RuuDie: @ elampiro

clearly you don't know a thing about Rooney's ability to bring a ball under control!

From game 1 to game 4, he did well. I don't know of game 5.

@Odunharry you no well

"It's nice for the fans in the USA and also at home that we beat Liverpool," he said at his post-match press conference.

"I think we gave a lot of pleasure to the fans and that's very important. Of course, it's better to win than to lose in pre-season but the most important game is against Swansea City. That's the one we have to win."

After a quiet first half at the Sun Life Stadium, Rooney sparked United's comeback with a neat left-volley, his fifth goal of the tour, and was later named player of the tournament.

"He's always a winner," van Gaal said. "I think he deserved to win the award because he made a lot of assists and scored goals. But we also defended well - there are a lot of defenders who could also have been the most valuable player of this tournament.

"For Rooney, the goal was very important. It was a wonderful goal. You see the attack and what he did to push

the ball under the legs of the goalkeeper and also in the corner. It was also a great cross from Chicharito."

Rooney was captain for the night but van Gaal, who has also given the armband to Tom Cleverley and Darren Fletcher on the tour, said he had intended to share it around.

"I'm always looking for opportunities to give players the captain's armband," he said. "Today, Rooney played 90 minutes for the first time. Fletcher has already done it twice and therefore he [Rooney] was the captain. Cleverley also played 90 minutes."

Antonio Valencia came off early in the first half and van Gaal revealed it was the result of United's demanding training schedule in the States.

"Valencia had a feeling in his leg," the boss said. "I had told him before the game that you have to listen to your body. The accumulation of tiredness in this tournament is high.

"All the players want to play but you have to be clever and he was clever to step out. When you're feeling something in your leg, you have to pay attention to it."

On Danny Welbeck, who came off against Real Madrid, van Gaal added: "His reaction today was good, but it's wise we didn't play him."

http://www.manutd.com/en/Tour-2014/Tour2014News/2014/Aug/louis-van-gaal-icc-final-reaction.aspx?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=ManUtd&pageNo=2

It looks like Gaal is confident of his defenders.

It was an impressive second half performance, far improved from the first which was poor... these lads clearly still have a lot to learn under the "new system" especially at the back. In the first half, Liverpool put us under pressure from passing out from the back and the CBs were clearly not comfortable; they made lots of mistakes that would have been very punishable if this was a "serious" EPL match. We may just need two solid, ball-passing CBs if this will work else we should ready ourselves for "Kolo Toure like gaffes" - Sterling's pace and Coutinho's trickery also troubled those CBs too much.

The passing in the middle wasn't very fluid mostly due to Liverpool pressing; Fletcher, Mata, Herrera tried to keep the ball and move it around. But the play was not incisive enough and very slow - more European than EPL tempo. Hernandez did not get any service - particularly through balls that he could race onto. We still posed more threat from whipping in crosses into the box - not surprising!

elampiro:

From game 1 to game 4, he did well. I don't know of game 5.

He didn't control the ball well in game-5.

StarBoard: I think we should chill on the optimism.
Sure we've done well. but greater challenges lie ahead.

The only positive in my view is that some players upped their game and as a result the squad has some confidence going into the season.
Still think we should sign players in the back and maybe a decent CM.

optimism ke?
you know i say it like i see it. in the first half, liverpool played us off the park. if we are going to stick to van gaal's philosophy, we need at least 3 central defenders. jones is the white micah richards - all power, no common sense. smalling's distribution is a disgrace. evans has lost confidence in his ball retention ability.

brendan rodgers is smart. he asked his strikers to press so high up the pitch. lo & behold, smalling + evans + jones were too timid to pass their way out of the defence. i was like jeeeeez - this english curse again. it happened time after time in that first half. i still dunno why the average english player can't receive the ball & be confident in possession. we might need to buy vermaelen!


a lot of other premier league teams would have seen that weakness. we were piss-poor in bringing the ball out & distributing. we either buy new defenders with the confidence to pass it when pressed or fellaini must be a regular feature so that when de gea hits it long, fellaini's chest would bail us out.


the midfield did well & the attackers did well. the defence is a suspect. a very big suspect which i know would have caused van gaal some sorry. it wasn't until second half when liverpool tired out that we had some joy & that blackett dude was tidy as hell. he kept it together at the back.

Odunharry: Coogar, elampiro, starBoard, JayKayMaybachz, n0m0705, SailorXY, xynerise, afrodoc, Leyqute,
Vicjay1, tess1, Nemesis83, Enegod, RuuDie, dopejemi, nihilist, chrisley024, PietroRico, Dadehmola, teeo


make una cme see something

I hope LVG is just saying that to make his defenders feel good - perhaps, he sees something we don't but in the first half, they were as nervous as six-year olds on their first day in a new school every time a Liverpool attacker was near whenever they had the ball. Kind of reminded me of Liverpool in their first season under Brendan... I guess they will come good eventually, it takes practice!

RuuDie: I hope LVG is just saying that to make his defenders feel good - perhaps, he sees something we don't but in the first half, they were as nervous as six-year olds on their first day in a new school every time a Liverpool attacker was near whenever they had the ball. Kind of reminded me of Liverpool in their first season under Brendan... I guess they will come good eventually, it takes practice!

he's just massaging their ego. that first half is a horror show. even swansea put passes together to beat a high press. don't these players practise with the ball in their rigorous trainings. there were loads of back passes, missed passes and no defender took charge to bring the ball out & pass with common sense.

i was particularly disappointed in evans - he used to have that ability. what happened to him?

Evans has ball distribution as his strongest point, while its Smalling's weakest part; but Smalling has the pace & ruggedness closing down opposing strikers! Jones has pace & pawa with fair enough distribution but he has a lot of rough edges yet, mostly on the tackling intelligence.
I think they will complement each other with time & learn on the job, it is just a confidence thing especially for Smalling, & Evans to a lesser aspect.
If Blackett is ready & has confidence to do it, why not? we saw a teenage Rafael do wonders, we saw a teenage Januzaj shine for large spells as the only bright spot in a Moyes' era mired with ssip & tihs.
if we must sign, Hummels & Vermalean are both injury-prone, so I don't know. I'll prefer Subotic personally

coogar:

optimism ke?
you know i say it like i see it. in the first half, liverpool played us off the park. if we are going to stick to van gaal's philosophy, we need at least 3 central defenders. jones is the white micah richards - all power, no common sense. smalling's distribution is a disgrace. evans has lost confidence in his ball retention ability.

brendan rodgers is smart. he asked his strikers to press so high up the pitch. lo & behold, smalling + evans + jones were too timid to pass their way out of the defence. i was like jeeeeez - this english curse again. it happened time after time in that first half. i still dunno why the average english player can't receive the ball & be confident in possession. we might need to buy vermaelen!


a lot of other premier league teams would have seen that weakness. we were piss-poor in bringing the ball out & distributing. we either buy new defenders with the confidence to pass it when pressed or fellaini must be a regular feature so that when de gea hits it long, fellaini's chest would bail us out.


the midfield did well & the attackers did well. the defence is a suspect. a very big suspect which i know would have caused van gaal some sorry. it wasn't until second half when liverpool tired out that we had some joy & that blackett dude was tidy as hell. he kept it together at the back.

On point.
I didn't see the game,but I read that Liverpool were better till the last third of the game.
The 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 van Gaal is trying to instill will take time for us to master.
Which is why I'm not getting carried away with winning the trophy or going through the preseason unbeaten so far.

The squad needs some improvements defensively and immediately too. I expect van Gaal to push through for some decent defenders. Vermaelen has been above average, he's just been unlucky to be injured for much of his recent stay at Arsenal. But at this point he towers head and shoulders over Jones and Smalling in terms of calmness and ball distribution.
I'm also still not convinced about Luke Shaw, he never quite stood out for Southampton the few times I saw him last season. So I think a left back with enough experience to fit into the wing back system without much fuss as Shaw is doing would be in order. Why spend 30 million on someone who cannot adapt to a new formation?

As per Fellaini I'm not sure van Gaal would suscribe to that. He is essentially a coach who believes the ball must be moved from man to man so hitting it up for someone like him will not even be an idea. If Fellaini survives this United cull it would be a miracle in my estimation because he doesn't look like someone who would fit into LvG's system right now.

SailorXY: Evans has ball distribution as his strongest point, while its Smalling's weakest part; but Smalling has the pace & ruggedness closing down opposing strikers! Jones has pace & pawa with fair enough distribution but he has a lot of rough edges yet, mostly on the tackling intelligence.
I think they will complement each other with time & learn on the job, it is just a confidence thing especially for Smalling, & Evans to a lesser aspect.
If Blackett is ready & has confidence to do it, why not? we saw a teenage Rafael do wonders, we saw a teenage Januzaj shine for large spells as the only bright spot in a Moyes' era mired with ssip & tihs.
if we must sign, Hummels & Vermalean are both injury-prone, so I don't know. I'll prefer Subotic personally

In my view the back 3 must have all those attributes in virtually equal measure. Else the back three will always find it problematic with each type of side.
There's no point patching it up.
The only thing that makes me believe the players in subject would survive is van Gaal is notorious for giving players who show promise time to improve.

StarBoard:
In my view the back 3 must have all those attributes in virtually equal measure. Else the back three will always find it problematic with each type of side.
There's no point patching it up.
The only thing that makes me believe the players in subject would survive is van Gaal is notorious for giving players who show promise time to improve.

barring injuries, I think this backline is ok for the league this season...
there's much room for improvement obviously, but this defence conceded 4 goals in 5 games & 3 were from PKs while 1 was from the opponents half what do you think of this

These are not good report going into the season. Too bad considering it's against an EPL team. Gaal and Giggs should bring heads together to proffer a solution. That Liverpool front line is becoming a terror to face. Remembber last season at OT, and in many several of their matches.

StarBoard:
On point.
I didn't see the game,but I read that Liverpool were better till the last third of the game.
The 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 van Gaal is trying to instill will take time for us to master.
Which is why I'm not getting carried away with winning the trophy or going through the preseason unbeaten so far.

if they had sturridge, we could have conceded 2 or 3 goals in the first half alone. our defence was so nervous with stirling & coutinho applying the pressure.

The squad needs some improvements defensively and immediately too. I expect van Gaal to push through for some decent defenders. Vermaelen has been above average, he's just been unlucky to be injured for much of his recent stay at Arsenal. But at this point he towers head and shoulders over Jones and Smalling in terms of calmness and ball distribution.

if it's only for the purpose of having a ball playing defender, vermaelen should be hired. he's quite comfortable at it. i don't trust evans anymore. the high press later became liverpool's undoing though, they tired out much quicker & by the 70th minute, we were the ones pressing them high & causing mignolet to hit back passes out of touch.

I'm also still not convinced about Luke Shaw, he never quite stood out for Southampton the few times I saw him last season. So I think a left back with enough experience to fit into the wing back system without much fuss as Shaw is doing would be in order. Why spend 30 million on someone who cannot adapt to a new formation?

he was very very poor in the first half but he improved immensely in the second half. i dunno what van gaal said to him but it worked. he looks unfit though. i don't like his built as well. he has the rooney genes. shaw looks like a burly butcher you would see in a meat-shop hacking meats.

As per Fellaini I'm not sure van Gaal would suscribe to that. He is essentially a coach who believes the ball must be moved from man to man so hitting it up for someone like him will not even be an idea. If Fellaini survives this United cull it would be a miracle in my estimation because he doesn't look like someone who would fit into LvG's system right now.

we will see what he makes of marouane & anderson in the game against valencia fc. i still think marouane can turn it around. he would be up for it.

ashley young impressed me the most. without him, we wouldn't have scored that 3rd goal. how he copped the energy to run like a lunatic & beat lucas at the touchline is still a mystery to me.

his cross found kagawa who miscontrolled the ball. the ball fell kindly for lingard & the youngster volleyed it to the bottom corner. it was a sweet goal especially the way cleverley put young through.

No Vidal, seems he's decided to stay at Juve.

see young flying past lucas in the 88th minute. who still wants young out of the club?

MrTA: No Vidal, seems he's decided to stay at Juve.

Where did you hear that?

dopeJemi:
Where did you hear that?

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/arturo-vidal-appears-to-confirm-he-wont-leave-juventus-for-man-united-on-instagram/

SailorXY:
barring injuries, I think this backline is ok for the league this season...
there's much room for improvement obviously, but this defence conceded 4 goals in 5 games & 3 were from PKs while 1 was from the opponents half what do you think of this

Point noted. We're not in Europe so that gives time for physical rejuvenation. I noticed Evans can't keep his concentration for long periods and when there are stretches of games to play in quick succession he falters. But that is just my view.
While the defensive record might sound pretty, from the few games I saw they were not at ease. Any team during the season looking for points would have torn us apart.
I agree they can improve and rightly so. But I remain skeptical till they prove me wrong.

MrTA:

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/arturo-vidal-appears-to-confirm-he-wont-leave-juventus-for-man-united-on-instagram/

He is happy to stay here; Jakarta

StarBoard:
Point noted. We're not in Europe so that gives time for physical rejuvenation. I noticed Evans can't keep his concentration for long periods and when there are stretches of games to play in quick succession he falters. But that is just my view.
While the defensive record might sound pretty, from the few games I saw they were not at ease. Any team during the season looking for points would have torn us apart.
I agree they can improve and rightly so. But I remain skeptical till they prove me wrong.

3 pen in 5 games is poor

MrTA:

http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/arturo-vidal-appears-to-confirm-he-wont-leave-juventus-for-man-united-on-instagram/

Fear not

If vidal is behaving like a proud chick then lets get khedira or somebody else of proven quality.....at least until we hopefully get strootman midseason

coogar:

if they had sturridge, we could have conceded 2 or 3 goals in the first half alone. our defence was so nervous with stirling & coutinho applying the pressure.

Concur.

coogar:
if it's only for the purpose of having a ball playing defender, vermaelen should be hired. he's quite comfortable at it. i don't trust evans anymore. the high press later became liverpool's undoing though, they tired out much quicker & by the 70th minute, we were the ones pressing them high & causing mignolet to hit back passes out of touch.

I think Vermaelen is above average to decent, barring the odd injury.
He hasn't signed a new contract with Arsenal and Barca are also lurking.

coogar:

he was very very poor in the first half but he improved immensely in the second half. i dunno what van gaal said to him but it worked. he looks unfit though. i don't like his built as well. he has the rooney genes. shaw looks like a burly butcher you would see in a meat-shop hacking meats .
we will see what he makes of marouane & anderson in the game against valencia fc. i still think marouane can turn it around. he would be up for it.

Abattoir, Agege.
I'm not going to give Shaw the benefit of doubt
He costs a lot and he should be decent enough to provide consistency.

Marouane and Anderson may not be around by the time that Valencia friendly comes around.
In fact it is that tie that would really be what I'm looking forward to because that would be a true test.

coogar:

ashley young impressed me the most. without him, we wouldn't have scored that 3rd goal. how he copped the energy to run like a lunatic & beat lucas at the touchline is still a mystery to me.
his cross found kagawa who miscontrolled the ball. the ball fell kindly for lingard & the youngster volleyed it to the bottom corner. it was a sweet goal especially the way cleverley put young through.

He did his chances a world of good.
Let's hope for an injury free season from him.

chrisley024: 3 pen in 5 games is poor

That's another way to look at the defensive situation.
In fact if we concede penalties a lot we are just in trouble.

StarBoard:
That's another way to look at the defensive situation.
In fact if we concede penalties a lot we are just in trouble.

Which can as well result in sending off a player.
Well, it's a new system which needs time

chrisley024: Which can as well result in sending off a player.
Well, it's a new system which needs time

It's going to be interesting watching this season. Like coogar said our defending needs sorting out and I agree.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2716380/Louis-van-Gaal-piece-silverware-unbeaten-pre-season-tour-Manchester-United-five-things-learned.html
I know it's daily mail but the article seems to be making sense.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2716443/Arturo-Vidal-says-hes-happy-stay-Manchester-United-target-talking-Juventus-Jakarta.html
slim to zero.

Turns out that vidal instagram account was fake. Carry on.

StarBoard:
It's going to be interesting watching this season. Like coogar said our defending needs sorting out and I agree.

you know i used to think jones would become jaap stam when he first arrived. fergie actually compared him to duncan edwards. i thought he had potential then......& i still do but only as a rugby player for my local pub.