Manchester United 2 - West Bromwich Albion 0

Paul Gainham:

Clarke's fault.

Against probably the weakest manure side I have seen for a long time Clarke surrendered this one before the game with a stupid team selection.

Our much better showing 2nd half was mainly as a result of bringing Morrison and Lukaku on and getting the awful Rosenberg off.

If we had gone for this one from the start I am convinced we would have got something.

A really pissed off travelling fan.

Mark Townsend:

Have to agree, points were available today, but with Rosenberg up front we gave away the ball in the final third far too often. There was little link up between midfield and forwards.

With Van Persie on the bench, United always had an answer waiting for us, but Rosenberg was on the pitch for too long.

Steve Fereday:

Paul and Mark

I saw the whole game on the internet. I dont know how old you are but I am almost 60 and supported Albion all my life. Today we played Man Utd at Old Trafford and should have beaten them. The great Man Utd. Consider what you have just written. We are Albion. A small club in the West Midlands to be fair. We are doing fantastic. Did you think before a ball was kicked we could win this match?? I think not.

I would like to respectfully suggest that we are doing brilliantly in this league because of Steve Clarke, and if someone could tell me of a more successful Albion manager in the last 30 years, then pls do so.

Life is a pint pot - half full and half empty.

I will be there on New Year's Day against Fulham, but for God's sake lets take the roof off and enjoy where we are now and get behind this amazing team and club.

oshawabaggie:

This was a very honourable 2 - 0 defeat, if there is such a thing. Something of a makeshift line-up (due to injury and strategy/rest) played a timid first 30 minutes as though they were afraid of getting exploited if they ventured too far forward. Consequently ManUre were free to launch attacks whenever they liked. An improvement in the last 15 minutes of the first half, during which Brunt wasted two of three dead ball opportunities, was followed by a very spirited performance in the second. We didn't create many good chances, but even so, we enjoyed the majority of possession and looked the most likely to score. United were hanging on, so it was something of an injustice when they got their second in injury time, adding to our annoying statistic of lates goals conceded. However, I think the team and fans should be pleased with the way the team went for it. We could easily have come away with at least a point.

George Thorne looked very solid and Foster made some blinding saves. The team looked much stronger when Lukaku (the beast), came on for Rosenberg, who completely failed to take advantage of his chance to impress.

I was struck by the lame ManUre fans. Even though seventy thousand strong, they were frequently 'out-sung' by albion fans. AND for all their fame and glitter they must have one of the crappiest pitch surfaces in the league - shameful. For my final rant, it's about time a harrassed linesman stuck one on that whining bully Ferguson - even if he is 71 years old.

Play with the spirit of the second half (from the start) and we will be OK against Fulham.

Philip Cole (RSABaggie):

Although I only watched on satellite TV, I agree with both Paul and Mark - this was an opportunity missed by Steve Clarke! He has done wonders for us so that we are punching well above our weight but for me the match was rather lost by overly cautious tactics by him today. Too much respect was shown to United and our ongoing and misguided policy of rotating all our strikers, despite their form and ability, again proved costly.

Starting Marcus Rosenberg for only the second time this season was an awful decision and, whatever anyone thinks of him as a player, unfair to him. Every time he comes on MR is quite clearly not match sharp and predictably was off the pace and contributed almost nothing for the 60+ minutes that he was on. He should be sent on loan to a Championship club for at least a month in January to get match sharp. We cannot afford this silly approach of rotating our strikers, irrespective of which ones are the best ones. Again, why were we not playing James Morrison from the start? Against Man Utd of all sides you need to field your strongest available side from the start. Why didn't we?

But this is one of the poorest United sides that I have seen and they looked rocky every time West Brom ran at them. Make no mistake, United were there to be taken today. The longer the second half went on, the rockier they looked, especially once we played our first XI from around 60-70 minutes onwards. If we had fielded our best team from the start, West Brom would have won it. Sooner or later, this poor United team will be found out by a hungrier side with the courage to attack them at pace from the start. It could have been us yesterday with a bit more boldness. As I say, opportunity missed!

Marks:

• Ben Foster(9): Ignoring his near-costly extra touch when faced by Wellbeck he did nothing wrong and saved us from conceding more goals with a succession of fine saves.
• Billy Jones(8): Developing into our first choice in this position as injuries start to take their toll of Steve Reid. Could not get forward enough during our disappointing first half but a key figure offering width down the left as we got going after the break.
• Gareth McAuley(8): Could do nothing about the own goal but afterwards was as solid as ever and had the beating of Wellbeck for the rest of the game.
• Gabriel Tamas(8): Turning into another of our 'Mr Reliables'. I was impressed with the ease with which he came in and formed a strong central defensive partnership with GM. It did not look as if Jonas Ollson was absent - I can think of no greater compliment!
• Liam Ridgewell(6): Not really up to his usual high standards and had a quiet game. Did nothing wrong defensively bar a few minor slips. Understandable that he could not get forward enough in the first half but, although he moved further forward in the second half, it was not to much effect. Appalling crosses for most of the game - puzzling as he's usually very good!
• George Thorne(8): An excellent first EPL performance for a full match in the difficult circumstances of both coming back from Championship loan and going straight into a game against ManU! A strong central defensive midfield performance that, based on this showing, gives us another option in a postion that is vital to the way we play.
• Chris Brunt(7): I see that, yet again, he currently has the lowest marks (apart from MR) and I think this is not justified. I saw a decent defensive midfield performance and some well placed forward passes that could quite easily have come off. For the first time I felt that he could play defensive midfield as a good option.
• Graham Dorrans(8): A good performance with plenty of energy and drive and, although he isn't a winger, he offered a good outlet at all times, especially once we overcame our inhibitions in the second half. Not really sure why he was subbed if he wasn't tired or injured.
• Marcus Rosenburg(3): I really wanted to be fair to this guy so I was watching him closely the whole time he was on. I saw one excellent reverse pass that someone (I think Brunt?) nearly got onto and that was it. Otherwise he trundled around to no great effect and was off the pace and not sharp as already noted. Why, Mr Clarke?
• Peter Odemwingie(9-MOM): Perhaps a slightly controversial MOM choice as in the end nothing he did went right. He was however for me, once again, the forward showing the greatest inventiveness, sharpness and desire. Was actually at the centre of most of our good moves for most of the second half and, once again, crucialy offered us some decent width. Didn't quite reach the heights of his astonishing all-action Chelsea defensive performance but did similarly and so is marked up one for his contribution to the cause. Had the beating of the over-rated Smalling all game.
• Shane Long(7): Not his game in the first half when we could barely get it forward. I agreed with the Guardian's assessment that the third minute penalty that he could have had off Smalling was six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-another but I've seen them given for much less. Just never at Old Trafford! Came into it more in the second half.

Subs:

• James Morrison(8): Made an immediate and powerful difference when he came on playing off our forwards and running forward at the increasingly jittery United defence. Should have been on at half time if we were going for it.
• Romelu Lukaku(6): Not one of his better games to be honest - one where he ran into too many blind alleys as is sometimes his wont. But certainly a vast improvement on the woeful Rosenberg!
• Marc-Antoine Fortune(6): Did nothing wrong but not quite sure why he was on if Dorrans wasn't injured or tired.

Manager:
Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr Clarke for the wonderful job you are doing moving us further forward. But just because you have a surfeit of attackers doesn't mean you have to play them all. Making difficult choices is why you are paid a manager's salary!