Everton showed the they’ll need to stay they just don’t care Desire and passion up... United showed
Top-four failure is so costly
MANCHESTER UNITED are facing another big financial blow if they fail to clinch a top-four place this season.
Principal partner Team Viewer, the German tech company, replaced Chevrolet a year ago as United’s front-of-shirt sponsor in a five-year deal believed to be worth around £235million.
But if United are not in the Champions League next season they will not bank the performance-related bonuses built into the £47m-a-season contract.
It is the same story with kit supplier Adidas, who have a Champions League clause in their agreement with United.
United’s deal with Adidas broke all kit records in football when it was unveiled in July 2014.
The ten-year tie-up was worth a maximum £750m, but to cash in on that amount United had to be in Europe’s elite club competition each season.
On the back of United cancelling their sponsorship deal with Russian state airline Aeroflot, the club now face further financial setbacks after another season of under-achievement.
THERE are brief moments in football which offer more searing insight than any amount of hot-aired punditry rhetoric.
At Goodison, there were two such fleeting portraits, which spoke volumes about both teams, and their respective positions at the moment.
As the final whistle went, there was a distinctive pause as the Everton support, so wracked with nerves they were subdued for long periods, computed what had just happened, and then let out a primal roar.
As they did, Vitalii Mykolenko sunk to his knees and then lay on his back on the turf, arms spread wide in an almost religious pose.
It was an exhausted, yet still exuberant, celebration and expressed a relief and joy which was telling enough, even before you consider the defender’s circumstance.
Mykolenko is from Cherkasy in central Ukraine, where Russian troops are reported to have attacked with vacuum bombs, a weapon that is regarded as a war crime.
He has greater things on his mind than mere football.
Yet the emotion he showed, the relief, was indicative of what this result meant to him.
Because this win was huge for the career he hopes to have once this disgusting invasion is over.
And it is massive for Everton, a result which could well be the pivotal point in their season.
Lose against Manchester United, and you assumed that relegation was on the cards – it is also clear their fanbase thought so too.
Now, they go into a 10-day break with not only something massively positive to cling to.
They have beaten United – a huge scalp, no matter how bad they were – and that means something special.
As manager Frank Lampard said afterwards: “Do these lads want it as much as anything to stay in this league? Yes, absolutely, and they showed that so much in this performance.”
That moment as Mykolenko lay spreadeagled on the turf told you that and it was heartening to see for the fans, who knew the significance of that single image.
Yet there was another snapshot too, before the end, which spoke volumes about Everton’s character . . . and about United’s too – or complete, embarrassing lack of it.
You would use the word shameful, but that would be wrong when such truly shameful things are going on in the world.
But there was a moment which was still insulting to supporters of this great club. virtually nothing, controlled with his head.
Then he flicked it up again. And again, and a fourth time, a small juggling display that showed the confidence and belief he still has, despite the pressure which has come Everton’s way in torrents over recent months.
From United? Nothing. Not a response. Not a single challenge, never mind a hack, a scything tackle, a barreling shoulder.
Not then, or not later, when the home side passed the ball around in triangles, as though they were six up against minnows.
It was almost circus football, with United cast as clowns.
As Everton took the ball towards the corners, they were allowed to keep it there for extended periods, with again no aggression, no response.
It is tempting to wonder what Roy Keane would have done to Richarlison.
But that United would not have been in such a position, no team staring into the bleak abyss of relegation would dare provoke them in such a way.
It says this team doesn’t care, that they are going through the motions.
It also says the next manager will not turn around such a malaise in a single season – or any time soon, for that matter.
It will take years to get rid of such a rotten attitude.
Everton, on the other hand, showed desire which embarrassed their opponents.
They showed how much staying in the Premier League means to them – and they showed they can do it now.