International Reds round-up: Lingard debut and Pogba hits winner

Jesse Lingard was the beneficiary of Adam Lallana's withdrawal from the England squad as the United winger started both games over the international break.

Lingard, who played for the Under 21s under interim boss Gareth Southgate, made his senior England bow in the 2-0 win over Malta before a second appearance followed in the feisty goalless draw in Slovenia.

 Marcus Rashford came on as sub in both games with Lingard getting a warning after protecting his younger team mate following a coming together late on.

Captain Wayne Rooney also featured in both matches, coming off the bench in the latter, despite the ongoing debate over his international future but Luke Shaw has not been rushed back and sat out England's latest qualifiers. 

Elsewhere, club record signing Paul Pogba came up against United duo Daley Blind and Memphis Depay and his superb solitary goal fired the European Championship finalists to victory over Netherlands as France went top of Group A (Anthony Martial played the final 23 minutes in Amsterdam). 

Spain picked up four points from their two qualifiers- 1-1 in Italy and 2-0 in Armenia, but Ander Herrera will have to wait for a senior Spain debut having been an unused sub in both matches.

Juan Mata missed out on selection but David De Gea cemented his status as his country's number one keeper by starting in both games. 

Belgium, now under the stewardship of former Everton manager Roberto Martinez, continued their 100% start to their Group H campaign with comprehensive wins over Bosnia and Gibraltar respectively.

Marouane Fellaini started in the 4-0 win over the former- claiming an assist for Chelsea's Eden Hazard, but the United man missed the 6-0 success in Gibraltar after a booking against Bosnia ruled him out of that match. 

Henrikh Mkhitaryan missed Armenia's matches against Romania (0-5) and Poland (1-2) as he bids to regain full fitness but it was a busy few days for United's South American trio Sergio Romero, Antonio Valencia and Marcos Rojo. 

Valencia scored in Ecuador's 3-0 win against Copa America winners Chile while Argentina suffered a shock 1-0 reverse at home to Paraguay which followed a disappointing draw in Peru with Romero and Rojo featuring across the two matches. 

Eric Bailly's Ivory Coast side won their opening Group C qualifier 3-1 at home to Mali as they bid to successfully negotiate the final round en route to Russia in 2018.

Former United defender earns first England call-up

Former United and current Burnley defender Michael Keane has been drafted in to Gareth Southgate's England squad to replace the injured Glen Johnson. 

Johnson's withdrawal means that Spurs Kyle Walker is the only specialist right-back in the squad following Nathaniel Clyne's injury. 

Keane has played for the national side at under-19, under-20 and under-21 level and will now join up with the rest of the squad- including current Reds Chris Smalling, Wayne Rooney, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard- at St George's Park.

He proved a key man in the Turf Moor outfit's promotion to the top flight last term and has started all of their Premier League matches so far this season.

The Stockport-born centre-back moved to Burnley in 2014 after he signed professional forms at United in 2011 and his debut came later that year in a League Cup tie at Aldershot.

He was an unused substitute in the FA Cup fourth round defeat at Liverpool (1-2) in the 2011/12 season but a full United debut came early the following term in a League Cup tie with Newcastle.

Keane started alongside fellow Academy graduate Scott Wootton in the 2-1 win at Old Trafford and went on to earn the club's prestigious Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award that same season (Jesse Lingard was second and Larnell Cole third). 

He went on to make one more appearance for United, replacing the injured Chris Smalling shortly before half-time in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland in the League in 2014. 

Loan spells at Leicester, Derby and Blackburn were to follow but, by then, Keane had already earned international honours at youth level.
He made his debut for Noel Blake's England Under-19 side in May 2012 in a 5-0 win over Slovenia during which his brother Will (also ex-United but now at Mike Phelan's Hull) scored twice.

He made the step up to the Under-21s in 2013, replacing Andre Wisdom in a 4-0 win over Austria at Brighton on his debut before scoring in successive Euro 2015 qualifying games against Finland (3-0) and San Marino (9-0).

In September 2014, Keane joined Burnley, initially on a loan move until the deal became permanent in January 2015.

Elsewhere, United midfield man Ander Herrera looks set to earn a first Spain cap after being named in their senior squad for World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Albania. 
Herrera represented Spain at the 2012 Olympics and has been capped numerous times at Under-20 and Under-21 level but now has the chance for a well deserved full debut under Julen Lopetegui. 

Good luck to all Reds past and present who will be representing their countries this week. 

Points for style but not for victory at Old Trafford

Jose Mourinho's arrival in the summer was seen as a guarantee of improved results at Old Trafford but we're currently three points behind last season's total at the same stage.

United sit five points off leaders City but, however, the attacking style of football-  the half of the club's tradition that some feared Jose would fail to deliver- is beginning to re-emerge in a performance the boss described as our best of the season.

Wayne Rooney, on the bench for the second league game running, watched on as his team-mates prospered without him in the first half.

With Ander Herrera sitting deeper, Paul Pogba was free to push into an advanced role and his determination and vision set up Zlatan Ibrahimovic after only two minutes before the Frenchman slid a shot wide after another incisive move.

Pogba's enthusiasm occasionally got the better of him as he was tempted by increasingly ambitious long-range efforts but he kept demanding the ball and came within inches of a dramatic late winner. 

His improvement continues but, for Rooney, the February 2014 decision to grant him a lucrative new £300,000 a week contract until the end of the 2018-19 season continues  to come under increasing scrutiny.

When you cannot do what City, Everton, Spurs, Palace and Hull did to Stoke- beat them and beat them well, then you begin to realise that Jose Mourinho's United mission is harder than imagined.

That quintet smashed a total of 15 goals past Mark Hughes porous outfit putting the ex-Reds legend in the firing line as the first Premier League manager to be sacked.

After thumping Leicester in the previous league outing it looked like Mourinho's rebuild was gathering speed and intensity and Sparky might be on the look out for a new job as his Stoke side came under siege at Old Trafford.

An early goal would surely have seen the fragile visitors- without a win to their name (bar an EFL Cup success at Stevenage) crumble, but even shaky sides get a bit of adrenaline flowing when they survive a battering.

Had Zlatan Ibrahimovic tucked away his second minute chance at the far post, then the Reds would surely have gone on to win with ease but Lee Grant was inspired and prevented what threatened to be a Leicester-style avalanche. 

Some of the Reds build up and attacking link play was the best seen at Old Trafford since the SAF days but a combination of wasteful finishing and Grant's heroics meant another rethink on the Reds progress under Mourinho. 

Match report: United 1-1 Stoke

A late Joe Allen goal and a string of superb saves from Stoke stopper Lee Grant earned the struggling visitors a point and deny dominant United victory.

33-year-old Derby loanee Grant, deputising for long-term injury victim Jack Butland, produced a man of the match showing to continually deny the profligate hosts with a series of top class stops that left Jose Mourinho's side frustrated. 

Substitute Anthony Martial curled home an excellent finish for his first of the season to finally put United ahead but former Liverpool man Allen equalised from close range on 82 minutes to give Mark Hughes side a first ever Premier League point at Old Trafford. 

The Reds started brightly and could have gone in front inside two minutes when Paul Pogba's exquisite pass picked out Zlatan Ibrahimovic but Grant reacted well to keep out the Swede on the angle.

Geoff Cameron twice went close for the visitors as Stoke settled into the game, but United continued on the front foot and should have been out of sight by the break.

Pogba twice went close when he fired narrowly off target after excellent build up play between Ander Herrera and Zlatan, before the Frenchman headed wide of the post from a Daley Blind corner when well placed.

Grant saved brilliantly from Jesse Lingard's snap-shot and had to be at his best again soon afterwards to tip Juan Mata's lovely lob over the crossbar shortly before another effort from Ibrahimovic was clawed behind by the sprawling keeper.

Allen side footed straight at De Gea who tipped over a Bruno Martins Indi effort from distance- although the offside flag was up- while opposite number Grant continued to enjoy the finest day of his journeyman career to date.

He saved from Mata from range and also reacted well to keep out the impressive Pogba while Ander Herrera thumped inches wide with a 25 yarder after Lingard had cut the ball back.

A low strike from Ibra drifted narrowly off target before United suddenly came to life and finally broke through through Martial moments after his introduction. 
It was a goal reminiscent of his sublime effort in last year's corresponding fixture when he finished excellently from 12 yards after intricate link up play with Mata.

Stoke should have been dead and buried but Grant continued to come to their rescue as he beat away an Ibrahimovic volley and then tipped wide from Herrera's header.

United were made to rue the keeper's heroics as Stoke found themselves level with eight minutes to play when David de Gea failed to hold Glen Johnson's shot, Jon Walters follow-up came off the woodwork and Allen poked in from close range. 

United lay siege to the Stoke goal as Pogba headed against the bar late on but no last gasp winner was forthcoming on a frustrating afternoon for the Reds. 

Overall team performance: 8/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Juan Mata 

Marcos Rojo is simply not good enough and must be moved on

Poor. Woeful. Terrible.

United weren't great as a team against Zorya but even by his standards Marcos Rojo plumbed new depths with his performance against the minnows.

With Luke Shaw injured and Daley Blind rested, he was given a rare opportunity to impress Mourinho at left-back but he once again failed to show any composure or intelligence on the ball.

He offered virtually nothing going forward, his positioning wavered from bad to non-existent and despite the hosts enjoying over 70% of possession he was done for pace on more than one occasion by the visitors' eye-catching winger Oleksandr Karavaev. 

Any half decent left-back should give you speed and solidity, offering attacking impetus and defensive assurance in equal measure but Rojo offers neither and instead oozes mistakes and impotence down the left- a hapless recipe that will surely consign the Argentine to the Old Trafford backwaters.

Like many, you perhaps felt that it was Louis van Gaal's inability to get the best out of his players that caused Rojo's regression but there has been no improvement to his game under Mourinho and he is simply not good enough. 

He could be considered unlucky to find himself behind one of the country's best left-backs in the pecking order but Luke Shaw will have been watching on without a worry in the world after another abject showing from the much-malinged Argentinian.

When Rojo signed for £16 in 2014 he showed early promise- and was voted man of the match in last season's Old Trafford derby- with some taking a liking to his robust style but instead of improving he somehow seems to get worse every time he is somehow given a starting place.

I'm not one for criticising players but I, like many others, remain astonished how Rojo is still at our club let alone even in the squad.
How he is still getting chances in the team- albeit in the Europa League- while Cameron Borthwick-Jackson has been loaned out to Wolves, is beyond me.

Even without the talented young full-back who enjoyed an impressive breakthrough last term, Daley Blind, Ashley Young, Matteo Darmian, Joe Riley and Tim Fosu-Mensah are better options when Shaw is not fit.

Damian is likely to leave Old Trafford in January and Rojo should be the first the join him in the departure lounge. 

Even Alexander Buttner showed more promise in his time at United than Rojo has (or ever will) and surely his lacklustre showing against Zorya will ensure he is soon on his way out. 

How United can turn tables on Stoke with set-piece prowess

United can approach Sunday's encounter with Stoke City relishing any set-pieces rather than dreading them as has perhaps been the case in the past against the Potters.

Although Mark Hughes' side remain a threat in such situations, their style of play has evolved under the former United striker since the time when Rory Delap's long throw-ins would wreak havoc during Tony Pulis' time in charge.

United's renewed power and prowess from set-pieces came to the fore in last week's emphatic win over Leicester and the height and physical strength in the Reds ranks in already proving an asset.

Headers from early crosses into the box from wide areas has been a clearly defined tactic the Reds have utilised under Mourinho- largely to marvellous effect.

Under Louis van Gaal, United struggled both defensively and offensively from crosses and set-pieces when we had a 'small team' but the Reds look much more of a threat this term as we saw in last weekend's win against the champions. 

Chris Smalling scored a header from a corner against Leicester, Rashford's third and Pogba's header in the 4-1 win also came as a result of flag-kicks. 
United's last two goals- Pogba against the Foxes and Zlatan on Thursday have come via headers with the Swede's winner against Zorya our sixth headed goal of the campaign (Ibra also scored with his head against Southampton and Leicester in the Community Shield) and Wayne Rooney's goal at Bournemouth came in the same manner. 

The fact that match officials have clamped down on grappling inside the area- something that was noted in the aftermath of the Leicester win- could obviously contribute to more chances for attacking players from set-pieces. 

It has been suggested that the stricter rules governing shirt-pulling have proved to be the main factor why both Leicester and indeed Stoke have made disappointing starts to the season as defenders up and down the country come to terms with the increased scrutiny.

Despite Stoke sitting second bottom of the table- albeit only after six games- and without a win, Mourinho has stressed that he believes the Potters are in a false position. 
Nevertheless, there will be renewed optimism when United gain a dangerous set-piece, knowing that we have the players to make a difference in those situations.
The height of the side the boss has assembled has been one of the early identikits under Jose  and could be something to watch out for this term. 

Match preview: United v Stoke

Jose Mourinho has said that Stoke are "not in a real position" as former United legend Mark Hughes brings the struggling Potters to Old Trafford on Sunday.

The Reds are chasing a fourth straight victory for the first time in Mourinho's tenure while by contrast Stoke- after three successive ninth placed league finishes- are yet to register a win and sit nineteenth in the table having lost four of their six matches so far. 

But the Potters have a squad packed with international and Premier League experience and will look to the likes of Ryan Shawcross, Wilfried Bony, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan to pull them out of the mire. 

United boast an imperious home record against the Staffordshire side with fifteen wins out of the last sixteen Old Trafford meetings stretching back to 1976 but the boss refused to take another victory for granted. 

This match with Sparky's side is the first of five that will go a long way to defining United's season with fixtures against Liverpool, Fenerbahce, Chelsea and Manchester City on the horizon. 

"It is another poisoned gift because Stoke is not what the table says" he said

"The manager is very good, the players are good, the team is good so when I look at the table it is not real and it is not Stoke's position.

"I play against a good Stoke and not the Stoke in that position in the table so it will be a difficult match for us and I am sure come May they will be in their usual position in the table."

Ander Herrera and Daley Blind look set to feature having been rested against Zorya, while recent injury victims Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Luke Shaw are close to returns but Phil Jones (knee) remains sidelined. 

Former Liverpool man Joe Allen is doubtful for the visitors with a slight hamstring problem and goalkeeper Jack Butland remains out but Jon Walters could return after a recent ankle injury. 

Ibrahim Afellay and Stephen Ireland are both long-term absentees for the Potters. 

"We have a pivotal month of games against big opponents so I would like to have other players playing more so I can see more and learn about them.

"I had in mind to give Memphis 20 or 25 minutes but Tim (Fosu-Mensah) got a problem so I had to play a right-back player but we need the squad for sure" Mourinho added. 

Form guide: United L L L W W W Stoke W L L L L D 

Match odds: United 8/4 Draw 5/1 Stoke 12/8

Referee: Robert Madley