At half-time in the Leicester-Chelsea EFL cup tie, I flicked over to Soccer Special, to see the studio pundits.
Tony Gale always talks sense.
Tony said he had been to the Manchester derby and United ended up with a midfield three of Rooney-Fellaini-Poga.
“Didn’t work. He said he wasn’t gonna play Rooney there. He was playing Rooney almost in the same position that Sam Allardyce played him. And it didn’t work for England. I can’t understand it. He’s got to play behind the striker.
“I’ve never seen a Man United team play so slowly in all my life. They were slower than Louis Van Gaal’s team was playing last season. And it isn’t Man United. And the away fans were really quiet. Man United normally get behind their team. I don’t think anyone could understand it.”
Alan McInally said Danny Blind is definitely NOT a back four player.
“Galey’s right. I was playing golf the other day with an ex-Man United player and all he said to me was: ‘Man United don’t have any pace in the team. When we were playing, we’d get it and the ball would move 20 yards in the blink of an eye.’ Everyone knew that, everyone knew the job. I don’t think the players know their jobs now. I still think he’s tinkering with the team.
Tony Gale added: “Just the Carrick situation…. Fellaini has three, four touches, slows everything down. OK, he’s winning headers in front of the back four. Carrick just sees it; pop, bang! Pop, bang! He releases it. The first pass, if you’re setting up a training session, is the best pass. The first pass must release the others.”
Danny Drinkwater said he was impressed by how quickly Pep Guardiola got his message across to the City players and got the best out of them.
What Tony Gale is talking about is what I was saying last season when Van Gaal had them passing the ball sideways and boring huge crowds the Theatre of 0-0 Draws.
The Red Devils should always play sparky, aggressive, high-energy football.
With pace down the flanks, momentum, lots of balls flying across the goalmouth.
In a word: spectacle.