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.
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.
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