Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United

I wasn't as pessimistic ahead of this game as has usually been the case this season. Probably because City have been no great shakes either. But fuck me, they really are poor. It's hard to know what to make of the United performance, because City were so bad. Aguerro apart, they were absolutely nothing. One thing is for certain Guariola aint turning them into world beaters any time soon, we're really going to see how good he is, I feel.
All that said, yesterday was one of those days where we should just be glad for small mercies. It really was one of those days, almost as if the last three years never happened. Liverpool two up and end up conceding a late goal to get beat 3-2 to kill any charge for the top four they might have entertained. And we go to City, outplay them, take the three points and kill of any small hopes they may have had for the title. And to cap it off the solitary goal was an 18 year old Mancunian amd what a fine goal it was. That front three of Martial, Rashford and Lingard were very exciting. They were all good, how refreshing to see pace and energy in the team at last.
Other stand outs for me were Blind, who had as good a game as I have seen him have for the club. I still don't see him as a long term solution at centre back, but he did the job yesterday alright. I thought he was better than Smalling, even though Smalling was awarded the man of the match award. Carrick had an excellent game, Schneiderlin gave an improved performance and our team looked far more effective with Fellaini out of the picture.
It was a pity Van Gaal tried his best to fuck things up with his usual unfathomable use of substitutions, taking both full backs off and then putting Schweinsteiger into the number ten role, what the fuck was that all about?
I'm not going to get carried away, how the fuck could you anyway with all the false dawwns we suffered under the Dutch loon, but yesterday was very, very enjoyable!

Manchester United 1-0 Watford

What a really bonkers season this is turning out to be, all the teams above us dropped points, though Leicester's seemingly disappointing draw now seems like a decent result. Meanwhile United win a game with a goal during the final 10 minutes, how often have we done that under Van Gaal, that we could have easily lost 2 or 3 nil.
I have no Idea why Carrick was missing, but it was a big call to start with Fosu-Mensah at centre back alongside fellow Dutchman Blind. He was far from perfect, how could you expect him to be, as he was up against two strong pacy forwards, but overall I think he had a decent game. Blind, alongside him, had an inconsistent game, but at least he showed some leadership, he didn't hide and I liked that. Varela had a reasonable game, I think I would stick with him, rather than bring Valencia straight back.
Some have slated our first half display, it obviously wasn't great, but with the team we had out, how much more could we really expect. We started off reasonably well, but when the chances failed to come, we started to look nervous.
Rashford was living on scraps up front, but he still managed to look the part. During the first half he made a couple of great runs that ended up with his opposite numbers opting to bring him down. I think he is a natural second forward, but he showed that if he has to play wide to get more games and gain more experience he is up to it as he caused them even more problems when switched with Martial halfway through the second half. It was between Rashford and Schneiderlin for the man of the Match for this red.
I think it went unnoticed by most, but I thought that was easily Schneiderlin's best game for the club. He was solid, but his use of the ball was far, far better. Maybe I have been to quick to right him off, though he did seem to drop off during the last ten minutes. As my dad said when we discussed the game in the pub, maybe it's a run of consecutive games instead of two or three and then out for a longer spell.
I'm afraid I was far less impressed with Mata and Herrera, Mata hit a great free kick to win the game, but in open play he did not do enough for me. Herrera on the other hand did absolutely nothing. I'm afraid I've started to dub them the powder puff brothers, lightweight, when the going gets tough.
I thought Memphis reverted to type when faced by a big strong pacy full back, he hardly got past him all night. He didn't have a bad game, but I'd be wanting more than that from my creative wide men.
So level with City after their drubbing on Merseyside, who could have dreamt that up three or four weeks back. That game at the boo camp is going to be interesting!

Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal

I can't take all this excitement, goals, attacking, off the cuff football, I want my money back. I didn't get carried away by the result on Thursday, after seeing that Danish team in the flesh, I was left wondering how on Earth we managed to lose over there, because they were as bad any away team we have seen all season. So scoring five goals against them has to be put in context.
I had no expectations at all ahead of yesterdays game, and really why should I have had. That defence was just asking for a team to have a go at it. Instead Wenger's lot came here and tried to tippy tap it's way around it. Watching United has been like banging your head against a wall for the last three seasons since Fergie left, fuck know what it must be like to watch Arsenal choke season after season. If they don't win it this season, i can't see how they will ever win whilst Wenger is still in charge. It's not as if United were really that good yesterday, we just seemed to want it a bit more and took our chances.
As to the game and stand out performers, Rashford really looks like he has a chance, physically he looks to be strong enough and have enough pace to worry defenders. He made some really clever runs as for instance the run and set up he made for the third goal. And as we have seen in both games he can finish, the headed second goal was really classy.
I thought Varela grew into the game, though he is still far better going forward than defending. but he defended reasonably well during the second half. Fosu-Mensah looked more nervous than I expected him to be and whilst he didn't really catch the eye, again, physically he coped reasonably well, he wasn't bullied or outpaced.
Can we keep the good run going, nothing would surprise me less than us fucking up against Watford, though I expected that yesterday so fingers crossed.

Sunderland 2-1 Manchester United

In a season of lows, yet another to add to the collection, it wasn't just the result, bad enough as that was, yet again it was the performance, the lack of fight, the seeming inevitability of a bad ending. We never really got going. Darmian who had another stinker, gave away a needless free kick and they we conceded a soft as fuck set piece that went straight in after just a couple of minutes.
Some have tried to make a case that we weren't too bad in the first half, really? When that equaliser came, it was pretty unexpected to me. It was a great finish from Martial who once again was our only real threat up front and that was only sporadic and confined to the first 45 minutes. Rooney never got into the game, Mata was heavily involved for most of that first half, seeing a lot of the ball and having a couple of half decent chances. But is that really enough against a team second from bottom and struggling badly. And not unexpectedly to me, when the going got tough during the second half he completely disappeared. Gary Neville was spot on the money, he isn't a Manchester United player. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh picking on him as nobody else performed or stood up to be counted, but I'm fed up of hearing people say if we carry on with him at number ten we can build a team around him, no, no, no! And another thing that I've probably said a million times before is that the combination of Mata and Rooney is just so fucking slow, going forwards slow, no balls over the top with those two and slow as in pressing the opposition centre backs, they get such an easy ride against us. Seeing Welbeck yesterday return for Arsenal will only rub that in over the next couple of months.
Losing Darmian was only a blow in the sense of having to waste a replacement on him, he was as big a liability as Love appeared to be when he came on, at least Love didn't cost anything. We were lost in central midfield, Carrick didn't have his best game, but Schneiderlin had yet another stinker. With every appearance he looks less and less a Manchester United player. I suppose we'll find out when the current manager departs the scene, it could be that he's yet another player unable to express himself under the Dutch fraud. But on the evidence we have seen so far it looks to me as if he is just not good enough with the ball at his feet. He certainly doesn't look like a long term replacement for Carrick, which means going forward we still need two class central midfield players. Add that to the list of players needed in the summer.
The only positive I could take from Saturday was the performance of Borthwick-Jackson, reasonably calm at the back and once again he delivered a couple of great crosses and set up Martial near the end with one of our best chances of the match.
Once again the replacement of Lingard, who wasn't great, with Martial against a team fighting for their lives was nuts, but what else do we expect from Van Gaal. It summed him up when he brought Will Keane on after they took the lead when he should have been brought on ten minutes earlier just to try and inject something, anything into our spluttering front line.
Of course what made this performance even worse, was knowing what an important game it was in the hunt for that fourth spot. That seems an ever more forlorn hope given results and performances like this allied to the run of game coming up.

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United

Well the improved performance's continue, a draw at Stamford Bridge is always a decent result, but what a gutting way to finish a game. At the time I thought the last minute equaliser was harsh on us, but the more I've thought about it, it probably wasn't. Others have used the fact that we relied on De Gea to protect our lead too often, but we were away from home against a side who whilst obviously not what they were, still have good players. No, the reason we probably didn't deserve the the three points was the way we played after taking the lead, especially the last ten minutes to quarter of an hour.
I'd usually blame Van Gaal, but whilst he obviously contributed with his ridiculous substitutions, I think the players settled for that one goal lead. I'm no Fellaini fan, but he had a decent game, still Schneiderlin for him at least made some sense. But Depay for Lingard just as the pressure was really beginning to mount, was off the scale bonkers. The guy does just not put a shift in. Add to that, his confidence is low and form non existent, then you should half expect him to completely fuck up passes like the great counter attack chance we had about a minute before they went to the other end and equalised.
Of course that was equally bad defending, Blind had a bit of a moment, I'm not sure how Borthwick-Jackson gets any blame for that though. Speaking of the young left back, I have resisted the temptation to go overboard over his displays on the basis that he hasn't really played against anybody yet, for ninety minutes anyway. But I thought that yesterday was a performance to take note off, he really did look the part. I saw him play for the youth team and thought he obviously had a good technique and had a bit of pace, but wasn't sure he would be able to handle the physical side of the game. So far, so good, even when the senior players regain fitness I'd like to see us persevere with him till the end of the season, maybe resting him for the odd game. Given our position in the league, maybe the emergence of Lingard and Borthwick-Jackson are what we should focus on.
Jesse Lingard didn't have a great game, but as usual he does enough good things to continue to keep faith with him, we are a better team with him in the eleven than not. Add to that he is an attacking midfielder who is a natural goalscorer and what's not to like. He took his goal absolutely superbly, and that's another thing, he doesn't just score goals, he scores all types of goals. Let's hope Wilson gets a chance next season, another lad who can score different type of goals.
Though I don't think fourth spot has definitely gone yet, given the league this season, how can anybody say that, it's going to get harder unless we can put a string of victories together. To be honest I was more gutted over the equaliser because this sort of thing always seem to happen to us at Stamford Bridge than the league position. So onto to Sunderland, can we make four decent performance's on the bounce?

Manchester United 3-0 Stoke City

Two wins on the bounce, three goals on the bounce, a reasonable amount of chances on the bounce and two consecutive reasonably exciting performances, pinch me and tell me I'm not dreaming. As with the Derby game Stoke were not up to much, but you can only beat what's in front of you which we did and did well.
It has to be said we were playing Stoke at a good time, knocked out of a league cup semi on penalties and then dumped out of the FA cup on Saturday and with a few injuries to boot, they were never really at the races last night.
I thought the inclusion of Carrick was a big reason for last night's improved display, he gave us somebody in the middle of the park with the ability to pass forward and to move it at pace. Mata had an improved game albeit, he was given plenty of room and Lingard gave an improved performance than of late. But Martial was the real bright spark up front, he gave the right hand side of the Stoke back four a torrid time. His goal was the highlight of the night, a brilliant move involving Mata and Rooney and a finish that was absolutely fantastic, he made it look far easier than it actually was.
Stoke did give us a couple of frights at the back during the first half that made you wonder what kind of game if the Stoke that beat us at their place had of turned up. But the second half, was a bit of a procession, though United eased off towards the end of the match.
The acid test as to whether things are really looking up will come on Sunday for me. Since Mourinho got the boot, it's amazing to see the transformation in that Chelsea team and now the results and performance's have started to follow. I have to admit that I'm worried about our back four against their attack, a result on Sunday and maybe we have turned a corner. Don't worry I haven't changed my mind about the manager, he still has to go!

Derby County 1-3 Manchester United

I didn't see most of the 1st half again thanks to work, so I can't really say much about it, except I was told United dominated for the most part and even managed to create a few chances. Saying that, when Derby got into it after they had equalised they looked dangerous. With United having to field two very young full backs I had expected a bit more from the home team, but from my viewing they never really managed to get at them at all.
The opening goal was a belter from Rooney, there;s talk of a rejuvenated centre forward with is his run of 6 goals since the new year. It's good to see him scoring, anybody scoring even, but we saw last week when he has a pacy physical centre back on his case, his game went to pot. I suppose we'll see next week where he's really at, when we visit Stamford Bridge.
United more or less dominated the second half, but the moments where United generally came alive and looked dangerous were when Martial got the ball on the left. I complained about him running down blind alleys last week, not this week as he had the Derby right back on toast, giving him a torrid time.
The second goal came from the other side though, as Lingard crossed to find centre back Blind running towards the six yard box to put us back in the lead. God knows what he was doing up there, but it was vital as it seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home side. Mata finished things off right at the end after more good work from Martial.
The draw seems to be trying to be kind to us as we now head to Shrewsbury for the next round. Not one tie against premier league opposition in the FA cup, I think that's unheard of in recent years. No home tie either, no Automatic Cup Scheme, great news. No money for the Glazer's and no need to fork out an extra £50 to watch Van Gaal's brand of drudgery, result!

Manchester United 0-1 Southampton

And so it goes on, yet another utterly wretched performance, bizarre tactics and substitutions that seem to take no account of the actual state of the game.
To be fair the opposition were no better, you could make a case that we deserved absolutely nothing, we hardly tested their goalie all afternoon, but then again neither did they. They only really seemed to believe they could get something during those last ten minutes  and even then it was only ever going to happen from a set play they were so poor from open play. So having said that, what on Earth does that say about us.
Why he reverted to three at the back with two holding midfielders at home to a team badly out of form, god only knows, football genius it isn't, got that Woody! Fellaini, Schweinsteiger and Herrera slightly further forward provided absolutely nothing. Rooney with a big powerful centre half against him reverted to type as he could barely do anything right. Martial just seems to want to run headless chicken style with the ball at the moment, I like him but he's got to get his head up and involve other players, play one two's. He's showing worrying signs of going down the Memphis Depay route playing solely for himself.
I don't like United fans booing, but I have to admit what on Earth is the alternative when served up such an absolute joke of a performance. Though whilst Van Gaal deserves all the stick, the players are getting off pretty lightly really. The reception Mata got as he replaced the hapless Fellaini at half time summed that up for me. For those of us who never thought he was a United player, we have been proved right a fair few times over I would have thought. An yet here was been received as our saviour, an Eric, a Ronaldo or a Scholes he definitely is not. I told those around me, that though I was glad Bogbrush had gone off, his replacement would change nothing. Did he?
Januzaj got stick for giving a needless free kick away that led to the goal, I have to admit I was past caring by the point and I haven't seen the highlights, so I don't really know what the score is on that. But it seems a bit unfair to be blaming him, he's not been involved since August, I'll start judging him when he gets a few 90 minutes under his belt.
So here I type this on the Monday morning and Van Gaal is still the manager of Manchester United, the club is a mess from top to bottom!

Liverpool 0-1 Manchester United

Pretty crap game, maybe an even worse performance but for yesterday and yesterday only, who cares, three points as we score from our one and only shot on goal. It keeps us in the chase for that all important fourth spot, whether that's a good thing or not, who knows.
The first half was a total embarrassment, we made them look half decent which at this moment in time, they obviously aren't. As for us, Wednesday's attacking performance seemed like an age ago as we failed to crate anything of note at all.
The central midfield position that we thought may have been partially solved during the summer was particularly poor. There was just no quality coming from that part of our team at all. Fellaini playing as the deep lying holding player is just so off the scale bizarre it defies belief. Schneiderlin has been pretty disappointing and Herrera playing further forward didn't affect the game at all.
As to the attack, Martial had an in and out game, Lingard, surprisingly to me, had a bit of a shocker, Rooney got the goal but otherwise had no service with which to judge him. Thank fuck for De Gea, the only player on our team who could hold his head high, having another fine game. He wasn't tested that much, but when he was, he was up to the task.
United were better during the second half, but largely on Van Gaal's terms, ie we kept the ball better. As usual we hardly did anything with it, the goal coming from a corner, and to be honest was a really soft goal to give away as Rooney found himself completely unmarked after Fellaini's header came back of the bar, nice finish though.
Still 1-0 at Anfield is always a time to enjoy a beer or three!

Newcastle United 3-3 Manchester United

I was working last night so only caught the second half so I cant rally give a match review. What I can say is though we dropped two points after leading twice, I'd sooner have watched last nights match all day long than what passed for entertainment on Saturday.
Going off Van Gaal's reactions on the bench he must have hated having to have watched such an attacking game. His reaction to Lingard's miss, said it all for me. Yes it was a bad miss, but everybody misses chances like that, the thing is to create enough of them so that you score enough to win more games than you lose. We know that just isn't his philosophy at all. It was laughable that he then brought him off to be replaced by Memphis thereby leaving us far more vulnerable to attacks from our right, where the last minute equaliser came from. He didn't really think that through did he!
Rooney has been basking in long forgotten praise from press and pundits alike last night and this morning. I'll hang fire on that if you don't mind, four goals in three games, two of them penalties against a division one team and two teams struggling relegation. That's sounds a bit premature to be telling us the old Rooney's back. Saying that, the second goal was very much the old Wayne Rooney, a superb shot.
It seems every time we do get a half decent attacking performance from United we found out what a fair few of us have always suspected, defensively we are not improved at all under Van Gaal. It's all down to the defensive midfield cover and the possession tactics. We have missed Shaw badly, he looked the real deal. But going forward, we need at least world class or at least potential world class centre back and a quality right back.
Anyway I ain't grumbling too much about last night, at last it was entertaining, as for Sunday.....

Manchester United 1-0 Sheffield United

It's got to this, it's 0-0 we're in the injury time of a third round FA cup tie and United get a penalty. My reaction is to be gutted, and to actually want the taker to miss. My reaction to the goal is to stay seated, to not clap and just shake my head. It has come to this.
Given the opposition, this was possibly yet a new low point of the reign of Louis Van Gaal. Yes it took us 70 minutes to have a shot on goal against a division 1 side and that's a statistic that says volumes. But it was the line up and then the attitude of the players, the lack of quality, just about everything really.
Two sitting defensive midfield players at home against a third tier outfit, and one of them was Fellaini for fuck sake. Just what on Earth is that all about. To compound the crime, Sheffield United offered absolutely nothing going forward. When you think of the really poor sides we have struggled against at Old trafford this season, you start to think the Moyes era wasn't so bad after all. I mean Moyes was patently not up to the job, but we did play attacking football at times. There's just nothing remotely exciting about football under Van Gaal, I'd go as far as to say I literally hate watching United at the moment. I got to about 20 minutes into the game before I knew it was going a long afternoon, against an opposition that a decent side would beat into their sleep. I could See that the players looked as if they had gone on strike again and it was going to be mind numbing. It was around that time that I realised that the only way we would get any excitement during this match was if Sheffield United took the lead.
I could go through individual players but I'll pick a couple out, Herrera and Mata, both had stinkers. But to be fair to Mata, he was trying, it just never happened for him. But Herrera, oh dear and he's got so many reds who love him. I'm not sure how you can go on loving after that, a spineless cowardly performance, they both deserved to be subbed during the second half.
As ever, who knows what will happen during the next couple of games. Newcastle are a mess and Liverpool are badly injury hit, so we could take something from both games, would you put money on it though? I know one thing, if the players don't put it in at Anfield they can all just fuck off. The club just gives off a big fucking stink at the moment, it's rotten to the core.

Manchester United 2-1 Swansea City

After the last game I had thought we maybe turned a corner, and hence was actually looking forward to this game with a hint of expectation. Those first 45 minutes knocked that out right out of my system. It was as dire as anything this season. And for once I'm not going to blame the manager. As far as I could tell the shackles were still off, they were still allowed to express themselves, dribble, etc. It was just a case of the players not being good enough as they failed to break down a Swansea side whilst happy in possession showed no attacking threat most of the afternoon. We did create a couple of chances, but it was as heavy going as it has been most of the season.
The second half saw us start at a faster tempo and Ashley Young in particular started to get some joy on the right hand side. And that was the source of the goal as he hit a long looping cross that Martial finished superbly with his head. The Young Frenchman then upped his game and for a while we had a threat from both flanks until Young we dropped further back.
Swansea slowly got back in the game and managed to start to look as they may have a goal threat in them after all. United missed a great chance to make it 2-0 and were made to pay as a looping header from Sigurdsson evaded the outstretched arms of Van Gaal to nestle in the corner of our net. A draw at home to as poor a Swansea outfit as we have seen since they hit the big time would have not been good enough, from any perspective. Thankfully a great run and a great finish from Rooney which was his only memorable contribution all afternoon restored our lead and we hoped we may go on to a comfortable win.
I suppose that was wishful thinking as we endured a nail biting final five minutes as they threw everything at us and our defence looked as dodgy as in reality it actually is whatever the stats say. The header from the goalie seemed goal bound from our view, instead it was inches wide and the whistle blew to relief from every red. The afternoon had showed what we already really knew, even when you take the philosophy out of the equation, it's a very mediocre squad, and there isn't much on the bench to change things if isn't going our way. Maybe it isn't fair to single players out when only Young and Martial had done much in the game, but Mata given a more creative role just doesn't cut the mustard for me. And as for Darmian, what on Earth did we see in him, there is no way on Earth on Rafael. Whilst Rafael had a mistake in him, there's no denying, if an attacker runs at Darmian, it curtains, full stop. Anyway are we capable of a cup run starting next week, who the fuck knows, we'll have to improve on Saturday's performance though!

Manchester United 0-0 Chelsea

Okay it was another 0-0, and it was game we didn't really deserve to win, a point a piece was reasonably fair I thought. But that performance had something of what I would recognise as Manchester United about it.
At half time I noted that whatever that was, it wasn't the philosophy, playing at pace, players not robotically under orders not to do this and not to do that and most importantly to this red, players seemingly being allowed to dribble and take men on.
Fair enough this attacking impetus made us a lot more vulnerable at the back, but that's because we aren't good enough at the back. I'd sooner watch that United than the one we've had to suffer for the rest of the season. It shouldn't be a team or squad good enough to win the league, but if allowed to play like that we would have a pretty good chance of making the top four.
But is it going to last? It looks like we're stuck with Van Gaal for the rest of the season. Again whatever that performance was, it wasn't one of a Van Gaal side. What has happened behind the scenes, was this game a one off, or will his ego get the better of him as he realises he's here to the end of the season? So many questions and no fucking answers!
As to the game we started it well, with Mata hitting the bar a couple of minutes into the game. De Gea had to make a fantastic save at the other end of the pitch moments later, but United started at pace, which they have always done under Van Gaal. But this time there was end product, well chances and exciting football at least. We were unluck with the two chances that hit the woodwork. Though I'm not his biggest fan Herrera did a decent job as a number ten, Schneiderlin brought a bit of solidity to our spine and Martial played like the player that had excited us so much during those first few games.
Yes it petered out during the second half and Chelsea missed the chance of the game when Matic blazed it horribly high and wide, but even then we did create chances. Herrera had one great chance after more good work from Martial on the left. Rooney a harder one near the end. The substitutions were as oddball as ever and Depay didn't help his cause with his brief cameo.
That Swansea encounter actually has me looking forward to a game for the first time this season, as much to see if the shackles have come off or whether the process is firmly back in the saddle!

Stoke City 2-0 Manchester United

Was there any red who expected anything else other than three points to the home team. He dropped Rooney for tactical reasons, replacing him with Fellaini and Herrera alongside Carrick. Straight from the kick off, a long ball was produced looking for the head of Fellaini, so we started with plan B. As a pointer of things to come, the big Belgian didn't win the header.
Of course as we trudged off 2-0 down at half time it was time for Rooney to warm up and time for plan A that changed very little. Yes we had more possession but as at Arsenal earlier in the season, it was all about the home side dropping deep and trying to catch us on the break., not any tactical genius on the part of Van Gaal. In fact they had one excellent chance to catch us on the break only for Arnautovic to inexplicably fall flat on his arse. That should have been a United player, it would have been more fitting of just how inept our players and management are at this moment in time.
The first goal that we gave away was just totally pathetic, just what was Depay doing or even thinking. He really has started to go the wrong way very fast. I hope those rumours of United trying to bring Januzaj back from his disappointing loan spell at Dortmund were true and come off. As for today, he really can't be in the starting eleven.
Mind you with all today's stories off the absolute shambles behind the scenes at the club, who'd predict anything. If it really is true that Van Gaal offered to resign after the Norwich debacle, Woodward really does have something to answer for. We seem to be a club virtually giving up on the season, never mind the title, never mind the top four. It seems totally nuts in the business terms that Woodward is supposed to understand, let alone the football side he so patently doesn't. What is going to happento that Adidas deal that was his supposed crowning glory if we crash out of the top four for the second out of the tird years with Woodward in charge of the football club. What is a good result today, I'm fucked if I know, surely even if we won, he still has to go!

Manchester United 1-2 Norwich City

They think it's all over, it is now, no not the 1966 world cup final Van Gaal's reign at Manchester United, there's no coming back from this, it's just a matter of time before we see the back of the philosophy once and for all. He's lost the players, the crowd and seemingly the Glazer's, I always thought it would happen sooner, rather than later. Despite Woodward's ludicrous quote that they were more focused on the premier league than champions league success, the increasing chance that we would fail to clinch a champions league spot is what will have done for him in the end.
The game followed the usual template almost to a tee, United started strongly, but never mind score a goal hardly tested the goalie. The away team found their feet about half an hour into the game and then scored a goal on the counter attack. Our defence did not cover itself in glory, I've said it before that our supposed improved defensive solidity is a myth. Blind had a bit of a shocker at left back and Jones and Smalling weren't that much better. Young had a decent game, he was the only one in a red shirt really busting a gut all afternoon. Which was fucking ironic having recently been sent to Siberia by the Dutchman for who knows what.
What got me was just how poor that Norwich team was. I don't care that they have been unlucky against some of the teams near the top of the table, a good team would have battered them out of sight. For those first twenty minutes they were nervous, some of their players couldn't play simple passes, they were there for the taking. Of course for this United set up, under this manager, there is probably no such thing as a team there for the taking.
The second Norwich goal was as bad as the first as our midfield and back line just opened up and offered itself up. It seemed to me that at that stage the players said enough with the philosophy and just went for it. So it was at least it became match you couldn't accuse of being dull. It did though show us that we really aren't anywhere near the level we should be aspiring to. I don't know whether singling out players is called for, but the return of Rooney didn't help our cause. Once again his lack of pace was there for all to see. I watched Wilson playing for Brighton earlier in the day and whilst he didn't have a great game, he showed far more than Rooney has all season long.
Anyway, the rumour mill suggests Van Gaal is already facing the chop, depressingly for this red though, all rumours seem to hint at Mourinho taking over. That would have been my last fucking choice, it's not much fun being a red at the moment. If we end up with the special one whilst City get Guardiola, I think Woodward might has well get updating his CV, because City will bet getting the better deal there.

Bouremouth 2-1 Manchester United

I know I wasn't on my own in half expecting Saturday's result, still fuck me, it really is a horror show watching United at the moment. Injuries before the game, injuries during it to Lingard, one of the better players at the moment obviously don't help. But it all stems from the manager I'm afraid. Philosophy, bizarre team selection, Jones can't get into the side ahead of McNair at centre half or Varela at right back, even Blind come to that. Blind consistently picked at centre half when it's almost always a disaster waiting to happen.
The use of substitutions which has been almost laughable since day one, gets more bizarre by the game. Mata having one of his better games brought off on Wednesday for Powell, on Saturday Fellaini having one of his better games and looking like our only likely option to get a goal for most of the match brought off for Powell. And then Jones brought in the dying seconds for McNair when we were desperate for something going forward. The excuse being McNair was injured, he wasn't that bad, he could have stayed on and Young, again inexplicably left on the bench could, no should have been brought on. There has been many a red who have suggested that Young has done something to upset Van Gaal. I thought that was a conspiracy too far, that Van Gaal had just gone back to his preference for left footers at left back. But the refusal to bring him on twice in a row when he was the obvious substitution makes me thing the conspiracy theorists are right.
It's hard to pick out what was the worst aspect of Saturday's display, but I think I'll have to go for the way we just completely capitulated after they took the lead for the second time. The only team who then looked likely to score was Bournemouth. At least we put up a bit of a fight after that freakish opening minute corner kick opening goal, but there was hardly anything after ex red Josh King gave them the lead. It did indeed look as if he has lost the dressing room.
I had been in the camp that was willing to give him till the end of the season before packing him off to his retirement pad in Portugal. Not any more, the sooner he is put out of his misery the better. We are going to struggle to finish in the top four with him in charge, never mind win any silverware.. And just as important I don't want him in charge of signing new players. His record on that score had been very patchy, it's not as if the players he seems to fall out with are players that were here before he came, half of them are his players.
This was supposed to be the easy run of games that saw us maintain a challenge for the league title. Since Fergie left the hot seat, there has been no such thing as an easy run of games, but we really have now sunk right back to Moyes levels of incompetence. It is all a fucking big mess.

Wolfsburg 3-2 Manchester United

Well the bluffer's bluff has well and truly been called, if ever an event showed that far from being in actual control, he's just making it all up as he goes along this match was it. Given the injuries before and during the game, the result on the night wasn't any disgrace, it was the other five matches that constituted that.
Let's get one thing straight, this was a piss easy group that if Van Gaal and his philosophy have any place in the 21st century, United should have breezed through. Instead we had the usual mind numbing football, questionable results, and then the real shocker, that last twenty minutes against PSV, where knowing a win would send us through, Van Gaal had us playing as if a draw was enough and it was actually PSV who looked to more likely to get a winner. And I'm sorry that PSV Eindhoven team is no great shakes, to put it mildly. I've got nothing against that club, but I'm hoping they get pitted against one of the big clubs in the next round, we'll see just how good they are then.
At least we went out with a bit of a bang, maybe United deserved a draw, the chances we had, on another night we might have won. But as I've said a few times recently, that defensive record is misleading. Part of the reason it has been so good in domestic football, is because we are set up not to concede at the expense of ceative attacking football. Even then more often than not, in most matches De Gea is called upon more often than he should be to pull off world class saves.
His substitutions once again, were borderline nuts. I'm not the biggest fan of Mata, but for once in a big game he was slap bang in the middle of things. But I think a case can always be made for taking him off, but for Nick Powell? This is a lad that has hardly played for a year, just a couple of games in the under 21's recently. He also didn't cut up any trees at Leicester City on loan. And then in such a crucial game he's put slap bang in the middle of things. Borthwick Jackson was also hard to understand! Alright the young kid didn't really do anything wrong, but at the time we needed to score and he had Ashley Young on the bench. It's as if with United actually really going all out for it during that second half, Van Gaal couldn't bring himself to follow suit. Am I alone in feeling he must have hated watching that match as much because United fucked the philosophy off in a must win game as much for the actual result. Let's put it like this, I'm expecting another possession based boreathon at Bournemouth on Saturday and none too confident that we'll get the three points either.
So Thursday night Channel 5, fucking marvellous, that's really going to help our top four hopes, you can fuck title talk off, there is no fucking chance of that!

Manchester United 0-0 West Ham United

Another 0-0, though to be fair this was one of the more entertaining 0-0's you'll watch, it wasn't a great game, but as far as these things go under the present regime, it was tolerable fare. Bilic probaly got it right after the game when he said that his side could have lost 3-2 or even won 3-2.
That was fair enough, his side hit the woodwork a couple of times in the first half and had a couple of great chances in the second half. But the majority of the chances created during the second half were created by United, but our players had left their shooting boots at home, only one shot on target. And talking of that one effort, it was a pretty good move and probably deserved to be finished off by a goal and shoud have been. Fellaini isn't my cup of tea and never will be, but he did have a decent game, even if his inclusion meant a more direct style of football. He should have buried that chance though.
United started reasonably well, Lingard who was badly missed last week I thought, seems to be the player given license to dribble ( irony alert, Wilson's goal for Brighton! ) and he used that luxury well causing trouble down the left. If only his overlapping lelft back Darmian had been up to speed. He did the overlapping bit well but his crossing was poor, very poor.Martial didn't have a bad game, but he has become a shadow of the player we saw during those few games. Is there a forward that Van Gaal and his coaching staff can't turn to shit?
Out of nowhere though West Ham then went on to the woodwork twice, one of those efforts the result of a De Gea clanger. That defensive record will go to the dogs if he lost form, I still think it's down to luck plus De Gea's brilliance as much as anything Van Gaal has brought to the club.
United coasted through the first twenty five minutes to half an hour of the second half creating the odd chance. Unlike last week thought, they did have a real go at the end and should have scored at least once. But the fact is, we didn't and I didn't really have much confidence that we would. Despite Woodward's bluster yesterday, his briefings are a joke, he really is clueless if he thinks United fans will tolerate this for another season, United at present are a big fucking mess.

Leicester City 1-1 Manchester United

There seems to be debates all over social media, forums, message boards, though I can't say I've really heard them in the boozer after or before the games regarding style of play versus results. I just can't get my head around any red who can defend the style of football that's being currently served up. Football is supposed to be a relief, an escape from the everyday. Yes there will be games that disappoint, games where you'll be happy to come away with a 1-1 or even games where you're clearly second best and get a bit of a spanking.
Yes it is a myth that Fergie's teams played exciting attacking football all the team. Towards the end of his time it did seem to become more about getting the best out of a squad that was nowhere near the standards of his very best teams. But, when needs be, the handbrake would come off, think of the Newcastle game over that Christmas period that we won 4-3 with a last minute winner that helped propel us to taking the league title back from City.
Then look what happened on Saturday during those last twenty minutes. United had almost complete control of the game. Leicester had sat back for most of the game trying to catch us on the break. And I suppose you could say it worked to an extent for them during that first half, when there was only really one team that looked dangerous in attack and they weren't playing in red. But they had now pretty much gone into their shell. This was surely the team for United to really go for it, bring on attack minded players, ratchet up the pressure. Instead United just played the same old unadventurous sideways passing game that does more and more reds heads in. It's not as if it really gets us anywhere either. That we are in the top four is mainly down to the fact that big clubs are as weak as they have been in years. And that may not stay the case, Tottenham are rapidly improving and Klopp seems to have got Liverpool playing decent football and picking up points all of a sudden.
It's fucking painful to watch, it's not the United way. Ah the United way, there are some who now say the United way is a myth, go on define it they say. Fucking easy, fast paced attacking football with wingers who take their man on. The football Van Gaal has us playing is so far away from that ideal it's laughable.
Anyhow I was having a go at United for not upping the tempo during those last twenty minutes or so. So what can I say about the first forty five minutes. It was fucking dreadful, I could barely summon the energy to celebrate Schweinsteiger's equaliser as I was just hoping the whistle would go for half time to put us out of our misery.
We surely cannot win the league playing such turgid shite. There is an argument that it's such a poor league that we could win league. I'd say you could make just as valid an argument that we won't even finish in the top four. If as, I think most reds expect, we get knocked out of the champions league and we did manage to fuck up a top four spot, that would surely be the end for the Dutchman. What's the saying all the pain and no gain, there would certainly be a gain for all that pain in that scenario!

Manchester United 0-0 PSV Eindhoven

Back comes Rooney and back comes the mind numbing going nowhere football. That's a touch unfair I suppose, he didn't have a particularly poor game but he never really did anything that was going to hurt the opposition either. This was a really bad night, the result and the precarious nature of our grip on a qualification spot says it all.
After seeing Memphis and Lingard give a performance of movement and threat as a front two on Saturday Van Gaal started with both player out wide and Rooney behind Martial. I think it's fair to say it didn't work as planned. Lingard had a decent first half, though he was as guilty as others in going into his shell a bit in the second half. Once again he missed a glorious chance, leading to people who have hardly seen him to claim finishing is a weak part of his game. It is actually one of his strengths, but I suppose when you create so few chances the pressure to put them away becomes even greater.
Memphis had another stinker, it's obvious he hasn't got the pace to be an out an out wide man. He never takes a man on the outside and can't even hold his own in a one to one when he comes inside. Once he knows it's not happening for him, it all starts to go latter day Nani, with him making bad decision after bad decision. I really do not know what to make of him.
After a very bright start, even Martial seems to have been brought down a level. He did some good things last night, but I think it would be fair to say he ain't hitting the form he showed in those first few games.
I wasn't that impressed with either of our two midfield men last night, Schweinsteiger laboured, whilst Schneiderlin had a night to forget that got steadily worse to the point where he was giving it away as often as he was finding a red shirt.
The substitutions were as baffling as ever, he takes Schweinsteiger off, which was fair enough, but brings on Fellaini as a straight swap meaning we had nobody with any guile in the middle of the park. If he was going to bring Fellaini on it had to be as the number ten, which of course is where he ended up when things got desperate at the end.
The first half wasn't that bad without being anything to write home about. We had chances but not really stand out ones. The first five minutes of the second half saw us create three pretty good chances with maybe Schneiderlin's header the best of the three. When we didn't put any of those away, I have to admit I started to wonder whether it might be one of those nights. We hardly created another three chances for the rest of the match. Though the Lingard chance was probably the best opening of the night, if anything he possibly hit it too well.
As the game went on they started to come into it and if anything looked the more likely to score during those last ten minutes or so. And I'm afraid there is no bigger indictment of our current woes than that, because PSV are a nothing team really. If they qualify above us, we really will know we are absolutely miles away from the top echelons of European football as if we didn't know that already. Van Gaal will be desperate to make sure we land up in the top four if that happens, otherwise he will surely be out of a job come the summer. Which to my mind will just mean more of the same boring horrible safety first crap we've seen during his tenure so far. And if Liverpool and Tottenham continue to improve, top four is no certainty as far I'm concerned whatever our position now.
And if that did happen, all this talk of galactico signings in the summer, will be just that, talk.