Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DEVIL OF A JOB TO WORK OUT REDS
Great in Europe, then poor. Dreadful at home in the Prem, but fantastic away. The only consistent thing about this United side is incredible inconsistency
DAVID MADDOCK
AMID all his justified anger at the “joke” of Manchester United’s fixture list, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer paused long enough to put his team’s performance into context. “They were on their knees,” he said. “So to come here after not getting back from Turkey until five on Thursday morning and win like that… well , that character is amazing. The mentality, the determination. It was all there.” He may have added they did it against an Everton side who had worked all week on a play-book uniquely equipped to hurt their visitors.
And against one of the world’s best coaches who knows exactly how to twist the knife. He would not say so himself but he could also have added his team were not just on their knees through tiredness.
The pressure of their situation – and the unrelenting questions about their manager – have exposed a mental frailty at times.
Little wonder. wonde
If this victory showed anything, it i s Un i t e d ’s almost s c h i z o p h r e n i c c h a r a c t e r. C omin g s o s o on aft er a lamentable European midweek performance it offers a stark comment on Solskjaer’s reign.
This is a manager who began with one defeat in 17 but ended that season with two wins in 12. The following season it was three wins in 12 to start but just two defeats in 25 at the end of last term.
Now they have a lamentable single point from 12 at home but nine from nine away.
There is one thing consistent about his side…their total inconsi st ency. It was not evident at Goodison. on.
To go a goal down wn to a simple punt t upfield – and have their defence ripped wide apart by the mere presence of Dominic Calvert-lewin’s s aerial threat – was sa a big danger sign.
Ye t somehow United recovered, somehow found f l u e n c y, a n d s c o re d tw o wonderfully simple goals to fight back and then cling on, albeit by their fingertips, in a frantic finale when Abdoulaye Doucoure should have scored for Everton before the Reds swept to the other end to finish the job.
That showed, at the very least, Solskjaer has not yet lost his players. They are still ready to fight for him, as he implied with his passionate comments afterwards: “I can’t praise the boys enough for the character they’ve shown. It was important. I like everything about my team – since yesterday, we could see they would not let anyone take anything when we’re unfairly treated. Fair play, every single one of them gave ever ything, the mentality was amazing.
“Fernandes was brilliant. He’s a great character. Like everyone else – you could see the determination in the team. The mentality, even though they were on their knees at the end.”
Fernandes, along with the equally i mpressive Marcus Rashford ( below), was the dif ference, sc orin g a fine header fr om Luke Shaw ’s simple cross to cancel out Bernar Bernard’s opener, then chipping chi i n as his strike st partner distracted d Jordan Pickford.
But the brilliance of their front f lin e hid a mundanity m i n the rest of United’s play. Th e y were n o t e v en bullied by Calvert-lewin, just brushed aside at times, and that one routine cross from Shaw aside, their full-backs did not penetrate.
There is not enough creativity outside Fernandes and Rashford, which leads to an inconsistency when the pair do not produce magic.
There is concern coaching and tactics is not bringing the best from a talented squad. For Solskjaer, though, it is a matter of maturity, not coaching. “If we can get this determination, mindset, approach every single game, we’ ll be hard to play against,” he said.