United 0 - 1 Southampton

DDG

Valencia Jones Smalling Shaw(Blackett)

Di Maria(Fellaini) Mata Carrick Blind 

RVP(Herrera) Rooney

Wrong tactics

That was simply a poor performance from start up to finish. I don't think I can remember a game when United didn't have a single attempt on target. Southampton weren't much brilliant either, they had one shot on target and scored it. Having said that, I think the Saints defended very well but LVG was right when he said that they came to Old Trafford for a draw. Unfortunately, they got more than that. 

It was the first time this season that LVG had a full squad to choose from and we succumbed to our first loss since that City game. Mata should have probably won us a a point, at least, as he had 3 decent chances near the end of the game. He shot wide on each occasion though. Should have done better. 

Our play was so slow and sloppy I couldn't even believe it. I can't believe this is the Di Maria I've seen play for Real Madrid last year. He played as a forward today, I know that's not his position, but I still expect more from him. For a player of his class, he was extremely poor. Rooney never got in the game. Mata was erratic and missed some good chances. RVP didn't have a sniff of the ball. Blind wasn't played in his position. Heck even Carrick gave the ball away! There were only two decent performers today; Valencia and Smalling. Valencia beat their fullback a few times but lacked the final ball while, I thought, Smalling was good at the back. Also, I liked Fellaini's effort when he was put on although, I must admit, the substitutions were a bit odd. 

We've been on a very good run so I'm not too worried with today's game. It  was simply a game were no one performed and that was always going to lead to a defeat or a boring draw. Southampton were very disciplined and did well to frustrate our players. It's been a while since we last lost a game so there's no need for all the hullabaloo that I've seen on social media after the game. The anti united brigade, who were a tad worried during our recent winning run, were out in full force celebrating our defeat. It's now down to our players to react to this defeat with another winning run. We've got a few winnable games coming up. We've just got to win them, otherwise we'll drift away from Southampton and give Arsenal and Tottenham a chance to leapfrog us in the league. We can't afford another year away from the Champions League. 

Also, a lot of blame should be put on van Gaal today. Just play a 4-4-2 formation and stop messing around with our players' positions. Our players looked absolutely clueless.