Well the chickens finally came home to roost. It was probably a good job, knowing the new breed of United fans, a couple more games at the top of the table and they'd have started to far more cocky than the current state of our club warrants. On sunday we saw the lack of pace, the defensive problems that losing Shaw has exposed and the lack of help Martial can expect up front against a decent team.
What this game exposed, worryingly, was that a part of our squad we thought had been, at the very least temporarily strengthened, hasn't been. It could be of course, that this was just down to the managers baffling decision to leave Schneiderlin on the bench and pair the two plus 30 year old's together in midfield with the equally pedestrian Rooney in front of them. But on that evidence, it looks as if Carrick has definitely started to go over the hill and confirmation that Bayern knew what they were doing in letting Schweinsteiger go.
That first twenty minutes was as inept as anything seen under Moyes, United were just well and truly ripped appart in midfield and at the back by the pace and the movement of the home team. Of course, almost every player had a shocker, yet again Martial was the only outfield player to look anything like. He fashioned one great chance for himself, only to see Cech make a great save. De Gea couldn't do much about any of the goals.
Van Gaal can't be left out of the blame stakes, forgetting all the philosophy bollocks, he picked a sorry starting eleven. I can't even begin to work out what the tactics were, he tried to say the players forgot the game plan. After watching United players scared of putting a foot wrong over the last season and a bit, I find that a bit hard to believe. Then after that first seven minutes when we found ourself two goals down, then twenty mintes when the third went in, he just sat there and changed nothing, didn't even attempt to stop the rot. Those second half substitutions changed nothing, Arsenal were content to sit back and try and pick us off on the break, just as a Fergie led team would have. It was largely meaningless possession, I mean we hardly created a thing.
Of course you have bad days, days where the opposition are on fire, I accept that, we have been taken to the cleaners before away from home, and will do so again. But it's the response that you look for, from the players and manager alike, on Sunday it was woeful.
There can be no hiding place for Van Gaal, this is now his team and players that he has bought. Going through those players, one by one, isn't that pretty a picture. Darmian had another nightmare, he wasn't helped by the lack of help from Mata, whose lack of pace, defensively, was exposed on Sunday. Is Darmian the player we thought we had bought after those first three or four game, the jury is well and truly out.
Blind is not a centre half, he can do a emergency job there, no more, if he starts there, he will targeted relentlessly, as he has in almost every away game. He can do a job in a three man midfield, but isn't strong, quick or dynamic enough for a two man midfield. His best position is probably left back, but even there, there would be question marks over his pace.
I have never got this modern day United fan habit of treating big name purchases as great players without ever seeing them in a United shirt and then praising to the skies plain average performances. You would have thought Falcao had taught them a lesson, but no. Schweinsteiger was a very good player, though I would never have put him up there with a Robson or a Keane. Obviously he's a different player to a Scholes, Xavi or a Pirlo so you can't really compare like for like there. If we had bought the mid to late twenties, pre injury prone Schweinsteiger, he would have been a great buy and just what was needed. But alongside a now obviously in decline Carrick, is he really such a great buy? How both he and Carrick started before Schneiderlin on Sunday looked weird ahead of kick off, after seven minutes it looked suicidal.
And to Depay, there is a player there, no doubt about that, but the same could have been said of Nani. I know I'm not the only one seeing similarities in there game at the moment, basically the bad decision making. It can't be much fun for a full back playing behind him though, the amount of times Young looked around him, wondering where on Earth Depay had got to in that first half was telling. You can't be having that, is he that much better than Januzaj, or rather is even better at all.
Not that the rest were any better, Rooney, yet again was a complete passenger, the untouchable one, it seems. Mata was non existant until United were handed possession on a plate during that second half. I could have yet another grumble about Looney's use of replacements, Fellaini, at half time again, point of, answers on a postcard please. At least it wasn't City or Liverpool that delivered this massacre.
PS Just to tap off a bad day, Brendan got the sack and it looks as if Klopp is going to be their new manager. It really was a bad day. I'm not ssure how good a manager Klopp is going to turn out to be, but one thing I'm sure of is that he'll have that lot playing more exciting football than we'll be seeing under the bluffer in charge of us. And that is a horrible, horrible thought.
What this game exposed, worryingly, was that a part of our squad we thought had been, at the very least temporarily strengthened, hasn't been. It could be of course, that this was just down to the managers baffling decision to leave Schneiderlin on the bench and pair the two plus 30 year old's together in midfield with the equally pedestrian Rooney in front of them. But on that evidence, it looks as if Carrick has definitely started to go over the hill and confirmation that Bayern knew what they were doing in letting Schweinsteiger go.
That first twenty minutes was as inept as anything seen under Moyes, United were just well and truly ripped appart in midfield and at the back by the pace and the movement of the home team. Of course, almost every player had a shocker, yet again Martial was the only outfield player to look anything like. He fashioned one great chance for himself, only to see Cech make a great save. De Gea couldn't do much about any of the goals.
Van Gaal can't be left out of the blame stakes, forgetting all the philosophy bollocks, he picked a sorry starting eleven. I can't even begin to work out what the tactics were, he tried to say the players forgot the game plan. After watching United players scared of putting a foot wrong over the last season and a bit, I find that a bit hard to believe. Then after that first seven minutes when we found ourself two goals down, then twenty mintes when the third went in, he just sat there and changed nothing, didn't even attempt to stop the rot. Those second half substitutions changed nothing, Arsenal were content to sit back and try and pick us off on the break, just as a Fergie led team would have. It was largely meaningless possession, I mean we hardly created a thing.
Of course you have bad days, days where the opposition are on fire, I accept that, we have been taken to the cleaners before away from home, and will do so again. But it's the response that you look for, from the players and manager alike, on Sunday it was woeful.
There can be no hiding place for Van Gaal, this is now his team and players that he has bought. Going through those players, one by one, isn't that pretty a picture. Darmian had another nightmare, he wasn't helped by the lack of help from Mata, whose lack of pace, defensively, was exposed on Sunday. Is Darmian the player we thought we had bought after those first three or four game, the jury is well and truly out.
Blind is not a centre half, he can do a emergency job there, no more, if he starts there, he will targeted relentlessly, as he has in almost every away game. He can do a job in a three man midfield, but isn't strong, quick or dynamic enough for a two man midfield. His best position is probably left back, but even there, there would be question marks over his pace.
I have never got this modern day United fan habit of treating big name purchases as great players without ever seeing them in a United shirt and then praising to the skies plain average performances. You would have thought Falcao had taught them a lesson, but no. Schweinsteiger was a very good player, though I would never have put him up there with a Robson or a Keane. Obviously he's a different player to a Scholes, Xavi or a Pirlo so you can't really compare like for like there. If we had bought the mid to late twenties, pre injury prone Schweinsteiger, he would have been a great buy and just what was needed. But alongside a now obviously in decline Carrick, is he really such a great buy? How both he and Carrick started before Schneiderlin on Sunday looked weird ahead of kick off, after seven minutes it looked suicidal.
And to Depay, there is a player there, no doubt about that, but the same could have been said of Nani. I know I'm not the only one seeing similarities in there game at the moment, basically the bad decision making. It can't be much fun for a full back playing behind him though, the amount of times Young looked around him, wondering where on Earth Depay had got to in that first half was telling. You can't be having that, is he that much better than Januzaj, or rather is even better at all.
Not that the rest were any better, Rooney, yet again was a complete passenger, the untouchable one, it seems. Mata was non existant until United were handed possession on a plate during that second half. I could have yet another grumble about Looney's use of replacements, Fellaini, at half time again, point of, answers on a postcard please. At least it wasn't City or Liverpool that delivered this massacre.
PS Just to tap off a bad day, Brendan got the sack and it looks as if Klopp is going to be their new manager. It really was a bad day. I'm not ssure how good a manager Klopp is going to turn out to be, but one thing I'm sure of is that he'll have that lot playing more exciting football than we'll be seeing under the bluffer in charge of us. And that is a horrible, horrible thought.
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