As the title suggests, I am bewildered at how we did not manage to score a single goal in a game where we had at least 20 attempts at goal. We could have scored one legitimately through Wayne Rooney only to be wrongfully ruled offside. Pre-match, there was a lot of talk of United eking out wins without creating chances and to be fair, we created more and played better against Club Brugge in the Champions League in midweek. We played better and created more against Newcastle than we did in the last 2 Premier League matches against Tottenham Hostspur and Aston Villa.
In my opinion, I feel we were unlucky especially on Rooney's "offside" goal and on Chris Smalling's header that crashed against the post. With better luck and on another day, Michael Carrick's deflected shot at the end would have ended in the back of the net but not yesterday. Instead, it spun just wide for a corner. Our bad luck would have been compounded if Newcastle had scored through Aleksandar Mitrovic's majestic header that crashed against the bar or through one of their counter-attacks. You can also argue that on one of our many forays forward, the ball didn't drop favourably for us.
Luck aside, we got to be guilty of some bad decision-making when in good positions in the final third. We got crosses wrong, dallied on the ball too long, didn't pass the ball earlier and got the passes wrong. However, it is wrong to be overly critical of youngsters like Memphis and Adnan Januzaj. They were exuberant and provided dynamism but with all youngsters as we have seen in the past with Cristiano Ronaldo for example, they would need to improve on their decision making in the final third and that would come with time and experience.
Credit would also have to go to the Newcastle backline especially Fabricio Coloccini for resolutely facing United's attacks and throwing their body on the line. Tim Krul made a couple of good saves as well to keep Newcastle in the game. Our finishing did not help our cause too. Juan Mata forced Krul into a good save but then blazed over when well set up by Rooney. Javier Hernandez was denied by a good save. We had some shots straight at Krul, some shots that weren't powerful enough and some over. It just adds to the argument that we need a striker. The potential is there in the squad to score goals but it is not being fulfilled at the moment.
Bastian Schweinsteiger started his first match as a Manchester United player and he has been used in rotation with Michael Carrick and that was the case in this match too but I feel both players are not similar in style and can co-exist. Schweinsteiger is more willing to push forward and join the attack than Carrick while Carrick would be content to sit in front of the defence and let the ball do the work with his passing. However, at the moment it would be harsh to drop Morgan Schneiderlin on current form. The defence and goalkeeper largely unchanged from day one of the season have been a positive so far this season.
I feel people have been overly critical of the team and the attackers. Granted, we were dull going forward in the first two games of the season but since then, we have played better. We are creating more chances and having more attempts at goal which is a progress. The football is more free-flowing but not exactly perfect. It is disjointed but we are at the start of the season, four games into the season to be precise. We have gone through seasons where we have gone four-five games without winning or playing well only to win the title at the end of the season. I am not saying we will win the title this season. I just feel that the fans got to be more patient and balanced in their expectations. We are no longer a team under Sir Alex Ferguson's tutelage. In two summers, we have sold and bought a lot of players. The squad is being rebuilt and expecting everything to click immediately is silly. Signing players for big fees does not guarantee immediate success. Sir Alex had the benefit of time on his side to build a team that slowly started to win it all. It was a largely settled squad with a settled system.
I don't expect anything from pundits, so-called "experts" and commentators who are quick to shoot us down. They are just chomping at the bit to shoot us down. For that reason, it makes it sweeter when we actually win trophies and click into gear. It's good when we are treated as underdogs and criticised. Personally, I enjoy it the most when that happens.
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