Manchester United 0-0 West Ham United: 5 Talking Points

#2 Manchester United played at a higher tempo than usual

Every Red Devils fan would have loved to see the home side starting off on the right note, attacking with real purpose, and that is exactly what Manchester United was aiming to achieve. They began with intent and Marouane Fellaini, who replaced the injured captain Wayne Rooney in the starting lineup, was crucial in holding up play and was instrumental in much of United’s early play.

His physicality and aerial prowess proved to be a growing headache for the opposition defence as he went close twice in the early stages of the match at Old Trafford, a fixture the Hammers had lost seven successive times. Unlike the past performances from United recently, the early stages of the first half was an exhibition of a rather high-octane brand of football which saw Van Gaal’s side shifting gears slowly and steadily.

Even though they were almost jolted at the other end from an array of promising attacks from the Hammers, United encouragingly played without caution, sending out a message loud and clear to the faithful that at least today, offense was their foremost priority. A visibly higher tempo could be detected in their playing style and it was very soon obvious that they were going for nothing but victory.

However, a goal proved to be elusive for the Dutchman’s side as a wave of disappointment loomed over the stadium when referee Mark Clattenburg blew the final whistle.