Manchester United 2-0 WBA | Three thoughts

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and his lack of influence in games, while Martial continues to impress (this time playing up-front with Rooney in the withdrawn role), he clearly cannot impact games like he used to.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 February, making zero appearances in between. This season has been a very different story, and as the manager looks to new attacking options, with Memphis failing to settle into life at United so far, Jesse has been called up and has instantly breathed some much needed life and ambition into the side. He took his much-deserved goal at the weekend like a seasoned pro and was by far our most dangerous attacking threat. Wazza...take note.

2. Attack! Attack! Attack!

As we struggled to penetrate the West Brom defence, with the bizarre decision to play two holding midfielders against Tony "play for the 0-0" Pulis' WBA inevitably backfiring, it looked as though it could be yet another frustrating afternoon until Jesse popped up with the goal. The fact our first shot on target came on 44 minutes, while we mustered up only two more attempts in the match (...i.e. the two goals) highlights the fact that it was hardly an overtly attacking display, albeit a winning one.



The LVG philosophy seems to revolve around sleep-walking through the game, content on playing controlled possession football that makes it almost impossible for the opposition to score. Fine if, like Saturday, we take the few decent chances we create, however as the previous three games proved where the focus on "the art of passing" outweighed the importance of attacking football, it doesn't always work.



It feels as though, given the strict nature in which the manager has set us up to defend and keep the ball, we are no longer able to play at a high tempo and so can't open up teams like we used to. This is however no excuse for the lack of speed and creativity in our midfield, something van Gaal's has spoken about and is looking to address. Yet, given the relatively low standard of football currently being witnessed every weekend in the league (and even more so when the PL's top teams face European opposition during the week), we could quite easily find ourselves in a promising position later in the season - even if the performances fail to improve. And that leads me onto my final point...

3. Perspective, people. Perspective.

We are well in the title race, sitting in fourth spot (three points clear of Spurs) and only two points off the top, while we boast the best defencive record in the league with Saturday's game signalling our eighth clean-sheet of the season. Yet due to the laboured nature of our performances and the public outcry that has ensued you would be forgiven in thinking we were a team in crisis.



Of course we'd all like to see a swift return to the attacking, high-tempo football that was so prevalent during Sir Alex's reign. But we need to understand that it will take time for this almost entirely new squad of players to adhere to van Gaal's vision of playing balanced, possession-based, attacking (yes...attacking!) football. We are not the team we were and have to adjust our expectations accordingly. As supporters we need to avoid turning into the modern-day Arsenal fan (spearheaded by the ever moronic and fickle Piers Morgan) who were spoilt during Wenger's early years and now hold unwarranted levels of entitlement whenever things don't (in their minds) go according to plan. We just need to be patient, have faith and accept the current change in situation, regardless of how hard it may be.





Final thought...



Something almost completely neglected by the critics is van Gaal's policy on giving United's youth a go.



He has admitted himself that the size of the squad is surprisingly small for a team trying to compete for the title, however since he joined the club last summer he's made his desire to give youth a chance very clear. On Saturday Borthwick-Jackson became the eighth graduate of the United academy to be given a debut under Van Gaal; a pretty incredible achievement and something he should be praised for, especially if the faith he's showing in Lingard pulls off.