Still Following the Trawler

BREAKING: We'll play Barcelona, PSG, Club América and San Jose in the USA on #MUtour. Details: http://t.co/yqw61y7hQf pic.twitter.com/Pcw7AsI30t — Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 28, 2015

The defeat to Chelsea last Saturday was highly disappointing - the result, the lack of initiative we showed coming forward, the inability to penetrate the Chelsea defense, and as a way of highlighting how reliant we are on Michael Carrick! According to reports today he is still a doubt for Sunday's trip to Goodison Park, however I'm hoping Everton won't be able to stamp out are creative players as well as Zouma, Matic, Ivanovic et al did last week. Also it looks like Blind will return from injury, so no doubt he'll nicely slot into the defensive-midfield role, with Shaw deservedly keeping his place after his highly promising display vs. Chelsea. The return of Blind should actually sort out our formation out from the messy, "early season throw-back" that appeared at Stamford Bridge, softening the blow of Carrick's absence. As a solid, protective layer in front of the defense he'll be able to free the players around him (Herrera, Mata and Young) in ord...

Watch Wayne Rooney’s goal of the season, 10 years ago today… Posted by Manchester United on Thursday, April 23, 2015

Via  the Guardian : Yesterday, 22nd April 2015, marked the one year anniversary of David Moyes' sacking as United manager. In this piece in the Guardian, Jamie Jackson looks back at the decision to cut-short his six year contract, the enormity of the task that Moyes just couldn't cope with, and how things are looking good for United 12 months on. The David Moyes mantra since being sacked as Manchester United manager 12 months on Wednesday is that he was not allowed time to succeed. The Scot maintains any chance to discover if he could do the job was thwarted when Ed Woodward, the executive vice‑chairman, tore up his six-year contract on 22 April of last season, 10 months into his tenure. Yet in doing so Woodward – and the Glazers – were effectively saying to Moyes’s plea for more time: “How soon is now?” The prescient answer might actually have come two months earlier. Because, by the time the trigger was finally pulled, Moyes’s United were in seventh place on 57 points...

"That is sensational"See the amazing Robin van Persie goal which set Manchester United on their way to a 13th #BPL title, #OnThisDay two years ago... Posted by Premier League on Wednesday, April 22, 2015

1. Our successful system was disrupted thanks to so many injuries With Blind, Jones, Rojo and Carrick all out injured for a game which was always going to  be challenging, United had to reshuffle - bringing in players who have spent large periods of the season on the bench (and therefore have been out-of-the-loop in terms of their involvement in United's  recent revival), while playing some key players out of position (see 'Falcao and Rooney' below). In what has been a truly fantastic run of form for United we maintained our game-plan of keeping incredibly high levels of possession (71% at Stamford Bridge? How many other teams have achieved that in recent years??) however with the absence of so many key players - Carrick's influence in midfield being felt most strongly - our effectiveness in front of goal was almost entirely absent (only two shots on target out of 15 attempts). Our football at times was decent and we definitely deserved a draw given the number of attack...