Man United vs Stoke City- 2/12/2014

Dominant display again but we lacked speed to our play in the first half. The first goal showed exactly what we can do when we move the ball quickly, thought it was a great team goal.

The second half we looked more dangerous and looked like creating more but I still thought players were too ponderous in the final 3rd, particularly Herrera. The defence was incredibly solid for most of the match, the last 5/10 minutes were hectic but that's to be expected as Stoke were chasing the game, still frustrating to have to rely on Dave making a superb stop and Young clearing off the line to get 3 points though.... but that is more down to the lack of goals on our end as our dominance should've resulted in a much more comfortable lead.

I thought every player did their bit besides RVP, he was non existent in the first half, people say he didn't get the service but he wasn't making the runs and making space for himself to get the service, he did however improve in the second half.

MOTM was a toss up for me between Fellaini, who is getting more confident with every performance, he's reading the game well, making vital interceptions and breaking up play but is also moving the ball on as quick as he can, whilst also looking a threat in the final 3rd, incredible turn around by him but still more improvement needed. The other contender for MOTM was Smalling who is looking like our main man at the back right now, another fine display from him.

The makeshift fullbacks played well, was just disappointed with some of the crossing but they were both full of energy and impetus. Rojo looks like developing a good partnership with Smalling and also had a decent game for the most part. Carrick was his usual composed self, Mata was in and out of the game but did well on the whole and Wilson showed glimpses of what he can do, yes he should have passed to RVP but at the same time it was good to see him show the eagerness to score, we didn't get him into the game enough for me though and didn't utilise his pace.

All in all another satisfying display without our 2 most talented footballers, without our main holding midfielder and without any recognised fullbacks. A world away from last season and we are now starting to see more clear signs of LVG working his magic.

Bring on Southampton!

I've never known such an eruption of noise at Old Trafford for stopping a goal, it was incredible when Young cleared it away. Dave had no right to even stop the first one and I've no idea how Young readjusted quick enough to stop the rebound.

It shouldn't have been that nervy though, we were more than good enough to be 2 or 3 clear going into the last minutes. A mixture of poor finishing and poor decision making added to a few cynical fouls from Stoke is what kept them in the game. Ashley Young is looking more and more like a fullback every time he plays there, ironically enough it is his final ball that still lets him down even from there, he was superb defensively apart from the one silly foul near the end.

What was it Louis said? "I can make every player better, that is not arrogant, because I can."

I might be paraphrasing a bit but it was something along those lines - I believe him :lol:

Fellaini is proving useful now but he's still got all the technique of a retarded walrus at this level, his attempt at that shot late on showed that, it was perfect to hit but he never even looked likely to make a clean connection. But we're playing him to his strengths so he's no longer the liability he was last season.

"In the first half we were not aggressive enough and also we didn't keep out positions on the pitch so I wasn't pleased at half-time," he told Sky Sports.

"I think the second half was much better. We created more chances - we scored, but we need to score more goals.

"You know that (Peter) Crouch is coming on and the long balls are coming, but I'm very happy that we held this result until the end.

"The last few minutes were not necessary. We have struggled till the end and in the Premier League it is common but I'm happy with the result. It's our fourth victory in a row which is also important.


Marouane Fellaini was pleased to get on the scoresheet as Manchester United edged past Stoke at Old Trafford
"I had to select a new line-up, but I don't want to talk about the injuries. I want to talk about the players who gave us this result. They fought until the end.

"I'm always impressed by our performance than by the result - I'm a very crazy coach. I want a better performance.

"Against Hull City I liked our performance, but today it could have been better."

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I love reading stuff like this from van Gaal. I'm doing my best to avoid comparisons with Moyes and last season, but I can't help thinking Moyes would've been absolutely delighted with last night, van Gaal still wants better.

Wish they'd have quoted him word for word though instead of correcting his English, "we needed more agressivity in the first half" was much funnier.

The video is up on Sky Sports just scroll down a bit and you can get it directly from the horses mouth

www1.skysports.com/football/live/match/313521

He's the embodiment of "not arrogant, just better" and that shows on the pitch and in the whole attitude of the players. And not just Young and Fellaini, you can see it in Carrick too who I thought was as good as gone.