Welcome to what is perhaps the most difficult player ratings article of the season so far; every United player played well but at the same time, no United player played well enough. Here’s what I’ve mustered from a frustrating 90 minutes of play at Old Trafford…
Romero – 7
Again kept a clean sheet in the Premier League; he’s not conceded a goal in domestic competition yet. Was good in his collection of crosses and improving in his distribution – however his positioning and awareness are still leaving much to the imagination – he’s providing us with some nervous moments.
Darmian – 7
Matteo Darmian was again very solid defensively and again very sharp in getting forward; however his end-product was poor as all his crosses were blocked and he was caught unawares by creative passes from Juan Mata, which he was not expecting (goodness knows why!)
Smalling – 8
The Maidstone Maldini did it again – protected his ‘keeper brilliantly and got forward well. He’s in the top 1 of our best players this season, so let’s hope he keeps it up.
Blind – 8
Another game “out of position”, another stellar performance from the Dutchman. Vitally, he did enough to deny Newcastle a clean crossing opportunity at the end of the game, which otherwise would have seen Florian Thavin seal 3 points for the visitors. Brought the ball out of defense well and launched a stinging shot on target after a nice run.
Shaw – 8
Well, Louis van Gaal has said that this is the “season of Luke Shaw” and he’s not wrong – the young left-back has put last season’s issues behind him and looks an absolute machine of a player these days.
Schneiderlin – 8
Played very well as a defensive shield, dropping in to act as a third centre-back when Darmian and Shaw were bombing forward. Good passing in the final third and he’s looking a magnificent signing.
Schweinsteiger – 7
Not as impressive as he has been on his previous substitute appearances, but he did put himself about and got some good balls going in the midfield. Subbed off just before the hour mark but he did his job well.
Januzaj – 7
Another decent but not exactly stunning performance from Adnan, although I’ll say that his lack of real contribution wasn’t his fault; he made a lot of very good runs off the ball which were either not noticed or ignored by his team-mates. Expect him to start again against Club Brugge.
Mata – 7
One of the players who was presented with decent chances to put United ahead, Mata spurned a close-range volley which he may have scored on another day. His all-round play was the usual, tidy stuff but his finishing was a bit off today.
Rooney – 7
Time to stick my neck on the line – Rooney’s non-scoring is no fault of his own. He’s putting in incredible industry as he always has and it’s van Gaal’s system which is seeing him score less goals. Had a goal chalked out for offside which arguably should have stood and had plenty of shots on target – the goals are on their way.
Memphis – 8
Made Chancel Mbemba look like a non-league defender for the first 20 minutes of the game but struggled a bit more when Newcastle sharpened up and United for some reason slowed down. Memphis still looks the most likely to cause problems, every time he gets the ball.
Substitutes
Carrick – 8
Came on for Schweinsteiger and had 30 minutes to make an impact; he out-performed the German and almost scored the winner! Made the team look much slicker and was definitely the catalyst for the marked improvement late on in the second half.
Chicharito – 5
It’s not fun to admit this but if “Little Pea” doesn’t sharpen up soon, his United career will come to and end sooner rather than later. He had a chance one-on-one with Krul which would have won the game; Krul made a great save but only because the Mexican chose not to dink it over him. Needs to work harder to make more runs and get into more spaces and he’ll be okay.
Valencia – 8
Brought on for the eventually jaded Matteo Darmian with 10 minutes to go and impressed. He was putting better crosses in than the Italian and used his bigger stature well – he may be better used as a right-midfielder than a right-back though.
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