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Match Day

VIDEO: Falcao goal vs Villa

December 20, 2014

Scott is the editor of RoM and has a season ticket at Old Trafford. He started The Republik of Mancunia in March 2006. Follow @R_o_M on Twitter or @R_o_M7 on Instagram.

LIVE BLOG: Aston Villa v Manchester United

Evans: We should have beaten Villa

28 Comments

ashtheking December 20, 2014

Loved his celebration. Hope this is the beginning of something special.

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Dela December 20, 2014

@asktheking - I think he'll get better and better long as he stays fit. Would have loved to see him nick a winner today and he was actually pretty unlucky a few times, within a couple of mins of scoring the ball was played into him and the slightest deflection meant it bounced off his trailing leg instead... had it come at him in a controllable fashion, it was a goal.

But fuck it, nothing can be done about the result after the fact. Now the boys have to get into the right state of mind because their biggest test is approaching fast....

Newcastle at OT on Friday
Tottenham at White Hart on Sunday
Stoke at Britannia on the following Thursday (new year's day)

So in about a week they have THREE matches and two of them are away. Thick and fast footie, and I don't think we can afford to slip in any of the three. We'd want to be looking absolutely certain to finish top 4 by the end of January, I genuinely believe that. I really dont want an "arsenal season" where you don't know if you're top 4 until the very fucking end.

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m09538061 December 21, 2014

I got thrown out of
Villa Park...Cos they
could tell im a United
Fan in the Villa End!
The fucking Villa spotters spotted me for fucks
sake!
Far as I know their were a fair few United fans
in the Villa end who also got thrown out.
Villa shouldn't sell tickets to the general public.
Pathetic Club with Shithouse fans who only
come to see United!
Fuck them,I hope they get relegated !

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NairobiRed December 21, 2014

The main reason I'm personally disappointed with LVG is not so much the big talk with no substance, I actually like that compared to Moyes defeatist attitude, my main gripe comes from the promise that for now seems a mirage.
With LVG coming in, I was looking to some exciting football, a good mix of dutch total football with barca like control. Beautiful through balls at RVP's feet from Mata and the occasional cross when a team is packing the middle. Forget the bad performances, why are we still pumping aimless crosses in the box, this was Fulham all over again. Not quite sure why people are saying young had a good game, he kept crossing to no one and only found Falcao in one of about 20 attempts. Valencia didn't even register a successful cross, there were 0 through balls from Mata or Rooney. Mata actually seems to have lost that no. 10 magic he had at Chelsea, he now picks the ball and instantly looks to offload to Young or Valencia, memo to Mata, you used to play balls towards goal, i.e. play with the striker not the winger. Its so frustrating.
LVG is talking like a fan not a manager, saying the players should perform better yet not actually saying why they are failing is laughable. They seem as confused about the philosophy as most of us.

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Marq December 21, 2014

Yea, lets tell the whole world what are the failings (even if some of it is obvious)

Do you seriously think they are not going to address it?

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ashtheking December 21, 2014

Nairobired

Tell me one thing were barca formed in one day? Were bayerns dominant display come in 2 months? How much years did it take for Madrid to win the champions league? How much year did sir Alex took to make united a strong side?

Your whole assessment is bullshit. Do you even realise what you wrote. Comparing our present season to last season. We fucking finished 7th last season and are 3rd. LVG didn't say we will play a great brand of football within 6 months.

But yeah you have a right to speak all bullcrap you want as that's what you can do.

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midfield-man December 21, 2014

ash, in his defence, LVG said it'll take up to 3 months to see "the philosophy" implemented. Yes, we've been plagued by inuries, but with the players available, I don't see anything with an LVG signature yet, aside from asking players who aren't qualified for it at the back to do something they are not capable of.

LVG did say he finds EPL very different, and difficult.

As I said before, no argument the man has accomplished great things, but I haven't seen the philosophy yet. Mind you, I have lots of time for LVG unlike Moyes. Yes, we are 3rd and not seventh, but let's be honest, if it wasn't for amazing De Gea heroics, we'd be seventh right now.

Loved the fact that Falcao started today, and that he started. LVG needs to put Herrera in midfield pending him being on crutches. putting fletcher there was a mistake. Pumping balls out wide as a standard way to get up the pitch still - l half way through the season is questionable.

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NairobiRed December 21, 2014

Marq, I'm offcourse assuming your post was a response to mine, you ask if i seriously think they'll not address it? I have watched football for many years to know managers do not always address problem areas, Fergie has his midfield and Wenger has the defense. So to answer you, I don't know and neither do you, so far he's making a hash of things. Injuries have subsided, and all the defenders we wanted fit are fit so whats the excuse?
The formation somehow gets us points but by god the team is playing poorly.

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NairobiRed December 21, 2014

Ashtheking
You ask if barca were formed in one year, I say to you yes, they were actually formed in one preseason. Pep, did a fergie and dropped or sold team heavyweights, the likes of Ronaldinho, and deco replacing them with Iniesta and Messi. He went on to dominate la liga and europe with that team that was formed in 2008.
Bayern took some time to build the squad but it's not like they stayed on top, 1 season hits and flops the next, Inter Milan know all about this.
Anyway, at this point there only 2 managers in the world who can improve the team and both are tied down to their clubs so no need to look for alternatives, but i'll say and talk about what I see.

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midfield-man December 21, 2014

Good Lesson for LVG in regards to Fletcher and Evens today anyway.

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Marq December 21, 2014

Barca bring formed in one day is total utter bullshit. Xavi made his debut in 1998 and Inesta made his in 2002. Messi made his debut in 2004. All of them were in place way before Pep was managing starting 2008. In fact, the period those players made their debuts coincided with LVG's stints.

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Marq December 21, 2014

Fact

Xavi, Inesta & Messi each played more games in 07/08 than Ronaldinho & Deco, that was the season before Pep took over.

Shock horror! Pep wasn't the one who brought that trio in!

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NairobiRed December 21, 2014

Even strengthens my point, with the same players barca were not a force, bring in Pep and in 1 preseason and from the very first month, people could see something special was being created. I felt the same after, DiMaria, Blind and Falcao, but alas, it seems a false dawn. Being 3rd in decwmber means nothing, especially considering west ham are fourth. The table positions will change but hopefully the other teams continue being a laughing joke and LVG holds on to 3rd. Watched city today and honestly, its not just the defence where they outshine united, the ball movement in the final 3rd is better than even chelsea in my opinion.

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ashtheking December 21, 2014

Midfieldman

"If not for de gea we would have been 7th"

Sowhat he is our player . Ifs and buts don't work In sports. If not for messi barca would have lost many matches, if not for rvp we won't have won the league two seasons ago, if not for Suarez Liverpool would have been below us, if not for Sanchez , arsenal would be In 17th. Rather than using if not to negatives . How about we say if not for injuries we would have been. Well close to chelsea. See ifs and buts don't work.

And one more thing we also scored goals which oppositions could not so how are we bad in that regard. So when we play well people lik you say it's because league is shit but if we draw like today it's. Because we are shit and LVG doesn't know anything.

And LVG didn't say we will play a top football in 3 months. Listen to what he meant. He meant his philosophy will take 3 moths then it's upto implementing it. It's like first you have to understand the subject then analyse it same way first understand the philosophy and then start implementing it. We are at Implementation stage and it will take time and injuries are not helping.

And yeah like mark said barca were not formed in one pre season. They were nothing prior to 2006. It takes time. If you thought we would be playing great football in 3 months just because we have a Dutch maestro and we have spent 150 millions in super players then sorry your understanding towards football is not great

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ashtheking December 21, 2014

Nairobired

Are you even following who all are fit and not. How come you say we have our defenders fit when both rojo and smalling are injured. Then shaw and Rafael are also injured. I seriously doubt top you even know what you are speaking other wise you won't comment like this. Atleast get your facts straight and then criticise . Our priority player Daley blind is also injured and Herrera is injured . How come you say our injuries are ok now.

And regarding barca , they were becoming special even before pep joined. We defeated a strong barca side in the semis , and next season barca were lucky to be in finals when he refs handed them the match against Chelsea. Messi was becoming a superstar and iniesta Xavi were at heir peak. Credit to pep for handling well but don't say they were build in one ore season. Like again your comments suggest you don't watch football .

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Nnamdi Ejim December 21, 2014

Many people are calling this a cop out, but the reality is that we haven't been able to field anywhere near a consistent team all season.

City and Chelsea may be playing well right now, but both sides needed 1-2 seasons to really start to play at their best and that's with a regular run of injuries.

This year was always supposed to be about rebuilding. The Squad. The Mentality. The Philosophy.

The Squad is in shambles really. Many great pieces, but none of them are getting playing time together.

We aren't playing anything like our first choice back line. We rarely have the right mix of midfields fit at the same time. And the Rooney/Mata in midfield experiment is HEAVILY dependent of having the right pieces around them, namely Herrera, Carrick, or Blind.

I do think playing Fletcher last game was a mistake and that LVG has made mistakes at other times, but overall, I think we're still improving.

The Mentality seems to be solidifying and improving game by game, but I think we definitely got overconfident this week. The draw at Villa Park will hopefully wake us back up. Let's not swagger like we've won the league just yet.

The Philosophy. People say that they don't see the philosophy on the field. I do. I see that we're struggling to implement it, but we've definitely improved from what we where doing 2 months ago. Now I think the next major hurdle is fielding something close to a 1st choice starting 11. Once that happens, I think we'll see a much more free flowing game that's not all about the wingers.

We have a lot of great players who need a leader/catalyst in the middle of the park to truly shine. Rooney/Mata/Di Maria can all be great, but need a Herrera/Carrick to help direct play to make them incredibly dangerous. Every team needs this. Chelsea has Fabregas and City has Toure. They make the opposing defense feel our variety in attack. They make the opposing team nervous, because they can't be sure were they are gonna go. They also make everyone eager to run for them, because they know they are looking to do something special. We won't win the league with a weak backline, but a consistent playmaker in the middle of the park will help keep us in the top 4.

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Gibran Galeb December 21, 2014

I was hoping we could get 40 points by the end of the year, but it was not meant to be

The team would learn from this draw and they will get better, Falcao will score more goals and instill fears in our opponents.

I will take top three this season, with an FA Cup. I do hope we buy someone strong for the back in January

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Nnamdi Ejim December 21, 2014

I'd like to see a consistent start 11 that looks something like this. Herrera edges Carrick due to pace, though I still think he has great value to the team. Fellaini can be brought in for Mata, depending on who we're playing. I no longer rate Jones and never rated Evans. Smalling loses out to Rojo because of his injury history, decision making on occasion, and I think Rojo is better with the ball at his feet. Smalling can be rock solid at times, though. He's currently our best understudy for heading up the back line. Blackett and McNair should snag minutes from time to time this season, because they are our future. Same with Wilson....I gotta hope the kid learns from watching RVP and Falcao. He's all energy and no wisdom a the moment. Raphael and Shaw really need to stay healthy above all else. Carrick can also sub in for Blind, as needed. Di Maria and Herrera can really cause problems if they are used in a high tempo possession game. RVP and Falcao are both world class and if we stop worrying about them I think they have the intelligence and unselfishness to begin to interchange between who links up and who's making the run into the box.

De Gea

Raphael-Rojo-Shaw

Blind

Herrera-Mata-Rooney-Di Maria

Falcao-RVP

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Marq December 21, 2014

You are just clutching at straws. Barca won the CL in 2006, and were in transition. The main transition period was in 2007, hence Inesta & Messi playing more games than Ronaldinho and Deco. Pep came in just as the transition was complete and he inherited a team that was ready to compete immediately, a team who foundation was laid by no other than LVG.

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Dev December 21, 2014

I have to say that match was tailor made for the likes of Herrera, Blind and Fellaini. All too often we were bullied off the ball in midfield before being overloaded on the flanks. The team was playing very much in the van Gaal philosophy but without the required personnel against some very galvanised and determined opposition. I reckon if not for the red we could've gone on to nick a winner.

Hard to believe but Young was our best player prior to the red. He seemed rattled after the challenge and the booing. Maybe he needs to he mentally stronger. Evans was absolute shit and should never play in a United shirt again. Hard to believe what was once our best defender with the best ball playing ability is now a complete liability. If you told me 3 months ago Chris Smalling would be our best defender I'd laugh in your face but now he can't return quickly enough. The less said about Fletcher the better too. His movement off the ball was crap, his distribution even more so. Perhaps it was a mistake taking off Valencia, I reckon Mata should've been taken off instead. Also shame that we had no aerial presence in the box when we needed a Plan B.

I think this draw would benefit in the long run. All this talk of the title challenge seems to have distracted them somewhat.

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Mirainashe December 21, 2014

Barça formed in one year has to be the most baseless statement this week. And there were a great many contenders. Pep took over a club that had won the CL a season prior. Knocked out in the semis. League champions. He did not take over some midtable team after David Moyes Ten Months of Pure Horror. There's a big big difference there's no need to go further with that.

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Mirainashe December 21, 2014

I see nothing wrong with having a philosophy. It doesn't mean when things are not working out after a few months it's a failure. There are many points to criticize Van Gaal on but to criticize him for trying to change a chronic illness we had carried for so long is incredible. The problem is there is a general assumption that buying world class players is the solution to all problems. You can have a team of world class players that get thoroughly beat by not so world class teams. Philosophy or principle is more important than world class players. Mourinho learned this with Real Madrid. He was trying to make a team built on attacking flair football foundations to play like Chelsea. They didn't like him one bit. Ancelotti comes in and gets them to attack with abandon and everyone is happy. Mourinho's philosophy demands that even attacking players be paranoid and cautious. That's why Mata had to go. He had similar problems with Hazard last season too. It's his philosophy. And it's good to have one. But Mata is a world class player. So it's clear that it's not all about world class players. It's a team sport. Any team without a philosophy or way of playing will be disjointed no matter the individual quality. But to get your philosophy through takes time. Especially when you're dealing with players that are too stuck on one way of playing. For instance United is traditionally known as a team that plays with width. Wingers and crosses etc. Flat back four. But Van Gaal wants to prioritize dominance and possession. He wants to train the players to adapt to any situation. Nothing wrong with that. But it's a process that takes time. Some are adapting quickly some are not. But the key thing is all the players have bought into this philosophy and seem to be enjoying the learning experience. Why? Personal development. Players like Young have learned enough to adapt to a wing back role. He played this role in preseason too. Rooney has been learning to adapt to deeper roles and be more effective there. I still think when everyone is fit Rooney should play higher up but the same Rooney that was complaining before about being played out of position is enjoying his new adaptable roles. He has bought into the philosophy. The next stage is to build on this and have the players acclimatize to the philosophy. That's the stage we are at. Those that fail to do so by the end of the season will depart. Those that do well stay. By the next summer when players like Mata Di Maria Herrera(hopefully) Falcao are in full flow it's easier to get in one or two additions who will adapt quicker because now it's not the whole team needing lessons

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Mirainashe December 21, 2014

Mourinho doing his usual mind games. Now trying to get into the the head of the referee saying we need a ref that can judge what is aggression and what are the rules. He is putting a lot of pressure on the referee and also on Stoke. In particular he mentioned Shawcross who is a cheater in my book and said what happens in the box the ref has to pay attention to. I hate Mourinho. I truly do. But he really can get into peoples minds. The eyes of the world are now going to be on the ref and on Stoke bring physical. You can be sure he is going to be on the touchline screaming at the ref everytime his player is breathed on by a Stoke player. I hate both teams but Mourinho is truly an evil genius.

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Olotu_Dennis_Olabamiji December 21, 2014

Mirainashe,Ash,both of you take a bow! You've spoken your mind. But to buttress,Pep built Barca in one season is the most ridiculous statement that can be attributed to Association Football. You mean Pep built a team that was founded on the La Masia principle all by himself? Messi,Xavi,Iniesta,Puyol,Busquets,Pedro,etc are all graduates of La Masia and the La Masia philosophy is as much a part of them as their own beating heart. Pep just came and provided a freer avenue for the players to express themselves. Luckily for him and the players,the share the same philosophy. Barca wasn't built in a season,it was built in over 25 years,from when Cruyff was in charge of them. It is easy to take a team from first and remain there. Ask Pep in Barca and Bayern. It is easier to take a team from first and leave them seventh. Ask Moyes. But it is never easy to take a team from seventh to first. No one has ever done it. Brendan Rodgers came second last season and won manager of the season. End of

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Olotu_Dennis_Olabamiji December 21, 2014

And what is this LVG bashing about? Is the problem of the team not apparent enough? Don't you know our first choice full-backs are injured and we actually. Have wingers deputising there? Don't you know our first choice CDM Daley Blind(who knows and understands the manager's philosophy well) is injured and that has forced him to make tweaks to the team's set-up,just as he did to the Netherlands team when his first choice midfielder,Kevin Strootman was injured? Don't you know our best midfielders in the past games Herrera and Fellaini are ill? Don't you know Manchester United remains the only team in the EPL not to field the same first eleven consecutively this season? Don't you know Angel di Maria got injured when the team was getting very much used to him and vice-versa? Don't you know Michael Carrick played in the centre of defence and that made a past-it Fletcher who missed 2 fucking years of football come in due to the lack of personnel on ground and we had to bring in a 20 year old guy to play when Fletcher's inability to properly kick a ball became glaring? Don't you know Borussia Dortmun is in the same situation and are 17th in the Bundesliga? Don't you know a lot of things? If you don't,then please,shut the fuck up and know.

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NairobiRed December 21, 2014

Its absolutely incredible how little respect and appreciation Pep gets for what he did. Barca have always had their philosophy, they have always had good players and will always be a big team. Talking about the indomitable and at times unplayable team built by Pep, the players were already at Barca, infact most of them are still playing for barca, yet the teams before and after Pep are mere shadows of the dominant world force forged by Pep.
La massia gets a lot of credit, my question is, did la massia cease to exist once Pep left? The philosophy of Cryuff has been at the club since the early 90's yet barca were never the dominant force they became under Pep, unless ofcourse you say it takes 20 years to see the fruits of a philosophy.
In my opinion, Barca have gone back to the team they were before Pep, a big team and an European heavyweight but a beatable team none the less. Pep built a team that has been described as the best club team the world has ever seen, no one had an answer to them for 3 years. All the pieces that people attributed the success to are still there except for 1. La massia is still churning out you talent, Cruyffs philosophy is still employed yet the team is no where near the levels of 2008-2011. One piece is missing, and the dominance began the day this piece took over and ended almost immediately he left. It didn't take Pep 3 years, it started as soon as he took over.

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Marq December 21, 2014

Nobody is disrespecting Pep. It is you who are disrespecting the managers who put the team together for Pep. Barca under Rijkaard and Ronaldinho at his prime were just as unstoppable. As a matter of fact, to say Pep built Barca in one day is completely bullshit considering most of his signings didn't make the grade, and he relied on the players who were prepared for him by previous managers.

Heres the fact. The Barca that LVG & Rijkaard prepared for Pep peaked in 09/10. After which, the decline began, with their points total getting lesser each year, culmulating in Pep quiting, and Tito came in to break Pep's record. While you can argue that he won 2 CL, it should be noted they shouldn't even be in one of those finals, with the ref screwing Chelsea over royally.

Why do I bother to respond to someone who believes a team is built in one day? Pep's Bayern must have won everything since he is the superman equal of a manager, surely he can take the season's current CL champions and make they even more invincible. Oh wait, they got thrashed by Real