Getting Their Act Together

Finally United looked like they were playing as a team, and it was no coincidence that we reverted back to a more traditional 4-4-2, albeit with a narrower midfield anchored by the excellent Daley Blind allowing for the more creative member of the quartet some room to manoeuvre and the tireless full backs to provide the width.

It was certainly helped by the lack of ambition shown by QPR in the other end. Truth be told, Blackett and Evans did not look convincing at all.

Di Maria had a good outing, providing a goal and a couple of assists - although the mistimed shot which fell nicely into the path of Mata should be just that. Falcao did make a much anticipated appearance, and he did well to adapt to the pace. In fact, I was surprised at how quick he was, although I expected him to show a bit more composure when the goalkeeper spilled Blind's shot onto his direction. He connected well, but could have easily chipped the keeper. A nice introduction.

But the man of the match for me was definitely Daley Blind. His debut for United last night but it looked as if he played there all his life. A great piece of business for under £15M. He made himself available all the time creating angles for passes, as well being busy sitting in front of the back four creating a shield. He should develop into an even better force once he settled in for sure.

A great weekend, with Liverpool losing and Man Citeh sharing the spoils at the Emirates. It would still take a lot more to catch up on Chelsea, with Diego Costa getting off on a flyer!

van Gaal, No Hal

Finally, the best kept secret in football was out in the open. United had announced who tier next manager was to fill the hood after the sacking of David Moyes. It was none other than Louis van Gaal.

The interesting things were the timing of the announcement and the appointment of Ryan Giggs as his number two. The timing was spot on and with Giggs on board, the transition from the "Ferguson Way" would be easier to take.

In terms of getting results, van Gaal is right up there with the best. At the same time, people had been telling stories about his temperament. Maybe a bit of Rottweiler was what United needed at the moment, to kick things forward.

Either way, he was not able to stamp his brand until the World Cup in Brazil wrapped up. Giggs would have to organise the pre-season before the start of 2014-15. Let's wait and watch.

Moyes Out

Even though the news was finally out, it was still hard to swallow. United was not your typical sacking club but at the end of the day, results on the pitch and the money men had spoken. Moyes was given the marching order.

As a fan, I had always stayed loyal to players who came to United, didn't quite hit the mark and left. Some of them went into obscurity, while others - like Forlan, Rossi in particular - moved on to greater things. But I wasn't sure if the same applied when it came to the manager?

I have always been a fan of David Moyes when he was the manager at Preston North End in the 90s. He was young and had a drive. He would have made a great assistant to Ferguson and would one day go on to replace the great man.

He did this, but via the wonderful job he did at Everton for 11 years. But his fate was sealed when he was schooled at his old stomping ground by his successor.

The fact that Roberto Martinez proved to be more than an able replacement at Goodison did not go unnoticed by the United hierarchy. Maybe, that kind of flair was what the Glazers craved in the first place. And by that very point, Ferguson choice on who to replace him was a flawed one.

Moyes did not endear himself by bringing in his own backroom staff to Old Traffic the day he checked in. Retaining some of the old guard would have helped in. Checking in late, on the 1st of July to this big job also meant that his pre-season was restricted.

To put it mildly, he did not plan his start well, and had been playing catch up ever since.

I felt that he should be given more time. The management thought otherwise. Maybe they wanted the new manager to be given time to plan for the next season. And as a result, Moyes had to leave, less than a year in the hot seat.

David Moyes had handled himself with dignity and I wished him the best for the future. The experience managing United would have been seen as a failure in his otherwise decent CV, but he could only learn from the experience. He was simply found out and didn't have the time or the opportunity to adapt.

Who would replace him? Well, I was sure that Mourinho had it written in his Chelsea contract that he would take on the customary stance of leaving the club straight after winning the Champions League. Maybe Chelsea would go on to become the European Champion and the Special One would end up in Manchester .... Watch this space ...

Excruciating

I did everything I could. I followed all the ritual. But still we were soundly beaten. At home. To Liverpool. How painful was that. Not just the scoreline that was the worry, but the manner on which we surrendered did not bode well for the immediate future.

The scoreline actually did not reflect what actually happened on the field. I could see the players trying, but they lack a coherent tactic. Mata, Rooney and Van Persie kept occupying the same space, causing Mata to drop deep into Fellaini's territory to pick up possession. And that isolated Van Persie. He wasn't able to make any runs as the space between the Liverpool's midfield and back line was non-existant. Everything was compact and Gerrard and Henderson were able to pick the runners up easily and release their front two.

And in Sturridge and Suarez - and to a certain extend, Sterling - they really stretched our defense.

The penalties were fair except for the third - which resulted in Vidic's expulsion. They could've had a fourth a bit later but Clattenberg thought otherwise foe some reason. A let-off for us.

We just have to improve. We have an important midweek Champions League match, a must win. It would be our only chance to be in the Champions League draw for next season.

Losing that would pile more pressure on Moysey. And that might just be the final straw...‎

Another Setback

Let me be honest, I wasn't expecting much from the visit to Stamford Bridge. All I was asking was a good account of ourselves. To a certain extend we got that at the beginning of the game. And things began to unravel the moment Eto'o got the lucky looping deflection over de Gea. We were missing the clinical edge at the bottom and top third of the pitch.

Let's start with the defense. There was no real problem with the personnel. Vidic was solid especially, but the positional play as a unit was suspect. Often, Carrick had to drop deep to pick runners up, while Ashley Young lacked discipline in helping Evra out on the left side of the pitch.

Chelski found plenty of joy rummaging down our left side, and the astute Mourinho saw that from a mile away.

The right side was a bit more secure, due to great understanding between Rafael and Valencia, plus also the help they got from Jones.

The fact that Jones and Carrick being pulled to help the rest of the team allowed Ramires and David Luiz to dominate the centre of the pitch. And they were both adapt at making the simple masses and keeping things ticking while the more creative players do the damage.

Then the final third. Wellbeck and Adnan were a couple of schoolboys for the Chelski defense. They had to find space either deep or on the left to receive the ball. Any long diagonal would be snuffed out easily. At this level, quantity of possession was meaningless and you were unable to make it work. The lack of quality possession just spoke volumes. Put simply, we were unable to hurt them.

I think tactically, we were found out. No point pointing to the return of Rooney and van Persie, as it would not do much unless we deploy the right personnel on the wings. This was where Adnan and Valencia would thrive. And when we were this desperate, we have to play to our strength.

Onward....