Garnacho raises a lone shout for real Old Trafford ‘game changers’ ...the players
Omar Berrada is getting ready to take up his chief executive role. Sir Dave Brailsford is doing his thing. Dan Ashworth will soon be on board, and Dougie Freedman has been linked to a sporting director job.
In recent weeks, it has been easy to forget who are the most important employees at Manchester United. The players. And over the next few years, no one will be more important than Alejandro Garnacho.
This ugly win, over an Everton team that keeps finding new ways of getting poor results, was a reflection of United’s season – Garnacho sparkling in the midst of a lot of gloom.
Apart from his incisiveness and invention, there was nothing particularly impressive about this performance from Erik ten Hag’s side.
But the promise and potential of whippet-quick Garnacho are serious grounds for optimism, as are the restructuring and bolstering of the so-called football operation.
True, United and Garnacho
Football’s best columnist at Old Trafford were helped by some bizarrely dearth of quality but nowhere we should all forget our daily amateurish defending from was it more painfully stark than battle with austerity and chip in James Tarkowski and Ben in Everton’s attacking play. to help billionaires in America Godfrey, whose first-half It is very rare you see a and Monaco get a fancy new challenges on the 19-year-old Premier League team enjoy so football complex. were so daft that penalty awards many half-chances yet lack the Burnham can go on about were formalities. intuition, technique and ‘infrastructure’ and the public
And it is also true Garnacho composure to even threaten to benefits of a new Old Trafford could have been turn any of them all he likes, but tax-exile Sir Jim more clinical in into goals – of Ratcliffe and absentee owners, counter-attacking which Everton have the Glazers, have unimaginable opportunities. And scored only 14 from wealth. he still has an open Premier If a penny of taxpayers’ money inclination to League play so far is used to redevelop or rebuild showboat. this stadium it will be a disgrace,
But he was a rare dynamic simple as that. presence in a very pedestrian Maybe Burnham just wanted side, an occasional flash of a free ticket to watch his team, quality in a game that was who definitely will be playing in virtually bereft of blue-chip a new stadium the season after work. next – but in what division is far
All over the field, there was a less certain. Unless the second
Garnacho was a rare dynamic presence in a pedestrian side
this season.
That would have been to the dismay of at least one man in the posh seats.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Toffees fan, Andy Burnham was doing the pre-match media rounds, trying to explain why
Premier League rule breach brings another hefty points deduction, it is hard to see Everton being relegated this time, but boss Sean Dyche should not escape criticism.
That is 11 Premier League matches without a win. And as opportunities to snap out of a bad streak go, United away has become a very decent one.
Apart from Garnacho’s contribution and penalties from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, this was entirely forgettable stuff from an ordinary team. Liverpool will have little to fear when they visit for next Sunday’s FA Cup tie.
But in United’s pursuit of fifth place – which may or may not provide Champions League football – three points was all that mattered to Ten Hag.
Whether results alone will be enough to keep him in his job when all these director types are convened remains to be seen.
Ratcliffe and his entourage might not look too favourably on United allowing a struggling Everton 23 attempts on goal.
But if Ten Hag does survive, he will have at least one reason to be bullish about the future.
Alejandro Garnacho.
In recent weeks it has been easy to forget who are the most important employees at Old Trafford...
P W D L F A Gd Pts Arsenal 28 20 4 4 70 24 46 64 Liverpool 27 19 6 2 64 25 39 63 Man City 27 19 5 3 62 27 35 62 Aston Villa 27 17 4 6 59 37 22 55 Tottenham 26 15 5 6 55 39 16 50 Man Utd 28 15 2 11 39 39 0 47 West Ham 27 12 6 9 43 47 -4 42 Wolves 28 12 5 11 42 44 -2 41 Newcastle 27 12 4 11 57 45 12 40 Brighton 27 10 9 8 49 44 5 39 Chelsea 26 10 6 10 44 43 1 36 Fulham 28 10 5 13 40 44 -4 35 Bournemouth 27 8 8 11 37 49 -12 32 Crystal Pal 28 7 8 13 33 48 -15 29 Brentford 28 7 5 16 40 52 -12 26 Everton 28 8 7 13 29 39 -10 25 Nottm Forest 27 6 6 15 34 49 -15 24 Luton 27 5 6 16 38 55 -17 21 Sheff Utd 28 3 5 20 24 74 -50 14 Burnley 27 3 4 20 25 60 -35 13