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LIVE BLOG: Everton vs United

April 26, 2015

Daniel Stapleton

Follow @danstapleton89 on Twitter.

Fergie: Ronaldo could score for any team… unlike Messi

Five key thoughts following Everton 3-0 Manchester United as Van Gaal’s men are given a major reality check

149 Comments

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Marq April 26, 2015

Our results can be mapped to almost the exact periods that Carrick is playing or not.

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Mirainashe April 26, 2015

Andrey

There is no one who is saying it wasn't a poor performance. It was. And yes it's potentially costly. But you can't expect me to panic after an excellent six game run and being extremely unlucky but playing well on the seventh. Then the eighth game we start panicking because it was a "piss poor performance"? No thanks. It was one bad performance out of the last eight. We can learn from these mistakes and be sharper for the next game. That's Van Gaal's next assignment. The formula he has used these recent games has been very effective. You don't just dump this because of lapses in concentration. While we are at it. Today is the 26th of April. We are still nearly over a month away from the next transfer window. So we make do with what we have now and the transfer activity comes when it is time. I'm all for criticism but I don't believe in lack of context. Even the laws of probability show that according to the results since this new formula was introduced,today was simply an irregular situation. So panic alone

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Marko Maric April 26, 2015

Our problem is that we want to say that we have best academy and that they producing world class players even when that is not truth. But we want that, and then we lie ourselfs...

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reddevil April 26, 2015

@andrey
Its not an excuse but I think Van Gaal possession game works best when their is a supreme midfield controller. In his absence we should learn to be more flexible in our approach.

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Yusuf April 26, 2015

Lat week, McNair was praised for playing against a 36 year old has been strriker. Thats laughable. This week he was tested in his preferred role with oppositon that were in their prime nd he was completely out of his depth.
Louis, we need an expereinced defender. Hummels, Clyne, Gundogaan, Depay/ Nani, Benteke. I beg you. We have sufffered as fans for the last 18 months

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WeAreUnitedd April 26, 2015

Didn't want to read the comments here neither or comment but some posts and commenetrs are getting on my nerves, them being right or wrong

1. What are all you talking about DeGea, it seems that as soon as LVG came out to tell us about us offering him money, you people started moaning that, "he's head was not in the game" PISS OFF really, until now you had no reaction to goals, now it's suddenly all DeGea. piss the f off, this does not mean I hate you guys, but piss off.

2.Falcao, is not fast as he used to, but he was on it, yes he slipepd like he always does, but he made runs that were not picked, kept the ball and moved it, sometiems lost it, HAS Rooney loest the ball in the strikers zone EVER? YES YES and YES. so no it's nothing crazy. As soon as DiMaria comes in, he.s almost on to score with a header

3. @samuel, where the fuck have you been these days when we were winning and playing superB
First game in like ages we play totally utterly like shit and you come here an really just say things we all know. I HAVE ALSWAYS got your back, but now you seem like a pretentious man.

4. MacNair Fellaini and Valencia and Blind, top 4 worst player on the pitch today

I am so pissed off, it was an off day. or not, bad plan a? or not? I don't know, but oru away form is shit, and unfortunately now we lost 3-0. Hopefull Arsenal gets beaten and hull city wins pool and we smash WB.

now shut up and move on, we all know we need players, we need that and this. the philosophy is on, this time it did not work out. we are on for a fight but did you think ManUtd does it the easy way?

peace

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Andrey Durbach April 26, 2015

Ash, I doubt very much that anyone who watched that today is giggling.

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Andrey Durbach April 26, 2015

Reddevil, that's my point exactly!

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

WeAreUnited - people have lifes to live, I'm not going to be hanging around republik of mancunia every day and I will post when I sure Damn well please. Your opinion of who I am is irrelevant. My view and critique is balanced and adequately put. I've stated what the the team needs improving

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RedOne April 26, 2015

This is f....ing embarassing. Those who still think Blind can play in Carrick`s position...here is the answer for you. Completely no cover for the defense, outrun and out challanged by McCarty and Barry. The ref let rough game and Blind was hopeless all day long.

It`s true that the lads had a really really bad day at the office but when the game started it wasn`t like that. It was more like a mistake led to another mistake and so on and ultimately we paid the price. I thought Paddy was awful today, don`t blame the lad but blame LVG for experimenting when we should seal our CL spot once and for all. But no...he needs to fuck around with selections when we still have job to do. Outrageous. It was a complete defensive failure. Only Smalling has done his job today and the other four(Tony, Blind, Shaw, Paddy) made him look bad. This was anything but a unit in terms of defending.

Don`t want to be negative here but 2 consecutive defeats and this 3-0 result will definitely be a morale blow. So job far from over. So f...ing angry at the thought of it, guess we always have to do it the hard way. I fear that 2nd spot is out of reach...

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Xyth X April 26, 2015

I think we are being harsh on DeGea lads! It is not his fault we lost the last two matches. What can he do when our defence is poor and letting too many one on ones with him. You save some, you don't most of them.

I am more worried with our lack of ability to penetrate stubborn defences like the one today and Chelsea last week. Failure to create and score cost us more than defensive errors. Lack of passion and urgency is worrying. Did we think that today's would be an easy match?

We should not have been dominated by a team like Everton, despite them playing with 12 men (the ref was giving them everything today, while denying us even blatant fouls - no I am not blaming him for the defeat, but he surely contributed to the mindset of our players).

Anyway, we should expect that in the remaining 4 matches, teams will let us have the ball and play on break. We need to learn how to break them and change their game plan. We should treat every coming match as a cup final and win at least 3 out of 4. If we cannot do that, than simply do no deserve to be in the CL next season.

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

You can nonchalantly highlight it as just one bad game or you could look at it from another angle and say it is another sign of warning that the team still isn't at the level it wants to be.. so no upgrade is needed in order for squad players to return to what they really are, squad players. United aren't shambolic but they aren't anywhere near the top teams around Europe. That's a fact.

You have to constantly search for improvement. Is ilkay gundogan coming in an upgrade? Yes. Is Memphis depay an upgrade on young? Yes. I'm not denying the contributions of these squad players but they are never going to be top class players and United need enough of those to get back to the top.

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NairobiRed April 26, 2015

Read some of the reaction, I just think it was a bad day at the office, no need to overreact. The defence is the biggest concern as has been all season, improve the defending and a bad day turns into a draw. Teams are sitting back, relying on the counter, we need a defense that can stop a counter, thats all.

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Marq April 26, 2015

RedOne

I don't know how you are seeing the team selection as experimenting. I believe almost every single United supporter would have picked the same lineup

Then again, that might have been the problem...

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midfield-man April 26, 2015

Samuel - who are you kidding. People knew you would come back to regurgitate the same tripe as soon as we lost. Losing to Chelsea wasn't quite safe yet for reappearance?

You think you're the only person who knows we need squad improvement?
Pretentious ... That's mild.

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

Can't call it a bad day when those same performances have been littered around all season. An upgrade is needed. United will pay for any complacency. Solidify top four and go out and find top class players in all key areas. You can't sit around and creaming over a couple of wins against the top teams, you have to improve and what defeat does is open people's eyes.

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Andrey Durbach April 26, 2015

Redone, there aren't many players anywhere that can play Carrick's position. And he's 34. We need to figure out how to play well without him, sooner rather than later, rather than just lamenting his absence. I'm shocked we've no proper cover for him, and that we have no alternative strategy/formation/plan B enabling us to cope (or better yet, play well) when he's not around. As for finishing second, I'm more concerned about finishing 4th. With apologies to Mirainashe for "panicking".

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ashtheking April 26, 2015

Andrey

If you dont think some are giggling that they have been proven right then you may be new to this blog buddy. Just wait and watchc and see how the comment rate goes past 500 and this is the days of Comeback in ROM as many people will be returning.

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

midfield-man - I am glad you took note of my absence, really Damn well appreciate your collection of statistics and all that.. of course I couldn't care less because I haven't got the time. The net is packed with people who can read but cannot comprehend. My points today have been well balanced, if you managed to read.

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Mirainashe April 26, 2015

Samuel

I think it's a good point that WeAreUnited brings. Yes you're free to post when you want. But every time you post it's to simply sing the same chorus. "Oh the team is shit. Oh the team is total and utter shit". We had a significant upturn in form and have been playing some of the best football we have seen in years. So you think it was a fluke. Completely fortuitous events like the age old "it's because the other team was poor" bullshit. There is ZERO balance in any of your posts. ZERO. So you can't claim that you're balanced. You're incredibly biased. When the players you love bashing go on an excellent run you are coincidentally"busy with your life". As soon as they are not hitting headlines you're somehow free with your time to say "I told you so". That's just bullshit I'm sorry. If we had won this one you'd not be here that's for sure. One bad game and we are back to square one. Geez.

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RedOne April 26, 2015

@Marq

Okay, we played decent football against Chelsea...so why change it then? As far as I know, all the players were avaliable. Yes Rooney in midfield and Herrera in Carrick`s spot. At least it nulified the threat...if it had to be patched.

As for injuries, well that is what I was talking about. We need more quality players, at least 2 for each position. Few get injured and we are struggling, not even having midweek games to play...And some here think we are good to go next year with the squad we have or maybe one addition. Thing is If we want to compete in all fronts, our squad is far from fine...

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

I pointed out that United needed an upgrade to reach an higher level. Of course some want to bury their heads and see through the red tinted lenses.. Manchester United has massive potential.. I had some issues with van gaal but his style is starting to come good.. I can vision the direction he wants to take the team and that is a possession based one.. that will come in handy in the champions league but you are not going to be successful if you do not upgrade the quality. United require more intelligent and quality players to apply that method. Herrera, check. Carrick, check.. beyond those two, I cannot see anyone in central midfield applying it. Hence the need to buy more quality.

Defence needs upgrade, right back needs upgrade.. striking department needs upgrade. It may be obvious but my point is, I can see United going back to challenging when it erases those weaknesses in the back bone of the team.

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Mirainashe April 26, 2015

People saying "we should have had cover for Carrick". Eh that's what Blind is there for. How many fucking players should we have bought in the transfer market? You have people saying it's a travesty we don't have defenders. We should have bought defenders. We fucking bought Rojo. We bought Shaw. Apparently we should have brought in more. So let's see Carrick replacement. Two extra defenders. Bale,Kroos/Vidal/Strootman. That's in addition to Blind Shaw Herrera Di Maria Rojo and Falcao. That's 9 new players in a transfer window. Just how ridiculous can we get?

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Marko Maric April 26, 2015

@weareunited spot on specially about De Gea and Falcao. Why Rooney didn t do something? He plays every game

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

Mirainshe - it's a pity but you've cynically dissected my points. What makes you think I am biased? If I was, I would never highlight the good contributions of squad players. Young, Valencia, Fellaini,blind, Jones, Mcnair etc. They are good steady players and are great to have when needed to fill gaps but analyse it thoroughly.. none of them will carry United into being title winners. My issue is over reliance and basing game plan around these players. They will put in performances and shift but they will not elevate United to where it wants to be. Why not upgrade on those players? I honestly do not see what's wrong with me highlighting the weaknesses.

Secondly.. I've been an avid poster on ROM.. whether people agree with me or not, it is part of the game so I'm slightly baffled with the "he only turned up when we lost" bollocks.. I didn't think I needed an appointment to visit a blog and my points have been balanced in terms of how I think United can improve. You can Interpret it negatively, some have done that and that's their prerogative.

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Matthew_Courtney April 26, 2015

Reality check today.
In the past two games we've seen the same old faces of Young, Valencia, Fellaini and Smalling looking exposed, one dimensional and utterly beyond taking us forward in trying to close the massive chasm that currently sees our claims of trying to compete for silverware anytime soon.

No doubt Van Gaal will bewilder fans by claiming for the second game running that he is pleased with the performance sterile dominance in possession that achieves fuck all and causes no problems to the opposition.

Rooney was embarrassing yet again in his anonymity and lack of impact.
Neither Rooney, Falcao or RVP can be assured of their place in the squad let alone the side next season as each of them have played like yesterdays man for most of the season.

We've a long, long way to go before we can be a credible force and Van Gaal must be less one dimensional and less resistant to adapt and change than he's shown in the most part this season. Two dire , sterile tipi tap performances on the trot are seeing us make heavy work of returning to Europe.

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RedOne April 26, 2015

@Andrey

Well, I hope le arse beat rent boys today so that they go serious into that game with the dippers. That should be enough for us claiming 4th spot. But 4th is tricky, those qualifiers do not guarantee CL. We need to be 3rd.

@Mirainashe

Blind at best is left back. He might be brought in to be a cover for Carrick. But guess what...it turned out that he can only be effective in Carrick`s position against the likes of Burnely and Leicester. He had problems with Swans and West ham, had serious problem today and I would rather not find out how he plays there against le arse, dippers, shitty or rent boys. If we are serious in competing in all fronts next year, we need 25 players not 11. 2 for each position and 3 youngsters. Not saying we need to buy ridiculous amount of players but more selective ones not players that can patch a whole field. We need at least one defender, one Carrick`s replacement, right back if Rafa is off and a striker because RVP and Falcao are done, it seems...

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TywinnLannister April 26, 2015

Wow seriously, some people here. Three things, people are entitled to their opinion. You may disagree, that is fine but calling people stupid or with a F word just because they don't share the same thought as you? And second is, people do have life, don't expect a fast respond or a respond at all, unless if ROM is paying them $200K a year to moderate the chat, until than you are not entitled to their respond AT ALL.

And lastly, don't think and feel you are more superior than others because none of us really understand football in their deepest level, none of us do. So take a chill pill and relax.

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Marq April 26, 2015

I don't think there is any doubt that we need a few more players. This team without Carrick will get slaughtered by the big guns in the CL

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AntiScouser April 26, 2015

@samuel

You've got it all wrong, mate. We sign Danny Ings and we're good.

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

Anti-scouser - watched ings a couple of times.. again, another squad player. Haven't we had enough of those? United need heavy hitters.. bona-fide top class players or potentially top ones. People need to raise their standards. Manchester United is a world class institution and can do far better.

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NairobiRed April 26, 2015

The redone,
your assertion is ridiculous, we need 25 players, no we need 2-3 players and even then what the team really needa is balance. The defence is lacking and this affects the atrack, if LVG can't see this then there is liitle hope for a title challenge. The problem isn't attact, its the defence. A defensive mid and a strong centerback would turn this team in champions.

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

Defeat is painful but it brings people down to earth, even Louis van gaal. He probably learned more from this and what he needs to get United back to the top. The club will be accelerating player recruitment and hopefully they get the right ones that will improve the team.

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Andrey Durbach April 26, 2015

Why is there so much focus on Carrick?

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WeAreUnitedd April 26, 2015

@tywinn

Look. @samuel is one of the best posters here, and his idea is to get th3e best of the best sincer as ManUtd we need to compete for the lieks of dimaria (we got him) lewandowksi, kroos, ronaldo etc. I agree 1000% with his assetion and we always get along

but it has been a while since he's been here, he was pretty vocal when we weren't performing and then we started winning the big games, and he was nowhere to be seen, now a 3-0 loss agains everton and he's back. I want him back, but this makes him pretentious AS for football

it is true that the likes of young fellaini valencia are squad players, and in the long term they are handy when we need someone to come in, not to build a team around them

BUT do you really think we don't know this? or that LVG does not know this? we are enquiring Depay and maybe GUndogan too and maybe hummels too, so yes he's asserting the problems and trying to solve them

but to come here after a great spell and then having a bad day at the office, and to pretend we don't know this, is stupid with a big S; there's no need to come and spill the same thing every time, we all know we need the lieks of Depay etc to go big, and we are slowly going there

the philosophy has kicked in, now we are noticing how big Carrick is for us, so that will be addressed, etc you get my point

anyway. no hard feelings, everyone is entitled to his opinion, effin hell, byt it's just annoying.

peace

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samuel - united WE stand April 26, 2015

I still feel United could do with a quality striker. There'a distinct lack of pace up top at times. The midfield just needs that extra class and quality. Two central midfielders of all round capability will sort it out.

Defence needs quality too, a lot harder to find great central defenders but they have to get scouts out there because what we are witnessing is below standards at times

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George Joseph April 26, 2015

By the time we play WBA , Liverpool can be 1 pt behind United . Bad day today

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WeAreUnitedd April 26, 2015

and

as the BOSS said http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2015/Apr/Louis-van-Gaal-reacts-to-Manchester-United-defeat-at-Everton.aspx

"Louis van Gaal believes Everton earned their 3-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday because the Toffees played with more aggression, motivation and conviction."

our players simply put, did not show up today, and our defense just effed it up for us and as a team we just did not want it.

now have a good day

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TywinnLannister April 26, 2015

I think this has more than we miss Carrick. I agree he does bring stability to the midfield and an extra layer of protection to the defense. But we were outmatched in every area tonight.

Giving up!
What really bothers me though when we were 2-0 down, we started to lose focus. Rooney needs to carry his leadership regardless. He needs to lead his team-mates and gain their self confidence. 2-0 ppfftt we could have nicked something if the team stayed vigilance and focus. By the time we conceded the third goal, they just wanted for the ref to blew the final whistle, judging from how they played the last 10-20 mins. It was horrible to watch but not because we were losing, it was because they just wanted to stop.
Again, Rooney as a captain, apart from his footballing skill, he needs to sharpen his leadership skill on the pitch if he to retains his captaincy.

Questionable players
There was no cohesiveness at all tonight. It was too short of a time to judge RVP. But DiMaria and Falcao took their bad forms into a far worse place tonight. I knew Falcao was rusty, his first touch has been bad, and was again tonight but he paired it with another questionable distribution. Even his short passing were intercepted a few times. Clearly he will need to go, if LVG is to retain his triangular system. And while we are on the subject of LVG's triangle. It was clear that DiMaria doesn't fit in the system. He is quick, agile and can be deadly but he needs to be smarter too. Why would you charge into a wall of players knowing that it was nearly impossible to slip through the crack?

DiMaria will stay for sure next season, but unless he becomes smart and adapts quicker to the english style of football, he will never be missed.

Other thoughts.
Paddy will become a good player, he just needs someone who can guide him. Certainly this game was too much for him to handle. That's why he needs someone like Vidic or Ferdinand who can mentor him.

Valencia is a good team player who has been deployed in the wrong position. But all things considered, he's been doing his best, but sometimes it's just not enough. You can't blame him for trying though. He has been one of the most consistent player this season. His ability to escape the ball from a muddy situation on the right channel should be admired. He reads the game fast, hence why the triangle has been quite effective between him, Mata and Herrera. But again he is not a right back. Valencia should definitely stay but LVG needs to find a true right back. Many will also blame Valencia for the third goal, which they are correct, but might as well blame Smailing and Paddy for not playing to the whistle.

All and all, this was a bad performance. We do miss Carrick, but there are more issues than just missing him on the field as our loss cause.

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wayne barker April 26, 2015

Utd completely outplayed Spurs,Dippers,City and the Rent Boys we have one off game,probably from the disappointment of not beating the Rent Boys after outplaying them,there was bound to be a let down.Then the usual suspects crawl out of the woodwork to let everyone know just how under par the team is,fucking laughable and anyone buying into samuel being a Red are mugs he's never had anything good to say period,doesn't matter who the manager is or who Utd sign.He shows up after bad games or when Utd are struggling to puke his bile

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TywinnLannister April 26, 2015

@Weareunited
I hear ya. But it was not just Carrick that was the issue tonight.
I think it was more than that.

The tendency to progressively giving up when we were 2-0 down was a WTF situation. This wasn't the first time the team is progressively shutting themselves down when they were down by 2. Someone needs to smack these players, instill that believe in them that they are wearing a Manchester United jersey, I may be boastful, but they are entitled to score at least a goal. You hear them fans singing "we're man united, we do what we want", if the players do not believe in that, than regardless who is wearing the jersey, we are nothing but a losing team.

It is more than just Carrick in my opinion. We came there to lose and that was sad to say.

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United_till_I_die April 26, 2015

Same old story today team defend deep with everyone behind the ball and we can't break them down. Predictably we then resort to hopeful balls into the box which are easy to defend against. Time to put it behind us and Finnish the last 4 games strong. It's in our own hands and I'm confident we will make the top 4. Although today was dropped points the fact that we took 12 points from Newcastle, spurs, Liverpool and city during that tough run makes it a little more bearable.

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denislawking April 26, 2015

Fergie always used to say it's not losing that matters it's the reaction to that loss. Consequently I was hoping we would rally from last week and be immense. Unfortunately not case. Even more worry is that any coach worth his salt will simply copy those tactics. Martinez did and look what happened. We were really made to look very average today. Points from these last two games would have cemented a challenge for second, now it's likely we will be in a scrap for fourth on current form. My worry is we haven't shown a great ability to break down defenses in these type of games. We need to find a plan b and get back to winning ways. Let's hope hull do us a service by beating Liverpool or the pressure will really be on. I,m not in the blame game. We simply got beat. We need to move on and win.

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Marko Maric April 26, 2015

Our wage bill is to big for so manny squad players....

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iamMatty April 26, 2015

Oh shit so samuel said danny ings wasn't good enough?
So samuel actually "attacks" other player not just united ones.
And samuel said united should shop for absolulte top tier players? Wow must really hate united.
.
.
While I may not agree with samuel on most things, its not even a debate if he's a red.
He was here when fergie won league titles so the "only shows up when united lose" arguement is bollocks.
Its funny how so many people let one insecure oldman's insecure attacks/ propaganda dictate how they see other posters.

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wayne barker April 26, 2015

therein lies the problem samuel never supports the team of players we have our players are never good enough and the grass is always greener,never comes on after good results to praise the lads always comes on after a defeat or when the team is struggling to put them down,if you call that being a Red you have a funny fucking idea on what supporting a team means
Go back as far as you want it's always been the same dating back to when Utd signed Berba,it never changes,he's never happy and always has a list of players he picks on.The only reason he hasn't been on is Utd have been playing well and the players he goes after have all played well.This is the first time in weeks the lads played poorly and guess who shows up

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cantonafanclub April 27, 2015

all season we've known we've got no depth. a match finally happens that shows the lack of depth we all knew we had, and people act surprised?

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Marko Maric April 27, 2015

Actually, many think that this squad has enough dept. But it is opposite :)

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United_till_I_die April 27, 2015

There's a difference between depth and quality depth. It's shocking the way we fall apart without Carrick in central midfield. Carricks presence alone makes other players better by giving them the freedom to focus more on attacking. Carricks absence greatly effects Herrera's play which then has a knock on effect on the strikers. Michael Carrick is the glue that holds everything together