Still Following the Trawler

GOAL  | David de Gea DEFENSE  | Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo This is the same back four that started during the week against PSV. Jones is sitting this one out due to injury, but even still Blind is steadily growing into the role of centre-back, alongside Smalling , as is Rojo as replacement to Shaw at left back. Darmian will more than likely start his first league game since the Palace draw at the end of October. MIDFIELD  | Jesse Lingard,  Morgan Schneiderlin,   Juan Mata, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay I give up trying to reinvent van Gaal's midfield, or suggest that - even in light of the consistently unimaginative football being played and serious lack of creativity produced game-after-game - he finally start playing a different system. Against a poor Watford side, as he did against the equally poor West Brom, he continued to play the rigid 4-2-3-1 system with two holding midfielders sitting in front of the back four. With all the decent att

Yep, that's right - United and Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a loan deal for 19-year-old James Wilson until the end of the 2015/16 season. Unlike last year where Wilson was firmly considered one of United's main striking options - playing 17 times (the majority of those appearances coming from the bench) and scoring twice - he has been virtually anonymous this time round; starting only once and that was in the Capital One cup defeat vs. Middlesbrough last month. Wilson joins van Persie (Fenerbahce), Hernandez (Bayer Leverkusen) and Falcao (Chelsea) as the fourth striker to leave United this season, while Welbeck (Arsenal) left the team in the summer of 2014. Along with attacking-midfielder Januzaj, who left in the summer to play for Borrusia Dortmund throughout 2015/16, United's attacking options have seriously diminished in the past 18 months to say the least. Don't get me wrong, the move could certainly serve to improve the young striker who will hopefully b

There was a strong sense prior to kick off that United would struggle in Saturday's early kick off against Watford. The starting line-up, devoid of Martial and Rooney, looked peculiar without the presence of a natural striker, and if we needed that final push past the finish line and to turn to the bench for inspiration, then it would have to come in the form of 18 year old Marcus Rashford or 20 year old Sean Goss - neither of whom had kicked a ball for United's first team before. However Memphis, starting his first game since the Arsenal defeat in October and with a point to prove, set the pace after just 10 minutes when he volleyed Herrera's cross beautifully into the roof of the net. From then on, we bossed the game and actually produced one of our most confident attacking displays of the season. Although the opposition hardly threatened and struggled to break United's resilient defense (until Rojo's moment of madness that lead to the penalty, of course) this was

GOAL  | David de Gea DEFENSE  | Matteo Darmian, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo Poor Antonio Valencia's time at United may well be up after the latest set back that has seen him ruled out for five months . Love him or hate him however, there's no denying that the 30 year old has been a reliable, loyal servant. He was United's player of the season in 2012, a year after coming back from the serious ankle break he suffered during a Champions League group game with Rangers, and happily played the majority of last season out of position at right back. Still, with the signing of Darmian in the summer his opportunities are now limited to a reserve role while his reputation as a flying winger known for producing incredible crosses from the right (in that United PotY winning season he produced an impressive 13 assists in 22 starts) seems long gone. The young  Darmian has indeed been impressive in his first season at United, so he'll look to resume his duties in defense

Reports today in the national press have suggestion Antonio Valencia, who picked up an injury in the Manchester City game at Old Trafford 18 days ago, will be out for around five months as a result of an operation he has had on his injured foot. Now, whether I have just been completely oblivious to the extent of the injury or the club have massively held back reports of it's seriousness, the amount of time he is now being forced to sit out has come as a HUGE surprise to me! Regarding the impact to the side however, thankfully Matteo Darmian will be back in contention for the Watford game next Saturday following his one game ban that kept him out of the West Brom win, while Ashley Young (not a natural right-back by any means) has filled in well during the absence of both Darmian and Valencia. Still, a big loss and of course I wish him all the best in his recovery. The United winger/right-back has given this reassuring message to the fans on his Twitter page: Thank God came out well

1. Rooney and Jesse - while one continues to falter, the other continues to flourish Yet another poor display from Rooney, United's captain and most important player. A lot of has been made about van Gaal's tactics and the way the team lines-up working against Rooney and his style, but for me, given that we're nearly a third of the way into the season now and we're still talking about him and his lack of influence in games, while Martial continues to impress (this time playing up-front with Rooney in the withdrawn role), he clearly cannot impact games like he used to. On a positive note, Saturday's 2-0 win against a Stoke was largely a result of the brilliant display from local boy Jesse Lingard. Since he was given his debut by van Gaal on the first day of last season (the manager's first competitive game in charge of United) he exited his plans almost as quickly as he entered them - coming off injured after only 24 minutes of that game and going out on loan in

GOAL  | David de Gea DEFENCE  | Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo After picking up his fifth booking of the season against Crystal Palace Matteo Darmian will sit this one out due to suspension, while Valencia and Phil Jones look to be injured. As per the CSKA game on Tuesday evening I think van Gaal will opt for Young at right-back again with  Blind in the centre, partnering Mike Smalling .  Rojo is doing a fine job replacing the long-term injured Luke Shaw at left back. MIDFIELD  | Jesse Lingard, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ander Herrera, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Memphis Depay Jesse Lingard 's recent (and surprising) inclusion has been a breath of fresh air during what has been a strangely unadventurous, dull spell for United – with the manager favouring a defensive, pedestrian style over attacking football in recent games. Just look at the below table (via 90min.com ) highlighting our low number of shots vs. Premier League opponents, while we average one of the high

1. Drop him from the team. Immediately. The fact that Wayne Rooney, one of United's consistently poorest performing players, is still securing a spot in the side - week in, week out - is simply ludicrous. Rooney is a player judged on two very clear metrics - his goal scoring ability (as a striker) and his leadership qualities (as the captain) - and it's fair to say on current form he is dramatically failing to deliver on both fronts. If there is one thing Sir Alex was famous for during his successful tenure at the helm of United it was that he was a man who was not afraid to make controversial decisions if he felt it was for the greater good of the team. And that meant dropping big players: players he felt, regardless of reputation, were either a negative influence on the side, ill of discipline or simply in need of some time out of the spotlight due to a loss in form. At the moment, Rooney ticks at least two of these boxes – potentially all three if you attribute his “discipli