Mr. President

[Jangle]

Last night I watched our CL match against Real Sociedad. I must say, that was the best that I have seen our team played all season. They played with a lot of energy that has seemed missing in all our previous matches. David Moyes got the tactics and the team selection right in this match and we should have won by at least 3 goals.

My Observations:

1. Rooney is enjoying his football and is the fittest he has been in a very long time. He is playing with a lot of maturity and looks like the next captain. Give him what he wants and tie up his contract quickly.
2. Old Seed Ryan Giggs played like a 25 year old and was the missing link in our midfield. Hopefully, DM doesn't get carried away and try to play him in back-to-back matches. He played with lots of energy and guile and combined well with Rooney and Kagawa.
3. Kagawa showed his true class and was voted the MOM by the fans. He was creating and running into little pockets of spaces all night. He would do very well in a team like Barcelona and at times, his teammates, who are not used to this style read the and made the wrong run. His biggest negative is that he wants to touch the ball one time too many instead of shooting towards goal. He got a clean breakaway and chose to pass the ball to Rooney instead of taking the shot.
4. Valencia was a monster on the wing and seemed to have drank a gallon of Red Bull prior to the match.
5. Johnnie Evans and Phil Jones is the new permanent CB's. They bring youthfull energy and speed to our backline and can only get better with time.
6. DM needs to start trusting his players more. He substituted Rafael in the 55th minute because he was on a yellow. I understand his thinking, but I thought it was a little bit too early in the game to make that change and Rafael was adding to the attack on the right with Valencia. DM made a defensive change last Saturday against Southhampton which caused us to lose the game. I saw the mistake long before the equalizing goal. He broke up the partnership between Phil Jones and Johnnie Evans which were doing very well despite the Southhampton's attacks.

I hope we are turning the corner after this game.

[Lazie]

Last night I watched our CL match against Real Sociedad. I must say, that was the best that I have seen our team played all season. They played with a lot of energy that has seemed missing in all our previous matches. David Moyes got the tactics and the team selection right in this match and we should have won by at least 3 goals.

My Observations:

1. Rooney is enjoying his football and is the fittest he has been in a very long time. He is playing with a lot of maturity and looks like the next captain. Give him what he wants and tie up his contract quickly.
2. Old Seed Ryan Giggs played like a 25 year old and was the missing link in our midfield. Hopefully, DM doesn't get carried away and try to play him in back-to-back matches. He played with lots of energy and guile and combined well with Rooney and Kagawa.
3. Kagawa showed his true class and was voted the MOM by the fans. He was creating and running into little pockets of spaces all night. He would do very well in a team like Barcelona and at times, his teammates, who are not used to this style read the and made the wrong run. His biggest negative is that he wants to touch the ball one time too many instead of shooting towards goal. He got a clean breakaway and chose to pass the ball to Rooney instead of taking the shot.
4. Valencia was a monster on the wing and seemed to have drank a gallon of Red Bull prior to the match.
5. Johnnie Evans and Phil Jones is the new permanent CB's. They bring youthfull energy and speed to our backline and can only get better with time.
6. DM needs to start trusting his players more. He substituted Rafael in the 55th minute because he was on a yellow. I understand his thinking, but I thought it was a little bit too early in the game to make that change and Rafael was adding to the attack on the right with Valencia. DM made a defensive change last Saturday against Southhampton which caused us to lose the game. I saw the mistake long before the equalizing goal. He broke up the partnership between Phil Jones and Johnnie Evans which were doing very well despite the Southhampton's attacks.

I hope we are turning the corner after this game.

Agreed with your observations Jangle. I am a bit hesitant to get too optimistic as the opposing team is the softest team in the group. Didn't like the fact that we could only beat them with an OG. Didn't like the fact that like the Southampton game we failed to put the game to bed. Kagawa has shown where he is most effective.

I am starting to think if he should change to a 3-5-2 since DM wants to use Rooney and RvP.

[Jangle]

name the personnel you would use with that formation.

[Lazie]

name the personnel you would use with that formation.

Jones, Vidic, Evans

Carrick, The Tank

Valencia Kagawa Evra

Rooney RvP.

Valencia and Evra would have to push back to help out.

[Jangle]

Carrick and The Tank would have to be very disciplined in protecting the back three. The problem with using Valencia is that he's one-dimensional and the Premier League defenders have figured him out and force him inside on his left. However, he does offer a stronger presence in defense than Nani.