Sunderland 1-1 Manchester United

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.

Manchester United 1-2 Swansea City

Well all that optimism, vanished into thin air the first 90 minutes of the new season. To be fair I haven't got as carried away as some, pre-season doesn't really tell you that much. In fact the one game that did tell me something was the Liverpool game, yes we won 3-1, but the performance was pretty much a throwback to last season, the passing was too slow, we looked dodgy at the back and the victory flattered us.
The lack of transfer activity, incoming and outgoing, should have been annoying the Twitter Glazer out hashtag merchants before Saturday's game, not after, when it just looks like slapped arse time, because all the expectation a new manager could sort everything out, went by the wayside.
I expected a tough game, but when I saw our starting eleven, the reality that all three results were pretty much in play really hit home. I'll say it now, and hope that I look like an idiot later on in the season, but I'm not as enamored with our new manager as the vast majority seem to be. That starting eleven and formation was always going to struggle. I like Jesse Lingard, but right wing back, I can't really see what attributes led Van Gaal to play him there for his first home start for the club. I not much of a fan of Tyler Blackett, picking him ahead of Keane and Thorpe because he's left footed, doesn't enthuse me, especially when he plays the right footed Ashley Young at left wing back and then left back.
Don't get me wrong, Van Gaal is a massive upgrade on Moyes and he was probably the best candidate for the job. But it's not really "United" having a manager who regards the system as more important than the players, for this red at any rate. Great players moulded into a great team was the Busby and Fergie way. I see some of the players we are being linked with, and wonder how happy Van Gaal would be if we did get them, is it really enough that they can fit into the system.
Anyway back to the game, the change of formation ensured we weren't overrun in the middle of the park, but didn't solve many other of the problems that have surfaced over the last few seasons. There was, yet again a lack of pace all over the park, creativity was conspicuous by it's absence and the build up play from defence to midfield was woeful. I don't think any formation can hide the fact that was haven't got a footballing centre half at the club. The way Van Gaal sets his teams up, especially with three centre backs, demands that those defenders be comfortable on the ball and to really make it work it needs a proper footballing centre half. I suppose Evans could pass muster for being comfortable on the ball, but he's out injured again. Jones had a decent game, but when he's in trouble his first instinct is to run with the ball, instead of releasing it into midfield. Smalling is the one i really worry for, he isn't comfortable on the ball at all. If Arsenal really asked for Jones or Smalling to go the other way if they released Vermaalen, I'm not really sure why we didn't bite the bullet and let Smalling go.
I say we haven't got a footballing centre half at the club, but I still think that Michael Keane could develop into such a player. Yet I read that he's being linked to another loan period, and a loan period in the championship, at that. I really don't get that. I don't think Smalling is ever going to be United quality, whereas Keane has a chance.
The build up play was so slow that there was never a chance that the wing backs would be able to overlap as i presume was the intention, so I thought the stick that Young got for passing back and sidewards whenever he got the ball was a bit harsh. I'm no great fan of Young myself, but given the situations he got the ball in, I'm not sure what he was supposed to do, hoof it forward aimlessly or head down charge forward aimlessly.
Yet another question mark I'll have to air is, is Juan Mata really all that. That wasn't the first game where he has floated around the pitch and had a negligible effect on the game. He can score some great goals, and is capable of producing superb assists, but how often does he do it when it really matters. On his United career so far, he does seem a bit of a flat track bully, scoring when we're already in front or against the lesser teams. But when we have really needed someone to stand up and be counted, when the going is tough, ala Cantona, Ronaldo or a real top United player, Mata has so far almost always failed to deliver.
Van Gaal has insisted that it takes three months for the players at a new club to learn his methods, my worry has always been, have we got the players at the club to make those methods work and is Woodward up to the task of bringing in players that can make it work. Early days, it's not looking great so far.

Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United

I've just watch United's under 21's take the first silverware of the season after demolishing City 4-1, and can honestly say the main difference between the two sides was James Wilson with his four goals. City dominated the first half, but didn't really create as many chances as they might have done. Still if they had gone into the half time break a goal up as they deserved to, who knows how it would have gone.
But that wonder goal in first half injury time seemed to knock the stuffing out of them. To be fair to them, it did come out of absolutely nowhere, Wilson won the ball near the half way line and then basically just ran straight through their back line finishing with a shot into the corner of the net.
Rothwell was took off at half time, pity, he doesn't seem to have started pre-season that well from what I can gather. He was replaced by Harrop who looks promising, and it was he who started the move that led tp Wilson getting the second. If you add Tom Lawrence to the list, United really started to dominate affairs and every time United found one of Wilson's runs, City were in trouble. I hope Van Gaal was watching, because there is no getting away from it, Wilson is just a little bit special.

Music

Buzzcocks - The Way: Stll going strong, it's a decent album, though there's not really anything on it that gets anywhere the quality of those first classic albums.

Downliners Sekt - Silent Ascent: Spanish electronica duo deliver a decent album that's apparently easier on the ears than their previous stuff, that's interesting because this isn't exactly radio friendly, like I said thoug worth a spin.

Fucked Up - Glass Boys: Another enjoyable slab of hardcore punk rock from the Canadians, not quite as good as their last long player, but not far off.

Kamkatchka - The search goes on: Scandanavian hard rock, at times they remind me a touch of Queens of the stone age, not as good obviously, but on a couple of tracks they're getting there, pretty good.

Matthew Halsall - Sending my love: Yet to hear his latest album that had the rave reviews, but I went back to his debut album and it's another little gem of a record.

Paolo Nutini - Caustic Love: Pretty enjoyable soul/rock from the Scot, I haven't really given his music a chance in the past, maybe I should go back to his earlier stuff.

Spain - Sargent place: I have read a couple of pieces about this US indie act, and they sounded like the kind of band that would be up my street. Well it did take a couple of listens, a bit of getting into, but once there, I did absolutely love it. So I will definitely have to delve into their lengthy back catalogue.