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Post by Jie on Apr 3, 2016 17:08:46 GMT
Tried to be as calm and collected as possible - pressing closely, trying to keep as much possession as possible and creating some chances here and there. This kinda reminded me of the games from the beginning of the season - very solid in defence and not quite as attacking as we hope we would be, but effective nonetheless.
Blind for me was the one to get all the praise - looked really sharp and focused, played with a lot of confidence and didn't give an inch to Lukaku. Some great saves again for De Gea and the kids were great as usual.
I'm still not entirely convinced the Lingard - Mata positioning is right for us - it feels like it's missing pace or at least a full back that would run all the way up the pitch for it to work properly. I wouldn't mind seeing Valencia given some freedom to do that.
Either way, at this stage results are really the only thing that counts, so 3 points today is a good start to getting that top 4 spot.
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Post by Dave on Apr 3, 2016 17:24:22 GMT
Yeah not pretty but we did the job that was needed, both teams a little careless at times, sloppy and scrappy.
I think we deserved the win though, Everton never really put us under huge pressure and the chances they had were half chances at that. We did enough to win the match, some nice moments of link up play and a lovely worked goal but it was a game of bits and pieces, Everton were pretty dire.
Smalling and Blind bossed Lukaku, Fosu Mensah was brilliant when he came on. We were well organised throughout and again saw another match out with very little trouble.
Still in touch for top four so can't complain.
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Post by matt on Apr 3, 2016 20:06:11 GMT
I thought this was a professional display. Both teams were a bit rusty, but I am glad with what I've seen in terms of commitment and seriousness. We didn't give them many chances, we pressed high and were aggressive for the whole 90 min.
Sure it wasn't a "great display", but a solid one nonetheless. I am most of all very pleased with the youngsters, who despite their flaws and lack of maturity at times, show the perfect spirit week in week out. They're battlers and going for it, always! The kind of spirit I really appreciate and that maybe we have lacked from our mature players. But today I was particularly impressed with Fosu-Mensah's display. Was excellent, strong, direct, precise, effective. More of him, please.
Good 3 points, never easy against the Toffees.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 20:14:55 GMT
Yeah I agree, no where near the poor display some people are making it out to be, including LVG.
I also agree about the youngsters. No matter what happens for the remainder of this season, there have been some huge positives in terms of the way the youngsters are coming through. Often providing the spirit and aggressive play that our more experienced players seem to lack. Hope that whoever is in charge next season they all continue to get a fair chance.
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Post by germanc18 on Apr 3, 2016 21:02:09 GMT
Another game hard to watch but against Everton who only lost once away I do not care too much about Style.
Another youngster playing a big part.
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Post by matt on Apr 3, 2016 21:18:16 GMT
Hope that whoever is in charge next season they all continue to get a fair chance. Yeah me too. Many people keep saying that Mourinho doesn't give youngsters a chance but I am sure Mourinho will be the first to appreciate the spirit of those young players. If Mourinho is appointed, I am of course convinced he will bring in a couple of experienced players, but I have little doubt that Martial, Lingard, Rashford, Varela, Shaw, Fosu-Mensah, McNair, BJ etc. will all get their chance if they keep showing that spirit. On the contrary, someone like Januzaj is going to get sold asap if Mourinho takes over. We have some good young players coming through, but let's be honest we lack experienced leaders to guide them properly. They can no longer benefit from the guidance of the older players like Rio, Evra, Scholes, Giggs, Keane, Brown, O'Shea, Fletcher, etc. And that's where someone like Mourinho will be useful because he will balance the side better with a few strategic transfers. Most probably an experienced CB, CM and a striker. But that doesn't mean our young guns will no longer get a fair chance. The problem is that our current mature players are not being influential enough, and there are basically only Carrick and Rooney left from the old core, and while Carrick's influence is decreasing with age, Rooney has been in truly poor form for too long now and I suspect he could be on his way (at least that's a personal wish). Even Schweinsteiger hasn't really showed all his leadership. You look at Bayern, Juve or PSG for instance, they all have a solid core to assist their young talents and good mix of experience and youth. Regardless of who comes next, or even if LVG stays for another year, we will need to get some experience in this side, and be spot on in the market. We have enough young talents. What we don't have is a solid core around which those talents can gravitate and learn the trade. And as much as it will piss people to read that, Mourinho could be the best to build that short/mid-term core and establish a few leaders before our youngsters take over. |
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Post by Dave on Apr 3, 2016 21:33:26 GMT
Yeah I agree, no where near the poor display some people are making it out to be, including LVG. I also agree about the youngsters. No matter what happens for the remainder of this season, there have been some huge positives in terms of the way the youngsters are coming through. Often providing the spirit and aggressive play that our more experienced players seem to lack. Hope that whoever is in charge next season they all continue to get a fair chance. Aye, LVG seemed to think we were lucky when Everton had one effort all game really, maybe just keeping a level head. Agreed, our youngsters have been a huge positive. I'd be sceptical if it is Mourinho but I think that now the youngsters have been introduced to the first team and are getting regular action in the league then even he'd be more inclined to use them. |
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Post by Dave on Apr 3, 2016 21:37:46 GMT
On the contrary, someone like Januzaj is going to get sold asap if Mourinho takes over. Apparently Mourinho is a fan of him but he hasn't seen him in training yet.. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2016 22:14:53 GMT
I'd have taken Mourinho at the drop of a hat 6 months ago but now I'm not too sure. These youngsters coming through and performing so well have given me reservations about him. Even though I think he'll be told to integrate youth if he gets a job here, I still think it's not in his make up to choose them if he can go out there with a huge warchest and purchase experienced players. No doubt we need experienced players regardless of who the manager is but Mourinho has yet to prove he can mould a squad which combines talented youth with experienced players. I'd be so pissed just seeing guys like Rashford and Lingard being used as subs next season and barely getting a start. I almost think it's worth offering LVG a director of football type role to keep Mou in line with how he balances his squad and such. If he can integrate youth then I'm all for him as he ticks pretty much every box for me.
Pochettino is still the man for me though but I think he's going to be very hard to prise away from Spurs.
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Post by Jie on Apr 4, 2016 8:58:51 GMT
I'm still not convinced Van Gaal is gonna go after this season, especially if he makes it into top 4. Overall it has been a disappointing season performance wise, but if we secure top 4 and maybe win against West Ham then it's not too bad. Boring football or not, I'd love to see us keeping a manager for the entirety of their contract, but then on the other hand it comes at the most inconvenient time when Mourinho is available...I don't know, I just can't make my mind up for this one.
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Post by germanc18 on Apr 4, 2016 14:37:02 GMT
Another dire 0-0 performance which could have ended in a defeat as well. Luckily we were the team to put that one goal away. Defensively it was better the recently but in an attacking sense we are still miles away from CL level.
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