously didn't work.

I find it baffling that Di Maria, who was so good starting games at the start of the season, has become plan B and Fellaini, who has been a complete donkey, is our plan A.

Mata had a few good games on the right wing, but he wants to play centrally, he's always drifting in. Put him in the middle, let us play actual wingers on the wings. If we're going to play a crossing game, surely it's better for us not to have inverted wingers who slow the game down and give the defence more time to anticipate the cross? Ever notice how Young and Mata's crosses almost always get headed out but Valencia and Blind/Shaw's almost always create chances? It's because defences find it more difficult to deal with balls coming across the box when they don't get a 5 second warning as the player cuts it back.

A lot of people say Carrick is a big miss for the team, and he is a very good player, one of our best, but the biggest reason he's a big miss is that we don't have appropriate cover in midfield. Herrera playing deeper cuts out one of our best passers and leaves our defence vulnerable. Blind plays well there, but he's often isolated if there isn't an obvious pass on. Rooney has to move into midfield to cover for whoever, where he hasn't played a good game this season. I don't understand why Van Persie was playing in midfield against Brom, especially when he had 4 or 5 good chances from the runs he was making as a striker.

Personally I think we would benefit massively from another change of tactics, because we've become so predictable it's scary. Put Young on the right wing and Di Maria on the left, Rooney up top with Mata sitting behind. Blind and Herrera behind Mata, Shaw and Valencia at full back, and Smalling with somebody (McNair, Jones, Rojo, whoever) in the middle. And if we can't break through teams, bring Fellaini on, bring Van Persie on, mix it up with some high balls. It's much easier to make the change from passing on the floor to long balls than it is to go from long balls to passing on the floor.

As for the future, think it's vital we throw out some more of the deadwood from this season. A new centre midfielder is a must, a new striker, a new winger, a couple of full backs. I'd be happy with the players we're rumoured to get (Gundogan, Depay, Clyne, Cavani), but personally I think the best signing we could make is Strootman, he's a versatile midfielder who would make a natural replacement for Carrick and that's what we need moving forward. To have replacements for our older players BEFORE they retire or move on.

 

[Jarv]

Our issue sfor the large majority of the season is we're been far far too cautious. Not wanting to lose the ball so play slowly and let teams get back and get set. our Best performances all came in a run when we actually attacked and played forward. I'm not sure if the being utterly robbed by Chelsea knocked a bit of the belief as the 2 games since has gone back to being slow, ponderous predictable turgid rubbish we had for large chunks of the season.

RVP has to be sold as he's nowhere near good enough and hasn't been for 2 full seasons now. He's had decent games in 2 seasons worth of football and one of them was against Spain in the world cup. RVP sadly is done as a top level footballer. If we need to play someone in the last 3 games along side or to come on to replace Rooney give Wilson a game or 3.

We need a player who ,will run at the opposition and some players not afraid to shoot from outside the box on occasion (not every time they get near it, i'm looking at you Janujaz). DI maria hasn't gone to being a bad player over night get him in the team and get some confidence back.

There have been some promising signs but there just seems to be a huge lack of belief within the team. Depay and Clyne and Strootman (if he's fit) would be 3 great additions. Cavani is massively over rated and we should save our money and the last i saw Gundogan he looks like he's 6 months pregnant.

 

[Orion]

I disagree about RVP, I don't think he's played particularly badly. His fitness has been an issue, he didn't look particularly fit during the World Cup, but I thought against Brom he was our only goal threat, from the first to the last minute, he was the only player actively trying to score goals. And when he moved back into midfield and Fellaini moved forward, that felt like a tactical decision by Van Gaal to try and get some possession in the box and lay the ball off, which didn't work.

I definitely think we need to be playing people who aren't afraid to make a run and get at opponents. It frustrates me that when Rooney plays in midfield and there's a gap in front of him he won't run into it. But I feel like the last few games the players haven't been finding the runners either. Partly that's because of missing Carrick and the cover he provides, players feel like they can't move forward for fear of the space they're leaving behind.

 

[Stevencc]

That game against West Brom is pretty much the only game I can think of from this season where RVP has looked a genuine threat for more than five minutes.

 

[Orion]

I understand, but personally I think that's more down to our lack of penetrative play and chance creation than our lack of good strikers.

Whether it's Falcao or RVP or Rooney or Wilson, I've watched us play games countless times where our strikers make good runs, get into good positions, and aren't found. When we played Chelsea, I watched Falcao get into goalscoring positions more than a dozen times and nobody would pass him the ball. It was so obvious, even the guys on Match of the Day picked it out as a talking point. That's either the players not having the vision and ability to make that pass, or not having the confidence to risk playing that pass and losing the ball. Either way, Falcao got one chance with the ball played to his feet, and from a narrow angle, he hit the bar. And it's been the same for us many times this season, we haven't blown teams away because we haven't risked possession for the chance.

Personally, I think it's more about the confidence of our creators, in their ability, in the strikers ability, and in the defences ability. We've lost 3 games from being hit on the counter, that has to weigh up on players minds when there's a chance their pass might lose them the ball and lead to conceding a goal, all because our defence can't deal with players running at us.

 

[Stevencc]

You are right about runs being ignored, particularly those of Falcao. I've seen him make good runs so many times this season and get ignored but I think that is partially down to some of the glaring chances he has missed - I'm not sure many of our players have faith in him to finish any potential chances they give him. That and Van Gaal likes a risk-free approach to the game so they are wary of giving away possession for the sake of a potential chance when they can pass backwards or sideways and keep the ball - as you rightly mention.

Still, of the strikers we currently have I'd rather see Rooney up front than RVP, Falcao or Wilson - especially in the 4141 we've been playing recently. Wilson is a young back up, he's fine. Falcao has not done enough to earn a contract on the wages he will expect, not even half of them and RVP looks like a striker on the inevitable decline that age brings.