How Did We Not Score Let Alone Win That?!

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.

Something On United

I have not written anything on Manchester United since the review of the 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Since that win, we have won one more match and more importantly we have won an away match which was so hard to achieve last season. That is the positive with another being the clean sheet. Two games, six points and zero goals conceded but going forward we have looked like boring ,boring Man. United. To be fair, if Memphis Depay had stuck his chance away, we would have got a second goal to slightly inflate our goals scored column but it was dull going forward. We hardly created any chances and hardly had any shots on goal despite bossing possession. Football is not won on possession statistics alone but in this case we did score one more than the opponent. Defensively, much maligned and criticised as our weak point, has stood strong and solid so far although some might argue that we have not been really tested yet. Let's see when we are really tested how strong our defence really is. Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian have both stood out in defence. Daley Blind and Luke Shaw have not done too bad and Morgan Schneiderlin has contributed in front of the defence.

Post-Villa, we had our return to Champions League action where we conceded our first goal of the season. In this match, we have looked a little shaky at the back but Smalling has continued his good form and strong performances. He seems to be stepping up to the plate to be United's first choice centre back. All he needs to do is avoid getting injured. His injury record is his Achilles heel, pun unintended. We looked much better going forward against Club Brugge.

It was like the goal we conceded woke us up to attack more and we did. It is not quite free-flowing yet but it was much better than seen in the first two matches of the season. Wayne Rooney has been poor up front. He hasn't looked quite as sharp up front on his own all pre-season and has continued that form into the season. To be fair to him, he has lacked support and the link up play with Memphis and Adnan Januzaj playing off him has not been good. The understanding has been lacking but he has also got his touches wrong most notably against Aston Villa.

Michael Carrick is another that has looked a bit off the pace. He hasn't quite been as influential as you expect him to be but if you study him closely over the seasons, you would notice that he always starts the season slowly and gets stronger and better as the season goes on. Nothing to worry about that.

In the last 2 games, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ander Herrera, Javier Hernandez and Marouane Fellaini, when his suspension is over, have staked a claim to start.

It's nice to see Hernandez back playing for us and perhaps having him play up front with Rooney behind him could be the answer to our disjointed attack. It would do both players a world of good too in terms of goals and confidence.

I feel when we play teams that come to Old Trafford and put men behind the ball, it would be fine to sacrifice Schneiderlin and play Carrick or Schweinsteiger at the base of the midfield and introduce a player like Herrera who can get forward and support the attack. The manager has done well to shift Memphis to the left and he has looked better playing there. Adnan Januzaj has started the last 2 matches and he has done decently. He has skills. All he needs is to bulk up and to play more games to build his match fitness and confidence. The manager has lots of options available to him now. It's a matter of finding the right ones to fit the system as well as rotating the squad to keep everyone fresh. We can't play with the same team every 3 days.

We have missed out on supposed transfer targets Sergio Ramos, supposedly Nicolas Otamendi and Pedro too. Sergio Ramos extended his contract, Otamendi joined Manchester City and Pedro joined Chelsea. Were these three really transfer targets? Sources say they were but you can be never too sure. However, I would say that for good or bad, I am contented with the squad that we have. We could do with another central defender perhaps but its not a catastrophe if we don't get one. The same goes to a winger or a striker many fans have asked fo. The reaction I read on Twitter from fans on the failure to make more signings have been ridiculous. We have made some significant signings already and the manager has a lot of options available to him. Have faith and patience! We can't keep going on buying players to try and win us titles. It is only a matter of finding the right combination of players to click and the goals will arrive. There's lots of attacking potential throughout the team and goals can come from everywhere. The most important one that we need to sort out is the future of David De Gea. I would love for him to stay but it looks inevitable that he will leave. It is only a matter of time. If he does stay on this season, I do hope he gets back into the team and performs to his best as he did last season. He is still young and can still develop further. The progress of his career shouldn't be stunted if he does stay on at United. I just hope this matter is resolved conclusively soon.