OFFICIAL Match Thread: Manchester United v Chelsea

Originally Posted by andyroo

Maybe Moyes has. You don't know otherwise.

What were his moods the other week again?

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

What were his moods the other week again?

A week. One £#%&!ing week our friendship as lasted. What the £#%&! are you talking about and why do you care so much?

His job for us as fans is to play football to the best of his ability, for Manchester United. Other than that he owes us absolutely £#%&!ing nothing.

Do you think Rooney hates you personally or something?

Originally Posted by That Boy Ronaldo!

What were his moods the other week again?

It's not the other week pol.

Originally Posted by andyroo

It's not the other week pol.

No it's not but haven't heard anything positive towards Moyes.

Just don't think he deserved the reaction he got last night.

Originally Posted by MUFC One Love

Usually it would be the away manager, but it was the second game of the season and all we have heard is how shit Moyes is and won't live with Mourinho tactically (even by some of our own fans) yet it was Chelsea and Mourinho who looked like the team who were timid. I suspect Moyes is quite happy with it in the circumstances, as he said, we just lacked that final ball which would also be tough with 11 men behind the ball. The fact is if Moyes had set up like that at Stamford Bridge you would get people saying he is playing just like he did at Everton I know you won't like that but its true, 'The Special One' set up like Moyes at Everton, as I keep hearing he was really defensive just set up hard to beat. Even the other night against Villa the same journos up Mourinho's arse were tweeting asking why Chelsea were playing long balls so much. Didnt he get sacked fpr this first time round?

That was just a noise.

Rooney's touch was very good and his effort was good to see.

But people making him man of the match are a bit mental.

His role was the most creative role in the United team and yet he created virtually nothing despite having plenty of the ball throughout. Almost every forward pass he hit was hopelessly over-hit or mis-directed. And as people have said, whenever he had an easy pass to a better placed player he shot from long range instead. There was no real semblance of a combination with RvP which was the most worrying thing. Plenty of time for Moyes to work on that issue after September 2nd, obviously.

In retrospect: Good performance, stifled by negative chelsea tactics. Good tactical awareness from United not to get dominated in the middle and be patient, just needed that bit of extra sharpness in the final 3rd and we'd have won comfortably.

Cowardly tactics from Chelsea tbh, for which Benitez would have been abused no end by their fans.

Benitez would've picked the same team and bitched about having no money to spend.

Some Rooney stats.

Manchester United controlled the game with 55% possession overall and made 101 more passes than Chelsea on the night, with Cleverley making the most passes with 77 and he completed 91% (70) of them.

Rooney’s pass accuracy was 75% (45/56) overall and he played the third most successful balls in the attacking zone with 16/25, just behind Cleverley (19/22) and Hazard (19/23).

He completed 10/18 forward passes as he looked to help the likes of Valencia, Welbeck and Van Persie get into goalscoring opportunities, but he also kept things ticking over in the middle of the park with 14/20 completed square passes and a 100% (18/18) backward ball success rate.

Rooney successfully switched play with a long ball 3/6 times, whilst 39/50 passes were short and he also managed to create one chance from open play. He got himself into several positions in the final third but only managed to find a man with a cross once out of four attempts, although he picked out star man Van Persie with a pass five times during the game.

One of Rooney’s most adored traits is his persistent work rate for the good of the team, as he harries down opposition attackers like a defender would to get the ball back for his side.

He only made one tackle in the game and won it successfully, whilst also making one clearance. Rooney recovered possession on four occasions, won 1/3 of his aerial duals and committed four fouls as United were never majorly under threat during the game.

I've bolded the important bits for anyone who thinks that is all too tedious.

Abridged version: He's highly accurate going backwards & sideways, half as accurate going forward.

As boring as stats are, they can cut through some of the %@#$&!s & the whole 'putting in a good shift' thing rankles with me because 1. That's the £#%&!ing least any @#%&! should be doing. & 2. Running about a lot isn't a great talent. Passing accurately, being skillful & having some imagination is what I want from a Utd no.10 & Rooney is not that talent. He's a no.9 & should be played as one. If that's alongside van Persie then fine, but you need more creative wingers & a central midfielder who can pass forward to shoe-horn the two together up the pitch. If you want him to play off the striker & put in a shift... Zzz. Not for me. Personal choice. I'd rather a genuinely creative force there. Either way, people love a trier. He's all a bit too "Stevie G" these days with his attempts to switch the play, having a dig from distance etc.

love a load of bolded stats and I'm looking forward to the opinions of Bunker Buster.

Rooney's first start in 4 months & he's having his stats bolded ..he has a couple of digs at goal from distance, both on target but apparently that's a bit too 'Stevie G' He puts Welbeck clear with a nice pass & Danny gets it stuck under his feet & sails it over the bar..that Rooney's fault as well presumably?

Surely it's only fair we bold the stats of Van Persie & Welbeck too?
Both pretty quiet last night I thought.

Only Kagawa can save us now.

How shit was Ramires last night.

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Rooney's first start in 4 months & he's having his stats bolded ..he has a couple of digs at goal from distance, both on target but apparently that's a bit too 'Stevie G' He puts Welbeck clear with a nice pass & Danny gets it stuck under his feet & sails it over the bar..that Rooney's fault as well presumably?

Surely it's only fair we bold the stats of Van Persie & Welbeck too?
Both pretty quiet last night I thought.

Only Kagawa can save us now.

Oh the humanity, not his stats bolded. Bolded you say? Holy £#%&!ing shit!

Originally Posted by dragflick

Oh the humanity, not his stats bolded. Bolded you say? Holy £#%&!ing shit!

BTW - I see the Daily Mirror picked up on my comment about Rooney barely passing to RVP.

Rooney is still a @#%&! no matter which way you slice it.

Loves a good stats bolding does Baron.

Originally Posted by dragflick

Oh the humanity, not his stats bolded. Bolded you say? Holy £#%&!ing shit!

Yes, well that was kinda my point really.
The 'won't somebody please think of the children hysteria' wherever Rooney is concerned. Bolded for added offence taken.

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

Rooney's first start in 4 months & he's having his stats bolded ..he has a couple of digs at goal from distance, both on target but apparently that's a bit too 'Stevie G' He puts Welbeck clear with a nice pass & Danny gets it stuck under his feet & sails it over the bar..that Rooney's fault as well presumably?

Surely it's only fair we bold the stats of Van Persie & Welbeck too?
Both pretty quiet last night I thought.

Only Kagawa can save us now.

You really are precious aren't you

Rooney doesn't want to be here, but even if he did he's a far better no.9 than he is no.10 as the stats show (& anyone who can watch the game with a modicum of rationality).

Originally Posted by Baron

You really are precious aren't you

Rooney doesn't want to be here, but even if he did he's a far better no.9 than he is no.10 as the stats show (& anyone who can watch the game with a modicum of rationality).

I watched the game with complete rationality..Rooney did pretty well considering he's been out for a long time. His touch was good & he lasted the 90 minutes.
There's nothing else to add.

If we had a winger on the pitch who got his head up & picked out a cross we'd have won that game quite comfortably. Chelsea were poor I thought. Workmanlike. Came for the 0-0 & got it thanks largely to Terry tbf

Originally Posted by Baron

You really are precious aren't you

Rooney doesn't want to be here, but even if he did he's a far better no.9 than he is no.10 as the stats show (& anyone who can watch the game with a modicum of rationality).

I've been saying this for a while

From the very start of his career people have wrongly viewed Rooney's best position as a number 10 when it really should be as a number 9

The only part of Rooney's game that has improved over the last 5 or 6 years is his finishing.
He is an excellent finisher and he will get over 30 goals if played up top but other parts of his game haven't improved
He's not developed into a good dribbler, nor is his passing at the level you would expect of a top class number 10 and his long range shooting has actually gotten worse over the years

If we continue to play with Rooney as a number 10 like we did last season then we will continue play predictable "get the ball wide and whip crosses in" football

Originally Posted by MJ Ramone

I watched the game with complete rationality..Rooney did pretty well considering he's been out for a long time. His touch was good & he lasted the 90 minutes.
There's nothing else to add.

If we had a winger on the pitch who got his head up & picked out a cross we'd have won that game quite comfortably. Chelsea were poor I thought. Workmanlike. Came for the 0-0 & got it thanks largely to Terry tbf

*more bolding*

Who's fault is that ?!

Re-read what I wrote, he's a no.9 & should be played as such. Fergie played him as a forward & he scored more than van persie did last year, if you put him in a side with a creative midfielder & a winger worth their salt he'd play further forward & would be excellent. But he's an average, hard working, no.10 & he has been for years, not just this period of being a massively slapped arse.

He wants to join Chelsea because he knows he'll be played up front, every game, & obviously will get a pay rise out of the Russian.