Just to give you update number 347, we are still behind Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal.
He’s putting a top team together and they were so close to winning this one comfortably. But they still lack the intensity to kill off opponents over a 90 minute spell.
But we feel that LvG made two crucial mistakes in this game which cost Manchester United the three points.
Basti/Carrick
At their age, these guys obviously won’t be able to play every game together.
Their matches need to be carefully plotted to keep them fit and fresh throughout the season.
But, at this stage of the campaign, both need as many minutes as possible to get them up to speed.
And we saw against Liverpool that the Carrick/Basti partnership can literally squeeze the life out of the opponent.
Against a team that was inexperienced in Europe, Basti and Carrick would have completely controlled the tempo in this one. Instead, Herrera partnered Schweinsteiger and the Spaniard’s riskier game gave PSV more possession and encouragement to attack.
Herrera is technically excellent and may well prove to be a great player alongside a defensive midfielder.
But, currently, we think that he should play further forward. For our money, it should be either/or with him and Mata at number 10.
If Carrick had played alongside the German they would have gained further momentum as a partnership and we would surely have been talking about 3 points for Manchester United.
Rojo/Blind
We have said many times that we think Marcos Rojo can be a top centre back. Furthermore, Daley Blind was excellent at left back last season.
But the centre of defence is a crucial area of any team and, when Luke Shaw was injured, surely it would have be less unsettling to simply put Rojo on the left.
Blind and Smalling have developed a fine understanding at the back but LvG decided to rock the boat by swapping Blind out to the left and playing Rojo in the middle.
Rojo was rusty and partly culpable for the second goal. Even though Blind played a smart pass to Depay from the left for the first goal, we felt that overall it was a poor decision by LvG to move the Dutchman out to the left.
