Three goals, three points, moments of reasonably attacking play, a bit more width in our play, but still a lot of reds left the stadium not entirely happy. I wasn't as disappointed as some, but I could see why they were unhappy. When the third goal went in, you hoped that this would be the moment when United finally let rip under Van Gaal. Yet instead we got a second half of largely square and backwards passing possession football that did nothing to endear either the players or the manager to the fans.
It's becoming pretty obvious to me now, that even if Van Gaal manages to make United competitive at the top level again, i.e challenging for titles and champions league's, he won't really be fondly remembered by many. I can see why neither Barca or Bayern Munich fans have much time for him.
At least he stuck to a four man defence yesterday, I hope the three man rearguard is gone for good, but fear it's probably not. It was good to see Januzaj given another start, and I thought that was good for the team, even though we played a diamond, he gave us a natural width in attacking area's that we have missed all season. He wasn't brilliant, but that was easily his best game of the season. The longer the game went on, the more confidence he seemed to get. Hopefully he will now get a real run of games.
Yesterday was Di Maria's best game in a long time as well, again not perfect by any means, but he was a threat all afternoon. On the other hand Rooney had a bit of a shocker, I don't know how long the central midfield experiment is going to last, but he's never going to be top draw in that position. Blind had a decent game, it was a fine pass for the first goal. He's a good squad player, but if United are ever to get back to where we want them to be, he wouldn't ever be getting into your my best eleven.
Up front Van Persie took his goal superbly, he had a reasonable game without being anything special. As for Falcao, I though that was probably as well as he has played. Though he still hasn't put in the kind of performance, that would persuade me that United should make the move permanent.
The last goal was a bit of a gift, but it hadn't really registered that Jones had been demoted from corner taking responsibilities, until the celebrations, where Jones led the celebrations with Rooney as if he was more than happy with that decision.
Their late consolation was something we could have done without. From a half time scoreline where it looked as if we could really improve our goal difference, to just a two goal victory. I hope a top four spot doesn't come down to goal difference, because we have had some chances to improve it that we have just frittered away.
It's becoming pretty obvious to me now, that even if Van Gaal manages to make United competitive at the top level again, i.e challenging for titles and champions league's, he won't really be fondly remembered by many. I can see why neither Barca or Bayern Munich fans have much time for him.
At least he stuck to a four man defence yesterday, I hope the three man rearguard is gone for good, but fear it's probably not. It was good to see Januzaj given another start, and I thought that was good for the team, even though we played a diamond, he gave us a natural width in attacking area's that we have missed all season. He wasn't brilliant, but that was easily his best game of the season. The longer the game went on, the more confidence he seemed to get. Hopefully he will now get a real run of games.
Yesterday was Di Maria's best game in a long time as well, again not perfect by any means, but he was a threat all afternoon. On the other hand Rooney had a bit of a shocker, I don't know how long the central midfield experiment is going to last, but he's never going to be top draw in that position. Blind had a decent game, it was a fine pass for the first goal. He's a good squad player, but if United are ever to get back to where we want them to be, he wouldn't ever be getting into your my best eleven.
Up front Van Persie took his goal superbly, he had a reasonable game without being anything special. As for Falcao, I though that was probably as well as he has played. Though he still hasn't put in the kind of performance, that would persuade me that United should make the move permanent.
The last goal was a bit of a gift, but it hadn't really registered that Jones had been demoted from corner taking responsibilities, until the celebrations, where Jones led the celebrations with Rooney as if he was more than happy with that decision.
Their late consolation was something we could have done without. From a half time scoreline where it looked as if we could really improve our goal difference, to just a two goal victory. I hope a top four spot doesn't come down to goal difference, because we have had some chances to improve it that we have just frittered away.
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