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.
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.
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