West Brom 2-2 Manchester United – How did they fare?
After Manchester United could only take a point away from West Brom, many fans were quick to put the blame on the players. Interestingly however, many fans picked different players to pass the buck too.
In what was a fairly disappointing performance all-round, the players are graded on their performance last night – with a surprising Man of the Match for the Red Devils.
DE GEA (6/10)
Big Dave had absolutely nothing to do throughout the game, but couldn’t keep West Brom from scoring twice with their only two shots on target. He claimed crosses well and his distribution was good. He had no chance with either goal and had no shots to face otherwise so hard to criticize the Spanish ‘keeper.
RAFAEL (6/10)
Rafa had a tough time yesterday. He struggled to impose himself on United’s attacking game with Adnan Januzaj ahead of him. He often wasn’t able to push on due to Januzaj’s insistence on cutting in on his left-foot often leaving the Brazilian with little or no support when defending. Played Berahino onside for West Brom’s second as he was ball watching. Has to improve if he’s to prevent rumours about his future at the club from picking up even more steam.
JONES (6/10)
Fresh back from injury, Jones was partnered with Marcos Rojo at center-back for the first time in what many fans class as the club’s first choice defence. Jones lead the defence well. While Van Gaal placed blame upon him for the second goal, he had actually pushed up enough for Berahino to be offside. He carried the ball forward well and generally defended well.
ROJO (6/10)
Rojo started the game really well but as the game went on his concentration faded and he began to make lapses. Positionally he could have done much better for the first goal but he did very well in the air throughout. His passing wasn’t brilliant and is something to be worked on, but overall the defence looked more solid than shaky barring a few individual errors.
SHAW (6/10)
Shaw started the game poorly, making the initial mistake that led to the opening goal for West Brom. As the game went on he grew into the role and pushed on overlapping Angel Di Maria and putting in some good crosses. The England man was heavily criticized on Twitter, but I felt he had as good a game as any other defender on the pitch. Still only 19, he’ll grow into his role and I have no doubt he’ll become the best left back in the league sooner than later.
HERRERA (5/10)
Ander Herrera started the game, broken rib and all, and it showed he wasn’t 100% fit. Herrera’s passing wasn’t quite up to scratch while the usual bite in his defensive style was gone, presumably due to the injury. Was subsequently substituted at half-time and it made a big difference. A top player and has already proved him importance to the side this season, but last night wasn’t a good day at the office.
BLIND (7/10)
Daley Blind controlled the Manchester United midfield for long periods of time last night. The Dutchman’s passing was very good and while he often came a bit too deep to collect the ball, his passing was crisp and accurate which often helped to stretch the West Brom defence. Scored his first goal for the club with a lovely curled effort five minutes from time to get a point and can take great pride that he was one of the best players on the pitch.
JANUZAJ (5/10)
The Belgian finally got his first start under Louis van Gaal, but he really struggled to show why he should be starting more often. Januzaj didn’t seem like he wanted to try and beat a man, but he didn’t do the simple things well enough to make a real difference. A real disappointing performance, but the attacker is still the hottest prospect at the club. Anybody trying to rule him out of contention in future games based on this needs to remember last seasson.
MATA (4/10)
A truly awful performance for Juan Mata. It was a night to forget for the Spaniard. He did nothing of note for the visitors having zero shots on target and making zero key passes while on the pitch. Was eventually replaced by Radamel Falcao.
DI MARIA (7/10)
The Argentine winger once again showed why the club paid a British record of £59.7M for Angel Di Maria this summer. He was a constant threat to West Brom and his pin point crosses caused plenty of concern throughout the night. He didn’t have as much space as he would have liked, but he linked up well with Shaw throughout the game until he was replaced with a thigh injury.
VAN PERSIE (5/10)
Once again, Robin van Persie had a stinker. Captaining the side and leading the line up front alone, van Persie really struggled to make any sort of impact on the game. He missed two really good chances in the first half and went missing in the second half until the appearance of Falcao gave him some more freedom. Almost instantly van Persie hit the post with a volley, however after that he faded back into the shadows and struggled once again. Clearly off the pace and Van Gaal should be seriously considering dropping him once Wayne Rooney is back from suspension.
SUBSTITUTES:
FELLAINI (8/10)
At around the 30 minute mark the camera panned to show Louis van Gaal barking at Marouane Fellaini on the bench, almost telling him off. Fellaini came on at half-time for Ander Herrera and made an instant impact. His physical presence gave United an option further up the pitch and the Belgian scored the goal of the night with a stunning strike into the top corner. He thrust himself into contention for the Chelsea game next week with this performance and may have springboarded himself into a potential career at Old Trafford.
FALCAO (N/A)
Falcao replaced Mata and struggled to make an impact. It was clear that he was still suffering from jetlag and never got a chance to score. Nothing to be ashamed of though and no worse than Robin van Persie was.