Plenty of Villans in red as Ole’s men stutter
GREALISH SHOWS UNITED WHAT THEY’RE MISSING
Powerless to prevent Grealish’s superb strike, and Mings’ volley went past him before he knew anything about it.
Did little of any effect in either third and once again looked particularly awkward in the attacking third.
Lucky to still be considered a starter. Wasteful but scored a well-taken header in the second half.
Booked early on and it set the tone for a hesitant afternoon for the United captain. In danger of plateauing.
Seemed a bit cowed by Villa’s dominance and could not get going in either third. Caught out for Mings’ equaliser.
Amateurish again in the deeplying midfield role. Tried to unsettle Grealish by fouling him. Let him inside to score.
Showed quick-thinking for the corner United levelled from but, again, looked forlorn with Pereira as midfield partner.
Showed glimpses but his performance dipped with the team’s and Solskjaer had him switch wings with Rashford.
Ineffectual on his recall and how United fans must have glanced enviously at Villa’s No.10 Grealish.
Had he maintained composure at 0-0 United would probably have taken the lead. Lucky to force the equaliser.
An anonymous figurehead at times. Had a tame effort at Tom Heaton but picked up a bit after the break.
SUBSTITUTES
JESSE LINGARD: (Mata, 74) Did nothing of note. 5
LUKE SHAW: (Williams, 79) Careless and booked. 4
MASON GREENWOOD: (Martial, 82) Tried. 5 NOT USED: Tuanzebe, Garner, Young, Grant
CHRISTMAS is coming and Old Trafford is feeling flat.
United have four wins from 14 in the Premier League and the club’s eternal optimist of a manager will be hardpressed to extract positives from another sub-standard performance.
The entire Reds XI that started against Villa were spared the trek to Kazakhstan and most still ambled about as wayward as someone suffering from jet-lag.
They were spared boos at half-time but there was a whiff of mutiny in some sections and supporters are identifying scapegoats.
Villa have still won just once at Old Trafford in 36 years and may not have played as well within that timeframe, their positivity underpinned by the maverick Jack Grealish in the No.10 role.
Grealish, possibly viewed as a leftfield option for United amid their recruitment reboot under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer earlier in the year, would enhance and enrich their attack in an instant.
Tom Heaton’s goal was peppered with 36 efforts by United three years ago but this was a much more serene afternoon.
The Reds mustered a meagre six efforts on target and Anthony Martial was such an unconvincing figurehead he was replaced by Mason Greenwood in the search for a winner.
Time and again, Daniel James played the ball across the six-yard area and nobody was within sight.
All three changes Solskjaer made were like-for-like, seven days after his tactical acumen and adventurous substitutions sparked a comeback at Bramall Lane.
The Reds boss insisted at Sheffield United the snap reaction was positive, but negativity was rife among the cantankerous supporters in the south stand.
Given United had performed for a maximum of 10 minutes at Bramall Lane, the sole change of Juan Mata for Phil Jones was insufficient and Villa were conspicuously gutted not to be ahead at the interval. They were more buoyant at full-time, having recovered from going behind.
Andreas Pereira is an incurable blind spot for Solskjaer and Victor Lindelof’s complacency is still countenanced, though both had the gumption to offer goalscoring contributions.
Gareth Southgate demonstrated a method for galvanising United’s underperformers by dropping Rashford in October, yet Solskjaer appears to be blindly loyal to too many. He did not make a substitution until the 74th minute.
The clamour for another youthful inclusion was undermined by the callow Brandon Williams, caught dawdling for Tyrone Mings’ equaliser.
Williams, like all 19-year-olds learning their trade, has experienced two bumps in as many weeks and it seems a given Solskjaer will turn to Ashley Young or Luke Shaw, a late replacement for Williams, against Spurs on Wednesday.
Williams has to be afforded more leeway than some of his senior team-mates.
Brighton and Burnley figured out Pereira when he was played as a deeplying midfielder last season and Sheffield United did last month. The difference this time was there was still no demotion,