Argentinian goalkeeper Sergio Romero
Memphis Depay
Instead of a 4-3-3, United started with a 4-2-3-1, positioning Memphis Depay in the middle of the attack, behind Wayne Rooney. Anyone would struggle to work with Rooney in his lumbering galoot form, but he was able to release Ashley Young into space for the goal, and made use of Rooney’s presence around the box to swap passes. He added speed to the attack behind the striker, something United had lacked when using Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera last season, and took on a couple of shots.
He was replaced on 68 minutes by Ander Herrera, and had a quieter second half as United controlled the early stages of the second half.
Sergio Romero
In the first half he avoided what half of Twitter was waiting for: he did not pick the ball up and throw it into his own net, and he generally avoided calamity. There was even one positive moment where he rushed out to punch a loose ball away with an attacker coming in to finish. As well as that, there were a couple of iffy moments, Romero playing one ball straight out of play under pressure, and dissecting both his options on the right wing with another attempt.
In the second half, he dealt with a dangerous cross and a whipped free-kick calmly enough, without spilling the ball on either occasion, though with about 10 minutes of normal time to go he was indecisive in coming out with a through ball to Ben Davies that forced Chris Smalling to concede a corner. He pulled off a save from a Christian Eriksen shot from a tight angle on the left, which he claimed at full stretch, without fuss. However, he still found time for one inexplicably weak flap at a slow header. Had he caught the ball then, he wouldn’t have had to pull off an impressive save from another Eriksen shot.
Matteo Darmian
Darmian and Kane vying for the ball
The first 45 minutes saw him intelligently cover for his central defenders, which was certainly necessary with the nervy coupling of Smalling and Daley Blind, playing their first game in a central defensive duo in competitive circumstances. He appeared reluctant to team up with Juan Mata on the right wing, hanging back almost as much as Antonio Valencia. Presumably then, this is an instruction from Louis van Gaal to his right-backs, but that might change as he becomes more assured, and if Pedro replaces Mata in the coming weeks.
He was replaced with 10 minutes to go by his understudy Antonio Valencia, with what might have been a case of cramp, but will be pleased with his efforts and apparent solidity. As will Van Gaal and the Old Trafford crowd. Especially as Valencia was caught ball-watching shortly after his introduction.
Morgan Schneiderlin
A debut first half of few mistakes. He was conspicuous by making tackles in a Manchester United shirt, something rarely seen next to Michael Carrick for a few years. He offers more defensive contributions than Ander Herrera, but was not as adept at linking midfield with attack as Herrera increasingly did last season. He seems like the ideal foil to most of the potential permutations of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marouane Fellaini, Carrick and Herrera.
He faded a little in the second half, but as United tried to keep possession and killed the game, he featured often with tackles and the occasional foul. He offered relatively little in attack, and United will have to look to Herrera or their wingers to break sides down this season.
Bastian Schweinsteiger
Schweinsteiger sees yellow for a foul
He was booked for a fairly innocuous but cynical challenge on Nacer Chadli on 69 minutes, breaking up play to stop a counterattack. A minute later, he gave the ball away with a loose pass under pressure, giving Smalling an awkward situation with Harry Kane to deal with, but started to grow into the game, and helped United dominate possession in midfield. He still clearly needs to work on his fitness, given his side desperately needed an assertive presence when Spurs chased an equaliser late on.
- Source: Eurosport
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