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Manchester United 1-0 Tottenham: Takeaways

By Jack Williams

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Credit: @FIFAcom
Credit: @FIFAcom /

Manchester United got their season off to the perfect start by taking the 3 points against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. The final score was 1-0 with the goal courtesy of Kyle Walker who put the ball into his own net and unwittingly became the first player to score the first ever Premier League opening game own goal.

Here are some takes from the game:

1) New signings looked alright

Matteo Darmian was the pick of the bunch, the Italian defender had a solid game throughout. He won 100% of his tackles in the first-half and was not afraid to go forward either which was a good sign. Darmian showed himself to be a top player for the 80 or so minutes he was on, and continued to show it even when he was substituted because Valencia simply could not match his performance.

In fact, he was so good he was a like a throwback to Gary Neville. The legend himself agreed.

Elsewhere on the field Memphis Depay looked a little annoyed that he was being substituted, having shown so much enthusiasm. The link-up play with Rooney needs work, but it is only early days with plenty of time to perfect that partnership. The change in scenery from the Dutch league to the English league doesn’t seem to have affected him much.

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The first German to play competitively for United, Bastian Schweinsteiger, announced himself in the league by picking up a yellow card. But he showed a lot of tenacity and desire. He is a World Cup winner for a reason and was happy to play it forward. His appearance was somewhat surprising given that he was supposedly not fit but he played anyway off the bench.

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Finally, Morgan Schneiderlin went about his business as usual; as Michael Carrick’s midfield partner. The former Southampton man was pretty much faultless and  gave a good indication of what he can do for the club in the centre of the park.

As for Romero, that’s for later.

2) Manchester United Boring?

The standout statistic is surely: “One shot on target”. Rooney and Depay still looked hungry despite not getting on the scoresheet. Rooney was credited with an assist for the goal but he would have wanted to get his name on there himself. He is chasing records after all and trying to make up for the lack of goals last season now he is back in his more familiar role.

But it wasn’t terribly exciting, especially when the ball kept being slowly played to the back only to be punted forward aimlessly by Romero. It meant extra work for Carrick, Schneiderlin and sometimes Mata to go out and win the ball back when it should have been a lot easier.

Blind did his best as a central defender. But against a better side, the feeling is his weaknesses would be preyed upon. Chris “Mike” Smalling made some really good tackles in a Man of the Match performance as he continues to improve.

Along with an improving Luke Shaw and the exciting talent of Darmian it really only leaves the other central position that needs sorting out. Blind simply isn’t the long-term solution. More of a quick-fix.

The game could therefore be summed up like this:

Result over performance. It was 3 points and only the first game of the season; so nothing major to panic about yet. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to see a bit more going forward next time out. Louis van Gaal was happy enough with the performance though.

3) Goalkeeping situation needs sorting. Fast.

It was a very odd sight halfway through the first-half when the TV cameras panned up to show David De Gea, Victor Valdes and Anders Lindegaard sitting in their suits in the stands, looking rather bemused. To put it into perspective – Romero was frozen out of his club last season and hadn’t played since losing the Copa America final. But not even on the bench, were Champions League winner Victor Valdes and last seasons stand out player De Gea.

Romero was not bad – but he wasn’t brilliant. Of course he will take time to bed in but his distribution was poor at times. He took a long time with the ball at his feet which meant his clearances were hit and miss. Could be worse, could be Chelsea. Courtois got himself sent off against Swansea after conceding twice. Romero will be very happy with his clean-sheet job compared to that.

Still, Louis van Gaal is adamant he knows what he is doing and time will only tell what the result will be in the transfer saga. But the more it drags on, the worse it is for Manchester United.

Next: Manchester United Power Rankings

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