1. After picking up maximum points against the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle, Chelsea and Arsenal, ahead of the game I said I hoped that Aston Villa wouldn’t be a banana skin for us. It’s so typical of United to win the difficult games then throw it away against someone they should be battering. Villa have been awful this season so, even though they were playing home, should have provided United with an easy three points. It wasn’t an easy three points but we got the job done and that’s all you can ask for.
2. It doesn’t seem to matter which combination of defenders we play, we give goals away to our opponents. Villa had shown a few signs of what they were capable of on the break before they took the lead, with Weimann and Ireland getting away from our midfield, before Benteke beat the offside trap but couldn’t capitalise on it. Patrice Evra played him on but that didn’t stop Rio Ferdinand having a fit at the linesman. We conceded seconds before the half-time whistle, despite dominating the possession, after Benteke made a mug of Chris Smalling. All our young defender had to do was keep Benteke out of the box, but instead he threw his weight at him and was shrugged off. After realising the error of his ways, as Benteke raced away from him, Smalling feigned a little fit on the floor, as if he had been fouled, then had to watch Weimann rifle the ball in to the back of our net. Agbonlahor was blocking David de Gea’s view but it was a top finish. The speed it came at the keeper meant it was virtually impossible to save and the bigger concern should be Weimann waiting totally unmarked inside our penalty area to bury it. The second goal was even worse. It started with a sloppy Paul Scholes pass and finished with a simple cross and tap in for Weimann, becoming the first Villa player to score against us twice. Rio was again appealing for offside again but bizarrely didn’t give Smalling a shout, who was clearly closer to the goal than him and playing the goalscorer onside. 2-0 down and it had been easy peasy for Villa.
3. The game was obviously all about Javier Hernandez, who replaced a disappointing Ashley Young at half-time. Young has struggled to justify his £18m pricetag, aside from a few great performances when he first joined the club, and the Villa fans enjoyed watching him lose possession, have his crosses blocked, and generally perform in an ineffective manner. In contrast, Chicharito turned the game around and ensured that we left with all three points. He scored two goals outright and claimed a third, despite his effort deflecting in off a defender. He took the matchball home with hom though, determined for a hattrick. He’s now the first player in Premier League history to score 9 goals away from home as a substitute and has scored 21% of all our league goals this season (compared to Van Persie’s 28%). What does this mean for Rooney’s place in the starting team?
4. In the first half, all players were below par, but after the introduction of Chicharito, things seemed to change. Smalling put in a solid second half performance after the embarrassment of the first half. Valencia, who had highlighted how painfully one-footed he was in the first half and rarely took his opponent on, started running at the defence again and certainly looked better. After losing possession for Villa’s second goal, it was a beautiful ball from Scholes that set up Chicharito for the first goal. It was encouraging to see players making amends for their mistakes.
5. De Gea made a few good stops over the 90 minutes, showing again how great his reactions are, but his most impressive spell was the last five minutes of the game. Villa kept pumping crosses in to the box and De Gea was making his presence felt. He punched clear time and again, barging anyone out of the way and really made the 6 yard box his own. It’s amazing what being played consistently and not dropped for any mistake can do!
6. Van Persie had one of his quieter games for United but was unlucky not to score after he hit the woodwork twice in the space of a minute. A Rooney corner saw Van Persie head against the woodwork, before moments later the goal opened up for him and he saw his left-footed curled effort come back off the woodwork. It was his perfectly placed freekick that lead to the winning goal though. That’s his 4th assist of the season, meaning only Rooney, Hazard, Ruiz and Mata have more assists than him this season, as well as him still being top scorer in the league.
7. This season we’ve now come from behind to win a game on eight occasions, which is something we didn’t manage once last season. That probably says more about how frequently we are going behind this season compared to last than anything, but it’s still pleasing to see we’ve got the right mentality. Three weeks ago we were 4 points behind Chelsea and now we’re 3 points clear of them. Things change quickly in football so there’s no point getting carried away just yet but things are looking good.
Man Utd News 24/7
chicha was great! RVP too, always looks like somethings gonna happen
Munching on my chocopops this morning I came to realise two things.
The first concerns our form this season and there is an obvious trend
emerging that we are lacking focus and concentration over 90 minutes and
maybe some leadership. We seem to want to give other teams a headstart
before we begin to get into the game. And when we do go ahead we lose
focus and let them back in Arsenal and Stoke being
two recent examples. We were very slow out of the blocks like against Villa
on Saturday and it took two goals from them for us to be galvanised into
decisive action. In games where we have gotten out noses in front how many
times has Ferguson lambasted the team for not finishing things off?
The other thing I came to realise is that if Ferguson wants to make sure we
don’t lose this league on goal difference he’ll have to remember that it’s not
just about scoring but we’ll have to defend a bit better too.
I am not to worried about the manor of it, United have a history of making late comebacks and anyone with any sense calls this “Good Character”. It is often also down to quality attacking play and wearing the other side down. Could have been 2-5 if RvP had buried either the header or the magnificent stricke from 25M. The Bar won those unfortunately.
But it is a point that United have won 5 games (4in EPL 1 in CL) by a scoreline of 3-2 in 2012-13
Good for the heart? Maybe not so much!
30% – 70% possession away from home but we failed to nail them to a drubbing but I will take 3 points
http://thepeoplesperson.com/video-fans-go-mental-in-villa-park-after-javier-hernandez-winner/?
I think we have got a mental problem with the team starting matches so poorly! I can understand having an off day once in a while and scraping to a victory, but we are having to do this far too often.
If I was Fergie I would show the lads some old United tapes, when we used to hit the ground running, squeeze teams in their box, and eventually kill them off. There was a time when teams playing United could only hope for damage limitation. Nowdays they all have hopes that they may get something out of the game.
We are stittng pretty at the top of the table, and we should not allow any slips.
scholes and carrick didn’t have the legs to run after a young villa side full of energy and selling runners and that could have cost us dearly. I’m not gonna talk about scholes misplaced pass cuz everyone makes mistakes but at one point rooney was in the penalty area defending and there was no sign of any of the midfielders who were very slow to react and that cost us a goal…
we don’t need scholes to dominate possession cuz we are already doing reasonably well in that department and to be honest we need the ball to be with RVP really who can be our playmaker instead of the midfielders especially if he plays behind hernandez as second striker instead of a number 9 cuz chicha is unstoppable at the moment and the dutchman is undroppable because of what he brings to the team even when he doesn’t score he can make things happen any where on the field so the midfielders just need to give them the ball quickly and that is something cleverly is really good at
1. Agbonlahor was onside. Due to smalling feigning injury.
2. It was a foul. As ray Wilkins correctly pointed out, a shoulder barge is shoulder to shoulder, not shoulder to chest.
3. DDG should’ve saved the first goal. It went quickly yes but it was straight at him. Someone of his reflexes should stop that.
4. RVP should’ve scored that header.
5. What was really concerning first half was our inability to get behind their defence.
6. We conced more goals when Scholes plays. If he plays then we need to add an extra body in midfield. With Carrick n scholes we have no pace in the centre of the park and will get overrun if the game gets stretched.
7. Valencia looked like he was lacking confidence.
Funny how a lot are slagging Scholes off when theybdont realise he was involved in both of our first 2 goals in our comeback. He set Hernandez up for the first, a delicious ball from inside our own half and then he played Rafael in for Rafa to cross it for Hernandez to hit home.
Yes Carrick and Scholes doesn’t work and that’s a fact but Scholes deserves some credit in my opinion.
Young was poor. I slagged him off big time after the game! I still feel he’s not United quality. I just hope he comes good.
Valencia is so fucking frustrating to be fair. Been watching a lot of MUTV lately, the archives etc and one thing that sticks out during tthe 1990′s/early 2000′s is how David Bechkam used to influence games with his crossing and ompecable delivery from the right wing. I would LOVE to know how many assists he picked up during his time at United. He was simply incredible! And that’s what I think Valencia is missing. Yes they’re different players. Valencia is more direct. BUT wow I can only imagine how much we would benefit having a player of Beck’s quality delivering quality balls into the box for the likes of RvP, Hernandez, Rooney etc. Valencia’s crossing is woeful most of the time. And sometimes its just non existent. Its painful to watch. And I still believe Nani is our best winger. On his day, he’s unplayable. Would hate to see him leave. 1 winger that has caught my eye and if Nani does leave, I’d replace him with this Dries Mertens lad from PSV. Quality player + knows where the goal is as well.
As a team we need to improve. Fergie needs to find a solid midfield pairing and stick with it. Scholes and Carrick doesn’t work. Can’t wait till Kagawa is back and although we haven’t missed him, he’s a quality player and will come good I have no doubt about it!
Hernandez you biscuit! Pulling us out of the shit again. He’s won us games against Braga home and away, Cfc away, scored a great goal again vs cfc in the cup and now a hatrick vs Villa. What a lad! Incredible! Absolutely lethal in the air + his tekkers have improved too. He actually holds the ball up quite nicely. The boy can play. Top player! He’ll get 20 goals for us this season. Love it! UNITED!
@AK47 You are nothing if not a ray of sunshine this am arn’t ya. Points taken on Scholes, but then he did set up Hernandez opener. So maybe not a complete waste of space.
The rest of it is just crap speculation, that suggests you either missing a few nuts or had money lost on the game. Esp points 3 and 4!
Suggest. i. moving on ii. strong glass of sommat that will make a man of ya, iii. go get a bit more out a Mrs AK.
Some people!
@Bobby Charlton CO Cheers mate. Last I looked we were top of the league and top in GD. Also, manager has repeatedly stated your point as it is pretty obvious. His solution, Put more in the net then they do. Done. Agree it’s worrying. But then, having Evans, Smalling, Jones and Vidic all out isn’t really the time to start complaining about shipping a couple goals when we are top of the league.
Don’t know what it takes for some people to enjoy their football
Come on people…. Be happy! Stay Red!
In all, we have 3points. Thank God.
Got to disagree about the players being below par I saw no failures and everyone played pretty good,albeit Sholes uncharacteristically was sloppy with a few passes the percentage stats tell’s it all Villa difficult to play past their system for a time but when we worked it out the score could have been embarrassing.
United heros Javier Hernandez and Paul Scholes make ESPN Team of the Week!
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/178947.html
@parryheid. Cheers mate. Not bad for a crappy old midfielder innit!
@FletchTheMan,
Nice to see you take the mature approach of dismissing and insulting one’s views without any particular reason….
It’s my opinion, this is what these pages are for! Opinions!!!
Not once did i say Scholes was a waste of space. He’s still a terrific player, but at 38 he’s not got the legs and needs help in there.
All i can say is that if you don’t think RVP should’ve scored that header, you’ve not played football – you ask anyone who has a similar opportunity, whether amateur or professional they’ll think they should’ve scored. If you ask RVP i’m sure he’d agree, it was a free header, he hits the target, it’s in.
With all due respect you seem like a class A twat behaving like a child because someone’s opinions do not line up with yours.
GROW UP!!!
@Fletch – I know we’re top but we’re winning every game the hard way and that will only go on for so long. We’re starting slow and letting oursleves be dominated. I’m saying ‘letting ourselves’ because we have the players to take games by the scruff of the neck. Then if we do get in front we sit back and we’re scraping over the line. I’m not saying we should be steam-rolling every team we play 4 or 5 nil but we should be more proactive than reactive.
Injuries at the back are not helping – we need a consistent line up there. Look at Raphael and DDG, both are putting in consistently good performances now that they have a run in the team.
Blaming Scholes for a dodgy pass is fine but it’s not an age thing. Everyone makes a dodgy pass now and then. His age only becomes apparent when he’s up against energetic midfielders as he just can’t keep up with them.
Yeah Smalling’s reaction after Benteke overpowered him was really disappointing. It’s not the end of the world to lose a tussle with a tall forward. At least get back on your feet as soon as you can ffs.
All in all it was a typical United game we’ve come to expect this season. Got away with more horrendous defending, but with 26 conceded goals in 17 games, it’s time to stop the bleeding.
Good review!
There were some sub-par performances for sure. Also, teams preparing to face us will spend hours working through the best way to stop us – Villa were spot on with the job they did on Young and Tony; made them look limited and choked off RvP. Come Chica, we changed our attack and we got the result.
We will need to get better at shifting styles – not wait for the break. In my mind that’s the captain’s job and we lack anyone with the authority and nonce to do it.
van Persie has pulled out of holland squad. Rooney gets a late knock. hmmm. Ah just in time for pointless international friendlies.
SAF to Rooney before villa game. “Son, if you get put to the ground, you STAY down. Understood?
WR10: Ya boss
SAF: There’s a good lad.
@AK47 “THAT” was and insult?!
Oi me.
Post some sense then.
How old are ya son? Thin skin!
****an insult?! :lol
Oi me. ******
Lest I be accused of poor english!
@Bobby Charltons CO Cheers. As some have said. The only thing that is really wrong with team is that they seem to start the games slow. That needs sorting and will be punished if it isn’t. But you name the game that we have started slow with our first choice back 4….. Erm, There hasn’t been one.
The lads always start the season slowly as far back as I can recall. And that is back into the late 60′s so don’t get me started. You can get upset or you can deal with it is what I say.
Saying daft stuff like “De Gea could have stopped X”, in a game that he saved us several times, and in the 80th odd minute put in the save of the week with an unbelievable point blank stop, is what makes my blood turn red. Criticizing Scholes for one turnover in their half? Likewise.
We have other things to worry about. Why can’t we enjoy wins when we get them?
Chicharito was brilliant. His substitution was brilliant, meaning that the boss was brilliant.
As usual, the opposition came at us like banshees for the first 60 minutes and then tried to hold on.
In typical United style, United sent them home with nothing.
3 pts to United: Thank you very much.
What a match. Thats the first thing worth saying.
Secondly, just like we needed Giggs to come in and do a job midweek we also needed Scholes at the weekend. Those two lads won’t be around forever. This is the Squad we have this season and we have to work with it. I fully back the manager’s sparing use of Anderson and Cleverley. I’d rather we choose to use Giggsy and Scholes in midfield early in the season, rather than have Tom and Ando pick up injuries at places like Villa and have no other choice later in the campaign when the games don’t stop.
Our young midfielders don’t lack proven ability at this level, so they don’t need games in the same way Powell does. They just need to be kept fit, their performances do the talking. Neither player has peaked this season as they’re both looking for top form. Nevertheless they’ve put in solid displays thus far, and as long as they remain available this season we’re laughing.
I said before the match that Villa were turning a corner in their season. Doesn’t matter where a team is, when they’re hitting form the table goes out the window. If anything Villa ran out of steam later in the game but they were the reason we were poor in the first half imo (as opposed to we made them look good). Credit where its due, we were outplayed for at least 45 mins – it happens.
Last point – all strikers have purple patches, especially younger strikers. When Hernandez isn’t scoring he’s called shit and Welbeck is praised for scoring. When its the other way around, Welbeck is the one who is shit. The way I see it we’ve got 4 top strikers and whoever is doing the scoring and causing the damage at any given time is selected for match day. Simple as that. The competition to start for United gives our strikers the hunger to score three and bring us back from 2-0.
But don’t forget, the link up play Danny brings to United is more suited for picking the lock than a smash and grab in an open game – so his critics should think on imo. It takes a diverse Squad like ours to challenge on so many levels. Long may that system continue.
Javier Hernandez has contributed 13 goals as a substitute. Only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has more (28) for United. But Chicharito has a better conversion rate ATM 13 in 39, vs 28 in 150 sub appearances. (via Nick Copack at manutd.com).
What a player Javier Hernandez!..
Speaking of nice little players:
RIP Harry McShane, former winger and then a long term scout for United.
57 games and 8 goals as a player in the early 50′s.
Right, and he won it more times than a certain captain starfish!
Photo from mrmujac pic.twitter.com/p8etWfnl
Sorry, Here is that link again;
Lovely man Harry McShane. Severed as Voice of Old Trafford for some years.
https://twitter.com/mrmujac/status/267981636459696128/photo/1
One of the best winning experience I’ve had in recent years. Another one was, you guessed it, Macheda’s against Villa. I watched both these matches at a coffee shop and all eyes were glaring because I was the only one there who seemed to be rooting for United as I didn’t make it hard for them as I was wearing United’s 09/10 away shirt. lol
When we were 2-0 down, boy was it a fucken hell. But looking at the clock and knowing United, I wouldn’t be surprised if we would go on and win it. And boy we did! What a lovely lovely experience. Thats the perk of supporting United. Thanks SAF – the brilliance of THAT substitution!
On a side and worrying note we tend to take off our feet from the gas pedal once we were leading. And Young has been AWFUL. Oh well he probably needs some times to fully rediscover his old form.
Imagine if we fast forward 5 or 6 years say who do you think you would most appreciate Ole or Chicharito? The resemblance is quite frightening. At the moment, in my opinion, it’s Ole but who knows in 5 years time!!!
What do you think?
That sloppy Scholes pass was within EASY reaching distance of two United players, both of whom only had to move a few yards to pick it up… but both seemed to assume the other would.
During the game on the thread here I saw at least one person lay the blame at Scholes feet, again. Even if the ball was lost there, it was the OTHER END OF THE PITCH, we have midfielders and a defence that should be able to handle that, but in this case, Smalling, Rio, Rafa and DDG all had a chance to prevent the cross to Wiemann, none of them did. But ye.. right.. Scholes is the reason :-S
What was funny is seconds after this bloke said “Why is Scholes on the pitch?” he assisted Hernandez’ first goal with a trademark pass.. just as he had played his trademark pass all through the game to Tony V on the right wing. We dominated possession, we just couldn’t do anything in the final third all first half. Even my father who was watching with me (and is an Arsenal fan) said only seconds before Villa scored that “United are playing fine everywhere except the final third of the pitch.”
That being said, quit the scapegoating please. We saw it with Berba. We saw it with Darren Gibson and now Scholes is the new target for the younger United fans who just don’t know how much he actually influences a game. A mention to Rooney too.. Chicho and RVP’s form won’t keep him out of the team because he’s settling pretty well into his role, ever since he came on second half against Spurs. In that game too he played a huge role in Chico’s second goal (well… Villa own goal… whatever) when he had a shot blocked, then scappred to keep the ball and delivered a lovely pass for Rafa to cross it to Hernandez. He keeps having that kind of impact then Fergie will find room in the team for him.
Dela, Voice of reason mate. Cheers.
Harry McShane: United winger, scout, stadium announcer. Won League (’51-52), credited w signing Wes Brown.
Nice Obit in MEN:
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/p/1593497
The write up doesn’t half do justice to his son Ian who you will all know and is a tidy little actor.
SkyFail! Fergie gets shot down by 007′s mum!
Oi me, this is good.
SAF “I said to her, ‘There’s a ticket for Daniel at Old Trafford any time.’ She looked at me as if I had horns on my head! She replied, ‘I don’t think Daniel will want to go and see United.’”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1405637-sir-alex-ferguson-offers-man-united-tickets-to-daniel-craig-is-turned-down
As far is Scholes is concerned, I can easily overlook 1, 2 or even 10 mistimed passes by him. He’s human after all. The problem he creates for us has nothing to do with his passing range. It’s his non existant defending. Fergie got the roles reversed on Saturday I feel. Scholes should have come on in the second half when Villa were starting to tire while Tom or Ando should have started the game against Villa’s energetic midfield.
Dela @ 15:09: “he had played his trademark pass all through the game to Tony V on the right wing.”
That’s often the case BUT on Saturday it was not. There were a number of occasions when “his trademark pass” was short – or intercepted. BUT he did float that long one onto Chicharito’s feet that led to the first goal so I consider that “evens”.
However, what’s much more worrying about his presence in the first-team is the combination of keeping out Cleverley/Anderson, his “dominance” over Michael Carrick who plays less well with TheGingerNinja than with A.N.Other, and his diminishing defensive capacity.
It used to be the case that playing Paul Scholes was a no-brainer because he was a “plus player” but nowadays he’s not – he might be an “evens player” on a good day but too often he is a “negative player”. He’s retained his passing ability but the other aspects of his game – using space, heading, shooting, tackling, and defending – are all declining.
TheGingerNinja might have “retired” a year early in May 2011 BUT sadly, I think, his un-retirement in January, 2012 has gone on too long. It was almost two years ago that he thought that “my legs are gone” – now it’s obvious that he’s just not the player that he used to be.
Rather like his mate, SirRyanGiggs, this appears to be a-season-too-far for TheGingerNinja. AND, like his other mate – RedNev – I’d not be surprised if he comes to realise that and packs it in again, for good.
“The game was obviously all about Javier Hernandez”
The result was “all about Chicharito”; the game was actually about his absence for the first half and his presence for the second half.
TheMexicutioner brings a lot to the team-game. First, he scores goals – all sorts of goals, in all sorts of ways. Second, his presence frees up TheWayneBoy and RVP to play a more fluid, interchanging kind of game which presents a whole set of other complications for defenders. Third, his presence means that AshelyYoung was absent ! and, fourth, but by no means least, his involvement means that the team plays a much more direct style. As significant as his goals, Chicharito’s movement off the ball – and on the shoulders of the last defenders – creates huge spaces between the opposition’s defence and their midfield which is incredibly valuable to Rooney/RVP who are both players that are most dangerous when they can bob-and-weave.
As much as SAF has always stood by playing with width/wingers, I’d like to see him use an “attacking diamond” when KagawaBunga comes back from his injury. In this regard, I second Ji Sung’s earlier comment:
“Valencia’s crossing is woeful most of the time. And sometimes its just non existent. Its painful to watch. And I still believe Nani is our best winger. On his day, he’s unplayable.”
However, I’d part ways with Ji Sung in his belief that playing with wingers/width is STILL the way to go. From what I can tell, UTD are just about the only big-time club that tries to play in that way – most others do not have specialized wingers and even those players who are called “wingers” (Hazard at CSKALondon or Di Maria at RM are examples of this style of play) are often playing more like newfangled “inside forwards” who cut inside rather that sticking to the side-line, running to the bye-line, and squaring a crossed-ball into the box. That’s not Nani’s game; it’s not AshleyYoung’s “game” (being generous there !), but it is AV7′s game and his success-rate is actually very low – wasn’t it RedRafa who crossed the ball for Chicharito’s “second goal” ?
Furthermore, in point of fact, it’s not that Valencia’s crossing is “woeful most of the time” but, rather, he’s so very one-footed that his crossing is sooooooo very predictable that defenders can prepare themselves; kinda like the obverse of Nani’s “black hole” style whereby he slows down, he stops, and then he tries to beat one/two defenders while the rest of the team’s movement gets stalled.
So, this is a very long-winded way of saying that right now SAF is caught-between-the-proverbial-two-stools – he is attached to “traditional” wing-play but that means he has to marginalize his most dangerous fox-in-the-box. This dilemma is rather like the one that’s happening in midfield – playing Scholes/Carrick and marginalizing Cleverley/Anderson.
SAF has been known throughout his long career as a man who is willing to take a chance but right now he seems to be stalling on the cusp of making really big decisions about the shape of the team’s midfield and its attack. Maybe – probably (?) – he’s just getting older and becoming more conservative.
We’re all football managers aren’t we? Roll over Fergie….
I thought Ashley Young was doing okay in the first half, but the plan B is Rooney on the left so he had to go. I thought he was posing more of a threat than Valencia and that Scholes was woeful, so I’d be very, very wary to single Young out. He’s a tremendous player, even if some folks are starting to turn on him.
Folk will talk about Scholes being past it. But there’s nothing ‘past it’ about playing really shit, casual passes. Age is no excuse, he had a stinker first half and you know he knew it. It’s okay, we can say Paul Scholes had a shit game, there’s no need to dust off the gold carriage clock just for that.
I’m going to have to state the obvious again aren’t I? We’d played away in Europe midweek. That is ALWAYS going to undermine the weekend game. ALWAYS. Never ever, ever, seen a team play an away game in Europe and then sparkle on that Saturday. Teams win, of course they do, but you look at the history of the league, post-Europe games the teams are there to be had. No team is going to play a long, strange game against Braga midweek then just bounce back all singing all dancing for a weekend game.
Ashley Young just doesn’t have the arrogance and mentality to make the grade at United.
I’d say its about time we shipped him out maybe put some cash on top for an exchange for Gareth Bale.
A left sided player is desperately needed.
De Gea should save the first goal … no excuse.
Playing Scholes and Carrick in a midfield two is suicide … he STILL does not seem to understand.
@daniel88 i agree. Bale would be the PERFECT signing. see Young and offer whatever it take to bring Bale to United. the lad is an unreal footballer and is being wasted at spurs. sign him up fergie.
*sell
@STR Really love the reactions and completely agree with them. Specifically.
1. Smalling reaction is very disappointing. Loosing is nothing playing dead when the game is still on is just pathetic.
2. Young and Valencia need to get their act together. They are starting to resemble mid table players.
3. Chihc has been immense this season and I am looking for so much more from him.
4. RVP what an amazing player. Quite game but got an assist and hit the bar twice. No comments on Rooney.
That’s about it. Good result and decent performance but improvement are required all over the pitch.
Ha. De Gea should have saved the first? Yeah course he should. Not a fucking chance. Also what is this obsession with fucking Bale? He is fucking shit. Give him space to hit the ball in to and run and he is fine but thats all he does. No tricks, doesnt beat men. He was absolutely dreadful yesterday and once again a big game where he failed to turn up. OK he is a decent player, I WILL give him that but he is massively over rated for me. Yes he scored at OT but once the lads turned up second half he was missing again. Flat track bully.
DogHouse – Alright mate, you well? Spot on about playing AWAY in Europe midweek. We have been fortunate enough to win every game this season after our aways in Europe which is good to see.
Also can’t we cut Smalling some slack? The lad has been out for time and will take some settling back in. I thought he was excellent second half and he wins everything in the air. I love the big man. I want to see him and Jonny as our regular centre backs when Rio calls time with Jonesy playing? Well where? Midfield like he did last season? Right back to give Rafa a break? Fuck knows!!
That constant ball out right to Valencia by everyone was killing us – what can you say.
I knew we’d get ourselves out at 2:0 to at least tie, but was ecstatic to see Chicha get us out of this one with 3 points.. good on him. Has he ever grown in in confidence.
The problem is – we will not be able to do this kind of performance and get away with it as we move on in Europe, and for that matter at home.
@King Eric, spot on. DDG no chance on stopping that shot – I don’t think he saw it as it flew between the defenders until it was right in front of his face. It was fantastic to see him come out and get those crosses with such confidence last few minutes of the game.
Bale? I don’t see why his name keeps coming up either..
If anything changes, I’d love to see Giggs/Scholes retire in piece the sooner the better, Nani/Young/ replaced by James Rodriguez who can cross a ball and beat a man like nobody’s business, and Carrick (i’ll probably get beat-up by this) by Victor Wanyama who has the ability to boss Yaya Toure.
I know there are lots of Carrick lovers on here, but I just don’t get it.
Hey Chaps,
Do you have that picture of Hernandez in high resolution?
I want it for my office computer as a wallpaper.
Thanks in advance.
This team is vintage United. Can’t be bothered until they are a goal or two down, and will just outscore the opposition. Scoring against United is a curse – I really don’t understand why they are celebrating since they know they are just awaking the beast.
By squeeky bum time the defense will be sorted – we have excellent boys at the back but the new plastic balls make a nightmare for defenders. There will be more goals from now on in both ends, that is just how this works.
True Reds – stop complaining about our defence. Villa had some pretty splendid young attackers, not because our defence was poor. For them it is christmas eve to play us and they know it is the best way to show the world their talents. Fair on them I say.
Tony V being just right-footed shouldn’t be a big problem. Remember a certain Deigo (Hand of God) Mamadona, totally left-footed but he could do magic when he’s not cheating.
It seems that the weight of the No.7 shirt is too heavy for him.
Whats with the Bale love? I’ll take a out of sorts Nani over Bale anyday. I’ll even take Zaha over him
Well done chicha boy, you really got me up on a knee slide celebration, almost hurt my knees. Never celebrated that in ages, only a certain owens last gasp goal against the bitters topple that…. Even the wazzas overhead kick doesn’t come close
That much*
Red pen police in stand by
Chica is just 2 good. I can already see him becoming a legend at OT
Not meaning to slag Scholes or Carrick off as individuals; they’re great midfield players and add composure to our young side. However, we’ve seen this over and over again this season already.
Playing a flat 4-4-2 with Scholes and Carrick in the midfield against ANY energetic side, we’re bound to be overrun. Ireland and Weimann made sure of that. I cannot understand why Fergie cannot see this, or if he’s observed this, still continues to do it over and over again. We take 45 minutes to get out of the blocks, simply because the midfield has no drive. They are content to pass the ball close to each other and sit deep. No drive.
It works against us when we don’t have possession too. Who was coming in deep to help the our centre backs when we conceded? Rooney! Carrick and Scholes overrun once again!
I’m not claiming to be smarter than Fergie but surely he must have noticed. Why he persists with such a midfield pairing, despite clearly observing and realising that they will be overrun is beyond me.
while watching the match with my mates, i told them ferguson was going to bring on chicha. rightfully so after the break he was on and despite going down a second goal, was instrumental in turning the game around.
now, this is not a fault of any specific player, you guys must remember it is also about tactics. i didn’t come to the conclusion of having chicha on just for the sake of an extra striker. it was how villa played.
villa played very deep within their own half, they didn’t really care if united was controlling possession in midfield, they just let it go, none of them pressured us when they were on the defensive, waiting for united to come at them and filling the gaps to nullify our passing game in the final third.
on the offense however, villa were confident;y playing a high line, throwing players up to attack. this is what i believe the gaffer saw to exploit with hernandez, and the first goal proved it. they really didn’t know how to mark him, as they were focused on shutting out rooney and van persie.
the only problem i see here is the inconsistent performance with our defence. villa seemed like they were attacking our left back every chance they got. looks like they also saw something to exploit there i guess. smalling commits too much at the wrong time, which is a worry.
chill guys, its not all doom and gloom when players have their off days (or in rvp’s case, a very unlucky one), sometimes it’s just down to the opponents tactics that manage to counter ours. there will be games where chicha and/ord rvp will be ineffective, where will you stand when that game comes?
valencia has always been one dimensional, one on one vs a defender, feint feint dash to the right fast low cross to the centre. he is still as effective as ever, just not in this game where the penalty is packed and we would have benefited from a player who could deliver high crosses straight into the box in his position, like the ones for the 2nd & 3rd goal.
rooney is putting in tremendous work moving our attack, and is starting to look like he could give scholes’ long range passing a run for his money, the past few games many of his passes were unbelievable, in accuracy and the speed he got them off after receiving the ball. if he continues this form, i would care less if he even gets a goal, the tradeoff for the team play is just to huge to not play him.
reDaler T.
Agree your post and in particular the last paragraph