They should treat every game like a cup final tbh.

Not in the slightest.

The commentary team on BT were rank tonight.

Well a win is a win, and three points was a must in terms of the group situation, just a shame that we couldn't score more then we did.

Or Tribec


Did you hear the echo on the commentary? I think that's because it was coming from a studio up Wayne Rooney's a**e.

Savage probably wet his pants after that 'assist'.

Is that bad bellend Savage really claiming that as an assist for Rooney?

The fawning was shockingly bad tonight, I turned the sound off for a while for respite.

Awful game tonight, not much change from Van Gaal still boring football and not getting the best out of Zlatan and Pogba yet, badly in need of a defensive midfielder even someone to steady the team a bit short term like Thiago Motta.

We have one in Carrick, just that at his age, he I don't think is capable of playing week in week out, shame that we didn't go in for Kante in the summer just gone.

Didn't get to watch the match but if it was as awful as the goal then thank god I missed it.

It's been typical for years and completely goes against those who say that Rooney gets a rougher ride from the media than any other player. It is the complete opposite. To be fair, most of those guys don't post here anymore due to having too many alter egos.

A good few years back I don't think Rooney got enough credit but now when it's painfully obvious that he's done the number of pundits who are risking their ' reputations' by bigging him up is staggering.

I've lost a lot of respect for some of our ex players for some of the absolute bilge they've been coming out with. Scholes has gone full circle, not that long ago he was questioning his form, now it's took a massive nosedive he's defending him.

It's almost like a cult.

Yeah, he was his usual awful self in commentary.


He really hasn't, he's kept the exact same view. In the past he claimed Rooney's form was poor and he should maybe be dropped for a game or two but belonged in the first team longterm. His view now is that Rooney is not in the best of form but should come back into the team at some point, probably for the big games, as he said last night. You can argue that his view is/was incorrect for sure but I don't see any change of opinion.

It seems kind of like his criticism of Van Gaal. He was pretty negative about Van Gaal for ages but always stopped short of saying he wanted him sacked. Then a couple of months later when our form nosedived he said exactly the same stuff about form crap but don't sack the manager and everyone accused him of a change of heart or being part of some evil Fergie-class of 92 death cult who were responsible for 9/11, JFK and faking the moon landing depending on whether you read Red Issue or not

For reasons that I don't fully understand, Rooney seems to provoke extreme opinions, at either end of the scale.

A lot of the ex-pros seem to think that he can do no wrong, and still see him as the 'golden boy' of English football, which he clearly isn't.

On the flipside, the vitriol poured on him from a large section of fans is equally disproportionate, both from United and England.

The reality is probably somewhere in the middle, but the internet is a magnet for extremes, I suppose.

The reality is that Rooney is not as good as he once was, and is now only really a squad rotational option, yet he still obviously has his friends in the media, who will keep on pushing for him to start games, which is not to the benefit of the club, just to the benefit of him.

His time at the club should be coming to an end, but due to his wage situation, not many, if any other club, would be willing and able to take him on, so it looks like we may have him here, and the problems that brings, for a while longer yet, unless the higher ups can somehow convince another club to take him on.

Yeah, that's great and everything, but nothing to do with my post.

Yes it was or is, we were talking about how Rooney us perceived by people in the media, and the simple fact is, that Rooney is just not as good as he once was, and the only people that do not want to admit it, are those who are in the media consistently pushing for his inclusion in our team, which would be to our detriment currently.

If I am being honest, him being fitted into the team, kind of reminds me how Gerrard was fitted into the Liverpool team in his last year there, after "the slip", when it was obvious he was not as good as he once was.

They eventually bit the bullet so to speak, and let him go to America, we should do something similar with Rooney in the short-term, rather than just prolonging things, and having to keep on fitting him into the side.

No. My post was reflecting upon the extreme opinion that he generates. Nothing to do with the opinion that he should/shouldn't be in the team.

My post as talking about opinions expressed about him from those outwith of the club as well, so we are on the same path here, just coming at it from different directions.

It's likely because in the beginning we thought we had one of the true greats on our hands and as English fans, or followers of the premier league, we were all excited and probably proud of that... I bigged him up as much as anyone in those early years. It's just that in recent times, some of our so called experts have not been willing to let that go and still call him a great player.

Anyway, interesting to see from the outside how mourinho manages the whole thing from now on. He seems somewhat back and forth so far in his statements at least. (Coming from someone who is openly hostile to your manager and therefore unlikely to be completely objective)!

He's probably amongst the last of that golden generation (Terry being the other) who underachieved at International level for various reasons.

I don't think the press gave him enough credit over the years but now seem to be overcompensating bordering on ridiculous levels.

So looking forward to Stoke, what are people's opinions, will we go back to the sort of team which started against Leicester?

I certainly hope so, as we were much more fluid then we were last night.

Zlatan

Lingard/Martial Mata Pogba Herrera Rashford

Blind Smalling Baiily Valencia

De Gea

Hopefully with Miki on the bench
Martial to get the nod if he can improve his form.

With Stoke in a bit of a poor run of form at the moment, we could really do with getting a good win here, and that team looks like a good one to me, just wondering if we could see Shaw come in, as I do quite like what he has to offer, although Blind does not on anyway deserve to be dropped, tough call.