QPR vs Manchester United Match Review is this the end of the 3-1-4-2 ?

On Saturday we played QPR and won 2-0 and on the way of driving home listening to call Colomore which I usually listen to laugh at the people who think they know football but don’t. But this time there was one caller who said that the tactics this week where the worse he have seen and where worse than they were under David Moyes so after watching the match and watching reruns of the match and important parts I have to say he was right. It was worse I have seen tactically from a Manchester united manager I have seen until the formation was changed and to four at the back with wingers included in the formation. But this does leave a big question is this the end for 3-1-4-2 well in my opinion yes it should be and we should change to a four or five at the back to make us more of a balanced team which would mean we would win more away games like this one. Here are my player ratings for this match.

De Gea: 8

Kept us in the match with some amazing saves from shots that should have seen the back of the net.

Evans: 5

Was poor in the first half of this game but did eventually improve as the game went on.

Rojo: 6

Was good in the game but allowed Zamora to get under his skin which is why he only has a 6.

Jones: 7

Was our best defender on the pitch and did well in getting the ball even though it was wired to see him taking corners.

Blind: 4

Looked good on the ball but looked disconnected from the midfield this is why he only gets a four from me.

Carrick: 7

Saw plenty of the ball and kept it well but did not have enough penetration when going forward.

Valencia: 5

Had a poor game in whole but did well in picking Fellaini for the first goal.

Di Maria: 6

Was a poor in the striker role but when LVG swapped the formation was better in a deeper role.

Rooney: 7

Did well on the ball as he continued in his midfield role but could have had a bigger impact in a more advance position.

Mata: 6

Created United’s best chance in the first half when he played a ball into Falcao but then was replaced by Fellaini.

Falcao: 3

Was disappointing today and should have scored a hat trick.

Subs:

Fellaini: 7

Came on for Mata and gave our midfield a more solid look and did well taking his goal.

Wilson: 7

Gave us pace and made chances for the team also got a good goal from running from the half way line.

Herrera: N/A

Come on too late to score.

Our next match is against Leicester at Old Trafford which we will be hopping for a better performance and another win. If you have enjoyed reading this then you can follow us on Facebook by searching for the united wrap also you can follow us on twitter @theunitedwrap but if you don’t have any of these you can get email updates on the latest stuff on the blog by clicking the follow button. Thanks for reading and supporting the united wrap.

Manchester United vs Southampton Preview

This Saturday sees the return fixture at Old Trafford of united vs Southampton and after a win in the FA cup we will be looking to continue our undefeated streak on Sunday. This will be difficult though as Southampton are undefeated in their last five matches with their last defeat coming in getting knocked out of the capital one cup by Sheffield united. At this moment in time they have two of their first team regulars are in the way of Mane and Clyne but apart from that we can expect a full strength squad. What can we expect from Southampton? Their style of play is to keep the ball and play with it until they can find an opening on goal but they also press high when in possession of the ball so that they can keep the ball in their opponents half. Who are there Danger men? There biggest danger man is Pelle who often makes runs behind the defence and holds up the play so that more players can join the attack. There other danger men are Schneiderlin who can create scoring opportunities by playing balls over the defence to Pelle and Long who tends to score from the second ball and passes from Pelle and Schneiderlin. This is how I expect Southampton to line up on Sunday.

Southampton team to place United on Sunday

For united we are looking to improve on an average performance in the FA cup but also to continue our undefeated run but that will be difficult with the likes Valencia, Young, Rafael and Shaw all out of action with the earliest back expected on the 11^th of January but we could see the return of Blind who might make an appearance on the subs bench. We could also see a change in formation now that most of our wingers, left backs and right backs are now injured but I very much Van Gaal would like to do this as this would hamper to progress of the team to understand the system that he wants to play. This is how I expect us to line up on Sunday given no more injuries between now and Sunday

Manchester united team to face Southampton on Sunday

My prediction for this match is that it will be a 2-2 drew with Rooney and Herrera scoring for united and can expect a mistake from defence some were in the match.  Let’s hope we can improve on performances from last weekend in the FA cup.

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Aston Villa vs Manchester United Preview

We now face Aston villa on Saturday at Villa park and with our 6^th win on the bounce we look to make that seven now against the midlands club who are down near relegation and looking for a win against a United side who are struggling with injury’s and looking solid in defence. What positives can we take from the last match? Well the biggest positive is that we looked dominate in attack and with Van Persie back to his best and scoring a goal we can expect more against a team who are poor in defence at best. We can also take a positive in the formation which gave Rooney more freedom to stay in the attack and not drop back. Aston villa will be looking to win this game after losing in their derby against West Brom with having an important member of the first team sent off. What should we expect from this side? Villa like to play on the counter attack with Benteke liking to play on the last defender to run on to through balls or keep the ball up to play it down the wings which means we will have the lot of the ball. Who are their danger men? Well the biggest is Benteke who is hard to knock off the ball with his strength which could cause us problems there other danger men are Agbonlahor and N’Zogbia who will operate down the wings. This is how I think Aston villa will line up. The only changes they will make is that Cleverly will not be in the match due to the loan rule in his contract which we will see Bacuna come in for him and Cole come in for Richardson.

Villa line up but with two changes to come

For our beloved united we could see the return of Di Maria if he is fit enough on the day and we will not be with Rojo as he picked up a knock in training but has not been given a return date yet. We could also see a change in formation with Rafael coming back from injury for this game which could mean we could play four at the back but Van Gaal will most likely stick with three at the back for now. We could also see Falcao start as this could be perfect fixture for him to play to see if his fitness is back to his best or how far away he is from the fitness that Van Gaal requires. This is how expect us to line up against Villa.

The united line up

In all games we have played against Aston villa we have won 95 ended up drawing 38 and losing 49 this does include the time when the club was known as Newton Heath. In the last time we played in the premier league united won 4-1 with goals from Rooney, Mata and Javier Hernandez.

My prediction for this match is that we will win 3-1 and Rooney will score along with Van Persie. I do predict that this will be a hard game to win as we do not play our best at Villa park in past matches.

Thank you for reading this and if you have an opinion on this match please leave a comment below or tweeting me @theunitedwrap and don’t forget to share this blog among your MUFC friends and family. Thanks again for reading and showing your support for the united wrap.

Southampton vs Manchester United Preview

So now we have Southampton after winning our fourth game in a row and with Southampton enduring a dip in their results this could be the best time to face them and with Rooney expected to be back for this game we should see a more fluid attack when going forward so what can we expect from Southampton ? Well we can expect them to dominate the possession and pass the ball from wing to wing until they can find a combination of passes to go through the middle or down the wing then back into the middle where one of their strikers or attacking midfielders will be waiting to have a shot on goal. But who are their danger men ? Well they have a Pelle who is on fire for his first season in this league and country. Also they have Long who is good at holding the ball up and playing other midfielders in and attackers but can also score goals by waiting on the last defender and making runs past them. So what are there weaknesses in their team ? Well if attack them with lots of pace and catch them on the counter attack. Also we can use our wingers to get behind their defenders which is another one of their weaknesses. This is how I expect Southampton to line up.

Southampton Team line up

So what about our beloved United well with Di Maria still injured we will still see Herrera in the starting line up. But I think now we should see Wilson in the starting line up again as RVP has been poor form the last few games and should be by now benched to see if the team can play better without him. Also it will be interesting to see if Rooney will be playing an attacking midfielder role. Also it will be interesting to see if Van Gaal sticks with three in the back against a team who plays three up front which could be difficult to keep quiet with three defenders. This is how I think we will line up over the weekend.

United’s line up against Southampton

My prediction for this match is that it will be a 1-1 drew with Rooney to score.

If you have an opinion on this match I would love to her it and how you do this is by leaving a comment below or tweeting me @theunitedwrap and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you want to see more from the united wrap you can click the follow button to get email updates or follow me on twitter to keep up with the latest post from the united wrap. Thanks for reading and thank you for supporting the united wrap.

Transfers who’s in who’s out Part 1

So with only four weeks till the transfer window opens we will be looking at who could be coming in and who could be going out in the next couple of weeks. But will we be making any purchases this window. Is very unlikely as Ed Woodward has stated that we will not be making any purchases but this does not mean we can not rule it out if we sell a couple of players we could make a couple of small buys. So lets start with the players we could bring in.

Strootman:

So the first player we are going to look at is one we have been linked with the most and could well be a good possibility of coming to Old Trafford in the January window. But what type of player is Strootman? Well he is a box to box midfielder with a very good creative and long passing accuracy and is also good in cutting up and stopping opponents attacks early in their own half. He is very much like Blind but just a tiny bit better technically and has a better attacking mind in the terms of making chances and finding passes to players making runs off the defence. Is there any downsides to buying this player? The concern I have is that he is injury prone which at this moment in time is not good for our team as we are currently struggling with injuries as it is. My last concern is that he has only just come back to training with Roma which means he has not played much game time at all and with that fact he will take a long time to get to his best and use to a new life in the premier league which could dent his confidence and then the ability for us to get the best out of him. Do we need him? Part of me says yes then the other half of me says no the reasons for this is that we could do with a player that has the vision for a pass such as him and another player who can kill and attack from the opponents as he does. But also we do need a player who can play box to box. But is it a problem that we have an out form striker that we are not getting creative passes from our midfielders which gives me the reasons for me to say no we don’t need him also the fact of his injuries are another reason that I am saying no we don’t need him.

Strootman

Who will it affect at United if we buy this player ? If I am honest it will affect the Mata the most as he does not currently seem to be in the starting eleven and if we do buy Strootman it means he falls even more down the pecking order. Also it could mean that Mata could end up looking for a new club. Also another player that could be affected if this player come to Old Trafford is Fellaini who has looked to be back at his best since the arrival of LVG. The reason it could affect Fellaini is that he would be the second or third choice behind Strootman and Blind. But I do not think it would affect him enough that he would leave the club. What price should we pay? If you believe the media in September the highest price quoted was 60 million which seems to me as a rip off. In my opinion we should pay around 30 million and then if they don’t agree with the price we should offer the same but include Mata as a swap deal as I think Strootman is a better all around player.

Here is a video of Strootman best bits playing for Roma and the national team.

Please keep an eye on the blog as over the next couple of weeks there will more players who could come over to Old Trafford or leaving Old Trafford.

Thanks for reading as always and if you enjoyed reading this please make sure you follow by clicking the follow button on the site or even following the United wrap on twitter @theunitedwrap and be sure to share your opinion by leaving a comment or tweeting.

The Injured United

So now  after the international break we now have more injures in our current squad but why are all these players getting injured so much? Is it the training programme the manager is putting them under ? Or is it something in their personal life or could it be just them self’s doing stupid things on the pitch or on the training ground. Well in this I will looking at why we have so many injury’s in our club. So lets begin with how many injury’s we have in our squad in total we have ten which is the second highest in the premier league behind Newcastle united. Is it down to the training programme that lvg has them in my opinion it is one of the biggest reasons for the injury crisis at united at the moment but as a manager LVG should change this straight away as the crisis is now causing a problem for our season as a whole and the target we should be aiming for which is top four and in turn if the board feel the need to it could cost him the job of manager. But is it something in the players personal and what I mean by this is there diets at home or family commitments. In my opinion this is not a reason in the terms of family commitments as you give up so much to become a professional footballer but in the terms of diet I can see this having a small part in the reason as they all have family’s and kids do enjoy the bad things in life and this could have an effect on their resistance to getting injury’s But I must stress that this is reason is so small that you more likely to win the lotto than this reason being true. So on to the last reason is it the players doing things on the pitch or training filed in my opinion this is the biggest reason of all with our defenders showing this more than anything for example Rojo’s tackle against Manchester city which saw him picking up an injury. But why do they keep doing this well the biggest reason is inexperience but this should iron our with more game time and more on the pitch experience but is there anything the club can do to help this well there is get the defensive coaches to watch tapes with the players and tell them what to do better in the situation they faced picking up the injury. But what could the players do to help them self’s and the club well they could just be a little smarter in there challenges on the training pitch and on the football filed they just need to be a little more careful in there challenges and be more smarter in their positioning.

So do you have an opinion on this then why not leave a comment or tweet me @theunitedwrap and please while visiting press the follow button to see more stuff on all things Manchester United. Thanks for reading this and thanks for the support.

LVG Media Relationship and the Difference to Moyes

So after the result on sunday a lot has been made about LVG start to life at united and if this was Moyes he would have been fried for breakfast as put by one famous ex united academy reject. With other pundits saying things along the same line. But the feeling with united fans is not one of frustration it is the feeling of expectancy that sooner or later it will all click together under Van Gaal. So is the media right if this was Moyes there would be a grilling ? Well no because this time last season there was no expectation for us to win the championship under a new manager and there was no expectation for us to finish where we did in 7^th and the fans where happy to see Moyes build his own ideas into the team at this stage of the season. So where do the media get this ? Personally I put it down to factor of social media with a lot of fans showing their frustration on twitter with it being aimed at Moyes with the hash tag Moyes out which led the media to jump on the band wagon. So why are the media on LVG’s back already then. Well it could be down to that Van Gaal tends to take no messing from the media and speaks his mind with the media which to them can come across rude at times. For example at the weekend the interviewer said to LVG with the loss today you are now 16 points behind the leaders to which Van Gaal says yes I do realise I can count. Which if you where the interviewer would you take that as a normal reaction because I would certainly not. But does the media have the right to be saying this well if you look at the facts yes because this is United’s worst start to a season since before the Alex Ferguson era. So why are the fans not having the hash tag LVG out like they did with Moyes. The reasons behind this is Moyes never seemed to build anything in his time in charge where as Van Gaal looks to be building something special with this team also Moyes made stupid statements for example during a derby weekend he said we look to be like city which for a Manchester united manager to say is one way ticket to being sacked. Where as Van Gaal says we are not afraid of city which puts confidence in his players. Moyes as well never look to understand how big Manchester united is and looked uncomfortable where as LVG looks like he is at home at Manchester united and some would say bigger than Manchester United If that’s even possible. The other thing is that the players seem to progress backwards under Moyes with the most noticeable being Smalling, Van Persie and Jones. Where as the LVG seems to get the players playing standards back to when Ferguson was in charge and the team spirit seems to be back in the squad as well as the never say die attitude. Also one big thing that has changed under LVG is that the training sessions are a hundred time better under Moyes which shows on the pitch not and with that the tactics are better as well. Where as under Moyes it was hoof it up and cross it and hope some one gets on the end of it.

So do you have an Opinion on this please leave a comment below or even tweet me @theunitedwrap and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Don’t forget to click the follow button on the blog or follow the twitter @theunitedwrap to see all thing that come out of the blog as they happen. Thank you for Reading.

Is the philosophy working ?

Its now been three months into Van Gaal’s rain over manchester united and in press conferences LVG has said it takes at least three months for his philosophy to be taken in by the team. But is it sinking in ? Well in the terms of attack it is with the attacking players making decent passes in triangles and players making forward runs into space and down the wings. Also the team spirit seems to be better other than Wayne Rooney picking on younger players who will not stand up for themselves. Also the other positive to take from the attacking point is that we can now actually play decnet crosses with the addition of Di Maria and Herrera unlike last year where we where smashing them in and hoping that someone would get on the end of it.

But what about the defence well it is taking time for it to settle into the defence but by the looks of it we are finally seeing it come through even though we were against poor attacking teams. But what is Van Gaal’s philosophy in defence well like the Barcelona side under Guardiola which LVG built the philosophy of where the defence push up extremely high and then the wing backs push into the opponent’s half while the holding midfielder will sit in front of the defence to support if the opposition team is on the counter attack. But where can LVG improve on his so called philosophy to help the team. Well to go on tune drop Rooney as proven against everton the team works better without him in the build up play to attack. The next thing LVG needs to do is buy a central defender because all our decnet defenders always get injured or the fill in’s are not good enough (with the exception to McNair who still needs time to prove himself) or make stupid mistakes against lesser opposition.

So what do you think is the philosophy working or not ? why not leave a comment below with what you think and dont forget to click the follow button to see more stuff like this and thanks for reading.