Angel Di Maria is a good signing, I was never quite sold on him as a winger, though given the paucity of talent we have out wide, he is far better than what we have at the club at the moment in that position. But I do like him a lot when he plays more centrally, and that's centrally as in midfield, not a number ten. He's top class, and not, yet another number ten, given the state of the squad at present we can't have enough top class players coming in.
We've got to hope that he won't be the end of the signings though, we are crying out for either a defensively minded central midfielder or a dynamic box to box version. We could probably do with another centre back as well, if were going to persevere with a back three.
The question then though is, do you go for what's available, or do you wait for the right man to become available, Strootman say. Given the mediocrity of the present squad and the standard of most of our signings over the last five seasons, I wouldn't be splurging top dollar for someone like Blind of Ajax. I like the look of Vidal, and given where we are, he would be worth the risk, given your going to get injuries through a season, you'd imagine that we will go into a fair few of the big games with only one of Carrick or Hererra. If that remains the case, we will be struggling to get back into that top champions league spot come May with that engine room.
So the question for the Glazers would then be, how much is champions league qualification to them, because if it is vital, and it surely is, busting a gut to get Vidal, even if he only played in half our games would seem like a no brainer to me. If they could live for one more season without it, maybe waiting for Strootman to recover from his injury at Roma would be the way Van Gaal would want to go. Both options involve risk, they should have gone when Fergie left, shouldn't they.


Anthony Joseph - Time: I didn't know anything about him until I read an aproving review of this album, it's a fair record, sort of along the lines a late era Gil-Scott Heron.

Bo Ningen - III: I loved this frenzied psych/punk affair from the Japanese band that formed in the UK.

Papercuts - Life among the savages: This took me a few listens to win me round, but i ended up warming into it's dreamy indie/pop charm.

Pink Mountaintops - Get Back: Canadian indie super group, they do like these combinations, The New Pornographers are another, and just like that band Pink Mountaintops more than deliver the goods. There seemed to be a UK influenced indie to a few tunes on it that seemed a little unusual, good album though.

Polar Bear - In each and every one: I absolutely loved their last album Peepers, this album has seem them move on to a more avant garde electronica phase, i like it, it has enough good moments on it to enable me to say that, but it's not as successful as that last album.

Ratking - So it goes: Left field hip hop from the States, has it's moments, but no real highlights.

Woods - With light and with love: I'm new to this US indie band who are fairly prolific, but if this is the standard set on their previous work, i better go and discover their back catalogue, it's an excellent album.

M.K. Dons 4-0 Manchester United

Van Gaal was a s good as his word, he said he wasn't happy about having to play two games in forty eight hours, and that he would play a completely different side for last night's league cup tie. I suppose, the morning after the night before, the question must be, does he regret that decision after United were humiliated by the division one club. Going off his reaction, signing autographs for home fans after shaking hands with the opposition bench and then his interviews to the media, it would seem he doesn't. To be fair to the Dutchmen, if he is confident that it will come right and that last night was just part of the process we are going to have to go through to get where wants us to be, then I can live with that. Fuck me after last season I've got used to us being shit again. What I would say is, when Van Gaal was appointed I thought the humiliation of the home defeats to Liverpool and City last season were to be a thing of the past, the sooner this bedding in process comes together, the better.
I can't pretend I was that happy with the team selected or the formation for last nights game though. Anderson shouldn't have been anywhere near that team last night or in fact ever, I didn't think we'd be seeing him in a red shirt again and he was as useless as ever. Fuck knows where he'll end up when he finally gets the heave ho from our club, that was a team two divisions and millions of pounds below us and he got bossed. I felt a bit sorry for Powell, it's been fairly obvious since he arrived at the club, that whatever his best position is, it isn't central midfield. And yet whenever he gets a chance at first team level, that is where he gets picked. He comes alive around the opposition penalty area and has a great shot, but he doesn't seem to have the short passing game needed for the middle of the park. And to cap it all for the lad, when he got his chance he has to play alongside Anderson and in front of that defence. He's looking like yet another unfathomable late era Fergie signing.
United started reasonably well, with Welbeck showing that he had the beating of their back line. Hernandez however looked like a player that can't wait to leave. When Welbeck crossed the ball early on to find the Mexican at the back post, only for Hernandez to control the ball and then fall over, his performance for the night was set. Even in that first season when he was dynamite in front of goal, his game outside the box was seriously wanting, now, it's just wanting everywhere. Welbeck was one of the better performers on the night and though his performance level did drop in the second half, he was still one of the only players in red still bursting a gut, right up until the final whistle. So to see some of the abuse he attracted on twitter and on some messageboards, completely non plussed me. Sure you can not rate him, but to question his commitment, I mean just fuck right off.
Within minutes of coming on Wilson showed why he should have started ahead of Hernandez and why he can take the Mexicans place as our fourth striker. He was only on the pitch for about half an hour, but that's how long it took to show that he is a very serious prospect, almost scoring with a fantastic left foot shot and a header that the home goalkeeper made a great save to keep out.
The longer the second half went on, the more obvious it became that United were completely lost playing this system. I felt sorry for Keane and Vermilj, Keane in particular had the kind of night that could kill him, I've always rated him, he played well on Sunday when he came on. But last night with a non existent central midfield in front of him to pass into and the senior pro Jonny Evans regressing to the kind of nervy shaky centre half we thought we'd seen the last of, three years ago, he ended the game a shell of the player he can be.
Another sign of United's unease with the system was the amount of time it took for Januzaj to make any meaningful contribution to proceedings once he'd replaced the unlucky Kagawa. I couldn't understand converting Januzaj to wing back in the second half, he will never be a wing back. Peraira did better than I expected when introduced, I still don't think he'll have the pace for top level football, but he definitely has the skill and imagination.
One thought did bring a smile to my face at the end, the Glazer's finally having to fork out serious money to put things right and then on top of no European football, now not even league cup football revenue to aprt make up for that, it's gotta hurt.

Sunderland 1-1 Manchester United

Given the players available, the new manager and tactics, I wasn't expecting much, a point might even be a result at the moment. With Herrera injured United took the field boasting a midfield two of Fletcher and Cleverley, not a pairing to get the blood flowing. Fletcher was poor last week, but yesterday, and there's no other way of putting it, he was abysmal. His first touch was shocking, he gave the ball away repeatedly, he has been an excellent servant to the club, but he really shouldn't be anywhere near the first team any more i'm afraid. Cleverley wasn't quite as bad, but he just seems to have completely gone at the game. There's a rumour that he has been told he can go, if that's so you'd have thought he would have been bursting a gut to impress any suitors out there looking at him. On that performance it'll be a championship club, not a premier league team.
Van Persie was fit enough to be handed a start by his fellow Dutchman Van Gaal. So we were back to that old chestnut, the partnership of Van Persie and Rooney. Of course the service to them was pretty poor, but yet again they just didn't work as a partnership, neither of them stretched the home teams defence. I get fed up of wondering what on Earth fellow reds and the media pundits really see in Rooney that makes him undroppable. For the second game running, he contributed next to nothing to our performance. In fact it was only when Van Persie was took off and the seemingly departing Welbeck was brought on that was looked as if we might actually get at the home teams backline. I found it comical when Gary Neville got excited as United looked to counter attack at pace, only for Rooney to get completely out paced by the home defender and bring him down in frustration.
I'm starting to think Chelsea have got this transfer market down to a tee, £50 million for David Luiz and almost £40 million for Mata. Once again he floated around spraying tidy little passes keeping possession, but creating next to nothing, he was almost completely anonymous, the goal apart. The jury is well and truly out on him, as far as I'm concerned we should be getting a whole lot more from somebody costing that amount of money. Yes he has a decent goalscoring record, but he still hasn't taken a game by the scruff of the neck.
I was hoping that Januzaj would start, but once again he was to come on from the bench during the second half. I don't think central midfield really suits him, but whilst he didn't set the world alight, he was still an improvement on the two that did start. Given the paucity of top players we can choose from, I'm a little puzzled why Van Gaal hasn't started with him yet.
The back line wasn't great, Jones had a decent game, Smalling was defensively reasonable, but once again was poor on the ball. I'm not sure why Van Gaal started him as the central centre back, Sunderland were happy for him to run out with the ball and generally do nothing with it. I was actually happy when he went off, because I knew that Keane would be far better on the ball, which he was.
Our game came out of nowhere, Valencia rolling back the years to beat his man and beat the first man with his cross. He had a reasonable game to be fair, right wing back was made for him. It wasn't quite the same on the other side, after Young's impressive pre-season in the States, he seems to have regressed to the Ashley Young of last season, diving for a penalty, just for old times sake.
The defending for the equaliser was poor, we've generally been pretty good defending set pieces over the last few years. But three points yesterday would have been papering over the cracks, so much for an easy start to the season.

Manchester United 1-2 Swansea City

Well all that optimism, vanished into thin air the first 90 minutes of the new season. To be fair I haven't got as carried away as some, pre-season doesn't really tell you that much. In fact the one game that did tell me something was the Liverpool game, yes we won 3-1, but the performance was pretty much a throwback to last season, the passing was too slow, we looked dodgy at the back and the victory flattered us.
The lack of transfer activity, incoming and outgoing, should have been annoying the Twitter Glazer out hashtag merchants before Saturday's game, not after, when it just looks like slapped arse time, because all the expectation a new manager could sort everything out, went by the wayside.
I expected a tough game, but when I saw our starting eleven, the reality that all three results were pretty much in play really hit home. I'll say it now, and hope that I look like an idiot later on in the season, but I'm not as enamored with our new manager as the vast majority seem to be. That starting eleven and formation was always going to struggle. I like Jesse Lingard, but right wing back, I can't really see what attributes led Van Gaal to play him there for his first home start for the club. I not much of a fan of Tyler Blackett, picking him ahead of Keane and Thorpe because he's left footed, doesn't enthuse me, especially when he plays the right footed Ashley Young at left wing back and then left back.
Don't get me wrong, Van Gaal is a massive upgrade on Moyes and he was probably the best candidate for the job. But it's not really "United" having a manager who regards the system as more important than the players, for this red at any rate. Great players moulded into a great team was the Busby and Fergie way. I see some of the players we are being linked with, and wonder how happy Van Gaal would be if we did get them, is it really enough that they can fit into the system.
Anyway back to the game, the change of formation ensured we weren't overrun in the middle of the park, but didn't solve many other of the problems that have surfaced over the last few seasons. There was, yet again a lack of pace all over the park, creativity was conspicuous by it's absence and the build up play from defence to midfield was woeful. I don't think any formation can hide the fact that was haven't got a footballing centre half at the club. The way Van Gaal sets his teams up, especially with three centre backs, demands that those defenders be comfortable on the ball and to really make it work it needs a proper footballing centre half. I suppose Evans could pass muster for being comfortable on the ball, but he's out injured again. Jones had a decent game, but when he's in trouble his first instinct is to run with the ball, instead of releasing it into midfield. Smalling is the one i really worry for, he isn't comfortable on the ball at all. If Arsenal really asked for Jones or Smalling to go the other way if they released Vermaalen, I'm not really sure why we didn't bite the bullet and let Smalling go.
I say we haven't got a footballing centre half at the club, but I still think that Michael Keane could develop into such a player. Yet I read that he's being linked to another loan period, and a loan period in the championship, at that. I really don't get that. I don't think Smalling is ever going to be United quality, whereas Keane has a chance.
The build up play was so slow that there was never a chance that the wing backs would be able to overlap as i presume was the intention, so I thought the stick that Young got for passing back and sidewards whenever he got the ball was a bit harsh. I'm no great fan of Young myself, but given the situations he got the ball in, I'm not sure what he was supposed to do, hoof it forward aimlessly or head down charge forward aimlessly.
Yet another question mark I'll have to air is, is Juan Mata really all that. That wasn't the first game where he has floated around the pitch and had a negligible effect on the game. He can score some great goals, and is capable of producing superb assists, but how often does he do it when it really matters. On his United career so far, he does seem a bit of a flat track bully, scoring when we're already in front or against the lesser teams. But when we have really needed someone to stand up and be counted, when the going is tough, ala Cantona, Ronaldo or a real top United player, Mata has so far almost always failed to deliver.
Van Gaal has insisted that it takes three months for the players at a new club to learn his methods, my worry has always been, have we got the players at the club to make those methods work and is Woodward up to the task of bringing in players that can make it work. Early days, it's not looking great so far.

Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United

I've just watch United's under 21's take the first silverware of the season after demolishing City 4-1, and can honestly say the main difference between the two sides was James Wilson with his four goals. City dominated the first half, but didn't really create as many chances as they might have done. Still if they had gone into the half time break a goal up as they deserved to, who knows how it would have gone.
But that wonder goal in first half injury time seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. To be fair to them, it did come out of absolutely nowhere, Wilson won the ball near the half way line and then basically just ran straight through their back line finishing with a shot into the corner of the net.
Rothwell was took off at half time, pity, he doesn't seem to have started pre-season that well from what I can gather. He was replaced by Harrop who looks promising, and it was he who started the move that led tp Wilson getting the second. If you add Tom Lawrence to the list, United really started to dominate affairs and every time United found one of Wilson's runs, City were in trouble. I hope Van Gaal was watching, because there is no getting away from it, Wilson is just a little bit special.

Music

Buzzcocks - The Way: Stll going strong, it's a decent album, though there's not really anything on it that gets anywhere the quality of those first classic albums.

Downliners Sekt - Silent Ascent: Spanish electronica duo deliver a decent album that's apparently easier on the ears than their previous stuff, that's interesting because this isn't exactly radio friendly, like I said thoug worth a spin.

Fucked Up - Glass Boys: Another enjoyable slab of hardcore punk rock from the Canadians, not quite as good as their last long player, but not far off.

Kamkatchka - The search goes on: Scandanavian hard rock, at times they remind me a touch of Queens of the stone age, not as good obviously, but on a couple of tracks they're getting there, pretty good.

Matthew Halsall - Sending my love: Yet to hear his latest album that had the rave reviews, but I went back to his debut album and it's another little gem of a record.

Paolo Nutini - Caustic Love: Pretty enjoyable soul/rock from the Scot, I haven't really given his music a chance in the past, maybe I should go back to his earlier stuff.

Spain - Sargent place: I have read a couple of pieces about this US indie act, and they sounded like the kind of band that would be up my street. Well it did take a couple of listens, a bit of getting into, but once there, I did absolutely love it. So I will definitely have to delve into their lengthy back catalogue.