The old Man Utd Thread

[exwhyzed]

Fellaini was good today. Still some clumsy challenges though.

Best away results in the league somehow

[feltmonkey]

We looked very good at times today. Particularly when we had Fletch, Fellaini, Mata and Kagawa playing keep-ball in the centre. I thought Fellaini was excellent - strong and comfortable on the ball. It's a shame he was fouled when he went through at the end.

Kagawa put in a very Kagawa performance. He played really well, pulled strings but at times his teammates couldn't match his speed of thought, and he fucked up his big moment when Welbeck fashioned that break and Shinji overhit the cross to Hernandez.

I think the injury to RVP might be a blessing in disguise if it means Rooney plays up top with Mata or Kagawa behind him.

[feltmonkey]

Bloody hell even Moyes' interview was good!

[AlwaysBeClosing]

Hoping for an actual back four this time, along with Carrick and Fellaini, perhaps even Fletcher so Fellaini can stray forward - ultra-defensive but we need to be sure.

[Liamness]

I'd like to see something like this:

Rooney

Januzaj Mata Cleverley

Fellaini Carrick

Evra Rafael

Evans Jones

De Gea

Yep, Cleverley on the right. When he came on against City for the return fixture his energy was a great help, we weren't so overwhelmed in the middle of the park, and City didn't score again (though it probably helped that the game was over by that point). I think it would be worth a go, has has played well in a wideish role before when SAF used a diamond last season.

[AlwaysBeClosing]

De Gea; Rafael, Ferdinand, Jones, Evra; Carrick, Cleverley, Fellaini; Mata, Welbeck, Rooney

Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany ©, Demichelis, Clichy, Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, Nasri, Silva, Navas, Dzeko

Though Livescore has Valencia instead of Cleverley.

Bench: Lindegaard, Büttner, Fletcher, Kagawa, Young, Valencia, Hernandez

No Januzaj, hm.

[spork]

Paul Scholes is being a pundit!

[Gringo]

Speaking well too.

[spork]

lol

[Gabzy]

Brilliant start!

6-0?

[Bleeders]

Someone is getting hooked early on, Valencia ready to come on.

[Gabzy]

I hope it's Rafael coming off, because he's pissing me off already. Constantly slipping, wasting possession.

[Bleeders]

Comedy defending

[ckny]

Cleverley's confidence levels are at 0%. Keeps bottling it whenever he looks like he's gonna make any half way difficult pass.

[Gabzy]

Fellaini with an idiot's booking. Jesus Christ. What was the point of that?

[dogsout]

Loves the feel of a face on his elbow. Always has. Why is Rooney taking all of the set-pieces? Is there really nobody better available? You'd look a lot more dangerous with him in the box and the ball actually beating the first man.

I think you guys haven't looked too bad so far. Obviously they've had spells of piss-takery but this could get interesting in the second half. Got to start playing the early ball in behind, though.

[Gabzy]

No idea why Mata isn't taking the free kicks/corners. Also, Rooney keeps making good runs behind their CBs and not one fucker in midfield has spotted them so far.

[dogsout]

Yeah, I noticed both Cleverly and Carrick playing the safety option when Rooney had pulled onto Demichelis during that half. The thing is Mata spots those runs and has the balls to try to feed them but he's too far back most of the time. The balance in midfield is off.

[Bleeders]

Pretty easy for City, just like it was for Liverpool.

Telling that Pellegrini joined City at the same time Moyes took over. Although Pellegrini had sound of mind to keep some of the coaching staff to help with his transition. Moyes brought in Steve Round. And Phil Neville.

Even Gaz has admitted we're in an 'identity crisis' and that's down to the manager and the training. Moyes is not good enough no matter how much money we give him.

Bayern will destroy us. I wonder if Pep fancies a proper challenge, now he's won the Bundesliga with 11 games to go.

[Nicky]

Too easy and not good enough. I'm horrified at the prospect of Moyes being given a load if money to spend when he's so fucjing clueless. Boot him out now.

[Bleeders]

Mid-table performance from a mid-table team.

[sith]

Outplayed, yet again at home.

[Guest]

I missed the match tonight due to work, but what was the cause of tonight's shambles? Another slice of Moyes' tactical ineptitude, underperforming players, lacking quality personnel or a mixture of all three?

[AlwaysBeClosing]

Another case of Jon attempting to make comment on a match he didn't watch. We played well at times, obviously the defence wasn't great but we penetrated well at times down the centre.

Nicky - what were you expecting with a transition team against City? Moyes lost 3-0 and 4-1. Fergie lost 6-1. We didn't boot him out.

[Gabzy]

Awwww, don't you just love Dinotwot coming in here, spending all his pos's? Very sweet of him to try and cheer the thread up.

[Gringo]

I thought the first half performance was ok after the terrible opening ten minutes. Once the second goal went in the effort levels dropped markedly. As if they accepted it was all over. City pretty much coasted the remained of the match which is even more worrying as they still managed to score a third.

[Takizawa]

I missed the match tonight due to work, but what was the cause of tonight's shambles? Another slice of Moyes' tactical ineptitude, underperforming players, lacking quality personnel or a mixture of all three?

City were very, very good.

[Guest]

Another case of Jon attempting to make comment on a match he didn't watch. We played well at times, obviously the defence wasn't great but we penetrated well at times down the centre.

Nicky - what were you expecting with a transition team against City? Moyes lost 3-0 and 4-1. Fergie lost 6-1. We didn't boot him out.

Eh? I haven't commented on anything, I was merely asking why we lost by a resounding 3 goals. Plus, I even started by saying I hadn't watched the match.

Are you reading a different post than what I actually typed?

[Liamness]

Yeah, after coming out of the blocks quickly, City barely got out of second gear again. The stats look pretty even but ultimately they had much more quality in the final third. You always felt they were holding something back, it was just a routine win for them really. I think 3-0 flattered them all the same, it wasn't nearly as one sided as against Liverpool.

I thought Cleverley played quite well on the right, think it was unfair to bring him off. Mata was a bit shocking in the second half. I would've liked to see Januzaj come on at some point, he always tries to make things happen, Kagawa and Mata were guilty of going missing a bit. I think our attacking play was okay, as in we saw a lot of the ball and created chances, but it was missing something. The absolute priority for the coaching staff is getting the attacking players on the same wavelength, it is losing us games as things stand.

[AlwaysBeClosing]

Januzaj wasn't on the bench though.

Eh? I haven't commented on anything, I was merely asking why we lost by a resounding 3 goals. Plus, I even started by saying I hadn't watched the match.

Are you reading a different post than what I actually typed?

No, you made suggestions once again, You make your mind up before you even get to watch highlights or whatever it is you'll judge us on - we didn't play badly, City were just very good.