Jose's Winning Start

Wigan 0 Manchester United 2

This was not just any old run of the mill pre-season friendly this was a match that all Man United fans had been eagerly anticipating since the announcement of Jose Mourinho's appointment as the new manager.

There was certainly more focus on the manager by the fans and the press than the action on the pitch. As the away support blasted out Mourinho's name relentlessly the cameras followed his every move and gesture as he spent more time on the touchline than van Gaal had in his entire spell as United manager and there was no clipboard in sight.

On the pitch there were many important landmarks, Mkhitaryan and Bailly made solid debuts, Wilson made his return from loan and many academy players were given a run-out with the chance to impress their new manager.

But none were more important than the fact that defender Luke Shaw played his first match for the Red Devils since the horror injury he endured ten months ago to the day. Shaw didn't look like a player who had overcome a serious injury as he never shirked from some crunching challenges. All credit to the 21-year-old and let us hope that this will be his season and one that he fully deserves.

On the game front, United won at a canter and Mourinho made full use of his available squad to ease them through what in all fairness was a training exercise designed to increase fitness levels. There will be tougher clashes ahead during the tours of China and Sweden.

Will Keane will hold the distinction of being the first player to score under Jose Mourinho's reign and his goal was followed by a superb strike on the turn from the impressive Andreas Pereira to make the result a comfortable 2-0 victory over a Wigan side who never really tested goalkeepers Sam Johnstone and Joel Pereira.

New signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly slotted in nicely and judging by their performances the fans will be licking their lips for the rest of the season.

With Mourinho reportedly keen to keep his squad for the new season down to a minimum it will be interesting to see how many players from this friendly will still be at Old Trafford come the end of the transfer window, especially when you consider all the big name players who featured in the Euro 2016 tournament have yet to return.

Many of the youngsters will simply return to the under 21's or academy, but it is highly likely that some of them will face more loan spells away from the club or even be released. With the anticipated strike force quartet of Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Martial and Rashford to be the preferred choice of the manager then it's doubtful that scorer Keane and James Wilson will want to hang around.

The same can be said about the defence. With the return of Shaw and the acquisition of Bailly, what does the future hold for the likes of Rojo, McNair, Blackett and some of the many young defenders that played at the back during last season?

United seem to have an abundance of players to call upon in the attacking midfield slots. However, it is the defensive midfield area that needs reinforcing as Carrick and Schweinsteiger will not be able to play a whole season due to age and inevitable injuries so with just Schneiderlin to call upon there is a need there.

Mourinho obviously has a plan and we will all have to wait and see what transpires, but for now it's a first win for the new man in charge and there is a positive vibe once again around the club as they embark on their pre-season tour of China and a little matter of the coming together of Jose and Pep.

The good times seem to be back and long may they continue.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

United Pay the Penalty Against Boro.

Manchester United 0 Middlesbrough 0 (aet)
(Penalties: United 1 Boro 3)

United were dumped out of the Capital One Cup after a performance that proved one thing and that is they are a side devoid of ideas and restricted by tactics that are clearly not working.

United took a break from the pressure of the Premier and Champions Leagues to concentrate on the Capital One cup and the visit of Middlesbrough to Old Trafford.

The last time these two sides met in the competition was back in the 2008-09 season when United triumphed with a 3-1 victory in the 3rd round on their way to lifting the trophy at Wembley.

It is well known that the top flight sides tend to utilise their squads in the League Cup by giving a chance to some of their youngsters and in the last tie, it was one of those fringe players that turned out to be the hero, Andreas Pereira.

So, it was no surprise to see that Louis van Gaal once again went down the same route of choosing a side that mixed things up a little: Romero, Darmian, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Carrick, Fellaini, Pereira, Lingard, Wilson and Memphis.

In total there were nine changes from the derby draw and the side boasted a young forward line that had both pace and ability in large amounts with Memphis, Wilson, Pereira and Lingard set to torment the Boro defence.

United's subs bench was impressive to say the least: De Gea, Young, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Mata, Martial and Rooney.

As expected United started the more confident of the two sides by passing the ball around neatly, but as the half progressed the home side made little inroads into the visitors defence and for all their quality on show they failed to hit top gear.

Fellaini was the busiest of the United players linking the midfield with the attack, but it wasn't until the 34th minute that the home side had their first shot on goal and that was a very tame effort by Wilson that the visiting keeper had only to bend down and collect.

This was not the start that United was hoping for as they made it more difficult for themselves by allowing Boro to see too much of the ball and it nearly paid off for the Championship side when Downing tried his luck from the edge of the box with a dipping effort which Romero did well to tip over for a corner. That had to be a wake-up call for United that Boro were not here just to make up the numbers.

Half time and it was all square at 0-0 with the visitors coming the closest to breaking the deadlock and a lackluster United unable to get into any groove.

After being given a chance by the manager it was unfortunate that the youngsters hadn't shown their true class by failing to get behind the Boro defence and in the second half you wondered how long it would be until van Gaal freshened things up from the quality bench available to him.

The first of those changes came at the start of the second half when captain Rooney replaced Wilson in attack, but it was Middlesbrough who started the half on the front foot as they clearly believed that the match was there for the taking.

Memphis had a shot on goal which was almost fumbled by Mejias in goal but, to be honest, he made the Dutchman's shot look better than it was.

After ten minutes of the half, United finally started to take control of the game and began to pepper the visitors goal with speculative shots the closest from Felling and Pereira.

It was hearts in mouths time when just before the hour mark Boro thought they had scored when Daley Blind lashed the ball into his own net, thankfully for him and the fans, Boro were adjudged to be offside in the build-up to the blunder.

This was turning out to be embarrassing for the Red Devils and it was summed up by Memphis as he totally miss-hit a shot after dribbling into the area to set himself up for a chance.

Young made a welcome return to the side after an injury layoff when he replaced Rojo for the final half hour of play.

For a neutral this was an exciting cup tie, but for United it was a nervy display as once again Blind almost managed to score at the wrong end as Romero let his back pass squirm under his foot and both looked relieved as the ball went just wide.

The last spin of the dice for van Gaal came when he let loose his French star Martial who entered the fray for the hugely disappointing Memphis in the 70th minute and the change almost had the desired effect as Martial went on one of his trademark runs only to be thwarted by the defence.

Fellaini had a wild shot at goal as United's play became more desperate entering the last ten minutes of the game. A calm head was needed up front while all around were panicking.

With extra time looming you wondered where, if at all, a United goal was going to come from as they laboured in front of a happy 10,000 visiting away support.

Lingard rattled the post in the final minute followed by an effort at the other end from Leadbitter as he tried to lob Romero but the keeper made amends for his earlier mistake by saving well then he dived low to prevent a certain goal from a Downing strike.

There was more action in the last three minutes of normal time than in the whole of the match with Romero being the busiest of the keepers making at least three stops to deny Boro a shock ending.

The first period of extra time saw the home side go for the jugular from the off, but as has been the story on numerous occasions this season the final ball let them down and they soon allowed the opposition to get back into the game.

The home side were reduced to crosses aimed at Fellaini that Boro dealt with far too easily and once again Rooney's touch was terrible to watch as he and Fellaini failed to impress as they struggled to find a way through.

Into the second period of extra time and to avoid penalties United would have to produce something they hadn't managed all match and that would be a moment of brilliance. It was almost produced by the excellent Martial who had a dribble into the area, but was out crowded by at least four defenders before he could deliver the final strike.

Pereira had another chance to become the hero again when he had a thunderous strike that sneaked past the post. there was a late shout for a penalty for United as a cross definitely hit a defenders hand but the referee, Lee Mason, waved play on.

Fellaini almost won it at the death with two headed chances either side of a Martial header which was a hair width wide.

End of extra time and all square as the match headed into penalties.

The penalty shootout ended in a 3-1 victory to Middlesbrough after captain Rooney, vice-captain Carrick then Young all fluffed their lines from the spot and with it ended the first chance of silverware this season.

In all honesty, if United's style of play has been reduced to hoofing the ball into the box aiming for Fellaini's head and hoping for a chance to fall at the feet of one of his teammates then there needs to be a serious overhaul of United's tactics.

All credit has to go to the visiting team for wanting the win more than the hosts, but this has to go down as an embarrassment for United who have clearly not learned from their recent failings and continue to be unable to kill teams off.

Something is clearly not working when we can't even put on a winning performance against a team from the lower leagues with a fairly strong looking side. How long do the fans have to put up with displays of pure inadequacies from players who have always enjoyed the backing of the fans? It's the youngsters who will suffer from this defeat when it should be the experienced players who have to come in for the most criticism along with the coaches.

People will say it's only the League Cup, however, that is not the point the point is United are expected to win everything they play for and if they can't then at least go out with a bang trying and not a whimper.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

United's Dismal Defeat at the Emirates.

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 0

The Philosopher took on the Professor at the Emirates Stadium as Louis van Gaal and his side looked to get back to the top of the league in the capital while hoping to pile more pressure on Arsene Wenger.

After kick-starting their Champions League group campaign off with a victory over Wolfsburg this week United travelled to London full of confidence add to that the Gunners poor start to the season and hopes were high that the Red Devils would return to Manchester with all three points.

The biggest dilemma for van Gaal was who should fill the left back position in the absence of Luke Shaw. In the last two matches right back Darmian has played admirably on the left, but Valencia on the right has been a problem as was seen last Wednesday when he played the Wolfsburg attackers onside for their opening goal. Jones and McNair are able to cover on both flanks along with the versatile Ashley Young.

Another question for United is which Wayne Rooney would turn up on the day. Would it be the Rooney, who has the unrivalled scoring record against the Gunners in the league or the Rooney, who has endured a poor start to the season?

With the announcement of the starting XI by the manager it was clear that Young was preferred to Valencia and would start as the left back and in midfield the returning Carrick would add the valuable experience alongside Schweinsteiger with Schneiderlin on the bench but likely to replace one of the midfield duo at some stage.

Martial was once again chosen to lead United's attack and would be looking to prove his talent against another so called big team after a more than impressive start to his United career, having been directly involved in four goals in his first three Premier League games, netting three and assisting with one.

Man United's starting XI: De Gea, Young, Smalling, Blind, Darmian, Carrick, Schweinsteiger, Mata, Rooney, Memphis and Martial.
Subs: Romero, Jones, McNair, Schneiderlin, Valencia, Fellaini and Wilson.

Wearing their changed strip of all black United started on the back foot as the sides spent the opening few minutes entrenched in the visitors penalty area and the pressure from the Gunners paid off when first Sanchez opened the scoring with a neat near-post flick that was followed by a strike from Ozil to put the hosts 2-0 up in the opening six minutes.

Any game plan that United had disappeared straight out of the window and the match became a real test of the team's character to see if they had it in them to come back from the disastrous start.

Over the next ten minutes, United did attempt to try and conjure up something, but the end result was a massive let down with the final ball failing to amount to anything near a chance.

Then it was that man Sanchez again, who added the third with a blistering strike into the top corner from the edge of the box. The game was quickly becoming an embarrassment for the Red Devils, who had to be very careful that they were not going to be on the end of a rout.

To make things worse, that was the first time that Arsenal had scored three goals against United in the league since 2001.

Sanchez's speed and ability was causing Darmian all sorts of problems on the wing and the Italian went into the referee's book for a cynical foul on the Chilean after he was beaten for pace and pulled the forward back.

At least United had an effort at the end of the half as Martial span on a penny and got a shot away which keeper Cech managed to block and that was the only chance of note that United created all half.

Collectively in the first half United were poor as they struggled to get any type of foothold in the match and at times looked like a team of strangers playing together for the first time and if it hadn't been for some wasteful shooting Arsenal could have gone in at half-time five goals to the good.

To be a fly on the wall in the visitors dressing room would have been priceless as van Gaal must have ripped into his side as no-one could have held their head up as a United player after the most dire 45 minutes by any United team in years. Rooney had to shoulder most of the blame because as captain he should be the one on the field to lead by example but, unfortunately, his performance was one of the worst and not for the first time this season.

The second half couldn't get any worse, could it?

At the start of the second half van Gaal decided to make a double substitution by replacing Memphis and Darmian with Valencia and Fellaini.

Fellaini took up the position that Rooney had been playing in the first period and he himself started on the left wing and as the game went on he moved inside to a more central attacking position. Valencia was a straight swap in the right back position.

Just after the hour mark Rooney had his first effort on goal which was saved at full stretch by Cech and if not for a heavy first touch in the penalty area by Schweinsteiger he could have grabbed a goal back but the ball was smothered by the keeper.

As the game entered the final twenty minutes at least United tried to get something from the game and through some neat passing the ball ended up at the feet of Mata who tried to curl the ball into the top corner but pulled the chance just wide. Even the mercurial Mata was having one of those days to forget.

The final change came in the final ten minutes as Mata made way for James Wilson, who would partner Martial in attack in the hope of salvaging some crumb of respect from the defeat.

In added time, United's performance was summed up when Rooney gave away the ball in a dangerous area and Oxlade-Chamberlain saw his effort rebound off the crossbar. Maybe a fourth would have been too harsh on United after their second half display.

Overall the match was lost in the opening quarter of an hour in which the lack of concentration by United will be a worry to the manager as it is not the first time this season that the team have struggled to get going during the first half and even though they enjoyed more of the possession in the second half this was only because Arsenal had all but done the job. If there was one player who stood out in the tepid display, then it would have to be Anthony Martial who on numerous occasions at least tried to make the breakthrough in attack.

Normally, it is said that one bad result doesn't reflect on the season however, after what the fans witnessed at the Emirates it is a concern as the side lacked any type of cohesion and usually they can get away with one or two players underperforming but as a team it becomes more difficult. To rub salt into the wounds, the Gunners leapfrogged United into second place with a superior goal difference.

There is the now the upcoming inconvenience of the international break so van Gaal has to wait a week before he can address the problems emanating from the Emirates performance before some tough challenges ahead, including Everton and Man City in the league plus back to back matches against CSKA Moscow.

On this occasion, it was the Professor who came out on top and gave the Philosopher a lot to ponder.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.