FC Bournemouth v Manchester United 12/12/15 18:30

Never good to see the squad getting hit by so many injuries but it might finally force van Gaal's hand in terms of our approach to the game.

Even with this many out I don't think we can play any worse than we have, with at times, a near fully fit squad.

Smalling will be definitely be the biggest loss as him, Blind and DDG have been ever constants throughout the season while in a lot of the other positions van Gaal has shuffled the pack.

Centre field is where the only question marks lie for the weekend and who's available and who gets the nod then.

Our attack on the other hand hasn't been hit too much and that's what it is going to all come down to again on Saturday evening.

We had quite a few injuries going into the Wolfsburg game and yet we got a performance that we've been crying out for so often this season. So despite the injuries there's clear and obvious signs there but all that comes down to the approach on the field.


Dropped points against Leicester and West Ham especially has now put the pressure on us in this game. We can't keep relying on other teams dropping points to bail us out. Now's the time to take the initiative or face the pressure of must win games down the road and come up short just like Wolfsburg the other night.

Pander around and play the way we did in a lot of games before Wolfsburg then we're probably looking at more dropped points

Injuries can't be used as an excuse against a side like Bournemouth. There should be enough going out on that pitch Saturday evening to get the 3 points.

Same as in Germany Tuesday night please is all we ask for and this time just hold our composure at the back and take any sting out of the game if we do score. Common sense stuff really

Will give us a good game but are they on a par with Wolfsburg (who we could have beaten)? I wouldn't have thought so.

Everyone's beating Chelsea these days :lol: (at least in the league anyway)

8 out injured with piggy suspended. Fucking great start heading towards xmas

^that

De Gea, Varela, McNair, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Carrick, Fellaini, Memphis, Mata, Lingard, Martial

Subs: Romero, Jones, Tuanzebe, Schneiderlin, Young, Powell, Pereira

Good to see he rewards the youth when they played well: clearly Varela and B-J are there for their good mid-week performance. And it's only fair I guess. But it's still weird to leave out someone like Young who could have brought something from that left flank as well as some maturity & experience in such a youth side. Or Have Schneiderlin in CM and Carrick dropping at CB.

Our defence is too young, and will probably be shaky. I'll be glad if we manage a narrow win to be fair. Hopefully those young lads once again show their teeth. I am more worried about McNair than Varela and B.J., he doesn't inspire me with confidence at all.

There is a crual lack of experience to that side. On paper it must be the weakest side we have fielded in a BPL game for quite a big while. Granted we have been unlucky with injuries, but at some point you have to question the "luck" factor. So many injuries can't be a coincidence.

Was always going to be a tough game but thought we'd have enough to win, still. We were unlucky with the first goal and defended terribly for the 2nd. I'd have said we were unlucky in general as they were getting the rub of the green everywhere near their own area, that was until the last 15 minutes or so where they could've scored about another 3/4 goals.

Can't blame the full backs, they both struggled but they need introducing to the first team gradually and as part of an otherwise experienced defence, not all at once like today but needs must. Think Memphis looked good in the first half but was pretty ineffective in the 2nd and Martial showing once again that he's just a kid as well and the pressure is too much. He'll still score goals for us but he should not have the pressure of having to score week in, week out.

I was hugely disappointed with our more experienced players, it was their job to guide the younger guys through a game like this. Mata was terrible. As I've said before, he's too slow and too weak. If he doesn't get bundles of time on the ball the game just completely passes him by.

Tough day and the injuries obviously didn't help and keep piling up with Lingard going off as well. Have to give credit to Bournemouth who never stopped for 90 minutes and looked the only team with anything left in the last 15 minutes.