A unconvincing win. I still think we are firing on only 50% of the cylinders. Let's hope that by the time the injured return it won't be too late. We are keeping in touch with the CL places...so far. The RS are in despair...three defeats in a row and 3 CL defeats in a row. Brenda's forfeiting the Madrid match has destroyed their international reputation and was for nothing...
Palace laid siege? When? I must have blinked as looked like we were passing pointlessly (hate that). Wasn't great but i will take it. Like i said, we lost these games last season, Newcastle, west brom etc. This time we kept a clean sheet and won 1-0 without playing well.
Would rather spend a week with the mother in law than visit the 606 Liverpool board, but I would imagine its in melt down. An abysmal performance against Chelski, then falling behind United. All makes for a very pleasant weekend
You must have blinked for 20 mins then mate Stop trying to put a gloss on it UIR, we should have won that game convincingly. It's embarrassing that we are using a clean sheet against Palace... Neil faking Warnock as a positive. If that is the case we really have reached a new low. There is no excuse for not blowing that Palace team away today. 99% of LVG's decisions (apart from our defence where his hands were tied) were woeful.
With a similar kind of defence fergie managed to get pasted 3-0 at fulham. Im not glossing over it as it was nothing special but its a hard fought win with a decimated squad.
No point in kidding ourselves, it was a poor performance, and an ugly win. Last year, we played ugly and lost. So which do we prefer? We ground a result out and got the 3 points. But that is far better than losing the game, it builds confidence and climbs the table. things will get better, so keep the faith.
I actually don't think it was a bad game. We controlled the game for large spells but we are not clinical up front. RVP is not offering much lately and Rooney is meh. I also disagree with many who keep slatting Fellaini. He looked decent for and played like he has a point to prove which explains why he is kept in the team. We just need to start functioning as one and I'm sure the other pieces would fall into place. Last year, I honestly saw no hope for us with the way we played. This year has been different.
I think everything needs to be seen in context. Had we gotten that result two years ago, everyone would be saying "typical Utd, getting a win without playing well, on their way to the title". Now it's "Utd are struggling if they don't put three or four goals past every team they play outside the top four?" We got the win, it wasn't pretty, and credit to Palace they came with a good game plan, played for containment and counter attack and shackled us pretty well for much of the game. The most important thing is we got the breakthrough and won, all we have to do now is keep winning, whether we play well or not.
Chelsea haven't really battered any sides this year apart from Villa. The Everton match was a bit of a fluke - seemed they just scored every chance they got in what was quite an even game all round. But no one gives a **** as Chelsea just keep winning. All we need to do is get back to a stage where we just keep winning - we have the attacking flair to batter teams when playing well, and that will undoubtedly happen in some games, but the key is to win, whether with style or with substance.
To highlight swarbs point look at chelsea v palace .. Win by one goal margin Concede 14 to our 23 shots Routine victory or hopeless struggle againt peasant peasants.peasants?peasants
To answer the points raised... 1) That we played ugly but won and wouldn't have done last season. A very simplistic view not taking into account the threat posed by the opposition. Crystal Palace offered nothing going forward. Secondly, last season we could not argue with the team selection last season could we? Had he started with Mata and Januzaj/Herrera and we couldn't break them down then fair enough. This is a Neil Warnock crystal palace side. Anyone who's watched them this season knows you don't need Fellaini. 2) That we used to grind out results under Fergie. True but we endured boring, unimaginative football doing so. Why? Because we all knew our midfield creativity was shot to bits. Many United fans have been excited by our performances bcos of our passing play this season. We now have the midfielders and creativity to do that. To me it showed LVG doesn't know his best attacking side and doesn't know how to select a team to suit the opposition. In short, on both the above points, unlike previous seasons (Moyes 2013-14 or Fergie 2011-2013) today we played badly when there was no reason/excuses to do so. And this is what really worries me. Each game gives an indicator of what the manager and team will do next. What we saw today from LVG shows he could pick another poor line up and we will get punished. Listen to Mata's post match interview. That performance against a weak Crystal Palace team did nothing to lift their confidence. Anyway lads if you have sky sports the full match is on now. Watch and list what Fellaini did that was worth picking him....or playing the full 90 mins and I'll eat humble pie.
I thought it was a very drab performance and an incredibly dull game. There were many contributing factors. Palace made almost no effort to try and win the game. The team had no confidence in the defence, understandably as it was made up of children and midfielders, so they played very conservatively. As long as RVP is up front we are effectively playing without a striker. Wilson was a massive improvement when he came on. Still, an important 3 points which keeps us within touching distance of the top 4 which only emphasises the fact that it really is the ****test league in living memory.
Good result chaps, unlike us, but I never expected anything else from today, actually surprised we were in it until the end.. sort of
Put it this way; if that was Chelsea that beat Palace by 1-0, the story would have been.. Chelsea showed great composure, unbeatable and strength to close out aspiring Palace. When it is Man Utd, it is always "non-convincing" even with 71% possession and 23 shots at goal.
