As if we've won at Old Trafford, never thought i'd get to see us do that but we were deserving winners tonight and the away end was absolutely manic when Joao's shot hit the back of the net,the definition of limbs. I know we don't score many and we are really solid at the back but we're definitely not boring like i've seen aimed at us, we are very wasteful in front of goal and do often struggle with teams that press us well but we're much better to watch than the last year and a half of Nuno and definitely better organised.
Sa did what he had to do, swept up well once, made a good save at the end and claimed crosses. Astonished that some can't see that he's clearly an upgrade on Rui.
Kilman, Coady and Saiss have just been a solid back 3 all season the latter 2 have had a bad game here and there but once again tonight the unit was solid. They're decisive, aggressive in challenges and with Sa give us a really good base to build from.
Semedo frustrates me with the ball because he isn't as positive as i think he could/should be but i do think he's very solid at the moment. There's not many wide players get the better of him and again tonight he was solid, broke forward well but just doesn't quite have that final ball. If we do move to a four at some point he will be a very good right back.
Marcal is what he is, defends well, doesn't do anything fancy as he's not the best on the ball but he does a job.
Moutinho and Neves as a pair were fantastic. Joao pressed like he did when he first joined and took his goal supremely well and is definitely having a bit of a revival after what seemed like his legs were going last season however it doesn't look like that now but Ruben is some footballer. He's playing with so much freedom, his pass to Adama for the goal was sublime and i do wonder how he plays for us, he could walk in to any midfield in the world and excel yet he plays for Wolves. We really do need to make the most of him being here.
Podence was very good both in and out of possession and on another day probably has a goal and an assist but he along with most of our players are just lacking in the final third.
Trincao i think has been harshly treated on most of the verdicts i've seen. He pressed very well, got in some really good position and was fouled time and time again after beating a player. He doesn't have that final ball like the rest of them either but i feel he gets more criticism than most at the moment and i'm not sure it's totally deserved.
Raul wasn't at his best again for me. I will have to see a few things back again but feel he should have done better when Ronaldo headed the ball to him and from the long up and under in the second half but the biggest criticism of him at the moment is he's not holding the ball up as we need him to do and when your main focal point doesn't do that you're not going to be as big a threat as you should be. He was better today than the last twice but his level has dropped markedly since he was outstanding against West Ham. I think this was to be expected with the nature of his injury and i do think managing his game time will help him so we aren't so reliant.
I don't think Adama was particularly good when he came on, he wasn't bad just alright but he did give us a different option in behind and that partly led to the goal as Neves can't play that pass to the front 3 that started.
It seems the big debate after the game regarding Fabio, it's it was only 10 minutes vs but it was a good 10 minutes and the fact is it can be both but what he did show in 10 minutes is that he's got it in him to be an option off the bench definitely and we need that with Raul not at his peak again. My big worry with him as i said after Brighton is that his attitude had started to be questioned but if that isn't an issue then i've never had any worries about him coming on for 15/20 minutes and starting the odd game because i think he's got the talent and should have seen more game time this season and i reiterate that while it was only 10 minutes it was a positive 10 minutes when his hold up play led to Neves being able to put Adama in behind and that's something Raul hasn't done in the last few games he's played. I hope he gets more minutes now and fans have a bit of patience with him as i don't think lots have so far and don't get on his back when he doesn't play well because he will obviously have those games whether he starts or comes off the bench.
Obviously even with all the positives there's things we still need to work on, Fernandes should have put them 1 up and when you should be punished like that it does make the chances we create and don't take more frustrating. I think that's what this squad is at the moment though and we'll probably stay about where we are now but i can cope with that if we continue to see organised, reasonably good football and pick up regular wins.