United 1 - 1 West Ham

DDG

Valencia Jones Rojo Darmian

Pogba Herrera

Lingard(Fellaini) Mata(Mhiki) Rashford(Rooney)

Ibra

And yet another 2 points dropped in a game we should have won. We were by far the best team but we found (yet again) an inspired goalie in the opposition’s goal who managed to save everything that came his way (bar one effort).

Zlatan, Rashford, Lingard….they all could have won us the game had they finished better.  I don’t think we’re doing much wrong really but we need something extra in the Premier League…. we need a world class striker. Ibra was world class once but not anymore. Rashford’s sudden rise makes us forget that he still has to learn an awful lot before he’s the finished product. Martial has gone missing this year. Rooney is not an all out striker anymore. We are creating chances but we’re failing to convert them. Some of the saves made by West Ham’s goalie were made easy by our own players. We need a player that is deadly in front of goal but I’m afraid that this player won’t come before the summer transfer market. Till then we’ll have to keep experiencing such frustrating results. That’s four home games drawn in a row in the PL. All of them we deserved to win. Unbelievable.

I was feeling very optimistic today, especially after Thursday’s game. Ironically Thursday’s great performance might also be the reason why we couldn’t win today. We played at a very high tempo during the first half but we couldn’t keep playing at that tempo during the second. Our players looked a tad tired after the break. It is no coincidence that Herrera, not in the squad last Thursday, played with the most intensity during the game. Playing a strong team against Feyenoord backfired today but I fear that it is looking very likely that the Europa League could be our only way into the Champions League. These results will keep occurring. We will deserve to win games but don’t get the winner and this will cost us dearly at the end of the season. We only won 4 points from a possible 12 in our last four HOME games. I remember a time when a draw at home used to be catastrophic.

The feeling is odd. After such a poor run of results you’d expect fans to be angry at the players or the manager.  However, I don't know who I should vent my frustration at. I don’t think the players are letting us down. Yes, perhaps some of the finishing should be better but they are playing some great football. Just look at the chance created for Lingard at the end of the first half. The move that led to that shot was beautiful. The same can be said for Pogba’s pass to Ibra that led to our goal. The problem is that we need that extra quality up front and that is not our present players’ fault. We’re getting the same (or worse) results we got last year but at least the football we’re playing is better.  

DDG could do nothing about West Ham’s goal but did very well to deny Ashley Fletcher getting the winner late on. Valencia had a decent game. Rojo and Jones were solid. I thought Rojo was very good. Darmian had a very poor game. He was beaten time and again by Antonio and his crosses are shit. Herrera excellent. Pogba too. Mata had better games but his work rate is second to none. Lingard conceded a stupid free-kick that led to West Ham’s early lead but he made amends with a decent performance. Rashford is currently lacking confidence. Last year, he would have buried the chance he had during the first half today. Zlatan scored a good headed goal. His movement off the ball to get into the goal scoring position was great. Rooney made an impact on the game but subs Mhiki and Fellaini were garbage. I don’t know why Fellaini was thrown into the game when we needed a goal. That’s not his game. Sometimes it’s better to stay with what you’ve got than do a substitute for the sake of bringing someone on.

As for Mourinho…..he’ll feel like an absolute idiot when he sees the replay of Pogba’s dive that eventually made him protest the ref’s decision, kick a bottle to the heavens and get sent to the stands (or wherever he was).

Frustrating. We’re still in November but we’re surely out of the title race now. Suddenly the League Cup quarter final we’ve got this Wednesday becomes even more important. This is a cup that we can win so we must make sure we manage to do what we didn’t do today i.e. beat West Ham. Thankfully, this next home game can’t end in a draw.

 We go again on Wednesay, come on United