From The By-line

-Johan

The match between Manchester United and West Brom was a perfect blend of exuberant youth and legendary veterans of the game.

Jesse Lingard (22) scored his first goal for United after 6 appearances, and Borthwick-Jackson (18) made his debut appearance while Anthony Martial (19) showed again why he is such a good signing for the future. There was Bastian Schweinsteiger (31) who dictated play and delivered a master class performance while well supported by Michael Carrick (34), and Rooney (30) delivered the work rate expected of a captain.

MATCH REVIEW

A 2-0 result is exactly what you would expect of Manchester United and even though the result was not as convincing as the scoreline might suggest, West Brom is not a side that to break down easily. Tony Pulis had no intention of attacking Manchester United until they conceded the first goal midway through the second half. West Brom predominantly sat deep with 10 men in their own half and only Rondon up front, so United was rarely under threat but it also meant that it was hard to penetrate a team that came to Old Trafford with only one goal in mind – frustrate Manchester United and leave with a point.

The team selection for the West Brom game was spot on. The fact that the opposition sat so deep, made Martial a trivial figure in attack, but after Lingard’s wonderful volleyed strike to put United in the lead, the game opened up and Martial could display his strength and quality ratifying why he should lead the attack.

Lingard was the star of the show with 27/31 (87%) passes completed, 2/6 (33%) take-ons and 7 ball recoveries, 2/3 (66%) aerial duels won and scoring 1 very good goal. He also contributed in defense with 4/8 (50%) tackles.

Martial despite being nullified in for most of the game delivered 30/33 (91%) passes, created 2 chances and had 4 ball recoveries. The only concern is still the fact that despite his willingness to take defenders on, he is not exactly world class yet, and in the match had only 1/6 successful attempts, but what he does do, is draw defenders and in doing so, creates space for team mates.

However, it was again a master of the midfield who showed everyone how it is done with Schweinsteiger completing 84/98 (86%) passes, 9 ball recoveries, 2 interceptions, 3/4 successful tackles and winning 1/2 aerial duels. Carrick matched Schweinsteiger’s performance with 104/117 (89%) passes completed, 6 ball recoveries and 3/3 tackles. The only criticism about the United midfield is that they do not attack quick enough yet. This is not for a lack of effort from both Carrick and Schweinsteiger but more the fact that their options are often limited when wanting to attack. Mata is not the quickest player on the field and Lingard’s positional play still needs work, while both Rooney and Martial were tightly marked.

In the end though, United achieved all the targets they set for themselves. They scored 2 goals, kept a clean sheet and controlled the pace and territory of the game once again with 69% possession and 84% passing accuracy. They had 13 attempts at goal but only 3 on target however, given West Brom’s approach to the game it is too be expected.    

KEY TALKING POINTS

The emergence of players like Lingard, Perreira, Wilson, Blackett, Martial and now also potentially Borthwick-Jackson is all thanks to Van Gaal willing to risk playing them. His defiant believe that players should earn their right to be selected regardless of popularity with fans or sponsors, is exactly what United needs at the moment. The matches might not have been beautiful and the results not spectacular but it is undeniable that United are continuously improving. 

As fans, we would love to see instant improvement. However, the fact remains that instant results are never sustainable. Sustainability comes with time and structure. It is fortunate that Louis van Gaal is allowed to create a structure and a platform from which someone like Giggs could potentially build, just like he did with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. It is easy to criticize Louis van Gaal for the fact that we are not scoring enough goals and not creating enough chances, but let us look at what is required of the manager of any club.

You need to ensure that you control the game, keep a clean sheet, create chances to score goals and promote and develop youth players for the future. Apart from scoring enough goals, it is hard to criticize Van Gaal on what he has achieved thus far. Team selection will always be questionable when you can field only 11 players from a squad filled with quality and you will never be able to satisfy everyone.

WHAT’S NEXT?

United’s league schedule looks rather promising for the remainder of November and December. It is not until 28 December, when they face Chelsea, that you feel they would be facing any substantial opposition and on current Chelsea form, you would probably expect United to trump Chelsea in that game as well.

Next in line are Watford (A), Leicester (A), West Ham (H), Bournemouth (A) and Stoke (A) before facing Chelsea at Old Trafford. Regardless of the fact that the majority of the matches are away from home, you would expect United to take full points from each of these fixtures. This could very well be one of the most important periods for United as winning all of these matches will put them at the top of the league or at the very least, within touching distance of City and Arsenal going into the second half of the season, and if we can do that, we might just win the league again.