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.
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.
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