jibers wrote:Depay is too raw. Tactically he looked naive. Wasn't pressing properly. He will learn hopefully.

Tactically, he looked like CR7 in his first years at Real Madrid.

i think you guys are expecting too much from the first game. Personally, i think depay did just fine. He was being played through the middle, not on the left wing. With that amount of money, we still got a good price if he performs like this throughout the season ( my suspect is the gelling part, in which his understanding with the teammates is still too different). Schneiderlin and Schweigensteiger are both solid in the middle. The only disappointments so far is how disconnected our midfield looks at times in the first half, and the partnership between Blind and Jones. Even our youngsters formed a better partnership in the second half. We have the shittiest backline among the top teams. They are crucial in a championship run.

I had bigger expectations from Depay but to be honest I am not surprised or disappointed by him or any other player in particular.

For example, I mentioned that Depay wasn't used in his fav position and Memphis himself said on social networks that Rooney has this task, to help him find and understand his role on the pitch.

I am truly aware of the process that the new players need to go through.

In the above post, I tried to make a joke.

vizkosity wrote:i think you guys are expecting too much from the first game. Personally, i think depay did just fine. He was being played through the middle, not on the left wing. With that amount of money, we still got a good price if he performs like this throughout the season ( my suspect is the gelling part, in which his understanding with the teammates is still too different). Schneiderlin and Schweigensteiger are both solid in the middle. The only disappointments so far is how disconnected our midfield looks at times in the first half, and the partnership between Blind and Jones. Even our youngsters formed a better partnership in the second half. We have the shittiest backline among the top teams. They are crucial in a championship run.

I don't look at defenders individually to much tbh. It's all about their roles and how many one on ones they are exposed to. We need to get better at preventing counters.

Tomorrow we will play against San Jose Earthquakes. Another step in the process of getting the whole squad fit.

The same display like in the first game. First half with 11 players, 2nd half with another line-up display.

I'm eager to see the boys playing again, so much expectations. I love to see them working together, building team chemistry.

PS. Never heard about this team. How are they compared to Club America? Does anyone has some info about them? I am talking about their qualities, their style of play...tactics.

I would like to see Rooney playing with the youngsters in the 2nd half and wilson in the 1st with the bigger boys. May be that way if the younger ones can get an assist or a two, it will do a world of good for their confidence.

My team would be
1st half


2nd half

Sadly, DDG is out for this game too.

Hmm.
so Johnstone in the 1st and Lindegaard in the 2nd I guess.

Nope. Johnstone for the entire game, LvG said he won't take risks with the other GKs.

Thats a good decision. He was impressive in the last game.

Vlad the Impaler wrote:

PS. Never heard about this team. How are they compared to Club America? Does anyone has some info about them? I am talking about their qualities, their style of play...tactics.

They conceded twice against a 9 man Club America side and lost 1-2
eventhough both goals were long rangers and their keeper was at fault in at least 1 of them.
Pretty aggressive bunch though. But then CA was also pretty aggressive. 2 red cards

Should be easier match than the previous one certainly.

I didnt notice it earlier the, P.S part.

I hope these give us somewhat of a challenge.

SJ is crap

watched Toronto mugg them earlier in the season

best player is a 32 year old american striker named Wondolowski

Same side with Blind in CB and Memphis in AM.
Hope its only for pre season to give minutes to all players though.

same problem with overcomplicating the final 1/3

that's all what we need, stop overcomplicating the stuff around the box

depay is having a good game, he has that killer instinct of many good scorers

My opinion about the first half:

Poor defending by Schneiderlin. Darmian, a little bit hesitating. Carrick didn't impress when it comes about transition from the defenders to the attackers.

But, let's see the good things:

- solid performance until we conceded
- nice finish by Mata, though he tried to pass the ball
- we seem to have a very strong left side with Young and Shaw dominating the flank, performing like they played together for many years
- Depay looked brilliant when he had to score in an one-on-one situation

Overall verdict: a decent first half with some negatives and more positives.

Nothing much to say.
Second half was a drag. First half was decent.

Pereira and Depay stood out.

Against Barca this please

Schneiderlin had a 'meh' game , but I think that was largely down to complacency. We were 2-0 up by that point and looked to be cruising, so the whole defence (especially him) took their foot off the gas, which led to him being done over and the defence being all over the place when we conceded.

Shaw was the stand out performer. His marauding runs (that boy has some serious speed, even though he doesn't look it), whipped in some good cut back crosses that should have been buried away.

Memphis did well too. Looks a threat in the box. Would like him to play in the wings against Barca on Saturday.

Periera again impressed. Schweini looks to be in the process of gaining much needed match fitness.

The rest was okay-ish . Routine and expected performance/win.

Herrera alongside the Schmidfield and/or Carrick should inject some pace.

halamadrid2 wrote:Watched the game because I was bored and this is what I think:

-The pressing wasn't coordinated which allowed the San Jose players to run at your defence many times especially Darmian who looked a little awkward out there
-Schneiderlin was not only very slow at chasing 50/50 balls but he looked panicky on it when he was pressed. He was largely to blame for their goal
-Schweini wasn't much better, the lack of speed in your midfield is going to hurt you imo
-Shaw I thought was excellent,  gave a balanced game attacking wise and defensively
-Rooney was very quiet, had a few flashes here and there but nothing to be impressed about
-Pereira looked very mature out there, took his goal really well. If given chances I think he may do better than Januzaj

Overall I thought United had exactly the same problems they had last season I.e. slow build up, lack of counters and getting cought in counters themselves

This is an opinion most of the fans/neutrals share. But its not that bad as people make it to be.


Watch from 4:58 of this video. He keeps up with one of the fastest players in the PL. Schneiderlin is more than capable of tracking back and effecting a quick build up play.
Plus theres Herrera who is quite handy as well on that front.

Only slow midfielders in the team are Carrick, Blind and now Scweini. From those 3 only 1 will play in midfield, surely. If LvG betrays on that front and pick more than 1 in a 2 man midfield come PL season, I will be seriously upset.

Herrera-Carrick-Scneiderlin is the way forward with Basti coming in to take up from Carrick later. Blind being the 3rd option.


As for the quick counter though, we expect LvG to deploy Memphis in the wing in place of young. He is rapid and can facilitate that.
Mata, on the other hand is slow though. Mata's build up play is one of the major concerns right now in the side. Especially next season when Herrera might not be there with him like he was last season (cos of a possible change in role for Ander ). Mata takes too much time when left on his own and that is an aspect of his game that needs addressing.

I thought Shaw had a wonderful game, hope injuries are behind him this season and he takes over the LB position for good

Shaw and Young seemed to be on the same wave length yesterday; very well organised partnership between them, with a lot of support runs and through passes between them.

manutd.com wrote:Louis van Gaal took his Manchester United players to Stanford University on Thursday morning to continue preparations for the International Champions Cup clash with Barcelona, with Sir Alex Ferguson watching on from the sidelines.

The Reds former boss joined up with the tour party earlier this week in his role as a club ambassador and attended training with his old club captain Bryan Robson, also an ambassador for United.

The pair watched on as van Gaal's men worked on the plans for the match against the current European champions at the Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday lunchtime, as part of Tour 2015, presented by Aon.

United have already recorded two wins out of two in the ICC, following victories over Club America and San Jose Earthquakes, and the Reds enjoyed a morning training session at Stanford Uni ahead of the Barca meeting.

Click on the main image to view a selection of photos from Thursday morning's session.

Sir Alex, everywhere & everytime with the club. (He seems to be in a good shape and happy)